Middleweights Cezar Ferreira and Ian Heinisch faced off tonight (Saturday, November 17, 2018) from inside Parque Roca Arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina, live and free on Fox Sports 1.
Heinisch came out with spastic movement, pumping his front hand as he looked for an opening. He threw up a high kick that Cesar blocked. Ferreira took him down, and Heinisch scooted to the cage and bot back up. He punched his way free of a single-leg and got clear. He stepped in with a left hook. Cezar landed a push kick to the body, then a leg kick. There was a lot of circling. They traded leg kicks, then Ferreira tried to get Ian down with a single-leg, but didn’t get it. Ian jumped guard for a guillotine, which Cezar calmly waited out and took top position. Heinisch tried an armbar, and Cezar stacked him, fending off a deep attempt. Heinisch really cranked on the armbar, going belly-down, but Ferreira spun out of it before the bell.
Cezar clipped Heinisch with a head kick, then shot in to take him down with a double-leg. Heinisch got back up, but Ferreira pulled him away from the cage and got him down again. Heinisch looked for a kimura from the bottom, but Ferreira stayed tight to ward off the attempt. It did help Heinisch get back up, which he promptly did and landed a kick. Ferreira glided in to land a straight left hand. Heinisch got aggressive for a second and looked like he had landed a high kick. He piled up a couple low kicks before Ferreira ducked and drove straight through him, lifting him off the ground for a double-leg takedown. Heinisch got to turtle and back up. The crowd began to boo the lack of action, but Heinisch seemed to clip Cezar with a high kick. He kept trying to blitz the Brazilian, to little success, as Ferreira circled away. The crowd was whistling and booing now when Heinisch dropped Ferreira with an overhand! There wasn’t enough time to finish before the round ended.
Ferreira threw up a high kick and landed a left straight to start the third. He shot in, getting Ian down for a second, but Heinisch got back up immediately. Ferreira held him against the cage until Heinisch reversed him for a moment. They returned to open space. Heinisch was trying to walk Ferreira down but didn’t have the footwork to back him to the cage, and Ferreira kept breaking his rhythm with takedown attempts. Heinisch broke free from one such attempt, ducked a hook and landed a flurry that stunned Cezar against the cage! Heinisch took him down, pinned him against the cage and landed short punches. Ferreira got back up and for a few moments it seemed that Heinisch might find the finish he was hunting for, but then Ferreira reversed him, pinning him up against the cage again. They returned to open space, Heinisch looking for the finish. He tried a single-leg but Ferreira limp-legged out. He was landing slow-motion punches as Heinisch threw even slower punches back at him that all missed, but the fatigue had clearly set in and the bout went to the judges.
Heinisch won a cheer by bursting out in a stream of Spanish thanking the Argentine crowd. He said he felt the arm pop from the armbar attempt in the first round, and told himself he had to dig deep for the win.
Official result: Ian Heinisch def. Cezar Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28x2)
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