They weren’t among the headliners at Saturday’s UFC 118, but Joe Lauzon
and Marcus Davis — in very different ways — put an undeniable Boston
stamp on the event.
Their fights — one triumphant, the other blue-collar tough — personified the host city.
Lauzon, a Bridgewater resident, fed off a partisan Garden crowd,
tearing through Gabe Ruediger. He slammed the Californian to the ground
early in the first round, rained down blows from the top position and
slapped on a winning armbar 2:01 in.
“The crowd was unbelievable tonight,” Lauzon said. “I love the crowd. I love Boston.”
Maine’s Davis, meanwhile, was every bit New England rough-and-tumble in a no-quit submission loss to Nate Diaz.
Badly bloodied in an early clinch, Davis was taken down in the third
round. There was clearly no escape after Diaz wrapped up a guillotine
choke, but Davis wouldn’t tap out, preferring a quite literal
knockout.
