UFC Wired 6/28 Re-Cap
This looks like it could be one of the best episodes of Wired I’ve ever seen as they are hyping Jackson/Griffin so we are getting Jackson/Liddell and Shogun/Griffin tonight. Sweet, I’ve never seen either of these fights and am looking forward to it.
Welterweight Fight- Kyle Bradley (13-4-1) vs. Chris Lytle (34-15-4)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
This was also recently on the UFC Unleashed 6/11 show.
R1- Lytle opens up on him early and is just pounding Bradley and this one is over very quickly. Lytle just overwhelms Bradley. The ref stops the fight and then Bradley pulls guard on the ref. Great stand up by Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by TKO (punches) R1 0:33
Middleweight- Chris Leben (17-4) vs. Alessio Sakara (16-6-1)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show.
R1- Both guys swinging pretty freely early. Leben seems to be moving forward and in slight control. They are still throwing pretty good at one another with no one with a clear advantage. Leben continues to move forward on Sakara as they exchange. Sakara gets in a couple of good shots but then eats a knee. Leben with a nice inside leg kick and then body kick. They tie up on the cage but then release. Leben gets in some punches and Sakara is rocked on the cage and Leben is on top of him landing punches and the ref stops the fight. Leben has Sakara's blood on him and is the victor. Leben got in some good punches and then rocked Sakara with 2 punches and then got on top and started punching and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Chris Leben via TKO Round 1 (3:16)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Forrest Griffin (14-4) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-2)- UFC 76- 9/22/07
This is Shogun’s UFC debut. Griffin has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Griffin gets a really good reaction during introductions.
R1- Forrest shows some good take down defense early and then almost gets caught in an arm bar but escapes. Fans are chanting “Forrest.” Shogun takes Forrest down about a minute into the fight. Forrest does a good job defending in the full guard. Forrest gets stood up and they exchange. Forrest gets a take down. In some of the stand up it almost looks like Shogun has underestimated Forrest and maybe didn’t prepare as well as he should have. Both guys hit some shots and Forrest really connects with Shogun. Shogun gets a take down with about 30 seconds left in the round. Forrest takes Shogun’s back and then gets in his guard. Really good first round. I think Forrest did more damage so he probably took this one 10-9. Really close round though and could have been scored either way I just didn’t see Shogun getting in as much offense.
R2- Forrest gets in a couple of jabs early and Shogun takes him down. Shogun gets in a couple of shots and bloodies Forrest. Forrest gets up and then takes Shogun down. Shogun gets a take down stuffed. Forrest is bleeding on Shogun’s back. Shogun looks like he is out of breath. Shogun gets another take down stuffed. Both guys look really tired right now. Shogun gets stuffed again and Forrest jumps on top. Forrest with some elbows and shots on Shogun. Forrest stole this round as he just dominated the last minute. I’ve got Forrest 20-18 in two really close rounds. Shogun is seriously gassed with Forrest not far behind.
R3- Shogun gets an early take down but gets caught in a triangle but quickly gets out of it and moves to full guard on Forrest. Shogun is getting in some elbows. Shogun tries to posture up and gets caught in an arm submission and then Forrest takes his back. Forrest moves to half guard and is getting in some shots. Forrest gets some uncontested shots in and then Shogun gives up his back. Forrest with knees and punches to the side and Forrest moves back to half guard. Shogun gives up his back with about 30 seconds left. Forrest gets the Rear Naked Choke left and it’s over with 16 seconds left in the fight. Great showing by Forrest. I think this was a combination of Shogun not coming ready to fight and overlooking Forrest and Forrest working really hard during the fight and never quitting.
Winner: Forrest Griffin by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 4:45
Light Heavyweight Title Fight: Chuck Liddell © (20-3) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (26-6)- UFC 71- 5/26/07
I didn’t realize that Rampage is not even 30 yet. That’s interesting. He’s still got a lot of time left it he fights wisely. Rampage gets a mostly heel reaction from the crowd at introductions. Chuck gets a big face pop at introductions.
R1- Rampage kind of stalks Chuck at the beginning with Chuck walking around him. Not much action in the first minute or so. Liddell ducks in and gets a shot in but gets two from Rampage. Chuck went for a left hand jab and he got popped by a Rampage right hand. It looked like Rampage missed at first and Chuck just fell down but on second look he got caught. Rampage jumps on Chuck and the ref stops the fight. Looked like an early stoppage to me at first but when you watch the replay Jackson gets about 3 shots in and on the second one Chuck stops defending. Big time knock out by Rampage.
Winner: Rampage Jackson by KO R1 1:53
Sunday, June 29, 2008
UFC Unleashed 6/18 Re-Cap
UFC Unleashed 6/18 Re-Cap
Looks like we’ve got 5 fights on tap night. I’ve already seen a couple of them but I’m looking forward to seeing Brock/Mir again.
Middleweight- Chris Leben (17-4) vs. Alessio Sakara (16-6-1)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show and is also on the UFC Wired 6/28 show.
R1- Both guys swinging pretty freely early. Leben seems to be moving forward and in slight control. They are still throwing pretty good at one another with no one with a clear advantage. Leben continues to move forward on Sakara as they exchange. Sakara gets in a couple of good shots but then eats a knee. Leben with a nice inside leg kick and then body kick. They tie up on the cage but then release. Leben gets in some punches and Sakara is rocked on the cage and Leben is on top of him landing punches and the ref stops the fight. Leben has Sakara's blood on him and is the victor. Leben got in some good punches and then rocked Sakara with 2 punches and then got on top and started punching and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Chris Leben via TKO Round 1 (3:16)
Lightweight Fight- Ryan Roberts (14-2-1) vs. Marcus Auriello (15-5)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Auriello takes him down quick and then taps him with an arm bar. This one was over before it started. Auriello just dominated. His celebration took longer than the fight did.
Winner: Marcus Auriello by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 0:16
Welterweight- David Bielkheden (12-5) vs Diego Sanchez (19-2)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Sanchez quickly takes David down and gets in a couple of shots. He’s really working trying to get in position on top to do damage or to pass. Diego is getting in a couple of shots and is really in control early. Diego gets side control and hits some short elbows and is looking for a kimura. Diego moves into full mount and finally starts to get in some good shots on David and then just starts laying it in and gets the win via opponent tap. Diego just controlled this match and won decisively. Real good showing for Diego.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Submission (punches) R1 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (9-2) vs. Kendall Grove (9-3)- UFC 69- 4/7/07
This is a fight with some really young fighters as Belcher is only 22 and Grove is 24 as of this fight.
R1- Belcher takes him down about 30 seconds in and gets side control. Grove did a good job getting out and threw some knees. Kendall seems to be the aggressor as he hits some knees and gets a take down. Kendall gets some shots in and then stops a take down at the end of the round. This was a good, close round that I think Kendall took 10-9.
R2- Kendall gets a real nice knee in early in the round and Belcher goes for a take down but gets it stuffed. Grove just starts to nail Belcher with some elbows and he took some skin off of the top of Belcher’s head with those elbows. Kendall hits a really nice combo as he gets a kick and then a punch and follows it with some good looking knees. Grove is getting some big shots in on Belcher and then hits a big slam on Belcher. Kendall has half guard and is getting in some good shots on Belcher. Kendall finishes Belcher with a nice submission from half guard. Kendall just looked great in this fight. This was definitely the best that I’ve seen him look.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Brabo Choke) R2 4:42
Heavyweight Fight- Frank Mir (10-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (1-0)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lesnar takes down Mir immediately. Lesnar gets some nice shots in but the ref calls a timeout due to a shot to the back of the head and they take a point away from Lesnar without a warning. I didn’t see anything bad based on the other MMA fights that I’ve seen. Lesnar hit him in the back of the head a couple of times but I’ve seen a lot worse without points taken away and without even a warning given. Mir was getting overwhelmed at this point so it was a real interesting call by the ref. Brock hits Mir again and starts pounding on him on the ground. Mir almost gets an arm bar. Mir gets to the guard position. Mir caught Lesnar in a knee bar with a very nice wily veteran type move and tapped him. Lesnar let down his guard and it cost him.
This was a real interesting fight, especially watching it again. Lesnar just dominated but made some real mistakes due to his inexperience. Lesnar’s offense looked awesome. I’m very interested in seeing Lesnar fight again. Great job my Mir in holding on and finding Lesnar’s weakness and taping him but I just can’t see Mir beating Noguiera.
Winner: Frank Mir by Submission (Knee Bar) R1 1:30
Looks like we’ve got 5 fights on tap night. I’ve already seen a couple of them but I’m looking forward to seeing Brock/Mir again.
Middleweight- Chris Leben (17-4) vs. Alessio Sakara (16-6-1)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show and is also on the UFC Wired 6/28 show.
R1- Both guys swinging pretty freely early. Leben seems to be moving forward and in slight control. They are still throwing pretty good at one another with no one with a clear advantage. Leben continues to move forward on Sakara as they exchange. Sakara gets in a couple of good shots but then eats a knee. Leben with a nice inside leg kick and then body kick. They tie up on the cage but then release. Leben gets in some punches and Sakara is rocked on the cage and Leben is on top of him landing punches and the ref stops the fight. Leben has Sakara's blood on him and is the victor. Leben got in some good punches and then rocked Sakara with 2 punches and then got on top and started punching and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Chris Leben via TKO Round 1 (3:16)
Lightweight Fight- Ryan Roberts (14-2-1) vs. Marcus Auriello (15-5)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Auriello takes him down quick and then taps him with an arm bar. This one was over before it started. Auriello just dominated. His celebration took longer than the fight did.
Winner: Marcus Auriello by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 0:16
Welterweight- David Bielkheden (12-5) vs Diego Sanchez (19-2)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Sanchez quickly takes David down and gets in a couple of shots. He’s really working trying to get in position on top to do damage or to pass. Diego is getting in a couple of shots and is really in control early. Diego gets side control and hits some short elbows and is looking for a kimura. Diego moves into full mount and finally starts to get in some good shots on David and then just starts laying it in and gets the win via opponent tap. Diego just controlled this match and won decisively. Real good showing for Diego.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Submission (punches) R1 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (9-2) vs. Kendall Grove (9-3)- UFC 69- 4/7/07
This is a fight with some really young fighters as Belcher is only 22 and Grove is 24 as of this fight.
R1- Belcher takes him down about 30 seconds in and gets side control. Grove did a good job getting out and threw some knees. Kendall seems to be the aggressor as he hits some knees and gets a take down. Kendall gets some shots in and then stops a take down at the end of the round. This was a good, close round that I think Kendall took 10-9.
R2- Kendall gets a real nice knee in early in the round and Belcher goes for a take down but gets it stuffed. Grove just starts to nail Belcher with some elbows and he took some skin off of the top of Belcher’s head with those elbows. Kendall hits a really nice combo as he gets a kick and then a punch and follows it with some good looking knees. Grove is getting some big shots in on Belcher and then hits a big slam on Belcher. Kendall has half guard and is getting in some good shots on Belcher. Kendall finishes Belcher with a nice submission from half guard. Kendall just looked great in this fight. This was definitely the best that I’ve seen him look.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Brabo Choke) R2 4:42
Heavyweight Fight- Frank Mir (10-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (1-0)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lesnar takes down Mir immediately. Lesnar gets some nice shots in but the ref calls a timeout due to a shot to the back of the head and they take a point away from Lesnar without a warning. I didn’t see anything bad based on the other MMA fights that I’ve seen. Lesnar hit him in the back of the head a couple of times but I’ve seen a lot worse without points taken away and without even a warning given. Mir was getting overwhelmed at this point so it was a real interesting call by the ref. Brock hits Mir again and starts pounding on him on the ground. Mir almost gets an arm bar. Mir gets to the guard position. Mir caught Lesnar in a knee bar with a very nice wily veteran type move and tapped him. Lesnar let down his guard and it cost him.
This was a real interesting fight, especially watching it again. Lesnar just dominated but made some real mistakes due to his inexperience. Lesnar’s offense looked awesome. I’m very interested in seeing Lesnar fight again. Great job my Mir in holding on and finding Lesnar’s weakness and taping him but I just can’t see Mir beating Noguiera.
Winner: Frank Mir by Submission (Knee Bar) R1 1:30
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale
The Ultimate Fighter Finale
Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin are both at the show to see their fighters fight and to hype their upcoming PPV fight.
Middleweight Fight- Matt Riddle (0-0) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)
I’m think Riddle’s going to take this one, he impressed me more during the show then did Rivera even though Rivera made it further in the show than did Riddle. Riddle has a 4” reach advantage. Rivera has the edge in experience as he’s 11 years older. Riddle has been training at the Arizona Combat Sports Club, same as CB Dollaway.
R1- They clinch early and exchange a lot of knees, none of which look really damaging. Riddle slowly starts to get the advantage and then the ref breaks them up. They clinch again and exchange knees. Riddle takes Dante down with about 20 seconds left and hits some elbows. Really close tight first round. I think Riddle barely takes it by hitting more effective knees and getting the rounds only take down. Riddle 10 Rivera 9.
R2- Riddle quickly took Dante down at the beginning of the round but doesn’t get much done. They clinch up against the cage a lot in the middle of the round. Rivera hit a good overhand right but ends up getting mounted by Riddle. Riddle is hitting him with some shots and Rivera rolls over when Riddle went for an arm bar and now Rivera is in Riddle’s guard. Riddle grabs submission on Dante and pounds on Dante’s side but Dante slips out. Another really close round. I give it to Riddle again as he almost submitted Dante at the end of the round and seemed to control a lot of the time they were clinched. I’ve got Riddle up 20-18 but it’s very open to interpretation at this point.
R3- Riddle catches Dante with a right hand and then a knee at the beginning of the round. Riddle picks up Dante and takes him down. Dante had a nice rubber guard but then he lost it. Riddle gives up his position but then takes Dante down again. Riddle gets full mount and gets some shots in as the third round ends. Good showing by Matt Riddle and he wins 30-27 on my score card. Judges score the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Riddle
Winner: Matt Riddle by Decision (Unanimous)
Wanderlei Silva is in the house.
Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White and they talk about the 7/19 fight between Anderson Silva and James Irvin. Dana says he’s cleaned out the middleweight division and is going to move up to 205lbs. Says Anderson is the best p4p fighter in the world. They are really hyping Anderson Silva. They say Silva walks around at 215 so that he will have to cut weight to hit 205.
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (21-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (15-2)
Both of these guys are from Iowa. I really like what I’ve seen from Spencer, he always has good fights. Stephens is only 22. Stephens has a 3” reach advantage. This should be a good fight. Fisher lets out a “Whooo” during introductions and Mike Goldberg puts him over as a big Ric Flair fan.
R1- Stephens gets an early take down but Fisher gets right back up and takes down Stephens. Both guys are getting in some shots as Stephens has an active guard. Stephens went for a triangle and Fisher passed to half guard and works some elbows in. Fisher has blood on his elbow. Spencer hits some nice elbows from half guard. Spencer gets full mount and Stephens gives up his back with 1:15 left in the round. Stephens gets out but is still in the guard position. Fisher takes Round One has he had the dominate position for the majority of the round and got in more shots throughout the round.
R2- They stand up at the start of this round with both guys getting in shots. Stephens tried a take down but Spencer rolled through and got side control. Spencer starting to get some good shots in on Stephens. Stephens gets a slam about 10 seconds before the round ends. I’ve got Spencer up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- They stand at the beginning of this round and Stephens is getting in some good shots. Fisher goes for a take down but gets stuffed and gets a guillotine on Fisher but Fisher gets out and gets side control. Spencer gets the full mount but they quickly get back to their feet. Fisher went for another take down but slipped and Stephens got the take down. Jeremy is getting some shots in on Fisher. Jeremy goes for a guillotine and the fight ends with Stephens with the guillotine on Fisher. This round goes to Stephens so I’ve got Fisher winning 29-28. All three judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Fisher. This was a good fight.
Winner: Spencer Fisher by Decision (Unanimous)
Kevin James is in the house and he’s horsing around with Quinton Jackson.
Joe Rogan is out in the crowd and is joined by Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin and they talk about the upcoming fight in two weeks.
Next they review the “Road to the Finale” and look at how CB and Amir got to the finals.
Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) is in the house.
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (20-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (12-3)
R1- Long feeling out process. Diego hits a really nice combo about a minute and a half in and then follows it up with a flying knee. Diego hit a big kick that was partially blocked. Diego tried a take down but missed and ate a shot or two. Luigi hits a good combo. Diego comes back with a nice combo of his own as he hits several punches. Diego almost got a take down but Luigi rolled him over and they are quickly back to their feet. Luigi got a slam right at the end of the first round. Good first round, Diego was the aggressor and Luigi kind of laid back and showed good take down defense and tried to counter Diego. I gave this round to Diego put it was pretty close.
R2- Both guys start off the round by getting in a good shot. Luigi looked like he hurt his ankle getting away from Diego but he appears to be okay. Diego drilled Luigi with a right hand and Luigi hit the mat and Diego dove on him. Luigi does a nice job of getting back to his feet with minimal damage. Diego barely missed with a head kick but Diego got his back while they are standing but Luigi escapes again. Diego with another good combo as he floors Luigi. Luigi gets up but Diego pounds him back down. Luigi back to his feet again, Diego goes for a kimura but is denied. Great sequence. Really good round. I’ve got this one going to Diego so he’s up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Luigi is showing some really good take down defense in this fight. Diego gets his back and they do some crazy sprawling and they go back to their feet. Diego with a big head kick on Luigi and then a huge knee and then some Ground and Pound and this one is over. Fantastic finish by Diego. This was fight of the night so far. Luigi did a great job of stopping Diego from getting take downs but Diego showed some really improved stand up and finally picked his spot and hit a solid kick and then a spot on knee and took out Luigi for the win. This is one of the better fights that I’ve seen in the UFC this year.
Winner: Diego Sanchez TKO (punches) R3 4:07
Minotuaro Noguiera and Frank Mir are in attendance and they mention that they will be coaches in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter which will feature lightweights and light heavyweights and will take place in September. They mention that they will fight in December for the interim Heavyweight Title following the season of the Ultimate Fighter.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Middleweight Finale: Amir Sadollah (1-0) vs. CB Dollaway (7-1)
The show a short feature on what CB and Amir been doing since the Ultimate Fighter ended. This is also the first fight that they show the full entrances for.
R1- They trade some kicks early and CB gets a take down about a minute into the fight. CB gets side control and Amir gives up his back and rolls CB back into full guard. CB getting in some good shots but Amir grabs an arm bar. CB appears to tap and Herb Dean stops the fight and then CB throws arms up. Looks like he tapped to me. Great submission from Amir to win the fight much in the same way that he won the last one against CB.
Dana White presents Amir with the trophy and the 6-figure contract and then Joe Rogan interviews him.
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight: Evan Tanner (34-7) vs. Kendall Grove (10-5)
Tanner is sporting a Kimbo Slice beard and looks pretty rough but also looks like someone that I wouldn’t want to step in the cage and fight.
R1- They battle up against the cage and then Tanner gets a take down. Grove gets to his feet but eats a knee on the way up. Grove grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and hit some strikes. Grove with some more strikes. Grove has a big reach advantage and definitely looks like the better fighter when both are on their feet. Tanner grabs a leg of Grove and Grove nails Tanner with a big jumping knee. Tanner gets another take down and is back in his comfort zone. Kendall gets a triangle and escapes. Grove hits Tanner and Tanner goes down. Grove has his back and Tanner is bleeding pretty badly. Tanner slips out. Grove hits a big up kick but Tanner comes back in and gets in Kendall’s guard. Tanner gets some good shots in on the ground. Overall, a very good and even first round. Tanner got more take downs and Kendall owned the stand up game and did more damage on Tanner as Tanner was bleeding pretty badly. I’ve got Kendall Grove up 10-9 after Round One.
R2- They both come out and exchange some punches. Kendall hits a nice combo. Kendall hits Tanner with some nice shots. Kendall is really throwing some good punches early in this round. Tanner gets a take down up against the cage. Kendall quickly gets back on his feet. They sprawl and Kendall hits a big elbow and his hitting some strikes. Tanner is in trouble but grabs onto Kendall. Tanner looks like he is just barely hanging on in this fight and Kendall hits him with some nice kicks to close out the round. Kendall looked great in this round. Kendall up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Lots of clinching in this round. Tanner starting to get aggressive towards the end of the fight as he knows he needs a knock out here. This was a close third round. I think Tanner probably stole the third round which means fight goes to Kendall 29-28. One of the judges throws up a 29-28 Tanner, the next judges scores the fight 30-27 Grove, and the last judge scores it 30-26 Grove. What a weird difference in score cards.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Decision (Split)
Undercard Middleweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (15-7-1) vs. Drew McFedries (6-3)
R1- McFedries jumps at Eastman and Eastman takes him and flips him over almost hitting him with a Northern Lights bomb. Wild start. McFedries charges Eastman and hits several shots on him. McFedries is all over Eastman and the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Drew McFedries as he dominated this fight. They show Eastman post-match and his eye is swollen shut.
Winner: Drew McFedries by TKO (strikes) R1 1:08
This was a solid night of fighting with Sanchez/Fioravanti taking fight of the night and Grove/Tanner and Fisher/Stephens both having solid fights. I’m glad Amir won and I also thought that Matthew Riddle looked good in his fight. Drew McFedries looked awesome in his undercard fight.
Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin are both at the show to see their fighters fight and to hype their upcoming PPV fight.
