Stevenson cruises past Fisher with ground and pound

Clark Kent

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10-24-2009 10:47 PM:Joe Stevenson may not be able to take out the top two fighters in the UFC lightweight ranks but he's going to be a handful for anyone else trying to move up the ladder. Spencer Fisher talked a big game before his UFC 104 against "Joe Daddy" saying he wanted a title shot when he beat Stevenson. Easier said than done. Most fighters who hit the ground with Stevenson don't get up without looking extremely battered or submitted. Fisher was no different. He was taken down with 3:42 left in the second where Stevenson worked from half guard to side control and eventually got Fisher in a crucifix. Fisher was helpless and took 14 unanswered elbows. Referee Herb Dean had to stop it at the 4:03 mark of the second.

Fisher's chances were hurt early in the fight when he was clipped by two Stevenson left hooks at 3:45 and 3:13 left in the first. On the second punch, it appeared that Stevenson (31-10, 8-4 UFC) ripped open a cut over Fisher's right eye with his thumb. The blood affected Fisher's vision for the rest of the first.

This was Stevenson's second fight working with renowned trainer Greg Jackson in Albuquerque. According to Sherdog's Greg Savage, on day one with Jackson, the trainer commented that Stevenson's foot movement was awful. In this one, you could see a concerted effort by Stevenson to stay on the balls of his feet. He mixed up his pattern of movement, left and right, in and out. Fisher never really picked up Stevenson's rythym.

Stevenson has won two straight since dropping three-of-four fights against UFC lightweight chamo B.J. Penn, Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. He probably deserves a crack now at some of the top six guys in the division like Gray Maynard, Frank Edgar, Sean Sherk or Tyson Griffin. For some reason, Nate Diaz, who just lost to Stevenson, is getting a crack at Maynard.

Cagewriter hosts the only UFC 104 postfight show from Staples Center starting at 1:30 a.m. ET. Listen here.



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