In the second fight from UFC 148 on FX, the American,
Costa Philippou took on the Japanese star, Riki Fukuda. Philippou
had won three straight coming into the fight after losing to Nick Catone at
UFC 128, while Fukuda
came in a victor in his last fight after losing to Nick Ring in his UFC
debut.
First Round
The first minute of the round was mostly uneventful as
Fukuda used kids to try to keep Philippou on the outside. Fukuda quickly shot
for a takedown and worked at taking the former boxer down. Philippou fought
back and never went down. Once separated, Philippou started to find his stride
and connected with solid strikes to the face. With about a minute left,
Philippou seemed to really get comfortable inside the Octagon and finished the
round with some more strikes.
My Scorecard: Philippou,
10-9
Second Round
As the round went on, Philippou began to slow a bit as
Fukuda began to be more offensive. Fukuda used his kicks to keep Philippou
away, which seemed to be a strategy that worked for the Japanese fighter. As
the round ended, Fukuda and Philippou began exchanging strikes.
My Scorecard: Philippou,
10-9
Third Round
The round began with both fighters looking tired. They
circled around each other with the occasional strike thrown. With two minutes
left in the round, Philippou got poked in the eye and was in a tremendous
amount of pain. He continued the fight and came at Fukuda with a newfound
aggression and demeanor. In the final 10 seconds, Philippou used his striking advantage
to attack Fukuda.
My Scorecard:
Philippou, 10-9 and 30-27 overall
Official Decision:
Unanimous Decision (30-27x2, 29-28) for Costa Philippou
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