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Ricardo Lamas reclaims place among featherweight elite by finishing Dennis Bermudez
Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ricardo Lamas reclaims place among featherweight elite by finishing Dennis Bermudez

Published Nov. 15, 2014 11:49 p.m. ET

 

All the talk this week was about how Dennis Bermdudez was a dark horse contender for the UFC featherweight title. Ricardo Lamas ruined the coming out party.

Lamas dropped Bermudez with a power jab in the first round and jumped on a guillotine. Bermudez tapped out at 3:38 and just like that the prospect's seven-fight winning streak was snapped at UFC 180 on Saturday night at Arena Ciudad de Mexico.

Lamas (15-3) remains underrated despite being the No. 1 contender and falling to Jose Aldo back in February. But he left no doubt Saturday night that he's still one of the best 145-pounders in the UFC. Lamas came in ranked No. 4 among featherweight contenders and he more than fulfilled that label. It might be tough for him to get another fight against Aldo, but he's won two straight now and kind of played spoiler in this bout.

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This fight was also extremely meaningful to Lamas, because his mother is from Mexico. He got a hero's welcome this week from the fans, who he is able to speak to in fluent Spanish.

"Hey Dana, make sure that bonus is in dollars, not pesos, baby," Lamas said, referring to UFC president Dana White afterward.

Bermudez (14-4) was thought to be right there in the division, behind the likes of Cub Swanson, Frankie Edgar and Conor McGregor. The 27-year-old is an excellent wrestler and a better athlete, but he ran into a more experienced, seasoned fighter in Mexico.

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