UFC on FUEL TV 9 Main Card Results - Ross Pearson vs Ryan Couture

Ross Pearson defeats Ryan Couture by TKO - Round 2, 3:45

by Scott Cumming @tummidge

Pearson overcomes astute game-plan to KO Ryan Couture

Ryan Couture will have to wait a bit longer to prove to everyone he is in the UFC on merit and not just for his famous surname. He was knocked out by Ross "The Real Deal" Pearson in the second round of their co-Main Event bout after employing a game plan of constant movement and wrestling against the cage that nullified Pearson's striking game in the first round and for part of the second.

The first round was definitely Couture's as he pushed for a takedown early and kept Pearson pinned to the fence before trading with unorthodox striking and movement that limited Pearson's striking output. It was only towards the end of the round that Pearson got a couple of combinations together after landing a solid knee to body of Couture.

The second round saw a similar game plan from Couture, but Pearson steadily built his way into the fight managing to land more of his shots. He still wasn't getting off on his combinations though as Couture's movement continued to stifle him. That all changed when Pearson grabbed Couture's ankle when he went for a kick and finally got him to stop moving. Pearson landed several shots to a turtled up Couture and had him rocked as Couture got back to his feet. Pearson didn't let up after this and landed a series of left hands to knock Couture down and swarmed with several more to get the referee to step in and take the TKO win.

Pearson now has 2 consecutive wins under his belt since returning to lightweight from a brief flirtation with the featherweight division and puts himself in a position for a good fight next time out in what is still the UFC's most stacked division.