Alvarez crushes Dos Anjos in 1 to capture UFC gold for fight pass main event in Las Vegas

The lightweight division ‎has a new king tonight as 4 to 1 underdog, Eddie Alvarez (28-4), stopped Rafael dos Anjos (25-8) via strikes in the most sensational KO ever seen in the history of UFC Fight Pass. The UFC 155lbs championship bout served as the headliner for UFC Fight Night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena inside the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel, echoed by a rowdy and pro-Alvarez crowd who exploded from the sound of the opening bell right down to the final punch.

During the first few minutes both men crafted a fast-paced chess match, but a violent one at that. There were no wills bending or‎ breaking here as Rafael and Eddie went toe to toe coming forward with power shots and lethal combinations. Dos Anjos had the edge at first landing the cleaner blows, beating his Philadelphia foe to the punch. Alvarez held his own and his normally granite chin ate some big bombs so he switched to a takedown that was stuffed by the former champ. Then in the middle of the round everything changed drastically, Alvarez caught the brilliant Brazilian with a counter right hook clean on the face.

Many questions came about leading up to this match, most commonly regarding Rafael dos Anjos’ physical condition seeing as how he was coming off of a cancelled defense in March at UFC 196. Was his broken foot okay? Would he be able to walk? Train? Run properly or hit angles in the cage? Well, all of that was irrelevant as his beard did not hold up to the perfect right hand from the former Bellator title holder and dos Anjos was on retreat mode via spaghetti legs instantly. The Philadelphia native smelled blood in the water so he emptied out his gas tank bull rushing his foe with a barrage of punches along the cage wall as well as across the cage. Dos Anjos wouldn’t go down so Eddie recreated Jose Aldo vs. Cub Swanson in the WEC and hit him with a flying knee.

Unfortunately, the blow came up short, he landed on the ground directly in front of the ex-belt holder and Dos Anjos immediately landed on to of him pulling him to the canvas in hopes of recovering. Alvarez escaped half guard in a moment and got the fight back upright, the rest was academic.

Dos Anjos was never able to recover from taht inital right hand and Alvarez again unleashed a fire storm of punches on his man, driving him backwards along the Octagon wall. Dos Anjos put up his guard and wildly returned fire but he was getting clobbered with left and right hooks to the body and head mercilessly until the referee jumped in waiving it off. The people live in attendance exploded ‎in cheers and Alvarez raised his hands in triumph as he now picks up his biggest win to date in an already accomplished career.

Photo by Armando Romo

The former champ was very direct and surprisingly candid at the post fight interview, he didn’t want to take anything away from the new king and revealed that, “his camp was great and he was in the best shape”. Alvarez returned the favor admitting that he would lobby for a rematch with dos Anjos , the toughest guy in the division, and that them being matched so evenly if he had made the mistake it could have just as easily gone the other way.

It’s a very exciting time for the lightweight division and how long the reign of champion Eddie Alvarez is will be anyone’s guess. But he is a fighter’s fighter so fans are in for a treat either way.

BEAST SHUTS DOWN NELSON ‎OVER 3

To say that Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (16-4, 1 NC) was scared of his huge co-main event‎ opposite former IFL heavyweight champion, Roy “Big Country” Nelson (22-13), would be totally erroneous. The New Orleans native delivered on his biggest test to date and likely leap frogged his foe to go from Top 15 to a Top 10 spot in their weight class. As soon as the match kicked off Lewis came at Nelson with everything including the kitchen sink; rights, rights, more rights and vicious uppercuts and left hooks. The seasoned veteran weathered the storm and took his man down via body lock and leg trip and kept top control late in the round but he spent way too much time blocking punches barely returning fire. Nelson managed to secure another take down in the same fashion but that did not do much to assert himself in the bout.

Once Round 2 started ‎Derrick threw a flying knee ala Fabricio Werdum vs. Mark Hunt last year in Mexico however, the difference was that this is Las Vegas and also it partially missed the mark by a few inches landing on Nelson’s body stopping him dead in his tracks. Back he went to throwing combos and big bombs and back Nelson went to covering up and backing up. With 2 minutes left Nelson secured another take down and immediately passed to side control. He threw a few short hammer fists at his man but within a minute Lewis got himself back to his feet. The Texas-based fighter was taken down 2 more times in the remaining minute for his troubles but Nelson failed to do much with it other than lay on his opponent and not attempt a submission or improved position.

Going into Round 3 Nelson took his man down early and worked out of half guard for the next minute. Lewis once again got to his feet muscling his way as Nelson kept a tight body lock applied then pinned his man along the cage wall. Nelson alertly changed levels and scooped his man up via double leg and mashed him into the Octagon floor. Lewis got right back up but at a much slower pace and after a stalemate of them stuck in the clinch not progressing, referee John Macrthy separated them. The former IFL belt holder quiclly closed distance with another body lock however, Lewis escaped on his own breaking the grip. Time was winding down as he took a deep breath and threw his best at Nelson and as they exchanged their money punches, Nelson missed wide and Lewis landed a monster right blow that would’ve knocked out any normal man not owning the chin of Nelson shortly before the round ended.

When the judge’s score cards were read it was clear who was credited for coming forward and making the action of the fight happen: 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Derrick Lewis even if it was a split decision. During the post fight ‎press conference, Lewis was upset that he did not KO Roy Nelson like he promised his fans and wanted to do good on his promise.
JOUBAN SURVIVES LATE SCARE IN A WAR

Alan Jouban (14-4) welcomed Belal Muhammad (9-1) via baptism by fire. He was relentless in his offense and leveled the debuting Muhammad in the 1st Round twice, and hard. The first knockdown was with a ‎clean left hook that put his man on his seat instantly and the second with about 2 minutes left in the bout, using a left roundhouse kick that crash landed unto the face of Muhammad prompting an extremely loud “Wow!” from the entire arena. ‎ Both times Jouban swarmed him with follow-up punches and both times the Chicago native survived the onslaught. ‎

In the 2nd Round, Jouban continued to pick his foe apart via crisp leg kicks, jabs and punches on his way to leveling his man one more time with roughly 2 minutes left. Amazingly, the proud warrior would not go quietly into the night making it to his feet yet again. His best success finally came at the very end of the round when he took Jouban to the mat but clearly not enough to change the outcome of the decision.

Where did he lobby for the crowd’s respect and admiration nonetheless? In the 3rd and final round. Jouban, visibly tired from going for broke on multiple occasions was moving dangerously slower and more flat footed during the last 5 minutes. Muhammad picked up on this and picked up the pace punishing his man for a good portion of the round, unleashing 1-2 combinations, stuffing a takedown or two and working his jab to rearrange the face of Jouban. The Los Angelino was now on ful retreat during the last minute as Muhammad looked to put him away but luckily he was alert enough to slip some shots, eat some shots and throw a few shots to stay upright and not ne shocked by the 3 to 1 underdog as the bell sounded.

The scores told the tale of the dramatic down-to-the-wire match: 29-27, 29-28, 28-27 all for Alan Jouban for a unanimous decision verdict.
IRISH DUFFY SIZZLES PAST CLARKE IN 25 SECONDS

The latest episode of Irish Joe Duffy’s (15-2) return to the Win column couldn’t have gone any better if it was written for a Hollywood script. Duffy was firing on all cylinders tonight blocking a missed high kick by Mitch Clarke (11-4) enabeling Duffy to counter with a perfectly timed overhand counter right. That dropped his foe to the mat, Duffy swarmed with some ground and pound then secured a slick rear naked choke.

Clarke dazed had no choice but to tap givi‎ng Joe Duffy the triumph to kick off the main card on UFC Fight Pass.