• UFC 112

Seething Etim was convinced Dos Anjos would tap

Terry Etim thought Rafael Dos Anjos would tap © UFC

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Six days on from UFC 112, Terry Etim remains in a seriously bad mood after losing via armbar submission to Rafael Dos Anjos in Abu Dhabi.

Etim never really got going in his first appearance on a UFC main card, spending the majority of the nine-and-a-half-minute fight where he did not want to be... on the mat. In the end, Dos Anjos finished things with a methodical limb manipulation, although only after Etim had gassed himself by holding on to a first-round guillotine attempt for well over a minute.

The British lightweight admits upon reflection that he made a mistake by failing to release the hold earlier, but he insists he was convinced at the time that he was on the verge of victory.

"I gassed my arms on that guillotine, but I'm not using that as an excuse," Etim told ESPN.co.uk. "I'm experienced enough to know to let go if it's not on.

"Having said that, it was on really tight and I thought that at any second he was going to tap."

On the face of it, Etim's defeat appeared to show the holes in his game, as Dos Anjos took him to the deck almost at will before working past the Liverpudlian's guard to secure the armbar. However Etim - who has 11 submissions to his name - sees it rather differently, insisting it was merely one of those fights when nothing clicks... which could spell very bad news for the 24-year-old's next opponent.

"I was devastated. I don't know what happened, it just wasn't my night," he said. "I don't know what to say, I just better get back in the gym I suppose.

"I don't know what happened. I've been beating myself up about it, but he was the better man on the day - no excuses. I know for a fact he's beatable, it was just bad... really bad.

"The whole fight was shit. It's been doing my head in. I know I can take him on the mat, I just got caught. This is MMA, it happens. It could have gone the other way, I could have finished him in the first two minutes with a guillotine, but it was his night. On the night, he was better.

"Now I've just got to get back in the gym, and whoever I fight next is going to get really hurt."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.