So much on the line. Tito Ortiz carried the US flag. Rashad Evans the weight of fourteen months sidelined and the removal of his title shot, and his departure from Greg Jackson’s training camp. Ortiz had the momentum, soaked up the support. It was a cagey opening. Evans landed a couple of punches. Ortiz went for the takedown. Both men got up and traded blows against the cage. Evans flailed away, Ortiz returned with knees. Evans then picked Ortiz up and slammed him down; it changed the support in the arena. The first round ended with Ortiz shielding his head with those hulk-like arms. Great round. Evans 10-9. Referee John McCarthy had to do not a jot. Round 2. They trade and miss. Guillotine choke for Ortiz without the guard, and Evans pops out. The crowd in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center began to lose their minds. Midway through the second and Evans has dominant position and is pounding away, and takes side control. Ortiz twists and fights for survival. He’s game. But then Evans gets him onto his knees and pounds away and delivering a knee to the solar plexus. McCarthy looks closely as Evans pounds away. TKO for Evans with 15 seconds left of the second. Good fight.
Horrible finish. Two iconic protagonists, one result. Vitor Belfort KO’d Yoshihiro Akiyama in a brutal attack in the opening round, but the three winging left hooks to the back of Akiyama’s head, when the Japanese fighter was already in trouble, were not pretty. Sure, Belfort has the killer instinct when he scents the opponent in danger, but the nature of the punches lacks perspicacity. Akiyama should fight at welterweight in the UFC.
Credentials enhanced. Rory MacDonald has the look of a hungry animal when he enters the Octagon. The Canadian welterweight is quietly spoken outside it. He took to veteran Mike Pyle defeating him by TKO 3 minutes 54 seconds into the first round. He marches on. And although they are in the same camps, MacDonald is stalking UFC welterweight champion George St Pierre from the shadows.
Brian Ebersole – makings of an everyman legend. Ebersole has had over 70 MMA fights. Not all are on record. He added Denis Hallman to his record with a brutal TKO finish on the ground. It has taken seven years for the American – who lives in Australia – to become an overnight sensation. Ebersole escaped Hallman’s submission attempts early in the first round like Houdini, and then just took over. The shaved hairpiece was back – pointing again at his chin. Ebersole can go far in the welterweight division.
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