UFC Fight Night 24 Play-by-Play: Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson

Round 1: The two fighters trade leg kicks as the crows chants Hardy’s name.  Left high kick from Johnson drops Hardy, but he recovers.  The two get back up and Johnson gets a strong takedown.  While in guard, Johnson works some ground and pound.  Hardy working hard from the bottom to prevent a pass of his guard.  Hardy now looking to pull a kimura with Johnson in his half guard, but Johnson escapes.  “Rumble” Johnson wins the round 10-9, finishing it with hammer fists to Hardy’s face.

Round 2: Johnson controls the center of the Octagon and Hardy circles around him before being taken down.  Pressed up against the cage and laying on his back, Hardy deals with Johnson being on top of him, eating left and right hands while doing so.  Hardy attempting another kimura from his back, but Johnson gets out of it.  Johnson has been in Hardy’s half guard for an extended period of time, has done little as far as damage.  Johnson transitions to guard and works some ground and pound, but not for long, as the crowd begins to boo.  The ref stands them up and Johnson goes straight for a single leg, taking Hardy down just before the end of the round.  10-9 Johnson.

Round 3: Hardy shoots in for a takedown, but “Rumble” stuffs it easily.  Back in Hardy’s guard, Johnson gets caught in a brief kimura attempt by Hardy before the British fighter lets the hold go.  Back on the feet, Johnson shoots in for another takedown and the crowd lets him know they don’t like it.  Johnson immediately wins the crowd back after getting Hardy’s back.  From there, Johnson does very little as far as offense is concerned until he tries a front choke.  He lets the hold go, but then does a headlock.  The hold was applied for just a short amount of time and the round finished with Johnson punching Hardy while on the ground.  MMAWeekly.com scored the fight 30-27 for Johnson.
 
Official call: Anthony Johnson defeats Dan Hardy by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

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