UFC 83: "Serra vs. St-Pierre 2" Re-Cap/Thoughts

UFC 83

Lightweight Fight: Mac Danzig (18-4-1) vs. Mark Bocek (5-1)

Bocek is Canadian so he gets a big pop. Danzig was the winner of Season 6 of the Ultimate Fighter and has been real impressive in the fights I've seen him in.

R1- They are mixing it up so far on their feet. No one with a clear advantage. Bocek grabs a leg and pushes Mac up against the cage. Danzig grabs an arm to stop it. Bocek finally gets him down and begins to hammer some punches to the side. Mac has him in his guard. Danzig grabs an arm submission but Bocek gets out and gets in some punches. Mac trying to get back to his feet. Bocek's got his back but Mac fights out. Bocek with the advantage in half guard, now in full guard. Danzig trying to grab a submission. Bocek controlling the fight. Danzig works back to his feet. Mac rides him and gets some good shots in. Mac is now on top in half guard. Mac now in full guard and is laying in punches. Bocek grabs him and holds him trying to hold on to win the round. Close round with Danzig rallying at the end. I think Bocek gets this one although he definitely suffered some damage towards the end of the round. He looks much rougher than Danzig does in the corner shots.

R2- Danzig destroys Bocek with a knee to the chin and jumps on him trying to finish but Bocek protects himself. Danzig still on top. Danzig laying in some shots. Bocek brings the fight back to the feet and Mac hits him with another knee and Bocek wilts back to the ground. Danzig on top and getting in some shots. Danzig in full mount. Bocek gives up his back. Danzig just dominating in this round. Danzig releases and they stand up. Bocek getting in some shots and goes for a single leg take down. Danzig going after his arm. Danzig takes the dominant position. Danzig wins this round easily, he just couldn't finish. He just destroyed Bocek with that knee at the beginning of the round.

R3- Bocek going for some punches then goes for the take down and he finally gets it. Bocek is in Danzig's guard trying to pass as Danzig is going for a submission choke from the bottom. Bocek getting some shots from the top. Danzig slips out and gets up. They are in a clinch and Danzig hits another knee. Danzig seems to have gained the advantage again and gets a punch and then a kick. Bocek is bleeding heavily know and the ref stops the fight just as Danzig seems to be gaining the momentum and was looking to really go after him. Bocek is cut badly but they will continue. Crowd roars. Danzig landing some jabs. Danzig punches him into the corner and Danzig gets a leg sweep and is in full mount. Bocek gives up his back with 90 seconds left. Danzig going for a choke but there is so much blood. Danzig gets the win via Rear Naked Choke.

Good fight. Danzig looked real good and Bocek showed a lot of heart.

Winner: Mac Danzig by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3

Kenny Florian did the color commentary for Joe Rogan and was real solid.

Mandy Moore is in the house!

Middleweight Fight: Charles McCarthy (10-4) vs Michael Bisping (15-1)

I've only seen Bisping fight once and he was solid but real unmemorable. This will be the first time i've seen Charles McCarthy. Bisping is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3. Bisping seems to be the crowd favorite here as he gets a good pop during introductions. This is Bisping's first fight at Middleweight.

R1- Bisping is the aggressor early. McCarthy throws some hay makers that miss. Bisping jabbing. Bisping controlling the cage early and McCarthy just curling up and Bisping pelts him a couple times then McCarthy screams at him and plays to the crowd. Bisping controlling early. Bisping with a knee. Bisping with some combos. McCarthy just covering up and doing nothing offensively besides playing to the crowd. Bisping with a knee and then an uppercut. crowd doing the "Ole" chant. McCarthy with a take down which is really his first offensive move that was successful. McCarthy in half guard. McCarthy going after his back and then going after an arm. Bisping trying to get his arm out as McCarthy is trying to get the submission. Bisping gets out and nails some punches. Bisping with some jabs and a knee. Bisping with a kick and some jabs. Bisping with punches and knees and just owning McCarthy who is doing nothing. Bisping just owning McCarthy who is in the fetal. Bisping just owned this round. McCarthy got one take down. The ref calls the fight after the bell as McCarthy is still on the ground where Bisping left him. Bisping looked great in this fight and just picked apart McCarthy.

Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO R1

Middleweight Fight: Khalib Starnes (10-3-1) vs. Nate Quarry (15-2)

Starnes is Canadian so obviously he's the crowd favorite tonight. Both of these guys were in different seasons of The Ultimate Fighter.

R1- They are dancing around a lot. Quarry is the aggressor and is basically chasing him around the ring. Kalib runs away but then grabs him but they release. Crowd starting to boo as Starnes looks like he wants none of this fight so far. Most of this match is Starnes trying to stay away from Quarry. They are tied up on the cage now. Quarry with a flurry out of the clinch. Quarry with a combo and is chasing Starnes around the ring again. Kalib just continually running away from Quarry. They clinch against the cage. Starnes with his first offensive move of the fight- a knee at one minute left in the round. Quarry though answers. Quarry with a flurry at the end of the round. Quarry just dominates Kalib who spent the majority of the first round running away from Quarry. Not sure what Kalib's game plan is here, he looks like he doesn't want to be in there with Quarry.

R2- Starnes comes out and actually tries to hit a punch and then tries a tie up. Quarry hitting leg kicks. Quarry still the aggressor and Kalib still running away. Starnes grabs a leg on a kick and takes down Quarry briefly and gets in a couple of shots. Quarry quickly back to his feet. Florian is describing this as sparring practice for Quarry. Quarry wins this round again as Starnes is just running away. The Canadian fans are booing Starnes.

R3- Two rounds to none so far for Quarry. So far this round is just more of the same. Quarry with a combo and another. Quarry with a flurry. Quarry is only going to lose here if he trips and breaks his neck cause Starnes is not interested in fighting Quarry tonight. Quarry with another flurry of punches with a couple hitting. Quarry with a big knee that just misses. Starnes just making no attempt at trying to win this fight with only a minute left and way down on the judges cards. Quarry lighting him up now and chasing Starnes and mocking him by doing the running man. Quarry now punching himself.

Starnes with an embarrassing performance and I wonder if he'll see another fight in UFC after this performance. Quarry looked great but Starnes just simply did not want to fight tonight. Starnes and his corner are mad that Quarry is making fun of Starnes but Starnes just put on an embarrassing performance tonight. He simply didn't want to fight. Crowd is booing Starnes whenever he's shown and cheering Quarry. 30-26, 30-27 and 30-24 by unanimous decision. Goldberg says this might be the first 30-24 he's ever seen in UFC. Can't wait to see Quarry fight someone who actually wants to fight.

Winner: Nate Quarry via Decision (Unanimous)

Forrest Griffin is in the house and he's going for the cheap pop with a Montreal Canadians sweater.

Middleweight Fight: Travis Lutter (12-4) vs. Rich Franklin (24-3)

Travis Lutter comes out to Nickelback, so there is one reason to dislike him. Franklin is definitely the crowd favorite in this one. Both guys have lost to Anderson Silva and are still considered top contenders.

R1- They are mixing it up early. Nice to see two guys who actually want to fight. They are tied up against the cage. Lutter's got his back early. Lutter moves to side control and now to half guard. Not much action but Lutter seems to be moving into position. Franklin showing good defense. Lutter gets into full mount with 2 minutes left. Lutter starting to land some punches. Lutter's goit him in the arm bar but Franklin with a magnificent escape and he's back to his feet. Lutter for a take down and Franklin getting in some punches. Lutter still holding onto the leg. First Round goes to Lutter due to him almost finishing the match and controlling the majority of the round. He didn't dominate or inflict much damage though so this is anybody's fight.