Middleweight Fight- Matt Riddle (0-0) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)
I’m think Riddle’s going to take this one, he impressed me more during the show then did Rivera even though Rivera made it further in the show than did Riddle. Riddle has a 4” reach advantage. Rivera has the edge in experience as he’s 11 years older. Riddle has been training at the Arizona Combat Sports Club, same as CB Dollaway.
R1- They clinch early and exchange a lot of knees, none of which look really damaging. Riddle slowly starts to get the advantage and then the ref breaks them up. They clinch again and exchange knees. Riddle takes Dante down with about 20 seconds left and hits some elbows. Really close tight first round. I think Riddle barely takes it by hitting more effective knees and getting the rounds only take down. Riddle 10 Rivera 9.
R2- Riddle quickly took Dante down at the beginning of the round but doesn’t get much done. They clinch up against the cage a lot in the middle of the round. Rivera hit a good overhand right but ends up getting mounted by Riddle. Riddle is hitting him with some shots and Rivera rolls over when Riddle went for an arm bar and now Rivera is in Riddle’s guard. Riddle grabs submission on Dante and pounds on Dante’s side but Dante slips out. Another really close round. I give it to Riddle again as he almost submitted Dante at the end of the round and seemed to control a lot of the time they were clinched. I’ve got Riddle up 20-18 but it’s very open to interpretation at this point.
R3- Riddle catches Dante with a right hand and then a knee at the beginning of the round. Riddle picks up Dante and takes him down. Dante had a nice rubber guard but then he lost it. Riddle gives up his position but then takes Dante down again. Riddle gets full mount and gets some shots in as the third round ends. Good showing by Matt Riddle and he wins 30-27 on my score card. Judges score the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Riddle
Winner: Matt Riddle by Decision (Unanimous)
Wanderlei Silva is in the house.
Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White and they talk about the 7/19 fight between Anderson Silva and James Irvin. Dana says he’s cleaned out the middleweight division and is going to move up to 205lbs. Says Anderson is the best p4p fighter in the world. They are really hyping Anderson Silva. They say Silva walks around at 215 so that he will have to cut weight to hit 205.
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (21-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (15-2)
Both of these guys are from Iowa. I really like what I’ve seen from Spencer, he always has good fights. Stephens is only 22. Stephens has a 3” reach advantage. This should be a good fight. Fisher lets out a “Whooo” during introductions and Mike Goldberg puts him over as a big Ric Flair fan.
R1- Stephens gets an early take down but Fisher gets right back up and takes down Stephens. Both guys are getting in some shots as Stephens has an active guard. Stephens went for a triangle and Fisher passed to half guard and works some elbows in. Fisher has blood on his elbow. Spencer hits some nice elbows from half guard. Spencer gets full mount and Stephens gives up his back with 1:15 left in the round. Stephens gets out but is still in the guard position. Fisher takes Round One has he had the dominate position for the majority of the round and got in more shots throughout the round.
R2- They stand up at the start of this round with both guys getting in shots. Stephens tried a take down but Spencer rolled through and got side control. Spencer starting to get some good shots in on Stephens. Stephens gets a slam about 10 seconds before the round ends. I’ve got Spencer up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- They stand at the beginning of this round and Stephens is getting in some good shots. Fisher goes for a take down but gets stuffed and gets a guillotine on Fisher but Fisher gets out and gets side control. Spencer gets the full mount but they quickly get back to their feet. Fisher went for another take down but slipped and Stephens got the take down. Jeremy is getting some shots in on Fisher. Jeremy goes for a guillotine and the fight ends with Stephens with the guillotine on Fisher. This round goes to Stephens so I’ve got Fisher winning 29-28. All three judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Fisher. This was a good fight.
Winner: Spencer Fisher by Decision (Unanimous)
Kevin James is in the house and he’s horsing around with Quinton Jackson.
Joe Rogan is out in the crowd and is joined by Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin and they talk about the upcoming fight in two weeks.
Next they review the “Road to the Finale” and look at how CB and Amir got to the finals.
Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) is in the house.
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (20-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (12-3)
R1- Long feeling out process. Diego hits a really nice combo about a minute and a half in and then follows it up with a flying knee. Diego hit a big kick that was partially blocked. Diego tried a take down but missed and ate a shot or two. Luigi hits a good combo. Diego comes back with a nice combo of his own as he hits several punches. Diego almost got a take down but Luigi rolled him over and they are quickly back to their feet. Luigi got a slam right at the end of the first round. Good first round, Diego was the aggressor and Luigi kind of laid back and showed good take down defense and tried to counter Diego. I gave this round to Diego put it was pretty close.
R2- Both guys start off the round by getting in a good shot. Luigi looked like he hurt his ankle getting away from Diego but he appears to be okay. Diego drilled Luigi with a right hand and Luigi hit the mat and Diego dove on him. Luigi does a nice job of getting back to his feet with minimal damage. Diego barely missed with a head kick but Diego got his back while they are standing but Luigi escapes again. Diego with another good combo as he floors Luigi. Luigi gets up but Diego pounds him back down. Luigi back to his feet again, Diego goes for a kimura but is denied. Great sequence. Really good round. I’ve got this one going to Diego so he’s up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Luigi is showing some really good take down defense in this fight. Diego gets his back and they do some crazy sprawling and they go back to their feet. Diego with a big head kick on Luigi and then a huge knee and then some Ground and Pound and this one is over. Fantastic finish by Diego. This was fight of the night so far. Luigi did a great job of stopping Diego from getting take downs but Diego showed some really improved stand up and finally picked his spot and hit a solid kick and then a spot on knee and took out Luigi for the win. This is one of the better fights that I’ve seen in the UFC this year.
Winner: Diego Sanchez TKO (punches) R3 4:07
Minotuaro Noguiera and Frank Mir are in attendance and they mention that they will be coaches in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter which will feature lightweights and light heavyweights and will take place in September. They mention that they will fight in December for the interim Heavyweight Title following the season of the Ultimate Fighter.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Middleweight Finale: Amir Sadollah (1-0) vs. CB Dollaway (7-1)
The show a short feature on what CB and Amir been doing since the Ultimate Fighter ended. This is also the first fight that they show the full entrances for.
R1- They trade some kicks early and CB gets a take down about a minute into the fight. CB gets side control and Amir gives up his back and rolls CB back into full guard. CB getting in some good shots but Amir grabs an arm bar. CB appears to tap and Herb Dean stops the fight and then CB throws arms up. Looks like he tapped to me. Great submission from Amir to win the fight much in the same way that he won the last one against CB.
Dana White presents Amir with the trophy and the 6-figure contract and then Joe Rogan interviews him.
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight: Evan Tanner (34-7) vs. Kendall Grove (10-5)
Tanner is sporting a Kimbo Slice beard and looks pretty rough but also looks like someone that I wouldn’t want to step in the cage and fight.
R1- They battle up against the cage and then Tanner gets a take down. Grove gets to his feet but eats a knee on the way up. Grove grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and hit some strikes. Grove with some more strikes. Grove has a big reach advantage and definitely looks like the better fighter when both are on their feet. Tanner grabs a leg of Grove and Grove nails Tanner with a big jumping knee. Tanner gets another take down and is back in his comfort zone. Kendall gets a triangle and escapes. Grove hits Tanner and Tanner goes down. Grove has his back and Tanner is bleeding pretty badly. Tanner slips out. Grove hits a big up kick but Tanner comes back in and gets in Kendall’s guard. Tanner gets some good shots in on the ground. Overall, a very good and even first round. Tanner got more take downs and Kendall owned the stand up game and did more damage on Tanner as Tanner was bleeding pretty badly. I’ve got Kendall Grove up 10-9 after Round One.
R2- They both come out and exchange some punches. Kendall hits a nice combo. Kendall hits Tanner with some nice shots. Kendall is really throwing some good punches early in this round. Tanner gets a take down up against the cage. Kendall quickly gets back on his feet. They sprawl and Kendall hits a big elbow and his hitting some strikes. Tanner is in trouble but grabs onto Kendall. Tanner looks like he is just barely hanging on in this fight and Kendall hits him with some nice kicks to close out the round. Kendall looked great in this round. Kendall up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Lots of clinching in this round. Tanner starting to get aggressive towards the end of the fight as he knows he needs a knock out here. This was a close third round. I think Tanner probably stole the third round which means fight goes to Kendall 29-28. One of the judges throws up a 29-28 Tanner, the next judges scores the fight 30-27 Grove, and the last judge scores it 30-26 Grove. What a weird difference in score cards.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Decision (Split)
Undercard Middleweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (15-7-1) vs. Drew McFedries (6-3)
R1- McFedries jumps at Eastman and Eastman takes him and flips him over almost hitting him with a Northern Lights bomb. Wild start. McFedries charges Eastman and hits several shots on him. McFedries is all over Eastman and the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Drew McFedries as he dominated this fight. They show Eastman post-match and his eye is swollen shut.
Winner: Drew McFedries by TKO (strikes) R1 1:08
This was a solid night of fighting with Sanchez/Fioravanti taking fight of the night and Grove/Tanner and Fisher/Stephens both having solid fights. I’m glad Amir won and I also thought that Matthew Riddle looked good in his fight. Drew McFedries looked awesome in his undercard fight.
Strikeforce on NBC 6/15 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on NBC 6/15 Re-Cap
They will crown a Heavyweight Champion for the first time tonight on Strikeforce.
Heavyweight Title Fight: Paul Buentello (23-9) vs. Alistair Overeem (25-11-1)
This fight is 5 rounds since it’s for the vacant Strikeforce Heavyweight Title.
R1- Alistair quickly takes him down after a knee. Overeem just dominating the first round and Buentello’s face is very red around his right eye. Round 1 to Overeem. Possibly even a 10-8 round.
R2- Buentello trying to stay on his feet early in this round. Overeem takes him to the ground after about a minute of stand-up. The ref stands them up but Overeem takes him right back down. Buentello gets back to his feet and takes two knee strikes to the stomach/chest and Buentello taps out.
Winner and new Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion: Alistair Overeem by Submission (Knee Strikes) R2 3:42
Anthony Figueroa (2-1) vs. Miguel Linares (2-2)
This is a 130-135 pound weight class fight.
R1- Not a whole lot of action for a light weight fight early as there is a long feeling out process. Figueroa grabs Linares and starts punching him while he has him in a variation of a clinch and finishes him with punches.
Winner: Anthony Figueroa by TKO (strikes) R1
They will crown a Heavyweight Champion for the first time tonight on Strikeforce.
Heavyweight Title Fight: Paul Buentello (23-9) vs. Alistair Overeem (25-11-1)
This fight is 5 rounds since it’s for the vacant Strikeforce Heavyweight Title.
R1- Alistair quickly takes him down after a knee. Overeem just dominating the first round and Buentello’s face is very red around his right eye. Round 1 to Overeem. Possibly even a 10-8 round.
R2- Buentello trying to stay on his feet early in this round. Overeem takes him to the ground after about a minute of stand-up. The ref stands them up but Overeem takes him right back down. Buentello gets back to his feet and takes two knee strikes to the stomach/chest and Buentello taps out.
Winner and new Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion: Alistair Overeem by Submission (Knee Strikes) R2 3:42
Anthony Figueroa (2-1) vs. Miguel Linares (2-2)
This is a 130-135 pound weight class fight.
R1- Not a whole lot of action for a light weight fight early as there is a long feeling out process. Figueroa grabs Linares and starts punching him while he has him in a variation of a clinch and finishes him with punches.
Winner: Anthony Figueroa by TKO (strikes) R1
UFC Wired 6/21 Re-Cap
UFC Wired 6/21 Re-Cap
Middleweight Fight- Scott Smith (11-2) vs. Pete Sell (7-2) Ultimate Fighter Finale 4- 11/11/06
R1- About a minute in they start landing some nice shots on one another. Smith hit a couple of shots that looked to rock Sell but Sell clinch to avoid any more damage. This round is all stand up with both guys swinging for the fences. Sell has a cut under one of his eyes and Smith is doing some damage to his face. Smith knocks him down with about a minute left in the round. Really good opening round with both guys swinging for the fences and having some fun.
R2- Sell starts to come back in Round 2 as he is getting in some good shots but then gets caught with a nice punch. Sell catches Smith with a punch to the side and then goes in and gets knocked out by Scott Smith. Tremendous finish and knock out punch by Smith.
Winner: Scott Smith by KO R2
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (17-4) vs. Paul Taylor (8-1)- UFC 75- 9/8/07
R1- This is a good back and forth fight and Taylor nails Davis with a kick and jumps on him and starts to nail him with Ground and Pound and was almost finished but somehow survived. Taylor hits some more big right hands up against the cage. Davis somehow comes back and with about a minute left in the round gets side control and then gets full mount and is nailing Taylor with Ground and Pound of his own. Taylor flips him over but gets caught in an arm bar and taps out. Good fight.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (8-3) vs. Chris Price (8-0)- UFC The Final Chapter- 10/10/06
R1- Kendall mounts up Price up against the cage with about a minute and a half left and gets some really good shots in on him. Kendall with lots of elbows and the ref stops the fight. Price had some nasty cuts on his eyebrows. The announcement is that the win was by tap out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (strikes) R1
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (22-6) vs. Renato Sobral (27-6)- UFC 68- 3/3/07
R1- Sobral opens up with some early strikes and takes Lambert down quickly. Sobral controls the fight on the ground. Sobral briefly had a Rear Naked Choke but Lambert got out of it. Lambert got back to his feet and got in some nice shots and took Sobral down and did some Ground and Pound to end the round.
R2- Sobral hits some early knees but Lambert gets a take down. Sobral gets back to his feet but gets take down again. The ref stands them up and almost immediately Lambert nails Sobral and just floors him and ends the fight.
Winner: Jason Lambert by KO R2
Middleweight Fight- Scott Smith (11-2) vs. Pete Sell (7-2) Ultimate Fighter Finale 4- 11/11/06
R1- About a minute in they start landing some nice shots on one another. Smith hit a couple of shots that looked to rock Sell but Sell clinch to avoid any more damage. This round is all stand up with both guys swinging for the fences. Sell has a cut under one of his eyes and Smith is doing some damage to his face. Smith knocks him down with about a minute left in the round. Really good opening round with both guys swinging for the fences and having some fun.
R2- Sell starts to come back in Round 2 as he is getting in some good shots but then gets caught with a nice punch. Sell catches Smith with a punch to the side and then goes in and gets knocked out by Scott Smith. Tremendous finish and knock out punch by Smith.
Winner: Scott Smith by KO R2
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (17-4) vs. Paul Taylor (8-1)- UFC 75- 9/8/07
R1- This is a good back and forth fight and Taylor nails Davis with a kick and jumps on him and starts to nail him with Ground and Pound and was almost finished but somehow survived. Taylor hits some more big right hands up against the cage. Davis somehow comes back and with about a minute left in the round gets side control and then gets full mount and is nailing Taylor with Ground and Pound of his own. Taylor flips him over but gets caught in an arm bar and taps out. Good fight.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (8-3) vs. Chris Price (8-0)- UFC The Final Chapter- 10/10/06
R1- Kendall mounts up Price up against the cage with about a minute and a half left and gets some really good shots in on him. Kendall with lots of elbows and the ref stops the fight. Price had some nasty cuts on his eyebrows. The announcement is that the win was by tap out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (strikes) R1
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (22-6) vs. Renato Sobral (27-6)- UFC 68- 3/3/07
R1- Sobral opens up with some early strikes and takes Lambert down quickly. Sobral controls the fight on the ground. Sobral briefly had a Rear Naked Choke but Lambert got out of it. Lambert got back to his feet and got in some nice shots and took Sobral down and did some Ground and Pound to end the round.
R2- Sobral hits some early knees but Lambert gets a take down. Sobral gets back to his feet but gets take down again. The ref stands them up and almost immediately Lambert nails Sobral and just floors him and ends the fight.
Winner: Jason Lambert by KO R2
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
UFC Wired 6/8 Re-Cap
UFC Wired 6/8 Re-Cap
Lightweight Fight- Joe Stevenson (30-7) vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (17-4-2)- UFC 65- 11/18/06
I’ve liked Mishima ever since I saw him wrestle for U-Style in Japan. He’s got good charisma and some really funky mat work. That being said, the only MMA fight I’ve seen him in he pretty much got destroyed and I’m expecting Stevenson to take him out in this fight.
R1- Mishima gets a take down early but Stevenson wraps him up nicely in a guillotine. Mishima slams him down but can’t slip out. Finally he gets out. Stevenson is working a good active guard and Mishima keeps trying to get into a better position. Stevenson finally taps Mishima with the guillotine. Interesting fight as Stevenson was on the bottom for the whole fight but was in a dominant position for a majority of it.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:07
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (7-0) vs. David Lee (5-1)- UFC 63- 9/23/06
R1- Lee went for a jumping knee early and Tyson quickly took his back. It takes a minute but Tyson gets him in a Rear Naked Choke and taps him out.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:50
This is squash night on UFC Wired.
Catchweight Fight- Matt Hughes (40-4) vs. Royce Gracie (11-0)- UFC 60- 5/27/06
They are fighting at 175 lbs. Gracie has a 6” reach advantage. Gracie won the UFC 1, 2 and 4 tournaments. Hughes was the UFC Welterweight Champion at the time of this fight. Gracie gets a big ovation, Hughes not so much.
R1- Long feeling out process. Hughes gets a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Royce gives up his back briefly to get to half guard but Hughes then grabs a kimura type move. Hughes really worked over the arm but Royce didn’t tap. Hughes gets Royce’s back and stretches him out. Hughes is hitting some punches in and the ref stops the fight.
Winner: Matt Hughes by TKO (strikes) R1 4:39
Light Heavyweight Championship Fight- Chuck Liddell © (19-3) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-4)- UFC 66- 12/30/06
R1- Good opening round with Chuck drawing first blood on Tito and then taking over the round and becoming more aggressive. Tito goes down and Liddell is just destroying him in the corner and Tito now has a big cut. Round One goes to Liddell as he came on strong towards the end of the round and almost ended Tito at one point.
R2- Even round with Tito getting Chuck’s back with about a minute left and taking him down but Liddell quickly got back up. Close Round.
R3- Tito went for a take down but ate a couple of punches for his trouble. Tito countered with a punch. Liddell hits some body shots. Chuck hits Tito with a barrage of punches towards the end of the round and gets him down and starts throwing punches and hammer punches on Tito and the ref stops the fight. Good fight, nice showing from Liddell.
Winner and still champion: Chuck Liddell by TKO (strikes) R3 3:59
Lightweight Fight- Joe Stevenson (30-7) vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (17-4-2)- UFC 65- 11/18/06
I’ve liked Mishima ever since I saw him wrestle for U-Style in Japan. He’s got good charisma and some really funky mat work. That being said, the only MMA fight I’ve seen him in he pretty much got destroyed and I’m expecting Stevenson to take him out in this fight.
R1- Mishima gets a take down early but Stevenson wraps him up nicely in a guillotine. Mishima slams him down but can’t slip out. Finally he gets out. Stevenson is working a good active guard and Mishima keeps trying to get into a better position. Stevenson finally taps Mishima with the guillotine. Interesting fight as Stevenson was on the bottom for the whole fight but was in a dominant position for a majority of it.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:07
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (7-0) vs. David Lee (5-1)- UFC 63- 9/23/06
R1- Lee went for a jumping knee early and Tyson quickly took his back. It takes a minute but Tyson gets him in a Rear Naked Choke and taps him out.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:50
This is squash night on UFC Wired.
Catchweight Fight- Matt Hughes (40-4) vs. Royce Gracie (11-0)- UFC 60- 5/27/06
They are fighting at 175 lbs. Gracie has a 6” reach advantage. Gracie won the UFC 1, 2 and 4 tournaments. Hughes was the UFC Welterweight Champion at the time of this fight. Gracie gets a big ovation, Hughes not so much.
R1- Long feeling out process. Hughes gets a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Royce gives up his back briefly to get to half guard but Hughes then grabs a kimura type move. Hughes really worked over the arm but Royce didn’t tap. Hughes gets Royce’s back and stretches him out. Hughes is hitting some punches in and the ref stops the fight.
Winner: Matt Hughes by TKO (strikes) R1 4:39
Light Heavyweight Championship Fight- Chuck Liddell © (19-3) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-4)- UFC 66- 12/30/06
R1- Good opening round with Chuck drawing first blood on Tito and then taking over the round and becoming more aggressive. Tito goes down and Liddell is just destroying him in the corner and Tito now has a big cut. Round One goes to Liddell as he came on strong towards the end of the round and almost ended Tito at one point.
R2- Even round with Tito getting Chuck’s back with about a minute left and taking him down but Liddell quickly got back up. Close Round.
R3- Tito went for a take down but ate a couple of punches for his trouble. Tito countered with a punch. Liddell hits some body shots. Chuck hits Tito with a barrage of punches towards the end of the round and gets him down and starts throwing punches and hammer punches on Tito and the ref stops the fight. Good fight, nice showing from Liddell.
Winner and still champion: Chuck Liddell by TKO (strikes) R3 3:59
UFC Unleashed 6/11 Re-Cap
UFC Unleashed 6/11 Re-Cap
Lightweight Fight- Jeffrey Cox (9-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (7-2)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Manny hits a side kick at the beginning when it looked like they were going to tap gloves. Gamburyan is Karo Parisyan’s cousin. They clinch for a while and Manny flips Cox over with s judo throw and then chokes him out with a guillotine.
