(Coulda been worse, I guess…)
Just two months after bouncing out of the UFC following his third-straight loss at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko, notoriously cursed striker James Irvin began his climb back to the big leagues at a Rebel Fights event in Roseville, California, on Saturday. As you’ll see in the video after the jump, it must have been a humbling experience from the get-go. Instead of a deafening, appropriately lit arena, Irvin squared off with a dude named Angel DeAnda for the entertainment of a couple hundred folks in a cinder-blocked space that was as small as it was bright.
It would have been especially depressing if Irvin lost — and he was a ball-hair away of doing just that. DeAnda starts the fight bombing out on Irvin with left hooks, but is floored by a patented Sandman Superman Punch. DeAnda pops back up, quickly scores a knockdown of his own, and starts pouring on the pain from the top. Check the vid’s 1:35 mark to see just how close Josh Rosenthal was to stopping the fight; he basically changes his mind at the last possible moment, which allows Irvin to get his bearings, work his way up, and put the stamp on DeAnda.