Marshall, Banuelos, Martinez New WEC Champs
New WEC Champs
Josh Gross Aug 18, 2006
LEMOORE, Calif., Aug. 17 — After enduring a longer than usual
evening of fights, eight men on Thursday’s WEC’s card at the Tachi
Palace Hotel and Casino made sure anyone that stuck around would
receive their money’s worth.
Doug Marshall (Pictures) waited a full round before going to the body, but when he did it was the start of a devastating sequence for WEC light heavyweight champion Lodune Sincaid (Pictures).
After a solid opening period in which Marshall hunted the
champion’s head and Sincaid remained calm despite the onslaught,
the challenger answered a pair of kicks to the ribs by chopping
down his foe with a right hook to the body and a jarring left to
the head.
Marshall was not shy in unleashing his power shots, dropping bomb after bomb until his corner’s advice of going to the body paid dividends.
Likely the most popular homegrown WEC product, Marshall now has a belt to call his and will surely be at the top of future WEC bills.
In yet another bout that proves lighter-weight fighters can put on tremendous fights, the WEC put its vacant North American bantamweight (135 pounds) title up for grabs between Antonio Banuelos (Pictures) and Cole Escovedo (Pictures).
Banuelos darted in and out in an effort to get past Escovedo’s considerable reach. It helped that the Fresno, Calif.-based Escovedo did little to take advantage of his length, but it was Banuelos’s aggressiveness that really made the difference in the opening period.
As action moved into the middle period (WEC title fights are only three rounds) Escovedo began to establish his striking from the outside. Soon, the reckless aggressiveness that highlighted Banuelos’s performance in the opening period had noticeably waned.
Heading into the third round, the fight was up for grabs. Though he chose to stand and stay out of Escovedo’s potent guard in the first two rounds, Banuelos drove “The Apache Kid” into the fence and spent the rest of round three pounding away from the top.
Escovedo had little answer for his short, quick challenger and when it was done the judges at ringside scored it unanimously for Banuelos.
John Alessio (Pictures) needed every ounce of experience he’d built up over a career that’s spanned some eight years, treading troubled waters before putting away tough Russian Alex Serdyukov (Pictures) by submission in the third round.
Serdyukov, larger and stronger, pushed Alessio around the cage in the early going. But Alessio refused to let any size or strength disparity dictate the outcome of the fight.
Putting the Russian on his back for the first time, Alessio very nearly saved himself a war by slapping on a rear-naked choke. Serdyukov was in no mood to give in and toughed his way out of the submission.
By the second period, Serdyukov appeared as if he’d figured out Alessio. After offering two illegal kicks while Alessio was settled on the canvas (Serdyukov would receive only a warning for the infractions) the “Russian Nightmare” stunned his experienced opponent and dominated the final 45 seconds of the round, resulting in what could have easily been scored a 10-8 period.
Before the final round commenced, Alessio’s chief second Mac Danzig (Pictures) told his charge that he simply could not lose. Whether that motivated Alessio to clip Serdyukov with the punch that dropped the hardheaded Russian on the spot is tough to tell.
Alessio went in for the kill, but somehow Serdyukov was lucid enough to nearly lock in an armbar from the guard. Alessio, however, was unfazed and continued to pressure the former middleweight. As he did in the opening stanza, Alessio took Serdyukov’s back and this time clasped his arms tightly around his foe’s thick neck, forcing a tap at 1:52 mark.
In their WEC debuts Alex Karalexis (Pictures) and Thomas Denny (Pictures) fought an entertaining bout that saw both men tested at its conclusion.
Karalexis, a member of the select fraternity of The Ultimate Fighter season one competitors, went after the veteran Denny with his powerful right hand. Denny avoided most of Karalexis’ strikes and scored with a combination midway through the period. But the UFC veteran rebounded to take control during the last minute of the period and notched the opening stanza.
After being thwarted several times during takedown attempts in the first, Denny finally managed to but the slugger to the floor with a nice double-leg takedown. Karalexis quickly stood, though Denny pounced and again put the fight on the canvas.
Denny quickly transitioned to the shorter fighter’s back and for a moment it seemed as if he’d capture the bout via rear-naked choke. Karalexis, however, smartly rolled away from the pressure to survive.
Taking shots from a mounted Denny, Karalexis exploded from the bottom to escape the longtime Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage fighter. He did, but almost fell into an armbar. Karalexis responded by slamming Denny on his head, to which the “The Wildman” protested the perfectly legal move.
