Crane suffers TKO defeat

GLENDALE — Unfortunately for Glendale resident Alberto Crane, his second foray into the Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon ended just the same as his first.

Despite knocking down opponent Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino just seconds into the fight with a head kick, Crane found himself on the wrong end of a second straight technical-knockout loss, as the lightweight (155 pounds) fight was stopped by referee Herb Dean at 1:55 of the second round.

The bout was the fifth of a nine-fight Ultimate Fight Night card on Wednesday evening at the Pearl Palms Concert Theater in Las Vegas.

Crane (8-2, 0-2 in UFC) made his UFC debut on Aug. 25, losing by stoppage as contender Roger Huerta rained down a ground-and-pound attack.

It was the same story against Pellegrino.

After knocking Pellegrino (11-3, 3-2) to the canvas with the aforementioned left leg high kick, Crane went for a guillotine choke.

Pellegrino worked his way free of that and subsequent submission attempts from the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, before bringing the fight back up to the feet. There, Pellegrino got the better of the striking, cutting Crane under both eyes, while he sported a bloody mouth.

In the second round, Pellegrino ended up on top of Crane on the ground, hurting him with a punch that forced Crane to cover up and elicited the referee’s stoppage.

Crane, who teaches at the Glendale Fighting Club, trained in Temecula with Team Quest.

The main card aired on Spike TV.