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04-08-2007, 05:40 AM
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=5213
By Thomas Gerbasi (tgerbasi@ufc.com)
HOUSTON, April 7 – Odds mean nothing. The past means nothing. In mixed martial arts, what matters is what happens when the bell rings. And when the bell rang at the Toyota Center tonight, Matt Serra came to fight. When you do that, good things can happen, and they did for the Long Island native, who stunned the mixed martial arts world with a first round TKO win over Georges St-Pierre to win the UFC Welterweight Championship in the UFC 69 main event tonight.
Serra had earned his title shot by winning season four of The Ultimate Fighter reality show. St-Pierre, in his first fight since taking the 170-pound title from Matt Hughes last November, was expected to roll over his challenger en route to bigger and better things.
It was not to be.
A smiling and relaxed Serra (16-4) showed no fear of the champion as he met him in the middle of the Octagon to start the bout, but St-Pierre was sharp as he shot out kicks and the occasional quick flurry. The challenger responded with kicks of his own to the champion’s legs, but St-Pierre (13-2) appeared to be too fast for his foe, apparently just biding his time until he decided to pounce.
But that’s why they fight the fights, and just as soon as those words were written, Serra threw a looping right hand that grazed the back of St-Pierre’s head, forcing him to lose his balance and stumble twice. It was all the underrated Serra needed, as he swung for the fences and landed on the still recovering champion, who got into deeper and deeper trouble with each shot the New Yorker landed.
Suddenly, St-Pierre was on the mat, and Serra followed him, never letting his hands stop moving until referee John McCarthy pulled him off at the 3:25 mark and declared him the new welterweight champion of the world.
“Tonight I got beat by a better fighter than myself,” said the always gracious St-Pierre. “He beat me fair and square. I’m very sad right now, but I will come back.”
Undoubtedly. But for now, there’s a new boss at 170 pounds.
After the war of words between Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez, nothing less than an all-out shootout was expected between the two welterweight standouts. Unfortunately for Sanchez, the best shot he landed on Koscheck was the two-handed shove he delivered during Friday’s weigh-in, as he was unable to mount any offense whatsoever during the real fight en route to a shutout decision loss in a bout that didn’t deliver on the hype, but that did allow Koscheck to gain revenge on the man who beat him during the first season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ while also handing the ‘Nightmare’ his first professional defeat.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Koscheck, who lifts his slate to 11-1; Sanchez drops to 19-1.
Not surprisingly, the longtime rivals refused to touch gloves before the match commenced, and in the early going that course of action continued as Sanchez and Koscheck circled each other warily in the early going, with the only offense coming via kicks by the former standout college wrestler. By the midway point of the opening frame, scattered boos were heard, and Koscheck responded with a hard right to the face as Sanchez missed with all of his offensive attacks. The final minute saw the boos start up again, as neither fighter was willing to commit to an attack that might end with a mistake. Koscheck took that chance though with 30 seconds left, breaking the ice with a hard takedown that also seemed to wake Sanchez up and the two finally started to kick it into gear as the round ended.
It was more of the same in round two, with both fighters gradually upping their work rates. Oddly enough, Koscheck was getting the better of Sanchez in the striking game, something not expected by most pundits. And it was Koscheck’s discipline that was allowing him to stay in the driver’s seat, as his stick and move strategy left Sanchez swatting air with his counterpunches.
With his undefeated record on the verge of going down the drain, Sanchez showed a look of determination on his face as he left his corner for the final round, but showed no sense of urgency in his actions as the two young stars continued to circle, with only sporadic action being the result. With two minutes left, boos again rose up from the crowd, and again it was Koscheck responding with rangefinding shots that were not damaging, but they were scoring points, and for emphasis, as the clock wound down, he smacked the Albuquerque native on the side of the head with a kick, adding insult to injury as the fight ended.
In stark contrast to Koscheck-Sanchez, Roger Huerta and Leonard Garcia put it all on the line in their lightweight swing bout, and though Huerta emerged with the decision win, there were no losers in one of the best 155-pound battles of recent years.
