The previously undefeated young British fighter John Hathaway was all ready to put on a show in front of the British fans Saturday at UFC 120. But Mike Pyle had other ideas.Pyle thoroughly whipped Hathaway for 15 minutes, taking him down and controlling him on the ground to win a lopsided unanimous decision.
Pyle had a good first down, connecting with punches by changing levels and finishing the round by putting Hathaway on his back and pounding him on the ground. Hathaway looked a little awkward in his stand-up in the first, and Pyle seemed like he had Hathaway's timing figured out.
Pyle absolutely dominated the second round: He took Hathaway down, got into side control and then locked up Hathaway's head with an inverted triangle while landing punch after punch after punch on the ground from a crucifix position. It was a brilliant display of ground and pound and should have been a 10-8 round for Pyle, although none of the judges scored it 10-8.
In the third round Pyle got Hathaway down and got on top of him again, brutalizing him with ground and pound, landing punches, forearms and elbows to Hathaway's head. All three judges scored it for Pyle, 30-27.
Hathaway now falls to 14-1, and he's going to have to go back to the drawing board: He needs to improve his wrestling, or else he's going to keep getting dominated on the ground. Pyle improves to 20-7-1 with one of the best wins of his career.
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