DREAM 7 Featherweight Grand Prix 1st Round
March 8th, 2009
Saitama Super Arena - Saitama, Japan
Both DREAM and Sengoku are starting their Featherweight Tournaments this month so it will be a good chance to see how their divisions stack up against WEC. This show features the first round of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and also features fights with Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the commentators. In DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. Fights are judged not round by round but as an entire fight.
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (3-2)
Fernandes’s losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto, two of the top Featherweight fighters in the world. Fernandes is a jiu jitsu fighter. Otsuka is a free style fighter.
R1- Fernandes gets the dominant position very early. Fernandes draws some blood from Otsuka’s nose with some strikes on the ground. The ref gives a yellow card to Fernandes (not sure why as he was dominating the fight and Otsuka was basically curled up in a little ball in the corner for the first 4 minutes of the fight). Otsuka seems to be more style than substance so far as he’s losing the fight but is being kind of cocky. Otsuka got in a combo and then got hit with a low blow. Fernandes is ahead after the first round but Otsuka is starting to come on.
R2- Fernandes took Otsuka’s back about a minute into the round. Otsuka gets away and celebrates like he won the fight. Fernandes basically had to release the hold as Otsuka did a good job of defending. Fernandez got in a couple of shots and floored Otsuka but Otsuka held on. Fernades got another take down and lands some strikes but Otusuka gets back to his feet. Fernades gets yet another take down. Fernandes wins this fight and will advance to the second round.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Chase Beebe (12-3) vs. Joe Warren (0-0)
This is Joe Warren’s pro debut at the age of 32. Beebe is a 23 year old veteran of 15 fights and has fought for WEC. Warren is a wrestler and Beebe is also a wrestler and freestyle fighter.
R1- Lots of clinching early with Warren pushing the action trying for a take down and Beebe hitting some strikes. Good even fight after the first five minutes of the round. Warren got a take down with three and a half minutes left in the round but Beebe gets out after about a minute on the bottom. Warren rushed in and bounces Beebe off the rounds and then slams him. Beebe goes for an arm bar but Warren gets free. Good first round that was pretty even. Warren has three take downs and Beebe got cut near the end of the round. Beebe has won the striking battle but the take downs and the damage have Warren ahead right now.
They stop the fight between rounds due to the cut that was caused by a knee.
Winner: Joe Warren by TKO (cut)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Akiyo Nishiura (9-3-1) vs. Abel Cullum (13-2)
Abel Cullum comes out to a Heath Herring esque entrance and to Kid Rock’s “Cowboy”. Cullum is the King of the Cage Featherweight Champion and has brought his belt with him. The last time I saw Cullum fight was on the Sho XC 9/26/08 show when he lost a bantamweight fight to Wilson Reis by Unanimous Decision (it was a 5 round title fight). Cullum is a Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Nishiura has pink hair, is nicknamed “Wicky Akiyo” and is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Cullum got an arm bar a couple minutes into the fight but couldn’t get the finish with it. Good first round that was pretty even. Cullum had 4 or so submission attempts in the first round and closed out the round strongly.
R2- Cullum controlled the first part of round two. They swung at each other and Cullum pulled guard and tried a triangle but was unsuccessful. Close fight but I’ve got Cullum winning.
Winner: Abel Cullum by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (19-9) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1)
Daisuke is from the U-File Camp and his nickname is “The Arm Bar Genius”. Ishida recently fought for Strikeforce and destroyed an overmatched Justin Wilcox in that fight. He also fought and lost to Caol Uno during the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix. Ishida’s nickname is “The Endless Warrior.” I thought Ishida deserved a shot at Josh Thomson in Strikeforce but I guess he’s back in DREAM instead.
R1- Ishida got a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Ishida catches Nakamura with a couple of knees. Ishida really controlled the first half of this round. Ishida opens up a cut over the eye of Nakamura. Ishida is definitely up so far in this fight.
R2- Ishida grabbed a leg and Nakamura tried to pull guard into an arm bar or triangle but couldn’t and Ishida ended up on top. Ishida is going to take this fight. Not a dominate win but a convincing one. The announcers seem convinced that Nakamura would have won if the fight went on ten more seconds.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Shinya Aoki (19-3) vs. David Gardner (16-10)
Aoki is the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world but is going to be fighting some at Welterweight this year as he tries to win the upcoming DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. Aoki is fighting at 163 and Gardner at 162.5 tonight. Aoki definitely has the worst tights in MMA.
R1- Aoki went for a take down but got stuffed by Gardner and then Aoki flipped him over to take the dominate position. Really boring fight through 5 minutes but Aoki is dominating position. Aoki went for a sub and Gardner slipped out but then Aoki wrapped Gardner back up in his Spider Web and dragged him back to the ground. Aoki grabs a Rear Naked Choke. Gardner moved his arm and yelled out “I Love You Japan” and Aoki seized the moment and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke immediately. What a bone head move by Gardner. Aoki dominated a lesser opponent in this fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-5-2) vs. Ross Ebanez (19-6)
Kawajiri is coming off a dominating K-1 victory against Kozo Takeda on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that Kawajiri lost in a FOTYC to Eddie Alvarez in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament but Kawajiri took enough out of Alvarez that he could not continue to the finals of the Grand Prix. Ebanez if fighting out of BJ Penn’s camp and Kawajiri says he wants to use this fight to send a message to BJ Penn. Ebanez comes in at 158 lbs and Kawajiri at 154 lbs. Ebanez gets a yellow card before the fight because he did not make weight.
R1- Ibanez went for a flying knee and Kawajiri took him down but didn’t do any damage. Kawajiri got him back to the ground for the second time in the first two minutes. Kawajiri mounts and gets some Ground and Pound and Ebanez gives up his back. Kawajiri gets a body triangle and goes for a Rear Naked Choke but can’t clamp it in. Kawajiri loosens him up and gets the Rear Naked successfully this time. Good showing by Kawajiri.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Micah Miller (10-2) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2)
Micah is a former WEC fighter and his brother Cole fights for UFC. Maeda fought for the WEC Bantamweight title last year in a FOTYC against Miguel Torres. The light time I saw Miller he got destroyed on the WEC Condit/Miura under card when he lost to Josh Grispi in 50 seconds by TKO. Miller has a 5 inch height advantage, he just dwarfs Maeda when they meet in the center of the ring. This should be a good fight, I really liked what Maeda did in his fight against Torres so I’m going to have to say that he’s going to be one of the fighters to beat in this tournament.
R1- They clinched and went through the ropes to the ring apron early in the fight. They clinched and Miller pulled guard at the two minute mark. Maeda controls the fight on the ground for the next stanza of the fight. Miller uses a rubber guard and Maeda pelts him with knees to the rear end. Miller looks like he’s working towards an arm triangle but the ref stands them up and appears to give them both a yellow card. The quickly clinch and Maeda gets a take down or Miller could have pulled guard. Miller definitely seems to want to be on his back in this fight. Miller goes after Maeda’s arm but can’t do anything. Not a real exciting fight at all. I’ve got Maeda up so far as he’s been on top for the majority of the fight and is the one that is trying to strike.
