Maximum Fighting Championships 23: Unstoppable
12/14/09
River Cree Casino
Enoch, Alberta
Kenny Rice and Guy Mezger are the announcers for this show.
Welterweight Fight: Joe Christopher (9-2) vs. Jesse Juarez (14-4-1)
Christopher is a BJJ fighter. The only time I’ve seen Juarez fight was on a Strikeforce show where he got stopped at the end of the first round via Submission by Luke Stewart. That fight was pretty even until Stewart got the fight to the ground. Christopher comes out to AC/DC. Juarez comes out to a rap song with a lot of expletives.
R1- Christopher rushed in early but got taken down by Juarez. Juarez is landing some strikes and Christopher has attempted a couple of submissions. Christopher did not throw a strike in the first round. Juarez 10-9.
R2- Christopher went for a quick take down but Juarez was able to stuff it and take top position. Juarez got a couple more take downs. Christopher was able to get a guillotine choke but Juarez picked him up in almost a fireman’s carry and slammed him down and took Christopher’s guard. Juarez 20-18.
R3- Overall this was a lackluster fight. I’ve got Juarez winning by decision.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards.
Winner: Jesse Juarez by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight: Dwayne Lewis (9-4) vs. Marvin Eastman (17-11)
At MFC 22 Eastman lost a split decision to Ryan Jimmo in a very close fight that could have gone either way. Lewis has won his last 5 fights and has won them all by TKO/KO. He has a win over Marcus Hicks and a loss to Ryan Jimmo. Eastman is just 1-4 in his last 5 fights. Lewis has a 4” height advantage and a slight 2” reach advantage.
R1- Eastman got a quick slam/take down to start the fight and then stayed on top for the first three and a half minutes before getting stood up. Lewis got a quick KO almost right at the end of the round in surprising fashion. Eastman had him in a clinch and Lewis nailed him with a big right hand uppercut.
Winner: Dwayne Lewis by KO R1 4:58
Middleweight Fight- Art Santore (18-6) vs. Bryan Baker (11-1)
Santore is a Team Quest fighter and has won 4 straight fights. Baker has also won his last 4 fights and his only loss was to UFC Fighter Chael Sonnen. Thomas Denny is in Baker’s corner.
R1- Santore hit a good left early and then hit another good combo around the one minute mark. Brown hit a good left that knocked Santore down. Santoro grabbed a knee bar at the one minute mark but Baker broke free by pelting Santore with heels. A good bit of blood on the mat. Baker then went for an arm triangle and then an arm bar but could not finish with either. Baker finishes the round with some Ground and Pound. Baker 10-9. Good first round.
R2- Some good back and forth stand up in the first half of this round. Santore is wearing a crimson mask. Ref stops the fight with 30 seconds left in the round to check Santore’s cuts. This round was really even and could have gone either way. Baker landed 52 strikes to Santore’s 38 in that round and has done more physical damage in the fight so I’ve got Baker 20-18 right now.
R3- Even striking in the first part of the round. Baker slipped going for a kick and Santore jumped on top. Baker went for a triangle choke and started landing some good elbows to Santore’s head. Really good fight. I’ve got Baker 30-27 but rounds two and three were really close.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27, 29-28
Winner: Bryan Baker by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Jimmo (11-1) vs. Emanuel Newton (18-5-1)
Jimmo has won 11 straight fights including a split decision victory over Marvin Eastman at MFC 22. He was a contestant on Season 8 of TUF but was eliminated in the entry round by Atwain Britt by Decision. Newton is a former MFC Light Heavyweight Champion but is 0-2 in 2009.
R1- Not a very exciting round. Kenny Rice tells me Jimmo landed 17 of 19 strikes. Newton got 2 take downs and landed 26 of 57 strikes. Guy says he give the round to Newton. I have to admit that I was too bored to have an opinion.
R2- Man this is tough to watch. Both fighters landed about the same amount of rounds. Guy says that Jimmo landed cleaner shots and thinks that he took that round making it 19-19. The first guy to make this remotely exciting should be declared the winner.
R3- Jimmo landed 72 of 90 strikes in the fight with Newton landing 67 of 152. Very close fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28
Winner: Ryan Jimmo by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Jason MacDonald (21-13) vs. Soloman Hutcherson (11-5)
Hutcherson has won 4 of his last 5 fights. He was on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 and lost to Rory Singer on Episode 5 by KO in the second round. MacDonald has a 4” height and a huge “11” reach advantage.
R1- Hutcherson came in swinging wildly and MacDonald got an easy take down. MacDonald mounted and then went for a triangle and Hutcherson picked him up and dropped him on his head to get out of the hold. MacDonald got another take down about a minute and a half into the round. MacDonald went for a Rear Naked Choke but Hutcherson was able to hold him off. MacDonald transitioned from a Rear Naked attempt to an arm bar attempt but the bell sounded. MacDonald clearly looks like the better fighter so far and took the round easily.
R2- Hutcherson got a take down and then laid on top of MacDonald for a couple of minutes. MacDonald was able to reverse position and take Hutcherson’s back. MacDonald tried to an arm triangle but Hutcherson was able to power out of it. MacDonald is up 20-18 as he did far more to try and finish the fight in this round then Hutcherson did.
R3- The stood up for the first thirty seconds of the round and Hutcherson followed MacDonald to the ground. Not sure if Hutcherson hit him or MacDonald baited him down. MacDonald quickly switched positions and took Hutcherson’s back and then moved to the mount position. MacDonald takes this fight 30-27. Not a great fight but MacDonald was easily in a class above Hutcherson.
Judges score cards say: 28-28, 29-28 Hutcherson and 29-28 MacDonald
All Three of these judges should be immediately fired and banned from ever judging Mixed Martial Arts again. Seriously, who the fuck is judging this stuff? Embarrassing.
Decision: Draw
After the first round of the Lister/Leites fight they go backstage and say that they have a change to the scoring of the MacDonald/Hutcherson fight. MacDonald actually got a split decision victory over Hutcherson. Amazing, they have judges that can’t even count to 30.
Winner: Jason MacDonald by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight: Dean Lister (11-6) vs. Thales Leites (14-3)
Lister has lost all of his 6 fights by decision and has lost to the likes of Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, and Ricardo Arona. Leites is 7-3 in his last 10 fights and has also lost all of his fights by decision. Both guys need this win.
R1- Lister went for an early take down but got stuffed and Leites took top position. They got back to their feet about half way through the round and Leites is the aggressor on their feet. Leites wins round one 10-9.
R2- Leites hit a good leg kick to start the round and then got a take down. Leites stood back up and then got another take down. Lister looks pretty gassed. Not a real exciting fight but Leites is clearly winning this fight so far. Leites 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Lister went for a quick take down but Leites stuffed him again. The last three fights on this show have been really lackluster. Leites is going to take this fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27.
Winner: Thales Leites by Decision (Unanimous)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
WEC 45: "Cerrone vs. Ratcliff" 12/19/09 Re-Cap
WEC 45 “Cerrone vs. Ratcliff”
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
December 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Main Event is Donald Cerrone against Ed Ratcliff in a match-up of Lightweight Contenders.
Bantamweight Fight- Takeya Mizugaki (12-3-2) vs. Scott Jorgensen (7-3)
At WEC 43 Jorgensen stopped Noah Thomas by TKO three minutes into the first round. Mizugaki last fought at WEC 42 and beat Jeff Curran by a Split Decision. Mizugaki has a 3.5” reach advantage.
R1- Jorgensen caught Mizugaki with a punch right out of the gate and then grabbed a guillotine but could not hold the submission. Jorgensen landed some big punches about three minutes into the round and Mizugaki went down but Mizugaki again survived. Jorgensen 10-9.
R2- Jorgensen got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Jorgensen landed some good strikes with about two minutes left in the round. Mizugaki is showing a lot of heart and putting up a fight but so far it’s been mostly Jorgensen in control. Jorgensen 20-18.
R3- Pretty even round. Jorgensen got a take down about half way through the round but then Mizugaki returned the favor. Mizugaki got another take down with about a minute left in the round. Mizugaki takes this round but Jorgensen will win the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Fight- Joseph Benavidez (10-1) vs. Rani Yahya (15-4)
Benavidez dropped a decision to Dominick Cruz in his last fight at WEC 42. Miguel Angel Torres joins the announce crew during this fight.
R1- They throw some leather early and Benavidez dropped to his knees briefly but I couldn’t tell if it was due to a slip or a punch. Benavidez hit a big time right hand and then jumped on top with some Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:35
Featherweight Fight- Brandon Visher vs. Courtney Buck
This fight is brought to us thanks to Joseph Benavidez quick finish in the last fight. This is a fight from the pre-show. Buck has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Both guys swinging wildly to open up the fight and both guys landed good shots. Visher got a take down about 30 seconds into the round. Back to their feet and both guys throwing some more leather. Mir comments that this is the type of fight that the guys in the back don’t like to see because these guys might take their “Fight of the Night” bonus if they keep up this performance. Visher hit a good looping right hand that hit Buck near the back of his ear. They scrambled and Visher ended up on top. Mir is basically saying that Buck is horrible on the ground and is doing a lot of things wrong. Visher has taken the mount on Buck. Buck gave up his back and Visher landed some more strikes and then Buck rolled over and Visher landed some vicious hammer fists and won the fight.
Winner: Brandon Visher by KO R1 4:45
Lightweight Fight- Anthony Njokuani (12-2) vs. Chris Horodecki (13-1)
At WEC 40 Anthony beat Bart Palaszweski by TKO in the second round. Anthony has a 6” reach and 6” height advantage. This is Horodecki’s WEC debut.
R1- Anthony really came on about three minutes into the round. He nailed a judo throw and then Horodecki got up and started to retreat and Anthony meet him with a kick to the face. Anthony jumps on top and lands some Ground and Pound and Mazzagatti jumped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:33
Bantamweight Fight- Brad Pickett vs. Kyle Dietz
We get another pre-show fight. Dietz has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. This is Pickett’s WEC debut.
R1- Pretty good first round but honestly I’m having a tough time telling these guys apart. Mir sides toward Pickett taking the first round.
R2- Both guys come out swinging and Pickett is able to get Dietz on the ground. Pickett was able to finish the fight off toward the end of the round with a choke.
Winner: Brad Pickett by Submission (Peruvian Neck Tie) R2
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-2) vs. Ed Ratcliff (7-1)
Cerrone lost his last fight in a close decision to Ben Henderson in an Interim title fight (I actually had Cerrone winning the fight 48-47). Ratcliff’s lone loss was to Marcus Hicks via guillotine choke. Cerrone has a 3” height and 1.5” reach advantage.
R1- Right off the bat they clinched and Cerrone tried to pull guard but Ratcliff stood up. Ratcliff hit a good punch that buckled Cerrone’s knees. Ratcliff landed a leg kick that tripped up Cerrone. Both guys landed some strikes against the cage and then Cerrone got a clinch and landed some strikes. Cerrone started to pick up some steam towards the end of the round but he hit two low blows on Ratcliff. Herb Dean took a point away from Cerrone. Cerrone got a take down at the end of the round and clamped in a guillotine but couldn’t finish before the bell rang. Ratcliff started off quickly but Cerrone really controlled the second half of the round and I think he did enough to steal the round. With the one point deduction that makes the score 9-9 after one round.
R2- Cerrone landed a good jab/knee combo and is in control of his round but he landed another low blow. Cerrone lost another point and he came out gang busters after the fight started back up. Ratcliff caught a kick and was able to briefly get Cerrone to the mat. Ratcliff grabbed Cerrone’s back but Cerrone got out by grabbing a kimura and then grabbed a guillotine but could not finish with it before the bell sounded. I’ve got Cerrone winning this round but due to the point deduction I’ve got the fight 18-18.
R3- Cerrone went for the glove tap and Ratcliff went for the flying knee right at the bell. Cerrone lands some good strikes in the first minute and he eggs on the crowd. Cerrone lands a mount but Herb Dean stands them up because he says Cerrone grabbed the fence and he makes him give up the advantageous position. Cerrone got Ratcliff’s back and took him down. Cerrone grabs a reverse triangle and then grabs Ratcliff’s leg and put it behind his arm but Ratcliff escaped the move. Cerrone again to the back and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and Ratcliff fought hard but eventually had to tap out. Good fight.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 3:47
The next WEC show looks really good with Varner/Henderson and Urijah Faber and Mike Brown also on the card:
January 10- Sacramento, Ca
Lightweight World Title Fight- Jamie Varner © vs. Ben Henderson
Featherweight Fight- Urijah Faber vs. Raphael Assuncao
Lightweight Fight- Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
Featherweight Fight- Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison
Featherweight Fight- Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
December 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Main Event is Donald Cerrone against Ed Ratcliff in a match-up of Lightweight Contenders.
Bantamweight Fight- Takeya Mizugaki (12-3-2) vs. Scott Jorgensen (7-3)
At WEC 43 Jorgensen stopped Noah Thomas by TKO three minutes into the first round. Mizugaki last fought at WEC 42 and beat Jeff Curran by a Split Decision. Mizugaki has a 3.5” reach advantage.
R1- Jorgensen caught Mizugaki with a punch right out of the gate and then grabbed a guillotine but could not hold the submission. Jorgensen landed some big punches about three minutes into the round and Mizugaki went down but Mizugaki again survived. Jorgensen 10-9.
R2- Jorgensen got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Jorgensen landed some good strikes with about two minutes left in the round. Mizugaki is showing a lot of heart and putting up a fight but so far it’s been mostly Jorgensen in control. Jorgensen 20-18.
R3- Pretty even round. Jorgensen got a take down about half way through the round but then Mizugaki returned the favor. Mizugaki got another take down with about a minute left in the round. Mizugaki takes this round but Jorgensen will win the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Fight- Joseph Benavidez (10-1) vs. Rani Yahya (15-4)
Benavidez dropped a decision to Dominick Cruz in his last fight at WEC 42. Miguel Angel Torres joins the announce crew during this fight.
R1- They throw some leather early and Benavidez dropped to his knees briefly but I couldn’t tell if it was due to a slip or a punch. Benavidez hit a big time right hand and then jumped on top with some Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:35
Featherweight Fight- Brandon Visher vs. Courtney Buck
This fight is brought to us thanks to Joseph Benavidez quick finish in the last fight. This is a fight from the pre-show. Buck has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Both guys swinging wildly to open up the fight and both guys landed good shots. Visher got a take down about 30 seconds into the round. Back to their feet and both guys throwing some more leather. Mir comments that this is the type of fight that the guys in the back don’t like to see because these guys might take their “Fight of the Night” bonus if they keep up this performance. Visher hit a good looping right hand that hit Buck near the back of his ear. They scrambled and Visher ended up on top. Mir is basically saying that Buck is horrible on the ground and is doing a lot of things wrong. Visher has taken the mount on Buck. Buck gave up his back and Visher landed some more strikes and then Buck rolled over and Visher landed some vicious hammer fists and won the fight.
Winner: Brandon Visher by KO R1 4:45
Lightweight Fight- Anthony Njokuani (12-2) vs. Chris Horodecki (13-1)
At WEC 40 Anthony beat Bart Palaszweski by TKO in the second round. Anthony has a 6” reach and 6” height advantage. This is Horodecki’s WEC debut.
R1- Anthony really came on about three minutes into the round. He nailed a judo throw and then Horodecki got up and started to retreat and Anthony meet him with a kick to the face. Anthony jumps on top and lands some Ground and Pound and Mazzagatti jumped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:33
Bantamweight Fight- Brad Pickett vs. Kyle Dietz
We get another pre-show fight. Dietz has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. This is Pickett’s WEC debut.
R1- Pretty good first round but honestly I’m having a tough time telling these guys apart. Mir sides toward Pickett taking the first round.
R2- Both guys come out swinging and Pickett is able to get Dietz on the ground. Pickett was able to finish the fight off toward the end of the round with a choke.
Winner: Brad Pickett by Submission (Peruvian Neck Tie) R2
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-2) vs. Ed Ratcliff (7-1)
Cerrone lost his last fight in a close decision to Ben Henderson in an Interim title fight (I actually had Cerrone winning the fight 48-47). Ratcliff’s lone loss was to Marcus Hicks via guillotine choke. Cerrone has a 3” height and 1.5” reach advantage.
R1- Right off the bat they clinched and Cerrone tried to pull guard but Ratcliff stood up. Ratcliff hit a good punch that buckled Cerrone’s knees. Ratcliff landed a leg kick that tripped up Cerrone. Both guys landed some strikes against the cage and then Cerrone got a clinch and landed some strikes. Cerrone started to pick up some steam towards the end of the round but he hit two low blows on Ratcliff. Herb Dean took a point away from Cerrone. Cerrone got a take down at the end of the round and clamped in a guillotine but couldn’t finish before the bell rang. Ratcliff started off quickly but Cerrone really controlled the second half of the round and I think he did enough to steal the round. With the one point deduction that makes the score 9-9 after one round.
R2- Cerrone landed a good jab/knee combo and is in control of his round but he landed another low blow. Cerrone lost another point and he came out gang busters after the fight started back up. Ratcliff caught a kick and was able to briefly get Cerrone to the mat. Ratcliff grabbed Cerrone’s back but Cerrone got out by grabbing a kimura and then grabbed a guillotine but could not finish with it before the bell sounded. I’ve got Cerrone winning this round but due to the point deduction I’ve got the fight 18-18.
R3- Cerrone went for the glove tap and Ratcliff went for the flying knee right at the bell. Cerrone lands some good strikes in the first minute and he eggs on the crowd. Cerrone lands a mount but Herb Dean stands them up because he says Cerrone grabbed the fence and he makes him give up the advantageous position. Cerrone got Ratcliff’s back and took him down. Cerrone grabs a reverse triangle and then grabs Ratcliff’s leg and put it behind his arm but Ratcliff escaped the move. Cerrone again to the back and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and Ratcliff fought hard but eventually had to tap out. Good fight.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 3:47
The next WEC show looks really good with Varner/Henderson and Urijah Faber and Mike Brown also on the card:
January 10- Sacramento, Ca
Lightweight World Title Fight- Jamie Varner © vs. Ben Henderson
Featherweight Fight- Urijah Faber vs. Raphael Assuncao
Lightweight Fight- Dave Jansen vs. Kamal Shalorus
Featherweight Fight- Mike Brown vs. Anthony Morrison
Featherweight Fight- Mackens Semerzier vs. Deividas Taurosevicius
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Strikeforce: Evolution 12/20/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce: Evolution
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
12/20/09
The feature attraction tonight is the return of undefeated former Middleweight Champion Cung Le to take on slugger Scott Smith. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he’s joined on the show by Frank Shamrock and Stephan Quadros. Jimmy Lennon, Jr is the ring announcer. We will also Matt Lindland, Ronaldo Jacare Souza and Mo Lawal on tonight’s show. Also tonight is the Lightweight title re-match between champion Josh Thomson and the man he beat for the title Gilbert Melendez.
Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Cris Cyborg, KJ Noons, Herschel Walker, Bobby Lashley, and Dan Henderson are all in attendance ringside for the show tonight.
Heavyweight Fight- Mo Lawal (5-0) vs. Mike Whitehead (24-7)
Lawal is a Light Heavyweight so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the weight differential in this fight. Whitehead weighs in at 261 pounds versus only 218 for Lawal. Lawal has a 4” reach advantage. Whitehead has won 15 of his last 16 fights including a real snoozer against Kevin Randleman by in June.
R1- King Mo landed some decent shots early as Whitehead looked to clinch. Mo continues to land some good jabs and Whitehead is bleeding from near his eye. Mo hit a big time 1-2 combo flooring Whitehead and then jumping on top and finishing him off. Very impressive showing by King Mo.
Winner: Mo Lawal by KO R1 3:08
Middleweight Fight- Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Jacare Souza (10-2)
Souza is a jiu jitsu fighter and Lindland is a wrestler. 9 of Jacare’s 10 wins have come from submission. Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist wrestler and Jacare is a two-time BJJ World Champion.
R1- Jacare lands some strikes early and avoids a take down. Jacare landed a good shot to the body but then got taken down by Lindland. Jacare got in position for an arm bar. Lindland was able to escape but Jacare took an advantageous position. Jacare was able to take side control and clamp in an arm triangle and he tapped Lindland.
Winner: Jacare Souza By Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:18
Two great debuts by King Mo and Jacare in the first two fights for Strikeforce.
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight- Josh Thomson © (16-2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (16-2)
This is a re-match from the 6/27/08 Strikeforce show where Thomson beat Melendez for the title via decision (50-45 on all score cards). Since that time Thomson has been battling injuries and Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damm for the Interim title. This is Thomson’s first title defense since winning the title. Thomson has won 8 straight fights.
R1- They exchanged some shots in the first minute. Thomson grabbed a Melendez kick and took him off his feet but they quickly got back to their feet and exchanged some leather with Thomson getting the better of the shots. Melendez went for a take down but could not get it but he did land a couple of strikes. Melendez landed some good shots in an exchange late in the round. Really good first round that was virtually even. I’ve got Thomson up 10-9 by just a hair.
R2- Melendez landed a good right hand to start off the round that floored Thomson. Thomson quickly got back to his feet and they exchanged leather before Melendez hit Thomson with a low blow. Melendez caught a Thomson kick but couldn’t take him off his feet. Very even round with the exception of the opening knock down. Thomson landed a couple of shots that looked like they stunned Melendez a bit. Both guys stood toe to toe and threw wild punches and Thomson went down but he grabbed onto Melendez to give himself time to recover and the round ends with Melendez on top. This round went to Melendez so we’ve got a 19-19 fight after two rounds.
R3- Melendez is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Thomson went for a take down but could not get Melendez off his feet. Melendez took this round and I’ve got him up 29-28 on my score card.
R4- Thomson got an early take down but could not keep Melendez on the ground. Melendez caught a Thomson kick and briefly got him on the ground but he couldn’t hold him down. Both guys landed some decent shots in the last minute of the round. Melendez landed an eye poke with 12 seconds left in the round. This was the closest round of any and could have gone either way.
R5- Thomson landed some good shots and then both guys went toe to toe. Thomson is really coming out swinging for the fences thinking that he probably needs to finish this fight to keep his championship. Thomson looked like he punched himself out and then Melendez landed a good punch that floored him and Melendez jumped into Thomson’s guard. Thomson got back to his feet with two minutes left in the fight. Melendez rushed in and Thomson took him down to the mat with one minute left in the fight but Melendez fought back to his feet. Both guys stood toe to toe and slugged it out to end the fight. Really strong fight, possible Fight of the Year Candidate. I’ve got Melendez taking this fight via decision.
Judges score cards show: 49-47, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of Melendez
Winner and new champion: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley are interviewed cage side. Henderson says that he’s going to be fighting at Middleweight to start.
Friday January 22nd will be the next Strikeforce Challengers event
Saturday January 30th will be the next Strikeforce event featuring Nick Diaz, Cris Cyborg, Robbie Lawler, Bobby Lashley and Herschel Walker.
In April 2010 Strikeforce/M-1 Global Saturday Night Fights will return featuring Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson
Middleweight Fight- Cung Le (6-0) vs. Scott Smith (16-6)
R1- Cung Le hit a wicked spinning back kick one minute into the fight that dropped Scott Smith. Cung then jumped on top and landed some shots until Smith got back to his feet at the half way point of the round. Le landed another spinning back kick as Smith was leaning back and it knocked him down but didn’t have near the impact of the last one and Smith quickly got back to his feet. Let hit a good round house kick to the face. Le hit another back kick that knocked Smith to the cage but not off his feet. Borderline 10-8 round in favor of Le. Let out struck Smith 45 to 4 in the first round so I’d say that 10-8 is a good score for round one.
R2- Le knocked Smith down with another spinning back kick. Le jumped on top but Smith wrapped him up until the ref stood them back up half way through the round. Lots of clinching in the second half of the round. Le is up 20-17 after two rounds but Le looks like his cardio is fading.
R3- Le landed good back to back spinning back kicks but Smith did not leave his feet. Le landed some good punches and then a spinning back fist. Le slammed Smith to the ground but could not hold him down. Smith landed some shots and clipped Le with a left hand that knocked Le to the mat. Le got back up and Smith landed a big right that folded Le’s legs. Smith jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight. Le dominated this fight until mid-way through the last round and Smith landed about 10 punches and won this fight. Amazing.
Winner: Scott Smith by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:25
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
12/20/09
The feature attraction tonight is the return of undefeated former Middleweight Champion Cung Le to take on slugger Scott Smith. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he’s joined on the show by Frank Shamrock and Stephan Quadros. Jimmy Lennon, Jr is the ring announcer. We will also Matt Lindland, Ronaldo Jacare Souza and Mo Lawal on tonight’s show. Also tonight is the Lightweight title re-match between champion Josh Thomson and the man he beat for the title Gilbert Melendez.
Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Cris Cyborg, KJ Noons, Herschel Walker, Bobby Lashley, and Dan Henderson are all in attendance ringside for the show tonight.
Heavyweight Fight- Mo Lawal (5-0) vs. Mike Whitehead (24-7)
Lawal is a Light Heavyweight so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the weight differential in this fight. Whitehead weighs in at 261 pounds versus only 218 for Lawal. Lawal has a 4” reach advantage. Whitehead has won 15 of his last 16 fights including a real snoozer against Kevin Randleman by in June.
R1- King Mo landed some decent shots early as Whitehead looked to clinch. Mo continues to land some good jabs and Whitehead is bleeding from near his eye. Mo hit a big time 1-2 combo flooring Whitehead and then jumping on top and finishing him off. Very impressive showing by King Mo.
Winner: Mo Lawal by KO R1 3:08
Middleweight Fight- Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Jacare Souza (10-2)
Souza is a jiu jitsu fighter and Lindland is a wrestler. 9 of Jacare’s 10 wins have come from submission. Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist wrestler and Jacare is a two-time BJJ World Champion.
R1- Jacare lands some strikes early and avoids a take down. Jacare landed a good shot to the body but then got taken down by Lindland. Jacare got in position for an arm bar. Lindland was able to escape but Jacare took an advantageous position. Jacare was able to take side control and clamp in an arm triangle and he tapped Lindland.
Winner: Jacare Souza By Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:18
Two great debuts by King Mo and Jacare in the first two fights for Strikeforce.
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight- Josh Thomson © (16-2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (16-2)
This is a re-match from the 6/27/08 Strikeforce show where Thomson beat Melendez for the title via decision (50-45 on all score cards). Since that time Thomson has been battling injuries and Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damm for the Interim title. This is Thomson’s first title defense since winning the title. Thomson has won 8 straight fights.
R1- They exchanged some shots in the first minute. Thomson grabbed a Melendez kick and took him off his feet but they quickly got back to their feet and exchanged some leather with Thomson getting the better of the shots. Melendez went for a take down but could not get it but he did land a couple of strikes. Melendez landed some good shots in an exchange late in the round. Really good first round that was virtually even. I’ve got Thomson up 10-9 by just a hair.
R2- Melendez landed a good right hand to start off the round that floored Thomson. Thomson quickly got back to his feet and they exchanged leather before Melendez hit Thomson with a low blow. Melendez caught a Thomson kick but couldn’t take him off his feet. Very even round with the exception of the opening knock down. Thomson landed a couple of shots that looked like they stunned Melendez a bit. Both guys stood toe to toe and threw wild punches and Thomson went down but he grabbed onto Melendez to give himself time to recover and the round ends with Melendez on top. This round went to Melendez so we’ve got a 19-19 fight after two rounds.
R3- Melendez is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Thomson went for a take down but could not get Melendez off his feet. Melendez took this round and I’ve got him up 29-28 on my score card.
R4- Thomson got an early take down but could not keep Melendez on the ground. Melendez caught a Thomson kick and briefly got him on the ground but he couldn’t hold him down. Both guys landed some decent shots in the last minute of the round. Melendez landed an eye poke with 12 seconds left in the round. This was the closest round of any and could have gone either way.
R5- Thomson landed some good shots and then both guys went toe to toe. Thomson is really coming out swinging for the fences thinking that he probably needs to finish this fight to keep his championship. Thomson looked like he punched himself out and then Melendez landed a good punch that floored him and Melendez jumped into Thomson’s guard. Thomson got back to his feet with two minutes left in the fight. Melendez rushed in and Thomson took him down to the mat with one minute left in the fight but Melendez fought back to his feet. Both guys stood toe to toe and slugged it out to end the fight. Really strong fight, possible Fight of the Year Candidate. I’ve got Melendez taking this fight via decision.
Judges score cards show: 49-47, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of Melendez
Winner and new champion: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley are interviewed cage side. Henderson says that he’s going to be fighting at Middleweight to start.
Friday January 22nd will be the next Strikeforce Challengers event
Saturday January 30th will be the next Strikeforce event featuring Nick Diaz, Cris Cyborg, Robbie Lawler, Bobby Lashley and Herschel Walker.
In April 2010 Strikeforce/M-1 Global Saturday Night Fights will return featuring Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson
Middleweight Fight- Cung Le (6-0) vs. Scott Smith (16-6)
R1- Cung Le hit a wicked spinning back kick one minute into the fight that dropped Scott Smith. Cung then jumped on top and landed some shots until Smith got back to his feet at the half way point of the round. Le landed another spinning back kick as Smith was leaning back and it knocked him down but didn’t have near the impact of the last one and Smith quickly got back to his feet. Let hit a good round house kick to the face. Le hit another back kick that knocked Smith to the cage but not off his feet. Borderline 10-8 round in favor of Le. Let out struck Smith 45 to 4 in the first round so I’d say that 10-8 is a good score for round one.
R2- Le knocked Smith down with another spinning back kick. Le jumped on top but Smith wrapped him up until the ref stood them back up half way through the round. Lots of clinching in the second half of the round. Le is up 20-17 after two rounds but Le looks like his cardio is fading.
R3- Le landed good back to back spinning back kicks but Smith did not leave his feet. Le landed some good punches and then a spinning back fist. Le slammed Smith to the ground but could not hold him down. Smith landed some shots and clipped Le with a left hand that knocked Le to the mat. Le got back up and Smith landed a big right that folded Le’s legs. Smith jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight. Le dominated this fight until mid-way through the last round and Smith landed about 10 punches and won this fight. Amazing.
Winner: Scott Smith by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:25
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez 12/13/09 Re-Cap
UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez
12/13/09
Fedex Forum
Memphis, Tn
Heavyweight Fight- Paul Buentello (25-10) vs. Stefan Struve (22-3)
Buentello has won 5 of his last 6 fights and this is his return to the UFC. Struve is a 6’11” fighter with an 83” reach. Struve won his last fight via submission against Chase Gormley at UFC 104 and beat Denis Stojnic by submission at UFC 99 in a blood bath.
R1- Struve tried to pull guard early but abandoned that and nailed a big uppercut that Buentello ate and then Struve took him down and got a body triangle on Buentello. Struve tried to get in a Rear Naked Choke but couldn’t get it clamped in. With thirty seconds left in the round Buentello was able to turn over and take top position. Buentello really did nothing this round, it could have been a 10-8 round if Struve could have done some significant damage. Struve 10-9.
R2- Buentello hit a good shot as Struve was coming in and Buentello knocked him to the ground but did not attack and let him stand back up. Struve came in again about half way through the round and got destroyed by a right hand that looked like it might have knocked him out. Near the one minute mark Struve hit a good elbow , then Buentello retaliated then they went toe to toe throwing leather. Just seconds later both guys threw toe to toe again. Struve actually came back and made a round of this but I’ve got it going to Buentello. Really fun round and I’ve got the fight scored 19-19.
R3- The beginning of this round had to be delayed because they had to remove a piece of tooth from Struve’s mouth guard. Ouch. Struve landing more strikes in the first part of the round. Buentello was able to catch Struve leaning and landed a strike that knocked him to the ground in the last minute of the fight. Really close fight. I see a split decision. Struve landed more strikes in the third round but Buentello did get the knock down.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28, 28-28
Winner: Stefan Struve by Decision (Majority)
Lightweight Fight- Kenny Florian (13-4) vs. Clay Guida (25-7)
Guida is coming off of a FOTY Candidate loss to Diego Sanchez and Florian is coming off of a loss to BJ Penn. On paper this looks like it has the ability to steal the show and both guys need a win. Florian has a 3” height and 6” reach advantage. Guida is definitely the fan favorite in this fight.
R1- Kenny partially landed a head kick but it ended with Guida taking top position but Florian was able to get back to his feet quickly. Florian almost got a take down but did land a knee as Guida rose back up. Guida went for a take down but Florian controlled him and opened up a big cut on Guida and then got a slam and landed some strikes against the cage. Florian landed some elbows and the ref stopped the fight so the doctor could look at the cut. Florian won this round in the last minute and is up 10-9 going into round two.
R2- Guida went for a take down early but was stuffed. Florian really started to look comfortable with the stand up this round and he just leveled Guida with a big time right hand that hurt Guida. Florian jumped on top and landed some strikes and then clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and Guida tapped out. Fantastic showing by Florian.
Winner: Kenny Florian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 2:19
Welterweight Fight- Jon Fitch (23-3) vs. Mike Pierce (9-2)
Fitch has a 4” height and 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Fitch caught a kick early and muscled Pierce to the ground and took his back. At the two minute mark Pierce slipped out and got a take down but Fitch got to his feet pretty quickly. Fitch landed some decent strikes at the end of the round. Fitch 10-9.
R2- Fitch caught a leg kick and took Pierce down but Pierce got to his feet without taking any damage. Fitch got another brief take down. This was a typical Fitch round and he’s up 20-18 going into the final round.
R3- Jon Fitch makes me sleepy. Pierce got in some good shots towards the end of the round and almost stole this right but I’ve got Fitch 29-28 on the score cards.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all cards
Winner: Jon Fitch by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Frank Mir (12-4) vs. Cheick Kongo (24-5-1)
Mir has been talking all kinds of crap about this fight and about Brock Lesnar. It will be interesting to see if Mir overlooks Kongo in this fight. Goldberg tells us Kongo is the 4th most accurate striker in the UFC. Mir has earned more wins by submission than any other Heavyweight fighter in UFC history. Mir has 25 pounds on Kongo.
R1- No touching of the gloves to start the fight. Mir hit a huge left hand 30 seconds into the fight and Kongo went down hard. Mir jumped on top with a guillotine and Kongo tried to hold on but he went limp and the ref stopped the fight. Amazing performance by Mir.
Winner: Frank Mir by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:12
Catchweight Fight- Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia
This is a pre-show fight. There was a lot of talk before the fight that Belcher was upset that he was not on the main card.
R1- We join the fight about one minute into round one. Belcher is wearing some sweet pink tights and has corn rows. Lots of free swinging by both guys. Belcher hurt Gouveia with an uppercut and then finished him on the ground as the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Alan Belcher by TKO (Strikes) R1
Lightweight Title Fight- BJ Penn © (14-5-1) vs. Diego Sanchez (23-2)
The UFC tells me that BJ lands 61% of his total strikes, lands 57% of his lead jabs (tied for 1st in UFC History with Anderson Silva) and he has never been knocked down. Diego has also never been knocked down, he has 56% ground striking accuracy and in his last four fights he has a 79% take down defense rate.
R1- BJ rocked Diego and knocked him down at the thirty second round of the fight. Diego got back up and ate a knee and BJ jumped all over him with punches. Diego fought and survived the onslaught. BJ hit a couple more strikes at the end of the round and looks to be in total control so far. BJ 10-9.
R2- Diego went for an early take down but could not get BJ off his feet. Diego keeps going for the take down but cannot get it. Diego missed a high kick and ate a couple of shots. BJ 20-18.
R3- Sanchez trying hard for the take down but BJ is not letting him. BJ is winning the striking game. BJ 30-27.
R4- BJ hit a good combo at the one and a half minute mark of the round. Diego continues to go for take downs and BJ continues to avoid them. BJ 40-36.
R5- Diego tried hard for a take down but BJ sprawled and ended up on top and then took the fight back to their feet. BJ hit a good kick and then followed it with some good punches before Diego could latch onto BJ’s leg. BJ sprawled out and then landed some punches and opened a huge cut above Diego’s eye and the fight was stopped due to the cut. The high kick is what opened up the big cut on Diego. Great performance by BJ.
Winner: BJ Penn by TKO (Cut) R5 2:37
Welterweight Fight- Damarques Johnson vs. Edgar Garcia
R!- Both guys throwing strikes early. Garcia gets a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Garcia goes for a choke and Damarques survived and Edgar gave up the hold. Garcia hit some good shots against the cage and Damarques seemed to feed off of it. Edgar landed another right that took Damarques off his feet. Edgar landed some Ground and Pound and Damarques trapped him in a triangle and won the fight. Great submission by Damarques and it earned submission of the night.
Winner: Damarques Johnson by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:03
12/13/09
Fedex Forum
Memphis, Tn
Heavyweight Fight- Paul Buentello (25-10) vs. Stefan Struve (22-3)
Buentello has won 5 of his last 6 fights and this is his return to the UFC. Struve is a 6’11” fighter with an 83” reach. Struve won his last fight via submission against Chase Gormley at UFC 104 and beat Denis Stojnic by submission at UFC 99 in a blood bath.
R1- Struve tried to pull guard early but abandoned that and nailed a big uppercut that Buentello ate and then Struve took him down and got a body triangle on Buentello. Struve tried to get in a Rear Naked Choke but couldn’t get it clamped in. With thirty seconds left in the round Buentello was able to turn over and take top position. Buentello really did nothing this round, it could have been a 10-8 round if Struve could have done some significant damage. Struve 10-9.
