Finished Business: Smith Knocks Out Levens
Smith Leaves No Doubt
Josh Gross Jan 14, 2006
LEMOORE, Calif., Jan. 13 — WEC light heavyweight champion Scott Smith came back in electric
fashion Friday at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, surviving an
early knockdown by Justin
Levens (Pictures) to stun his challenger 1:58 after
the opening bell.
The two young light heavyweights were set to meet in the finals of October’s WEC light heavyweight tournament, which Smith won against alternate Tait Fletcher (Pictures). But Levens was forced to bow out after injuring his shoulder during a stoppage victory against Jorge Oliviera, leading to tonight’s “Unfinished Business” card that aired live in HDNet.
Despite a chorus of boos from the pro-Smith crowd, Levens strolled
to the cage with the sly smile that the Ruas Vale Tudo student
seems to always wear before fights. The sold-out audience exploded
when Smith, sporting an aggressive demeanor, walked out.
In the fight’s first few seconds, Levens dodged a punch from the traditionally slow-starting champion and plastered a right hand to his jaw, the impact of which forced Smith’s legs to give.
Seeing a quick end to the fight, Levens moved forward but his eagerness to capitalize on the early fortune backfired. Going after a rear-naked choke while failing to control Smith’s back was Levens’ first major misstep. Had he secured the position or decided instead to remain separated and strike, there is real possibility he could have ended Smith’s night before it really had a chance to start.
That sort of thing happens with inexperience, and for a fighter who’d never been out of the first round in seven professional fights the mistake is almost understandable.
Smith, with just nine bouts under his belt before tonight, showed great poise in coming back from the brink. “I remember he did actually have my throat and I was like this isn’t happening, all that shit I talked about being able to take him on the ground I’m not getting submitted by this guy.”
The two scrambled on the mat and Smith, his faculties having returned, fell backwards with Levens’ left leg. “I think just because I got stunned so quick I just felt I had to act [even though] I still had 14 minutes left to fight,” Smith said. “I think I was just kind of overreacting jumping in trying to finish the fight really quick.”
Instead of countering and regaining position, Levens applied a toehold. Neither man was going to give and Smith realized this first. The champion released the submission to get top position, which Levens immediately countered.
The fighters returned to their feet and the pace was very different. Levens, slow now, controlled the champion from behind and for the first time neither man pressed the action. Clinched in his corner within earshot of his Capital City Fighting Alliance training partners, Smith heard the instructions of Urijah Faber (Pictures).
“Scott was attacking the wrist and I told him to hook one elbow just like Sakuraba does,” said Faber, the current KOTC bantamweight champion. “You can control a guy from there and it really immobilizes. You can’t throw a power punch with the other arm because you don’t have any leverage.”
“I had the two-on-one — you know both hands on his right hand,” Smith remembered. “I wanted to switch off and get the left hand on it and throw the elbow. Obviously [Levens is] hearing the same thing I am, so you don’t want to do it right away.”
Giving Faber a nod, Smith walked Levens to their right, tracing the line of the pentagon-shaped cage. It was then that the champion put Faber’s words into action, swinging his right elbow back in a sweeping motion.
It connected and Smith pounced on the stunned challenger, unloading several punches, one of which, a right hand, caught Levens on the side of his head. A left uppercut finished the combination and Levens fell hard to the floor.
“I thought he was out when he hit the ground,” said Smith, who didn’t let that stop him from firing down punches.
“I got to go until the ref stops it. I dropped a couple more bombs. As soon as the ref jumps in I’m done — I want the win just as bad as he wants to stop getting beat up.”
Referee Josh Rosenthal jumped between the fighters — Levens prone silent on the canvas and Smith jubilant on his feet.
“Don’t piss me off,” Smith told his teammates after it was done. They agreed. Don’t piss him off.
Of the advice offered from his corner, Smith smiled. “Yeah,” he said, “I owe Urijah one. I’m gonna have to buy him a drink.”
