MMA Fight Pit held its inaugural event last night (Aug. 13, 2011), with "Alexander vs. Al-Hassan" from the The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The night was filled with some stellar action, but almost none of it took place in the main event.
UFC veterans Razak Al-Hassan and Houston Alexander squared off in what was expected to be a barnburner, but the only fire came from the crowd who were not very pleased with main event of the evening.
For much of the fight, Al-Hassan lazily threw jabs and kicks while Alexander dropped low to punch him in the leg, doing his best Anderson Silva impression. "The Assassin" did drop Al-Hassan twice, once at the end of each round with a stiff jab, but he couldn't follow up to do any damage from either strike.
The biggest surprise of the fight was how it ended. In between rounds two and three, the ring-side physician was taking a look at Al-Hassan's finger which appeared to be dislocated and stated he was not able to continue. This put a halt to the action, or lack thereof, to give Houston Alexander a TKO victory via doctor stoppage. He wasn't exactly happy with the way it ended:
"I'm disappointed in the early stoppage but it happens," said Alexander.
While the headlining bout wasn't the most entertaining, the other five main card matches were brimming with action.
The best story of the night was the return of Jens Pulver's power, as he put on a clinic against WEC veteran Coty Wheeler in the stand-up department.
Fighting at 135 pounds for the first time in his career, "Little Evil" looked great, repeatedly slipping punches and looking to land his big left hand. He dropped Wheeler with a left hook late in the first round and absolutely decimated "Ox" in the second round with an assault of punches that sent him to the canvas twice and was so violent that Pulver didn't want to continue beating on him. The ref finally put a stop to it after some coaxing, giving Pulver the feel-good story of the night and his first victory by form of knockout in over five years.
Said Pulver, "I was trying to find a home and really trying to throw. I wanted to make a statement at 135 pounds."
He most certainly did.
Rising heavyweight prospect Tyler East made very quick work of Prince McLean, taking down the smaller man and beating him in the face with huge left hands until the ref put a stop to it. He's built up a nice reputation out of Jackson's MMA and it will be nice to see him continue to develop.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 11 veteran Jamie Yager got all he could handle from former All-American wrestler Willie Parks in the first round, being taken down, held down and repeatedly punched in the face for nearly five straight minutes.
In the second round, however, he was prepared for Parks' takedown, latching on a tight guillotine choke, pulling guard and squeezing until the hot prospect was forced to tap out just 21 seconds into the round. It was definitely the most shocking performance of the night and completely silenced the hometown crowd.
In female fighting action, Muay Thai fighter Diana Rael showcased her improving ground game by holding Angelica Chavez down, passing her guard and staying active long enough to win a split decision from the formerly undefeated fighter.
In the opening bout of the evening, former Ultimate Fighter bad boy Junie Browning had Jacob Clark on the ropes, dominating early positionally and threatening with some submission, including a twister. Browning had entered the fight after missing weight by over seven pounds and he began to fatigue. When Clark took top position, Browning began eating some ground and pound from above and after some big left hands, he tapped to strikes.
For full play-by-play and commentary of last night's action at MMA Fight Pit: Genesis, click here
Above photo by Matt Campbell via KillaSnapShot.com
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