By Mike Chiappetta
- Senior Writer
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BOSTON -- This is the
UFC 118 live blog for
Andre Winner vs.
Nik Lentz, a lightweight bout on the Spike TV portion of tonight's UFC card from the TD Garden.
Lentz is 2-0-1 in the UFC, with wins over Rafaello Oliveira and Rob Emerson and a majority draw against Thiago Tavares. Winner out of Team Rough House was the runner-up on season nine of
The Ultimate Fighter. Winner won his last two fights, beating Roli Delgado and Oliveira.
Round 1: Lentz spends the early portion of the round looking for a takedown. Winner, a striker, does not want to go down, and so we're stuck in a stalemate for most of round one as they clinch against the fence jockeying for position. The crowd, of course, gets restless, but Lentz is relentless as he tries to get it to the ground. Lentz finally gets him there with 30 seconds to go, but Winner spends about 10 seconds there. Back to there feet, Winner lands a pair of hard strikes as the round ends. MMA Fighting scores it a 10-10 round.
Round 2: Winner lets his offense go early, hoping to avoid the clinchwork, but Lentz goes right back to trying for the takedown. Finally, midway through the round Winner worked his way free. But that freedom didn't last long. Lentz was right back inside, pushing him to the cage in a blink. Lentz finally dragged him down again. The crowd grew restless at the lack of action, but ref Josh Rosenthal let them work. A wild moment happened with about 10 seconds to go when Lentz scooped Winner overhead and dropped him backwards, but the round ended before any offense could follow. Not exactly earth-shattering offense, but we'll give Lentz the 10-9 edge in round two.
Round 3: The third frame begins no different than the other two. I think we can safely say this one won't be winning the Fight of the Night award. Lentz's wrestling is not powerful enough to be dominant, and Winner's takedown defense is not good enough to shut him down completely. As a result, the vast majority of this fight is a big tie, just two guys stuck in neutral. Lentz does get another takedown midway through the round. Lentz eventually gets his back and throws some low-octane strikes from the top. He tries a choke with 10 seconds left but doesn't get it, and the crowd serenades the pair with boos at the closing horn. MMA Fighting scores the round for Lentz, 10-9.
Winner: Nik Lentz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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