Dominick Reyes earned a split decision win over Johnny Walker at UFC 327 in one of the most forgettable fights in recent history.
The lack of action had the crowd booing rather loudly with Daniel Cormier comparing the fight to the rematch between Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas, which is routinely considered one of the worst bouts in UFC history. For his part, Joe Rogan added “that’s a nice way of saying this fight sucks” as time ran out on the three-round affair.
Ultimately, two judges gave Reyes
the nod with 29-28 scores while the third official had it 29-28 for Walker. That was still enough for Reyes to get the win as he bounces back from his knockout loss to Carlos Ulberg in his previous outing.
Leg kicks opened the fight for Walker with Reyes keeping a wide stance and countering with his hands. Walker was doing a good job picking his spots as Reyes’ lead leg was already showing some bruising less than two minutes into the first round.
Walker kept chipping away at Reyes’ foundation as the two-time light heavyweight title challenger tried to find an opening to return fire. Just before time expired, Walker exploded forward with a stiff combination that ended with a punch that definitely got Reyes’ attention.
While Walker stayed more active, he wasn’t really putting together combinations and Reyes finally connected with a well-timed left jab that stunned the Brazilian. But with Walker moving and circling constantly, Reyes was struggling to really put together any volume of strikes.
The Miami crowd was getting restless with chants of “this is boring” but it didn’t entice Walker or Reyes to take any big risk knowing the potential for reprisal.
As the fight moved into the final round, the staring contest largely continued with only a few kicks being exchanged, effectively just one strike at a time from both Reyes and Walker.
Walker was still trying to do damage with his leg kicks and Reyes responded in kind but neither of them were producing much action. Time ran out after a truly lackluster outing from both fighters.
Reyes probably won’t have much positive to say about the performance but he left with a win, which is what matters most, as he moves to 4-1 in his past five fights while Walker falls to 1-4 in that same time span.
