Junior Dos Santos Defeats Ben Rothwell in UFC Fight Night: Zagreb

By JM “Shade” Daguio

UFC Fight Night Zagreb capped off the night with an impressive win by Junior Dos Santos. In my previous article, I emphasized that Dos Santos cannot be lured into a brawl against Rothwell, he should become a sniper and fight from the outside and that he should not head hunt, he should use his range, footwork and feints. Dos Santos fought the perfect fight, following the gameplan to the tee with surgical precision en route to a unanimous decision (50-45, all three judges).

Rothwell though, came in with momentum on his side with his streak but it seems Rothwell was confused with Dos Santos’ frequent feints and weave, he was constantly caught off-guard and cannot set up a string of combos as Dos Santos was constantly moving. Rothwell tried to smother and land some big shots which some landed but Dos Santos held on impressively as Rothwell fades into the rounds, Dos Santos however looked like he was going to go on forever, even during the championship rounds Dos Santos was still fresh, still throwing the same volume of punches against his foe with great accuracy and power. By the end of the fight Rothwell was a mess and Dos Santos was all smiles.

With this win Dos Santos improves to 18-4 and may move up in the rankings which also would give him an opportunity to fight a top-3 fighter.

For Rothwell, it’s his first loss after winning 4 straight, he will have to tweak his gameplan for his future fights since Dos Santos was constantly moving and Rothwell failed miserably to trap or cut Dos Santos’ movement, he visibly got winded after a few body shots but it’s not a huge setback, it was more of a tactical mistake than physical superiority, Dos Santos was obviously wary of Rothwell’s power but to Dos Santos’ credit it was a great showcase of gameplan and skill, Rothwell should know well to adapt and counter sophisticated gameplans and techniques if he ever wants to get the title anytime soon.

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