It started with two eye pokes and ended with a nasty swollen eye (see the gnarly pic here).
Travis Browne (18-3-1) defeated Matt Mitrione (9-5) by technical knockout at UFC Fight Night 81 earlier tonight inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hawaiian got Mitrione down in the third round and never let him up, wailing away with big strikes until referee Gary Forman called it a wrap.
The official stoppage came at 4:09 of the third. Mitrione's eye swelled up like a balloon after the bout ended.
Mitrione was the aggressor early, but was not able to land on Browne, who sat back and waited to counter. The fight remained fairly even throughout the opening five minutes. Mitrione did land a good left hand and Browne slipped to the canvas, but regained composure right after.
With seconds left in the round, Browne poked Mitrione in the eye and referee Gary Forman halted the action. The No.14-ranked UFC heavyweight was checked by the doctor and was deemed fit to continue.
In the second round, Mitrione came out aggressive once again and Browne poked Mitrione in the eye for a second time( this time a thumb). Forman did not halt the action right away though. After a few exchanges, Mitrione was wincing and complained to the ref and then Forman halted the bout.
A point was not taken from Browne, even though it was his second infraction.
After Mitrione rushed in, Browne clinched and scored a nice back trip for a takedown. From there Browne looked to attack his arm, but Mitrione got back up to his feet. The No.6-ranked UFC heavyweight started to land more frequently with kicks to the body and Mitrione began to look fatigued.
In the final round, Browne continued with his kicking attack to the body and mixed in some nicely timed strikes. Browne took the back of Mitrione from the clinch and picked him up and slammed him to the canvas. From there he quickly achieved full mount and began to land big strikes, which he chose patiently. The fight was called soon after.
An important victory for Browne, who needed a win to stay relevant after getting knocked out by Andrei Arlovski at UFC 187. Browne is now 9-3-1 in the UFC. Disappointing loss for Mitrione, who has now been finished in back-to-back fights. He falls to 9-5 overall.
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