FFTT Prelims: Yves Subs McKenzie, Gets 40th Win

Click below for prelim results from Saturday's Fight For The Troops 2 event... KILLEEN, TX, January 22 – Veteran contender Yves Edwards showed that there is plenty of gas left in his tank Saturday night at Fort Hood, as he submitted young gun Cody McKenzie in the second round, handing the Ultimate Fighter 12 alum his first pro loss in Fight For The Troops 2 prelim action.

McKenzie vs. Edwards
With the win, Edwards improves to 40-16-1; McKenzie falls to 12-1. See post-fight interview

“It’s always nice when you get someone with their favorite move," said Edwards. "He’s tough and had me on my back but I wanted to show him that I could do some damage too.”

The bout was named Fight of the Night at the post-fight press conference, and Edwards garnered Submission of the Night honors as well. End of night bonuses were $30,000 each.

McKenzie shot across the Octagon at the bell, looking for the takedown. Edwards resisted the attempt, calmly pushing his foe off. After some quick strikes, Edwards threw off another takedown try, and the pace then settled down, with Edwards calmly picking away at the Alaska native. With less than two minutes left, McKenzie tried to pull Edwards to the mat, but again, the Texan fought loose with little effort. To his credit, McKenzie kept throwing punches in order to set up a takedown attempt, but Edwards was showing his veteran experience at every turn.

Edwards went on the offensive to start round two, and his accurate shots rocked McKenzie, who merely smiled in response at each barrage. After clearing his head, McKenzie fired off a couple spinning back elbows before finally getting the takedown. Taking Edwards’ back, McKenzie fired away with punches, quickly turning the round in his favor. Edwards didn’t seem hurt by the shots, but the points were piling up in his opponent’s favor. But in an instant with under a minute left, Edwards got into the mount position, took McKenzie’s back and sunk in a rear naked choke. The end came seconds later, with referee Jon Schorle halting the bout at 4:33 of the second round.

Johnson vs. Guymon
Welterweight prospect DaMarques Johnson rebounded from his loss to Matt Riddle last August, scoring a first round verbal submission win over Mike Guymon. See post-fight interview

“I didn’t really finish the way I wanted to finish but a win is a win and I’m happy to get the finish,” said Johnson.

Guymon shot for the takedown to kick off the bout, but it was Johnson who put his foe on his back with a nice throw. Johnson went on to work Guymon over with ground strikes until getting the mount position and then taking the back of ‘The Joker.’ After a brief struggle, Johnson straightened Guymon out with a body triangle, and, trapped by the sequence, Guymon verbally tapped out at the 3:22 mark.

With the win, Johnson improves to 17-8; Guymon, who falls to 13-5-1, hinted at retirement after the bout.

"My back popped bad, I can't even sit down," he said. "I'm just so happy, it's been such a long road, it's so hard to explain. It's so many years fighting, I'm so happy to be done.I just accomplished everything I wanted to with fighting."

Brown vs. Yahya
Returning to the featherweight division for his UFC debut, Brazil’s Rani Yahya outlasted former WEC champ Mike Brown, winning a three round unanimous decision. See post-fight interview

Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for Yahya, who improves to 16-6; Brown falls to 24-8.

“It was a very tough fight," said Yahya. "Mike is a winner, he’s a warrior. He’s a 35-year-old warrior that took a fight on two-week’s notice and fought at the last UFC, so he should get credit for that.”

Brown looked to be in control early on, as he chased Yahya around the Octagon while looking to land his strikes. Yahya was patient though, and once he found an opening, he was relentless in pursuing the takedown. And while Brown’s defense was solid, he was unable to break free and get back to his feet.

Yahya’s plan of attack in round two was to pull guard and catch Brown in a guillotine choke. Brown yanked his head free though, scoring a takedown of his own. After a brief stalemate, the two rose, with Brown bulling the Brazilian into the fence. Following a break, the cat and mouse game continued, with Brown - the aggressor – keeping Yahya clearly on the defensive.

Getting the bout to the mat immediately to start the third, Yahya worked hard to get his hooks in and take Brown’s back. Once he did, the Brazilian used his strikes to open up Brown’s defenses, eventually drawing a restart and a warning from referee Mario Yamasaki for punching to the back of the head. With one last chance to turn things around, Brown went for the takedown, but was unable to mount any significant offense before the final bell.

Lowe vs. Freire
Waylon Lowe made it two in a row in lightweight action, spoiling the debut of highly-touted Willamy Freire via unanimous decision. See post-fight interview

All three judges saw the bout 29-28 for Lowe, who was coming off a win over Steve Lopez at UFC 119 last September.

