Rider alum Nick Catone falls short in UFC match

By Michael Mack

Rider alumnus Nick Catone faced his second challenge in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Wednesday, April 1.
Coming off a dominating win over Derek Downey, Catone had some confidence going into his contest with the 11-2 submission specialist Tim Credeur. Seven of Credeur’s 11 victories had come by submission, giving Catone a different look from his previous opponent.
This was a matchup between two up-and-comers in the UFC’s 185 lb. middleweight division, with the winner taking a big step up the ranks.
Before the fight, one would think that Catone’s game plan would be to use his superior wrestling experience. And early on in the fight, this was the case.
After trading a few punches, Catone scored a takedown early in the first round. From the ground, however, the fight was in Credeur’s favor. Catone landed a punch, but Credeur shrugged it off and immediately began working his submissions.
Catone found himself in an unfavorable position as Credeur grabbed hold of his arm and began working toward an armbar. This is a very difficult hold to escape from because if the victim makes one wrong move his arm could easily snap.
However, after battling for about a minute, Catone was able to escape Credeur’s hold and got back into a dominant position. From his back, Credeur worked for another submission, but Catone escaped once again. Credeur slowly worked his way back to his feet, only to be taken down by Catone again.
Catone landed a big punch to Credeur’s head after the take down. Credeur shook it off again though and continued to protect himself from any more strikes.
Catone landed two big elbows before finding himself in yet another submission, this time a triangle choke. This is a very tight choke, where one fighter wraps his legs around his opponent’s head and either arm, and pulls down on his head in attempt to choke them out.
Once again though, Catone was able to escape the hold and land one last punch before the end of the round. According to MMAJunkie.com, Credeur won the first round.
In the beginning of the second round Catone showed very impressive and much improved stand-up skills. He landed two big kicks to the midsection, along with a few quick jabs and a stiff right hand before taking Credeur down yet again.
From the ground Catone landed another elbow to Credeur’s head, but once again Credeur was able to keep his composure.
The fight slowed down as Catone worked for better position. Credeur slipped away from Catone and sunk in yet another submission. This time Catone found himself in a guillotine choke, which is a tight choke where a fighter locks his opponents head and neck between his bicep and his body and wrenches the neck in order to choke him out.
Catone struggled for a good amount of time, but eventually the choke was too much and Catone was forced to submit 3:42 into the second round.
With the loss he falls to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the UFC. There is no timetable just yet as to when Catone’s next fight will be, though it could be soon as he did not sustain any serious damage in the fight. Catone is currently signed to a three-fight contract with the UFC.