UFC 256: Charles Oliveira Dominates Tony Ferguson

Tony Ferguson kept battling until the final horn, but ‘El Cucuy’ was decisively, outgunned by the grappling of Charles Oliveira tonight.

Round one

Oliveira fired several kicks to begin the fight. Oliveira followed up with a flurry but Ferguson countered with a spinning back-fist. Both men winged big shots, but Oliveira clinched up, and slammed him to the floor. Moments later, Oliveira moved into mount. Oliveira miantained the top position for a little while, as Ferguson tried to wrap him up. ‘Do Bronx’ landed a few shots from above. Right before the round, Oliveira rolled into an armbar. Ferguson could be heard grunting and arm appeared to hyper-extend, but he didn’t tap. Wow.

Round two

To begin the round, Ferguson wasn’t throwing his left arm. Oliveira caught a kick and swept Ferguson to the floor. Oliveira incurred a cut and moments later, he took an upkick from Ferguson. The action was momentarily stopped as a result.

‘Do Bronx’ fired down from punches from above, as Ferguson appeared to be hunting for a leg. Oliveira continued to work from above with punches and knees to the body. Ferguson started looking for a choke from below, before the round ended.

Round three

Ferguson almost certainly needed a stoppage heading into round three. Ferguson pressured to begin the frame, but once again, Oliveira took him down after defending a kick. Oliveira moved into sidemount, and then mount moments later. Oliveira proceeded to roll into a triangle-choke but ‘El Cucuy’ defended. Wow. Ferguson looked for a D’Arce but Oliveira saw it coming.

Ferguson almost worked his way up and out, but Oliveira retained control from the top. Oliveira landed some shots from above before the round ended. Dominant performance by Oliveira.

Oliveira was awarded the fight by all three judges by scores of 30-26.

UFC 256 results

Here are the results so far for UFC 256, which is taking place at the Apex Facility in Las Vegas.

Charles Oliveira def. Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

Mackenzie Dern def. Virna Jandiroba via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Kevin Holland def. Ronaldo Souza via KO (punches) R1, 1:45

Ciryl Gane def, Junior dos Santos via TKO (elbow and punches) R2, 2:34

Cub Swanson def. Daniel Pineda via knockout (punches) R2, 1:52

Rafael Fiziev def. Renato Moicano via knockout (punches) R1, 4:05

Gavin Tucker def. Billy Quarantillo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Tecia Torres def. Sam Hughes via TKO (doctor stoppage) R1, 5:00

Chase Hooper def. Peter Barrett via submission (heel hook) R3, 3:02