January 13th Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino – Lemoore, CA. WEC 18 Unfinished Business
With three belts up for grabs and the excitement of being on live High Definition television, the fighters looked to entertain and did not disappoint. The main event of the nights evening featured Justin “the Executioner” Levens vs the 205 Champ Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith. The fight should have happened an the end of WEC 17 where Smith and Levens were set to meet in the conclusion of a four man tournament but Levens had to drop out due to an shoulder injury he sustain in his fight with Jorge Oliveira. This gave the nod for Tait Fletcher, the alternate, to take on Smith in the finals. Fletcher was no match for Smith and was taken out by TKO late in the first round. That win gave Smith the belt and left him and Levens with “Unfinished Business”.
The fight began with both men looking to land the first blow. Smith threw first but Levens quickly dodged the punch and landed a right to Smiths jaw that dropped him to his knees. Looking to finish the fight early Levens quickly went to Smiths back trying to set up a rear naked choke. In his haste he completely neglected to establish his hooks and Smith was able to escape out the back and then dive into Levens guard where he stood then dropped back for a straight ankle lock. Levens stayed calm and countered with a vicious toehold. With neither man willing to submit Smith scrambled for top position and got it only to end up on his feet again with Levens on his back.
With Levens on his back Smith countered by gaining wrist control, think Sakuraba/Royler, but instead of attempting a kimura Smith did what he does best, knock fighters out. In the blink of an eye Smith swiftly let go of his grip and threw a wild elbow at Levens that suprised him and left him open for a left cross that sent the undefeated fighter falling back. Smith, looking to leave his Business Finished, hit Levens this time with a right hook that Knocked Out Levens and sent his back to the cage floor. Not wanting to give Levens time to recover Smith pounced on his downed opponent and was able to land a brutal right left right GnP combination before the ref was able to stop the fight. The champion celebrated with his team while Levens attempted to recover needing several minutes before he was able to walk on his own. Smith won by KO at 1:58 in the first round retaining his Light Heavyweight belt.
Quicksand makes quick work of Mr International.
Moving on to another Title fight Mike “Quicksand” Pyle looked to defend his WEC World Welterweight Belt against former WEC Welterweight champ and UFC veteran Shonie “Mr International” Carter. This fight was set up after Carter Challenged Pyle after Pyle won the Vacated belt in his fight with Bret Bergmark.
The men met in the center of the ring and Pyle wasted no time initiating the action by throwing a right push kick to Carters soloplexes. Pyle then threw a right to Carters face but Carter was able to capitalize on the off balance Pyle and take him to the mat.
Although I was surprised about how quickly Shonie was able to get Pyle to the mat Mike was not. “No I don’t really feel he took me down. I deliberately fought the way that I did to get the fight where I wanted it to be.”
Pyle quickly recovered and stood up Shonie countered by going for an another takedown but got caught in a guillotine attempt. Shonie was able to pop his head out of the guillotine and fire back with a kick to Pyle’s body. The fighters clinch then Pyle this time jumps to attempt the guillotine then pulls guard and Carter is once again forced to fight off a deep choke. Once Carter is able to get his head out he finds himself again fighting off submission but this time it’s an Armbar that is quickly transitioned to a Triangle. After fighting off the deep choke for a moment Carter reluctantly taps and Pyle successfully defends his belt, winning the belt for the second time with a triangle choke..
Pyles future looks bright, Training with some of the worlds best fighters at the ultimate fighter training center Pyle doesn’t look to choose his next opponent. “I’m the Champ so they have to give me some one. When you’re the champ you don’t pick and choose who you want to fight. They choose who they think is the most worthy opponent.” Mike Pyle over Shonie Carter by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 2:06 in the first round.
More fights and after fight comments to come soon…
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Report by
Brad Doerges
MMA-Fighter.com Reporter
brad@mma-fighter.com
