“Smile’n” Sam Alvey once again accepted a fight on super short notice, tangling with Jim Crute at UFC 234 tonight (Sat., Feb. 9, 2019) inside Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, after Ryan Spann was forced to withdraw last month because of a broken hand. It was no small task — “The Brute” was an undefeated up-and-comer fighting on home soil.
And he still is thanks to an impressive first round technical knockout stoppage over an experienced Octagon veteran.
The first minute of action was pretty slow, but then they pair traded some shots upstairs to get things humming. Crute landed a hard kick to Alvey’s ribs, then he countered with a nice one-two combination moments later that was partially blocked. Crute uncorked a high kick, then followed up with a hard, short right cross that dropped Alvey to a knee. Crute thought he was done and put his hands up to celebrate, but Alvey wobbled back to his feet. Crute back Alvey up against the fence and attempted to finish him with a high kick, but Alvey caught it and took him down to the canvas. In the ensuing scramble, Crute managed to get on top of Alvey and began to unleash a healthy does of ground-and-pound. He turtled up on his knees and drilled Alvey with about 20 shots to his earhole before referee Marc Goddard stepped in and separated them to end the fight. Alvey immediately protested the stoppage — he apparently has had issues with Goddard stopping his fights early in the past. But, it was clear that Alvey was hurt and in a bad spot, so it’s hard to pin that on the referee, whose job it is to protect him from sustaining any unnecessary damage. That’s now two consecutive wins for the “Contender Series” alum, who at just 22 years old has a bright future ahead of him inside the Octagon.
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