UFC 89 "Bisping vs Leben" Re-Cap

UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben

Live from the UK on Spike TV! Brandon Vera takes on Keith Jardine in a Light Heavyweight Fight. Michael Bisping accepts his biggest challenge since stepping down in weight to Middleweight as he fights Chris Leben. Marcus Davis, Paul Kelly, Chris Lytle, Paul Taylor, Luiz Cane and Sokoudjou will also be fighting tonight. We should see some pretty exciting fights based on the line-up.

Welterweight Fight- Paul Kelly (8-0) vs. Marcus Davis (19-5)

R1- Davis lays in wait early and snaps off some jabs when Kelly comes in to strike. Davis hit a good body kick and then another after a couple of low kicks. Davis sweeps in and gets a take down with one and a half minutes. Davis is in half guard and hits a couple of elbows and then passes guard to take side control but Kelly spins out. Kelly has a cut near his right ear. Davis takes round one by a score of 10-9. Not a dominant round but Davis got in more strikes and got a take down.

R2- Kelly is throwing a lot of punches in this round but Davis is avoiding them. Goldberg and Rogan have a real interesting conversation about how Davis avoids the punches but does so in a way that he barely avoids them so he can stay in position to throw a counter punch and he doesn’t lose position so that he will have to work back to get that position again. Kelly gets a take down two minutes into the round. Marcus Davis grabs a guillotine and finishes Paul Kelly. Great finish by Davis as Davis looked really good in this fight after a poor showing last time out against Mike Swick.

Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:16

Welterweight Fight- Paul Taylor (9-3-1) vs. Chris Lytle (35-16-4)

This one should be a slugfest. Lytle was last seen bleeding all over the Octagon in a loss to Josh Koscheck. Taylor has lost to both of the fighters in the previous fight (Kelly and Davis).

R1- They mix it up immediately. Both guys just nailing each other with Lytle landing some nice shots. Lytle hit a judo throw but Taylor got up immediately. Lots of clinching towards the middle and end of the round. First round went to Lytle as he got in more offense and dictated where the fight went. Lytle is up 10-9 after one round.

R2- They start this round just like they did the last one as both guys are just swinging for the fences. Lytle backs him up against the cage and then takes him down one minute into the round but Taylor sprawls out. Lytle stays with it and gets back to an advantage. Lytle goes for a guillotine but can’t clamp it in and Taylor gets back to his feet. Taylor gets a brief take down but Lytle gets right back to his feet. Lytle seems to be tiring out and Taylor nips him with a low blow. Another close round but Lytle again controlled the fight and landed better shots. Lytle is up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- They stand up at the beginning of the round and Lytle begins to pick Taylor apart with shots and pushes him against the cage. Taylor trying to swing back and they clinch. Lytle is starting to tire and Taylor is making Lytle chase him and then hurting him with leg kicks. Lytle clinches him against the cage. Lytle landed some good shots and then slipped but got another clinch and then took Taylor down. Taylor gets back to his feet with less than a minute left. Taylor is hitting some good shots here to finish the round but Lytle holds on. Good fight. Taylor takes this round but Lytle takes the fight 29-28.

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

Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)

Post-fight Chris Lytle says that he would like to fight Marcus Davis.

Next up, Joe Rogan interviews Anderson Silva about his Middleweight Title fight against Patrick Cote. The fight is next week on October 25th.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Sokoudjou (5-2) vs. Luiz Cane (9-1)

R1- Soko hits some strikes early. Soko continues to control the fight early with kicks and punches. Cane blocking well but he’s definitely being hit with some damage. Soko is doing a good job mixing up his strikes and going low, middle and high. Soko slows down towards the end of the round and Cane starts to get in some offense. First round goes to Sokoudjou but he has to be concerned as he seemed to tire towards the end of the round. Soko up 10-9 after the first round.

R2- Cane hits a low blow to start off the round. Not a lot of action in this round as Cane jabs at Soko. Soko throws some body kicks but they don’t back Cane off. Cane gets some shots in against the cage. Soko looks really tired and Cane hits a nice knee. Cane hits another knee and then pounds Soko on the ground with a bunch of strikes until the ref steps in to stop the fight. Good showing by Cane as he just outlasted Sokoudjou. Soko looked great for about two minutes but came in without the conditioning needed to win a MMA fight.

Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (strikes) R2 4:15

Post-match Joe Rogan interviews Middleweight Contender Patrick Cote.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine (13-5-1) vs. Brandon Vera (9-2)

This is an interesting fight as both guys are coming off of disappointing fights. Jardine got destroyed by Wanderlei Silva and Vera had a lackluster win against Reece Andy. This is the first fight that they show the ring entrances for. Brandon Vera comes out to The Blackeyed Peas. This should be a pretty good fight.

