Aggressive Thompson knocks out Hendricks on UFC card
Anytime former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champ Johny Hendricks was asked last week about facing one of the organization's best strikers Saturday night, he scoffed and listed the fighters who were supposed to have dominated him in the standup game and failed.
Stephen Thompson proved to be on a different level, taking out Hendricks 3:31 into the first round of the main event of UFC Fight Night 82 at the MGM Grand Garden.
Thompson peppered Hendricks with a dizzying array of kicks and punches before stopping him along the cage with a body kick followed by a series of right hands.
"That's exactly what I planned to do," Thompson said of the game plan against the two-time NCAA wrestling champion. "I threw a lot of kicks just trying to be awkward and keep him away from shooting on my legs.
"I didn't look for the knockout; I just let it happen."
Hendricks tried to work inside and get Thompson's back to the fence on several occasions, but Thompson bounced away each time and found his range to continue the assault.
"I hesitated. Whenever I closed the distance, he moved away. Whenever I thought the cage would be there, he was gone," Hendricks said. "My hat's off. He was the better man tonight. He won.
"What else can I say besides he did an awesome job. I'll be back and I'll be better."
It was the sixth straight win for Thompson, a decorated kickboxer, since the lone loss of his mixed martial arts career in 2012.
Las Vegan Roy Nelson spent nearly all 15 minutes of a heavyweight bout chasing Jared Rosholt around the cage but was rewarded with a unanimous decision after neither fighter mustered much offense.
Rosholt, a three-time All-America wrestler at Oklahoma State, stayed away from Nelson's lethal right hand by circling around the cage. He shot for a few takedowns, however, and Nelson stayed upright each time.
Nelson, a Cimarron-Memorial graduate, landed just enough shots as he pursued Rosholt to earn the judges' favor and end a three-fight losing streak.
"Jared is a great athlete but not a fighter, and tonight I proved that," Nelson said. "When you have to fight, I just think you have to go out there and fight. I changed his whole game, and he ran the whole time, so there's nothing I can do about it.
"I'm like a fine wine: I just get better and better."
Top flyweight contender Joseph Benavidez bounced back to his feet after each of Zach Makovsky's takedowns over the first two rounds and used his superior speed on the feet to take control in the final round to secure a unanimous decision.
Benavidez won for the fifth straight time and is 12-2 in his past 14 fights, with the losses coming to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.
Benavidez asked for a third shot at Johnson immediately after Saturday's win but was unaware the UFC earlier had announced Johnson would face Henry Cejudo at UFC 197 in April.
"I wouldn't say tough was the word. I would say that he was talented, very fundamental and had great coaching," Benavidez said of Makovsky. "He was craftier than I expected, I respect him, but once I got my timing, I was the better fighter.
"I don't think Cejudo earned the shot; however, I'll fight whenever and whoever. I know I have to do a lot to earn a shot since DJ has beaten me twice, but it's inevitable that I get there."
Ovince Saint Preux won a unanimous decision over Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante in a light heavyweight bout that saw Cavalcante do little on offense despite Saint Preux suffering a lower right leg injury in the first round.
Light heavyweight prospect Misha Cirkunov made an impressive UFC debut with a second-round submission over Alex Nicholson that showed his brute strength.
Cirkunov was having his way in the striking game when he ducked under a punch and tackled Nicholson. After dropping several hard punches on the ground, Cirkunov squeezed his bicep on Nicholson's jaw until it cracked and he had no choice but to submit.
"The division better start knowing who I am, or I'm going to come in and do the same thing to the rest of them," Cirkunov said. "I know I had opportunities to finish in the first round, but I heard there was only 10 or 15 seconds left, so I decided to have a little fun."
Las Vegas Mike Pyle kicked off the main card with a third-round knockout of Sean Spencer in a welterweight bout.
Pyle, 40, staggered Spencer with a spinning back elbow and followed with knees and elbows on Spencer against the cage.
"I want to keep performing like that. I'm 40, so I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to hang with these 20-year-olds," Pyle said after snapping a two-fight losing streak. "Everything went to plan. However, we did want to take him down a little bit more, but I noticed he couldn't land like he wanted to, so I stuck to my range and was landing my jab."
Newcomer Mickey Gall highlighted the undercard with a 45-second submission of Mike Jackson, who was making his professional debut.
The fight ordinarily would have been little more than a footnote if not for what was on the line for Gall, who was signed to the organization with the promise of a matchup with former professional wrestler Phil "CM Punk" Brooks should he get by Jackson.
Gall quickly made sure he would get the lucrative bout with Brooks, who is expected to be a huge draw in his UFC debut.
UFC officials brought Brooks into the cage after the fight to formally announce the fight against Gall, though no date has been set.
"I know I'm ready for CM Punk, and it was really cool to get a chance to talk with him in the Octagon, but now I'm ready to get back to training," Gall said. "I love to be in the gym, it's not really a grind for me, so I'm ready to get back to it."
Featherweight Diego Rivas and heavyweight Derrick Lewis recorded spectacular knockouts.
After getting dominated in the first round, Rivas opened the second with a crushing flying knee that knocked out Noad Lahat. He remained on the ground for several minutes and required assistance walking back to the locker room, but all tests at the hospital came back clear, and he was released Saturday night.
Lewis threw Damian Grabowski to the mat and finished him with relentless ground-and-pound 2:17 into the opening round.
Josh Burkman, Justin Scroggins and Alex White all won unanimous decisions.
Scroggins was the most impressive of the group with the best performance of his career in winning all three rounds over flyweight Ray Borg.
— Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
