Nate Diaz shines in UFC on Fox 3 main event; Johny Hendricks, Alan Belcher and Lavar Johnson with big wins
Nate Diaz became the first fighter to stop Jim Miller at UFC on Fox 3 in New Jersey Saturday with a guillotine choke in the second round of the main event.
After a tight first round, Diaz started to taunt Miller in the second round. When Miller tried for the takedown, Diaz rolled into a one-arm guillotine choke so tight that Miller's tongue was stuck out. He was forced to tap at 4:09 in the second.
After the bout, Diaz said he had a hard time with the bout because he respected Miller.
"I'm happy to come out to New Jersey and come out and perform. It was hard to be motivated to train because he's a good guy."
With the win, Diaz is expected to face Anthony Pettis in a title-eliminator bout.
Hendricks takes split-decision
Surprisingly, the two Division I national champions stuck to striking for most of the first round. Josh Koscheck got the better of exchanges and avoided Johny Hendricks' takedowns. Hendricks did a better job in the second, using lefts to beat up Koscheck's face and knees to weaken his legs.
Koscheck got the first takedown of the fight in the round, and used top position to control the fight until the end but it was Hendricks who came out with a 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 split-decision win.
For Hendricks, the win is his fourth in a row and the key to a welterweight title shot. UFC president Dana White hinted earlier this week that with a win, Hendricks could be next in line, after interim champ Carlos Condit challenges George St-Pierre.
Belcher, Johnson impress
Most fighters cannot escape the Rousimar Palhares leg lock, but Alan Belcher did and that was the key to his win. Belcher attempted a leg lock of his own before Palhares put on the kneebar that has broken many a fighter before him. When he escaped, he put down ground and pound that stopped Palhares at 4:18 in the first round.
Pat Barry tried to use a ground game against Johnson early on, but he couldn't keep Lavar Johnson down. With less than a minute to go in the first round, Johnson wobbled Barry with a head kick, then hemmed him in against the fence, landing a barrage of punches. Barry didn't move and just absorbed Johnson's strikes until he fell to the ground with 21 seconds left in the first round.
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