Dennis Bermudez seems to find himself in close decision fights and that happened once again at UFC 160 as he defeated Max Holloway by split decision.
The fight opened with the fighters feeling each other out and Bermudez went for takedown when Holloway threw a kick. Holloway was able to stop the attempt and the fighters broke away from each other.
They continued to strike with each other and the most significant strike came from a spinning back kick from Holloway. Bermudez was rocked from the kick but appeared to recover with 40 seconds left in the round. The round came to an end with Holloway landing another spinning back that dropped Bermudez to the mat.
At the start of the second round, Bermudez took the fight to the ground but Holloway was able to reverse the position and looked for a submission. Bermudez escaped the submission and the fight returned to the feet.
Holloway continued to land his strikes and Bermudez looked for a takedown after a leg kick. Holloway was able to stop the attempt and move back to the center of the cage with 90 seconds left in the round. Once again, Holloway attempted a spinning back kick but it missed this time. With 30 seconds left in the round, Bermudez was able to get the first takedown of the fight and landed a couple of punches before the round came to an end.
Bermudez opened up the final round as the aggressor and was able to get the fight to the ground in the first 30 seconds. Holloway was able to get the fight back to his feet. Bermudez was able to get another takedown but Holloway got right back to his feet.
After an exchange of punches and kicks, Bermudez was able to take the fight to the ground and landed elbows. He attempted to transition to the full mount position but Holloway was able to stop the attempt and the fight ended on the ground and the judges will decide the winner.
Two of the three judges scored the fight for Bermudez (11-3) and this is his fourth straight win with his last two wins coming by split decision.
UFC 160 Results:
Dennis Bermudez def. Max Holloway via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Robert Whittaker def. Colton Smith via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, :41
Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Abel Trujillo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27. 30-27)
Stephen Thompson def. Nah-Shon Burrell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
George Roop def. Brian Bowles via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:43
Jeremy Stephens def. Estevan Payan via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)