DREAM.10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round (7/20/09) – Saitama, Japan (Saitama Super Arena)
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: Hayato Sakurai (35-8-2) vs. Marius Zaromskis (9-2)
Sakurai won his first round fight against Top Lightweight Shinya Aoki by TKO. Zaromskis won by decision against Seichi Ikemoto. Sakurai comes in as the favorite to win this tournament but he had a really tough time cutting weight and had to be weighed like three times before he finally made weight so it will be interesting to see how ready he is for this fight.
R1- Both guys are really throwing leather early. Zaromskis hit some good punches and then tried a flying knee but didn’t fully connect. The first minute and a half of this fight has been a slugfest. Sakurai got a take down at the two minute mark. Sakurai has a cut under his eye. They are back on their feet and throwing leather but the ref stops the fight to look at the eye. Zaromskis landed a big left round kick and Sakurai leaned in and then Zaromskis jumped on top and the ref dove in to stop the fight. This was a fun brawl. Big upset for Zaromskis!
Winner: Marius Zaromskis by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:03
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: André Galvão (3-0) vs. Jason High (7-1)
Galvao won his first round fight against John Alessio by Arm Bar Submission in the first round. High won his first round fight against Yuya Shirai by Rear Naked Choke in less than a minute. Galvao seems to be the favorite going into this fight.
R1- Unfortunately did not get a chance to see this fight.
Winner: Jason High by Decision (Split)
Lightweight Fight- Katsunori Kikuno (11-1-1) vs. André Amade (6-3-1)
Kikuno is on a 10 fight win streak dating back to 2006. Amade is on a two fight losing streak with those losses coming to Eddie Alvarez and JZ Cavalcante. Amade does hold a win over Caol Uno.
R1- Amade went for some haymakers early and then landed a right hand that floored Kikuno but he got back to his feet. Not a lot of action in the first part of this round and the ref warns them to be more active. Kikuno got a take down and mounted Amade. Amade gave up his back and Kikuno pelted his ears with strikes and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Once Kikuno got the take down he was all over Amade.
Winner: Katsunori Kikuno by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:47
Middleweight Fight- Jesse Taylor (12-3) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-6)
Taylor is on a 6 fight win streak with his last loss being to CB Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 14. Yoon is on a two fight losing streak with one of those losses coming to Gegard Mousasi. Yoon does hold a career win over Melvin Manhoef.
R1- Taylor went for a quick take down and was able to eventually get Yoon down to the ground. Taylor kept a dominant position and the fight ended awkwardly with Yoon giving up as it looked like he hurt himself.
Winner: Jesse Taylor by Submission (Injury) R1 1:02
Middleweight Fight- Paulo Filho (16-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (23-5-1)
Manhoef has won 6 of his last 7 fights with the loss coming to Gegard Mousasi. Filho is a former WEC Middleweight Champion who was once considered one of the Top Middleweights in the world before having a meltdown in the ring in a loss against Chael Sonnen in his last fight back in November of 2008. Apparently Filho came into the fight thinking it was at a different weight and had to quickly drop 9 pounds to get to the right weight for the fight.
R1- Filho tried to work a take down early but Manhoef fought him off and then threw some bombs but they didn’t land. Manhoef avoided another take down and then landed some shots. Manhoef nailed Filho and Filho went down. Manhoef jumped on top but couldn’t finish. Filho did a good job of weathering the storm. Back to their feet and Manhoef threw bombs again but Filho got a take down and went for an arm bar and won the fight. Good fight, great job by Filho in absorbing punishment and coming back for the win.
Winner: Paulo Filho by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 2:36
Lightweight Fight- Shinya Aoki (20-4) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (20-2)
R1- Aoki is landing some good kicks to Vitor’s elbow. Surprisingly they have kept the fight standing for the maority of the round. Not a real exciting first round but Aoki is controlling the fight so far but it’s still anybody’s fight going into the 2nd and final round.
R2- About half way through the round Vitor got a take down. Aoki used the rubber guard at times to control Vitor but it was pretty much a stale mate on the ground. I think Aoki will get the decision based on his control of the first round. Not a real good fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Grand Prix Finals: Marius Zaromskis (10-2) vs. Jason High (8-1)
If you asked most MMA fans who they thought would be in the finals of this tournament it would have been Sakurai and Galvao so these two guys being here is a big upset. The winner of this will definitely rise up the ladder much like Gegard Mousasi did when he won the Middleweight Tournament.
R1- Zaromskis went for a flying knee immediately but High clinched him and eventually got him down on the mat. Zaromskis was able to take High’s guard after High failed ot lock in a guillotine but the fight went quickly back to the feet. Out of nowhere Zaromskis threw a couple punches and then a quick high right kick and knocked High out. Fantastic knockout finish and big time tournament win by Zaromskis. On the re-play Zaromskis actually got in a right hand after hitting the leg kick as High just kind of stiffened up before he fell.
Winner and new DREAM Welterweight Champion: Marius Zaromskis by KO (High Kick) R1
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
UFC 100 Unaired Fights Re-Cap
UFC 100: Making History Unaired Fights
7/11/09
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice (10-2) vs. Shannon Gugerty (11-3)
Grice fought on the Fight Night in February and lost by TKO in the first round to Matt Veach in a really good fight that had a some what early ref stoppage. The last time I saw Gugerty was on the July of 2008 Fight Night show where he made his UFC debut and choked out Dale Hartt. Gugerty is in the same camp as Brandon Vera and Dean Lister.
R1- Gugerty got a quick take down about 30 seconds into the fight. Grice got to his feet but Gugerty grabbed a guillotine choke and Grice fought to shake him off but he couldn’t and Gugerty gets the submission victory. Impressive showing for Gugerty as he controlled the entire fight.
Winner: Shannon Gugerty by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:36
Middleweight Fight- CB Dollaway (9-2) vs.Tom Lawlor (5-1)
CB has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. Lawlor was on Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter and was eliminated by eventual champion Ryan Bader. Dollaway was also on The Ultimate Fighter but he was on Season 7. On the show Lawlor fought as a Light Heavyweight when he was on TUF. The last I saw CB was on UFC 92 where he was impressive in his victory over Mike Massenzio.
R1- Don’t Blink! Dollaway went for a take down and Lawlor grabbed CB in a guillotine choke and pulled guard and choked CB out. Lawlor had to basically tell the ref that CB had passed out in the submission. Fantastic showing by Lawlor.
Winner: Tom Lawlor by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:55
Welterweight Fight- Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1) vs. T.J. Grant (14-2)
Kim lost a Split Decision at UFC 94 to Karo Parisyan but the decision was later reversed due to Parisyan testing positive for prescription painkillers.
R1- Grant got an early take down but Kim reversed it and took TJ’s guard. They got back to their feet with two minutes left in the round with neither guy sustaining any damage on the ground but Kim got another take down. Kim won this round by controlling the action but neither guy really did much damage. Grant looks like he did sustain a cut under his right eye during the round.
R2- Kim grabbed a guillotine at the one minute mark of the round but TJ fought out and Kim ended up in TJ’s guard. Kim controlled the rest of the round by staying on top of TJ. Grant hit an illegal upkick to Kim’s head when Kim still had his knee on the mat so they stopped the fight for a minute and Mazzagatti took a point away from Grant. So after three it’s actually 20-17 in favor of Kim. Grant has to finish this fight to win.
R3- Kim got a judo throw about half way through the round to get TJ down to the ground. Kim once again controlled this round. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Kim as he took this fight 30-26 on my score card.
Judges scores: 30-26 on all score cards
Winner: Dong Hyun Kim by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jon Jones (8-0) vs. Jake O’Brien (11-2)
Jon Jones has a huge 8” reach advantage in this fight. Jones last fought on UFC 94 and defeated Stephan Bonnar by Unanimous Decision. Previous to that he beat Andre Gusmao by Decision at UFC 87. Jones is a very exciting fighter that based on his last two decisions needs to work on finishing fights. O’Brien also fought on UFC 94 and also won a Decision by defeating Christian Wellisch. Jones got a good ovation when he was introduced.
R1- O’Brien went for a quick take down but could not get it. O’Brien is landing some jabs but continues to be stuffed when going for take downs in the early part of this fight. Jones starts to land some kicks. Very even round that could have been scored either way. Jones might have taken it by stuffing the take downs and spending the second part of the round landing kicks.
R2- Jones went for a jumping kick and then a high kick early in the round but could not connect on either. Jones again starts to land some kicks. Jones went for a spinning back fist and clipped the top of O’Brien’s head. O’Brien went for a take down but Jones stuffed him and went for a guillotine attempt and Jones finished him. This is the under card of guillotine chokes! Jones moves to 3-0 in the UFC and 9-0 in his career.
Winner: Jon Jones by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:43
Light Heavyweight Fight- Stephan Bonnar (14-5) vs. Mark Coleman (15-9)
Both of these guys are coming off of unimpressive performances. Bonnar lost to Jon Jones at UFC 94 and Coleman lost to Shogun Rua at UFC 93 by TKO where both guys gassed really badly. Bonnar has a 3” height and 5” reach advantage. Coleman has the strength advantage in this fight.
R1- Coleman got a quick take down within the first minute of the fight. Bonnar is very active from the bottom and is going for multiple submissions but Coleman was able to avoid getting caught. Stephan was able to reverse positions and get Coleman in a crucifix position and landed some elbows. Bonnar continues to land some shots in on Coleman. Bonnar went for a kimura at the end of the round but ran out of time. Bonnar took the first round 10-9.
R2- Bonnar hit a good left hand to start the round. Bonnar went for a spinning back fist and Coleman caught him and took him down and then Coleman busted Bonnar up with a couple of elbows. Coleman hit some more strikes but Bonnar responded with some elbows from the bottom. Bonnar continues to look for submission from the bottom but Coleman rolls out of the attempts and briefly took his back before taking Bonnar’s guard again. Coleman evened this fight up 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Coleman went for a take down and Bonnar sprawled out of it and grabbed a guillotine but Coleman held on and completed the single leg take down. After the take down Coleman controlled the fight and he’s going to take this decision 29-28. Not a particularly impressive showing but Coleman looked much better here then he did against Shogun. Bonnar really needs a win badly in his next fight as he just got outmuscled in this one.
Judges scores: 29-28 on all 3 score cards in favor of Coleman.
Winner: Mark Coleman by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Mac Danzig (19-6-1) vs. Jim Miller (13-2)
Danzig is coming off of back to back losses to the likes of Clay Guida and Josh Neer. Miller is coming off of a loss to Gray Maynard. Both guys are in need of a win.
R1- Miller got a take down about a minute into the fight. At about the two and half minute mark Miller hit a good elbow that didn’t look too bad but a big cut opened up on Danzig’s forehead. Danzig got back to his feet but Miller wrestled him back to the mat. Danzig is losing a lot of blood. Miller takes this round 10-9.
“With all that blood, this is like hot oil wrestling”- Joe Rogan
R2- Miller got an early take down and continued his control in this fight. Miller lands some punches from Danzig’s guard. They stand up the fight with one minute left in the round. Danzig got a guillotine choke with about 10 seconds left in the round but the bell rang. Miller is up 20-18.
“Look at this Octagon. It’s like someone threw a bucket of red paint everywhere”- Joe Rogan
R3- Miller again is controlling where the action goes. Miller took Danzig’s back with about a minute left in the fight. Danzig went for a Rear Naked with about 40 seconds left but Danzig slipped out with twenty seconds left and briefly got side control but the fight ended with Danzig in Miller’s guard. I’ve got Miller in this fight 30-27. He did enough to win the fight.
Judges score cards: all three judges scored the fight 30-27
Winner: Jim Miller by Decision (Unanimous)
7/11/09
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice (10-2) vs. Shannon Gugerty (11-3)
Grice fought on the Fight Night in February and lost by TKO in the first round to Matt Veach in a really good fight that had a some what early ref stoppage. The last time I saw Gugerty was on the July of 2008 Fight Night show where he made his UFC debut and choked out Dale Hartt. Gugerty is in the same camp as Brandon Vera and Dean Lister.
R1- Gugerty got a quick take down about 30 seconds into the fight. Grice got to his feet but Gugerty grabbed a guillotine choke and Grice fought to shake him off but he couldn’t and Gugerty gets the submission victory. Impressive showing for Gugerty as he controlled the entire fight.
Winner: Shannon Gugerty by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:36
Middleweight Fight- CB Dollaway (9-2) vs.Tom Lawlor (5-1)
CB has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. Lawlor was on Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter and was eliminated by eventual champion Ryan Bader. Dollaway was also on The Ultimate Fighter but he was on Season 7. On the show Lawlor fought as a Light Heavyweight when he was on TUF. The last I saw CB was on UFC 92 where he was impressive in his victory over Mike Massenzio.
R1- Don’t Blink! Dollaway went for a take down and Lawlor grabbed CB in a guillotine choke and pulled guard and choked CB out. Lawlor had to basically tell the ref that CB had passed out in the submission. Fantastic showing by Lawlor.
Winner: Tom Lawlor by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:55
Welterweight Fight- Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1) vs. T.J. Grant (14-2)
Kim lost a Split Decision at UFC 94 to Karo Parisyan but the decision was later reversed due to Parisyan testing positive for prescription painkillers.
R1- Grant got an early take down but Kim reversed it and took TJ’s guard. They got back to their feet with two minutes left in the round with neither guy sustaining any damage on the ground but Kim got another take down. Kim won this round by controlling the action but neither guy really did much damage. Grant looks like he did sustain a cut under his right eye during the round.
R2- Kim grabbed a guillotine at the one minute mark of the round but TJ fought out and Kim ended up in TJ’s guard. Kim controlled the rest of the round by staying on top of TJ. Grant hit an illegal upkick to Kim’s head when Kim still had his knee on the mat so they stopped the fight for a minute and Mazzagatti took a point away from Grant. So after three it’s actually 20-17 in favor of Kim. Grant has to finish this fight to win.
R3- Kim got a judo throw about half way through the round to get TJ down to the ground. Kim once again controlled this round. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Kim as he took this fight 30-26 on my score card.
Judges scores: 30-26 on all score cards
Winner: Dong Hyun Kim by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jon Jones (8-0) vs. Jake O’Brien (11-2)
Jon Jones has a huge 8” reach advantage in this fight. Jones last fought on UFC 94 and defeated Stephan Bonnar by Unanimous Decision. Previous to that he beat Andre Gusmao by Decision at UFC 87. Jones is a very exciting fighter that based on his last two decisions needs to work on finishing fights. O’Brien also fought on UFC 94 and also won a Decision by defeating Christian Wellisch. Jones got a good ovation when he was introduced.
R1- O’Brien went for a quick take down but could not get it. O’Brien is landing some jabs but continues to be stuffed when going for take downs in the early part of this fight. Jones starts to land some kicks. Very even round that could have been scored either way. Jones might have taken it by stuffing the take downs and spending the second part of the round landing kicks.
R2- Jones went for a jumping kick and then a high kick early in the round but could not connect on either. Jones again starts to land some kicks. Jones went for a spinning back fist and clipped the top of O’Brien’s head. O’Brien went for a take down but Jones stuffed him and went for a guillotine attempt and Jones finished him. This is the under card of guillotine chokes! Jones moves to 3-0 in the UFC and 9-0 in his career.
Winner: Jon Jones by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:43
Light Heavyweight Fight- Stephan Bonnar (14-5) vs. Mark Coleman (15-9)
Both of these guys are coming off of unimpressive performances. Bonnar lost to Jon Jones at UFC 94 and Coleman lost to Shogun Rua at UFC 93 by TKO where both guys gassed really badly. Bonnar has a 3” height and 5” reach advantage. Coleman has the strength advantage in this fight.
R1- Coleman got a quick take down within the first minute of the fight. Bonnar is very active from the bottom and is going for multiple submissions but Coleman was able to avoid getting caught. Stephan was able to reverse positions and get Coleman in a crucifix position and landed some elbows. Bonnar continues to land some shots in on Coleman. Bonnar went for a kimura at the end of the round but ran out of time. Bonnar took the first round 10-9.
