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    Former wrestlers Mir, Lee, Ferguson, Sicilia win at UFC Fight Night 71

    Four former wrestlers -- Frank Mir, Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson and Sam Sicilia -- came out winners, while a trio of other matmen -- including three-time Pac-10 mat champ Scott Jorgensen -- lost on decision at the UFC Fight Night "Mir vs. Duffee" event at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Wednesday night.

    Mir, a 1998 Nevada high school state wrestling champ, knocked Todd Duffee unconscious at 1:11 of the first round of their heavyweight headline bout.

    Frank Mir
    "A comically wide right hook from Duffee gave Mir all the opening he needed," is how Tristan Critchfield described the fight for Sherdog.com. "The Las Vegas resident easily avoided the offering and caught his foe flush on the chin with a counter left hook. Duffee was rendered unconscious upon impact and tumbled face first to the mat, giving Mir his 13th finish in UFC competition."

    "I went out there and beat a young stud at what he does best, which is throw leather -- throw explosive, throw hard," said the 36-year-old Mir, a former Ultimate Fighting Championships titlist, referring to his 29-year-old opponent Duffee. "I fought a little emotional. I usually don't do that. I try to be crafty. But I bit down on my mouthpiece, and I was just swinging for the fences."

    It was Mir's second consecutive knockout, elevating his overall MMA record to 18-9, and 16-9 in UFC competition, while Duffee falls to 9-3, and 3-2 in UFC.

    Lee, who wrestled at Grand View State University in Michigan, won his fourth straight fight with a first-round submission of James Moontasi in their lightweight match. "The Motown Phenom" applied a rear-naked choke to get Moontasi to tap out at 2:57 of the opening round. "Once I get that squeeze on it it's all over," the 22-year-old Lee said, who is now 11-1 in his MMA career, and 4-1 in UFC. Moontasi falls to 8-3 overall, and 1-2 in UFC.

    In a lightweight battle, Tony Ferguson -- who was a National Collegiate Wrestling Association national champ at 165 pounds while a student at Grand Valley State in Michigan -- earned a unanimous decision over Josh Thomson, who once wrestled at North Idaho Community College, 30-27, 30-27, 30-26. Ferguson is now 19-3 overall, while Thomson drops to 20-7, 1-2 in UFC.

    In a featherweight match-up featuring two former high school wrestlers, Sam Sicilia got a unanimous decision over Yaotzin Meza, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. Sicilia -- who is now 15-5 overall in MMA, and 5-4 in UFC -- had wrestled at Mt. Spokane High School in Washington State (and is now an assistant coach there), while Meza -- 21-10 in MMA, 2-3 in UFC -- placed third at the Arizona state championships as a senior at Flagstaff High.

    Jorgensen, who won three conference crowns during his time as a Boise State wrestler from 2001-06, came out on the losing end of a unanimous decision in his bantamweight bout with Manvel Gamburyan, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27. "The Anvil" scored multiple takedowns on the former college mat champ, and landed heavy punches to win the match. With the win, Gamburyan is now 15-8 overall, and 6-6 in UFC; Jorgensen is now 15-11 in his MMA career, and 4-7 in UFC.

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