By virtue of being the aggressor, TUF star Andrew Sanchez was able to pull off a unanimous decision win over Markus Perez at UFC Lincoln.
UFC Fight Night 135, or UFC Lincoln, went down Saturday night from the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. The second fight of the FS2 preliminary card (Fight Network in Canada) featured a meeting between middleweights Andrew Sanchez and Markus Perez in a scheduled three round contest. In the end, it went all three.
Perez opened with high kick that missed the mark, while Sanchez pressed forward with a combination. Perez answered with a hard low kick followed by another to the body. Sanchez moved forward and was pushed back by another body kick from Perez. Sanchez fired back with his own leg kick then moved to press Perez into the fence. Both fighter worked inside the clinch for position. Sanchez spun to take the back of Perez, but Perez was quick to defend and returned to working for position in the clinch. Perez later got a hold of Sanchez’s arm and looked to go for a throw, but that was defended. Back to the middle of the octagon the two went, exchanging then returning to their previous position against the fence before breaking. Perez fired a glancing spin kick that just beat the horn to end the round.
Both men were quick to exchange as the round opened, with both just missing the mark until Perez landed a big left that forced Sanchez to back up. He quickly recovered and started to press Perez once again until Perez tagged him once more. Sanchez got right back to pressuring Perez, but Perez moved in and out well. Sanchez then caught Perez in an awkward position that sent both men into the fence, then scrabbled back to center where Sanchez landed a strong elbow. TUF alum Sanchez continued to apply the pressure with Perez backed into the fence, but Perez broke free only to be cornered again and clipped by Sanchez. Sanchez continued to grind out Perez against the fence and landed the take down just as the round came to a close.
Sanchez opened with right straight over the top that just missed the mark and Perez was quick to counter. Sanchez continued to press and was clipped again with a right by Perez. Sanchez fight back with his own right that caused Perez to explode forward with a flurry of shots punctuated by a spinning elbow. Sanchez found the clinch and weathered the storm and again went to pressing action on Perez. Against the fence Sanchez worked himself onto the back of his opponent, and almost got the take down. Perez spun around and the two worked to a stalemate, til the ref stepped in to separate them. Back in center Perez looked to press the action and Sanchez answered with a high kick. Perez pressed forward and the two exchanged with Perez landing a final body kick to end the round.
On the judge’s scorecards, it was Sanchez taking the clean sweep, 29-28 across the board.
Andrew Sanchez def. Markus Perez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
