SYDNEY, March 3 – Perhaps inspired (or intimidated) by the debuting flyweights’ reputation for exciting fights, the men of the UFC on FX:
Alves vs. Kampmann prelim card turned in thrilling performances,
opening the event in Allphones Arena with five jaw-dropping finishes
and two crowd-pleasing wars.
James Te Huna vs. Aaron Rosa
A
Texan took out an Aussie earlier in the night, and Penrith-based Kiwi
James Te Huna repaid the favor by TKOing the Lone Star State’s Aaron
Rosa at 2:08 of round one.
After testing the waters with some low
kicks, light heavyweight Te Huna bulled his opponent against the fence,
headhunting with his right hook the entire time. Two of those landed
against the fence, and he scored with a nasty left hook on the exit.
That same hook dropped Rosa seconds later, and Te Huna easily followed,
issuing direct hit after direct hit until the ref intervened.
Te Huna’s record ascends to 16-5; Rosa departs 17-5. Watch Te Huna’s post-fight interview
Anthony Perosh vs. Nick Penner
Anthony
Perosh scored the first win of the night for the Australians on the
card, ruining Nick Penner’s Octagon debut with a first-round TKO.
“Position before submission,” said the light heavyweight BJJ specialist
after the ground-and-pound win that was all about the mount.
Standing
as mirror images – Perosh 6-foot-3 in orthodox stance and Penner
6-foot-4 in southpaw – it appeared to be Penner who landed the best
counters early on, yet the Canadian was also bleeding from under the eye
after only a minute. Perosh dove for a takedown and got a few elbows in
before Penner reversed, got on top and got to his feet. Perosh was
briefly wobbled by another Penner fist, and he took the fight to the
fence again where the two struggled for position.
Again Perosh
dove for a takedown, and though it took a while to get, it spelled the
beginning of the end. Perosh used elbows to further damage Penner, then
moved into mount and unloaded brutal strikes as Penner covered up,
bucking and spinning away in an attempt to escape the punishment as the
ten-second warning sounded. Though Penner tried to survive, he had no
defense for Perosh, forcing the ref to wave it off with just one second
left in the round.
The win brings the now-13-6 Perosh to three
in a row, all of them finishes. It was Penner’s first loss since 2008,
his record slipping to 12-2. Hear why Perosh says it’s taken him ten years to become an overnight sensation
Cole Miller vs. Steven Siler
Cole
Miller loves a good grudge, and so there was no better opponent for his
first featherweight fight than TUF 14 underdog Steven Siler, who beat
Miller’s brother Micah in the qualifying fights for that season. But
whether it was the weight cut or simply Siler’s striking, the bad blood
wasn’t enough to win the fight, as Siler took the unanimous decision.
At
5’11”, Siler is used to having a reach advantage on his opponents, but
even thought his 70” wingspan couldn’t match the 6’1” Miller’s 76”
reach, he was able to get inside and score regularly. Miller attempted
to establish the distance with jabs and kicks, but Siler found his own
range and scored with kicks of his own. Three clinches against the cage
were mostly stalemates, but Siler twice caught Miller’s kicks and
delivered punches, one that briefly dropped Miller. Late in the round,
Siler stunned Miller with a left-uppercut-hook combo, leaving Miller
running backward for safety. Miller took Siler down with a backward trip
to end the round, but wound up on the bottom in a Siler guillotine,
then ate some blows.
Both men had their moments in round two,
with Miller landing a good knee to start, then finding his range and
peppering Siler with a few strong jabs and rights. But Siler scored
throughout with blistering body shots as part of the lighting-fast
combinations that kept Miller moving backward. Though Siler later
described his standup during the bout as “sloppy,” the crowd loved his
unrelenting pace and the frenetic exchanges that erupted with Miller.
Miller
seemed drained by round three. Though Siler’s strikes connected with
less frequency, the shorter man remained the aggressor. Miller worked
twice to control the clinch and push Siler against the fence. During the
second prolonged struggle on the cage, Miller took the round by
dragging Siler to the ground and climbing into mount. He delivered some
ground and pound and briefly moved for a rear-naked choke, but with less
than 30 seconds left, Siler survived the lanky Miller’s dangerous
ground threat.
Judges scored the bout 29-28 for Siler, who is now
20-9 (2-0 against the Miller brothers of Macon, Georgia). Miller falls
to 18-6 in his 145-pound debut. Get Siler’s thoughts on his performance here
Kyle Noke vs. Andrew Craig
Aussie-born
Kyle Noke received a hometown hero’s ovation, walking in to Men at
Work’s classic “Down Under.” His Texan opponent Andrew Craig earned boos
during the Octagon introductions and ref Herb Dean a second set of
cheers. But after an early onslaught, UFC newcomer Craig got his
composure and made it a tough homecoming for Noke, racking up a 29-28
unanimous decision in the middleweight bout.
The first round was
impressively the Aussie’s. Noke immediately came forward for a takedown
and trapped Craig against the fence. Noke moved from front guillotine
to a rear-naked, but Craig managed to stand up with Noke still on his
back. Noke then took Craig for a second ride to the mat, took his back
and worked again unsuccessfully for a rear-naked against the fence.
Craig survived and ended up with Noke in his guard, where he threw up
one triangle attempt as Noke scored with a few punches and elbows. The
two finally worked to their feet, Craig landing a knee as they split.