R2- Maeda looks really fresh coming out of his corner. Miller has such a great reach advantage it’s almost puzzling why he doesn’t have better stand up and is constantly trying to get the fight on the ground despite his huge advantage in reach. The ref stands them up and they exchange strikes with Miller actually trying to fight on his feet and Maeda gets a take down. I’m going to give this fight to Maeda as he seemed to control the fight and Miller seemed to be fighting a more defensive fight. Not a fight to go out of your way to see. The announcers give the fight to Miller due to submission attempts.
Winner: Yoshiro Maeda by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) vs. Jong Won-Kim
This is Kim’s pro debut. He represented South Korea in Judo at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Takaya is dropping all the way from Middleweight to Featherweight for this tournament! That’s a HUGE drop! Won has his shoulder tapped up.
R1- Takaya is the aggressor early as they are staying on their feet at the beginning of the fight. They gave Kim a warning for stalling around the 3 minute mark. I must have missed that because about 30 to 45 seconds earlier he landed a strike right to the face of Takaya. Kim caught a kick thrown by Takaya and took him down to the mat but couldn’t do anything and they stood the fight back up with 3 and a half minutes to go in the round. Kim grabbed another kick and got another take down but Takaya clung to the ropes and got up quickly and the ref re-started on their feet. Pretty even first round with Takaya coming on strong at the end of the round.
R2- Takaya lands a big right hand and then gets some Ground and Pound and the fight is stopped.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Strikes) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1) vs. Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1)
Yamamoto is no relation to Kid Yamamoto but they both train together. Yamamoto was a collegiate wrestler and is known for his ground game. Yamamoto won a decision victory over Hideo Tokoro at DREAM 6 back in September. Yamamoto flips over the ropes and then does a back flip upon entering the ring. Imanari is coming into the fight as a big favorite. He is a leg lock specialist and has a background in wrestling and BJJ.
R1- Yamamoto got a strike in early that floored Imanari. Yamamoto jumped on top but Imanari wrapped him up but Yamamoto remained on top. The ref stands them up about half way through the round. Yamamoto got in another shot but Imanari popped back up. Imanari pulled guard and got a funky arm bar on Yamamoto with his legs but Yamamoto spun out and Imanari landed in side control. Imanari went hard after a traditional arm bar but Yamamoto fought through the attempt. Pretty decent first round with Imanari really going after submission in the second half of the round.
R2- Imanari is given a yellow card shortly into the round for stalling (Yamamoto got one in the first round). Imanari is really clowning around in this round and looks a little bored even though he is nowhere near dominating this fight. It’s going to be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Imanari had a bunch of submission attempts but Yamamoto landed the best strikes and landed more of them. Imanari has more talent but just seemed bored and uninspired to be in the ring tonight. Not a good way to end the night.
Winner: Masakazu Imanari by Decision (Split)
This was a decent show. The first half of the show was actually better than the second half. I really enjoyed the first 3 Featherweight fights but the card was kind of flat after that. The second round of the Featherweight Tournament should be pretty interesting as we have:
Kid Yamamoto (got a bye in the first round of the tournament)
Masakazu Imanari
Yoshiro Maeda
Abel Cullum
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hiroyuki Takaya
First Round Fight on DREAM 8: Hideo Tokoro vs. Daiki Hata
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Retro Re-Cap: UFC Fight Night 7 12/06/06
UFC Fight Night 7 12/06/06
Welterweight Fight- Shonie Carter (81-16-8) vs. Marcus Davis (14-4)
R1- Davis got a take down and mounted early. Shonie gave up his back and Marcus went for a Rear Naked Choke but Shonie rolled through it and got in some brief offense at the end of the round. Round One to Davis 10-9.
R2- Shonie got stunned by a right hand early in the round and went down. Davis is landing jabs just really outclassing Shonie in this round. Davis is up 20-18 at this point.
R3- This was a fairly even round. Fight goes to Davis as he outclassed Shonie in the first 2 rounds of the fight.
Judges score cards say: Davis 30-26, Davis 29-28 and Davis 30-27.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Karo Parisyan (23-4) vs. Drew Fickett (30-4)
R1- Karo got a push take down about a minute into the fight and got in a shot or two but couldn’t keep Fickett down. Karo hit a good Superman punch about half way through the round. Karo looked good in the first round and is up 10-9.
R2- Karo catches a Fickett leg right at the beginning of the round and gets in some punches and lands a take down. Karo has him in the corner and both guys get cut. Karo has a bad cut under his eye. Fickett got a double leg take down with about one minute left in the round and lands some elbows. Karo controlled this round for 4 of the 5 minutes and takes a 20-18 lead into the final round.
R3- Karo is hitting jabs early in the round. Fickett tries to go for a leg lock but Karo ends up on top but let’s Fickett up. Karo is getting the better of this round as he’s hitting strikes and also threw Fickett to the ground at one point. Karo is going to take this fight 30-27.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all 3 score cards.
Winner: Karo Parisyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (9-1) vs. Jeff Joslin (5-2)
R1- Koscheck shot in and got a double leg take down after about a minute and a half. They stood up but Koscheck got another take down. Koscheck controls the round but didn’t look like he did a lot of damage. Koscheck up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Koscheck stuck with a take down and got one about half way through the round. The ref stands them up and Koscheck immediately gets another take down. Koscheck is up 20-18 as he’s just out wrestling Joslin in this fight.
R3- Koscheck continues to dominate by out wrestling Joslin in this round and gets a guillotine. It looked like Joslin was thinking about tapping but slipped out of the move. Koscheck is going to take this fight 30-27. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Koscheck.
Judges score the fight: 30-27 on all 3 score cards
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (18-0) vs. Joe Riggs (28-8)
Sanchez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Diego sticks Riggs with a left hand that floors him at the one and a half minute mark and then Diego jumps on top and hits a knee as he comes in and this fight is over.
“He believes Diego’s stand-up is about 3 years behind his”- Goldberg quoting Riggs who was talking about Sanchez.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by KO (Knee) R1 1:45
Welterweight Fight- Shonie Carter (81-16-8) vs. Marcus Davis (14-4)
R1- Davis got a take down and mounted early. Shonie gave up his back and Marcus went for a Rear Naked Choke but Shonie rolled through it and got in some brief offense at the end of the round. Round One to Davis 10-9.
R2- Shonie got stunned by a right hand early in the round and went down. Davis is landing jabs just really outclassing Shonie in this round. Davis is up 20-18 at this point.
R3- This was a fairly even round. Fight goes to Davis as he outclassed Shonie in the first 2 rounds of the fight.