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:41
Welterweight Fight- Kyle Bradley(13-4-1) vs. Chris Lytle (34-15-4)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lytle opens up on him early and is just pounding Bradley and this one is over very quickly. Lytle just overwhelms Bradley. The ref stops the fight and then Bradley pulls guard on the ref. Great stand up by Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by TKO (punches) R1 0:33
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koshcheck (11-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (12-3)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show.
R1- Haslett takes it right to Koscheck at the beginning and back him up to the cage and then Koscheck comes back after him in an exciting exchange to start the fight. Koscheck looking good early and is throwing a lot of punches and looking to be the aggressor but then Hazelett comes back and gets some good attempts in. Koscheck comes at him and pins him up against the cage. Hazelett goes for the guillotine and looks like he might be able to finish here but Koscheck gets out of it. Hazelett throws a big knee. Koscheck with a good combo. Koscheck takes him down but Hazelett goes for the triangle with 20 seconds left as the round ends. Really good first round with both guys looking real good. This was really even IMO, not sure who really won the fight. If I had to choose I would pick Koscheck because even though he ended the round at a disadvantage he had the most control of the fight throughout and seemed to me to get in more shots on his opponent and also got the only takedown of the round. Really close round, really a toss up.
R2- They are fighting for while pretty evenly but then Koscheck hits a real nice head kick and quickly follows it up with some punches and the ref stops the fight. Really nice finish from Koscheck who has really improved his stand up game since the Ultimate Fighter Season 1.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by TKO (punches) R2 1:24
This is also from UFC 82.
Middleweight Championship- Anderson Silva (c) (20-4) vs. Dan Henderson (22-6)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Feeling out process in the early going. Henderson finally goes in after about a minute and we start to see some action now. Silva throwing some kicks now but not doing damage with them. Henderson grabs Silva and takes him down. Silva grabs a headlock and Henderson isn't doing anything on top. Henderson starting to get in a couple of punches but Silva still has him in a headlock which is limiting the damage that can be inflicted. Henderson has side control with 30 seconds left but Silva spins out and Henderson is now in full guard. Round One comes to an end with what seems to be little damage inflicted by either fighter. Henderson wins the round due to cage control and his take down. 10-9 Henderson.
R2- They are trading some jabs and kicks early. Silva starting to get some kicks in. Silva takes down Henderson. They are up and against the fence. Henderson is controlling Silva against the cage in a greco clinch. Henderson with a knee. They trade some punches and Silva is dominating with punches and gets on top. Nails an elbow, Henderson grabs Silva and is trying to get out. Silva has half guard. Silva has his back and is throwing punches. Silva is delivering punches and has him in a body triangle. Silva throwing punches. Silva trying to flatten out Henderson but they roll over and Silva's got the rear naked choke clamped on and Henderson taps.
Good fight. Silva really dominated the second round
Winner and still champ: Anderson Silva via tap out from Rear Naked Choke Round 2 4:52
Lightweight Fight- Jeffrey Cox (9-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (7-2)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Manny hits a side kick at the beginning when it looked like they were going to tap gloves. Gamburyan is Karo Parisyan’s cousin. They clinch for a while and Manny flips Cox over with s judo throw and then chokes him out with a guillotine.
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:41
Welterweight Fight- Kyle Bradley(13-4-1) vs. Chris Lytle (34-15-4)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lytle opens up on him early and is just pounding Bradley and this one is over very quickly. Lytle just overwhelms Bradley. The ref stops the fight and then Bradley pulls guard on the ref. Great stand up by Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by TKO (punches) R1 0:33
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koshcheck (11-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (12-3)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show.
R1- Haslett takes it right to Koscheck at the beginning and back him up to the cage and then Koscheck comes back after him in an exciting exchange to start the fight. Koscheck looking good early and is throwing a lot of punches and looking to be the aggressor but then Hazelett comes back and gets some good attempts in. Koscheck comes at him and pins him up against the cage. Hazelett goes for the guillotine and looks like he might be able to finish here but Koscheck gets out of it. Hazelett throws a big knee. Koscheck with a good combo. Koscheck takes him down but Hazelett goes for the triangle with 20 seconds left as the round ends. Really good first round with both guys looking real good. This was really even IMO, not sure who really won the fight. If I had to choose I would pick Koscheck because even though he ended the round at a disadvantage he had the most control of the fight throughout and seemed to me to get in more shots on his opponent and also got the only takedown of the round. Really close round, really a toss up.
R2- They are fighting for while pretty evenly but then Koscheck hits a real nice head kick and quickly follows it up with some punches and the ref stops the fight. Really nice finish from Koscheck who has really improved his stand up game since the Ultimate Fighter Season 1.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by TKO (punches) R2 1:24
This is also from UFC 82.
Middleweight Championship- Anderson Silva (c) (20-4) vs. Dan Henderson (22-6)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Feeling out process in the early going. Henderson finally goes in after about a minute and we start to see some action now. Silva throwing some kicks now but not doing damage with them. Henderson grabs Silva and takes him down. Silva grabs a headlock and Henderson isn't doing anything on top. Henderson starting to get in a couple of punches but Silva still has him in a headlock which is limiting the damage that can be inflicted. Henderson has side control with 30 seconds left but Silva spins out and Henderson is now in full guard. Round One comes to an end with what seems to be little damage inflicted by either fighter. Henderson wins the round due to cage control and his take down. 10-9 Henderson.
R2- They are trading some jabs and kicks early. Silva starting to get some kicks in. Silva takes down Henderson. They are up and against the fence. Henderson is controlling Silva against the cage in a greco clinch. Henderson with a knee. They trade some punches and Silva is dominating with punches and gets on top. Nails an elbow, Henderson grabs Silva and is trying to get out. Silva has half guard. Silva has his back and is throwing punches. Silva is delivering punches and has him in a body triangle. Silva throwing punches. Silva trying to flatten out Henderson but they roll over and Silva's got the rear naked choke clamped on and Henderson taps.
Good fight. Silva really dominated the second round
Winner and still champ: Anderson Silva via tap out from Rear Naked Choke Round 2 4:52
Thursday, June 19, 2008
DREAM.4 Middleweight Grand Pix 2nd Round 6/15/08 Re-Cap
DREAM 4: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 2nd Round
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
They have Nate Marquardt and Ron Kruck break down the Middleweight Second Round match-ups.
Lightweight Grand Prix
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2)
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki is probably my least favorite MMA fighter in the world. His style is to latch onto his opponent and take him down and then lay on him until the end of the match. He's awesome at it but it's one of the most boring things to watch in professional sports today. The announcers note that he is an 8 to 1 favorite to win this fight. Aoki also sports some of the most hideous tights in all of MMA.Wake me up when this one is over.
Just as a reminder, in DREAM they have 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second round is 5 minutes.
R1- Aoki gets two take downs in the first two minutes but doesn't do anything with them. He just clinches the guy and lays on top of him. Aoki shockingly moves to full mount and lays in some really weak looking punches. Aoki submits Nagata about 5 minutes in with a nice submission. This was much less painful than the other 2 Aoki fights that I've seen. He dominated this and finished it pretty quickly. Aoki advances to the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission R1
Heavyweight bout: Lee Tae-Hyun (1-1) vs. Alistair Overeem (26-11)
Lee has a huge size advantage as he's 295 lbs and Alistair is 225 but Alistair has the experience factor. They note that Alistair is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Alistair just destroys Lee very quickly after the opening sequence. About a minute in Alistair hits a great combo and Lee just crumples to the mat. Left hook, overhand right, left hand and a knee and then he hits the mat. Alistair looked phenomenal here but we have to wonder how good his opponent was. I'm looking forward to seeing Alistair take on some more competitive fights.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by KO R1
Light heavyweight bout: Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0)
R1- Gadzhiev looks good early but then gets caught in a take down and gets tapped out by arm bar a little after the 3 minute mark.
Winner: Ralek Gracie by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Bout
Hideo Tokoro (19-13-1) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (4-1)
R1- Tokoro hits a big knee about a minute in and takes Darren down. Then they do some really nifty sprawling with Tokoro with the advantage and nearly getting a couple of submissions. Darren comes back with some nice strikes and looks like he has a chance to finish Tokoro but Tokoro takes him down and nearly misses another submission. This is a really entertaining fight and it was very back and forth in the first round.
R2- Good solid second round but not as exciting as the first round.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision
Next up they have the girls hold up signs in the ring to a New Kids on the Block classic smash hit. Wow.
They show a promo for the Josh Thomson/Gilbert Melendez Strikeforce show.
They are in the ring and doing some sort of draw for the lightweight tournament semi-finals to see who will fight each other.
Here are the match-ups:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Both are very intriguing fights. I'm hoping for a Alvarez/Uno finals.
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) vs. Dong-Sik Yoon (4-4)
Yoon comes out to "When Doves Cry" by Prince. Not exactly the song I think of when I want to get pumped for a fight but what do I know. Mousasi upset Denis Kang in the first round, he is 22 years old and is fighting his 25th fight tonight. Mousasi is a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight.
R1- Mousasi controlls the first half of the round. Yoon got an early take down but after that it was mostly Mousasi controlling by taking Yoon's back twice and controlling the fight with leg kicks when they stood up. Mousasi drills Yoon with a knee at about the 4 minute mark and just crumples Yoon and then get goes after him with some Ground and Pound. Yoon fights back by getting Mousasi in a near arm bar. With 30 seconds left Yoon stretches the arm bar out but Mousasi slips out. Mousasi really controlled the fight but Yoon almost got a submission near the end of the round. Mousasi is clearly in control but he's got to be careful not to get submitted.
R2- Mousasi quickly takes Yoons back to start the round. This kind of moved to what I see as a typical DREAM style where one guy in the fight is either just laying there in the fetal position or laying on his opponent to try and ride him to victory. This was Yoon basically being fetal for the first 4 and a half minutes of Round 2. Mousasi wins this one by a landslide in a fight that was very bland and uneventful. Hopefully the other fights are more exciting than this and I think that Miller/Souza and Sakuraba/Manhoef definitely should be.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Zelg Gelasic (8-3) vs. Taiei Kin (3-2)
Kin was also 25-5-1 in K1.
R1- This match had just started and we were about two minutes in when Gelasic got a take down and then the fight was over due to ref stoppage. Upon replay Kin hurt his arm on the take down and he tapped out.The injury was pretty sick as Kin went to brace himself and his arm bend the wrong way, pretty sick looking replay.
Winner: Zelg Gelasic by Submission (Injury)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Jason "Mayhem" Miller (21-5) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (8-1)
I'm looking forward to this fight more than any other fight in the Middleweight Quarterfinals as Souza really impressed me in his last fight and Miller, while talented, really pissed me off the way he disrespected his opponent. Both guys seem really talented and honestly I think this is a bad draw as both of these guys are probably better than the first four guys that we've seen tonight. Miller enters in a Halloween type mask and is throwing money or fake money into the crowd. Then he dances like a white guy trying not to be. Miller's best wins are against Robbie Lawler and Denis Kang. He has losses to Georges St. Pierre and Frank Trig. He's won 9 of his last 10 fights. All of Jacare's wins have been by submission.
R1- Good back and forth action early on with Jacare taking it at Miller and then both guys sprawling for position. Jacare gets the first take down of the fight. Miller reversed and then got caught in a leg lock. They got back to their feet and Miller hit a couple of knees. Jacare returns the favor with a knee in the corner. Jacare gets another take down. Miller does a good job reversing but gets his leg caught again and Jacare reverses. Jacare takes his back at the six minute mark of the round. Jacare control for a few minutes and then Miller escapes and gets a nice punch and takes the top. Miller tried to grab a guillotine but instead whiffed. This was a good round, probably the best fight of the night with the possible exception of the Featherweight Fight. Souza takes the first round as he really controlled the fight. Miller did a good job of minimizing damage and escaping Jacare's submissions but spend most of the round on defense.
R2- Jacare once again is the aggressor coming out to start the fight and gets a glancing high kick on Miller. Some nice sprawling and Miller basically avoids a take down but leaving the ring (didn't look intentional but Jacare definitely would have had a take down here) and then the ref re-starts the fight in the center of the ring. Miller starts to try some combos. Miller seems to be starting to gain some momentum on his feet with about 2 minutes left. Miller tries a guillotine but Jacare slams him down and escapes after the take down. Miller gives up his back and gets to his feet but Jacare takes him down again. Jacare gets full mount and Miller gives up his back and reverses and he is in Jacare's guard. Pretty close fight but Jacare wins this one based on controlling the fight and getting a ton of take downs. Miller started to push the pace towards the end of the fight but he just didn't inflict much (or enough) damage on his opponent. Nice to see Miller get a loss on his record, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Decision (Unanimous)
[b]Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4-1)
Manhoef has 20 wins by TKO or KO. He also has a kick boxing record of 34-4 with 25 T(KOs). Sakuraba has 24 wins with 17 by submission and holds victories over Rampage, Renzo Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
R1- Both guys being very cautious in the early going. Manhoef finally opens things up and just goes all after Skauraba and is just destroying him. The ref stops it at one and a half minutes of round one after Manhoef just ate him up for about 30 seconds non-stop. Great showing by Manhoef.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes)
So the Middleweight Semi-Finals will consist of:
Melvin Manhoef
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Zelg Gelasic
Gegard Mousasi
Hopefully we get a Manhoef/Souza finals.
Kind of a lackluster show from DREAM. The best fights were the featherweight fight and Jacare/Miller but neither of them is really worth going out of your way to see. Alistair Overeem looked really good in his fight and I look forward to seeing him fight more. Manhoef also had a great showing in a Elite XC style beatdown in the Main Event.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
They have Nate Marquardt and Ron Kruck break down the Middleweight Second Round match-ups.
Lightweight Grand Prix
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2)
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki is probably my least favorite MMA fighter in the world. His style is to latch onto his opponent and take him down and then lay on him until the end of the match. He's awesome at it but it's one of the most boring things to watch in professional sports today. The announcers note that he is an 8 to 1 favorite to win this fight. Aoki also sports some of the most hideous tights in all of MMA.Wake me up when this one is over.
Just as a reminder, in DREAM they have 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second round is 5 minutes.
R1- Aoki gets two take downs in the first two minutes but doesn't do anything with them. He just clinches the guy and lays on top of him. Aoki shockingly moves to full mount and lays in some really weak looking punches. Aoki submits Nagata about 5 minutes in with a nice submission. This was much less painful than the other 2 Aoki fights that I've seen. He dominated this and finished it pretty quickly. Aoki advances to the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission R1
Heavyweight bout: Lee Tae-Hyun (1-1) vs. Alistair Overeem (26-11)
Lee has a huge size advantage as he's 295 lbs and Alistair is 225 but Alistair has the experience factor. They note that Alistair is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Alistair just destroys Lee very quickly after the opening sequence. About a minute in Alistair hits a great combo and Lee just crumples to the mat. Left hook, overhand right, left hand and a knee and then he hits the mat. Alistair looked phenomenal here but we have to wonder how good his opponent was. I'm looking forward to seeing Alistair take on some more competitive fights.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by KO R1
Light heavyweight bout: Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0)
R1- Gadzhiev looks good early but then gets caught in a take down and gets tapped out by arm bar a little after the 3 minute mark.
Winner: Ralek Gracie by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Bout
Hideo Tokoro (19-13-1) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (4-1)
R1- Tokoro hits a big knee about a minute in and takes Darren down. Then they do some really nifty sprawling with Tokoro with the advantage and nearly getting a couple of submissions. Darren comes back with some nice strikes and looks like he has a chance to finish Tokoro but Tokoro takes him down and nearly misses another submission. This is a really entertaining fight and it was very back and forth in the first round.
R2- Good solid second round but not as exciting as the first round.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision
Next up they have the girls hold up signs in the ring to a New Kids on the Block classic smash hit. Wow.
They show a promo for the Josh Thomson/Gilbert Melendez Strikeforce show.
They are in the ring and doing some sort of draw for the lightweight tournament semi-finals to see who will fight each other.
Here are the match-ups:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Both are very intriguing fights. I'm hoping for a Alvarez/Uno finals.
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) vs. Dong-Sik Yoon (4-4)
Yoon comes out to "When Doves Cry" by Prince. Not exactly the song I think of when I want to get pumped for a fight but what do I know. Mousasi upset Denis Kang in the first round, he is 22 years old and is fighting his 25th fight tonight. Mousasi is a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight.
R1- Mousasi controlls the first half of the round. Yoon got an early take down but after that it was mostly Mousasi controlling by taking Yoon's back twice and controlling the fight with leg kicks when they stood up. Mousasi drills Yoon with a knee at about the 4 minute mark and just crumples Yoon and then get goes after him with some Ground and Pound. Yoon fights back by getting Mousasi in a near arm bar. With 30 seconds left Yoon stretches the arm bar out but Mousasi slips out. Mousasi really controlled the fight but Yoon almost got a submission near the end of the round. Mousasi is clearly in control but he's got to be careful not to get submitted.
R2- Mousasi quickly takes Yoons back to start the round. This kind of moved to what I see as a typical DREAM style where one guy in the fight is either just laying there in the fetal position or laying on his opponent to try and ride him to victory. This was Yoon basically being fetal for the first 4 and a half minutes of Round 2. Mousasi wins this one by a landslide in a fight that was very bland and uneventful. Hopefully the other fights are more exciting than this and I think that Miller/Souza and Sakuraba/Manhoef definitely should be.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Zelg Gelasic (8-3) vs. Taiei Kin (3-2)
Kin was also 25-5-1 in K1.
R1- This match had just started and we were about two minutes in when Gelasic got a take down and then the fight was over due to ref stoppage. Upon replay Kin hurt his arm on the take down and he tapped out.The injury was pretty sick as Kin went to brace himself and his arm bend the wrong way, pretty sick looking replay.
Winner: Zelg Gelasic by Submission (Injury)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Jason "Mayhem" Miller (21-5) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (8-1)
I'm looking forward to this fight more than any other fight in the Middleweight Quarterfinals as Souza really impressed me in his last fight and Miller, while talented, really pissed me off the way he disrespected his opponent. Both guys seem really talented and honestly I think this is a bad draw as both of these guys are probably better than the first four guys that we've seen tonight. Miller enters in a Halloween type mask and is throwing money or fake money into the crowd. Then he dances like a white guy trying not to be. Miller's best wins are against Robbie Lawler and Denis Kang. He has losses to Georges St. Pierre and Frank Trig. He's won 9 of his last 10 fights. All of Jacare's wins have been by submission.
R1- Good back and forth action early on with Jacare taking it at Miller and then both guys sprawling for position. Jacare gets the first take down of the fight. Miller reversed and then got caught in a leg lock. They got back to their feet and Miller hit a couple of knees. Jacare returns the favor with a knee in the corner. Jacare gets another take down. Miller does a good job reversing but gets his leg caught again and Jacare reverses. Jacare takes his back at the six minute mark of the round. Jacare control for a few minutes and then Miller escapes and gets a nice punch and takes the top. Miller tried to grab a guillotine but instead whiffed. This was a good round, probably the best fight of the night with the possible exception of the Featherweight Fight. Souza takes the first round as he really controlled the fight. Miller did a good job of minimizing damage and escaping Jacare's submissions but spend most of the round on defense.
R2- Jacare once again is the aggressor coming out to start the fight and gets a glancing high kick on Miller. Some nice sprawling and Miller basically avoids a take down but leaving the ring (didn't look intentional but Jacare definitely would have had a take down here) and then the ref re-starts the fight in the center of the ring. Miller starts to try some combos. Miller seems to be starting to gain some momentum on his feet with about 2 minutes left. Miller tries a guillotine but Jacare slams him down and escapes after the take down. Miller gives up his back and gets to his feet but Jacare takes him down again. Jacare gets full mount and Miller gives up his back and reverses and he is in Jacare's guard. Pretty close fight but Jacare wins this one based on controlling the fight and getting a ton of take downs. Miller started to push the pace towards the end of the fight but he just didn't inflict much (or enough) damage on his opponent. Nice to see Miller get a loss on his record, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Decision (Unanimous)
[b]Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4-1)
Manhoef has 20 wins by TKO or KO. He also has a kick boxing record of 34-4 with 25 T(KOs). Sakuraba has 24 wins with 17 by submission and holds victories over Rampage, Renzo Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
R1- Both guys being very cautious in the early going. Manhoef finally opens things up and just goes all after Skauraba and is just destroying him. The ref stops it at one and a half minutes of round one after Manhoef just ate him up for about 30 seconds non-stop. Great showing by Manhoef.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes)
So the Middleweight Semi-Finals will consist of:
Melvin Manhoef
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Zelg Gelasic
Gegard Mousasi
Hopefully we get a Manhoef/Souza finals.
Kind of a lackluster show from DREAM. The best fights were the featherweight fight and Jacare/Miller but neither of them is really worth going out of your way to see. Alistair Overeem looked really good in his fight and I look forward to seeing him fight more. Manhoef also had a great showing in a Elite XC style beatdown in the Main Event.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Elite XC: "Return of the King" 6/14 Re-Cap/Thoughts
Elite XC: Return of the King
They focus on the Main Event during the lead-in promo with KJ Noons vs. Yves Edwards. This show is named for KJ Noons who is returning to his home, Hawaii, to defend the lightweight title.
The card for tonight is:
Rafael Feijao – (205) vs. Wayne Cole – (204)
Dave “Pee Wee” Herman – (243 ½) vs. Ron Waterman – (263)
Murilo “Ninja” Rua – (184) vs. Tony Bonello – (185)
Nick Diaz – (169) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey – (163 ½)
EliteXC Lightweight World Title Match: KJ Noons ©– (160) vs. Yves Edwards – (158 ½)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Wayne Cole (11-6) vs. Rafael Feijao (5-1)
Wayne Cole was last seen on the Frank Shamrock/Cung Le card destroying Mike Kyle. Feijao has trained with Anderson Silva and Noguiera. This will be the first time I’ve seen Feijao fight. Looks like Anderson Silva is in Feijao’s corner, or someone who looks a lot like him. Maura Ranallo notes that Feijao’s lone loss was due to disqualification.