R2- Bonnar hit a good left hand to start the round. Bonnar went for a spinning back fist and Coleman caught him and took him down and then Coleman busted Bonnar up with a couple of elbows. Coleman hit some more strikes but Bonnar responded with some elbows from the bottom. Bonnar continues to look for submission from the bottom but Coleman rolls out of the attempts and briefly took his back before taking Bonnar’s guard again. Coleman evened this fight up 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Coleman went for a take down and Bonnar sprawled out of it and grabbed a guillotine but Coleman held on and completed the single leg take down. After the take down Coleman controlled the fight and he’s going to take this decision 29-28. Not a particularly impressive showing but Coleman looked much better here then he did against Shogun. Bonnar really needs a win badly in his next fight as he just got outmuscled in this one.
Judges scores: 29-28 on all 3 score cards in favor of Coleman.
Winner: Mark Coleman by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Mac Danzig (19-6-1) vs. Jim Miller (13-2)
Danzig is coming off of back to back losses to the likes of Clay Guida and Josh Neer. Miller is coming off of a loss to Gray Maynard. Both guys are in need of a win.
R1- Miller got a take down about a minute into the fight. At about the two and half minute mark Miller hit a good elbow that didn’t look too bad but a big cut opened up on Danzig’s forehead. Danzig got back to his feet but Miller wrestled him back to the mat. Danzig is losing a lot of blood. Miller takes this round 10-9.
“With all that blood, this is like hot oil wrestling”- Joe Rogan
R2- Miller got an early take down and continued his control in this fight. Miller lands some punches from Danzig’s guard. They stand up the fight with one minute left in the round. Danzig got a guillotine choke with about 10 seconds left in the round but the bell rang. Miller is up 20-18.
“Look at this Octagon. It’s like someone threw a bucket of red paint everywhere”- Joe Rogan
R3- Miller again is controlling where the action goes. Miller took Danzig’s back with about a minute left in the fight. Danzig went for a Rear Naked with about 40 seconds left but Danzig slipped out with twenty seconds left and briefly got side control but the fight ended with Danzig in Miller’s guard. I’ve got Miller in this fight 30-27. He did enough to win the fight.
Judges score cards: all three judges scored the fight 30-27
Winner: Jim Miller by Decision (Unanimous)
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Best Fights of 2009....at the mid-point
The Best Fights of 2009
#1 Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida (Lightweight Fight)- UFC- The Ultimate Fighter Finale- 6/20/09
This fight started in the first round with Diego running across the cage and both fighters throwing strikes at each other. Diego took over and hit Guida with a flying knee strike and Guida was busted open. Guida got a take down that likely kept him in the fight because he was getting destroyed by Diego. Diego got back to his feet and hit a head kick that would have knocked out a lesser fighter. After the head kick, Diego hit another flying knee strike. This was one of the sickest first rounds I’ve seen. I compare it to Eddie Alvarez’s fights in DREAM against Tatsuya Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen.
In the second round Guida got a take down but Diego worked his elbows on the top of Clay’s head and busted him wide open. Guida was busted open on the top of his head and on his nose and Diego was covered in Guida’s blood. This was one of the rare rounds where the guy working from the bottom won the round. The third round was more of the same with both fighters really getting after it and trying to finish the fight. This was a great example of Fighting Spirit. I actually scored this fight 30-27 (the judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28, 29-27 in favor of Diego) in favor of Diego but because Guida showed so much heart and fight it makes the top of the list in terms of Fight of the Year.
#2 Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos (Bantamweight Fight)- WEC- WEC 41 6/7/09
This was originally an under card fight that made the telecast because it was so good. Banuelos pushed the action early and Jorgensen struggled early with some eye trouble. Both guys freely threw leather in the first round. In the second round Jorgensen started to get comfortable and started to throw the better strikes. Banuelos made a come back at the end of the round but it was not enough to take the round and I had it even at one round a piece through two rounds. The third action started out with a ton of action as Banuelos went for a take down, Jorgensen countered with a guillotine and Banuelos sprawled out of it and got back to his feet. Jorgensen started to walk down Banuelos in this final round and opened up a cut on his face. The final round saw Jorgensen going for submission, Banuelos surviving and both guys slugging it out. I scored the fight in favor of Jorgensen 29-28. The judges saw it different as they scored the fight a split decision in favor of Banuelos (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). Regardless, it was a great fight.
#3 Mike Brown vs. Urijah Faber (Featherweight Title Fight)-WEC- WEC 41- 6/7/09
This was on the same card as Jorgensen/Banuelos and was a re-match from Mike Brown’s first round TKO title win over Urijah in November of 2008. They opened with a very close first round that I gave to Urijah as he hit a big right hand that brought Brown to his knees, had a submission attempt and hit a head kick. Brown controlled the second round by wrestling Urijah. Urijah fought and escaped everything Brown threw at him but Brown won the round to even it up 19-19. Brown started off the third round by taking Urijah’s back and pelting him with some good punches. Urijah came back with a knee followed by a good combination. This was a very close round as Brown controlled where the fight went but Urijah threw the better strikes. I gave the round to Brown putting him up 29-28. Commentator Kenny Florian mentioned during this round that it looked like Urijah had broken one of his hands and that’s why he was not using it to throw punches. During the corner shot (in between rounds) Urijah clearly tells his corner that he broke his hand. In the fourth round Urijah throws elbows since he can no longer punch but Brown did more damage in this round taking a 39-37 led into the fifth and final round. In the fifth round Urijah grabbed a guillotine but could not hold onto it and clamp it in due to his broken hand. The fifth round was very close, I felt Urijah came closer to finishing the fight so I gave him the round and scored the fight in favor of the defending champion Mike Brown by a score of 48 to 47. The judges scored the fight a unanimous decision in favor of Mike Brown by the scores of 49-46, 49-46, 48-47.
During this fight Urijah Faber showed great heart as he hurt both of his hands and was rendered to throwing slaps and elbows for the final two rounds. It was a great performance by both fighters. Discussion raged on the internet in the days after the fight as to whether Urijah deserved another re-match with Mike Brown after having lost to him two times. My answer to that question is absolutely. Urijah came close to winning this fight despite being injured during the fight. When Urijah gets healed he should have a non-title fight and if he wins that then he should be right back in line for a title shot.
#4 Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone (Lightweight Title Fight)- WEC- WEC 38- 1/25/09
Varner hit a good combo to start off the fight and then took Cerrone to the mat and landed some nice Ground and Pound. Cerrone came back at the end of the round but also got a big bump on his forehead for his troubles. Round one went to the defending champion Varner 10-9. In the second round Cerrone was winning the stand up but Varner was able to get take downs. Varner got 3 take downs in the round but couldn’t capitalize at all on 2 of them. When the fight was standing Cerrone constantly had Varner back stepping and on his heels. This was a very close round that I gave to Cerrone to bring the fight to 19-19. Varner landed some good strikes in the third round and took Cerrone down and opened up a cut on his eye. Varner controlled the third round and was up 29-28 going into the championship rounds. The fourth round saw Varner land a good roundhouse kick and get take downs of Cerrone. Cerrone’s guard was active and he actually seemed to be landing more shots from the bottom than Varner was from the top. This was another close round but I scored it to Varner and that put him up 39-37 going into the final round.. Varner got an early take down but Cerrone got up and actually got a take down of his own. As Varner was getting up Cerrone grazed him with a knee to the head. Varner was standing up and then went back down to his knees and then Cerrone hit the knee. It was one of those strikes that was a split second from being a legal blow but ended up being an accidental illegal blow. Varner complained of not being able to see and could not continue. Due to the blow being “illegal” the fight went to the score cards. I gave Cerrone the fifth round so I had the fight scored Varner 48-47. The judges scored the fight in favor of defending champion Jamie Varner by way of Split Decision (49-46, 49-46, 47-48).
In the post-fight interview Varner said he broke his hand in the 2nd or 3rd round. As of the date of this printing, Varner is still not healthy enough to return to the ring. Cerrone is licking his chops at a re-match and will get a shot at winning the “Interim” title in an upcoming fight while Varner continues to heal.
#5 Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin (Catchweight Fight)- UFC- UFC 99- 6/13/09
Both fighters came into this fight in desperate need of a win. Franklin has just dropped a close decision to Dan Henderson and Wanderlei had been knocked out at the hands of Rampage Jackson. The first round was pretty even but Franklin came on strong at the end to take the round. In round two they threw some big time haymakers and Franklin floored Wanderlei with a good shot. Wanderlei came back and hit Franklin with a shot that buckled his knees and then hit another shot that sent Franklin back into the cage. Franklin retaliated with a partially blocked high kick that hurt Wanderlei. Really even round with both guys hurting the other fighters at times during the round. The third round started with Wanderlei as the aggressor and Franklin choosing to stick and move. At one point they were up against the cage and both guys were just throwing bombs. The fans were on their feet at the end of the fight as Wanderlei was throwing elbows and Franklin throwing punches. The fans ate up the final round and this was one of the most even fights of the year. The judges gave the fight to Franklin, I gave it to Wanderlei as I gave him round one and I gave him a very close third round.
The Contenders
Jorge Santiago vs.. Kazuo Misaki (Middleweight Title Fight)- Sengoku 1/4/09
This fight was for the vacant Sengoku Middleweight Title. I scored the first fight for Misaki and the second for Santiago. The third and fourth rounds were virtual toss ups so this fight went into the fifth round being anybody’s fight and both guys looked in decent shape from a cardio perspective. Misaki entered the fifth round with a mouse under his eye. They did some stand up and then Santiago shot in for a take down. A cut opened under Misaki’s eye and Misaki gave up his back. Santiago capitalized and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke for the submission win and became the new champion as he won the title with only a minute and a half left in a five round fight.
Jorge Gurgel vs. Conor Heun (Catchweight Fight- 160 lbs)- Strikeforce- Challengers Series- 6/19/09
Once these guys got going in this fight it was a slugfest. I had Gurgel taking this fight 29-28 (Gurgel won the fight by Unanimous Decision) and both guys left everything they had inside the cage.
Featherweight Grand Prix Second Round Fight- Hideo Tokoro vs. Abel Cullum- DREAM- DREAM 9- 5/26/09
This was a Second Round fight in DREAM’s Featherweight Tournament. Both guys fought with a lot of spirit and in the first round (which lasts ten minutes in DREAM) both fighters threatened to finish the fight at points during this round. Tokoro took over in the second round and spent the first part of the round on top of Collum. Collum went to escape and Tokoro took his back and finished him with a Rear Naked Choke.
Josh Neer vs. Mac Danzig (Lightweight Fight)- UFC- Fight Night- 2/7/09
Danzig got caught early in this fight when he went for a head kick but weathered the storm and hit a good combo about a minute in a half in to even the fight back out. The first round was very good and very close. Neer controlled early, Danzig took the middle part of the round with a knock down and Neer came on strong at the end. Danzig also opened up a cut on Neer’s face. In the second round Danzig got a take down stuffed and Neer unloaded with some good elbows. Neer tried to take his back but slipped off and Danzig took guard. Neer got a triangle with a minute and a half left in the round and Danzig had to tap.
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle (Welterweight Fight)- UFC- UFC 93- 1/17/09
This fight had a good first round and was really close in terms of scoring. Lytle was the aggressor but got knocked off his feet twice. The second round was another close round. Davis hit more shots, but Lytle seemed like he hit heavier shots. Going into the third round the fight was very even. In the third round Lytle pushed forward and threw some wild shots and they both threw some bombs against the cage. Lytle got knocked to his knees at the end of the round and that probably gave the fight to David. I scored the fight 29-28 Davis but said that I would not be surprised if it ended in a split decision. The judges agreed with me and scored the fight Davis 29-28, Lytle 29-28 and Davis 29-28.
Miguel Angel Torres © vs. Takeya Mizugaki (Bantamweight Title Fight)- WEC- WEC 40- 4/5/09
The first round was a virtual toss up that I gave to the challenger Mizugaki. After that point Torres started to take over and as each round went on it felt like Torres gained more and more control over the fight (as a champion should). Mizugaki showed a lot of heart by hanging in there with the quicker and better conditioned Torres and both guys went down swinging as the fight went to the distance.
Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann (Welterweight Fight)- UFC- UFC Fight Night 18- 4/1/09
This was a really good fight against two evenly matched fighters. For Carlos Condit, this was his first fight in UFC as he came in as the WEC Welterweight Champion (but WEC disbanded their Welterweight division). Kampmann was moving down in weight after being humbled by Nate Marquardt in a Middleweight Fight. The first round could have gone either way as Condit drew blood but Kampmann had 3 submission attempts. Condit took round two by winning the stand up game and the ground game. In round three Kampmann controlled where the fight went. Condit locked on a guillotine with ten seconds left but Kampmann weathered the storm and held onto a close decision victory (29-28 Kampmann, 29-28 Condit and 29-28 Kampmann).
The Best of the Rest
Jeff Curran vs. Joseph Benavidez- WEC- WEC 40- 4/5/09
Denis Stojnic vs. Stefan Struve-UFC- UFC 99- 6/13/09
Cain Velasquez vs. Cheick Kongo-UFC- UFC 99- 6/13/09
Joe Warren vs. Kid Yamamoto- DREAM- DREAM 9- 5/26/09
Benji Radach vs. Scott Smith- Strikeforce- 4/11/09
#1 Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida (Lightweight Fight)- UFC- The Ultimate Fighter Finale- 6/20/09
This fight started in the first round with Diego running across the cage and both fighters throwing strikes at each other. Diego took over and hit Guida with a flying knee strike and Guida was busted open. Guida got a take down that likely kept him in the fight because he was getting destroyed by Diego. Diego got back to his feet and hit a head kick that would have knocked out a lesser fighter. After the head kick, Diego hit another flying knee strike. This was one of the sickest first rounds I’ve seen. I compare it to Eddie Alvarez’s fights in DREAM against Tatsuya Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen.
In the second round Guida got a take down but Diego worked his elbows on the top of Clay’s head and busted him wide open. Guida was busted open on the top of his head and on his nose and Diego was covered in Guida’s blood. This was one of the rare rounds where the guy working from the bottom won the round. The third round was more of the same with both fighters really getting after it and trying to finish the fight. This was a great example of Fighting Spirit. I actually scored this fight 30-27 (the judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28, 29-27 in favor of Diego) in favor of Diego but because Guida showed so much heart and fight it makes the top of the list in terms of Fight of the Year.
#2 Scott Jorgensen vs. Antonio Banuelos (Bantamweight Fight)- WEC- WEC 41 6/7/09
This was originally an under card fight that made the telecast because it was so good. Banuelos pushed the action early and Jorgensen struggled early with some eye trouble. Both guys freely threw leather in the first round. In the second round Jorgensen started to get comfortable and started to throw the better strikes. Banuelos made a come back at the end of the round but it was not enough to take the round and I had it even at one round a piece through two rounds. The third action started out with a ton of action as Banuelos went for a take down, Jorgensen countered with a guillotine and Banuelos sprawled out of it and got back to his feet. Jorgensen started to walk down Banuelos in this final round and opened up a cut on his face. The final round saw Jorgensen going for submission, Banuelos surviving and both guys slugging it out. I scored the fight in favor of Jorgensen 29-28. The judges saw it different as they scored the fight a split decision in favor of Banuelos (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). Regardless, it was a great fight.
