Brandon Girtz caught Saad Awad with a thunderous right hand that turned Awad’s legs into linguini. Awad sunk to his knees in a heap of pain.
That strike set the tone for Girtz, who was giving up a sizeable amount of height and reach. He got inside and landed enough explosive shots to upset Awad by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) in the main event of Bellator 219 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif. on Friday night.
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After landing that huge blow in the first round, Girtz sneaked in a left hand to drop Awad with a thud in the second. Moments later, he landed another huge right that forced Awad to turn his back to Girtz in an attempt to recover from its severity. Although Awad battled back in the remainder of the round, Girtz had more than successfully negated his opponent's four-inch height and five-inch reach advantages.
Awad continued to fight and even wobbled a fatigued Girtz in the waning seconds of the third round, but Girtz hung on to have his hand raised at the end of a lightweight fight that left both men bloodied.
"I came to fight a f—ng warrior," Girtz (16-8) said in the cage during his postfight interview. "You guys all saw that. I swear, he was out twice and he just came back from it.
"I knew I was going to have my hands full here," he said moments later, "but these are the types of fights that they put me in because they know I'm going to come and bang it out with somebody like Saad."
Coming into the fight, Awad (23-11) had won 11 of his last 16 bouts via first-round finish, making Girtz's win all the more special.
Co-main event: Daniel Straus def. Shane Krutchen by first-round submission (rear-naked choke); lightweights
Fighting for the first time since a devastating motorcycle accident that could have killed him in December 2017, Straus made sure his emotional return to the cage was an overwhelming success. He finished Krutchen with a rear-naked choke in the first round.
Standing in the middle of the cage, Straus wound up his left hand and dropped Krutchen with a thud, then took his back seconds later and cinched the choke against Krutchen’s jawline. He applied enough pressure to get the submission victory 3:53 into the round.
💪😳 @DanielStraus is victorious in his return to the Bellator cage tonight at #Bellator219 . pic.twitter.com/1lMoEvmIci
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) March 30, 2019
“It means a lot to me,” said an emotional Straus, who was joined in the cage by his 6-year-old daughter. "It means a lot to other people who’s here."
And other people in the MMA community, period; UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier chimed in on Twitter.
Yesssssssss!!!! Congrats @DanielStraus amazing brother pic.twitter.com/j2lZOHVbbx
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) March 30, 2019
Now, that he’s back, Straus (26-8) put the lightweight division on notice about what he'll be working toward.
"I'm just looking to keep building," said the former two-time champion, "and get back to that belt."
Other results from the main card
- Andrey Koreshkov def. Mike Jasper via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27); welterweights
- Joe Schilling def. Keith Berry by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26); middleweights
Prelims results
- Joey Davis def. Marcus Anthony via first-round KO (punches); Welterweights
- Dalton Rosta def. Cody Vidal by first-round TKO (injury); Light heavyweights
- Shawn Bunch def. Dominic Mazzotta via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27); Bantamweights
- David Rickels def. A.J. Matthews by second-round TKO (punches); Welterweights
- Janay Harding def. Marina Mokhnatkina via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-28); Featherweights
- Darren Smith Jr. def. Joshua Jones by first-round KO (punches); Lightweights
- John Mercurio def. Johnny Cisneros via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28); Welterweights
- Rickey Furar det. Roman Puga by second-round TKO (doctor stoppage); Bantamweights
- Sunni Imhotep def. Eugene Correa via first-round KO (punches); Lightweights
- David Pacheco vs. Kelvin Gentapanan was cancelled by California State Athletic Commission, as Pacheco weighed in above the allotted limit on fight day.