R1- They mix up at the beginning with both guys landing shots and then Rafael takes Cole down. Back to their feet and they clinch. Ranallo confirms that Anderson Silva is in Rafael’s corner. Rafael is hitting some knees. The ref stops the fight and tells Cole that he has five minutes, looks like he called a low blow. They come back and Rafael hits a couple of kicks and then they clinch again. Both guys are very quick and aggressive. Rafael separates from the clinch and hits a couple of nice punches. He goes for a knee but Cole grabs it so Rafael hits him with this other knee. Rafael with two more knees and Cole is down and in trouble. Rafael just nailing Cole with shots and the ref stops the fight. Rafael Feijao looked very impressive in victory in this fight.
Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (strikes) R1 2:47
Scott Smith joins Mauro Ranallo ringside and they show highlights from the CBS Saturday Night Fights show. Scott says his eye is fine and that his foot is also fine, he pulled some ligaments in it but he’s running on it now and he’s ready to fight. Says he and Lawler have some unfinished business to take care of. Smith says he needs to move around move during the next fight and not eat as much punishment (jabs). Ranallo announces that the re-match is coming up Saturday July 26th at 9PM on CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights. I definitely will tune in for this as I really liked their first fight.
Heavyweight Fight: Dave Herman (10-0) vs. Ron Waterman (15-5-2)
They hype Waterman as a “Jack of all Trades” and talk about some of the former jobs he’s had, they don’t mention WWE developmental wrestler. He’s 42 years old. Ranallo says that Cro Cop called Waterman the most powerful man he’s ever faced. Herman is hyped as an undefeated young prospect. Herman is 10-0 with 7 KOs and 3 Subs.
R1- Herman boxes around Waterman early but Waterman quickly takes him down. Waterman has Herman against the fence and is getting some Ground and Pound. They sprawl and Herman gets up but Waterman takes him down and Herman gets up again. Good job by Herman escaping with minimal punishment. Herman hits a Karate Kid kick right to Waterman’s face that just looked fantastic as it echoed when it hit. Waterman trying to take Herman down again and Herman is hitting him with some elbows, a couple of which are dangerously close to the back of the head. Herman hits a knee to the side and Herman is in full mount and Ground and Pounds Waterman until the ref stops the fight. Really impressive fight for Herman.
Winner: Dave Herman by TKO (strikes) R1 2:19
Two impressive victories by young fighters to start off this show as Herman and Feijao are both guys that I want to see more from.
Stephen Quadros interviews Yves Edwards backstage. They talk about Yves’ comeback and working with American Top Team and of course the fight tonight.
Middleweight Fight- Tony Bonnello (16-0-1) vs. Ninja Rua (15-8-1)
Bonnello is undefeated and he is looking to get the fight on the ground. Ninja says he’s never submitted and the only way he is leaving the cage is if he gets knocked out. Ninja is a former EliteXC Middleweight Champion but he lost to Robbie Lawler. This is Bonnello’s US TV debut. Bonnello looks pretty intense during the pre-fight ref talk. I think he was cussing at Rua during this as the ref was giving instructions.
R1- Bonnello aggressive early but Rua gets a take down. Ninja has side control. Ninja with some elbows and some shots to the side. Ninja hitting some nice elbows. Bonnello just getting dominated. Rua is just destroying this guy with elbows. Rua in the full mount now getting some Ground and Pound but then moves back to side mount where he was having more success. Rua is hitting more elbows. Rua hits a couple shots to the side. Rua puts his knee on Bonnello’s belly and starts hitting Bonnello with punches. Bonnello has no answer and the ref stops the fight. Rua just dominated this fight. Nice to see after the other guy was talking trash to him during the ref instructions. Domination. Great showing by Rua. The only things Bonnello showed was that he can take a punch, actually lots of punches.
Winner: Ninja Rua by TKO (strikes) R1 3:16
Post-Fight Rua says he wants his belt back. So we’ve got Smith/Lawler coming up and potentially Rua getting the winner of the fight.
Stephen Quadros is backstage with KJ Noons and they talk about the fight.
Catch weight (168 lbs) Fight- Nick Diaz (16-7-1) vs. Mushin Corbbrey (12-2)
Neither of these guys made weight for this fight. Nick Diaz just fought last month at the DREAM.3 fight. They say that Diaz went to a plastic surgeon after the Noons fight (which was stopped due to a Diaz cut) to get some scar tissue removed to try and correct the issue he’s had with cuts. Neither one of these guys made weight for the fight but the winner is going to be considered a leading candidate to fight the winner of Noons/Edwards for the lightweight belt. Makes perfect sense to me. Diaz missed weight by 9 pounds. Mushin is from Savannah, Georgia.
R1- Diaz goes for an early take down but comes up empty. Diaz has a noticeable reach advantage and hits a couple of jabs. Diaz hits a nice left hand. Both guys are hitting shots now. Diaz is hitting more clean shots but Mushin is hitting some knees and dirty boxing. Diaz hits a couple more nice shots. Mushin has some really quick punches and is able to land a good shot to Diaz but Diaz comes right back with jabs. This was a good first round with a lot of action. It was pretty even but Diaz controlled the fight more and landed more punches. Mushin started to come on towards the end of the round so it will be interesting to see who comes out and controls round 2. Diaz up 10-9 so far on my scorecard.
R2- Diaz trying to get a take down but he is denied again. Diaz is hitting some nice jabs and it looks like he is wearing Mushin down. Mushin getting in some counter punches but is still getting tagged by Diaz jabs. Diaz starting to hit some more punches and is talking trash and putting a little “show” in his game. Mushin hits a good counter punch. Diaz looks like he’s cut. Diaz goes for another take down but he still doesn’t get it. Diaz with more jabs and one of them catches Mushin off balance. Diaz gets a take down but there is only 15 seconds left. Diaz takes this round based on controlling the fight and landing more punches. Diaz’s jabs seem to be talking their toll on Mushin. Mushin is not out of this fight but he needs to finish to win. Diaz is up 20-18 on my scorecard.
R3- Diaz goes for a take down but is denied. Diaz hitting more jabs. Diaz gets a take down after a knee. Diaz moves from half guard to side control and is going after an arm submission. Diaz was going for a kimura, looks like he is going for an arm bar but Mushin escapes. Diaz pins him against the cage and is picking him off with shots against the cage now. Quadros compares this round to a spider and fly. Diaz moves very well to full mount, great move. Diaz is hitting Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight.
This was an enjoyable fight and Diaz looked really good. Diaz dominated the fight without dominating until Round 3. He just controlled the fight and did what he wanted except that he wasn’t able to get a take down that mattered until the third round. Corbbrey looks to have talented he was just outclassed by Diaz. I would like to see Corbbrey fight Edson Berto in the future. Nate Diaz was in Nick’s corner in a wife beater.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R3 3:59
Anderson Silva is shown again in the crowd watching the fights. They mention that he is considered to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Anderson mugs for the camera.
Elite XC hypes some upcoming shows:
July 26th on Showtime (must be the prelims for the CBS show)
July 26th on CBS at 9 PM- Lawler/Smith II
Lightweight Title Fight- KJ Noons © (5-1) vs. Yves Edwards (34-13-1)
R1- Noons comes out and hits an immediate kick and then they are going back and forth. Yves hits a good knee but then gets tagged and Noons is all over Edwards and is Ground and Pounding him and this one is over in 47 seconds. Wow, I thought Yves was going to take this one but KJ looked really strong in this one as he just exploded on Yves after Yves was knocked to the mat. On the replay Yves got caught with a punch right to the jaw and then Noons just jumped on him and went to town hitting a barrage of punches.
Winner: KJ Noons by TKO (strikes) R1 and still Elite XC Lightweight Champion
Post-Match they interview KJ and Yves. Yves says he got his ass whooped. Then they bring in Nick Diaz and we are about to go all Pro Wres in this bad boy! Diaz says let’s go and KJ lunges at Diaz and we get a pull apart as the Diaz boys rain on KJ’s parade. KJ’s dad almost getting into it with Nick. At least they are starting to sell their next big fights as they hyped Smith/Lawler II during this show and now we have Noons/Diaz II which looks promising.
Overall, this was a good solid show. A couple of quick fights with very good showings by Herman and Feijao. Ninja looked dominate in his fight. Diaz had a good fight and looked really good and KJ Noons dominated Yves Edwards.
They focus on the Main Event during the lead-in promo with KJ Noons vs. Yves Edwards. This show is named for KJ Noons who is returning to his home, Hawaii, to defend the lightweight title.
The card for tonight is:
Rafael Feijao – (205) vs. Wayne Cole – (204)
Dave “Pee Wee” Herman – (243 ½) vs. Ron Waterman – (263)
Murilo “Ninja” Rua – (184) vs. Tony Bonello – (185)
Nick Diaz – (169) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey – (163 ½)
EliteXC Lightweight World Title Match: KJ Noons ©– (160) vs. Yves Edwards – (158 ½)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Wayne Cole (11-6) vs. Rafael Feijao (5-1)
Wayne Cole was last seen on the Frank Shamrock/Cung Le card destroying Mike Kyle. Feijao has trained with Anderson Silva and Noguiera. This will be the first time I’ve seen Feijao fight. Looks like Anderson Silva is in Feijao’s corner, or someone who looks a lot like him. Maura Ranallo notes that Feijao’s lone loss was due to disqualification.
R1- They mix up at the beginning with both guys landing shots and then Rafael takes Cole down. Back to their feet and they clinch. Ranallo confirms that Anderson Silva is in Rafael’s corner. Rafael is hitting some knees. The ref stops the fight and tells Cole that he has five minutes, looks like he called a low blow. They come back and Rafael hits a couple of kicks and then they clinch again. Both guys are very quick and aggressive. Rafael separates from the clinch and hits a couple of nice punches. He goes for a knee but Cole grabs it so Rafael hits him with this other knee. Rafael with two more knees and Cole is down and in trouble. Rafael just nailing Cole with shots and the ref stops the fight. Rafael Feijao looked very impressive in victory in this fight.
Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (strikes) R1 2:47
Scott Smith joins Mauro Ranallo ringside and they show highlights from the CBS Saturday Night Fights show. Scott says his eye is fine and that his foot is also fine, he pulled some ligaments in it but he’s running on it now and he’s ready to fight. Says he and Lawler have some unfinished business to take care of. Smith says he needs to move around move during the next fight and not eat as much punishment (jabs). Ranallo announces that the re-match is coming up Saturday July 26th at 9PM on CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights. I definitely will tune in for this as I really liked their first fight.
Heavyweight Fight: Dave Herman (10-0) vs. Ron Waterman (15-5-2)
They hype Waterman as a “Jack of all Trades” and talk about some of the former jobs he’s had, they don’t mention WWE developmental wrestler. He’s 42 years old. Ranallo says that Cro Cop called Waterman the most powerful man he’s ever faced. Herman is hyped as an undefeated young prospect. Herman is 10-0 with 7 KOs and 3 Subs.
R1- Herman boxes around Waterman early but Waterman quickly takes him down. Waterman has Herman against the fence and is getting some Ground and Pound. They sprawl and Herman gets up but Waterman takes him down and Herman gets up again. Good job by Herman escaping with minimal punishment. Herman hits a Karate Kid kick right to Waterman’s face that just looked fantastic as it echoed when it hit. Waterman trying to take Herman down again and Herman is hitting him with some elbows, a couple of which are dangerously close to the back of the head. Herman hits a knee to the side and Herman is in full mount and Ground and Pounds Waterman until the ref stops the fight. Really impressive fight for Herman.
Winner: Dave Herman by TKO (strikes) R1 2:19
Two impressive victories by young fighters to start off this show as Herman and Feijao are both guys that I want to see more from.
Stephen Quadros interviews Yves Edwards backstage. They talk about Yves’ comeback and working with American Top Team and of course the fight tonight.
Middleweight Fight- Tony Bonnello (16-0-1) vs. Ninja Rua (15-8-1)
Bonnello is undefeated and he is looking to get the fight on the ground. Ninja says he’s never submitted and the only way he is leaving the cage is if he gets knocked out. Ninja is a former EliteXC Middleweight Champion but he lost to Robbie Lawler. This is Bonnello’s US TV debut. Bonnello looks pretty intense during the pre-fight ref talk. I think he was cussing at Rua during this as the ref was giving instructions.
R1- Bonnello aggressive early but Rua gets a take down. Ninja has side control. Ninja with some elbows and some shots to the side. Ninja hitting some nice elbows. Bonnello just getting dominated. Rua is just destroying this guy with elbows. Rua in the full mount now getting some Ground and Pound but then moves back to side mount where he was having more success. Rua is hitting more elbows. Rua hits a couple shots to the side. Rua puts his knee on Bonnello’s belly and starts hitting Bonnello with punches. Bonnello has no answer and the ref stops the fight. Rua just dominated this fight. Nice to see after the other guy was talking trash to him during the ref instructions. Domination. Great showing by Rua. The only things Bonnello showed was that he can take a punch, actually lots of punches.
Winner: Ninja Rua by TKO (strikes) R1 3:16
Post-Fight Rua says he wants his belt back. So we’ve got Smith/Lawler coming up and potentially Rua getting the winner of the fight.
Stephen Quadros is backstage with KJ Noons and they talk about the fight.
Catch weight (168 lbs) Fight- Nick Diaz (16-7-1) vs. Mushin Corbbrey (12-2)
Neither of these guys made weight for this fight. Nick Diaz just fought last month at the DREAM.3 fight. They say that Diaz went to a plastic surgeon after the Noons fight (which was stopped due to a Diaz cut) to get some scar tissue removed to try and correct the issue he’s had with cuts. Neither one of these guys made weight for the fight but the winner is going to be considered a leading candidate to fight the winner of Noons/Edwards for the lightweight belt. Makes perfect sense to me. Diaz missed weight by 9 pounds. Mushin is from Savannah, Georgia.
R1- Diaz goes for an early take down but comes up empty. Diaz has a noticeable reach advantage and hits a couple of jabs. Diaz hits a nice left hand. Both guys are hitting shots now. Diaz is hitting more clean shots but Mushin is hitting some knees and dirty boxing. Diaz hits a couple more nice shots. Mushin has some really quick punches and is able to land a good shot to Diaz but Diaz comes right back with jabs. This was a good first round with a lot of action. It was pretty even but Diaz controlled the fight more and landed more punches. Mushin started to come on towards the end of the round so it will be interesting to see who comes out and controls round 2. Diaz up 10-9 so far on my scorecard.
R2- Diaz trying to get a take down but he is denied again. Diaz is hitting some nice jabs and it looks like he is wearing Mushin down. Mushin getting in some counter punches but is still getting tagged by Diaz jabs. Diaz starting to hit some more punches and is talking trash and putting a little “show” in his game. Mushin hits a good counter punch. Diaz looks like he’s cut. Diaz goes for another take down but he still doesn’t get it. Diaz with more jabs and one of them catches Mushin off balance. Diaz gets a take down but there is only 15 seconds left. Diaz takes this round based on controlling the fight and landing more punches. Diaz’s jabs seem to be talking their toll on Mushin. Mushin is not out of this fight but he needs to finish to win. Diaz is up 20-18 on my scorecard.
R3- Diaz goes for a take down but is denied. Diaz hitting more jabs. Diaz gets a take down after a knee. Diaz moves from half guard to side control and is going after an arm submission. Diaz was going for a kimura, looks like he is going for an arm bar but Mushin escapes. Diaz pins him against the cage and is picking him off with shots against the cage now. Quadros compares this round to a spider and fly. Diaz moves very well to full mount, great move. Diaz is hitting Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight.
This was an enjoyable fight and Diaz looked really good. Diaz dominated the fight without dominating until Round 3. He just controlled the fight and did what he wanted except that he wasn’t able to get a take down that mattered until the third round. Corbbrey looks to have talented he was just outclassed by Diaz. I would like to see Corbbrey fight Edson Berto in the future. Nate Diaz was in Nick’s corner in a wife beater.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R3 3:59
Anderson Silva is shown again in the crowd watching the fights. They mention that he is considered to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Anderson mugs for the camera.
Elite XC hypes some upcoming shows:
July 26th on Showtime (must be the prelims for the CBS show)
July 26th on CBS at 9 PM- Lawler/Smith II
Lightweight Title Fight- KJ Noons © (5-1) vs. Yves Edwards (34-13-1)
R1- Noons comes out and hits an immediate kick and then they are going back and forth. Yves hits a good knee but then gets tagged and Noons is all over Edwards and is Ground and Pounding him and this one is over in 47 seconds. Wow, I thought Yves was going to take this one but KJ looked really strong in this one as he just exploded on Yves after Yves was knocked to the mat. On the replay Yves got caught with a punch right to the jaw and then Noons just jumped on him and went to town hitting a barrage of punches.
Winner: KJ Noons by TKO (strikes) R1 and still Elite XC Lightweight Champion
Post-Match they interview KJ and Yves. Yves says he got his ass whooped. Then they bring in Nick Diaz and we are about to go all Pro Wres in this bad boy! Diaz says let’s go and KJ lunges at Diaz and we get a pull apart as the Diaz boys rain on KJ’s parade. KJ’s dad almost getting into it with Nick. At least they are starting to sell their next big fights as they hyped Smith/Lawler II during this show and now we have Noons/Diaz II which looks promising.
Overall, this was a good solid show. A couple of quick fights with very good showings by Herman and Feijao. Ninja looked dominate in his fight. Diaz had a good fight and looked really good and KJ Noons dominated Yves Edwards.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Strikeforce on NBC 6/8 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on NBC 6/8 Re-Cap
Duane Ludwig (13-4) vs. Tyson Griffin (6-0)- 6/9/06
This should be a good fight.
R1- Ludwig starts off with a good combo. Ludwig has a very noticeable height advantage. Griffin shoots and gets a take down Tyson backs him up against the cage. They mention Tyson’s win over Urijah Faber a couple of times. They mention that Ludwig made his name by knocking out Jens Pulver. Ludwig attempts a triangle but doesn’t get it set in and Griffin starts to hit some punches. Tyson is hitting some good punches and the ref stops the fight. Shamrock immediately says that he thinks it was a bad stoppage. I agree that it was a pre-mature stoppage. Griffin was dominating but Ludwig wasn’t in too bad of shape and was still defending.
Interesting that Strikeforce puts a fight on TV with a UFC fighter (Tyson Griffin) going over one of their guys.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by TKO (punches) R1
Gina Carano (2-0) vs. Elaina Maxwell (1-0)- 12/8/06
Maxwell trains with Cung Le. They show a hype video for Maxwell.
R1- They are fighting 2 minute rounds. Pretty even first round. Carano started to open up and then Maxwell took her down but Carano reversed and the round ended. Really short round, not much time to get going.
R2- Maxwell got a single leg take down early in the round but Carano just rolled through and got on top. Carano getting in a couple of shots. They mixed it up pretty well at the end of the round. Carano definitely took this round. I’d probably go Carano 20-18 at this point.
R3- Carano hits a big right hand to start the round. Maxwell tries a take down but instead gets taken down herself. Maxwell went for a triangle and turned it over but then Carano reversed again and is now in full mount and is punching Maxwell a lot. Carano continues to pound away as the round ends. All three judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Carano.
Winner: Gina Carano by Decision (Unanimous)
Duane Ludwig (13-4) vs. Tyson Griffin (6-0)- 6/9/06
This should be a good fight.
R1- Ludwig starts off with a good combo. Ludwig has a very noticeable height advantage. Griffin shoots and gets a take down Tyson backs him up against the cage. They mention Tyson’s win over Urijah Faber a couple of times. They mention that Ludwig made his name by knocking out Jens Pulver. Ludwig attempts a triangle but doesn’t get it set in and Griffin starts to hit some punches. Tyson is hitting some good punches and the ref stops the fight. Shamrock immediately says that he thinks it was a bad stoppage. I agree that it was a pre-mature stoppage. Griffin was dominating but Ludwig wasn’t in too bad of shape and was still defending.
Interesting that Strikeforce puts a fight on TV with a UFC fighter (Tyson Griffin) going over one of their guys.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by TKO (punches) R1
Gina Carano (2-0) vs. Elaina Maxwell (1-0)- 12/8/06
Maxwell trains with Cung Le. They show a hype video for Maxwell.
R1- They are fighting 2 minute rounds. Pretty even first round. Carano started to open up and then Maxwell took her down but Carano reversed and the round ended. Really short round, not much time to get going.
R2- Maxwell got a single leg take down early in the round but Carano just rolled through and got on top. Carano getting in a couple of shots. They mixed it up pretty well at the end of the round. Carano definitely took this round. I’d probably go Carano 20-18 at this point.
R3- Carano hits a big right hand to start the round. Maxwell tries a take down but instead gets taken down herself. Maxwell went for a triangle and turned it over but then Carano reversed again and is now in full mount and is punching Maxwell a lot. Carano continues to pound away as the round ends. All three judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Carano.
Winner: Gina Carano by Decision (Unanimous)
Strikeforce on NBC 6/1 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on NBC 6/1 Re-Cap
Bobby Southworth (8-4) vs. Anthony Ruiz (17-10)- 11/16/07
Bobby Southworth is the guy from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 that made Chris Leben a likeable guy. The telecast spends the majority of time hyping up Ruiz.
