Maurice Greene found himself being dropped in the final round of his fight with Gian Villante at UFC On ESPN 12, but then produced an unexpected and unusual variant of a submission from his back to earn a late victory.
Round One:
Greene trying for leg kicks that don’t really land and tries for a front kick to the body too. Now a front kick lands for Greene.
Greene with an elbow to the head. Oblique kick to the leg. Greene pumping out the jab. Villante not yet in range to land anything himself against the bigger man.
Right hand from Greene as Villante looks to let his hands go. Nice kick for Greene. Leg kick from Greene. Oblique kick from Greene, but it lands high to the cup and that forces a stoppage for Villante to recover from the groin strike.
Back to it and Greene lands a leg kick. Now a side kick from him. He lands a punch too. Villante now landing a few leg kicks. A front kick connects partially too. He tries for a head kick, but doesn’t land.
Greene whips in a head kick of his own and Villante blocks it, but still took some of the impact.
Greene staying busy from range. Villante with a leg kick. Hard leg kick for Greene. Now one from Villante. Jab lands for Greene. Body kick from Villante.
Greene backing up and Villante lands again to the body with a kick. Greene tries for a head kick, but doesn’t find the target.
Greene with a jab and Villante tries to counter with a power hook that misses. Greene with more leg kicks and tries another head kick to end the round.
Round Two:
Oblique kick for Greene. Now a jab. He pumps out the jab and then another oblique kick. Greene staying busy, but mostly just keeping Villante at bay.
Villante looking for a big counter. Greene puts together a nice combination, with kicks, punches and even a knee in there.
Villante with the double jab in Greene’s face. Now a big right. Oblique kick and a push kick from Greene. Leg kick from Villante.
Inside leg kick from Villante. Punches in return from Greene. Jab and straight from Greene, but coming off the guard.
Right hand from Greene. Leg kick. Another right hand for him. Leg kick for VIllante and Greene doesn’t like that.
Head kick attempt from Villante almost gets through. Jab for Greene. Leg kick for Villante. One-two for Greene.
Jab for Villante but hits thin air with his follow-up punches. Greene withh a body punch and then another. Jab from Greene and tries for a right hand, but eats a counter from Villante.
Leg kick from Villante and another. Oblique kick from Greene. Now a jab. He lands a grazing hook and then gets on his bike to steer clear of Villante’s return offense.
Round Three:
Missed punch from Greene and Villante clinches, but they separate immediately. Hard punch lands for Villante.
Overhand right glances the target from Villante. Oblique kick from Greene and then an eyepoke forces a stoppage.
Back to it they go. Superman punch attempt from Greene misses and Villante counters with a huge punch and floors Greene.
Villante gets on top and starts blasting him with punches and elbows. Greene trying to survive here. Villante gets to full mount. Greene trying to move away and that forces Villante to stop for now and try to keep him down.
Half-guard for Villante now. There’s a lull in the action as they both take a breather. 90 seconds of the round remaining and Villante is trying to pass guard here.
Wow, out of nowhere Villante suddenly taps out from on top. Greene was working some kind of arm-triangle choke from his back there – very unusual and didn’t immediately look dangerous enough to tap his opponent out, but that’s just what it did at 3.44mins of the final round.
Weird win, but a big one for Greene after almost being finished earlier in the round.
