Two lightweights in completely different stages of their careers duked it out yesterday (April 6, 2013) as seasoned veteran Ross Pearson took on UFC newcomer Ryan Couture in the co-main event of UFC on Fuel TV 9 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Couture was hoping to build something off his father's tremendous legacy inside the Octagon, but he was thrown to a very hungry wolf in Pearson, who was out for blood and got it.
While the bout was a mismatch on paper, Couture actually held his own in the opening round, working some unorthodox strikes on the outside with leg and side kicks to keep Pearson out of the pocket. When he finally did close the distance, he shot inside looking for a takedown but settled for clinching with "The Real Deal."
In the clinch, Couture repeatedly changed levels hoping to dump The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season nine winner on his keister but he couldn't finish off the takedown attempts and had to settle for the Octagon control and some occasional knees and dirty boxing.
Pearson could not find his range early on, but he did score with a few big strikes right at the end of the frame, which would set up a vicious conclusion to the bout later on.
In round two, Couture continued with his gameplan of taking away Pearson's power with his wrestling and clinch, but Pearson did a better job of fending him off, utilizing a couple elbows on the inside.
Once they started standing and trading, Pearson really turned it on, finally honing in at the proper range and once he realized he could ignore most of Couture's strikes, he was able to get to the proper distance and start landing his powerful punches.
After tagging Couture with a big shot, Pearson smelled blood and unloaded a vicious flurry along the fence, knocking him down with a beautiful left hook. Pearson swarmed with ground and pound until the referee was forced to intervene and that was all she wrote.
For complete UFC on Fuel TV 9 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.