Hunt (left) and Pezão (right) did not repeat the great duel of their first meeting. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
For the great fight they fought the first time they came face to face, Mark Hunt e Antonio Pezão they would hardly be able to meet public expectations. However, the rematch between the heavyweights at UFC 193 really had nothing to do with the first fight and, without strong emotions and twists, it ended in the first round, with a knockout in favor of the New Zealander.
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Unlike the first duel between the rivals, the rematch did not start out so hectic and was marked primarily by the study between the opponents. While Hunt opted for a short distance to try to knock out the Brazilian, Pezão used kicks to keep his opponent away and avoid danger.
In the final stretch of the first round, however, Hunt managed to frame the Brazilian and a single punch was enough to end the duel. A straight shot from the New Zealander knocked the Brazilian to his knees and, even before the third blow to the ground, the referee intervened and ended the fight.
“I train a lot for this. I took a guy who is also very trained, but I did my best. I really appreciate the chance to be here at this great event. I just have to say thank you,” said Hunt, still in the Octagon, shortly after the triumph.
With the triumph, Mark Hunt he reached 11 wins, 10 losses and a draw as a professional. Pezão suffered his eighth defeat in MMA. Furthermore, the Brazilian also has 19 wins and one draw – precisely against Hunt.
Whittaker frustrates Hall and gets the upper hand
In the face of dangerous Uriah Hall, known as “Ambulance Man” for his series of spectacular knockouts in TUF 17, the Australian Robert whittaker adopted an intelligent and low-risk strategy to guarantee another victory for their record, and another triumph for the home athletes at the UFC in Melbourne.
Robert whittaker He started by surprising Hall with an attack right away and a sequence of low kicks, which scared his rival. Then, the Australian managed to land a good Superman punch, which shook the TUF 17 veteran. Hall tried to return his rival's attacks with a series of round kicks, but ended up missing the blow and ending up underneath Whittaker on the ground. At the end of the round, the home athlete managed to take his opponent's back and went for the rear naked choke, but Uriah was saved by the bell.
In the second round, despite starting better, Whittaker ended up accidentally hitting Hall with his index finger in the eye, and the fight was stopped for a few seconds. After suffering several low kicks, Hall finally managed to hold off a blow from Whittaker at the end of the period, but he didn't take advantage of the chance and the fight remained with a lot of movement and little action, again with an advantage for the home athlete.
In the decisive round, both fighters came back ready to end the fight. And in the frank exchange, Whittaker had the advantage and was very close to being able to finish the fight with a series of punches. However, Hall defended himself, but ended up giving his back to his rival on the fence. Even managing to free himself from the pressure and landing some powerful attacks, such as a high kick and a well-aimed flying knee, Hall was unable to take down Robert, who absorbed the blows well. Uriah even tried a final explosion to turn the fight around, but Whittaker took his rival to the ground to secure the victory in the final seconds.
At the end of the fight, Robert whittaker was declared the winner by all the judges, two of them considered that the Australian won all the rounds and one saw the home fighter's superiority in two of the three rounds.
In a heated duel, Rosholt dominates Struve
The fight that opened UFC 193 wasn't exactly eventful, but despite the lack of excitement, it went exactly the way Jared Rosholt would have liked. The North American made use of his wrestling and controlled the giant Stefan struve to reach his third consecutive victory in the octagon.
Having difficulty getting close to Struve, who has a great size advantage, Rosholt studied his opponent a lot in the opening minutes and, after half of the first period, managed to make use of his wrestling elite to put the giant down.
In the second round, Struve came back more concerned about his rival's takedown game and used some front kicks to keep him away. However, just over a minute and a half into the round, Rosholt had already taped and managed to keep the giant in the clinch.
In the third and decisive round, Struve even improved, but it wasn't enough to turn the fight around. The giant managed to have a good moment in the final stretch of the fight, coming close to knocking out Rosholt, but, once again, he ended up giving in to his weakness. wrestling defensive, and ended up being taken down by the North American in the final seconds.
At the end of the duel, Jared Rosholt was declared the winner in a unanimous decision by the judges, with a triple 29×28.
Check out the UFC 193 results:
MAIN CARD
Joanna Jedrzejczyk x Valérie Létourneau
Mark Hunt won Antonio Pezão by knockout (punches) 3m41s of R1
Robert whittaker won Uriah Hall by unanimous decision of the judges (30×27, 30×27 and 29×28);
Jared Rosholt won Stefan struve in unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28 and 29×28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Jake matthews beat Akbarh Arreola via TKO (medical stoppage) in R2.
Kyle Noke KO Peter sobotta (body blows) at 2:07 of R1;
Gian Villante knocked out Anthony Perosh (cross) at 3:56 of R1;
Danny Martinez defeated Richie Vaculik via unanimous decision (30x27, 30x27 and 30x27)
Dan Kelly beat Steve Montgomery in a unanimous decision by the judges (29×28, 29×28 and 29×28);
Richard Walsh beat Steve Kennedy in a unanimous decision by the judges (29×28, 30×27 and 30×27);
James Moontasri beat Anton Zafir by TKO (kick and spinning punch) at 4:36 of R1;
Ben Nguyen submitted Ryan Benoit with a rear naked choke at 2:35 of R1.
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