Mina, Economou Victorious at Ultimate Challenge

London Shootfighter Alberto Mina successfully defended his Ultimate Challenge welterweight title on Saturday by stopping “The Ultimate Fighter 9” alumnus Dean Amasinger via strikes after 2:13 of the third round at Ultimate Challenge “Resurrection” at The Troxy in London.

Amasinger, cornered by Rough House contemporaries Dan Hardy, Paul Daley and Nick Osipczak, began as the aggressor, controlling the smaller Mina in the clinch before the prodigious grappler managed to pull guard on his third attempt. Amasinger managed to sweep Mina as he looked for a Kimura, but found the Brazilian’s guard to be just as inhospitable, having to survive seamless triangle and armbar attempts before the round ended.

Mina began the second round with a flourish of extravagant head kicks and spinning punches before landing a crisp right cross, which set up a staggered takedown from which Amasinger immediately returned to his feet. The rest of the round played out in much the same fashion, with Amasinger defending the takedown between periods of ineffectual striking exchanges.

Both began the final round at a reserved pace with Mina landing consecutive right leg kicks before walking into a stiff, straight right from Amasinger. In response, Mina shot in for a single leg takedown that would spell Amasinger’s downfall. Mina quickly scrambled to mount Amasinger’s back before dropping multiple, unanswered punches to the head, forcing the referee to intervene.

The next challenger for Mina’s crown will be former middleweight prospect John Maguire, who dropped to welterweight and emerged the winner in a lackluster split decision with former contender Edgelston Lua. The fight was waged almost exclusively on the ground, with neither fighter managing to inflict any damage of note throughout the fifteen-minute duration.

Elsewhere, former CFC heavyweight champion Karlos Vemola staked his claim for a shot at champion Neil Grove with a first-round knockout of Peter Yandel. Vemola exploded from the opening bell, throwing a six-punch combination whilst rushing forward, closing the distance on Yandel and securing a powerful double-leg slam. After passing Yandel’s guard and settling in side control, Vemola landed four booming right hands, rendering Yandel unconscious with the first. Vemola is now 8-0, and the fight with Grove has been tentatively set for May.

In another heavyweight bout, colorful UWC veteran Stav Economou bested the previously undefeated Shola Adeniran with a rear-naked choke at 1:30 into the first round. The rotund Economou began the round swinging for the fences as he launched a series of overhand rights that initiated a clinch from which he secured a takedown. On the ground, Economou transitioned to take Adeniran’s back, flattened out his body and applied the fight-finishing choke.

The ‘Crazy Bear’ moves to 10-1, with his only loss coming against Vemola in July last year.

Ultimate Challenge “Resurrection” also saw the official abdication of featherweight champion Brad Pickett, who announced that he planned to relocate to America in order to continue his quest for gold in the WEC bantamweight division.

In other bouts:
Jerome Carol def. Galore Bosando -- DQ (Illegal Knee) 1:27 R2
Richard Griffin def. Chris Woolcott -- Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 3:17 R2
Brad Wheeler def. Dominic Plumb -- Submission (Armbar) 0:31 R1
Bola Omoyele def. Earl Brown -- TKO (Knee and Punches) 2:16 R2
Dan Movahedi def. Ryan Campbell -- TKO (Punches) 1:16 R1
Chris Greig def. Steve Dossett -- Submission (Guillotine Choke) 2:51 R1
Colin French def. Pablo Ben -- Submission (Triangle Choke) 1:49 R1
David Nobel def. Rafik Benziada – Unanimous Decision
Jamaine Facey def. Ben Craggy -- KO 0:35 R1
Scott Jansen def. Azran Quasid -- Submission (Kimura) 4:44 R1