Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to the Spike TV airwaves last night (Sat., March 26, 2011) with UFC Fight Night 24: "Nogueira vs. Davis," which went down from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington.
In the main event of the evening, mixed martial arts veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira looked to stuff the fast-rising young wrestling phenom, Phil Davis.
He couldn't do it. Not within three rounds, anyway.
Davis took down "Lil Nog" seemingly at will in the final two rounds, leveraging the All-American wrestling skills that he honed at Penn State University. For the most part he avoided the Brazilian's superior stand up skills, nullifying them by putting the amatuer boxer on his back.
It wasn't "wonderful," but Davis did what he had to do to get the win and remain undefeated (9-0). It was actually his fifth straight win inside the Octagon, putting him "in the mix" within the crowded 205-pound division.
Davis clearly has some work to do before being considered a legitimate title contender, but the talent is there ... all he's got to do now is keep improving.
And winning.
In the co-featured fight of the night, hard-hitting welterweights Dan Hardy and Anthony Johnson promised fireworks, vowing to finish each other before the final bell.All it did was fizzle.
Johnson -- coming off an almost 18-month-long layoff -- outwrestled "The Outlaw" en route to a crowd-displeasing unanimous decision win.
"Rumble" landed a sweet head kick in the opening minutes of the welterweight tilt, which sent the Brit crashing to the canvas. Hardy, however, was able to recover quickly and it didn't appear to do too much damage.
Unfortunately, that was the extent of the notable strikes throughout the 15-minute marathon.
That's now three straight losses for Hardy, a former number one division contender. In fact, he hasn't won a fight since outpointing Mike Swick way back in Nov. 2009.
Danger zone.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) alums, from separate seasons, Amir Sadollah and DeMarques Johnson squared off in a 170-pound battle for bragging rights.
Sadollah, TUF 7 winner, had the last laugh, finishing "Darkness" -- a late replacement for the injured James Wilks -- in the second round via submission (strikes).
But it wasn't easy.
Johnson got the better of Sadollah in the opening frame, taking him down at will and landing several solid strikes on the ground. But it appeared that he perhaps set too torrid a pace, tiring himself out, which opened the door for the historically slow-starting Sadollah to turn the tide.
Did he ever.
That's now two straight wins for Iranian Muay Thai product. He's certainly not beating down George St. Pierre's door, but he's definitely fun to watch.
In the opening fight of the Spike TV telecast, Chan Sung Jung was out to prove that his controversial split decision loss to Leonard Garcia at WEC 48 last year was the wrong one.
He did just that ... and then some.
"The Korean Zombie" looked sharp, boxing up "Bad Boy" to start the 145-pound rematch. He was also winning the war on the ground, angling for dominant positions and doing damage while in them.
He was well on the way to earning a decision win (I think) heading into the third and final frame, but it never got that far.
With the clock winding down in the second stanza, Jung went for a move that is rarely seen inside the Octagon, the Eddie Bravo-inspired "twister." The twist was apparently too painful to withstand, forcing Garcia to tap with just one second remaining in the round.
It was an awesome finish.
And it couldn't have happened to a better fighter. Jung was absolutely thrilled with the win, his first as a UFC fighter. Don't expect it to be his last, either.
That's a wrap. Let’s hear what you have to say, Maniacs, in the comments section below.
For complete UFC Fight Night 24: "Nogueira vs Davis" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here.
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