Franca and Monson Take Dark Bout Matches
Josh Gross Jul 9, 2006
LAS VEGAS, July 8 — Hermes
Franca (Pictures), Jeff Monson (Pictures), Cheick Kongo (Pictures) and Drew Fickett (Pictures) all walked away victorious before
the final bell tonight on the under card of UFC 61.
Franca had a tougher-than-expected time with late replacement Joe Jordan (Pictures), a stubborn fighter out of Iowa that seemed to enjoy taking heavy right hands to the face during his time in the cage tonight.
After two rounds of solid action, which mostly saw Franca bounce
power shots off Jordan’s hard head since he could not plant his foe
on the floor, the Brazilian lightweight, who returned to the UFC on
the strength of his solid performances thus far this year, finally
took control on the mat.
Mounting as he worked for a Kimura, Franca let go of the arm to lock in a beautiful triangle from the top, which he rolled to his right to finish for the tapout 47 seconds of the third.
The hefty grappler pounded the Australian on the floor after a chopping right hook put him there. Monson’s victory at 2:22 of round one appears to have made him Tim Sylvia (Pictures)’s next challenger.
Kongo scored a successful UFC debut, rebounding from early trouble to demolish Gilbert Aldana (Pictures) 4:13 of round one.
Expected to be a throw down between two heavy-fisted heavyweights, Aldana had no intention of feeling the Frenchman’s leather. From the bell he slammed the limited Kongo to the floor and worked from side-control. Yet neither man appeared particularly adept at ground fighting.
A second big takedown came and again Aldana took top position, but Kongo reversed nicely and put the Arizonan on his back. Three heavy punches followed before they returned to the feet, where the real damage occurred.
Mixing right hands (Kongo never threw a left) with knees, the UFC newcomer smeared Aldana’s face before the doctors stepped in to prevent more carnage.
Down on two judges’ score cards heading into the third period, Fickett again pulled out a fight in the late stages, defeating UFC newcomer Kurt Pellegrino (Pictures) by rear-naked choke 1:20 of round three.
Pellegrino’s explosive takedowns were not enough to dissuade Fickett from victory.
Having fought from the bottom for much of the first and second periods, Fickett was again on his back in the prelude to the end. Falling prey to a textbook double-leg takedown, Fickett reversed to gain dominant position after Pellegrino took side-control.
Soon, he’d sunk in his hooks and wrapped an arm around Pellegrino’s considerable neck, squeezing tight for the submission win.
Franca had a tougher-than-expected time with late replacement Joe Jordan (Pictures), a stubborn fighter out of Iowa that seemed to enjoy taking heavy right hands to the face during his time in the cage tonight.
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Mounting as he worked for a Kimura, Franca let go of the arm to lock in a beautiful triangle from the top, which he rolled to his right to finish for the tapout 47 seconds of the third.
Monson, the apparent No. 1 contender in the UFC heavyweight
division, received a nice reaction from the crowd before making
quick work of Anthony
Perosh.
The hefty grappler pounded the Australian on the floor after a chopping right hook put him there. Monson’s victory at 2:22 of round one appears to have made him Tim Sylvia (Pictures)’s next challenger.
Kongo scored a successful UFC debut, rebounding from early trouble to demolish Gilbert Aldana (Pictures) 4:13 of round one.
Expected to be a throw down between two heavy-fisted heavyweights, Aldana had no intention of feeling the Frenchman’s leather. From the bell he slammed the limited Kongo to the floor and worked from side-control. Yet neither man appeared particularly adept at ground fighting.
A second big takedown came and again Aldana took top position, but Kongo reversed nicely and put the Arizonan on his back. Three heavy punches followed before they returned to the feet, where the real damage occurred.
Mixing right hands (Kongo never threw a left) with knees, the UFC newcomer smeared Aldana’s face before the doctors stepped in to prevent more carnage.
Down on two judges’ score cards heading into the third period, Fickett again pulled out a fight in the late stages, defeating UFC newcomer Kurt Pellegrino (Pictures) by rear-naked choke 1:20 of round three.
Pellegrino’s explosive takedowns were not enough to dissuade Fickett from victory.
Having fought from the bottom for much of the first and second periods, Fickett was again on his back in the prelude to the end. Falling prey to a textbook double-leg takedown, Fickett reversed to gain dominant position after Pellegrino took side-control.
Soon, he’d sunk in his hooks and wrapped an arm around Pellegrino’s considerable neck, squeezing tight for the submission win.
