UFC 88 "Breakthrough" Re-Cap

UFC 88 "Breakthrough"

Welterweight Fight- Dong Hyun Kim (10-0-1) vs. Matt Brown (10-6)

Matt Brown comes out to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band. Dong Hyun Kim counters with "Higher Ground" by the Chilli Peppers.

R1- They clinched early and Kim took him down and then took his back but Brown stood him up. Kim grabbed a choke while on Brown's back as brown was standing but Brown broke it up. Kim controlled early but the middle portion of the match is even and then with about a minute left in the round Brown got a choke in on Kim that looks kind of like a head lock but Kim takes Brown's back again. Good first round that was close but I give to Kim due to him having control of Brown and his back for at least half the round.

R2- They stand up early in the round and Brown gets some good knees in on Kim. Brown is controlling early and is getting in some decent shots on Kim. Kim hits on up kick but Brown retaliates with some Ground & Pound. Brown really controlled this round and was in a dominate position at the end of the round, could have maybe finished him but he wasn't aggressive enough. Right now Kim looks real tired. I've got the fight 19-19 right now with Brown with the momentum.

R3- Matt Brown forgot his mouth piece to start the round so they stop the fight for a minute after he eats a punch. Kim gets a take down about a minute into the round and gets side control rather quickly but Brown gets out of the position without any damage. Brown gets some shots in as they clinched. Kim going for judo throws but Brown doing a good job stopping them. Kim gets another take down with 2 minutes left and is in Brown's guard. Kim hits some elbows and cuts Brown. Kim wins this round rather handily so i've got him taking Round 1 and 3 and Brown taking Round 3. Really close fight. I give it to Kim but not by much. Kim 29 Brown 28.

Judges score cards are 29-28 Kim, 29-28 Brown, and 29-28 Kim. Split Decision win for Kim. That's pretty much how I had it. Crowd doesn't really like the result.

Winner: Dong Hyun Kim by Decision (Split)

UFC fighter Yoshiyuki Yoshida is shown in the crowd. He was supposed to fight Karo Parisyan tonight but Karo pulled out due to injury.

Middleweight Fight- Martin Kampmann (13-1) vs. Nate Marquardt (29-8-2)

Kampmann is undefeated in the UFC and Marquardt is coming off a controversial loss in which he lost 2 points due to an illegal move and a questional punch to the back of his opponents head. Marquardt comes out to the theme that UFC uses at the beginning of it's PPVs and Kampmann comes out to what sounds like an Eminem song. Kampmann is the first Condomdepot.com fighter of the evening.

R1- They stand up early and Kampmann got in a good close punch. Nate rebounded with a nice kick to the head that sent Kampmann reeling. Nate hit a knee and was throwing a nuch of punches. Nate is all over him and has him in the corner and Kampmann sits down in the corner and the ref stops the fight. Fantastic showing by Marquardt as he was just all over Kampmann after he hit that kick.

Winner: Nate Marquardt by TKO (strikes) R1 1:22

Urijah Faber is at the show tonight. I think he actually attends every single MMA event no matter what company it's for (DREAM, UFC, WEC, etc).

They announce that Faber's fight is being rescheduled due to the hurricanes and will now be on Nov 5th. NO!

Miguel Torres is also with Faber at the fight.


Middleweight Fight- Dan Henderson (22-7) vs. Rousimarr Palhares (17-1)

Henderson is 10 years older than Palhares, about 5 inches taller and has a 3 inch reach advantage. Henderson gets the largest reaction of the evening so far. Palhares is our second condomdepot.com fighter of the evening. Matt Lindland is in Henderson's corner.

Big Boi from Outkast (they are from Atlanta) is shown in the crowd. He is sitting next to Rampage Jackson.

R1- They start out very carefully. No touching for the first 30 seconds. Rousimarr goes for a take down and Henderson nails him with a shot. Back to their feet. Henderson stops a take down and then another and then another and another. Henderson gets some good shots in as they mixed it up. They mix it up again and Palhares gets in a couple of shots and throws some wild kicks. Henderson connecting with some jabs. Palhares finally got a take down with 30 seconds left. Palhares can't get anything and then the bell rings. He looked like he was in position to get a knee bar but didn't have enough time. Henderson takes Round 1 but Palhares started to come on at the end of the round. Good, entertaining first round once it got started.

R2- Palhares picked up Henderson and slammed him down about one minute into the round and is in Henderson's guard. Palhares goes for a leg lock and gets it but Henderson gets out of the move. Palhares goes for a take down but gets caught by Henderson and Henderson locks him up and then they stand back up. Henderson with some strikes. Another take down stuffed by Henderson and he takes Palhares guard. The ref stands them up due to inactivity. This was a really close round. Palhares controlled the opening stanza and then Henderson the last half. I think Palhares was more dominant in his portion of the fight and almost finished Henderson with that leg lock so I think he takes the round. 19-19 so far with one round left.