Judges score cards say: Davis 30-26, Davis 29-28 and Davis 30-27.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Karo Parisyan (23-4) vs. Drew Fickett (30-4)
R1- Karo got a push take down about a minute into the fight and got in a shot or two but couldn’t keep Fickett down. Karo hit a good Superman punch about half way through the round. Karo looked good in the first round and is up 10-9.
R2- Karo catches a Fickett leg right at the beginning of the round and gets in some punches and lands a take down. Karo has him in the corner and both guys get cut. Karo has a bad cut under his eye. Fickett got a double leg take down with about one minute left in the round and lands some elbows. Karo controlled this round for 4 of the 5 minutes and takes a 20-18 lead into the final round.
R3- Karo is hitting jabs early in the round. Fickett tries to go for a leg lock but Karo ends up on top but let’s Fickett up. Karo is getting the better of this round as he’s hitting strikes and also threw Fickett to the ground at one point. Karo is going to take this fight 30-27.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all 3 score cards.
Winner: Karo Parisyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (9-1) vs. Jeff Joslin (5-2)
R1- Koscheck shot in and got a double leg take down after about a minute and a half. They stood up but Koscheck got another take down. Koscheck controls the round but didn’t look like he did a lot of damage. Koscheck up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Koscheck stuck with a take down and got one about half way through the round. The ref stands them up and Koscheck immediately gets another take down. Koscheck is up 20-18 as he’s just out wrestling Joslin in this fight.
R3- Koscheck continues to dominate by out wrestling Joslin in this round and gets a guillotine. It looked like Joslin was thinking about tapping but slipped out of the move. Koscheck is going to take this fight 30-27. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Koscheck.
Judges score the fight: 30-27 on all 3 score cards
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (18-0) vs. Joe Riggs (28-8)
Sanchez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Diego sticks Riggs with a left hand that floors him at the one and a half minute mark and then Diego jumps on top and hits a knee as he comes in and this fight is over.
“He believes Diego’s stand-up is about 3 years behind his”- Goldberg quoting Riggs who was talking about Sanchez.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by KO (Knee) R1 1:45
Saturday, March 14, 2009
WFC 6 "Battle in the Bay" 3/22/08 Re-Cap
WFC 6 “Battle in the Bay”
World Fighting Championships (Florida)
March 22, 2008
Tampa, Florida
Lightweight Fight- Matt McCook (2-0) vs. Gabe Maldonado (0-0)
R1- Maldonado tried to pull guard into a guillotine but quickly lost the move and gave up his guard. Maldonado then went for a triangle attempt and locked one in and McCook held on for a while but finally tapped out. Very impressive debut by Maldonado as he looked very comfortable on his back.
Winner: Gabe Maldonado by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:56
Heavyweight Fight- Daniel Perez (1-0) vs. Marcus Jones (2-0)
Jones is a former professional football player who played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
R1- Jones took a good right hand and then Perez caught him against the fence and then jumped on him for some Ground and Pound and defeated the favorite and home town guy in Jones in very quick fashion.
Winner: Daniel Perez by KO R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- York Ash (11-9) vs. Eric Reynolds (7-0)
R1- They immediately clinch and both guys work to get better position. York tries to pull guard but instead eats and slam but Reynolds lets him up and hits some strikes. Both guys have blood on them, York is definitely bleeding. Reynolds takes York’s back and gets him in a Rear Naked Choke and he hangs on for a minute but then taps out. Good showing by Reynolds.
Winner: Eric Reynolds by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:07
17 minutes into the show and we are already through three fights.
Middleweight Fight- Patrick Mikesz (4-3) vs. Joe Wissmann (2-0)
R1- Wissmann gets an early take down but Mikesz sweeps him over. Mikesz is controlling the fight in the first round as he’s on top of Wissmann for the majority of the round. Mikesz got a submission victory right near the end of the round after really controlling the fight.
Winner: Patrick Mikesz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:47
Woman’s Fight- Jessica Aguilar (4-2) vs. Angela Magana (3-1-1)
R1- Aguilar looks like the aggressor and hits a good strike early and then gets a take down. They stood up and Aguilar got another take down despite Magana grabbing the cage. Aguilar was fairly dominate in this round and took it 10-9.
R2- They both come out throwing lots of strikes but Aguilar gets another take down. Aguilar’s nose is bloody from the strikes at the beginning of the round. Magana rolled Aguilar over but Aguilar responded by doing the same and then mounted. Magana slipped out the back but Magana got her back down and landed some strikes. Aguilar up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- According to the announcers the ref stopped the fight due to a cut but on the graphic it says verbal submission. Either way Aguilar was the clear winner in this fight.
Winner: Jessica Aguilar by Submission (Verbal) R3 1:53
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tom Lawlor (4-0-1) vs. Shane Primm (4-0)
Both of these guys are from the last TUF show.
R1- Primm caught him in a triangle but couldn’t hold onto him. Lawlor catches him in a choke-type move and then destroys him with a knee to the head when Primm still had both knees on the ground so this fight is over by DQ. It was a good fight while it lasted.
Winner: Shane Primm by DQ (Illegal knee to the head) R1 2:40
Middleweight Fight- Rich Attonito (4-2) vs. Ryan Hodge (3-1)
R1- Attonito hit a big strike early and then took down Hodge and is really pressing onto him. Hodge gets up but Attonito gets another take down. Attonito just dominated this round and is up 10-9.
R2- Attonito immediately gets a take down to start the second round and pretty much just dominates Hodge for the entire round. This is 20-18 so far, if not a larger margin.
R3- Shockingly enough Attonito got a quick take down and then the ref stopped the fight. And for his effort he gets the graphic of the women’s fight next to his picture as it says “Jessica Aguilar winner by….”
Winner: Rich Attonito by TKO (Strikes) R3 0:25
Welterweight Fight- Efrain Ruiz (9-4) vs. David Vieira (3-0)
R1- Vieira gets him in a standing anaconda choke in the first couple of minutes but Ruiz survives. Ruiz takes his guard but Vieira slides to his back and taps him via Rear Naked Choke. Vieira looked pretty good in this fight but his stand up wasn’t tested at all.
Winner: David Vieira by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:23
WFC Welterweight Title Fight- Danny Ruiz (6-1) vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf (5-2)
This is the Main Event
R1- Ruiz landed some good stand up at the beginning of the fight and floored Waachiim but couldn’t finish him. There was a power outage during the middle of the fight and apparently Waachiim landed a punch while the lights were out. They re-started against the cage with 2 minutes left in the round. Shortly after the re-start Waachiim got him down and landed some Ground and Pound and got the KO victory.
Winner: Waachiim Spiritwolf by KO R1
World Fighting Championships (Florida)
March 22, 2008
Tampa, Florida
Lightweight Fight- Matt McCook (2-0) vs. Gabe Maldonado (0-0)
R1- Maldonado tried to pull guard into a guillotine but quickly lost the move and gave up his guard. Maldonado then went for a triangle attempt and locked one in and McCook held on for a while but finally tapped out. Very impressive debut by Maldonado as he looked very comfortable on his back.
