Olsen falls to Franca

By GREG SCHINDLER

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell's Brandon Olsen lost to Hermes Franca in a World Extreme Cagefighting World Lightweight Championship bout in San Bernadino, Calif., on Thursday.

Olsen, 31, punished Franca with a flurry of early punches, but he lost by submission in the first round when Franca put him in an arm bar.

Olsen said the fight's turning point came when he tried to strike Franca with a high kick. Franca blocked the kick by turning and covering his head, but was knocked into the cage in the process.

That gave Olsen the chance to either continue striking Franca against the cage or take him to the ground. Olsen chose the latter, which proved to be his downfall.

"I don't think I should have took him down," Olsen said.

Franca is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, specializing in leg locks. Olsen was so wary of getting caught in a leg lock that he left his left arm exposed and Franca grabbed it.

"My arm popped, but I tapped before it broke," Olsen said.

The fight was a main event at WEC XXI "Tapout" and the highest profile fight of Olsen's career. Franca is 2-2 in Ultimate Fighting Competition bouts and Olsen thought he could break into the UFC by beating Franca.

Olsen and his trainer and coach, Kevin Moore of Ultimate Submission Academy in Kalispell, maintain that fighting Hermes helped Olsen's career even though he lost.

"It was really obvious from the get-go that Brandon was much stronger than Hermes," Moore said. "Everybody makes a mistake and if he stuck with his original game plan he probably could have hurt Hermes."

Olsen was surprised by how easily he pushed Franca around.

"I felt good against him, I felt strong," Olsen said. "I just made a mistake and I had to pay for it."

Moore said Olsen will eventually have a rematch with Franca, but Olsen said his next fight will be next month in Butte against Ring of Fire Championship Fighting champion Alvin Robinson.

Olsen and Moore have a conference call scheduled with UFC president Dana White next week. They will discuss putting Olsen on season five of "The Ultimate Fighter," UFC's television series which will be filmed later this year and aired on Spike TV.

Olsen nearly made it to the show's first season, but was cut during the final round of casting. The show pits mixed martial arts fighters against each other in competition for a spot in the UFC.