Several minutes after taking the first defeat of his career, the shocked challenger made his way out of the cage with an apparent concussion. Levens did not speak with the media after the fight.
Having come into tonight’s bout five pounds under the light heavyweight limit, Smith now appears on the verge of making his way into the UFC at middleweight.
The two young light heavyweights were set to meet in the finals of October’s WEC light heavyweight tournament, which Smith won against alternate Tait Fletcher (Pictures). But Levens was forced to bow out after injuring his shoulder during a stoppage victory against Jorge Oliviera, leading to tonight’s “Unfinished Business” card that aired live in HDNet.
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In the fight’s first few seconds, Levens dodged a punch from the traditionally slow-starting champion and plastered a right hand to his jaw, the impact of which forced Smith’s legs to give.
“I’ve definitely been stunned like that before, like a flash
knockout type of thing,” said Smith, who recovered to survive
Levens’ frenzied early pace. “Thank God they didn’t stop it.”
Seeing a quick end to the fight, Levens moved forward but his eagerness to capitalize on the early fortune backfired. Going after a rear-naked choke while failing to control Smith’s back was Levens’ first major misstep. Had he secured the position or decided instead to remain separated and strike, there is real possibility he could have ended Smith’s night before it really had a chance to start.
That sort of thing happens with inexperience, and for a fighter who’d never been out of the first round in seven professional fights the mistake is almost understandable.
Smith, with just nine bouts under his belt before tonight, showed great poise in coming back from the brink. “I remember he did actually have my throat and I was like this isn’t happening, all that shit I talked about being able to take him on the ground I’m not getting submitted by this guy.”
The two scrambled on the mat and Smith, his faculties having returned, fell backwards with Levens’ left leg. “I think just because I got stunned so quick I just felt I had to act [even though] I still had 14 minutes left to fight,” Smith said. “I think I was just kind of overreacting jumping in trying to finish the fight really quick.”
Instead of countering and regaining position, Levens applied a toehold. Neither man was going to give and Smith realized this first. The champion released the submission to get top position, which Levens immediately countered.
The fighters returned to their feet and the pace was very different. Levens, slow now, controlled the champion from behind and for the first time neither man pressed the action. Clinched in his corner within earshot of his Capital City Fighting Alliance training partners, Smith heard the instructions of Urijah Faber (Pictures).
“Scott was attacking the wrist and I told him to hook one elbow just like Sakuraba does,” said Faber, the current KOTC bantamweight champion. “You can control a guy from there and it really immobilizes. You can’t throw a power punch with the other arm because you don’t have any leverage.”
“I had the two-on-one — you know both hands on his right hand,” Smith remembered. “I wanted to switch off and get the left hand on it and throw the elbow. Obviously [Levens is] hearing the same thing I am, so you don’t want to do it right away.”
Giving Faber a nod, Smith walked Levens to their right, tracing the line of the pentagon-shaped cage. It was then that the champion put Faber’s words into action, swinging his right elbow back in a sweeping motion.
It connected and Smith pounced on the stunned challenger, unloading several punches, one of which, a right hand, caught Levens on the side of his head. A left uppercut finished the combination and Levens fell hard to the floor.
“I thought he was out when he hit the ground,” said Smith, who didn’t let that stop him from firing down punches.
“I got to go until the ref stops it. I dropped a couple more bombs. As soon as the ref jumps in I’m done — I want the win just as bad as he wants to stop getting beat up.”
Referee Josh Rosenthal jumped between the fighters — Levens prone silent on the canvas and Smith jubilant on his feet.
“Don’t piss me off,” Smith told his teammates after it was done. They agreed. Don’t piss him off.
Of the advice offered from his corner, Smith smiled. “Yeah,” he said, “I owe Urijah one. I’m gonna have to buy him a drink.”
Several minutes after taking the first defeat of his career, the shocked challenger made his way out of the cage with an apparent concussion. Levens did not speak with the media after the fight.
Having come into tonight’s bout five pounds under the light heavyweight limit, Smith now appears on the verge of making his way into the UFC at middleweight.
