FFTT Prelims: Yves Subs McKenzie, Gets 40th Win

KILLEEN, TX, January 22 – Veteran contender Yves Edwards showed that there is plenty of gas left in his tank Saturday night at Fort Hood, as he submitted young gun Cody McKenzie in the second round, handing the Ultimate Fighter 12 alum his first pro loss in Fight For The Troops 2 prelim action.

McKenzie vs. Edwards
With the win, Edwards improves to 40-16-1; McKenzie falls to 12-1. See post-fight interview

“It’s always nice when you get someone with their favorite move," said Edwards. "He’s tough and had me on my back but I wanted to show him that I could do some damage too.”

The bout was named Fight of the Night at the post-fight press conference, and Edwards garnered Submission of the Night honors as well. End of night bonuses were $30,000 each.

McKenzie shot across the Octagon at the bell, looking for the takedown. Edwards resisted the attempt, calmly pushing his foe off. After some quick strikes, Edwards threw off another takedown try, and the pace then settled down, with Edwards calmly picking away at the Alaska native. With less than two minutes left, McKenzie tried to pull Edwards to the mat, but again, the Texan fought loose with little effort. To his credit, McKenzie kept throwing punches in order to set up a takedown attempt, but Edwards was showing his veteran experience at every turn.

Edwards went on the offensive to start round two, and his accurate shots rocked McKenzie, who merely smiled in response at each barrage. After clearing his head, McKenzie fired off a couple spinning back elbows before finally getting the takedown. Taking Edwards’ back, McKenzie fired away with punches, quickly turning the round in his favor. Edwards didn’t seem hurt by the shots, but the points were piling up in his opponent’s favor. But in an instant with under a minute left, Edwards got into the mount position, took McKenzie’s back and sunk in a rear naked choke. The end came seconds later, with referee Jon Schorle halting the bout at 4:33 of the second round.

Johnson vs. Guymon
Welterweight prospect DaMarques Johnson rebounded from his loss to Matt Riddle last August, scoring a first round verbal submission win over Mike Guymon. See post-fight interview

“I didn’t really finish the way I wanted to finish but a win is a win and I’m happy to get the finish,” said Johnson.

Guymon shot for the takedown to kick off the bout, but it was Johnson who put his foe on his back with a nice throw. Johnson went on to work Guymon over with ground strikes until getting the mount position and then taking the back of ‘The Joker.’ After a brief struggle, Johnson straightened Guymon out with a body triangle, and, trapped by the sequence, Guymon verbally tapped out at the 3:22 mark.

With the win, Johnson improves to 17-8; Guymon, who falls to 13-5-1, hinted at retirement after the bout.

"My back popped bad, I can't even sit down," he said. "I'm just so happy, it's been such a long road, it's so hard to explain. It's so many years fighting, I'm so happy to be done.I just accomplished everything I wanted to with fighting."

Brown vs. Yahya
Returning to the featherweight division for his UFC debut, Brazil’s Rani Yahya outlasted former WEC champ Mike Brown, winning a three round unanimous decision. See post-fight interview

Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for Yahya, who improves to 16-6; Brown falls to 24-8.

“It was a very tough fight," said Yahya. "Mike is a winner, he’s a warrior. He’s a 35-year-old warrior that took a fight on two-week’s notice and fought at the last UFC, so he should get credit for that.”

Brown looked to be in control early on, as he chased Yahya around the Octagon while looking to land his strikes. Yahya was patient though, and once he found an opening, he was relentless in pursuing the takedown. And while Brown’s defense was solid, he was unable to break free and get back to his feet.

Yahya’s plan of attack in round two was to pull guard and catch Brown in a guillotine choke. Brown yanked his head free though, scoring a takedown of his own. After a brief stalemate, the two rose, with Brown bulling the Brazilian into the fence. Following a break, the cat and mouse game continued, with Brown - the aggressor – keeping Yahya clearly on the defensive.

Getting the bout to the mat immediately to start the third, Yahya worked hard to get his hooks in and take Brown’s back. Once he did, the Brazilian used his strikes to open up Brown’s defenses, eventually drawing a restart and a warning from referee Mario Yamasaki for punching to the back of the head. With one last chance to turn things around, Brown went for the takedown, but was unable to mount any significant offense before the final bell.

Lowe vs. Freire
Waylon Lowe made it two in a row in lightweight action, spoiling the debut of highly-touted Willamy Freire via unanimous decision. See post-fight interview

All three judges saw the bout 29-28 for Lowe, who was coming off a win over Steve Lopez at UFC 119 last September.

Lowe got off to a strong start, keeping Freire on the mat for much of the first round. And when the Brazilian did get a brief respite thanks to a restart from referee Dan Miragliotta, Lowe used his standup to set up another trip to the canvas.  Round two was more of the same, with Freire’s brief bright moment – an attempt at a triangle choke - being forcibly ended by a Lowe slam.

Freire finally got on the board in the third round, landing some hard strikes as he tossed aside Lowe’s takedown attempts. With three minutes left, Lowe got the fight to the mat, but Freire wound up in the top position, where he fired away with elbows and punches. Moments later, Lowe was able to get back to his feet, only to score another takedown. This time, Freire worked for a kimura from the bottom, but he ran out of time.

With the win, Lowe improves to 10-3; Freire falls to 17-4.

Brenneman vs. Alves
Welterweight prospect Charlie Brenneman left no doubts in his bout against Amilcar Alves, dominating on the mat from start to finish en route to a shutout three round unanimous decision win. See post-fight interview

All three judges saw the bout 30-27.

“It was a one-sided decision, but until that clock struck zero in the third round I wasn’t out of danger," said Brenneman. "He’s a crafty fighter.”

Brenneman dominated the opening five minutes, taking Alves to the canvas in the first 30 seconds and keeping him there until the bell sounded, all the while landing strikes from all angles on his downed foe. Rounds two and three were no better for Alves, whose night was made miserable by the smothering and dominant attack of “The Spaniard”.

With the win, Brenneman improves to 13-2; Alves falls to 11-3.

Campuzano vs. Cariaso
Bantamweight Chris Cariaso made his UFC debut a successful one, scoring a close three round unanimous decision win over Will Campuzano. See post-fight interview

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Cariaso, who improves to 11-2; Campuzano falls to 8-4.

The first round was a tactical one, with Campuzano using his height and reach advantage to keep Cariaso at bay for the majority of the frame, though the Californian made his presence known with quick timing shots. The second was all Campuzano, who peppered Cariaso from long range and also made him pay with shots to the head and body at close range, reddening his face. “The Kamikaze” finally saw some daylight in the final frame, tagging Campuzano with a number of shots and scoring the bout’s lone takedown, and this late surge was enough for him to pull out the victory.

“I got a bit more comfortable in the third round," said Cariaso. "I was able to pull out the win. I’m happy with my performance and I’m looking to improve on that.”