UFC on FOX 25 results from last night: Darren Elkins vs Dennis Bermudez fight recap

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight wrestle-boxers Darren Elkins and Dennis Bermudez collided last night (Sat., July 22, 2017) at UFC on FOX 25 inside Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Bermudez has hit a hard ceiling at 145 pounds, getting stopped by a trio of the division’s best. On the bright side, Bermudez has tooled some non-elite fighters and carved out a nice position for himself in the Top 10. Meanwhile, most thought the book was written on Elkins. However, a career renaissance in the form of four-straight wins and a legendary comeback knockout opened the doors for him, giving him a real opportunity to jump into the title mix with a win.

Elkins opened with a sharp counter and good right hand, but Bermudez went to work with some nasty low kicks. Elkins capitalized on a slip from his opponent to grab a front head lock and take the back. Bermudez scrambled to his feet, but he was controlled for some time before finally breaking free.

It didn’t take long for Elkins to time another counter takedown. This time, he secured the back mount, locking in a body triangle. Bermudez was able to scramble out of the position, but he simple couldn’t keep Elkins off him for long.

Elkins’ wrestling in the opening frame was really impressive.

Bermudez opened with a lot of aggression in the second round, but he was a bit wild and missed a fair amount. Still, he kept Elkins on the defensive a bit, which helped him stop the takedown attempts of his opponent. Nevertheless, both men were landing at a solid rate in a pretty violent fight.

Bermudez scored a nice double leg at about the halfway point in the round, but he was unable to hold his foe down. The pair exchanged a lot in the clinch along the fence, trading both strikes and takedowns. Eventually, Elkins used a a guillotine choke to reverse his opponent to the mat, which soon brought him to his opponent’s back briefly once more.

All in all, it was an extremely close round.

Bermudez put on the pressure to begin the third round, walking his man into the fence and scoring well. However, Elkins didn’t absorb all that much damage, and the fight soon moved back into the clinch.

Both on the clinch and on the feet, the fighters exchanged at a high rate. They were clearly feeling the previous two rounds, but that didn’t stop them from getting after it anyway. While it was still a close enough round, Bermudez’s pressure and volume punching likely scored him the final frame.

At the end of 15 closely contested minutes, two of the three judges awarded the decision to Darren Elkins.

This was an incredibly close bout. It all came down to the second round, which had a real momentum shift at about the midway point. Bermudez was landing good shots, but Elkins was scoring as well, and those late takedowns likely sealed the bout in his favor.

Elkins just doesn’t stop. His opponent had a significant speed advantage, but Elkins countered that early by striking in the clinch — Elkins landed some bombs on the break — and slipping shots into takedowns. Once in on his shot, Elkins made it very difficult for Bermudez to escape his grasp.

The middle and deciding round was damn close, and an argument could be made for either man. However, Elkins was the one pushing the pace hardest in that round and finished on top.

Sometimes, that’s enough.

As for Bermudez, he faced a difficult opponent and performed admirably. Elkins is never an easy fight, and Bermudez fell into many of his traps early. As the fight wore on, Bermudez did a fantastic job of adjusting and punching himself into the clinch less often. He also abandoned shooting for takedowns, which got him reversed more often than they succeeded.

It was a smarter showing than usual, and it was almost enough.

For complete UFC on FOX 25: “Weidman vs Gastelum” results and play-by-play, click HERE!