Two fighters making their GLORY debuts usually means that things get heated quickly as they look to make an impression and that was certainly the case in this fight. Heavy blows were exchanged by both in the first round, both of them landing hard low kicks and right hands more than once.
Things were very even in the first until the last ten seconds saw Egerton probably win the round by backing Pimental into a corner and letting go with a huge flurry. Pimental bobbed and weaved, avoiding some of the damage he might otherwise have taken, but he still ate some solid blows before the round ended.
Egerton clicked things up a gear in the second round and piled the pressure onto Pimental, doing some serious damage at the midpoint of the round as he trapped him on the ropes and racked him with a hard 1-2 followed by body shots. Pimental was occasionally able to land hard shots of his own on the counter, but Egerton was often able to correctly read what was coming and duck underneath it.
Nonetheless, both fighters were sporting marks on their face going into the third round, evidence of damage done on both sides. Egerton had hit his stride and took over, dominating most of the exchanges. Pimental was taking a mauling at times, moving backwards under heavy fire as Egerton sought to trap him on the ropes.
Pimental never stopped firing back when he could find an opening to do so But with Pimental moving backwards under heavy fire constantly there was nothing which was going to win the fight for him unless he found a KO punch. He landed some decent counter shots in places but the round was clearly all Egerton’s.
The Kentucky fighter looked like being on his way to a clear decision win but the judges had a surprise in store. One of them had given all three rounds to Pimental, a shocking score which drew sounds of confusion from the crowd. The other two judges had it for Egerton, making for a split-decision win on his GLORY debut.
“I knew he was going to bring the fight so I wanted to stay calm and land my shots. I let him come with heavy shots and use his energy then I took over,” he said afterwards. “I want to fight as much as I can. Hopefully GLORY invite me back and whoever they want me to fight next, I am ready.”
Egerton def. Pimental, Split-Decision, R3 (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