R1- Bobby catches a kick and takes down Ruiz quickly. Bobby gets full mount and then gets Ruiz’s back. Bobby had a great position but loses it and Ruiz reverses and then they get back to their feet in a clinch. Ken Shamrock is really killing Bobby Southworth on commentary, questioning his work ethic and asking why he’s not doing certain things in the ring. Southworth gets another take down. They mention that Southworth is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion but that this is a non-title match. Round 1 was pretty even and uneventful- Ruiz probably took it due to some knees he was landing but I could see Southworth getting it also. Neither guy really did anything to deserve Round One.
R2- They start to mix early in Round 1 and Southworth is send running backwards and Ruiz follows up with a take down. Bobby is cut. They show a replay and Ruiz just nailed Southworth with four straight shots. Ref stops the fight due to a cut.
Winner: Anthony Ruiz by TKO (Ref Stoppage due to cut)
Gilbert Melendez (8-0) vs. Harris Sarmiento (18-12)- 3/10/06
R1- Melendez gets a take down fairly early after a clinch. Melendez getting in some shots as he has Sarmiento up against the cage. Melendez dominating so far. Melendez hitting some elbows. Melendez with more elbows. He’s just eating Sarmiento up. Sarmiento gets to his feet and eats a couple of punches on the way up but gets to his feet. Melendez pick him up and slams him back down and is hitting him with some shots. This was a 10-8 round in favor of Melendez. Just not even close.
R2- Melendez got caught with a couple of shots but still got the take down at the beginning of the round. Gilbert is pounding on Sarmiento and Herb Dean stops the fight. Melendez just dominated.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by TKO (punches) R2 0:44
Bobby Southworth (8-4) vs. Anthony Ruiz (17-10)- 11/16/07
Bobby Southworth is the guy from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 that made Chris Leben a likeable guy. The telecast spends the majority of time hyping up Ruiz.
R1- Bobby catches a kick and takes down Ruiz quickly. Bobby gets full mount and then gets Ruiz’s back. Bobby had a great position but loses it and Ruiz reverses and then they get back to their feet in a clinch. Ken Shamrock is really killing Bobby Southworth on commentary, questioning his work ethic and asking why he’s not doing certain things in the ring. Southworth gets another take down. They mention that Southworth is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion but that this is a non-title match. Round 1 was pretty even and uneventful- Ruiz probably took it due to some knees he was landing but I could see Southworth getting it also. Neither guy really did anything to deserve Round One.
R2- They start to mix early in Round 1 and Southworth is send running backwards and Ruiz follows up with a take down. Bobby is cut. They show a replay and Ruiz just nailed Southworth with four straight shots. Ref stops the fight due to a cut.
Winner: Anthony Ruiz by TKO (Ref Stoppage due to cut)
Gilbert Melendez (8-0) vs. Harris Sarmiento (18-12)- 3/10/06
R1- Melendez gets a take down fairly early after a clinch. Melendez getting in some shots as he has Sarmiento up against the cage. Melendez dominating so far. Melendez hitting some elbows. Melendez with more elbows. He’s just eating Sarmiento up. Sarmiento gets to his feet and eats a couple of punches on the way up but gets to his feet. Melendez pick him up and slams him back down and is hitting him with some shots. This was a 10-8 round in favor of Melendez. Just not even close.
R2- Melendez got caught with a couple of shots but still got the take down at the beginning of the round. Gilbert is pounding on Sarmiento and Herb Dean stops the fight. Melendez just dominated.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by TKO (punches) R2 0:44
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
UFC 85 "Bedlam" Re-Cap/Thoughts
UFC 85: "Bedlam"
O2 Arena, London, England
Heavyweight Fight- Fabrico Werdum (10-3-1) vs. Brandon Vera (8-1)
The Heavyweight division is far and away UFC's weakest division right now so the winner of this match is gonna rise to right near the top of the division. This looks like it has the potential to be a good fight.
R1- A lot of clinching early. Werdum gets in a shot or two. Werdum again comes at Vera and hits a couple of shots and then they clinch. Vera hits a knee or two. Werdum takes him down. Werdum getting in some offense in Vera's guard. Vera kicks him off and then fights off another take down. Vera caught Werdum with a left hook but Werdum avoided further damage and they clinch against the cage. Werdum gets another take down. Werdum gets in the mount position and Vera is just covering up and the ref stops it. Brandon Vera disputes the stoppage as he was taking some shots but he popped right back up after the finish. Joe Rogan says the finish was pre-mature. I have to agree that this was a bad stoppage. Werdum may have gone on and won in about 15 or 20 seconds but the stoppage looked pre-mature as Vera just popped right back up at the finish.
Winner: Fabrico Werdum by TKO R1 4:40
Post-Match Vera basically says "there was only 15 seconds left in the round. Let me take my ass whipping and let's go to Round 2".
Just a quick note that the ref here, Dan Miragliotta, is also the guy who didn't stop the Kimbo fight when James Thompson had Kimbo and was just destroying him up against the cage and then on the other end stopped the Thompson/Kimbo fight when Thompson was ahead on the card but took a couple of shots and had his ear busted open. Stopping a fight is a tough call but it's odd that the same game had had two controversial stoppages within what I think is 8 days.
Guy Ritchie is in the house.
Middleweight Fight- Nate Marquardt (29-7-2) vs. Thales Leites (12-1)
I've never seen Leites fight before. Marquardt has only one loss in the UFC and it was to Anderson Silva. Leites has a 4" reach advantage.
R1- Leites gets a couple of shots in near the cage about a minute in. Leites gets in a shot on the cage and then Nate comes after him and Leites just sticks Nate with a shot and he slumps to the mat. Leites all over Nate trying to finish him. Leites has a mount on Nate but Nate works him back to half guard. Nate gets up and looks to be recovered. Leites hits him with a jab. Nate hits a shot and then they clinch against the cage. Nate with a combo on Leites and Leites looks like he's hurt but he survives. Pretty even round with Nate finishing strong but Leites got the big shot and take down and he wins the round 10-9. Still anybody's fight.
R2- Nate comes out almost immediately with a right hand but then has to retreat quickly as Leites comes after him. Nate hits a nice combo and then rushes Leites and takes him down and nails him with an ILLEGAL knee to the face when Leites was down. Herb Dean calls for the doctor. Doctor says he's okay and Dean is going to give the fighter time to recover. Herb Dean takes a point away from Nate and they restart. Nate takes Leites down and Dean warns him about shots to the back of the head. Nate is trying to make up that point. Leites is busted open. Nate hitting some elbows. Nate dominating at this point. Joe Rogan says he thinks Leites nose is broken. Nate slips and gets mounted late in the round and the bell rings with Leites on top. Nate dominated this round but also lost a point due to the illegal knee. I've got the fight Leites 19 Nate 18 so far.
R3- They exchange so decent shots early in the round and Nate takes Leites down. Leites gets a submission attempt and Nate slips out. Ref stops the fight again and takes another point away from Nate, this time for a shot to the back of the head. With two points being taken away Nate has to finish in this fight or he will lose. Rogan says he thinks the shot was to the side of the head and it was a mistake. They re-start and Nate hits a knee. Both guys are really tired with about 30 seconds left. Nate has dominated this fight since the illegal knee. Nate picks up Leites and basically pile drives him right near the end of the fight. Nate wins the final two rounds but since he lost a point in both of them then they are scored 9-9.
I've got this one Leites 28 Nate 27 with the 2 points deducted from Nate. Judges score the fight 28-27 Leites, 28-27 Nate, and 28-27 Leites.
Winner: Thales Leites by Decision (Split)
Interesting how both of the first fights have been controversial due to referee decisions.
Chuck Liddell is at the show.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (23-7) vs. Luiz Cane (8-1-1)
This is from the pre-show.
R1- Cane landed some shots when they clinched and then when Lambert was coming at him Cane nailed him. Lambert slumped down when Cane caught him again. Lambert trying to stay in this fight but seems to be getting overwhelmed and he gets caught again and it's called. Lambert just left himself open too much when he was going for strikes and paid the price.
Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (Strikes) R1
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (19-4) vs. Mike Swick (11-2)
I've been really impressed with what I've seen from Marcus Davis. Davis is on an 11 fight win streak. Swick has a large 7" reach advantage. Davis is former pro boxer turned MMA fighter. Fans are solidly behind Davis in this fight.
R1- Swick trying some kicks early and misses a knee. Davis connecting on more stuff early but nothing really damaging. They tie up and Davis gets a take down but can't control it and then Swick takes Davis down. Swick is getting in some good shots and has Davis pinned against the cage. Swick with some elbows. Davis is busted open, announcers think it's mostly old scar tissue. Swick wins this round as he took Davis down and Davis could not get back to his feet. Swick 10 Davis 9.
R2- Swick went for a kick and got popped with a right hand. Swick retaliates with akick and then hits a knee and floors Davis and is now down on top fo Davis in his guard. Swick looks surprisingly good tonight. They get back to their feet. Davis hits some combos up against the cage. Davis hitting some uppercuts and shots while they clinch and they are exchanging knees. Davis takes Swick down. Davis gets up but Swick takes him right down and has side control but not enough time to do anything with it. Swick control the beginning of this round, Davis the middle and Swick the end. Davis showed some life this round but I think Swick took this round although Davis may have done more damage so he could have gotten the nod in this round.
R3- They are exchanging shots throughout the first minute. Yamasaki deducts a point from Mike Swick for holding the fence- he had previously been warned. This could be huge if Davis were to win this round. Swick sees this and gets real aggressive and takes Davis down and is hitting him with shots. Davis is busted open. I think Swick takes this round as well. After the point deducted I've got Swick 29-27. Swick was really impressive here and Davis just never got going. Judges score the contest 29-27.
Winner: Mike Swick by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (16-1) vs. Jason Day (17-5)
This is announced as the "Co-Main Event". Bisping gets a big reaction, of course he's from England.
R1- Bisping gets Day to the ground about a minute in and a half in and lands some really good shots. Day is holding his head. Bisping continues to get some shots in on Day. Day gets back to his feet but gets taken down again. Bisping has his back and is hitting him with lots of punches. The ref finally steps in and stops the fight (Miragliotta's got to be real gun shy by now but this was a perfect stoppage). Bisping was very impressive in this fight and just dominated.
Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (strikes)
Catchweight Fight- Matt Hughes (43-6) vs. Thiago Alves (20-4)
Alves did not make weight so they are fighting this as a "catchweight" fight. Hughes has a 3" reach advantage. Alves is only 24 years old.
R1- Thiago denies Hughes an early take down. Hughes goes for another one but it gets stuffed. Hughes pulls guard on Thiago. Thiago lands a couple of nice punches and then they stand up. Thiago hits a knee but Hughes is able to take Thiago down. Matt not really doing any damage to Thiago and Thiago gets up to his feet. Thiago takes Hughes down after a sprawl and Thiago lands some nice punches. Hughes controlled a lot of the middle portion of this round but Thiago did more damage. Alves 10 Hughes 9.
R2- Thiago hits a knee early and he's on top on the mat. Hughes is busted open. Alves hits Hughes with a flying knee and Hughes is a bloody mess and slumps to the mat. Herb Dean steps in to stop this fight and it's over. Alves looked really impressive here. When Hughes ate that knee Hughes felt right on his knee.
Winner: Thiago Alves by TKO (Knee Strike) R2 1:02
Post-match Matt Hughes says he's got at least one fight left in him and that's with Matt Serra.
Some more prelim fights:
Lightweight Fight- Matt Wiman vs. Thiago Tavares
R1- Wiman charges at Tavares throwing punches but Tavares grabs him in a guillotine and then grabs him in a triangle type move and then hits Wiman with a couple of upkicks. Wiman does a roll through into a leg lock but Tavares escapes. Tavares now with a heel hook but Wiman escapes. Really good fight so far and only two minutes in. Tavares on top and hitting some punches. Wiman catches him in a triangle but Tavares escapes and throws some punches. Good fight so far.
R2- Both guys come out swining in the second round and Tavares pops Wiman right in the face but Wiman takes it and comes back. Really good stuff early in this round. Wiman connects with a good punch. Tavares gets in a kick but then gets taken down. Wiman takes his back. Wiman peppers Tavares with some shots on the cage and Tavares just slumps to the mat and this one is over. Really good fight, great finish by Wiman.
Winner: Matt Wiman KO R2 1:57
Middleweight Fight- Jorge Rivera (15-6) vs. Martin Kampmann (12-1)
R1- Kampmann gets Rivera down and is in his guard about a minute in. Kampmann picks him up and slams him down on his back. Rivera went for an armbar but missed. Kampmann attempts to take the back of Rivera. Kampmann now with a guillotine and Rivera submits. Good showing by Kampmann as he dominated this one.
Winner: Martin Kampmann by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:44
Overall Thoughts:
This was a good show that started out with 2 controversial finishes. Michael Bisping and Mike Swick really impressed me with their showings tonight. Thiago Alves looked great but he didn't make weight so he has that looming over him. The UFC doesn't seem to care too much though as he was one of the fighters that was awarded a bonus for his performance.
O2 Arena, London, England
Heavyweight Fight- Fabrico Werdum (10-3-1) vs. Brandon Vera (8-1)
The Heavyweight division is far and away UFC's weakest division right now so the winner of this match is gonna rise to right near the top of the division. This looks like it has the potential to be a good fight.
R1- A lot of clinching early. Werdum gets in a shot or two. Werdum again comes at Vera and hits a couple of shots and then they clinch. Vera hits a knee or two. Werdum takes him down. Werdum getting in some offense in Vera's guard. Vera kicks him off and then fights off another take down. Vera caught Werdum with a left hook but Werdum avoided further damage and they clinch against the cage. Werdum gets another take down. Werdum gets in the mount position and Vera is just covering up and the ref stops it. Brandon Vera disputes the stoppage as he was taking some shots but he popped right back up after the finish. Joe Rogan says the finish was pre-mature. I have to agree that this was a bad stoppage. Werdum may have gone on and won in about 15 or 20 seconds but the stoppage looked pre-mature as Vera just popped right back up at the finish.
Winner: Fabrico Werdum by TKO R1 4:40
Post-Match Vera basically says "there was only 15 seconds left in the round. Let me take my ass whipping and let's go to Round 2".
Just a quick note that the ref here, Dan Miragliotta, is also the guy who didn't stop the Kimbo fight when James Thompson had Kimbo and was just destroying him up against the cage and then on the other end stopped the Thompson/Kimbo fight when Thompson was ahead on the card but took a couple of shots and had his ear busted open. Stopping a fight is a tough call but it's odd that the same game had had two controversial stoppages within what I think is 8 days.
Guy Ritchie is in the house.
Middleweight Fight- Nate Marquardt (29-7-2) vs. Thales Leites (12-1)
I've never seen Leites fight before. Marquardt has only one loss in the UFC and it was to Anderson Silva. Leites has a 4" reach advantage.
R1- Leites gets a couple of shots in near the cage about a minute in. Leites gets in a shot on the cage and then Nate comes after him and Leites just sticks Nate with a shot and he slumps to the mat. Leites all over Nate trying to finish him. Leites has a mount on Nate but Nate works him back to half guard. Nate gets up and looks to be recovered. Leites hits him with a jab. Nate hits a shot and then they clinch against the cage. Nate with a combo on Leites and Leites looks like he's hurt but he survives. Pretty even round with Nate finishing strong but Leites got the big shot and take down and he wins the round 10-9. Still anybody's fight.
R2- Nate comes out almost immediately with a right hand but then has to retreat quickly as Leites comes after him. Nate hits a nice combo and then rushes Leites and takes him down and nails him with an ILLEGAL knee to the face when Leites was down. Herb Dean calls for the doctor. Doctor says he's okay and Dean is going to give the fighter time to recover. Herb Dean takes a point away from Nate and they restart. Nate takes Leites down and Dean warns him about shots to the back of the head. Nate is trying to make up that point. Leites is busted open. Nate hitting some elbows. Nate dominating at this point. Joe Rogan says he thinks Leites nose is broken. Nate slips and gets mounted late in the round and the bell rings with Leites on top. Nate dominated this round but also lost a point due to the illegal knee. I've got the fight Leites 19 Nate 18 so far.
R3- They exchange so decent shots early in the round and Nate takes Leites down. Leites gets a submission attempt and Nate slips out. Ref stops the fight again and takes another point away from Nate, this time for a shot to the back of the head. With two points being taken away Nate has to finish in this fight or he will lose. Rogan says he thinks the shot was to the side of the head and it was a mistake. They re-start and Nate hits a knee. Both guys are really tired with about 30 seconds left. Nate has dominated this fight since the illegal knee. Nate picks up Leites and basically pile drives him right near the end of the fight. Nate wins the final two rounds but since he lost a point in both of them then they are scored 9-9.
I've got this one Leites 28 Nate 27 with the 2 points deducted from Nate. Judges score the fight 28-27 Leites, 28-27 Nate, and 28-27 Leites.
Winner: Thales Leites by Decision (Split)
Interesting how both of the first fights have been controversial due to referee decisions.
Chuck Liddell is at the show.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (23-7) vs. Luiz Cane (8-1-1)
This is from the pre-show.
R1- Cane landed some shots when they clinched and then when Lambert was coming at him Cane nailed him. Lambert slumped down when Cane caught him again. Lambert trying to stay in this fight but seems to be getting overwhelmed and he gets caught again and it's called. Lambert just left himself open too much when he was going for strikes and paid the price.
Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (Strikes) R1
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (19-4) vs. Mike Swick (11-2)
I've been really impressed with what I've seen from Marcus Davis. Davis is on an 11 fight win streak. Swick has a large 7" reach advantage. Davis is former pro boxer turned MMA fighter. Fans are solidly behind Davis in this fight.
R1- Swick trying some kicks early and misses a knee. Davis connecting on more stuff early but nothing really damaging. They tie up and Davis gets a take down but can't control it and then Swick takes Davis down. Swick is getting in some good shots and has Davis pinned against the cage. Swick with some elbows. Davis is busted open, announcers think it's mostly old scar tissue. Swick wins this round as he took Davis down and Davis could not get back to his feet. Swick 10 Davis 9.
R2- Swick went for a kick and got popped with a right hand. Swick retaliates with akick and then hits a knee and floors Davis and is now down on top fo Davis in his guard. Swick looks surprisingly good tonight. They get back to their feet. Davis hits some combos up against the cage. Davis hitting some uppercuts and shots while they clinch and they are exchanging knees. Davis takes Swick down. Davis gets up but Swick takes him right down and has side control but not enough time to do anything with it. Swick control the beginning of this round, Davis the middle and Swick the end. Davis showed some life this round but I think Swick took this round although Davis may have done more damage so he could have gotten the nod in this round.
R3- They are exchanging shots throughout the first minute. Yamasaki deducts a point from Mike Swick for holding the fence- he had previously been warned. This could be huge if Davis were to win this round. Swick sees this and gets real aggressive and takes Davis down and is hitting him with shots. Davis is busted open. I think Swick takes this round as well. After the point deducted I've got Swick 29-27. Swick was really impressive here and Davis just never got going. Judges score the contest 29-27.
Winner: Mike Swick by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (16-1) vs. Jason Day (17-5)
This is announced as the "Co-Main Event". Bisping gets a big reaction, of course he's from England.
R1- Bisping gets Day to the ground about a minute in and a half in and lands some really good shots. Day is holding his head. Bisping continues to get some shots in on Day. Day gets back to his feet but gets taken down again. Bisping has his back and is hitting him with lots of punches. The ref finally steps in and stops the fight (Miragliotta's got to be real gun shy by now but this was a perfect stoppage). Bisping was very impressive in this fight and just dominated.
Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (strikes)
Catchweight Fight- Matt Hughes (43-6) vs. Thiago Alves (20-4)
Alves did not make weight so they are fighting this as a "catchweight" fight. Hughes has a 3" reach advantage. Alves is only 24 years old.
R1- Thiago denies Hughes an early take down. Hughes goes for another one but it gets stuffed. Hughes pulls guard on Thiago. Thiago lands a couple of nice punches and then they stand up. Thiago hits a knee but Hughes is able to take Thiago down. Matt not really doing any damage to Thiago and Thiago gets up to his feet. Thiago takes Hughes down after a sprawl and Thiago lands some nice punches. Hughes controlled a lot of the middle portion of this round but Thiago did more damage. Alves 10 Hughes 9.
R2- Thiago hits a knee early and he's on top on the mat. Hughes is busted open. Alves hits Hughes with a flying knee and Hughes is a bloody mess and slumps to the mat. Herb Dean steps in to stop this fight and it's over. Alves looked really impressive here. When Hughes ate that knee Hughes felt right on his knee.
Winner: Thiago Alves by TKO (Knee Strike) R2 1:02
Post-match Matt Hughes says he's got at least one fight left in him and that's with Matt Serra.
Some more prelim fights:
Lightweight Fight- Matt Wiman vs. Thiago Tavares
R1- Wiman charges at Tavares throwing punches but Tavares grabs him in a guillotine and then grabs him in a triangle type move and then hits Wiman with a couple of upkicks. Wiman does a roll through into a leg lock but Tavares escapes. Tavares now with a heel hook but Wiman escapes. Really good fight so far and only two minutes in. Tavares on top and hitting some punches. Wiman catches him in a triangle but Tavares escapes and throws some punches. Good fight so far.