Winner: Gabe Maldonado by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:56
Heavyweight Fight- Daniel Perez (1-0) vs. Marcus Jones (2-0)
Jones is a former professional football player who played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
R1- Jones took a good right hand and then Perez caught him against the fence and then jumped on him for some Ground and Pound and defeated the favorite and home town guy in Jones in very quick fashion.
Winner: Daniel Perez by KO R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- York Ash (11-9) vs. Eric Reynolds (7-0)
R1- They immediately clinch and both guys work to get better position. York tries to pull guard but instead eats and slam but Reynolds lets him up and hits some strikes. Both guys have blood on them, York is definitely bleeding. Reynolds takes York’s back and gets him in a Rear Naked Choke and he hangs on for a minute but then taps out. Good showing by Reynolds.
Winner: Eric Reynolds by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:07
17 minutes into the show and we are already through three fights.
Middleweight Fight- Patrick Mikesz (4-3) vs. Joe Wissmann (2-0)
R1- Wissmann gets an early take down but Mikesz sweeps him over. Mikesz is controlling the fight in the first round as he’s on top of Wissmann for the majority of the round. Mikesz got a submission victory right near the end of the round after really controlling the fight.
Winner: Patrick Mikesz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:47
Woman’s Fight- Jessica Aguilar (4-2) vs. Angela Magana (3-1-1)
R1- Aguilar looks like the aggressor and hits a good strike early and then gets a take down. They stood up and Aguilar got another take down despite Magana grabbing the cage. Aguilar was fairly dominate in this round and took it 10-9.
R2- They both come out throwing lots of strikes but Aguilar gets another take down. Aguilar’s nose is bloody from the strikes at the beginning of the round. Magana rolled Aguilar over but Aguilar responded by doing the same and then mounted. Magana slipped out the back but Magana got her back down and landed some strikes. Aguilar up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- According to the announcers the ref stopped the fight due to a cut but on the graphic it says verbal submission. Either way Aguilar was the clear winner in this fight.
Winner: Jessica Aguilar by Submission (Verbal) R3 1:53
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tom Lawlor (4-0-1) vs. Shane Primm (4-0)
Both of these guys are from the last TUF show.
R1- Primm caught him in a triangle but couldn’t hold onto him. Lawlor catches him in a choke-type move and then destroys him with a knee to the head when Primm still had both knees on the ground so this fight is over by DQ. It was a good fight while it lasted.
Winner: Shane Primm by DQ (Illegal knee to the head) R1 2:40
Middleweight Fight- Rich Attonito (4-2) vs. Ryan Hodge (3-1)
R1- Attonito hit a big strike early and then took down Hodge and is really pressing onto him. Hodge gets up but Attonito gets another take down. Attonito just dominated this round and is up 10-9.
R2- Attonito immediately gets a take down to start the second round and pretty much just dominates Hodge for the entire round. This is 20-18 so far, if not a larger margin.
R3- Shockingly enough Attonito got a quick take down and then the ref stopped the fight. And for his effort he gets the graphic of the women’s fight next to his picture as it says “Jessica Aguilar winner by….”
Winner: Rich Attonito by TKO (Strikes) R3 0:25
Welterweight Fight- Efrain Ruiz (9-4) vs. David Vieira (3-0)
R1- Vieira gets him in a standing anaconda choke in the first couple of minutes but Ruiz survives. Ruiz takes his guard but Vieira slides to his back and taps him via Rear Naked Choke. Vieira looked pretty good in this fight but his stand up wasn’t tested at all.
Winner: David Vieira by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:23
WFC Welterweight Title Fight- Danny Ruiz (6-1) vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf (5-2)
This is the Main Event
R1- Ruiz landed some good stand up at the beginning of the fight and floored Waachiim but couldn’t finish him. There was a power outage during the middle of the fight and apparently Waachiim landed a punch while the lights were out. They re-started against the cage with 2 minutes left in the round. Shortly after the re-start Waachiim got him down and landed some Ground and Pound and got the KO victory.
Winner: Waachiim Spiritwolf by KO R1
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
UFC 96 3/7/09 "Jackson vs Jardine" Re-Cap
UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine
Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Jim Miller (13-1)
Maynard is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at UFC 90 and previous to that he won another unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. Jim Miller is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman at the Fight for the Troops show in December. Might we be in for a 3 round fight here? Both guys are undefeated in the UFC. Miller is on an 8 fight win streak and is 2-0 in the UFC. Randy Couture is in the corner of Maynard for this fight.
R1- Miller is the aggressor early but Maynard does a good job throwing some combos. Miller spends a long time trying to take Maynard down and Maynard does a real good job avoiding it. Miller’s face is bloodied up. Maynard landed a nice shot at the end of the round and takes the round 10-9.
R2- Maynard got in some good shots at the two minute mark of the round. Miller went for a take down and eventually pulled guard because he couldn’t get the take down but Maynard quickly slipped out. Maynard is controlling this fight right now and is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Maynard went for a take down for the first time in the fight and got a slam but then almost got caught in a leg lock but he slipped out. Miller tried to get a take down but got stuffed again and Maynard flipped it around and got some Ground and Pound. Maynard is going to win this decision 30-27.
Really solid showing by Maynard. He looked really good just didn’t show that Killer Instinct or finishing power. He’s had 3 straight decisions in which he’s controlled the fights. Would really like to see him step up in competition for his next fight as he’s definitely moving up the contenders list at this point.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0)
We are following up a decision fight with two wrestlers. Hamill beat Reese Andy his last time out but was really controlled by Rich Franklin in the fight previous to that. Munoz is a D1 Wrestling Champion who is currently training with Urijah Faber and was 2-0 in WEC. This will be the UFC debut for Munoz. Joe Rogan points out that Mo Lawal (Sengoku fighter) and Jason Lambert are in Munoz corner. Matt Hamill is the hometown guy in this fight and gets a good reaction. Matt Hamill has a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Hamill is the aggressor early and Munoz looks like he’s in a little bit of UFC debut jitters. Munoz went for a take down and didn’t get it but seems to be loosening up a little bit and starts to throw a lot more strikes and be more aggressive. Hamill lands some good shots up against the cage. Out of nowhere Hamill nailed a right high kick and Munoz just hit the mat. What a fantastic knock out kick from Hamill! Munoz had his hands down and he just got rocked.
Winner: Matt Hamill by KO (High Kick) R1 3:53
Frank Mir is up next with Mike Goldberg. Mir has just had knee surgery and they will be pushing his fight with Brock Lesnar back a few weeks. Thus, Rashad Evans will step in and Main Event the show that Lesnar/Mir was supposed to on in May on UFC 98 in Las Vegas. If Rampage wins tonight then Rampage fights Rashad. If Jardine wins then Rashad will fight Lyoto Machida. So Rampage could be Main Eventing two out of the next three UFC shows.
Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)
Pete Sell is trained by Matt Serra and he will be stepping down to Welterweight for the second time in this fight. He beat Josh Burkman in his Welterweight debut. Sell is a jiu jitsu black belt. Brown trains with Rich Franklin. Brown subbed Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 and lost a close split decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Despite the win/loss records these guys bring into the cage, this should be a pretty exciting fight.
R1- Brown is landing some good strikes early and floors Brown and the ref steps in front of Brown to break up the fight and stops Brown from jumping on Sell for some Ground and Pound but then lets the fight continue. HUGE referee error! Mat Brown then hits some knees and gets Sell down again and is nailing him with some punches. Brown is hitting some big elbows and knees on the cage and has Sell peddling back wards. Sell drops to the ground to tell Brown to come down to where he can dictate the fight but Brown steps in and lands a couple of punches and the ref stops the fight. Horrible referring by Yves Lavigne in this fight. Great showing by Matt Brown.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
This is a fight from the pre-show card. Kendall is in big need of a win. BJ Penn is in Grove’s corner.
R1- Kendall hit a big right hand after a pretty even fight and then jumped on top for the stoppage. Good win for Grove as he may have needed it to stay in the UFC.
Winner: Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0)
This is the fight that I am most looking forward to on this card as the winner of this fight has the ability to move up into the upper echelon of UFC Heavyweights like Mir, Lesnar, Big Nog and Couture. The winner of this fight should get a big name for their next fight (or a match-up against a guy like Cain Velasquez or Cheick Kongo). Carwin comes out to Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.” Nice choice for an MMA entrance theme in my opinion. Not to be outdone Gonzaga comes out to Danzig’s “Mother.” Looks like we are in for a showdown of MMA entrance themes! Neither guy is known to go deep into a fight. Gonzaga is a BJJ World Champion. Carwin has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Carwin pushed forward early but Gonzaga hit some nice punches. Gonzaga got him taken down within the first minute of the fight but Carwin got back to his feet. Carwin caught Gonzaga with a punch and Gonzaga went down and crumpled against the cage. Carwin just hit a big right hand and it connected fully.
Really good statement made tonight by Carwin as he took some early punishment from Gonzaga and escaped a take down to come back and knock out Gonzaga in less than two minutes.
Winner: Shane Carwin by KO R1 1:09
Welterweight Fight- Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan
This is our second pre-show fight of the night. Brought to you by Shane Carwin, Matt Hamill and Matt Brown.
R1- McCrory gets a quick take down and passed the guard of Madigan within the first minute of the fight. McCrory is pushed back to full guard but gets in some Ground and Pound punches. McCrory passes again and mounts Madigan. McCrory almost got caught in a leg lock but got back into position and took out Madigan with some Ground and Pound. Madigan really didn’t provide a lot of resistance for McCrory in this fight. This was pretty much all McCrory.
Winner: Tamdan McCrory by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
Post-Fight McCrory drops some language and complains that he didn’t choose his music. He calls out Dana White for choosing his music! Says he wanted to come out to “Thunder Horse” cause he came out here on his “f’n Thunder Horse and handled business.” Best post-fight interview ever.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
If Rampage wins then he goes on to fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson is currently my #3 ranked Light Heavyweight in the world and is 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has victories over Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson and a loss to Forrest Griffin in a close decision. I’ve got Jardine ranked #9 as he is also 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has wins over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera and got demolished by Wanderlei Silva. I think Jardine is going to be a tough match-up for Rampage kind of like Forrest was. Rampage is in a better camp now then he was for the Forrest fight so it will be interesting to see how this camp makes his game plan for an unorthodox guy like Jardine.
UFC pulls out the statistical analysis for this fight (I love this stuff). Rampage lands 81% of his clinch strikes and is successful on 68% of his clinch take downs. Jardine lands 86% of his leg kicks and 92% of his body shots. Jardine has a 3” reach advantage.
Rashad Evans joins Mike and Joe in the broadcast booth for this fight. Rashad will fight Rampage if Rampage wins but is also a training partner of Jardine.
R1- The clinched early and got broken up by the ref. Jardine is employing a stick and move style early into the fight. They tied up against the cage again. Rampage hit a nice combo at the one minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Jardine towards the end of the round. A fairly close round that I give to Rampage 10-9. Rampage is clearly the aggressor and Jardine is being somewhat effective and is sticking and moving but is also getting chased around the ring a lot by Rampage.
R2- Rampage hit a big left hand on Jardine about 2 minutes into the round and then jumped on top to try and finish but Jardine weathered the storm and got back to his feet and clinched Rampage. Rampage got a take down but Jardine again quickly got up and clinched Rampage. Jardine hit Rampage with a low blow and Rampage wanted to continue on and shortly thereafter Jardine got in a good combo and had Rampage wobbly up against the cage but Rampage survived and didn’t go down and looked to gather his wits pretty quickly. Good round with both guys getting in some good shots. I’ve got Rampage up 20-18 so far after two rounds but Cecil Peoples is judging so these fighters will want to finish this fight before it gets to the judges score cards.
R3- Jackson got a take down shortly after the one minute mark of the round but couldn’t hold Jardine down. Pretty even stand up this round. Jardine goes for a take down but is not able to get it. One minute left in the fight and the ref breaks a clinch. Rampage chases Jardine down and lands some good shots but Jardine stays on his feet and escapes. Rampage levels Jardine with a left hand right before the buzzer and Jardine clutches Rampage’s leg. Rampage takes this round and he’s got this fight 30-27 on my score card. A good fight that was clearly won by Rampage although Rampage could not finish Jardine.
Judges score cards have the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Rampage (and of course Cecil Peoples comes up with the same score that I did after I complained about his judging).
Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight they have Rashad and Rampage face to face in each others face with both guys talking trash.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
We get another pre-show fight. Brandon Vera is looking to bounce back with this fight. He’s coming off of a close decision loss at UFC 89 to Keith Jardine in which neither guy really did enough to truly say that they won the fight as both guys put on a lackluster performance.
R1- Vera starts the fight off aggressively. Vera looks like he’s physically starting to adjust better to the Light Heavyweight weight. Vera is hitting some good leg kicks. Patt barely missed a high leg kick with a minute and a half left in the round. Vera looked really good in round one and clearly took it 10-9.
R2- Vera is just destroying Patt with leg kicks and literally chops him down to the ground until the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Vera as he just took out Patt with leg kicks in this fight. Maybe this will get Vera going as he looked really good and looks like he is adjusting to the new weight finally.
Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (Leg Kicks) R2 1:27
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
R1- Boetsch really comes at Brilz early and lands some strikes. Brilz got a take down at around the one and a half minute mark but Boetsch got back up when Brilz tried to pass. Pretty decent and even first round. Rogan points out that Jason Brilz corner forgot a stool and he had to stand up during the break between rounds.
