“Wonderboy” landed two spinning kicks in a row. The first wobbled Ellenberger; the second sent Ellenberger crashing to the canvas. Thompson said his father and coach Ray yelled to him that it worked the first time and he should do it again.
“He told me to do it again and it landed, man,” Thompson told Jon Anik afterward.
Thompson (11-1), who has won five straight, asked for a top-10 opponent in the welterweight division afterward. And he has earned that with three knockouts in his last four fights. “Wonderboy” is 32 years old, but is still an up-and-coming fighter in the 170-pound division.
Thompson’s wrestling work with Chris Weidman and jiu-jitsu training with Ryan Hall have led to a distinct evolution in his game. “Wonderboy” held his own on the ground against Ellenberger, a very good wrestler, in the short time the fight went there.
Ellenberger (30-9) actually dropped Thompson early in the first round and nearly finished him. The 30-year-old “Juggernaut” has lost four of his last five fights, albeit most coming against elite competition.
“I felt his punch,” Thompson said. “One of those flash knock downs. I was still coherent when it happened. My legs just gave out. I kept going.”
Until he earned the pretty, highlight-reel knockout.
Kamaru Usman will be a hero in South Florida this week. The former Division II wrestling national champion submitted Hayder Hassan with an arm triangle at 1:19 of the second round in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 21. The victory earned Usman’s Blackzilians team $300,000. Hassan was representing American Top Team.
It’s one thing to get somebody down on the ground, but it’s another thing to finish him there,” Usman said.
Usman (6-1) is one of the top welterweight prospects in the country. He had an uneven TUF season, but has now won five in a row in official fights — all of them by finish. Hassan (6-2) was perhaps the MVP of the season, winning three fights for ATT in a span of 16 days.
The TUF winners don’t have guaranteed contracts into the UFC, but are still being evaluated by UFC brass, according to UFC senior vice president of public relations Dave Sholler. After Usman’s performance, you’d have to imagine he would get a UFC deal.
In the first of the TUF bouts, Michael Graves grinded out a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) against Vicente Luque. Graves was representing American Top Team and Luque the Blackzilians. UFC president Dana White selected the competitors for the fight.
Graves (5-0) also had the comeback win of the season in the second to last episode, rallying from near certain TKO defeat against Justin Jackson to win by submission.
“I don’t want to make excuses or take anything away from the guys I was fighting, but I was about to give up and go get a real job so I wasn’t really training,” Graves said. “Since the show I’ve been training a lot harder and working a lot harder. I put in so much work to get to this point, but there is still a long way to go. When I found out my fiancée was pregnant, I knew I had to do something to provide for my family and now I can. I’ve never been happier with my home life. Now I can provide for my son.”
No one will be doubting Jorge Masvidal’s decision to move to welterweight now. Masvidal made quick work of Cezar Ferreira, knocking him out at 4:22 of the first round. Ferreira was moving down from 185, while Masvidal was coming up from 155.
Masvidal (29-9), who was coming off a controversial loss to Al Iaquinta in May, called out Matt Brown afterward.
“Matt Brown, you want to get your ass kicked?” Masvidal said. “Holla at me.”
In her UFC debut, Michelle Waterson put on a dominant performance against Angela Magana, winning by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:38 of the third round. Waterson, the former Invicta FC atomweight champion moving up to strawweight, survived an early armbar attempt in the first round and controlled the fight from there.
“This is my UFC debut,” Waterson said of the armbar. “I’m not going out like that.”
Maximo Blanco finished Mike de la Torre at 16 seconds of the first round via TKO to open the main card. However, it might have been an early stoppage. Blanco dropped de la Torre with a big combination, but de la Torre almost immediately transitioned to a single leg takedown attempt. Referee Yves Lavigne had already stepped in, though, and that was that. De la Torre looked stunned afterward.
On the prelims, Josh Samman picked up a big submission win over Caio Magalhaes at 2:52 of the first round. Afterward, when Samman went to shake his hand, Magalhaes spit blood out at him. Referee John McCarthy was there to push Magalhaes away. It was a controversial moment following an impressive performance by Samman, who was actually the underdog.
