THE CANADIAN PRESS
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Welterweight Josh Koscheck knocked out Japan’s Yoshiyuki Yoshida with a pair of sledgehammer-like punches two minutes 15 seconds into the first round of the UFC’s "Fight for the Troops" fundraising card Wednesday night.
Yoshida was staggered by the first straight right hand, falling into the fence. As he bounced back up, Koscheck crunched the defenceless fighter with a huge looping right.
"If that wasn’t worth five bucks from every UFC fan, I don’t know what else I can do," said Koscheck, a former four-time All-American collegiate wrestler.
The mixed martial arts card at the Crown Coliseum, home to the Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League, was organized to raise funds for a US$65-million centre for traumatic brain injuries for the U.S. military, and the stands were filled with thousands of soldiers from nearby Fort Bragg wearing camouflage UFC shirts.
Koscheck (14-3) was coming off a short turnaround, stepping up on short notice to replace the injured Diego Sanchez at UFC 90 on Oct. 25 when he lost a decision to Thiago Alves. A fourth-degree judo black belt, Yoshida (10-3) came in on a nine-fight win streak.
In the co-main event, Mike (Quick) Swick administered a fast, comprehensive beating to Montreal welterweight Jonathan (The Road Warrior) Goulet. Swick dropped the Canadian with a short right and then threw down more than 15 hammer-fists and other blows until referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in after just 33 seconds with a dazed Goulet (22-10 with one no contest) toppling backwards from his knees.
Goulet recovered and was upright by the time the official decision was announced.
"I had an injury and my right arm wasn’t where it should have been. I’ve got my right arm back and I’m healthy," said Swick (13-2), winning his third straight at 170 pounds since moving down from middleweight.
The two were supposed to meet in September 2007 but Swick was injured.
Military veterans on the card included former marine Luigi Fioravanti, former U.S. navy vets (Hollywood) Steve Bruno, (Crazy) Tim Credeur, and Dale Hartt, and former Navy SEAL Brandon Wolff.
The vets were 4-1 on the night.
Credeur (11-4) handed middleweight Nate Loughran (9-1) his first loss when Loughran was unable to answer the bell for the third round.
Credeur, a jiu-jitsu and judo black belt who was part of Season 7 of "The Ultimate Fighter," outpunched Loughran in the first round and then dominated him on the ground in the second when he opened up a cut near Loughran’s right eye. Credeur scored with some heavy blows at the end of the round.
"I’ve sacrificed a good portion of my life for our freedom and I’m happy to do this (fight) for guys who are doing the same thing," Credeur said afterwards.
Fioravanti won a unanimous decision over welterweight Brodie Farber, Hartt was awarded a TKO over lightweight Corey Hill after a doctor stoppage 20 seconds into the second round, and welterweight Steve Bruno choked out Johnny Rees in the second round.
Wolff was stopped on a first-round TKO by welterweight Ben (Killa B) Saunders, absorbing a savage beating that lasted an endless 1:49. Wolff, at 5-9 giving up six inches in height in his UFC debut, could not escape Saunders’ Thai clinch and caught one knee after another in the face. There was blood and an Elephant Man-like bump on the tattooed Hawaiian’s forehead when the fight was finally called, with Saunders having landed 50 knees.
.Former World Extreme Cagefighting light-heavyweight champion Steve (The Robot) Cantwell (7-1), in his UFC debut since WEC disbanded the 20-5-pound division, stopped UFC newcomer (Razor) Razak Al-Hassan (7-1) via TKO at 4:04 of the first round. Referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in to stop the fight with Al-Hassan’s arm bent at an alarming angle in an armbar.
"I can’t believe the dude didn’t tap sooner. Watch it pop," Cantwell said as he watched a replay in the cage, with the crowd groaning,
Lightweight Jim Miller (13-1) scored a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27) over (Handsome) Matt Wiman (10-4) to extend his winning streak to eight (2-0 in the UFC) despite taking the fight on a week’s notice. Miller replaced Frankie Edgar, the only fighter to have beaten him.
Wiman, whose brother is a Green Beret, had to escape a guillotine choke early in the first round and take some punishment from the bottom before reversing position. Miller hurt him with a body kick later in the round and punished him at the fence in the second.
Wiman, who showed great resilience in the face of a lot of punishment, came out swinging in the third but Miller put him down and the fight ended with Wiman fighting off another choke.
"Matt’s as tough as hell," Miller said in the cage afterwards. "I’ve never hit someone so hard, so many times and have them still standing there."
Heavyweight Justin McCully won a decision over Eddie Sanchez .
The UFC last held a military-themed show in December 2006, at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar outside of San Diego.
