WEC champion Miguel Angel Torres stopped challenger Manny Tapia in the second round of their scheduled five round contest last night. Torres landed a right cross that stunned Tapia to begin round one. The champion then controlled the remainder of the round with a long, piercing jab. In round two, Torres dropped Tapia with a single right cross. Tapia was then floored for a second time with a slick jab-cross combination and finally the fight was halted at 3:04.
Featherweight Wagney Fabiano submitted a very game Akitoshi Tamura with just twelve seconds remaining in the final round with a tight head and arm choke.
Bantamweight Brian Bowles traded punches with Will Ribeiro for two full rounds before locking in a tight guillotine choke in the round three. The official time was 1:11.
Joseph Benavidez remained unbeaten after scoring a three round unanimous decision over Danny Martinez. Judges’ scorecards all read the same, 30-27 in favor of the 9-0 Benavidez.
IFL veteran Bart Palaszewski made a splash in his WEC debut, stopping former UFC lightweight Alex Karalexis in the second round. After scoring with a vicious right hand, the stoppage came at 1:11 of round two.
n other results: Cub Swanson battled Hiroyuki Takaya for three exciting rounds en route to a three round unanimous judges’ decision. Scorecards read 30-27 twice and 29-28 in favor of Swanson. Former NCAA wrestling standout Mark Munoz continued his romp through the light heavyweight division by stopping Ricardo Barros in the first round. The official time of the TKO was 2:26. Lightweight Shane Roller made quick work of Mike Budnik with a tight guillotine choke in just 1:01 of the first period; Diego Nunes gutted out a three round unanimous decision over Cole Province. Scorecards read 30-27 twice and 29-28 once in favor of Nunes; and Johnny Hendricks scored an impressive knockout over Justin Haskins after connecting with a sharp left uppercut just 52 seconds into the second round.
