Gurgel turns defeat into lesson for students

“I have students looking up to me,” said Gurgel, who owns more than a dozen gyms, including a flagship in West Chester Twp. “I take that seriously.”

The controversy arose when Gurgel took on his pro boxer/MMA lightweight opponent. As an action-packed first round came to a close, both fighters threw punches wildly trying to win the judges’ nod. But Noons reared up for a big left hook and — seemingly a split second after the bell sounded — he clocked and dropped Gurgel with the vicious shot.

“It was the first time in my career I have been truly rocked,” Gurgel said.

But was it a late blow? Endless debating would never produce a definitive answer. But there’s one thing Gurgel is certain it wasn’t.

“It wasn’t intentional,” he said. “K.J. is not a dirty fighter. ... He wasn’t trying to cheat with a late shot.”

Gurgel surprisingly answered the bell for the second round. But Noons (10-2) quickly continued the assault, dropped Gurgel (13-7) with punches, and — just as the referee halted the bout to award him a TKO win — unloaded an illegal knee strike to his opponent’s head. Despite being a former Houstonian and initial crowd favorite, Noons was showered with boos.

Again, though, it was Gurgel who came to his defense.

“All I have to say is that it’s not K.J.’s fault,” said Gurgel, who thinks it was accidental and a heat-of-the-moment mistake. “His job in there is to fight until the referee pulls him off. I would have done the same thing.”

Despite a 1-4 record in his past five fights, Gurgel will get another shot under the Strikeforce banner, according to CEO Scott Coker, who was impressed by the fighter’s “class and respect.”

Hamill and Brown get UFC fights

Loveland native Matt Hamill officially meets Tito Ortiz at October’s UFC 121 event, and Xenia’s Matt Brown is expected to take on Canadian prospect Rory MacDonald at November’s UFC 123 show.

Hamill (9-2) takes on MMA legend Ortiz (15-7-1) on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 121, set for Oct. 23 at Anaheim’s Honda Center.

Brown (13-9), meanwhile, is likely facing a contract termination unless victorious against McDonald (10-1) at UFC 123 (Nov. 20 at a host site TBA). Brown went 4-1 in his first five UFC fights before recent back-to-back losses to Chris Lytle and Ricardo Almeida.

Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, voted best media outlet in the 2008 and 2009 World MMA Awards. For the latest mixed-martial-arts news, go to www.MMAjunkie.com.