UFC Fight Night 54 results: Daron Cruickshank Dominates Anthony Njokuani for decision

Daron Cruickshank for the Win!

HALIFAX – In a battle of two deft strikers, Daron Cruickshank was willing to seize openings where Anthony Njokuani wasn’t.

Over three rounds, Cruickshank (16-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) kept Njokuani (16-9 MMA, 3-5 UFC) from settling in and kept him off balance by mixing wrestling with striking in a unanimous decision.

The lightweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 54 event at Halifax Metro Centre in Nova Scotia, Canada. It aired on FOX Sports 2 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FOX Sports 1.

The final scores were 30-27 thrice for Cruickshank, who got back on the winning track after judges handed him a unanimous decision loss to Jorge Masvidal at UFC on FOX 12 in July. Njokuani dropped to 2-4 in his past six outings and likely faces a pink slip.

Cruickshank played the counter-striking game as Njokuani closed the distance. A stiff leg kick was the former WEC fighter’s best offense, but his combinations were sporadic, while Cruickshank mixed in attacks to the body and spinning attacks. When Njokuani tried to chase down a response, he was put on his back.

In the second frame, Cruickshank even played homage to UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes by carrying Njokuani across the cage and slamming him to the mat. Njokuani was more generous with his combinations, but failed to hurt his opponent.

A last-minute armbar was Njokuani’s last hope, and Cruickshank used it to seal his dominance, nearly pulling off another slam.

“My contract is up in March, so I’m really trying to string together some impressive wins so the UFC can see I’m ready to take that next step up,” Cruickshank said. “My game plan with Anthony was, I know anytime he’s put on the ground, he loses. I’ve never been known as a wrestler, but I think that’s a pretty good part of my game, so I wanted to make Anthony afraid of that. When I got in close, I was able to mix up some different striking and then keep him guessing with my takedown attempts. I’m hoping for a top 15 guy next; I definitely know I’m ready.”

Daron Cruickshank vs. K.J. Noons announced for TUF 20 Finale

Daron Cruickshank vs K.J. Noons Announced for TUF 20 Finale

A lightweight battle was added to the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale card in Las Vegas. UFC officially announced that Daron Cruickshank will take on former Strikeforce star K.J. Noons at the Nevada’s Palms Casino Resort on Dec. 12.

Fresh off a decision victory over Anthony Njokuani, Cruickshank (16-5) improved to 3-1 in his past four bouts inside the Octagon. Noons (13-7), who looked impressive in his last UFC bout with a 30-second win over Sam Stout in April, enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak with a decision win over George Sotiropoulos in late 2013.

A couple other match-ups were announced from the promotion for UFC cards in December.

A day after the TUF 20 Finale show, UFC heads to FOX in Phoenix with Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic as the headliner, and a lightweight clash between David Michaud and Garett Whiteley was added to the card.

Michaud (7-1) cuts down to 155 pounds after suffering his first professional loss, in his Octagon debut against Jingliang Li at UFC 173, to meet Whiteley (7-2), who desperately needs a win after back-to-back losses to Alan Patrick and Vinc Pichel under the UFC banner.

The last UFC card of the year, headlined by Lyoto Machida vs. C.B. Dollaway in Barueri, Brazil, on Dec. 20, will feature a bantamweight clash in Leandro Issa vs. Yuta Sasaki.

Issa (12-4) earned both "Fight of the Night" and "Performance of the Night" bonuses in his last UFC fight, finishing Tuerxun Jumabieke with a third-round armbar. Unbeaten in his past 12 fights, Sasaki (18-1-2) makes his second UFC appearance after a 66-second stoppage victory over Roland Delorme in August.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/10/10/6956679/daron-cruickshank-vs-k-j-noons-announced-for-tuf-20-finale