R2- Both guys come out swining in the second round and Tavares pops Wiman right in the face but Wiman takes it and comes back. Really good stuff early in this round. Wiman connects with a good punch. Tavares gets in a kick but then gets taken down. Wiman takes his back. Wiman peppers Tavares with some shots on the cage and Tavares just slumps to the mat and this one is over. Really good fight, great finish by Wiman.
Winner: Matt Wiman KO R2 1:57
Middleweight Fight- Jorge Rivera (15-6) vs. Martin Kampmann (12-1)
R1- Kampmann gets Rivera down and is in his guard about a minute in. Kampmann picks him up and slams him down on his back. Rivera went for an armbar but missed. Kampmann attempts to take the back of Rivera. Kampmann now with a guillotine and Rivera submits. Good showing by Kampmann as he dominated this one.
Winner: Martin Kampmann by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:44
Overall Thoughts:
This was a good show that started out with 2 controversial finishes. Michael Bisping and Mike Swick really impressed me with their showings tonight. Thiago Alves looked great but he didn't make weight so he has that looming over him. The UFC doesn't seem to care too much though as he was one of the fighters that was awarded a bonus for his performance.
The Ultimate Fighter 7- Episode 10 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter 7- Episode 10 Re-Cap
Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first nine shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
4. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2, beat Matt Brown in Round 3)
5. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2, beat Dante Rivera in Round 3)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)
Here are the remaining third round scheduled fights:
Daniel Cramer (#3) vs. Tim Credeur (#2)
CB Dollaway (#1) vs. Cale Yarbrough (#6)
They tease a re-match between Jeremy May and Matt Brown at The Ultimate Fighter Finale. Jesse Taylor is talking smack about Jeremy May and then Jeremy comes around the corner into the kitchen. So we have some hate going around centered on Jeremy May. Jeremy is now saying that he is going to get Jesse mad so Jesse hits him and gets kicked out of the house. Jeremy drinks it up that night and then Jeremy gets in Jesse’s face. Lot’s of bleeps. Jesse gets up and some guys stand up to hold him back and Jesse throws a kick towards Jeremy and they cut to commercial before we see if it connected.
Jeremy doesn’t really connect with the kick and the guys around him hold him down as Jeremy smirks and continues to drink his beer. Jeremy offers an apology but then when is back is turned he smirks at the camera.
Daniel Cramer (3-0) vs. Tim Credeur (10-2)
I though Credeur would be stronger than he was in his last fight. This should be interesting as I’ve got these guys about even going into this one.
R1- The exchange some punches early with no one hitting anything of note. Tim catches Daniel’s kick and backs him into the cage but Daniel eventually takes Tim down. Cramer with a couple of good shots. Now hitting several punches and Tim is in trouble. Tim grabs Daniel and pulls guard on him but Daniel gets full mount. Somehow Tim reverses and is now in Daniel’s guard. Tim passes guard but Daniel gets to his feet. Daniel takes Tim down but Tim grabs a leg hold. Daniel tries to hold onto the fence but has to release and falls down and then has to tap. Good fight.
This was the story of Daniel controlling the fight and looking really good but getting caught in that one submission move and having to tap. Good job by Tim by surviving the barrage of punches from Daniel and then taking advantage of a mistake and winning the fight.
Winner: Tim Credeur by Submission (Heel Hook) R1
They now shift focus to the Dollaway/Yarbrough fight and Dollaway talks about his distain for Yarbrough. I really think that Dollaway is going to overwhelm Cale in this fight.
“The strategy for CB is to come in and whoop his ass. That’s the name of the strategy. We wrote that down. Strategy ‘whoop his ass’.”- Rampage Jackson
“I think CB’s just kind of an arrogant prick. That’s my take on it. I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before but I don’t think I’m wrong about this one”- Forrest Griffin
They focus on Cale now and Cale says he wasn’t that impressed with CB and says that he saw some holes in CBs stand up that he will try to exploit. They let the guys out of the house and they go Go-Kart racing. They go back to the house and we see guys doing shots of liquor. Pretty soon they were destroying the house. Tearing up walls, tearing down banisters, windows. Wow.
CB Dollaway (6-0) vs. Cale Yarbrough (0-0)
R1- They cut to commercial s the fight starts and they come back about a minute in and Dollaway has full mount on Cale. Cale gives up his back. CB going for a choke but not getting it yet. CB hitting him with some shots. Herb Dean telling Cale that he has to fight back. The ref stops the fight because Cale is not fighting back.
Winner: CB Dollaway TKO (Ref Stoppage) R1
Team Forrest talks it over and wants to go with Jesse vs. CB and Credeur vs. Amir. Rampage is MIA when Dana shows up to discuss the Semi-Final matches. Dana says they waited for Rampage for 45 minutes and then decided to go ahead and decide on the matches. Forrest pushes for the Jesse vs. CB, Credeur vs. Amir match-ups. CB says he wants Tim Credeur. Dana asks Jesse who his easiest rode to the finals is and when prodded Jesse says Amir. Dana asks Forrest who he thinks are the two best guys. Forrest says he thinks CB is the best. Dana agrees with him. Forrest says he isn’t sure. Rampage finally shows up. Rampage says he over slept. Dana announces the picks for the Semi-Finals:
Jesse Taylor vs. Tim Credeur
CB Dollaway vs. Amir Sadollah
CB should take Amir. It will be interesting to see who wins the Jesse/Credeur match.
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first ten shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2, beat Cale Yarbrough in Round 3)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2, beat Daniel Cramer in Round 3)
3. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2, beat Matt Brown in Round 3)
4. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2, beat Dante Rivera in Round 3)
Eliminated:
First Elimination: Paul Bradley (sent home, was ranked #15)
Second Elimination: Mike Dolce (lost to Jesse Taylor, was ranked #11)
Third Elimination: Matthew Riddle (lost to Tim Credeur, was ranked #5)
Fourth Elimination: Brandon Sene (lost to Dante Rivera, was ranked # 12)
Fifth Elimination: Jeremy May (lost to Matt Brown, was ranked #11)
Sixth Elimination: Gerald Harris (lost to Amir Sadollah, was ranked #5)
Seventh Elimination: Patrick Schultz (lost to Cale Yarbrough, was ranked #10)
Eighth Elimination: Nick Klein (lost to CB Dollaway, was ranked #3)
Ninth Elimination: Dante Rivera (lost to Jesse Taylor- Round 3- was ranked #8)
Tenth Elimination: Matt Brown (lost to Amir Sadollah- Round 3- was ranked #3)
Eleventh Elimination: Daniel Cramer (lost to Tim Credeur- Round 3- was ranked #3)
Twelfth Elimination: Cale Yarbrough (lost to CB Dollaway- Round 3- was ranked #5)
Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first nine shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
4. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2, beat Matt Brown in Round 3)
5. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2, beat Dante Rivera in Round 3)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)
Here are the remaining third round scheduled fights:
Daniel Cramer (#3) vs. Tim Credeur (#2)
CB Dollaway (#1) vs. Cale Yarbrough (#6)
They tease a re-match between Jeremy May and Matt Brown at The Ultimate Fighter Finale. Jesse Taylor is talking smack about Jeremy May and then Jeremy comes around the corner into the kitchen. So we have some hate going around centered on Jeremy May. Jeremy is now saying that he is going to get Jesse mad so Jesse hits him and gets kicked out of the house. Jeremy drinks it up that night and then Jeremy gets in Jesse’s face. Lot’s of bleeps. Jesse gets up and some guys stand up to hold him back and Jesse throws a kick towards Jeremy and they cut to commercial before we see if it connected.
Jeremy doesn’t really connect with the kick and the guys around him hold him down as Jeremy smirks and continues to drink his beer. Jeremy offers an apology but then when is back is turned he smirks at the camera.
Daniel Cramer (3-0) vs. Tim Credeur (10-2)
I though Credeur would be stronger than he was in his last fight. This should be interesting as I’ve got these guys about even going into this one.
R1- The exchange some punches early with no one hitting anything of note. Tim catches Daniel’s kick and backs him into the cage but Daniel eventually takes Tim down. Cramer with a couple of good shots. Now hitting several punches and Tim is in trouble. Tim grabs Daniel and pulls guard on him but Daniel gets full mount. Somehow Tim reverses and is now in Daniel’s guard. Tim passes guard but Daniel gets to his feet. Daniel takes Tim down but Tim grabs a leg hold. Daniel tries to hold onto the fence but has to release and falls down and then has to tap. Good fight.
This was the story of Daniel controlling the fight and looking really good but getting caught in that one submission move and having to tap. Good job by Tim by surviving the barrage of punches from Daniel and then taking advantage of a mistake and winning the fight.
Winner: Tim Credeur by Submission (Heel Hook) R1
They now shift focus to the Dollaway/Yarbrough fight and Dollaway talks about his distain for Yarbrough. I really think that Dollaway is going to overwhelm Cale in this fight.
“The strategy for CB is to come in and whoop his ass. That’s the name of the strategy. We wrote that down. Strategy ‘whoop his ass’.”- Rampage Jackson
“I think CB’s just kind of an arrogant prick. That’s my take on it. I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before but I don’t think I’m wrong about this one”- Forrest Griffin
They focus on Cale now and Cale says he wasn’t that impressed with CB and says that he saw some holes in CBs stand up that he will try to exploit. They let the guys out of the house and they go Go-Kart racing. They go back to the house and we see guys doing shots of liquor. Pretty soon they were destroying the house. Tearing up walls, tearing down banisters, windows. Wow.
CB Dollaway (6-0) vs. Cale Yarbrough (0-0)
R1- They cut to commercial s the fight starts and they come back about a minute in and Dollaway has full mount on Cale. Cale gives up his back. CB going for a choke but not getting it yet. CB hitting him with some shots. Herb Dean telling Cale that he has to fight back. The ref stops the fight because Cale is not fighting back.
Winner: CB Dollaway TKO (Ref Stoppage) R1
Team Forrest talks it over and wants to go with Jesse vs. CB and Credeur vs. Amir. Rampage is MIA when Dana shows up to discuss the Semi-Final matches. Dana says they waited for Rampage for 45 minutes and then decided to go ahead and decide on the matches. Forrest pushes for the Jesse vs. CB, Credeur vs. Amir match-ups. CB says he wants Tim Credeur. Dana asks Jesse who his easiest rode to the finals is and when prodded Jesse says Amir. Dana asks Forrest who he thinks are the two best guys. Forrest says he thinks CB is the best. Dana agrees with him. Forrest says he isn’t sure. Rampage finally shows up. Rampage says he over slept. Dana announces the picks for the Semi-Finals:
Jesse Taylor vs. Tim Credeur
CB Dollaway vs. Amir Sadollah
CB should take Amir. It will be interesting to see who wins the Jesse/Credeur match.
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first ten shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2, beat Cale Yarbrough in Round 3)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2, beat Daniel Cramer in Round 3)
3. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2, beat Matt Brown in Round 3)
4. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2, beat Dante Rivera in Round 3)
Eliminated:
First Elimination: Paul Bradley (sent home, was ranked #15)
Second Elimination: Mike Dolce (lost to Jesse Taylor, was ranked #11)
Third Elimination: Matthew Riddle (lost to Tim Credeur, was ranked #5)
Fourth Elimination: Brandon Sene (lost to Dante Rivera, was ranked # 12)
Fifth Elimination: Jeremy May (lost to Matt Brown, was ranked #11)
Sixth Elimination: Gerald Harris (lost to Amir Sadollah, was ranked #5)
Seventh Elimination: Patrick Schultz (lost to Cale Yarbrough, was ranked #10)
Eighth Elimination: Nick Klein (lost to CB Dollaway, was ranked #3)
Ninth Elimination: Dante Rivera (lost to Jesse Taylor- Round 3- was ranked #8)
Tenth Elimination: Matt Brown (lost to Amir Sadollah- Round 3- was ranked #3)
Eleventh Elimination: Daniel Cramer (lost to Tim Credeur- Round 3- was ranked #3)
Twelfth Elimination: Cale Yarbrough (lost to CB Dollaway- Round 3- was ranked #5)
Sunday, June 08, 2008
The Ultimate Fighter 7- Episode 9 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter 7- Episode 9 Re-Cap
Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first eight shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Matt Brown (beat Jeremy May in Round 2)
4. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
5. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)
7. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2)
8. Dante Rivera (beat Brandon Sene in Round 2)
Here are the third round scheduled fights:
Jesse Taylor (#7) vs. Dante Rivera (#8)
Amir Sadollah (#5) vs. Matt Brown (#3)
Daniel Cramer (#4) vs. Tim Credeur (#2)
CB Dollaway (#1) vs. Cale Yarbrough (#6)
Looks like we’ve got Taylor/Rivera and Brown/Sadollah tonight. I think Brown/Sadollah will be the better fight. Forrest has to pick out who corner’s which of his guys since both of his guys are fighting each other. They do a coin flip and Forrest will corner Jesse and Amir and Rampage will corner Brown and Rivera.
Jesse Taylor is kind of the dumb jock guy but he’s kind of likeable in a weird way. They talk about his eating habits and how he eats a bunch of junk food and is still muscular and has more endurance than the other guys. Jesse reminds me of a buffer Colt Cabana.
“Jess is gonna do what Jess is gonna do and I can’t control him. I learned that right off the bat”- Forrest Griffin.
Looks like Jesse is having some issues with his weight. So he puts on some plastics and plays ping pong. Basically jumping up and down during the game. Jesse is then shown urinating outside the hot tub and then getting back into the hot tub.
“Pretty soon after that Dante was in the hot tub, I don’t know if he knew about it or not”- some random fighter from the house.
“No, I didn’t know that”- Dante
Jesse Taylor (6-2) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)
R1- Jesse has a reach advantage of about 3.5” but Dante has the age/experience factor as he’s 8 years older and has won 4 more fights. I’m picking Jesse to win this one although I think he could easily loose just because he’s so raw. Dante misses an overhand early and Jesse takes him down. Jesse getting in a couple of punches and landing some shots. Jesse is in half guard. Jesse looks really good early. Jesse with some more shots. Dante trying to hold on. Jesse with some really nice punches as he’s in half guard. Dante moves into a full guard but Jesse is still come with some punches and fists. Dante looked like he tried to pull Jesse’s hair to get him off top. Dante finally gets out, Jesse dives back in and almost gets caught with a kick and then with a triangle but Jesse gets back to full guard on top of Dante. Jesse with some nice shots to the face. Jesse just dominated this round from start to finish. I don’t think Dante even got in one shot on offense. This looked like a 10-8 round to me.
R2- Jesse takes down Dante about 10 seconds into this round and begins to do more of the same stuff that won him round one handily. Not much action but Jesse is getting in a copule of punches. I think Dante hit is first punch of the fight. The ref stands them up with two and a half minutes left. Jesse is really tired. Dante wildly swings at Jesse and Jesse takes him down. Jesse hits two powerful fists. Jesse is more active in the second stanza of this round and is hitting more shots. Jesse seems to be finishing strong.
This is an easy decision. I had Jesse winning Round Two 10-9 which makes for a 20-17 fight. Looks like I had Dante pegged correctly as the weakest fighter left out of the Final Eight as he just got overwhelmed by a stronger Jesse Taylor in this fight.
Winner: Jesse Taylor by Decision (Unanimous)
The next fight is Matt Brown versus Amir Sadollah. Matthew Riddle looks a little lit up and tells them that it’s going to be one for the record books, it’s going to be a bloodbath!
“Amir is less confident then before when he had no confidence”- Forrest Griffin
“He’s actually just vocalizing the kind of feelings that every fighter has. He’s just sissy enough to vocalize them”- Forrest Griffin on Amir Sadollah.
Matt Brown is training with Rampage for this fight and Rampage talks about Matt Brown’s fighting spirit and says he is a samurai.
Matt Brown (9-6) vs. Amir Sadollah (0-0)
R1- I think Matt Brown has to be the favorite in this fight. This should be a good fight, I just see Brown taking it with his experience and confidence. Brown is the aggressor early as he gets in a couple of strikes. Brown landing and hits a knee that’s blocked. Amir starting to come back. Both guys trying to work dual Muy Thai clinches. They clinch for a while, nobody gets a take down and then they go back to exchanging on their feet. Brown hits a couple of good combos and Amir clinches to avoid damage. Brown hits a good punch to the face. Amir answeres with a couple of jabs as Brown was distancing himself and then sends Brown to the cage and they clinch again. Amir is coming on srong at the end of this round and landing some shots. Brown with a take down at the end of the round but they quickly get to their feet. Man, this was a very close round. I want to give the round to Amir just based on how he finished the round as I think he got the best shots of the round in at the end. I’m gonna go Amir 10-9 in round one but that’s very highly debatable.
R2- Matt Brown comes out and starts the round with a flurry of punches. Amir withstands it and comes at Brown with his own and then they clinch. Neither guy able to get a take down. Brown lands a nice knee. Brown with some nice shots. Amir with a take down where he basically just falls into Brown’s guard. Amir finally gets in full mount and is getting some shots in. Brown rolls through and gets on top but gets caught in a triangle and taps. Good fight and a strong showing by Amir especially in Round Two.
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Triangle)
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first eight shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
4. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2, beat Matt Brown in Round 3)
5. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2, beat Dante Rivera in Round 3)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)
Eliminated:
First Elimination: Paul Bradley (sent home, was ranked #15)
Second Elimination: Mike Dolce (lost to Jesse Taylor, was ranked #11)
Third Elimination: Matthew Riddle (lost to Tim Credeur, was ranked #5)
Fourth Elimination: Brandon Sene (lost to Dante Rivera, was ranked # 12)
Fifth Elimination: Jeremy May (lost to Matt Brown, was ranked #11)
Sixth Elimination: Gerald Harris (lost to Amir Sadollah, was ranked #5)
Seventh Elimination: Patrick Schultz (lost to Cale Yarbrough, was ranked #10)
Eighth Elimination: Nick Klein (lost to CB Dollaway, was ranked #3)
Ninth Elimination: Dante Rivera (lost to Jesse Taylor- Round 3- was ranked #8)
Tenth Elimination: Matt Brown (lost to Amir Sadollah- Round 3- was ranked #3)
Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first eight shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Matt Brown (beat Jeremy May in Round 2)
4. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
5. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)
7. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2)
8. Dante Rivera (beat Brandon Sene in Round 2)
Here are the third round scheduled fights:
Jesse Taylor (#7) vs. Dante Rivera (#8)
Amir Sadollah (#5) vs. Matt Brown (#3)
Daniel Cramer (#4) vs. Tim Credeur (#2)
CB Dollaway (#1) vs. Cale Yarbrough (#6)
Looks like we’ve got Taylor/Rivera and Brown/Sadollah tonight. I think Brown/Sadollah will be the better fight. Forrest has to pick out who corner’s which of his guys since both of his guys are fighting each other. They do a coin flip and Forrest will corner Jesse and Amir and Rampage will corner Brown and Rivera.
Jesse Taylor is kind of the dumb jock guy but he’s kind of likeable in a weird way. They talk about his eating habits and how he eats a bunch of junk food and is still muscular and has more endurance than the other guys. Jesse reminds me of a buffer Colt Cabana.
“Jess is gonna do what Jess is gonna do and I can’t control him. I learned that right off the bat”- Forrest Griffin.
Looks like Jesse is having some issues with his weight. So he puts on some plastics and plays ping pong. Basically jumping up and down during the game. Jesse is then shown urinating outside the hot tub and then getting back into the hot tub.
“Pretty soon after that Dante was in the hot tub, I don’t know if he knew about it or not”- some random fighter from the house.
“No, I didn’t know that”- Dante
Jesse Taylor (6-2) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)
R1- Jesse has a reach advantage of about 3.5” but Dante has the age/experience factor as he’s 8 years older and has won 4 more fights. I’m picking Jesse to win this one although I think he could easily loose just because he’s so raw. Dante misses an overhand early and Jesse takes him down. Jesse getting in a couple of punches and landing some shots. Jesse is in half guard. Jesse looks really good early. Jesse with some more shots. Dante trying to hold on. Jesse with some really nice punches as he’s in half guard. Dante moves into a full guard but Jesse is still come with some punches and fists. Dante looked like he tried to pull Jesse’s hair to get him off top. Dante finally gets out, Jesse dives back in and almost gets caught with a kick and then with a triangle but Jesse gets back to full guard on top of Dante. Jesse with some nice shots to the face. Jesse just dominated this round from start to finish. I don’t think Dante even got in one shot on offense. This looked like a 10-8 round to me.
R2- Jesse takes down Dante about 10 seconds into this round and begins to do more of the same stuff that won him round one handily. Not much action but Jesse is getting in a copule of punches. I think Dante hit is first punch of the fight. The ref stands them up with two and a half minutes left. Jesse is really tired. Dante wildly swings at Jesse and Jesse takes him down. Jesse hits two powerful fists. Jesse is more active in the second stanza of this round and is hitting more shots. Jesse seems to be finishing strong.
This is an easy decision. I had Jesse winning Round Two 10-9 which makes for a 20-17 fight. Looks like I had Dante pegged correctly as the weakest fighter left out of the Final Eight as he just got overwhelmed by a stronger Jesse Taylor in this fight.
Winner: Jesse Taylor by Decision (Unanimous)
The next fight is Matt Brown versus Amir Sadollah. Matthew Riddle looks a little lit up and tells them that it’s going to be one for the record books, it’s going to be a bloodbath!
“Amir is less confident then before when he had no confidence”- Forrest Griffin
“He’s actually just vocalizing the kind of feelings that every fighter has. He’s just sissy enough to vocalize them”- Forrest Griffin on Amir Sadollah.
