MANILA, Philippines –Third time’s the charm for Filipino cage fighter Rolando Dy as he scored his first Octagon victory in the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Gastelum, Saturday, November 25, in Shanghai, China.
After three five-minute rounds, Dy was able to get the nod from the judges, besting Wuliji Buren via unanimous decision. Dy fell to his knees crying, as Bruce Buffer read the official decision to his favor.
Dy immediately displayed his striking prowess as he dropped Wuliji with a left with under five minutes remaining in the first round.
Buren was able to score a total of four takedowns but the Filipino always found a way to escape his opponent’s offense unharmed. During the closing moments of the fight, Dy showed urgency as he landed a few clean strikes to the Chinese fighter.
Incredible comeback
A few days before the fight, Dy revealed that he was already cut by the UFC, but he was given a second chance when he was asked to fight Wuliji, on a two-week notice.
Dy stressed that he’s in a must-win situation, as a victory is his “ticket” to remain in the premier MMA league’s roster. Going into the fight, Dy knew that he was at a disadvantage because he had little time to prepare following the late notice. “I call this a suicide mission” Dy said, ““I really need to win this fight because they’ve already cut me before [this].”
The 26-year-old made his UFC debut against Octagon veteran Alex Caceres, in Singapore, last June. But Dy was unsuccessful, as he got TKO’d due to an eye injury that he suffered during the second round.
Dy then had a chance at redemption, when he faced Japanese Teruto Ishihara, in UFC Saitama. However, the fighter from Parañaque City was bested by the hometown fighter via unanimous decision after three rounds.
Year 2017 has not been kind to Filipino MMA fans as it witnessed the fall of UFC flyweight Jenel Lausa and former ONE lightweight champion Eduard Folayang. With the win, ‘Dy Incredible’ achieved his goal of presenting Filipino fight with a combo-breaker. “My goal is to win and to end the year with a win for the Pinoys.” – Rappler.com