Joseph Benavidez shuts out Dustin Ortiz in flyweight battle
AUSTIN - Joseph Benavidez may be on the outside looking in when it comes to another title shot in the UFC flyweight division, but he continues to dominate every other contender he faces inside the Octagon.
The latest victim was Roufusport fighter Dustin Ortiz, who was gunning to crack the top five in the division, but instead ran into a buzzsaw as Benavidez was simply too much over the course of three rounds.
From the opening moments of the fight, Benavidez was head hunting with huge punches, each one narrowly missing Ortiz's head on a few occasions. In the second round, Benavidez connected flush with a left high kick to the head, but Ortiz ate it and defended well enough to clear the cobwebs and kept going.
The third round saw Benavidez slow down just slightly, but he was better in the scrambles and continued to pour on the punches and kicks. Ortiz never backed down and continued to step forward, but he just couldn't deal with the striking or speed from Benavidez.
The scorecards returned a shutout performance for Benavidez who won 30-27 across the board.
The road to the title might go through Benavidez at this point and he's going to be an impossibly tough roadblock for any fighter at 125 pounds.