R2- Buentello hit a good shot as Struve was coming in and Buentello knocked him to the ground but did not attack and let him stand back up. Struve came in again about half way through the round and got destroyed by a right hand that looked like it might have knocked him out. Near the one minute mark Struve hit a good elbow , then Buentello retaliated then they went toe to toe throwing leather. Just seconds later both guys threw toe to toe again. Struve actually came back and made a round of this but I’ve got it going to Buentello. Really fun round and I’ve got the fight scored 19-19.
R3- The beginning of this round had to be delayed because they had to remove a piece of tooth from Struve’s mouth guard. Ouch. Struve landing more strikes in the first part of the round. Buentello was able to catch Struve leaning and landed a strike that knocked him to the ground in the last minute of the fight. Really close fight. I see a split decision. Struve landed more strikes in the third round but Buentello did get the knock down.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28, 28-28
Winner: Stefan Struve by Decision (Majority)
Lightweight Fight- Kenny Florian (13-4) vs. Clay Guida (25-7)
Guida is coming off of a FOTY Candidate loss to Diego Sanchez and Florian is coming off of a loss to BJ Penn. On paper this looks like it has the ability to steal the show and both guys need a win. Florian has a 3” height and 6” reach advantage. Guida is definitely the fan favorite in this fight.
R1- Kenny partially landed a head kick but it ended with Guida taking top position but Florian was able to get back to his feet quickly. Florian almost got a take down but did land a knee as Guida rose back up. Guida went for a take down but Florian controlled him and opened up a big cut on Guida and then got a slam and landed some strikes against the cage. Florian landed some elbows and the ref stopped the fight so the doctor could look at the cut. Florian won this round in the last minute and is up 10-9 going into round two.
R2- Guida went for a take down early but was stuffed. Florian really started to look comfortable with the stand up this round and he just leveled Guida with a big time right hand that hurt Guida. Florian jumped on top and landed some strikes and then clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and Guida tapped out. Fantastic showing by Florian.
Winner: Kenny Florian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 2:19
Welterweight Fight- Jon Fitch (23-3) vs. Mike Pierce (9-2)
Fitch has a 4” height and 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Fitch caught a kick early and muscled Pierce to the ground and took his back. At the two minute mark Pierce slipped out and got a take down but Fitch got to his feet pretty quickly. Fitch landed some decent strikes at the end of the round. Fitch 10-9.
R2- Fitch caught a leg kick and took Pierce down but Pierce got to his feet without taking any damage. Fitch got another brief take down. This was a typical Fitch round and he’s up 20-18 going into the final round.
R3- Jon Fitch makes me sleepy. Pierce got in some good shots towards the end of the round and almost stole this right but I’ve got Fitch 29-28 on the score cards.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all cards
Winner: Jon Fitch by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Frank Mir (12-4) vs. Cheick Kongo (24-5-1)
Mir has been talking all kinds of crap about this fight and about Brock Lesnar. It will be interesting to see if Mir overlooks Kongo in this fight. Goldberg tells us Kongo is the 4th most accurate striker in the UFC. Mir has earned more wins by submission than any other Heavyweight fighter in UFC history. Mir has 25 pounds on Kongo.
R1- No touching of the gloves to start the fight. Mir hit a huge left hand 30 seconds into the fight and Kongo went down hard. Mir jumped on top with a guillotine and Kongo tried to hold on but he went limp and the ref stopped the fight. Amazing performance by Mir.
Winner: Frank Mir by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:12
Catchweight Fight- Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia
This is a pre-show fight. There was a lot of talk before the fight that Belcher was upset that he was not on the main card.
R1- We join the fight about one minute into round one. Belcher is wearing some sweet pink tights and has corn rows. Lots of free swinging by both guys. Belcher hurt Gouveia with an uppercut and then finished him on the ground as the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Winner: Alan Belcher by TKO (Strikes) R1
Lightweight Title Fight- BJ Penn © (14-5-1) vs. Diego Sanchez (23-2)
The UFC tells me that BJ lands 61% of his total strikes, lands 57% of his lead jabs (tied for 1st in UFC History with Anderson Silva) and he has never been knocked down. Diego has also never been knocked down, he has 56% ground striking accuracy and in his last four fights he has a 79% take down defense rate.
R1- BJ rocked Diego and knocked him down at the thirty second round of the fight. Diego got back up and ate a knee and BJ jumped all over him with punches. Diego fought and survived the onslaught. BJ hit a couple more strikes at the end of the round and looks to be in total control so far. BJ 10-9.
R2- Diego went for an early take down but could not get BJ off his feet. Diego keeps going for the take down but cannot get it. Diego missed a high kick and ate a couple of shots. BJ 20-18.
R3- Sanchez trying hard for the take down but BJ is not letting him. BJ is winning the striking game. BJ 30-27.
R4- BJ hit a good combo at the one and a half minute mark of the round. Diego continues to go for take downs and BJ continues to avoid them. BJ 40-36.
R5- Diego tried hard for a take down but BJ sprawled and ended up on top and then took the fight back to their feet. BJ hit a good kick and then followed it with some good punches before Diego could latch onto BJ’s leg. BJ sprawled out and then landed some punches and opened a huge cut above Diego’s eye and the fight was stopped due to the cut. The high kick is what opened up the big cut on Diego. Great performance by BJ.
Winner: BJ Penn by TKO (Cut) R5 2:37
Welterweight Fight- Damarques Johnson vs. Edgar Garcia
R!- Both guys throwing strikes early. Garcia gets a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Garcia goes for a choke and Damarques survived and Edgar gave up the hold. Garcia hit some good shots against the cage and Damarques seemed to feed off of it. Edgar landed another right that took Damarques off his feet. Edgar landed some Ground and Pound and Damarques trapped him in a triangle and won the fight. Great submission by Damarques and it earned submission of the night.
Winner: Damarques Johnson by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:03
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Ultimate Finale 12/5/09 Re-Cap (Spike TV)
Ultimate Finale
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
12/5/09
Heavyweight Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Matt Mitrione (0-0)
R1- Jones got a quick take down in the first 15 seconds but Mitrione got to his feet at the one minute mark. Mitrione landed some knees in the clinch. Jones was able to grab a guillotine and pull guard but he couldn’t get the submission. Jones got another take down with one minute left in the fight but Mitrione got to his feet quickly. Both guys swung wildly but Jones got another take down. Jones 10-9.
R2- Mitrione caught Jones coming in and knocked him out for the win.
Winner: Matt Mitrione by KO R2 0:10
Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and Dixie Carter are at the show. Wow, now that’s a trio that I have no interest in seeing as partners in pro wrestling.
Lightweight Fight- Frankie Edgar (10-1) vs. Matt Veach (11-0)
Edgar is coming off of a big win at UFC 98 over Sean Sherk.
R1- Veach got a couple early take downs stuffed and then Edgar partially hit a head kick but Veach grabbed him and took him down. Edgar popped back up and Veach slammed him back to the canvas. Edgar gave up his back and got back to his feet and Veach again slammed him back to the mat. Veach seemed to tire a little at the end of the round and Edgar was able to get the better of the stand up. I’ve got Veach 10-9 on the strength of his slams.
R2- Edgar hit a big time right hand and knocked Veach down. Edgar jumped on top and landed some good shots on Veach. Veach gave up his back and Edgar clamped on the Rear Naked Choke and Veach tapped out. Really good performance by Edgar in weathering the early take downs in round one and then winning the stand up game later in the fight.
Winner: Frankie Edgar by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 2:22
Joe Rogan interviews Hulk Hogan ringside.
Lightweight Fight- Mark Bocek (7-2) vs. Joe Brammer (8-0)
Bocek has a 5” reach advantage in this fight. This is Brammer’s UFC debut.
R1- Bocek got the first take down and on the second take down he took Brammer’s back and got him in a body triangle. Bocek ended up getting a standing Rear Naked Choke and Brammer tapped out. Good showing by Bocek.
Winner: Mark Bocek by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:36
215 lb Catchweight Fight- Kimbo Slice (3-1) vs. Houston Alexander (9-4)
Kimbo has a 2” height, 5” reach and 4lb weight advantage.
R1- Kimbo takes the center of the cage and Houston circles him for the first minute with no punches thrown. Very little action in the first half of round one as Houston has landed a few leg kicks and Kimbo has thrown one strike. Finally they engaged and both guys threw some strikes but nothing significant landed. Really tough first round to score as neither guy was aggressive and neither guy landed anything worth taking note of.
R2- More of the same at the beginning of this round as Houston circles Kimbo and hits an occasional leg kick. Kimbo landed a good jab at the two minute mark of the round. Kimbo got a take down and took full mount but Houston got out of it. Houston slipped on a leg kick and Kimbo was able to land a couple of shots. Kimbo landed a good body shot. Kimbo hit an awesome side suplex on Houston and landed some strikes. Kimbo tried a guillotine but Kimbo easily slipped out and then again took top position. Houston gave up his back and Kimbo tried weakly for a Rear Naked. Kimbo then flipped him over and landed a good short elbow. I don’t know who won the first round but Kimbo easily took the second round.
R3- Both guys came out swinging to start the third round. Houston looks tired. Kimbo landed a good right hand. Houston hit a leg kick and Kimbo fell down and it looked like his leg might have given out on him. Houston followed in with some shots but Kimbo grabbed a leg and got a take down. Good recovery by Kimbo. Kimbo is landing some shots but Houston did a good job on defense and the ref stood the fight up with one minute remaining. Houston landed a couple of strikes in the last ten seconds but this one goes to a draw. Not the fight anyone thought we would see and other than the second round this was a pretty ugly fight. This is gonna be a really tough fight to score. As an overall fight Kimbo definitely won but breaking it down into round-by-round scoring it will be interesting to see what the judges decide.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28, 30-27
Winner: Kimbo Slice by Decision (Unanimous)
Tito Ortiz is in attendance at the show. And UFC is going to announce the coaches for the next TUF. Hmmmmm……
Joe Rogan interviews BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez at the same time via satellite.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (8-2) vs. Jon Jones (9-0)
Jones has a 3” height and 8.5” reach advantage.
R1- They stood up for the first two minutes and then Jones escaped a Hamill take down. Jones is hitting some strikes but nothing damaging so far although Hamill’s ribs are a little red. Jones landed a really nice trip and ended up on top of Hamill and then starting hitting some big Ground and Pound. Jones is throwing some big time elbows as Hamill is trying to cover up. Jones gets a point taken from him for a down ward elbow and then the fight is stopped. Not sure if this will be a DQ or a victory for Jones but Rogan/Goldberg seem like they are assuming victory for Jones and not talking about DQ. Jones was dominating Hamill once he got him down on the mat.
Winner: Matt Hamill by DQ (Intentional Elbows) R1
Heavyweight Fight- James McSweeney vs. Darrill Schoonover
R1- The video is messed up so we are pretty much just getting PBP from Rogan/Goldberg. After a minute we get video and McSweeney pulls guard on a guillotine but Schoonover pops his head out and takes McSweeney’s guard. McSweeney flips Schoonover over and moves to mount. They stand back up and Schoonover lands a good knee but couldn’t follow up before the round ended.
R2- McSweeney got Schoonover down with a looping right hand and didn’t fully hit. McSweeney followed him down to the mat and took his guard. McSweeney definitely took this round.
R3- McSweeney got a good slam and again took top position. McSweeney landed a couple of good strikes about half way through the round and this one is over. McSweeney looked a lot better in this fight than he did in any of his TUF fights.
Winner: James McSweeney by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:20
Dana White announces the coaches for Season 11 of TUF. They are Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. Dana says that TUF 11 will be Middleweight Fighters.
TUF 10 Heavyweight Final- Roy Nelson (14-4) vs. Brendan Schaub (5-0)
Roy Nelson comes out to Weird Al Yankovic’s song “I’m Fat”. Schaub has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage. Nelson has a 23 lb weight advantage.
R1- Schaub is using his jab effectively early and avoids a take down but then got clinched and taken down by Nelson. Schaub got held down for a while but did a good job of getting to his feet without taking any damage. Schaub is landing some decent strikes. Nelson hit a big right hand behind Schaub’s ear and this one is over.
Winner: Roy Nelson by KO R1 3:45
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
12/5/09
Heavyweight Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Matt Mitrione (0-0)
R1- Jones got a quick take down in the first 15 seconds but Mitrione got to his feet at the one minute mark. Mitrione landed some knees in the clinch. Jones was able to grab a guillotine and pull guard but he couldn’t get the submission. Jones got another take down with one minute left in the fight but Mitrione got to his feet quickly. Both guys swung wildly but Jones got another take down. Jones 10-9.
R2- Mitrione caught Jones coming in and knocked him out for the win.
Winner: Matt Mitrione by KO R2 0:10
Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and Dixie Carter are at the show. Wow, now that’s a trio that I have no interest in seeing as partners in pro wrestling.
Lightweight Fight- Frankie Edgar (10-1) vs. Matt Veach (11-0)
Edgar is coming off of a big win at UFC 98 over Sean Sherk.
R1- Veach got a couple early take downs stuffed and then Edgar partially hit a head kick but Veach grabbed him and took him down. Edgar popped back up and Veach slammed him back to the canvas. Edgar gave up his back and got back to his feet and Veach again slammed him back to the mat. Veach seemed to tire a little at the end of the round and Edgar was able to get the better of the stand up. I’ve got Veach 10-9 on the strength of his slams.
R2- Edgar hit a big time right hand and knocked Veach down. Edgar jumped on top and landed some good shots on Veach. Veach gave up his back and Edgar clamped on the Rear Naked Choke and Veach tapped out. Really good performance by Edgar in weathering the early take downs in round one and then winning the stand up game later in the fight.
Winner: Frankie Edgar by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 2:22
Joe Rogan interviews Hulk Hogan ringside.
Lightweight Fight- Mark Bocek (7-2) vs. Joe Brammer (8-0)
Bocek has a 5” reach advantage in this fight. This is Brammer’s UFC debut.
R1- Bocek got the first take down and on the second take down he took Brammer’s back and got him in a body triangle. Bocek ended up getting a standing Rear Naked Choke and Brammer tapped out. Good showing by Bocek.
Winner: Mark Bocek by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:36
215 lb Catchweight Fight- Kimbo Slice (3-1) vs. Houston Alexander (9-4)
Kimbo has a 2” height, 5” reach and 4lb weight advantage.
R1- Kimbo takes the center of the cage and Houston circles him for the first minute with no punches thrown. Very little action in the first half of round one as Houston has landed a few leg kicks and Kimbo has thrown one strike. Finally they engaged and both guys threw some strikes but nothing significant landed. Really tough first round to score as neither guy was aggressive and neither guy landed anything worth taking note of.
R2- More of the same at the beginning of this round as Houston circles Kimbo and hits an occasional leg kick. Kimbo landed a good jab at the two minute mark of the round. Kimbo got a take down and took full mount but Houston got out of it. Houston slipped on a leg kick and Kimbo was able to land a couple of shots. Kimbo landed a good body shot. Kimbo hit an awesome side suplex on Houston and landed some strikes. Kimbo tried a guillotine but Kimbo easily slipped out and then again took top position. Houston gave up his back and Kimbo tried weakly for a Rear Naked. Kimbo then flipped him over and landed a good short elbow. I don’t know who won the first round but Kimbo easily took the second round.
R3- Both guys came out swinging to start the third round. Houston looks tired. Kimbo landed a good right hand. Houston hit a leg kick and Kimbo fell down and it looked like his leg might have given out on him. Houston followed in with some shots but Kimbo grabbed a leg and got a take down. Good recovery by Kimbo. Kimbo is landing some shots but Houston did a good job on defense and the ref stood the fight up with one minute remaining. Houston landed a couple of strikes in the last ten seconds but this one goes to a draw. Not the fight anyone thought we would see and other than the second round this was a pretty ugly fight. This is gonna be a really tough fight to score. As an overall fight Kimbo definitely won but breaking it down into round-by-round scoring it will be interesting to see what the judges decide.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28, 30-27
Winner: Kimbo Slice by Decision (Unanimous)
Tito Ortiz is in attendance at the show. And UFC is going to announce the coaches for the next TUF. Hmmmmm……
Joe Rogan interviews BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez at the same time via satellite.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (8-2) vs. Jon Jones (9-0)
Jones has a 3” height and 8.5” reach advantage.
R1- They stood up for the first two minutes and then Jones escaped a Hamill take down. Jones is hitting some strikes but nothing damaging so far although Hamill’s ribs are a little red. Jones landed a really nice trip and ended up on top of Hamill and then starting hitting some big Ground and Pound. Jones is throwing some big time elbows as Hamill is trying to cover up. Jones gets a point taken from him for a down ward elbow and then the fight is stopped. Not sure if this will be a DQ or a victory for Jones but Rogan/Goldberg seem like they are assuming victory for Jones and not talking about DQ. Jones was dominating Hamill once he got him down on the mat.
Winner: Matt Hamill by DQ (Intentional Elbows) R1
Heavyweight Fight- James McSweeney vs. Darrill Schoonover
R1- The video is messed up so we are pretty much just getting PBP from Rogan/Goldberg. After a minute we get video and McSweeney pulls guard on a guillotine but Schoonover pops his head out and takes McSweeney’s guard. McSweeney flips Schoonover over and moves to mount. They stand back up and Schoonover lands a good knee but couldn’t follow up before the round ended.
R2- McSweeney got Schoonover down with a looping right hand and didn’t fully hit. McSweeney followed him down to the mat and took his guard. McSweeney definitely took this round.
R3- McSweeney got a good slam and again took top position. McSweeney landed a couple of good strikes about half way through the round and this one is over. McSweeney looked a lot better in this fight than he did in any of his TUF fights.
Winner: James McSweeney by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:20
Dana White announces the coaches for Season 11 of TUF. They are Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. Dana says that TUF 11 will be Middleweight Fighters.
TUF 10 Heavyweight Final- Roy Nelson (14-4) vs. Brendan Schaub (5-0)
Roy Nelson comes out to Weird Al Yankovic’s song “I’m Fat”. Schaub has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage. Nelson has a 23 lb weight advantage.
R1- Schaub is using his jab effectively early and avoids a take down but then got clinched and taken down by Nelson. Schaub got held down for a while but did a good job of getting to his feet without taking any damage. Schaub is landing some decent strikes. Nelson hit a big right hand behind Schaub’s ear and this one is over.
Winner: Roy Nelson by KO R1 3:45
TUF 10: Heavyweights "Road to the Finale" Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights “Road to the Finale” Episode Eleven
Dana is looking for guys to take Mitrione’s place and nobody is stepping forward. Kimbo turns it down because he doesn’t feel he’s 100%. Mitrione decides that he feels good and he’s going to fight.
Marcus Jones lost it and starting yelling at Matt Mitrione when he found out that Scott Junk got a detached retina in his fight with Mitrione and might not fight anymore. Junk got the surgery but the doctor said that he could resume training in about two months. Jones says he’s glad he didn’t go overboard.
