FORT CAMPBELL
Michael Chiesa had a tall order ahead of him on Wednesday night at Fort Campbell as he not only had to face fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Colton Smith, but a hangar full of troops all cheering on their brother in arms.
Smith is still active member of the Army and he was more than fired up in the early going of his fight against Chiesa, bringing the military crowd to their feet with an emphatic slam in the first round. Chiesa kept his wits about him after the takedown, and actually landed a perfectly executed reversal to land on top and then transition to Smith's back, looking for the choke.
Smith battled free and ended up gaining the same position on Chiesa before the end of the round, looking to slip his forearm through to get the choke but he couldn't quite get it locked up. To get out of the standing choke position, Chiesa lunged forward and slammed Smith to the mat, loosening up his hold and wiggling free of the choke.
After a thrilling first round, Smith looked to employ a similar takedown but Chiesa once again reversed the move and hit a throw that landed his opponent face first on the mat. Chiesa wasted no time looking for the rear naked choke and Smith had no answer this time around and was forced to tap out.
Chiesa now moves to 10-1 overall and back in the win column after suffering the first loss of his career in his last fight to Jorge Masvidal. Unfortunately for Smith he now drops to 3-3 overall with two losses in a row inside the Octagon.
