Francisco Rivera was tonight (Sat., July 30, 2016) looking to avoid the dreaded three-fight losing skid when he took on Erik Perez at UFC 201 inside Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. But, the veteran Bantamweight couldn't get it done against "Goyito" despite leaving everything -- including about a pint of blood -- inside the Octagon.
Rivera got the action started with a nice, hard left hand that momentarily stopped Perez's constant movement. He landed it again, but once again, it didn't seems to slow down Perez, who was bouncing around looking for an opening. Rivera landed a nice low kick, then straight rand as Perez struggled early to get anything going. Rivera threw a kick, which Perez caught and used to land a few hard shots as he struggled to break free. Perez attempted a takedown, but Rivera defended well against the fence before the pair returned to the center of the Octagon. Rivera landed a nice combination, but Perez clipped him with a right hand that seemed to stun Rivera. Both fighters exchanged a pair of shots that missed just as the horn blared to end the first round.
Perez got the action started in the second with an inside leg kick that swept Rivera off his feet. He continued with his legs, looking to land something significant on Rivera but coming up short. Rivera stuffed a takedown, then tossed Perez into the cage as he landed a few nice shots on the break along the fence. Rivera, though, somehow came out of the exchange with a cut on the right side of his head -- perhaps from a spinning punch on the break -- that streamed down his face. Rivera landed a nice combination with one minute remaining in the round and Perez fired back with an assortment of his own. Perez was then able to land a takedown as the round came to a close, landing a few shots to the belly before heading back to their corners.
Coming out for the third round, it was clear that Rivera was going to go for broke, winging wild punches as Perez was more than happy to oblige. After about 30 insane seconds, Rivera had to take a knee after going totally berserk. Perez was able to get him on the ground and work him over at the bottom of the fence. Rivera's head wound left a thick pool of blood on the canvas as he had no energy to get back to his feet. Perez tenderized his ribs for a full two minutes as Rivera used every ounce of energy just to get into a sitting position. Perez, though, was not going to let him up easy, pinning Rivera to the fence and working over his body. With 15 seconds remaining. Rivera was finally able to get back to his feet, but it was not enough time to score a Hail Mary finish.
On the contrary, Perez out-conditioned Rivera, avoided getting hit with a wild haymaker and grinded his way to a very important victory, his second straight inside the Octagon.
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