McSweeney pushes Mitrione after an intense staredown at the weigh-ins.
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- James McSweeney (3-3) vs. Matt Mitrione (2-0)
Mitrione has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- McSweeney caught Mitrione in a guillotine choke about mid-way through the round and Mitrione tapped out. Neither guy looked really good in this one.
Winner: James McSweeney by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Darrill Schoonover (10-0)
Jones has a 4” reach and height advantage.
R1- Jones quickly got a take down in the first ten seconds of the fight. Jones just really controlled Schoonover in this fight and eventually took his guard and got in some good shots and knocked him out.
Winner: Marcus Jones by KO
Final Four: James McSweeney, Brendan Schaub, Roy Nelson, Marcus Jones.
Semi-Finals Fights:
Roy Nelson vs. James McSweeney
Brendan Schaub vs. Marcus Jones
McSweeney locks Zak Jensen in the bathroom and Jensen comes out swinging but McSweeney grabs him in a guillotine and subdues him.
Heavyweight Semi-Final Fight: Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. James McSweeney (3-3)
R1- Roy took the fight to the ground about half way through the round and then got the crucifix position like he had Kimbo in and landed some good undefended offense and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Roy Nelson by TKO (Strikes) R1
Heavyweight Semi-Final Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Brendan Schuab (4-0)
R1- Jones got an immediate take down. Marcus mounted at about the one minute mark but Schaub was able to get to his feet without taking much damage. Jones landed a knee to the head. Schuab hit a big punch that stunned and floored Marcus. Scahub jumped on top and landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Really good come back and showing by Schaub.
Winner: Brendan Schaub by TKO (Strikes) R1
The TUF Heavyweight Finals are: Roy Nelson versus Brendan Schaub
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Justin Wren defeated by Roy Nelson: Episode Nine
Jon Madsen defeated by Brendan Schaub: Episode Ten
Matt Mitrione defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Eleven
Darrill Schoonover defeated by Marcus Jones- Episode Eleven
James McSweeney defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Eleven
Marcus Jones defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Eleven
Dana is looking for guys to take Mitrione’s place and nobody is stepping forward. Kimbo turns it down because he doesn’t feel he’s 100%. Mitrione decides that he feels good and he’s going to fight.
Marcus Jones lost it and starting yelling at Matt Mitrione when he found out that Scott Junk got a detached retina in his fight with Mitrione and might not fight anymore. Junk got the surgery but the doctor said that he could resume training in about two months. Jones says he’s glad he didn’t go overboard.
McSweeney pushes Mitrione after an intense staredown at the weigh-ins.
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- James McSweeney (3-3) vs. Matt Mitrione (2-0)
Mitrione has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- McSweeney caught Mitrione in a guillotine choke about mid-way through the round and Mitrione tapped out. Neither guy looked really good in this one.
Winner: James McSweeney by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Darrill Schoonover (10-0)
Jones has a 4” reach and height advantage.
R1- Jones quickly got a take down in the first ten seconds of the fight. Jones just really controlled Schoonover in this fight and eventually took his guard and got in some good shots and knocked him out.
Winner: Marcus Jones by KO
Final Four: James McSweeney, Brendan Schaub, Roy Nelson, Marcus Jones.
Semi-Finals Fights:
Roy Nelson vs. James McSweeney
Brendan Schaub vs. Marcus Jones
McSweeney locks Zak Jensen in the bathroom and Jensen comes out swinging but McSweeney grabs him in a guillotine and subdues him.
Heavyweight Semi-Final Fight: Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. James McSweeney (3-3)
R1- Roy took the fight to the ground about half way through the round and then got the crucifix position like he had Kimbo in and landed some good undefended offense and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Roy Nelson by TKO (Strikes) R1
Heavyweight Semi-Final Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Brendan Schuab (4-0)
R1- Jones got an immediate take down. Marcus mounted at about the one minute mark but Schaub was able to get to his feet without taking much damage. Jones landed a knee to the head. Schuab hit a big punch that stunned and floored Marcus. Scahub jumped on top and landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Really good come back and showing by Schaub.
Winner: Brendan Schaub by TKO (Strikes) R1
The TUF Heavyweight Finals are: Roy Nelson versus Brendan Schaub
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Justin Wren defeated by Roy Nelson: Episode Nine
Jon Madsen defeated by Brendan Schaub: Episode Ten
Matt Mitrione defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Eleven
Darrill Schoonover defeated by Marcus Jones- Episode Eleven
James McSweeney defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Eleven
Marcus Jones defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Eleven
Thursday, November 26, 2009
UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 Re-Cap
UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-1) vs. Phil Baroni (13-11)
Sadollah was the winner of TUF 7 but lost in just 27 seconds in his last fight against Johny Hendricks. Both guys train at Xtreme Couture but Baroni trained for this fight at AKA. Baroni comes out to “Bad to the Bone”. This is Baroni’s first fight in UFC since UFC 51. Sadollah has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Baroni lands some strikes early and knocks Amir off-balance. Baroni lands two good uppercuts. Baroni got a take down about half way through the round but gave up the position after about a minute. Baroni tried a guillotine but couldn’t get it and Amir landed a good knee and barely missed with a big haymaker. Amir is coming on towards the end of the round. Baroni comes out of the round with his face bloodied. Baroni 10-9 but Amir could have stolen that round after Baroni gassed towards the end.
R2- Baroni looks really tired and Amir comes out as the aggressor in this round. Not a real exciting round but I’ve got Amir taking this one to even it up 19-19.
R3- Amir lands some good strikes in the first minute of the round. Amir is doing a good job changing levels in this round and he buckled Baroni against the cage with a good onslaught. Amir wins this fight 29-28 on my score card. Amir did a good job weathering the storm early and then it was all Amir in the last two rounds after Baroni ran out of steam.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira (17-3) vs. Luiz Cane (11-1)
This is a battle between two Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters that fly under the radar. The winner of this fight jumps up into title contention with another win under their belt after this fight. Big Nog and Anderson Silva are in lil Nog’s corner for the fight. Cane comes out to some Jane’s Addiction. Cane is coming off of a decision victory over Steve Cantwell at UFC 97.
R1- Nogueira starts to land some strikes and hits a good left and then another and Cane is on his heels. Nogueira is landing some good strikes and lands some lefts and then connects with a big left that knocks Cane to the ground. Lil Nog jumps on top and this fight is over. Really impressive debut for Lil Nog and he jumps right into the Light Heavyweight Title picture after the Machida/Shogun re-match.
Winner: Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:56
Chuck Liddell is at the fights tonight to check out Tito/Forrest. New WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo is also at the show and they show some highlights of his championship win over Mike Brown from earlier in the week.
Welterweight Fight- Paulo Thiago (11-1) vs. Jacob Volkmann (9-0)
This is the UFC debut of Volkmann. Thiago is coming off of a decision loss to top contender Jon Fitch at UFC 100. Volkmann comes out to some AC/DC. Thiago has a 3” reach advantage to counter Volkmann’s better entrance music. Volkmann’s nickname is “Christmas”.
R1- Thiago got a take down into side control after the first minute of the round but Volkamann quickly got back to his feet. Thiago got a take down and mounted mid-way through the round. Thaigo lands some strikes but Volkmann got back to his feet without taking any major damage. Thiago landed a big combination right at the buzzer that floored Volkmann. Thiago 10-9.
R2- Thiago caught a Volkmann kick and chopped his other leg to floor him but didn’t follow up on the ground. Volkmann got a take down into side control in the first minute of the round but Thiago got back to his feet without taking much damage. Volkmann got Thiago down again but Thiago flipped him over and took top position. Thiago landed a big shot on the ground towards the end of the round. This round was very close. Could have gone either way.
R3- Thiago caught Volkmann coming in with a right and floored him. Volkmann tried a take down but Thiago avoided it but shortly thereafter Volkmann was able to get on top. Volkmann worked Thiago into a crucifix position and landed some good elbow strikes before Thiago was able to get out of the move. Volkmann slipped of Thiago’s back and Thiago once again assumed control. Volkmann grabbed a choke from the bottom but somehow Thiago slipped out. Thiago landed some good elbows on Volkmann at the end of the round.
Rounds two and three were virtual toss ups. Thiago clearly won the first round. I’m going to say the judges will give Thiago the win via decision. Volkmann really didn’t show much other than his wrestling, he really needs to work on his striking.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27
Winner: Paulo Thiago by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (15-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-2)
This should be fun. Anthony Johnson is coming off of a destruction of Yoshiyuki Yoshida less than a month ago at UFC 104. Koscheck stopped Frank Trigg in the first round of their UFC 103 fight. The winner of this will move way up the rankings in the wide open Welterweight Division. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner. Johnson has the most knock downs per minute in the UFC. Johnson has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Long feeling out process with a few strikes landing for each fighter. Koscheck came in at the two minute mark and got caught and knocked off balance and cornered. Koscheck clinched him to get out of the corner but Johnson defended it and ended up in the superior position. Koscheck was on his knees and Johnson landed a knee to his forehead, which is illegal, and the fight was stopped by the ref. On the re-play it didn’t look like the knee hit him in the head but Koscheck did get poked in the eye at some point. They re-start the fight. Koscheck went for a single and Johnson sprawled and landed hard on the cage and Koscheck finally took him down. Tough round to score as there wasn’t a ton of damage done and the Koscheck take down at the end of the round might have swung the round to him. I believe Johnson had a point deducted so it could be Koscheck up 10-8 at this point.
R2- Koscheck returned the favor with an eye poke early in ths round. Koscheck started to land some good shots but on the re-play the big shot was a poke right into Johnson’s eye. Johnson has a bad history with getting poked in the eye. Johnson landed some good strikes in an exchange and Koscheck may have landed a shot as well. Koscheck got a take down two minutes into the round. Koscheck landed some elbows. Koscheck landed a Rear Naked Choke and Johnson tapped out. Big win for Koscheck.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:47
Post-Fight Josh Koscheck calls out Dan Hardy. Says Hardy hasn’t fought anybody and says he’s the real number one contender.
Vince Vaughn is at the show tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tito Ortiz (16-6-1) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-6)
This is a re-match from their fight at UFC 59 that ended up a Split Decision victory for Tito Ortiz. Forrest comes out to Chumbawamba’s “I get knocked down, but I get up again”.
R1- Tito got a take down in the second minute of the fight after some brief stand up. Forrest was able to get back to his feet after taking some shots. This was a close round. Forrest won the stand up in the round but Tito got the take down.
R2- Tito got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Forrest got back to his feet without taking any significant damage. Forrest hit a front kick to the face that sent Tito’s mouthpiece flying. Tito got another take down about half way through the round. Tito cut Forrest open really badly. Forrest turned Tito over with about 30 seconds left in the round. Probably 19-19 at this point.
R3- Forrest is the aggressor early in this round. Tito shot in but it was stuffed by Forrest. Tito looks a bit gassed in this round and Forrest is scoring all the points with about a minute and a half left in the round. Forrest stuffed another take down with about 40 seconds left. Forrest wins this round and I’ve got him taking the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Ortiz, 30-27 Griffin, 29-28 Forrest
Winner: Forrest Griffin by Decision (Split)
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-1) vs. Phil Baroni (13-11)
Sadollah was the winner of TUF 7 but lost in just 27 seconds in his last fight against Johny Hendricks. Both guys train at Xtreme Couture but Baroni trained for this fight at AKA. Baroni comes out to “Bad to the Bone”. This is Baroni’s first fight in UFC since UFC 51. Sadollah has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Baroni lands some strikes early and knocks Amir off-balance. Baroni lands two good uppercuts. Baroni got a take down about half way through the round but gave up the position after about a minute. Baroni tried a guillotine but couldn’t get it and Amir landed a good knee and barely missed with a big haymaker. Amir is coming on towards the end of the round. Baroni comes out of the round with his face bloodied. Baroni 10-9 but Amir could have stolen that round after Baroni gassed towards the end.
R2- Baroni looks really tired and Amir comes out as the aggressor in this round. Not a real exciting round but I’ve got Amir taking this one to even it up 19-19.
R3- Amir lands some good strikes in the first minute of the round. Amir is doing a good job changing levels in this round and he buckled Baroni against the cage with a good onslaught. Amir wins this fight 29-28 on my score card. Amir did a good job weathering the storm early and then it was all Amir in the last two rounds after Baroni ran out of steam.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira (17-3) vs. Luiz Cane (11-1)
This is a battle between two Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters that fly under the radar. The winner of this fight jumps up into title contention with another win under their belt after this fight. Big Nog and Anderson Silva are in lil Nog’s corner for the fight. Cane comes out to some Jane’s Addiction. Cane is coming off of a decision victory over Steve Cantwell at UFC 97.
R1- Nogueira starts to land some strikes and hits a good left and then another and Cane is on his heels. Nogueira is landing some good strikes and lands some lefts and then connects with a big left that knocks Cane to the ground. Lil Nog jumps on top and this fight is over. Really impressive debut for Lil Nog and he jumps right into the Light Heavyweight Title picture after the Machida/Shogun re-match.
Winner: Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:56
Chuck Liddell is at the fights tonight to check out Tito/Forrest. New WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo is also at the show and they show some highlights of his championship win over Mike Brown from earlier in the week.
Welterweight Fight- Paulo Thiago (11-1) vs. Jacob Volkmann (9-0)
This is the UFC debut of Volkmann. Thiago is coming off of a decision loss to top contender Jon Fitch at UFC 100. Volkmann comes out to some AC/DC. Thiago has a 3” reach advantage to counter Volkmann’s better entrance music. Volkmann’s nickname is “Christmas”.
R1- Thiago got a take down into side control after the first minute of the round but Volkamann quickly got back to his feet. Thiago got a take down and mounted mid-way through the round. Thaigo lands some strikes but Volkmann got back to his feet without taking any major damage. Thiago landed a big combination right at the buzzer that floored Volkmann. Thiago 10-9.
R2- Thiago caught a Volkmann kick and chopped his other leg to floor him but didn’t follow up on the ground. Volkmann got a take down into side control in the first minute of the round but Thiago got back to his feet without taking much damage. Volkmann got Thiago down again but Thiago flipped him over and took top position. Thiago landed a big shot on the ground towards the end of the round. This round was very close. Could have gone either way.
R3- Thiago caught Volkmann coming in with a right and floored him. Volkmann tried a take down but Thiago avoided it but shortly thereafter Volkmann was able to get on top. Volkmann worked Thiago into a crucifix position and landed some good elbow strikes before Thiago was able to get out of the move. Volkmann slipped of Thiago’s back and Thiago once again assumed control. Volkmann grabbed a choke from the bottom but somehow Thiago slipped out. Thiago landed some good elbows on Volkmann at the end of the round.
Rounds two and three were virtual toss ups. Thiago clearly won the first round. I’m going to say the judges will give Thiago the win via decision. Volkmann really didn’t show much other than his wrestling, he really needs to work on his striking.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27
Winner: Paulo Thiago by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (15-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-2)
This should be fun. Anthony Johnson is coming off of a destruction of Yoshiyuki Yoshida less than a month ago at UFC 104. Koscheck stopped Frank Trigg in the first round of their UFC 103 fight. The winner of this will move way up the rankings in the wide open Welterweight Division. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner. Johnson has the most knock downs per minute in the UFC. Johnson has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Long feeling out process with a few strikes landing for each fighter. Koscheck came in at the two minute mark and got caught and knocked off balance and cornered. Koscheck clinched him to get out of the corner but Johnson defended it and ended up in the superior position. Koscheck was on his knees and Johnson landed a knee to his forehead, which is illegal, and the fight was stopped by the ref. On the re-play it didn’t look like the knee hit him in the head but Koscheck did get poked in the eye at some point. They re-start the fight. Koscheck went for a single and Johnson sprawled and landed hard on the cage and Koscheck finally took him down. Tough round to score as there wasn’t a ton of damage done and the Koscheck take down at the end of the round might have swung the round to him. I believe Johnson had a point deducted so it could be Koscheck up 10-8 at this point.
R2- Koscheck returned the favor with an eye poke early in ths round. Koscheck started to land some good shots but on the re-play the big shot was a poke right into Johnson’s eye. Johnson has a bad history with getting poked in the eye. Johnson landed some good strikes in an exchange and Koscheck may have landed a shot as well. Koscheck got a take down two minutes into the round. Koscheck landed some elbows. Koscheck landed a Rear Naked Choke and Johnson tapped out. Big win for Koscheck.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:47
Post-Fight Josh Koscheck calls out Dan Hardy. Says Hardy hasn’t fought anybody and says he’s the real number one contender.
Vince Vaughn is at the show tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tito Ortiz (16-6-1) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-6)
This is a re-match from their fight at UFC 59 that ended up a Split Decision victory for Tito Ortiz. Forrest comes out to Chumbawamba’s “I get knocked down, but I get up again”.
R1- Tito got a take down in the second minute of the fight after some brief stand up. Forrest was able to get back to his feet after taking some shots. This was a close round. Forrest won the stand up in the round but Tito got the take down.
R2- Tito got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Forrest got back to his feet without taking any significant damage. Forrest hit a front kick to the face that sent Tito’s mouthpiece flying. Tito got another take down about half way through the round. Tito cut Forrest open really badly. Forrest turned Tito over with about 30 seconds left in the round. Probably 19-19 at this point.
R3- Forrest is the aggressor early in this round. Tito shot in but it was stuffed by Forrest. Tito looks a bit gassed in this round and Forrest is scoring all the points with about a minute and a half left in the round. Forrest stuffed another take down with about 40 seconds left. Forrest wins this round and I’ve got him taking the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Ortiz, 30-27 Griffin, 29-28 Forrest
Winner: Forrest Griffin by Decision (Split)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
WEC 44 "Brown vs. Aldo" Re-Cap
WEC 44 “Brown vs. Aldo”
The Pearl
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Featherweight Championship is on the line as Mike Thomas Brown will face explosive challenger Jose Aldo. Former WEC Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough will face Karen Darabedyan. In a fight of former UFC fighters Leonard Garcia will face Manvel Gamburyan in a Featherweight Fight.
Lightweight Fight- Will Kerr (8-1) vs. Kamal Shalorus (4-0-1)
This is the WEC debut for both fighters.
R1- Kamal hit a big punch that floored Kerr early. Kamal lands some good strikes and Kerr falls to his knees and the ref stops the fight. Good showing by Kamal as he looked good in the striking face of MMA but didn’t really look like he was tested tonight.
Winner: Kamal Shalorus by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- Shane Roller (6-2) vs. Danny Castillo (8-1)
Roller lost back in April to current Lightweight Interim Champ Ben Henderson.
R1- Castillo got the first take down about half way through the round but he couldn’t hold Roller down. Castillo got another take down but Roller reversed it and nearly got a guillotine. Castillo got another take down with a minute and a half left in the round. Castillo 10-9.
R2- Castillo landed some good shots against the cage and then got a take down. Roller landed a couple knees and then got a take down. Roller grabbed a guillotine. Castillo gave up his back and Roller landed some good shots to the side of the head and ear. One round a piece after two rounds.
