Sometimes, things work exactly how you think they will.
Heading into fight night, the general consensus had this fight as a Fight of the Night favorite, and it delivered in every possible way outside of a finish.
The two shared energetic walkouts, dancing like they were on South Beach instead of about to do battle, but once the fight got going, all their energy went into the fight.
Oliveira hit “Platinum” Perry early and often in the first round, but not without absorbing damage himself. “Cowboy” utilized his wide array of skills to rock and bloody Perry and went into the second round with the lead.
Perry landed a counter-left that staggered Oliveira to turn the tide, following that by tossing the Brazillian awkwardly onto the canvas. Perry continued with high pressure, volume and his signature heavy shots, and Oliveira appeared to hurt his toe late in the round. In the final round, Perry opted to go with a patient, counter-focused approach as both men tired.
“(Oliveira’s) gas tank broke like we thought it would,” Perry said. “He went to waiting for it to come back, and that’s when I let loose on him a few too many times for to come back from it. (I) stayed tough, and then my coach was yelling at me, ‘Don’t push the action, and try to stay patient.’ If I moved, I could get the win. I didn’t have to go too crazy and put myself in a dangerous situation, and I’m sorry for the fans that I didn’t push to the end and try for the KO, but I needed that (win).”
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Perry, who moved to 13-4. Oliveira falls to 19-7-1 with 2 NC.
