David Michaud proudly wears the Oglala Lakota Nation flag at his winning match. Photo from Facebook
Pine Ridge’s Michaud wins at UFC Phoenix
By Native Sun News Staff PHOENIX –– Competing in his second fight inside the UFC Octagon, David "BullDawg" Michaud managed to pull out a win over Garett Whiteley in a bloody affair. Coming into the bout Michaud carried a 7-1 record against Indiana's Whiteley who posted an 8-2 mark. The bout was the third fight on the UFC Phoenix card and was aired on the UFC Fight Pass online. The bout proved to be an exciting, bloody affair in itself. The first round saw both fighters exchange strikes in the feet with neither able to gain an edge. That was until three minutes in when "BullDawg" faked a double-leg takedown and connected with an uppercut on Whitley’s chin. The strike wobbled Whiteley a little and Michaud landed several strikes before securing a takedown to seal the round in his favor. Going into the second round the corner of Michaud implored him to work his wrestling more, an area which they thought he had the biggest advantage. Going into the round Michaud again wanted to land some strikes though. He came out firing his hands and even attempted a rarely seen spinning crescent kick which was narrowly blocked by Whiteley. Towards the middle of the second round Michaud bulled Whiteley to the mat and appeared to be in a dominant position when Whiteley landed a sneaky elbow which opened a small cut on Michaud's face. Despite the size of the cut though, the blood started to pour. The announcers in the fight commented “the blood is really spraying out,” according to Joe Rogan. And it was. It was all over the canvas. Even with the blood pouring out of his head Michaud stayed in a dominant position and continued attacking from top and landing strikes.
David Michaud lands a blow against Garett Whiteley. Photo from Facebook
After the second round the Doctor came into the cage and examined the cut, but Michaud's corner an, John Crouch of the MMA Lab told him, “It's not bad, if anything it makes him look better” and apparently the Doctor agreed and allowed the fight to continue. The third round Whiteley came out strong, his corner men told him he was down two rounds to none and needed a finish if he was going to win the fight. He came out firing strikes off but Michaud used his movement and landed the more significant strikes back. He controlled the cage and used his strength to make sure he stayed out of danger. Then towards the end of the round “BullDawg” secured a takedown that all but sealed the victory. After the fight was over the scorecards were read in Michaud's favor and the crowd in Phoenix cheered on the Pine Ridge native. “I came out and wanted to keep the pressure on him, I knew he was a tough guy and would never quit. I had hoped to get a finish but he is a great fighter and I knew he would keep bringing it the whole time,” said Michaud. “The cut never really bothered me. It was weird when it opened up, I didn't think he hit me that hard but it just started pouring out. There was blood everywhere, it just made me want to land more strikes on him though.” Now with the win Michaud moves to 1-1 in the UFC and 8-1 overall. The fight was his first at the lightweight class which is 155 pounds and will be his new weight class. He looked so good at the class in fact he got complimented on his fight from UFC President Dana White, who informed him it was a “good, exciting fight” according to Michaud. Now that the fight is over Michaud will go back to training and looking for his next UFC opponent. (You can reach NSN staff writers at editor@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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