Condit defends in classic
Condit, Varner defend WEC belts; Stann falls

Cageside report by Anthony Springer Jr
Photography by Chris Cozzone

In what can be described as an instant classic, Carlos Condit successfully defended his WEC welterweight title last night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, stopping Hiromitsu Miura in the fourth round by TKO.

With the two opponents nearly even in terms of skill sets, round one saw both men come out on the offensive. Condit’s attacked was led with leg kicks, while “The Last Samurai” led with several Judo throws, but was unable to keep the champion on the mat. Late in the round, Condit was able to floor Miura with a jab, but the challenger was too strong, avoiding submission by arm bar. Miura—clearly the physically stronger of the two—used his strength to avoid sticky situations the remainder of the fight.

Rounds two and three were like a chess game, with both fighters gaining—and then losing—an advantage that looked to end the bout. “The Natural Born Killer” has finished several opponents with strikes from the mounted position had limited success against Miura, who was able to reverse the position and gain top control. To Condit’s credit, Miura was not able to inflict sufficient damage while in the champion’s guard.

At the close of round three, the standing room crowd at The Joint rose to their feet.

Both fighters appeared to gas at the opening of the first round, and neither was able to fully take advantage of the other’s mistakes. Condit scored early, throwing Miura to the mat, but after three high-paced rounds of combat, the champion’s elbow strikes from the top position proved futile and didn’t appear to faze the challenger. Miura battled back late in the contest, pinning Condit against the cage while throwing punches. At one point, Miura found himself in the top position, but could was unable to finish the fight from there and allowed Condit to stand back up.

That proved to be the beginning of the end of this war.

Initially, it appeared that Miura would allow Condit to stand back up, but attempted a jab as Condit slowly rose. The punch missed its mark, but was followed up by a Condit knee, which was enough to send his exhausted opponent to the mat. From that point, Condit pummeled his opponent with half-hearted strikes.

With both fighters clearly running on fumes, Condit continued his attack until the referee called the fight as Miura failed to defend himself.

The challenger remained on the mat for several minutes as ringside medics examined him.

“I think I’ll come away from this a much better fighter,” Condit said after the match.

The win marks Condit’s third successful title defense.

Cantwell settles score with Stann

WEC light-heavyweight champion Bran Stann and Steve Cantwell had a score to settle.

In their first meeting, Stann emerged victorious, knocking out Cantwell in 41 seconds.

But lightning did not strike twice for “The All American” who was soundly defeated by the Pahrump, Nevada native by TKO at 4:01 in the second round.

Both fighters came into the match with armies of their own as the crowd was evenly divided between the two men.

From the opening bell, both fighters looked confident, circling the ring, but once the action began, Stann found himself with limited success. Cantwell was able to avoid the heavy hands of Stann the bulk of the time, and proved he was the more formidable striker, landing several straight jabs.

The former champion nearly sealed the deal by taking advantage of a Cantwell slip late in the first round. Smelling victory, Stann hopped on his opponent and landed several straight rights, some of which found their mark. However, Cantwell survived the scare, coming away from the exchange with some bruises and a minor cut as time expired.

Round two saw Cantwell fare much better, switching up his offense with leg kicks and punches, keeping Stann on the defensive and out of sync. The former Marine’s wild punching power proved to be no match for the precision striking of Cantwell who—unlike their first meeting—bested Stann during the standup.

For a while, it seemed as though Stann was nothing short of super human, as he ate punch after punch and kept coming forward. Eventually, the strikes took their toll, and when Stann showed signs of fatigue, Cantwell took full advantage firing rights and lefts as Stann guarded his face against the cage.

One final hard right hand sent Stann crashing to the canvas, covering his head as Cantwell struck his way to the light heavyweight championship.

“Steve walked a mile in those shoes, now it’s my turn,” a disappointed Stann remarked after the contest.

For Cantwell, confidence proved to be a key factor, but the amount of damage Stann withstood shook up the man fighting out of Las Vegas.

“I’m surprised at how much punishment he took,” Cantwell told FightNews. “Damn, that guys’ head was hard, my hands are killing me. I hit him with everything I had and he wasn’t going down, I thought I was going to have to bite him or something.

“The guy can take an ass whooping, I’m glad he finally went down.”

With the two men owning one victory over each other, a third and final match up seemed inevitable, and when the day comes, both men will be ready for another war.

Varner dethrones, demolishes Hicks

In the night’s first title defense, Jamie Varner stopped Marcus Hicks by TKO 2:08 into the first round.

Hicks attempted to make up for Varner’s 8” reach advantage by closing in early, even taking down the champion several times in the opening minute. Even under the intense pressure of the smaller Hicks, Varner remained cool under pressure, quickly getting up each time he found himself on the canvas.

At one point, it seemed that the title was destined to change hands, as Hicks locked in his signature finisher, the guillotine choke. Varner immediately recognized what was going on, and gained control of Hicks’ wrist, allowing the champion to escape the sticky situation.

