Rupponen Demolished Yokoi
HELSINKI, Finland, March 17 - Mikko Rupponen demolished PRIDE
veteran Hirotaka Yokoi in less than three minutes in the main event
of Fight Festival 21. Right in the beginning, Yokoi tried to take
Finland's MMA standout Mikko
Rupponen down but found himself schooled in the clinch.
Rupponen pressed Yokoi against the ropes and worked on a takedown.
Yokoi is at his best in the clinch and managed to survive for a
while, but it didn't take too long for the Finn to raise his
Japanese foe in the air and slam him down. On the ground, Rupponen
immediately took a dominant position and started to launch heavy
leather with his left hand from behind Yokoi. The Japanese turned
on his back and found himself in the half-guard eating Rupponen's
right hand punches. Finally, Rupponen finished the job with some
really nasty elbows that forced the referee Mika Sinkkonen to stop
the fight at the mark of 2.51.
After such a dominating performace, one can only say that Mikko Rupponen has a big future in MMA. He dominated Yokoi throughout the fight and stopped him faster than Quinton Jackson (Pictures) in PRIDE 30. Mikko Rupponen would definetly be a good addition in the UFC light heavyweight roaster.
The results of the MMA fights of Fight Festival 21:
1. Ville Räsänen won Sergey Martynov by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1st round at time 2.18
2. Juha-Pekka Vainikainen won Dmitris Pukijans by TKO (Strikes) 1st round at time 3.07
3. Martin Zawada won Baga Agaev by KO 1st round at time 3.37
4. Stefan Struve (Pictures) won Atte Backman by Submission (Triangle Choke) 1st round at time 3.54
5. Ulas Aslan won Niko Puhakka by Submission (Armbar) 3rd round at time 0.44
6. Mikko Suvanto won Alexander Grebenkin by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 2nd round at time 0.41
7. Mikko Rupponen won Hirotaka Yokoi (Pictures) by TKO (Strikes) 1st round at time 2.51
After such a dominating performace, one can only say that Mikko Rupponen has a big future in MMA. He dominated Yokoi throughout the fight and stopped him faster than Quinton Jackson (Pictures) in PRIDE 30. Mikko Rupponen would definetly be a good addition in the UFC light heavyweight roaster.
The results of the MMA fights of Fight Festival 21:
1. Ville Räsänen won Sergey Martynov by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1st round at time 2.18
2. Juha-Pekka Vainikainen won Dmitris Pukijans by TKO (Strikes) 1st round at time 3.07
3. Martin Zawada won Baga Agaev by KO 1st round at time 3.37
4. Stefan Struve (Pictures) won Atte Backman by Submission (Triangle Choke) 1st round at time 3.54
5. Ulas Aslan won Niko Puhakka by Submission (Armbar) 3rd round at time 0.44
6. Mikko Suvanto won Alexander Grebenkin by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 2nd round at time 0.41
7. Mikko Rupponen won Hirotaka Yokoi (Pictures) by TKO (Strikes) 1st round at time 2.51
