Chael Sonnen said it best when he said that Kevin Casey just never showed up to his fight with Collin Hart on this week’s episode of TUF. For someone who has trained extensively with the Gracies, Casey looked fairly lackluster on the ground. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t Gracie trained fighters supposed to possess a dangerous guard? Well it looks like Casey has shattered that myth.
Collin Hart wasted no time in this fight, as he lunged toward Casey the very moment the fight started. His early flying knee attempted didn’t exactly land, but Hart followed through with a takedown that positioned him immediately into side control. It was impressive how quickly Casey was able to gain a full guard position, but he didn’t amount any offense with it. For as good a grappler as Casey is, his inability to hold his opponent against the cage or achieve under hooks in the clinch was quite surprising. Although he had brief success landed several heavy punches, Hart took the first round with his early takedown, landing more strikes in the clinch, and simply getting the better of every position.
It looked like a fire had been lit under Casey’s rear early in the second round, as he landed a flurry of punches that had Hart in defense mode. Now the most disappointing part of this fight, is that after Casey chased Hart he chose to clinch with him up against the cage. It would’ve been fine, but Casey never tried to utilize any strikes in the clinch, and it seemed as if he was just biding his time. That was a huge mistake on his part, as Hart worked for another takedown and stayed in the top position for the remainder of the fight. Between his dominate position and the short strikes he was landing, the judges correctly scored the second round for Hart as well.
With Team Sonnen still leading 2-1, Team Jones has seized control and has matched up Team Sonnen’s last pick, Kelvin Gastelum, against Team Jones’ third pick, Robert “Bubba” McDaniel. This is a fight that may very well tie this competition 2-2.
– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli
@FightFreek