Once again, Jorge Gurgel abandoned what he does best, jiu-jitsu, for a stand up war. Not a good idea against a strong boxer like KJ Noons. Gurgel came out in the first round circling quite a bit and using a ton of movement to stay away from Noons. Occasionally he would get in and exchange. He wasn't getting blown out but he definitely wasn't winning. With about a minute left he shot in lazily for a takedown that Noons easily shrugged off. As the round was coming to a close Gurgel tried to explode on Noons. After eating a few rights and lefts, Noons came in with a big counter left hook and it dropped Gurgel. He was clearly out of it even though he stood right up. His legs were not under him but they allowed him to recover for the minute between rounds. Not okay.
Gurgel tried to gamely come out strong in the second but he was much slower as he was still out of it and Noons capitalized. Patiently, he came in and landed a big overhand right followed by a left hook and Gurgel was down and out again. The ref came in like he was going to stop it but he hesitated and Gurgel grabbed at Noons leg. What followed was a bit blurry. Noons was looking to the ref to stop it but as the ref backed off and Gurgel came in on Noons leg he started throwing punches again. At that point the ref jumped in to finally stop it. Noons was in the process of throwing what looked to be an illegal knee but it was questionable as to whether it was before or after the ref was trying to stop it. No matter the win goes to Noons in a fight he clearly was the better man in.
Gurgel will one day go back to doing what he does best but it wasn't today. Noons hands are really a thing of beauty. Up next is the Middleweight title bout.