Only 29 days after earning a hard-fought decision victory over TJ Waldburger at UFC on FX, Brian Ebersole stepped in to fight James Head after Claude Patrick was forced out of the contest due to a training injury.
Head has gone 1-1 since joining the UFC roster. His first contest took place in the middleweight division, losing to Nick Ring. However, the Lovato Jiu-Jitsu fighter rebounded with a win over Papy Albedi back in April.
The first round of the contest saw Ebersole shoot for takedowns in hopes of grappling with Head. As a form of bait, he would openly lead with his head, hoping that Head would attempt to finish with a guillotine. At one point, Head took the bait, and Ebersole quickly freed himself from danger and delivered some ground-and-pound towards the end of the round.
Head would continue to get the better of the standup; Ebersole would work the fight to the ground in the final round and score some shoulder strikes, but not nearly as much damage as during the first round. Head would use a butterfly sweep to gain top position right before the bell sounded.
Ebersole’s corner wisely advised their fighter to get the fight to the ground in the third round, knowing that Ebersole would not win a decision if the fight remained standing.
The fight continued to unfold the same way that it had previously.
Ebersole attempted to score takedowns and failed throughout the final round. Head refused to take the bait by going for the guillotine that Ebersole was serving on a platter.
When the scores were read, it is surprising that someone awarded the fight to Brian Ebersole, but the split decision ended up going to Head. With the decision win, Head improves to 2-0 in the welterweight division.
Taking the fight on short notice, Ebersole didn’t get hit much during the contest; however, he couldn’t implement his ground game. Post-fight, Ebersole and Joe Rogan had an exchange through the cage where Ebersole confirmed that he is still planning on dropping to lightweight: “These guys are big.”
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