The co-main event of UFC Fight Night 72 between Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson and Evan Dunham has all of the qualities of fight of the night showing. The showdown is a tale of two fighters looking to working their way back into the rankings after each experiencing their own career setbacks.

The UK’s own Ross Pearson fighting out of Sunderland, England has become known through his career for his crisp boxing, sublime movement and face paced fights. Fighting out of Alliance MMA, the 30 year old has slipped and ripped his way to 17 wins in his 26 outings, with 7 KO/TKO finishes. Winner of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom, Ross has become a fan favourite with memorable battles earning him multiple post-fight bonuses in his 14 UFC outings.

The Englishman has struggled to remain consistent going 2-2-1 in his last 5 with his loss to Al Iaquinta snapping what informally should be considered a win streak after the bizarreness that was the split decision loss to Diego Sanchez that saw Pearson scored 30-27 by 13 out of 14 media members and 29-28 by the other. His most recent outing saw him quite literally beat UFC veteran Sam Stout to the punch knocking Stout out whilst duelling trademark left hooks. Pearson is looking to chain some wins together this Saturday in arguably the most stacked division with a win over a consistently game opponent in Evan Dunham.

Once touted as the next prospect to watch, America’s Evan Dunham is 2-3 in his last 5 outings being finished twice in that span. Following a stellar 11-0 beginning to his career with 6 finishes by submission, Dunham faltered in his next 10 going 4-6 with the only finish to his credit coming from a doctor’s decision between rounds. Training under Robert Drysdale, Dunham has four post-fight bonuses to his credit so a tip of the hat to UFC match-maker Joe Silva for this pairing as it really is a gift to the fans.
The 33 year old might be afforded a little clemency in our eyes however as two of the recent losses come from some of the cream of the crop in the lightweight division, a close battle with current champion Rafael Dos Anjos and submission loss to everyone’s favourite number one contender Donald Cerrone, both 9-1 in their last 10. It seems like the problem Evan has is that he is a little too confident in his ability to take a punch to gain ground and that mind set simply isn’t kosher at the highest level.
The first dan BJJ black-belt looks to build from his decision victory over Rodrigo Damm and much like Pearson, re-establish his position within the division by breaking into the top 15. The stakes have been set for both men to show the MMA world that they aren’t done yet.

These two match up explosively with neither of them giving much ground and both liking to fling leather, Ross likes to control the distance, box in volume and wear his opponent down while Evan likes to pressure forward, clinch and mix things up a lot more with takedowns thrown in for good measure.

Ross’s game plan seems to be relatively unchanged in his last few bouts, crisp striking with an almost too predictable affinity for utilising his head movement to set up his counter left and there isn’t much to suggest something different in this one. It’s doubtful that Evan will mix things up too much either. Expect characteristic aggression, a reliance on his durability and an attempt to (as cliché as it sounds) drag this into an ugly brawl and perhaps trying to sap Ross on the fence.

A noticeable difference between these two is the skills on the ground, although Ross hasn’t been submitted in five years, he hasn’t fought anyone with Dunham’s credentials on the ground and certainly not anyone willing to forgo a slug fest to utilise them anyhow. It is worth noting that in a pre-fight interview Evan stated that Ross was one dimensional – perhaps an insight into his game plan for this fight? Ross has training partners such as Phil Davis, Dominick Cruz and Michael Chandler in his camp so perhaps this strategy wouldn’t be as fruitful as Evan thinks.

Another cause for concern for the English fans is the fact that Ross seems to be stunned much more easily recently than we’ve seen before, being rocked in the Stout fight early and finished by strikes for only the second time in eight years against Al Iaquinta. Technical striking works best when your opponent is trying to play that game or is running scared, but Evan will try to walk through this style as he has done before on several occasions.

This is a truly brilliant match up as Ross could KO Evan in a clean fashion, Evan could KO Ross in an ugly fashion or who knows – maybe a submission from left field for Dunham.
I’m going with Ross by decision however, I believe Dunham will endure but could be looking at the downslope of his career, Ross will fight smart and in the end the real winners are us: the fans.

Prediction: Ross Pearson via unanimous decision


AUTHOR:

JACK SEAR

MANAGING EDITOR

This scrambley Verne Troyer look-alike spends his days down in South London working in the cloud. At night you can usually find this critter on the mats, doing his best to emulate Masakazu Imanari.

Comments