Justin Willis Outlasts Tough Chase Sherman At UFC Atlantic City
With two of the best nicknames in mixed martial arts, heavyweight Justin ‘Big Pretty’ Willis battled Chase ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ Sherman on the main card of tonight’s (Sat., April 21, 2018) UFC Fight Night 128 from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Willis had the momentum on his side, as he won his only two UFC bouts after debuting in the octagon last year. Sherman had shown more inconsistency in his UFC career, going 2-2 over his prior four fights.
It promised to be a hard-hitting affair between two rising sluggers, and it did not fail to deliver. Willis came out pushing the pace early with some heavy shots, with Sherman returning counters of his own. Willis against threw bi straight shots right down the pipe, and they found a home repeatedly. Sherman ate them and responded with a high kick before answering with a big right-hand counter. Willis appeared to have more pop in the exchanges until a kick below the belt halted the action briefly.
On the restart, Willis floored Sherman with a massive left hand, following to swarm with ground and pound on the canvas. Sherman survived and somehow got back up, however, and the two resumed battling on the feet. Sherman ate another hard punch but kept fighting, and Willis was relentless with yet another. ‘Big Pretty’ went for a knee down the middle, clinching Sherman to land some uppercuts in close. The entertaining first round came to a close with Sherman smothering Willis in the clinch.
We headed into the second and Sherman pressed the pace until Willis countered. Sherman landed a high kick and switched to a low kick, looking better in the second. Willis landed again, however, and still had a huge edge in significant strikes. The fight was halted by an eye poke on Willis. Action picked up and Willis landed another two-punch combination. Sherman kept a high volume of kicks, but Willis was smart to slip them and land big looping punches.
‘Big Pretty’ was accurate and effective in his offense, backing it up with a nigh-unbreakable defense that became evident when Sherman threw a head kick that appeared to land but was promptly grounded by Willis when he caught the strike. Willis worked Sherman over with ground and pound from the guard to close out the second frame.
The third round began with Willis slinging heavy leather again. Sherman snapped a low kick and ate two more short, stinging punches. Willis sought a single takedown but was defended, and Sherman landed a big elbow from in close. “Vanilla Gorilla” unloaded a combo of strikes ending with a body kick, pushing Willis up against the cage in the clinch. Sherman landed more elbows, and Willis countered with two strong lefts.
Sherman then went for the clinch again, landing more elbows. Willis snapped a big body punch and an uppercut in the clinch, and the grueling heavyweight fight came to a close with both fighters throwing punches until the final bell.
Final Result: Justin Willis def. Chase Sherman via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
