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UFC Vegas 114 had one of those heavyweight fights where nobody looked like a loser when it ended. In a potential Fight of the Night, Vitor Petrino secured a unanimous decision. With all judges in agreement, the outcome was unanimous. Still, the reaction afterward stripped away the feel of a clean win.

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Steven Asplund seemed particularly skeptical. He went out of the cage, his face swollen and covered in cuts, still talking as if he had done enough, the 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28 scorecards stated otherwise. However, based on his response immediately following the fight, he strongly believed the injuries on his face did not tell the full story of what happened inside the Octagon.

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The bout itself was precisely what you’d expect from two heavyweights who decided to stand and trade rather than wrestle. Petrino entered with momentum after moving up to heavyweight, while ‘Concrete’ was looking to prove his Contender Series run wasn’t a fluke. Both were throwing hard from the get-go, and it wasn’t long before the damage to Steven Asplund’s face became obvious.

Even though the cut opened early, Asplund continued to fire back. He had moments where he caught Petrino clean and even felled him during one of the exchanges, which helped him believe the fight was closer than the scorecards indicated. Vitor Petrino, however, kept the pressure on.

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He used kicks, body shots, and just enough grappling control to give him all three scorecards, a decision that ‘Concrete’ believes should’ve been in his favor instead.

Steven Asplund unconvinced with the UFC Vegas 114 judging

Following the battle, Steven Asplund shared a video on his Instagram account while still in the hospital, clearly battered yet confident in his performance.

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“I ain’t gonna lie, I thought I was gonna get the nod,” he said. “Obviously, my face looks like a mess, but I dropped him twice and got up from the takedown.

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“Hey I told you motherf—— you gonna have to kill me.”

‘Concrete’ clearly believed he was going to get the nod, pointing out that he dropped Vitor Petrino twice and survived everything that came back at him. However, it is worth noting that while he did question the decision, there is no bad blood between the two, as right after the fight ended, the cameras caught Asplund offering to go out with the UFC Vegas 114 winner.

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“Hey, let’s get drunk tonight,” he said while giving his opponent a fist bump.

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In the end, the record shows Vitor Petrino winning his third consecutive heavyweight win, but the fight they had was never going to be one-sided. And, based on Steven Asplund’s reaction, this is one of those decisions in which the loser walks away feeling as if the judges saw a different fight than he did.

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Written by

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Abhishek Kumar Das

3,295 Articles

Abhishek Kumar Das is a Senior Combat Sports writer at EssentiallySports, known for his sharp extensive coverage of the UFC and WWE. Specializing as the go-to expert on Joe Rogan, Abhishek provides nuanced reporting on the evolving discourse surrounding Rogan’s influence on combat sports and its intersection with American politics. Over the past three years, he has built a reputation for delivering timely breaking news and thoughtful analysis, often exploring off-court drama and current affairs tied to the fight world.

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Gokul Pillai

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