UFC 90 Re-Cap

[b]UFC 90: Silva vs Cote[/u]

[b]Lightweight Fight- Sean Sherk (36-3-1) vs. Tyson Griffin (12-1)[/b]

Griffin comes out to "Eye of the Tiger.". This is a huge fight for him as Sherk is basically playing gate-keeper of the lightweight division here.

R1- Sherk took Tyson down and took his back pretty quickly but Tyson went to his corner and got advice and got out. Sherk is bullying Tyson around a bit in the early parts of the first round. Sherk took his back again with bout 45 seconds left but got out again. Sherk controlled the first round and won 10-9. Good first round.

R2- A lot of good stand up action in this round with both guys landing some good shots. Sherk controlled the majority of this round. Griffin had a really good burst in the middle and towards the end of the round but seemed to be struggling with his cardio. Sherk 20-18 after two rounds.

WEC Bantamweight champion Miguel Torres is in the house.

R3- Griffin comes out firing and hit a nice shot to open the round but Sherk countered. This was a pretty even round but I think Sherk hit more clean shots. Really good fight that i've got Sherk winning 30-27. Good performance from Sherk.

Judges score cards are: 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Sherk.

Winner: Sean Sherk by Decision (Unanimous)

[b]Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (11-3-1) vs. Junior Dos Santos (6-1)[/b]

Werdum is waiting in the wings for the winner of the mini-tournament involving Coture, Noguiera, Mir and Lesnar. Dos Santos is a newcomer to UFC and has Big Nog in his corner. Dos Santos is a Jiu-Jitsu guy, a solid striker and has a good chin. Rogan says that Werdum is bulking up due to "Giant Freaks like Brock Lesnar" being in the Heavyweight division now (Werdum is up to 256 lbs). Apparently Werdum was (or maybe still is) Cro Cop's jiu jitsu coach.

Dan Severn is in the crowd.

R1- Dos Santos caught Werdum with a big uppercut about 1:15 into the fight and then quickly finished Werdum. Wow, that was a shocker. Looks like the UFC Heavyweight Division might have a new player. Werdum just got caught and actually leaned into the uppercut.

Winner: Junior Dos Santos by KO R1 1:20

Georges St-Pierre is at the show tonight.

[b]Lightweight Fight- Rich Clementi (40-12-1) vs. Gray Maynard (6-0)[/b]

I think Rich has the advantage in experience but I'll have to go back and look at how many fights they've had to figure that out for sure.

R1- Maynard got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round and got in some shots but not too much. First round was uneventful until the Maynard take down. Maynard takes round one 10-9 but this is anybody's fight.

Matt Hughes is in the crowd tonight, seems like there are a ton of guys at the show tonight. Hughes got a smattering of boos from the crowd.

R2- Maynard got a take down early into the round and clamped on a guillotine but Clementi stood up and got out of the hold. Maynard took Clementi down and avoided a triangle but Clementi grabbed his arm. Maynard avoided a submission and moved back to half guard. Clementi is doing a good job in keeping an active guard and constantly looking for submissions. Maynard takes this round, so i've got him up 20-18.

R3- Maynard gets an early slam/take down. Maynard took him down until about 2 minutes left when Clementi got up but Maynard took him down again. Clementi escaped out and tried to take Maynard's back but couldn't and Maynard took him down again. I've got Maynard 30-27.

Not a real exciting fight but Maynard controlled the fight and thus gets the victory.

Judges score cards are: 30-27 on all three score cards.

Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)

Rashad Evans is at the fights tonight, he was a college team mate of Gray Maynard at Michigan State.

[b]Welterweight Fight- Thiago Alves (21-4) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-2)[/b]

Koscheck comes in to the RHCP "Higher Ground." Koscheck has better intro music and a 3" reach advantage. I really disliked Koscheck on TUF because he was a jerk and a boring fighter but you really have to respect him for stepping up to take Sanchez's spot on short notice. Plus, he's destruction of Chris Lytle a few months back was pretty great. That and he's fighting a guy that didn't make weight for his last fight. Someone Koscheck has become the fan favorite in this fight for me even though he still gets boo'd by the fans.

