BRITISH welterweight prospect Tom Breese saw his rise up the ranks hit a roadblock at UFC 199.
Breese suffered the first loss of his professional MMA career after being edged on the scorecards by American Sean Strickland after a very cagey three rounds in Los Angeles.
Breese started the better of the two, establishing his kicks early on as he won the opening round on all three scorecards.
But Strickland upped his work-rate in rounds two and three to take the fight 29-28 on two of the three judges’ scorecards, with the other scoring it 29-28 in Breese’s favour.
Neither fighter managed to establish any real rhythm in a bout that drew boos from the Los Angeles fight faithful.
But when the scorecards were totted, it was Strickland who was left celebrating the win, as Breese goes back to the drawing board to find more progression and improvement ahead of his next outing.
After the fight Breese said he was unsure about the result, saying: “I thought I landed the cleaner, harder shots. I have to go back and watch it again.
“Coming off of a loss, I need to get back in the gym and improve my skills and then get back in there and move on.”
A delighted Strickland said: “This is my 18th or 19th fight and I like to take things one fight at a time, but every time I get out there I get more and more confident.
“My skills improve each time out and I just want to continue to build off of that. Whatever the UFC has in store for me, I’m ready for it.”
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