It took six-plus years for Tamdan McCrory to make his return to the UFC. It also turned out to be well worth the wait.
The fighter known as the "Barn Cat" engaged in an exciting middleweight battle with Florida's Josh Samman on the FS1 prelim card at UFC on FOX 17 Saturday in Orlando. The bout was close over the first half, but McCrory pulled away over the second half before getting the submission via triangle choke at 4:10 of the final round.
A back-and-forth opening round was the closest of the fight, as the two primarily engaged in a compelling ground battle of back and forth switches, positional reversals, submission attempts, and counters, with a liberal dose of ground strikes sprinkled in for good measure.