Ellis Barboza secured a dominant split-decision win over Lucas Porst in his recent battle on the UAM promotion last night. Ellis appeared to stick to his game plan perfectly throughout, which meant utilising heavy low kicks, power punches and dragging his opponent into deep waters. This was Ellis’ second win for the promotion
Right from the off, Ellis displayed his aggressiveness combined with technical ability, as he dumped his opponent beautifully within the first 10 seconds. Ellis looked to cut off the ring, and force his opponent to circle into his attacks, for example by using a left hook to create a cleaner angle to land a heavier right low kick. In close range, even in the first round, Ellis looked the more comfortable fighter throwing elbows, as he frequently looked to pierce through the guard with an upward elbow. Porst attempted to use his teep to maintain distance and range, however Ellis did a fine job of catching the teep at midsection height, and mixing up his counters; either with sweeps and throws, or creating an angle for a power punch like a straight right to the body. Another counter Ellis used very frequently was a lean back, to evade an incoming kick, before firing back with his own kick- usually to the leg. By chopping down his opponents base, this not only inflicted heavy damage, but also limited his opponents mobility, allowing him to cut off the ring more successfully and fight at his range more frequently. This was a dominant opening round and set the tone for the remainder of the fight.
In he second, Ellis looked to continue with his successful approach, and landed a heavy overhand within the opening 30 seconds. Ellis also looked to time his switch kick as Porst threw his straight right, as this created space to the floating rib area. Ellis began piecing together his combinations, with shots to both head and body flowing as he broke his opponent down. The third round went very much in the same way, with Ellis landing strong punches and heavy kicks throughout as he cruised to a decision win,
The announcement of the decision lead to slight confusion, as it was revealed that the fight was ruled a split decision, as one judge ruled in favour of Porst, who gave a great account of himself, but in many people’s eyes he did not do enough to take a decision. Ellis said of his win: “I am happy with my performance. I showed some good improvements from my last fight, stayed composed and got the job done clinically”. It is onwards and upwards for Elllis, who will look to return to action soon.
