Corey Anderson controlled his fight with Sean O’Connell from start to finish on the mat tonight at UFC Fight Night 102, with the end coming by way of ground and pound strikes from full mount mid-way through the second round.
Round One:
Leg kick for O’Connell to start. Leg kick and a punch behind it for Anderson now. Brief flurry from O’Connell and a kick to the body.
Anderson drives into his first takedown of the evening, but O’Connell uses the fence to get back to his feet. Anderson remains in the clinch though, gets a single leg, then transitions to the double to get a second takedown.
O’Connell stands again, but Anderson has his back and hoists him up and back down to the mat. Anderson in side control now, but not for long as O’Connell gets back to half guard.
Anderson stays patient before landing a hard elbow. Another couple of shots land, but he’s not going all out in search of a finish at this stage, just gradually grinding away at his opponent.
Three hard elbows land with 90 seconds of the round remaining. O’Connell starts to use the cage to stand, but Anderson thwarts that attempt. Again O’Connell tries and this time he is successful, but is only on his feet for a matter of seconds before Anderson slams him back down again and opens up with some ground and pound from side control.
Final seconds of the round and Anderson slows the pace back down again until the horn sounds.
Round Two:
Low leg kick for O’Connell, but Anderson just catches that and sweeps his other leg out from under him to land a takedown with virtually the whole round left to work.
Anderson has O’Connell in the middle of the cage working in his half guard. Still a steady pace from him. Anderson switches sides and is looking to pass the guard. he lands a few punches and then works his way to full mount.
Anderson landing punches and realizing that a finish could be imminent he finally ramps up the intensity and blasts away on his covered up opponent until the referee steps in to hand him a TKO victory at 2.36mins of the second round.