There was simply no feeling out process between the two Texans, as they came out in a fast and furious fashion as soon as they were waved out of their corners and barely let up for the next 15 minutes. As the bout entered its second minute, both were on the mat, with Huerta briefly getting Garcia’s back. The ‘Bad Boy’ got back to his feet though and he let his fists fly until Huerta slammed him back to the canvas. But just when it seemed Huerta was closing in on a win, Garcia would roar back and earn his respect once again.
The war truly broke out in round two, as both fighters teed off with whatever weapons they had at their command, much to the delight of the crowd, and even the fighters, who smiled at each other in recognition of the fight they were putting on.
What was amazing as the bout entered the final round was not how Huerta and Garcia were able to keep such a pace up, but how no one had fallen yet. But just as in the previous two frames, both fighters went for broke, with Huerta’s strikes crisper, more varied and more accurate. Garcia’s best chance for victory came in the middle of the round as he got Huerta’s back, but it was only a brief window of opportunity as ‘El Matador’ turned the tables and unleashed a barrage of strikes on the courageous Lubbock fighter, who made it to the final round with simply nothing more left to give.
Scores were 30-27 for Huerta, who ups his record to 19-1. Garcia falls to 13-2.
The rise of Mike Swick up the middleweight ranks hit a snag, as he was clearly outpointed by Yushi Okami in a hotly-contested three rounder.
Scores for Okami, who remained unbeaten in the Octagon, were 29-28 twice and 30-27.
Swick made good on his promise to take the fight to Okami, getting right in the Kanagawa native’s face and pecking at him with punches and kicks. Okami is no frightened kid though, and he stood right in the pocket and looked to counter in what became a tense face to face chess match. With two minutes left, an inadvertent low blow by Okami forced Swick to lose his focus for a moment and he was put on the canvas by the veteran, who worked his ground and pound and forced Swick into the most precarious moments of his UFC career as he looked for a submission in the final minute of the round.
With the crowd chanting his name, Swick got back to business early in the second, only to get taken back to the mat by Okami as the round approached the midway mark. Okami’s striking on the mat scored points and left Swick with a knot under his left eye, but after referee Mario Yamasaki stood the two fighters up after a stalemate, the Texas native was finally able to let his hands go, albeit briefly as the fight again went to the canvas. Sensing the fight slipping away, Swick forced a standup and opened fire, briefly jarring Okami just before the bell halted the action.
Okami’s calm was laudable as the bout entered the final round, with Swick’s face showing a sense of urgency. Unfortunately for the hometown hero, Okami’s cool allowed him to counter Swick’s rushes, score a takedown, and then get into the mount position as Swick tried to weather the storm. Okami, sensing http://server-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/m?ci=us-ufcadtracking&cg=octagonsearch&si=UFC-71-USA
victory, let loose with both hands as Swick was pinned against the fence, hoping for the one opening that would give him another chance to pull out the win. Amazingly, Swick did escape with just under a minute to go, but in Okami’s guard he was unable to mount any kind of offensive, and the clock ran out on him.
With the win, Okami lifts his record to 21-3. Swick falls to 10-2.
TUF3 winner Kendall Grove continued to impress in his UFC campaign as he submitted fellow prospect Alan Belcher in the second round of a heated middleweight battle.
The pace was fast from the outset, with the two 185-pounders looking to establish themselves immediately. Belcher (9-3) was able to get the first takedown, but the 6 foot 6 Grove (10-3) got back to his feet and attacked with knees from the clinch and kicks from long range until the fight hit the floor a second time. After a quick scramble, the two rose and Belcher forced Grove to the fence, only to have ‘Da Spyder’ reverse position on him and land with knees to the leg until referee John McCarthy broke the fighters shortly before the round ended.
Grove’s aggressive attack started to take its toll on Belcher in the second, as his elbows opened a cut on the top of his head, and a furious flurry of strikes followed by a hard takedown put ‘The Talent’ in deep trouble, and that trouble turned into a defeat moments later when Grove locked in a D’Arce choke that ended matters at 4:42 of the second round.
