Weekend Rundown: Fioravanti Streak Reaches Four
Brian Knapp Jan 24, 2011
Sherdog.com Illustration
Exiled UFC welterweight Luigi Fioravanti recorded his fourth consecutive victory, as he stopped journeyman Mitch Whitesel on second-round strikes in the World Extreme Fighting 45 headliner on Saturday at the University of North Florida Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Fioravanti celebrated his 30th birthday in style, as be battered his overmatched foe with strikes, bullied him from the clinch and controlled virtually every aspect of the fight. The Orlando, Fla.-based American Top Team representative has finished three of his last four opponents, rebounding nicely from consecutive defeats to Pete Spratt and John Kolosci. Fioravanti was released by the UFC following his first-round technical knockout loss to the brutish Anthony Johnson at UFC Fight Night 17 in February 2009.
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ATT’s Cury Victorious in Return
EliteXC
veteran Nicolae
Cury outpointed Frank
Carrillo en route to a unanimous decision under the RadRok MMA
Championship banner on Friday at the Coral Springs Center for the
Arts in Coral Springs, Fla. An American Top Team representative,
Cury had not competed in more than a year, his hiatus the result of
a near-fatal health scare.
A black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Cury nearly lost his life after contracting a virus in 2010. The 29-year-old had not fought since he submitted Daniel McWilliams with a first-round triangle choke at an Art of Fighting event in October 2009.
“Without my team, I could not do it,” Cury wrote on Facebook. “We gotta have a whole bunch of great people to make a great team, and we do.”
Meanwhile, Cury’s ATT stablemate, Ailton Barbosa, was also victorious at the RadRok MMA Championship show, as he picked up a unanimous nod over Mark Anthony Serkez. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Ricardo Pinho, Barbosa has won four fights in a row.
Quick Hits: “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 alum Jamie Yager submitted Marcus Gaines with a rear-naked choke in 90 seconds in The Warriors Cage 10 “Beat Down” main event on Friday at the Eagle Mountain Casino Event Center in Porterville, Calif. “The Chosyn 1” was released by the UFC after he succumbed to second-round punches from American Top Team’s Rich Attonito at “The Ultimate Fighter 11” Finale in June … Top Team Koobzreg representative Tomasz Szczerek made his professional debut under the MMA Fighting banner, as he submitted Przemyslaw Waliduda with a first-round armbar on Saturday at Gryfia Hall in Slupsk, Poland. Waliduda met his demise 2:24 into round one … Vincent del Guerra won for the sixth time in eight appearances, submitting Cedric Severac with a triangle choke 2:03 into the first round at a Free Fun Night show on Saturday at Golden Butterfly Hall in Marseille, France.
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