Chris WeidmanW
Weidman, Te Huna Impress at UFC on Fuel 4
Prior to Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman squaring off in hopes of
climbing one step closer towards facing middleweight king Anderson
Silva for his championship, there was plenty of action from the
supporting cast at “UFC on FUEL TV 4.”
Brazilian lightweight Rafael dos Anjos outclassed noted striker
Anthony Njokuani at his own game with superior movement on the feet
and his utilization of feints, which opened up his vastly improved
wrestling game. Dos Anjos nailed six takedowns throughout the fight
and dropped Njokuani with a powerful left hand in the first round to
kick off the Fuel TV televised main card.
Dos Anjos tossed in leg kicks and with the exception of a few minor
exchanges, the jiu-jitsu black belt stayed out of reach
of the lengthy Njokuani and transitioned exceptionally well from
striking and wrestling to score the unanimous decision victory. With
the win, Dos Anjos improves to 6-4 inside the Octagon, while Njokuani
drops his third of five fights since joining the sport’s premier
organization.
“The Ultimate Fighter 14” alum T.J. Dillashaw was nothing short of
impressive in quickly dispatching Vaughan Lee by first-round
submission.
Dillashaw appeared confident striking with Lee early on and after a
few Lee counter strikes, the Team Alpha Male trained bantamweight took
the action to the mat. A scramble ensued and Dillashaw quickly took
back control where Lee had no answer and subsequently tapped out to
a rear-naked choke. With the win, Dillashaw proves he’s worth the hype
and makes it back-to-back victories with the impressive performance.
Francis Carmont scored a slick submission win over Karlos Vemola
in the second round of their bout to remain undefeated inside the
Octagon. He now has three consecutive victories and improves to 19-7 overall
while Vemola loses his first fight at middleweight, bringing his
record to 9-3.
Aaron Simpson made his welterweight debut a successful one by
out-wrestling and grinding a unanimous decision victory over Kenny
Robertson to score his seventh victory in the UFC. The 37 year-old now looks to prove
that he belongs in the upper echelon at 170-pounds.
Following Simpson’s victory was light-heavyweight James Te Huna, who
dominated a returning Joey Beltran throughout their three-round battle,
turned slugfest late. Te Huna proved to be superior in the striking
department, where he hurt his foe on multiple occasions, mixing in
takedowns to rack up points on the judges scorecards which ultimately
earned him the lopsided victory. Te Huna should receive a top-10
opponent and step up in competition in his next bout as he’s a bright
prospect at 205-pounds.
Closing out the night’s action on Fuel was crowd favorite
Mark Munoz, who looked to earned a shot at Anderson Silva‘s title
against Chris Weidman.
However, Weidman was having other plans. The Matt Serra trained prospect looked impressive against
Munoz early with a quick takedown and superior technique on the
ground.
Munoz left his right arm exposed and Weidman briefly worked on a
kimura, but Munoz showed nice patience and scrambled out of the bad
position. Weidman would maintain top control and threaten with
multiple guillotine choke attempts, but Munoz was successful in
defending those submissions as well. Weidman remained relentless in his attack
and dominated every moment of the opening round.
Weidman kicked off the second round of action the same as the first
and controlled the first minute of action. However, Munoz timed a
scramble and returned standing where he quickly pressed the action, but
in doing so, left himself vulnerable.
Weidman countered a Munoz overhand right by landing a devastating elbow strike that sent Munoz
crashing to the canvas and after multiple follow up punches the middleweight division found a new contender.
Post-fight, Weidman called out Silva and for good reason considering his
dispatching of the top-5 ranked Munoz, who was widely considered to be
next in line for a title shot if he were to defeat Weidman.
Weidman showed exceptional transitioning between striking and wrestling combined with relentless submission
attempts. He overwhelmed Munoz from the start and proves that he’s one of the sport’s top-middleweights and without a doubt deserves a crack at the pound-for-pound king.
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