This bout satisfied the purists with a display of superhuman heart and courage, a fight anyone that missed Life truly missed out. Of course, the boat I’m referring to is Alex Polizzi vs. Jose Augusto which headlined the Prelim portion of the card.
Alex Polizzi took a killer knee in round 1 and survived a barrage of attacks that followed, to not only survive but to come and win via RNC choke in round 3. In my opinion, the fight of the night at Bellator 276 defeated Brazilian Jose Augusto.
Bellator 276 took place at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. and aired on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
The mayhem began in late round 1 Polizzi ducked for a takedown, while with perfect timing Augusto struck Polizzi with a perfectly timed flying knee that landed flush on the jaw of Polizzi and forced him to fall hard. Augusto took full advantage by showering Polizzi with a thunderous amount of punishment. I was very surprised Alex Polizzi survived the round or was even allowed to continue.
After the attack, Polizzi showed incredible heart as he stayed in there managing to finish the round on top, with a massive cut to deal with and having to clear his bearings to be able to even contest in this bout.
Round 3 Polizzi entered with confidence strongly finishing the last stanza, he managed to capitalize on a mistake from Augusto on the ground to take his back and sink in a deep rear-naked choke.
After his win, I caught up with Alex Polizzi to ask about his amazing victory and how felt throughout the fight in terms of if he could recollect the massive knee or armbar attempt from Augusto. When asked he had to say this.
‘Like I said, as far as my stream of consciousness goes, I was winning the fight the whole time. Yeah, I was feeling good. I have great coaches in my corner telling me, you got to watch those big shots coming. When it came to the 3rd, he was a little distant, kind of like I was in the 1st. In the 3rd round, I was able to come out, I had to maintain control. On top. He gave his back quickly. Of Course, I wanted to land some more ground and pound. But the necks open, you got to take it’
After the fight, Polizzi told “Big” John McCarthy he had no recollection of the knee he ate in the first round.