Matt Brown is training with Rampage for this fight and Rampage talks about Matt Brown’s fighting spirit and says he is a samurai.
Matt Brown (9-6) vs. Amir Sadollah (0-0)
R1- I think Matt Brown has to be the favorite in this fight. This should be a good fight, I just see Brown taking it with his experience and confidence. Brown is the aggressor early as he gets in a couple of strikes. Brown landing and hits a knee that’s blocked. Amir starting to come back. Both guys trying to work dual Muy Thai clinches. They clinch for a while, nobody gets a take down and then they go back to exchanging on their feet. Brown hits a couple of good combos and Amir clinches to avoid damage. Brown hits a good punch to the face. Amir answeres with a couple of jabs as Brown was distancing himself and then sends Brown to the cage and they clinch again. Amir is coming on srong at the end of this round and landing some shots. Brown with a take down at the end of the round but they quickly get to their feet. Man, this was a very close round. I want to give the round to Amir just based on how he finished the round as I think he got the best shots of the round in at the end. I’m gonna go Amir 10-9 in round one but that’s very highly debatable.
R2- Matt Brown comes out and starts the round with a flurry of punches. Amir withstands it and comes at Brown with his own and then they clinch. Neither guy able to get a take down. Brown lands a nice knee. Brown with some nice shots. Amir with a take down where he basically just falls into Brown’s guard. Amir finally gets in full mount and is getting some shots in. Brown rolls through and gets on top but gets caught in a triangle and taps. Good fight and a strong showing by Amir especially in Round Two.
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Triangle)
Rankings so far based on what has been shown in the first eight shows:
1. CB Dollaway (beat Nick Klein in Round 2)
2. Tim Credeur (beat Matthew Riddle in Round 2)
3. Daniel Cramer (beat Luke Zachrich in Round 2)
4. Amir Sadollah (beat Gerald Harris in Round 2, beat Matt Brown in Round 3)
5. Jesse Taylor (beat Mike Dolce in Round 2, beat Dante Rivera in Round 3)
6. Cale Yarbrough (beat Patrick Schultz in Round 2)
Eliminated:
First Elimination: Paul Bradley (sent home, was ranked #15)
Second Elimination: Mike Dolce (lost to Jesse Taylor, was ranked #11)
Third Elimination: Matthew Riddle (lost to Tim Credeur, was ranked #5)
Fourth Elimination: Brandon Sene (lost to Dante Rivera, was ranked # 12)
Fifth Elimination: Jeremy May (lost to Matt Brown, was ranked #11)
Sixth Elimination: Gerald Harris (lost to Amir Sadollah, was ranked #5)
Seventh Elimination: Patrick Schultz (lost to Cale Yarbrough, was ranked #10)
Eighth Elimination: Nick Klein (lost to CB Dollaway, was ranked #3)
Ninth Elimination: Dante Rivera (lost to Jesse Taylor- Round 3- was ranked #8)
Tenth Elimination: Matt Brown (lost to Amir Sadollah- Round 3- was ranked #3)
UFC Wired 5/31 Re-Cap
UFC Wired 5/31 Re-Cap
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (9-1) vs. Thiago Tavares (16-0)- UFC 76- 9/22/07
R1- Tyson seems to be the aggressor early and then shoots in for a take down. Griffin landed a good shot while on the ground and then they sprawl to their feet. Thiago hits a nice knee. Thiago just missed a throw and Tyson got back on top. Tyson coming down with some punches. Thiago trying to work a submission from the guard and then briefly gets Tyson’s back and then Tyson gets back on top and lands some nice shots. Round 1 goes to Tyson 10-9 but still anybody’s fight.
R2- Thiago nailed Tyson with a flying knee and then jumped into Tyson’s guard. Thiago moves into full mount and Tyson gives up his back. Thiago goes for a choke and Tyson rises to his feet and he is carrying Thiago. Tyson pulls him over and gets on top and is hitting hammer punches but Thiago grabs an arm bar on Tyson but Tyson gets free and once again is in Thiago’s guard. Great round so far. Tyson has Thiago pressed up against the cage and is striking Thiago. Thiago goes for another arm bar but misses but rolls over and is now on top. Thiago takes Tyson’s back again. Tyson slams Thiago on his head and sprawls back on top. This was a really good second round and almost impossible to score. Tyson did more damage to Thiago’s face but Thiago almost finished Tyson a couple of times with different submissions and controlled as much of the fight as Tyson did.
R3- Tyson presses him against the cage and hits him with some shoulders but Thiago reverses and takes him down and has Tyson in an arm position. Tyson sprawls and takes the lead. Great sequence. Once again they are tied up against the cage. Thiago takes Tyson down with a throw but they get right back to their feet. Griffin hits some shots. Griffin has him in a clinch against the cage. Tyson with a knee. Thiago gets Tyson’s back again but Tyson again slips out.
Really good and close fight. I think Tyson’s going to get the nod but I could see a split decision from the judges. Really tough fight to score. First round clearly went to Tyson, the other two rounds are highly debatable. 29-29, 30-27 and 29-28 Tyson Griffin gets the decision.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (18-4) vs. Jess Liaduin (12-8)- UFC 80- 1/19/08
This was also on the UFC Unleashed 5/14 Show.
R1- Davis has won 10 straight fights going into the one. Jess with some kicks early. Davis just nails Jess with a solid left about one minute into the fight and this one is over. Great punch.
Winner: Marcus Davis by KO R1
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (8-2) vs. Fabricio Werdum (9-3-1)- UFC 80- 1/19/08
Gonzaga is trying to avenge a loss to Werdum from earlier in his career.
R1- Gonzaga gets a quick take down but gives up his position as he doesn’t really do anything. Gonzaga with some leg kicks. Gonzaga floors Werdum with a big leg kick. Gonzaga with two more leg kicks, one of which takes down Werdum again. Werdum catches Gonzaga on a leg kick and has a dominant position on the mat. Werdum getting some shots in from half guard position. Werdum with 3 successive elbows. This was a pretty close round. Gonzaga controlled the first 3 and a half minutes and Werdum the final minute and a half. Gonzaga landed some good leg kicks and Werdum landed some good punches.
R2- Werdum comes out and lands some punches to start the round but then gets stuffed on an attempted take down. Gonzaga got caught going for a take down and Werdum hit some punches. Gonzaga with a couple more leg kicks. Werdum with a couple of punches. Gonzaga landed a body kick. Gonzaga sweeps Werdum down but doesn’t want to go to the mat with him. Gonzaga takes down Werdum again but still doesn’t want to follow up. Werdum landed a good knee and it looks like Gonzaga is hurt as Werdum follows up with some punches and hits two more knees. Werdum with another knee and then some jabs. Werdum with more knees. Gonzaga is slumping down in the corner. Werdum is on top of Gonzaga and is just punching him over and over and over and this one is over. Good second round for Werdum and a good win for him.
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by TKO (strikes) R2
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (9-1) vs. Thiago Tavares (16-0)- UFC 76- 9/22/07
R1- Tyson seems to be the aggressor early and then shoots in for a take down. Griffin landed a good shot while on the ground and then they sprawl to their feet. Thiago hits a nice knee. Thiago just missed a throw and Tyson got back on top. Tyson coming down with some punches. Thiago trying to work a submission from the guard and then briefly gets Tyson’s back and then Tyson gets back on top and lands some nice shots. Round 1 goes to Tyson 10-9 but still anybody’s fight.
R2- Thiago nailed Tyson with a flying knee and then jumped into Tyson’s guard. Thiago moves into full mount and Tyson gives up his back. Thiago goes for a choke and Tyson rises to his feet and he is carrying Thiago. Tyson pulls him over and gets on top and is hitting hammer punches but Thiago grabs an arm bar on Tyson but Tyson gets free and once again is in Thiago’s guard. Great round so far. Tyson has Thiago pressed up against the cage and is striking Thiago. Thiago goes for another arm bar but misses but rolls over and is now on top. Thiago takes Tyson’s back again. Tyson slams Thiago on his head and sprawls back on top. This was a really good second round and almost impossible to score. Tyson did more damage to Thiago’s face but Thiago almost finished Tyson a couple of times with different submissions and controlled as much of the fight as Tyson did.
R3- Tyson presses him against the cage and hits him with some shoulders but Thiago reverses and takes him down and has Tyson in an arm position. Tyson sprawls and takes the lead. Great sequence. Once again they are tied up against the cage. Thiago takes Tyson down with a throw but they get right back to their feet. Griffin hits some shots. Griffin has him in a clinch against the cage. Tyson with a knee. Thiago gets Tyson’s back again but Tyson again slips out.
Really good and close fight. I think Tyson’s going to get the nod but I could see a split decision from the judges. Really tough fight to score. First round clearly went to Tyson, the other two rounds are highly debatable. 29-29, 30-27 and 29-28 Tyson Griffin gets the decision.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (18-4) vs. Jess Liaduin (12-8)- UFC 80- 1/19/08
This was also on the UFC Unleashed 5/14 Show.
R1- Davis has won 10 straight fights going into the one. Jess with some kicks early. Davis just nails Jess with a solid left about one minute into the fight and this one is over. Great punch.
Winner: Marcus Davis by KO R1
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (8-2) vs. Fabricio Werdum (9-3-1)- UFC 80- 1/19/08
Gonzaga is trying to avenge a loss to Werdum from earlier in his career.
R1- Gonzaga gets a quick take down but gives up his position as he doesn’t really do anything. Gonzaga with some leg kicks. Gonzaga floors Werdum with a big leg kick. Gonzaga with two more leg kicks, one of which takes down Werdum again. Werdum catches Gonzaga on a leg kick and has a dominant position on the mat. Werdum getting some shots in from half guard position. Werdum with 3 successive elbows. This was a pretty close round. Gonzaga controlled the first 3 and a half minutes and Werdum the final minute and a half. Gonzaga landed some good leg kicks and Werdum landed some good punches.
R2- Werdum comes out and lands some punches to start the round but then gets stuffed on an attempted take down. Gonzaga got caught going for a take down and Werdum hit some punches. Gonzaga with a couple more leg kicks. Werdum with a couple of punches. Gonzaga landed a body kick. Gonzaga sweeps Werdum down but doesn’t want to go to the mat with him. Gonzaga takes down Werdum again but still doesn’t want to follow up. Werdum landed a good knee and it looks like Gonzaga is hurt as Werdum follows up with some punches and hits two more knees. Werdum with another knee and then some jabs. Werdum with more knees. Gonzaga is slumping down in the corner. Werdum is on top of Gonzaga and is just punching him over and over and over and this one is over. Good second round for Werdum and a good win for him.
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by TKO (strikes) R2
UFC Unleashed 6/4 (11 PM) Re-Cap
UFC Unleashed 6/4 (11 PM) Re-Cap
There were two UFC Unleashed shows that aired on 6/14. This is the one that aired at 11 PM.
Lightweight Fight- Roger Huerta (18-1) vs. Leonard Garcia (13-1)- UFC 69- 4/7/07
This was also on the 5/3 UFC Wired show.
I’ve seen this fight before and it’s a good one.
R1- Some good combos by both guys as they go after each other early and some wild swinging. Really action packed first minute. Huerta gets an advantage on the ground and gets his back and then the full mount but Garcia somehow comes back and is swinging hard. Garcia gets a guillotine but Huerta slams him real hard to the mat with Garcia still hanging onto the guillotine. Huerta gets out and is hitting with some good shots. Garcia taking a lot of punches and finally counters by going for a kimura and then they stand up and both guys are just swinging at each other until they go to the match. Huerta again getting a lot of punches in but Garcia is coming back with a couple of shots trying to defend himself. Garcia flips it over to end the round. Great first round, definitely goes to Huerta but Garcia showed a lot of heart and hung in the fight and came back despite taking a lot of punishment.
R2- They got toe to toe to start the round and lots of swinging. Huerta gets a take down and hits some nice elbows. Back to their feet and Garcia hits a knee. Good action on the feet as both guys are really swinging at each other. Huerta hits a nice knee and Huerta getting some combos in with Garcia hitting a couple of shots here and there as well. Garcia is getting hurt bad but he’s taking the punches. Garcia looks to be tiring and Huerta takes him down and is in the mount. They get to their feet again and they are again swinging wildly. Huerta with another takedown. Another really good round that goes to Huerta as he is controlling the fight. Garcia is taking a ton of punishment and is gassed but continues to come back for more.
R3- Garcia went for the take down early but missed it and they really go after each other again. Lots of swings and Huerta eventually takes Garcia down. Huerta is controlling on the mat in this round. Garcia reversed for a while but Huerta got his position back and really delivered some strikes to Garcia. Garcia really on the brink of having the match ended. Huerta runs out of steam a little bit as Garcia just takes a ton of punishment and rides this one out.
Really great fight and a fight that in my opinion puts both guys over, Huerta in victory and Garcia in defeat. This is one that you should definitely watch if you haven’t seen it.
Winner: Roger Huerta via Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Clay Guida (21-5) vs. Marcus Aurelio (14-4)- UFC 74- 8/25/07
R1- Long feeling out process until Guida opens up and hits a couple of shots. Guida pushed forward hard again at the 2 minute mark and hit a good combo. Guida pops Marcus at 1:30 and floors him but Marcus does a good job of kicking Guida off and getting back to his feet. Guida ends the round with some nice shots and a take down. Guida takes round one. Guida 10-9.
R2- Guida knocks Marcus down early in round one but I think it may have been more of a slip. Guida doesn’t follow up and Marcus gets back to his feet. Marcus takes down Guida into his guard and is going to try and work Guida from the bottom. Marcus is trying to work a version of the rubber guard. Guida getting a couple of shots in on Marcus. Guida takes round two so he’s up 20-18 on the score cards.
R3- Not a whole lot happened in round three. Guida controlled the cage but no one really got much damage on the other fighter. I’m gonna say Guida 30-27 in this one and I think the judges will agree with me. Judges score 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27. This was a “split” decision. Kind of odd how two judges can have a fight 30-27 one way and someone else can have it 29-28.
Winner: Clay Guida by Decision (Split)
There were two UFC Unleashed shows that aired on 6/14. This is the one that aired at 11 PM.
Lightweight Fight- Roger Huerta (18-1) vs. Leonard Garcia (13-1)- UFC 69- 4/7/07
This was also on the 5/3 UFC Wired show.
I’ve seen this fight before and it’s a good one.
R1- Some good combos by both guys as they go after each other early and some wild swinging. Really action packed first minute. Huerta gets an advantage on the ground and gets his back and then the full mount but Garcia somehow comes back and is swinging hard. Garcia gets a guillotine but Huerta slams him real hard to the mat with Garcia still hanging onto the guillotine. Huerta gets out and is hitting with some good shots. Garcia taking a lot of punches and finally counters by going for a kimura and then they stand up and both guys are just swinging at each other until they go to the match. Huerta again getting a lot of punches in but Garcia is coming back with a couple of shots trying to defend himself. Garcia flips it over to end the round. Great first round, definitely goes to Huerta but Garcia showed a lot of heart and hung in the fight and came back despite taking a lot of punishment.
R2- They got toe to toe to start the round and lots of swinging. Huerta gets a take down and hits some nice elbows. Back to their feet and Garcia hits a knee. Good action on the feet as both guys are really swinging at each other. Huerta hits a nice knee and Huerta getting some combos in with Garcia hitting a couple of shots here and there as well. Garcia is getting hurt bad but he’s taking the punches. Garcia looks to be tiring and Huerta takes him down and is in the mount. They get to their feet again and they are again swinging wildly. Huerta with another takedown. Another really good round that goes to Huerta as he is controlling the fight. Garcia is taking a ton of punishment and is gassed but continues to come back for more.
R3- Garcia went for the take down early but missed it and they really go after each other again. Lots of swings and Huerta eventually takes Garcia down. Huerta is controlling on the mat in this round. Garcia reversed for a while but Huerta got his position back and really delivered some strikes to Garcia. Garcia really on the brink of having the match ended. Huerta runs out of steam a little bit as Garcia just takes a ton of punishment and rides this one out.
Really great fight and a fight that in my opinion puts both guys over, Huerta in victory and Garcia in defeat. This is one that you should definitely watch if you haven’t seen it.
Winner: Roger Huerta via Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Clay Guida (21-5) vs. Marcus Aurelio (14-4)- UFC 74- 8/25/07
R1- Long feeling out process until Guida opens up and hits a couple of shots. Guida pushed forward hard again at the 2 minute mark and hit a good combo. Guida pops Marcus at 1:30 and floors him but Marcus does a good job of kicking Guida off and getting back to his feet. Guida ends the round with some nice shots and a take down. Guida takes round one. Guida 10-9.
R2- Guida knocks Marcus down early in round one but I think it may have been more of a slip. Guida doesn’t follow up and Marcus gets back to his feet. Marcus takes down Guida into his guard and is going to try and work Guida from the bottom. Marcus is trying to work a version of the rubber guard. Guida getting a couple of shots in on Marcus. Guida takes round two so he’s up 20-18 on the score cards.
R3- Not a whole lot happened in round three. Guida controlled the cage but no one really got much damage on the other fighter. I’m gonna say Guida 30-27 in this one and I think the judges will agree with me. Judges score 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27. This was a “split” decision. Kind of odd how two judges can have a fight 30-27 one way and someone else can have it 29-28.
Winner: Clay Guida by Decision (Split)
UFC Unleashed “Liddell vs. Silva: A Special Presentation” 5/31 Re-Cap
UFC Unleashed “Liddell vs. Silva: A Special Presentation” 5/31 Re-Cap
This show is basically all about the hype, build-up and anticipation of this fight. And then of course they show the fight…
Chuck Liddell (20-5) vs. Wanderlei Silva (31-7-1)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
R1- Very cautious first minute and a half as Chuck seems to be waiting for Silva to come at him and Silva is cautious as well. They start to throw heavily after about two minutes. Not a whole lot of action until Liddell starts to hit some shots at about the 3:30 minute time of the round. Liddell is somewhat the aggressor in round one and seemed to land more shots. Liddell 10 Wanderlei 9.
They have Dana White, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva talk about the first round after it happens and give their perspective of who won, etc. Then they show some of the corner action with Liddell. Pretty interesting perspective.
R2- They come out and swing like crazy in the first 10 seconds with Silva hitting a couple of shots. Silva seems to be wanting to be more aggressive in this round as he’s throwing some haymakers early. Silva is kind of stalking Chuck in this round and is getting in some shots. Chuck gets knocked down by kind of a push by Silva but he pops back up. Silva’s ear is bleeding but he pops Chuck with a right hand and Chuck falls down and gets right back up again. They clinch for the first time in the fight and Chuck hits a couple of shots and Wanderlei is bleeding from the left eye. Chuck now controlling the fight as Wanderlei is trying to wildly defend himself and he gets out of trouble. Wanderlei comes back and hits some shots. They are really mixing it up and swinging wildly. Great last minute of action in this round. Just fantastic. I actually re-wound the TIVO to check out the last 1:30 of this round again. Both guys just mixing it up and laying it all on the line. It’s amazing how both of these guys take shots and then dish it right back out. I’m gonna give this round to Wanderlei but not by much. Liddell 19 Silva 19.
They show Dana talking about the last round and the fight and also get some quotes from Wanderlei as well as going briefly inside the corners of Wanderlei and Liddell and then letting Chuck talk about the round briefly.
R3- Liddell goes for an immediate take down and gets it but they get back to their feet quickly. Chuck misses with a spinning back fist but then hits a right hand and Wanderlei is pushed back to the cage and then they just start throwing at each other. Chuck is connecting big time but ends up backing off. Chuck has Wanderlei on the cage again and is just picking him apart. Wanderlei backs him off. Wanderlei trying to come back and lands and couple of punches. Liddell takes him down with 15 seconds left and rides him to victory. This was a real good fight with a couple of parts that were just fantastic. 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 the winner is Chuck Liddell. I had it 29-28.
Winner: Chuck Liddell by Decision (Unanimous)
They also show some post-match interviews/reflection from the fighters. I really liked the presentation of this fight. They took one fight and built it up and then showed the fight with the fighters and Dana talking about each round and Joe Rogan chiming in once in a while. I would really like to see some other fights given this treatment. Really, enjoyable match and show.
This show is basically all about the hype, build-up and anticipation of this fight. And then of course they show the fight…
Chuck Liddell (20-5) vs. Wanderlei Silva (31-7-1)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
R1- Very cautious first minute and a half as Chuck seems to be waiting for Silva to come at him and Silva is cautious as well. They start to throw heavily after about two minutes. Not a whole lot of action until Liddell starts to hit some shots at about the 3:30 minute time of the round. Liddell is somewhat the aggressor in round one and seemed to land more shots. Liddell 10 Wanderlei 9.
They have Dana White, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva talk about the first round after it happens and give their perspective of who won, etc. Then they show some of the corner action with Liddell. Pretty interesting perspective.
R2- They come out and swing like crazy in the first 10 seconds with Silva hitting a couple of shots. Silva seems to be wanting to be more aggressive in this round as he’s throwing some haymakers early. Silva is kind of stalking Chuck in this round and is getting in some shots. Chuck gets knocked down by kind of a push by Silva but he pops back up. Silva’s ear is bleeding but he pops Chuck with a right hand and Chuck falls down and gets right back up again. They clinch for the first time in the fight and Chuck hits a couple of shots and Wanderlei is bleeding from the left eye. Chuck now controlling the fight as Wanderlei is trying to wildly defend himself and he gets out of trouble. Wanderlei comes back and hits some shots. They are really mixing it up and swinging wildly. Great last minute of action in this round. Just fantastic. I actually re-wound the TIVO to check out the last 1:30 of this round again. Both guys just mixing it up and laying it all on the line. It’s amazing how both of these guys take shots and then dish it right back out. I’m gonna give this round to Wanderlei but not by much. Liddell 19 Silva 19.
