Horn clearly took the first, working multiple submissions, including two armbars from the guard. The stronger Prangley survived by continually countering Horn’s efforts to end the fight.
The second period, which each judge awarded Horn, was much closer than the first. Horn was tremendous on the inside, scoring with tight punches and sneaky elbows. Yet Prangley scored on the inside as well, and landed two takedowns — it seemed Horn was willing to concede them in order to get in position to submit his foe.
The middle period is where controversy regarding Saturday’s decision, should there be any, would manifest itself.
Prangley opened the final period with two heavy low kicks. The best moment of the round came as Horn was in the middle of a crisp combination that one might see thrown on a heavy bag. Prangley reacted in the middle of it, exploding to the inside where he trapped Horn and slammed him to the canvas. The remainder of the period was Prangley’s.
After the decision was announced, the crowd inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena voiced its disagreement with boos that cascaded down to the Octagon from on high. When Prangley, clearly the popular choice, exited the cage he garnered cheers and ovation during his trudge back to his dressing room.
Swing Bout Strikes Out
Had Prangley-Horn resulted in nothing but boos, the arena would have sounded much like it did during the card’s swing bout that featured Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga against Chicago’s Kevin Jordan (Pictures). For over 14 minutes neither fighter, particularly after the opening couple minutes of round one, did much of anything.
Rounds two and three were fraught with complaints from the crowd and referee Herb Dean (Pictures), who with a 1:12 remaining in the period called time to warn both fighters that they’d need to pick up the pace. Unfortunately for the fans in attendance and those watching on television, there was no reprieve from the doldrums of Gonzaga-Jordan.
It worsened in round three and the crowd spontaneously erupted in an arena-wide chant of “Go Home! Go Home! Go Home!” A stunning ending did not seem like the logical conclusion for this bout, but with half a minute remaining Gonzaga leapt towards Jordan and connected with a right straight square on opponent’s face. Gonzaga followed the downed Jordan to the canvas and landed several shots before Dean could separate the fighters at 4:39 of the round three.
Dark Matches
Sam Hoger (Pictures) fought a smart fight, repeatedly taking down lanky striker Jeff Newton (Pictures) before securing a rear-naked choke victory 2:05 of round two.
From the beginning Hoger never messed around with Newton on the feet, opting instead to put the 38-year-old light heavyweight on his back. Throughout the contest, Hoger did this whenever he pleased.
Newton’s body type made life difficult for Hoger but it also provided openings. When action hit the floor, Newton’s long legs offered Hoger chances at both inside and outside heel hooks. He went at them as best he could, but Newton refused to tap or show any pain.
In round two, Hoger quickly secured the mount position, and after some unorthodox grappling from Newton, the fight was finally in a position to end. With Hoger controlling Newton’s back, the rear-naked choke seemed inevitable and he tapped out of the fight.
Welterweight Thiago Alves survived early leglock attempts by Russian Ansar Chalangov to score a TKO victory 2:25 of round one. After securing the mount, Alves freed himself from Chalangov long enough to connect with a hammer fist (Alves called it a “monkey punch” after the fight) and heavy downward right hands.
Nick Thompson (Pictures) won a gutsy fight over Keith Wisnieski, doing what he had to do to claim a unanimous decision victory. Following an even opening period, Thompson took control in the second. With just under two minutes to go in the round, he landed the best punch of the fight, a crushing right hand that connected to Wisnieski’s head as he worked from the bottom.
Thompson’s efforts continued into the third, though Wisnieski did what he could to change the pace of the fight. Thompson’s size and strength, however, allowed him to walk through Wisnieski’s strikes and reestablish control with power punches and knees from the Thai clinch.
Back on the mat, Thompson went for an armbar, fully extending Wisnieski’s right arm. However the gritty welterweight refused to give in, as he twisted and turned until he was free of the submission.
More ground work between the two closed out the final round and judges Nelson Hamilton, Cecil Peoples and Jeff Mullen each scored it 30-27 for Thompson.