Diego Ferreira may be knocking on the door of the lightweight top-15 rankings after picking up arguably the biggest win of his UFC career on Saturday.
The Brazilian, who trains in south Texas, used an aggressive striking attack coupled with a non-stop pace to get the better of Mairbek Taisumov time and time again over three rounds. In the end, Ferreira got the win with the judges scoring the fight 29-28, 29-27 and 29-27 all in his favor.
“I felt good coming here inside the Octagon, all these people here in Abu Dhabi, I need to put on a bad ass show for everyone,” Ferreira said after the win.
Ferreira was unbelievably active throughout the entire fight, aggressively pressing forward and going after Taisumov with a variety of strikes.
Taisumov countered with several thudding kicks to the legs as well as one stinging uppercut midway through the round that definitely caught Ferreira’s attention.
In between rounds, Ferreira’s corned asked him to keep up the pressure, which led to the Brazilian opening up with more offense that kept Taisumov on his heels. Ferreira was busier while Taisumov was looking for the power shot to try and turn the tide in his favor.
Each passing minute seemed to drain Taisumov’s gas tank with temperatures inside the arena hitting over 120 degrees. Seeing his opponent slow down even in the slightest had Ferreira getting even more active as he was constantly moving forward on the Russian.
Ferreira continued to tag Taisumov at will throughout the final round including a blistering head kick that brought the crowd in Abu Dhabi alive. The combinations kept coming in succession with Taisumov then showing the ill effects with a busted nose that began leaking blood down his face.
THIS KICK! #UFC242 pic.twitter.com/YuXMIJttRF
— UFC (@ufc) September 7, 2019
The relentless pace, accurate striking and superior conditioning all paid off for Ferreira, who notches his fifth win in a row with the victory at UFC 242 while stopping Taisumov’s six-fight win streak. The victory also puts Ferreira on the right path to potentially face a ranked opponent in his next outing as he continues to look better and better with each performance with his last loss coming all the way back in 2015.