Former Hurricane Fuery wins pro debut

MIAMI - Fort Lauderdale's Brian Fuery made the transition from football to mixed martial arts look easy Friday night at Shine Fight II: American Top Team vs. The World card at the James L. Knight Center.

The former University of Miami football player from Team Popovich won his pro heavyweight debut and needed only one round to do it.

A confident Fuery forced Phil Friedman (1-2), of Las Vegas' Xtreme Couture, to tap out at 2:03 of the opening period in front of a less than capacity crowd of 1,000.

"He is a tough guy and I like tough guys," said the Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt, who took him down twice before putting him away with a head and arm choke.

"You want to beat a champ, you got to beat a champ and this was the first step.

"In football you can wear the jersey and you don't always get on the field," Fuery said. "Here, this is the field and you make things happen. You don't wait for anything to happen."

Another former football player, Homestead native and former Green Bay Packer Herbert Goodman (9-7), of Appleton, Wis., came from behind in the first two rounds to knock off James Brasco (4-2), of Delray Beach, in the third round with a flurry of punches.

"I knew he was a good wrestler," Goodman said. "I got the takedown and saw he was winded. I pushed him off, put him on his back and I went for the punches and knocked him out.

"It's been a big transition from football. In football I have 10 other players around me. I am still learning."

UFC veteran and Ascension MMA owner Junior Assuncao (8-4) won a three-round split decision over Peter Grimes, of Granite, Ill. The judges had Assuncao, 29-28 and 30-27 and Grimes 29-28.

Several fighters, including Assuncao, complained about the slippery surface of the cage.

"It was really slippery, I was complaining the whole time to the ref, it was hard for us to have traction there," Assuncao said.

"I definitely had a good performance, you can't argue about that. I knew my jiu-jitsu was stronger and I depended on it."

Micah Miller, of American Top Team Boca Raton, looked impressive with a triangle choke forcing Anthony Morrison, of Philadelphia, to tap out at 4:25 of the second round.

"It definitely adds pressure have everyone here for me, my family and my ATT family," Miller said. "It's good to bring it back home and show people who I love what I have been doing."

The card featured six PRIDE, five UFC and three WEC veterans in the South Florida debut of Shine Fight Promotions, which is trying to make an impact locally.

Shine is expected to return in December with another pro card. It is the first of three pro MMA cards scheduled for Dade and Broward over three weeks.

Four other fights were still scheduled, including three bouts and the non-title main event between former UFC fighter Roan "Jucao" Carneiro and Jorge Patino.

It is Carneiro's first fight since being released from the UFC after losses to Jon Fitch, Kevin Burns and Ryo Chonan.


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(sun-sentinel.com)