Kalispell fighter Brandon Olsen wins

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell's Brandon Olsen beat Ohio's Gary Young with a rear naked choke in a 170-pound professional mixed martial arts bout Saturday at Fight Force's Helena Havoc at Helena Ice Arena.

After winning his July 22 fight against Dominic Bjerke with a guillotine choke in 19 seconds, Olsen (12-6) envisioned a lengthy fight which would occur primarily on his feet and end with Young (4-3) knocked out.

That script didn't unfold because Olsen, 31, forced Young to submit one minute, 16 seconds into the first round, but the fight only went to the ground because Young couldn't withstand any more punishment on his feet.

Olsen blasted Young with a left jab to the nose to begin the fight. Young then tried to take Olsen down, but Olsen cast Young to the mat with a Greco-Roman throw.

Young landed on his back and Olsen mounted him, delivering strikes to his head and face. Then Olsen used a double-arm scoop to lift Young off the mat, pass his guard and slide on top of his back with Young face-down on the mat.

Olsen locked Young in a choke, but his trainers Kevin Moore and Alfie Alcaraz yelled for him to let Young go and continue working from his feet.

Olsen said he thought about following Alcaraz' and Moore's advice, but he didn't want to risk losing or being injured once he had a sure win.

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Jenz Pulver was at Helena Havoc.

He will be one of two coaches on UFC's television show The Ultimate Fighter 5, which begins filming in January with a cast of lightweight fighters competing for a UFC contract. Olsen felt a quick win would impress Pulver and improve his chances of making the show.

According to Olsen, Pulver talked to him after his fight, and said he was impressed with his performance.

Olsen was also sick before the fight and wanted to win and go home before he lost his strength.

"(Young) is a good fighter," Olsen said. "I was a little nervous going in there. He's certainly got the potential to beat me, so I didn't want to take him too lightly."

Olsen was generally satisfied with his fight.

"I know I wanted the knockout, but I can't complain about that," Olsen said. "I came right out and popped him a good one. I could tell it hurt him."

Young is an experienced boxer, so Olsen was surprised he took the fight to the ground, but Young explained his rationale after the bout.

"He told me he's never had a punch hurt like that," Olsen said. "It rocked him pretty good and he didn't have a choice."

Olsen didn't incur any damage in the fight and his only injury was a swollen knuckle on his right hand which he hurt by punching Young.