The UFC on FOX 30 lightweight matchup between John Makdessi and Ross Pearson promised to be a tactical standup battle which heated up as the bout wore on.
And the duo, who brought a combined 38 UFC appearances into their bout in Calgary, delivered on their promise. The duo threw down for 15 minutes as Makdessi slowly pulled away from his foe. Makdessi got the nod via unanimous decision in the featured Fight Pass bout, on scores of 30-26, 29-27, and 29-28.
“At the end of the day, I’m a fighter,” Makdessi (16-6) said. “The goal is to give the fans excitement.”
The opening round, as expected, was a feeling-out stanza. Pearson, The Ultimate Fighter 9 winner, threw low kicks, while Makdessi, the Montreal native who now trains at Roufusport in Milwaukee, effectively worked the jab.
Somewhere in second round, though, business picked up. Makdessi threw effective double left hand combos followed by over-the-top rights as he picked up the pace, while Pearson, for his part, landed enough to keep Makdessi from fully taking over, most notably throwing a couple wicked body kicks.
And that just turned out to be the appetizer for the thrilling final round. After Makdessi landed an accidental low blow, Pearson came out, pushed forward, and clinched Makdessi along the fence. After they broke, the pace picked up something fierce, and Makdessi began to pull away. Madkessi landed at will, but could never quite put the bloodied Pearson away, who kept pushing forward and kept trying to respond right up until the final horn.
The duo shared a well-earned embrace after leaving it all the cage, and Makdessi paid his respect to his opponent after for the third time in his past four fights.
“I had a feeling this was going to be a very tough fight, I knew a guy like this when I give it to him, he was going to give it back to me.”
Pearson (20-15, 1 NC) has now dropped four of his past five fights.