UFC Fight Night 18 4/1/09 Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night 18
April 1, 2009
Nashville, Tn


Lightweight Fight- Cole Miller (14-3) vs. Junie Browning (3-1)

Both of these guys are TUF alums. Junie won his last fight against Dave Kaplan at the TUF 8 Finale by submission. Cole has won 3 of 4 fights in the UFC and beat Jorge Gurgel in his last fight on the Rampage/Forrest undercard. Cole has a 4” height advantage. Junie is our first Condom Depot fighter of the night! Junie has been training at Xtreme Couture.

R1- Junie took Cole’s back but couldn’t do anything as Cole escaped and landed a good right hand. Cole pulled guard and went for a guillotine and Junie quickly tapped and Cole talked some smack right onto Junie. Nice showing by Cole.

“Who’s overrated now”- Cole Miller

Post-fight interview Cole says he wants to fight the winner of Caol Uno/Spencer Fisher and dedicated the fight to the late Charles “Mask” Lewis.

Winner: Cole Miller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:58

Jay Cutler is in the crowd for this fight.

Dan Henderson is also at this show as his TUF season is debuting after this event.

Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (12-2) vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (11-3)

Griffin lost a decision in his last fight to Top 10 Lightweight Sean Sherk. Dos Anjos has a 3” height and reach advantage in this fight. Griffin trains with Xtreme Couture.

R1- The stood up for the first part of the round with both guys throwing a lot of shots. Tyson stunned Dos Anjos with a shot and then took him down. Dos Anjos traps him in a leg lock and Griffin is in an awkward position with about 90 seconds left in the round and Dos Anjos gives up the hold and they stand back up. Dos Anjos hit a good knee. Good first round that was pretty even. Dos Anjos came closer to finishing the fight with the leg lock that he put on Griffin so I’ve got him up 10-9 in this round as he also closed stronger.

R2- Dos Anjos hit Griffin with a left that knocked Griffin down but he popped back up. Tyson’s leg is definitely affecting him in this fight. Despite his leg, Griffin is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Griffin went for a single leg but Dos Anjos countered with a kimura attempt and Griffin let go of the single. Griffin hit a good right hand that stunned Dos Anjos. Fairly close round that goes to Griffin. Fight is even 19-19 after two rounds on my score card.

R3- Both guys are throwing the leather pretty good at the beginning of the round. Griffin landed a good right hand at the two minute mark of the round. This fight could be decided in the last minute. Both guys are swinging for the fences. Dos Anjos got a kimura but couldn’t hold it and Tyson ended up the fight on top with some Ground and Pound. Very close fight, I’ve got Griffin taking this round as he was the aggressor and landed more shots and better shots. Griffin 29-28 on my score card but I could see a possible split decision. Good fight.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards for Griffin.

Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)

Brandon Vera is in the crowd for the fights tonight.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Bader (9-0) vs. Carmelo Marrero (10-2)

Bader is the winner of TUF 8 having defeated Vinny Magalhaes by knockout in the first round back in December. Marrero holds a victory over Cheick Kongo and is on a win streak.

R1- Bader got a quick take down. Bader moved nicely into an arm bar but Marrero adjusted and got out of the move and ended up in Marrero’s guard. Marrero got up but Bader took him down again. Bader is really controlling this fight and is up 10-9 after the first round.

R2- Bader got a take down after about a minute. Bader is smothering Marrero but not doing a lot of damage. The crowd is growing restless. Bader is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Bader got a take down one minute into the round. Bader gets him in an arm triangle but Marrero popped out. Bader was really impressive. He transitioned nicely to two submission moves. He just needs to keep working and he’s going to be dangerous. This is a 30-27 win for Ryan Bader.

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

Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)

Next up is a Joe Rogan interview with Chuck Liddell. He talks about his upcoming fight with Shogun Rua.

Welterweight Fight- Carlos Condit (23-4) vs. Martin Kampmann (14-2)

Condit was 5-0 in WEC fights and was the Welterweight Champion when the division was disbanded. Condit is on an 8 fight win streak. I’ve got Condit as a Top 5 Welterweight in the World Rankings. Condit is only 24 years old and fights out of Arizona Combat Sports (same camp as Jamie Varner, Ryan Bader and CB Dollaway). Kampmann got destroyed by Nate Marquardt at UFC 88 in a Middleweight fight and has since dropped down to the Welterweight division. Kampmann was undefeated in the UFC before that fight. Kampmann does hold a victory over Thales Leites, who is fighting Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Title later this month. Kampmann is training with Xtreme Couture. Condit comes out to Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.” Condit has a 2” height and 4” reach advantage.

R1- Kampmann gets a take down in the first minute of the fight and gets a guillotine and Condit transitions out of the move. Condit got a sweep take down about two minutes into the fight but Kampmann does a good job reversing. Kampmann grabbed a leg lock but Condit switched out and took Kampmann’s guard. Kampmann looks like he’s got a cut and Condit lands a good knee as Kampmann stands up and then a good combo. Condit landed another knee near the end of the round but Kampmann finished the round with a take down and went for a guillotine but the bell rang. Good round that could have gone either way. Condit drew blood but Kampmann had 3 submission attempts. I’ve got Kampmann 10-9 in a close first round.

R2- Kampmann got a take down early in the first round. Condit is hitting some good stand up and gets a take down. Kampmann pulled guard on Condit with another guillotine attempt but Condit slipped out again and then took Kampmann’s back. Condit went for a Rear Naked but lost it and Kampmann took Condit’s guard. I’ve got Condit taking this round in another close round. I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.

R3- Kampmann starts the round with a take down. Condit has a very active guard. Kampmann is staying on top this round. He’s not necessarily doing more damage but he’s controlling where the fight goes. Condit went for a heel hook but couldn’t get it. They stood up briefly but Kampmann tripped Condit up and went back on top. Condit grabbed a guillotine with 10 seconds left and Kampmann held on. Very close fight, very close round. Condit actually came closer to finishing the fight this round than Kampmann did but Kampmann controlled where the fight went. This could be very close to a split decision. I think Kampmann is going to take it. Really good fight.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Kampmann, 29-28 Condit and 29-28 Kampmann

Tough loss for Condit as this was a really close fight. He looked like he was fighting a 5 round fight instead of a 3 round fight. Once he adjusts to the level of competition in the UFC versus WEC I think he will be fine. Good win for Kampmann even if it wasn’t a decisive win.

Winner: Martin Kampmann by Decision (Split)