Girtz started off the fight with two quick slams, taking Guillard to the ground. This sequence lasted the majority of the first round with neither fighter doing much.
Girtz began the second round much like he did in the first, getting another quick takedown of Guillard. Girtz tried to ground-and-pound his opponent, but Guillard was able to slip out and avoid any real damage. Still, Girtz continually tagged Guillard throughout the round with solid jabs, and the two had a good exchange at the bell.
Round Three again started with another Girtz takedown of Guillard. After a few minutes, both men stood up and Guillard rushed Girtz, who turned around quick enough to see Guillard charging, but not quick enough to avoid getting caught by a few Guillard jabs.
Guillard kept attacking for the remainder of the round, attempting to finish the fight before the final bell. Fortunately for Girtz, Guillard was not able to seal the deal. The outcome went to the scorecards and the judges ruled Girtz victorious by split decision. Adding injury to insult, it was reported that Guillard broke his hand during the match.
On the undercard, Josh Burns (0-5) took on fellow heavyweight Justin Wren, who returned after a 5-year layoff from the sport.
The first round started off with a bang with Burns swinging for the fences. He connected on a shot that seemed to daze Wren a bit before Wren shook it off and pushed Burns back into the cage. From there -- and for much of the remainder of the fight -- Wren threw knees to the body and head of Burns. About half of them found their mark, but Burns would not go down.
The knees continued in the second round and Wren attempted to finish the fight, but again, Burns refused to go away quietly.
The final round started with a medical delay, but ultimately, the doctor allowed Burns to continue. Knowing he needed a knockout, Burns came out throwing haymakers. None of them landed with any authority however, as Wren continued to control the fight by landing various kick and punch combinations.
Burns was game throughout the match, but ultimately fell to Wren via unanimous decision. With the win, Wren has now won 8 of his last 9 fights overall, and has improved his overall record to 11-2. Burns' overall record dropped to 8-9.
Lightweights Saad Awad and Patricky "Pitbull" Freire put on a good show in another undercard bout, as Awad taunted Pitbull throughout the fight, but Pitbull was the one who had the last laugh, refusing to let Awad get into his head.
At one point during the second round, Pitbull used a unique, spinning take down move to get Awad on the ground. He controlled the ground for the rest of the round.
With Awad spitting blood during the third round, Pitbull looked to end it. He pushed Awad back with a flurry of punches and landed a combo to the body. That sequence virtually wrapped up the fight for him, as Pitbull upped his record to 14-6 with the unanimous decision win, while Awad's record dropped to 18-7.
In an earlier bout, an exciting women's featherweight match took place between Marloes Coenen and Arlene Blencowe. Coenen improved her Bellator record to 2-0 (23-6 overall) after submitting Arlene Blencowe via arm bar at the 3:23 minute mark of the second round.
Blencowe seemed in control of the match up until that point, tagging Coenen with jabs and taking the fight to the ground several times. Blencowe's record dropped to 6-5 overall.
In the prelims, local fighter Ray Sloan (Oceanside, Calif.) went up against Luc Bondole. Unfortunately for Sloan (8-1), Bondole stole his home "court" advantage from him by routinely stuffing Sloan's takedown attempts. Bondole (5-1) went on to take the unanimous decision win.
In the last fight of the night, Johnny Cisneros (9-4) took on Gabriel Miglioli (9-8) in a battle of lightweights. Cisneros had the crowd's backing and used that momentum to his advantage, stuffing several Miglioli takedown attempts throughout the fight. He also opened up a cut above Miglioli's left eye, and did enough to take the unanimous decision.
By Lazaro O. Cruz
Contributing Writer for TheDailySportsHerald.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
We encourage all intelligent, passionate comments. Please refrain from any ignorant, racist, or offensive rants.