Brit Kids Etim, Hathaway, Winner, and Osipczak win Big at UFC 105

By Thomas Gerbasi

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, November 14 – The Brit Kids were alright indeed at the MEN Arena Saturday night, as Terry Etim, John Hathaway, Andre Winner, and Nick Osipczak scored big wins in UFC 105 undercard action.

In the main prelim bout, unbeaten welterweight prospect John Hathaway was in frightening form in his bout with countryman Paul Taylor, dominating the veteran for three rounds en route to a shutout unanimous decision victory.

Hathaway got the fight to the mat early, just where he wanted it so he could work his ground attack. Taylor did his best to keep Hathaway close in order to force a standup, and midway through the round, he got it from referee Kevin Mulhall. Hathaway quickly closed the gap and scored another takedown, stifling any form of offense from Taylor. For his part, Hathaway kept the pressure on, scoring with enough blows to wrap up the round easily.

Having found an opening for his takedowns, Hathaway immediately put Taylor on his back to begin round two, and he again fired away with strikes, opening a cut on his opponent’s forehead. With two minutes left, it looked like Taylor had found an opening to escape, but Hathaway took his foe’s nickname, as he was ‘relentless’ in his attack against the fence, leaving Taylor no route to get back to his feet, and he capped off another big round with strikes that left Taylor’s face battered.

The pattern continued in round three – all of round three, as Hathaway took Taylor down and dominated the action for the entire five minute period, finishing off his biggest win to date with little threat from the game, but overwhelmed Taylor.

Scores were 30-27 twice and 30-26 for Hathaway, who improves to 13-0; Taylor falls to 10-5-1 with 1 NC.  Watch Bout

Rising lightweight star Terry Etim continued to shine, submitting Shannon Gugerty in the first round to thrill the fans who came in from Liverpool to cheer him on.

Both fighters were patient in the early going, with the taller Etim taking the early lead both at a distance and at close range. Gugerty stood in the pocket for the most part, trying to figure out a plan of attack to score points and then get his foe to the mat. But outside of a late takedown, Gugerty was unable to solve the puzzle presented to him in the opening stanza.

Sufficiently warmed up, Etim went of the attack in round two, scoring with kicks to the head and body before sinking in a guillotine choke and pulling guard. Gugerty fought off the submission for as long as he could before tapping out at 1:24 of the round.

With the win, Etim improves to 14-2; Gugerty drops to 12-4.  Watch Bout

The Ultimate Fighter season nine’s Nick Osipczak put another one in Team UK’s win column as he handed Matthew Riddle his first pro loss via a third round TKO in welterweight action.

Nottingham’s Osipczak (5-1) did a good job of setting the distance and keeping Riddle (3-1) at bay as the first round commenced, but 90 seconds in, Riddle made his move and pinned his foe against the fence and looked for a takedown. After a brief battle, Riddle got it, and the two traded strikes on the mat. With a little over a minute left, referee Marc Goddard halted the action and warned Riddle for using his head at close range. Riddle took the bout right back to the mat with a thunderous slam, but by the end of the round, Osipczak had turned the tables, attempting an armbar and then transitioning into the mount as the bell sounded.

Confident after his late round surge, Osipczak came out fast for round two, nailing Riddle with a variety of strikes. The Las Vegan took all the shots well and scored another takedown as the round entered its second minute. Riddle was ineffective on the mat though, and the fight was re-started, giving Osipczak the opportunity to land some strikes and take side mount when the bout hit the mat again. On the ground, Osipczak took control with a series of hard strikes as he pinned his foe against the fence.

Osipczak started off the final round with solid striking again, but a minute in, Riddle was able to catch a kick and take the fight to the canvas. Oscipczak kept his foe close, forcing a standup from Goddard, and Riddle was visibly tired as he struggled to his feet. Osipczak, encouraged by the display, moved in for the finish, but Riddle was able to get the fight back to the mat. After a brief stall, Osipczak turned the tables and got into the mount position, where he opened fire on Riddle. After a series of unanswered blows, Goddard had no choice but to stop the fight at 3:53 of the final frame.  Watch Bout

Germany’s Dennis Siver scored his fourth straight win, third in the UFC, using a spinning back kick to doom Liverpool’s Paul Kelly in the second round of their lightweight bout.

Kelly trudged forward behind a high guard, trying to get inside, but Siver’s counters were sharp and he made ‘Tellys’ pay for every step. In the second minute, Kelly was finally able to close the gap, and he tied Siver up against the fence, but after a brief stalemate, the action was restarted by referee Dan Miragliotta. Again, Siver was able to keep Kelly at bay with hard counters, but as the round progressed, Kelly began giving as good as he got, jarring Siver on a couple occasions before scoring the takedown just before the bell rounded.

Siver continued to score effectively in round two, with a knot over Kelly’s right eye growing bigger by the minute. With under three minutes to go, Siver dropped Kelly hard with a spinning right back kick to the liver. Kelly was in poor shape, unable to get to his feet, and when Siver allowed him to rise, the local hero barely made it up. And once he did get up, Siver lowered the boom with a follow-up attack that ended the bout at 2:53 of the round.

With the win, Siver improves to 15-6; Kelly drops to 10-2.  Watch Bout

Unbeaten light heavyweight prospect Alexander Gustafsson improved to 9-0 with an impressive 41 second stoppage of California’s Jared Hamman in a battle of Octagon debutants.

Both fighters came out swinging, getting the fans into the fight immediately. An inadvertent eye poke by Gustafsson halted the action briefly as Hamman (11-2) recovered, but once the fight resumed, the Sweden native finished things off for good with a straight right down the middle and a follow-up barrage that brought in referee Kevin Mulhall to stop the fight.  Watch Bout

TUF9 finalist Andre Winner kicked the night off on the right note for the hometown crowd, as the Leicester lightweight scored a first round knockout of Arkansas’ Roli Delgado in the UFC 105 opener.

Winner stalked Delgado calmly in the early stages of the bout, confident in his standup and not too worried about return fire from the American. That confidence was rewarded when he dropped Delgado with an overhand right, but Winner was unable to capitalize, and the fight resumed in a standing position moments later. Delgado remained the busier of the two as the round progressed but Winner’s shots were heavier, and a perfectly timed right hand proved to be the finisher, as Delgado fell hard to the canvas and forced referee Leon Roberts to halt the bout at 3:22 of the opening round.

With the win, Winner improves to 11-3-1; Delgado falls to 8-5-1.  Watch Bout