From that moment on, it was all Varner, all the time, with the champion unleashing what can only be described as a symphony of punches, kicks and knees. Hicks was rocked by three consecutive knees inside Varner’s Muay Thai clinch, and was sent to the canvas following a round of punches that connected with pin point accuracy.

Miraculously, Hicks—very wobbly from the exchange—rose to his feet, and was swiftly finished by three more right hands, slumping over crumpled heap as the bout was stopped.

“He’s a very, very tough guy,” Varner said of Hicks after the fight. “He took a lot of punishment, I think he’ll be back.”

Page taps out to undefeated Bowles

In the first televised fight of the night, Brian Bowles kept his unbeaten streak alive, submitting Damacio "The Angel of Death" Page with a guillotine choke at 3:30 into the opening round.

Page came out firing early, swinging for the fences with each leg kick and punch, but an early slip found him on his back. Bowles was largely ineffective inside the guard of Page and the two fighters found themselves back on their feet.

At the end of the day, Page’s aggression may have been his undoing.

While attempting a double leg takedown, Bowles was able to jump up and sink in a tight guillotine. Page’s effort to wiggle out was unsuccessful and he tapped out as Bowles took the top position, choke firmly intact.

With the win, Bowles is now 6-0.

Page, of Jackson's Gym in Albuquerque, falls to 10-4 in his second WEC fight.

Grispi TKOs Miller

In the night’s final preliminary bout, Josh Grispi needed a mere 50 seconds to defeat Micah Miller via TKO.

From the opening bell, Grispi set the tone, coming out early with a series of low and high kicks with echoed throughout the packed Joint at the Hard Rock. Miller appeared apprehensive and never got settled inside the cage.

During the only exchange of leather in the bout, Grispi floored the man fighting out of Florida with a left jab and proceeded to throw several more unanswered punches and Miller lay on the canvas. Referee Herb Dean halted the match to a chorus of boos and to the dismay of Miller, who failed to intelligently defend himself against the onslaught of strikes.

Coming into the match, the pair previously had matching 11-1 records. Grispi, just 19 years of age, improves to 12-1, while Miller dropped to 11-2.

Larson stuns Prater

In a brief, but fireworks-filled fight, Brock Larson stunned Carlo Prater—and the audience—finishing Carlo Prater by knockout at :37 in the first round.

After a brief feeling out period, Larson unleashed a devastating left jab which sent Prater sprawling to the mat. From there, Larson pounced, finishing Prater with a series of shots before Steve Mazagatti intervened, saving Prater from further damage.

“I saw he was trying to set me up and he circled. I faked a little bit and threw the left and hell, it worked out,” Larson said before calling out the winner of the night’s welterweight main event.

Larson improves to an impressive 25-2.

Aveda wins 'Battle of Vegas'

In a battle for Las Vegas bragging rights, Blas Aveda wasted no time defeating Dave Terrel by TKO 1:07 in the first round.

From the outset, it was all Aveda, who scored a quick takedown in the opening seconds. Aveda—the stronger of the two—pinned Terrel against the cage before tying him up in the clinch. From there, Aveda rocked Terrel with several knees, before throwing a jab which floored Terrel, spelling the beginning of the end.

After several unanswered shots, referee Kim Winslow stopped the fight.

Roller chokes out Moore

The third time proved to be a charm for Shane Roller, who defeated Todd Moore by guillotine choke at 3:00 in the first round.

Moore controlled the opening seconds of the round, tagging Roller with several jabs before falling victim to an extra tight guillotine. With a tap out inevitable, Moore battled out, only to find himself caught in yet another choke less than a minute later—which Moore also battled out of.

Moore regained top position and appeared to have some success with the ground and pound, but fell victim to the third and final guillotine choke. This time, Roller also secured a body triangle, and Moore—who put up a valiant effort trying to fight out—tapped out.

Budnik defeats McIntyre

Mike Budnik continued his transition from extreme athlete to cage fighter, defeating Greg McIntyre by triangle choke 3:21 in the third round.

Budnik showed flashes in each round; nearly pulling off a triangle late in the first round, but McIntyre was saved by the bell.

The former X-gamer came out swinging in the second round, catching McIntyre in the mid section with a right side kick. However, the burst was short lived, and McIntyre assumed top control, but was unable to inflict sufficient damage in Budnik’s guard.

As round three ticked to a close, Budnik slipped in a triangle choke and proceeded to pummel a defenseless McIntyre—who was forced to tap.

With the victory, Budnik improves to a perfect 8-0.

Jorgensen decisions Osawa

In the opening bout of the night, Scott Jorgensen defeated Kenji Osawa via unanimous decision.

After a see-saw first and second rounds, Jorgensen surged in the third, opening the round with an aggressive double leg takedown. From there, Osawa remained on the defensive, trying to avoid Jorgensen’s ground and pound.

Jorgensen showed versatility early on, battling out of two guillotines in the opening round.

All three judges scored the bout 30-27.