Francis Ngannou (9-1) showed off some new tricks in his repertoire when he defeated Anthony “Freight Train” Hamilton (15-6) with a kimura submission in the Heavyweight co-main event of last night’s UFC Fight Night 102 in Albany, New York.
Hamilton kept his distance at the start of round one and was clearly very weary of the punching power of Ngannou but would then rush in and manage to secure a takedown. This success would be short-lived for Hamilton as Ngannou shrugged him off and immediately got back to his feet forcing Hamilton to hold on with a rear body lock.
It was from this position that “The Predator” would grab hold of a kimura to try and break the lock of Hamilton and when successful, Ngannou continued to use his power to crank the arm further driving his opponent to the ground. Placing a knee on Hamilton’s stomach, Ngannou would continue to force the arm further until he felt a quick tap and secured the first submission victory of his UFC career.
“This is something we drilled a lot because everyone thinks that I am only a striker,” Ngannou said after the win. “I wanted to show my submission game, and I want to fight someone in the top-10 so I can prove that I am ready for a shot at the belt.”
Ngannou has now won four in a row in the UFC whereas Hamilton has lost two of his last three fights.
Also on the main card, Corey Anderson (9-2) gave Sean O’Connell (17-9) no chance of getting into the fight in a dominant display which ended with some vicious ground and pound for a second round stoppage.
In the first round, Anderson, who was debuting his new moniker of “Overtime”, was quick to take down O’Connell. From there, Anderson worked with elbows and punches from half guard to try and stay busy whilst working for a better position and from that point, very little changed for the rest of the fight.
Anderson would dump O’Connell to the ground again at the start of the second round and it didn’t take the 27-year-old long to move into full mount. From there he battered O’Connell with shots forcing the referee stoppage at the midway point of round two.
Opening the main card, Gian Villante (15-7) would earn a second round TKO victory over Russian newcomer Saparbek Safarov (8-1) in a complete brawl of a Light-Heavyweight contest.
Neither man backed down as they met in the centre at the start of round one and start trading big shots. Safarov worked behind a sharp jab however Villante found a way through for a straight right early which bloodied his opponent. The New Yorker would slowly start to get the better of Safarov in front of his home fans, landing with far more accuracy and volume before hurting the Russian with a kick to the knee.
Despite a bright start to the end of the previous round, Safarov was clearly having mobility issues with the knee injury and faded fast as the second round moved along. Villante was keeping his distance and picking him apart whilst finding continued success with a hard uppercut. With Safarov fading against the fence, Villante moved in for the kill and peppered his opponent with right hands and elbows until the referee stepped in to stop any unnecessary punishment.
The win allows Villante to bounce back from his disappointing decision loss to Ilir Latifi in March and for Safarov, this was his first professional defeat.
