Newark, NJ– Georges St. Pierre, 170 lbs, Quebec, Canada UD 5 Dan Hardy, 160, Nottingham, East Midlands, England. For five rounds, St. Pierre (20-2, 8 KOs, 5 SUBs) absolutely dominated Hardy (23-6, 11 KOs, 4 SUBs) but was not able to finish him off. How Hardy survived an arm bar attempt in the first round I will never know, but regardless of not getting the finish St. Pierre looked as good as ever. Scores were 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43 all for the welterweight (170) champion Georges St. Pierre.
CARWIN KO OF MIR SETS UP BROCK LESNAR FIGHT
Shane Carwin, 265, Denver, CO KO 1 Frank Mir, 265, Las Vegas, NV. Once again Shane “Touch of Sleep” Carwin (12-0, 7 KOs, 5 SUBs) refuses to exit the first round of a fight as he demolished Frank Mir (13-5, 2 KOs, 8 SUBs) with brutal punches. It all started with uppercuts as Carwin had Mir pinned up against the cage as Mir’s legs buckled and Carwin followed up with strikes on the ground for the KO victory. To Mir’s credit he was able to survive the initial onslaught after being dropped and even went to lock up an arm but Carwin’s power was too much. Now interim champion Shane Carwin and Champion Brock Lesnar (4-1, 2 KOs, 1 SUB) will look to get it on sometime this summer.
Kurt Pellegrino, 155, Point Pleasant, NJ SUB 2 Fabricio Camoes, 155, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. Pellegrino (15-4, 2 KOs, 10 SUBs) won the submission battle by halting the Brazilian Camoes (10-5-1, 2 KOs, 6 SUBs) via rear naked choke. The first round saw some scrambles for submissions by both men but in the second round, Pellegrino found his opportunity and grabbed a win in his home state.
Jon Fitch, 171, Fort Wayne, IN UD 3 Ben Saunders, 170, Orlando, FL. Although his opponent was switched at the last minute, Jon Fitch (22-3, 4 KOs, 5 SUBs) was still able to do what he always does-grind out a decision. Fitch utilized his ground and pound and controlled the entire fight while Saunders (8-3, 1 KO, 6 SUBs) was constantly looking for an answer he never found.
Jim Miller, 155, Sparta, NJ UD 3 Mark Bocek, 155, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In a back and forth battle that had both men in danger on more than one occasion, the New Jersey native Miller (17-2, 2 KOs, 10 SUBs) got the nod. Bocek (8-3, 1 KO, 6 SUBs) fought a great fight and his stock probably goes up regardless of the loss.
Ricardo Almeida, 170, Weehawken, NJ SUB 2 Matt Brown, 170, Cincinnati, OH. From the start Almeida (12-3, 5 SUBs) was intent on getting the fight to the ground, but Brown (11-8, 6 KOs, 5 SUBs) was often able to defend the take down or simply pop right back up to his feet. Eventually Almeida countered a kick with a straight right hand that dropped Brown as Almeida pounced on him. It wasn’t long before the Renzo Gracie student was able to use his superior Jiu-Jitsu and secure a choke for the win.
BROTHER OF NICK DIAZ NOTCHES KO
Nate Diaz, 171, Stockton, CA TKO 1 Rory Markham, 177, Bettendorf, IA. Although Markham (16-6, 11 KOs, 5 SUBs) didn’t make the 170 lbs. limit, Diaz (12-5, 3 KOs, 8 SUBs) elected to go ahead with the fight. Markham looked noticeably bigger but the extra bulk didn’t help as Diaz smacked him around throughout the short fight. It appears the move up in weight was a good move for the young Nate Diaz.
Matt Grizzle