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On with the show. It was disappointing to see only three fights scheduled for the night but they were able to squeeze in a fourth due to an extremely short main event.
Kenny Florian vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima
Florian looked good in all of his gauntness. I know 155 is his natural fighting weight but the guy just looks ill compared to his Ultimate Fighter middleweight days. Mishima had no answers for Florian in the first round and physically winced in response to Florian’s leg kicks. Mishima got a guillotine on Florian at the end of the second round but it was too close to the bell for it to mean anything.
Florian finds himself in trouble in the third round as Mishima locks in a kneebar/ankle lock combo. Florian was on the verge of tapping (although he denied it in his post-fight interview) but was able to escape the hold. That was Mishima’s last hope as Florian had his way with him after that, forcing Mishima to give up his back allowing Florian to sink in a rear naked choke for the submission.
Justin McCully vs. Antoni Hardonk
I knew nothing about these guys before the start of the fight and I’m starting to wish I could forget what I know about them now. The announcers made a point to tell me that McCully works with Tito Ortiz but I couldn’t care less. I was too busy laughing every time they called Hardonk’s name because it sounded like “hard-on.” I feel justified in being able to laugh at that.
Hardonk tried various submissions on McCully but couldn’t sink them in deep enough. Not because of McCully’s defense, just because Hardonk isn’t that skilled with submissions. He really should have been able to finish off McCully at least different times in the fight. McCully controlled the bout with his strikes but almost lost the fight in the third round due to a stiff knee to the face from Hardonk. Nothing a little ground-and-pound can’t fix. McCully went on to get the unanimous decision. 30-27 on all three cards.
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Nate Mohr
This fight went down earlier in the evening put was put on the main card to fill out the two hours. Not much to talk about here as it was over in the first round. Pellegrino took it to the ground where he eventually locked in an ankle lock for the submission.
Joe Stevenson vs. Melvin Guillard
Guillard brought his mother to the ring with him because if you want one person to watch your back, Mom is the best choice. Stevenson caught an off-balance Guillard with a jab causing a scramble to their feet. During the scramble, Stevenson caught Guillard in a guillotine and it was game over. It didn’t seem like Guillard gave much of an attempt to fight out of it but when you’re caught like that, there isn’t much you can do about it. Not the best showing for Melvin.
Joe Stevenson showed a lot of class immediately following the fight. Guillard was upset about his loss and basically sulked in Stevenson’s crotch. Joe was there with what seemed to be a sincere pep talk for Guillard and it was a nice thing for him to do given all the smack talk Guillard was giving before the fight and Guillard’s reluctance to tap gloves during the staredown.
