THE CANADIAN PRESS
BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Kenny Florian pounded out a second-round TKO over Joe Lauzon in a battle of Massachusetts lightweights Wednesday night on the UFC’s Fight Night card.
The win probably moves the 31-year-old Florian into the No. 1 contender position in the UFC’s 155-pound division. B.J. Penn, the current champion, is slated to meet former title-holder Sean Sherk at UFC 84 in May in Las Vegas. Sherk was stripped of the title after a positive drug test.
Florian, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu who trains with Muay Thai specialist Mark Dellagrotte in Boston, improved to 11-3 (7-2 in the UFC) and has won his last four since losing to Sherk for the vacant title at UFC 64 in October 2006.
The 23-year-old Lauzon, a native of East Bridgewater, Mass., who now trains out of Hilo, Hawaii, with the Penn camp, fell to 15-4 and saw his six-fight win streak snapped.
Florian — on his back — was warned early for elbowing Lauzon in the back of the head, cutting open Lauzon’s scalp in a frenetic first round that saw Lauzon going for leg submissions and Florian ending the round with a flurry of strikes to the head.
Florian took Lauzon down early in the second and mounted him. Lauzon covered up but Florian was relentless with his punches and eventually referee Herb Dean stepped in at 3:28.
“Joe’s a great competitor. I knew it was going to be a tough fight,” said Florian, who hinted of some injuries going into the fight.
Earlier on the 11-fight mixed martial arts card at the Broomfield Event Center in suburban Denver, light-heavyweight James (The Sandman) Irvin disposed of Houston (The Assassin) Alexander in just eight seconds, tying the UFC record for quickest knockout. Alexander did not throw a punch and Irvin needed just four, flooring Alexander with a Superman punch to the chin right off the bat.
Alexander shook his head at the stoppage. “I was OK. I was still conscious,” he said.
“We can do it again right now,” said Irvin, offering to meet Alexander in the parking lot.
The quick stoppage by referee Steve Mazzagatti seemed legitimate, with the Alexander offering no resistance as he absorbed a final right to the head. It was the second straight loss for the Omaha banger, following a TKO by Thiago Silva at UFC 78 in November. For Irvin, it helped erase painful memories of a 2007 in which he tore knee ligaments in a loss to Silva and suffered a concussion in a disqualification win over Luiz Cane.
Irvin (14-4 with one no contest) has won seven of 11 fights in the UFC. Alexander dropped to 8-3 (2-2 in the UFC).
Light-heavyweight Matt (The Hammer) Hamill stopped Tim (The Barbarian) Boetsch in the second round, holding down and punching a tired Boetsch at the fence before the referee stepped in at 1:25. Hamill, who is deaf, improved to 6-1 while Boetsch fell to 7-2.
Brazilian welterweight Thiago (Pit Bull) Alves crumpled Karo (The Heat) Parisyan with a knee to the head and hit him with five rights before Mazzagatti stepped in 34 seconds into the second round. Parisyan (25-5) was incensed at the stoppage.
“He was out, I just kept punching and punching,” said Alves, who improved to 19-4 with his fifth straight UFC win. “I think the referee did good.”
Gray (The Bully) Maynard outlasted and outsmuscled Frankie (The Answer) Edgar to win a unanimous 30-27 decision in a battle of unbeaten lightweights. While much of the fight was on the feet, Maynard’s third-round takedowns were probably the difference.
“I’ve got a long ways to go. I was just trying to prove a little bit like Hey I’m here, I’m not just a TV show guy,”‘ said Maynard, an alumnus of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality TV show.
Maynard improved to 6-0 with one no contest while Edgar fell to 8-1.
Lightweight Nick Diaz, winner of Season 5 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” took a pounding in the first round but rallied to submit Kurt (Batman) Pellegrino via triangle choke at 3:06 of the second round. Diaz (9-2 including 4-0 in the UFC) pumped his arms and flashed a pair of fingers after sinking in the choke with his legs, waiting for Pellegrino (17-4) to tap.
“I knew he can’t keep this up for three rounds,” Diaz, who suffered a nasty gash over his right eye in the first round, said of Pellegrino’s initial onslaught.
In other lightweight fights, Josh (The Dentist) Neer won a decision over Din Thomas, and Clay (The Carpenter) Guida stopped France’s Samy (The Dog) Schiavo, Brazilian Marcus Aurelio submitted Ryan Roberts and Manny Gamburyan submitted Jeff Cox, all three in the first round with Aurelio taking just 16 seconds.
In welterweight action, Australian George Sotiropoulos earned a second-round TKO win over Roman Mitichyan, and, Denver’s Anthony (Rumble) Johnson knocked out Tommy Speer 51 seconds in the first round, carving open his cheek with the final hammer-like blow.
Broomfield is 5,412 feet above sea level.
