Josh Koscheck defeated Anthony Johnson at UFC 106 in Las Vegas on Saturday.
- Forrest Griffin avenges loss to Tito Ortiz
-
Paulo Thiago grinds down Jacob Volkmann
-
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira pummels Luiz Cane
-
Amir Sadollah dominates Phil Baroni
-
Brian Foster pounds Brock Larson
-
Ben Saunders KOs Marcus Davis
-
Georege Sotiropoulos submits Jason Dent
-
Kendall Grove triangles Jake Rosholt
Here is how it happened:
Koscheck landed the first effective punch, a right hand 28 seconds in that made Johnson stumble backward. Johnson quickly tried to establish reach to try and measure his opponent, but ate a right hand before he delivered a few of his own.
Koscheck took a right hand and ducked a few more strikes. He scored a quick takedown, but Johnson bounced right up. Koscheck remained down when Johnson clinched the kneeling opponent and delivered an illegal knee to Koscheck’s head. Referee Mario Yamasaki deducted a point in a long delay as Koscheck was observed by a doctor. Koscheck might have been poked in the left eye in addition to getting the illegal knee, although replays did not prove conclusive.
They restarted for the final 100 seconds and Koscheck eventually took down Johnson and worked the back for the final 40 seconds. Koscheck appeared to have won the round 10-8, considering the deduction. At worst, it was 9-9.
Johnson came out more aggressive in the second round, preferring to stalk Koscheck and initiate contact. However, within the first 71 seconds of the round, Johnson took two pokes in the eye, the second worse than the first, causing a pair of pauses. Johnson is more sensitive to eye pokes. He lost to Kevin Burns on a bad eye poke that was not seen by the referee and had to be surgically repaired.
Koscheck took it to Johnson after the restart. He used his firsts to set up a takedown and quickly worked into the half-guard. Johnson was on his back with the top of his head against the fence and tried to keep Koscheck as close as possible. Johnson tried to turn and get out, but Koscheck kept control and worked for an arm triangle as blood poured out from Johnson’s face. With 22 seconds left, Koscheck switched to a rear naked choke, cranked it with everything he had and forced Johnson to tap.
Koscheck via submission, rear naked choke, 4:47 Rd. 2
Koscheck proclaimed himself to be the next in line for a title shot at welterweight, pointing out the difference in opponents between himself and Englishman Dan Hardy, who was in attendance.
“I don’t have much to say, but I know there is somebody here who thinks he’s the No. 1 contender, but he’s hasn’t fought anybody,” Koscheck said of Hardy. “He’s not the No. 1 contender, I am. I’m going to fight Georges St-Pierre next, I know they’re looking for a card in February.”
Koscheck said he would give away more on his Twitter account.
Comments