UFC Fight Night 15 9/17/08 Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night 9/17/08

Light Heavyweight Fight- Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. Eric Schafer (11-3-2)

Schafer has a 3 inch height and 4 inch reach advantage. Alexander is the hometown fighter in this one and he gets a huge reaction. Alexander usually has short fights so this one could be quick.

R1- Alexander gets a clinch early and hits Schafer with a knee and then really rocks him with another. Alexander is trying to finish and Schafer is trying to survive and gets Alexander into his guard but Alexander gets back up as he wants the fight to remain standing. Alexander with some leg kicks and then gets driven into the cage. Schafer going for take downs but Alexander is denying him. Schafer finally gets a take down and gets side control. Schafer going for short elbows. Alexander gets out of the position but then gets turned over and mounted by Schafer. Schafer hitting some strikes. Schafer with some elbows and punches. One minute left in the round. Schafer landing punches and Alexander gives up his back but Schafer doesn’t take it and continues with Ground & Pound. Schafer goes for an arm triangle and Alexander taps out. Good, exciting opening fight. Schafer did a good job weathering the early storm and after several take down attempts he stayed with it and finally got one and then ended the fight.

This is Alexander’s third straight loss in the UFC. Eric Schafer has won three straight fights but had lost his last two in UFC to Stephan Bonnar and Michael Bisping.

Winner: Eric Schafer by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:53

Middleweight Fight- Ed Herman (16-5) vs. Alan Belcher (11-4)

R1- Lots of action early and then they clinch and are separated. Both guys hitting some strikes. Pretty even fight through the first half of the round. Herman hit a good combo and tried a take down but it was stopped and they clinched again. Herman picked Belcher up with a double-leg and got the take down. Herman is trying for what Rogan is calling a “Darth Choke” but Belcher gets to his feet. Herman gets another take down with half a minute left and is going for the same choke again. Pretty even round when they stood up but Herman took Belcher down twice and had two submission attempts. Herman is up 10-9 after Round One.

R2- Belcher hit a big left hand to start out the round. Herman hits a good combo after a couple of counter punches. Belcher with a couple of body punches and then hit a big punch that rocked Herman back into the cage. Belcher hit a kick to the midsection but got caught and taken down by Herman. Belcher got back to his feet with minimal damage from Herman. 45 seconds left in the round. Close round. Belcher controlled the first 2 and a half minutes and rocked Herman. Herman then got a take down and control for about a minute and the rest was even. Overall, I give Belcher this round which makes it 19-19.

R3- Herman went for a quick take down but got stuffed. Belcher landing some jabs. Herman went for another take down but Belcher stopped it again and they clinch against the cage and then get separated. Belcher showing good hands in this fight. Belcher goes for a spinning back fist and Herman goes for a take down but doesn’t get it. Herman stays with it and gets the take down. Herman gets some strikes in but Belcher gets back to his feet. One minute and fifteen seconds remain in the fight. It’s very even to this point so this will probably decide the fight. Herman gets another take down with 45 seconds left and lands some good punches. Herman continuing to hit some punches. Herman ends the fight in a dominate position. Belcher won the stand up part of the fight but Herman dominated in take downs and on the ground. Very, very close fight but I’ve got to give it to Herman as I think he won rounds 1 and 3 with a strong finish. Herman 29-28 on my score card. Not a dominate win but a good win and a good fight.

Judges score the fight: 29-28 Belcher, 29-28 Herman, and 29-28 Belcher.

Interesting decision, not sure that I agree with it though.

Winner: Alan Belcher by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Mac Danzig (19-4-1) vs. Clay Guida (23-6)

This should be a really fun fight.

R1- Danzig seems to be the aggressor early as he backs down Guida twice but doesn’t land anything substantial. Guida went for a take down on a Danzig kick but couldn’t get it. Danzig landed a couple of shots about two minutes into the round. Danzig rushes Guida and hits a big combo but Guida grabs him and takes him down. Great sequence of events. Danzig goes for a kimura from the bottom but Guida backs him up against the cage and Danzig gets back to his feet with no damage from Guida but Guida picks up Danzig and slams him down. Danzig once again has his back to the cage and stands up again and Guida slams him down again. Guida gets a couple of shots in but Danzig works his way back to his feet at the end of the round. Interesting round as Danzig won the first part of the round by winning the stand up game but Guida got several take downs and slams although not much actually offense on the ground. Almost an even round. Probably have to give it to Guida due to the slams but based on the way the judges scored the Belcher fight I would say that they would probably give it to Danzig. Guida 10-9. Good round.