R1- Jardine comes in quick and gets a strike and then a take down. Vera hits some elbows in the area of the back of the head and Jardine is cut. Vera is going for Jardine’s arm as Jardine is bleeding all over Vera. Vera hit another big elbow onto the top of Jardine’s head. Jardine posture’s up and lands some good, strong elbows to Vera. The ref stand the fight up with two minutes remaining in the first round. Vera hits a body kick. Vera catches Jardine with a punch as he came in and he looked wobbled but then Jardine caught Vera. Both guys back to their feet and Jardine went for a take down and landed some strikes against the cage and Vera looked to be in a bit of trouble but got back to his feet and then the bell rang. Round One goes to Jardine as he got the take down and delivered some good elbows and finished strong. Jardine 10-9 but anybody’s fight going into round two.

R2- Jardine went for a take down but was denied by Vera. Vera went for a kick and Vera caught it and dumped Jardine and jumped on top of him but Jardine but he got up pretty quickly. Vera connected with a couple of body kicks. Jardine charged in towards the end of the round twice but didn’t really hit anything of notice. Not a lot of action in this round. I’ll give it to Vera but not a convincing round. 19-19 after two rounds. Joe and Mike speculated on Jardine sustaining a possible injury early in round two but weren’t definitive about it.

R3- Vera hits a kick and punch early in the round. They are trading some light strikes throughout the early part of the round. Vera hit a good straight left hand. Jardine went for a take down but Vera stopped it and they clinched against the cage. Jardine with some dirty boxing but then they separate. One and a half minutes remain. Jardine came out and closed strong. Really close fight. Nobody really won this fight. I’ve got to go with Jardine, just barely over Vera but like I said earlier I don’t think anybody clearly won this fight.

Scorecards: 29-28 Vera, 29-28 Jardine and 29-28 Jardine.

Winner: Keith Jardine by Decision (Split)

Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (17-1) vs. Chris Leben (18-4)

Chris Leben comes out to a song that sounds like it’s from The Sex Pistols. Bisping comes out to a Sports Jock “Woo Hoo” anthem song, can’t remember who sings it but it’s one of those songs that on all the “Jock Rock” CDs. The hometown guy, Bisping, gets a strong reaction from the crowd. Bisping has a 3” height advantage and a 5” reach advantage. Bisping was voted the 12th most popular sports figure in the UK by BBC.

R1- Leben hitting some leg kicks early and is controlling where the fight goes. Leben catches a Bisping kick and gets some shots in on him. Bisping caught a Leben kick and delivered a nice high kick. Bisping is starting to land some shots. Bisping lands some more shots and then Leben clinches him and then they release. Leben is bleeding from the nose but he continues to push forward. Bisping hit a good right hand. Leben is starting to swing for the fences. Leben went for a swing and Bisping ducked and as the bell rang he was in the midst of a take down. Leben controlled this round early and Bisping took it late. I’ve got Bisping taking round one 10-9. Good opening round.

R2- Leben slipped early in the round and then hit Bisping with a left hook. Bisping is doing a good job in this round of avoiding Leben’s strikes and counter punching. Leben starts pushing forward towards the end of the round and Bisping is backing away from him. Leben hit a big left toward the end of the round. This was a close round. I think Bisping lost some points in the round towards then end by somewhat running away from Leben. This was close, I’ll give it to Bisping. 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Leben hits a left body kick and then a left hand to start the round. Bisping went for a kick and it was stopped but Leben could not score any damage. Leben hits a combo that sends Bisping back into the fence but can’t follow up. Leben got a take down with one minute and 45 seconds left in the round. Leben is busted open. Bisping gets back to his feet. Bisping runs away from Leben for the last 20 seconds of the fight and Leben mocks him. Leben definitely took this round. This was much like the Jardine/Vera fight in that I don’t think anybody really “won” the fight. Leben had a lot more damage on his face. Bisping clearly took round one, Leben clearly took round three. I think Bisping barely took round 2. So I’ve got Bisping winning a close decision 29-28.

Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 Bisping. Wow, I’m not sure how Bisping won that last round on these score cards.

Winner: Michael Bisping by Decision (Unanimous)

Decent show with the under card out shining the co-Main Events. Both Bisping/Leben and Jardine/Vera were decent fights but a little underwhelming as both ended in decisions without someone really coming out of the fight as a clear winner.