BIG MAN SHOWS HEART THAT MANY DOUBTED
Las Vegas, NV– Brock Lesnar, 265 lbs, Webster, SD SUB 2 Shane Carwin, 265, Greeley, CO. This bout immediately looked like it would end up the same as all 12 of Carwin’s (12-1, 7 KOs, 5 SUBs) other bouts-by stoppage in the first round. Carwin caught Lesnar (5-1, 2 KOs, 2 SUBs) several times, dropped the UFC champ and proceeded to pound away at him, but couldn’t finish the job. Lesnar was able to survive the early onslaught and the rest of the round in order to regroup, and that he did.
AGAIN, CARWIN HAD NEVER SEEN SECOND ROUND
As the second round began, Carwin looked arm weary and Lesnar capitalized with a quick takedown and gained a dominate position on Carwin. Now, for the first time in his career Carwin saw the second round and on top of that, was in a very bad position with a very dangerous man on top of him. Lesnar wasted little time in advancing his position and securing an arm triangle choke which he slowly secured, improved and milked until it was very tight and Carwin had no choice but to tap or nap. Brock Lesnar remains the UFC heavyweight champion with a very impressive submission victory and a solid showing of skill and will after a very rocky opening round.
LEBEN TOPPED WEAK UNDERCARD
Chris Leben, 185, Portland, OR SUB 3 Yoshihiro Akiyama, 185, Osaka, Japan. Coming in on just under two weeks notice and just having fought two weeks ago, Leben (21-6, 11 KOs, 5 SUBs) took the gamble on taking a very tough fight against Akiyama (13-2, 5 KOs, 7 SUBs). Leben made it pay off as he won by submission as both himself and Akiyama put on a hell of a show for all three rounds. At one point or another throughout the bout, both combatants were hurt as they engaged in free swinging exchanges. Even when Akiyama got the better of striking, it was still a type of fight that favored Leben. Both guys deserve high props for their performances, especially Leben given the circumstances.
WELTERWEIGHTS IN UFC WEIGH 170
Chris Lytle, 170, Indianapolis, IN SUB 2 Matt Brown, 171, Cincinnati, OH. This was a fight between two guys with solid skills and even more heart. Brown (11-9, 6 KOs, 5 SUBs) caught Lytle (29-17-5, 4 KOs, 19 SUBs) in the first in a tight choke, but Lytle stayed relaxed and was able to survive it and escape the first round. The two went back to work in the second with both landing punches and kicks until Lytle gained a dominate position on the ground and secured the arm of Brown and viciously torqued the elbow until Brown had no option but to snap or tap.
“PSYCHO” GETS MUCH NEEDED VICTORY
Stephan Bonnar, 205, Hammond, IL TKO 2 Krzysztof Soszynski, 205, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Stephan Bonner (12-7, 3 KOs, 7 SUBs) evened up the score as he earned a victory over Krzysztof Soszynski (21-10-1, 8 KOs, 10 SUBs). This was a rematch of their fight in Australia last February in which Soszynski won via TKO after a medical stoppage. After being cut up in the first round by his opponent, Bonnar came out in the second round as he always does; undeterred and looking for the kill. This time around, he would catch Soszynski with a crisp knee that would drop him as Bonner followed up with a multitude of punches until referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the action. Congratulations to the “American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar on an impressive and much needed win.
George Sotiropoulos, 156, Geelong, Victoria, Australia UD 3 Kurt Pellegrino 155, Point Pleasant, NJ. Sotiropoulos (13-2, 1 KO, 7 SUBs) outworked, out-thought and outfought Pellegrino (16-5, 2 KOs, 10 SUBs) through three rounds to take an impressive unanimous decision win. Sotiropoulos hurt Pellegrino in the first and almost had his man out, but Pellegrino hung in and almost stole the fight literally in the last second of the last round as he landed a solid knee to Sotiropoulos and jumped on him with punches just as the final bell rang. In the end it wasn’t enough and Sotiropoulos’ hand was raised.
Matt “All Meat” Grizzle