Well, it wasn't Randy Couture vs. James Toney. But Nik Lentz did fight Andre Winner on the undercard at UFC 118 in a grind it out kind of affair.
Lentz shot in very early, looking for a single leg takedown to no avail, as Winner successfully fought it off. However, after some jockeying against the cage wall, Lentz got his takedown, lost it for a moment, and then brought his English adversary to the ground again.
But then Winner got up again. For the majority of the rest of the round, Winner found himself pressed up against the cage wall. Both fighters landed knees in spots, with Winner's being harder. Then around the one minute mark, Winner grabbed a Muay Thai clinch and smashed his adversary with a big knee before following things up with an elbow. Moments later, however, Lentz achieved another takedown. Winner got up and connected with a nice elbow, following it up with a solid left hook. Then the bell.
Here's the thing- Lentz was unable to do anything with his takedowns and didn't hit Winner with anything hard. Given the British fighter the stanza based on that and a few nice strikes.
At the start of the second, Lentz was aggressive with strikes on his way to pressing his opponent up against the wall. And for a long while, that's where they stayed. Late in the stanza, Lentz achieved a takedown, which netted him some points. After a struggle, Winner got up before Lentz once again pressed him up against the cage wall. Several seconds before the bell, Lentz picked Winner up and threw him to the canvas. Though Winner got up again, this time it was Lentz's round.
Winner's striking is fading; he may be fatiguing.
The third round started off with some decent striking by Winner before Lentz pressed him up against the cage wall and took him down. Though Winner got up, they repeated the process once more, until Lentz finally took Winner's back before a transition to side control. Lentz started to hit home with some ground and pound, though his arms were clearly fatigued. By the end of the bout, Lentz had sunk in a rear naked choke- it wasn't tight, and Winner probably would've gotten out. Still, it served as the ending to a clear third round win for Lentz. I've got it 2-1 in favor of Lentz.
One judge agreed with me. The other two gave Lentz all three rounds.
Nik Lentz defeats Andre Winner by unanimous decision.
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