UFC Wired 5/10 Re-Cap

UFC Wired 5/10 Re-Cap


Light Heavyweight Fight- Rashad Evans (14-0) vs. Sean Salmon (9-1)- UFC Fight Night 8- 1/25/07

R1- Salmon goes for a Karate Kid type move early that looks hilarious. Not much contact in the first minute. Neither guy really looks like they want to fight early. Evans is content to counter punch. They tie up 2 minutes in and Salmon takes Evans down and gets half guard. Salmon got side control but Evans quickly got to his feet. Salmon gets a couple of punches in on the cage. Salmon grabs a leg and takes down Evans again. Salmon is landing some blows on Evans. Round 1 easily goes to Salmon as Rashad didn’t really do anything and got taken down twice and sustained more damage.

R2- Salmon comes in and slips and Evans hits a knee and then attacks and gets his first advantage of the fight. After this Evans looks like the aggressor as he’s started to take control of the ring and then he just DESTROYS Salmon with a kick to the head. Awesome finish to the fight after a very poor first round by Evans. Evans started really slow, seemed very nervous but after he got that one knee his demeanor kind of changed and then he just nailed the finish.

Winner: Rashad Evans via KO (kick) R2

Light Heavyweight Fight- Thiago Silva (11-0) vs. Houston Alexander (8-1)- UFC 78- 11/17/07

R1- Alexander gets a really strong ovation at introductions. Alexander is stalking Silva early and Silva is trying to jab and kick to keep Alexander away. Silva is tying up when Alexander gets close. Alexander slams Silva but Silva reverses it and takes Alexander down. Silva’s got full mount. Silva getting in some decent shots, Alexander showing some good defense as he’s not opening himself up for damage. And just as I say that Silva lands 5 or 6 punches. And Sliva hits 5 or 6 more and the ref stops it. Real impressive fight for Silva as he got Alexander down on the mat and finished him.

Winner: Thiago Silva via TKO (strikes) R1

Light Heavyweight Fight- Chuck Liddell (20-4) vs. Keith Jardine (12-4-1)- UFC 76- 9/22/07

R1- This is the battle of the cool nicknames. “The Dean of Mean” versus “The Iceman”. Liddell gets a superstar intro, which is expected, so it will be interesting to see how Jardine can hang with him. This looks like it’s going to be fun as we are only 20 seconds in and both guys are swinging. Both guys also have awkward styles compared to most MMA guys. Liddell definitely the aggressor and landing more shots early. Liddell looks real good early. Jardine hits a couple of kicks trying to slow down Liddell a little. Liddell is controlling the octagon. Jardine starting to even out the fight a little and is gaining more confidence. Both guys really throwing and hitting good shots on each other. Jardine is really effectively using kicks to slow down Liddell a little bit. Just as I say that Liddell gets a good combo in on Jardine. Liddell really pushing the pace towards the end of the round and hitting some shots and stalking Jardine. Really entertaining first round. Liddell takes this one although Jardine looked good once he got settled. Liddell finished strong just making this round easier for the judges to score.

R2- Jardine looks a lot more comfortable starting this round out as he takes the middle of the octagon. Jardine nails a shot and Liddell went down but he got to his feet pretty quickly. Jardine with a big body kick. Jardine really taking over here in the second round as the body language of both guys are really showing it. Jardine is bleeding down the side of his head. Chuck seems to be trying to take back the octagon. Chuck counter punches and Jardine goes down to his knees. Chuck hits with a knee that wobbles Jardine but Jardine is back up. Liddell’s cardio looks a lot better at this point and it’s helping him get back into this round. I think Jardine took this round due to the first 3 minutes but Liddell did a good job seizing control back and getting back into the round. Liddell definitely has the momentum going into Round 3 as Jardine looks spent.

R3- Jardine starts out this round like round 2 as he takes the center of the octagon. Liddell stalks down Jardine but he’s getting nailed with leg kicks. Jardine with a good combo leg kick and right hook. Jardine with a couple more kicks. Chuck starting to stalk Jardine. This fight is real even right now so I think the guy that takes this last 2 minutes will take this fight. Jardine is continuing to hit leg kicks and seems to be in control. Both guys with a flurry to finish the fight as Lidell lands some good punches.

Really good and entertaining fight. Almost too close to call. I’m going to give this to Jardine as I felt he won rounds 2 and 3. Round 3 was a lot closer but he controlled the round and landed more body kicks and strikes.

Jardine 29-28, Liddell 29-28, and Jardine 29-28. Very just decision.

Winner: Keith Jardine via decision (split)