R2- Guida looks to be more aggressive early in this round as he backs down Danzig and pushes forward. Danzig hits a good punch and then a front kick but Guida fights back and runs him down and gets a take down but Danzig goes right for his arm again and stands right up. Guida shoots in again about half way through the round and gets a take partial take down but Danzig doesn’t go all the way down and doesn’t take any damage. Danzig lands a couple of good shots with about a minute left but Guida grabs him and clinches and then takes Danzig’s back with 30 seconds left and takes him down and goes for a Rear Naked. Danzig rolls over and Guida finishes the fight in a dominate position but without landing much damage. I think Guida stole this round at the end with the big take down. I had Danzig winning based on strikes but Guida put himself in a position to finish the fight. I’ve got Guida winning a very close 20-18 so far.

R3- They sprawl early as Danzig missed a kick and then stopped a Guida take down. They both got some good shots in during a dirty boxing clinch. Danzig then got his first take down of the fight and attempted a kimura. Guida escaped and briefly took Danzig’s back. Guida with some knees against the cage. Danzig looks really tired and Guida is smothering him against the cage. Danzig got to his feet but got taken down again. Guida isn’t doing much damage but he’s controlling the fight. Danzig back to his feet but Guida is still holding him. Guida ends the fight with a flurry of punches on the ground. I’ve got Guida taking this fight 30-27. Not a dominate performance as far as damage but Guida controlled the fight with his wrestling.

Judges score cards are: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Guida.

This is Guida’s second win a row after a loss to Roger Huerta. This is Danzig’s first loss after two consecutive wins.

Winner: Clay Guida by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White. Dana announces a fight on December 10th live from Ft Bragg a 3-Hour event called “UFC Fights for the Troops” to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (9-2) vs. Josh Neer (24-6-1)

This is the first fight that we get the ring walk and entrance music. Josh Neer is from nearby Des Moines, Iowa. Jens Pulver is in his corner for the fight. Neer comes out to some soft rock that sounds like something from Nickelback. Diaz comes out to some rap with his brother Nick by his side. Diaz has a four inch reach advantage.

R1- They clinch early and Neer gets an immediate take down. Neer goes for a choke but lets it go. Neer takes his back and Diaz stands up and Neer takes him down but Diaz back to his feet again with Neer still on his back. Nate gets turned around and they sprawl and are back to their feet with a clinch. Diaz gets some shots in on Neer to the corner. Diaz is landing some good jabs and then gets a great looking judo throw and ends in side control but Neer gets him to half guard. Neer gets out but gets puched. Diaz fights his way back to full guard and then steps over and transitions to the back in a great move but can’t get anything. Diaz ends the fight on top of Neer. Neer controlled early but Diaz looked great late first hitting jabs, then a judo throw and then some good ground work. I’ve got Diaz taking this round 10-9.

R2- They exchange to start the round. Neer gets a take down but Diaz scrambles and reverses it so he’s in full guard. Neer gets back to his feet and gets a take down and has Nate’s back. Neer goes for a choke but Nate turns out of it. Lots of action as Neer goes for an arm bar and Nate for a triangle and both come up short. Neer gets some shots in and continues to be at and advantage but Diaz gets to his feet and they clinch. Diaz peppers him with jabs. Close round, I think Neer took this one so I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.

R3- They come out with Nate as the aggressor and they clinch against the cage. Nate gets a take down and is in half guard. Neer gets out but Diaz gets back to full guard and then stands up and then gets full guard again. Neer to his feet and they clinch. Diaz winning the final round half way through. Diaz takes Neer’s back and then turns to full mount. Nate with some strikes. They stand up with 20 seconds left and Diaz gets another judo throw and ends with some strikes. Diaz wins round three and will win this fight 29-28.

Judges scorecards are: 29-28 Neer, 29-28 Diaz and 29-28 Diaz.

Winner: Nate Diaz by Decision (Split)

I thought this was a real solid show with 4 good fights. The only real disappointing thing I could see was that only 1 fight went to a finish. 2 really close fights as they were judged as split decision.

The Ultimate Fight 8- Episode 1 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 1 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

They are doing 32 fighters this season, just like last season and they will fight their way into the house. One of the guys (Phillipe Nover) faints right before Dana gives his opening speech. We will have Light Heavyweight and Lightweights this season. The coaches are Antonio Noguiera and Frank Mir.

Jason Guida (Clay’s brother) comes in over weight and has a tough time cutting it and weighs in at 207 lbs. The doctor says that he isn’t in the condition to cut the weight so he’s sent home and they bring in Mike Stewart as an alternate to take his place.