“Wonderboy” landed two spinning kicks in a row. The first wobbled Ellenberger; the second sent Ellenberger crashing to the canvas. Thompson said his father and coach Ray yelled to him that it worked the first time and he should do it again.
“He told me to do it again and it landed, man,” Thompson told Jon Anik afterward.
Thompson (11-1), who has won five straight, asked for a top-10 opponent in the welterweight division afterward. And he has earned that with three knockouts in his last four fights. “Wonderboy” is 32 years old, but is still an up-and-coming fighter in the 170-pound division.
Thompson’s wrestling work with Chris Weidman and jiu-jitsu training with Ryan Hall have led to a distinct evolution in his game. “Wonderboy” held his own on the ground against Ellenberger, a very good wrestler, in the short time the fight went there.
Ellenberger (30-9) actually dropped Thompson early in the first round and nearly finished him. The 30-year-old “Juggernaut” has lost four of his last five fights, albeit most coming against elite competition.
“I felt his punch,” Thompson said. “One of those flash knock downs. I was still coherent when it happened. My legs just gave out. I kept going.”
Until he earned the pretty, highlight-reel knockout.
Kamaru Usman will be a hero in South Florida this week. The former Division II wrestling national champion submitted Hayder Hassan with an arm triangle at 1:19 of the second round in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 21. The victory earned Usman’s Blackzilians team $300,000. Hassan was representing American Top Team.
It’s one thing to get somebody down on the ground, but it’s another thing to finish him there,” Usman said.
Usman (6-1) is one of the top welterweight prospects in the country. He had an uneven TUF season, but has now won five in a row in official fights — all of them by finish. Hassan (6-2) was perhaps the MVP of the season, winning three fights for ATT in a span of 16 days.
The TUF winners don’t have guaranteed contracts into the UFC, but are still being evaluated by UFC brass, according to UFC senior vice president of public relations Dave Sholler. After Usman’s performance, you’d have to imagine he would get a UFC deal.
In the first of the TUF bouts, Michael Graves grinded out a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) against Vicente Luque. Graves was representing American Top Team and Luque the Blackzilians. UFC president Dana White selected the competitors for the fight.
Graves (5-0) also had the comeback win of the season in the second to last episode, rallying from near certain TKO defeat against Justin Jackson to win by submission.
“I don’t want to make excuses or take anything away from the guys I was fighting, but I was about to give up and go get a real job so I wasn’t really training,” Graves said. “Since the show I’ve been training a lot harder and working a lot harder. I put in so much work to get to this point, but there is still a long way to go. When I found out my fiancée was pregnant, I knew I had to do something to provide for my family and now I can. I’ve never been happier with my home life. Now I can provide for my son.”
No one will be doubting Jorge Masvidal’s decision to move to welterweight now. Masvidal made quick work of Cezar Ferreira, knocking him out at 4:22 of the first round. Ferreira was moving down from 185, while Masvidal was coming up from 155.
Masvidal (29-9), who was coming off a controversial loss to Al Iaquinta in May, called out Matt Brown afterward.
“Matt Brown, you want to get your ass kicked?” Masvidal said. “Holla at me.”
In her UFC debut, Michelle Waterson put on a dominant performance against Angela Magana, winning by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:38 of the third round. Waterson, the former Invicta FC atomweight champion moving up to strawweight, survived an early armbar attempt in the first round and controlled the fight from there.
“This is my UFC debut,” Waterson said of the armbar. “I’m not going out like that.”
Maximo Blanco finished Mike de la Torre at 16 seconds of the first round via TKO to open the main card. However, it might have been an early stoppage. Blanco dropped de la Torre with a big combination, but de la Torre almost immediately transitioned to a single leg takedown attempt. Referee Yves Lavigne had already stepped in, though, and that was that. De la Torre looked stunned afterward.
On the prelims, Josh Samman picked up a big submission win over Caio Magalhaes at 2:52 of the first round. Afterward, when Samman went to shake his hand, Magalhaes spit blood out at him. Referee John McCarthy was there to push Magalhaes away. It was a controversial moment following an impressive performance by Samman, who was actually the underdog.