R1- Koscheck slipped early but got out of dodge before Alves could touch him. Alves popped Koshcheck about a minute in and Koscheck went down and Alves pounced on him. Koscheck grabbed onto a leg to avoid further pain but Alves stood up and then kicked Josh in the head. Somehow Koscheck holds on and recovers. Koscheck comes back with a couple of jabs. Koscheck starting to land some shots. Koscheck went for a take down but was denied. Really strong first round. Alves owned the beginning and Koscheck came back and controlled the second half of the round. Alves takes this 10-9 as he came close to finishing Koscheck early.

R2- Koscheck is throwing a lot of punches early and hits a head kick that looked to be partially deflected. Koscheck is really active here in the second round and is coming close to hitting a lot of big shots. Alves is hitting some leg kicks. Koscheck goes for a take down but Alves defends it well. Nobody really dominated this round but I think Koscheck controlled the majority of it while Alves mostly only got leg kicks. I've got it 19-19 right now.

R3- Alves comes out and rocks Koscheck against the cage. He hit a knee and then some punches. Koshcheck does a good job of holding onto Alves to avoid more punishment and wobbles to his feet and throws kicks to try and keep Alves at bay. Alves hits a left and then Koscheck clinches him. Alves hits a decent right and Koscheck clinches him again. Koscheck complains about an eye poke and the ref stops it for about 30 seconds. Koscheck has recovered from the shots earlier in the round and we've got two minutes and thirty seconds left in the fight with Alves in the lead. Koscheck pokes Alves in the eye and they stop the fight for recovery time. Alves hit a big leg kick that buckled Josh. Alves seems to be the agressor as the fight is coming to a close. Alves hits another good leg kick. They swing for the fences towards the end. Alves hits a big punch right at the end and then takes Koscheck down after the bell as Alves didn't hear the bell. Alves wins this round and the fight 29-28 in a good, entertaining fight.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Alves.

Winner: Thiago Alves by Decision (Unanimous)

Post-match interview sees Rogan calling for a title shot for Alves and Alves agreeing.

Jeff Samardzija, Cubs pitcher and former Notre Dame Wide Receiver, is at the show tonight. And Clay Guida is sitting right near him.

[b]Middleweight Title Fight- Anderson Silva (22-4) vs. Patrick Cote (14-4)[/b]

Silva has a 3" height advantage and a 2.5" reach advantage. We've already seen one big upset tonight in Werdum, let's see if we get another. I don't think we will but I don't think anybody expects Cote to win so you never know.

R1- Not much action in the first two minutes as Anderson is just kind of waiting for a spot and watching Cote. Anderson gets a few leg kicks in on Cote. Andrerson hit a kick and they mixed it up a little bit. Anderson then threw a knee that looked like it landed but he lost his balance and couldn't really follow up. Cote's forehead is cut. Not a great round but Anderson seemed to control the flow and tempo of the round and definitely hit the two best strikes of the round. I've got Anderson up 10-9 after round one.

R2- Anderson landed a good left to start the round and definitely looks more aggressive than the last round. Cote hit a spinning back fist and Anderson clinched him. Anderson with some leg kicks. Cote charged at him and Silva ducked him and landed in his guard. They are back tot heir feet now. Silva hit a low kick and Cote blocked it and then Silva tried it again and Cote caught it again and they clinched against the cage. Anderson starts to hit some knees to the body. Not a ton of offense but i've got Anderson taking this round as well so he's up 20-18. Anderson almost seems like he's playing with Cote in this fight just waiting for his spot to strike. This is Anderson's first time being taken to the third round in UFC and Cote seems proud of that fact as he holds up 3 fingers as the round starts.

R3- A few seconds into the round Cote blew out his knee without Anderson even touching him. Just a freak accident.

Winner: Anderson Silva TKO (Ref Stoppage) R3 0:39

[b]Middleweight Fight- Thales Leites (13-1) vs. Drew McFedries (7-4)[/b]

This was a pre-show fight. I'm thinking this is McFedries by KO since it looks like this will be a quick fight. Leites is coming off of his oddball win against Marquardt and has a 4 fight win streak. Leites has a 6" reach advantage.

R1- McFedries swings for the fences early and looked like he hit a strike but Leites held on and got McFedries to the ground. This one should be about over as McFedries only shot was on his feet. Leites gets the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over. Well I had that one wrong.

Winner: Thales Leites by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:18

This was a decent show that ended poorly due to the freak accident/injury of Patrick Cote. Alves/Koscheck was a very good fight. Dos Santos/Werdum was a huge upset. Sherk/Griffin was decent.