Daniel Zellhuber put in a formidable efficiency in entrance of a house crowd at UFC Mexico Metropolis however nothing got here simple with Francisco Prado swinging with heavy-handed pictures from the primary second till the final.
Sticking behind a slick lead jab, Zellhuber punished Prado with punches throughout each spherical however a kind of straight pictures opened a nasty lower that turned the Argentinean’s eye right into a bloody mess. Regardless of the injury carried out, Prado stored firing again in each trade however Zellhuber was simply cracking him with quite a lot of strikes till the ultimate horn sounded.
When it was over, the judges scored the struggle 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 with Zellhuber getting the unanimous determination for his third win in a row total.
“Francisco is a really robust man,” Zellhuber stated. “I rocked him with some very laborious pictures and he didn’t go down. Having the ability to do that in entrance of all my individuals, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
When the struggle began it was Prado who got here out weapons blazing, throwing large hooks and overhands simply making an attempt to catch Zellhuber off guard. The aggression allowed Prado to shut the space towards a taller, longer fighter like Zellhuber.
Throughout the break after the opening spherical, Zellhuber’s head coach Eric Nicksick informed him to steer along with his jab and use that attain to his benefit. The technique paid off as Zellhuber began connecting with a number of stiff pictures together with the punch that opened a nasty gash throughout Prado’s eyebrow.
With blood streaming down his face, Prado was clearly coping with some imaginative and prescient issues however he refused to surrender as he simply stored throwing with energy to maintain Zellhuber sincere. Nonetheless, it was Zellhuber main the dance but in addition displaying warning to not give Prado the opening to drag off a miraculous comeback.
Zellhuber confirmed poise and persistence within the face of a compromised but harmful opponent to make sure he left Mexico Metropolis with the win. He’s now 3-1 within the UFC and Zellhuber positively seems like a prospect to observe for the rest of 2024.