After previously being matched up on two separate occasions, Simon showcased dominant wrestling and relentless pressure to put Kelleher on defense from the opening seconds of the first round until time ran out in the fight. When the final horn sounded, Kelleher looked like he was ready to go for another 15 minutes while earning a shutout unanimous decision.
All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Simon, who continues to prove he’s going to be a tough out for anybody the UFC throws at him.
“Damn, did it twice in less than a month,” Simon said after earning his second win in the past three weeks.
Simon was on the attack early and often after taking Kelleher down to the ground and blasting him with an inside elbow that opened a nasty cut that immediately began bleeding down into the eyes. While Kelleher was able to scramble out of a bad position, Simon was just constantly threatening with his forward pressure and takedowns.
With Simon coming directly at him, Kelleher unleashed a pair of front kicks in the second round that landed flush. Regardless of his head snapping back from those strikes, Simon was undeterred as he walked through the kicks and then just kept coming after Kelleher, never giving him a moment to breathe.
Simon’s offensive onslaught was just impossible to slow down and the ability to threaten with wrestling pressure and peppering away with punches on top were just more than Kelleher could handle.
While this fight took place at featherweight, Simon picks up a convincing win over a fellow bantamweight in Kelleher while keeping his momentum going with a 2-0 record already this year as he looks ahead at the rest of 2021.
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