Lowe got off to a strong start, keeping Freire on the mat for much of the first round. And when the Brazilian did get a brief respite thanks to a restart from referee Dan Miragliotta, Lowe used his standup to set up another trip to the canvas.  Round two was more of the same, with Freire’s brief bright moment – an attempt at a triangle choke - being forcibly ended by a Lowe slam.

Freire finally got on the board in the third round, landing some hard strikes as he tossed aside Lowe’s takedown attempts. With three minutes left, Lowe got the fight to the mat, but Freire wound up in the top position, where he fired away with elbows and punches. Moments later, Lowe was able to get back to his feet, only to score another takedown. This time, Freire worked for a kimura from the bottom, but he ran out of time.

With the win, Lowe improves to 10-3; Freire falls to 17-4.

Brenneman vs. Alves
Welterweight prospect Charlie Brenneman left no doubts in his bout against Amilcar Alves, dominating on the mat from start to finish en route to a shutout three round unanimous decision win. See post-fight interview

All three judges saw the bout 30-27.

“It was a one-sided decision, but until that clock struck zero in the third round I wasn’t out of danger," said Brenneman. "He’s a crafty fighter.”

Brenneman dominated the opening five minutes, taking Alves to the canvas in the first 30 seconds and keeping him there until the bell sounded, all the while landing strikes from all angles on his downed foe. Rounds two and three were no better for Alves, whose night was made miserable by the smothering and dominant attack of “The Spaniard”.

With the win, Brenneman improves to 13-2; Alves falls to 11-3.

Campuzano vs. Cariaso
Bantamweight Chris Cariaso made his UFC debut a successful one, scoring a close three round unanimous decision win over Will Campuzano. See post-fight interview

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Cariaso, who improves to 11-2; Campuzano falls to 8-4.

The first round was a tactical one, with Campuzano using his height and reach advantage to keep Cariaso at bay for the majority of the frame, though the Californian made his presence known with quick timing shots. The second was all Campuzano, who peppered Cariaso from long range and also made him pay with shots to the head and body at close range, reddening his face. “The Kamikaze” finally saw some daylight in the final frame, tagging Campuzano with a number of shots and scoring the bout’s lone takedown, and this late surge was enough for him to pull out the victory.

“I got a bit more comfortable in the third round," said Cariaso. "I was able to pull out the win. I’m happy with my performance and I’m looking to improve on that.”

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Cody McKenzie - The Choke Master Returns

"What matters is just getting in there and fighting. The fans will see. A lot of people are counting me out against Yves, so I’m going to go out there and show a lot of people what’s up, show them why my record is what it is." Move over, Clay Guida. There’s a new wild man on the UFC scene and he’s attracting fans at an alarming rate, which is somewhat remarkable considering that Cody McKenzie has logged just one official fight inside the Octagon.

I asked the free-spirited lightweight why he believes so many fans empathize with him. The unbeaten fighter with the shaggy, heavy metal hairdo and skateboarder vibe alluded to something that a training partner said to him recently:

“Dennis Hallman brought up a good point the other day. He said, ‘Cody, the reason everyone likes you is because you’re the average Joe. The guy sitting at home on the couch thinks, ‘I could be like this guy! That guy looks like me! And then you take off your shirt and the guy on the couch goes, ‘He really does look like me!”

 The perpetually happy 23-year-old says all of this with a chuckle, of course (laughing easily, for the uninitiated, is a McKenzie trademark). Part of his charm, it seems, centers around his habit of self-deprecation and a tendency to not take himself too seriously. Yet despite his rising popularity, McKenzie is careful to note that while his time on TUF 12 has endeared him to many, there is much room for improvement.

“Not everybody likes me,” he noted. “I get hate mail, too.”

It’s a bit odd, because in-person, McKenzie is an easy guy to get along with. His aura conveys that he’s not judging you, that he wants to be fast friends, that he has no ulterior motives for being nice to you in a world where it seems like most everybody else does. McKenzie’s mission is as simple as his uncombed locks: Pretty much all he wants to do these days is fight. As often as he can. While many UFC fighters are content with fighting three or four times a year, McKenzie claims straight-faced that he would love to fight every month. Which is partially why he jumped at the chance to battle lightweight pioneer Yves Edwards at the Fight for The Troops 2 event on Jan. 22 in Fort Hood, Texas.

“I’ve been wanting to fight someone with a name like Yves Edwards for a long time and this is finally my shot,” he said. “He’s really good and it’s going to be a great fight. I like the extra adrenaline rush and high that goes with fighting in the UFC. I get really amped up. I’m stoked to be fighting for the troops, especially against a legend. That’s going to send me through the roof. I’m hoping after I take Yves out that I can get on another card. I don’t believe in big, long training camps, like most people. I get in shape in a few weeks.”

