The co-main event of last night’s UFC 177 main event featured lightweights Tony Ferguson and Danny Castillo. After three rounds of what was a rugged fight, the judges saw a split decision win for Ferguson to move his record for 16-3. After the fight, Castillo blasted the judges, stating that he had controlled the entire fight from top position when it was on the ground, and that he had gotten through with his boxing. Castillo was befuddled at the judges decision.
Now, I can understand if you bet Castillo, and if you watch his fight, you might be giving him some credit. He did do some things in the match that were solid, and his submission attempt at the buzzer came as a nice surprise, not because it was all that close, but because it caught Ferguson by surprise and forced him to just play defense. But in no way did Castillo win that fight, and he looks bad for saying it.
Ferguson definitely has a long way to go before being considered an elite talent, but he is on the right track. He came forward at Castillo the whole time on the feet, and his striking was more diverse. Castillo was able to use his boxing in the match to slow Ferguson’s advances a bit, but he only slowed Ferguson and never landed a blow that hurt Ferguson or could change the fight. He threw a lot of power punches looking for the KO and he whiffed the whole fight.
And on the ground, let’s be clear: Being on top and controlling without doing anything is not winning the fight. In this case, Ferguson was opening his guard, so Castillo could have tried to pass. Castillo did on occasion, but not enough, as he spent several minutes just laying on top and not throwing a single punch. Meanwhile, Ferguson threw elbows, palmed the head and ears and at least tried to keep the fight moving as much as he could.
The point is, that you need to be looking to improve positions and to try to be working to finish the fight in some way at all times. The minute your offense stalls into just a control position and you are not trying to advance or do damage, now your on your own as far as judging is concerned. Castillo, who is a tough guy who flashed a savvy ground game at the end deep down knows he would be warned for stalling and he should have been stood up.
Perhaps Ferguson touched on it in his post fight interview – the referee in this one did a poor job, as there were no stand ups at all, and maybe there should have been. And that was Herb Dean in there.
