Round 2
Sipe is trying to be more active with the jab to start, but he’s out of range. As he presses forward, Usman lands a straight left, but Sipe wears it well. Sipe lands a clean jab, and Smith warns them about their fingers again.
Sipe’s right eye is swelling from that earlier left hand, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it, landing two nice jabs. Usman rushes in and lands a nice uppercut, prompting Sipe to taunt him, drawing a “Don’t do that, Mitchell” from Nunes in his corner. Usman throws a heavy overhand right that is caught on the hands, and Sipe again sticks out his chin at the Team Pena fighter.
They trade jabs before Sipe lands a body kick, with Usman responding with a nice stepping jab just prior to the midway point of the round. Sipe does a little “Ali Shuffle,” but he’s not offering much in the way of offense through the first half of the round. Usman isn’t either, but he’s been more effective with his limited output.
Usman lands another jab and Sipe counters with a low kick before slapping his chest and raising his hands in the air multiple times. The Team Pena fighter rushes forward, but can’t land, and a “corner cam” shot shows White telling Griffin that he loves the talking and craziness.
Usman lands on outside low kick, Sipe points at him, and White laughs. “This dude’s f****** nuts,” he says to Griffin.
Sipe lands a right hand, but Usman instantly responds with a two-piece of his own, followed by a stiff jab as the clock ticks down to one minute remaining in the round. Smith warns Sipe about his fingers twice in 10 seconds and his corner and teammates implore him to stick to the game plan and attack, but he offers little.
Usman throws a looping right that is blocked, following with a clean jab. And again.
The horn sounds and Sipe gets forehead-to-forehead with Usman, jawing at him as if he’d done something noteworthy or won the fight. Smith gets between them and directs them to their corners, as there could be a third round on deck.
Sipe says, “That big boy ain’t scary; I’m just getting started,” drawing a chuckle out of White, who makes the universal, “This dude is crazy” hand motion to the camera.
Usman recovers in the corner and listens to advice from Pena, while Smith informs both sides that we’re going to a third round.
Sipe seems surprised there is a third round as Nunes tries to give him direction, reminding him again that the low kick is there.