Gono spoke about his 1R in the UFC

Akihiro Gono talks about his UFC debut fight in his blog.

* 1st Round *

 McCrory attacked me from the beginning of the fight.  I was actually taken aback at his game plan because I thought he prepared for this fight by watching my fight videos.  He should have learned the aggressive attack does not work.  I wondered if he had a lot of confidence about his offense or he did not take his time analyzing me.  His attacking worked a bit because I was confused.

McCrory kept at a longer distance than Musashi, and I needed some time to get use to it.  I did not want to be offensive before I got the feeling of the distance and figured out how to fight my game.  So, I decided to be defensive in the beginning.

In PRIDE, I had 10 min./1R and I always fought at home.  I knew PRIDE judges understood my game plan even if I put myself in the defense position for first 4 to 5 min..  They considered I was waiting for the right moment to turn offensive.  In UFC, I had 5 min./1R and was an away game for me.  UFC judges definitely considered me an unknown asian who was being pushed back.  I was afraid of points being taken away by remaining in the defensive position for 2 min., even if I turned aggressive in the next 3 min.  

UFC has the different pointing system with PRIDE.  UFC counts points every round and do not combine points.  

I have to stop McCrory.  First thing I did to him was throwing the counter punch from my right.  I throw my punch at the same time he throw his right when the cage was right behind me.  My punch landed on the perfect spot at the same time my right hand broke 30%.  I throw low kicks and counter kicks while I was waiting for my right hand to recover from the pain.  When I caught McCrory`s low kick, his face was not protected at all.  In 0.3 seconds, I thought I got a great chance to punch him right on his face, but I was worried about my hand, though I was 100% sure my punch would land.  I decided to throw my right hand and it landed clearly and my right hand broke.  

I could not see how much damage I could give from his face, but McCrory was getting slow.  I didn`t know he was getting less offensive because he got my punched or he just simply got tired.

McCrory was getting slow and the fight started to be easier for me.  He started clinching.  He slapped and his kicks were nothing but creating rhythm.  I did not feel any risk taking his clinching.    

When I fought Shogun, my body was warning all the time.  I was caught and could not get out from him and could not do anything.  McCrory was not an opponent I have to be afraid of because I knew I felt I was controlling the fight.  I figured out I should show judges I`m taking control of this fight, and I threw him and could take him down easily.  My right hand hurts and could not give enough damage and the 1st round was over.

I did not get any power punches and I gave 2 right power punches and got 1 take down.  I was defensive in the beginning but I felt 50/50 at the end of 1R.