Ricardo Romero wanted no part of James Te Huna on the feet. In just 47 seconds of UFC 135 openers, we saw exactly why.
Romero, caught in a bad position on his hands and knees, got whacked by several big rights and was knocked silly. Te Huna got a KO win at the 0:47 mark of the first round in Denver, Co.
Romero's plan was fine, but his execution was awful.
Seven seconds into the fight, he shot for a takedown in sloppy fashion. Romero tried a few more times from long distance. He was telegraphing the attempts, so Te Huna simply stepped back, used Romero's head as target practice landing uppercuts and short rights.
An uppercut rocked Romero and a little right hook dropped him. The American scrambled and pushed forward, but Te Huna simply backed up. With his opponent on his hands and knees, two more Te Huna rights landed and Romero went limp.
The referee Tim Mills probably jumped in to save Romero one shot too late. When he rolled Romero over, the fighter starting babbling and moaning. He had no clue what had happened.
"Just relax brother," Mills said several times. "Everything's going to be okay. Calm down."
Te Huna (15-5) was thrilled to get the victory so quickly. He explained that he'd dislocated a finger on his left hand a few weeks back, so he was facing using the right hand the majority of the night.
Mizugaki swarms Escovedo to get bounce back win
This was a different Takeya Mizugaki tonight in Denver. The Japanese striking specialist lacked aggression with his attack in his last fight against Brian Bowles. Cole Escovedo was the recipient of Mizugaki's pent up frustration. Mizugaki battered the American on the feet before scoring a TKO finish at 4:30 of the second round.
Mizugaki (15-6, 2-1 UFC, ) once challeged Miguel Torres for the WEC 135-pound title, but he's been less aggressive in recent fights.
He changed that tonight by closing space early. Escovedo (17-8, 0-2 UFC) had a height and reach advantage, but was never allowed to get comfortable. In close quarters, Mizugaki consistently found a home for his left hook. Escovedo tried to slow things down by grabbing Mizugaki around the neck with a Thai clinch. Mizugaki adjusted and crushed Escovedo with uppercuts and short elbows.
Mizugaki also broke down Escovedo with some excellent lefts to the body. With 2:30 minutes left in the second, he landed a bomb to Escovedo's side and that started the slide. Escovedo eventually got trapped along the cage and dropped two times by left hooks. The second time he was on his back, he was through and Mizugaki sealed things with a nasty right cross that left Escovedo dazed.
Assuncao wins slow-paced fight with strong third round
During yesterday's weigh-in, it was evident that Junior Assuncao was fired up to return to the Octagon for the first time since 2007, but it took a while on fight night for him to get going. Once he did, Assuncao crushed Eddie Yagin on the ground in the final round to take a unanimous decision, 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27, in the final Facebook fight on the UFC 135 undercard.
Assuncao said he wasn't nervous, but something didn't click until the middle of the fight. He did admit he was trying to wear down Yagin and eliminate the possibility of getting caught on the feet.
The Brazilian was extremely dominant in the final round. His experience showed during a guillotine predicament. Assuncao warded off the danger and dumped Yagin on his back with 3:35 left in the fight. Yagin never got back to his feet.
Assuncao mixed up elbows, hammer fists and punches to Yagin's head and body. Two judges gave him a 10-8 round.
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