R2- Brilz got a take down about one minute into the round and passes guard to side control. Brilz is really controlling the fight on the ground in this round. Brilz definitely takes this round so it’s probably 19-19 but Round One could have gone either way.
R3- Brilz got Boetsch to the mat at the half way mark of the round. Brilz controls this round and bloodies up Boetsch a little bit towards the end of the round. Brilz is going to win this fight by Decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 all for Brilz
Winner: Jason Brilz by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a solid show. It ended up being much stronger than it looked on paper. Rampage/Jardine ended up being a good solid fight and we had great showings by Hamill, Brown, and Carwin. Gray Maynard, Kendall Grove and Brandon Vera also put on good performances.
Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Jim Miller (13-1)
Maynard is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at UFC 90 and previous to that he won another unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. Jim Miller is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman at the Fight for the Troops show in December. Might we be in for a 3 round fight here? Both guys are undefeated in the UFC. Miller is on an 8 fight win streak and is 2-0 in the UFC. Randy Couture is in the corner of Maynard for this fight.
R1- Miller is the aggressor early but Maynard does a good job throwing some combos. Miller spends a long time trying to take Maynard down and Maynard does a real good job avoiding it. Miller’s face is bloodied up. Maynard landed a nice shot at the end of the round and takes the round 10-9.
R2- Maynard got in some good shots at the two minute mark of the round. Miller went for a take down and eventually pulled guard because he couldn’t get the take down but Maynard quickly slipped out. Maynard is controlling this fight right now and is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Maynard went for a take down for the first time in the fight and got a slam but then almost got caught in a leg lock but he slipped out. Miller tried to get a take down but got stuffed again and Maynard flipped it around and got some Ground and Pound. Maynard is going to win this decision 30-27.
Really solid showing by Maynard. He looked really good just didn’t show that Killer Instinct or finishing power. He’s had 3 straight decisions in which he’s controlled the fights. Would really like to see him step up in competition for his next fight as he’s definitely moving up the contenders list at this point.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0)
We are following up a decision fight with two wrestlers. Hamill beat Reese Andy his last time out but was really controlled by Rich Franklin in the fight previous to that. Munoz is a D1 Wrestling Champion who is currently training with Urijah Faber and was 2-0 in WEC. This will be the UFC debut for Munoz. Joe Rogan points out that Mo Lawal (Sengoku fighter) and Jason Lambert are in Munoz corner. Matt Hamill is the hometown guy in this fight and gets a good reaction. Matt Hamill has a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Hamill is the aggressor early and Munoz looks like he’s in a little bit of UFC debut jitters. Munoz went for a take down and didn’t get it but seems to be loosening up a little bit and starts to throw a lot more strikes and be more aggressive. Hamill lands some good shots up against the cage. Out of nowhere Hamill nailed a right high kick and Munoz just hit the mat. What a fantastic knock out kick from Hamill! Munoz had his hands down and he just got rocked.
Winner: Matt Hamill by KO (High Kick) R1 3:53
Frank Mir is up next with Mike Goldberg. Mir has just had knee surgery and they will be pushing his fight with Brock Lesnar back a few weeks. Thus, Rashad Evans will step in and Main Event the show that Lesnar/Mir was supposed to on in May on UFC 98 in Las Vegas. If Rampage wins tonight then Rampage fights Rashad. If Jardine wins then Rashad will fight Lyoto Machida. So Rampage could be Main Eventing two out of the next three UFC shows.
Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)
Pete Sell is trained by Matt Serra and he will be stepping down to Welterweight for the second time in this fight. He beat Josh Burkman in his Welterweight debut. Sell is a jiu jitsu black belt. Brown trains with Rich Franklin. Brown subbed Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 and lost a close split decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Despite the win/loss records these guys bring into the cage, this should be a pretty exciting fight.
R1- Brown is landing some good strikes early and floors Brown and the ref steps in front of Brown to break up the fight and stops Brown from jumping on Sell for some Ground and Pound but then lets the fight continue. HUGE referee error! Mat Brown then hits some knees and gets Sell down again and is nailing him with some punches. Brown is hitting some big elbows and knees on the cage and has Sell peddling back wards. Sell drops to the ground to tell Brown to come down to where he can dictate the fight but Brown steps in and lands a couple of punches and the ref stops the fight. Horrible referring by Yves Lavigne in this fight. Great showing by Matt Brown.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
This is a fight from the pre-show card. Kendall is in big need of a win. BJ Penn is in Grove’s corner.
R1- Kendall hit a big right hand after a pretty even fight and then jumped on top for the stoppage. Good win for Grove as he may have needed it to stay in the UFC.
Winner: Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0)
This is the fight that I am most looking forward to on this card as the winner of this fight has the ability to move up into the upper echelon of UFC Heavyweights like Mir, Lesnar, Big Nog and Couture. The winner of this fight should get a big name for their next fight (or a match-up against a guy like Cain Velasquez or Cheick Kongo). Carwin comes out to Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.” Nice choice for an MMA entrance theme in my opinion. Not to be outdone Gonzaga comes out to Danzig’s “Mother.” Looks like we are in for a showdown of MMA entrance themes! Neither guy is known to go deep into a fight. Gonzaga is a BJJ World Champion. Carwin has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Carwin pushed forward early but Gonzaga hit some nice punches. Gonzaga got him taken down within the first minute of the fight but Carwin got back to his feet. Carwin caught Gonzaga with a punch and Gonzaga went down and crumpled against the cage. Carwin just hit a big right hand and it connected fully.
Really good statement made tonight by Carwin as he took some early punishment from Gonzaga and escaped a take down to come back and knock out Gonzaga in less than two minutes.
Winner: Shane Carwin by KO R1 1:09
Welterweight Fight- Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan
This is our second pre-show fight of the night. Brought to you by Shane Carwin, Matt Hamill and Matt Brown.
R1- McCrory gets a quick take down and passed the guard of Madigan within the first minute of the fight. McCrory is pushed back to full guard but gets in some Ground and Pound punches. McCrory passes again and mounts Madigan. McCrory almost got caught in a leg lock but got back into position and took out Madigan with some Ground and Pound. Madigan really didn’t provide a lot of resistance for McCrory in this fight. This was pretty much all McCrory.
Winner: Tamdan McCrory by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
Post-Fight McCrory drops some language and complains that he didn’t choose his music. He calls out Dana White for choosing his music! Says he wanted to come out to “Thunder Horse” cause he came out here on his “f’n Thunder Horse and handled business.” Best post-fight interview ever.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
If Rampage wins then he goes on to fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson is currently my #3 ranked Light Heavyweight in the world and is 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has victories over Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson and a loss to Forrest Griffin in a close decision. I’ve got Jardine ranked #9 as he is also 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has wins over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera and got demolished by Wanderlei Silva. I think Jardine is going to be a tough match-up for Rampage kind of like Forrest was. Rampage is in a better camp now then he was for the Forrest fight so it will be interesting to see how this camp makes his game plan for an unorthodox guy like Jardine.
