For PRIDE fans it was almost merciful when Kenny Florian sunk in the third round rear naked choke that ended Takanori Gomi’s night. Throughout the fight it was Florian outboxing the once great Gomi, using great spacing to land jabs over and over. Gomi lacked the head movement to avoid the reach of Florian and get close enough to land his own power punches.
UFC Fight Night 21: Florian vs. Gomi - Live Results
By the end of the first round it was clear that Florian was going to win the fight. In the third Gomi finally connected with a few punches so Florian used a big takedown to get on top where he moved to mount, took the back and sunk in the choke that forced the tapout.
With the win Florian cements his status as the #2 lightweight in the world. He outwrestled a very good wrestler in Clay Guida and followed that up with outboxing a very good boxer in Gomi. It’s just unfortunate for him that BJ Penn exists so very far above the rest of the division.
Other notes from the evening:
- Roy Nelson demolished Stefan Struve in the co-featured bout of the evening. Nelson was able to get inside the huge reach of Struve with no problems and land a bomb that dropped Stefan. Nelson followed him to the ground and poured it on to force the stoppage.
- Jorge Rivera looked as good as he has in years in putting on a brutal show against Nate Quarry. Nate was effective early with leg kicks but Rivera was just looking to time the right hand and once he started landing he didn’t stop. By the second round Quarry’s face was swollen and he was bleeding from the nose. It felt like a given that eventually a shot would put Quarry down and that’s exactly what happened in the second.
Full results:
Kenny Florian def. Takanori Gomi via Submission (rear naked choke)
Roy Nelson def. Stefan Struve via TKO (punches)
Jorge Rivera def Nate Quarry via TKO (punches)
Ross Pearson def Dennis Siver via unanimous decision
Charlie Brenneman def. Jason High via Unanimous Decision
Gerald Harris def. Mario Miranda via TKO (punches) - 4:49 R1
Yushin Okami def. Lucio Linhares via TKO doctors stoppage (multiple cuts/possible facial injury) - 2:47 R2
Gleison Tibau def. Caol Uno via TKO (punches) - 4:13 R1
Nik Lentz def. Rob Emerson via Unanimous Decision
Jacob Volkmann def. Ronnys Torres via Split Decision
Andre Winner def. Rafaello Oliveira via Unanimous Decision
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