With a chest like that, Shawn Jordan deserves a special place in our hearts
Let’s pretend that you’re a novice MMA fan. You just started watching the sport after being at a bar that was showing “one of those UFC events”, and you want to follow this sport more closely. Specifically, you want to be able to watch the sport’s brightest prospects fighting on the same card while it’s still mostly for recognition. Then let me tell you everything you need to know: The UFC 135 Facebook prelims begin at 5:30 ET. You’re welcome.
For those of you who really want to be hardcore fans, and want to know about the brightest prospects of the minor leagues fighting to be somewhat more famous minor league prospects, we got your back, too. Strikeforce Challengers 19 went down last night in Las Vegas last night at the Palms Resort Casino. While most of the fighters were pretty rough around the edges, the crowd was still treated to some decent fights.
In the main event, light heavyweight prospect Lorenz Larkin remained undefeated by edging out Nick Rossborough for a unanimous decision victory. Despite accepting the fight on short notice, Nick Rossborough kept the fight close throughout the first round by utilizing the clinch against the shorter Larkin. However, Larkin managed to wear Rossborough down with leg kicks throughout the second round, and opened up a cut on Rossborough’s forehead with elbows in the third. Lorenz Larkin is now 12-0 in his MMA career, while Nick Rossborough falls to 20-15.
The only stoppage on the main card came in the night’s co-main event, as Shawn Jordan secured a keylock in the second round against Lavar Johnson. A member of the LSU’s 2007 National Championship football team, Shawn Jordan caught Lavar Johnson with a vicious left hand thirty seconds into the fight, causing Johnson’s right eye to swell up. From there, Jordan showed off an impressive chin by laughing off Johnson’s punches before dumping him on his back as often as possible. By the second round, Johnson was more focused on his swollen eye than protecting himself from Jordan’s submission attempts, allowing Jordan to secure the fight ending keylock. While the Greg Jackson product needs to work on his standup game, a victory over Lavar Johnson is a quality win for him.
In other action, Ryan Couture still looked pretty raw and one-dimensional, but managed to grind out a majority decision against Maka Watson. Watson managed to open up a cut on Couture’s forehead in the first round, but managed to out-grapple Watson for the majority of the fight. Also, both Jason High and Brian Melancon managed to grind out unanimous decision victories that left the Las Vegas fans booing. Jason High has now won six straight fights.
Full Results, courtesy of MMAJunkie:
OFFICIAL MAIN CARD RESULTS
Lorenz Larkin def. Nick Rossborough via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Shawn Jordan def. Lavar Johnson via submission (keylock) – Round 2, 3:08
Ryan Couture def. Maka Watson via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jason High def. Todd Moore via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brian Melancon def. Felipe Portela via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
James Terry def. Magno Almeida via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:27
Bobby Green def. Charon Spain via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:54
Chris Spang def. Joe Ray via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Quinn Mulhern def. Danny Davis via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 4:08