Sylvia Knocks Out Buentello; Pulver Loses Again
Greg Savage Aug 15, 2010
IRVINE, Calif. -- Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia
tacked another knockout onto his ledger Saturday with a short right
uppercut that sent Paul
Buentello crashing to the mat in the main event of “War
on the Mainland” at the Bren Events Center.
The two sluggers traded big shots in the first round with Sylvia gaining a slight advantage due to sheer volume. Buentello landed some clean combinations, but they were few and far between.
The second frame saw Sylvia bully Buentello into the corner and
brutalize him with knees to the body and crisp elbows from the
clinch. Buentello was able to extricate himself from the corner,
but Sylvia was relentless and began to attack his legs with
stinging kicks.
Buentello tried to fire back, but his legs grew more and more wobbly with each kick. Sylvia then stepped in with a combination that finished with the right uppercut that put Buentello down. He followed up with punches on the ground until referee “Big” John McCarthy halted the fight at 4:57 of the period.
The loss really stung for Buentello, who told Sherdog.com after the bout that the loss cost him a potential spot on the UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night 22 card in his home state of Texas.
“This is three steps backwards for me,” said Buentello, “I need to figure out what is going on, because I just didn’t pull the trigger again.”
Tony Lopez added the Powerhouse World Promotions light heavyweight championship to his multiple KOTC championships by knocking out former UFC contender Jason Lambert with a devastating knee in the second round of their five-round title fight. Lambert had trouble taking Lopez down. He eventually paid the price when he tried to back out of a stuffed takedown attempt and was planted with a hard left knee. Lopez followed up with punches to a listless Lambert until referee Jason Herzog could step in to save him at 1:49 of the second period.
Matt Horwich is one of the true characters of the sport. The soft-spoken former IFL champion added the PWP middleweight title to his resume after he stopped Thales Leites by rear-naked choke in the fourth round of their title match.
Horwich survived a tight arm-triangle choke attempt in the third round and transitioned into an oma plata to put Leites on the defensive. That exchange personified the bout as the two put on a grappling clinic.
The fourth round began with a rare striking exchange, but Horwich was able to take control of Leites’ back and get him to the canvas. He quickly sank his hooks and locked up the choke that would end the fight at the 44-second mark.
Diego Garijo (left) submitted former UFC lightweight
champion Jens Pulver: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com
Former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver was hoping to revive his career after a string of five consecutive losses in the WEC. It was not to be. Pulver was stopped by upstart Diego Garijo just 68 seconds into their match.
Pulver, who dropped his eighth fight in his last nine starts, was floored in the bout’s first minute with a straight left. Garijo followed up and locked up a guillotine that forced the tapout.
Terry Martin took a split decision over Jorge Ortiz in a fight that was not nearly as close as the scores might indicate. Martin battered Ortiz over and over with a lead left hand and scored a number of takedowns on his way to what seemed like a clear-cut win.
Judges Luis Cobian (30-28) and Gene LeBell (29-28) agreed, but Lester Griffin (29-28) had it for Ortiz. The win was the second straight for the UFC vet following a three-fight losing streak.
Gustavo “Ximu” Machado tallied a split decision over a very tough Rick Reeves in the pay-per-view’s opening bout. Machado got off to a quick start, tagging Reeves with solid shots throughout the first to race out to an early lead. Reeves did not fold and fought his way back into the match with a strong second frame but could not keep it up over the final five minutes and wound up on the wrong end of 30-27, 27-30 and 29-28 scorecards.
Preliminary Results:
Erin Beach def. Joao Silva -- Unanimous Decision (30-25, 29-28, 29-28)
Cleber Luciano def. Todd Willingham -- Submission (rear-naked choke) 3:18 R2
A.J. Matthews def. Sean Choice -- TKO (tapout to strikes) 3:54 R2
The two sluggers traded big shots in the first round with Sylvia gaining a slight advantage due to sheer volume. Buentello landed some clean combinations, but they were few and far between.
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Buentello tried to fire back, but his legs grew more and more wobbly with each kick. Sylvia then stepped in with a combination that finished with the right uppercut that put Buentello down. He followed up with punches on the ground until referee “Big” John McCarthy halted the fight at 4:57 of the period.
“This one was important to me because I wanted to show that I am
still a fighter who can be dangerous in the heavyweight division,”
said the former two-time UFC champ. “I have another fight with
Moosin and I want to fight Pedro (Rizzo) and then hopefully Mr.
(Dana) White will be giving me a call.”
The loss really stung for Buentello, who told Sherdog.com after the bout that the loss cost him a potential spot on the UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night 22 card in his home state of Texas.
“This is three steps backwards for me,” said Buentello, “I need to figure out what is going on, because I just didn’t pull the trigger again.”
Tony Lopez added the Powerhouse World Promotions light heavyweight championship to his multiple KOTC championships by knocking out former UFC contender Jason Lambert with a devastating knee in the second round of their five-round title fight. Lambert had trouble taking Lopez down. He eventually paid the price when he tried to back out of a stuffed takedown attempt and was planted with a hard left knee. Lopez followed up with punches to a listless Lambert until referee Jason Herzog could step in to save him at 1:49 of the second period.
Matt Horwich is one of the true characters of the sport. The soft-spoken former IFL champion added the PWP middleweight title to his resume after he stopped Thales Leites by rear-naked choke in the fourth round of their title match.
Horwich survived a tight arm-triangle choke attempt in the third round and transitioned into an oma plata to put Leites on the defensive. That exchange personified the bout as the two put on a grappling clinic.
The fourth round began with a rare striking exchange, but Horwich was able to take control of Leites’ back and get him to the canvas. He quickly sank his hooks and locked up the choke that would end the fight at the 44-second mark.
Former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver was hoping to revive his career after a string of five consecutive losses in the WEC. It was not to be. Pulver was stopped by upstart Diego Garijo just 68 seconds into their match.
Pulver, who dropped his eighth fight in his last nine starts, was floored in the bout’s first minute with a straight left. Garijo followed up and locked up a guillotine that forced the tapout.
Terry Martin took a split decision over Jorge Ortiz in a fight that was not nearly as close as the scores might indicate. Martin battered Ortiz over and over with a lead left hand and scored a number of takedowns on his way to what seemed like a clear-cut win.
Judges Luis Cobian (30-28) and Gene LeBell (29-28) agreed, but Lester Griffin (29-28) had it for Ortiz. The win was the second straight for the UFC vet following a three-fight losing streak.
Gustavo “Ximu” Machado tallied a split decision over a very tough Rick Reeves in the pay-per-view’s opening bout. Machado got off to a quick start, tagging Reeves with solid shots throughout the first to race out to an early lead. Reeves did not fold and fought his way back into the match with a strong second frame but could not keep it up over the final five minutes and wound up on the wrong end of 30-27, 27-30 and 29-28 scorecards.
Preliminary Results:
Erin Beach def. Joao Silva -- Unanimous Decision (30-25, 29-28, 29-28)
Cleber Luciano def. Todd Willingham -- Submission (rear-naked choke) 3:18 R2
A.J. Matthews def. Sean Choice -- TKO (tapout to strikes) 3:54 R2
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