| Ultimate Fight Night Re-cap |
Reported by MMaringreport April 5th, 2007 – Las Vegas, Nevada
Joe Stevenson vs. Melvin Guillard
The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas played host to a night of UFC action. The main event of the evening featured the Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Joe Stevenson and fellow TUF 2 cast member, Melvin Guillard. Since winning the TUF 2 welterweight title in September 2005, Stevenson lost his first fight out to Josh Neer in Fight Night 4. Stevenson then dropped down to the 155-lb division and redeemed himself in the eyes of many with impressive back-to-back wins over Yves Edwards at UFC 61, and Dokonjonosuke Mishima at UFC 65.
Melvin Guillard was eliminated in the second episode of TUF 2 when he lost a unanimous decision to Josh Burkman. He appeared on the undercard of the TUF 2 finale and managed to TKO Marcus Davis. Then, like Stevenson, he lost to Josh Neer in Fight Night 3, yet followed it up with two knockout victories over Rick Davis in UFC 60 and Gabe Ruediger in UFC 63.
The cocky trash-talking Guillard truly believes he is to be the star of the lightweight division and has no love for Joe Stevenson. For the hard-hitting Guillard to win, he has to keep this fight standing, while submission specialist Stevenson will look for the quick take-down where he can pound out a vicious serving of elbows and body blows. To add fuel to the fire, Guillard called his friend, Josh Burkman, a traitor for being in Stevenson’s corner for this fight.
If you blinked, you missed all the action. Once the bell rang, both fighters sprang into action. Stevenson knocked Guillard off-balance with a strong left jab and rushed in for the finish. After jockeying for position, Guillard lifted Joe off his feet and slammed him to the canvas. Unfortunately, Guillard landed right into a guillotine choke hold. Boom. Tap out. Twenty-six seconds into the fight.
A severely disappointed Guillard remained kneeled on the canvas and was consoled for some time by a sympathetic Stevenson. The quick victory re-establishes Joe Stevenson as an unstoppable contender for the 155-lb. championship belt. In his post fight comments, the humble Stevenson paid respect to Guillard, blew love to the troops and showed all he would make an outstanding and respectable champion.
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Nate Mohr
This lightweight bout featured two-time Golden Glove champ Nate Mohr making his UF debut against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler Kurt Pellegrino. Pellegrino got caught by Drew Fickett in UFC 61 and was forced to tap out in the third round. In his second fight, he was on the winning end of a tapout against Junior Assuncao in UFC 64. Nate Mohr won his last four fights in smaller competitions by TKO.
After eating some opening shots in the first round, Pellegrino got down to business, took Mohr to the mat, and a few minutes later dropped into an ankle-lock and forced Mohr to tapout. A short and sweet victory for Pellegrino.
Justin McCully vs. Antoni Hardonk
Former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir was schedule to fight Antoni Hardonk but had to pull out because of an injured shoulder. Team Punishment’s Justin McCully gamely stepped in to replace Mir and make his UFC debut. The thirty-one year old McCully holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is coming off two submission victories last October in smaller competitions
The hard-hitting Antoni Hardonk is no easy victory though. He has trained with two legends, Rickson Gracie and Dutch kickboxer Ernesto Hoost. Hardonk scored an unusual victory in his UFC debut over Sherman Pendergarst at UFC 56. Hardonk stunned Pendergarst with a hard left jab then knocked him out with a leg kick to the waist, immediately ending the fight.
Usually when you have a stand-up fighter versus a. submission specialist, the fight is going to the floor and staying there. This fight was no different. McCully would muscle Hardonk against the fence and slowly work his way to a take-down. Unfortunately, McCully was unable to do much damage from the guard and was only in danger of getting himself armbarred. Though McCully trained with Tito Ortiz, he certainly didn’t have any of Tito’s furious ground and pound. He did manage to cut Hardonk with an elbow. But in the end, Hardonk had no answer for McCully’s grabbing and smothering and spent three rounds on his back. McCully pitched a shutout and won all three rounds for a unanimous decision.
Nothing is more exiting to watch than the ground and pound action of a Tito Ortiz, a Diego Sanchez or a Matt Hughes. But McCully is none of those and therefore, UFC refs really need to be quicker to stand ‘em up when the fight bogs down into a wrestling quagmire.
Dokonjonosuke Mishima vs. Kenny Florian
This lightweight bout featured Kenny Florian against Japan’s Dokonjonosuke Mishima, a Pride veteran who once fought Takanori Gomi. Mishima lost his UFC debut after being submitted by Joe Stevenson. Florian was looking to get back on track after losing a unanimous decision to Sean Sherk in UFC 64 for the vacant Lightweight championship belt. Florian was the TUF 1 runner-up, losing the finale to Diego Sanchez. After that, the 30-year old jiu-jitsu specialist racked up three straight victories over Alex Karalexis, Kit Cope and Sam Stout before his fateful matchup with Sherk.
The new and improved Kenny Florian had no trouble winning this fight submitting Mishima with a rear-naked choke in the third round. Florian softened-up Mishima for two rounds with a series of leg kicks that seem to frustrate the Japanese fighter. All in all, an excellent exhibition by Kenny Florian
| " | The new and improved Kenny Florian had no trouble winning this fight submitting Mishima with a rear-naked choke in the third round. Florian softened-up Mishima for two rounds with a series of leg kicks that seem to frustrate the Japanese fighter. All in all, an excellent exhibition by Kenny Florian |