The coaches will evaluate the guys during their first round fights and then pick them after the first round is over. The fights will be 2 5-minute rounds.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Mike Stewart (1-0) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (16-8-1)

Krzysztof just dominates and destroys this poor Mike Stewart kid with a lot of punches early and this one is stopped very quickly.

Lightweight Fight- Fernando Bernstein (2-0) vs. Dave Kaplan (2-1)

Both guys went after it early but Kaplan ended up winning with a Rear Naked Choke.

Lightweight Fight- Joe Duarte (3-0) vs. Phillipe Nover (4-0-1)

Pretty close first round as Duarte got a take down but Nover bloodied Duarte’s nose. Nover took his back quickly in Round Two and submitted him.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Eric Magee (3-1) vs. Jules Bruchez (0-0)

Bruchez took his back a couple minutes in and got a win.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Vinny Magalhaes vs. Lance Evans

Lance is Rashad Evans’ brother. Only highlights are shown of this one. Lance got a rib injury during the fight and it looked like Vinny got the win because of it.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Jimmo vs. Antwain Britt

Britt got the win by decision, only highlights were shown.

Lightweight Fight- Brian McLaughlin vs. Brandon Garner

Garner hit an illegal knee to the face of Brian when he was grounded. The fight was ruled a No Contest. Brian was said to be dominating the fight, so they take him into the house as the winner.

Lightweight- Junie Browning (2-0) vs. Jose Aguilar (2-0)

Both of these guys have a ton of ego. Junie looked very impressive in the first round and Aguilar didn’t come out of his corner for round two.

There looks to be some good fighters so far with the ones that looked the best being Soszynski, Bruchez and Browning.


Light Heavyweight Rankings:
1. Krzysztof Soszynski
2. Jules Bruchez
3. Antwain Britt
4. Vinny Magalhaes


Lightweight Rankings:
1. Junie Browning
2. Dave Kaplan
3. Phillipe Nover
4. Brian McLaughlin

UFN 7/19/08 Unaired Fights Re-Cap

Ultimate Fight Night 7/19/08 Unaired Fights

[b]Lightweight Fight- Shannon Gugerty (10-2) vs Dale Hartt (5-0)[/b]

R1- Hartt took Gugerty down with a guillotine early but Gugerty fought out of it without much damage. Gugerty controls the fight by staying on top once he escaped the guillotine and then Hartt gave up his back. Gugerty got a choke in and Hartt taped out. Good fight by Gugerty as he got on top and then waited for Hartt to make a mistake and capitalized.

This was Gugerty's debut in UFC.

Winner: Shannon Gugerty by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:33

[b]Welterweight Fight- Brad Blackburn (12-9-1) vs. James Giboo (11-2)[/b]

Blackburn has fought in the IFL. Giboo has won 6 straight fights. This is both guys debut in the UFC.

R1- Blackburn got a good shot in about a minute into the fight and then took Giboo's guard. They stood up and Blackburn got another nice shot in on Giboo and took his guard again. Blackburn is just dominating the stand up game. Blackburn nailed him with a left hand with about a minute left in the round and then jumped on top of Giboo but couldn't finish. Blackburn dominated this round. Possibly a 10-8 round as Giboo really didn't get anything in during the first round.

R2- Blackburn starts this round by hitting three straight punches and Giboo went down but Blackburn couldn't finish. Blackburn is just dominating Giboo but once the fight goes to the ground Giboo is surviving. Blackburn is eating him alive on their feet though. The ref calls this one and Blackburn gets the dominate victory. Blackburn looked really good on his feet but needs a lot of work on his ground game as he would probably get controlled by a good jiu jitsu guy.

Winner: Brad Blackburn by TKO (strikes) R2 2:29

[b]Middleweight Fight- Nate Loughran (8-0) vs. Johnny Rees (10-0)[/b]

Somebody is getting their first loss tonight.

R1- Loughran pulls guard early and looks for a triangle but Rees denies him. Rees gets in a couple of shots but Loughran is doing a good job controlling him. Loughran is bleeding from a Rees strike. Loughran goes for another triangle and looks to have locked it in but Rees postures out of it. Loughran once again grabs a triangle/arm bar submission and is hitting some elbows on Rees. Rees finally taps. This was a pretty even back and forth fight that mostly took place on the ground. Good job by Loughran in sticking to his game plan and finally getting the finish.

Winner: Nate Loughran by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:21

[b]Middleweight Fight- Tim Credeur (10-4) vs. Cale Yarbrough (0-0)[/b]

Both of these guys were on the last season of TUF. This is Cale's first official MMA fight. Both guys lost to CB Dollaway during the season.

