Although the undercard of UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz was punctuated with walk-off head kick KO’s and last second submissions, the evening’s greatest display of game planning arguably took place before the main card as well, during the bantamweight preliminary fight between Raphael Assuncao and Mike Easton. Using a Machida-esque strategy of evasion and counter-striking, Assuncao was able to not only frustrate Easton, but completely limit his normally hyper-aggressive offensive output en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Impressive to say the least, but even more impressive when you consider the fact that Assuncao was able to do so with a fractured arm he suffered in the first round. Assuncao tweeted the photo yesterday along with the following tweets:
If November is the month of the hairy-lipped mountain man, then December is officially the month of the one-armed warrior.
With the victory, Assuncao improved to 18-4 overall 3-0 as a bantamweight. Easton, on the other hand, saw an eight fight win streak (three of which came in the UFC) that dated back to 2007 snapped on Saturday night. The question is, who would you guys like to see Assuncao face when he heals up, and where do you think he stands amongst the division’s elite?