First fight in on the UFC Vegas 99 main card on Saturday saw featherweight veteran Darren Elkins looking to bring the damage against Daniel Pineda.
Elkins entered the fight off a win over TJ Brown, while Pineda was looking to snap a two-fight skid at the UFC Apex on Saturday.
The fight started out with Elkins throwing out a huge overhand. Pineda landed a spinning back kick that stopped Elkins in his tracks for a split second.
Elkins threw another huge overhand which this time, landed. Darren went for the takedown in that same moment and in return, Pineda went for a guillotine. With both fighters still dry, the guillotine was sunken in very tight. But Elkins was able to just reverse the position and scramble out. When Pineda moved back to full guard it revealed a huge gash as a result of the initial overhand. Pineda went for another guillotine that was in deep and even though he wasn’t able to get the finish, this time was at least able to move to a dominate position.
At this point in the fight, Pineda was just pouring blood onto Elkins as he tried to land ground and pound, standing over his opponent. Elkins was able to temporarily regain an advantage before losing it yet again. The final seconds of the round saw Pineda landing some nasty elbows on Darren from the full mount position. Both men were beaten, breathing heavily and bloody at the end of the round.
The second round began with Elkins immediately landing a stinging combination of punches. Pineda struck back with a leg kick that sent Darren crashing to the canvas. Elkins popped right back up and the two resumed striking. Elkins was circling around on the outside pawing jabs. Daniel was a little more reserved with his strikes, attempting to land an ill-advised, backfist before behind takedown by his opponent. Daniel went to the well once again, looking for a guillotine but ended up on his back, absorbing strikes. Pineda worked back up to his base and midway through the round was able to regain his feet.
Even with limited vision (from the blood), Daniel was still evading a lot of the punches coming in his direction. A few seconds later, Pineda successfully defended a takedown. Elkins attempted another takedown and Pineda jumped guillotine. When Elkins popped his head out, he had to defend another submission attempt off of his arm. Darren landed some effective ground and pound to end the round, and Daniel was extremely slow to get up off his back.
To start the final round the doctor took a look at the eye and cut of Daniel and told him he was good to go. Seconds into the round and Pineda was able to defend a deep takedown attempt but ate a big 1-2 combination in space. Elkins went for another takedown and Pineda was able to defend and reverse the takedown. Darren kept moving, kept wrestling and was able to overwhelm his opponent and wrestle back to his feet. Moments later and Darren went for yet another shot. Elkins disengaged after a few seconds and both men started to go blow for blow.
Pineda landed another leg kick that crippled Elkins but somehow, he just kept coming. Elkins was able to have some very nice moments landing highlight reel boxing combinations on his partially blinded opponent. You could see the frustration on the face of Daniel and after a long reset, Pineda landed yet another leg kick that dropped Elkins. Darren responded with one last takedown, trapping his opponent against the cage and landing short strikes. The exhausting and crazily paced fight would end there as Pineda just could not find a way to get back to his feet.
After the instant classic of a fight, Daniel Pineda took off his gloves and set them in the center of the octagon signaling his retirement. Elkins in typical Elkins fashion declared that as long as he was in the octagon the 40-year-old most tenured UFC featherweight would be showing off that ‘dog’ in him.
Official Result: Darren Elkins def. Daniel Pineda by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)