The Ultimate Fighter season 15 competitor Daron Cruickshank picked up his first UFC win since the finale with an impressive head kick KO of Henry Martinez at UFC On Fox 5. This was Cruickshank's (12-2) second win in the Octagon in as many fights. The finishing blow dropped Martinez's (9-3) UFC record to 1-2.
Henry Martinez opened the fight up by pressuring Cruickshank with a wild flurry before clinching up. He tried this a couple times in the first round, but every exchange had Cruickshank exploiting Martinez's porous defense and landing the better blows. Daron's vastly superior striking skills showed through even more when he had room to work. He landed many of his Tae Kwon Do kicks and had Martinez reeling more than once. Finally, just passed the halfway point in the second round he landed the kick that finished the fight.
What was the high point of the fight?
The head kick knock out, of course!
Where do they go from here?
With the widespread complaints of the talent-level of TUF fighters going into the UFC, a technically impressive win like this is huge for Cruickshank. The UFC loves to push their TUF vets and now they have a fantastic highlight reel clip to promote him with.
While a 1-2 record can often mean a pink slip, Henry Martinez may get one more shot in the UFC. His first loss was a very close split decision to Matt Riddle and he won his Lightweight debut at UFC On FX 3. On top of that, he definitely showed up to fight at UFC On Fox 5 and we all know how much the UFC likes exciting fighters.
Watch it now, never, or later?
Do you like head kicks? Do you like knock outs? Then go watch this fight!