That approach, unusual among UFC fighters, has been working. McKenzie brings a sterling 12-0 record into the contest with Edwards, an adopted Texan who has built a 39-16-1 record over the 13-year roller coaster that has been his career. The history of both men suggests that Edwards, an exceptional athlete whose lengthy experience in the UFC dates back to 2001, possesses far more weapons to win; Edwards has 14 wins by TKO and another 16 by submission. McKenzie has essentially (and unapologetically) been a one-trick pony – finishing 11 foes with a modified guillotine choke that is so potent and gnarly that countless submission grapplers across the world are trying to imitate the move and its unconventional mechanics. McKenzie has a name for his signature invention: “The McKenzietine.”

“A lot of times I don’t go into a fight thinking, ‘I’m going to do this move,’” he said. “Once I start thinking that I’m going to start getting my head caved in because if that’s all I’m looking for, it will be pretty easy to time me. I never go in looking for it. But it seems like in a fight people leave their neck open a lot. If it’s there I’m going to grab it.”

When it comes to failing to protect his neck, Aaron Wilkinson is guilty as charged. The Brit became the 11th victim of the McKenzietine during last month’s UFC scrap. Everybody in the arena that night knew that McKenzie, competing in his UFC debut, wanted to go neck hunting. Yet 2 minutes and 3 seconds into the bout, the skinny, flat-chested guillotine master had struck again -- swiftly. The tap out earned him his 12th straight victory, all in the first round. But with his secret now exposed to the world, can McKenzie continue his magic against a fighter who, once upon a time, was one of the world’s premier 155-pounders? After all, Edwards has never pretended to be a wrestler, and rarely shoots on opponents. In fact, McKenzie will be facing an opponent who hasn’t been submitted in nearly five years in a live fight.

“Is that right?” McKenzie said when apprised of Edwards’ stellar submission defense. “I didn’t know that until you told me … That’s OK, because I work everything. I’ve done boxing and Muay Thai. I’ve competed in a lot of submission wrestling tournaments and I’ve caught people in moves besides that move.”

While he lives and trains around Spokane, Wash., McKenzie also journeyed to Orlando, Florida, for this camp to train with TUF 12 winner Jonathan Brookins. But McKenzie’s favorite place in the world, the place where his character and values were formed, is Alaska, where he was raised in Cordova, a small fishing community.

“I lived there for 15 years,” McKenzie said. “My father worked as a commercial fisherman and I spent a lot of time with him out on the boat. I grew up on the best seafood in the world, the best salmon in the world, picking crab right off the pots, shrimp, halibut, rock fish. It makes a world of difference when you fillet it and cook it up right there. I learned to work hard and fast there.”

When it comes to parental influence, McKenzie indicated that, in his case at least, the fruit doesn’t fall very far from the tree.

“My family is a lot like me. I notice that I’m different from a lot of people, but in my circle they’re all a lot like me,” he said. “I guess my parents are pretty wild themselves. I grew up pretty relaxed. My parents were great parents, they gave me a lot of freedom -- I had a lot more freedom than a lot of my friends had. My friends were getting the birds and the bees talk; I missed that. I grew up on a boat, you know. Alaska can be peaceful, but there are some wild characters there that put me to shame. I’m not the craziest out of all of my friends. I have friends that make me look slow-paced and normal.”

Though he has played musical chairs with his fighter nickname – using four different ones – McKenzie announced that he will heretofore be known as “The AK Kid” in honor of his Alaskan roots (Sadly, “Wild Man” did not make the cut, though McKenzie has worn the moniker before).

As for being grouped in the same “wild man” category with Clay Guida, McKenzie didn’t really endorse or reject the comparison.  

“I met Clay once. He wanted to go fishing,” McKenzie said. “I actually had like four fishing poles in my car. I was going to go but I had to train for a fight. Other than that, I don’t really know much about him; he has long hair and tattoos just like me but he definitely ain’t got my fighting style. We have two completely different styles.”

Fair enough. Guida is, after all, a very good wrestler. And explosive. And quick. And tireless. Cody is, well … How do you rate yourself as an athlete, Mr. McKenzie?

“That’s a tough question,” he answered. “I’m not very athletic … I’m not an athlete at all. I’m not a jock. I’m not like your normal fighter; I like to party a lot more than most fighters … I’m definitely not explosive. You won’t see me doing flying knees or nothing. I have a vertical of probably like … well, I don’t even know what a good vertical is, but mine is pretty low. But when it comes down to it I don’t believe a lot of that stuff has anything to do with fighting. What matters is just getting in there and fighting. The fans will see. A lot of people are counting me out against Yves, so I’m going to go out there and show a lot of people what’s up, show them why my record is what it is.

“I got into fighting because I love it. I won some amateur titles in fighting, but all that doesn’t matter; all that matters is that I will be the 155-pound champ of the UFC. I don’t care if they have a darker belt or more trophies and medals, I am going to be the one at the top beating everyone up.”

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