Gerald Harris Drops Decision in First Post-UFC Fight
(Gerald Harris after slam-KO’ing Dave Branch at UFC 116; we can’t tell what Joe Silva is saying back there, but it’s probably something like “hit that bastard again and again and again!”)
Last Friday in Tulsa, former UFC fighter Gerald Harris competed for the first time since his unanimous decision loss to Maiquel Falcao in November and subsequent canning. Harris’s opponent at Xtreme Fight Night: Harris vs. Head was James Head, a fighter from Oklahoma City who came into the fight with a 7-1 record against mostly-anonymous competition. And even though that sounds like the kind of mismatch you’d only find on a local card in Tulsa, Head went off script and actually beat Harris by unanimous decision. What?
According to one first-hand account, “Any time Harris took Head down, Head was killing him with elbows from the bottom, it was nasty. Head also caught him with a huge knee…Harris was lazy as fuck, he would shoot and stay on his knees and James would drop some nasty shots on him. Head definately outworked him tonight. The unanimous decision was spot on.”
As Gerald tweeted after the fight, “Tough one last night, but I’m not a man of excuses. I’ll heal up, make changes, and I’ll be back in action May 5th at Tachi Palace.” Harris will meet Anthony Ruiz, a 25-15 journeyman (and one-time Strikeforce title contender) who has lost his last two fights against Leopoldo Serao and Givanildo Santana. TPF 9 is also slated to feature Efrain Escudero, Fabricio Camoes, Waachiim Spiritwolf, Mamoru Yamaguchi, and Jamie Yager.