UFC pulls out the statistical analysis for this fight (I love this stuff). Rampage lands 81% of his clinch strikes and is successful on 68% of his clinch take downs. Jardine lands 86% of his leg kicks and 92% of his body shots. Jardine has a 3” reach advantage.
Rashad Evans joins Mike and Joe in the broadcast booth for this fight. Rashad will fight Rampage if Rampage wins but is also a training partner of Jardine.
R1- The clinched early and got broken up by the ref. Jardine is employing a stick and move style early into the fight. They tied up against the cage again. Rampage hit a nice combo at the one minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Jardine towards the end of the round. A fairly close round that I give to Rampage 10-9. Rampage is clearly the aggressor and Jardine is being somewhat effective and is sticking and moving but is also getting chased around the ring a lot by Rampage.
R2- Rampage hit a big left hand on Jardine about 2 minutes into the round and then jumped on top to try and finish but Jardine weathered the storm and got back to his feet and clinched Rampage. Rampage got a take down but Jardine again quickly got up and clinched Rampage. Jardine hit Rampage with a low blow and Rampage wanted to continue on and shortly thereafter Jardine got in a good combo and had Rampage wobbly up against the cage but Rampage survived and didn’t go down and looked to gather his wits pretty quickly. Good round with both guys getting in some good shots. I’ve got Rampage up 20-18 so far after two rounds but Cecil Peoples is judging so these fighters will want to finish this fight before it gets to the judges score cards.
R3- Jackson got a take down shortly after the one minute mark of the round but couldn’t hold Jardine down. Pretty even stand up this round. Jardine goes for a take down but is not able to get it. One minute left in the fight and the ref breaks a clinch. Rampage chases Jardine down and lands some good shots but Jardine stays on his feet and escapes. Rampage levels Jardine with a left hand right before the buzzer and Jardine clutches Rampage’s leg. Rampage takes this round and he’s got this fight 30-27 on my score card. A good fight that was clearly won by Rampage although Rampage could not finish Jardine.
Judges score cards have the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Rampage (and of course Cecil Peoples comes up with the same score that I did after I complained about his judging).
Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight they have Rashad and Rampage face to face in each others face with both guys talking trash.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
We get another pre-show fight. Brandon Vera is looking to bounce back with this fight. He’s coming off of a close decision loss at UFC 89 to Keith Jardine in which neither guy really did enough to truly say that they won the fight as both guys put on a lackluster performance.
R1- Vera starts the fight off aggressively. Vera looks like he’s physically starting to adjust better to the Light Heavyweight weight. Vera is hitting some good leg kicks. Patt barely missed a high leg kick with a minute and a half left in the round. Vera looked really good in round one and clearly took it 10-9.
R2- Vera is just destroying Patt with leg kicks and literally chops him down to the ground until the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Vera as he just took out Patt with leg kicks in this fight. Maybe this will get Vera going as he looked really good and looks like he is adjusting to the new weight finally.
Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (Leg Kicks) R2 1:27
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
R1- Boetsch really comes at Brilz early and lands some strikes. Brilz got a take down at around the one and a half minute mark but Boetsch got back up when Brilz tried to pass. Pretty decent and even first round. Rogan points out that Jason Brilz corner forgot a stool and he had to stand up during the break between rounds.
R2- Brilz got a take down about one minute into the round and passes guard to side control. Brilz is really controlling the fight on the ground in this round. Brilz definitely takes this round so it’s probably 19-19 but Round One could have gone either way.
R3- Brilz got Boetsch to the mat at the half way mark of the round. Brilz controls this round and bloodies up Boetsch a little bit towards the end of the round. Brilz is going to win this fight by Decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 all for Brilz
Winner: Jason Brilz by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a solid show. It ended up being much stronger than it looked on paper. Rampage/Jardine ended up being a good solid fight and we had great showings by Hamill, Brown, and Carwin. Gray Maynard, Kendall Grove and Brandon Vera also put on good performances.
Monday, March 02, 2009
WEC 39 "Brown vs Garcia" 3/1/09 Re-Cap
Todd Harris is the lead announcer but instead of Frank Mir we’ve got Jens Pulver in a Sweater Vest! Mir must be training for the Lesnar fight. Lil Evil in a freakin’ Sweater Vest. Wow, Jim Tressel must be a proud father.
Lightweight Fight- Marcus Hicks (8-1) vs. Rob McCullough (16-5)
McCullough is the former WEC Lightweight Champion having lost his belt to Jamie Varner. McCullough has a huge 5” reach advantage. He also has professional kickboxing experience so we will see if he can use this reach advantage.
R1- Not much action early and then they clinch against the cage in the first two minutes. Very little action in the first round. Neither guy did anything to take this round. Hicks seemed to be slightly more aggressive and maybe landed a better shot so he’s probably up on the score cards.
R2- Hicks knocked McCullough down with a straight left hand during the first minute of Round Two and then jumped in and grabbed a guillotine. McCullough survived and took Hicks guard and got in some shots before they stood up. McCullough starts to get in some offense towards the end of the round and gets in a bunch of offense in the last minute in a flurry. Hicks landed the big punch of this round and got a near sub but McCullough came on strong and got in more strikes and stole this round. Looks like a 19-19 fight so far going into the third round. The second round was much better than the first round.
R3- Not much action in the first two minutes of the fight. Both guys look very apprehensive. With about 1:30 left in the fight and round the ref says to the fighters “I’m going to call a no contest if you two don’t engage.” One minute left, the guy who wins this minute wins the fight. Somebody just needs to tell these guys that! Really strange fight. At least McCullough tried to get in some offense in the last 10 seconds. McCullough is up on my score card 29-28 in a very lackluster opener. Very un-WEC like opener to the show.
Judges score the fight: 29-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Majority)
They interview Miguel Torres about the upcoming show in Chicago.
Urijah Faber is at the show tonight but I think that he attends every MMA fight.
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (31-11-2)
Aldo is coming into this fight with a lot of buzz around him. Mickle is only 25 and has a ton of pro fights. He’s a wrestler who wins most of his fights by submission. This is Mickle’s debut in WEC. Aldo is a jiu jitsu black belt who wins most fights by knock out. Aldo is 22 years old.
R1- Aldo lands some good kicks but Mickel is hanging in there with him early and landing some punches. Aldo gets him up against the cage and starts destroying him with punches and the ref stops the fight before Mickel even goes down. Aldo just missed with a big lightning quick kick before his flurry. Impressive showing by Aldo even though the fight was stopped early.
Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:39
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-4) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-2-1)
Galvao is a jiu jitsu black belt with good Muy Thai skills.