#3 Mike Brown vs. Urijah Faber (Featherweight Title Fight)-WEC- WEC 41- 6/7/09
This was on the same card as Jorgensen/Banuelos and was a re-match from Mike Brown’s first round TKO title win over Urijah in November of 2008. They opened with a very close first round that I gave to Urijah as he hit a big right hand that brought Brown to his knees, had a submission attempt and hit a head kick. Brown controlled the second round by wrestling Urijah. Urijah fought and escaped everything Brown threw at him but Brown won the round to even it up 19-19. Brown started off the third round by taking Urijah’s back and pelting him with some good punches. Urijah came back with a knee followed by a good combination. This was a very close round as Brown controlled where the fight went but Urijah threw the better strikes. I gave the round to Brown putting him up 29-28. Commentator Kenny Florian mentioned during this round that it looked like Urijah had broken one of his hands and that’s why he was not using it to throw punches. During the corner shot (in between rounds) Urijah clearly tells his corner that he broke his hand. In the fourth round Urijah throws elbows since he can no longer punch but Brown did more damage in this round taking a 39-37 led into the fifth and final round. In the fifth round Urijah grabbed a guillotine but could not hold onto it and clamp it in due to his broken hand. The fifth round was very close, I felt Urijah came closer to finishing the fight so I gave him the round and scored the fight in favor of the defending champion Mike Brown by a score of 48 to 47. The judges scored the fight a unanimous decision in favor of Mike Brown by the scores of 49-46, 49-46, 48-47.
During this fight Urijah Faber showed great heart as he hurt both of his hands and was rendered to throwing slaps and elbows for the final two rounds. It was a great performance by both fighters. Discussion raged on the internet in the days after the fight as to whether Urijah deserved another re-match with Mike Brown after having lost to him two times. My answer to that question is absolutely. Urijah came close to winning this fight despite being injured during the fight. When Urijah gets healed he should have a non-title fight and if he wins that then he should be right back in line for a title shot.
#4 Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone (Lightweight Title Fight)- WEC- WEC 38- 1/25/09
Varner hit a good combo to start off the fight and then took Cerrone to the mat and landed some nice Ground and Pound. Cerrone came back at the end of the round but also got a big bump on his forehead for his troubles. Round one went to the defending champion Varner 10-9. In the second round Cerrone was winning the stand up but Varner was able to get take downs. Varner got 3 take downs in the round but couldn’t capitalize at all on 2 of them. When the fight was standing Cerrone constantly had Varner back stepping and on his heels. This was a very close round that I gave to Cerrone to bring the fight to 19-19. Varner landed some good strikes in the third round and took Cerrone down and opened up a cut on his eye. Varner controlled the third round and was up 29-28 going into the championship rounds. The fourth round saw Varner land a good roundhouse kick and get take downs of Cerrone. Cerrone’s guard was active and he actually seemed to be landing more shots from the bottom than Varner was from the top. This was another close round but I scored it to Varner and that put him up 39-37 going into the final round.. Varner got an early take down but Cerrone got up and actually got a take down of his own. As Varner was getting up Cerrone grazed him with a knee to the head. Varner was standing up and then went back down to his knees and then Cerrone hit the knee. It was one of those strikes that was a split second from being a legal blow but ended up being an accidental illegal blow. Varner complained of not being able to see and could not continue. Due to the blow being “illegal” the fight went to the score cards. I gave Cerrone the fifth round so I had the fight scored Varner 48-47. The judges scored the fight in favor of defending champion Jamie Varner by way of Split Decision (49-46, 49-46, 47-48).
In the post-fight interview Varner said he broke his hand in the 2nd or 3rd round. As of the date of this printing, Varner is still not healthy enough to return to the ring. Cerrone is licking his chops at a re-match and will get a shot at winning the “Interim” title in an upcoming fight while Varner continues to heal.
#5 Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin (Catchweight Fight)- UFC- UFC 99- 6/13/09
Both fighters came into this fight in desperate need of a win. Franklin has just dropped a close decision to Dan Henderson and Wanderlei had been knocked out at the hands of Rampage Jackson. The first round was pretty even but Franklin came on strong at the end to take the round. In round two they threw some big time haymakers and Franklin floored Wanderlei with a good shot. Wanderlei came back and hit Franklin with a shot that buckled his knees and then hit another shot that sent Franklin back into the cage. Franklin retaliated with a partially blocked high kick that hurt Wanderlei. Really even round with both guys hurting the other fighters at times during the round. The third round started with Wanderlei as the aggressor and Franklin choosing to stick and move. At one point they were up against the cage and both guys were just throwing bombs. The fans were on their feet at the end of the fight as Wanderlei was throwing elbows and Franklin throwing punches. The fans ate up the final round and this was one of the most even fights of the year. The judges gave the fight to Franklin, I gave it to Wanderlei as I gave him round one and I gave him a very close third round.
The Contenders
Jorge Santiago vs.. Kazuo Misaki (Middleweight Title Fight)- Sengoku 1/4/09
This fight was for the vacant Sengoku Middleweight Title. I scored the first fight for Misaki and the second for Santiago. The third and fourth rounds were virtual toss ups so this fight went into the fifth round being anybody’s fight and both guys looked in decent shape from a cardio perspective. Misaki entered the fifth round with a mouse under his eye. They did some stand up and then Santiago shot in for a take down. A cut opened under Misaki’s eye and Misaki gave up his back. Santiago capitalized and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke for the submission win and became the new champion as he won the title with only a minute and a half left in a five round fight.
Jorge Gurgel vs. Conor Heun (Catchweight Fight- 160 lbs)- Strikeforce- Challengers Series- 6/19/09
Once these guys got going in this fight it was a slugfest. I had Gurgel taking this fight 29-28 (Gurgel won the fight by Unanimous Decision) and both guys left everything they had inside the cage.
Featherweight Grand Prix Second Round Fight- Hideo Tokoro vs. Abel Cullum- DREAM- DREAM 9- 5/26/09
This was a Second Round fight in DREAM’s Featherweight Tournament. Both guys fought with a lot of spirit and in the first round (which lasts ten minutes in DREAM) both fighters threatened to finish the fight at points during this round. Tokoro took over in the second round and spent the first part of the round on top of Collum. Collum went to escape and Tokoro took his back and finished him with a Rear Naked Choke.
Josh Neer vs. Mac Danzig (Lightweight Fight)- UFC- Fight Night- 2/7/09
Danzig got caught early in this fight when he went for a head kick but weathered the storm and hit a good combo about a minute in a half in to even the fight back out. The first round was very good and very close. Neer controlled early, Danzig took the middle part of the round with a knock down and Neer came on strong at the end. Danzig also opened up a cut on Neer’s face. In the second round Danzig got a take down stuffed and Neer unloaded with some good elbows. Neer tried to take his back but slipped off and Danzig took guard. Neer got a triangle with a minute and a half left in the round and Danzig had to tap.
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle (Welterweight Fight)- UFC- UFC 93- 1/17/09
This fight had a good first round and was really close in terms of scoring. Lytle was the aggressor but got knocked off his feet twice. The second round was another close round. Davis hit more shots, but Lytle seemed like he hit heavier shots. Going into the third round the fight was very even. In the third round Lytle pushed forward and threw some wild shots and they both threw some bombs against the cage. Lytle got knocked to his knees at the end of the round and that probably gave the fight to David. I scored the fight 29-28 Davis but said that I would not be surprised if it ended in a split decision. The judges agreed with me and scored the fight Davis 29-28, Lytle 29-28 and Davis 29-28.
Miguel Angel Torres © vs. Takeya Mizugaki (Bantamweight Title Fight)- WEC- WEC 40- 4/5/09
The first round was a virtual toss up that I gave to the challenger Mizugaki. After that point Torres started to take over and as each round went on it felt like Torres gained more and more control over the fight (as a champion should). Mizugaki showed a lot of heart by hanging in there with the quicker and better conditioned Torres and both guys went down swinging as the fight went to the distance.
Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann (Welterweight Fight)- UFC- UFC Fight Night 18- 4/1/09
This was a really good fight against two evenly matched fighters. For Carlos Condit, this was his first fight in UFC as he came in as the WEC Welterweight Champion (but WEC disbanded their Welterweight division). Kampmann was moving down in weight after being humbled by Nate Marquardt in a Middleweight Fight. The first round could have gone either way as Condit drew blood but Kampmann had 3 submission attempts. Condit took round two by winning the stand up game and the ground game. In round three Kampmann controlled where the fight went. Condit locked on a guillotine with ten seconds left but Kampmann weathered the storm and held onto a close decision victory (29-28 Kampmann, 29-28 Condit and 29-28 Kampmann).
The Best of the Rest
Jeff Curran vs. Joseph Benavidez- WEC- WEC 40- 4/5/09
Denis Stojnic vs. Stefan Struve-UFC- UFC 99- 6/13/09
Cain Velasquez vs. Cheick Kongo-UFC- UFC 99- 6/13/09
Joe Warren vs. Kid Yamamoto- DREAM- DREAM 9- 5/26/09
Benji Radach vs. Scott Smith- Strikeforce- 4/11/09
UFC Fight Night 18 4/1/09 Re-Cap
UFC Fight Night 18
April 1, 2009
Nashville, Tn
Lightweight Fight- Cole Miller (14-3) vs. Junie Browning (3-1)
Both of these guys are TUF alums. Junie won his last fight against Dave Kaplan at the TUF 8 Finale by submission. Cole has won 3 of 4 fights in the UFC and beat Jorge Gurgel in his last fight on the Rampage/Forrest undercard. Cole has a 4” height advantage. Junie is our first Condom Depot fighter of the night! Junie has been training at Xtreme Couture.
R1- Junie took Cole’s back but couldn’t do anything as Cole escaped and landed a good right hand. Cole pulled guard and went for a guillotine and Junie quickly tapped and Cole talked some smack right onto Junie. Nice showing by Cole.
“Who’s overrated now”- Cole Miller
Post-fight interview Cole says he wants to fight the winner of Caol Uno/Spencer Fisher and dedicated the fight to the late Charles “Mask” Lewis.
Winner: Cole Miller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:58
Jay Cutler is in the crowd for this fight.
Dan Henderson is also at this show as his TUF season is debuting after this event.
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (12-2) vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (11-3)
Griffin lost a decision in his last fight to Top 10 Lightweight Sean Sherk. Dos Anjos has a 3” height and reach advantage in this fight. Griffin trains with Xtreme Couture.
R1- The stood up for the first part of the round with both guys throwing a lot of shots. Tyson stunned Dos Anjos with a shot and then took him down. Dos Anjos traps him in a leg lock and Griffin is in an awkward position with about 90 seconds left in the round and Dos Anjos gives up the hold and they stand back up. Dos Anjos hit a good knee. Good first round that was pretty even. Dos Anjos came closer to finishing the fight with the leg lock that he put on Griffin so I’ve got him up 10-9 in this round as he also closed stronger.
R2- Dos Anjos hit Griffin with a left that knocked Griffin down but he popped back up. Tyson’s leg is definitely affecting him in this fight. Despite his leg, Griffin is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Griffin went for a single leg but Dos Anjos countered with a kimura attempt and Griffin let go of the single. Griffin hit a good right hand that stunned Dos Anjos. Fairly close round that goes to Griffin. Fight is even 19-19 after two rounds on my score card.
R3- Both guys are throwing the leather pretty good at the beginning of the round. Griffin landed a good right hand at the two minute mark of the round. This fight could be decided in the last minute. Both guys are swinging for the fences. Dos Anjos got a kimura but couldn’t hold it and Tyson ended up the fight on top with some Ground and Pound. Very close fight, I’ve got Griffin taking this round as he was the aggressor and landed more shots and better shots. Griffin 29-28 on my score card but I could see a possible split decision. Good fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards for Griffin.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)
Brandon Vera is in the crowd for the fights tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Bader (9-0) vs. Carmelo Marrero (10-2)
Bader is the winner of TUF 8 having defeated Vinny Magalhaes by knockout in the first round back in December. Marrero holds a victory over Cheick Kongo and is on a win streak.
R1- Bader got a quick take down. Bader moved nicely into an arm bar but Marrero adjusted and got out of the move and ended up in Marrero’s guard. Marrero got up but Bader took him down again. Bader is really controlling this fight and is up 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Bader got a take down after about a minute. Bader is smothering Marrero but not doing a lot of damage. The crowd is growing restless. Bader is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Bader got a take down one minute into the round. Bader gets him in an arm triangle but Marrero popped out. Bader was really impressive. He transitioned nicely to two submission moves. He just needs to keep working and he’s going to be dangerous. This is a 30-27 win for Ryan Bader.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards.
Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)
Next up is a Joe Rogan interview with Chuck Liddell. He talks about his upcoming fight with Shogun Rua.
Welterweight Fight- Carlos Condit (23-4) vs. Martin Kampmann (14-2)
Condit was 5-0 in WEC fights and was the Welterweight Champion when the division was disbanded. Condit is on an 8 fight win streak. I’ve got Condit as a Top 5 Welterweight in the World Rankings. Condit is only 24 years old and fights out of Arizona Combat Sports (same camp as Jamie Varner, Ryan Bader and CB Dollaway). Kampmann got destroyed by Nate Marquardt at UFC 88 in a Middleweight fight and has since dropped down to the Welterweight division. Kampmann was undefeated in the UFC before that fight. Kampmann does hold a victory over Thales Leites, who is fighting Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Title later this month. Kampmann is training with Xtreme Couture. Condit comes out to Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.” Condit has a 2” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Kampmann gets a take down in the first minute of the fight and gets a guillotine and Condit transitions out of the move. Condit got a sweep take down about two minutes into the fight but Kampmann does a good job reversing. Kampmann grabbed a leg lock but Condit switched out and took Kampmann’s guard. Kampmann looks like he’s got a cut and Condit lands a good knee as Kampmann stands up and then a good combo. Condit landed another knee near the end of the round but Kampmann finished the round with a take down and went for a guillotine but the bell rang. Good round that could have gone either way. Condit drew blood but Kampmann had 3 submission attempts. I’ve got Kampmann 10-9 in a close first round.
R2- Kampmann got a take down early in the first round. Condit is hitting some good stand up and gets a take down. Kampmann pulled guard on Condit with another guillotine attempt but Condit slipped out again and then took Kampmann’s back. Condit went for a Rear Naked but lost it and Kampmann took Condit’s guard. I’ve got Condit taking this round in another close round. I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Kampmann starts the round with a take down. Condit has a very active guard. Kampmann is staying on top this round. He’s not necessarily doing more damage but he’s controlling where the fight goes. Condit went for a heel hook but couldn’t get it. They stood up briefly but Kampmann tripped Condit up and went back on top. Condit grabbed a guillotine with 10 seconds left and Kampmann held on. Very close fight, very close round. Condit actually came closer to finishing the fight this round than Kampmann did but Kampmann controlled where the fight went. This could be very close to a split decision. I think Kampmann is going to take it. Really good fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Kampmann, 29-28 Condit and 29-28 Kampmann
Tough loss for Condit as this was a really close fight. He looked like he was fighting a 5 round fight instead of a 3 round fight. Once he adjusts to the level of competition in the UFC versus WEC I think he will be fine. Good win for Kampmann even if it wasn’t a decisive win.
Winner: Martin Kampmann by Decision (Split)
April 1, 2009
Nashville, Tn
Lightweight Fight- Cole Miller (14-3) vs. Junie Browning (3-1)
Both of these guys are TUF alums. Junie won his last fight against Dave Kaplan at the TUF 8 Finale by submission. Cole has won 3 of 4 fights in the UFC and beat Jorge Gurgel in his last fight on the Rampage/Forrest undercard. Cole has a 4” height advantage. Junie is our first Condom Depot fighter of the night! Junie has been training at Xtreme Couture.
R1- Junie took Cole’s back but couldn’t do anything as Cole escaped and landed a good right hand. Cole pulled guard and went for a guillotine and Junie quickly tapped and Cole talked some smack right onto Junie. Nice showing by Cole.
“Who’s overrated now”- Cole Miller
Post-fight interview Cole says he wants to fight the winner of Caol Uno/Spencer Fisher and dedicated the fight to the late Charles “Mask” Lewis.
Winner: Cole Miller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:58
Jay Cutler is in the crowd for this fight.
Dan Henderson is also at this show as his TUF season is debuting after this event.
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (12-2) vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (11-3)
Griffin lost a decision in his last fight to Top 10 Lightweight Sean Sherk. Dos Anjos has a 3” height and reach advantage in this fight. Griffin trains with Xtreme Couture.
R1- The stood up for the first part of the round with both guys throwing a lot of shots. Tyson stunned Dos Anjos with a shot and then took him down. Dos Anjos traps him in a leg lock and Griffin is in an awkward position with about 90 seconds left in the round and Dos Anjos gives up the hold and they stand back up. Dos Anjos hit a good knee. Good first round that was pretty even. Dos Anjos came closer to finishing the fight with the leg lock that he put on Griffin so I’ve got him up 10-9 in this round as he also closed stronger.
R2- Dos Anjos hit Griffin with a left that knocked Griffin down but he popped back up. Tyson’s leg is definitely affecting him in this fight. Despite his leg, Griffin is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Griffin went for a single leg but Dos Anjos countered with a kimura attempt and Griffin let go of the single. Griffin hit a good right hand that stunned Dos Anjos. Fairly close round that goes to Griffin. Fight is even 19-19 after two rounds on my score card.
R3- Both guys are throwing the leather pretty good at the beginning of the round. Griffin landed a good right hand at the two minute mark of the round. This fight could be decided in the last minute. Both guys are swinging for the fences. Dos Anjos got a kimura but couldn’t hold it and Tyson ended up the fight on top with some Ground and Pound. Very close fight, I’ve got Griffin taking this round as he was the aggressor and landed more shots and better shots. Griffin 29-28 on my score card but I could see a possible split decision. Good fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards for Griffin.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)
Brandon Vera is in the crowd for the fights tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Bader (9-0) vs. Carmelo Marrero (10-2)
Bader is the winner of TUF 8 having defeated Vinny Magalhaes by knockout in the first round back in December. Marrero holds a victory over Cheick Kongo and is on a win streak.
R1- Bader got a quick take down. Bader moved nicely into an arm bar but Marrero adjusted and got out of the move and ended up in Marrero’s guard. Marrero got up but Bader took him down again. Bader is really controlling this fight and is up 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Bader got a take down after about a minute. Bader is smothering Marrero but not doing a lot of damage. The crowd is growing restless. Bader is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Bader got a take down one minute into the round. Bader gets him in an arm triangle but Marrero popped out. Bader was really impressive. He transitioned nicely to two submission moves. He just needs to keep working and he’s going to be dangerous. This is a 30-27 win for Ryan Bader.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards.
Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)
Next up is a Joe Rogan interview with Chuck Liddell. He talks about his upcoming fight with Shogun Rua.
Welterweight Fight- Carlos Condit (23-4) vs. Martin Kampmann (14-2)
Condit was 5-0 in WEC fights and was the Welterweight Champion when the division was disbanded. Condit is on an 8 fight win streak. I’ve got Condit as a Top 5 Welterweight in the World Rankings. Condit is only 24 years old and fights out of Arizona Combat Sports (same camp as Jamie Varner, Ryan Bader and CB Dollaway). Kampmann got destroyed by Nate Marquardt at UFC 88 in a Middleweight fight and has since dropped down to the Welterweight division. Kampmann was undefeated in the UFC before that fight. Kampmann does hold a victory over Thales Leites, who is fighting Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Title later this month. Kampmann is training with Xtreme Couture. Condit comes out to Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.” Condit has a 2” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Kampmann gets a take down in the first minute of the fight and gets a guillotine and Condit transitions out of the move. Condit got a sweep take down about two minutes into the fight but Kampmann does a good job reversing. Kampmann grabbed a leg lock but Condit switched out and took Kampmann’s guard. Kampmann looks like he’s got a cut and Condit lands a good knee as Kampmann stands up and then a good combo. Condit landed another knee near the end of the round but Kampmann finished the round with a take down and went for a guillotine but the bell rang. Good round that could have gone either way. Condit drew blood but Kampmann had 3 submission attempts. I’ve got Kampmann 10-9 in a close first round.
R2- Kampmann got a take down early in the first round. Condit is hitting some good stand up and gets a take down. Kampmann pulled guard on Condit with another guillotine attempt but Condit slipped out again and then took Kampmann’s back. Condit went for a Rear Naked but lost it and Kampmann took Condit’s guard. I’ve got Condit taking this round in another close round. I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Kampmann starts the round with a take down. Condit has a very active guard. Kampmann is staying on top this round. He’s not necessarily doing more damage but he’s controlling where the fight goes. Condit went for a heel hook but couldn’t get it. They stood up briefly but Kampmann tripped Condit up and went back on top. Condit grabbed a guillotine with 10 seconds left and Kampmann held on. Very close fight, very close round. Condit actually came closer to finishing the fight this round than Kampmann did but Kampmann controlled where the fight went. This could be very close to a split decision. I think Kampmann is going to take it. Really good fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Kampmann, 29-28 Condit and 29-28 Kampmann
Tough loss for Condit as this was a really close fight. He looked like he was fighting a 5 round fight instead of a 3 round fight. Once he adjusts to the level of competition in the UFC versus WEC I think he will be fine. Good win for Kampmann even if it wasn’t a decisive win.
Winner: Martin Kampmann by Decision (Split)
WEC 40 4/5/09 Re-Cap
WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki 4/5/09
Chicago, IL
UIC Pavillion
Versus
Over the last year WEC has put out the best MMA product for my money and the great news is that you can watch WEC for free on Versus. Hopefully WEC’s string of solid and exciting shows continues tonight as Pound for Pound Top 10 fighter Miguel Angel Torres will be in action defending his Bantamweight Title. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and his partner is once again Frank Mir (last show Jens Pulver filled in). Torres is defending against Mizugaki. I haven’t seen him fight but Mir puts him over as a Top 5 fighter in his division.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (12-1) vs. Jameel Massouh (21-4)
Assuncao is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt who also has strong Muay Thai. Massouh is a well rounded fighter who has 10 submissions in his career. Both fighters are making their WEC debut. Massouh has a large 5’ height and 5’ reach advantage.
R1- Assuncao hit a good shot at the one minute mark that knocked Massouh down. Assuncao took his guard but Massouh got a heel hook and Assuncao got out and took Massouh’s guard again. Assuncao got another take down towards the end of the round and then got a guillotine right at the end of the round. Assuncao is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Pretty close second round until Assuncao grabbed a guillotine at about the two minute mark. Assuncao finished up the round on top of Massouh and took this round 10-9 as well.
R3- Assuncao hit a good combo at the beginning of the round and then controlled on the ground for the first half of the round until Massouh flipped him over. Assuncao quickly got back into the dominant position. Assuncao wins this fight 30-27 on my score card. Overall, it was a decent fight with a good first round.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three cards
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Next up they show a hype video for the re-match between Mike Brown and Urijah Faber on June 7th for the Featherweight Championship. They come back from the hype video and Mike Brown and Urijah Faber are at ringside and Todd Harris interviews them to hype up the fight.
They show a tribute video for Charles “Mask” Lewis.
Brian Bowles, Donald Cerrone and Jens Pulver (w/child) are shown sitting together.
Lightweight Division- Shane Roller (5-1) vs. Ben Henderson (8-1)
Henderson is on a 7 fight win streak with most of his wins coming by submission. Roller comes out to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Roller is a 3x Division 1 Wrestling All American but has as many knockouts as he does submissions. Roller has a slight 2’ reach advantage.
R1- Roller hit a nice right and then caught Henderson in a guillotine but couldn’t finish him. Henderson got up and got the advantage and hit some good strikes and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Great come back by Henderson as he was in a ton of trouble in the opening minute of the fight.
Winner: Ben Henderson by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:41
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszweski (30-12) vs. Anthony Njokuani (10-2)
Anthony has a 5.5’ reach advantage and a 3’ height advantage. Bart is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Chicago.
R1- Bart got a take down about a minute into the fight but couldn’t keep him down. Njokuani stuck Bart with a straight right as he was avoiding a punch and Bart went down. Njokuani landed some brief Ground and Pound but then the ref stood them up. Bart got a take down with about half a minute left in the round. Close round, I’ve got Njokuani 10-9.
R2- Njokuani hits Bart with a great combo at the beginning of the round and just takes him out. Njokuani does a back flip and a break dance spin to celebrate. Right hand, left kick, right hand. Nice flurry by Njokuani.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R2 0:27
Bantamweight Fight- Jeff Curran (31-10-1) vs. Joseph Benavidez (9-0)
This is the “Co-Main Event.” Benavidez last fought in WEC in December and had an impressive unanimous decision victory over Danny Martinez. Previous to that he submitted Junya Kudo in the first round of a DREAM fight. Benavidez trains with Urijah Faber and Faber is in his corner for this fight. Jeff Curran is the more experienced fighter and is the home town fighter in this fight. Curran’s last fight was a decision loss to Featherweight kingpin Mike Brown. Curran has a 4’ reach and 2’ height advantage. This is a big step up for Benavidez.
R1- Really good and competitive first round. With a minute and a half left Benavidez catches Curran and knocks him to the mat and jumps on top. Benavidez took round one 10-9.
R2- Both guys are throwing some really quick punches. Curran went for a Superman punch and struck out and Benavidez quickly took Curran’s guard but couldn’t get anything so they stood up at the two minute mark. Curran pulled guard but missed the guillotine, Curran then went for a different sub and then a triangle but could not land any of them and Benavidez took side control. This round could go either way, virtually a toss up. Curran probably gets some points here for trying to finish the fight with a flurry of submissions.
R3- Benavidez got a take down about a minute and a half in by chopping Curran’s leg out from under him with holding onto his other leg. Benavidez stays on top of Curran for the last minute of the fight. Curran went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Really good fight, the first two rounds were great. I’ve got Benavidez 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Benavidez
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Title Fight: Miguel Angel Torres © (35-1) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2)
Torres looked fantastic in his last defense against Manny Tapia and had a FOTY candidate in his fight before that against Yoshiro Maeda. This will be the first time that I’ve seen Mizugaki fight. Mizugaki is aggressive, likes to stand and has dangerous Ground and Pound. Torres has a large 6.5” reach and a slight 2” height advantage. Torres is the hometown fighter in this fight and gets a heroes welcome to the cage.
R1- Both guys really swinging freely early in this fight. Really strong and even first round that was a virtual toss up. I give it to Mizugaki as he controlled the early part of the round and finished strong. Torres looked to get more comfortable and find his range with kicks more as the round went on.
R2- They mixed it up pretty good for the first minute of the fight with Torres slipping a couple of times but Mizugaki not wanting to follow him to the mat. Torres starts to land some good punches in the middle of this round. Torres looked really good in the second half of this round and wins this round. So I’ve got the fight 19-19 at this point but round one was a virtual toss up.
R3- Mizugaki opened u a small cut on Torres’s forehead and they paused the fight to check the cut. They both really open up after the pause in the fight and then Torres starts to push the pace but Mizugaki answers with a barrage of his own. Good, very close round with neither fighter showing dominance. Torres seemed to land the better shots. I’ve got him up 29-28 in a very close fight so far.
R4- Torres went for a take down but Mizugaki stuffed it and stood back up rather quickly. Torres seems to be grasping control of this fight as he’s stuffing Mizugaki against the cage. Torres misses on a knee bar attempt but when they stand back up he uses his jab effectively. Torres rocked Mizugaki with a right hand and he went back but absorbed the punch nicely. Torres really started to take control of this fight in this round. I’ve got Torres up 39-37 going into the final championship round.
R5- Miguel gets Mizugaki up against the cage and unloads with a good combo but Mizugaki absorbs the punches. Torres hasn’t lost any speed on his jab even in the later stages of this fight. Torres is just too quick and has too much cardio at this point of the fight. Mizugaki is tired but is hanging in there. Both guys slug it out at the end of the fight and this one is going the distance. Really strong fight. I’ve got Torres winning and retaining his title by the score of 49-46.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in favor of Torres.
Winner and still WEC Bantamweight Champion: Miguel Torres by Decision (Unanimous)
Chicago, IL
UIC Pavillion
Versus
Over the last year WEC has put out the best MMA product for my money and the great news is that you can watch WEC for free on Versus. Hopefully WEC’s string of solid and exciting shows continues tonight as Pound for Pound Top 10 fighter Miguel Angel Torres will be in action defending his Bantamweight Title. Todd Harris is the lead announcer and his partner is once again Frank Mir (last show Jens Pulver filled in). Torres is defending against Mizugaki. I haven’t seen him fight but Mir puts him over as a Top 5 fighter in his division.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (12-1) vs. Jameel Massouh (21-4)
Assuncao is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt who also has strong Muay Thai. Massouh is a well rounded fighter who has 10 submissions in his career. Both fighters are making their WEC debut. Massouh has a large 5’ height and 5’ reach advantage.
R1- Assuncao hit a good shot at the one minute mark that knocked Massouh down. Assuncao took his guard but Massouh got a heel hook and Assuncao got out and took Massouh’s guard again. Assuncao got another take down towards the end of the round and then got a guillotine right at the end of the round. Assuncao is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Pretty close second round until Assuncao grabbed a guillotine at about the two minute mark. Assuncao finished up the round on top of Massouh and took this round 10-9 as well.
R3- Assuncao hit a good combo at the beginning of the round and then controlled on the ground for the first half of the round until Massouh flipped him over. Assuncao quickly got back into the dominant position. Assuncao wins this fight 30-27 on my score card. Overall, it was a decent fight with a good first round.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three cards
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Next up they show a hype video for the re-match between Mike Brown and Urijah Faber on June 7th for the Featherweight Championship. They come back from the hype video and Mike Brown and Urijah Faber are at ringside and Todd Harris interviews them to hype up the fight.
They show a tribute video for Charles “Mask” Lewis.
Brian Bowles, Donald Cerrone and Jens Pulver (w/child) are shown sitting together.
Lightweight Division- Shane Roller (5-1) vs. Ben Henderson (8-1)
Henderson is on a 7 fight win streak with most of his wins coming by submission. Roller comes out to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Roller is a 3x Division 1 Wrestling All American but has as many knockouts as he does submissions. Roller has a slight 2’ reach advantage.
R1- Roller hit a nice right and then caught Henderson in a guillotine but couldn’t finish him. Henderson got up and got the advantage and hit some good strikes and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Great come back by Henderson as he was in a ton of trouble in the opening minute of the fight.
Winner: Ben Henderson by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:41
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszweski (30-12) vs. Anthony Njokuani (10-2)
Anthony has a 5.5’ reach advantage and a 3’ height advantage. Bart is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Chicago.
R1- Bart got a take down about a minute into the fight but couldn’t keep him down. Njokuani stuck Bart with a straight right as he was avoiding a punch and Bart went down. Njokuani landed some brief Ground and Pound but then the ref stood them up. Bart got a take down with about half a minute left in the round. Close round, I’ve got Njokuani 10-9.
R2- Njokuani hits Bart with a great combo at the beginning of the round and just takes him out. Njokuani does a back flip and a break dance spin to celebrate. Right hand, left kick, right hand. Nice flurry by Njokuani.
Winner: Anthony Njokuani by TKO (Strikes) R2 0:27
Bantamweight Fight- Jeff Curran (31-10-1) vs. Joseph Benavidez (9-0)
This is the “Co-Main Event.” Benavidez last fought in WEC in December and had an impressive unanimous decision victory over Danny Martinez. Previous to that he submitted Junya Kudo in the first round of a DREAM fight. Benavidez trains with Urijah Faber and Faber is in his corner for this fight. Jeff Curran is the more experienced fighter and is the home town fighter in this fight. Curran’s last fight was a decision loss to Featherweight kingpin Mike Brown. Curran has a 4’ reach and 2’ height advantage. This is a big step up for Benavidez.
R1- Really good and competitive first round. With a minute and a half left Benavidez catches Curran and knocks him to the mat and jumps on top. Benavidez took round one 10-9.
R2- Both guys are throwing some really quick punches. Curran went for a Superman punch and struck out and Benavidez quickly took Curran’s guard but couldn’t get anything so they stood up at the two minute mark. Curran pulled guard but missed the guillotine, Curran then went for a different sub and then a triangle but could not land any of them and Benavidez took side control. This round could go either way, virtually a toss up. Curran probably gets some points here for trying to finish the fight with a flurry of submissions.
R3- Benavidez got a take down about a minute and a half in by chopping Curran’s leg out from under him with holding onto his other leg. Benavidez stays on top of Curran for the last minute of the fight. Curran went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Really good fight, the first two rounds were great. I’ve got Benavidez 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Benavidez
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Decision (Unanimous)
Bantamweight Title Fight: Miguel Angel Torres © (35-1) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2)
Torres looked fantastic in his last defense against Manny Tapia and had a FOTY candidate in his fight before that against Yoshiro Maeda. This will be the first time that I’ve seen Mizugaki fight. Mizugaki is aggressive, likes to stand and has dangerous Ground and Pound. Torres has a large 6.5” reach and a slight 2” height advantage. Torres is the hometown fighter in this fight and gets a heroes welcome to the cage.
R1- Both guys really swinging freely early in this fight. Really strong and even first round that was a virtual toss up. I give it to Mizugaki as he controlled the early part of the round and finished strong. Torres looked to get more comfortable and find his range with kicks more as the round went on.
R2- They mixed it up pretty good for the first minute of the fight with Torres slipping a couple of times but Mizugaki not wanting to follow him to the mat. Torres starts to land some good punches in the middle of this round. Torres looked really good in the second half of this round and wins this round. So I’ve got the fight 19-19 at this point but round one was a virtual toss up.
R3- Mizugaki opened u a small cut on Torres’s forehead and they paused the fight to check the cut. They both really open up after the pause in the fight and then Torres starts to push the pace but Mizugaki answers with a barrage of his own. Good, very close round with neither fighter showing dominance. Torres seemed to land the better shots. I’ve got him up 29-28 in a very close fight so far.
R4- Torres went for a take down but Mizugaki stuffed it and stood back up rather quickly. Torres seems to be grasping control of this fight as he’s stuffing Mizugaki against the cage. Torres misses on a knee bar attempt but when they stand back up he uses his jab effectively. Torres rocked Mizugaki with a right hand and he went back but absorbed the punch nicely. Torres really started to take control of this fight in this round. I’ve got Torres up 39-37 going into the final championship round.
R5- Miguel gets Mizugaki up against the cage and unloads with a good combo but Mizugaki absorbs the punches. Torres hasn’t lost any speed on his jab even in the later stages of this fight. Torres is just too quick and has too much cardio at this point of the fight. Mizugaki is tired but is hanging in there. Both guys slug it out at the end of the fight and this one is going the distance. Really strong fight. I’ve got Torres winning and retaining his title by the score of 49-46.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in favor of Torres.
Winner and still WEC Bantamweight Champion: Miguel Torres by Decision (Unanimous)
MMA Rankings- July Edition
This is the fifth installment of my MMA rankings.
MMA has some very exciting shows coming up over the next month:
DREAM 10- 7/20/09
Affliction: Trilogy- 8/1/09
Sengoku IX- 8/2/09
UFC 101- 8/8/09
WEC 42- 8/9/09
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg- 8/15/09
UFC 102- 8/29/09
WEC 43- 9/2/09
Also, Featherweight rankings have been added and with the upcoming Strikeforce Welterweight Title Fight between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs...Nick Diaz finds himself in the rankings (previously had had been unranked due to taking part in different weight classes and catch weight fights recently).
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 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
#3 Brock Lesnar (4-1)
UFC Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Frank Mir- R2- 7/11/09
W (TKO)- Randy Couture- R2- 11/15/08
W (DEC)- Heath Herring- R3- 8/9/08
Next Fight- TBD
#4 Frank Mir (12-4)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Brock Lesnar- R2- 7/11/09
W (TKO)- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira- R2- 12/27/08
W (SUB)- Brock Lesnar- R1- 2/2/08
Next Fight: TBD
#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. FabrÃcio Werdum
#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- 9/19/09 vs. Mirko Cro Cop
#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- 10/24/09 vs. Cain Velasquez
FIVE TO WATCH:
Cain Velazquez (Next Fight: 10/24/09 vs. Shane Carwin)
Fabricio Werdum (Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Alistair Overeem)
Ben Rothwell (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Chase Gormley)
Aleksander Emelianenko
Gilbert Yvel (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Paul Buentello)
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 MaurÃcio 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 Rich Franklin (25-4)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Wanderlei Silva- R3- 6/13/09
L (S/DEC)- Dan Henderson- R3- 1/17/09
W (TKO)- Matt Hamill- R3- 9/6/09
Next Fight: TBD
#7 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- 9/12/09 vs. Alex Stiebling
#8 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
#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 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
FIVE TO WATCH:
Gegard Mousasi (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Renato Sobral)
Thiago Silva (Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Keith Jardine)
Jon Jones
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 Dan Henderson (25-7)
Last Three Fights:
W (KO) Michael Bisping- R2- 7/11/09
W (DEC) Rich Franklin- R3- 1/17/09 @ Light Heavyweight
W (DEC) Rousimar Palhares- R3- 9/6/08
Next Fight- TBD
#3 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: TBD
#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
W (TKO) Murilo Rua- R3- 9/15/07
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Alan Belcher- R3- 7/11/09
W (SUB)- Masanori Tonooka- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB)- Katsuyori Shibata- R1- 7/21/08
Next Fight: TBD
#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: 9/25/09 vs. Jason Miller (DREAM Middleweight Championship)
#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
FIVE TO WATCH:
Kazuo Misaki
Wanderlei Silva
Chael Sonnen
Thales Leites (Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Alessio Sakara)
Patrick Cote
WELTERWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Georges St-Pierre (19-2)
UFC Welterweight Champion
W (DEC) Thiago Alves- R5- 7/11/09
W (TKO) B.J. Penn- R4- 1/31/09
W (DEC) Jon Fitch- R5- 8/9/08
Next Fight: TBD
#2 Jon Fitch (19-3)
W (DEC) Paulo Thiago- R3- 7/11/09
W (DEC) Akihiro Gono- R3- 1/31/09
L (DEC) Georges St-Pierre- R5- 8/9/08
Next Fight: TBD
#3 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
#4 Thiago Alves (16-4)
L (DEC) Georges St-Pierre-R5- 7/11/09
W (DEC) Josh Koscheck- R3- 10/25/08
W (TKO) Matt Hughes- R2- 6/7/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Nick Diaz (20-7)
W (SUB) Scott Smith- R3- 6/6/09
W (TKO) Frank Shamrock- R2- 4/11/09
W (TKO) Thomas Denny- R2- 7/26/08
Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Joe Riggs (Strikeforce Welterweight Title Fight)
#6 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: 9/19/09 vs. Mike Swick
#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: 9/16/09 vs. Chris Lytle
#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: 9/19/09 vs. Martin Kampmann
#9 Paulo Thiago (11-1)
L (DEC) Jon Fitch- R3- 7/11/09
W (TKO) Josh Koscheck- R1- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luis Dutra Jr- R1- 9/13/08
Next Fight: TBD
#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:
Dan Hardy
Brock Larson
Marcus Davis
Dustin Hazelett
Anthony Johnson (Next Fight: 10/24/09 vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshuda)
John Howard (Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Tamdan McCrory)
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 (18-2)
Bellator Fighting Championships Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W ISUB) Toby Imada- R2- 6/19/09
W (SUB) Eric Reynolds- R3- 5/1/09
W (SUB) Greg Loughran- R1- 4/3/09
L (SUB) Shinya Aoki- R1- 12/31/08
Next Fight: TBD
#4 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
#5 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
#6 Diego Sanchez (21-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Clay Guida- R3- 6/20/09
W (DEC) Joe Stevenson- R3- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luigi Fioravanti- R3- 6/21/08
Next Fight: TBD
#7 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
#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: 9/16/09 vs. Roger Huerta
#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
SIX 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 (Next Fight: 9/2/09 vs. Ben Henderson- WEC Interim Lightweight Championship)
Gesias Cavalcante (Next Fight: 9/25/09 vs. TBD)
Sean Sherk (Next Fight: 9/19/09 vs. Gleison Tibau)
FEATHERWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Mike Thomas Brown (22-4)
WEC Featherweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Urijah Faber- R5- 6/7/09
W (SUB) Leonard Garcia- R1- 3/1/09
W (TKO) Urijah Faber- R1- 11/5/08
Next Fight: 11/11/09 vs. Jose Aldo
#2 Hatsu Hioki (19-3-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Ronnie Mann- R1- 5/2/09
W (SUB) Chris Manual- R1- 3/21/09
W (TKO) Rumina Sato- R1- 11/29/08
Next Fight: 8/2/09 vs. Masanori Kanehara
#3 Jose Aldo (15-1)
W (TKO) Cub Swanson- R1- 6/7/09
W (TKO) Chris Mickle- R1- 3/1/09
W (KO) Rolando Perez- R1- 1/25/09
Next Fight: 11/11/09 vs. Mike Brown
#4 Urijah Faber (22-3)
Last Three Fights:
L (DEC) Mike Thomas Brown- R5- 6/7/09
W (SUB) Jens Pulver- R1- 1/25/00
L (TKO) Mike Thomas Brown- R1- 11/5/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Wagnney Fabiano (12-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Fredson Paixao- R3- 4/5/09
W (SUB) Akitoshi Tamura- R3- 12/3/08
W (KO) Shad Lierley- R1- 4/4/08
Next Fight: 9/2/09 vs. Erik Koch
#6 Marlon Sandro (14-0)
W (KO) Nick Denis- R1- 5/2/09
W (SUB) Matt Jaggers- R2- 3/20/09
W (DEC) Masaya Takita- R3- 10/26/08
Next Fight: 8/2/09 vs. Michihiro Omigawa
#7 Josh Grispi (13-1)
W (SUB) Jens Pulver- R1- 6/7/09
W (TKO) Micah Miller- R1- 8/3/08
W (SUB) Mark Hominick- R1- 2/13/08
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Rafael Assuncao (13-1)
W (DEC) Jameel Massouh- R3- 4/5/09
W (KO) Joe Pearson- R1- 11/8/08
W (SUB) Aaron Williams- R1- 3/7/08
Next Fight: 9/2/09 vs. Yves Jabouin
#9 Leonard Garcia (12-4)
Last Three Fights:
L (SUB) Mike Thomas Brown- R1- 3/1/09
W (TKO) Jens Pulver- R1- 11/5/08
W (KO) Hiroyuki Takaya- R1- 2/13/08
Next Fight: 8/9/09 vs. Jameel Massouh
#10 Takeshi Inoue (16-3)
Shooto Lightweight (143 lbs) Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO) Rumina Sato- R1- 5/10/09
W (DEC) Hideki Kadowaki- R3- 11/29/08
L (DEC) Savant Young- R2- 5/3/08
Next Fight: TBD
FIVE TO WATCH:
Joe Warren (9/25/09 vs. Bibiano Fernandes)
Dokonjonosuke Mishima
Akitoshi Tamura
Bibiano Fernandes (9/25/09 vs. Joe Warren)
Yuji Hoshino
MMA has some very exciting shows coming up over the next month:
DREAM 10- 7/20/09
Affliction: Trilogy- 8/1/09
Sengoku IX- 8/2/09
UFC 101- 8/8/09
WEC 42- 8/9/09
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg- 8/15/09
UFC 102- 8/29/09
WEC 43- 9/2/09
Also, Featherweight rankings have been added and with the upcoming Strikeforce Welterweight Title Fight between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs...Nick Diaz finds himself in the rankings (previously had had been unranked due to taking part in different weight classes and catch weight fights recently).
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 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
#3 Brock Lesnar (4-1)
UFC Heavyweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO)- Frank Mir- R2- 7/11/09
W (TKO)- Randy Couture- R2- 11/15/08
W (DEC)- Heath Herring- R3- 8/9/08
Next Fight- TBD
#4 Frank Mir (12-4)
Last Three Fights:
L (TKO)- Brock Lesnar- R2- 7/11/09
W (TKO)- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira- R2- 12/27/08
W (SUB)- Brock Lesnar- R1- 2/2/08
Next Fight: TBD
#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. FabrÃcio Werdum
#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- 9/19/09 vs. Mirko Cro Cop
#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- 10/24/09 vs. Cain Velasquez
FIVE TO WATCH:
Cain Velazquez (Next Fight: 10/24/09 vs. Shane Carwin)
Fabricio Werdum (Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Alistair Overeem)
Ben Rothwell (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Chase Gormley)
Aleksander Emelianenko
Gilbert Yvel (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Paul Buentello)
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 MaurÃcio 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 Rich Franklin (25-4)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Wanderlei Silva- R3- 6/13/09
L (S/DEC)- Dan Henderson- R3- 1/17/09
W (TKO)- Matt Hamill- R3- 9/6/09
Next Fight: TBD
#7 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- 9/12/09 vs. Alex Stiebling
#8 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
#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 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
FIVE TO WATCH:
Gegard Mousasi (Next Fight: 8/1/09 vs. Renato Sobral)
Thiago Silva (Next Fight: 8/29/09 vs. Keith Jardine)
Jon Jones
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 Dan Henderson (25-7)
Last Three Fights:
W (KO) Michael Bisping- R2- 7/11/09
W (DEC) Rich Franklin- R3- 1/17/09 @ Light Heavyweight
W (DEC) Rousimar Palhares- R3- 9/6/08
Next Fight- TBD
#3 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: TBD
#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
W (TKO) Murilo Rua- R3- 9/15/07
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC)- Alan Belcher- R3- 7/11/09
W (SUB)- Masanori Tonooka- R1- 9/23/08
W (SUB)- Katsuyori Shibata- R1- 7/21/08
Next Fight: TBD
#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: 9/25/09 vs. Jason Miller (DREAM Middleweight Championship)
#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
FIVE TO WATCH:
Kazuo Misaki
Wanderlei Silva
Chael Sonnen
Thales Leites (Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Alessio Sakara)
Patrick Cote
WELTERWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Georges St-Pierre (19-2)
UFC Welterweight Champion
W (DEC) Thiago Alves- R5- 7/11/09
W (TKO) B.J. Penn- R4- 1/31/09
W (DEC) Jon Fitch- R5- 8/9/08
Next Fight: TBD
#2 Jon Fitch (19-3)
W (DEC) Paulo Thiago- R3- 7/11/09
W (DEC) Akihiro Gono- R3- 1/31/09
L (DEC) Georges St-Pierre- R5- 8/9/08
Next Fight: TBD
#3 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
#4 Thiago Alves (16-4)
L (DEC) Georges St-Pierre-R5- 7/11/09
W (DEC) Josh Koscheck- R3- 10/25/08
W (TKO) Matt Hughes- R2- 6/7/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Nick Diaz (20-7)
W (SUB) Scott Smith- R3- 6/6/09
W (TKO) Frank Shamrock- R2- 4/11/09
W (TKO) Thomas Denny- R2- 7/26/08
Next Fight: 8/15/09 vs. Joe Riggs (Strikeforce Welterweight Title Fight)
#6 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: 9/19/09 vs. Mike Swick
#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: 9/16/09 vs. Chris Lytle
#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: 9/19/09 vs. Martin Kampmann
#9 Paulo Thiago (11-1)
L (DEC) Jon Fitch- R3- 7/11/09
W (TKO) Josh Koscheck- R1- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luis Dutra Jr- R1- 9/13/08
Next Fight: TBD
#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:
Dan Hardy
Brock Larson
Marcus Davis
Dustin Hazelett
Anthony Johnson (Next Fight: 10/24/09 vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshuda)
John Howard (Next Fight: 8/8/09 vs. Tamdan McCrory)
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 (18-2)
Bellator Fighting Championships Lightweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W ISUB) Toby Imada- R2- 6/19/09
W (SUB) Eric Reynolds- R3- 5/1/09
W (SUB) Greg Loughran- R1- 4/3/09
L (SUB) Shinya Aoki- R1- 12/31/08
Next Fight: TBD
#4 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
#5 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
#6 Diego Sanchez (21-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Clay Guida- R3- 6/20/09
W (DEC) Joe Stevenson- R3- 2/21/09
W (TKO) Luigi Fioravanti- R3- 6/21/08
Next Fight: TBD
#7 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
#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: 9/16/09 vs. Roger Huerta
#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
SIX 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 (Next Fight: 9/2/09 vs. Ben Henderson- WEC Interim Lightweight Championship)
Gesias Cavalcante (Next Fight: 9/25/09 vs. TBD)
Sean Sherk (Next Fight: 9/19/09 vs. Gleison Tibau)
FEATHERWEIGHT RANKINGS
#1 Mike Thomas Brown (22-4)
WEC Featherweight Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Urijah Faber- R5- 6/7/09
W (SUB) Leonard Garcia- R1- 3/1/09
W (TKO) Urijah Faber- R1- 11/5/08
Next Fight: 11/11/09 vs. Jose Aldo
#2 Hatsu Hioki (19-3-2)
Last Three Fights:
W (SUB) Ronnie Mann- R1- 5/2/09
W (SUB) Chris Manual- R1- 3/21/09
W (TKO) Rumina Sato- R1- 11/29/08
Next Fight: 8/2/09 vs. Masanori Kanehara
#3 Jose Aldo (15-1)
W (TKO) Cub Swanson- R1- 6/7/09
W (TKO) Chris Mickle- R1- 3/1/09
W (KO) Rolando Perez- R1- 1/25/09
Next Fight: 11/11/09 vs. Mike Brown
#4 Urijah Faber (22-3)
Last Three Fights:
L (DEC) Mike Thomas Brown- R5- 6/7/09
W (SUB) Jens Pulver- R1- 1/25/00
L (TKO) Mike Thomas Brown- R1- 11/5/08
Next Fight: TBD
#5 Wagnney Fabiano (12-1)
Last Three Fights:
W (DEC) Fredson Paixao- R3- 4/5/09
W (SUB) Akitoshi Tamura- R3- 12/3/08
W (KO) Shad Lierley- R1- 4/4/08
Next Fight: 9/2/09 vs. Erik Koch
#6 Marlon Sandro (14-0)
W (KO) Nick Denis- R1- 5/2/09
W (SUB) Matt Jaggers- R2- 3/20/09
W (DEC) Masaya Takita- R3- 10/26/08
Next Fight: 8/2/09 vs. Michihiro Omigawa
#7 Josh Grispi (13-1)
W (SUB) Jens Pulver- R1- 6/7/09
W (TKO) Micah Miller- R1- 8/3/08
W (SUB) Mark Hominick- R1- 2/13/08
Next Fight: TBD
#8 Rafael Assuncao (13-1)
W (DEC) Jameel Massouh- R3- 4/5/09
W (KO) Joe Pearson- R1- 11/8/08
W (SUB) Aaron Williams- R1- 3/7/08
Next Fight: 9/2/09 vs. Yves Jabouin
#9 Leonard Garcia (12-4)
Last Three Fights:
L (SUB) Mike Thomas Brown- R1- 3/1/09
W (TKO) Jens Pulver- R1- 11/5/08
W (KO) Hiroyuki Takaya- R1- 2/13/08
Next Fight: 8/9/09 vs. Jameel Massouh
#10 Takeshi Inoue (16-3)
Shooto Lightweight (143 lbs) Champion
Last Three Fights:
W (TKO) Rumina Sato- R1- 5/10/09
W (DEC) Hideki Kadowaki- R3- 11/29/08
L (DEC) Savant Young- R2- 5/3/08
Next Fight: TBD
FIVE TO WATCH:
Joe Warren (9/25/09 vs. Bibiano Fernandes)
Dokonjonosuke Mishima
Akitoshi Tamura
Bibiano Fernandes (9/25/09 vs. Joe Warren)
Yuji Hoshino
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale 6/20/09 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale 6/20/09
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
This is a big show with two really good match-ups in Diego Sanchez/Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson/Nate Diaz. We also have a potential show stealer in Chris Lytle/Kevin. Plus, we have the two Ultimate Fighter 9 Finals that have Damarques Johnson facing James Wilks in the Welterweight Division and Andre Winner taking on Ross Pearson in the Lightweight Finals.
Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (34-10)
This is a battle of past ultimate fighter winners. Joe Stevenson is really in a must win situation as he is coming off of losses to Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. Nate Diaz is coming off of a close decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC 94. Stevenson won his weight class in Season 2 and Diaz won Season 5. Diaz has a 6” reach and 5” height advantage. Stevenson spent 6 weeks in Greg Jackson’s camp before this fight.
R1- Stevenson goes to touch gloves and Diaz does not touch. Stevenson gets an early take down and Diaz grabs a guillotine but could not hold onto the move. Joe lands some shots and has Nate tied up. Nate turns into Joe’s guard and Joe grabs a guillotine but Diaz held on and got out of the submission. Joe lands some knees to end the round. Joe takes this round 10-9.
R2- Joe went for a take down and Nate went for a guillotine again and didn’t get it but did fend of the take down as they ended up against the cage. Joe landed some knees against the cage and Joe gets Diaz down on the mat. Joe is controlling the round but not landing a lot of damage. I’ve got Joe up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Diaz again does not touch hands with Joe. Joe worked hard for a take down early and Nate landed a nice judo throw to get in Joe’s guard. Nate went for a submission but couldn’t get it and then briefly tried a Rear Naked but Joe scrambled back to his feet. Joe lands some more knees against the cage. Nate landed some punches in the last minute of the round while avoiding Joe’s take down. This was a pretty decent fight. I give Nate the final round but I’ve got Joe winning this fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Stevenson.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)
Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Finals: Andre Winner (10-2-1) vs. Ross Pearson (10-3)
Winner made it to the finals by defeating Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco and Cameron Dollar. Pearson made it to the finals by defeating A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson and Jason Dent. Winner has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Really even start to the fight as they started out on their feet and then clinched battling for position. This round was a virtual tie. Winner hit a flurry at the end of the round and I’ve got him barely taking this round 10-9.
R2- Lots of clinching in this round. This was another very close round. Winner hit another flurry at the end of this round but this one was not as good as the last round. Scoring could be anywhere right now. I’ve got it 19-19.
R3- They stand up and throw some leather in the middle of this round but then quickly got back to the clinch. With under a minute left they throw some more leather. Pearson has thus far landed more shots in this round as Winner looks like he’s is tiring. Pearson landed a knee and an elbow at the end of the fight and Winner took a knee as the bell rung. I’ve got Pearson winning this round so I’ve got Pearson up on my score card 29-28 but I think this is going to be a split decision as I really don’t feel there was a clear winner in this fight. This was a good close fight but it didn’t really have that explosive action that most MMA fans enjoy. Both guys deserve a shot to see if they can make it in the UFC.
Judges score card: all judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Ross Pearson.
Winner: Ross Pearson
Welterweight Fight- Chris Lytle (36-17-4) vs. Kevin Burns (8-2)
Chris Lytle is coming off of a split decision loss to Marcus Davis at UFC 93. Burns is coming off of a KO loss to Anthony Johnson back in December. Burns has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- This fight starts out how you thought it would with both guys throwing punches and some kicks. Lytle came in and Burns caught him with a short right uppercut and Lytle went down. Burns followed him to the ground but Lytle seemed to recover. Burns lands some good shots at the end of the round and Lytle is reeling. Burns took this round 10-9.
R2- Lytle came out and hit two good strikes right off the bat that sent Burns reeling. Burns went for a take down and got it but Lytle quickly got to his feet. Burns has hit Lytle with at least 3 low blows so far in this fight. He is the same guy that kept poking Anthony Johnson in the eye in a fight last year. Lytle evens this fight up at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Rashad Evans in the house, no doubt he’s still thinking about how Lyoto Machida just dismantled him. Lytle caught a kick and delivered a punch while holding onto Burns leg and Burns got cut bad by that strike. Lytle hit a big right hand half way through the round that rocked Burns. Lytle is throwing some heavy punches this round. This was a really good fight. Lytle takes the final round and wins the fight 29-28 on my score card.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan interviews Brock Lesnar via Satellite about the Frank Mir fight that is coming up in a few weeks.
Ultimate Fighter 9 Welterweight Finals: DaMarques Johnson (14-6) vs. James Wilks (6-2)
James Wilks got here by defeating Che Mills and Frank Lester twice. Damarques Johnson defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, and Nick Osipczak. Wilks is from the UK but actually fights out of California now. Damarques trains with Jeremy Horn.
R1- Wilks hit a couple of nice shots to start off the fight. Wilks is landing some good knees against the cage. Wilks went for a leg lock but couldn’t lock it in. Damarques got a couple of shots in on Wilks. Wilks landed a triangle and Damarques got out but his arm looked like it was in a weird spot. Wilks went after a Rear Naked Choke and Damarques tapped with under 10 seconds left in the round. James Wilks just dominated this fight and looked very good.
Winner: James Wilks by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:54
Lightweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (22-2) vs. Clay Guida (25-6)
Diego won his debut at Lightweight against Joe Stevenson and is looking to move up in ranking as he’s looking for a title shot. Guida is coming off of a Split Decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 94 and he beat Mac Danzig by Unanimous Decision in his fight previous to that one. Diego looks incredibly intense getting into the cage and he and Guida are jawing at each other. Diego has a 4” reach and height advantage. They have a crazy looking stare down.
R1- They are throwing shots at each other like crazy as Diego came running across the ring. Diego is nailing Guida with strikes and hits him with a flying knee. Guida looks like his face or nose is busted open. Guida gets a take down. Lucky for him because he was just getting destroyed by Diego on their feet. Sanchez uses the rubber guard and is able to get back to his feet. Diego landed a big head kick on Guida and he fell to the ground. Diego hit another flying knee and continues to eat Guida’s lunch on their feet. Diego got a take down with thirty seconds left in the round. WOW, what a SICK first round. Probably the best round of fighting I’ve seen this year. This was reminiscent of some of Eddie Alvarez’s fights in DREAM last year. Sanchez took this one 10-9. It was a borderline 10-8 round but Guida got a take down and landed some elbows. Sanchez looked awesome in this round.
R2- Guida got a take down to start this round. Diego is throwing elbows from the bottom. Guida is dominating control but Diego is landing better strikes so far this round. Diego is a bloody mess and I think it’s from the top of Guida’s head (where Diego has been hitting the strikes) and from Guida’s nose (which was probably broken in the first round). I’ve got to give this round to Diego. Cage control only goes so far. Diego did more damage in this round than Guida did with the elbows to the top of the head. Diego is up 20-18.
R3- Guida is bleeding from the nose and the head as this round starts. Clay went for a take down and Diego tried to take his back but Guida slipped into guard. Sanchez got an arm triangle briefly but Guida again slipped out. Guida is on top but Sanchez is working a kimura. Sanchez tried for an arm bar and then Guida hit some Ground and Pound as the bell rung. GREAT FIGHT. I’ve got Sanchez taking this round also as he had 4 submission attempts and the stand up in the round was even. Sanchez 30-27 on my score card. It will be interesting to see how the judges score the fight. Fight of the Year so far?
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Guida, 29-27 Sanchez and 29-28 Sanchez. I just don’t see how you would score the fight for Guida. Lying on top of a guy doesn’t beat out damage inflicted in a round. I can see how someone would give Guida round three but no way he won round two.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Split)
Solid night of fights capped by a FOTY candidate in Sanchez/Guida.
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
This is a big show with two really good match-ups in Diego Sanchez/Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson/Nate Diaz. We also have a potential show stealer in Chris Lytle/Kevin. Plus, we have the two Ultimate Fighter 9 Finals that have Damarques Johnson facing James Wilks in the Welterweight Division and Andre Winner taking on Ross Pearson in the Lightweight Finals.
Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (34-10)
This is a battle of past ultimate fighter winners. Joe Stevenson is really in a must win situation as he is coming off of losses to Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. Nate Diaz is coming off of a close decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC 94. Stevenson won his weight class in Season 2 and Diaz won Season 5. Diaz has a 6” reach and 5” height advantage. Stevenson spent 6 weeks in Greg Jackson’s camp before this fight.
R1- Stevenson goes to touch gloves and Diaz does not touch. Stevenson gets an early take down and Diaz grabs a guillotine but could not hold onto the move. Joe lands some shots and has Nate tied up. Nate turns into Joe’s guard and Joe grabs a guillotine but Diaz held on and got out of the submission. Joe lands some knees to end the round. Joe takes this round 10-9.
R2- Joe went for a take down and Nate went for a guillotine again and didn’t get it but did fend of the take down as they ended up against the cage. Joe landed some knees against the cage and Joe gets Diaz down on the mat. Joe is controlling the round but not landing a lot of damage. I’ve got Joe up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Diaz again does not touch hands with Joe. Joe worked hard for a take down early and Nate landed a nice judo throw to get in Joe’s guard. Nate went for a submission but couldn’t get it and then briefly tried a Rear Naked but Joe scrambled back to his feet. Joe lands some more knees against the cage. Nate landed some punches in the last minute of the round while avoiding Joe’s take down. This was a pretty decent fight. I give Nate the final round but I’ve got Joe winning this fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Stevenson.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)
Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Finals: Andre Winner (10-2-1) vs. Ross Pearson (10-3)
Winner made it to the finals by defeating Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco and Cameron Dollar. Pearson made it to the finals by defeating A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson and Jason Dent. Winner has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Really even start to the fight as they started out on their feet and then clinched battling for position. This round was a virtual tie. Winner hit a flurry at the end of the round and I’ve got him barely taking this round 10-9.
R2- Lots of clinching in this round. This was another very close round. Winner hit another flurry at the end of this round but this one was not as good as the last round. Scoring could be anywhere right now. I’ve got it 19-19.
R3- They stand up and throw some leather in the middle of this round but then quickly got back to the clinch. With under a minute left they throw some more leather. Pearson has thus far landed more shots in this round as Winner looks like he’s is tiring. Pearson landed a knee and an elbow at the end of the fight and Winner took a knee as the bell rung. I’ve got Pearson winning this round so I’ve got Pearson up on my score card 29-28 but I think this is going to be a split decision as I really don’t feel there was a clear winner in this fight. This was a good close fight but it didn’t really have that explosive action that most MMA fans enjoy. Both guys deserve a shot to see if they can make it in the UFC.
Judges score card: all judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Ross Pearson.
Winner: Ross Pearson
Welterweight Fight- Chris Lytle (36-17-4) vs. Kevin Burns (8-2)
Chris Lytle is coming off of a split decision loss to Marcus Davis at UFC 93. Burns is coming off of a KO loss to Anthony Johnson back in December. Burns has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- This fight starts out how you thought it would with both guys throwing punches and some kicks. Lytle came in and Burns caught him with a short right uppercut and Lytle went down. Burns followed him to the ground but Lytle seemed to recover. Burns lands some good shots at the end of the round and Lytle is reeling. Burns took this round 10-9.
R2- Lytle came out and hit two good strikes right off the bat that sent Burns reeling. Burns went for a take down and got it but Lytle quickly got to his feet. Burns has hit Lytle with at least 3 low blows so far in this fight. He is the same guy that kept poking Anthony Johnson in the eye in a fight last year. Lytle evens this fight up at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Rashad Evans in the house, no doubt he’s still thinking about how Lyoto Machida just dismantled him. Lytle caught a kick and delivered a punch while holding onto Burns leg and Burns got cut bad by that strike. Lytle hit a big right hand half way through the round that rocked Burns. Lytle is throwing some heavy punches this round. This was a really good fight. Lytle takes the final round and wins the fight 29-28 on my score card.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan interviews Brock Lesnar via Satellite about the Frank Mir fight that is coming up in a few weeks.
Ultimate Fighter 9 Welterweight Finals: DaMarques Johnson (14-6) vs. James Wilks (6-2)
James Wilks got here by defeating Che Mills and Frank Lester twice. Damarques Johnson defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, and Nick Osipczak. Wilks is from the UK but actually fights out of California now. Damarques trains with Jeremy Horn.
R1- Wilks hit a couple of nice shots to start off the fight. Wilks is landing some good knees against the cage. Wilks went for a leg lock but couldn’t lock it in. Damarques got a couple of shots in on Wilks. Wilks landed a triangle and Damarques got out but his arm looked like it was in a weird spot. Wilks went after a Rear Naked Choke and Damarques tapped with under 10 seconds left in the round. James Wilks just dominated this fight and looked very good.
Winner: James Wilks by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:54
Lightweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (22-2) vs. Clay Guida (25-6)
Diego won his debut at Lightweight against Joe Stevenson and is looking to move up in ranking as he’s looking for a title shot. Guida is coming off of a Split Decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 94 and he beat Mac Danzig by Unanimous Decision in his fight previous to that one. Diego looks incredibly intense getting into the cage and he and Guida are jawing at each other. Diego has a 4” reach and height advantage. They have a crazy looking stare down.
R1- They are throwing shots at each other like crazy as Diego came running across the ring. Diego is nailing Guida with strikes and hits him with a flying knee. Guida looks like his face or nose is busted open. Guida gets a take down. Lucky for him because he was just getting destroyed by Diego on their feet. Sanchez uses the rubber guard and is able to get back to his feet. Diego landed a big head kick on Guida and he fell to the ground. Diego hit another flying knee and continues to eat Guida’s lunch on their feet. Diego got a take down with thirty seconds left in the round. WOW, what a SICK first round. Probably the best round of fighting I’ve seen this year. This was reminiscent of some of Eddie Alvarez’s fights in DREAM last year. Sanchez took this one 10-9. It was a borderline 10-8 round but Guida got a take down and landed some elbows. Sanchez looked awesome in this round.
R2- Guida got a take down to start this round. Diego is throwing elbows from the bottom. Guida is dominating control but Diego is landing better strikes so far this round. Diego is a bloody mess and I think it’s from the top of Guida’s head (where Diego has been hitting the strikes) and from Guida’s nose (which was probably broken in the first round). I’ve got to give this round to Diego. Cage control only goes so far. Diego did more damage in this round than Guida did with the elbows to the top of the head. Diego is up 20-18.
R3- Guida is bleeding from the nose and the head as this round starts. Clay went for a take down and Diego tried to take his back but Guida slipped into guard. Sanchez got an arm triangle briefly but Guida again slipped out. Guida is on top but Sanchez is working a kimura. Sanchez tried for an arm bar and then Guida hit some Ground and Pound as the bell rung. GREAT FIGHT. I’ve got Sanchez taking this round also as he had 4 submission attempts and the stand up in the round was even. Sanchez 30-27 on my score card. It will be interesting to see how the judges score the fight. Fight of the Year so far?
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Guida, 29-27 Sanchez and 29-28 Sanchez. I just don’t see how you would score the fight for Guida. Lying on top of a guy doesn’t beat out damage inflicted in a round. I can see how someone would give Guida round three but no way he won round two.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Split)
Solid night of fights capped by a FOTY candidate in Sanchez/Guida.
Monday, July 13, 2009
UFC 100 "Making History" 7/11/09 Re-Cap
UFC 100: Making History
7/11/09
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
This event has been hyped up as the biggest UFC event of all time. On top we have 2 Main Event quality fights in Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir and GSP vs. Thiago Alves. We also have Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping in a match-up of the two trainers during the last TUF show. This fight is a borderline Main Event and the winner could be up for a shot at Anderson Silva. In addition to those three bouts we also have the UFC debut of Yoshihiro Akiyama, Stephan Bonnar/Mark Coleman and some interesting under card fights that will hopefully make the show (Jim Miller/Mac Danzig, Jon Jones/Jake O’Brien, Jon Fitch/Paul Thiago).
Middleweight Fight- Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-1) vs. Alan Belcher (13-4)
This is Akiyama’s debut in the UFC. Belcher recently spoiled Denis Kang’s UFC debut. Belcher is a brown belt in bjj and has just recently spent a few weeks with Eddie Bravo. Akiyama is a Judo Black Belt and is riding a 13 fight unbeaten streak. Akiyama has been training with UFC fighter Yushin Okami. Belcher has a 4” height advantage but their reach is even.
R1- Both guys are throwing kicks early. Belcher is the bigger fighter but Akiyama looks to be a lot faster. Belcher nailed Akiyama with a low blow early in the fight. Belcher connected with a punch that knocked Akiyama down but Akiyama jumped right back up. Akiyama’s striking is crisp and he’s landing some good shots. Akiyama caught a Belcher kick and took him down. I’ve got Akiyama taking the first round as he hit more and better strikes. Belcher did knock Akiyama down but it looked like it was more of being caught off balance. Good fight so far. Akiyama hit a strike after the bell and Belcher looked like he was not too happy about it.
R2- Akiyama got an immediate take down of Belcher to start the round. Belcher took some Ground and Pound but nothing too significant and was able to get back to his feet with two minutes left in the round. Both guys are looking a little winded at the end of this round. Akiyama is winning this fight 20-18 after two rounds but this could be anybody’s fight because both guys look like they are going to struggle with their conditioning in the third round.
R3- Both guys stand and throw some punches in the first minute of the round with both guys landing some decent blows. Akiyama is having some trouble with his left eye, I think he got poked by Belcher early in this round. Belcher went for a leg kick and Akiyama caught him and punched him to the mat but Belcher got back to his feet quickly. Akiyama got a take down with thirty seconds left but Belcher got back to his feet again. The stand-up in this round was pretty even but Akiyama got two take down/knock downs. I’ve got Akiyama winning this fight 30-27. The first and third rounds were close with Akiyama clearly winning the second. This was a good, competitive opening fight.
Judges scores: 30-27 Akiyama, 29-28 Belcher and 29-28 Akiyama
Rogan and Goldberg said that they thought Belcher got robbed. Not on my score card.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight- Dan Henderson (24-7) vs. Michael Bisping (18-1)
This is a big fight for both of these guys as a potential title shot is on the horizon for the winner. Bisping hasn’t fought since UFC 89 where he won a close but unanimous decision against Chris Leben. Dan Henderson also won a decision in his last fight as he beat former Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin by Split Decision at UFC 93. Bisping comes out to his usual Rock & Jock song. I think somebody told me it was by the band Blur. Woo hoo!
R1- Henderson is stalking Bisping early and Bisping is moving around the cage and trying to stick and move. Hendo hit a good combo against the cage that put Bisping at a back pedal and he followed with another combo but he was able to keep his senses. Hendo clinched him against the cage and landed some knees. Hendo is up 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Hendo got Bisping up against the cage and landed a big right hand but Bisping took it and backed out to the center of the cage. Bisping isn’t doing anything to hurt Hendo but he’s doing a better job keeping him away with jabs in this round. Bisping has been on his heels this entire fight. Hendo loaded up and nailed Bisping with a big right hand and Bisping fell like a ton of bricks. This fight is over. Hendo dove in with a punch to the grounded Bisping but it wasn’t needed, Bisping was gone when he hit the mat. Great showing by Hendo.
Hendo says he feels that he has earned a re-match with Anderson Silva but that he’s up for whatever UFC has for him.
Winner: Dan Henderson by KO R2 3:20
Royce Gracie is in attendance at the show tonight.
UFC 101 is coming up August 8th and will feature BJ Penn defending against Kenny Florian and Anderson Silva taking on Forrest Griffin in a Light Heavyweight Fight.
UFC 102 will take place at the end of August and will feature Big Nog vs. Randy Couture. This card will also have Demian Maia against Nate Marquardt and Keith Jardine against Thiago Silva.
Welterweight Championship Fight: Georges St-Pierre © (18-2) vs.Thiago Alves (22-4)
GSP is at the top of a lot of people’s current P4P rankings. GSP is coming off his UFC 94 domination of BJ Penn. Previous to that GSP beat Jon Fitch by Decision in a fight that he dominated. Thiago Alves is coming off a UFC 90 Unanimous Decision win over Josh Koscheck (Koscheck stepped in for Diego Sanchez taking the fight on short notice). Before that Alves beat up Matt Hughes in a fight where Alves did not make weight. Goldberg says Alves has landed the third most leg kicks in UFC history. GSP is a Kyokushin Karate Black Belt and is considered to have among the best take down in MMA right now. GSP gets a good reaction from the crowd. Thiago is pacing in the ring like a mad man before the fight. GSP has a huge 6” reach advantage. This is the Co-Main Event.
R1- Crowd starts a big “GSP” chant as the fight starts. GSP got a quick take down in the first minute of the fight. Alves got back to his feet without any damage but GSP pulled him back down and transitioned to his back. Thiago rolled him over and then they got back to their feet. GSP is really getting better of the stand up so far in the fight. Alves came forwards with some strikes but GSP took him down. Alves got back to his feet as the round ended. GSP 10-9 after round one.
Jason Statham is at the show enjoying some frosty beverages.
R2- GSP got another take down about a minute into the round. GSP briefly got to mount but Alves was able to get out. Alves is bleeding from his nose. GSP is landing some good shots on Alves. Alves got back to his feet with thirty seconds left in the round. That was a borderline 10-8 round in favor of GSP but I’ll say 10-9 so it’s GSP up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- They had some even stand up early in the round but GSP got a take down with around two minutes gone from the round. Alves got back to his feet with two minutes left in the round. GSP landed a good right hand and floored Alves. GSP jumped on top with some aggressive Ground and Pound but Alves was able to hand on. GSP is up 30-27 after three rounds.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida is at ringside for the fight and he gets a good response from the crowd.
R4- GSP got a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the round. GSP passes guard and mounts. GSP tried to take GSP’s back but Alves slipped out and took GSP’s guard. Alves got some good Ground and Pound in on GSP but GSP got back to his feet with 1:45 left in the round. GSP got another take down as he timed an Alves leg kick. Alves gave up his back trying to get to his feet. This was the closest round to date but GSP took it and is up 40-36. GSP tells Greg Jackson in the corner that he pulled his groin.
R5- GSP got a take down at the one minute mark of the round but Alves battled back to his feet rather quickly. GSP got another take down at the half way point of the round. Alves got back to his feet with two minutes remaining in the fight but GSP got him down yet again. GSP takes the 5th and final round and I’ve got him winning this easily 50-45. Great showing by GSP. Alves showed good conditioning and showed some heart but just like Jon Fitch he was no match for GSP.
I’m not sure what’s next for GSP but I would like to see Alves fight Jon Fitch.
Judges score cards: 50-45, 50-44, and 50-45.
Winner and still champion: Georges St-Pierre by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight GSP says he hurt his groin in the 3rd round. He is indecisive about moving up to 185 to take on Anderson Silva.
UFC Heavyweight Title Fight: Brock Lesnar © (3-1) vs. Frank Mir (12-3)
This is the re-match of the last fight where Brock was dominating but got caught by a Mir submission. Since that fight Brock has gone on to defeat Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and Frank Mir has gone on to defeat Big Nog for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship (which was created when Randy Couture was holding out). UFC tells me that Brock has outstruck his opponents 87-18 in his first 3 UFC fights. Brock has an 86% accuracy rate of ground power strikes and he has 75% take down accuracy. Frank Mir has 6 submission wins, which is the most by a UFC Heavyweight. Of Mir’s 15 career fights only 1 has gone past the second round and his fights have an average length of only 3:52. This fight has had a good traditional Pro Wrestling type build from the guys comments about each other. The UFC Countdown was well put together. Brock comes out to “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Brock has a 20 lb and 2” reach advantage. They do not touch gloves when Herb Dean has them together at the center of the ring for pre-fight instruction.
R1- Brock got a quick take down. Brock took a while to get into position but eventually he started landing some good shots to Mir’s face. Not a very exciting round but Brock fought a smart round and got in some good punches that bloodied up Frank’s face. Brock up 10-9 after one round. Almost a 10-8 round just due to the fact that Mir got in virtually no offense.
R2- Mir went for a knee and Brock dumped in on the ground but didn’t follow. Mir landed a couple of strikes against the cage and Mir hit a jumping knee into Brock (similar to the Yves Edwards/Edson Berto knee) but Brock followed through with a take down. Brock lands some big shots to the face of Mir and Herb Dean steps in to stop the fight as Mir is down in the corner. Mir wobbles to his feet and he and Brock have some words in the middle of the cage.
Winner and still champion: Brock Lesnar by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
Post-Fight Brock says that Sable is going to get lucky tonight. Mir says Brock did a good job in the fight and that Mir made a mistake by getting caught against cage with such a big guy against him.
UFC Welterweight Fight- Jon Fitch (22-3) vs. Paulo Thiago (11-0)
Thiago burst on the scene in his UFC debut with an upset over Josh Koscheck. Thiago is an undefeated jiu jitsu black belt who also has amateur boxing experience. Fitch is pretty much the gatekeeper of the Welterweight division. He’s better than everybody else but not as good as GSP. Fitch is one of the least exciting fighters in UFC right now in my opinion.
R1- Fitch got a take down within a minute but Thiago grabbed a guillotine in the full guard position. Fitch finally got out of the move with two minutes left in the round. Fitch controlled the last two minutes but really didn’t do much damage. Basically an even first round.
R2- Fitch got another take down in the opening stages of the fight. Man, Fitch is a boring fighter. Thiago got up but Fitch slammed him back down and sat on him some more. Fitch took his back with about a minute left in the round. Fitch easily took this round.
R3- Fitch again gets Thiago down to the ground early and basically just rides Thiago for the rest of the round. Fitch takes this either 30-27 or 29-28 but he is clearly the winner.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Fitch.
Winner: Jon Fitch by Decision (Unanimous)
TapouT Submission of the Night went to Tom Lawlor would choked out CB Dollaway with a guillotine in the under card.
The Turning Point of the Night was when Dan Henderson knocked out Michael Bisping. It wasn’t as much a “turning point” as it was lights out.
I enjoyed this show as it had a Great KO in the Hendo/Bisping fight, a dominant performance by the Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, a great showing by one of the best P4P fighters in the world GSP and a good opener in Akiyama/Belcher.
7/11/09
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
This event has been hyped up as the biggest UFC event of all time. On top we have 2 Main Event quality fights in Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir and GSP vs. Thiago Alves. We also have Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping in a match-up of the two trainers during the last TUF show. This fight is a borderline Main Event and the winner could be up for a shot at Anderson Silva. In addition to those three bouts we also have the UFC debut of Yoshihiro Akiyama, Stephan Bonnar/Mark Coleman and some interesting under card fights that will hopefully make the show (Jim Miller/Mac Danzig, Jon Jones/Jake O’Brien, Jon Fitch/Paul Thiago).
Middleweight Fight- Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-1) vs. Alan Belcher (13-4)
This is Akiyama’s debut in the UFC. Belcher recently spoiled Denis Kang’s UFC debut. Belcher is a brown belt in bjj and has just recently spent a few weeks with Eddie Bravo. Akiyama is a Judo Black Belt and is riding a 13 fight unbeaten streak. Akiyama has been training with UFC fighter Yushin Okami. Belcher has a 4” height advantage but their reach is even.
R1- Both guys are throwing kicks early. Belcher is the bigger fighter but Akiyama looks to be a lot faster. Belcher nailed Akiyama with a low blow early in the fight. Belcher connected with a punch that knocked Akiyama down but Akiyama jumped right back up. Akiyama’s striking is crisp and he’s landing some good shots. Akiyama caught a Belcher kick and took him down. I’ve got Akiyama taking the first round as he hit more and better strikes. Belcher did knock Akiyama down but it looked like it was more of being caught off balance. Good fight so far. Akiyama hit a strike after the bell and Belcher looked like he was not too happy about it.
