UFC Fight Night 1/11/10 Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night
Patriot Center
Fairfax, Virginia
1/11/10

Top Lightweight contender Gray Maynard will take on Nate Diaz in the Main Event tonight in a re-match from The Ultimate Fighter TV show. TUF Winner Amir Sadollah face a tough fight against Brad Blackburn and TUF winner Efrain Escudero is also in action as is prospect Aaron Simpson.

Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (3-1) vs. Brad Blackburn (15-9-1)

Amir is coming off of a UFC 106 win against Phil Baroni. Blackburn is coming off of a split decision victory over Edgar Garcia. Amir fights out of Richmond so he is a big fan favorite in this fight. Blackburn is yet to lose in the UFC.

R1- Both guys are landing shots early in this round. Amir hit a good right hand with one minute left to go in the round and it rocked Blackburn. Amir then hit and elbow and got a take down but Black burn was able to recover and push him off. Close round that Amir took with the push at the end. Amir 10-9 after one round.

R2- Blackburn hit a right hand and caught a kick at the same time and briefly knocked Amir down at the mid-way point of the round. Amir landed another right that briefly wobbled Blackburn right at the end of the round. Really close round that I give to Blackburn that makes the fight 19-19 on my score card.

R3- Amir landed a knee against the cage and Blackburn got rocked and taken down. Amir was able to land some good punches about half way through the round. Amir is going to take this round and will win via decision.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards

Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Rogan interviews Randy Couture ringside and they discuss his upcoming fight against Mark Coleman.

Middleweight Fight- Aaron Simpson (6-0) vs. Tom Lawlor (6-1)

Simpson has knockouts in all six of his fights. Simpson is coming off of a win at UFC 102 against Ed Herman and Lawlor is coming off of a 55 second submission victory over CB Dollaway at UFC 100. This is Lawlor’s 2nd fight at Middleweight in the UFC.

R1- Lawler landed a good uppercut in the first few moments of the fight. Lawler went for a take down and Simpson landed some punches and Lawlor gave up the take down attempt. Lawlor is looking good in the early going. Lawlor is landing some good punches in this fight. Lawlor hit a right hand counter punch and then came in with a barrage of punches and Simpson finally grabbed a clinch to stop the onslaught. Lawlor landed a good uppercut and continued to land good strikes. Lawlor looked really good in the first round and definitely took this round.

R2- Simpson landed some shots against the cage and then got a take down. Lawlor hit a good right hand that knocked Simpson into the cage and got a brief take down. Lawlor pulled guard at the end of the round but never really had it clamped in as the bell rung. Really close round, could have gone either way.

R3- Lawlor lands some good punches at the start of the round. Both guys are freely throwing leather at the beginning of the round. Simpson got a take down slam but Lawlor got back to his feet quickly and returned the favor. Lawlor tried to grab a kimura but couldn’t hold it and Simpson ended up on top. Simpson briefly mounted and then tried to take Lawlor’s back. Lawlor is worn out and Simpson is in totally control of this round. Simpson clearly took this round. This is going to be a close fight to call. Lawlor took round one and possibly could have squeaked out a 10-8 round, round two was a toss up and round three was Simpson 10-9. I think we could see a split or majority decision here. I’m calling Simpson via Split Decision. Really good fight.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Lawlor, 29-28 Simpson and 29-28 Simpson

Winner: Aaron Simpson by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Evan Dunham (9-0) vs. Efrain Escudero (13-0)

Both guys are coming into this fight undefeated. Efrain is coming off of a UFC 103 win against Cole Miller and Dunham is coming off a UFC 102 Split Decision win over Ricardo Almeida in a close fight that I had Almeida winning 29-28.

R1- Efrain landed a good jumping knee half-way through the round and then hit some strikes. Dunham went down but was able to defend on the ground and stay in the fight. Efrain grabs a guillotine choke but Dunham was able to escape back to his feet. Dunham pushed Escudero to the ground at the end of the round. Escudero 10-9.

R2- Dunham looks recovered and hits some strikes at the beginning of the round. Both guys are landing some decent strikes in this round. Dunham got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Dunham is landing some good strikes on the ground. Dunham takes Efrain’s back. Dunham won this round so it’s even at 19-19 going into the final round.

R3- Dunham went for a quick take down and Efrain tried to grab a guillotine and rolled over on top of Dunham trying to secure a choke but couldn’t not clamp it in and they scrambled back to their feet. Dunham stuck with it and got a take down about a minute into the fight. Dunham went for an arm bar and Efrain tapped out. Big win for Dunham.

Winner: Evan Dunham by Submission (Arm Bar) R3 1:59

Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (9-0) vs. Nate Diaz (11-4)

Nate Diaz is the only fighter that Maynard has lost to as Diaz beat Maynard on their season of TUF. Maynard is still officially unbeaten because the TUF fights (except for the finals) do not count on the fighters records. At UFC Fight Night 19 Gray Maynard beat Roger Huerta by Split Decision (I had the fight 30-27 for Maynard). Diaz is coming off a Guillotine Choke win over Melvin Guillard on the same show. Maynard is one of the top contenders for BJ Penn’s belt so this is a very important fight for him.

R1- Maynard is throwing some bombs early on. Diaz has opened up a cut on Maynard despite not landing any significant shots. Maynard is starting to land some decent shots. Both guys talk a little trash in the first round. Close round. I’ve got Maynard edging Diaz 10-9.

R2- Maynard hit a good overhand right about a minute and a half into the round but Diaz absorb the blow. Gray hit a good knee half way through the round that floored Diaz but Maynard let him back to his feet. Maynard hit a good left that sent Diaz to his knees before he quickly got back up. Maynard took this round and I’ve got him winning 20-18.

R3- Diaz hit a right hand about a minute and a half into the round that briefly floored Maynard but he popped back up. Diaz is landing some strikes this round and is looking much better than he did in the first two rounds. Maynard landed a good punch and then briefly got on top of Diaz but Diaz got up quickly. Maynard finished well in this round but I think Diaz still took this round. I’ve got Maynard taking this fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Diaz, 30-27 Maynard, 29-28 Maynard

Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Split)