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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The World Series of Fighting brought four fights to the NBC Sports Network from Las Vegas on Friday night, and the two-hour broadcast came to an end in shocking fashion.
In his first fight since being released by the UFC earlier this year, Jon Fitch was upset by Josh Burkman in quick fashion in their rematch. Fitch tried to press in from the outset, and as he landed a right, he got staggered by a two punch combination. Burkman landed a few more strikes, then locked on a tight guillotine choke. He felt Fitch go limp as he pulled guard, then rolled it over and let the hold go, standing above Fitch's prone body. It was a good thing Burkman recognized Fitch was out as well, as referee Steve Mazzagatti was blissfully unaware standing right next to him.
It was an incredible high for the late resurgence of Josh Burkman, who has now won five straight fights, and is 8-1 since leaving the UFC in 2008. Fitch has now lost three of his last five fights. That was also his first submission loss since his MMA debut in 2002, when he was submitted by Mike Pyle.
In the co-main event of the evening, Steve Carl pulled off an impressive and exciting rear naked choke submission on Tyson Steele just over a minute into the fight. Steele tried to keep him at bay with a series of kicks early on, then shot in for a takedown. However, Carl stuffed the shot, then quickly locked on a choke in a scramble and trapped Steele's arm in the process. The resulting awkward position helped the choke tighten, and Steele had no choice but to tap.
Two lightweight fights also took place on the main card, with Jacob Volkmann defeating Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm by decision in a mostly uneventful fight. The fight was Volkmann's first since his own release from the UFC earlier this year.
In the opening bout, undefeated prospect Justin Gaethje got himself in a little trouble early, but came back to defeat Brian Cobb in the third round with a vicious string of leg kicks. Cobb's knee got injured from a few hard leg kicks, and after a final one he limped to the corner and tried to call a timeout, bringing an end to the fight in the third round.
[Jon Fitch art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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