Division 1 baseball and wrestling are on his resume, but if Stipe Miocic keeps going this way in mixed martial arts those accomplishments will be a footnote. The former elite athlete at Cleveland State put on a show on Fuel TV by finishing a fellow unbeaten Philip De Fries in just 43 seconds in Omaha, Ne.
After a plodding victory over Joey Beltran in his debut at UFC, Miocic looked to send a message here. He came out looking to bang and paid the price in the early seconds. Just 16 seconds in, De Fries (8-1, 1-1 UFC) drilled him with a three-punch combination. The Independence, Ohio native stood his ground stuffing a weak attempt at a clinch and reset himself.
Miocic (8-0. 2-0 UFC) landed a big right of own with 4:25 left that stopped De Fries in his tracks. A submission specialist, De Fries freaked out and tried to punch his way out of trouble. It didn't work. De Fries got pushed back into the cage when Miocic landed another big right. That was all it took. He dropped to his hands and his knees, and covered up. He didn't want to fight anymore, so referee Dan Miragliotta saved him after seven more shots.
Miocic's skill set is impressive. He was a high level college wrestler at 197 pounds and also played on the Cleveland State baseball team.
He's the rare wrestler, who also boxed at a young age. He's got a Golden Gloves title to his credit. At 29, he's getting a little bit of a late start to his MMA career, but it's also allowed to grow into his frame. The 6-foot-4, 240 pounder didn't have an ounce of fat on him. He continues the trend of new heavyweights, who are much more athletic than the big men of the part.
Dillashaw regains his status as a top 135-pound prospect to watch
The outcome of "The Ultimate Fighter" doesn't always predict who'll be the best fighter to come off the show. T.J. Dillashaw wasn't up to snuff at the TUF 14 Finale, but he more than made up for it tonight by putting on a clinch against Walel Watson. Dillashaw rolled with a unanimous decision victory, 30-25, 30-25 and 30-26.
Dillashaw, 25, destroyed Watson from the opening seconds. He scored two takedowns early and worked what appeared to be three nasty chokes. And that was all in the first round. In the second, Watson found himself on his back just 24 seconds in. By late in the second, he'd outstruck Watson 110-2.
At 5-11, Watson is extremely long for the division, but Dillashaw did a great job staying away from any submission predicaments by working mostly from half guard. He also mounted Watson on several occasions.
At the end of the fight, Dillashaw's advantage in the stats department was staggering. He outlanded 172-12.
TUF 12 champ Brookins looks explosive in easy victory over Rocha
If Jonathan Brookins can clean up one bugaboo in his game he has a chance to be a real player in the UFC's featherweight division. Brookins holds his chin a little too high, but it didn't matter tonight because he made such quick work of Vagner Rocha.
A flubbed Rocha takedown attempt turned into a dominant position for Brookins, who scored the rare top control knockout of Rocha at the 1:43 mark of the first round.
Rocha caught a Brookin kick and tried to drive forward to shoot for a double leg takedown. Brookins easily thwarted the attempt and pushed forward to get Rocha on his back. Instead of staying patient and protecting himself, the Brazilian started grasping at a leg to potentially attempt a knee bar and foot submission.
Brookins is too slick for that, so he started raining down right hands. the first three didn't land cleanly, but the fourth did. So much so that is appeared to knockout Rocha, who ate three more shots before the ref tossed Brookins to the side.
UFC on Fuel TV 1 undercard results:
Ivan Menjivar def. John Albert via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 3:45
Justin Salas def. Anton Kuivanen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)
Tim Means def. Bernado Magalhaes vis unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26).
Mirko Cro Cop Filipović Luiz Buscapé Firmino Spencer Fisher Jon Fitch Kenny Florian
No comments:
Post a Comment