SEATTLE – The main card of UFC on FOX 5 is stacked with a lightweight title fight, two legends and a welterweight slugfest. Prior to that card, the organization put together a fantastic preliminary card.
Scott Jorgensen started things off on Facebook and finished John Albert by first round submission. Abel Trujillo proved he is one bad dude; he TKO’d Marcus LeVesseur in the second round. A highlight reel high-kick gave Daron Cruickshank his second win inside the UFC. Yves Edwards put an exclamation mark on the prelims with a knockout against Jeremy Stephens in the very first round.
Check out what some of the preliminary fighters had to say about their fights.
Yves Edwards:
“It’s a great feeling to go out there and get a win after all the issues and changes in opponents. I’m just glad that the guy I trained really hard for originally is the one that stepped in there tonight. It made the last two weeks of camp a lot easier knowing we had trained for this before. I was looking for the knockout but I really expected him to be able to take the high kicks. He’s a really tough guy and I’m glad I was able to get the finish.”
Ralphael Asuncao:
“I learn a lot about myself when I take fights on short notice. I’m very critical of my performances so I don’t like taking fights without knowing for sure that I’m 100 percent. I broke the radius bone in my arm at some point in the first round which made things difficult. I was a little apprehensive but it all worked out. I give all the thanks to god and I’m looking forward to getting back in there.”
Daron Cruickshank:
“I saw in his previous fights that he was susceptible to body kicks and I thought if I landed them that I’d be able to stop him. My favorite fights are the ones where guys come right at me and that’s what Martinez did. He’s a super tough guy and he was able to endure a lot. Your next fight is always your most important and I’m looking forward to whatever that will be.”
Ramsey Nijem:
“This was without a doubt the toughest fight I’ve had to date. I’m usually able to go in there take people down at will and dominate them. I’ve never been in a fight where I couldn’t control my opponent on the ground. I’m glad to get the victory but there’s a lot of room for improvement. Luckily, I’m only 24 so I still have time to make those adjustments. I want to keep competing against the best and break into the top ten as soon as possible.”
Abel Trujillo:
“It was a roller coaster the last couple days not knowing if I would get an opponent. Once I found out there was a replacement I was very happy. I’m glad Marcus stepped in and took the fight. I knew I had to defend the takedown to win the fight. I was able to dominate every position and do exactly what we planned. It’s sort of surreal. This was my dream and I’m thankful to be here.”
Marcus LeVesseur:
“I’ll be real and admit that not knowing my opponent until yesterday affected everything but we are professionals and we have to deal with it. I’m looking forward to proving what I can do next time.”
Dennis Siver:
“We analyzed all of Nam’s fights before entering the octagon tonight. We saw that he can’t handle much pressure so we planned to push the pace from the opening bell until the final seconds. We planned to take him down and try to hurt him with the spinning back kicks but they didn’t work as well as we thought they would. I want to prove that I’m the best fighter in the world at 145 pounds. I would like to fight another top contender and then fight for the title next year.”
Scott Jorgensen:
“I knew he was going to go for the triangle but I thought I’d be faster getting out of it. He was able to get it sunk in but it wasn’t tight and I just had to weasel my way into the position we trained. I’m very hard to choke. When I reversed him and ended on his back I could feel him breaking under me. I heard the claps and I knew I only had ten seconds so I squeezed as hard as I could and hoped for the best. It worked out.”
