UFC 84 "Ill Will" Re-Cap/Thoughts

UFC 84: "Ill Will"

Lightheavyweight Fight- Thiago Silva (12-0) vs. Antonio Mendes (14-2)

Mendes is on an 11 fight win streak. Silva is undefeated. Mendes has a height and reach advantage.

David Spade is in the house and looks like he has a bottle of something that he snuck in.

R1- Mendes hits a big kick early that floors Silva but he survives. Mendes with another kick and Silva is down again. Mendes in control early. Mendes slips and allows Silva to get the advantage. Silva is controlling the fight on the ground and gets the win via ref stoppage. This just goes to show you what can happen if you just make one mistake as Mendes was in total control until he slipped doing a judo throw and then Silva just ate him up on the ground.

Winner: Thiago Silva via TKO (strikes) R1

Urijah Faber is in the house and they briefly talk about his fight live on Versus next week in what Mike Goldberg calls "the biggest WEC fight ever."

Lightheavyweight Fight: Tito Ortiz (16-5-1) vs. Lyoto Machida (12-0)

There has been a great pure pro wrestling build to this match that featured a war of the words between Tito and Dana White with Lyoto Machida being the man caught in the middle. Ortiz gets a good pop and Machida gets boo'd.

R1- Big but brief "Tito" chant as they feel each other out in the beginning. Ortiz went for a take down but was denied. Not much action. Ortiz unable to take down Machida. Machida with a couple of leg licks but not many strikes at all in this one so far. Machida hit a nice combo kick but Ortiz blocked it. Machida hitting another kick and then took Tito down and got side control and was really beating up on him until the bell rung. Round goes to Machida due to late take down and dominance once he took Ortiz down. Ortiz didn't do any damage in the round although he did control the ring for the first 3 or so minutes but all of his take downs failed.

Chuck Lidell is in the house and gets a pop.

R2- Ortiz missed a take down and got a kick for his trouble. Machida hitting a couple of punches now. Machida with a nice high kick. Tito just seems a step too slow to catch up with Machida. Tito shoots in for a take down but is denied again and Machida is in Tito's guard. They stand back up. Machida hits a knee. Tito stands back and tells Machida to come on. Machida hits two punches to Tito. Tito tried to come back and may have gotten in a kick. This round also goes to Machida as he got in more strikes and ultimately Tito got very little offense in. Tito is cut open. Machida 20 Ortiz 18.

R3- The ref falls down about 45 seconds into the round and gets pop. They clinch and Tito got a couple of shots in but nothing substantial. Ortiz just too slow to take down Machida so far. Ortiz went for a knee but came up short. Ortiz with a clinch and is getting in a couple of shots but can't take Machida down. With a buck 30 left Machida nails Tito with a knee to the body. Tito buckles and Machida reigns down punches. Tito defends and somehow grabs an arm triangle with about half a minute left. It looks like Machida is going to have to tap but he twists out of it and survives the rest of the fight.

Overall, Machida definitely won this fight. 30-27 on my scorecard and on the judges. Tito just wasn't quick enough to catch up to Machida during the fight and couldn't get any take downs. Good showing for Machida as he beat a big name.

Winner: Lyoto Machida by Decision (Unanimous)

Shaquille O'Neal was spotted during the last fight. Jamie Presley was shown during Tito Ortiz's interview (he went out a lot classier than I thought he would. He definitely took the high road).

Silva and Machida are both Light Heavyweights and are both undefeated. Could be a good match-up.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Goran Reljic (7-0) vs. Wilson Gouveia (10-4)

This is Reljic's first fight in the UFC. Gouveia has won 4 straight in the UFC and 10 straight overall since a loss to Keith Jardine. Reljic has a big reach advantage in this fight.

The Rock is at ringside!

R1- Reljic is throwing some nice high kicks. Gouveia is blocking most of them but they've got to hurt. Other than Reljic's kicks the first round was pretty even through the first 3 minutes of the round. Gouveia is getting in some nice punches and Reljic pounces on him and takes him down into his guard to avoid more punishment. Gouveia is in Reljic's guard. Even first round. Reljic got in a bunch of nice kicks and Gouveia came on strong at the end of the round to even things out.

R2- Reljic hits a nice high kick about a minute into the round. Gouveia hits Reljic as he is going for a kick and gets an advantage and takes him down and is pounding on him up against the fence. Reljic gets back to his feet but took a lot of damage. Reljic caught him and is throwing a ton of punches and trying to finish the fight and the ref stops it. Great comeback for Reljic.

Reljic threw some great kicks in this fight. Took a couple of big flurries and withstood and nailed Gouveia with a left to the temple and then took him out. Great debut for Reljic.