Longtime heavyweight contender Heath Herring rebounded from his January loss to Jake O’Brien with a three round unanimous decision over Brad Imes.
Scores for Herring were 30-27, 30-25, and 29-28.
Imes (6-3) got a takedown to begin the fight and then started working on Herring’s leg while ‘The Texas Crazy Horse’ fought to escape, eventually getting a standup by referee Kerry Hatley. Seconds later the two were back on the mat, this time due to Herring scoring a knockdown on the six foot seven Imes with a solid left hook. And though it appeared that the end was only moments away, Imes was able to survive the initial follow-up from Herring and make it out of the round.
Hoping to reverse his fortunes in the second round, Imes came out throwing bombs, but they never reached their intended target due to the faster hands of Herring (27-12, 1 NC), who again put the Missouri native on his back. The two traded blows while on the canvas, with Herring holding a decided edge, and once Hatley stood the two fighters up, it appeared to be just a matter of time until Herring got the stoppage as he was starting to land almost at will on the gutsy Imes, who refused to give in despite the fact that his face was bloodied and starting to swell in a number of places.
Encouraged by his corner to “leave it all out there” in the final stanza, Imes did just that, landing with a hard knee that forced Herring to seek a takedown and doing whatever he could to turn the tide. Herring kept his cool though, at least until midway through the round, when he kneed Imes to the head while his foe was down, a legal move in Japan, but not in the United States. Herring was not penalized for the infraction though, and the bout ended without the fast-paced action it began with.
Thales Leites dominated from start to finish against New York’s Pete Sell, winning their middleweight bout via a unanimous three round decision.
Leites drew first blood with a takedown 45 seconds into the fight and quickly looked for a choke. Sell was able to get his way out, but only by giving up his back to the Brazilian. Again, Sell escaped into trouble as Leites got on top of the New Yorker and attacked with both hands before sinking in a choke that Sell was only able to get out of by lasting until the end of the round.
Sell tried to rebound in the second, briefly catching his foe in a guillotine choke, but Leites soon got back on top again, landing hard shots that ‘Drago’ had no answer for. Once more though, the bell intervened and saved Sell from defeat.
Sell’s last-ditch effort for victory came with another guillotine choke at the midway point of the final frame, but once the choke came free, it was all Leites, as he finished strong and locked up his first UFC win.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Leites, who improves to 10-1. Sell falls to 7-4.
Welterweight Marcus Davis continued his progression as a mixed martial artist, impressively submitting Pete Spratt in the second round of a scheduled three rounder.
After an initial high-energy standup exchange, Davis took Spratt to the mat and tried to finish him there, but the San Antonio native wasn’t going away without a fight. Unfortunately for Spratt, Davis’ ground game has grown leaps and bounds since his time on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, and he was able to get his opponent’s back with a little under three minutes left. Again, Spratt (16-8) held tough as Davis tried to secure a rear naked choke, and with seconds remaining in the round, ‘The Secret Weapon’ fought his way first into Davis’ guard and then back on his feet.
Spratt opened the second with his trademark leg kicks, and after Davis (16-4) fell to the mat attempting a kick, the Texan attacked with both hands. Davis, a former pro boxer, roared back and got the fight back to the mat, only this time he did so with blood streaming down his face. But instead of settling into a ground and pound pattern, ‘The Irish Hand Grenade’ went for the finish and got it, sinking in a fight ending ankle lock at the 2:57 mark.
“Don’t call me a pro boxer,” said Davis. “I’m an MMA fighter.”
New Yorker Luke Cummo got the night off to a rousing start with a second round stoppage of Josh Haynes in a welterweight bout.
A fast pace was set early, with Cummo (8-4) the more accurate puncher while Haynes’ shots were heavier. The New Yorker did land the most telling blow of the round though, getting his foe’s attention with a thudding left hook with under two minutes to go.
The pattern continued in the second, with Cummo potshotting with both hands, and eventually, he hit paydirt with a picture-perfect right hand that put Haynes (9-7) on the canvas. Haynes crawled forward on the mat, trying to clear his head, but it was too late, as referee Kerry Hatley stepped in to halt the bout at the 2:45 mark.
