Eddie Alvarez and "The Goat" Win Quickly

Mixed martial arts fighter Nick "The Goat" Thompson (30-9-0) enjoys his reputation for odd behavior.

“I’m one of Bodog Fight’s most colorful fighters,” he said before facing Jiu-Jitsu fighter Dustin Denes (12-3-3) in Costa Rica. “A lot of people think I’m just hamming it up for the camera, but you can ask any of my training partners. I act equally goofy off camera as I do on camera.”

While Thompson was up to his usual strange antics before the match, Denes was all business. “I’m here for battle,” he said. “I’m here to fight hard.”

The battle was a re-match between the two fighters, who had faced each other three years previously, with Denes winning by submission.

Stepping into the ring, Thompson was determined not to lose again. “I’m a completely different fighter now,” he said. “I’m going to end this quickly and violently.”

As it turns out, “The Goat” did exactly that. After absorbing a few leg kicks from Thompson, Denes made a fatal error by choosing to pull half-guard. Thomson saw the opportunity to strike from the top position and rained down punches, passing to the mount position. Unable to defend himself, Dustin began eating hard blows to the face and referee Troy Waugh stopped the fight just over a minute into the first round.

In the second match, Eddie Alvarez (9-1-0) defeated submission specialist Scott Henze (17-6-2).

Alvarez was confident going into the ring. “I’m a big fan of Eddie Alvarez,” he said. “I enjoy watching myself fight. I enjoy punching; punching things, punching people.”

Henze was not afraid. “I enjoy knocking out people who say they are going to knock me out,” he replied. “I fought a guy once who said he was going to rip my legs off. I broke his leg.”

The hand speed and take-down defense was too much for Henze, however. Unable to get a takedown, Henze took many hard shots and Alvarez pummeled his opponent throughout the first round. Finally, with just under a minute remaining in the round, and Alvarez laying down incredible strikes from the top position, Henze’s corner was forced to throw in the towel.

Source: sports.bodogbeat.com