Gaston Bolanos Edges Aaron Phillips

Gaston
Bolanos made a successful
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, prevailing over Aaron
Phillips in a wild bantamweight scrap at
UFC on ESPN 44.

The bout featured major swings in momentum, with both men
dominating the action in stretches. Round 2 saw Phillips execute a
slick takedown directly into mount, then take Bolanos’ back and
threaten with a rear-naked choke. The Peruvian survived, however,
exploding to his feet and finishing out the round pummeling
Phillips against the fence.

The final round offered more of the same: Phillips once again took
Bolanos down, took his back and worked for chokes from a tight body
triangle, while Bolanos appeared to get the better of the action
while the two were standing.

In the end, the judges saw the fight unanimously in favor of
Bolanos (30-27, 30-27, 29-28), who is now 1-0 in the promotion
after having spent his entire career in Bellator MMA; Phillips remained winless in four UFC
appearances.