WHO: Myles Jury vs. Mike Ricci
WHAT: UFC 165 Fox Sports 1 preliminary card results
WHERE: Air Canada Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Myles Jury vs. Mike Ricci — Lightweight bout
The TUF alumni dueled on the feet for most of the first with Jury’s more compact release, length and timing allowing him to land more often. Jury cracked Ricci with a clubbing right and closed out the frame pursuing a single-leg with an underhook from the clinch and struggled to complete it while Ricci spiked some short elbows to his head in the process.
The middle stanza was extremely even — Ricci was able to anticipate Jury’s takedowns, which were not forced but also not as smooth as they were earlier, and the striking tempo was balanced on both sides. Ricci seemed to get a better grasp of his timing and Jury still held his own with aggressive fringe strikes and clinch advancements.
Ricci held his ground with an explosive salvo to open the third and Jury went after a takedown; Ricci fought it off tooth and nail for nearly three minutes but Jury clung to him and maintained control, stifling Ricci’s options by threatening to take back mount whenever he tried to peel him off. Ricci was able to reverse position briefly with about a half-minute left but Jury quickly recovered and maintained his unrelenting pressure.
- Myles Jury defeats Mike Ricci by split decision (28-29, 29-28 x 2)
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