The former Strikeforce middleweight champion headlined WSOF 17 against fellow UFC veteran Brian Foster on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and only needed 2:51 to end the bout.
In his second attempt to take the fight to the ground, Shields passed the guard and went to full mount, locking an arm-triangle choke. Foster tried to escape and ended up giving up his back. Shields, who scored 10 of his previous 30 wins by way of submission, got the tap with a tight rear-naked choke.
“It was great. Anytime you end a fight in the first round you’re happy,” Shields said after the win. “I started a little sloppy in the first minute so I’m not happy about that. I’m a perfectionist. I’m a little bummed about the first minute, but overall it went good, so no complaints.”
With his second first-round submission victory since signing with the WSOF, Shields has earned a shot at the 170-pound championship against Palhares, who is also 2-0 in the WSOF with back-to-back submission finishes.
“He’s holding my belt for me,” Shields said of “Toquinho”. “I’m going to go out there and whip his ass. He’s a dirty fighter breaking everyone’s legs and ankles. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to take his knee out. I’m not scared of him and I’m going to bring it to him.”
In the co-main event of the evening, Joe Condon scored a huge upset. Taking a fight against Johnny Nunez on two day’s notice, replacing injured Brian Cobb, WSOF newcomer Condon almost tapped to a rear-naked choke early in the fight, but surprisingly survived. Nunez controlled the first couple rounds and was heading to an easy decision win, when Condon locked a guillotine and choked him out with 38 seconds left in the final round.
In a clash of undefeated middleweights, Krasimir Mladenov showed why he’s called “The Wrestler”. The Bulgarian fighter, who entered the cage with an 11-0 record against 5-0 Canadian Brendan Kornberger, dominated the 15 minutes of the fight with an offensive wrestling game, scoring several takedown and landing punches on the ground and pound to win via unanimous decision.
In the second bout of the main card, Bryson Hansen returned to the win column with a bloody win over Rudy Morales. The Honolulu-native bantamweight, who lost to Matt Sayles in his past WSOF fight, hurt Morales’ knee in the first kick he threw in the contest, and opened a huge cut over his eye with a left elbow. With a non-stop ground and pound in the final rounds, Hansen improved to 8-2 as a professional fighter with a unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26 and 30-27).
Danny Davis Jr. once again won inside the WSOF cage, but he almost ruined it in the second round. The welterweight fighter easily controlled the bout against TUF veteran Adam Cella, scoring an early knockdown in the fight, but landed a vicious illegal soccer kick in the second round and got a point deducted by referee Steve Mazzagatti. In the third round, Davis Jr. scored takedowns and controlled the action to win via unanimous decision, moving to 3-0 under the WSOF banner.
In the preliminary portion of the card, Trey Williams choked out Jamie Point in the opening round with an anaconda choke and Jordan Rinaldi tapped Soslan Abanokov in the third round with an armbar. The other fight of the undercard ended via decision, with Donavon Frelow defeating Taylor McCorriston via unanimous decision after three rounds.
The former Strikeforce middleweight champion headlined WSOF 17 against fellow UFC veteran Brian Foster on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and only needed 2:51 to end the bout.
In his second attempt to take the fight to the ground, Shields passed the guard and went to full mount, locking an arm-triangle choke. Foster tried to escape and ended up giving up his back. Shields, who scored 10 of his previous 30 wins by way of submission, got the tap with a tight rear-naked choke.
“It was great. Anytime you end a fight in the first round you’re happy,” Shields said after the win. “I started a little sloppy in the first minute so I’m not happy about that. I’m a perfectionist. I’m a little bummed about the first minute, but overall it went good, so no complaints.”
With his second first-round submission victory since signing with the WSOF, Shields has earned a shot at the 170-pound championship against Palhares, who is also 2-0 in the WSOF with back-to-back submission finishes.
“He’s holding my belt for me,” Shields said of “Toquinho”. “I’m going to go out there and whip his ass. He’s a dirty fighter breaking everyone’s legs and ankles. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to take his knee out. I’m not scared of him and I’m going to bring it to him.”
In the co-main event of the evening, Joe Condon scored a huge upset. Taking a fight against Johnny Nunez on two day’s notice, replacing injured Brian Cobb, WSOF newcomer Condon almost tapped to a rear-naked choke early in the fight, but surprisingly survived. Nunez controlled the first couple rounds and was heading to an easy decision win, when Condon locked a guillotine and choked him out with 38 seconds left in the final round.
In a clash of undefeated middleweights, Krasimir Mladenov showed why he’s called “The Wrestler”. The Bulgarian fighter, who entered the cage with an 11-0 record against 5-0 Canadian Brendan Kornberger, dominated the 15 minutes of the fight with an offensive wrestling game, scoring several takedown and landing punches on the ground and pound to win via unanimous decision.
In the second bout of the main card, Bryson Hansen returned to the win column with a bloody win over Rudy Morales. The Honolulu-native bantamweight, who lost to Matt Sayles in his past WSOF fight, hurt Morales’ knee in the first kick he threw in the contest, and opened a huge cut over his eye with a left elbow. With a non-stop ground and pound in the final rounds, Hansen improved to 8-2 as a professional fighter with a unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26 and 30-27).
Danny Davis Jr. once again won inside the WSOF cage, but he almost ruined it in the second round. The welterweight fighter easily controlled the bout against TUF veteran Adam Cella, scoring an early knockdown in the fight, but landed a vicious illegal soccer kick in the second round and got a point deducted by referee Steve Mazzagatti. In the third round, Davis Jr. scored takedowns and controlled the action to win via unanimous decision, moving to 3-0 under the WSOF banner.
In the preliminary portion of the card, Trey Williams choked out Jamie Point in the opening round with an anaconda choke and Jordan Rinaldi tapped Soslan Abanokov in the third round with an armbar. The other fight of the undercard ended via decision, with Donavon Frelow defeating Taylor McCorriston via unanimous decision after three rounds.