R3- Henderson stuffs an early take down. Not a whole lot of action in this round. Henderson has connected on a couple of strikes. Two minutes left in the round. Palhares went for a take down but it was stuffed and Henderson got in a shot or two. Henderson went for a punch and looked like a slipped and Palhares almost caught him in a leg lock but Henderson slipped out. Henderson gets a good strike and then stuffs a take down. Henderson ends the fight with three or four good strikes. Not a good final round but Henderson will win this 29-28. Good first two rounds but a very unurgent third round. Not a very impressive victory for Henderson but still a victory.

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

Winner: Dan Henderson by Decision (Unanimous)

Randy Couture is at the event and Joe Rogan interviews him about the Brock Lesnar fight.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch (7-2) vs. Michael Patt (15-2)

R1- Boetch hits a big right hand about 2 minutes into the round and then Ground and Pounds until the ref stops the fight.

Winner: Tim Boetsch by TKO (strikes) R1 2:03

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rich Franklin (25-3) vs. Matt Hamill (6-1)

Matt Hamill comes out to the Skynard's "Simple Man." Hamill gets a good response from the crowd. Franklin gets a good pop.

R1- They stand up at the beginning of the fight. Franklin getting more strikes in but Hamill got in a nice right hand. Franklin is hitting leg kicks. Hamill gets a take down with about a minute left in the round and Franklin goes for an arm bar but Hamill breaks free and they are back to their feet. Both guys are cut open. Franklin hits a big knee. Close first round. I think Franklin took this one 10-9 as he was more agressive during the round and landed more shots. Hamill got a take down but didn't get much offense in during the take down and Franklin got a submission attempt (although he never really locked it in) which led to him getting out of the hold pretty quickly).

R2- Franlin landed a good combination in the first minute and is landing some leg kicks. The ref is checking the cut on Franklin but the fight continues, he's not bleeding but the announcers seem to think that he lost a chunk of skin near his eye. Franklin landed a nice kick to Hamill and then follows it up with a kick to the family jewels which causes a stop in the action. Nice slow mo instant reply of the crotch kick and the groan by the crowd. Franklin landing more leg kicks. Franklin gets a good kick to the midsection. Franklin really controlled this fight and is up 2 rounds to nothing. Franklin 20 Hamill 18.

R3- Franklin hits a kick to the midsection and hits a couple of punches and this ones over. Good showing for Rich Franklin.

Winner: Rich Franklin by TKO (strikes) R3 0:39

Light Heavyweight Fight- Chuck Liddell (21-5) vs. Rashad Evans (16-0-1)

Evans gets some heel heat from the crowd, probably more because they are pro-Liddell than anti-Evans.

R1- They just kind of dance around each other for the first 30 seconds. Liddell got in a shot or two in the first minute or so. Evans then got one and Liddell answers. Not much action in the first two minutes. One of the more lackluster opening rounds I think I've ever seen. If I had to pick someone to give this round with it would be Liddell but he didn't do anything to deserve it. Liddell 10 Evans 9.

R2- They mix it up a little on the cage with Liddell attacking and Evans countering. Evans hitting some combos now. Evans drills Liddell with a right hand and Liddell drops like a sack of potatoes. Nice punch. Evans really had not shown much at all until that one punch but what a punch it was.

On the replay Chuck got caught with a slow looping hook and Rashad just came over the top and hit him with a quick overhand right that just rocked Liddell. This was a case of Liddell underestimating Liddell and leaving himself open and Rashad capitalizing on the mistake. Although it didn't make for a good first round Rashad did a good job not giving into Liddell and making Liddell be the aggressor in the first two rounds instead of the counter puncher.

Winner: Rashad Evans by KO R2 1:51

Rampage and Forrest are shown. Forrest gets a good pop. I think Rashad winning opens things up for a Rampage rematch quicker than he would have gotten one if Liddell won the fight.

Middleweight Fight- Jason MacDonald vs. Jason Lambert

R1- Lambert pulled guard early and took a guillotine. MacDonald popped out after about a minute and a half in the move. MacDonald controlled for the rest of the round until the last 15 seconds as Lambert grabbed another tight guillotine but MacDonald rode it out.

R2- They mix it up right at the beginning of the round and MacDonald takes Lambert down. MacDonald takes Lambert's back and gets the tap via Rear Naked Choke.

Winner: Jason MacDonald by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:27

This was a decent show with a bunch of decent fights and then a great KO in the Main Event. The most interesting thing coming out of tonight was not the fights but where these fighters like Evans, Liddell, Franklin, Henderson, Marquardt go from here