Even heading in the third and final period, both Karalexis and Denny did their best to win the contest. Fighting to the closing bell, judges at ringside deemed Karalexis the winner of a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 30-27).
Doug Marshall (Pictures) waited a full round before going to the body, but when he did it was the start of a devastating sequence for WEC light heavyweight champion Lodune Sincaid (Pictures).
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Marshall was not shy in unleashing his power shots, dropping bomb after bomb until his corner’s advice of going to the body paid dividends.
The fight-ending combination had Sincaid looking off to the
distance, gazing as if something wonderful was about to happen.
Likely the most popular homegrown WEC product, Marshall now has a belt to call his and will surely be at the top of future WEC bills.
In yet another bout that proves lighter-weight fighters can put on tremendous fights, the WEC put its vacant North American bantamweight (135 pounds) title up for grabs between Antonio Banuelos (Pictures) and Cole Escovedo (Pictures).
Banuelos darted in and out in an effort to get past Escovedo’s considerable reach. It helped that the Fresno, Calif.-based Escovedo did little to take advantage of his length, but it was Banuelos’s aggressiveness that really made the difference in the opening period.
As action moved into the middle period (WEC title fights are only three rounds) Escovedo began to establish his striking from the outside. Soon, the reckless aggressiveness that highlighted Banuelos’s performance in the opening period had noticeably waned.
Heading into the third round, the fight was up for grabs. Though he chose to stand and stay out of Escovedo’s potent guard in the first two rounds, Banuelos drove “The Apache Kid” into the fence and spent the rest of round three pounding away from the top.
Escovedo had little answer for his short, quick challenger and when it was done the judges at ringside scored it unanimously for Banuelos.
John Alessio (Pictures) needed every ounce of experience he’d built up over a career that’s spanned some eight years, treading troubled waters before putting away tough Russian Alex Serdyukov (Pictures) by submission in the third round.
Serdyukov, larger and stronger, pushed Alessio around the cage in the early going. But Alessio refused to let any size or strength disparity dictate the outcome of the fight.
Putting the Russian on his back for the first time, Alessio very nearly saved himself a war by slapping on a rear-naked choke. Serdyukov was in no mood to give in and toughed his way out of the submission.
By the second period, Serdyukov appeared as if he’d figured out Alessio. After offering two illegal kicks while Alessio was settled on the canvas (Serdyukov would receive only a warning for the infractions) the “Russian Nightmare” stunned his experienced opponent and dominated the final 45 seconds of the round, resulting in what could have easily been scored a 10-8 period.
Before the final round commenced, Alessio’s chief second Mac Danzig (Pictures) told his charge that he simply could not lose. Whether that motivated Alessio to clip Serdyukov with the punch that dropped the hardheaded Russian on the spot is tough to tell.
Alessio went in for the kill, but somehow Serdyukov was lucid enough to nearly lock in an armbar from the guard. Alessio, however, was unfazed and continued to pressure the former middleweight. As he did in the opening stanza, Alessio took Serdyukov’s back and this time clasped his arms tightly around his foe’s thick neck, forcing a tap at 1:52 mark.
In their WEC debuts Alex Karalexis (Pictures) and Thomas Denny (Pictures) fought an entertaining bout that saw both men tested at its conclusion.
Karalexis, a member of the select fraternity of The Ultimate Fighter season one competitors, went after the veteran Denny with his powerful right hand. Denny avoided most of Karalexis’ strikes and scored with a combination midway through the period. But the UFC veteran rebounded to take control during the last minute of the period and notched the opening stanza.
After being thwarted several times during takedown attempts in the first, Denny finally managed to but the slugger to the floor with a nice double-leg takedown. Karalexis quickly stood, though Denny pounced and again put the fight on the canvas.
Denny quickly transitioned to the shorter fighter’s back and for a moment it seemed as if he’d capture the bout via rear-naked choke. Karalexis, however, smartly rolled away from the pressure to survive.
Taking shots from a mounted Denny, Karalexis exploded from the bottom to escape the longtime Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage fighter. He did, but almost fell into an armbar. Karalexis responded by slamming Denny on his head, to which the “The Wildman” protested the perfectly legal move.
Even heading in the third and final period, both Karalexis and Denny did their best to win the contest. Fighting to the closing bell, judges at ringside deemed Karalexis the winner of a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 30-27).
