UFC heavyweights Don’Tale Mayes and Thomas Petersen battled to make some headway in a wide-open heavyweight division at UFC Des Moines on Saturday night.
Petersen (9-3) was coming off a loss to Shamil Gaziev in February which put him at 1-2 in his UFC run so far. His roster spot wasn’t likely on the line given how light the heavyweight division has been lately, but he certainly couldn’t afford a second consecutive loss at the hands of Mayes.
Mayes (11-8) definitely needed a win over Petersen as he came in on a two-fight losing skid. Losses to Valter Walker and Gaziev did him no favors setting him back to 4-6 in his run with the promotion thus far.
Round 1 Petersen came out with a pace that Mayes felt right away. Petersen threw strikes and then shot right into a takedown which he got rather easily. Mayes worked to get back to his feet, but Petersen was all over him on the fence.
Mayes was able to get up, twice in fact, but got taken down twice as well. Petersen showed up with his wrestling intact for sure. Petersen worked elbows in side control before scooting up looking for the arm triangle which Mayes saw coming, but got stuck in anyway.
Mayes defended it momentarily, but then got stuck in it again. He was able to get out of the submission, but couldn’t get Petersen off him and finished the round on his back.
Round 2 Petersen wasted no time getting Mayes back down to the canvas and scored the takedown with 4:30 left in the round. Obviously not a great look for Mayes who had every problem possible dealing with the wrestling in the first round. Mayes was able to use raw strength to get back to his feet, but Petersen owned the positions.
Petersen worked elbows and damage from top position and Mayes just couldn’t do much against it. Petersen seemingly could do anything he wanted but finish Mayes in this spot.
Round 3 Petersen came out and landed a big left hand, Mayes threw a hail mary flying knee, but ended up on the ground anyway. Tough spot to be in given how he’s been dominated all fight. Fight ended with Petersen on top landing shots on Mayes and went to the score cards.
Official Result: Thomas Petersen def. Don’Tale Mayes via Unanimous Decision (29-25, 29-26×2)
