UFC Wired 6/28 Re-Cap

UFC Wired 6/28 Re-Cap

This looks like it could be one of the best episodes of Wired I’ve ever seen as they are hyping Jackson/Griffin so we are getting Jackson/Liddell and Shogun/Griffin tonight. Sweet, I’ve never seen either of these fights and am looking forward to it.

Welterweight Fight- Kyle Bradley (13-4-1) vs. Chris Lytle (34-15-4)- UFC 81- 2/2/08

This was also recently on the UFC Unleashed 6/11 show.

R1- Lytle opens up on him early and is just pounding Bradley and this one is over very quickly. Lytle just overwhelms Bradley. The ref stops the fight and then Bradley pulls guard on the ref. Great stand up by Lytle.

Winner: Chris Lytle by TKO (punches) R1 0:33


Middleweight- Chris Leben (17-4) vs. Alessio Sakara (16-6-1)- UFC 82- 3/1/08

This is from the UFC 82 show.

R1- Both guys swinging pretty freely early. Leben seems to be moving forward and in slight control. They are still throwing pretty good at one another with no one with a clear advantage. Leben continues to move forward on Sakara as they exchange. Sakara gets in a couple of good shots but then eats a knee. Leben with a nice inside leg kick and then body kick. They tie up on the cage but then release. Leben gets in some punches and Sakara is rocked on the cage and Leben is on top of him landing punches and the ref stops the fight. Leben has Sakara's blood on him and is the victor. Leben got in some good punches and then rocked Sakara with 2 punches and then got on top and started punching and the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Chris Leben via TKO Round 1 (3:16)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Forrest Griffin (14-4) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-2)- UFC 76- 9/22/07

This is Shogun’s UFC debut. Griffin has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Griffin gets a really good reaction during introductions.

R1- Forrest shows some good take down defense early and then almost gets caught in an arm bar but escapes. Fans are chanting “Forrest.” Shogun takes Forrest down about a minute into the fight. Forrest does a good job defending in the full guard. Forrest gets stood up and they exchange. Forrest gets a take down. In some of the stand up it almost looks like Shogun has underestimated Forrest and maybe didn’t prepare as well as he should have. Both guys hit some shots and Forrest really connects with Shogun. Shogun gets a take down with about 30 seconds left in the round. Forrest takes Shogun’s back and then gets in his guard. Really good first round. I think Forrest did more damage so he probably took this one 10-9. Really close round though and could have been scored either way I just didn’t see Shogun getting in as much offense.

R2- Forrest gets in a couple of jabs early and Shogun takes him down. Shogun gets in a couple of shots and bloodies Forrest. Forrest gets up and then takes Shogun down. Shogun gets a take down stuffed. Forrest is bleeding on Shogun’s back. Shogun looks like he is out of breath. Shogun gets another take down stuffed. Both guys look really tired right now. Shogun gets stuffed again and Forrest jumps on top. Forrest with some elbows and shots on Shogun. Forrest stole this round as he just dominated the last minute. I’ve got Forrest 20-18 in two really close rounds. Shogun is seriously gassed with Forrest not far behind.

R3- Shogun gets an early take down but gets caught in a triangle but quickly gets out of it and moves to full guard on Forrest. Shogun is getting in some elbows. Shogun tries to posture up and gets caught in an arm submission and then Forrest takes his back. Forrest moves to half guard and is getting in some shots. Forrest gets some uncontested shots in and then Shogun gives up his back. Forrest with knees and punches to the side and Forrest moves back to half guard. Shogun gives up his back with about 30 seconds left. Forrest gets the Rear Naked Choke left and it’s over with 16 seconds left in the fight. Great showing by Forrest. I think this was a combination of Shogun not coming ready to fight and overlooking Forrest and Forrest working really hard during the fight and never quitting.

Winner: Forrest Griffin by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 4:45

Light Heavyweight Title Fight: Chuck Liddell © (20-3) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (26-6)- UFC 71- 5/26/07

I didn’t realize that Rampage is not even 30 yet. That’s interesting. He’s still got a lot of time left it he fights wisely. Rampage gets a mostly heel reaction from the crowd at introductions. Chuck gets a big face pop at introductions.

R1- Rampage kind of stalks Chuck at the beginning with Chuck walking around him. Not much action in the first minute or so. Liddell ducks in and gets a shot in but gets two from Rampage. Chuck went for a left hand jab and he got popped by a Rampage right hand. It looked like Rampage missed at first and Chuck just fell down but on second look he got caught. Rampage jumps on Chuck and the ref stops the fight. Looked like an early stoppage to me at first but when you watch the replay Jackson gets about 3 shots in and on the second one Chuck stops defending. Big time knock out by Rampage.

Winner: Rampage Jackson by KO R1 1:53