Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweights Alan Jouban and Richard Walsh battled last night (Feb. 28, 2015) at UFC 184 inside Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Coming off a "loss" to Warlley Alves, Jouban was more than motivated to get back into the win column. Plus, at 32 years old, Jouban needed to announce himself as a top fighter sooner than later if he wanted to significantly affect the division.
Similarly, Walsh also tasted defeat in his previous showing thanks to some funky judging. With neither man having any interest in reaching the judges scorecards, both fighters were ready to scrap from the get-go and did not intend to move backward.
After an intense firefight, Jouban emerged victorious.
Early on, both men were trading often and landing hard. Jouban attacked with his kicks frequently, mostly to the body. Walsh was also throwing up kicks of his own, while looking to move forward and punch into the clinch.
This continued for a couple of minutes until Walsh latched onto the clinch. When he did, Jouban cracked him with a seriously hard elbow. "Filthy" wobbled to the fence, and Jouban chased him with punches. Walsh momentarily crumbled under his opponent's onslaught, and that was all the referee needed to stop the fight.
Jouban continued to show off his strong kickboxing game in this bout. After the indecisive result to his last fight, Jouban came out firing early and often. In the end, his more diverse attack struck harder first.
This was a very important bout for Jouban. He should be in the athletic prime of his career, and this victory will give him an opportunity to capitalize on that. Since he should be undefeated inside the Octagon, it's time for him to get a step up in competition.
While Jouban hasn't earned a top 15 opponent quite yet, he's nearing that position. Since most of his fights have been contested on the feet, it would be interesting to see him scrap with a wrestler. For example, Kenny Robertson is on a win streak of his own, and both fighters are both a victory away from a shot at the top 15.
To his credit, Walsh did not fight poorly. He intended to bang with Jouban, and that's exactly what the two fighters did. There's always some risk to that strategy, and this time Walsh came out on the wrong side of a knockout.
For his next bout, expect Walsh to face off with another striker, as it would likely be an entertaining fight. In this case, it will probably be someone in the lower half of the division -- since Walsh is officially on a two fight losing streak -- such as Chris Clements.
At UFC 184, Alan Jouban put away Richard Walsh with a flurry of punches. How far can he go inside the welterweight division?
For complete UFC 184 "Rousey vs Zingano" results and live play-by-play click HERE.