UFC 105: "Couture vs. Vera" Re-Cap

UFC 105 Couture vs. Vera
11/14/09
Men Arena
Manchester, UK
Spike TV

The UFC returns to England and Spike TV tonight with a good card. Randy Couture Main Events in a Light Heavyweight Fight tonight against Brandon Vera. Brits Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy are in action against Denis Kang and Mike Swick. The last TUF winner Ross Pearson is also in action as is TUF Brit alum James Wilks.

Lightweight Fight- Ross Pearson (11-3) vs. Aaron Riley (28-11-1)

Riley is fighting out of Greg Jackson’s camp. Pearson is the latest TUF winner and is a Brit so he gets a huge reaction from the fans.

R1- Pearson is landing better strikes in the opening part of the round. Pearson looks really good in this first round and is getting the better of Riley in this first round. Pearson 10-9.

R2- Pearson continues his advantage this round and opens up a big cut on Riley’s head towards the end of the round and the doctor stops the fight due to the cut.

Really good performance by Ross Pearson.

Winner: Ross Pearson by TKO (Ref Stoppage) R2 4:38

Welterweight Fight- James Wilks (7-2) vs. Matt Brown (12-7)

Wilks was the other TUF winner from the same show Pearson was on. Brown is a TUF alum that has looked really good in his last few fights. Matt Brown has been training with Matt Hume.

R1- Pretty even first round. Brown landed some punches in the middle of the round and Wilks towards the end. Brown clamped in a guillotine towards the end of the round but couldn’t hold it and Wilks got a take down. Really close round.

R2- Brown landed a flying knee after Wilks slipped and then Brown went down to the ground and landed some strikes. Wilks was able to grab a leg lock to slip out of the bad position. Brown lands some good punches at the one minute mark. Brown clamped in a triangle but the buzzer sounded. Probably 19-19 right now but the momentum is fully with Brown right now.

R3- Wilks went for a couple of submission early but Brown was able to come back and Ground and Pound Wilks for the TKO win.

Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:27

Lightweight Fight- Andre Winner (10-3-1) vs. Rolando Delgado (8-4-1)

Delgado has a 4” reach and 4” height advantage.

R1- Winner hit a big time right hand in the first minute and then jumped on top but Roli was able to defend and get out of trouble. Winner hit a huge right hand late in the round and that was all she wrote. Winner looked really good in this fight.

Winner: Andre Winner by KO R1 3:22

Tito Ortiz is on via satellite and Joe Rogan interviews him about next weeks fight against Forrest Griffin.

Middleweight- Michael Bisping (18-2) vs. Denis Kang (32-11-1)

R1- Kang caught Bisping early and followed him to the ground but Bisping was able to lock him up and avoid more damage. Kang stayed on top of Bisping and was able to land some decent shots but Bisping did a good job in avoiding damage. Kang 10 Bisping 9.

R2- Bisping got a take down two minutes into the round. Bisping was able to land some good Ground and Pound. Kang got to his feet but not before taking some good shots. Bisping got another take down and landed more shots. Bisping opened up a cut near Kang’s eye. Bisping got another take down with one minute left in the round. Bisping landed knees to the side and finished Kang via TKO with punches. Good performance by Bisping.

Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (punches) R2 4:24

Light Heavyweight Fight- Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jared Hamman

This fight was on the pre-show.

R1- These guys throw leather right from the out-set. Big straight right hand from Gustafsson right after a re-start and then he jumped on top and quickly finished the fight. This one was a short but action packed fight.

Winner: Alexander Gustafsson by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:41

Welterweight Fight- Mike Swick (14-2) vs. Dan Hardy (22-6-1)

Swick has a 3” reach advantage. The winner should get a shot at GSP’s Welterweight Championship. This is the Co-Main Event of the evening. GSP is sitting next to Dana White watching the fight.

R1- Lots of clinching in this first round. Neither guy established themselves in this round. Pretty much a deadlocked round.

R2- Hardy landed a punch early that hurt Swick but he stayed on his feet. After that punch they went back to the clinch. Swick landed some shots in the final minute of the round but nothing as good as Hardy’s initial punch of the round. Hardy took this round.

R3- They exchange some leather early in the round with both guys landing shots. Hardy hurt Swick again with a punch but didn’t knock him down. Hardy went for a take down and Swick tried to counter with a guillotine but Hardy was able to get him to the mat. Hardy cut Swick with some elbows but the ref stood the fight back up. Hardy’s going to take this round so I’ve got Hardy winning two rounds and thus the fight.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28

Winner: Dan Hardy by Decision (Unanimous)

Post Fight they bring GSP in the cage and hype up GSP/Dan Hardy.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Randy Couture (16-10) vs. Brandon Vera (11-3)

Vera has a 3” reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Vera came out swinging with a kick and then some punches. Randy clinched him against the cage but the ref broke it up after a minute. Randy quickly went back to the clinch against the cage and then got a take down but Vera got back to his feet with little damage. Randy didn’t inflict much damage but he controlled 4 and a half minutes of the first round. Couture 10 Vera 9.

R2- Lots of clinching by Couture. Vera lands some strikes and hurts Couture with a kick and follows him to the ground but Couture locks him up in his guard. Couture clinched Vera up against the cage to the end the round. Vera takes this round and we are at 19-19 going into the final stanza. Randy has a cut near his eye.

R3- Randy landed some good shots to start the round. Randy controlled the first part of the round by clinching Vera against the cage. Vera hit some good kicks after they were separated. Vera got Randy to the ground with under a minute left and landed in full mount but Couture was able to roll out with 15 seconds left and they got back to their feet and exchanged knees and punches. Really close round and really close fight.

Judges score cards: 29-28 on all score cards.

Winner: Randy Couture by Decision (Unanimous)