Terry Etim may have lived the dream of fighting in Las Vegas at the weekend, but his worst fears came all so true on UFC 84: Ill Will.

The 22-year-old from Wavertree followed in the footsteps of fighting legends when he featured on a card at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on Saturday night.

But his big occasion was left tarnished by a unanimous points defeat to American veteran Rich Clementi.

Before flying across the Atlantic, Etim accepted that his opponent’s experience could well prove a major factor in his third Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bout under the UFC banner.

And although Etim scored well throughout and put up a brave challenge, Clementi was awarded the decision after the lightweight tussle went the full three rounds.

“I knew he was going to use all his experience and just tie me up, but he was also strong,” Etim admitted.

“The fight was very close and I certainly won the second round, if not the first, but I have to simply learn from this now and move on.”

Clementi scored a quick takedown at the start of the final round and spent more than two minutes landing mostly ineffective blows from Etim's guard.

And Etim reflected: “He knew he couldn’t stand and trade with me so he just kept taking me down and holding me off. It was pretty frustrating to be honest.”

Fellow lightweight Jason Tan, who quit his job with a Liverpool accountancy firm to fight in UFC, also lost out when he was TKO’d by Korean Dong Hyun Kim 25 seconds into the third round.

Source: icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk