UFC 99: “The Comeback” Unaired Fights
6/13/09
Cologne, Germany
Lanxess Arena
Lightweight Fight- Terry Etim (12-2) vs. Justin Buchholz (9-2)
The last time I saw Buchholz was at UFC 86 where Buchholz beat Corey Hill via Rear Naked Choke in the second round. Buchholz trains with Urijah Faber. Etim has won two straight in the UFC after losing to Rich Clementi and Gleison Tibau in consecutive fights.
R1- Both guys are actively throwing strikes in the first minute of the fight. Buchholz caught an Etim kick and landed a good punch that floored Etim. Buchholz jumped on top and landed some Ground and Pound. Etim attempted an arm bar and Buchholz powered out of it and went back to trying to finish with Ground and Pound. Etim switched positions with two minutes left in the round but Etim is bleeding. Etim tried to take the back but slid off. Etim grabbed a knee bar but couldn’t finish. This was a really good first round that went to Buchholz 10-9. Rogan is saying Etim broke his nose in the first round.
R2- Etim looked like he hurt Buchholz with a leg kick to the shin or knee. Etim is landing some good strikes in this round and grabs a clinch and lands some knees. Etim got Buchholz to the ground and finished him with a choke. Good fight.
Winner: Terry Etim by Submission (Choke) R2 2:38
Welterweight Fight- John Hathaway (11-0) vs. Rick Story (7-2)
At UFC 93 Hathaway defeated Tom Egan by first round TKO and looked very good in the process. This is Story’s debut in the UFC.
R1- Hathaway worked a take down from the beginning of the fight and got a brief mount but was quickly turned over by Story. Hathaway sprawled back to mount and then Story reversed again and then they went back to their feet. Story slammed Hathaway to the mat. Hathaway tried a kimura from the guard position but the cage and the bell saved Story. Good, competitive first round.
R2- Hathaway got a take down and Story grabbed a guillotine but could not hold on to the submission. Lots of mat work in this round. Looks like Hathaway is up going into the final stanza.
R3- Hathaway got a takedown but Story over powered him and got a kimura but lost it and ended up on top of Hathaway. Both guys got really tired toward the end and Story was opened up by an elbow. I’ve got Hathaway 29-28 in this fight.
Judges score cards: all judges score the fight unanimous for Hathaway.
Winner: John Hathaway by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Paul Kelly (9-1) vs. Roli Delgado (8-3-1)
Delgado has a 7” reach and 6” height advantage. This should also mean that Kelly is going to be the much stronger fighter. Kelly has fought the majority of his fights at 170 pounds.
R1- Roli was able to take Kelly down in the first couple minutes of the fight but Kelly was able to turn Roli onto his back without taking any damage. Not a lot of action in the first round, pretty much a toss up.
R2- Kelly hit a left and then grabbed a guillotine. Delgado took Kelly down and Kelly eventually released the submission attempt. Roli controlled Kelly by taking his back but Kelly was able to turn him over without taking any damage. Delgado went after a knee but didn’t get it. Kelly lands some Ground and Pound. Kelly won this round 10-9. I’m scoring Round One 10-10 (since no one stood out) so I’ve got Kelly up 20-19 going into the third.
R3- Kelly hit a couple punches and then swept Roli down to the ground up against the cage but then let him up. Roli went in for a take down but Kelly countered by mounting him and landed some good Ground and Pound but Roli locked him up and Kelly let him to his feet again. Roli went for another take down and Kelly stuffed it again. Roli went for an arm bar but couldn’t lock it in place and Kelly lets him to his feet again. Roli went for another take down and was stuffed again with Kelly landing on top. Kelly landed some Ground and Pound and brought Roli to his feet again. Roli pulled guard and Kelly went for a choke but couldn’t get it. Kelly clearly dominated this round. Kelly took this round 10-9 and I’ve got him winning 30-28.
Judges score cards say: all judges score the fight for Paul Kelly (but they don’t list the scores)
Winner: Paul Kelly by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Dennis Siver (13-6) vs. Dale Hartt (6-1)
Siver is from Germany so he’s the crowd favorite for this one. Hartt trained with Greg Jackson before this fight and Siver trained for a month with Xtreme Couture before the fight. Siver is a German Kick Boxing Champion.
R1- Siver hit a good combo that stunned Hartt about a minute and a half into the fight. Hartt got a take down right after the combo since Siver didn’t follow up. Siver went for an arm bar but Hartt slammed him to get out of the submission but Siver ended up in Hartt’s guard. Siver took his back and submitted him with a Rear Naked Choke. Good showing from Siver.
Winner: Dennis Siver by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:23
Welterweight Fight- Paul Taylor (9-4-1) vs. Peter Sobotta (8-1)
Sobotta has a 3” reach advantage in this fight. Sobotta is another German fighter so obviously he’s the fan favorite.
R1- Sobotta went for a take down but was stuffed. Taylor got a take down after some stoppages due to low blows. Taylor landed some strikes, got take down but quickly rolled it over and took Sobotta’s guard. Taylor took the first round 10-9.
R2- Sobotta got an early take down but Taylor got up before any damage could be done. Taylor hit some good shots and then avoided a take down. Taylor landed a leg kick that tripped up Sobotta. Taylor looked really good in this round and is up 20-18 going into the final stanza.
R3- Not much action in round three but Taylor does end with a flurry. Taylor clearly takes this fight.
Winner: Paul Taylor by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Denis Stojnic (12-2) vs. Stefan Struve (20-3)
Struve is 6’11” and has a 1 foot height and 9 inch reach advantage. Struve is only 21 years old. Both fighters are fighting out of The Netherlands.
R1- Struve went for a take down but ended up on his back and Stojnic landed some Ground and Pound. Struve went for a triangle but Stojnic popped out. Stojic spends the majority of the round on top and really started to land some good Ground and Pound with about 30 seconds in the round. Struve starting bleeding like crazy. Stojnic clearly took this round.
R2- Stojnic immediately took Struve down and started hitting him with hammer fists again and his wound opened but he was able to reverse and get on top of Stojnic. Struve grabbed a Rear Naked Choke and Struve was just bleeding all over the mat and couldn’t hold the move but he clamped it on again and Stojnic got out. Struve clamped in another Rear Naked and won the fight.
“Oh my god, this is a horror movie. This is crazy…We’ve got to get this fight over before Struve bleeds to death.”- Joe Rogan
Winner: Stefan Struve by Submission R2 2:37
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Strikeforce Challengers Series 6/19/09 "Villasenor vs. Santos" Re-Cap
Strikeforce Challenger Series 6/19/09
Joe Villasenor vs. Evangelista Santos
Kent, Washington
This is the second installment of the Strikeforce Challengers Series. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he is joined by Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich. The Challenger Series focuses on hungry prospects and veterans looking to make an impact.
Middleweight Fight- Luke Rockhold (4-1) vs. Cory Devela (9-2)
Rockhold fought on the Strikeforce “Destruction” show last November and defeated Nik Theotikos by first round submission. Devela fought Terry Martin in September for Strikeforce and lost by TKO in the third round. Rockhold has won all of his fights by submission. Rockhold is a wrestler and jiu jitsu fighter. Devela is the only fighter on this card from Washington.
R1- Devela came in right of the bat and landed a punch but took a punch and was floored. Rockhold followed him to the floor and nailed him with a bunch of punches. Devela bleed on the mat and then Rockhold locked him in with the Rear Naked Choke and Devela tapped out. Great showing by Rockhold. Rockhold has looked really good in both of the fights I’ve seen him in.
Winner: Luke Rockhold by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 0:30
Women’s Fight- 135 Pounds- Sarah Kaufman (9-0) vs. Shayna Baszler (11-5)
Baszler trains with Josh Barnett. Baszler comes to the ring with a guitar on her back. Baszler fought Christiane Cyborg on CBS for Elite XC in 2008 but lost by TKO in the second round. Kaufman beat Miesha Tate at the first Strikeforce Challengers show by Decision. This is being fought under 3 five minute rounds, which is a change from the usual 3 minute rounds that most women’s MMA fights are fought under. Mauro let’s us know that future women’s fights will be contested under 5 minute rounds.
R1- Baszler was able to get a trip early and took Kaufman’s guard. Kaufman got out of that position but Baszler got a brief choke before Kaufman could get out of the submission hold. The ref stood the fight up with a minute thirty left in the round. Baszler clinched her and the ref broke them up. Close round that probably goes to Baszler due to the take down and submission attempt.
R2- They clinched and Kaufman snuck in a good right hand as they broke the clinch. Kaufman hit a good combo. Kaufman is starting to pick Baszler apart on their feet now. Kaufman clearly took this round as she closed very strong and I’ve got the fight 19-19 going into the final stanza.
R3- Baszler went for a single leg take down but Kaufman stuffed it and ended up on top. Kaufman got a take down and landed some brief Ground and Pound but then let Baszler up to her feet. Kaufman is clearly winning the stand up game. Baszler went for a last minute knee bar but Kaufman stuffed it and will take this fight by decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of Kaufman. I had the fight 29-28 in favor of Kaufman.
Winner: Sarah Kaufman by Decision (Unanimous)
Josh Barnett joins Mauro Ranallo at ringside. He talks about the Baszler fight and the upcoming fight that he has against Fedor on August 1st for Affliction.
Catchweight Fight (160 pounds)- Jorge Gurgel (12-5) vs. Conor Heun (8-2)
Heun is a 30 year old wrestler who has 5 submissions out of his 8 wins. Heun has a brown belt in jiu jitsu under Eddie Bravo. Gurgel is a jiu jitsu fighter who prefers to stand on his feet and that’s the reason that he’s no longer in the UFC. Gurgel has 9 submissions in his 12 wins. Heun has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Gurgel is hitting some leg kicks. When the fighters get close together they are both just swinging for the fences. Gurgel continues to hit leg kicks and is the more accurate striker so far. Heun started to come on at the end of the round and he landed some good strikes. This was a very close round. I’m not sure Heun did enough at the end of the round to get the nod.
R2- Heun is pushing forward at the beginning of this round and looking to get in close range to throw strikes. Gurgel hit a nice high head kick but Heun took it and didn’t go down. Gurgel caught Heun with some punches but doesn’t follow up. Gurgel hits a good right hand. Gurgel had a head kick blocked and then gets Gurgel on the cage and hits some strikes and draws blood from Gurgel. They are just swinging for the fences and the fans are eating it up. Gurgel landed some nice strikes to close the round. Great round. I’ve got Gurgel up 20-18 so far.
R3- Gurgle hit a body kick but Heun took Gurgel down and they scrambled back to their feet with 3 minutes left in the round. Gurgel got caught Heun and Heun jumped on top and then grabbed the rubber guard and then they stood back up with a minute and a half left. Really good fight. I’ve got Heun taking this round but Gurgel winning the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards show: 29-28, 30-27 in favor of Gurgel.
Winner: Jorge Gurgel by Decision (Unanimous)
They show a hype video for upcoming Gina Carano/Cyborg fight.
Middleweight Fight- Nick Thompson (38-10-1) vs. Tim Kennedy (9-2)
Kennedy is a kickboxer who is a Special Forces Army Ranger. Thompson fought Jake Shields for the Elite XC Welterweight Title on CBS last July but fell victim to a guillotine choke in the first round. Thompson is a boxer and a wrestler. In Thompson pre-fight interview he seems to think that Jake Shields has the Strikeforce Title. Thompson is the most experienced fighter on this show. Thompson has 21 submission victories in his career. Thompson beat Paul Daley in a recent fight.
R1- Kennedy shot in early but Thompson grabbed his arm and went for a kimura. Thompson finally released the attempts and Kennedy tried to take Thompson’s back and ended up getting half guard. Both guys are very active on the mat so far in the first round. Kennedy mounted but Thompson quickly pushed him back to half guard. This was a good first round that was the opposite of Gurgel/Heun as this fight was contested almost solely on the ground. Kennedy won the first round 10-9.
R2- Kennedy got a take down at the one minute mark of the round. Kennedy lands some strikes and Thompson tapped out to the strikes.
Post-fight Thompson gets in the refs face. Maybe about the strikes as it looked like Kennedy hit several shots to the back of Thompson’s head and the ref did nothing to stop them.
Winner: Tim Kennedy by Submission (Strikes) R2 2:37
Middleweight Fight- Joe Villasenor (26-6) vs. Evangelista Santos (16-12)
Santos is a Muay Thai and BJJ fighter. Cyborg is coming off of an elbow injury. Villasenor fought and defeated Phil Baroni on CBS in May of 2008 in only one minute winning by TKO. Villasenor is a boxer and jiu jitsu fighter. Villasenor trains with Greg Jackson’s camp. He has not fought since the Baroni fight. Cyborg has a 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Villasenor is the aggressor early but is getting caught with some counter punches. Villasenor gets a take down about half way through the round. First round goes to Villasenor 10-9.
R2- They throw some good leather early into this round. Cyborg is hitting low kicks. They really mixed it up at the end of the round. Really close round. Villasenor is the one pushing the action but this one could have gone either way.
R3- Cyborg got a take down a minute into the third round. Villasenor got to his feet without taking any damage. Villasenor is pushing the action and has opened up a cut on Cyborg. I’ve got Villasenor taking this round and the fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Villasenor, 29-28 Cyborg (?), and 29-28 Villasenor.
Winner: Joe Villasenor by Decision (Split)
This was a decent show but definitely one where you didn’t miss much if you missed it. Gurgel/Heun was a really fun fight and was FOTN. I hope Villasenor gets moved up to the main show because he’s a solid fighter and I’d like to see how he does against some of the top Middleweights that Strikeforce has. Luke Rockhold looked great and it looks like Sarah Kaufman is positioning herself for a possible fight with the winner of Carano/Cyborg.
Joe Villasenor vs. Evangelista Santos
Kent, Washington
This is the second installment of the Strikeforce Challengers Series. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he is joined by Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich. The Challenger Series focuses on hungry prospects and veterans looking to make an impact.
Middleweight Fight- Luke Rockhold (4-1) vs. Cory Devela (9-2)
Rockhold fought on the Strikeforce “Destruction” show last November and defeated Nik Theotikos by first round submission. Devela fought Terry Martin in September for Strikeforce and lost by TKO in the third round. Rockhold has won all of his fights by submission. Rockhold is a wrestler and jiu jitsu fighter. Devela is the only fighter on this card from Washington.
R1- Devela came in right of the bat and landed a punch but took a punch and was floored. Rockhold followed him to the floor and nailed him with a bunch of punches. Devela bleed on the mat and then Rockhold locked him in with the Rear Naked Choke and Devela tapped out. Great showing by Rockhold. Rockhold has looked really good in both of the fights I’ve seen him in.
Winner: Luke Rockhold by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 0:30
Women’s Fight- 135 Pounds- Sarah Kaufman (9-0) vs. Shayna Baszler (11-5)
Baszler trains with Josh Barnett. Baszler comes to the ring with a guitar on her back. Baszler fought Christiane Cyborg on CBS for Elite XC in 2008 but lost by TKO in the second round. Kaufman beat Miesha Tate at the first Strikeforce Challengers show by Decision. This is being fought under 3 five minute rounds, which is a change from the usual 3 minute rounds that most women’s MMA fights are fought under. Mauro let’s us know that future women’s fights will be contested under 5 minute rounds.
R1- Baszler was able to get a trip early and took Kaufman’s guard. Kaufman got out of that position but Baszler got a brief choke before Kaufman could get out of the submission hold. The ref stood the fight up with a minute thirty left in the round. Baszler clinched her and the ref broke them up. Close round that probably goes to Baszler due to the take down and submission attempt.
R2- They clinched and Kaufman snuck in a good right hand as they broke the clinch. Kaufman hit a good combo. Kaufman is starting to pick Baszler apart on their feet now. Kaufman clearly took this round as she closed very strong and I’ve got the fight 19-19 going into the final stanza.
R3- Baszler went for a single leg take down but Kaufman stuffed it and ended up on top. Kaufman got a take down and landed some brief Ground and Pound but then let Baszler up to her feet. Kaufman is clearly winning the stand up game. Baszler went for a last minute knee bar but Kaufman stuffed it and will take this fight by decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of Kaufman. I had the fight 29-28 in favor of Kaufman.
Winner: Sarah Kaufman by Decision (Unanimous)
Josh Barnett joins Mauro Ranallo at ringside. He talks about the Baszler fight and the upcoming fight that he has against Fedor on August 1st for Affliction.
Catchweight Fight (160 pounds)- Jorge Gurgel (12-5) vs. Conor Heun (8-2)
Heun is a 30 year old wrestler who has 5 submissions out of his 8 wins. Heun has a brown belt in jiu jitsu under Eddie Bravo. Gurgel is a jiu jitsu fighter who prefers to stand on his feet and that’s the reason that he’s no longer in the UFC. Gurgel has 9 submissions in his 12 wins. Heun has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Gurgel is hitting some leg kicks. When the fighters get close together they are both just swinging for the fences. Gurgel continues to hit leg kicks and is the more accurate striker so far. Heun started to come on at the end of the round and he landed some good strikes. This was a very close round. I’m not sure Heun did enough at the end of the round to get the nod.
R2- Heun is pushing forward at the beginning of this round and looking to get in close range to throw strikes. Gurgel hit a nice high head kick but Heun took it and didn’t go down. Gurgel caught Heun with some punches but doesn’t follow up. Gurgel hits a good right hand. Gurgel had a head kick blocked and then gets Gurgel on the cage and hits some strikes and draws blood from Gurgel. They are just swinging for the fences and the fans are eating it up. Gurgel landed some nice strikes to close the round. Great round. I’ve got Gurgel up 20-18 so far.
R3- Gurgle hit a body kick but Heun took Gurgel down and they scrambled back to their feet with 3 minutes left in the round. Gurgel got caught Heun and Heun jumped on top and then grabbed the rubber guard and then they stood back up with a minute and a half left. Really good fight. I’ve got Heun taking this round but Gurgel winning the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards show: 29-28, 30-27 in favor of Gurgel.
Winner: Jorge Gurgel by Decision (Unanimous)
They show a hype video for upcoming Gina Carano/Cyborg fight.
Middleweight Fight- Nick Thompson (38-10-1) vs. Tim Kennedy (9-2)
Kennedy is a kickboxer who is a Special Forces Army Ranger. Thompson fought Jake Shields for the Elite XC Welterweight Title on CBS last July but fell victim to a guillotine choke in the first round. Thompson is a boxer and a wrestler. In Thompson pre-fight interview he seems to think that Jake Shields has the Strikeforce Title. Thompson is the most experienced fighter on this show. Thompson has 21 submission victories in his career. Thompson beat Paul Daley in a recent fight.
R1- Kennedy shot in early but Thompson grabbed his arm and went for a kimura. Thompson finally released the attempts and Kennedy tried to take Thompson’s back and ended up getting half guard. Both guys are very active on the mat so far in the first round. Kennedy mounted but Thompson quickly pushed him back to half guard. This was a good first round that was the opposite of Gurgel/Heun as this fight was contested almost solely on the ground. Kennedy won the first round 10-9.
R2- Kennedy got a take down at the one minute mark of the round. Kennedy lands some strikes and Thompson tapped out to the strikes.
Post-fight Thompson gets in the refs face. Maybe about the strikes as it looked like Kennedy hit several shots to the back of Thompson’s head and the ref did nothing to stop them.
Winner: Tim Kennedy by Submission (Strikes) R2 2:37
Middleweight Fight- Joe Villasenor (26-6) vs. Evangelista Santos (16-12)
Santos is a Muay Thai and BJJ fighter. Cyborg is coming off of an elbow injury. Villasenor fought and defeated Phil Baroni on CBS in May of 2008 in only one minute winning by TKO. Villasenor is a boxer and jiu jitsu fighter. Villasenor trains with Greg Jackson’s camp. He has not fought since the Baroni fight. Cyborg has a 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Villasenor is the aggressor early but is getting caught with some counter punches. Villasenor gets a take down about half way through the round. First round goes to Villasenor 10-9.
R2- They throw some good leather early into this round. Cyborg is hitting low kicks. They really mixed it up at the end of the round. Really close round. Villasenor is the one pushing the action but this one could have gone either way.
R3- Cyborg got a take down a minute into the third round. Villasenor got to his feet without taking any damage. Villasenor is pushing the action and has opened up a cut on Cyborg. I’ve got Villasenor taking this round and the fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Villasenor, 29-28 Cyborg (?), and 29-28 Villasenor.
Winner: Joe Villasenor by Decision (Split)
This was a decent show but definitely one where you didn’t miss much if you missed it. Gurgel/Heun was a really fun fight and was FOTN. I hope Villasenor gets moved up to the main show because he’s a solid fighter and I’d like to see how he does against some of the top Middleweights that Strikeforce has. Luke Rockhold looked great and it looks like Sarah Kaufman is positioning herself for a possible fight with the winner of Carano/Cyborg.
UFC 99: "The Comeback" 6/13/09 Re-Cap
UFC 99: The Comeback
6/13/09
Cologne, Germany
Lanxess Arena
The headliner of this show is Rich Franklin versus Wanderlei Silva in what should be an action packed contest. The undercard is stacked with Cheick Kongo/Cain Velasquez, Mike Swick/Ben Saunders, Marcus Davis/Dan Hardy and Mirko Cro Cop. This should be an exciting night of fights. And I actually forgot about Caol Uno against Spencer Fisher and that could be the Fight of the Night.
Welterweight Fight- Dan Hardy (21-6) vs. Marcus Davis (21-5)
There has been a big war of the words between these guys for several weeks so it’s nice to see them get in the cage and settle their differences. Marcus Davis is coming off of a Split Decision victory over Chris Lytle and he submitted Paul Kelly previous to that. Dan Hardy is on a 5-fight win streak. Rogan says that he’s never seen Marcus Davis so fired up, in shape and ready for a fight in his life. Hardy has a 4” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Neither guy wanted to make a mistake early. Davis made the first move by going for a take down and Davis finally got him down after a long struggle and got a mount. Hardy was able to get out of the mount but Davis leaned on him and got some Ground and Pound. Hardy got to his feet and hit Davis with a good punch. Davis slipped and Hardy caught him with a couple more shots but Davis tied him up. Davis looks like he got cut. This round was all Davis with the exception of about a 45 second explosion by Hardy. I’ve got Davis 10-9 but it was close due to the shots Hardy landed near the end of the round.
R2- They stand at the beginning of this round and exchange and Hardy gets a clinch and lands a knee that hurts Marcus. Hardy jumps on top to try and finish but Davis was able to protect so he didn’t get finished. Davis went for an arm bar from the guard position but Hardy was able to stop the submission. Davis is landing some elbows from the bottom and is very active in Hardy’s guard and the ref stands them up. Davis got a take down with 30 seconds left in the round and passed guard but all he could get was some brief Ground and Pound. This was pretty much a reversal of the first round as Hardy controlled the entire round and Davis controlled the last 45 seconds. I give this one to Hardy and have the fight 19-19 going into the third and deciding round.
R3- Davis landed a left that floored Hardy at the start of the round, it looked like Hardy got caught off balance. Davis took Hardy’s guard. Davis went for a heel hook but Hardy was able to spin out and both fighters got back to their feet. Hardy was able to get a take down with about 2 minutes left in the fight. Hardy hit an elbow and the ref stopped the fight to check the cut. It was on his nose so they continued the fight. Hardy is getting some Ground and Pound and Davis continues to bleed but Hardy doesn’t do enough and the ref stands the fighters up with 45 seconds left in the fight. Davis is having trouble seeing out of his eyes due to the blood and they tied up to finish the fight. I’ve got to give the fight to Hardy due to damage inflicted on his opponent. Close fight, I’ve got Hardy 29-28 on my score card. The winner of this is right on the verge of being a Top 10 Welterweight in the world and could be a couple of victories away from a title shot.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Hardy, 29-28 Davis and 29-28 Hardy.
Hardy goes to shake Marcus’s hand after the decision and Davis shrugs him off. Hardy says he respects Davis and that he is a tough fighter.
Winner: Dan Hardy by Decision (Split)
Lightweight Fight- Caol Uno (25-11-4) vs. Spencer Fisher (23-4)
This is Uno’s first fight in his return to the UFC. Uno comes out to “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
R1- They danced around for a while. Spencer went for a punch and Uno went for a take down and Spencer stuffed it and they clinched against the cage. The ref finally separated them with two minutes left in the round. Spencer landed a couple of punches and then blocked another Uno take down. This was a pretty even uneventful first round. I’ve got Spencer taking this one 10-9 but it’s anybody’s fight.
R2- Uno got a single leg after ducking a punch but Spencer got up quickly and separated. Uno went for another take down but was stuffed. Uno lands a couple of leg kicks but then gets another take down stuffed but Spencer stayed on him and Uno rolled him over and took his guard but Spencer was able to get back to his feet again. Uno is just constantly going for take downs. Spencer went for a sweep but got taken down by Uno and Spencer again quickly got up. This round went to Uno with his repeated take downs even though he didn’t do a lot once he got there. I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Spencer landed a good left hand in the first minute of the fight but Uno kept coming with a take down attempt. Uno went for a leg kick but Spencer punched him and Uno’s momentum took him down to the mat. Spencer got a take down but Uno quickly rolled him off. Uno mounted Spencer and got in a couple of elbows and punches and is finishing this round in an impressive fashion. Uno get the nod in this round due to his final push. I’ve got Uno 29-28 in a rather uneventful fight.
Judges score cards say: all judges score the fight for Spencer Fisher (no scores announced)
Winner: Spencer Fisher by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Mike Swick (13-2) vs. Ben Saunders (7-0-2)
This fight should be the opposite of our last fight. Saunders looked great back in December against Brandon Wolfe as he finished him by TKO in the first round. Mike Swick fought on that same card in December and got a 33 second victory over Jonathon Goulet. At UFC 85 Swick defeated Marcus Davis by Unanimous Decision. Swick is 3-0 as a Welterweight in the UFC and I’ve currently got Swick ranked #8 in the World Welterweight rankings.
R1- Saunders immediately pulls guard, which is a little surprising. Saunders is just holding him with Swick landing some little punches. Swick asks Saunders if he’s going to hold him all night. Ref stands them up with 1:30 left in the round. Swick landed some good punches after a Saunders kick. Swick takes this round 10-9 and Saunders rubs Swick’s head on the way back to his corner.
R2- Swick quickly mounted in less than a minute but Saunders was able to move him back to guard. The ref stands them up with 2:40 left in the round. Swick hit a good combination and drove Saunders back in the cage. Swick kept coming and Saunders went down Swick jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight. Swick jumped over the cage and gave Dana and his guys high fives and jumped back in the cage. Another great showing by Swick.
Post-fight Swick says he’s 9-1 in the UFC and wants to fight top guys. He names Matt Hughes, GSP and Thiago Alves.
Winner: Mike Swick by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:47
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (24-6-2) vs. Mostapha Al-Turk (6-4)
Cro Cop has looked less than stellar in his last two fights. Cro Cop looked bored in his fight against Hong Man Choi and in the fight before that he was on the ropes against Alistair Overeem when Cro Cop got low blowed and sold like he’d been taken out by a shotgun and could not continue. Overeem was dominating Cro Cop before the low blow. Al-Turk comes out to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. Mirko comes out to Duran Duran, I only know that because my sister was a big fan. Mirko gets a good reaction from the crowd despite his choice of theme music. Rogan says there are lots of fans here from Croatia. Al-Turk seems like the sacrificial lamb but let’s see how it plays out in the cage.
R1- Al-Turk is the aggressor early. Rogan points out that Al-Turk is telegraphing his shots. Mirko landed a good combo and is chasing down Al-Turk. Mirko gets on top and gets some shots in and then lets Al-Turk up. Cro Cop hits a punch that looked like it was an eye poke and Al-Turk covered up but the ref didn’t do anything and then Cro Cop finished him off when the ref didn’t step in. Miragliotta with another poor officiating job.
Cro Cop looked a little better than his previous two fights but he didn’t look much like he’s going to be a threat in the UFC Heavyweight Division. Throw him in there with Shane Carwin, Junior dos Santos or Cain Velaquez if he beats Kongo.
Winner: Mirko Cro Cop by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:06
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (5-0) vs. Cheick Kongo (24-4-1)
Both of these fighters are coming in with momentum. At UFC 97 Kongo beat Antoni Hardonk by TKO in the second round and at UFC 92 Kongo just completely overwhelmed Mustafa Al-Turk. Velasquez dominated Denis Stojnic at UFC Fight Night 17 and won via TKO in the second round. Kongo comes out to some Jimi Hendrix. Kongo has a 5” reach and 3” height advantage. Velasquez is 9 lbs heavier. I’ve got both of these guys right outside the Top 10 Heavyweight rankings so the winner is really going to rise up the ranks.
R1- Valesquez stalks Kongo down early but Kongo hits some nice shots and brings Cain to his knees. He landed two nice right hands but Cain stayed with it and got a double leg take down. Cain mounts and looks like he has a choke in but Kongo rolled out of the choke. Kongo got back to his feet but got slammed. Cain lands some nice shots and again goes for a choke but can’t get it locked in. Cain is landing some nice shots on Kongo. Kongo got to his feet again and again got slammed for his trouble. After those first two punches Cain just dominated Kongo. Kongo was two punches away from having a 10-8 round scored against him. Cain takes this round 10-9.
R2- Kongo landed another good punch on Cain and he went down to his feet. Kongo swung for the fences but then clinched Cain against the cage. Cain got a take down about one minute into the round. Cain hits some elbows and then lands some good punches against cage. Kongo got up but got taken down again. Cain hits some big knees to the body. Cain takes this round 10-9 so he’s up 20-18.
R3- Kongo looked like he landed another good strike but Cain wrapped him up. Kongo briefly got Cain down but then Cain got on top. This is reminiscent of Lesnar/Herring. Both fighters are bleeding. Kong is bleeding from the nose and Cain from the mouth. Kongo got to his feet at the two minute mark and got loose and threw some punches but Cain took him down again. Cain is landing some consistent punches on Kongo from the top. This was a good fight and FOTN so far. Cain wins 30-27 on my score card.
This was an interesting fight because of the the dominance of Cain on the ground and Kongo’s dominance on his feet. Cain’s technique and wrestling was just too much for Kongo. Cain was very impressive and definitely proved he could take a punch. The only question, as Rogan put it, is if Cain has the power to finish some of the Top Heavyweights in the UFC.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by Decision (Unanimous)
Main Event Catchweight Fight (195lbs)- Rich Franklin (26-4) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-9-1)
This is a huge fight for both of these guys as they are coming off losses and adjusting to new weight classes. Franklin lost his last fight to Dan Henderson in a close decision loss and Silva lost his last fight by Knockout to Rampage Jackson. The winner of this fight could be within a fight or two of a title shot. I could realistically see the UFC giving Franklin a shot at Lyoto Machida (if he beats Shogun before he faces the winner of Rampage) and I could see Wanderlei get a shot at Anderson (because of the feud they built up on the Countdown show and Dana is looking for guys that will stand toe to toe with Anderson). Rogan points out that this is the first time that Wanderlei is cutting weight and Rogan says the rumor is that Wanderlei had to cut 12 pounds yesterday to make the 195 lb weight limit. Franklin has a 2” height and reach advantage.
R1- Wanderlei got a take down with two minutes left in the round after some fairly even stand-up. Franklin gets back to his feet with a minute left in the round and gets on top of Wanderlei and is landing some good Ground and Pound. Wanderlei back to his feet but he took some shots and looks like he has a cut. Franklin hit a couple of shots to end the round and he took this one 10-9 on my score card.
R2- Both guys are throwing some haymakers but nobody has hit anything substantial so far. Franklin caught Silva and his momentum took him to the mat but Franklin did not follow him to the ground. Franklin hit a good combo. Franklin got hit with a good left hand in an exchange and his knees briefly buckled. Wanderlei landed another good right hand and had Franklin reeling back into the cage. Franklin hit a high kick that was partially blocked but it seemed to hurt Wanderlei. This was a really hard round to judge. It seemed like Wanderlei hurt Franklin a couple times during the round so I’ve got to give the round to Wanderlei and that makes hit 19-19.
R3- Wanderlei landed a good knee after both guys threw a lot of punches. Wanderlei is the aggressor this round with Franklin choosing to stick and move. Wanderlei and Franklin are up against the cage and both guys were throwing bombs but not landing. Franklin got a take down and then they stood up with Wanderlei landed elbows and Franklin landing punches. Great finish to the fight as the crowd was on it’s feet cheering at the end. This third and final round was pretty much even. I think Wanderlei took this round which means he won the fight on my score card 29-28. Very close fight and this over took Velasquez/Kongo as FOTN.
Judges score the fight: all 3 judges score the fight for Rich Franklin.
Winner: Rich Franklin by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight Franklin makes one of his corner guys do push-ups.
This was a solid show with the two closing fights really delivering. Mike Swick really looked good again and I’m interested to see how Dan Hardy continues to progress in his weight class.
6/13/09
Cologne, Germany
Lanxess Arena
The headliner of this show is Rich Franklin versus Wanderlei Silva in what should be an action packed contest. The undercard is stacked with Cheick Kongo/Cain Velasquez, Mike Swick/Ben Saunders, Marcus Davis/Dan Hardy and Mirko Cro Cop. This should be an exciting night of fights. And I actually forgot about Caol Uno against Spencer Fisher and that could be the Fight of the Night.
Welterweight Fight- Dan Hardy (21-6) vs. Marcus Davis (21-5)
There has been a big war of the words between these guys for several weeks so it’s nice to see them get in the cage and settle their differences. Marcus Davis is coming off of a Split Decision victory over Chris Lytle and he submitted Paul Kelly previous to that. Dan Hardy is on a 5-fight win streak. Rogan says that he’s never seen Marcus Davis so fired up, in shape and ready for a fight in his life. Hardy has a 4” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Neither guy wanted to make a mistake early. Davis made the first move by going for a take down and Davis finally got him down after a long struggle and got a mount. Hardy was able to get out of the mount but Davis leaned on him and got some Ground and Pound. Hardy got to his feet and hit Davis with a good punch. Davis slipped and Hardy caught him with a couple more shots but Davis tied him up. Davis looks like he got cut. This round was all Davis with the exception of about a 45 second explosion by Hardy. I’ve got Davis 10-9 but it was close due to the shots Hardy landed near the end of the round.
R2- They stand at the beginning of this round and exchange and Hardy gets a clinch and lands a knee that hurts Marcus. Hardy jumps on top to try and finish but Davis was able to protect so he didn’t get finished. Davis went for an arm bar from the guard position but Hardy was able to stop the submission. Davis is landing some elbows from the bottom and is very active in Hardy’s guard and the ref stands them up. Davis got a take down with 30 seconds left in the round and passed guard but all he could get was some brief Ground and Pound. This was pretty much a reversal of the first round as Hardy controlled the entire round and Davis controlled the last 45 seconds. I give this one to Hardy and have the fight 19-19 going into the third and deciding round.
R3- Davis landed a left that floored Hardy at the start of the round, it looked like Hardy got caught off balance. Davis took Hardy’s guard. Davis went for a heel hook but Hardy was able to spin out and both fighters got back to their feet. Hardy was able to get a take down with about 2 minutes left in the fight. Hardy hit an elbow and the ref stopped the fight to check the cut. It was on his nose so they continued the fight. Hardy is getting some Ground and Pound and Davis continues to bleed but Hardy doesn’t do enough and the ref stands the fighters up with 45 seconds left in the fight. Davis is having trouble seeing out of his eyes due to the blood and they tied up to finish the fight. I’ve got to give the fight to Hardy due to damage inflicted on his opponent. Close fight, I’ve got Hardy 29-28 on my score card. The winner of this is right on the verge of being a Top 10 Welterweight in the world and could be a couple of victories away from a title shot.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Hardy, 29-28 Davis and 29-28 Hardy.
Hardy goes to shake Marcus’s hand after the decision and Davis shrugs him off. Hardy says he respects Davis and that he is a tough fighter.
Winner: Dan Hardy by Decision (Split)
Lightweight Fight- Caol Uno (25-11-4) vs. Spencer Fisher (23-4)
This is Uno’s first fight in his return to the UFC. Uno comes out to “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
R1- They danced around for a while. Spencer went for a punch and Uno went for a take down and Spencer stuffed it and they clinched against the cage. The ref finally separated them with two minutes left in the round. Spencer landed a couple of punches and then blocked another Uno take down. This was a pretty even uneventful first round. I’ve got Spencer taking this one 10-9 but it’s anybody’s fight.
R2- Uno got a single leg after ducking a punch but Spencer got up quickly and separated. Uno went for another take down but was stuffed. Uno lands a couple of leg kicks but then gets another take down stuffed but Spencer stayed on him and Uno rolled him over and took his guard but Spencer was able to get back to his feet again. Uno is just constantly going for take downs. Spencer went for a sweep but got taken down by Uno and Spencer again quickly got up. This round went to Uno with his repeated take downs even though he didn’t do a lot once he got there. I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Spencer landed a good left hand in the first minute of the fight but Uno kept coming with a take down attempt. Uno went for a leg kick but Spencer punched him and Uno’s momentum took him down to the mat. Spencer got a take down but Uno quickly rolled him off. Uno mounted Spencer and got in a couple of elbows and punches and is finishing this round in an impressive fashion. Uno get the nod in this round due to his final push. I’ve got Uno 29-28 in a rather uneventful fight.
Judges score cards say: all judges score the fight for Spencer Fisher (no scores announced)
Winner: Spencer Fisher by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Mike Swick (13-2) vs. Ben Saunders (7-0-2)
This fight should be the opposite of our last fight. Saunders looked great back in December against Brandon Wolfe as he finished him by TKO in the first round. Mike Swick fought on that same card in December and got a 33 second victory over Jonathon Goulet. At UFC 85 Swick defeated Marcus Davis by Unanimous Decision. Swick is 3-0 as a Welterweight in the UFC and I’ve currently got Swick ranked #8 in the World Welterweight rankings.
R1- Saunders immediately pulls guard, which is a little surprising. Saunders is just holding him with Swick landing some little punches. Swick asks Saunders if he’s going to hold him all night. Ref stands them up with 1:30 left in the round. Swick landed some good punches after a Saunders kick. Swick takes this round 10-9 and Saunders rubs Swick’s head on the way back to his corner.
R2- Swick quickly mounted in less than a minute but Saunders was able to move him back to guard. The ref stands them up with 2:40 left in the round. Swick hit a good combination and drove Saunders back in the cage. Swick kept coming and Saunders went down Swick jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight. Swick jumped over the cage and gave Dana and his guys high fives and jumped back in the cage. Another great showing by Swick.
Post-fight Swick says he’s 9-1 in the UFC and wants to fight top guys. He names Matt Hughes, GSP and Thiago Alves.
Winner: Mike Swick by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:47
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (24-6-2) vs. Mostapha Al-Turk (6-4)
Cro Cop has looked less than stellar in his last two fights. Cro Cop looked bored in his fight against Hong Man Choi and in the fight before that he was on the ropes against Alistair Overeem when Cro Cop got low blowed and sold like he’d been taken out by a shotgun and could not continue. Overeem was dominating Cro Cop before the low blow. Al-Turk comes out to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. Mirko comes out to Duran Duran, I only know that because my sister was a big fan. Mirko gets a good reaction from the crowd despite his choice of theme music. Rogan says there are lots of fans here from Croatia. Al-Turk seems like the sacrificial lamb but let’s see how it plays out in the cage.
R1- Al-Turk is the aggressor early. Rogan points out that Al-Turk is telegraphing his shots. Mirko landed a good combo and is chasing down Al-Turk. Mirko gets on top and gets some shots in and then lets Al-Turk up. Cro Cop hits a punch that looked like it was an eye poke and Al-Turk covered up but the ref didn’t do anything and then Cro Cop finished him off when the ref didn’t step in. Miragliotta with another poor officiating job.
Cro Cop looked a little better than his previous two fights but he didn’t look much like he’s going to be a threat in the UFC Heavyweight Division. Throw him in there with Shane Carwin, Junior dos Santos or Cain Velaquez if he beats Kongo.
Winner: Mirko Cro Cop by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:06
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (5-0) vs. Cheick Kongo (24-4-1)
Both of these fighters are coming in with momentum. At UFC 97 Kongo beat Antoni Hardonk by TKO in the second round and at UFC 92 Kongo just completely overwhelmed Mustafa Al-Turk. Velasquez dominated Denis Stojnic at UFC Fight Night 17 and won via TKO in the second round. Kongo comes out to some Jimi Hendrix. Kongo has a 5” reach and 3” height advantage. Velasquez is 9 lbs heavier. I’ve got both of these guys right outside the Top 10 Heavyweight rankings so the winner is really going to rise up the ranks.
R1- Valesquez stalks Kongo down early but Kongo hits some nice shots and brings Cain to his knees. He landed two nice right hands but Cain stayed with it and got a double leg take down. Cain mounts and looks like he has a choke in but Kongo rolled out of the choke. Kongo got back to his feet but got slammed. Cain lands some nice shots and again goes for a choke but can’t get it locked in. Cain is landing some nice shots on Kongo. Kongo got to his feet again and again got slammed for his trouble. After those first two punches Cain just dominated Kongo. Kongo was two punches away from having a 10-8 round scored against him. Cain takes this round 10-9.
R2- Kongo landed another good punch on Cain and he went down to his feet. Kongo swung for the fences but then clinched Cain against the cage. Cain got a take down about one minute into the round. Cain hits some elbows and then lands some good punches against cage. Kongo got up but got taken down again. Cain hits some big knees to the body. Cain takes this round 10-9 so he’s up 20-18.
R3- Kongo looked like he landed another good strike but Cain wrapped him up. Kongo briefly got Cain down but then Cain got on top. This is reminiscent of Lesnar/Herring. Both fighters are bleeding. Kong is bleeding from the nose and Cain from the mouth. Kongo got to his feet at the two minute mark and got loose and threw some punches but Cain took him down again. Cain is landing some consistent punches on Kongo from the top. This was a good fight and FOTN so far. Cain wins 30-27 on my score card.
This was an interesting fight because of the the dominance of Cain on the ground and Kongo’s dominance on his feet. Cain’s technique and wrestling was just too much for Kongo. Cain was very impressive and definitely proved he could take a punch. The only question, as Rogan put it, is if Cain has the power to finish some of the Top Heavyweights in the UFC.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by Decision (Unanimous)
Main Event Catchweight Fight (195lbs)- Rich Franklin (26-4) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-9-1)
This is a huge fight for both of these guys as they are coming off losses and adjusting to new weight classes. Franklin lost his last fight to Dan Henderson in a close decision loss and Silva lost his last fight by Knockout to Rampage Jackson. The winner of this fight could be within a fight or two of a title shot. I could realistically see the UFC giving Franklin a shot at Lyoto Machida (if he beats Shogun before he faces the winner of Rampage) and I could see Wanderlei get a shot at Anderson (because of the feud they built up on the Countdown show and Dana is looking for guys that will stand toe to toe with Anderson). Rogan points out that this is the first time that Wanderlei is cutting weight and Rogan says the rumor is that Wanderlei had to cut 12 pounds yesterday to make the 195 lb weight limit. Franklin has a 2” height and reach advantage.
R1- Wanderlei got a take down with two minutes left in the round after some fairly even stand-up. Franklin gets back to his feet with a minute left in the round and gets on top of Wanderlei and is landing some good Ground and Pound. Wanderlei back to his feet but he took some shots and looks like he has a cut. Franklin hit a couple of shots to end the round and he took this one 10-9 on my score card.
R2- Both guys are throwing some haymakers but nobody has hit anything substantial so far. Franklin caught Silva and his momentum took him to the mat but Franklin did not follow him to the ground. Franklin hit a good combo. Franklin got hit with a good left hand in an exchange and his knees briefly buckled. Wanderlei landed another good right hand and had Franklin reeling back into the cage. Franklin hit a high kick that was partially blocked but it seemed to hurt Wanderlei. This was a really hard round to judge. It seemed like Wanderlei hurt Franklin a couple times during the round so I’ve got to give the round to Wanderlei and that makes hit 19-19.
R3- Wanderlei landed a good knee after both guys threw a lot of punches. Wanderlei is the aggressor this round with Franklin choosing to stick and move. Wanderlei and Franklin are up against the cage and both guys were throwing bombs but not landing. Franklin got a take down and then they stood up with Wanderlei landed elbows and Franklin landing punches. Great finish to the fight as the crowd was on it’s feet cheering at the end. This third and final round was pretty much even. I think Wanderlei took this round which means he won the fight on my score card 29-28. Very close fight and this over took Velasquez/Kongo as FOTN.
Judges score the fight: all 3 judges score the fight for Rich Franklin.
Winner: Rich Franklin by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight Franklin makes one of his corner guys do push-ups.
This was a solid show with the two closing fights really delivering. Mike Swick really looked good again and I’m interested to see how Dan Hardy continues to progress in his weight class.
Friday, June 19, 2009
TUF Season 9 Episode 12 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 12
This is the last episode of this years’ TUF as we have 3 of the 4 finalists set and the live show is set for this Saturday. Andre Winner will fight Ross Pearson this Saturday and Damarques Johnson will fight the winner of the re-match between James Wilks and Frank Lester.
Hendo visits the house and helps the guys cook a meal. Bisping talks strategy and says that the fight was pretty even on the feet last time but once James took the fight to the floor he controlled. Frank and James get along outside the ring and they show them talking and hanging out and exchanging shirts as souvenirs.
Bisping came over for the last meal with Team UK. Hijinks ensue.
Welterweight Fight- James Wilks (5-2) (UK) vs. Frank Lester (USA) (3-2)
R1- They stood up for most of the first round with Lester looking pretty good and landing a couple of nice shots. James went for a take down and ended up clinching against the cage. Frank broke out and threw some wild punches but James clinched him again. James used his reach to land a couple of jabs at the end of the round. Very close round, could have gone either way. Both corners tell their fighter that they won the round. Frank looks really tired after the first round.
R2- James does a good job this round mixing up punches and kicks and is seizing control of this fight. Lester is throwing some wild shots. Frank’s got some blood coming from his nose. James clearly took this round.
R3- James landed a good right hand and then a knee but still couldn’t get Frank to the mat. James had Frank in a clinch and hit some knees and Frank fell down and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: James Wilks by TKO (Strikes) R3
After the fight Dana puts Wilks over as the better fighter but also puts Frank over as a tough fighter. Lester ended up fighting 4 times in 34 days on the show.
So for the finals on Saturday night we have the following fights:
Welterweight Fight: Damarques Johnson (USA) vs. James Wilks (UK)
Lightweight Fight: Ross Pearson (UK) vs. Andre Winner (UK)
“This experience has made me want to beat Bisping up more….For lack of a better word he’s just a douche bag.”- Dan Henderson
“I’m going in there July the 11th and I’m gonna destroy the guy.”- Michael Bisping
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco, Cameron Dollar)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson, Jason Dent)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester, Frank Lester)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, Nick Osipczak)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
Nick Osipczak eliminated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 10)
Cameron Dollar eliminated by Andre Winner (Episode 11)
Jason Dent eliminated by Ross Pearson (Episode 11)
Frank Lester eliminated by James Wilks (Episode 12)
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale (6/20/09) – Las Vegas, NV (Pearl Concert Theatre)
Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
Ultimate Fighter 9 Welterweight Finals: DaMarques Johnson vs. James Wilks
Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Finals: Andre Winner vs. Ross Pearson
Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
Gleison Tibau vs. Melvin Guillard
Tomasz Drwal vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz
Brad Blackburn vs. Edgar Garcia
Jason Dent vs. Cameron Dollar
This is the last episode of this years’ TUF as we have 3 of the 4 finalists set and the live show is set for this Saturday. Andre Winner will fight Ross Pearson this Saturday and Damarques Johnson will fight the winner of the re-match between James Wilks and Frank Lester.
Hendo visits the house and helps the guys cook a meal. Bisping talks strategy and says that the fight was pretty even on the feet last time but once James took the fight to the floor he controlled. Frank and James get along outside the ring and they show them talking and hanging out and exchanging shirts as souvenirs.
Bisping came over for the last meal with Team UK. Hijinks ensue.
Welterweight Fight- James Wilks (5-2) (UK) vs. Frank Lester (USA) (3-2)
R1- They stood up for most of the first round with Lester looking pretty good and landing a couple of nice shots. James went for a take down and ended up clinching against the cage. Frank broke out and threw some wild punches but James clinched him again. James used his reach to land a couple of jabs at the end of the round. Very close round, could have gone either way. Both corners tell their fighter that they won the round. Frank looks really tired after the first round.
R2- James does a good job this round mixing up punches and kicks and is seizing control of this fight. Lester is throwing some wild shots. Frank’s got some blood coming from his nose. James clearly took this round.
R3- James landed a good right hand and then a knee but still couldn’t get Frank to the mat. James had Frank in a clinch and hit some knees and Frank fell down and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: James Wilks by TKO (Strikes) R3
After the fight Dana puts Wilks over as the better fighter but also puts Frank over as a tough fighter. Lester ended up fighting 4 times in 34 days on the show.
So for the finals on Saturday night we have the following fights:
Welterweight Fight: Damarques Johnson (USA) vs. James Wilks (UK)
Lightweight Fight: Ross Pearson (UK) vs. Andre Winner (UK)
“This experience has made me want to beat Bisping up more….For lack of a better word he’s just a douche bag.”- Dan Henderson
“I’m going in there July the 11th and I’m gonna destroy the guy.”- Michael Bisping
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco, Cameron Dollar)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson, Jason Dent)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester, Frank Lester)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, Nick Osipczak)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
Nick Osipczak eliminated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 10)
Cameron Dollar eliminated by Andre Winner (Episode 11)
Jason Dent eliminated by Ross Pearson (Episode 11)
Frank Lester eliminated by James Wilks (Episode 12)
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale (6/20/09) – Las Vegas, NV (Pearl Concert Theatre)
Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
Ultimate Fighter 9 Welterweight Finals: DaMarques Johnson vs. James Wilks
Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Finals: Andre Winner vs. Ross Pearson
Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
Gleison Tibau vs. Melvin Guillard
Tomasz Drwal vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz
Brad Blackburn vs. Edgar Garcia
Jason Dent vs. Cameron Dollar
Saturday, June 13, 2009
WEC 41 "Brown vs Faber II" 6/7/09 Re-Cap
WEC 41 “Brown vs. Faber II” 6/7/09
Sacramento, CA (Arco Arena)
Versus
This is a great weekend if you are a fan of Mixed Martial Arts. Last night Strikeforce put on an explosive show on Showtime with Brett Rogers, Nick Diaz and Jake Shields making loud statements with their actions. That being said, tonight is the show that I am looking forward to most of all, including next weeks UFC PPV. Tonight we get a re-match of the Top 2 Featherweight Fighters in the World as Mike Thomas Brown defends his championship against Urijah Faber. How often do you truly get to see the top 2 fighters in a weight class face off against each other? Also, in action tonight we will see Jens Pulver against Josh Grispi, Top Lightweight contender Donald Cerrone against James Krause and a fight between two more top Featherweight fighters in Jose Aldo and Cub Swanson. This should be an exciting night of fights. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and he is joined by K-Flo, Kenny Florian (who is filling in for Frank Mir). Is it just me or does Kenny Florian look a little like Ben Stiller?
Featherweight Fight- Jens Pulver (22-11-1) vs. Josh Grispi (12-1)
Jens is a former UFC Lightweight Champ who wins most of his fights by KO. Grispi is on an 8-fight win streak, he’s a versatile fighter with equal KOs to submissions. Jens has been destroyed in his last two fights. That being said, they were both against top featherweight fighters in Urijah Faber and Leonard Garcia. Pulver has to win this fight if he wants to stick around in WEC in a fighting capacity. Grispi has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage in this fight. The only fight I’ve seen of Grispi’s was his 50 second win over Micah Miller back in August of 2008.
R1- Grispi got a take down but got caught in a guillotine by Grispi and Pulver tapped out. This is the third straight fight in which Pulver has been finished in under two minutes. Great showing by Grispi. Pulver needs to hang up the gloves. This is the second fight I’ve seen Grispi in and neither one has lasted more than a minute.
Winner: Josh Grispi by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:33
Post-fight Jens Pulver says that he is retiring as he says “I think I’m ending this where it started”. Then he says he’s not sure if he’s done yet.
The next WEC show will be August 9th when Miguel Angel Torres defends his championship against Brian Bowles. Craig Hummer is in the audience with both of the fighters. Bowles is 7-0 and is coming off an injury but says that it won’t be a problem. He says he thinks he matches up well with Torres. Torres says he is ready for the fight with Bowles and is leaning towards Faber in the fight tonight (but he seemed just to be saying that to suck up to Faber’s hometown crowd).
The camera pans the crowd to see who is in attendance. We see NHL star Jeremy Roenick, Keith Jardine, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner.
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (9-1) vs. James Krause (10-0)
Cerrone has experience as a professional kick boxer but has most of his wins by submission so he is a very versatile fighter. Krause has never been to a decision and tonight he will be making his WEC debut. Krause says his favorite technique is punching people in the face. Cerrone is coming off of a really good fight against Lightweight champion Jamie Varner that was stopped early due to an accidental foul by Cerrone. The fight went to the score cards due to the foul and Varner won. I had the fight 48-47 Varner but it was really even and Cerrone did a lot of damage to Varner. I really want to see a re-match so Varner needs to win this fight to make that happen. Krause has a 2” height and reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Cerrone hit a good body kick on Krause as he came in for a take down. Krause got a take down but Cerrone showed a very active guard and went for a submission and rolled into Krause’s guard. Krause ate a couple of punches but got out and back to his feet. Krause went for a take down but Cerrone grabbed a guillotine and then hit Krause with a knee before releasing. Cerrone caught Krause with a left hand and then a right that floored Krause. Cerrone followed him to the ground but Krause did a good job covering up and Cerrone ended up taking his back and he hit some punches and clamped on the Rear Naked Choke for the victory. Good fight and a really solid showing by Cerrone.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:38
Cerrone tells Varner he will fight him “anytime, any where”. Cerrone says that he knows taking this fight wasn’t the smartest move. Says he hopes that Jamie can get out of the “intensive care unit” in order to fight him. Jamie is of course in attendance tonight.
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos
Jorgensen has a 3” reach advantage. Jorgensen’s last fight was in January and he tapped Frank Gomez in 1:09 of the first round by guillotine choke. This fight is from the pre-show so it should be a pretty quick one.
R1- Banuelos hit a good right hand to start the fight. Jorgensen ties him up to try and gather himself. Banuelos got a take down up against the cage. Jorgensen gave up his back and was able to get back to his feet. Banuelos is really pushing the action. Jorgensen is clearly having trouble seeing as you can see him blinking hard when there is a slight break in the action. Both guys are freely throwing leather. Really good first round, I’ve got Banuelos taking it 10-9 but Jorgensen started to get his bearings back towards the end of the round.
R2- Banuelos is throwing a lot of punches at the start of this round. Jorgensen works a front headlock looking for a guillotine but couldn’t clamp it in place. Both guys trade punches at the two minute mark of the round. Jorgensen hit two good right hands but Banuelos took them and then clinched. Jorgensen looks like he’s started to get really comfortable and is starting to hit better strikes on Banuelos. Banuelos came back towards the end of the round but I think Jorgensen takes this round and I’ve got them 19-19 going into the final stanza. Really good fight so far.
R3- A ton of action to stat this round as Banuelos went for a take down but Jorgensen grabbed a guillotine and Banuelos sprawled out of it and the fighters got back to their feet. Jorgensen is starting to get his distance down and is walking Banuelos down in the ring. Banuelos has a cut that has been opened up on his right cheek and he seems to be slowing down a little here in the third. Jorgensen landed a really nice knee in the clinch. Both guys continue to really throw at one another. Jorgensen went for a choke but gave it up to take Banuelos back and then Jorgensen ends up in half guard and slugs it out with Banuelos and they sprawl and Banuelos survives another choke. Jorgensen took this round and I’ve got him winning the fight 29-28.
Great Fight. This is a Fight of the Year contender.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Banuelos, 29-28 Jorgensen, and the deciding score card 29-28 for Banuelos. I’m guessing they gave him the second round.
Winner: Antonio Banuelos by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (14-1) vs. Cub Swanson (13-2)
The winner of this fight could be in line for shot at the winner of tonight’s Featherweight Title Fight. Aldo was very impressive in his last fight in March as he overwhelmed Chris Mickle. Aldo also finished Rolando Perez in the first round back in January so he’s 2-0 this year with two first round finishes. Aldo is on a 7 fight win streak. Swanson has only lost 1 fight in the last 5 years and that was to Jens Pulver.
R1- Aldo hits a flying knee right out of the gate and this one is over immediately. Wow! Jose Aldo! How bout that finish Brett Rogers?
I think it’s pretty clear that Jose Aldo gets the next shot at the Featherweight title. Post-fight Aldo says he wants a title shot.
The final time of this fight was 8 seconds. Wow!
Winner: Jose Aldo by 0:08
Bantamweight Fight- Rolando Perez vs. Seth Dikun
Looks like Perez is moving down from Featherweight after his loss to Jose Aldo. In three fights Perez lasted the longest with Aldo so far this year as he lasted 4 minutes. Perez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight. This is a pre-show fight.
R1- Perez grabbed a Dikun kick and dumped him on the mat but he let him back up. Dikun pulled guard and grabbed a quick triangle. Perez slams him but Dikun holds onto the move. Perez finally has to tap but he held on for a really long time in the submission.
Winner: Seth Dikun by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:30
Lightweight Fight- Mike Campbell vs. Anthony Pettis
Looks like we are going to get our third pre-show fight. Campbell was undefeated before losing his first fight in January of this year to Danillo Villefort.
R1- Campbell caught a head kick but Pettis aggressively grabbed a guillotine but lost it when they fell to the mat. Pettis went for a n arm bar and Campbell beautifully rolled through it. Campbell got caught in a triangle and he had to tap. Campbell looked like he just made a big mistake and left himself open. Pettis looked really aggressive with his submissions, fought a good fight and took advantage of Campbell’s mistake.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:49
WEC Featherweight Championship: Mike Brown (21-4) vs. Urijah Faber (22-2)
This is a re-match from their original title fight back in November where Urijah lost his first fight in 3 years to Mike Brown. Brown finished that fight in under three minutes when Urijah went for an elbow and Brown caught him with a big clean punch and then followed it up with some big Ground and Pound for the TKO stoppage. Faber made a mistake and got caught in a weird position and Brown really capitalized. It will be interesting to see if Brown can make it two in a row over Faber. Since that fight Brown showed that his win over Urijah was not a fluke when he beat Leonard Garcia in just under 2 minutes. Since his fight with Brown, Urijah also looked very impressive by tapping out Jens Pulver in under 2 minutes in January. Brown is coming into this fight on a 9 fight win streak. Urijah comes to the ring and gets a really big ovation in his hometown. When the lights dim for Brown’s music the crowd gives him a chorus of boos. The graphics on my TV tell us that Brown is a jiu jitsu brown belt with a wrestling base and he wins the majority of his fights by submission (see: Garcia, Leonard). Brown trains with American Top Team.
This should be fun as we have the top 2 Featherweight fights in the world in one ring ready to do battle. Have I mentioned that there is a huge crowd here at Arco Arena tonight to watch this fight? They shake hands and embrace before the fight as the fans are really hyped for this fight.
R1- The fans are just nuts for this fight early. Huge “Faber” chant in the first minute of the round as they clinched and then pulled apart. Urijah hit a nice kick to the head but it didn’t seem to faze Brown. Brown went for a take down and Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown easily broke it. Brown his cut around his eye but he has Urijah’s back but Urijah gets back to his feet and gets back to a straight clinch and hits Brown with some knees. Faber hit a big right hand that broke Brown to a knee but Brown kicked and got a trip and he got Urijah down. Brown went for a submission but Urijah sprawled out of it but Brown is still in a dominant position. Really good first round with the crowd going nuts. This was a very close round that was very even. I think Urijah took it 10-9 but it was really a coin flip.
R2- Brown hit a couple of good shots in the first minute but Urijah moved away. Brown got a take down and looked for submissions but Urijah got back to his feet. Brown kept Urijah’s back and hit him with some good punches from behind and then wrestled Urijah back to the ground. Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown quickly escape the submission. Urijah got a good reversal but Brown quickly got Urijah back to his feet. Brown took this round and I’ve got it even on my score card at 19-19.
R3- Urijah went for an elbow and Brown tried to grab him in a guillotine but Brown eventually gave it up. Brown took Urijah’s back and pelted him with punches from behind until Urijah got back to his feet. Urijah hit a knee but Brown shrugged it off. Urijah landed a good elbow/knee combo. Brown went for a take down and Urijah sprawled out and briefly took Brown down but Brown tried for a leg submission and Urijah spun out. Kenny Florian seems to think that Urijah might have broken his right hand and that’s why he’s not punching with that hand but going for elbows. This round could have gone either way. It felt like Brown controlled where the fight went but that Faber landed better strikes. I think Brown takes this round and is up 29-28. This round and the first round were really toss ups. KFlo says he also has the fight 29-28 Brown at this point.
They showed footage of the corner with Urijah telling his corner that he broke his hand.
R4- Urijah is pretty much just throwing elbows now and Brown seems to be starting to connect with some strikes. Urijah landed a good knee. This round was basically even but I felt that Brown did slightly more damage to take the fight into the final round up 39-37. Really good fight so far but Urijah’s offense really seems to have been limited by his right hand injury.
R5- Brown got a take down but couldn’t do anything with it and Urijah got back to his feet. KFlo points out that with his broken hand Urijah cannot secure a guillotine choke. Urijah briefly grabbed a guillotine but Brown picked him up and dumped him on the mat. Urijah quickly gets back to his feet with two minutes and thirty seconds left in the fight. Brown got another take down with two minutes left in the fight. Urijah grabbed a choke with a minute and a half but he couldn’t keep it locked in. Brown got a take down with half a minute left in the round. Urijah hit a spinning elbow but couldn’t capitalize. Great Fight. I’ve got Urijah taking that round as he came closer to finishing what was a fairly even round.
I’ve got the fight scored Brown 48 Faber 47. Great fight, it’s unfortunate that Faber broke his hand but that was clearly a weapon that he needed to win this fight.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in favor of Mike Brown.
Winner and still champion: Mike Thomas Brown by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight Brown gives it up for Urijah and actually breaks down when discussing his team. Urijah says he hurt both his hands and broke his right hand in the first round. Says he would love to get back in there and get another title shot.
This was a great show. Two great fights in Brown/Faber and Jorgensen/Banuelos. We had Jose Aldo finishing a fight in 8 seconds! Josh Grispi finished Jens Pulver in 33 seconds. Top Contender Donald Cerrone looked good in his fight. This was a show that you did not want to miss.
Sacramento, CA (Arco Arena)
Versus
This is a great weekend if you are a fan of Mixed Martial Arts. Last night Strikeforce put on an explosive show on Showtime with Brett Rogers, Nick Diaz and Jake Shields making loud statements with their actions. That being said, tonight is the show that I am looking forward to most of all, including next weeks UFC PPV. Tonight we get a re-match of the Top 2 Featherweight Fighters in the World as Mike Thomas Brown defends his championship against Urijah Faber. How often do you truly get to see the top 2 fighters in a weight class face off against each other? Also, in action tonight we will see Jens Pulver against Josh Grispi, Top Lightweight contender Donald Cerrone against James Krause and a fight between two more top Featherweight fighters in Jose Aldo and Cub Swanson. This should be an exciting night of fights. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and he is joined by K-Flo, Kenny Florian (who is filling in for Frank Mir). Is it just me or does Kenny Florian look a little like Ben Stiller?
Featherweight Fight- Jens Pulver (22-11-1) vs. Josh Grispi (12-1)
Jens is a former UFC Lightweight Champ who wins most of his fights by KO. Grispi is on an 8-fight win streak, he’s a versatile fighter with equal KOs to submissions. Jens has been destroyed in his last two fights. That being said, they were both against top featherweight fighters in Urijah Faber and Leonard Garcia. Pulver has to win this fight if he wants to stick around in WEC in a fighting capacity. Grispi has a 4” height and 4” reach advantage in this fight. The only fight I’ve seen of Grispi’s was his 50 second win over Micah Miller back in August of 2008.
R1- Grispi got a take down but got caught in a guillotine by Grispi and Pulver tapped out. This is the third straight fight in which Pulver has been finished in under two minutes. Great showing by Grispi. Pulver needs to hang up the gloves. This is the second fight I’ve seen Grispi in and neither one has lasted more than a minute.
Winner: Josh Grispi by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:33
Post-fight Jens Pulver says that he is retiring as he says “I think I’m ending this where it started”. Then he says he’s not sure if he’s done yet.
The next WEC show will be August 9th when Miguel Angel Torres defends his championship against Brian Bowles. Craig Hummer is in the audience with both of the fighters. Bowles is 7-0 and is coming off an injury but says that it won’t be a problem. He says he thinks he matches up well with Torres. Torres says he is ready for the fight with Bowles and is leaning towards Faber in the fight tonight (but he seemed just to be saying that to suck up to Faber’s hometown crowd).
The camera pans the crowd to see who is in attendance. We see NHL star Jeremy Roenick, Keith Jardine, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner.
Lightweight Fight- Donald Cerrone (9-1) vs. James Krause (10-0)
Cerrone has experience as a professional kick boxer but has most of his wins by submission so he is a very versatile fighter. Krause has never been to a decision and tonight he will be making his WEC debut. Krause says his favorite technique is punching people in the face. Cerrone is coming off of a really good fight against Lightweight champion Jamie Varner that was stopped early due to an accidental foul by Cerrone. The fight went to the score cards due to the foul and Varner won. I had the fight 48-47 Varner but it was really even and Cerrone did a lot of damage to Varner. I really want to see a re-match so Varner needs to win this fight to make that happen. Krause has a 2” height and reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Cerrone hit a good body kick on Krause as he came in for a take down. Krause got a take down but Cerrone showed a very active guard and went for a submission and rolled into Krause’s guard. Krause ate a couple of punches but got out and back to his feet. Krause went for a take down but Cerrone grabbed a guillotine and then hit Krause with a knee before releasing. Cerrone caught Krause with a left hand and then a right that floored Krause. Cerrone followed him to the ground but Krause did a good job covering up and Cerrone ended up taking his back and he hit some punches and clamped on the Rear Naked Choke for the victory. Good fight and a really solid showing by Cerrone.
Winner: Donald Cerrone by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:38
Cerrone tells Varner he will fight him “anytime, any where”. Cerrone says that he knows taking this fight wasn’t the smartest move. Says he hopes that Jamie can get out of the “intensive care unit” in order to fight him. Jamie is of course in attendance tonight.
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos
Jorgensen has a 3” reach advantage. Jorgensen’s last fight was in January and he tapped Frank Gomez in 1:09 of the first round by guillotine choke. This fight is from the pre-show so it should be a pretty quick one.
R1- Banuelos hit a good right hand to start the fight. Jorgensen ties him up to try and gather himself. Banuelos got a take down up against the cage. Jorgensen gave up his back and was able to get back to his feet. Banuelos is really pushing the action. Jorgensen is clearly having trouble seeing as you can see him blinking hard when there is a slight break in the action. Both guys are freely throwing leather. Really good first round, I’ve got Banuelos taking it 10-9 but Jorgensen started to get his bearings back towards the end of the round.
R2- Banuelos is throwing a lot of punches at the start of this round. Jorgensen works a front headlock looking for a guillotine but couldn’t clamp it in place. Both guys trade punches at the two minute mark of the round. Jorgensen hit two good right hands but Banuelos took them and then clinched. Jorgensen looks like he’s started to get really comfortable and is starting to hit better strikes on Banuelos. Banuelos came back towards the end of the round but I think Jorgensen takes this round and I’ve got them 19-19 going into the final stanza. Really good fight so far.
R3- A ton of action to stat this round as Banuelos went for a take down but Jorgensen grabbed a guillotine and Banuelos sprawled out of it and the fighters got back to their feet. Jorgensen is starting to get his distance down and is walking Banuelos down in the ring. Banuelos has a cut that has been opened up on his right cheek and he seems to be slowing down a little here in the third. Jorgensen landed a really nice knee in the clinch. Both guys continue to really throw at one another. Jorgensen went for a choke but gave it up to take Banuelos back and then Jorgensen ends up in half guard and slugs it out with Banuelos and they sprawl and Banuelos survives another choke. Jorgensen took this round and I’ve got him winning the fight 29-28.
Great Fight. This is a Fight of the Year contender.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Banuelos, 29-28 Jorgensen, and the deciding score card 29-28 for Banuelos. I’m guessing they gave him the second round.
Winner: Antonio Banuelos by Decision (Split)
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (14-1) vs. Cub Swanson (13-2)
The winner of this fight could be in line for shot at the winner of tonight’s Featherweight Title Fight. Aldo was very impressive in his last fight in March as he overwhelmed Chris Mickle. Aldo also finished Rolando Perez in the first round back in January so he’s 2-0 this year with two first round finishes. Aldo is on a 7 fight win streak. Swanson has only lost 1 fight in the last 5 years and that was to Jens Pulver.
R1- Aldo hits a flying knee right out of the gate and this one is over immediately. Wow! Jose Aldo! How bout that finish Brett Rogers?
I think it’s pretty clear that Jose Aldo gets the next shot at the Featherweight title. Post-fight Aldo says he wants a title shot.
The final time of this fight was 8 seconds. Wow!
Winner: Jose Aldo by 0:08
Bantamweight Fight- Rolando Perez vs. Seth Dikun
Looks like Perez is moving down from Featherweight after his loss to Jose Aldo. In three fights Perez lasted the longest with Aldo so far this year as he lasted 4 minutes. Perez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight. This is a pre-show fight.
R1- Perez grabbed a Dikun kick and dumped him on the mat but he let him back up. Dikun pulled guard and grabbed a quick triangle. Perez slams him but Dikun holds onto the move. Perez finally has to tap but he held on for a really long time in the submission.
Winner: Seth Dikun by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:30
Lightweight Fight- Mike Campbell vs. Anthony Pettis
Looks like we are going to get our third pre-show fight. Campbell was undefeated before losing his first fight in January of this year to Danillo Villefort.
R1- Campbell caught a head kick but Pettis aggressively grabbed a guillotine but lost it when they fell to the mat. Pettis went for a n arm bar and Campbell beautifully rolled through it. Campbell got caught in a triangle and he had to tap. Campbell looked like he just made a big mistake and left himself open. Pettis looked really aggressive with his submissions, fought a good fight and took advantage of Campbell’s mistake.
Winner: Anthony Pettis by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:49
WEC Featherweight Championship: Mike Brown (21-4) vs. Urijah Faber (22-2)
This is a re-match from their original title fight back in November where Urijah lost his first fight in 3 years to Mike Brown. Brown finished that fight in under three minutes when Urijah went for an elbow and Brown caught him with a big clean punch and then followed it up with some big Ground and Pound for the TKO stoppage. Faber made a mistake and got caught in a weird position and Brown really capitalized. It will be interesting to see if Brown can make it two in a row over Faber. Since that fight Brown showed that his win over Urijah was not a fluke when he beat Leonard Garcia in just under 2 minutes. Since his fight with Brown, Urijah also looked very impressive by tapping out Jens Pulver in under 2 minutes in January. Brown is coming into this fight on a 9 fight win streak. Urijah comes to the ring and gets a really big ovation in his hometown. When the lights dim for Brown’s music the crowd gives him a chorus of boos. The graphics on my TV tell us that Brown is a jiu jitsu brown belt with a wrestling base and he wins the majority of his fights by submission (see: Garcia, Leonard). Brown trains with American Top Team.
This should be fun as we have the top 2 Featherweight fights in the world in one ring ready to do battle. Have I mentioned that there is a huge crowd here at Arco Arena tonight to watch this fight? They shake hands and embrace before the fight as the fans are really hyped for this fight.
R1- The fans are just nuts for this fight early. Huge “Faber” chant in the first minute of the round as they clinched and then pulled apart. Urijah hit a nice kick to the head but it didn’t seem to faze Brown. Brown went for a take down and Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown easily broke it. Brown his cut around his eye but he has Urijah’s back but Urijah gets back to his feet and gets back to a straight clinch and hits Brown with some knees. Faber hit a big right hand that broke Brown to a knee but Brown kicked and got a trip and he got Urijah down. Brown went for a submission but Urijah sprawled out of it but Brown is still in a dominant position. Really good first round with the crowd going nuts. This was a very close round that was very even. I think Urijah took it 10-9 but it was really a coin flip.
R2- Brown hit a couple of good shots in the first minute but Urijah moved away. Brown got a take down and looked for submissions but Urijah got back to his feet. Brown kept Urijah’s back and hit him with some good punches from behind and then wrestled Urijah back to the ground. Urijah grabbed a guillotine but Brown quickly escape the submission. Urijah got a good reversal but Brown quickly got Urijah back to his feet. Brown took this round and I’ve got it even on my score card at 19-19.
R3- Urijah went for an elbow and Brown tried to grab him in a guillotine but Brown eventually gave it up. Brown took Urijah’s back and pelted him with punches from behind until Urijah got back to his feet. Urijah hit a knee but Brown shrugged it off. Urijah landed a good elbow/knee combo. Brown went for a take down and Urijah sprawled out and briefly took Brown down but Brown tried for a leg submission and Urijah spun out. Kenny Florian seems to think that Urijah might have broken his right hand and that’s why he’s not punching with that hand but going for elbows. This round could have gone either way. It felt like Brown controlled where the fight went but that Faber landed better strikes. I think Brown takes this round and is up 29-28. This round and the first round were really toss ups. KFlo says he also has the fight 29-28 Brown at this point.
They showed footage of the corner with Urijah telling his corner that he broke his hand.
R4- Urijah is pretty much just throwing elbows now and Brown seems to be starting to connect with some strikes. Urijah landed a good knee. This round was basically even but I felt that Brown did slightly more damage to take the fight into the final round up 39-37. Really good fight so far but Urijah’s offense really seems to have been limited by his right hand injury.
R5- Brown got a take down but couldn’t do anything with it and Urijah got back to his feet. KFlo points out that with his broken hand Urijah cannot secure a guillotine choke. Urijah briefly grabbed a guillotine but Brown picked him up and dumped him on the mat. Urijah quickly gets back to his feet with two minutes and thirty seconds left in the fight. Brown got another take down with two minutes left in the fight. Urijah grabbed a choke with a minute and a half but he couldn’t keep it locked in. Brown got a take down with half a minute left in the round. Urijah hit a spinning elbow but couldn’t capitalize. Great Fight. I’ve got Urijah taking that round as he came closer to finishing what was a fairly even round.
I’ve got the fight scored Brown 48 Faber 47. Great fight, it’s unfortunate that Faber broke his hand but that was clearly a weapon that he needed to win this fight.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in favor of Mike Brown.
Winner and still champion: Mike Thomas Brown by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight Brown gives it up for Urijah and actually breaks down when discussing his team. Urijah says he hurt both his hands and broke his right hand in the first round. Says he would love to get back in there and get another title shot.
This was a great show. Two great fights in Brown/Faber and Jorgensen/Banuelos. We had Jose Aldo finishing a fight in 8 seconds! Josh Grispi finished Jens Pulver in 33 seconds. Top Contender Donald Cerrone looked good in his fight. This was a show that you did not want to miss.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
TUF Season 9 Episode 11 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 11
Last week we saw Damarques Johnson become the first fighter to advance to the TUF finals by defeating Nick Osipczak. This week we are getting both lightweight semi-final fights (Andre vs. Cameron and Ross vs. Dent).
Hendo says that he wants Cameron to take Andre down and finish him on the ground. Cameron hurt his ribs a little bit and they are a little tender. Andre talks about what the Benedict Arnold of Team USA, Jason Pierce, has told him and talks to Bisping about it. Bisping says that Winner’s strategy is just to take the center of the octagon and bang.
Lightweight Semi-Final Fight- Andre Winner (UK) (9-2-1) vs. Cameron Dollar (USA) (4-1)
R1- They exchange some leather to start off with both guys landing decent shots in the first 30 seconds. Cameron is the aggressor early and is pushing the action. Cameron went for a take down but Andre defended nicely. Cameron stuck with it and ended up tripping Andre against the cage but Andre stood up easily. They sprawled against the fence and Andre ended up in mount and then went for a triangle and Cameron eventually tapped to the move. This was a good fight. I thought Cameron actually was getting the better of the stand-up and that it was a mistake to push as hard as he did to get it to the ground.
Winner: Andre Winner by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1
During training it looked like Ross’s shoulder popped out of place but he says that he does it all the time.
Lightweight Semi-Final Fight- Ross Pearson (UK) (9-3) vs. Jason Dent (USA) (18-9)
R1- Ross charged in early and then they clinched against the cage for a while. Dent taunted him and then Pearson hit some good shots. Ross just looks like a much better fundamental fighter in this fight. Pearson got him up against the cage and looked to be in control but Dent was able to clinch him and then get in some shots of his own. Dent hit a good flurry at the end of the round. Pearson took the round 10-9. Pearson looks like he has much better fundamentals and is hitting good strikes he’s just not going in for the kill. Dent is doing a good job taking punches and is doing a good job when he is in the clinch but I don’t see him winning this unless he hits a lucky shot.
R2- Dent looked like he was starting to turn the tide on the feet so Pearson got a take down about half way through the round. Dent was able to get up and both guys threw lots of punches against the cage. Dent went for a single leg but couldn’t finish it and Ross jumped on top for some Ground and Pound. Ross looked like he delivered a couple of nice elbows. This round was closer but Ross really took control in the last half of the round and I’ve got him up on my score card 20-18.
R3- Ross got a take down within the first minute of the round. Ross really smothered Dent on the ground in this round landing some punches and dominating the control of the round. Ross finished up on top and clearly took this round and the fight 30-27.
Winner: Ross Pearson by Decision (Unanimous)
So we’ve got an All-UK finale of Ross Pearson versus Andre Winner. Dana gives his props to Dent for putting up a good fight. He says that Dent gained more respect in this fight then he did in his two previous wins.
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco, Cameron Dollar)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson, Jason Dent)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester)
US- Frank Lester (defeated David Faulkner)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, Nick Osipczak)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
Nick Osipczak eliminated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 10)
Cameron Dollar eliminated by Andre Winner (Episode 11)
Jason Dent eliminated by Ross Pearson (Episode 11)
Last week we saw Damarques Johnson become the first fighter to advance to the TUF finals by defeating Nick Osipczak. This week we are getting both lightweight semi-final fights (Andre vs. Cameron and Ross vs. Dent).
Hendo says that he wants Cameron to take Andre down and finish him on the ground. Cameron hurt his ribs a little bit and they are a little tender. Andre talks about what the Benedict Arnold of Team USA, Jason Pierce, has told him and talks to Bisping about it. Bisping says that Winner’s strategy is just to take the center of the octagon and bang.
Lightweight Semi-Final Fight- Andre Winner (UK) (9-2-1) vs. Cameron Dollar (USA) (4-1)
R1- They exchange some leather to start off with both guys landing decent shots in the first 30 seconds. Cameron is the aggressor early and is pushing the action. Cameron went for a take down but Andre defended nicely. Cameron stuck with it and ended up tripping Andre against the cage but Andre stood up easily. They sprawled against the fence and Andre ended up in mount and then went for a triangle and Cameron eventually tapped to the move. This was a good fight. I thought Cameron actually was getting the better of the stand-up and that it was a mistake to push as hard as he did to get it to the ground.
Winner: Andre Winner by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1
During training it looked like Ross’s shoulder popped out of place but he says that he does it all the time.
Lightweight Semi-Final Fight- Ross Pearson (UK) (9-3) vs. Jason Dent (USA) (18-9)
R1- Ross charged in early and then they clinched against the cage for a while. Dent taunted him and then Pearson hit some good shots. Ross just looks like a much better fundamental fighter in this fight. Pearson got him up against the cage and looked to be in control but Dent was able to clinch him and then get in some shots of his own. Dent hit a good flurry at the end of the round. Pearson took the round 10-9. Pearson looks like he has much better fundamentals and is hitting good strikes he’s just not going in for the kill. Dent is doing a good job taking punches and is doing a good job when he is in the clinch but I don’t see him winning this unless he hits a lucky shot.
R2- Dent looked like he was starting to turn the tide on the feet so Pearson got a take down about half way through the round. Dent was able to get up and both guys threw lots of punches against the cage. Dent went for a single leg but couldn’t finish it and Ross jumped on top for some Ground and Pound. Ross looked like he delivered a couple of nice elbows. This round was closer but Ross really took control in the last half of the round and I’ve got him up on my score card 20-18.
R3- Ross got a take down within the first minute of the round. Ross really smothered Dent on the ground in this round landing some punches and dominating the control of the round. Ross finished up on top and clearly took this round and the fight 30-27.
Winner: Ross Pearson by Decision (Unanimous)
So we’ve got an All-UK finale of Ross Pearson versus Andre Winner. Dana gives his props to Dent for putting up a good fight. He says that Dent gained more respect in this fight then he did in his two previous wins.
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco, Cameron Dollar)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson, Jason Dent)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester)
US- Frank Lester (defeated David Faulkner)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, Nick Osipczak)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
Nick Osipczak eliminated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 10)
Cameron Dollar eliminated by Andre Winner (Episode 11)
Jason Dent eliminated by Ross Pearson (Episode 11)
MMA Rankings (Mid-June Edition)
This is the fourth installment of my MMA Rankings.
It should be noted that there are several worthy fighters (Rich Franklin, Gegard Mousasi, Wanderlei Silva) that are not ranked due to switching weight classifications or not consistently fighting at one weight (Nick Diaz).
HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Fedor Emelianenko (29-1-0)
WAMMA Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W(KO)- Andrei Arlovski- R1- 1/24/09
W(SUB)- Tim Sylvia- R1- 7/19/08
W(SUB)- Hong Man Choi- R1- 12/31/07
Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Josh Barnett
#2 Frank Mir (12-3)
UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira- R2- 12/27/08
W (SUB)- Brock Lesnar- R1- 2/2/08
W (SUB)- Antoni Hardonk- R1- 8/25/07
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Brock Lesnar
#3 Josh Barnett (24-5)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Gilbert Yvel- R3- 1/24/09
W (KO)- Pedro Rizzo- R2- 7/19/08
W (DEC)- Jeff Monson- R3- 5/18/08
Next Fight- 8/1/09 vs. Fedor Emelianenko
#4 Brock Lesnar (3-1)
UFC Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Randy Couture- R2- 11/15/08
W (DEC)- Heath Herring- R3- 8/9/08
L (SUB)- Frank Mir- R1- 2/2/08
Next Fight- 7/11/09 vs. Frank Mir
#5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Frank Mir- R2- 12/27/08
W (SUB)- Tim Sylvia- R3- 2/2/08
W (DEC)- Heath Herring- R3- 7/7/07
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Randy Couture
#6 Randy Couture (16-9)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Brock Lesnar- R2- 11/15/08
W (TKO)- Gabriel Gonzaga- R3- 8/25/07
W (DEC)- Tim Sylvia- R5- 3/3/07
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
#7 Alistair Overeem (29-11)
Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Gary Goodridge- R1- 11/9/08
NC- Mirko Filipovic- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB)- Mark Hunt- R1- 7/21/08
Next Fight- 8/15/09 vs. TBA
#8 Brett Rogers (10-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Andre Arlovski- R1- 6/6/09
W (TKO)- Ron Humphrey- R2- 4/11/09
W (KO)- Jon Murphy- R1- 5/31/08
Next Fight- TBD
#9 Junior dos Santos (8-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Stefan Struve- R1- 2/21/09
W (TKO)- Fabricio Werdum- R1- 10/25/08
W (TKO)- Geronimo dos Santos- R1- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 8/29/09 vs. Justin McCully
#10 Shane Carwin (11-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Gabriel Gonzaga- R1- 3/7/09
W (TKO)- Neil Wain- R1- 10/18/08
W (KO)- Christian Wellisch- R1- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 9/19/09 vs. Heath Herring
FOUR TO WATCH:
Cain Velazquez (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Cheick Kongo)
Cheick Kongo (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Cain Velazquez)
Fabricio Werdum
Ben Rothwell (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Chase Gormley)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Lyoto Machida (15-0)
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (KO)- Rashad Evans- R2- 5/23/09
W (KO)- Thiago Silva- R1- 1/31/09
W (DEC)- Tito Ortiz- R3- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 10/24/09 vs. Mauricio Rua
#2 Quinton Jackson (30-7)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Keith Jardine- R3- 3/7/09
W (KO)- Wanderlei Silva- R1- 12/27/08
L (DEC)- Forrest Griffin- R5- 7/5/08
Next Fight- TBD
#3 Rashad Evans (13-1-1)
Last Three Fights:
L (KO)- Lyoto Machida- R2- 5/23/09
W(TKO)- Forrest Griffin- R3- 12/27/08
W(KO)- Chuck Liddell- R2- 9/6/08
Next Fight: TBD
#4 Forrest Griffin (16-5)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Rashad Evans- R3- 12/27/08
W (DEC)- Quinton Jackson- R5- 7/5/08
W (SUB)- Mauricio Rua- R3- 9/22/07
Next Fight- 8/8/09 vs. Anderson Silva
#5 Maurício Rua (18-3)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Chuck Liddell- R1- 4/18/09
W (TKO)- Mark Coleman- R3- 1/17/09
L (SUB)- Forrest Griffin- R3- 9/22/07
Next Fight- 10/24/09 vs. Lyoto Machida
#6 Antonio Rogério Nogueira (17-3)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Dion Staring- R3- 5/9/09
W (KO)- Vladimir Matyushenko- R2- 1/24/09
W (DEC)- Moise Rimbon- R3- 11/1/08
Next Fight- TBD
#7 Renato Sobral (32-7)
Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou- R2- 1/24/09
W (TKO)- Bobby Southworth- R1- 11/21/08
W (DEC)- Mike Whitehead- R3- 7/19/08
Next Fight- 8/1/09 vs. Gegard Mousasi
#8 Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
L (DEC)- Quinton Jackson- R3- 3/7/09
W (DEC)- Brandon Vera- R3- 10/18/08
L (KO)- Wanderlei Silva- R1- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 8/29/09 vs. Thiago Silva
#9 Luis Cane (10-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Steve Cantwell- R3- 4/18/09
W (TKO)- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou- R2- 10/18/08
W (TKO)- Jason Lambert- R1- 6/7/08
Next Fight: TBD
#10 Thiago Silva (13-1)
Last Three Fights:
L (KO)- Lyoto Machida- R1- 1/31/09
W (SUB)- Antonio Mendes- R1- 5/24/08
W (TKO)- Houston Alexander- R1- 11/17/07
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Keith Jardine
FIVE TO WATCH:
Gegard Mousasi (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Renato Sobral)
Jon Jones (Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Jake O'Brien)
Rich Franklin (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Wanderlei Silva)
Mo Lawal
Brandon Vera (Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Matt Hamill)
MIDDLEWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Anderson Silva (24-4)
UFC Middleweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Thales Leites- R5- 4/18/09
W (TKO) Patrick Cote- R3- 10/25/08
W (KO) James Irvin- R1- 7/19/08 @ Light Heavyweight
Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Forrest Griffin
#2 Yushin Okami (23-4)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Dean Lister- R3- 12/27/08
W (KO) Evan Tanner- R2- 3/1/08
W (DEC) Jason MacDonald- R3- 10/20/07
Next Fight: 10/24/09 vs. Patrick Cote
#3 Dan Henderson (24-7)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Rich Franklin- R3- 1/17/09 @ Light Heavyweight
W (DEC) Rousimar Palhares- R3- 9/6/08
L (SUB) Anderson Silva- R2- 3/1/08
Next Fight- 7/11/09 vs. Michael Bisping
#4 Jorge Santiago (21-7)
Sengoku Middleweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Kazuo Misaki- R5- 1/4/09
W (TKO) Kazuhiro Nakamura- R3- 11/1/08
W (SUB) Siyar Bahadurzada- R1- 11/1/08
Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Vitor Belfort
#5 Nate Marquardt (28-8-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (KO) Wilson Gouveia- R3- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Martin Kampmann- R1- 9/6/08
L (DEC) Thales Leites- R3- 6/7/08
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Demian Maia
#6 Demian Maia (10-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Chael Sonnen- R1- 2/21/09
W (SUB) Nate Quarry- R1- 11/15/08
W (SUB) Jason MacDonald- R3- 8/9/08
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Nate Marquardt
#7 Robbie Lawler (16-5)
Former Elite XC Middleweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
L (SUB) Jake Shields- R1- 6/6/09
W (TKO) Scott Smith- R2- 7/26/08
NC Scott Smith- R3- 5/31/08
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Masanori Tonooka- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB)- Katsuyori Shibata- R1- 7/21/08
NC- Kazuo Misaki- R1- 12/31/07
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Alan Belcher
#9 Ronaldo Souza (10-2)
NC Jason Miller- R1- 5/26/09
L (KO) Gegard Mousasi- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB) Zelg Galesic- R1- 9/23/08
Next Fight: TBD
#10 Vitor Belfort (18-8)
W (KO) Matt Lindland- R1- 1/24/09
W (KO) Terry Martin- R2- 7/19/08
W (DEC) James Zikic- R3- 9/22/07
Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Jorge Santiago
FOUR TO WATCH:
Michael Bisping (Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Dan Henderson)
Kazuo Misaki
Wanderlei Silva (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Rich Franklin)
Chael Sonnen
WELTERWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Georges St-Pierre (18-2)
UFC Welterweight Champion
W (TKO) B.J. Penn- R4- 1/31/09
W (DEC) Jon Fitch- R5- 8/9/08
W (TKO) Matt Serra- R2- 4/19/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Thiago Alves
#2 Thiago Alves (16-3)
W (DEC) Josh Koscheck- R3- 10/25/08
W (TKO) Matt Hughes- R2- 6/7/08
W (TKO) Karo Parisyan- R2- 4/2/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Georges St-Pierre
#3 Jon Fitch (18-3)
W (DEC) Akihiro Gono- R3- 1/31/09
L (DEC) Georges St-Pierre- R5- 8/9/08
W (DEC) Chris Wilson- R3- 3/1/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Paulo Thiago
#4 Jake Shields (23-4-1)
Former Elite XC Welterweight Champion
W (SUB) Robbie Lawler- R1- 6/6/09
W (SUB) Paul Daley- R2- 10/4/08
W (SUB) Nick Thompson- R1- 7/26/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Martin Kampmann (15-2)
W (DEC) Carlos Condit- R3- 4/1/09
W (TKO) Alexandre Barros- R2- 1/17/09
L (TKO) Nate Marquardt- R1- 9/6/08
Next Fight: TBD
#6 Carlos Condit (22-4)
L (DEC) Martin Kampmann- R3- 4/1/09
W (TKO) Hiromitsu Miura- R4- 8/3/08
W (SUB) Carlo Prater- R1- 2/13/08
Next Fight: TBD
#7 Matt Hughes (43-7)
W (DEC) Matt Serra- R3- 5/23/09
L (TKO) Thiago Alves- R2- 6/7/08
L (SUB) Georges St-Pierre- R2- 12/29/07
W (DEC) Chris Lytle- R3- 3/3/07
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Mike Swick (13-2)
W (TKO) Jonathan Goulet- R1- 12/10/08
W (DEC) Marcus Davis- R3- 6/7/08
W (DEC) Josh Burkman- R3- 1/23/08
Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Ben Saunders
#9 Paulo Thiago (11-0)
W (TKO) Josh Koscheck- R1- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luis Dutra Jr- R1- 9/13/08
W (DEC) Ferrid Kheder- R3- 7/12/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Jon Fitch
#10 Josh Koscheck (12-4)
L (TKO) Paulo Thiago- R1- 2/21/09
W (KO) Yoshiyuki Yoshida- R1- 12/10/08
L (DEC) Thiago Alves- R3- 10/25/08
Next Fight: 9/19/09 vs. Frank Trigg
SIX TO WATCH:
Marcus Davis (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Dan Hardy)
Dustin Hazelett
Anthony Johnson (Next Fight: 6/20/09 vs. Matt Brown)
Brock Larson
John Howard (Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Tamdan McCrory)
Dan Hardy (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Marcus Davis)
LIGHTWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 B.J. Penn (13-5-1)
UFC Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO) Georges St-Pierre- R4- 1/31/09 @ Welterweight
W (TKO) Sean Sherk- R3- 5/24/08
W (SUB) Joe Stevenson- R2- 1/19/08
Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Kenny Florian
#2 Shinya Aoki (20-4)
WAMMA Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO) Hayato Sakurai- R1- 4/5/09 @ Welterweight
W (SUB) David Gardner- R1- 3/8/09
W (SUB) Eddie Alvarez- R1- 12/31/08
Next Fight: 7/20/09 vs. Vitor Ribeiro
#3 Eddie Alvarez (17-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Eric Reynolds- R1- 5/1/09
W (SUB) Greg Loughran- R1- 4/3/09
L (SUB) Shinya Aoki- R1- 12/31/08
Next Fight: 6/19/09 vs. Toby Imada
#4 Joachim Hansen (19-7-1)
DREAM Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO) Shinya Aoki- R1- 7/21/08
W (SUB) Kultar Gill- R1- 7/21/08
L (DEC) Eddie Alvarez- R2- 5/11/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Kenny Florian (11-3)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Joe Stevenson- R1- 11/15/08
W (DEC) Roger Huerta- R3- 8/9/08
W (TKO) Joe Lauzon- R2- 4/2/08
Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. B.J. Penn
#6 Josh Thomson (16-2)
Strikeforce Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO) Ashe Bowman- R1- 9/20/08
W (DEC) Gilbert Melendez- R5- 6/27/08
W (TKO) Adam Lynn- R1- 9/29/07
Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Gilbert Melendez
#7 Diego Sanchez (20-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Joe Stevenson- R3- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luigi Fioravanti- R3- 6/21/08
W (SUB) David Bielkheden- R1- 3/1/08
Next Fight: 6/20/09 vs. Clay Guida
#8 Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2)
Lats Three Fights:
W (DEC) Gesias Cavalcante- R2- 5/26/09
W (SUB) Ross Ebanez- R1- 3/8/09
L (TKO) Eddie Alvarez- R1- 7/21/08
Next Fight: TBD
#9 Gray Maynard (7-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Jim Miller- R3- 3/7/09
W (DEC) Rich Clementi- R3- 10/25/08
W (DEC) Frankie Edgar- R3- 4/2/08
Next Fight: TBD
#10 Frank Edgar (10-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Sean Sherk- R3- 5/23/09
W (DEC) Hermes France- R3- 7/19/08
L (DEC) Gray Maynard- R3- 4/2/08
Next Fight: TBD
FIVE TO WATCH:
Satoru Kitaoka (Next Fight: 8/2/09 vs. Mizuto Hirota)
Gilbert Melendez (Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Josh Thomson
Jamie Varner
Donald Cerrone
Caol Uno (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Spencer Fisher)
It should be noted that there are several worthy fighters (Rich Franklin, Gegard Mousasi, Wanderlei Silva) that are not ranked due to switching weight classifications or not consistently fighting at one weight (Nick Diaz).
HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Fedor Emelianenko (29-1-0)
WAMMA Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W(KO)- Andrei Arlovski- R1- 1/24/09
W(SUB)- Tim Sylvia- R1- 7/19/08
W(SUB)- Hong Man Choi- R1- 12/31/07
Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Josh Barnett
#2 Frank Mir (12-3)
UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira- R2- 12/27/08
W (SUB)- Brock Lesnar- R1- 2/2/08
W (SUB)- Antoni Hardonk- R1- 8/25/07
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Brock Lesnar
#3 Josh Barnett (24-5)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Gilbert Yvel- R3- 1/24/09
W (KO)- Pedro Rizzo- R2- 7/19/08
W (DEC)- Jeff Monson- R3- 5/18/08
Next Fight- 8/1/09 vs. Fedor Emelianenko
#4 Brock Lesnar (3-1)
UFC Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Randy Couture- R2- 11/15/08
W (DEC)- Heath Herring- R3- 8/9/08
L (SUB)- Frank Mir- R1- 2/2/08
Next Fight- 7/11/09 vs. Frank Mir
#5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Frank Mir- R2- 12/27/08
W (SUB)- Tim Sylvia- R3- 2/2/08
W (DEC)- Heath Herring- R3- 7/7/07
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Randy Couture
#6 Randy Couture (16-9)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Brock Lesnar- R2- 11/15/08
W (TKO)- Gabriel Gonzaga- R3- 8/25/07
W (DEC)- Tim Sylvia- R5- 3/3/07
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
#7 Alistair Overeem (29-11)
Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Gary Goodridge- R1- 11/9/08
NC- Mirko Filipovic- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB)- Mark Hunt- R1- 7/21/08
Next Fight- 8/15/09 vs. TBA
#8 Brett Rogers (10-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Andre Arlovski- R1- 6/6/09
W (TKO)- Ron Humphrey- R2- 4/11/09
W (KO)- Jon Murphy- R1- 5/31/08
Next Fight- TBD
#9 Junior dos Santos (8-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Stefan Struve- R1- 2/21/09
W (TKO)- Fabricio Werdum- R1- 10/25/08
W (TKO)- Geronimo dos Santos- R1- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 8/29/09 vs. Justin McCully
#10 Shane Carwin (11-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Gabriel Gonzaga- R1- 3/7/09
W (TKO)- Neil Wain- R1- 10/18/08
W (KO)- Christian Wellisch- R1- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 9/19/09 vs. Heath Herring
FOUR TO WATCH:
Cain Velazquez (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Cheick Kongo)
Cheick Kongo (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Cain Velazquez)
Fabricio Werdum
Ben Rothwell (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Chase Gormley)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Lyoto Machida (15-0)
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (KO)- Rashad Evans- R2- 5/23/09
W (KO)- Thiago Silva- R1- 1/31/09
W (DEC)- Tito Ortiz- R3- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 10/24/09 vs. Mauricio Rua
#2 Quinton Jackson (30-7)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Keith Jardine- R3- 3/7/09
W (KO)- Wanderlei Silva- R1- 12/27/08
L (DEC)- Forrest Griffin- R5- 7/5/08
Next Fight- TBD
#3 Rashad Evans (13-1-1)
Last Three Fights:
L (KO)- Lyoto Machida- R2- 5/23/09
W(TKO)- Forrest Griffin- R3- 12/27/08
W(KO)- Chuck Liddell- R2- 9/6/08
Next Fight: TBD
#4 Forrest Griffin (16-5)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Rashad Evans- R3- 12/27/08
W (DEC)- Quinton Jackson- R5- 7/5/08
W (SUB)- Mauricio Rua- R3- 9/22/07
Next Fight- 8/8/09 vs. Anderson Silva
#5 Maurício Rua (18-3)
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Chuck Liddell- R1- 4/18/09
W (TKO)- Mark Coleman- R3- 1/17/09
L (SUB)- Forrest Griffin- R3- 9/22/07
Next Fight- 10/24/09 vs. Lyoto Machida
#6 Antonio Rogério Nogueira (17-3)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Dion Staring- R3- 5/9/09
W (KO)- Vladimir Matyushenko- R2- 1/24/09
W (DEC)- Moise Rimbon- R3- 11/1/08
Next Fight- TBD
#7 Renato Sobral (32-7)
Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou- R2- 1/24/09
W (TKO)- Bobby Southworth- R1- 11/21/08
W (DEC)- Mike Whitehead- R3- 7/19/08
Next Fight- 8/1/09 vs. Gegard Mousasi
#8 Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
L (DEC)- Quinton Jackson- R3- 3/7/09
W (DEC)- Brandon Vera- R3- 10/18/08
L (KO)- Wanderlei Silva- R1- 5/24/08
Next Fight- 8/29/09 vs. Thiago Silva
#9 Luis Cane (10-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Steve Cantwell- R3- 4/18/09
W (TKO)- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou- R2- 10/18/08
W (TKO)- Jason Lambert- R1- 6/7/08
Next Fight: TBD
#10 Thiago Silva (13-1)
Last Three Fights:
L (KO)- Lyoto Machida- R1- 1/31/09
W (SUB)- Antonio Mendes- R1- 5/24/08
W (TKO)- Houston Alexander- R1- 11/17/07
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Keith Jardine
FIVE TO WATCH:
Gegard Mousasi (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Renato Sobral)
Jon Jones (Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Jake O'Brien)
Rich Franklin (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Wanderlei Silva)
Mo Lawal
Brandon Vera (Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Matt Hamill)
MIDDLEWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Anderson Silva (24-4)
UFC Middleweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Thales Leites- R5- 4/18/09
W (TKO) Patrick Cote- R3- 10/25/08
W (KO) James Irvin- R1- 7/19/08 @ Light Heavyweight
Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Forrest Griffin
#2 Yushin Okami (23-4)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Dean Lister- R3- 12/27/08
W (KO) Evan Tanner- R2- 3/1/08
W (DEC) Jason MacDonald- R3- 10/20/07
Next Fight: 10/24/09 vs. Patrick Cote
#3 Dan Henderson (24-7)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Rich Franklin- R3- 1/17/09 @ Light Heavyweight
W (DEC) Rousimar Palhares- R3- 9/6/08
L (SUB) Anderson Silva- R2- 3/1/08
Next Fight- 7/11/09 vs. Michael Bisping
#4 Jorge Santiago (21-7)
Sengoku Middleweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Kazuo Misaki- R5- 1/4/09
W (TKO) Kazuhiro Nakamura- R3- 11/1/08
W (SUB) Siyar Bahadurzada- R1- 11/1/08
Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Vitor Belfort
#5 Nate Marquardt (28-8-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (KO) Wilson Gouveia- R3- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Martin Kampmann- R1- 9/6/08
L (DEC) Thales Leites- R3- 6/7/08
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Demian Maia
#6 Demian Maia (10-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Chael Sonnen- R1- 2/21/09
W (SUB) Nate Quarry- R1- 11/15/08
W (SUB) Jason MacDonald- R3- 8/9/08
Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Nate Marquardt
#7 Robbie Lawler (16-5)
Former Elite XC Middleweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
L (SUB) Jake Shields- R1- 6/6/09
W (TKO) Scott Smith- R2- 7/26/08
NC Scott Smith- R3- 5/31/08
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB)- Masanori Tonooka- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB)- Katsuyori Shibata- R1- 7/21/08
NC- Kazuo Misaki- R1- 12/31/07
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Alan Belcher
#9 Ronaldo Souza (10-2)
NC Jason Miller- R1- 5/26/09
L (KO) Gegard Mousasi- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB) Zelg Galesic- R1- 9/23/08
Next Fight: TBD
#10 Vitor Belfort (18-8)
W (KO) Matt Lindland- R1- 1/24/09
W (KO) Terry Martin- R2- 7/19/08
W (DEC) James Zikic- R3- 9/22/07
Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Jorge Santiago
FOUR TO WATCH:
Michael Bisping (Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Dan Henderson)
Kazuo Misaki
Wanderlei Silva (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Rich Franklin)
Chael Sonnen
WELTERWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Georges St-Pierre (18-2)
UFC Welterweight Champion
W (TKO) B.J. Penn- R4- 1/31/09
W (DEC) Jon Fitch- R5- 8/9/08
W (TKO) Matt Serra- R2- 4/19/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Thiago Alves
#2 Thiago Alves (16-3)
W (DEC) Josh Koscheck- R3- 10/25/08
W (TKO) Matt Hughes- R2- 6/7/08
W (TKO) Karo Parisyan- R2- 4/2/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Georges St-Pierre
#3 Jon Fitch (18-3)
W (DEC) Akihiro Gono- R3- 1/31/09
L (DEC) Georges St-Pierre- R5- 8/9/08
W (DEC) Chris Wilson- R3- 3/1/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Paulo Thiago
#4 Jake Shields (23-4-1)
Former Elite XC Welterweight Champion
W (SUB) Robbie Lawler- R1- 6/6/09
W (SUB) Paul Daley- R2- 10/4/08
W (SUB) Nick Thompson- R1- 7/26/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Martin Kampmann (15-2)
W (DEC) Carlos Condit- R3- 4/1/09
W (TKO) Alexandre Barros- R2- 1/17/09
L (TKO) Nate Marquardt- R1- 9/6/08
Next Fight: TBD
#6 Carlos Condit (22-4)
L (DEC) Martin Kampmann- R3- 4/1/09
W (TKO) Hiromitsu Miura- R4- 8/3/08
W (SUB) Carlo Prater- R1- 2/13/08
Next Fight: TBD
#7 Matt Hughes (43-7)
W (DEC) Matt Serra- R3- 5/23/09
L (TKO) Thiago Alves- R2- 6/7/08
L (SUB) Georges St-Pierre- R2- 12/29/07
W (DEC) Chris Lytle- R3- 3/3/07
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Mike Swick (13-2)
W (TKO) Jonathan Goulet- R1- 12/10/08
W (DEC) Marcus Davis- R3- 6/7/08
W (DEC) Josh Burkman- R3- 1/23/08
Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Ben Saunders
#9 Paulo Thiago (11-0)
W (TKO) Josh Koscheck- R1- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luis Dutra Jr- R1- 9/13/08
W (DEC) Ferrid Kheder- R3- 7/12/08
Next Fight: 7/11/09 vs. Jon Fitch
#10 Josh Koscheck (12-4)
L (TKO) Paulo Thiago- R1- 2/21/09
W (KO) Yoshiyuki Yoshida- R1- 12/10/08
L (DEC) Thiago Alves- R3- 10/25/08
Next Fight: 9/19/09 vs. Frank Trigg
SIX TO WATCH:
Marcus Davis (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Dan Hardy)
Dustin Hazelett
Anthony Johnson (Next Fight: 6/20/09 vs. Matt Brown)
Brock Larson
John Howard (Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Tamdan McCrory)
Dan Hardy (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Marcus Davis)
LIGHTWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 B.J. Penn (13-5-1)
UFC Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO) Georges St-Pierre- R4- 1/31/09 @ Welterweight
W (TKO) Sean Sherk- R3- 5/24/08
W (SUB) Joe Stevenson- R2- 1/19/08
Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Kenny Florian
#2 Shinya Aoki (20-4)
WAMMA Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO) Hayato Sakurai- R1- 4/5/09 @ Welterweight
W (SUB) David Gardner- R1- 3/8/09
W (SUB) Eddie Alvarez- R1- 12/31/08
Next Fight: 7/20/09 vs. Vitor Ribeiro
#3 Eddie Alvarez (17-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Eric Reynolds- R1- 5/1/09
W (SUB) Greg Loughran- R1- 4/3/09
L (SUB) Shinya Aoki- R1- 12/31/08
Next Fight: 6/19/09 vs. Toby Imada
#4 Joachim Hansen (19-7-1)
DREAM Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO) Shinya Aoki- R1- 7/21/08
W (SUB) Kultar Gill- R1- 7/21/08
L (DEC) Eddie Alvarez- R2- 5/11/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Kenny Florian (11-3)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Joe Stevenson- R1- 11/15/08
W (DEC) Roger Huerta- R3- 8/9/08
W (TKO) Joe Lauzon- R2- 4/2/08
Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. B.J. Penn
#6 Josh Thomson (16-2)
Strikeforce Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO) Ashe Bowman- R1- 9/20/08
W (DEC) Gilbert Melendez- R5- 6/27/08
W (TKO) Adam Lynn- R1- 9/29/07
Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Gilbert Melendez
#7 Diego Sanchez (20-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Joe Stevenson- R3- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luigi Fioravanti- R3- 6/21/08
W (SUB) David Bielkheden- R1- 3/1/08
Next Fight: 6/20/09 vs. Clay Guida
#8 Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2)
Lats Three Fights:
W (DEC) Gesias Cavalcante- R2- 5/26/09
W (SUB) Ross Ebanez- R1- 3/8/09
L (TKO) Eddie Alvarez- R1- 7/21/08
Next Fight: TBD
#9 Gray Maynard (7-0)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Jim Miller- R3- 3/7/09
W (DEC) Rich Clementi- R3- 10/25/08
W (DEC) Frankie Edgar- R3- 4/2/08
Next Fight: TBD
#10 Frank Edgar (10-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Sean Sherk- R3- 5/23/09
W (DEC) Hermes France- R3- 7/19/08
L (DEC) Gray Maynard- R3- 4/2/08
Next Fight: TBD
FIVE TO WATCH:
Satoru Kitaoka (Next Fight: 8/2/09 vs. Mizuto Hirota)
Gilbert Melendez (Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Josh Thomson
Jamie Varner
Donald Cerrone
Caol Uno (Next Fight: 6/13/09 vs. Spencer Fisher)
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Strikeforce on Showtime "Lawler vs. Shields" 6/6/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on Showtime “Lawler vs. Shields” 6/6/09
St. Louis, Missouri
This is the second installment of Strikeforce on Showtime (third if you count the Challengers Series show) and this looks to be a great line-up. On top we have a battle of former Elite XC champions as Robbie Lawler takes on Jake Shields. We have former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski taking on up and comer Brett Rogers. Slugger Scott Smith will take on Nick Diaz, who is coming off of a win over Frank Shamrock at the last Showtime show. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer and he is joined by Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Kevin Randleman (17-12) vs. Mike Whitehead (23-7)
To me this is the least interesting fight on the televised card. Whitehead has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage and is 10 years younger than Randleman (27 vs. 37). Randleman is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Randleman looks like he is ready to go before the bell rings. Whitehead missed a head kick and got taken down early but Randleman couldn’t get an advantage and they stood back up. Whitehead was able to get a double leg and took Randleman to the mat but Randleman flipped him off. Whitehead got another take down but Randleman again quickly got him off. Whitehead gets yet another take down but Randleman rests and gets up again. Randleman is already really tired and it’s just the first round. Not a good first round at all. Whitehead basically took Randleman down at will and Randleman basically didn’t take much damage. Whitehead gets this 10-9 for the takedowns but if he was fighting a better fighter I think he would be getting taken to the woodshed. They should have started with Baroni/Riggs or put Feijao’s match on PPV instead of the prelims.
R2- Whitehead got a take down and is controlling Whitehead but not doing any damage as the fans boo. Whitehead is just basically laying on Randleman for the first 3 minutes of this round. Randleman finally got out but he’s just exhausted and has been since 3 minutes into the fight. Whitehead is throwing really soft strikes. This is just a bad fight. Whitehead looks like he is pawing at a kitten with some of these strikes. Whitehead is winning 20-18. I would be really surprised if either guy fights for Strikeforce again. I know if they worked for UFC this would be their last fight for that company. This is just a bad fight. Why didn’t they start with Riggs/Baroni?
At least the ring girl is cute. That’s the highlight of this fight so far.
R3- Randleman landed a big overhand right to start the round. Whitehead hit another big punch and got in for some Ground and Pound but Whitehead survived but he’s wobbly. Whitehead gets a take down and he’s going to try and ride this round out by laying on Randleman. Whitehead goes for a kimura. Randleman gets back to his feet and we have 30 seconds left in the fight. Randleman takes this round but Whitehead will win the fight 29-28. Not a good fight. Not a good opener. Keep Whitehead on the under card from now on please.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards.
Winner: Mike Whitehead by Decision (Unanimous)
The scroll the crowd and we see Pat Miletich, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson, Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko (gets a big reaction from the crowd). Mauro acknowledges the Affliction show in August but doesn’t say it by name (they do have an in ring advertisement for the brand).
Welterweight Fight- Phil Baroni (13-10) vs. Joe Riggs (29-10)
While neither one of these guys excites me I think this should be a good exciting fight between two veterans who should be hungry for a win and going for the knockout. Baroni is on a 3 fight win streak since moving down in weight. Josh Thomson is in Baroni’s corner. I can’t believe Joe Riggs is only 26 years old. Riggs is a former WEC Middleweight Champion. No touch of gloves when John McCarthy brought them together. Riggs is training with Arizona Combat Sports.
R1- They clinched early and Riggs got a take down. Riggs quickly went for a Rear Naked and it looked like he was going to get it but couldn’t lock it in and Baroni moved him back to full guard. Baroni struggled to get up and ended up in Riggs guard but McCarthy stood them back up. Riggs quickly went in and got a single leg take down but Baroni stuffed it and took the advantageous position as the bell rung. This was a really close round with Riggs winning the first half and Baroni the second half. I think Riggs edges this round out 10-9. Not exactly what I was expecting but it was competitive and a decent first round.
R2- They exchange some leather early in the round and then Riggs goes in for a Superman man punch and ended up with a take down but Baroni quickly reversed it and got a double leg of his own. They stood up and Riggs landed some punches in the corner. Riggs hit a punch and then a knee and Riggs is starting to open up with some strikes. Baroni got a take down but Riggs went for a triangle but couldn’t fully get it in and ended up releasing the submission. I’ve got Riggs taking this round as he landed the best strikes of the round and nearly finished the fight with a submission. Riggs is up 20-18 on my score card but both rounds have been close. Baroni actually out struck Riggs in the first round.
R3- They touched gloves to start the third and final round. Riggs landed some good strikes to open up the round and Baroni is in trouble early in the round but Riggs gave him time to recover. Riggs really controls this round as Baroni is taking a lot of shots and looks to be running out of gas but is somehow hanging on. Baroni made a run late in the round but Riggs took him down to ride out the fight. This was a good, competitive fight. I’ve got Riggs 30-27 and I’m confident that the judges will see it as a Unanimous decision (the first round was debatable but I can’t see giving Baroni rounds 2 or 3).
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards.
Winner: Joe Riggs by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight Joe Riggs says that he broke both of his hands and that he has a really bad flu. Riggs says he would like to fight Jake Shields.
Mauro announces the return of Gina Carano. She will take on Cris Cyborg on August 15th. We will also see Josh Thomson versus Gilbert Melendez for the Lightweight Title. Mauro had Josh and Gilbert with him at ringside. Gilbert says he will train harder and this time it will be a different story. Josh says he just got his walking boot off two weeks ago and has been training hard ever since. Josh says they will steal the show.
The next show will be the Strikeforce Challengers Show on Friday June 19th featuring Joe Villasenor. They also announce Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem for the August show.
Catchweight 180 lb Fight- Scott Smith (17-5) vs. Nick Diaz (19-7)
Smith is coming off of a comeback win against Benji Radach back at the April debut show on Showtime. On that same show Nick Diaz dominated Frank Shamrock. This should be a really fun fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage in this fight. They do not touch gloves when McCarthy brings them together before the start of the round.
R1- Diaz is using his reach early to his advantage as he’s keeping Smith at bay and making Smith come in and lunge when he throws punches. Diaz is landing lots of jabs. Diaz has Smith against the cage and is peppering him with jabs but Smith clinches him and ties him up until McCarthy breaks them up. Smith immediately sticks a good right hand but Diaz absorbs it. Smith got a take down but then released it and then hit a combo on his feet. Good fight so far, I’ve got Diaz up 20-19 but Smith started to really close the gap in the last part of the round and seemed to be finding his groove. Diaz threw 146 strikes in the first round!
R2- Diaz got in a good body shot that hurt Smith about a minute into the round and then Diaz started to pick him apart with jabs and strikes. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding from his eye. Diaz keeps hitting him right in the forehead with jabs. Diaz is just peppering Smith with a constant barrage of light punches. Smith missed a big head kick. Smith misses with a trio of big strikes and Diaz clinches him. Diaz completely controlled this round and had Smith down on the ground at the end of the round. Diaz threw 221 punches in that round and landed 125 of them. Borderline 10-8 round. I think the only thing keeping it from being 10-8 is Smith stayed on his feet for the whole round until the end and did actually get some offense in on Diaz. Diaz leading 20-18 going into the final round.
R3- They exchange some letter in the first 20 seconds of the round and then clinch. Smith misses another big kick and Diaz lands another good body shot that takes Smith to the ground. Diaz goes to take his back and Diaz locks in the Rear Naked and get the win.
Another great showing by Diaz. I don’t know what weight class Diaz is in but I’m thinking he needs a title shot here in Strikeforce. Either that or put him up against the winner of Lawler/Shields. Diaz landed 207 of 397 strikes in this fight to Smith’s 31 of 93.
Winner: Nick Diaz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 1:41
Post-Fight Diaz throws Scott Smith’s training partners under the bus and says Smith should come down the road and train with his team, “a real team.”
Heavyweight Fight- Andre Arlovski (15-6) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0)
Rogers beat Abongo Humphrey at the last Strikeforce show. Arlovski’s last fight was a loss to the #1 Heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko. Arlovski had won 5 in a row going into that fight. They show Fedor and hype his PPV fight on August 1st against Josh Barnett and they show Barnett as well. The winner of this most likely gets Overeem in August. Rogers has a 18 lb advantage and a 4.5” reach advantage. Arlovski is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and this is his Strikeforce debut. For the third fight in a row neither fighter touches gloves as McCarthy pulls them together to go over the rules.
R1- “Rogers comes in and drops Arlovski quickly and this one is over almost immediately. Wow! Rogers just destroyed a Top 5 fighter in seconds. On the re-play Rogers threw some punches and missed but kept coming and landed 3 to 4 straight punches against the cage. He hit two really big punches consecutively. Big time win for Rogers. Bring on Overeem!
Post-fight Rogers said he wants a title shot. I think he might have a good point.
“I was hungry baby”- Brett Rogers
Winner: Brett Rogers by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:22
They hype the Affliction PPV as they show highlights of Fedor/Sylvia and Fedor/Arlovski and Fedor joins Mauro ringside and they do an interview through an interpreter. Next they highlight Josh Barnett and show highlights of the Barnett/Yvel fight. Barnett joins Mauro ringside.
Catchweight 182 lb Fight- Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Jake Shields (22-4-1)
Shield is a former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and Lawler is a former Elite XC Middleweight Champion. Both guys had the belts when Elite XC went out of business so they were never beaten for their belts.
R1- Shields went for a take down but Robbie fought it off and then they clinched around the ring. Shields grabbed a guillotine and tapped out Robbie Lawler. Great showing by Shields. Lawler looked like he just never really got started and Shields got an opening and took it.
Post-fight Shields says he wants Cung Le’s belt. Says for Cung to fight him or give it over to him.
Winner: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:02
The big winners tonight were Nick Diaz, Brett Rogers and Jake Shields. Showtime is doing a good job of matching up fighters and giving some of the lesser known guys a chance to get wins and potentially become stars in the future (Diaz against Shamrock, Shields against Lawler, Rogers against Arlovski). This show started slow as the worst fight of the night (Randleman/Whitehead) opened the show but the last three fights were all either very good fights or very good spectacles. Solid night of fights and Strikeforce now has some interesting fights coming up with Rogers/Overeem, Shields/Le, Carano/Cyborg, and Thomson/Melendez either signed or on the horizon and they have a guy in Nick Diaz that has just looked fantastic in his last two fights.
St. Louis, Missouri
This is the second installment of Strikeforce on Showtime (third if you count the Challengers Series show) and this looks to be a great line-up. On top we have a battle of former Elite XC champions as Robbie Lawler takes on Jake Shields. We have former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski taking on up and comer Brett Rogers. Slugger Scott Smith will take on Nick Diaz, who is coming off of a win over Frank Shamrock at the last Showtime show. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer and he is joined by Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Kevin Randleman (17-12) vs. Mike Whitehead (23-7)
To me this is the least interesting fight on the televised card. Whitehead has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage and is 10 years younger than Randleman (27 vs. 37). Randleman is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Randleman looks like he is ready to go before the bell rings. Whitehead missed a head kick and got taken down early but Randleman couldn’t get an advantage and they stood back up. Whitehead was able to get a double leg and took Randleman to the mat but Randleman flipped him off. Whitehead got another take down but Randleman again quickly got him off. Whitehead gets yet another take down but Randleman rests and gets up again. Randleman is already really tired and it’s just the first round. Not a good first round at all. Whitehead basically took Randleman down at will and Randleman basically didn’t take much damage. Whitehead gets this 10-9 for the takedowns but if he was fighting a better fighter I think he would be getting taken to the woodshed. They should have started with Baroni/Riggs or put Feijao’s match on PPV instead of the prelims.
R2- Whitehead got a take down and is controlling Whitehead but not doing any damage as the fans boo. Whitehead is just basically laying on Randleman for the first 3 minutes of this round. Randleman finally got out but he’s just exhausted and has been since 3 minutes into the fight. Whitehead is throwing really soft strikes. This is just a bad fight. Whitehead looks like he is pawing at a kitten with some of these strikes. Whitehead is winning 20-18. I would be really surprised if either guy fights for Strikeforce again. I know if they worked for UFC this would be their last fight for that company. This is just a bad fight. Why didn’t they start with Riggs/Baroni?
At least the ring girl is cute. That’s the highlight of this fight so far.
R3- Randleman landed a big overhand right to start the round. Whitehead hit another big punch and got in for some Ground and Pound but Whitehead survived but he’s wobbly. Whitehead gets a take down and he’s going to try and ride this round out by laying on Randleman. Whitehead goes for a kimura. Randleman gets back to his feet and we have 30 seconds left in the fight. Randleman takes this round but Whitehead will win the fight 29-28. Not a good fight. Not a good opener. Keep Whitehead on the under card from now on please.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards.
Winner: Mike Whitehead by Decision (Unanimous)
The scroll the crowd and we see Pat Miletich, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson, Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko (gets a big reaction from the crowd). Mauro acknowledges the Affliction show in August but doesn’t say it by name (they do have an in ring advertisement for the brand).
Welterweight Fight- Phil Baroni (13-10) vs. Joe Riggs (29-10)
While neither one of these guys excites me I think this should be a good exciting fight between two veterans who should be hungry for a win and going for the knockout. Baroni is on a 3 fight win streak since moving down in weight. Josh Thomson is in Baroni’s corner. I can’t believe Joe Riggs is only 26 years old. Riggs is a former WEC Middleweight Champion. No touch of gloves when John McCarthy brought them together. Riggs is training with Arizona Combat Sports.
R1- They clinched early and Riggs got a take down. Riggs quickly went for a Rear Naked and it looked like he was going to get it but couldn’t lock it in and Baroni moved him back to full guard. Baroni struggled to get up and ended up in Riggs guard but McCarthy stood them back up. Riggs quickly went in and got a single leg take down but Baroni stuffed it and took the advantageous position as the bell rung. This was a really close round with Riggs winning the first half and Baroni the second half. I think Riggs edges this round out 10-9. Not exactly what I was expecting but it was competitive and a decent first round.
R2- They exchange some leather early in the round and then Riggs goes in for a Superman man punch and ended up with a take down but Baroni quickly reversed it and got a double leg of his own. They stood up and Riggs landed some punches in the corner. Riggs hit a punch and then a knee and Riggs is starting to open up with some strikes. Baroni got a take down but Riggs went for a triangle but couldn’t fully get it in and ended up releasing the submission. I’ve got Riggs taking this round as he landed the best strikes of the round and nearly finished the fight with a submission. Riggs is up 20-18 on my score card but both rounds have been close. Baroni actually out struck Riggs in the first round.
R3- They touched gloves to start the third and final round. Riggs landed some good strikes to open up the round and Baroni is in trouble early in the round but Riggs gave him time to recover. Riggs really controls this round as Baroni is taking a lot of shots and looks to be running out of gas but is somehow hanging on. Baroni made a run late in the round but Riggs took him down to ride out the fight. This was a good, competitive fight. I’ve got Riggs 30-27 and I’m confident that the judges will see it as a Unanimous decision (the first round was debatable but I can’t see giving Baroni rounds 2 or 3).
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards.
Winner: Joe Riggs by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight Joe Riggs says that he broke both of his hands and that he has a really bad flu. Riggs says he would like to fight Jake Shields.
Mauro announces the return of Gina Carano. She will take on Cris Cyborg on August 15th. We will also see Josh Thomson versus Gilbert Melendez for the Lightweight Title. Mauro had Josh and Gilbert with him at ringside. Gilbert says he will train harder and this time it will be a different story. Josh says he just got his walking boot off two weeks ago and has been training hard ever since. Josh says they will steal the show.
The next show will be the Strikeforce Challengers Show on Friday June 19th featuring Joe Villasenor. They also announce Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem for the August show.
Catchweight 180 lb Fight- Scott Smith (17-5) vs. Nick Diaz (19-7)
Smith is coming off of a comeback win against Benji Radach back at the April debut show on Showtime. On that same show Nick Diaz dominated Frank Shamrock. This should be a really fun fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage in this fight. They do not touch gloves when McCarthy brings them together before the start of the round.
R1- Diaz is using his reach early to his advantage as he’s keeping Smith at bay and making Smith come in and lunge when he throws punches. Diaz is landing lots of jabs. Diaz has Smith against the cage and is peppering him with jabs but Smith clinches him and ties him up until McCarthy breaks them up. Smith immediately sticks a good right hand but Diaz absorbs it. Smith got a take down but then released it and then hit a combo on his feet. Good fight so far, I’ve got Diaz up 20-19 but Smith started to really close the gap in the last part of the round and seemed to be finding his groove. Diaz threw 146 strikes in the first round!
R2- Diaz got in a good body shot that hurt Smith about a minute into the round and then Diaz started to pick him apart with jabs and strikes. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding from his eye. Diaz keeps hitting him right in the forehead with jabs. Diaz is just peppering Smith with a constant barrage of light punches. Smith missed a big head kick. Smith misses with a trio of big strikes and Diaz clinches him. Diaz completely controlled this round and had Smith down on the ground at the end of the round. Diaz threw 221 punches in that round and landed 125 of them. Borderline 10-8 round. I think the only thing keeping it from being 10-8 is Smith stayed on his feet for the whole round until the end and did actually get some offense in on Diaz. Diaz leading 20-18 going into the final round.
R3- They exchange some letter in the first 20 seconds of the round and then clinch. Smith misses another big kick and Diaz lands another good body shot that takes Smith to the ground. Diaz goes to take his back and Diaz locks in the Rear Naked and get the win.
Another great showing by Diaz. I don’t know what weight class Diaz is in but I’m thinking he needs a title shot here in Strikeforce. Either that or put him up against the winner of Lawler/Shields. Diaz landed 207 of 397 strikes in this fight to Smith’s 31 of 93.
Winner: Nick Diaz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 1:41
Post-Fight Diaz throws Scott Smith’s training partners under the bus and says Smith should come down the road and train with his team, “a real team.”
Heavyweight Fight- Andre Arlovski (15-6) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0)
Rogers beat Abongo Humphrey at the last Strikeforce show. Arlovski’s last fight was a loss to the #1 Heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko. Arlovski had won 5 in a row going into that fight. They show Fedor and hype his PPV fight on August 1st against Josh Barnett and they show Barnett as well. The winner of this most likely gets Overeem in August. Rogers has a 18 lb advantage and a 4.5” reach advantage. Arlovski is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and this is his Strikeforce debut. For the third fight in a row neither fighter touches gloves as McCarthy pulls them together to go over the rules.
R1- “Rogers comes in and drops Arlovski quickly and this one is over almost immediately. Wow! Rogers just destroyed a Top 5 fighter in seconds. On the re-play Rogers threw some punches and missed but kept coming and landed 3 to 4 straight punches against the cage. He hit two really big punches consecutively. Big time win for Rogers. Bring on Overeem!
Post-fight Rogers said he wants a title shot. I think he might have a good point.
“I was hungry baby”- Brett Rogers
Winner: Brett Rogers by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:22
They hype the Affliction PPV as they show highlights of Fedor/Sylvia and Fedor/Arlovski and Fedor joins Mauro ringside and they do an interview through an interpreter. Next they highlight Josh Barnett and show highlights of the Barnett/Yvel fight. Barnett joins Mauro ringside.
Catchweight 182 lb Fight- Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Jake Shields (22-4-1)
Shield is a former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and Lawler is a former Elite XC Middleweight Champion. Both guys had the belts when Elite XC went out of business so they were never beaten for their belts.
R1- Shields went for a take down but Robbie fought it off and then they clinched around the ring. Shields grabbed a guillotine and tapped out Robbie Lawler. Great showing by Shields. Lawler looked like he just never really got started and Shields got an opening and took it.
Post-fight Shields says he wants Cung Le’s belt. Says for Cung to fight him or give it over to him.
Winner: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:02
The big winners tonight were Nick Diaz, Brett Rogers and Jake Shields. Showtime is doing a good job of matching up fighters and giving some of the lesser known guys a chance to get wins and potentially become stars in the future (Diaz against Shamrock, Shields against Lawler, Rogers against Arlovski). This show started slow as the worst fight of the night (Randleman/Whitehead) opened the show but the last three fights were all either very good fights or very good spectacles. Solid night of fights and Strikeforce now has some interesting fights coming up with Rogers/Overeem, Shields/Le, Carano/Cyborg, and Thomson/Melendez either signed or on the horizon and they have a guy in Nick Diaz that has just looked fantastic in his last two fights.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
TUF 9 Episode 10 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 10
Last week we saw Jason Pierce pulled from competition, Frank Lester upsetting David Faulkner, and Bisping spit water in Damarques’ face. We are down to the Semi-Finals in both the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions and both the UK and USA have 2 fighters left in each weight class. I see Ross Pearson (UK) and Damarques Johnson (US) as the guys to beat in their respective weight classes.
Dana and the coaches get together to talk about the Semi-Finals fights. They call the fighters in and talk to them about who they want to fight. Both James and Damarques clearly want to fight each other. Cameron Dollar says he wants to fight his teammate Jason Dent and this gets Dana thinking about putting USA against USA and UK against UK in the Lightweight division. Dana wants to set up Team UK versus Team USA in the finals so it looks like he’s going teammate against teammate. He says not to tell them anything and that they will bring in the fighters and call out the match-ups.
First Fight: Nick vs. Damarques
Second Fight: Andre vs. Cameron
Third Fight: Ross vs. Dent
Fourth Fight: Wilks vs. Frank
Dana tells Frank that he is the first guy in the history of TUF who has been brought back and won his fight. If I had to pick winners I would go with Damarques, Ross and Wilks. The Andre/Cameron fight looks like the closest to me and from what I’ve seen could be a toss up. I’ll pick Cameron just cause I think he’s more scrappy.
For some reason they let Pierce stay in the house and him and Richie Whitson get into it a little bit. Richie heard Faulkner talking about how Pierce was telling team UK about the US fighters and how they train. Hendo asks Pierce about it and Pierce denies it.
Nick says that he got Faulkner to get some info from Pierce about Damarques and that he will definitely use it in his strategy.
Welterweight Semi-Final Fight- Damarques Johnson (13-6) vs. Nick Osipczak (3-0)
Damarques beat Dean Asaminger by Submission (Triangle Choke) in round one of his last fight. In the previous fight he defeated Ray Elbe by TKO (Punches) also in round one. Nick beat Mark Miller by KO in the second round of his last fight. In the previous fight he beat Tommy Maguire by KO.
R1- Damarques hit a good combo early. Damarques got a take down when he basically threw Nick to the floor but Nick got up before any damage could be done. Damarques is looking good early and connecting with some decent shots. Damarques gets a second take down about two minutes into the round. Nick did a good job of defending and got some shots in from the guard. When they stood up Nick hit a short right uppercut that stunned Damarques and Nick then had Damarques up against the cage and was landing shots and had Damarques on the ropes but Damarques held on and actually came back after Nick punched himself out. Damarques clearly won that round until the last 30 seconds and Nick did his best to steal it. I would still give the round to Damarques but Nick really just landed that one good shot and then couldn’t finish off Damarques while Damarques controlled just about the entire round. Good round and it might have gone either way. Both guys are clearly in this fight.
R2- Damarques got in a brief clinch at the beginning of the round and looked like he hit a good knee. Damarques looks a little tired but keeps pushing forward and got a take down. Damarques went for a kimura but could not lock it in. Nick gave up his back and Damarques got in some shots and Bisping is yelling about back of the head hits as his fighter has his face buried in the mat. Nick got lucky as the fight was about to get called if it last 10 more seconds. Nick had trouble getting up after the round was over. This round clearly went to Damarques. I’ve got him up 20-18.
R3- Damarques is landing more strikes early in this round but he’s leaving his hands down. Nick looks really tired. Damarques got a take down about half way through the round. Damarques was able to mount but Nick gave up his back and was able to flip Damarques over with about a minute left in the round. Nick finished on top but didn’t really look to land anything substantial the entire round. I’ve got Damarques 30-27, although I could see it 29-28.
Winner: Damarques Johnson by Decision (Unanimous)
It looks like we’ve got both Lightweight Semi-Final fights next week!
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson)
US- Cameron Dollar (defeated Hayden, Martin Stapleton)
US- Jason Dent (defeated Rob Browning, Jeff Lawson)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester)
US- Frank Lester (defeated David Faulkner)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, Nick Osipczak)
My revised favorites are:
Lightweight: Ross Pearson (UK)
Welterweight: Damarques Johnson (USA)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
Nick Osipczak eliminated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 10)
Last week we saw Jason Pierce pulled from competition, Frank Lester upsetting David Faulkner, and Bisping spit water in Damarques’ face. We are down to the Semi-Finals in both the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions and both the UK and USA have 2 fighters left in each weight class. I see Ross Pearson (UK) and Damarques Johnson (US) as the guys to beat in their respective weight classes.
Dana and the coaches get together to talk about the Semi-Finals fights. They call the fighters in and talk to them about who they want to fight. Both James and Damarques clearly want to fight each other. Cameron Dollar says he wants to fight his teammate Jason Dent and this gets Dana thinking about putting USA against USA and UK against UK in the Lightweight division. Dana wants to set up Team UK versus Team USA in the finals so it looks like he’s going teammate against teammate. He says not to tell them anything and that they will bring in the fighters and call out the match-ups.
First Fight: Nick vs. Damarques
Second Fight: Andre vs. Cameron
Third Fight: Ross vs. Dent
Fourth Fight: Wilks vs. Frank
Dana tells Frank that he is the first guy in the history of TUF who has been brought back and won his fight. If I had to pick winners I would go with Damarques, Ross and Wilks. The Andre/Cameron fight looks like the closest to me and from what I’ve seen could be a toss up. I’ll pick Cameron just cause I think he’s more scrappy.
For some reason they let Pierce stay in the house and him and Richie Whitson get into it a little bit. Richie heard Faulkner talking about how Pierce was telling team UK about the US fighters and how they train. Hendo asks Pierce about it and Pierce denies it.
Nick says that he got Faulkner to get some info from Pierce about Damarques and that he will definitely use it in his strategy.
Welterweight Semi-Final Fight- Damarques Johnson (13-6) vs. Nick Osipczak (3-0)
Damarques beat Dean Asaminger by Submission (Triangle Choke) in round one of his last fight. In the previous fight he defeated Ray Elbe by TKO (Punches) also in round one. Nick beat Mark Miller by KO in the second round of his last fight. In the previous fight he beat Tommy Maguire by KO.
R1- Damarques hit a good combo early. Damarques got a take down when he basically threw Nick to the floor but Nick got up before any damage could be done. Damarques is looking good early and connecting with some decent shots. Damarques gets a second take down about two minutes into the round. Nick did a good job of defending and got some shots in from the guard. When they stood up Nick hit a short right uppercut that stunned Damarques and Nick then had Damarques up against the cage and was landing shots and had Damarques on the ropes but Damarques held on and actually came back after Nick punched himself out. Damarques clearly won that round until the last 30 seconds and Nick did his best to steal it. I would still give the round to Damarques but Nick really just landed that one good shot and then couldn’t finish off Damarques while Damarques controlled just about the entire round. Good round and it might have gone either way. Both guys are clearly in this fight.
R2- Damarques got in a brief clinch at the beginning of the round and looked like he hit a good knee. Damarques looks a little tired but keeps pushing forward and got a take down. Damarques went for a kimura but could not lock it in. Nick gave up his back and Damarques got in some shots and Bisping is yelling about back of the head hits as his fighter has his face buried in the mat. Nick got lucky as the fight was about to get called if it last 10 more seconds. Nick had trouble getting up after the round was over. This round clearly went to Damarques. I’ve got him up 20-18.
R3- Damarques is landing more strikes early in this round but he’s leaving his hands down. Nick looks really tired. Damarques got a take down about half way through the round. Damarques was able to mount but Nick gave up his back and was able to flip Damarques over with about a minute left in the round. Nick finished on top but didn’t really look to land anything substantial the entire round. I’ve got Damarques 30-27, although I could see it 29-28.
Winner: Damarques Johnson by Decision (Unanimous)
It looks like we’ve got both Lightweight Semi-Final fights next week!
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson)
US- Cameron Dollar (defeated Hayden, Martin Stapleton)
US- Jason Dent (defeated Rob Browning, Jeff Lawson)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester)
US- Frank Lester (defeated David Faulkner)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, Nick Osipczak)
My revised favorites are:
Lightweight: Ross Pearson (UK)
Welterweight: Damarques Johnson (USA)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
Nick Osipczak eliminated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 10)
Monday, June 01, 2009
TUF Season 9 Episode 9 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 9
Last week we saw Jason Dent (USA) defeat Jeff Lawson (USA). Team UK is up 4 wins to 3going into Episode 9. Also, last week Dana told Jason Pierce he wouldn’t be fighting and one of the favorites (David Faulkner from Team UK) was struggling with fighting with his mouthpiece in his mouth.
It looks like Dan is going to have to choose from his 2 Welterweight fighters that lost previously (Mark Miller and Frank Lester) to take Pierce’s spot against Faulkner. Mark Miller has a broken nose but says he wants to fight as long as he has time to train and cut weight. Frank says that he will give it what ever he’s got. It seems like Frank wants it more than Mark does right now. Frank gets the fight. Dan tells him to get ready to fight and tells Mark that he’s not cleared due to his nose.
Hendo pulls his option to change his training session from the early session to the late session. Bisping isn’t too happy about this and equates it to getting it in the backside. Obviously Bisping values his nights out as evidenced by the fight that he missed early this season.
“Bisping was just a little bitch about it”- Dan Henderson
Bisping declines the change in times and there is some back and forth between the guys. When they go to line up for the fight announcement Bisping walks past Damarques and squirts water in his face out of his water bottle. Obviously Damarques does not like this and throws his hat at Bisping. Damarques asks why he did it and Bisping says he was making amends for the racist comment that Damarques said the other day (this was the comment on the tennis court that Cameron Dollar said to Bisping, NOT Damarques). Bisping finds out that Cameron is the one who does it and goes to apologize but Damarques is pretty pissed off about it.
“Bisping just…when things don’t go his way throws a little hissy fit, temper tantrum. I’ve got little kids and I see the same thing out of them”- Dan Henderson
“I would fight Bisping in a *beeping* parking lot. Bring it.”- Damarques Johnson
They finally get to announce the next fight, which is David Faulkner versus Frank Lester. Bisping also brings up the point about the outstanding issue of training times and says that he is happy to put his training time on the line in this fight. Hendo says he won’t accept the challenge and Bisping’s team can wake up no matter what.
They bring in a hypnotherapist to help Faulkner with his gag reflex. Frank Lester is starting to have some second thoughts about taking the fight.
Welterweight Fight- David Faulkner (2-1) vs. Frank Lester (3-2)
Mask (RIP) and the rest of the TapouT crew are shown at ringside for this fight. Dana tells them about Frank’s teeth being in his mouthpiece after his last fight.
R1- Very little action in the first minute and a half. Faulkner finally rushed in and they clinched against the cage. Faulkner got a take down about three minutes in but Lester quickly got to his feet. This was a surprisingly even round with neither guy really doing much damage. Faulkner looked really tired at the end of the round as he was visibly breathing with his mouth open with about a minute left in the round. I guess you would give that round to Faulkner because he was more aggressive but he didn’t really do any damage.
R2- Faulkner spits out the mouthpiece at the beginning of the round and they briefly stop the round. Lester is definitely getting the better of Faulkner in the opening minutes of this round. Faulkner looks really tired and he’s swinging wildly for a knockout punch when he gets the opportunity. Faulkner hit a good right hand but Lester took it, I don’t think there was much behind it with the state that Faulkner looks like he’s in. Lester took this round so I’ve got them at one round a piece. Both fighters are very tired and sit down after the end of the round. Lester has a bloody nose.
In the corner it looks like Faulkner is telling Bisping that he doesn’t want to continue. Mazzagatti calls the fight after Faulkner doesn’t want to continue. Very disappointing fight from Faulkner especially after what I was expecting after watching his preliminary fight. Although it was pretty sweet since he was Bisping’s boy. Bisping got upset that Team USA was celebrating their victory.
Winner: Frank Lester by Submission (Corner Stoppage)
This ties it up UK 4 USA 4. This actually makes it more interesting as there are 2 fighters from each country left in each division so we will get even USA vs. UK in all of the next round fights. Bisping pulls his 4 fighters to the side to give them a pep talk.
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson)
US- Cameron Dollar (defeated Hayden, Martin Stapleton)
US- Jason Dent (defeated Rob Browning, Jeff Lawson)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester)
UK- Nick Osipczak (defeated Tommy Maguire, Mark Miller)
US- Frank Lester (defeated David Faulkner)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger)
My revised favorites are:
Lightweight: Ross Pearson (UK)
Welterweight: Damarques Johnson (USA)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
Last week we saw Jason Dent (USA) defeat Jeff Lawson (USA). Team UK is up 4 wins to 3going into Episode 9. Also, last week Dana told Jason Pierce he wouldn’t be fighting and one of the favorites (David Faulkner from Team UK) was struggling with fighting with his mouthpiece in his mouth.
It looks like Dan is going to have to choose from his 2 Welterweight fighters that lost previously (Mark Miller and Frank Lester) to take Pierce’s spot against Faulkner. Mark Miller has a broken nose but says he wants to fight as long as he has time to train and cut weight. Frank says that he will give it what ever he’s got. It seems like Frank wants it more than Mark does right now. Frank gets the fight. Dan tells him to get ready to fight and tells Mark that he’s not cleared due to his nose.
Hendo pulls his option to change his training session from the early session to the late session. Bisping isn’t too happy about this and equates it to getting it in the backside. Obviously Bisping values his nights out as evidenced by the fight that he missed early this season.
“Bisping was just a little bitch about it”- Dan Henderson
Bisping declines the change in times and there is some back and forth between the guys. When they go to line up for the fight announcement Bisping walks past Damarques and squirts water in his face out of his water bottle. Obviously Damarques does not like this and throws his hat at Bisping. Damarques asks why he did it and Bisping says he was making amends for the racist comment that Damarques said the other day (this was the comment on the tennis court that Cameron Dollar said to Bisping, NOT Damarques). Bisping finds out that Cameron is the one who does it and goes to apologize but Damarques is pretty pissed off about it.
“Bisping just…when things don’t go his way throws a little hissy fit, temper tantrum. I’ve got little kids and I see the same thing out of them”- Dan Henderson
“I would fight Bisping in a *beeping* parking lot. Bring it.”- Damarques Johnson
They finally get to announce the next fight, which is David Faulkner versus Frank Lester. Bisping also brings up the point about the outstanding issue of training times and says that he is happy to put his training time on the line in this fight. Hendo says he won’t accept the challenge and Bisping’s team can wake up no matter what.
They bring in a hypnotherapist to help Faulkner with his gag reflex. Frank Lester is starting to have some second thoughts about taking the fight.
Welterweight Fight- David Faulkner (2-1) vs. Frank Lester (3-2)
Mask (RIP) and the rest of the TapouT crew are shown at ringside for this fight. Dana tells them about Frank’s teeth being in his mouthpiece after his last fight.
R1- Very little action in the first minute and a half. Faulkner finally rushed in and they clinched against the cage. Faulkner got a take down about three minutes in but Lester quickly got to his feet. This was a surprisingly even round with neither guy really doing much damage. Faulkner looked really tired at the end of the round as he was visibly breathing with his mouth open with about a minute left in the round. I guess you would give that round to Faulkner because he was more aggressive but he didn’t really do any damage.
R2- Faulkner spits out the mouthpiece at the beginning of the round and they briefly stop the round. Lester is definitely getting the better of Faulkner in the opening minutes of this round. Faulkner looks really tired and he’s swinging wildly for a knockout punch when he gets the opportunity. Faulkner hit a good right hand but Lester took it, I don’t think there was much behind it with the state that Faulkner looks like he’s in. Lester took this round so I’ve got them at one round a piece. Both fighters are very tired and sit down after the end of the round. Lester has a bloody nose.
In the corner it looks like Faulkner is telling Bisping that he doesn’t want to continue. Mazzagatti calls the fight after Faulkner doesn’t want to continue. Very disappointing fight from Faulkner especially after what I was expecting after watching his preliminary fight. Although it was pretty sweet since he was Bisping’s boy. Bisping got upset that Team USA was celebrating their victory.
Winner: Frank Lester by Submission (Corner Stoppage)
This ties it up UK 4 USA 4. This actually makes it more interesting as there are 2 fighters from each country left in each division so we will get even USA vs. UK in all of the next round fights. Bisping pulls his 4 fighters to the side to give them a pep talk.
Remaining Fighters:
Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson)
US- Cameron Dollar (defeated Hayden, Martin Stapleton)
US- Jason Dent (defeated Rob Browning, Jeff Lawson)
Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills, Frank Lester)
UK- Nick Osipczak (defeated Tommy Maguire, Mark Miller)
US- Frank Lester (defeated David Faulkner)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger)
My revised favorites are:
Lightweight: Ross Pearson (UK)
Welterweight: Damarques Johnson (USA)
Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)
Santino Defranco defeated by Andre Winner (Episode 5)
Dean Amasinger defeated by Damarques Johnson (Episode 5)
Martin Stapleton defeated by Cameron Dollar (Episode 6)
Frank Lester defeated by James Wilks (Episode 6)
Richie Whitson defeated by Ross Pearson (Episode 7)
Jeff Lawson defeated by Jason Dent (Episode 8)
Jason Pierce eliminated by Dana White (Episode 8)
David Faulkner eliminated by Frank Lester (Episode 9)
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