Winner: Goran Reljic by TKO (strikes) R2

Heavyweight Fight: Christian Wellisch (9-2) vs. Shane Carwin (8-0)

This was from the pre-show. This is Carwin's UFC debut.

R1- Carwin hits him with a good square punch a little over a minute in and it crumples Wellisch. Hit him right on the chin and his mouthpiece went flying. Nice knockout as the ref steps in and stops the fight.

Winner: Shane Carwin by TKO (punches) R1

Light Heavyweight Fight: Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1) vs. Keith Jardine (13-4-1)

This would be a huge win for Jardine. This should be a great fight. Jardine gets a mixed reaction and seemed to get mostly boos. Wanderlei gets a good reaction. Both these guys look ready to go.

R1- They trade good to start and Silva is all over Jardine and just destroying him and this is over. Wanderlei Silva just overwhelmed Jardine and looked amazing. Shaq and The Rock are brought to their feet. Jardine is still down. David Spade is shown saying "Holy sh*t". Jardine is a tough guy, he just got caught and then got destroyed. Silva was just an animal.

Winner: Wanderlei Silva by KO R1

Middleweight Fight- Ivan Salaverry (12-5-1) vs. Rousimar Palhares (16-1)

This is a fight from the pre-show.

R1- Salaverry hits a kick to start off but immediately gets taken down by Palhares. Palhares quickly gets a full mount. Salaverry gives up his back. Palhares gets an armbar shortly thereafter and he looks real good. Palhares just showed some great BJJ and took this one easily.

Winner: Rousimar Palhares by Submission (Armbar) R1

Joe Rogan interviews Urijah Faber at ringside and also interviews his opponent Jens Pulver. Then they show a hype video for Faber vs. Pulver.

Lightweight Title Fight: BJ Penn (c) (13-4-1) vs. Sean Sherk (36-2-1)

This is the second fight tonight that had a pro wrestling build to it with both guys jawing back and forth mostly focused on Sherk's earlier suspension due to drugs that cost him the Lightweight belt. The fan poll puts BJ Penn at the winner by 55% to 45%.

Jason Statham's in the crowd.

R1- Sherk goes for a quick take down but is denied. Real quick pace to start compared to a lot of the fights tonight. Big "BJ" chant by the crowd. Both guys are throwing pretty good. BJ jabbing a lot. Sherk is throwing some hard punches but BJ is hitting some nice jabs. BJ really starting to control this first round the longer that it goes. Good first round. Sherk is cut under his eye. I think Penn gets the first round as he was hitting his jabs pretty regularly.

R2- They trade pretty good. Sherk seems more active at the beginning of this fight. Good exchanges in the first minute as both guys landing some punches. BJ seems more controlled and Sherk more wild in terms of punches. BJ still landing some good jabs. Sherk has 2 or 3 cuts that he is bleeding out of. Another good round. I think this one was a little closer than the first but i've still got to give it to BJ due to his jabs and the damage that he's done to Sherk.

R3- A little of the same in this round as Sherk comes out strong and then BJ starts to re-gain the advantage throughout the round. They are throwing really good with BJ looking like the more controlled striker and Sherk throwing wild, hard punches. The announcers pick up on a possible right hand injury for Sherk as he's really just using his left and kicking. BJ opens up with an amazing flurry at the end of Round 3. Sherk came off the cage and BJ nailed him with a running knee and then punches and the horn sounded to end the round. And the ref calls the fight. Great finish by BJ Penn.

Winner: BJ Penn by TKO (Strikes) R3

Welterweight Fight- Jon Koppenhaver (6-1) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2)

Another pre-show match.

Yoshida drilled him early with a nice take down and then clamped on a guillotine. And this one was over before it started.

Winner: Yoshiyuki Yoshida by Submission (Anaconda Choke) R1

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rameau Sokoudjou (4-2) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-7)

Decent first round and then right at the end of the round Soko nails Nakamura and pounces on him and can't finish him but the match is called during the break as Nakamura can't continue.

Winner: Rameau Sokoudjou by TKO R1


This was a real good show. A very good Main Event in the Penn/Sherk match. I thought Machida/Ortiz was a good fight, Wanderlei put on an amazing performance, and I really enjoyed Silva/Mendes as well. There were some quick fights but I think Mendes and Silva looked really good in their fights. Reljic also looked really good. It will be interesting to see how some of the young guys like Reljic, Thiago Silva and Loyoto Machida can build on these victories. It will also be interesting to see what happens with Ortiz as he left the door open for a possible return to UFC. They teased GSP/Penn after the Penn/Sherk fight.