UFC 213 Romero vs. Whittaker Prelims: Results Recap
OLEINIK TURNS AWAY 3 -1 FAVORITE BROWNE VIA CHOKE
The headliner of the UFC 213 preliminaries lived up to the billing of having the main spot on Fox Sports 1 as powerhouses Travis Browne (18-7-1) and Aleksei Oleinik (52-10-1) went to battle for roughly 9 minutes. The two skipped the feeling out process and threw big leather at one another opting to leave their defenses and clinching in the locker room.
During a Round 1 exchange, a short left look by Browne stunned his man sending him to the mat with some follow up punches. Aleksei weathered the storm and put on a great display of survial instincts and tenacity giving just as good as he got. He returned the favor by clipping Browne with a mean strike of his own sending him to the canvas, after putting him on unsteady legs. In the last minute a standing knee from Browne was used by Oleinik as he caught it to get the match to the canvas and the Russian combatant worked to get to side control and transition to his man’s back. He applied a submission attempt but the Rear Naked Choke was not in deep enough as the round ended.
Going into Round 2, Browne used the muay Thai clinch to try a few knee strikes on his shorter foe but for his troubles he ate a dozen body punches from Oleinik. Who got the fight back to the ground by dragging his man there off of body locks and now was able to work his ground game . Unlike the previous round where time ran out on him, now ‘The Boa Constrictor’ had plenty of sand in the glass to work. This time he transitioned to the back, sunk his hooks in and slid the forearm across to lock in the rear naked choke on ‘Hapa’ Browne. The Hawaii native fought for as long as he could before the inevitable tap came.
RESULTS: Aleksei Oleinik shocks 3-1 favorite Travis Browne via rear naked choke at (3:44) of Round 2.
Chad Laprise (13-2) vs. Brian Camozzi (7-4)
Photo credit: UFC
(Welterweight Bout – 3 Rounds)
Former The Ultimate Fighter alumni Chad Laprise was firing on all cylinders tonight as he took on Chris Camozzi sibling, and one half of the fighting Camozzi Brothers, Brian Camozzi. Laprise landed first, landed clean and had an answer for any takedown attempt, shot or kick from his Colorado foe. He kept a steady pace and circled along the Octagon looking to walk his man into a good counter; and he did just that in the final round after sticking and moving and fighting smart by not getting careless for the first 10 minutes .
In the middle of the cage during an exchange a counter left hook to the head followed by a straight right to the body by the Canadian visibly hurt Camozzi who not only showed it in his face by cringing but also by switching stances and backing up. Camozzi moved backwards along the cagewall favoring his liver as ‘The Disciple’ followed him and closed the distance landing everything at will; kicks, punches hooks and combos at short range. Camozzi turned and covered up as the referee came in to stop the action.
RESULTS: Chad Laprise stops Brian Camozzi via TKO at (1:27) of Round 3.
Thiago Santos (15-5) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (26-9)
(Middleweight Bout – 3 Rounds)
Santos made easy work of Meerschaert from start of the round to the closing moments of the 2nd stanza thanks to his slick defense and great boxing. To his credit, ‘G M 3’ looked for takedowns and counters of his own but Thiago stuffed anything that he had and when he let his hands go was extremely close to having the fight stopped late in Round 1. A barrage of unanswered punches broke down his man leaving him with swelling and bleeding early on. Everything Santos he threw was with pop. And every time he connected he forced Gerald to change direction, retreat or cover up. His hook landed, his lead left and the Brazilian’s combinations were pinpoint accurate. A devastating counter hook leveled his man late in the Round 1 seconds and had it not been for Gerald’s solid beard the ground and pound of Santos was inches from ending the battle.
Going into Round 2, Santos put the finishing touches of what he started in the end of the last Round. He walked his man down and raked him with combo after combo. The only pause to the assault was an accidental eye poke unto Meerschaert that caused a halt to the action. Once it resumed, the brilliant Brazilian strong together his punches and landed clean on his foe in every corner of the Octagon with solid strikes. A clean combination sent his Wisconsin native opponent to the mat where Santos followed with vicious hammer fists that went unanswered as the referee stepped in to call of the match.
RESULTS: Thiago ‘Marreta’ Santos stops Gerald Meerschaert via TKO at (2:04) of Round 2 via strikes.
Jordan Mein (29-12) vs. Belal Muhammad (12-2)
(Welterweight Bout – 3 Rounds)
The opening match of the preliminaries fights on Fox Sports 1 featured Mein taking on Muhammad. Both action-fighters in their previous battles, the mood quickly dampened once the crowd witnessed Muhammad’s wrestle-heavy game plan as he opted to avoid standing and trading with the Canadian. For the first 5 minutes he worked on overtime trying to get Mein to the mat in hopes of working his solid ground game. He was unsuccessful but never let off of the gas and did not give up on the strategy the remaining of the bout.
Going into Round 2, the Illinois native managed to finally get his man to the canvas on two occasions. However, his primary success was being the better striker for the few moments that he needed to inside the cage. He landed clean with his jab and straight right hand and used it alertly to close the distance before changing levels and looking for the takedown. Muhammad’s best moment was using a body lock to slam Mein unto the mat forcing ‘Young Gun’ to fall head-first into the Octagon floor.
Heading into Round 3, ‘Remember The Name’ secured two spots early in the round where he drove Mein to the mat. Scrambling to his back ,securing his hooks and almost sinking in a rear naked choke on Mein. Mein tough as nails was not finished but had absolutely no answer for the relentless attack of Muhammad who swarmed him for those 15 minutes leaving him with no room to breathe.
RESULTS: Belal ‘Remember The Name’ Muhammad defeats Jordan ‘Young Gun’ Mein via Unanimous Decision with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27
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