R1- Page is all over Galvao at the beginning of the fight and then just destroys Galvao. Galvao didn’t know what hit him. Now that’s how you finish a fight!
Winner: Damacio Page by KO R1 0:18
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszewski (30-11) vs. Ricardo Lamas (5-0)
Lamas has a wrestling background and this is his WEC debut. Bart is a jiu jitsu brown belt who can finish with both KO and submission. Bart definitely has the experience factor on his side for this fight.
R1- Lamas grabbed a kick and got a take down but Bart gets out without sustaining any damage. Bart pulls guard and tries for a kimura but can’t get it and instead he eats some Ground and Pound from Lamas. Bart gets back to his feet and ends the round with a flurry. Close round going to Lamas.
R2- Lamas gets some good Ground and Pound in about half way through the round. Both guys swing pretty good to close the round. Good fight so far but I’ve got Lamas up 20-18.
R3- Bart controlled the early part of this round but then Lamas got a take down about half way through the round and stays on top for the rest of the fight. Lamas is going to take this decision victory.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Richado Lamas by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Brown © (20-4) vs. Leonard Garcia (16-3)
Leonard Garcia is coming off of a demolition of Jens Pulver and Mike Brown is coming off of his title victory against Urijah Faber. Leonard Garcia is from Texas so he’s the hometown guy in this fight.
R1- Mike Brown rocked Garcia right off the bat and Garcia went down quickly. Brown jumped on top of him with some Ground and Pound and then took Garcia’s back. Garcia is bleeding and Brown is really dominating him right now. Garcia moves back into the guard position. What a frantic start to this fight. Brown looks like he has an arm triangle and Garcia taps out.
What a great fight by Mike Brown. His win over Urijah could have been called a fluke but this really puts Brown on the map as he just dominated Garcia from start to finish. Great showing by Brown. Post-match Mike Brown says he’s ready to fight Urijah in a re-match.
Winner and still champion: Mike Brown by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 1:57
WEC 40 will take place on April 5th in Chicago and will feature one of the top Pound For Pound fighters in the world in Miguel Torres.
This was a solid show. Three fights really stood out in the “excitement factor.” Brown/Garcia, Page/Galvao and Aldo/Mickle. None of those fights even lasted 2 minutes but they were all really fun to watch.
Lightweight Fight- Marcus Hicks (8-1) vs. Rob McCullough (16-5)
McCullough is the former WEC Lightweight Champion having lost his belt to Jamie Varner. McCullough has a huge 5” reach advantage. He also has professional kickboxing experience so we will see if he can use this reach advantage.
R1- Not much action early and then they clinch against the cage in the first two minutes. Very little action in the first round. Neither guy did anything to take this round. Hicks seemed to be slightly more aggressive and maybe landed a better shot so he’s probably up on the score cards.
R2- Hicks knocked McCullough down with a straight left hand during the first minute of Round Two and then jumped in and grabbed a guillotine. McCullough survived and took Hicks guard and got in some shots before they stood up. McCullough starts to get in some offense towards the end of the round and gets in a bunch of offense in the last minute in a flurry. Hicks landed the big punch of this round and got a near sub but McCullough came on strong and got in more strikes and stole this round. Looks like a 19-19 fight so far going into the third round. The second round was much better than the first round.
R3- Not much action in the first two minutes of the fight. Both guys look very apprehensive. With about 1:30 left in the fight and round the ref says to the fighters “I’m going to call a no contest if you two don’t engage.” One minute left, the guy who wins this minute wins the fight. Somebody just needs to tell these guys that! Really strange fight. At least McCullough tried to get in some offense in the last 10 seconds. McCullough is up on my score card 29-28 in a very lackluster opener. Very un-WEC like opener to the show.
Judges score the fight: 29-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Majority)
They interview Miguel Torres about the upcoming show in Chicago.
Urijah Faber is at the show tonight but I think that he attends every MMA fight.
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (31-11-2)
Aldo is coming into this fight with a lot of buzz around him. Mickle is only 25 and has a ton of pro fights. He’s a wrestler who wins most of his fights by submission. This is Mickle’s debut in WEC. Aldo is a jiu jitsu black belt who wins most fights by knock out. Aldo is 22 years old.
R1- Aldo lands some good kicks but Mickel is hanging in there with him early and landing some punches. Aldo gets him up against the cage and starts destroying him with punches and the ref stops the fight before Mickel even goes down. Aldo just missed with a big lightning quick kick before his flurry. Impressive showing by Aldo even though the fight was stopped early.
Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:39
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-4) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-2-1)
Galvao is a jiu jitsu black belt with good Muy Thai skills.
R1- Page is all over Galvao at the beginning of the fight and then just destroys Galvao. Galvao didn’t know what hit him. Now that’s how you finish a fight!
Winner: Damacio Page by KO R1 0:18
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszewski (30-11) vs. Ricardo Lamas (5-0)
Lamas has a wrestling background and this is his WEC debut. Bart is a jiu jitsu brown belt who can finish with both KO and submission. Bart definitely has the experience factor on his side for this fight.
R1- Lamas grabbed a kick and got a take down but Bart gets out without sustaining any damage. Bart pulls guard and tries for a kimura but can’t get it and instead he eats some Ground and Pound from Lamas. Bart gets back to his feet and ends the round with a flurry. Close round going to Lamas.
R2- Lamas gets some good Ground and Pound in about half way through the round. Both guys swing pretty good to close the round. Good fight so far but I’ve got Lamas up 20-18.
R3- Bart controlled the early part of this round but then Lamas got a take down about half way through the round and stays on top for the rest of the fight. Lamas is going to take this decision victory.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Richado Lamas by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Brown © (20-4) vs. Leonard Garcia (16-3)
Leonard Garcia is coming off of a demolition of Jens Pulver and Mike Brown is coming off of his title victory against Urijah Faber. Leonard Garcia is from Texas so he’s the hometown guy in this fight.
R1- Mike Brown rocked Garcia right off the bat and Garcia went down quickly. Brown jumped on top of him with some Ground and Pound and then took Garcia’s back. Garcia is bleeding and Brown is really dominating him right now. Garcia moves back into the guard position. What a frantic start to this fight. Brown looks like he has an arm triangle and Garcia taps out.
What a great fight by Mike Brown. His win over Urijah could have been called a fluke but this really puts Brown on the map as he just dominated Garcia from start to finish. Great showing by Brown. Post-match Mike Brown says he’s ready to fight Urijah in a re-match.
Winner and still champion: Mike Brown by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 1:57
WEC 40 will take place on April 5th in Chicago and will feature one of the top Pound For Pound fighters in the world in Miguel Torres.
This was a solid show. Three fights really stood out in the “excitement factor.” Brown/Garcia, Page/Galvao and Aldo/Mickle. None of those fights even lasted 2 minutes but they were all really fun to watch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
