BROOMFIELD — Neil Magny’s eyes might be bigger than his fists. He fights, it seems, more often than he sleeps.
It would be a problem, except Magny keeps winning.
The Denver mixed martial artist won a clinic-like showing Saturday, forcing Japan’s Kiichi Kunimoto to submit with a rear naked choke hold in the third round. Magny’s victory, his sixth in a row, highlighted the undercard in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Colorado for a nationally televised Fight Night card at the FirstBank Center in Broomfield.
“One of my goals was to get a submission in UFC,” Magny said. He got it after a furious start to the third round. A bunch of punches set up Magny for an easy takedown. Then he forced Kunimoto to tap out at 1:22.
“He’s got some great fights under his belt and it felt awesome to come out here and get the W over a guy like that,” Magny said. “I felt him fading away and I was grinding trying to get a TKO or submission. I saw him pull his head up and the choke was there.”
Magny (14-4) won for a sixth time in less than 13 months. With five victories in 2014 — including an overwhelming knockout victory over William Macario on the UFC 179 undercard in Brazil in October — Magny set the UFC record for most wins in a calendar year.
Magny’s 2015 started on the same trajectory.
Magny stalked Kunimoto from the start, cutting off the cage and forcing him to the edges. Magny landed a left knee to the rib cage that shook Kunimoto, and he followed with a flurry of jabs.
Kunimoto continued to backtrack in Round 2. But he pinned Magny to the mat for more than minute. Magny, though, bounced up and another knee set up another flurry of punches. And after Magny returned the grappling favor, pinning Kuni moto, Magny landed a series of piston punches to end the second round.
Magny, who was born in Brooklyn before earning a degree from Southern Illinois University, was a sergeant in the Illinois National Guard until turning pro in 2010. His UFC contract started in 2013, and he stumbled out of the gate, going 1-2 over nine months.
But Magny rebounded. He remains on the outside of the UFC’s welterweight division (170 pounds). But by dominating Kunimoto (18-6-2), a veteran of the Japanese professional MMA circuits, Magny earned his highest-profile victory.
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or
