MMA
Fil-Am Yagin wins UFC 145 opener
Filipino-American UFC featherweight Eddie Yagin showed some serious power in his hands as he won a split decision against former title contender Mark “The Machine” Hominick in the opening fight of the main card of UFC 145 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 33-year-old Yagin, who goes by the nickname “The Filipino Phenom,” knocked Hominick down with big power shots in each of the first two rounds as he notched his first UFC win in his second appearance inside the Octagon.
He debuted against Junior Assuncao in UFC 135 in September last year, when he lost in three rounds.
Yagin, who fights out of Brandon Vera’s Alliance MMA camp, opened his fight with Hominick swinging for the fences with heavy hands. He landed a big uppercut that dropped his Canadian opponent and followed up with some big ground and pound but failed to finish the fight in the first round. He also landed several leg kicks that looked to hurt Hominick.
Hominick, only two fights removed from a title fight with UFC champion Jose Aldo, found a better rhythm in the second round, finding his range and doing damage on Yagin’s face. But Yagin again dropped him with a big right hand to earn some big points on a few of the judges scorecards.
The third round was dominated by Hominick with Yagin slowing down and looking tired. Hominick peppered a badly-bloodied Yagin with jabs and short shots throughout the round as the two fighters went the three-round distance for non-title fights.
A confident Hominick did pushups in the middle of the ring right after the bell and was obviously surprised when the decision was announced.
The big win over a name fighter like Hominick will likely move the Filipino-American up to bigger fights in the UFC featherweight division.
The Honolulu, Hawaii native Yagin improved his MMA record to 16-5-1 (1-1 in the UFC), with five wins by knockout and five by submission.
His biggest previous victory was a submission win over former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Soto in Tachi Palace Fights 10 last year to win the vacant championship in the promotion. He debuted in the UFC less than two months after.