By Thomas Gerbasi (tgerbasi@ufc.com)
HOUSTON, April 7 – Odds mean nothing. The past means nothing. In mixed martial arts, what matters is what happens when the bell rings. And when the bell rang at the Toyota Center tonight, Matt Serra came to fight. When you do that, good things can happen, and they did for the Long Island native, who stunned the mixed martial arts world with a first round TKO win over Georges St-Pierre to win the UFC Welterweight Championship in the UFC 69 main event tonight.
Serra had earned his title shot by winning season four of The Ultimate Fighter reality show. St-Pierre, in his first fight since taking the 170-pound title from Matt Hughes last November, was expected to roll over his challenger en route to bigger and better things.
It was not to be.
A smiling and relaxed Serra (16-4) showed no fear of the champion as he met him in the middle of the Octagon to start the bout, but St-Pierre was sharp as he shot out kicks and the occasional quick flurry. The challenger responded with kicks of his own to the champion’s legs, but St-Pierre (13-2) appeared to be too fast for his foe, apparently just biding his time until he decided to pounce.
But that’s why they fight the fights, and just as soon as those words were written, Serra threw a looping right hand that grazed the back of St-Pierre’s head, forcing him to lose his balance and stumble twice. It was all the underrated Serra needed, as he swung for the fences and landed on the still recovering champion, who got into deeper and deeper trouble with each shot the New Yorker landed.
Suddenly, St-Pierre was on the mat, and Serra followed him, never letting his hands stop moving until referee John McCarthy pulled him off at the 3:25 mark and declared him the new welterweight champion of the world.
“Tonight I got beat by a better fighter than myself,” said the always gracious St-Pierre. “He beat me fair and square. I’m very sad right now, but I will come back.”
Undoubtedly. But for now, there’s a new boss at 170 pounds.
After the war of words between Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez, nothing less than an all-out shootout was expected between the two welterweight standouts. Unfortunately for Sanchez, the best shot he landed on Koscheck was the two-handed shove he delivered during Friday’s weigh-in, as he was unable to mount any offense whatsoever during the real fight en route to a shutout decision loss in a bout that didn’t deliver on the hype, but that did allow Koscheck to gain revenge on the man who beat him during the first season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ while also handing the ‘Nightmare’ his first professional defeat.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Koscheck, who lifts his slate to 11-1; Sanchez drops to 19-1.
Not surprisingly, the longtime rivals refused to touch gloves before the match commenced, and in the early going that course of action continued as Sanchez and Koscheck circled each other warily in the early going, with the only offense coming via kicks by the former standout college wrestler. By the midway point of the opening frame, scattered boos were heard, and Koscheck responded with a hard right to the face as Sanchez missed with all of his offensive attacks. The final minute saw the boos start up again, as neither fighter was willing to commit to an attack that might end with a mistake. Koscheck took that chance though with 30 seconds left, breaking the ice with a hard takedown that also seemed to wake Sanchez up and the two finally started to kick it into gear as the round ended.
It was more of the same in round two, with both fighters gradually upping their work rates. Oddly enough, Koscheck was getting the better of Sanchez in the striking game, something not expected by most pundits. And it was Koscheck’s discipline that was allowing him to stay in the driver’s seat, as his stick and move strategy left Sanchez swatting air with his counterpunches.
With his undefeated record on the verge of going down the drain, Sanchez showed a look of determination on his face as he left his corner for the final round, but showed no sense of urgency in his actions as the two young stars continued to circle, with only sporadic action being the result. With two minutes left, boos again rose up from the crowd, and again it was Koscheck responding with rangefinding shots that were not damaging, but they were scoring points, and for emphasis, as the clock wound down, he smacked the Albuquerque native on the side of the head with a kick, adding insult to injury as the fight ended.
In stark contrast to Koscheck-Sanchez, Roger Huerta and Leonard Garcia put it all on the line in their lightweight swing bout, and though Huerta emerged with the decision win, there were no losers in one of the best 155-pound battles of recent years.
There was simply no feeling out process between the two Texans, as they came out in a fast and furious fashion as soon as they were waved out of their corners and barely let up for the next 15 minutes. As the bout entered its second minute, both were on the mat, with Huerta briefly getting Garcia’s back. The ‘Bad Boy’ got back to his feet though and he let his fists fly until Huerta slammed him back to the canvas. But just when it seemed Huerta was closing in on a win, Garcia would roar back and earn his respect once again.
The war truly broke out in round two, as both fighters teed off with whatever weapons they had at their command, much to the delight of the crowd, and even the fighters, who smiled at each other in recognition of the fight they were putting on.
What was amazing as the bout entered the final round was not how Huerta and Garcia were able to keep such a pace up, but how no one had fallen yet. But just as in the previous two frames, both fighters went for broke, with Huerta’s strikes crisper, more varied and more accurate. Garcia’s best chance for victory came in the middle of the round as he got Huerta’s back, but it was only a brief window of opportunity as ‘El Matador’ turned the tables and unleashed a barrage of strikes on the courageous Lubbock fighter, who made it to the final round with simply nothing more left to give.
Scores were 30-27 for Huerta, who ups his record to 19-1. Garcia falls to 13-2.
The rise of Mike Swick up the middleweight ranks hit a snag, as he was clearly outpointed by Yushi Okami in a hotly-contested three rounder.
Scores for Okami, who remained unbeaten in the Octagon, were 29-28 twice and 30-27.
Swick made good on his promise to take the fight to Okami, getting right in the Kanagawa native’s face and pecking at him with punches and kicks. Okami is no frightened kid though, and he stood right in the pocket and looked to counter in what became a tense face to face chess match. With two minutes left, an inadvertent low blow by Okami forced Swick to lose his focus for a moment and he was put on the canvas by the veteran, who worked his ground and pound and forced Swick into the most precarious moments of his UFC career as he looked for a submission in the final minute of the round.
With the crowd chanting his name, Swick got back to business early in the second, only to get taken back to the mat by Okami as the round approached the midway mark. Okami’s striking on the mat scored points and left Swick with a knot under his left eye, but after referee Mario Yamasaki stood the two fighters up after a stalemate, the Texas native was finally able to let his hands go, albeit briefly as the fight again went to the canvas. Sensing the fight slipping away, Swick forced a standup and opened fire, briefly jarring Okami just before the bell halted the action.
Okami’s calm was laudable as the bout entered the final round, with Swick’s face showing a sense of urgency. Unfortunately for the hometown hero, Okami’s cool allowed him to counter Swick’s rushes, score a takedown, and then get into the mount position as Swick tried to weather the storm. Okami, sensing http://server-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/m?ci=us-ufcadtracking&cg=octagonsearch&si=UFC-71-USA
victory, let loose with both hands as Swick was pinned against the fence, hoping for the one opening that would give him another chance to pull out the win. Amazingly, Swick did escape with just under a minute to go, but in Okami’s guard he was unable to mount any kind of offensive, and the clock ran out on him.
With the win, Okami lifts his record to 21-3. Swick falls to 10-2.
TUF3 winner Kendall Grove continued to impress in his UFC campaign as he submitted fellow prospect Alan Belcher in the second round of a heated middleweight battle.
The pace was fast from the outset, with the two 185-pounders looking to establish themselves immediately. Belcher (9-3) was able to get the first takedown, but the 6 foot 6 Grove (10-3) got back to his feet and attacked with knees from the clinch and kicks from long range until the fight hit the floor a second time. After a quick scramble, the two rose and Belcher forced Grove to the fence, only to have ‘Da Spyder’ reverse position on him and land with knees to the leg until referee John McCarthy broke the fighters shortly before the round ended.
Grove’s aggressive attack started to take its toll on Belcher in the second, as his elbows opened a cut on the top of his head, and a furious flurry of strikes followed by a hard takedown put ‘The Talent’ in deep trouble, and that trouble turned into a defeat moments later when Grove locked in a D’Arce choke that ended matters at 4:42 of the second round.
Longtime heavyweight contender Heath Herring rebounded from his January loss to Jake O’Brien with a three round unanimous decision over Brad Imes.
Scores for Herring were 30-27, 30-25, and 29-28.
Imes (6-3) got a takedown to begin the fight and then started working on Herring’s leg while ‘The Texas Crazy Horse’ fought to escape, eventually getting a standup by referee Kerry Hatley. Seconds later the two were back on the mat, this time due to Herring scoring a knockdown on the six foot seven Imes with a solid left hook. And though it appeared that the end was only moments away, Imes was able to survive the initial follow-up from Herring and make it out of the round.
Hoping to reverse his fortunes in the second round, Imes came out throwing bombs, but they never reached their intended target due to the faster hands of Herring (27-12, 1 NC), who again put the Missouri native on his back. The two traded blows while on the canvas, with Herring holding a decided edge, and once Hatley stood the two fighters up, it appeared to be just a matter of time until Herring got the stoppage as he was starting to land almost at will on the gutsy Imes, who refused to give in despite the fact that his face was bloodied and starting to swell in a number of places.
Encouraged by his corner to “leave it all out there” in the final stanza, Imes did just that, landing with a hard knee that forced Herring to seek a takedown and doing whatever he could to turn the tide. Herring kept his cool though, at least until midway through the round, when he kneed Imes to the head while his foe was down, a legal move in Japan, but not in the United States. Herring was not penalized for the infraction though, and the bout ended without the fast-paced action it began with.
Thales Leites dominated from start to finish against New York’s Pete Sell, winning their middleweight bout via a unanimous three round decision.
Leites drew first blood with a takedown 45 seconds into the fight and quickly looked for a choke. Sell was able to get his way out, but only by giving up his back to the Brazilian. Again, Sell escaped into trouble as Leites got on top of the New Yorker and attacked with both hands before sinking in a choke that Sell was only able to get out of by lasting until the end of the round.
Sell tried to rebound in the second, briefly catching his foe in a guillotine choke, but Leites soon got back on top again, landing hard shots that ‘Drago’ had no answer for. Once more though, the bell intervened and saved Sell from defeat.
Sell’s last-ditch effort for victory came with another guillotine choke at the midway point of the final frame, but once the choke came free, it was all Leites, as he finished strong and locked up his first UFC win.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Leites, who improves to 10-1. Sell falls to 7-4.
Welterweight Marcus Davis continued his progression as a mixed martial artist, impressively submitting Pete Spratt in the second round of a scheduled three rounder.
After an initial high-energy standup exchange, Davis took Spratt to the mat and tried to finish him there, but the San Antonio native wasn’t going away without a fight. Unfortunately for Spratt, Davis’ ground game has grown leaps and bounds since his time on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, and he was able to get his opponent’s back with a little under three minutes left. Again, Spratt (16-8) held tough as Davis tried to secure a rear naked choke, and with seconds remaining in the round, ‘The Secret Weapon’ fought his way first into Davis’ guard and then back on his feet.
Spratt opened the second with his trademark leg kicks, and after Davis (16-4) fell to the mat attempting a kick, the Texan attacked with both hands. Davis, a former pro boxer, roared back and got the fight back to the mat, only this time he did so with blood streaming down his face. But instead of settling into a ground and pound pattern, ‘The Irish Hand Grenade’ went for the finish and got it, sinking in a fight ending ankle lock at the 2:57 mark.
“Don’t call me a pro boxer,” said Davis. “I’m an MMA fighter.”
New Yorker Luke Cummo got the night off to a rousing start with a second round stoppage of Josh Haynes in a welterweight bout.
A fast pace was set early, with Cummo (8-4) the more accurate puncher while Haynes’ shots were heavier. The New Yorker did land the most telling blow of the round though, getting his foe’s attention with a thudding left hook with under two minutes to go.
The pattern continued in the second, with Cummo potshotting with both hands, and eventually, he hit paydirt with a picture-perfect right hand that put Haynes (9-7) on the canvas. Haynes crawled forward on the mat, trying to clear his head, but it was too late, as referee Kerry Hatley stepped in to halt the bout at the 2:45 mark.