By Steve Juon, WrestlingObserver.com
Quick update: American Top Team is down 100-0 after the Blackzilians have run off four straight wins to open the show. This week Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has shown up at the TUF house to congratulate his Blackzilian teammate Carrington Banks on getting the victory over Sabah Homasi. It was the closest fight of the season so far – needing a full three rounds to decide a winner.
Homasi still believes he won the third round last week and honestly so do I. “F@%@ these judges and their scoring, I don’t know what the f#%! kind of fight they’re watching.” Dan Lambert reminds ATT that the next four fights are worth twice as many points, so it’s a clean slate from here. With two wins they can tie it up again.
Kamaru Usman says nobody on the Blackzilians is celebrating being ahead right now. Tyrone Spong gives their team a pep talk and says it’s time to take their souls. “No one is better than all of us together.” He wants them headhunting to keep the home gym advantage. “The next fight, I want a knockout.”
ATT expects Hayder Hassan to be the man to change their fortunes. Hassan vows there will be two winners when he goes to the Blackzilian gym – himself and the fans and home who got to watch him. Suffice it to say confidence is high. Hassan says he joined ATT because he wouldn’t be with anybody but the best, and that his name in Arabic means “GREAT.”
The Blackzilians choose Andrews Nakahara to take the next fight. “This is my moment. I feel so confident. I’m ready for this.” Belfort brought him to the team and said he was a future champion, and now is his chance to prove it. He reminds me a lot of Lyoto Machida, and not just because he’s a Kyokushin karate champion. He says he only fights to help his family out.
Back at the house Hayder Hassan and Jason Jackson are beefing with each other, and Jackson has been telling people he’s a dirty fighter because when they faced each other in 2013, and Hassan won. Jackson claims he cheated by pulling on his braided hair. They’re hinting that these two could scrap tonight OUTSIDE the cage.
Back from break, and they’re still talking and calling each other five letter words. After that settles down Steve Carl and the other ATT guys are sitting around a fire outside the house speculating who Hassan will face next. Hassan says he’ll approach it like a gladiator entering the coliseum – not knowing who he’ll face and not caring. Michael Graves earns the ire of his ATT teammates and Dan Lambert by sleeping in the next morning instead of going to the gym. They’re even talking about booting him from the house.
Weigh-in time. Hassan is 170 even. Nakahara is 170 even. The fight is official. Dana White is excited because he’s going to see two strikers go to war. Hassan believes the fight will be “fireworks.” There’s still one day to go until the match up so we get a commercial break, followed by each guy doing their final sparring and warm-up before the bout.
* Andrews Nakahara (Blackzilians) vs. Hayder Hassan (American Top Team)
There are only ten minutes left so this isn’t going to be a long fight. Hassan is in the blue trunks. Nakahara is in the black. Hassan is pushing forward immediately and Nakahara is responding with high kicks. Hassan paws away with the left and keeps the right hand cocked tight, but the kill shot is a BIG left hook. The fight is waved off at 48 seconds. ATT IS JUMPING FOR JOY. Glenn Robinson is stunned. Hassan makes a signal with one finger on his lips – “shhhhh.”
Robinson is trying to be stoic about it after the break. “It happens.” It does Glenn, it does. Lambert notes the fight went exactly how they thought it would – Nakahara trying to keep the distance with kicks, Hassan pressing forward, and unloading once he backed Nakahara to the fence. Robinson: “Nine times out of ten he would have won that fight.” But he didn’t Glenn. Dana White: “Boom! Here we go.” Hassan: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” It’s now 100-50 and for the first time this season ATT will have the home gym advantage next week. See you then!