R3- Roller shot in but Castillo sprawled and got top position. Roller got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Roller locks in a choke and Castillo taps out. Pretty even back and forth fight, nice job by Roller in finishing the fight.
Winner: Shane Roller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R3 3:32
Donald Cerrone will fight Ed Ratcliffe on December 19th and they are interviewed ringside.
Tito Ortiz, Ben Henderson, and Urijah Faber are all ringside for the show.
Lightweight Fight- Rob McCullough (17-5) vs. Karen Darabedyan (8-1)
Karen is Judo and Taekwondo Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Karen is making his WEC debut.
R1- They are picking their spots early but are exchanging. McCullough looks a little tight and Karen more relaxed. Karen hit a good combo. McCullough landed a good body kick but Karen came back with a good punch that opened up a cut on McCullough. Karen landed some good shots at the end of the round and looks really good so far. Karen 10-9.
R2- Karen got a take down within the first minute of the round but couldn’t get anything before McCullough worked back to his feet. Both guys have small cuts near their eyes. Pretty even round other than the take down that could have been scored either way. Karen is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Pretty even and uneventful round to finish the fight. I’ve got Karen taking this fight by virtue of winning the first two rounds on my score card. Could be a split decision.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Darabedyan, 30-27 McCullough, 29-28 Darabedyan
Wow. No way McCullough won that first round. It’s very rare that you see one judge score a fight 30-27 and another judge score a fight 30-27 in favor of the other fighter. Rounds 2 and 3 were very even.
Winner: Karen Darabedyan by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (17-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (11-5)
Garcia has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. This is the Co-Main Event.
R1- Long feeling out process. Manvel came in for a take down and Garcia fed him a good right hand. Garcia is landing some strikes but nothing too bad. Manvel went for a take down but Garcia sprawled and then Manvel hit Garcia with two low blows. Manvel goes for a take down and Garcia did a good job of keeping the fight on the feet. Garcia hit a good kick but Manvel took it. Manvel shot again but Garcia landed a kick. Garcia 10-9.
R2- Garcia hit a couple strikes and then Manvel shot in for a take down but Garcia did a nice job of sprawling. Manvel missed an over hand right and slipped but because of it he was able to get a slam/take down on Garcia with a minute and a half left in the round. Manvel got in some shots on Garcia and stole this round so it’s even 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Both guys are throwing punches with bad intentions to start the round. Garcia starts talking and wants a slugfest but it ends up with Manvel getting a take down. Manvel is going to take this round because he was in a dominant position for a lot of the round. I’ve got Manvel taking the fight 20-19 in a close fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Gamburyan
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Thomas Brown © (22-4) vs. Jose Aldo (15-1)
At WEC 41 Jose Aldo destroyed Cub Swanson in 8 seconds with a flying knee. On that same card Mike Brown successfully defended his championship in a 5 round unanimous decision against former champion Urijah Faber.
R1- The first couple minutes they spend going back and forth with both guys landing some offense but nothing damaging. Aldo hits a good punch/kick/knee combo that hurts Brown but Brown clinched Aldo to give himself time to recover. Brown tried to get the fight to the ground but Aldo did a great job of sprawling. Aldo 10-9.
R2- Aldo hit some good strikes on Brown to open the round and Brown again clinched to stop the barrage. Brown went for a take down but Aldo shoved him down and jumped on top. Aldo hit some strikes and then took Brown’s back and just started leveling him with punches and the ref stopped the fight. New Champion and Jose Aldo is the truth.
Winner and new WEC Featherweight Champion: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:20
The Pearl
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 19, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers for the show. Joe Martinez is the ring announcer. The Featherweight Championship is on the line as Mike Thomas Brown will face explosive challenger Jose Aldo. Former WEC Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough will face Karen Darabedyan. In a fight of former UFC fighters Leonard Garcia will face Manvel Gamburyan in a Featherweight Fight.
Lightweight Fight- Will Kerr (8-1) vs. Kamal Shalorus (4-0-1)
This is the WEC debut for both fighters.
R1- Kamal hit a big punch that floored Kerr early. Kamal lands some good strikes and Kerr falls to his knees and the ref stops the fight. Good showing by Kamal as he looked good in the striking face of MMA but didn’t really look like he was tested tonight.
Winner: Kamal Shalorus by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- Shane Roller (6-2) vs. Danny Castillo (8-1)
Roller lost back in April to current Lightweight Interim Champ Ben Henderson.
R1- Castillo got the first take down about half way through the round but he couldn’t hold Roller down. Castillo got another take down but Roller reversed it and nearly got a guillotine. Castillo got another take down with a minute and a half left in the round. Castillo 10-9.
R2- Castillo landed some good shots against the cage and then got a take down. Roller landed a couple knees and then got a take down. Roller grabbed a guillotine. Castillo gave up his back and Roller landed some good shots to the side of the head and ear. One round a piece after two rounds.
R3- Roller shot in but Castillo sprawled and got top position. Roller got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Roller locks in a choke and Castillo taps out. Pretty even back and forth fight, nice job by Roller in finishing the fight.
Winner: Shane Roller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R3 3:32
Donald Cerrone will fight Ed Ratcliffe on December 19th and they are interviewed ringside.
Tito Ortiz, Ben Henderson, and Urijah Faber are all ringside for the show.
Lightweight Fight- Rob McCullough (17-5) vs. Karen Darabedyan (8-1)
Karen is Judo and Taekwondo Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Karen is making his WEC debut.
R1- They are picking their spots early but are exchanging. McCullough looks a little tight and Karen more relaxed. Karen hit a good combo. McCullough landed a good body kick but Karen came back with a good punch that opened up a cut on McCullough. Karen landed some good shots at the end of the round and looks really good so far. Karen 10-9.
R2- Karen got a take down within the first minute of the round but couldn’t get anything before McCullough worked back to his feet. Both guys have small cuts near their eyes. Pretty even round other than the take down that could have been scored either way. Karen is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Pretty even and uneventful round to finish the fight. I’ve got Karen taking this fight by virtue of winning the first two rounds on my score card. Could be a split decision.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Darabedyan, 30-27 McCullough, 29-28 Darabedyan
Wow. No way McCullough won that first round. It’s very rare that you see one judge score a fight 30-27 and another judge score a fight 30-27 in favor of the other fighter. Rounds 2 and 3 were very even.
Winner: Karen Darabedyan by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (17-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (11-5)
Garcia has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. This is the Co-Main Event.
R1- Long feeling out process. Manvel came in for a take down and Garcia fed him a good right hand. Garcia is landing some strikes but nothing too bad. Manvel went for a take down but Garcia sprawled and then Manvel hit Garcia with two low blows. Manvel goes for a take down and Garcia did a good job of keeping the fight on the feet. Garcia hit a good kick but Manvel took it. Manvel shot again but Garcia landed a kick. Garcia 10-9.
R2- Garcia hit a couple strikes and then Manvel shot in for a take down but Garcia did a nice job of sprawling. Manvel missed an over hand right and slipped but because of it he was able to get a slam/take down on Garcia with a minute and a half left in the round. Manvel got in some shots on Garcia and stole this round so it’s even 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Both guys are throwing punches with bad intentions to start the round. Garcia starts talking and wants a slugfest but it ends up with Manvel getting a take down. Manvel is going to take this round because he was in a dominant position for a lot of the round. I’ve got Manvel taking the fight 20-19 in a close fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Gamburyan
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Thomas Brown © (22-4) vs. Jose Aldo (15-1)
At WEC 41 Jose Aldo destroyed Cub Swanson in 8 seconds with a flying knee. On that same card Mike Brown successfully defended his championship in a 5 round unanimous decision against former champion Urijah Faber.
R1- The first couple minutes they spend going back and forth with both guys landing some offense but nothing damaging. Aldo hits a good punch/kick/knee combo that hurts Brown but Brown clinched Aldo to give himself time to recover. Brown tried to get the fight to the ground but Aldo did a great job of sprawling. Aldo 10-9.
R2- Aldo hit some good strikes on Brown to open the round and Brown again clinched to stop the barrage. Brown went for a take down but Aldo shoved him down and jumped on top. Aldo hit some strikes and then took Brown’s back and just started leveling him with punches and the ref stopped the fight. New Champion and Jose Aldo is the truth.
Winner and new WEC Featherweight Champion: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:20
UFC 106 Preliminaries on Spike TV Re-Cap
UFC 106 Preliminaries
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Spike TV
Jake Rosholt against Kendall Grove and Marcus Davis against Ben Saunders highlight the Preliminary fights of UFC 106 tonight on Spike TV. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are your announcers.
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (12-6) vs. Jake Rosholt (6-1)
Rosholt is coming off a submission victory over Chris Leben at UFC 102. Kendall Grove is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101. Grove has a 5” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Rosholt got a take down within the first minute of the fight. Kendall keeps getting up and then getting dragged back down by Rosholt. Kendall really using the cage out of the referee’s view to his advantage and he gets a take down. Rosholt landed a couple of strikes and a knee after getting back to his feet. Rosholt got another take down. Rosholt looked like he was going for an arm triangle but Kendall caught him in an arm bar and Rosholt tapped out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:59
Lightweight Fight- Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulos
R1- George got a take down with two minutes left in the round after both guys had been exchanging some light strikes for the first three minutes of the round. George fought and got the mount and landed some good punches. Dent barely survived to fight in the next round. George 10-9.
R2- George caught a kick and got a take down about one and a half minutes into the round. George went for an arm bar and fought hard and finally got it and Dent tapped out.
Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:36
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (21-6) vs. Ben Saunders (7-1-2)
Davis has won 13 of his last 15 but is coming off of a split decision loss to Dan Hardy at UFC 99. Saunders has a 5” height and 7.5” reach advantage. Saunders is coming off of a TKO loss to Mike Swick, also at UFC 99.
R1- Davis landed some good strikes in the clinch but Saunders returned the favor with some good knees. Saunders bloodied up Davis with the knees. Saunders grabbed Davis in the clinch again and just destroyed him with knees and knocked him out. Really great showing by Saunders.
Winner: Ben Saunders by KO R1 3:24
Welterweight Fight- Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster
R1- A lot of action early which ended with a Larson take down. Half way through the round Foster reverses the position and lands some Ground and Pound. Both fighters were down and Larson kicked Foster in the face and the ref stepped in as it was an illegal blow. A point is deducted from Larson. Larson grabbed a guillotine at the end of the round and they called Larson for another illegal shot because Larson hit Foster when he had a hand down and Larson had him in a guillotine and he kneed him in the head. Another point is deducted from Foster. Foster takes this round 10-7 because of the two point deduction.
R2- Foster hit a good side kick and then got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Foster got caught by a big uppercut coming in for a take down and he got hurt badly and he tapped out as the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Brian Foster by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:25
Joe Rogan interviews Tito Ortiz about his return to UFC and his fight with Forrest Griffin later tonight.
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Spike TV
Jake Rosholt against Kendall Grove and Marcus Davis against Ben Saunders highlight the Preliminary fights of UFC 106 tonight on Spike TV. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are your announcers.
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (12-6) vs. Jake Rosholt (6-1)
Rosholt is coming off a submission victory over Chris Leben at UFC 102. Kendall Grove is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101. Grove has a 5” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Rosholt got a take down within the first minute of the fight. Kendall keeps getting up and then getting dragged back down by Rosholt. Kendall really using the cage out of the referee’s view to his advantage and he gets a take down. Rosholt landed a couple of strikes and a knee after getting back to his feet. Rosholt got another take down. Rosholt looked like he was going for an arm triangle but Kendall caught him in an arm bar and Rosholt tapped out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:59
Lightweight Fight- Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulos
R1- George got a take down with two minutes left in the round after both guys had been exchanging some light strikes for the first three minutes of the round. George fought and got the mount and landed some good punches. Dent barely survived to fight in the next round. George 10-9.
R2- George caught a kick and got a take down about one and a half minutes into the round. George went for an arm bar and fought hard and finally got it and Dent tapped out.
Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:36
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (21-6) vs. Ben Saunders (7-1-2)
Davis has won 13 of his last 15 but is coming off of a split decision loss to Dan Hardy at UFC 99. Saunders has a 5” height and 7.5” reach advantage. Saunders is coming off of a TKO loss to Mike Swick, also at UFC 99.
R1- Davis landed some good strikes in the clinch but Saunders returned the favor with some good knees. Saunders bloodied up Davis with the knees. Saunders grabbed Davis in the clinch again and just destroyed him with knees and knocked him out. Really great showing by Saunders.
Winner: Ben Saunders by KO R1 3:24
Welterweight Fight- Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster
R1- A lot of action early which ended with a Larson take down. Half way through the round Foster reverses the position and lands some Ground and Pound. Both fighters were down and Larson kicked Foster in the face and the ref stepped in as it was an illegal blow. A point is deducted from Larson. Larson grabbed a guillotine at the end of the round and they called Larson for another illegal shot because Larson hit Foster when he had a hand down and Larson had him in a guillotine and he kneed him in the head. Another point is deducted from Foster. Foster takes this round 10-7 because of the two point deduction.
R2- Foster hit a good side kick and then got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Foster got caught by a big uppercut coming in for a take down and he got hurt badly and he tapped out as the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Brian Foster by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:25
Joe Rogan interviews Tito Ortiz about his return to UFC and his fight with Forrest Griffin later tonight.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Strikeforce Challengers Series 11/20/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce Challengers Series
Memorial Hall
Kansas City, Kansas
November 20, 2009
This is the final Strikeforce Challengers Series of 2009. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he is joined in the booth by Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich. Some fighters to watch tonight are Tyron Woodley, Erik Apple and Rafael Feijao. There is also a very intriguing match-up between Kerry Vera and Kim Couture. I’m sure you recognize those last names if you are an MMA fan. No Jimmy Lennon Jr tonight as the cage announcer is Mike Vale.
Middleweight Fight- Kevin Casey (2-1) vs. Chad Vance (7-3)
Casey is a submission specialist and Vance is a wrestler. Casey has a 5” reach advantage.
R1- Casey got him down early and took his back. Casey got a Rear Naked and go the tap. Quick and impressive victory for Casey.
Winner: Kevin Casey by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Light Heavyweight Fight- Aaron Rosa (12-2) vs. Rafael Feijao (7-2)
Feijao is a Muy Thai/Jiu Jitsu fighter who was considered a really hot prospect before a loss in his last fight. Feijao has finished all of his fights as he has 6 KOs and 1 submission out of his 7 wins. Feijao trains with Anderson Silva and has him in his corner tonight. Rosa is a striker who has recently quit his full-time job to concentrate 100% on MMA. Rosa has a 2.5” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Rosa came out swinging but Fejiao clinched him and landed some good shots. Not much damage done in this round but Feijao controlled the majority of the round. Feijao 10-9.
R2- Feijao hit a good punch/knee combo and then got a take down about mid-way through the round. Elbow strikes are illegal in Strikeforce and Feijao is warned and they are stood back up. Feijao caught Rosa and then started to pound him on the ground and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. A real lackluster fight with an exciting finish.
Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:25
Welterweight Fight- Erik Apple (10-1) vs. Bobby Voelker (20-7)
Voelker is from Kansas City so he’s the hometown fighter. Apple is a Muy Thai fighter and a wrestler. Voelker has a 2.5” reach advantage.
R1- Apple hit some strikes early and had Voelker in trouble but he couldn’t finish. Apple got a take down but Voelker returned the favor with a minute left in the round. Voelker put a lot of pressure on Apple at the end of the round but I had Apple winning the first 4 minutes so I’ve got the first round scored Apple 10-9.
R2- Voelker lands some strikes to start this round and then got a take down. Voelker hurt Apple and then jumped on top for some Ground and Pound and the ref stopped the fight. Good resilience by Voelker in the first round and then he came out strong in the second to put this fight away.
Winner: Bobby Voelker by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:23
Women’s 135lb Fight- Kerry Vera (1-0) vs. Kim Couture (1-1)
R1- Vera hit some nice knees in the clinch. Vera just landed better more concise shots throughout this fight as Couture seemed like she was swinging blindly. Vera got her up against the cage and just destroyed her. Very impressive showing by Vera.
Winner: Kerry Vera by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
December 19th we will see Strikeforce on Showtime as Cung Le takes on Scott Smith and Jacare and Matt Lindland fight each other in each fighters Strikeforce debut. Robbie Lawler will also be in action at that show. In January Strikeforce returns to Showtime with the debut of Herschel Walker and Cris Cyborg will also be on the show.
Welterweight Fight- Tyron Woodley (4-0) vs. Rudy Bears (10-3)
Back in September Woodley defeated Zack Light by 2nd round submission during a Strikeforce Challengers Series show. Bears is a kick boxer and Woodley is a wrestler. Bears has won 6 straight fights and Woodley is undefeated.
R1- Woodley got a take down in the first minute of the fight. Woodley went for an arm bar but couldn’t get it and they stood back up. Woodley hit some knees and then got a double leg take down about half way through the round and went for an arm triangle. Woodley was able to position his body correctly and got the tap from the arm triangle. Very impressive fight and finish by Woodley.
Winner: Tyron Woodley by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 2:52
Memorial Hall
Kansas City, Kansas
November 20, 2009
This is the final Strikeforce Challengers Series of 2009. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he is joined in the booth by Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich. Some fighters to watch tonight are Tyron Woodley, Erik Apple and Rafael Feijao. There is also a very intriguing match-up between Kerry Vera and Kim Couture. I’m sure you recognize those last names if you are an MMA fan. No Jimmy Lennon Jr tonight as the cage announcer is Mike Vale.
Middleweight Fight- Kevin Casey (2-1) vs. Chad Vance (7-3)
Casey is a submission specialist and Vance is a wrestler. Casey has a 5” reach advantage.
R1- Casey got him down early and took his back. Casey got a Rear Naked and go the tap. Quick and impressive victory for Casey.
Winner: Kevin Casey by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Light Heavyweight Fight- Aaron Rosa (12-2) vs. Rafael Feijao (7-2)
Feijao is a Muy Thai/Jiu Jitsu fighter who was considered a really hot prospect before a loss in his last fight. Feijao has finished all of his fights as he has 6 KOs and 1 submission out of his 7 wins. Feijao trains with Anderson Silva and has him in his corner tonight. Rosa is a striker who has recently quit his full-time job to concentrate 100% on MMA. Rosa has a 2.5” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Rosa came out swinging but Fejiao clinched him and landed some good shots. Not much damage done in this round but Feijao controlled the majority of the round. Feijao 10-9.
R2- Feijao hit a good punch/knee combo and then got a take down about mid-way through the round. Elbow strikes are illegal in Strikeforce and Feijao is warned and they are stood back up. Feijao caught Rosa and then started to pound him on the ground and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. A real lackluster fight with an exciting finish.
Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:25
Welterweight Fight- Erik Apple (10-1) vs. Bobby Voelker (20-7)
Voelker is from Kansas City so he’s the hometown fighter. Apple is a Muy Thai fighter and a wrestler. Voelker has a 2.5” reach advantage.
R1- Apple hit some strikes early and had Voelker in trouble but he couldn’t finish. Apple got a take down but Voelker returned the favor with a minute left in the round. Voelker put a lot of pressure on Apple at the end of the round but I had Apple winning the first 4 minutes so I’ve got the first round scored Apple 10-9.
R2- Voelker lands some strikes to start this round and then got a take down. Voelker hurt Apple and then jumped on top for some Ground and Pound and the ref stopped the fight. Good resilience by Voelker in the first round and then he came out strong in the second to put this fight away.
Winner: Bobby Voelker by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:23
Women’s 135lb Fight- Kerry Vera (1-0) vs. Kim Couture (1-1)
R1- Vera hit some nice knees in the clinch. Vera just landed better more concise shots throughout this fight as Couture seemed like she was swinging blindly. Vera got her up against the cage and just destroyed her. Very impressive showing by Vera.
Winner: Kerry Vera by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
December 19th we will see Strikeforce on Showtime as Cung Le takes on Scott Smith and Jacare and Matt Lindland fight each other in each fighters Strikeforce debut. Robbie Lawler will also be in action at that show. In January Strikeforce returns to Showtime with the debut of Herschel Walker and Cris Cyborg will also be on the show.
Welterweight Fight- Tyron Woodley (4-0) vs. Rudy Bears (10-3)
Back in September Woodley defeated Zack Light by 2nd round submission during a Strikeforce Challengers Series show. Bears is a kick boxer and Woodley is a wrestler. Bears has won 6 straight fights and Woodley is undefeated.
R1- Woodley got a take down in the first minute of the fight. Woodley went for an arm bar but couldn’t get it and they stood back up. Woodley hit some knees and then got a double leg take down about half way through the round and went for an arm triangle. Woodley was able to position his body correctly and got the tap from the arm triangle. Very impressive fight and finish by Woodley.
Winner: Tyron Woodley by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 2:52
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights "Gut Check" Episode Ten Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights “Gut Check” Episode Ten
Last week was the first Quarterfinal fight and Roy Nelson defeated Justin Wren by decision. This week we have Brendan Schaub against Jon Madsen in the second quarterfinal fight.
There are still a lot of questions on whether or not Matt Mitrione will be able to fight. This is the focus of the first part of the show and they speculate on if he’s really hurt and who would be his replacement. Kimbo, a possible replacement, also gets a minor leg injury while rolling with Demico. Kimbo sees the doctor and he basically tells him that his cartilage around his knee has worn down and that he needs to get his knee drained or take a cortisone injection.
Coach’s Challenge: Beach Volleyball. I’m thinking Rashad will win this as he seems like he’s more athletic. Rampage and Tiki versus Rashad and Mike Van Arsdale for $10,000. Each fighter wins $1,500 if their coach wins. Team Rampage wins 15 to 8 in the first game. Tiki looked like he had a good serve. Team Rashad 15 to 10 in the second game. The third game decides who wins the coach’s challenge and the money. Team Rashad was up 14 to 13 and got the win. Team Rashad wins yet again against Team Rampage and of course Rashad rubs it in.
Rashad talks to Mitrione about fighting and Mitrione tells Rashad that he feels like he’s being pushed into the situation. Rashad says he’s going to take it out of his hands and call Dana and let him know that he is not going to fight. Dana gives the guys the “Do You Want To Be A Fighter” speech. Dana is going to leave the choice up to Mitrione if he gets medically cleared.
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- Brendan Schaub (4-0) vs. Jon Madsen (1-0)
Schaub has a 4” height and 7.5” reach advantage.
R1- Madsen got a good take down a little over a minute into the round but he doesn’t do anything with the position and the fight gets stood back up. Schaub hit a good right hand in the clinch and then tried to grab a guillotine but got taken down again. Schaub is doing a lot of grabbing the cage and his opponent’s shorts. This was a tough first round. Madsen got two take downs but other than that he did virtually nothing. Schaub didn’t do anything either. Madsen wins this round 10-9 by default.
R2- Schaub avoided an early take down by grabbing the cage again. Then Madsen slipped and Schaub again avoided being taken down by grabbing the cage. Lots of standing around, Madsen looks tired. Schaub hits Madsen with two good punches and this one is over. Not a good fight. Schaub basically just stood around, grabbed the cage to defend on multiple occasions and finally hit two good punches for the win. Schaub has a lot of good raw potential but needs a lot of work.
Winner: Brendan Schaub by TKO (Strikes) R2
Fights Remaining (Quarterfinals):
James McSweeny vs. Matt Mitrione
Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Justin Wren defeated by Roy Nelson: Episode Nine
Jon Madsen defeated by Brendan Schaub: Episode Ten
Last week was the first Quarterfinal fight and Roy Nelson defeated Justin Wren by decision. This week we have Brendan Schaub against Jon Madsen in the second quarterfinal fight.
There are still a lot of questions on whether or not Matt Mitrione will be able to fight. This is the focus of the first part of the show and they speculate on if he’s really hurt and who would be his replacement. Kimbo, a possible replacement, also gets a minor leg injury while rolling with Demico. Kimbo sees the doctor and he basically tells him that his cartilage around his knee has worn down and that he needs to get his knee drained or take a cortisone injection.
Coach’s Challenge: Beach Volleyball. I’m thinking Rashad will win this as he seems like he’s more athletic. Rampage and Tiki versus Rashad and Mike Van Arsdale for $10,000. Each fighter wins $1,500 if their coach wins. Team Rampage wins 15 to 8 in the first game. Tiki looked like he had a good serve. Team Rashad 15 to 10 in the second game. The third game decides who wins the coach’s challenge and the money. Team Rashad was up 14 to 13 and got the win. Team Rashad wins yet again against Team Rampage and of course Rashad rubs it in.
Rashad talks to Mitrione about fighting and Mitrione tells Rashad that he feels like he’s being pushed into the situation. Rashad says he’s going to take it out of his hands and call Dana and let him know that he is not going to fight. Dana gives the guys the “Do You Want To Be A Fighter” speech. Dana is going to leave the choice up to Mitrione if he gets medically cleared.
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- Brendan Schaub (4-0) vs. Jon Madsen (1-0)
Schaub has a 4” height and 7.5” reach advantage.
R1- Madsen got a good take down a little over a minute into the round but he doesn’t do anything with the position and the fight gets stood back up. Schaub hit a good right hand in the clinch and then tried to grab a guillotine but got taken down again. Schaub is doing a lot of grabbing the cage and his opponent’s shorts. This was a tough first round. Madsen got two take downs but other than that he did virtually nothing. Schaub didn’t do anything either. Madsen wins this round 10-9 by default.
R2- Schaub avoided an early take down by grabbing the cage again. Then Madsen slipped and Schaub again avoided being taken down by grabbing the cage. Lots of standing around, Madsen looks tired. Schaub hits Madsen with two good punches and this one is over. Not a good fight. Schaub basically just stood around, grabbed the cage to defend on multiple occasions and finally hit two good punches for the win. Schaub has a lot of good raw potential but needs a lot of work.
Winner: Brendan Schaub by TKO (Strikes) R2
Fights Remaining (Quarterfinals):
James McSweeny vs. Matt Mitrione
Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Justin Wren defeated by Roy Nelson: Episode Nine
Jon Madsen defeated by Brendan Schaub: Episode Ten
Monday, November 16, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Nine Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Nine
Last week we saw Team Rampage get their first win after 7 straight losses as Marcus Jones won in what was the most impressive first round victory to date. Roy Nelson takes on Justin Wren in the first Quarterfinal fight on this episode.
Matt Mitrione is feeling ill from the effects of his last fight and they are teasing him not being able to continue and Kimbo replacing him.
Rampage and his trainers fill Rashad’s car with live chickens. The chickens poop in the car and then Rashad and his guys chase the chickens around the parking lot. Rashad and his guys took it in good stride so Rampage left feeling the joke had backfired.
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. Justin Wren (8-1)
R1- Wren pushes the action early and hit Nelson with some decent shots before Nelson clinched him. The ref separated them and Wren again pushed the action. Nelson started finding a home for his jab towards the end of the round. Wren 10 Nelson 9.
R2- Wren looks like he’s tired and Nelson looks like the crisper fighter in this round. Nelson took this round to even it up 19-19.
20-18, 19-19, 20-18 in favor of Roy Nelson. Wow! How could anybody have scored that first round for Roy Nelson? I think Roy was in a great position to take this fight in the third round but no way he won that first round.
Winner: Roy Nelson by Decision (Majority)
“Trust me. The day we see Roy Nelson in an exciting fight that he made exciting I will give him his props”- Dana White
Fights Remaining (Quarterfinals):
Brendan Schaub vs. Jon Madsen
James McSweeny vs. Matt Mitrione
Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Justin Wren defeated by Roy Nelson: Episode Nine
Last week we saw Team Rampage get their first win after 7 straight losses as Marcus Jones won in what was the most impressive first round victory to date. Roy Nelson takes on Justin Wren in the first Quarterfinal fight on this episode.
Matt Mitrione is feeling ill from the effects of his last fight and they are teasing him not being able to continue and Kimbo replacing him.
Rampage and his trainers fill Rashad’s car with live chickens. The chickens poop in the car and then Rashad and his guys chase the chickens around the parking lot. Rashad and his guys took it in good stride so Rampage left feeling the joke had backfired.
Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. Justin Wren (8-1)
R1- Wren pushes the action early and hit Nelson with some decent shots before Nelson clinched him. The ref separated them and Wren again pushed the action. Nelson started finding a home for his jab towards the end of the round. Wren 10 Nelson 9.
R2- Wren looks like he’s tired and Nelson looks like the crisper fighter in this round. Nelson took this round to even it up 19-19.
20-18, 19-19, 20-18 in favor of Roy Nelson. Wow! How could anybody have scored that first round for Roy Nelson? I think Roy was in a great position to take this fight in the third round but no way he won that first round.
Winner: Roy Nelson by Decision (Majority)
“Trust me. The day we see Roy Nelson in an exciting fight that he made exciting I will give him his props”- Dana White
Fights Remaining (Quarterfinals):
Brendan Schaub vs. Jon Madsen
James McSweeny vs. Matt Mitrione
Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Justin Wren defeated by Roy Nelson: Episode Nine
Sunday, November 15, 2009
UFC 105: "Couture vs. Vera" Re-Cap
UFC 105 Couture vs. Vera
11/14/09
Men Arena
Manchester, UK
Spike TV
The UFC returns to England and Spike TV tonight with a good card. Randy Couture Main Events in a Light Heavyweight Fight tonight against Brandon Vera. Brits Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy are in action against Denis Kang and Mike Swick. The last TUF winner Ross Pearson is also in action as is TUF Brit alum James Wilks.
Lightweight Fight- Ross Pearson (11-3) vs. Aaron Riley (28-11-1)
Riley is fighting out of Greg Jackson’s camp. Pearson is the latest TUF winner and is a Brit so he gets a huge reaction from the fans.
R1- Pearson is landing better strikes in the opening part of the round. Pearson looks really good in this first round and is getting the better of Riley in this first round. Pearson 10-9.
R2- Pearson continues his advantage this round and opens up a big cut on Riley’s head towards the end of the round and the doctor stops the fight due to the cut.
Really good performance by Ross Pearson.
Winner: Ross Pearson by TKO (Ref Stoppage) R2 4:38
Welterweight Fight- James Wilks (7-2) vs. Matt Brown (12-7)
Wilks was the other TUF winner from the same show Pearson was on. Brown is a TUF alum that has looked really good in his last few fights. Matt Brown has been training with Matt Hume.
R1- Pretty even first round. Brown landed some punches in the middle of the round and Wilks towards the end. Brown clamped in a guillotine towards the end of the round but couldn’t hold it and Wilks got a take down. Really close round.
R2- Brown landed a flying knee after Wilks slipped and then Brown went down to the ground and landed some strikes. Wilks was able to grab a leg lock to slip out of the bad position. Brown lands some good punches at the one minute mark. Brown clamped in a triangle but the buzzer sounded. Probably 19-19 right now but the momentum is fully with Brown right now.
R3- Wilks went for a couple of submission early but Brown was able to come back and Ground and Pound Wilks for the TKO win.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:27
Lightweight Fight- Andre Winner (10-3-1) vs. Rolando Delgado (8-4-1)
Delgado has a 4” reach and 4” height advantage.
R1- Winner hit a big time right hand in the first minute and then jumped on top but Roli was able to defend and get out of trouble. Winner hit a huge right hand late in the round and that was all she wrote. Winner looked really good in this fight.
Winner: Andre Winner by KO R1 3:22
Tito Ortiz is on via satellite and Joe Rogan interviews him about next weeks fight against Forrest Griffin.
Middleweight- Michael Bisping (18-2) vs. Denis Kang (32-11-1)
R1- Kang caught Bisping early and followed him to the ground but Bisping was able to lock him up and avoid more damage. Kang stayed on top of Bisping and was able to land some decent shots but Bisping did a good job in avoiding damage. Kang 10 Bisping 9.
R2- Bisping got a take down two minutes into the round. Bisping was able to land some good Ground and Pound. Kang got to his feet but not before taking some good shots. Bisping got another take down and landed more shots. Bisping opened up a cut near Kang’s eye. Bisping got another take down with one minute left in the round. Bisping landed knees to the side and finished Kang via TKO with punches. Good performance by Bisping.
Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (punches) R2 4:24
Light Heavyweight Fight- Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jared Hamman
This fight was on the pre-show.
R1- These guys throw leather right from the out-set. Big straight right hand from Gustafsson right after a re-start and then he jumped on top and quickly finished the fight. This one was a short but action packed fight.
Winner: Alexander Gustafsson by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:41
Welterweight Fight- Mike Swick (14-2) vs. Dan Hardy (22-6-1)
Swick has a 3” reach advantage. The winner should get a shot at GSP’s Welterweight Championship. This is the Co-Main Event of the evening. GSP is sitting next to Dana White watching the fight.
R1- Lots of clinching in this first round. Neither guy established themselves in this round. Pretty much a deadlocked round.
R2- Hardy landed a punch early that hurt Swick but he stayed on his feet. After that punch they went back to the clinch. Swick landed some shots in the final minute of the round but nothing as good as Hardy’s initial punch of the round. Hardy took this round.
R3- They exchange some leather early in the round with both guys landing shots. Hardy hurt Swick again with a punch but didn’t knock him down. Hardy went for a take down and Swick tried to counter with a guillotine but Hardy was able to get him to the mat. Hardy cut Swick with some elbows but the ref stood the fight back up. Hardy’s going to take this round so I’ve got Hardy winning two rounds and thus the fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28
Winner: Dan Hardy by Decision (Unanimous)
Post Fight they bring GSP in the cage and hype up GSP/Dan Hardy.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Randy Couture (16-10) vs. Brandon Vera (11-3)
Vera has a 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Vera came out swinging with a kick and then some punches. Randy clinched him against the cage but the ref broke it up after a minute. Randy quickly went back to the clinch against the cage and then got a take down but Vera got back to his feet with little damage. Randy didn’t inflict much damage but he controlled 4 and a half minutes of the first round. Couture 10 Vera 9.
R2- Lots of clinching by Couture. Vera lands some strikes and hurts Couture with a kick and follows him to the ground but Couture locks him up in his guard. Couture clinched Vera up against the cage to the end the round. Vera takes this round and we are at 19-19 going into the final stanza. Randy has a cut near his eye.
R3- Randy landed some good shots to start the round. Randy controlled the first part of the round by clinching Vera against the cage. Vera hit some good kicks after they were separated. Vera got Randy to the ground with under a minute left and landed in full mount but Couture was able to roll out with 15 seconds left and they got back to their feet and exchanged knees and punches. Really close round and really close fight.
Judges score cards: 29-28 on all score cards.
Winner: Randy Couture by Decision (Unanimous)
11/14/09
Men Arena
Manchester, UK
Spike TV
The UFC returns to England and Spike TV tonight with a good card. Randy Couture Main Events in a Light Heavyweight Fight tonight against Brandon Vera. Brits Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy are in action against Denis Kang and Mike Swick. The last TUF winner Ross Pearson is also in action as is TUF Brit alum James Wilks.
Lightweight Fight- Ross Pearson (11-3) vs. Aaron Riley (28-11-1)
Riley is fighting out of Greg Jackson’s camp. Pearson is the latest TUF winner and is a Brit so he gets a huge reaction from the fans.
R1- Pearson is landing better strikes in the opening part of the round. Pearson looks really good in this first round and is getting the better of Riley in this first round. Pearson 10-9.
R2- Pearson continues his advantage this round and opens up a big cut on Riley’s head towards the end of the round and the doctor stops the fight due to the cut.
Really good performance by Ross Pearson.
Winner: Ross Pearson by TKO (Ref Stoppage) R2 4:38
Welterweight Fight- James Wilks (7-2) vs. Matt Brown (12-7)
Wilks was the other TUF winner from the same show Pearson was on. Brown is a TUF alum that has looked really good in his last few fights. Matt Brown has been training with Matt Hume.
R1- Pretty even first round. Brown landed some punches in the middle of the round and Wilks towards the end. Brown clamped in a guillotine towards the end of the round but couldn’t hold it and Wilks got a take down. Really close round.
R2- Brown landed a flying knee after Wilks slipped and then Brown went down to the ground and landed some strikes. Wilks was able to grab a leg lock to slip out of the bad position. Brown lands some good punches at the one minute mark. Brown clamped in a triangle but the buzzer sounded. Probably 19-19 right now but the momentum is fully with Brown right now.
R3- Wilks went for a couple of submission early but Brown was able to come back and Ground and Pound Wilks for the TKO win.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:27
Lightweight Fight- Andre Winner (10-3-1) vs. Rolando Delgado (8-4-1)
Delgado has a 4” reach and 4” height advantage.
R1- Winner hit a big time right hand in the first minute and then jumped on top but Roli was able to defend and get out of trouble. Winner hit a huge right hand late in the round and that was all she wrote. Winner looked really good in this fight.
Winner: Andre Winner by KO R1 3:22
Tito Ortiz is on via satellite and Joe Rogan interviews him about next weeks fight against Forrest Griffin.
Middleweight- Michael Bisping (18-2) vs. Denis Kang (32-11-1)
R1- Kang caught Bisping early and followed him to the ground but Bisping was able to lock him up and avoid more damage. Kang stayed on top of Bisping and was able to land some decent shots but Bisping did a good job in avoiding damage. Kang 10 Bisping 9.
R2- Bisping got a take down two minutes into the round. Bisping was able to land some good Ground and Pound. Kang got to his feet but not before taking some good shots. Bisping got another take down and landed more shots. Bisping opened up a cut near Kang’s eye. Bisping got another take down with one minute left in the round. Bisping landed knees to the side and finished Kang via TKO with punches. Good performance by Bisping.
Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (punches) R2 4:24
Light Heavyweight Fight- Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jared Hamman
This fight was on the pre-show.
R1- These guys throw leather right from the out-set. Big straight right hand from Gustafsson right after a re-start and then he jumped on top and quickly finished the fight. This one was a short but action packed fight.
Winner: Alexander Gustafsson by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:41
Welterweight Fight- Mike Swick (14-2) vs. Dan Hardy (22-6-1)
Swick has a 3” reach advantage. The winner should get a shot at GSP’s Welterweight Championship. This is the Co-Main Event of the evening. GSP is sitting next to Dana White watching the fight.
R1- Lots of clinching in this first round. Neither guy established themselves in this round. Pretty much a deadlocked round.
R2- Hardy landed a punch early that hurt Swick but he stayed on his feet. After that punch they went back to the clinch. Swick landed some shots in the final minute of the round but nothing as good as Hardy’s initial punch of the round. Hardy took this round.
R3- They exchange some leather early in the round with both guys landing shots. Hardy hurt Swick again with a punch but didn’t knock him down. Hardy went for a take down and Swick tried to counter with a guillotine but Hardy was able to get him to the mat. Hardy cut Swick with some elbows but the ref stood the fight back up. Hardy’s going to take this round so I’ve got Hardy winning two rounds and thus the fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28
Winner: Dan Hardy by Decision (Unanimous)
Post Fight they bring GSP in the cage and hype up GSP/Dan Hardy.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Randy Couture (16-10) vs. Brandon Vera (11-3)
Vera has a 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Vera came out swinging with a kick and then some punches. Randy clinched him against the cage but the ref broke it up after a minute. Randy quickly went back to the clinch against the cage and then got a take down but Vera got back to his feet with little damage. Randy didn’t inflict much damage but he controlled 4 and a half minutes of the first round. Couture 10 Vera 9.
R2- Lots of clinching by Couture. Vera lands some strikes and hurts Couture with a kick and follows him to the ground but Couture locks him up in his guard. Couture clinched Vera up against the cage to the end the round. Vera takes this round and we are at 19-19 going into the final stanza. Randy has a cut near his eye.
R3- Randy landed some good shots to start the round. Randy controlled the first part of the round by clinching Vera against the cage. Vera hit some good kicks after they were separated. Vera got Randy to the ground with under a minute left and landed in full mount but Couture was able to roll out with 15 seconds left and they got back to their feet and exchanged knees and punches. Really close round and really close fight.
Judges score cards: 29-28 on all score cards.
Winner: Randy Couture by Decision (Unanimous)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Eight Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Eight
Team Rashad is up 7-0 on Team Rampage and looks to make a clean sweep of the first round with only Marcus Jones standing in their way.
Mike Wessel has fought for UFC before and fought Antoni Hardonk. Schoonover and Rampage get into it again this week. We also learn that Marcus Jones doesn’t like insects and people making fun of him.
Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Mike Wessel (8-2)
Jones has a huge 6” height and 7.5” reach advantage.
R1- Wessel got some shots in early but Jones got a take down in the first thirty seconds of the fight. Wessel was able to spin and take Jones’s guard but Jones quickly tapped Wessel with an arm bar. Really impressive win by Marcus Jones and Team Rampage is on the board! This was probably the most impressive win so far of the competition.
Winner: Marcus Jones by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
“Big Baby is no joke”- Rashad Evans
“Marcus is for real. This guy has some jiu jitsu”- Dana White
The first round is over. Team Rashad 7 Team Rampage 1. Now Dana calls the fighters in one by one and asks them who they want to fight in the next round.
“I feel like I’m driving my kids to school when I’m with you two”- Dana White to Rashad Evans (about Rashad and Rampage)
Fight Announcements (Quarterfinals):
Roy Nelson vs. Justin Wren
Brendan Schaub vs. Jon Madsen
James McSweeny vs. Matt Mitrione
Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover
To close out the show Rampage and Rashad get into another war of the words.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Team Rashad is up 7-0 on Team Rampage and looks to make a clean sweep of the first round with only Marcus Jones standing in their way.
Mike Wessel has fought for UFC before and fought Antoni Hardonk. Schoonover and Rampage get into it again this week. We also learn that Marcus Jones doesn’t like insects and people making fun of him.
Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Mike Wessel (8-2)
Jones has a huge 6” height and 7.5” reach advantage.
R1- Wessel got some shots in early but Jones got a take down in the first thirty seconds of the fight. Wessel was able to spin and take Jones’s guard but Jones quickly tapped Wessel with an arm bar. Really impressive win by Marcus Jones and Team Rampage is on the board! This was probably the most impressive win so far of the competition.
Winner: Marcus Jones by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
“Big Baby is no joke”- Rashad Evans
“Marcus is for real. This guy has some jiu jitsu”- Dana White
The first round is over. Team Rashad 7 Team Rampage 1. Now Dana calls the fighters in one by one and asks them who they want to fight in the next round.
“I feel like I’m driving my kids to school when I’m with you two”- Dana White to Rashad Evans (about Rashad and Rampage)
Fight Announcements (Quarterfinals):
Roy Nelson vs. Justin Wren
Brendan Schaub vs. Jon Madsen
James McSweeny vs. Matt Mitrione
Marcus Jones vs. Darrill Schoonover
To close out the show Rampage and Rashad get into another war of the words.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Friday, November 13, 2009
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers 11/7/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers
CBS Saturday Night Fights
Sears Centre
Chicago, Illinois
11/7/09
They start the show with a hard hype push for Fedor and put Brett Rogers over as the “most exciting heavyweight on the planet.” Gus Johnson is the lead announcer tonight and he is joined by Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. Also on this card is a fight for the vacant Middleweight title (vacated by Cung Le) between Jake Shields and Jason Miller, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will take on Sokoudjou and Antonio Silva will take on Fabricio Werdum.
Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs. Antonio Silva (13-1)
Gus Johnson puts over Werdum as one of the top Heavyweight Jiu Jitsu fighters. Silva has a 4” reach and 21 lb weight advantage. Silva is on a 6 fight win streak and is the former Elite XC Heavyweight Champion. Werdum won his Strikeforce debut by submitting Mike Kyle back in August.
R1- Werdum came in for some offense but ate some punches from Silva and then went to the mat. Silva landed a wild right hand and Werdum is trying to just hold onto Silva’s leg and withstand the barrage and he does. Werdum went for a takedown but Silva threw him down instead. Werdum hit a big right hand but Silva clinched and came back with a couple of elbows. Werdum came back and landed some strikes. Silva got Werdum to the mat and landed some strikes at the end of the round. Good first round with Silva taking it 10-9.
R2- Werdum came in early in the round but Silva counter punched and knocked Werdum to the mat. Werdum baited Silva to the ground and eventually flipped him over and got on top of him but Silva got back up with little damage taken. Werdum got another take down with about a minute left in the round. This was a really close round that Werdum might have stolen.
R3- Werdum got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Silva was able to get to the cage and get back to his feet. Silva landed a punch but Werdum responded with a knee. Werdum landed another knee in the clinch. Werdum grabbed Sliva and got another take down. Werdum finishes the round with some strikes. I’ve got Werdum taking this round. I could see a split decision by the judges. I’ve got Werdum 29-28.
Judges scores: 29-28 in favor of Werdum on all score cards
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Sokoudjou (7-4)
Mousasi is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion as he destroyed Babalu Sobral in his last fight to win the title. Mousasi has a 3” height advantage. Sokoudjou has Dan Henderson in his corner. Mousasi is on a 13 fight win streak.
R1- Mousasi throws a couple of high leg kicks early that deflect off Sokoudjou. Mousasi has really taken the center of the cage and is stalking Sokoudjou but neither fighter has found the range yet. Sokoudjou went for a couple take downs but was fought off. Mousasi landed some shots but Sokoudjou got a judo throw and took Mousasi down. Mousasi rolled him over with about a minute left in the fight but Sokoudjou fought back and flipped him back over with a judo move against the cage. Sokoudjou went for a guillotine and Mousasi got out of it but ate a knee. Sokoudjou landed another judo throw. Mousasi ended the round by getting a take down that might have won the round for him. Very close round that could have gone either way. Sokoudjou has traditionally faded after the first round so it will be interesting to see if he’s improved his conditioning.
R2- Mousasi came in quickly in this round and they clinched and Mousasi landed some minor strikes. Mousasi threw a bunch of punches against the cage but Sokoudjou fought through the barrage. Sokoudjou tried a judo throw but Mousasi reversed it and Sokoudjou actually got the take down. Sokoudjou then pretty much just laid on Mousasi resting. Mousasi grabbed an arm and was able to take Sokoudjou’s guard. Mousasi is landing some good strikes on the ground. The ref stops the fight. Sokoudjou again faded in the second round and Mousasi outlasted him. Mousasi was never in trouble in this fight and while he didn’t look as dominant as his last fight he still fought a good fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:43
The show the “stars” in the crowd. The following people are shown: Andrei Arlovski, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith, Matt Lindland, Shinya Aoki, Cung Le. Le will fight Scott Smith Dec 19th. They also say Lawler and Lindland will be on that show. Aoki will be coming to Strikforce soon and Arlovski is currently training with Greg Jackson
Middleweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason Miller (22-6-1)
Shields is the former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and is coming off of a quick victory of Robbie Lawler. Miller comes out with red hair with a black skunk stripe and comes out with some dancers. Miller has a big 5” reach advantage in this fight. Shields has won 12 consecutive fights.
R1- Shields got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the fight. Shields took Miller’s back and then moved to full mount. Miller did a good job of getting back to his feet without taking much damage. Shields quickly got another take down. Miller got back to his feet and slammed Shields to the ground with about a minute and a half left in the round. Shields got back to his feet but Miller suplexed him to the ground. Really close round as Shields dominated the first part and Miller the second part. Shields controlled more of the round and landed more strikes but Miller ended with a couple of slams. Shields 10-9 after one round.
R2- Shields got cut at the beginning of the round but didn’t take any damage. Miller got a take down but then Shields quickly got the advantage on the mat. Shields is able to get a full mount but Miller flipped out using the cage and Shields took Miller’s back again. Shields really controlled Miller for the first 4 minutes of this round and is now up 20-18 on my score card. On the re-play it looked like Shields got the cut from a headbutt.
R3- Miller got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the round but Shields quickly got back to his feet and then took Miller down. Shields has full mount and is landing some strikes. About half way through the round Miller was able to get back to his feet. Big John McCarthy stops the fight briefly so Miller’s corner can fix his gloves. Shields got a take down as soon as they were re-started. Miller was able to take Shields back at the end of the round and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke with about 8 seconds left but Shields held on and did not tap. Shields dominated the entire round but almost got choked out with 8 seconds left so it will be interesting to see how this round is scored.
R4- Shields quickly got a take down to start the round and rode Miller for the first half of the round. McCarthy stood them up and Shields again quickly got a take down. Shields easily took this round. I’ve got Shields up on score cards. Miller needs to get a 10-8 round or finish the fight if he wants to win.
R5- Shields got a take down about a minute into the fight. Shields really controlled this round from start to finish. I think Shields won this fight 50-45. Although I could see rounds 1 or 3 going to Miller.
Judges score cards: 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 all in favor of Shields
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0)
Rogers has a lot of physical advantages in this fight as he has a 4.5” height, 7” reach and 32 lb weight advantage. Fedor is a Sambo/Judo fighter and Rogers is a Boxer/Muy Thai fighter. Fedor is introduced as the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion (the belt he won in Affliction) and gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Fedor threw a couple of big bombs at the beginning but missed. It didn’t look like Rogers hit Fedor with anything but his glove may have clipped his nose as Fedor’s nose had blood on the tip. Rogers looks a lot more apprehensive then I’ve ever seen him. Fedor got Rogers down but Rogers quickly got up and they clinched against the cage. Thre is a lot of blood coming out of Fedor’s nose. The announcers say he got caught by a jab. Fedor hit a big left hand and then was able to get Rogers down on the mat. Fedor landed some good punches on the ground. Rogers pushed out of the bottom but as he did so Fedor grabbed a kimura but had to release it and Rogers ended up in Fedor’s guard. Rogers hit some good Ground and Pound. Fedor went for an arm bar and couldn’t get it but was able to get out of the guard. Fedor caught Rogers with a punch as Rogers was really slow to get up and Fedor took the half guard position on Rogers and went for an arm triangle. Still a lot of blood coming out of Fedor. Great first round. Fedor takes this round 10-9 but has been cut badly in a couple of places.
R2- Fedor chants start this round and then some USA chants are started. Fedor got Rogers up against the cage and threw some punches but Rogers was able to block them. The announcers say the doctor believes Fedor’s nose is broken. Fedor landed a highlight reel right hand and Rogers dropped like a ton of bricks. Fedor jumped on top and landed some punches and the ref stopped the fight but I don’t think he needed those extra punches as the big right knocked out Rogers. Really fun fight and a fantastic Main Event for Strikeforce on their CBS debut.
Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
CBS Saturday Night Fights
Sears Centre
Chicago, Illinois
11/7/09
They start the show with a hard hype push for Fedor and put Brett Rogers over as the “most exciting heavyweight on the planet.” Gus Johnson is the lead announcer tonight and he is joined by Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. Also on this card is a fight for the vacant Middleweight title (vacated by Cung Le) between Jake Shields and Jason Miller, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will take on Sokoudjou and Antonio Silva will take on Fabricio Werdum.
Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs. Antonio Silva (13-1)
Gus Johnson puts over Werdum as one of the top Heavyweight Jiu Jitsu fighters. Silva has a 4” reach and 21 lb weight advantage. Silva is on a 6 fight win streak and is the former Elite XC Heavyweight Champion. Werdum won his Strikeforce debut by submitting Mike Kyle back in August.
R1- Werdum came in for some offense but ate some punches from Silva and then went to the mat. Silva landed a wild right hand and Werdum is trying to just hold onto Silva’s leg and withstand the barrage and he does. Werdum went for a takedown but Silva threw him down instead. Werdum hit a big right hand but Silva clinched and came back with a couple of elbows. Werdum came back and landed some strikes. Silva got Werdum to the mat and landed some strikes at the end of the round. Good first round with Silva taking it 10-9.
R2- Werdum came in early in the round but Silva counter punched and knocked Werdum to the mat. Werdum baited Silva to the ground and eventually flipped him over and got on top of him but Silva got back up with little damage taken. Werdum got another take down with about a minute left in the round. This was a really close round that Werdum might have stolen.
R3- Werdum got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Silva was able to get to the cage and get back to his feet. Silva landed a punch but Werdum responded with a knee. Werdum landed another knee in the clinch. Werdum grabbed Sliva and got another take down. Werdum finishes the round with some strikes. I’ve got Werdum taking this round. I could see a split decision by the judges. I’ve got Werdum 29-28.
Judges scores: 29-28 in favor of Werdum on all score cards
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Sokoudjou (7-4)
Mousasi is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion as he destroyed Babalu Sobral in his last fight to win the title. Mousasi has a 3” height advantage. Sokoudjou has Dan Henderson in his corner. Mousasi is on a 13 fight win streak.
R1- Mousasi throws a couple of high leg kicks early that deflect off Sokoudjou. Mousasi has really taken the center of the cage and is stalking Sokoudjou but neither fighter has found the range yet. Sokoudjou went for a couple take downs but was fought off. Mousasi landed some shots but Sokoudjou got a judo throw and took Mousasi down. Mousasi rolled him over with about a minute left in the fight but Sokoudjou fought back and flipped him back over with a judo move against the cage. Sokoudjou went for a guillotine and Mousasi got out of it but ate a knee. Sokoudjou landed another judo throw. Mousasi ended the round by getting a take down that might have won the round for him. Very close round that could have gone either way. Sokoudjou has traditionally faded after the first round so it will be interesting to see if he’s improved his conditioning.
R2- Mousasi came in quickly in this round and they clinched and Mousasi landed some minor strikes. Mousasi threw a bunch of punches against the cage but Sokoudjou fought through the barrage. Sokoudjou tried a judo throw but Mousasi reversed it and Sokoudjou actually got the take down. Sokoudjou then pretty much just laid on Mousasi resting. Mousasi grabbed an arm and was able to take Sokoudjou’s guard. Mousasi is landing some good strikes on the ground. The ref stops the fight. Sokoudjou again faded in the second round and Mousasi outlasted him. Mousasi was never in trouble in this fight and while he didn’t look as dominant as his last fight he still fought a good fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:43
The show the “stars” in the crowd. The following people are shown: Andrei Arlovski, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith, Matt Lindland, Shinya Aoki, Cung Le. Le will fight Scott Smith Dec 19th. They also say Lawler and Lindland will be on that show. Aoki will be coming to Strikforce soon and Arlovski is currently training with Greg Jackson
Middleweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason Miller (22-6-1)
Shields is the former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and is coming off of a quick victory of Robbie Lawler. Miller comes out with red hair with a black skunk stripe and comes out with some dancers. Miller has a big 5” reach advantage in this fight. Shields has won 12 consecutive fights.
R1- Shields got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the fight. Shields took Miller’s back and then moved to full mount. Miller did a good job of getting back to his feet without taking much damage. Shields quickly got another take down. Miller got back to his feet and slammed Shields to the ground with about a minute and a half left in the round. Shields got back to his feet but Miller suplexed him to the ground. Really close round as Shields dominated the first part and Miller the second part. Shields controlled more of the round and landed more strikes but Miller ended with a couple of slams. Shields 10-9 after one round.
R2- Shields got cut at the beginning of the round but didn’t take any damage. Miller got a take down but then Shields quickly got the advantage on the mat. Shields is able to get a full mount but Miller flipped out using the cage and Shields took Miller’s back again. Shields really controlled Miller for the first 4 minutes of this round and is now up 20-18 on my score card. On the re-play it looked like Shields got the cut from a headbutt.
R3- Miller got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the round but Shields quickly got back to his feet and then took Miller down. Shields has full mount and is landing some strikes. About half way through the round Miller was able to get back to his feet. Big John McCarthy stops the fight briefly so Miller’s corner can fix his gloves. Shields got a take down as soon as they were re-started. Miller was able to take Shields back at the end of the round and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke with about 8 seconds left but Shields held on and did not tap. Shields dominated the entire round but almost got choked out with 8 seconds left so it will be interesting to see how this round is scored.
R4- Shields quickly got a take down to start the round and rode Miller for the first half of the round. McCarthy stood them up and Shields again quickly got a take down. Shields easily took this round. I’ve got Shields up on score cards. Miller needs to get a 10-8 round or finish the fight if he wants to win.
R5- Shields got a take down about a minute into the fight. Shields really controlled this round from start to finish. I think Shields won this fight 50-45. Although I could see rounds 1 or 3 going to Miller.
