Fighting with the weight of some heavy news on his shoulders, welterweight veteran Anthony Rocco Martin dug deep and pulled out a win over Ramazan Emeev at UFC Fight Night 163 on Saturday.
Both fighters displayed a willingness to trade blows in the middle of the Octagon to start the fight, but low calf kicks and an overhand right from Martin that briefly caused Emeev to stumble, led to the Russian diving in for a single leg takedown. Martin defended well and almost sunk in a kimura, but Emeev, impressively fended it off as both fighters made their way to their feet. Emeev responded with a stiff jab that bloodied the nose of Martin.
Martin attempted another submission in the second round, a guillotine choke, but Emeev again got free. Martin continued to drill Emeev's calf with kicks. A frustrated Emeev, unable to mount any offense, complained to the referee mid-round that Martin's shoulders were greasy, but the complaint was quickly dismissed as the referee demanded the fight continue.
The third round was more of the same. Both fighters trading blows, but Martin seemed to land the more effective counter-strikes. Continued calf kicks helped keep Emeev neutralized. In the end, the scores were close but Martin came away with a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 29-28 x 2).
It was an emotional victory for Martin, who dedicated his 17th career win to his mother after he revealed that she was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. It was Emeev's first loss in the UFC in four fights, but more impressively, his first loss in nearly five years.