By:  | May 22, 2022 8:59 am

Jun Yong Park scored one of the most dominant decision wins in UFC history but the margins were much, much finer this morning as he earned the nod over Eryk Anders at UFC Vegas 55. The Korean ultimately did enough to persuade two of the three judges to render him the winner.

The American seemed to get the better of an opening round that was not exactly action packed. Anders wanted to get the fight to the ground but was continually frustrated by the Korean who struggled to impose his will in the striking exchanges.

The second stanza was razor close and would ultimately prove to be the decisive round. The two man started to exchange heavy punches with the Korean getting the better of it before being hit with a low blow that caused a lengthy pause.

Anders was constantly working for the takedown but Park continually frustrated him. When the American did succeed in taking him down he popped back up almost instantly.

The third round saw more of the same with the American working for the takedown but he was starting to take some punishment in the process. He was scoring with punches and low kicks and a stiff jab seemed to take the wind out of the American’s sails.

Both men had a nervous wait as the scorecards were tallied but two of the three judges saw it for Park. He improves to 14-5 while Anders drops to 14-7.

Visa issues

Afterwards the Korean discussed the fight and admitted he was feeling under pressure coming off a loss to Gregory Rodrigues even if that performance did earn him a $50,000 bonus,

“I feel really good, I’m happy. My last performance didn’t go the way I wanted and because of that loss I had a lot of nerves, a lot of pressure and I feel I didn’t fight to my full potential but I am looking forwards t o a better performance next time. His strength surprised me. I thought I could finish him with strikes but he had a good chin and was very resilient.”

He discussed his gameplan in a bit more detail,

“The first two rounds I was trying to bother him high low with the jabs and the low kicks but the third round my corner told me to give infinite pressure so I walked forwards into that fire.”

He also discussed visa issues that have made it difficult for him to compete as regularly as he would have liked,

“I want to fight whoever they give me but I see myself fighting one or two more times in 2o22. It’s a problem getting a visa so that’s my biggest issue.”

Best of the rest

Ketlen Vieira (13-2) took on Holly Holm (14-6) in the main event of UFC Vegas 55. After five largely uneventful rounds the Brazilian was declared the winner courtesy of another split decision.

UFC Vegas 55, Las Vegas, May 21st
Ketlen Vieira def. Holly Holm via Decision (Split)
Michel Pereira def. Santiago Ponzinibbio via Decision (Split)
Chidi Njokuani def. Duško Todorović via KO (Wlbow) at 4:48 of R1
Tabatha Ricci def. Polyana Viana via Decision (Unanimous)
Jun Yong Park def. Eryk Anders via Decision (Split)
Joseph Holmes def. Alen Amedovski via Submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:04 of R1
Jailton Almeida def. Parker Porter via Submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:35 of R1
Uroš Medić def. Omar Morales via TKO (punches) at 3:05 of R2
Jonathan Martinez def. Vince Morales via Decision (Unanimous)
Chase Hooper def. Felipe Colares via TKO (Punches) at 3:00 of R3
Sam Hughes def. Elise Reed via TKO (Elbow and punches)