Weekend Rundown: Rodriguez Wins, Hill Falls at XKL ‘Evolution’

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez stopped Brian Ryan on second-round strikes at Xtreme Kombat League “Evolution” on Saturday at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich. The end came 2:05 into round two.

Rodriguez mounted Ryan in the second period and finished with ground-and-pound from the top, as he posted his fifth consecutive victory. The 32-year-old, who won the absolute division at the 1998 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships, has now secured 32 of his 40 career mixed martial arts wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

The defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak for Ryan, a King of the Cage, Rage in the Cage and Alaska Fighting Championships veteran.

In the XKL “Evolution” main event, the once-beaten Mark Holst submitted Corey Hill with a kimura 4:06 into the second period. Holst has rattled off three straight wins since his March 2009 defeat to Martin Grandmont. The 24-year-old Canadian still has never gone the distance.

Hill -- now 15 months removed from a frightening leg injury suffered against Dale Hartt at UFC “Fight for the Troops” -- fell back to the .500 mark. He has dropped three of his five fights since his appearance on “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5.

Ford Submits Speer at TFC 10

The Fight Club welterweight champion Ryan Ford submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 6 finalist Tom Speer with a first-round rear-naked choke in the TFC 10 “High Voltage” headliner on Friday at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton Alberta, Canada. Speer, who failed to make weight for the match, succumbed to the choke 4:29 into round one.

Ford softened Speer with strikes, mounted the Minnesotan and ultimately cinched the submission. The Canadian has finished four straight foes inside one round. The 25-year-old Speer, cut by the UFC following his violent knockout loss to Anthony Johnson, saw his two-fight winning streak grind to a halt.

In the co-feature, Martin Desilets stopped UFC veteran Victor Valimaki on punches with 10 seconds left in the first round. The loss snapped Valimaki’s seven-fight winning streak, which dated back to his August 2007 defeat to Roger Hollett.

Assuncao Captures XFC Crown

UFC exile Junior Assuncao coaxed a tapout from John Mahlow with a guillotine choke to win the Xtreme Fighting Championships lightweight crown at XFC 10 “Night of Champions” on Friday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. Mahlow met his demise 4:02 into round one.

Assuncao, a 28-year-old Atlanta-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, has won five of his six fights since being pruned by the UFC following his September 2007 submission defeat to “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner Nate Diaz.

In the main event, XFC featherweight king Jarrod Card retained his title, as he cinched a tapout-inducing rear-naked choke on Jason Wood 4:07 into the second round. Card will carry a five-fight winning streak into his next appearance.

Meanwhile, Gerardo Julio Gallegos made quick work of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 alum Shane Primm, as he finished the 25-year-old by TKO in little more than half a minute. The unbeaten Gallegos has stopped two straight opponents in 57 seconds or less.

Galiza Decisions TUF Finalist at Shark Fights 9

Pedro Galiza defeated “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 finalist Vinny Magalhaes by unanimous decision at Shark Fights 9 on Saturday at the Civic Center Coliseum in Amarillo, Texas. The 25-year-old Magalhaes, cut by the UFC in wake of his April 2009 loss to Eliot Marshall, entered the bout on a two-fight winning streak.

Other winners at the event included UFC veteran Douglas Evans, who submitted Dustin Phillips with a first-round heel hook.