Means, Brandao win MMA fights in New Jersey
Swanson choked out in 3rd round
NEWARK, N.J. — After schooling George Sullivan, Moriarty MMA fighter Tim Means sought to educate the folks at Bleacher Report.
Means dominated Sullivan in a UFC welterweight (170-pound) fight Saturday, punishing him with fists, elbows and knees before finishing him on the ground with an arm-triangle choke.
Sullivan tapped out at 3:41 of the third round.
Bleacher Report, a sports website, had predicted a Sullivan victory by decision. By omission, at least, the website belittled Means’ ground game — calling him “primarily a striker.” Means was not pleased. “If I have to be better,” he said in the octagon after the victory, “you guys (at Bleacher Report) have to be better. You suck.”
Means, who trains in Albuquerque at FIT-NHB, was in control from the outset in improving his record to 24-6-1.
In the second round, Means took Sullivan (16-4) to the ground and kept him there for a minute and a half. After Sullivan regained his feet, Means dropped the New Jersey fighter with an elbow to the head and appeared close to finishing on the ground when the round ended.
In the third, Means took down a weary Sullivan a minute and a half into the round and, in total control, gradually worked his way to the submission hold.
“I could hear him gas- sing out, so I just needed to keep the pressure on him,” Means said. “We’ve been working a lot on submissions, so tonight I was hoping to get a submission or a knockout.
“The mission was to get a finish, and that’s what happened.”
Means took Saturday’s fight on 3 ½ weeks’ notice after Sullivan’s original opponent pulled out due to injury.
In an earlier fight, Brazil’s Diego Brandao, who has trained in Albuquerque at Jackson-Wink MMA, defeated Pennsylvanian Jimy Hettes by first-round TKO.
Late in the first, a Brandao elbow sliced open Hettes’ cauliflower left ear.
The fight was stopped between rounds on a doctor’s advice.
“I don’t want to finish like that, but I tried to do my best,” Brandao said. “... I couldn’t believe it when it happened like this, but I’m glad I won the fight.”
In another fight with Albuquerque ties, Cub Swanson (21-7), who trains at Jackson-Wink MMA, was choked out at 3:58 of the third round by Max Holloway (13-3) in a 145-pound bout on the main card.
In the main event, Luke Rockhold locked in a rear naked choke and made Lyoto Machida tap at 2:32 of the second round to win a showdown between two of the top middleweights in UFC.
Rockhold (14-2) should be next in line for a pay-per-view title shot in the 185-pound division. With a dominant win over the 36-year-old Machida (22-6), Rockhold positioned himself to take on the winner of the UFC 187 fight next month between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.
“I did my part,” Rockhold said. “Weidman, you’re going to do your part. Let’s take this across the way. Madison Square Garden, let’s make history.”
Jacare Souza, the No. 1 ranked middleweight, made short work of Chris Camozzi in the co-main event.
Souza won with an armbar submission at 2:33 of the first round.
However, all eyes were on former ring card girl Paige VanZant for the highest profile fight of her young career on the first fight of the main card.
The 21-year-old strawweight proved why she is on the brink of MMA stardom.
The 5-foot-4 VanZant was all smiles and bounced on her heels as she watched the prefight video package on the big screen. Felice Herrig, her 115-pound opponent, said in the video that VanZant had yet to truly earn her spot and only had a personal endorsement deal with Reebok because of her looks.
VanZant beamed and waved on her way to the cage, hardly rattled by the pressure of the big night. Once inside, she absolutely crushed Herrig for three rounds and cruised to a unanimous decision victory.
VanZant (5-1) landed several knees after the opening bell of the first round and never let up. She stayed on top of Herrig (10-6) and landed fist after fist to the face as a part of her ground game, and she never showed signs of fatigue. VanZant pinned Herrig against the cage in the third round and finished her for good with a serious of brutal elbows to the head.
“I started crying before the fight was over,” VanZant said. “I’m here for the fun of it and I’m so thankful. I can’t believe I made it through that fight. It only goes up from here.”