Daniel Straus v Jason DentOn October 15th, 2011 Jason Dent ended his record setting NAAFS Lightweight title reign with a Unanimous Decision loss to Interim title holder Daniel Straus after 5 rounds of action.
The title unification bout was a long time coming. The Interim belt was created when Dent left NAAFS for the UFC after a successful run on The Ultimate Fighter resulted in a UFC contract. Shortly after winning the interim belt, Straus signed a contract with Bellator, and left NAAFS with the understanding that he would return and defend the belt in Dent's absence.
When Dent's time in the UFC ended, the unification fight was scheduled, then set aside in favor of a super fight between Dent and NAAFS Middleweight Champion Chris Lozano. Dent suffered a fractured arm in that fight, and the unification fight was again delayed, this time for over a year.
Straus has been called one of the best wrestlers in Ohio who never won a title. He showed those skills in this fight getting takedowns in every round and controlling the action with a strong top ride. Dent did a lot of damage to Straus from the ground, but not enough to convince the judges that he was in control of the fight.
Straus said in interviews before the fight that he wanted to test Dent's stand up and find a way to finish him. After the fight he said after eating some solid shots he decided to go back to wrestling and get the win that way.
The judges score sheets show the final total: 50-45, 50-45, 48-47. All judges favoring Straus.
John Burbol v Dave Lastafka
John Burbol's night ended early as he was dropped with a short right seconds into the first round. Sitting up to shoot he was caught in a tight guillotine, and was forced to tap.
The video (courtesy of Inside MMA) shows hightlights of the Caged Fury show. Dent v Strauss starts at the 1:00 mark
