Gerald Harris Unimpressive at Tachi Palace Fights 9

The fan outcry for the possible reason to why Gerald Harris (18-4) was cut from the UFC was diluted even more last night when Harris took on Anthony Ruiz (25-16) at Tachi Palace Fights 9: Contenders. Harris came into the fight with a two fight losing streak and who was coming off a local show loss to the relatively unknown James Head.

Ruiz was on a two fight losing streak coming into the fight and just 5-5 in his last 10 appearances. Harris was 3-1 before being released by the UFC after just one bad showing in the and was known as an exciting prospect for the middleweight division winning two knockout of the night bonuses in his four UFC fights.

As the night co-main event, Harris won a unanimous decision but the bout wasn’t the blowout or dominate victory that would be expected from top UFC talent against a questionable opponent with no top talent wins. The fight was mostly a grappling affair but Harris could not get the solid takedown until late in the second when his opponent started to gas out. Ruiz had perfect sprawls and was always swinging hard to try to put Harris away landing a few shots early on in the fight. Harris was only throwing single shots and the only very dominating round for him was the third.

Could we see Harris back inside of the Octagon? Most likely yes, but this fight is not the ticket to get him there but it does put him back into the win column which is a start. Harris is an exciting fighter with tons of potential, but will need better showings in fights to come if he wants to get back in the octagon.