LAS VEGAS, April 16 — Middleweights Ivan Salaverry (11-3-1) and Joe Riggs (24-5) came into their bout knowing a win would propel one of them into the center of the 185-pound title chase. The two men’s styles in the ring are as different as the places they come from.
Two minutes, forty-two seconds into the fight Salaverry forced a Riggs’ tapout when he locked in a textbook triangle-choke from the guard. The end, which came after several defended Salaverry submission attempts, was made easier when Riggs tasted a kick to the chin as he dove into the guard.
Joe Doerksen (30-6-0) gutted past fellow Canadian Patick Cote (6-2-0) to win an exciting bout 2:35 of round three by rear-naked choke.
The middleweight had his shot at the same ending during several minutes of the fight’s opening round. Working on the mat after a beautifully executed trip-takedown, he secured Cote’s back. But the Quebecer deftly prevented Doerksen from wrapping an arm around his neck.
Round two belonged to Cote, who peppered the 27-year-old Doerksen with strikes, including a flying knee that snapped the Winnipeg, Manitoban’s head. Action headed into the third, and it seemed like Cote’s fight to win.
He’d limited Doerksen’s takedown game to the point where he could land ripping body shots, and the momentum was his.
To open the final round, Cote, 26, smashed a three-punch combination into Doerksen’s head that sent the rocked middleweight to the canvas. A flurry by Cote, however, wasn't enough to finish the veteran, who was now playing from his guard.
A Doerksen’ belly-to-belly sweep turned the tide and put him in mount, which quickly became back-control when Cote rolled over. The submission fighter entangled Cote’s neck and forced the most effective of all holds.
Opening the night’s card, heavyweight Mike Van Arsdale (10-1-0) needed the full three rounds to defeat John Marsh (12-5-0), scoring a unanimous decision victory (29-28 on each judge’s card).
Following a slow opening round, where the only action came from Van Arsdale’ elbows from side control, Marsh, 34, came alive in the second period.
Fighting out of Redondo Beach, Calif., Marsh traded punches with the world-class wrestler, before taking down Van Arsdale in the round’s final minute. Though Marsh’s strikes were largely ineffective from the half-guard, he forced his 39-year-old opponent to give up his back. But Van Arsdale defended well until round’s end.
Marsh continued to do well as the fight moved into the final round, preventing Van Arsdale’s takedowns. From the clinch, Marsh slammed a knee into Marsh’s midsection — the same shot that so famously put him to the canvas early in his career versus Wanderlei Silva. Marsh pounced, firing away until Van Arsdale, fighting out of San Jose, Calif., reared his shaven head.
In a classic wrestling moment, he quickly ducked under, off-balancing the heavily muscled Marsh. For the final three minutes of the fight, Van Arsdale immobilized his foe under a torrent of body and head elbow shots.
Though he was largely ineffective in the middle portion of the fight, Van Arsdale’s wrestling skill proved to be too much.