Back in the center, Craig began putting together more powerful
combinations and counterstrikes that mostly kept Noke at bay.
Craig
pushed the pace more in the second, his left arm mostly down or batting
forward and his right fist winding up for a big punch. Noke kept his
distance using kicks. Noke bulled Craig against the fence with one leg
caught, but Craig stayed busy issuing punches and eventually wound up on
top in Noke’s half guard then full guard. Noke did his best to tie up
Craig’s arms, but the American got a few big blows and ‘bows through
before Noke tried an armbar of his own. Noke pushed Craig off with his
feet, and Craig allowed him to stand before the two engaged in an ugly,
crowd pleasing brawl with 40 seconds left. Noke slipped and went to the
ground, and Craig pounced with hammerfists until ending the round on
top.
The wild crowd applauded the beginning of round three, the
first action coming from Noke’s on-target front kicks. But Craig
continued to own the center of the Octagon, connecting in particular
with a right hook. Twice more Noke dove for single-legs but again came
up short, getting only hammerfists in the head for his trouble. After
some struggle against the fence, Noke secured the double-leg and dumped
Craig on his butt against the fence. In the last half of the round, Noke
took the center of the Octagon and it was Craig who shot across the
Octagon for a solid takedown. Craig crowded Noke against the fence and
punched away as Noke moved to his hands and knees, and then to his side,
trying to escape but unable to do much to escape Craig’s top game.
Craig,
who started training in 2008 because, he says, “I wanted to do at least
one amateur fight before I got my big boy job,” remains undefeated at
7-0; Kyle Noke moves to a 19-6-1 record. Watch Craig’s post-fight interview
TJ Waldburger vs. Jake Hecht
If
the 2:05 submission in Semerzier vs. Pineda seemed fast, the next
bout’s 55-second finish made that look practically plodding. Texan TJ
Waldburger took less than a minute to improve his record to 15-6 (3-1 in
the UFC) while sending Jake Hecht back home to the Midwest 11-3.
The
two well-rounded welterweights, both entering the Octagon off
submission wins, didn’t spend much time feeling each other out.
Waldburger moved forward twice – once with a kick and once with a punch,
but Hecht’s counter-combinations were lightning-fast.
Having
had enough of that, Waldburger took his opponent to the mat with a trip,
isolated an arm from the back and rolled to his back with the limb.
Hecht flipped over to try and escape but was tapping before he’d made a
full rotation. Hear what Waldburger had to say in his post-fight interview
Mackens Semerzier vs. Daniel Pineda
Two
freestyle featherweights put on a can’t-blink performance in the first
televised bout of the UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann prelims, with late
replacement Daniel “The Pit” Pineda tapping out Mackens “Da Menace”
Semerzier via armbar in just 2 minutes and 5 seconds.
In the
first 70 seconds alone, Pineda charged forward with strikes, trapping
Semerzier against the cage; Semerzier landed several solid knees in that
same time span.
In a close exchange, Pineda dropped Da Menace,
then immediately followed him to the ground. High in mount, he secured a
triangle and rolled over. Semerzier stood to try and escape, but the
triangle was locked, and Pineda pulled his opponent’s arm to get the
win.
Pineda’s record now stands at 17-7 with first round
submission wins in both of his Octagon appearances; Semerzier drops to
8-4 with 1 no contest. Watch Pineda’s post-fight interview
Oli Thompson vs. Shawn Jordan
Score another win for the Strikeforce heavyweights, as Shawn “The Savage” Jordan followed in the successful footsteps of Lavar Johnson and Alistair Overeem, finishing England’s Oli Thompson by TKO early in the second round of the event’s first bout.
The
heavyweights circled to open, with the action accelerating throughout
the round. The crowd chanted “Oli Oli Oli!” to the tune of “Aussie
Aussie Aussie” for the Brit, but it was the American Jordan who did the
most damage, bloodying Thompson’s face with several flurries plus a
right-straight-left uppercut combo that connected several times.
In
the bout’s most exciting exchange, an uppercut buckled Thompson, and
Jordan capitalized with a huge knee that sent Thompson to his knees
against the cage. Jordan followed with massive hammerfists, but Thompson
took the fight to the mat, briefly threatening Jordan with an armbar.
The Savage escaped, treating Thompson to another knee on their way to
the feet.
Staying low, smiling, and bobbing his head, Jordan
goaded his opponent forward, catching him this time against the cage
where he unloaded. Thompson covered his head before reacting with combos
of his own, using his 75-inch reach to fight his way out of danger. As
the crowd yelled their appreciation and the two broke in the center of
the cage, the opponents high-fived.
The heavies clinched early in
the second, with Thompson scoring more with leg kicks in round two.
Still it was Jordan who controlled the fight’s geography and moved
forward with combinations. Thompson went for a takedown but was quickly
rebuffed. One cracking uppercut seemed to stun Thompson, but when Jordan
pursued, Thompson came alive and flurried back. When it landed again,
however, Thompson was clearly wounded, and a follow-up knee sent
Thompson to the mat and the ref in to intervene at 1:07 of the second.
Jordan celebrated with the rarely-seen heavyweight backflip, his record now 13-3; Thompson’s UFC debut left him 9-3.Hear what “The Savage” had to say after his big win