Both Roger Gracie and Tim Kennedy, two Strikeforce imports, made their respective Octagon debuts at tonight's (Sat., July 6, 2013) UFC 162: "Silva vs. Weidman" pay-per-view (PPV) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Not surprisingly, Gracie attempted to work his submission game after a prolonged battle on the feet. Kennedy struggled to find his range and ended up fending off a couple deep threats.
He found far more success in the second. Not only did Kennedy eschew traditional wisdom and take Gracie down, he managed to work from back control, landing some big punches and doing enough damage to score plenty of points.
They went back-and-forth for the remainder of the round, though Gracie looked more and more tired as the minutes ticked away.
In short, the final frame would be crucial, potentially, in determining a winner.
Both men were tired, enough so that it got ugly in a hurry in the last round. Kennedy wanted to clinch, and while Gracie pushed away a few times, he wasn't able to work his game and ultimately underwhelmed.
That's being nice about it. He landed only 16 punches to 126 from Kennedy.
In the end, Kennedy earned the decision victory by scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28.
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