Two middleweight hopefuls looked to move up the UFC ladder tonight as Aaron Simpson fought Ronny Markes — Simpson has been in the UFC since 2009 only losing to elite middleweights in Chris Leben & Mark Munoz.
Markes got the opportunity to fight in the UFC following a victory over former WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho and took a fight at light-heavyweight in his octagon debut beating Karlos Vemola.
Markes opened early pressuring “A-Train” with his wild, unorthodox striking but one strong right hand changed the entire fight with Simpson getting him on wobbly legs in the dying stages of the first frame.
The final two frames were highly-competitive with both combatants putting in work between the clinch, striking exchanges and mat battles with both trying to put the other away for the entire fight.
The Brazilians striking was probably what gave him the upper hand, in the last round when Simpson tired he kept up his pace and was landing effective over and over again.
