UFC 106: Josh Koscheck Submits Anthony Johnson

Josh Koscheck took on a bigger, stronger, more athletic opponent and used his superior wrestling to defeat him on Saturday night in Las Vegas, submitting Anthony Johnson with a second-round rear-naked choke in a strange, foul-filled fight at UFC 106.

Johnson got the better of the stand-up in the early going, and halfway through the first round Koscheck went for a takedown. But while they were on the ground, Johnson landed both an illegal knee to the head and a poke to Koscheck's eye. That led to a lengthy delay during which referee Mario Yamasaki did not appear to know the rules regarding delays for fouls and injuries, but Koscheck did eventually say he could continue, and the fight went on.

---

---

In the second round, Koscheck twice threw open-handed shots at Johnson's face and poked Johnson in the eye, causing two more delays in the fight, though neither delay was as long as the one in the first round. After some big shots in the stand-up game from both fighters, Koscheck took Johnson down with three minutes to go in the round, and Koscheck landed elbows that badly cut Johnson's face. Eventually Koscheck got to Johnson's back, sunk in a rear-naked choke, and forced Johnson to tap just before the conclusion of the second round.

Koscheck said afterward that he believes he deserves a shot at UFC welterweight Georges St. Pierre, saying he's better than the current No. 1 contender, Dan Hardy.

"I'm the No. 1 freaking contender in this weight division, right here."

The truth is, Koscheck is not the No. 1 contender, and he's already had his chance at St. Pierre and lost. But if Koscheck wins another fight as impressively as he won Saturday night, he might get another chance at St. Pierre. Koscheck is clearly one of the best welterweights in the world.

MMA FanHouse has UFC 106 results and live UFC 106 Twitter updates.