UFC Fight Night 99 results: Artem Lobov hammers, decisions Teruto Ishihara in Belfast

Featherweight standouts Teruto Ishihara and Artem Lobov kicked off UFC Fight Night 99’s main card on Fight Pass this afternoon (Sat., Nov. 19, 2016) from inside The SSE Arena in Belfast, northern Ireland. Ishihara and Lobov exchanged a lot of words in the lead up to this one, including Teruto saying he would cut Lobov’s throat with his katana (after hitting on the reporter) and Lobov saying that he would make Ishihara his bitch.

Teruto was loose and confident on his way out to the cage. Lobov was calm and composed. Ringside announcer Dan Hardy mentions that Lobov had a career in finance before his mixed martial arts (MMA) career ... an interesting tidbit. Conor McGregor applauded his entrance to the cage, face focused to watch his teammate. Ishihara got some boos, Lobov a loud swell of support as they were announced.

When the fight began, Ishihara opened with a kick that missed and slipped momentarily. Lobov cautiously began walking him down, missing with an overhand. They traded rear straights to the body. Ishihara lunged with a long left, missed, angled out. Ishihara landed another rear straight to the gut. Lobov landed a right hand, Teruto took him off his feet with a double-leg, but never established control. Lobov landed a right overhand. Lobov likes a low kick to overhand vis-a-vis vintage Dan Henderson. Ishihara was landing quite a few kicks. Lobov staggered Teruto twice, knocking him back into the fence with right hands. Teruto smiled but Artem had the better of the exchanges.

Round two opened with more kicks from Ishihara. Lobov countered several of his kicks with powerful right hands. He waded forward and an uppercut landed for him. Ishihara switched stances, landing an overhand left. Lobov hit a spinning back kick, then an uppercut and a leg kick. Ishihara began to slow. He kept looking for that overhand left. They traded punches. Ishihara got turned all the way around from a leg kick. Lobov hit another left hand. Lobov landed a nice left hand then swarmed Ishihara in the last 10 seconds.

The third round began with Teruto attempting to stick and move. He kept throwing inside low kicks. Lobov stepped in with a right hook and then nailed the Japanese fighter with a left hand. He started to connect on his punches. Lobov had been controlling the center of the cage most of the fight. Ishihara rocked Lobov, who dropped to the ground. Ishihara jumped into his guard, trying to rain down shots. Lobov grabbed a footlock, forcing a scramble back to the feet. They looked tired as they traded hands, then Lobov takes top position off a half-hearted Ishihara shot. Teruto returned to his feet. They both looked tired. Lobov connected on a few shots, then pushed into the clinch. He got behind and shucked Teruto to the floor, taking his back and then mount as the round ends. Despite the knockdown, that’s probably a clean sweep for Artem Lobov.

McGregor jumped into the cage, raising Lobov’s hands. After the ring announcer read the scorecards — all of which favored Lobov (30-27x2, 29-28) — he simply shouted, “The Hammer is back! No more to say!”

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