John Hathaway dominates Andre Ricardo in long-awaited comeback fight at Oktagon 36

For a guy who hadn’t competed in an MMA fight since Barack Obama was President of the United States, John Hathaway looked like he didn’t miss a beat.

Making his return to the cage after an eight-year absence, the former UFC standout put on a classic Hathaway performance, using his grappling, mat control and ground-and-pound to cruise to a unanimous decision over Andre Ricardo on Saturday at Oktagon 36 in Frankfurt, Germany.

The judges scored the bout 30-26, 30-24, and 30-26 in favor of Hathaway, whose performance earned him his first win since UFC on Fuel TV 5 back in September 2012.

“It means a lot. It was a really good, enjoyable kind of fight,” Hathaway said afterward. “Obviously, everyone wishes they got the finish, but it was my first one out in eight years, so I kind of had to put the (work) in, go for the gears and figure out where I was. I’m sorry, everyone, I didn’t get the finish. I tried my best, but obviously it’s been a while.”

Hathaway (18-2) had no reason to apologize after 15 minutes of domination that reminded everyone why he was once considered the U.K.’s greatest hope for a UFC champion. His return from competition after a harrowing battle with ulcerative colitis was a victory in and of itself. The fact that the 35-year-old looked as dominant as he did made it that much sweeter.

The story of the fight was the same for all three rounds: Hathaway took down Ricardo (11-6-2) and proceeded to pelt him with punches, elbows and hammerfists at his own pace. Hathaway looked completely comfortable doing it, too.

According to the stats on the Oktagon 36 broadcast, Hathaway landed 116 significant strikes to Ricardo’s two, and he took down his opponent seven times. Ricardo carried Hathaway’s weight for practically the entire fight.

In the final 30 seconds of Round 2, Hathaway nearly got the finish. He managed to flatten out Ricardo onto his belly and rained punches on him. When Ricardo squirmed onto his back, Hathaway held the mount position and pounded him with an array of punches and hammerfists, but Ricardo was saved by the bell.