zatoicchi
29.12.08, 20:23
LAS VEGAS – Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin seemed like he was executing a sound game plan early in his title defense Saturday night against Rashad Evans.
But the main event of UFC 92 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night turned another example how mixed martial arts is a sport that can have many different types of sudden endings.
In the third round, Evans got Griffin to the ground for the first time in the fight. He broke through Griffin’s guard with elbows and punches from the top, with Griffin’s head bouncing on the mat before ref Steve Mazzagatti stopped it at 2:46.
Evans, 29, became the third fighter in the past two years to come from winning “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and capture a UFC championship. Evans, the heavyweight division winner of the show’s second season, followed in the footsteps of Griffin and former welterweight champion Matt Serra, both of whom dropped the title in their first defense.
Griffin, who suffered a broken hand in the fight, said he must have been hurt when he was taken down.
“I had to have been hurt, as I had such a pathetic lazy guard,” said the former champion, whose record fell to 16-5. “But you have to hand it to Rashad.”
Change in momentum leads Evans to title (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AvUEImBUzI3uJ0qzcEW87Ag9Eo14?slug=dm-rashad122708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
But the main event of UFC 92 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night turned another example how mixed martial arts is a sport that can have many different types of sudden endings.
In the third round, Evans got Griffin to the ground for the first time in the fight. He broke through Griffin’s guard with elbows and punches from the top, with Griffin’s head bouncing on the mat before ref Steve Mazzagatti stopped it at 2:46.
Evans, 29, became the third fighter in the past two years to come from winning “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and capture a UFC championship. Evans, the heavyweight division winner of the show’s second season, followed in the footsteps of Griffin and former welterweight champion Matt Serra, both of whom dropped the title in their first defense.
Griffin, who suffered a broken hand in the fight, said he must have been hurt when he was taken down.
“I had to have been hurt, as I had such a pathetic lazy guard,” said the former champion, whose record fell to 16-5. “But you have to hand it to Rashad.”
Change in momentum leads Evans to title (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AvUEImBUzI3uJ0qzcEW87Ag9Eo14?slug=dm-rashad122708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)