Wilson Reis came into UFC 208 looking to prove himself after missing out on what he believed to be a deserved title shot. He had a little issue displaying his abilities against unranked Japanese foe Ulka Sasaki, using grappling tactics to roll to a unanimous decision during flyweight bout of the preliminary card of the company's debut at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The fight
At first, it seemed Sasaki would have the upper hand against Reis at UFC 208. He made the decision to avoid the mat in the first round of the fight, nailing his opponent with punch after punch while remaining upright.
The Japanese fighter had a clear strategy planned out before the fight and executed it to perfection throughout the initial frame.
Reis turned the fight around in the second round, though. He started to execute back control chokes and multiple takedowns, which Sasaki had no defense for. In the third round, Sasaki tried to start punching out of a deficit again, but Reis landed a heavy right overhand, and that was pretty much all that was written, as he earned the unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28.
Looking forward
The loss dropped Sasaki to 19-4-2 and just 2-3 in his UFC career, with all three of the losses coming in his past four fights. The flyweight had a successful debut on the label almost three years ago but has struggled lately to gain any traction.
He is only 27 years old, but his UFC career is clearly moving in the wrong direction.
Meanwhile, Reis may be at the peak of his powers. He was originally supposed to fight Demetrious Johnson to get a shot at the title, but an injury to Johnson forced the fight to be called off. Reis is now 22-6 overall and 6-2 in the UFC and is one of the highest ranked flyweights in the promotion.
A title shot should be coming his way shortly, as he surely deserves it. He certainly did his part on Saturday by making the organization's debut in Brooklyn an entertaining one despite being involved in one of the first fights of the night.
