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The matchup between CJ Vergara and Daniel Lacerda turned out to be a thrilling war, with both fighters subsequently being showered with praise from the MMA community. Vergara faced Lacerda in a flyweight bout at tonight's (March 25th, 2023) UFC San Antonio event at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
The fight witnessed Lacerda get off to a flying start, tagging Vergara with a barrage of strikes, including spinning kicks and heavy punches. Brazil's Lacerda stunned and dropped US MMA stalwart Vergara on multiple occasions in round one. He also secured a takedown and tried to lock in a rear-naked choke, but Vergara did well to survive and managed to somehow make it to the end of the round.
In round two, Vergara turned the tables with precise boxing and repeatedly caught his foe on the feet. Lacerda was visibly exhausted in the second round after having gone all out in the previous round. That said, he appeared to have a tight calf-slicer submission hold.
Vergara defended against it and utilized heavy ground strikes to overwhelm his foe. He later attempted an arm-triangle choke against Lacerda, who successfully defended against it. However, Vergara eventually unleashed vicious ground strikes to secure the TKO victory at the 4:04-minute mark of round two, completing an incredible comeback.
Two of the three official judges, Gino Garcia and Joel Ojeda, scored round one as a 10-9 round for Lacerda. Meanwhile, judge Sal D'Amato scored round one as a 10-8 round for Lacerda. In the end, the scorecards didn't influence the fight's verdict, as San Antonio's own CJ Vergara secured a stoppage win against Daniel Lacerda in round two.
Check out the official scorecards in the tweet below:
CJ Vergara on his comeback win over Daniel Lacerda at UFC San Antonio
Since making his UFC main roster debut, DWCS (Dana White's Contender Series) alum CJ Vergara is 2-2 inside the octagon thus far. Speaking to Michael Bisping during his post-fight octagon interview after beating Daniel Lacerda, Vergara expressed his love for his native San Antonio.
CJ Vergara further suggested that he's had his ups and downs in the UFC but is a warrior and keeps fighting despite the setbacks. He acknowledged that he was hurt in round one. Nevertheless, he knew that Lacerda tends to gas out after the early rounds and rallied to finish him later. He notably called for a main event spot for the next time UFC comes to San Antonio. Vergara stated:
"I created some space that I needed to do and waited for him to start to gas out because, unfortunately, Daniel's gas tank doesn't last much longer than the first two rounds."
Watch Vergara's interview below:
