Two UFC champs with collegiate mat credentials -- Daniel Cormier, NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State, and Stipe Miocic, 2003 NCAA championships qualifier for Cleveland State -- successfully defended their UFC light-heavyweight and heavyweight titles, respectively, at UFC 220 at the TD Garden in Boston… while, at the opposite end of the country, former wrestlers Chael Sonnen, Michael Chandler, Aaron Pico and Joey Davis all came out on top in their bouts at Bellator 192 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Cormier holds onto UFC title
Cormier, a two-time Olympian, held onto his 205-pound crown by finishing Volkan Oezdemir with a TKO at the two-minute mark of in the second round of a scheduled five-round co-headline fight.
"Cormier took Oezdemir down and moved into a crucifix," ESPN reported. "He trapped both of the Swiss fighter's arms under his body and landed free shots with the left hand until the bout was stopped."
"Oezdemir got his money's worth in the opening round, as he came out swinging for the fences," according to ESPN. "Cormier's pressure eventually took its toll, however. He hurt Oezdemir with a hard right hand, followed by a winging left in tight. He took Oezdemir down in the final minute of the opening round and probably would have finished him via rear-naked choke had the bell not rung."
Cormier had lost his UFC light-heavy title to Jon Jones at UFC 214 last July. However, after Jones failed a post-match drug test, the 38-year-old former Cowboy mat star was reinstated as UFC champion. Saturday night was his first title defense.
With the win, Cormier is now 20-1, while Oezdemir falls to 15-2.
Miocic successfully defends his UFC crown
Stipe Miocic, former high school and college wrestler in his native Ohio, successfully defended his UFC heavyweight title for a record third straight time, handing Francis Ngannou a loss in their five-round bout in Boston.
“The Cleveland native absorbed Ngannou's hardest shots, returned fire and leaned heavily on his wrestling en route to a dominant decision victory,†ESPN.com reported.
It was a unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 50-45 for Miocic.
“Miocic, 35, survived on his composure,†according to ESPN. “He kept his head moving and circled out of the precarious positions on the outside. When Ngannou came forward too aggressively, he ducked under his punches and drove through multiple takedowns.'
With the win, Miocic is now 18-2 – with six straight victories – while Ngannou falls to 11-2.
Chael SonnenIn the first match of an eight-man World Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, Chael Sonnen scored a unanimous decision over Quinton Jackson (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in three-round bout at Bellator 192 held Saturday evening in suburban Los Angeles.
Sonnen, 40, who had wrestled for the now-defunct University of Oregon mat program, said that "Rampage" had placed a bet, offering to pay the former Duck wrestler $10,000 for each takedown. MMAFighting.com reported that Sonnen scored at least three takedowns during the bout.
That said, the MMA website wrote, "One of the biggest keys to the fight was not actually Sonnen's world-class wrestling. It was his striking. Sonnen was able to land some punches on Jackson in the first round and used that to get inside and eventually go for takedowns."
Sonnen, who, at 222 pounds, gave up 31 pounds to Jackson, is now 30-15-1 overall in his long pro career while Jackson is 37-13-0.
Chandler gets 14th win as a Bellator fighter
Michael Chandler scored a unanimous decision in his lightweight (155-pound) bout with Goiti Yamauchi at Bellator 192. The officials scored it 30-25, 30-26, 30-26 for the former University of Missouri wrestler.
With the decision, Chandler now has fourteen wins as a Bellator fighter, tying him with Patricio Freire for most victories within that organization. The former Mizzou Tiger All-American is now 17-4 overall in his MMA career, while Yamauchi falls to 22-4 overall, and 8-3 in Bellator.
Despite the score -- and what MMAJunkie.com described as a "dominating performance" -- Chandler had nothing but positive words for his opponent.
"Hat's off to Yamauchi, probably the toughest guy I've ever fought," Chandler said in his post-fight interview.
Pico finishes opponent in about a half-minute
Aaron Pico - amateur wrestling phenom who passed on a collegiate career to sign with Bellator at age 18 - made short work of yet another opponent in his featherweight (145 pounds) bout Saturday night, this time knocking out Shane Kruchten in just 37 seconds of the first round.
"MMA super prospect Aaron Pico showed again that his debut loss was nothing more than a stumble when he scored another devastating knockout at Bellator 192," wrote MMAJunkie.com, which described the blow as a "crushing body-shot." http://mmajunkie.com/2018/01/bellator-192-results-aaron-pico-scores-37-second-ko-with-body-shot
"Pico wasted no time inflicting damage on his opponent," MMAJunkie.com continued. "He put the pressure on Kruchten with hard shots before going to the body for the first time to drop his opponent."
The 21-year-old Pico - who was submitted in his first pro MMA event in 2017, only to bounce back with a first-round knockout in his second fight - now has a 2-1 record, while Kruchten, who was making his Bellator debut, drops to 12-4 overall.
Davis gets his kicks, wins his third pro MMA bout
Joey Davis, four-time undefeated NCAA Division II wrestling champ at Notre Dame College of Ohio, remains unbeaten in his young pro MMA career, scoring his third victory at The Forum, not far from Compton, Calif. where he grew up.
Davis delivered what a local newspaper, the Press-Enterprise, described as "a spinning kick to the liver of Ian Butler for a 39-second knockout in the opening fight at Bellator 192." https://www.pe.com/2018/01/20/bellator-192-joey-davis-gets-his-kicks-in-victory/
The 24-year-old Davis, who was 133-0 for the Notre Dame Falcons, is now 3-0 in his pro MMA career, while Butler is now 3-4.
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