R1- They start out with both guys throwing punches. Credeur seems to be hitting more shots early. Creduer comes on strong about 2 minutes into the fight by hitting strikes and Cale goes down and the ref stops the fight.

Winner: Tim Credeur by TKO (strikes) R1 1:54

UFC 87 Prelim Re-Cap

UFC 87 Unaired Fights


Light Heavyweight Fight- Jon Jones (6-0) vs. Andre Gusmao (5-0)

R1- Jones got a take down about 2 minutes into the fight but didn't get much in. At the 4 minute mark Jones started taking Gusmao apart on the fence but the ref saw a low blow and separated them. Both guys really started to mix it up in the last 30 seconds and ended a rather slow first round with a good flurry. Pretty even first round probably going to Jones.

R2- Jones caught him with another low blow early in the second round. Gusmao gets a take down but they scramble and Jones quickly gets back to his feet. Another close but not particularly engaging round.

R3- Jones is the aggressor in this fight as he spends a lot of time pushing forward and Gusmao is doing a lot of back stepping. Jones stops a couple of take downs. Jones gets a take down with a minute left and takes side control quickly but gives up the position and ends up in Gusmao's full guard. Gusmao tries to grab a couple of submissions but Jones gets out of it. Jones got a little sloppy at the end and almost got caught. Jones is going to take this one. Jones has a lot of talent he just needs a lot more experience to put it all together. Rogan says he's only been in MMA for 9 months.

Judges scores are 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Jon Jones.

Winner: Jon Jones by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Chris Wilson (12-4-1) vs. Steve Bruno (12-3)

R1- Wilson looks pretty good in Round One and took Bruno's back with about a minute and a half left in the round but Wilson couldn't finish him.

R2- Wilson took Bruno's back quickly in Round 2 but Bruno escaped very quickly. Wilson then took Bruno down at the 1 minute mark of the round. After a separation Wilson hit some nice strikes and then just destroyed Bruno with a big knee. Wilson just dominating this round.

R3- Wilson gets some really nice shots in about 45 seconds into the round and Bruno goes down. Wilson takes his back about 2 minutes into the round. Wilson just over matched Bruno in this fight but couldn't finish him.

Judges scores are 30-27 on all score cards in favor of Chris Wilson.

Winner: Chris Wilson by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Luke Cummo (9-5) vs. Tamdan McCrory (10-1)

R1- Tamdan got a take down about 2 minutes into the round and then took his back. Tamdan locked in a Rear Naked Choke and Cummo fought it pretty good. Cummo escaped the choke but Tamdan remained in control of the round. Tamdan grabbed an arm but Cummo rolled through and ended up in Tamdan's guard to end the round. Round easily goes to Tamdan.

R2- Tamdan quickly got a take down to start the round. Tamdan took his back about a minute and a half into the round. Tamdan grabbed an arm bar but Cummo rooled through it and took Tamdan's guard again. Tamdan regained control and laid in some good shots on Cummo. Tamdan is up 20-18 so far.

R3- Cummo came out better in round 3 landing a couple of shots and getting a take down. Tamdan turns him over fairly quickly and resumes control of the fight. They stood up with one minute left in the round but Tamdan again got a take down. Cummo got a triangle with 45 seconds left in the fight. Tamdan stands him up and slams him and gets out of the move. Good showing by Tamdan in this fight. I wonder if anybody on the prelims is going to finish their opponent tonight?

Judges score the fight:29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 for Tamdan.

Winner: Tamdan McCrory by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Ben Saunders (5-0-2) vs. Ryan Thomas (13-1)

R1- They are swinging pretty wildly in the beginning of the round. Saunders lands a good combo but Thomas grabs him and they sprawl. Both guys are hitting with some strikes. Saunders gets in some strikes and Thomas goes down. Thomas traps him in a triangle but Saunders pops out. Saunders attempts to take his back and gets a body triangle with less than a minute left in the round. Saunders takes the first round 10-9.

R2- Saunders fought to get a take down in the first part of the round but stood back up. Saunders landing some kicks. Thomas tries to do the same but slips and Saunders waits for him to stand up after some brief sprawling. Thomas looked like he got hurt by a body shot and then ate some punches. Saunders fairly quickly got an arm bar and got the win by submission. Really good showing by Saunders. He showed some inexperience early but recognized his ground game wasn't as good as Thomas so he tried to stay up on his feet for the majority of the second round.

Winner: Ben Saunders by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 2:28