Another night of action in mixed martial arts, another set of realities to contend with. Former consensus number one flyweight (125lbs) Jussier da Silva was upset last night by former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) bantamweight Ian McCall. You may remember McCall as the lightning quick bantamweight who was guillotined by Charlie Valencia and had his face turned into hamburger by current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. Clearly the drop in weight is helpful for McCall's career.
Jussier Da Silva Upset By Ian McCall At Tachi Palace Fighting 8
Former WEC bantamweight Ian McCall shocked fans as he implemented quick in-and-out footwork with speedy combinations to frustrate consensus #1 flyweight Jussier da Silva in a three-round affair last night. Silva dominated the first round of action on the mat as he brilliantly transitioned to the back and locked in a body triangle in one seamless movement in the early moments, threatening with a rear naked choke for the remainder of the round.
McCall survived and reemerged in the second round with pinpoint accuracy and simple one-two combinations on the feet. Silva's lack of diversity was apparent as the fight dragged on. Unable to produce any meaningful offense standing toe-to-toe with McCall, Silva resorted to desperate takedown attempts that McCall shrugged off with ease. As the third round came to a close, the body of work that McCall had produced over the final two rounds made it a no-brainer for the judges. McCall defeated Silva across the board, 29-28, and upset the #1 flyweight in the world.
In other action, flyweight champion Ulysses Gomez was badly beaten and lost his title to as Darrell Montague.
All of this is further evidence that while dropping weight classes isn’t a cure-all for career failure. Yet, as fighters more naturally settle into emerging weight classes, the strength of those divisions will only increase. Featherweight and below have quite a long way to go.
Photo credit: Sherdog.com
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