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| UFC Fight Night |
The victory wasn’t a highlight show for Davis, but it was the biggest win of his career, over the highest profile opponent Davis has faced.
Davis is an undefeated light heavyweight who has stormed into the UFC. Last night’s win was his fifth in 13 months since joining the UFC.
His heavy workload, unblemished record, and submission of the night performance in his last fight--a second-round kimura stoppage of Tim Boetsch--has many observers comparing Davis to new Light Heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.
Davis didn’t get to flash any of the creative moves and utter dominance that earned Jones a seat on the Tonight Show last week, but he also was never challenged by a member of the sport’s top echelon in Little Nog.
Davis tried to use his wrestling ability to get an early advantage over Nogueira, but Nog was ready for that game plan.
Four times, Nogueira was able to stuff Davis takedown attempts in the opening round. He also kept Davis at bay by throwing counter lefts every time Davis attempted a head kick.
“I know he’s tough, man,” Davis said afterward. “He’s resilient. He learns. I couldn’t take him down with anything I saw people use on him in the past.”
A head kick late in the round earned Davis a knockdown, but Nogueira quickly scrambled to his feet avoiding any damage on the ground.
Nog scored early in the second round, landing counter lefts and a head kick of his own. Davis finally got him down on a takedown early in the round, however, and gained control of the fight.
Davis landed some solid ground and pound blows and remained in control for the rest of the round, raining down right hands and knees from back control.
Davis added a pair of takedowns in the third round to put his stamp on the fight.
All three judges scored the bout 30-27 in Davis’ favor. AHN’s unofficial card gave Nogueira the first round and had it 29-28 Davis.
Davis moved to 9-0 and continued his rise up the light heavyweight ladder. He may not have showed that he’s the man to end Jones’ reign of terror in the division, but he handled the veteran on short notice.
Nogueira was originally slated to fight UFC pioneer Tito Ortiz, but Davis got the call five weeks ago, after Ortiz suffered a serious cut in training.
The abbreviated training camp was exacerbated by a series of nagging injuries. In a fight week conference call, Davis said that he needed some time off after the heavy workload of the last year.
After the fight, Davis added, “Things were falling apart in training camp. I didn’t know if I could make this fight. I had all types of injuries.”
Nogueira lost his second straight, both to wrestling prospects who were undefeated at the time. Ryan Bader took a decision from Nog last September. Nogueira’s record stands at 19-5.
In the co-feature bout, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson dominated Dan Hardy in a unanimous decision.
Johnson dropped Hardy with a huge left kick to the head early in the first round. Johnson followed up with ground and pound on the downed Hardy.
After Hardy worked his way back to his feet, Johnson took him down again.
In the second, Johnson scored an early takedown and battered Hardy with a series of left hands. After the referee stood the fighters up, Johnson again took Hardy down in the last 10 seconds.
Hardy didn’t come up with a solution to Johnson’s wrestling between rounds. Johnson again got a takedown in the first 30 seconds of the third, taking Hardy’s back.
Johnson was unable to get a rear naked choke, but he landed several punches from back control, until he was able to sink in an arm triangle and neck crank before time expired.
Johnson moved to 9-3, winning for the first time since October, 2009. Hardy lost his third straight since earning a shot against UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. His record fell to 23-9.
Sources: http://www.allheadlinenews.com