R2- Franklin controls early. Lutter misses a take down. Lutter goes again but Franklin denies him and lands a knee and then hits a kick that hurts Lutter. Franklin trying to finish but Lutter grabs Franklin's leg and still has it. Franklin escapes. Franklin with another knee. Lutter is looking hurt. Franklin with some jabs. Franklin with a knee to the body and some punches. Lutter grabs a leg. Lutter is just dead tired. Franklin with some jabs. And more jabs and a big knee. Franklin just dominating. Lutter is down and Franklin looking to finish and the ref calls for the bell. Franklin just dominated this round and Lutter got hurt with knees and punches and gassed out.

Winner: Rich Franklin by TKO R2

Welterweight Title Fight: Matt Serra © (16-4) vs. Georges St-Pierre (15-2)

Here it is. The Main Event. The match that's been hyped up and we've been waiting to see. St-Pierre has a big height and reach advantage. St-Pierre gets a huge reaction. Crowd is really ready for this one.

R1- St-Pierre grabs him immediately and gets to half guard. St-Pierre getting in some short jabs. Serra defending. "GSP" chants by the crowd. St-Pierre with a couple of punches. Serra hitting a couple of elbows from the bottom. Crowd with an "Ole" chant. St-Pierre with a nice combination. St-Pierre controlling this fight. More "GSP" chants. St-Pierre passes the guard and has Serra's back. St-Pierre hitting him with punches. Serra trying to get up but St-Pierre is all over him. St-Pierre with a knee and they are back on their feet. St-Pierre with a Super man punch that barely misses and then takes down Serra again. St-Pierre with punches to end the round. St-Pierre just dominated Round 1. Serra's got a nice bruise under his right eye.

R2- Serra goes for a kick and GSP grabs his leg and takes him down against the cage. Crowd with an "Ole" chant. They are on their feet now. GSP with some nice jabs. GSP with another take down. GSP with a big elbow on the ground. GSP has Serra's back and Serra flips over and GSP is on top in guard position. GSP with punches on top. GSP with a knee to the side and another. GSP with punches and knees. GSP with side control and gets Serra's back. GSP with punches and knees to the midsection. Serra turns over but GSP is peppering him with knees to the back and the ref stops the fight as Serra is not defending himself and GSP does a back flip. Relatively easy win for GSP as he just dominated and Serra ran out of gas mid-second round probably due to inactivity coming off the injury. Serra raises GSP's hand after the fight and picks him up in celebration as a show of respect. GSP just looked phenomenal in this fight.

Winner: Georges St-Pierre via TKO R2 and new Welterweight Champion.

The guys who came out looking really good tonight were Georges St-Pierre, Mac Danzig, Michael Bisping, Rich Franklin and Nate Quarry. They all looked impressive in their wins. Mark Bocek probably looked best in defeat.

Preliminary Match:

Welterweight Fight: Jonathan Goulet (21-9-1) vs Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-4)

Goulet is Canadian so he'll be the crowd favorite here. Goulet comes out in a Montreal Canadians sweater.

R1- Hironaka tries an early take down but it's denied. Goulet trying for some kicks. Hironaka going for another takedown but eats two knees. They tie up against the fence but the ref separates them. Goulet with a combo. Goulet with a series of strikes. Hironaka back with jabs. Hironaka shoots in but is denied again. Goulet with another combo and a jab. Hironaka gets in a good counter punch. Goulet controlling the action. Hironaka again misses a take down and eats another knee. Hironaka drops Goulet with a punch and is now on top and trying to finish. Hironaka all over Goulet on the ground. Goulet barely makes it to the second round. Goulet controlled this fight for the first 4 minutes but just got dominated in the last minute of the fight. Gotta give this to Hironaka due to the damage that he inflicted after he hit a nice left handed counter punch to Goulet's chin.

R2- They are mixing it up pretty evenly early in Round 2. Hironaka with a combo and Goulet almost drops. Goulet lands a big punch and jumps on top and hit a knee and is chasing Hironaka. Goulet hits him squarely with another punch and ends the fight.

Good fight. Both guys showed some good offense and Goulet persevered after almost losing in Round 1.

Winner: Jonathan Goulet via TKO R2 (2:07)