William Gomis nearly saw his victory slip away after a late submission attempt from Jarno Errens nearly caught him slipping but the French featherweight managed to escape to survive and win a majority decision at UFC Paris.
Throughout the three rounds, Gomis displayed strong wrestling and good ground control. Errens never gained any momentum. Errens tried to choke Gomis with a Hail Mary triangle choke, but it looked very tight. Gomis held firm and waited until the end.
” “It was really, very complicated.” Gomis stated about the submission. He had the triangle, but I then heard the noise from the crowd. I would rather die than abandon .”
The judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28 , with Gomis winning. A 29-29 scoring card also indicates that at least one judge gave out an 10-10 round.
Prior to the decision being read, the featherweights initially settled into a rhythm in the opening round with Gomis sticking with a technical striking attack while Errens was uncorking some unorthodox moves to try and catch him by surprise. A battle from the clinch eventually led to Gomis landing a well-timed throw that put Errens on his back with his head pressed against the cage.
After the fight worked back to the feet, Gomis cracked Errens with a body kick that landed with a thud as he started to get more comfortable unleashing his best strikes after fighting off any jitters from his octagon debut. Errens counterpunched Gomis just as it seemed that he was going to take over.
Rather than risking another potentially dangerous exchange, Gomis chose to bring the fight down to the ground and Errens was forced to play defense rather than offensive on his feet. Although Errens did manage a quick reversal of the situation, it was short-lived as Gomis quickly got out of his position and regained control.
The strength advantage was apparent for Gomis, who was able to overpower Errens in almost every situation where the fighters were battling for position, especially where grappling was concerned. The fight looked almost over when Errens attempted a last-ditch triangle choke, but Gomis managed to free himself just in time.
Gomis was surrounded by a large crowd and celebrated his performance as he moved to 1-0 at the UFC, extending his win streak to nine consecutive fights.
This website uses cookies.