evans-nogueira

Former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira engaged in a fairly uneventful three round affair that saw the boxing of Nogueira edge out a unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28 across the board.

After a tentative start and a couple of early kicks by Rashad Evans, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira went to work with his boxing, landing his jab at will. Nogueria then started to follow up with his left hand as he found his target repeatedly. Evans landed a powerful overhand right, then got a late takedown but Nogueira quickly made his way back to his feet as time ticked down on the round.

Nogueira came out stalking in the second, closing the distance and again landing with his lead left. Evans implemented his inside leg kick, but the boxing of Nogueira continued to dictate the pace of the bout. A tentative Evans continued to hand check with Nogueira but failed to put together any kind of multiple punch combinations as the round wore on. Nogueira continued to mix it up, alternating with his stiff jab and lead left hand.

Evans showed a sense of urgency in the third, coming forward and applying pressure to Nogueira, but it was the jab of Nogueira that continued to score as a fairly uneventful final round continued. After a poke to the eye of Nogueria, the action resumed with Nogueira again landing the more significant strikes in the pocket. Evans shot for two late takedowns but failed to get the fight to the mat. A late exchange put an end to a fairly uneventful bout as boos cascaded from the crowd.

With scores of 29-28 on all three cards, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) was declared the winner by unanimous decision. With the loss, Rashad Evans falls to 17-3-1 overall (12-3-1 UFC).

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