R2- Akiyama got an immediate take down of Belcher to start the round. Belcher took some Ground and Pound but nothing too significant and was able to get back to his feet with two minutes left in the round. Both guys are looking a little winded at the end of this round. Akiyama is winning this fight 20-18 after two rounds but this could be anybody’s fight because both guys look like they are going to struggle with their conditioning in the third round.
R3- Both guys stand and throw some punches in the first minute of the round with both guys landing some decent blows. Akiyama is having some trouble with his left eye, I think he got poked by Belcher early in this round. Belcher went for a leg kick and Akiyama caught him and punched him to the mat but Belcher got back to his feet quickly. Akiyama got a take down with thirty seconds left but Belcher got back to his feet again. The stand-up in this round was pretty even but Akiyama got two take down/knock downs. I’ve got Akiyama winning this fight 30-27. The first and third rounds were close with Akiyama clearly winning the second. This was a good, competitive opening fight.
Judges scores: 30-27 Akiyama, 29-28 Belcher and 29-28 Akiyama
Rogan and Goldberg said that they thought Belcher got robbed. Not on my score card.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight- Dan Henderson (24-7) vs. Michael Bisping (18-1)
This is a big fight for both of these guys as a potential title shot is on the horizon for the winner. Bisping hasn’t fought since UFC 89 where he won a close but unanimous decision against Chris Leben. Dan Henderson also won a decision in his last fight as he beat former Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin by Split Decision at UFC 93. Bisping comes out to his usual Rock & Jock song. I think somebody told me it was by the band Blur. Woo hoo!
R1- Henderson is stalking Bisping early and Bisping is moving around the cage and trying to stick and move. Hendo hit a good combo against the cage that put Bisping at a back pedal and he followed with another combo but he was able to keep his senses. Hendo clinched him against the cage and landed some knees. Hendo is up 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Hendo got Bisping up against the cage and landed a big right hand but Bisping took it and backed out to the center of the cage. Bisping isn’t doing anything to hurt Hendo but he’s doing a better job keeping him away with jabs in this round. Bisping has been on his heels this entire fight. Hendo loaded up and nailed Bisping with a big right hand and Bisping fell like a ton of bricks. This fight is over. Hendo dove in with a punch to the grounded Bisping but it wasn’t needed, Bisping was gone when he hit the mat. Great showing by Hendo.
Hendo says he feels that he has earned a re-match with Anderson Silva but that he’s up for whatever UFC has for him.
Winner: Dan Henderson by KO R2 3:20
Royce Gracie is in attendance at the show tonight.
UFC 101 is coming up August 8th and will feature BJ Penn defending against Kenny Florian and Anderson Silva taking on Forrest Griffin in a Light Heavyweight Fight.
UFC 102 will take place at the end of August and will feature Big Nog vs. Randy Couture. This card will also have Demian Maia against Nate Marquardt and Keith Jardine against Thiago Silva.
Welterweight Championship Fight: Georges St-Pierre © (18-2) vs.Thiago Alves (22-4)
GSP is at the top of a lot of people’s current P4P rankings. GSP is coming off his UFC 94 domination of BJ Penn. Previous to that GSP beat Jon Fitch by Decision in a fight that he dominated. Thiago Alves is coming off a UFC 90 Unanimous Decision win over Josh Koscheck (Koscheck stepped in for Diego Sanchez taking the fight on short notice). Before that Alves beat up Matt Hughes in a fight where Alves did not make weight. Goldberg says Alves has landed the third most leg kicks in UFC history. GSP is a Kyokushin Karate Black Belt and is considered to have among the best take down in MMA right now. GSP gets a good reaction from the crowd. Thiago is pacing in the ring like a mad man before the fight. GSP has a huge 6” reach advantage. This is the Co-Main Event.
R1- Crowd starts a big “GSP” chant as the fight starts. GSP got a quick take down in the first minute of the fight. Alves got back to his feet without any damage but GSP pulled him back down and transitioned to his back. Thiago rolled him over and then they got back to their feet. GSP is really getting better of the stand up so far in the fight. Alves came forwards with some strikes but GSP took him down. Alves got back to his feet as the round ended. GSP 10-9 after round one.
Jason Statham is at the show enjoying some frosty beverages.
R2- GSP got another take down about a minute into the round. GSP briefly got to mount but Alves was able to get out. Alves is bleeding from his nose. GSP is landing some good shots on Alves. Alves got back to his feet with thirty seconds left in the round. That was a borderline 10-8 round in favor of GSP but I’ll say 10-9 so it’s GSP up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- They had some even stand up early in the round but GSP got a take down with around two minutes gone from the round. Alves got back to his feet with two minutes left in the round. GSP landed a good right hand and floored Alves. GSP jumped on top with some aggressive Ground and Pound but Alves was able to hand on. GSP is up 30-27 after three rounds.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida is at ringside for the fight and he gets a good response from the crowd.
R4- GSP got a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the round. GSP passes guard and mounts. GSP tried to take GSP’s back but Alves slipped out and took GSP’s guard. Alves got some good Ground and Pound in on GSP but GSP got back to his feet with 1:45 left in the round. GSP got another take down as he timed an Alves leg kick. Alves gave up his back trying to get to his feet. This was the closest round to date but GSP took it and is up 40-36. GSP tells Greg Jackson in the corner that he pulled his groin.
R5- GSP got a take down at the one minute mark of the round but Alves battled back to his feet rather quickly. GSP got another take down at the half way point of the round. Alves got back to his feet with two minutes remaining in the fight but GSP got him down yet again. GSP takes the 5th and final round and I’ve got him winning this easily 50-45. Great showing by GSP. Alves showed good conditioning and showed some heart but just like Jon Fitch he was no match for GSP.
I’m not sure what’s next for GSP but I would like to see Alves fight Jon Fitch.
Judges score cards: 50-45, 50-44, and 50-45.
Winner and still champion: Georges St-Pierre by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight GSP says he hurt his groin in the 3rd round. He is indecisive about moving up to 185 to take on Anderson Silva.
UFC Heavyweight Title Fight: Brock Lesnar © (3-1) vs. Frank Mir (12-3)
This is the re-match of the last fight where Brock was dominating but got caught by a Mir submission. Since that fight Brock has gone on to defeat Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and Frank Mir has gone on to defeat Big Nog for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship (which was created when Randy Couture was holding out). UFC tells me that Brock has outstruck his opponents 87-18 in his first 3 UFC fights. Brock has an 86% accuracy rate of ground power strikes and he has 75% take down accuracy. Frank Mir has 6 submission wins, which is the most by a UFC Heavyweight. Of Mir’s 15 career fights only 1 has gone past the second round and his fights have an average length of only 3:52. This fight has had a good traditional Pro Wrestling type build from the guys comments about each other. The UFC Countdown was well put together. Brock comes out to “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Brock has a 20 lb and 2” reach advantage. They do not touch gloves when Herb Dean has them together at the center of the ring for pre-fight instruction.
R1- Brock got a quick take down. Brock took a while to get into position but eventually he started landing some good shots to Mir’s face. Not a very exciting round but Brock fought a smart round and got in some good punches that bloodied up Frank’s face. Brock up 10-9 after one round. Almost a 10-8 round just due to the fact that Mir got in virtually no offense.
R2- Mir went for a knee and Brock dumped in on the ground but didn’t follow. Mir landed a couple of strikes against the cage and Mir hit a jumping knee into Brock (similar to the Yves Edwards/Edson Berto knee) but Brock followed through with a take down. Brock lands some big shots to the face of Mir and Herb Dean steps in to stop the fight as Mir is down in the corner. Mir wobbles to his feet and he and Brock have some words in the middle of the cage.
Winner and still champion: Brock Lesnar by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
Post-Fight Brock says that Sable is going to get lucky tonight. Mir says Brock did a good job in the fight and that Mir made a mistake by getting caught against cage with such a big guy against him.
UFC Welterweight Fight- Jon Fitch (22-3) vs. Paulo Thiago (11-0)
Thiago burst on the scene in his UFC debut with an upset over Josh Koscheck. Thiago is an undefeated jiu jitsu black belt who also has amateur boxing experience. Fitch is pretty much the gatekeeper of the Welterweight division. He’s better than everybody else but not as good as GSP. Fitch is one of the least exciting fighters in UFC right now in my opinion.
R1- Fitch got a take down within a minute but Thiago grabbed a guillotine in the full guard position. Fitch finally got out of the move with two minutes left in the round. Fitch controlled the last two minutes but really didn’t do much damage. Basically an even first round.
R2- Fitch got another take down in the opening stages of the fight. Man, Fitch is a boring fighter. Thiago got up but Fitch slammed him back down and sat on him some more. Fitch took his back with about a minute left in the round. Fitch easily took this round.
R3- Fitch again gets Thiago down to the ground early and basically just rides Thiago for the rest of the round. Fitch takes this either 30-27 or 29-28 but he is clearly the winner.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Fitch.
Winner: Jon Fitch by Decision (Unanimous)
TapouT Submission of the Night went to Tom Lawlor would choked out CB Dollaway with a guillotine in the under card.
The Turning Point of the Night was when Dan Henderson knocked out Michael Bisping. It wasn’t as much a “turning point” as it was lights out.
I enjoyed this show as it had a Great KO in the Hendo/Bisping fight, a dominant performance by the Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, a great showing by one of the best P4P fighters in the world GSP and a good opener in Akiyama/Belcher.
Friday, July 03, 2009
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale Unaired Fights 6/20/09 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale Unaired Fights 6/20/09
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
Welterweight Fight- Brad Blackburn (14-9-1) vs. Edgar Garcia (7-0)
Blackburn is a former IFL fighter who is 2-0 in the UFC. This is Garcia’s debut in the UFC but has fought for WEC.
R1- Blackburn hits some nice strikes early grabs a guillotine. Garcia slams Blackburn hard but he jumps right back up. Garcia seems to be finding his range as the round goes on. This was a pretty even round, really close to a 10-10.
R2- Blackburn seems like he’s landing more strikes as he’s hitting leg strikes and Garcia is not attempting anything but punches. Another close round that I gave to Blackburn.
R3- Very even but uneventful fight. Blackburn got a take down at the end of the round but then got nailed with a left hand and went down and popped back up. I honestly think this should be a draw, 29-29.
Judges score the fight: 29-28 Garcia, 29-28 Blackburn, 29-28 Blackburn.
Winner: Brad Blackburn by Decision (Split)
Lightweight Fight- Jason Dent (18-10) vs. Cameron Dollar (5-2)
Both of these fighters were participants on Season 9 of TUF. Dollar got some crazy butterfly tattoos put on his chest since the season ended.
R1- Dent is throwing more strikes early and is landing some decent shots. Cameron got him up against the fence and landed some nice strikes. Dollar went for a take down and Dent grabbed an Anaconda Choke and Dollar eventually tapped. Dollar dominated this fight and Dent did nothing until the finish.
Winner: Jason Dent by Submission (Anaconda Choke) R1 4:46
Lightweight Fight- Melvin Guillard (40-8-3) vs. Gleison Tibau (29-5)
R1- Not a lot of action in this round but Tibau got a couple of take downs which will swing the round in his favor.
R2- Melvin had the advantage in the stand-up in this round and even got a take down. This is a very even fight that I’ve got 19-19 so far. When Gleison’s gotten take downs he hasn’t done anything with them.
R3- Melvin started this round with a couple of strikes and Gleison answered and got a take down. Tibau controlled on the ground until about a minute and a half left in the round. Tibau got another take down at the one minute mark and ends the fight with some Ground and Pound from the mount position.
I’ve got Tibau winning this 29-28. Tibau clearly took round three. The other two rounds were very close.
Judges score cards say: Split Decision in favor of Guillard. Wow.
Winner: Melvin Guillard by Decision (Split)
Welterweight Fight- Nick Osipczak (3-1) vs. Frank Lester (3-3)
Nick has a 6” reach and 3” height advantage. This is the official first UFC fight for both of these TUF fighters.
R1- Nick grabbed a kick and took Frank down early. Nick was just the better fighter in there and won by Rear Naked Choke. Lester was trying to muscle through the fight and he just didn’t get it done.
Winner: Nick Osipczak by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:40
Catchweight Fight- Mike Ciesnolevicz (18-3) vs. Tomasz Drwal (15-2)
Ciesnolevicz weighed in at 208 lbs thus making this a catchweight fight instead of a Light Heavyweight Fight.
R1- Drwal landed some good strikes in a clinch against the cage about half way through the round and also landed some nice strikes after a stand up with about a minute and a half left in the round. Drwal landed a big time knee that dropped Mike and then he hit some Ground and Pound for the TKO victory.
Winner: Tomasz Drwal by TKO (Strikes) R1
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
Welterweight Fight- Brad Blackburn (14-9-1) vs. Edgar Garcia (7-0)
Blackburn is a former IFL fighter who is 2-0 in the UFC. This is Garcia’s debut in the UFC but has fought for WEC.
R1- Blackburn hits some nice strikes early grabs a guillotine. Garcia slams Blackburn hard but he jumps right back up. Garcia seems to be finding his range as the round goes on. This was a pretty even round, really close to a 10-10.
R2- Blackburn seems like he’s landing more strikes as he’s hitting leg strikes and Garcia is not attempting anything but punches. Another close round that I gave to Blackburn.
R3- Very even but uneventful fight. Blackburn got a take down at the end of the round but then got nailed with a left hand and went down and popped back up. I honestly think this should be a draw, 29-29.
Judges score the fight: 29-28 Garcia, 29-28 Blackburn, 29-28 Blackburn.
Winner: Brad Blackburn by Decision (Split)
Lightweight Fight- Jason Dent (18-10) vs. Cameron Dollar (5-2)
Both of these fighters were participants on Season 9 of TUF. Dollar got some crazy butterfly tattoos put on his chest since the season ended.
R1- Dent is throwing more strikes early and is landing some decent shots. Cameron got him up against the fence and landed some nice strikes. Dollar went for a take down and Dent grabbed an Anaconda Choke and Dollar eventually tapped. Dollar dominated this fight and Dent did nothing until the finish.
Winner: Jason Dent by Submission (Anaconda Choke) R1 4:46
Lightweight Fight- Melvin Guillard (40-8-3) vs. Gleison Tibau (29-5)
R1- Not a lot of action in this round but Tibau got a couple of take downs which will swing the round in his favor.
R2- Melvin had the advantage in the stand-up in this round and even got a take down. This is a very even fight that I’ve got 19-19 so far. When Gleison’s gotten take downs he hasn’t done anything with them.
R3- Melvin started this round with a couple of strikes and Gleison answered and got a take down. Tibau controlled on the ground until about a minute and a half left in the round. Tibau got another take down at the one minute mark and ends the fight with some Ground and Pound from the mount position.
I’ve got Tibau winning this 29-28. Tibau clearly took round three. The other two rounds were very close.
Judges score cards say: Split Decision in favor of Guillard. Wow.
Winner: Melvin Guillard by Decision (Split)
Welterweight Fight- Nick Osipczak (3-1) vs. Frank Lester (3-3)
Nick has a 6” reach and 3” height advantage. This is the official first UFC fight for both of these TUF fighters.
R1- Nick grabbed a kick and took Frank down early. Nick was just the better fighter in there and won by Rear Naked Choke. Lester was trying to muscle through the fight and he just didn’t get it done.
Winner: Nick Osipczak by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:40
Catchweight Fight- Mike Ciesnolevicz (18-3) vs. Tomasz Drwal (15-2)
Ciesnolevicz weighed in at 208 lbs thus making this a catchweight fight instead of a Light Heavyweight Fight.
R1- Drwal landed some good strikes in a clinch against the cage about half way through the round and also landed some nice strikes after a stand up with about a minute and a half left in the round. Drwal landed a big time knee that dropped Mike and then he hit some Ground and Pound for the TKO victory.
Winner: Tomasz Drwal by TKO (Strikes) R1
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