They show Dana talking about the last round and the fight and also get some quotes from Wanderlei as well as going briefly inside the corners of Wanderlei and Liddell and then letting Chuck talk about the round briefly.
R3- Liddell goes for an immediate take down and gets it but they get back to their feet quickly. Chuck misses with a spinning back fist but then hits a right hand and Wanderlei is pushed back to the cage and then they just start throwing at each other. Chuck is connecting big time but ends up backing off. Chuck has Wanderlei on the cage again and is just picking him apart. Wanderlei backs him off. Wanderlei trying to come back and lands and couple of punches. Liddell takes him down with 15 seconds left and rides him to victory. This was a real good fight with a couple of parts that were just fantastic. 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 the winner is Chuck Liddell. I had it 29-28.
Winner: Chuck Liddell by Decision (Unanimous)
They also show some post-match interviews/reflection from the fighters. I really liked the presentation of this fight. They took one fight and built it up and then showed the fight with the fighters and Dana talking about each round and Joe Rogan chiming in once in a while. I would really like to see some other fights given this treatment. Really, enjoyable match and show.
DREAM.3 5/11/08 Re-Cap/Thoughts
DREAM.3 5.11.08
We are about 35 minutes in and awaiting the first match.
Featherweight Fight- Takeshi Yamazaki (13-7-2) vs. Shoji Maruyama (6-2-1)
R1- Shoji goes after Takeshi to start off with but Takeshi wraps him up. Takeshi's got him in full mount and is hitting him with some strikes. They briefly get back to their feet and then Takeshi takes him down again. Shoji gets some good punches from the back but Takeshi is overall controlling this fight. Back to their feet but this time Shoji gets the take down but it's quickly reversed. Takeshi has full mount. They stand up but quickly tie up again. Takeshi looking for another take down. Takeshi again gets the take down.They do some sprawling. Takeshi grabs an arm bar but Shoji some how twists and gets out and then delivers some punches as the round ends. REALLY boring first nine minutes. The last minute picked up and actually had some action. I almost thought that my least favorite fighter in the world, Shinya Aoki, was involved but he wasn't. He must have trained Takeshi Yamazaki.
R2- Shoji starts the second round (in DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes) with a take down but quickly losses his position. They stand back up and Takeshi quickly takes him back down but Shoji then reverses and lands a couple of nice punches but then they tie up again. Takeshi has pretty much done no damage in this fight but has controlled the majority of it. And the fight limps to an end. Just a really, really boring fight. Takeshi just hugged his way to a Shinya Aoki like victory in this one. Man, DREAM has some really really boring fights sometimes. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Winner: Takeshi Yamazaki by Decision (Unanimous)
They are really pushing Jason "Mayhem" Miller. They had a 10 minute video package of him before the show started and are now cutting to another hype video for him. I'm almost expecting a "Blood Runs Cold" promo and him to come out in Glacier like attire for the fight. That being said, i'd rather watch his promos than that first fight again. Man, that was just brutal. 60 minutes in and only one fight down. One really, really boring fight.
Middleweight Tournament Round 1:
Jason Miller (20-5) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-3)
Shibata is formerly of New Japan Pro Wrestling but I thought he was a lot heavier as he's fighting here at 185. Shibata runs down to the ring eager to fight. Shibata has lost his last three fights. Mayhem comes in looking like a member of the Beastie Boys or 3rd Bass.
R1- Right off the bat they are throwing and in the first 15 seconds we have more excitement than in almost all of the previous fight. Miller goes to slam Shibata and does but then gets caught with a couple of kicks. Miller really showboats early, basically not taking Shibata seriously and really outright disrespecting him. After he ate a couple of the kicks he straightened up though. Miller is in full mount now and Miller looks up at the camera like a jackass and then hits some punches. Man, this Miller guy really rubs me the wrong way. Seems like he has all the skills. He's just a jackass. Miller trying to get an armbar but Shibata survives and Miller is back to the mount. Miller gets some freedom and hits Shibata with a couple of hard punches to the face. Miller nails Shibata with a knee to the face. Miller now getting in some short punches to the face. Miller is dominating this fight so far. Miller with a lot of punches to the face and the fight is called.
Miller's actual fighting was impressive. I wasn't too impressed with his sportsmanship though. I'm all for someone who wants to showboat (see: Frank Shamrock) but a guy who is a HUGE favorite in the match just showboating to disrespect his opponent just shows that the guy is a pure jackass. Post-Match Jason Miller gets on the mic and thanks Shibata- yeah whatever. Actions speak louder than words. Miller is a douche.
Winner: Jason Miller by TKO (punches)
Middleweight Tournament Reserve Fight:
Melvin Manhoef 20-4-1 vs. Dae Won Kim (4-3)
Manhoef has 19 of his 20 wins by KO or TKO so this should be interesting. Looks like this is for the right to be in the Middleweight tournament IF someone is not able to continue on after winning.
R1- A couple of minutes in they start exchanging really good and Kim actually looks like he's getting the better of the exchanges and then he takes Melvin down and gets side control. Melvin reverses and is on top and drills Kim with a couple of punches and a knee to the back/side of the head and wins the fight.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO R1 4:08
Non-Tournament Lightweight Fight:
Bu Kyung Jung (0-2) vs. Daisuke Nakamura (13-9)
Nakamura controls the fight early by being on top and then getting another take down and getting on top again. This is a real ground oriented fight with Nakamura controlling. Kind of boring )I think the word "sterile" might be better. A lot of DREAM fights just feel "sterile") first round. Nakamura in control so far.
R2- In round 2 Nakamura drops Jung with a punch and it's over.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by KO R2
Welterweight Champion Eliminator:
Nick Diaz (15-7) vs. 16-5-3 Katsuya Inoue (16-5-3)
They play the Beck song "Loser" as they show these guys stats on the screen and talk about the upcoming fight.
R1- Diaz takes it to Inoue early. Diaz kind of stalking Inoue down throughout the ring and controlling the pace early on. Diaz is looking really good early in this fight. He's pushing the pace more than in some of the previous fights i've seen him in. Diaz gets a take down and Inoue is busted open as he has blood in his nose/mouth area. They get back to their feet quickly and the ref stops the fight to check the cut. They stop the fight again when Diaz is called for an illegal kick with Inoue in the ropes but he doesn't appear to be penalized. Back to the action and they are both throwing pretty good at one another. Diaz is landing some nice shots and looked to be out on his feet and Inoue's corner throws in the towel. Nice showing by Diaz.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Corner Submission) R1
They review the Final 8 Middleweights left in the tournament:
Gegard Mousasi
Ronald Souza
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kiyoshi Tamura
Taiei Kin
Dong Sik Yoon
Zelg Galesic
Jason Miller
They review the Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal match-ups:
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim Hansen
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Firmino
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Tatsuya Kawajiri (21-4-2) vs. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (12-3)
R1- Kawajiri takes him down and is getting some shots and and the crowd is behind him. He's controlling the ground game early. Kawajiri is starting to open up about half way through the first round and is landing some good shots. They exchange on their feet and Kawajiri knocks him down and hits him with a knee. First round goes to Kawajiri as he's controlling the fight so far and looked like he had the opportunity to finish Buscape around the middle of the round but then they went to the mat and Buscape recovered.
R2- Kawjiri takes him down early in R2. Kawajiri landing some ground and pound on Buscape. Kawajiri just dominating this round. Somehow Buscape gets Kawajiri's back with about a minute and half left.
One thing that I really dislike about DREAM is that they aren't showing the time left in the round anywhere on the screen. I don't remember them doing this on the previous shows. Kawajiri turns it back over and gets some shots in at the bell. Kawajiri rolled in this one and definitely will be advancing.
I've liked what i've seen of Kawajiri in the two fights i've seen him in with DREAM but he hasn't shown finishing power as he hasn't finished either of his two fights in this tournament.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2: Joachim Hansen (17-6-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (13-1)
This is the fight that I'm most looking forward to seeing on the show as I was impressed with both guys on DREAM.1. Hansen was real solid in his fight although he didn't finish and Alvarez looked very impressive in his win.
R1- Alvarez pops Hansen early and Hansen hits the floor. Alvarez jumps on top and Hansen defends really well and recovers. Back to their feet and Alvarez hitting some jabs and shots. Alvarez just dominating Hansen on their feet and Hansen grabs Alvarez and pulls him into his guard. They stand back up and both guys are mixing now, Hansen hits a knee to the body. Both guys mixing it up. Hansen goes for a knee and Alvarez grabs it and floors him but then stands back up as he'd rather fight standing up right now. Alvarez nails Hansen and he crumples again but Alvarez lets him recover. Alvarez takes Hansen down again. Alvarez with some light Ground and Pound. Alvarez looks like his nose is busted, Hansen is cut as well. Alvarez muscles Hansen down with another take down and lands a couple of shots and then stands back up. They mix it up on their feet and Alvarez grabs and slams Hansen. Alvarez is looking really good so far. Hansen tries a take down but is denied. They mix it up really well in the last 30 seconds of the round. Alvarez definitely took R1 and is ahead by a good bit in my book. Hansen really needs to come out and dominate R2 if he wants to win.
R2- Hansen takes Alvarez down early but he gets back to his feet. Hansen has him in a guillotine type move but doesn't have it tight. Alvarez pops his head out and is on top in Hansen's guard. Hansen rolls over and is now on top and getting some Ground and Pound in. Hansen has Alvarez in a triangle type move but Alvarez again slips out and gets a couple of punches in. Back to their feet and Alvarez lands a couple of punches. Both guys mixing it up. Alvarez takes Hansen's back but doesn't do anything with it. Hansen going for a lot of submission in this round and almost gets an armbar but Alvarez slips out again. Hansen with a couple of knees and then lays down on his back. Alvarez with a couple of leg kicks. Alvarez lands some punches against the ropes. Alvarez lands a kick at the end.
This was a really good fight. Definitely the best DREAM fight to this point. Alvarez wins this by clearly winning the first 10 minute round and then they were very even in Round 2 and Alvarez finished strong.
Winner: Eddie Alvarez by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Caol Uno (24-10-4) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1)
R1- Lots of stand up and little action early. And their is a low blow and Caol Uno gets 5 minutes to recover from Ishida kicking him right where it counts. They start to mix it up when they come back and have some really nice sprawling. Ishida's face is all busted up (looks like his nose) and they stop to take a look at it. They show a replay and Uno nailed him with a nice punch on the side of the temple and then later right on the side of the nose. Both guys really throwing at one another. They are in the corner and really throwing at one other. Ishida finally takes down Uno. Ishida gets another take down but doesn't seem to be doing much with them. Ishida gets in position for a Rear Naked Choke but isn't able to get it clamped on. Both announcers say Uno took this first round. It was really close, Ishida started to control later in the round and seems to have the momentum going into R2.
R2- Ishida takes Uno's back fairly early in R2 and Uno taps out.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:39
Overall, this was a ho-hum show. I really enjoyed the last two fights (Uno/Ishida and Alvarez/Hansen). The mid-card was decent (with Nick Diaz being the highlight) and there were a couple of what seems to be a DREAM trademark of just stale fights where one guy just latches onto the other guy for 15 minutes and rides his opponent to victory without trying for damage or a submission. I like some of the fighters in DREAM and they put on some good fights but their overall shows come off as very sterile.
We are about 35 minutes in and awaiting the first match.
Featherweight Fight- Takeshi Yamazaki (13-7-2) vs. Shoji Maruyama (6-2-1)
R1- Shoji goes after Takeshi to start off with but Takeshi wraps him up. Takeshi's got him in full mount and is hitting him with some strikes. They briefly get back to their feet and then Takeshi takes him down again. Shoji gets some good punches from the back but Takeshi is overall controlling this fight. Back to their feet but this time Shoji gets the take down but it's quickly reversed. Takeshi has full mount. They stand up but quickly tie up again. Takeshi looking for another take down. Takeshi again gets the take down.They do some sprawling. Takeshi grabs an arm bar but Shoji some how twists and gets out and then delivers some punches as the round ends. REALLY boring first nine minutes. The last minute picked up and actually had some action. I almost thought that my least favorite fighter in the world, Shinya Aoki, was involved but he wasn't. He must have trained Takeshi Yamazaki.
R2- Shoji starts the second round (in DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes) with a take down but quickly losses his position. They stand back up and Takeshi quickly takes him back down but Shoji then reverses and lands a couple of nice punches but then they tie up again. Takeshi has pretty much done no damage in this fight but has controlled the majority of it. And the fight limps to an end. Just a really, really boring fight. Takeshi just hugged his way to a Shinya Aoki like victory in this one. Man, DREAM has some really really boring fights sometimes. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Winner: Takeshi Yamazaki by Decision (Unanimous)
They are really pushing Jason "Mayhem" Miller. They had a 10 minute video package of him before the show started and are now cutting to another hype video for him. I'm almost expecting a "Blood Runs Cold" promo and him to come out in Glacier like attire for the fight. That being said, i'd rather watch his promos than that first fight again. Man, that was just brutal. 60 minutes in and only one fight down. One really, really boring fight.
Middleweight Tournament Round 1:
Jason Miller (20-5) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-3)
Shibata is formerly of New Japan Pro Wrestling but I thought he was a lot heavier as he's fighting here at 185. Shibata runs down to the ring eager to fight. Shibata has lost his last three fights. Mayhem comes in looking like a member of the Beastie Boys or 3rd Bass.
R1- Right off the bat they are throwing and in the first 15 seconds we have more excitement than in almost all of the previous fight. Miller goes to slam Shibata and does but then gets caught with a couple of kicks. Miller really showboats early, basically not taking Shibata seriously and really outright disrespecting him. After he ate a couple of the kicks he straightened up though. Miller is in full mount now and Miller looks up at the camera like a jackass and then hits some punches. Man, this Miller guy really rubs me the wrong way. Seems like he has all the skills. He's just a jackass. Miller trying to get an armbar but Shibata survives and Miller is back to the mount. Miller gets some freedom and hits Shibata with a couple of hard punches to the face. Miller nails Shibata with a knee to the face. Miller now getting in some short punches to the face. Miller is dominating this fight so far. Miller with a lot of punches to the face and the fight is called.
Miller's actual fighting was impressive. I wasn't too impressed with his sportsmanship though. I'm all for someone who wants to showboat (see: Frank Shamrock) but a guy who is a HUGE favorite in the match just showboating to disrespect his opponent just shows that the guy is a pure jackass. Post-Match Jason Miller gets on the mic and thanks Shibata- yeah whatever. Actions speak louder than words. Miller is a douche.
Winner: Jason Miller by TKO (punches)
Middleweight Tournament Reserve Fight:
Melvin Manhoef 20-4-1 vs. Dae Won Kim (4-3)
Manhoef has 19 of his 20 wins by KO or TKO so this should be interesting. Looks like this is for the right to be in the Middleweight tournament IF someone is not able to continue on after winning.
R1- A couple of minutes in they start exchanging really good and Kim actually looks like he's getting the better of the exchanges and then he takes Melvin down and gets side control. Melvin reverses and is on top and drills Kim with a couple of punches and a knee to the back/side of the head and wins the fight.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO R1 4:08
Non-Tournament Lightweight Fight:
Bu Kyung Jung (0-2) vs. Daisuke Nakamura (13-9)
Nakamura controls the fight early by being on top and then getting another take down and getting on top again. This is a real ground oriented fight with Nakamura controlling. Kind of boring )I think the word "sterile" might be better. A lot of DREAM fights just feel "sterile") first round. Nakamura in control so far.
R2- In round 2 Nakamura drops Jung with a punch and it's over.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by KO R2
Welterweight Champion Eliminator:
Nick Diaz (15-7) vs. 16-5-3 Katsuya Inoue (16-5-3)
They play the Beck song "Loser" as they show these guys stats on the screen and talk about the upcoming fight.
R1- Diaz takes it to Inoue early. Diaz kind of stalking Inoue down throughout the ring and controlling the pace early on. Diaz is looking really good early in this fight. He's pushing the pace more than in some of the previous fights i've seen him in. Diaz gets a take down and Inoue is busted open as he has blood in his nose/mouth area. They get back to their feet quickly and the ref stops the fight to check the cut. They stop the fight again when Diaz is called for an illegal kick with Inoue in the ropes but he doesn't appear to be penalized. Back to the action and they are both throwing pretty good at one another. Diaz is landing some nice shots and looked to be out on his feet and Inoue's corner throws in the towel. Nice showing by Diaz.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Corner Submission) R1
They review the Final 8 Middleweights left in the tournament:
Gegard Mousasi
Ronald Souza
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kiyoshi Tamura
Taiei Kin
Dong Sik Yoon
Zelg Galesic
Jason Miller
They review the Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal match-ups:
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim Hansen
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Firmino
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Tatsuya Kawajiri (21-4-2) vs. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (12-3)
R1- Kawajiri takes him down and is getting some shots and and the crowd is behind him. He's controlling the ground game early. Kawajiri is starting to open up about half way through the first round and is landing some good shots. They exchange on their feet and Kawajiri knocks him down and hits him with a knee. First round goes to Kawajiri as he's controlling the fight so far and looked like he had the opportunity to finish Buscape around the middle of the round but then they went to the mat and Buscape recovered.
R2- Kawjiri takes him down early in R2. Kawajiri landing some ground and pound on Buscape. Kawajiri just dominating this round. Somehow Buscape gets Kawajiri's back with about a minute and half left.
One thing that I really dislike about DREAM is that they aren't showing the time left in the round anywhere on the screen. I don't remember them doing this on the previous shows. Kawajiri turns it back over and gets some shots in at the bell. Kawajiri rolled in this one and definitely will be advancing.
I've liked what i've seen of Kawajiri in the two fights i've seen him in with DREAM but he hasn't shown finishing power as he hasn't finished either of his two fights in this tournament.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2: Joachim Hansen (17-6-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (13-1)
This is the fight that I'm most looking forward to seeing on the show as I was impressed with both guys on DREAM.1. Hansen was real solid in his fight although he didn't finish and Alvarez looked very impressive in his win.
R1- Alvarez pops Hansen early and Hansen hits the floor. Alvarez jumps on top and Hansen defends really well and recovers. Back to their feet and Alvarez hitting some jabs and shots. Alvarez just dominating Hansen on their feet and Hansen grabs Alvarez and pulls him into his guard. They stand back up and both guys are mixing now, Hansen hits a knee to the body. Both guys mixing it up. Hansen goes for a knee and Alvarez grabs it and floors him but then stands back up as he'd rather fight standing up right now. Alvarez nails Hansen and he crumples again but Alvarez lets him recover. Alvarez takes Hansen down again. Alvarez with some light Ground and Pound. Alvarez looks like his nose is busted, Hansen is cut as well. Alvarez muscles Hansen down with another take down and lands a couple of shots and then stands back up. They mix it up on their feet and Alvarez grabs and slams Hansen. Alvarez is looking really good so far. Hansen tries a take down but is denied. They mix it up really well in the last 30 seconds of the round. Alvarez definitely took R1 and is ahead by a good bit in my book. Hansen really needs to come out and dominate R2 if he wants to win.
R2- Hansen takes Alvarez down early but he gets back to his feet. Hansen has him in a guillotine type move but doesn't have it tight. Alvarez pops his head out and is on top in Hansen's guard. Hansen rolls over and is now on top and getting some Ground and Pound in. Hansen has Alvarez in a triangle type move but Alvarez again slips out and gets a couple of punches in. Back to their feet and Alvarez lands a couple of punches. Both guys mixing it up. Alvarez takes Hansen's back but doesn't do anything with it. Hansen going for a lot of submission in this round and almost gets an armbar but Alvarez slips out again. Hansen with a couple of knees and then lays down on his back. Alvarez with a couple of leg kicks. Alvarez lands some punches against the ropes. Alvarez lands a kick at the end.
This was a really good fight. Definitely the best DREAM fight to this point. Alvarez wins this by clearly winning the first 10 minute round and then they were very even in Round 2 and Alvarez finished strong.
Winner: Eddie Alvarez by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Caol Uno (24-10-4) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1)
R1- Lots of stand up and little action early. And their is a low blow and Caol Uno gets 5 minutes to recover from Ishida kicking him right where it counts. They start to mix it up when they come back and have some really nice sprawling. Ishida's face is all busted up (looks like his nose) and they stop to take a look at it. They show a replay and Uno nailed him with a nice punch on the side of the temple and then later right on the side of the nose. Both guys really throwing at one another. They are in the corner and really throwing at one other. Ishida finally takes down Uno. Ishida gets another take down but doesn't seem to be doing much with them. Ishida gets in position for a Rear Naked Choke but isn't able to get it clamped on. Both announcers say Uno took this first round. It was really close, Ishida started to control later in the round and seems to have the momentum going into R2.
R2- Ishida takes Uno's back fairly early in R2 and Uno taps out.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:39
Overall, this was a ho-hum show. I really enjoyed the last two fights (Uno/Ishida and Alvarez/Hansen). The mid-card was decent (with Nick Diaz being the highlight) and there were a couple of what seems to be a DREAM trademark of just stale fights where one guy just latches onto the other guy for 15 minutes and rides his opponent to victory without trying for damage or a submission. I like some of the fighters in DREAM and they put on some good fights but their overall shows come off as very sterile.
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