John Alessio proudly proclaimed that his performance at last night’s Score Fighting Series in Hamilton, Ontario would force Zuffa to call him back up to the UFC. But a performance from another UFC veteran may take Joe Silva’s focus off of the man called “The Natural”.
Forrest “The Meat Cleaver” Petz came into his fight against Toronto by way of Lithuania’s Sergey Juskevic with bad intentions and it showed from the opening seconds of the fight. Buoyed by the best intro of the night, The Rolling Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin'”, Petz came out with guns blazing. The two men entered into an all-out stand-up war that saw them exchange knockdowns and throw punches so heavy that even the ones that missed drew an “oooh” from the crowd.
The end came in the second round as Petz kept Juskevic’s back against the cage as he threw bombs, forcing referee Dan Mirgliotta to end the unresponsive Lithuanian’s night at 3:25 of round two.
Alessio entered into a grinding war of his own with Team Quest’s “Diamond” Ryan Healy and walked away with a unanimous decision victory, earning a 29-28 decision on all three judges’ cards. Alessio had the clear advantage in the first round with a knockdown and three guillotine attempts, but the durable Healy was able to turn the tide in the second before being controlled from top position in the third until the clock expired.
“He just gets stronger every round”, Alessio told MMASucka after the fight. “In the third round he was stronger than in the first. My corner told me to dig deep…I figured [in the third] I’d have a big advantage on the ground.”
“The Natural” continued to call out the UFC’s Mark Bocek after the fight, vowing “I beat up one ginger, I’ll beat up another”.
Also impressive on the card was Stoney Creek product Josh Hill, who was fueled by a rabid response from his hometown crowd. Hill put on a ground and pound clinic the entire fight en route to a unanimous decision victory over Saskatoon’s Eric Wilson. The fired-up crowd chanted “UFC, UFC” as the decision was read, letting Hill know where they think he belongs next.
Photographs courtesy Chris Suppa at The Score
Related news: Score Fighting Series quick results
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