Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight standouts Anthony Pettis and Eddie Alvarez dueled last night (Jan. 17, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 81 inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Coming off a dominant loss to Rafael dos Anjos that cost him the title, Pettis entered last night's bout in a must-win situation. In order to get right back in the title picture, Pettis needed to make a statement.
Meanwhile, Alvarez was still looking to figure out his place in the UFC. If he managed to top the former champion, Alvarez would certainly be in the immediate title picture.
After a few brief moments, Alvarez dove in for a double leg takedown and briefly landed it. Pettis worked his way back to his feet, but Alvarez stuck to him along the fence for another couple minutes and briefly scored another takedown.
With about two minutes remaining, Pettis managed to create some separation. Alvarez was able to close the distance again briefly, but Pettis was nonetheless able to score with some hard body kicks before the end of the round.
While Alvarez likely won the first round, he also exhausted a ton of energy trying to take his opponent down.
Alvarez landed some nice right hands and kicks to start the round before closing the distance once more. This time, however, Pettis was able to separate much more quickly.
On the outside, Alvarez was actually doing fairly well, as he used level change feints to score with punches and some kicks as well. That said, Pettis was landing powerful kicks whenever he threw them, as Alvarez's body and legs were open much of the time.
Overall, it was a very close round.
Pettis started the round quite well, landing hard counter shots and combinations on the Philadelphia-native. However, a moment of lazy takedown defense from Pettis allowed Alvarez to score with his first full takedown of the fight, as he actually controlled from top position.
On top, Alvarez worked to pass guard and landed some decent ground strikes on his opponent. Pettis managed to work back up to his feet a couple of times, but Alvarez stuck to him like glue and continued to drag him back to the mat. Pettis managed to escape his opponent's grasp with about 45 seconds remaining, but he was exhausted and neither man took control of the ensuing exchanges.
Ultimately, Alvarez's pressure and heart earned him the decision victory.
Alvarez put on a very smart and gutsy performance. He recognized that pressure is key to defeating "Showtime," and he adjusted his game accordingly. It wasn't pretty in the least, but Alvarez earned a very tough victory over the former champion.
While the blue print to defeating Pettis is well-known, Alvarez did an excellent job of adapting during the fight. In the first round, Alvarez relied entirely on takedowns, and it cost him physically. Simply put, just grinding for takedowns without any success is insanely demanding, and it was slowing Alvarez down.
Instead of trying to return to that exact part of the game plan -- which likely would've gotten Alvarez caught by a hard counter punch or submission -- Alvarez worked level change feints into his boxing and forced Pettis to respect his hands. Though he lost the second round, it allowed him to recover some energy and set up his third round rally.
Of course, a ton of heart didn't hurt either.
This is likely the biggest win of Alvarez's career. He just defeated the former champion of the world, and he's undoubtedly an elite lightweight. Next up for Alvarez should be a number one contender's bout with Tony Ferguson, as both men are closing in on a title shot.
Pettis showed some improvement, but it unfortunately was not enough. His takedown defense was pretty solid overall, but Pettis simply lacks the wrestler's mentality at times. When in scrambles, he occasionally concedes position and lets his opponent settle into top control or strong position.
Once that happens, Pettis is in a miserable spot and is forced to expend lots of energy to get back to a neutral spot.
While Pettis' kickboxing looked as deadly as ever, he failed to really take advantage of his kicks. Each time Pettis whipped out a hard kick to the body or legs, it landed clean. Rather than use this to rip apart Alvarez's foundation -- a la Donald Cerrone -- Pettis spent a lot of time looking for counter punches and trying to knock out Alvarez.
If he had set out to systematically break his opponent down, the finish may have come on its own.
Last night, Eddie Alvarez wore down Anthony Pettis in a close battle. Can Alvarez make his way to the UFC title?
For complete UFC Fight Night 81 "Dillashaw vs Cruz" results and play-by-play, click HERE!