Joseph Benavidez wins decision over Zach Makovsky
Joseph Benavidez started and finished strong to earn a unanimous decision victory over Zach Makovsky in a flyweight contender's bout Saturday at UFC Fight Night as he improved his win streak to five and his overall record to 24-4. Scores were 30-27, and 29-28 (twice) in favor of Benavidez.
The first round saw Benavidez throw strikes on the feet in quick combination, landing more than a few, while Makovsky lagged a bit behind, looking to counter. Makovsky briefly threatened several times with takedown attempts, but Benavidez was always able to defend or get right back up to his feet.
However, the round ended with Makovsky slamming the former title challenger to the mat and then working to take his back, against the cage.
In the second, Makovsky continued to look for takedowns and scored with two consecutive drops, two minutes in. Still, Benavidez managed to pop right up.
Makovsky stayed with his disciplined approach, however, and continued to ground Benavidez and keep him on the defensive for the remainder of the round. Near the end of the period, Makovsky once again took Benavidez down and worked to take his back.
In the final round, Benavidez had much more success defending takedowns and did a great job of working off the cage when pressed there. He also used quick stance changes to be elusive and scored with a big left hand in the second half of the stanza.
"I felt like I was just getting going and all of the sudden the fight was over ... you can't stop me for 15 minutes, you can only hope to contain me," he said, afterwards.
"Once I got his timing down and took that away from him, I felt like I dominated the third round."
Makovsky's loss is his third in his previous four fights. The wrestler's record dips to 19-7 after the close defeat.
