BROOMFIELD, CO, April 2 – The UFC Fight Night bout between light heavyweight James Irvin and Houston Alexander promised explosive action, and it delivered for the eight seconds it lasted, with Irvin halting Alexander at the Broomfield Event Center Wednesday to nab the biggest win of his UFC career and join Don Frye as owner of the record for the fastest knockout in organization history.
As expected, both fighters walked to the center of the Octagon at the opening bell and let fly with right hands. Irvin’s landed first, dropping Alexander to the mat. Two follow up bombs rained down on the Nebraskan, prompting referee Steve Mazzagatti to halt the bout, drawing boos from the crowd and protests from Alexander.
Win the win, Irvin improves to 14-4 with 1 no contest; Alexander falls to 8-3. Frye’s 1996 win over Thomas Ramirez at UFC 8 previously stood alone as the fastest KO in UFC history.
Brazil’s Thiago Alves put a serious dent in the title aspirations of Karo Parisyan, halting the Armenian contender in the second round of a pivotal welterweight bout.
Alves’ attempt to establish his striking from the start was nullified quickly by Parisyan (26-5), who scored a takedown and began a ground and pound attack. Alves (20-4) wouldn’t stay down long though, rising to his feet and again trying to pick Parisyan apart from long range. ‘The Heat’ stayed in the pocket, stalking as Alves tried to counter. A chess match ensued for the rest of the round, with neither man doing enough to completely pull away from the other.
The pace immediately picked up in the second round, with both men engaging on the feet. It was Alves who struck paydirt though as he landed a left knee to the head which dropped Parisyan hard. ‘The Pitbull’ pounced with four unanswered punches to the head on his downed foe, prompting referee Steve Mazzagatti to halt the bout at the 34 second mark, much to the dismay of a disappointed Parisyan.
The Ultimate Fighter season five winner Nate Diaz has been impressive in the UFC when he was the hammer. Tonight, we found out what he can do when he’s the nail as he roared back from a horrible first round to submit Kurt Pellegrino in a crowd-pleasing lightweight bout that was epitomized not only by a display of skill from the 22-year old, but heart and determination as well.
Pellegrino (17-4) secured a takedown seconds into the opening round and quickly got Diaz’ back. Diaz (9-2) worked his way free, but Pellegrino stayed close, eventually getting into his opponent’s guard. After a few strikes at close range, Pellegrino opened up with a more concentrated assault, drawing a close look from referee Herb Dean and bloodying Diaz’ face. Diaz gamely battled to stay in the fight, eventually rising to his feet with a little over a minute left in the frame and scoring with knees against the fence until the bell sounded.
Diaz came out aggressively to start round two, but got taken down for his trouble, allowing Pellegrino to resume his ground attack. Diaz worked for his opponent’s arm and then tried to kick out and get back to his feet, but Pellegrino wouldn’t budge. At the midway point of the round, Diaz stood, only to be put back on the mat. Stubborn to the end, Diaz again rose and Pellegrino responded with a takedown. This time though, Diaz sunk in a triangle choke. The moment it was in tight, Diaz knew it, pumping his fists to the delight of the crowd. Seconds later, Pellegrino tapped out at the 3:06 mark and the fight was over, capping a spectacular comeback for the pride of Stockton.
Matt Hamill’s return to the Octagon for the first time since his controversial loss to Michael Bisping in London last September was a successful one, as he continued to show new dimensions to his game in stopping Tim Boetsch in the second round of their light heavyweight contest.
The two combatants traded strikes to open up the action, with Hamill (6-1) following up with a successful takedown attempt. Hamill tried to impose his strength on Boetsch (7-2) while on the mat, and he was successful in nullifying his opponent’s attack. Unfortunately, Hamill’s groundwork wasn’t particularly active, prompting a standup from referee Adam Martinez. While standing, the two traded, even landing simultaneous head kicks at one point. As the round progressed, Boetsch’s striking was the more effective, though Hamill wasn’t shying away from exchanges either and he scored with a number of solid shots that got a rise out of the packed house. At the bell, Hamill went back to his corner with a badly cut lip and Boetsch returned to his with a mouse under his left eye.
The standup battle picked up where it left off in round two, with Boetsch eventually going for a takedown with a little over a minute gone by. But once the fight hit the mat, it was Hamill who assumed control, and ‘The Hammer’ reigned down blow after blow on Boetsch with no response, eventually forcing Martinez to halt the bout at 1:25 of the round.
Unbeaten Gray Maynard pinned the first pro loss on fellow lightweight prospect Frankie Edgar, using his size, strength, and wrestling to earn a hard fought unanimous decision victory.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Maynard, who improves to 6-0 with 1 no contest. Edgar falls to 8-1.
Eschewing his usual fast start, Maynard stood in the pocket and boxed with Edgar in the early stages of the fight, with Edgar patiently picking his shots and landing with sharp punches down the middle. With two minutes left in the round, Maynard got his first takedown and tried to capitalize on the mat. Edgar was able to get up without having absorbed too much punishment and by the end of the round he left Maynard with an abrasion over his eye.
Maynard looked to be back to his old self as the second round opened as he aggressively pursued Edgar, who effectively flurried and got out of his opponent’s range. Edgar was continuing to have trouble taking Maynard down, but ‘The Bully’ wasn’t able to fully capitalize on his good fortune, and when he got overaggressive with a little over two minutes left, Edgar greeted him with a throw to the mat. By now, Maynard was bleeding from over the right eye, and it was obvious that Edgar’s quick shots and movement were keeping him off balance. The solution? Try out his luck on the mat, which Maynard did as the round entered its final minute, but he was unable to mount a steady offensive before the bell rang.
Still pushing the pace, Maynard started the third with power shots followed by a takedown, but the speedy Edgar got out of trouble in no time and got back to his feet. Maynard put Edgar back down against the fence, followed with two slams, and was piling up points on the New Jersey native. With the round half over, Edgar escaped and scored with strikes at close range, but again, Maynard was able to close the gap and put his foe on his back for the remainder of the fight, sealing the victory.
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