Saturday night the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada played host to UFC 216: Ferguson vs. Lee. The third fight of the televised prelim card featured a three round contest between lightweights Bobby Green and Lando Vannata. While both were known as entertaining fighters, few were expecting the symphony of violence the pair put on in this particular affair.
Ultimate Fighter alum Bobby Green entered Saturday on a three fight skid that saw him come up short against Edson Barboza by Decision (unanimous), Dustin Poirier by KO (punches) and his most recent fight against Rashid Magomedov by Decision (split). He stepped into the cage badly needing to right the ship and collect the win over opponent Lando Vannata.
Jackson-Wink fighter Lando Vannata also came into the night after coming up short in a recent outing, in this case at UFC 209 when he dropped a Decision (split) to David Teymur. He was looking to return to form (with a wheel kick perhaps?) and earn the victory over a game Bobby Green.
Bobby Green and Lando Vanatta came to fight boys and girls. This one got off to a slow start with both fighters feeling each other out but the pace on only quickened from there. The first round saw Vannata push the pace, and he was getting the better of Green until Vannata threw a knee to the head of a downed Green. That had the fight stopped and the octagon filled with officials, with a doctor checking on Green.
Thankfully Green was alright to continue, however Vannata had a point deducted by the ref for the illegal knee. This deduction would come back to haunt him later. The following two rounds saw both fighters fire off on each other, as well as seeing Vannata land a pair of take downs. Green popped back to his on both as soon as he hit the mat, depriving Vannata of scoring any additional damage. The same could not be said however for Vannata, whose face was a mask of crimson for the final two rounds of the contest. That certainly showed the success Green had with his powerful jab and combinations. The final minutes of the fight saw both fighters throwing almost wild shots in hopes of landing a staggering blow; Green found success landing a massive combination of shots that almost dropped Vannata as the round came to a end.
Ultimately, despite the point deduction, one judge saw things in favor of Vannata, while a second saw exactly the opposite, giving the fight to Green. With the final judge awarding a 28-28, the fight ended in a draw — and ultimately, it felt like the right decision given the show these two put on.
Bobby Green vs. Lando Vanatta resulted in a draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28)
