Calgary’s Nick Ring started out strong against Caio Magalhaes, but faded late and lost a unanimous decision on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 33 in Brisbane, Australia.
Ring looked on point in the opening round, landing 21 significant strikes, including several hard knees from the clinch. He connected on 30 of 51 total strike attempts–good for 67 per cent–in the opening frame but landed just nine significant strikes in the final two rounds combined.
Midway through the second round, Ring appeared to fatigue and Magalhaes was able to control the action for the remainder of the fight.
After the fight, Ring stated he suffered an injury that led to his decline.
“Unfortunate result for me in today’s performance. I felt good in the fight until the 2nd round when I tore my ACL and my meniscus,” Ring wrote on his Facebook page. “From that point on I had to fight to keep it on the ground rather than risk being on my feet. Sorry to my fans and to my loved ones for letting you down…but I’m glad I fought to the end of the match.”
Ring (13-3) has now lost two straight fights and three of his last four.
Magalhaes, meanwhile, improved to 7-1 with the win–his second straight in 2013.
Takeya Mizugaki and Nam Phan put on a show in front of the fans at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre as the two bantamweights landed a combined 259 strikes. Mizugaki won a unanimous decision for his fourth straight win in the UFC.
In the first fight of the night, Tristar Gym’s Alex Garcia picked up a huge knockout win in his UFC debut. Garcia landed an uppercut that dropped Ben Wall just 43 seconds into the first round.
Also on the preliminary card, 21-year-old Justin Scoggins was victorious in his UFC debut, finishing Richie Vaculik with strikes in the first round, though the stoppage was viewed as somewhat controversial.
With just 17 seconds remaining in the first round the referee stepped in to stop the bout as Scoggins was in back mount landing punches. Vaculik protested the stoppage immediately and the crowd booed but to no avail.
Scoggins improved to 8-0, while Vaculik dropped to 9-2.
“I can’t put it into words,” Scoggins said of his win. “When I was three years old I decided I was going to make martial arts my career and I haven’t looked back.”
Plus, Poland’s Krzysztof Jotko improved to 14-0 as a pro after winning a unanimous decision over Brazilian Bruno Santos in a middleweight bout.
