Tucked away underneath UFC Fight Night: Broomfield's main card was a battle between lightweights who were in search of a much-needed win.
Former The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero took on Brazilian submission machine Rodrigo "Monstro" de Lima in the main event of the preliminary card on Valentine's Day. After a well-rounded showing, Escudero walked away from the 1stBank Center in Colorado with a lopsided unanimous-decision victory.
From the get-go, the Mexican native was in control. The 29-year-old stunned the larger De Lima twice in the first round.
Escudero applied continuous pressure in the second round and found the mark on several brutal shots to Monstro's face when he pulled guard in desperation. The fighter from the MMA Lab withstood takedowns by De Lima in Rounds 1 and 3—while sprinkling in takedowns of his own—to secure his first UFC win since May 2010. Escudero expressed his appreciation to everyone supporting him on his "mission":
1st thank you GOD you are good. I wanna thx everyone who has believed in me my coaches n team and family I'm in a mission n I will get there
— Efrain Escudero (@effyescudero) February 15, 2015
The Arizona-based fighter also set the stage for what was an awe-inspiring main event comeback from teammate and former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson. De Lima, who was making his 155-pound debut, drops to 0-2 in the Octagon.
Escudero didn't capture a performance bonus for his Octagon onslaught but was every bit deserving for the improvements he made coming into his meeting with a ground specialist such as De Lima. Escudero told MMA Odds Breaker's Frank Trigg ahead of the De Lima bout:
I started respecting these Brazilians way too much for their jiu-jitsu and stuff. Yes, they're good. Yes, they've trained jiu-jitsu for a long time but at the end of the day it's a fight. I'm a wrestler. I wrestled at the collegiate level. I'm able to know positions that will keep me away from submissions.
The former NJCAA All-American wrestler from Pima Community College had been submitted or lost a decision to four Brazilians in his mixed martial arts career. Escudero's third Octagon stint began against Brazilian Leonardo Santos in September.
A slow start, coupled with an injury to his meniscus, cost him a win in his return.
His inability to impose his will first, throughout his UFC career, has been Escudero's pitfall. His weakness has also been his shoddy takedown defense.
Escudero defends them at a paltry 66 percent, according to Fight Metric.
When you're off balance and normally the aggressor as Escudero is, it's hard to sprawl with your opponent. His ground defense is also suspect as he has failed to keep other lightweights in full-guard.
Escudero has allowed gritty grapplers such as Evan Dunham and Jacob Volkmann to make a total of nine passes while he had his back to the mat. Though De Lima made three passes in his guard, Escudero limited the amount of ground-and-pound he took.
The Brazilian could only muster up five ground strikes throughout the pair's 15-minute exchange.
What also served Escudero well was that he connected first. He landed the first piece of memorable offense with a hard right that separated De Lima from his senses in the opening round.
From the first frame onward, Escudero tuned up the Brazilian and unleashed some vicious ground-and-pound in the later rounds. Over a third of the 94 significant strikes he landed came while he was in top control.
With the threat of being cut no longer looming over him, Escudero can now focus on shoring up his weaknesses. His win over De Lima illustrated marketed improvements in his submission defense and his striking.
"I believe in my hands. I'm a very heavy hitter," Escudero told Sherdog.com post-fight. "For the longest time, I didn't believe in myself. Everybody can start fast, but who can finish steady; that was the fight today."
After being fed a litany of grapplers in the Octagon, it's time the UFC did Escudero a solid favor and pit him against a powerful striker. Matchups with Diego Sanchez or the winner of the UFC 185 tilt between Sam Stout and Ross Pearson have Fight of the Night written all over them.
One more dominant showing may be all Escudero needs to continue his mission and see a top-15 ranked lightweight.
