Tony Ferguson tightens grip on UFC top lightweight contender spot

Top lightweight contender Tony Ferguson likely secured a title shot with a unanimous decision victory over former champion Rafael dos Anjos on Saturday night in Mexico City.

The victory in the main event of “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” Season 3 finale card was the ninth straight for Ferguson.

It was the second consecutive loss for dos Anjos, who lost the belt when he was knocked out by Eddie Alvarez in July.

Alvarez will defend the belt against featherweight champ Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 205 on Saturday in New York.

Ferguson believes he will fight the winner. He let his performance make his case.

“Thank you for this fight, Rafael,” Ferguson said after the fight before yelling ‘Viva Mexico’ and departing the cage.

Ferguson was able to stay on the outside of dos Anjos, who prefers to pressure his opponents in tight. Both fighters were able to land big shots throughout the fight, but Ferguson dictated distance and pace after dos Anjos got the better of the action in the first round.

Dos Anjos did get poked in the eye in the second round, which he said impacted his vision.

“Tony was the better fighter tonight,’ dos Anjos said. “I felt like his eye poke bothered me. I was seeing double, but that’s no excuse. He beat me tonight.”

Ferguson won 49-48 on all three scorecards.

Martin Bravo knocked out Claudio Puelles late in the second round of a lightweight bout to capture the season title on the reality show.

Also on the card, veteran lightweight Diego Sanchez wore down Marcin Held to take a unanimous decision.

Sanchez, who has now alternated wins and losses over his last nine fights, took advantage of his storied cardio advantage to take the second and third rounds and earn the victory.

“Mexico City, the altitude and the pollution is no joke,” he said. “Definitely the hardest city to fight in in the world, but the people, the energy, the crowd, gave me a second wind into the second round, and I’ve got to give this victory to them.”

Featherweight Ricardo Lamas submitted Charles Oliveira, who missed weight by nine pounds, by guillotine choke midway through the second round.

Lamas survived several compromising positions before turning the tables on Oliveira.

“I’m more than happy,” Lamas said. “It was a difficult fight because he is a very dangerous fighter. I was in trouble in the first round, but I have the heart of a Mexican warrior, and I always go forward.”

Beneil Dariush and Alexa Grasso each scored unanimous decision victories on the main card.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.