Judges score cards: 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 all in favor of Shields
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0)
Rogers has a lot of physical advantages in this fight as he has a 4.5” height, 7” reach and 32 lb weight advantage. Fedor is a Sambo/Judo fighter and Rogers is a Boxer/Muy Thai fighter. Fedor is introduced as the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion (the belt he won in Affliction) and gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Fedor threw a couple of big bombs at the beginning but missed. It didn’t look like Rogers hit Fedor with anything but his glove may have clipped his nose as Fedor’s nose had blood on the tip. Rogers looks a lot more apprehensive then I’ve ever seen him. Fedor got Rogers down but Rogers quickly got up and they clinched against the cage. Thre is a lot of blood coming out of Fedor’s nose. The announcers say he got caught by a jab. Fedor hit a big left hand and then was able to get Rogers down on the mat. Fedor landed some good punches on the ground. Rogers pushed out of the bottom but as he did so Fedor grabbed a kimura but had to release it and Rogers ended up in Fedor’s guard. Rogers hit some good Ground and Pound. Fedor went for an arm bar and couldn’t get it but was able to get out of the guard. Fedor caught Rogers with a punch as Rogers was really slow to get up and Fedor took the half guard position on Rogers and went for an arm triangle. Still a lot of blood coming out of Fedor. Great first round. Fedor takes this round 10-9 but has been cut badly in a couple of places.
R2- Fedor chants start this round and then some USA chants are started. Fedor got Rogers up against the cage and threw some punches but Rogers was able to block them. The announcers say the doctor believes Fedor’s nose is broken. Fedor landed a highlight reel right hand and Rogers dropped like a ton of bricks. Fedor jumped on top and landed some punches and the ref stopped the fight but I don’t think he needed those extra punches as the big right knocked out Rogers. Really fun fight and a fantastic Main Event for Strikeforce on their CBS debut.
Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
UFC 104 Re-Cap
UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun
10/24/09
Los Angeles, Ca
Staples Center
Lyoto Machida makes his first defense of his Light Heavyweight Title tonight against Shogun Rua. Cain Velasquez will try to stay undefeated when he takes on Ben Rothwell.
Welterweight Fight (Catchweight of 176)- Anthony Johnson (7-2) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3)
Yoshida subbed Brandon Wolff at UFC 98. Anthony Johnson TKO’d Luigi Fioravanti at Fight Night 17. Yoshida is a 4th degree Judo Black Belt. Johnson missed weight for this fight by six pounds. Joe Rogan says he’s been rumored to walk around as big as 220 so his days as a Welterweight might be numbered. Johnson has been training with Cung Le and has Le and Josh Thomson in his corner. Johnson has a 3” height, 8” reach and 6 lb weight advantage.
R1- Johnson landed some punches early in the clinch and then decked him with a right hand and this one is over. Rogan pointed out that these guys looked like they were in different weight divisions. Johnson looked great but he missed weight and he has got to move up in weight if he can’t make the cut to 170.
Winner: Anthony Johnson by TKO (Punches) R1 0:41
Post-fight Johnson said that he had gotten heavy because of a knee injury that he sustained in training for Matt Brown previously. He owned up for not making weight but said that he’s not planning on moving up weight classes yet.
Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is in the crowd.
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (24-4) vs. Joe Stevenson (35-10)
Fisher is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Caol Uno in a very close fight. Fisher is on a 3 fight win streak. Stevenson is coming off of a win over Nate Diaz by Unanimous Decision at the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. Stevenson is currently training with Greg Jackson and has him in his corner for the fight. Stevenson is a jiu jitsu and judo black belt.
R1- Stevenson opened up a cut near Spencer’s eye. Stevenson fights hard for a take down but Spencer stuffs him and the ref breaks up the clinch. Spencer is blinking a lot and having some issues with the blood in his eye. Stevenson finally gets a take down with about half a minute left in the round. Joe lands some good Ground and Pound as Spencer turtled up. Stevenson takes this round and is up 10-9.
R2- Stevenson got a take down in the second minute of the round. Stevenson lands some good elbows in half guard. Stevenson just starts destroying Spencer with elbows and Herb Dean steps in and puts a stop to the fight. Stevenson has looked really good under the direction of Greg Jackson.
They announce the win as tapout due to strikes.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Elbow Strikes) R2 4:03
Chris Tucker is at the fights with his sunglasses.
Middleweight Fight- Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen
The Dean of Draws Yushin Okami makes it onto the PPV in a televised pre-PPV fight. Okami’s only loss in UFC is to Rich Franklin. Matt Lindland is in Sonnen’s corner.
R1- Sonnen gets a take down in the first minute. Okami keeps getting up but Sonnen keeps taking him back down. Okami gets back to his feet about half way through the round. Sonnen got another take down with about a minute left in the round. Sonnen takes the first round 10-9.
R2- This was a pretty even round but Sonnen seemed to start getting the better of Okami towards the end of the round.
R3- Sonnen got a take down about half way through the round and landed some Ground and Pound but Okami got back up. Okami grabbed Sonnen with a kimura in full guard but could not keep it as Sonnen landed some body punches. Sonnen is going to win this fight by decision. Really good win for Sonnen.
Judges score cards say:
Winner: Chael Sonnen by Decision (Unanimous) 30-27 on all 3 score cards
Catchweight Fight- Josh Neer (25-8-1) vs. Gleison Tibau (29-6)
Tibau comes out to “Iron Man” but doesn’t have any spiked shoulder pads. Tibau is coming off a decision loss to Melvin Guillard. Tibau is fighting out of American Top Team and is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Neer is coming off a decision loss to Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 101. Neer came in at 156.5 lbs and Tibau at 157 so that’s why this is a catchweight fight.
R1- Tibau got a wicked slam early but Neer got back to his feet. Tibau got another big take down/slam but Neer got up again after a short amount of time on the ground. Tibau got a third take down but Neer pushed him off when he tried to pass. Tibau got a fourth take down. Neer got to his feet and Tibau tried to grab a guillotine but Neer quickly slipped out. Tibau took this round 10-9.
Jerry Ferrera (turtle from Entourage) was shown in the crowd during the intermission between rounds. Jeremy Piven (also from Entourage) was shown a bit later.
R2- Tibau starts off the round with another powerful take down but Neer again gets up quickly. Tibau is taking Neer down at will but is not able to hold him down. Tibau was able to get a mount with half of the round left. Neer gave up his back to get out of mount and Tibau tried to get an arm bar but couldn’t and Neer ended up on top briefly. I’ve got Tibau up 20-18 but he seems to be fading a bit.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are at the show tonight.
R3- Tibau started off the round with a take down. Neer was able to stuff three take downs. Tibau gets another take down with two minutes left in the fight but couldn’t hold him down. Tibau finishes the fight with yet another take down. Tibau really dominated this fight with take downs. The only round that was close was the final one.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
Winner: Gleison Tibau by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (6-0) vs. Ben Rothwell (30-6)
Rothwell is making his UFC debut and is a former IFL Heavyweight Champion. Velasquez is a Top 10 Heavyweight and is coming off a big unanimous decision win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 99. Rothwell has a 3” height and 3” reach advantage and has a huge weight advantage of 27 lbs. Velasquez is from California and is a big fan favorite in this fight. Rothwell has won 14 of his last 15 fights and was 9-0 in IFL fights.
R1- Cain got a take down in the first 30 seconds but Rothwell stood back up without taking any damage. Cain got another take down at the two minute mark of the round. Cain landed a couple of punches before Rothwell got to his feet. Cain got Rothwell down again and landed some good punches and looked like he opened up a cut on Rothwell. Cain is starting to land some good punches. Cain landed some hammer fists and then peppered Rothwell with several punches. Cain is just dominating Rothwell so far. Somehow Rothwell survives that round but he took a beating in the second part of the round. 10-8 round in favor of Cain.
R2- Cain opens up the round with a take down and lands some good shots. Cain lands some big shots against the cage and Mazzagatti steps in and stops the fight. Rothwell is upset. Definitely an awkward stoppage but Cain was completely dominating the fight up to that point. Not a good time to stop the fight by Mazzagatti as Cain was landing some good punches but Rothwell was in the process of getting back to his feet.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by TKO (Punches) R2 0:58
Chuck Liddell is at the fights as is Michael Clarke Duncan.
Light Heavyweight Title Fight: Lyoto Machida © (15-0) vs. Shogun Rua (18-3)
Lyoto has had 15 career fights and has never been knocked down. He’s also never lost a round in any of his UFC fights and has absorbed fewer strikes than any other fighter in UFC history. Shogun has also never been knocked down in the UFC and has a 46% strike accuracy percentage (versus 35% of the average fighter). Machida gets a really good reception from the crowd.
R1- Machida hits a few knees early. Shogun clinched Machida a couple of times but didn’t land anything significant. Really close round with neither guy really having an advantage. Shogun was the aggressor but in a title fight I’ve got to give the benefit of the scoring to the champion if neither fighter looked like they won the round. So I’ve got 10-9 Machida (it would be a 10-10 if it was allowed to be scored that way).
R2- Machida landed a couple of strikes in the opening minute. Machida landed a punch on Shogun and knocked him off balance and later hit a leg kick that did the same thing. Machida hit a side kick at the two minute mark but Shogun countered with one of his own. Shogun clinched Machida and landed some knees on Machida’s legs. Another close round that I’ve got going to Machida. Machida 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Shogun opens up with a body kick. Machida counters with a combination. They had two good exchanges where it looked like both guys hit what they went for. Shogun is landing some good leg kicks in this round. Machida landed some punches and Shogun hit a counter as well. Really close round that Machida probably stole with that last flurry. Machida 30-27 on my score card.
R4- Shogun is landing some leg kicks early in the round. Machida slipped and Shogun quickly rushed in for a take down but couldn’t get it. Not a lot of action in this round but Shogun definitely got the better of the little strikes that hit in this round. Machida 39-37 so far.
R5- Shogun continues with the onslaught of leg kicks. But I really don’t think leg kicks should win you a championship unless they are devastating and if they are devastating. Machida landed some knees and Shogun responded with a kick. Shogun landed a couple of strikes with about a minute and a half left in the fight. Close round but I think Shogun did enough to win this round. I’ve got this fight as Machida 48 Shogun 47. Really close fight with 5 very competitive and close rounds. Shogun fought a good fight but I don’t think he did enough to unseat the champion. I could definitely see a split decision by the judges.
Judges score cards say: All 3 judges score the fight 48-47 in favor of Machida.
Winner and still champion: Lyoto Machida by Decision (Unanimous)
10/24/09
Los Angeles, Ca
Staples Center
Lyoto Machida makes his first defense of his Light Heavyweight Title tonight against Shogun Rua. Cain Velasquez will try to stay undefeated when he takes on Ben Rothwell.
Welterweight Fight (Catchweight of 176)- Anthony Johnson (7-2) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3)
Yoshida subbed Brandon Wolff at UFC 98. Anthony Johnson TKO’d Luigi Fioravanti at Fight Night 17. Yoshida is a 4th degree Judo Black Belt. Johnson missed weight for this fight by six pounds. Joe Rogan says he’s been rumored to walk around as big as 220 so his days as a Welterweight might be numbered. Johnson has been training with Cung Le and has Le and Josh Thomson in his corner. Johnson has a 3” height, 8” reach and 6 lb weight advantage.
R1- Johnson landed some punches early in the clinch and then decked him with a right hand and this one is over. Rogan pointed out that these guys looked like they were in different weight divisions. Johnson looked great but he missed weight and he has got to move up in weight if he can’t make the cut to 170.
Winner: Anthony Johnson by TKO (Punches) R1 0:41
Post-fight Johnson said that he had gotten heavy because of a knee injury that he sustained in training for Matt Brown previously. He owned up for not making weight but said that he’s not planning on moving up weight classes yet.
Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is in the crowd.
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (24-4) vs. Joe Stevenson (35-10)
Fisher is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Caol Uno in a very close fight. Fisher is on a 3 fight win streak. Stevenson is coming off of a win over Nate Diaz by Unanimous Decision at the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. Stevenson is currently training with Greg Jackson and has him in his corner for the fight. Stevenson is a jiu jitsu and judo black belt.
R1- Stevenson opened up a cut near Spencer’s eye. Stevenson fights hard for a take down but Spencer stuffs him and the ref breaks up the clinch. Spencer is blinking a lot and having some issues with the blood in his eye. Stevenson finally gets a take down with about half a minute left in the round. Joe lands some good Ground and Pound as Spencer turtled up. Stevenson takes this round and is up 10-9.
R2- Stevenson got a take down in the second minute of the round. Stevenson lands some good elbows in half guard. Stevenson just starts destroying Spencer with elbows and Herb Dean steps in and puts a stop to the fight. Stevenson has looked really good under the direction of Greg Jackson.
They announce the win as tapout due to strikes.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Elbow Strikes) R2 4:03
Chris Tucker is at the fights with his sunglasses.
Middleweight Fight- Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen
The Dean of Draws Yushin Okami makes it onto the PPV in a televised pre-PPV fight. Okami’s only loss in UFC is to Rich Franklin. Matt Lindland is in Sonnen’s corner.
R1- Sonnen gets a take down in the first minute. Okami keeps getting up but Sonnen keeps taking him back down. Okami gets back to his feet about half way through the round. Sonnen got another take down with about a minute left in the round. Sonnen takes the first round 10-9.
R2- This was a pretty even round but Sonnen seemed to start getting the better of Okami towards the end of the round.
R3- Sonnen got a take down about half way through the round and landed some Ground and Pound but Okami got back up. Okami grabbed Sonnen with a kimura in full guard but could not keep it as Sonnen landed some body punches. Sonnen is going to win this fight by decision. Really good win for Sonnen.
Judges score cards say:
Winner: Chael Sonnen by Decision (Unanimous) 30-27 on all 3 score cards
Catchweight Fight- Josh Neer (25-8-1) vs. Gleison Tibau (29-6)
Tibau comes out to “Iron Man” but doesn’t have any spiked shoulder pads. Tibau is coming off a decision loss to Melvin Guillard. Tibau is fighting out of American Top Team and is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Neer is coming off a decision loss to Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 101. Neer came in at 156.5 lbs and Tibau at 157 so that’s why this is a catchweight fight.
R1- Tibau got a wicked slam early but Neer got back to his feet. Tibau got another big take down/slam but Neer got up again after a short amount of time on the ground. Tibau got a third take down but Neer pushed him off when he tried to pass. Tibau got a fourth take down. Neer got to his feet and Tibau tried to grab a guillotine but Neer quickly slipped out. Tibau took this round 10-9.
Jerry Ferrera (turtle from Entourage) was shown in the crowd during the intermission between rounds. Jeremy Piven (also from Entourage) was shown a bit later.
R2- Tibau starts off the round with another powerful take down but Neer again gets up quickly. Tibau is taking Neer down at will but is not able to hold him down. Tibau was able to get a mount with half of the round left. Neer gave up his back to get out of mount and Tibau tried to get an arm bar but couldn’t and Neer ended up on top briefly. I’ve got Tibau up 20-18 but he seems to be fading a bit.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are at the show tonight.
R3- Tibau started off the round with a take down. Neer was able to stuff three take downs. Tibau gets another take down with two minutes left in the fight but couldn’t hold him down. Tibau finishes the fight with yet another take down. Tibau really dominated this fight with take downs. The only round that was close was the final one.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
Winner: Gleison Tibau by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (6-0) vs. Ben Rothwell (30-6)
Rothwell is making his UFC debut and is a former IFL Heavyweight Champion. Velasquez is a Top 10 Heavyweight and is coming off a big unanimous decision win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 99. Rothwell has a 3” height and 3” reach advantage and has a huge weight advantage of 27 lbs. Velasquez is from California and is a big fan favorite in this fight. Rothwell has won 14 of his last 15 fights and was 9-0 in IFL fights.
R1- Cain got a take down in the first 30 seconds but Rothwell stood back up without taking any damage. Cain got another take down at the two minute mark of the round. Cain landed a couple of punches before Rothwell got to his feet. Cain got Rothwell down again and landed some good punches and looked like he opened up a cut on Rothwell. Cain is starting to land some good punches. Cain landed some hammer fists and then peppered Rothwell with several punches. Cain is just dominating Rothwell so far. Somehow Rothwell survives that round but he took a beating in the second part of the round. 10-8 round in favor of Cain.
R2- Cain opens up the round with a take down and lands some good shots. Cain lands some big shots against the cage and Mazzagatti steps in and stops the fight. Rothwell is upset. Definitely an awkward stoppage but Cain was completely dominating the fight up to that point. Not a good time to stop the fight by Mazzagatti as Cain was landing some good punches but Rothwell was in the process of getting back to his feet.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by TKO (Punches) R2 0:58
Chuck Liddell is at the fights as is Michael Clarke Duncan.
Light Heavyweight Title Fight: Lyoto Machida © (15-0) vs. Shogun Rua (18-3)
Lyoto has had 15 career fights and has never been knocked down. He’s also never lost a round in any of his UFC fights and has absorbed fewer strikes than any other fighter in UFC history. Shogun has also never been knocked down in the UFC and has a 46% strike accuracy percentage (versus 35% of the average fighter). Machida gets a really good reception from the crowd.
R1- Machida hits a few knees early. Shogun clinched Machida a couple of times but didn’t land anything significant. Really close round with neither guy really having an advantage. Shogun was the aggressor but in a title fight I’ve got to give the benefit of the scoring to the champion if neither fighter looked like they won the round. So I’ve got 10-9 Machida (it would be a 10-10 if it was allowed to be scored that way).
R2- Machida landed a couple of strikes in the opening minute. Machida landed a punch on Shogun and knocked him off balance and later hit a leg kick that did the same thing. Machida hit a side kick at the two minute mark but Shogun countered with one of his own. Shogun clinched Machida and landed some knees on Machida’s legs. Another close round that I’ve got going to Machida. Machida 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Shogun opens up with a body kick. Machida counters with a combination. They had two good exchanges where it looked like both guys hit what they went for. Shogun is landing some good leg kicks in this round. Machida landed some punches and Shogun hit a counter as well. Really close round that Machida probably stole with that last flurry. Machida 30-27 on my score card.
R4- Shogun is landing some leg kicks early in the round. Machida slipped and Shogun quickly rushed in for a take down but couldn’t get it. Not a lot of action in this round but Shogun definitely got the better of the little strikes that hit in this round. Machida 39-37 so far.
R5- Shogun continues with the onslaught of leg kicks. But I really don’t think leg kicks should win you a championship unless they are devastating and if they are devastating. Machida landed some knees and Shogun responded with a kick. Shogun landed a couple of strikes with about a minute and a half left in the fight. Close round but I think Shogun did enough to win this round. I’ve got this fight as Machida 48 Shogun 47. Really close fight with 5 very competitive and close rounds. Shogun fought a good fight but I don’t think he did enough to unseat the champion. I could definitely see a split decision by the judges.
Judges score cards say: All 3 judges score the fight 48-47 in favor of Machida.
Winner and still champion: Lyoto Machida by Decision (Unanimous)
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