It wasn’t pretty but Jun Yong Park got the job done with a split decision win over Eryk Anders in the main card opener at UFC Vegas 55.
It was a battle of attrition throughout with Park fending off more than 20 takedown attempts from Anders while attempting to land the better strikes on the feet. The fight wasn’t easy to score after three rounds but ultimately two judges gave Park the nod with a pair of 29-28 cards with the third official giving Anders the same 29-28 score.
Still, two scorecards in his favor was all Park needed to get the win.
“I was a little nervous to be honest with you going to the scorecards,” Park said. “I’m happy that I got the win. After my last fight, I had to fight smarter.”
It was a heavy handed approach from Anders out of the gate with several straight lefts tagging Park before the former University of Alabama football player swooped inside looking for a takedown. In the clinch, Anders showed his strength advantage as Park was trying to tie him up to avoid taking too much damage while also making his bigger opponent chase him around the cage.
As Anders continued to focus on power in his hands along with takedown attempts, Park was trying to avoid the power and land counters. While Park connected with some of his punches, he just couldn’t avoid Anders targeting him with a long, straight left hand that would then transition into his wrestling attack.
In the third round, Park finally got more aggressive and it started to pay off for him.
Park pushed Anders back towards the cage, throwing punches in succession and avoiding further takedowns. The only problem was Anders constantly grabbing onto a leg to try and wrestle him down to the ground disrupted Park’s rhythm enough that he could never quite do the damage he needed for a finish.
With time ticking away to the final horn, Anders was doing just enough to keep Park off balance, which allowed him to stay close during all the exchanges on the feet. Park continued throwing shots any time he had room to work, which was apparently what swayed the judges in a very close round.
Now 4-2 in the UFC, Park gets back on track following a devastating knockout loss in his last outing while adding a veteran like Anders to his resume.