UFC News: Stevie Ray mounts late comeback to defeat Michael Johnson in exciting co-main event
Stevie Ray made a sensational comeback to steal the spotlight from Michael Johnson's return to the lightweight division by pipping him to a unanimous decision victory in what was a tightly contested back and forth encounter in the co-headliner of UFC Fight Night 162 in Singapore.
Michael Johnson looked like he was closing in on a win, landing a lot of strikes on Ray in the first couple of rounds and managing to make the latter bleed. Ray turned it around late in the third round though, laying some nasty ground and pound on Johnson as the fight went down to the wire.
A tightly contested first round
The first round kicked off with Ray throwing a low kick and Johnson retorting with a jab. Johnson landed a leg kick and Ray came back with a hard cross. The pair traded leg kicks and stinging jabs at each other as the round came to a close. It was a tightly contested affair which was probably shaded by Johnson.
Johnson claims the second
The second round started with Johnson connecting with a quick jab-cross combination. He took the upper hand as he kept stinging Ray with hard jabs and followed it up with occasional kicks to the body and the leg. Ray managed to land a stiff jab on Johnson's face as the pair traded shots. Johnson was clearly getting the better of Ray in the second round, landing a vicious body kick on Ray as the round ended.
The spectacular comeback by Ray
The final round got going with Ray throwing low kicks and getting hit by the counter left hand of Johnson. The fighters exchanged hard jabs as Ray shot for a take down but was unsuccessful. After landing a leg kick on Johnson, Ray shot for the take down again, managing to land it this time and after unsuccessfully trying to lock in a choke, unleashed some devastating ground and pound on Johnson till the bell went off, bringing the curtains down on a high octane encounter between two world class fighters.
It was a case of thrill for one and agony for the other as Ray mounted a very late comeback to claim the victory against Johnson.
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