Anthony Smith Puts Away Volkan Oezdemir in UFC Fight Night 138 Main Event
One of the most exciting fighters on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight roster, Anthony Smith took his time against Volkan Oezdemir before submitting him in the third round.
Smith weathered a steady striking attack from the Swiss contender and endured some hell on the ground in the second , but he played his cards perfectly. “Lionheart” moved slowly int he first two frames of the UFC Fight Night 138 main event, but by the time the third rolled around, the Nebraska native stepped on the gas petal and closed the show.
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Johnson Gamble Pays Off
Michael Johnson took the fight on two weeks’ notice and had to cut a massive amount of weight for his featherweight showdown with Artem Lobov, but his decision was a good one. “The Menace” dominated Lobov from start to finish as he picked him apart from the outside.
Johnson (19-13) fired off dozens of jabs, counter and lead lefts
and a bushel of punches to the body. He never had Lobov (13-15-1)
in any serious peril, but he out-struck for 15 minutes. In the end,
Johnson was too much “The Russian Hammer” and was given a unanimous
decision via scores of 29-28 (twice) and 30-27.
Cirkunov Taps Cummins
Latvian powerhouse Misha Cirkunov returned to Canada and was spectacular in dispatching Patrick Cummins in the opening stanza. Cirkunov (14-4) rocked the American with a left to the head and slowly fended off a powerful clinch game and takedown attempts, only to turn the tables in the blink of eye.
With “Durkin” trying to muscle the judoka around, Cirkunov thwarted a takedown attempt, landed in full mount and quickly locked on a textbook arm-triangle choke. Cummins (10-6) had nowhere to go and eventually tapped, officially bowing out 2:40 into the light heavyweight fight.
Soukhamthath Decisions Martinez
Bantamweight contender Andre Soukhamthath had a much more difficult time with prospect Jonathan Martinez than most expected, but he still walked out of the Octagon with the win.
Soukhamthath (13-6) dropped “The Dragon” with rights to the head twice in the contest, scored multiple takedowns and pounced on his foe’s body with a relentless fistic assault, but the Mexican-American never stopped coming. As tough as Martinez (9-2) was, The Asian Sensation” was too much and won a unanimous decision via tallies of 30-26 and 29-28 (twice).
Villante Edges Herman
Ed Herman hadn’t fought in over a year and was openly disappointed afterward when he lost a split decision to Gian Villante.
The two light heavyweights slammed furious punches into each other’s heads for three rounds, with both men staggered multiple times throughout. Villante (17-10) neatly had “Short Fuse” out in the first, but the Oregon fighter kept coming back with power punches of his own. Herman (23-14) rallied down the stretch and had the New Yorker wobbled a few times, but in the end, two judges favored Villante 29-28 while the third had the same score for Herman, who vehemently denounced the judges’ verdict.
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McGee tastes Victory in Return
Longtime veteran Court McGee hadn’t fought in nearly a year, but it didn’t faze him in the least. “The Crusher” used a slow and steady ground-and-pound approach to grind Canada’s Alex Garcia into dust, but the welterweight fight was not easy.
“The Dominican Nightmare” ran step-for-step with McGee throughout the contest, but McGee used several takedowns and a smothering attack from on top to win a unanimous decision. Two judges favored McGee (19-7) with scores of 29-28 while the third had it for the Utah fighter 30-28. Garcia dipped to 15-6.
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