A somewhat passive Anthony Pettis failed to clearly out-work Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night 81, and as a result dropped a somewhat devastating split decision to the former Bellator Lightweight Champion.
Alvarez’s strategy was clear from the outset, as he wanted to clinch and grind Pettis at the cage in attempts to bring him down, and it was something he went to time and time again. Pettis stuffed most every attempt in the first round, and seemed to have done more damage striking, and he continued to out-strike Alvarez in the second.
Regardless of the first two rounds, Pettis came out in the third with several significant striking combinations, busting Alvarez up and doing significant damage. However, he let himself get backed up to the cage and again taken down. Alvarez would grind for the next several minutes, planting Pettis another time or two without doing much else offensively.
It was a completely disappointing fight all around, and far from the action-packed matchup many hoped to see. Alvarez was content with his strategy, and Pettis failed to properly adjust, sending the former UFC Lightweight Champion further down the ladder with his second straight loss. Alvarez, even in his second straight victory over a former major organization’s lightweight champion, also failed to impress to the point he’ll be seen as a title contender in his next outing.
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