UFC 101 "Declaration" 8/8/09 Re-Cap

UFC 101: Declaration
8/8/09
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The main interest in this show in the top 2 fights. We have Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn taking on challenger Kenny Florian and we have Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva taking on former Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. We should also see Ricardo Almeida/Kendall Grove and Kurt Pellegrino/Josh Neer as well as TUF Champion Amir Sadollah in his first post TUF fight against Johny Hendricks.

Lightweight Fight- Josh Neer (25-7-1) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (19-4)

Neer is coming off a big win at UFC Fight Night 17 over Mac Danzig.

R1- Pellegrino started the fight off with a good slam. Neer briefly locked in an arm bar but Pellegrino slammed his way out of it. Pellegrino is staying on top of Neer but both guys are active. Pellegrino takes round one 10-9.

R2- Both guys landed some stand up in the first minute of the fight. Pellegrino fought hard and got a take down. Neer keeps going for submissions from the bottom but eventually Pellegrino passed his guard and mounted him. Pellegrino then took Neer’s back with less than a minute left in the round. Pellegrino is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Pellegrino caught a Neer kick and got a quick take down early in this round. Neer opened up Pellegrino with a strike from the bottom. Neer looks like he’s got a bloody nose or mouth. Neer landed some nice elbows at the end of the round. Pellegrino is going to win this fight based on the first two rounds.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards. This was Pellegrino’s first UFC Main Card victory.

Winner: Kurt Pellegrino by Decision (Unanimous)

Tito Ortiz and Georges St-Pierre are in the crowd. GSP gets a good reaction, Tito got a mixed reaction.

Middleweight Fight- Ricardo Almeida (10-3) vs. Kendall Grove (12-5)

Almeida comes out to some Social Distortion. Almeida is coming off a win over Matt Horwich at UFC Fight Night 18. Kendall Grove is coming off of a UFC 96 TKO of Jason Day. Grove has a 6” height and 5” reach advantage.

R1- Almeida worked for a long time and finally got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Kendall was able to get back to his feet but then got slammed back down with 15 seconds left in the round. Almeida took this round 10-9.

R2- Almeida almost immediately got a take down to start this round. Kendall locked in an arm bar and came close but could not finish Almeida. Almeida gets some good Ground and Pound but Kendall was able to get back to his feet. Almeida finished the round with another take down. Almeida is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Almeida hit a good right hand, drove Kendall into the cage and then got a brief take down. Almeida tried to pull guard into an arm bar but Kendall landed on top and got some brief Ground and Pound before he gave up the position. Almeida is tired but he was still able to get a take down about half way through the round. Kendall was able to get back to his feet with 30 seconds left in the round but Almeida clinched him up and this one is going to go to Almeida by decision.

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

Winner: Ricardo Almeida by Decision (Unanimous)

Chuck Liddell is in the house.

Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-0) vs. Johny Hendricks (5-0)

Hendricks is a 4-time All-American wrestler and a 2-time National Champion out of Oklahoma State. Hendricks comes out to “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. Amir has a 6” reach advantage. One weird stat is that Amir comes into the fight at 3.5 lbs under the weight limit which is something that you don’t see very often. Hopefully he didn’t over cut as this is his first fight at Welterweight (he fought at Middleweight during TUF).

R1- Amir is throwing lots of kicks and strikes early but Hendricks catches him with some strikes and Amir goes down and Mirgliatta stops the fight early. Bad stoppage. The ref actually stopped the fight as Amir was trying to get back to his feet. This isn’t the first time that Mirgliatta has done this. UFC needs to look at keeping him away from the Main Card.

Winner: Johny Hendricks by TKO (Mirgilatta) R1 0:29

Lightweight Fight- Aaron Riley (27-11-1) vs. Shane Nelson (13-3)

Greg Jackson is in Aaron Riley’s corner. Yoda! This is a re-match from a previous fight where the ref made a horrible early stoppage and Shane Nelson was awarded a cheap win due to referee error. This is the re-match so Shane is looking to prove that he deserved to win the last fight and Riley is looking to prove that it was indeed an early stoppage and he would have won the fight if it had not been stopped.

R1- Riley is trying to take it to Nelson early and has landed some good strikes. Close first round. I’ve got it going to Riley.

R2- Riley hit a good head kick about half way through the round that didn’t knock Nelson down but did daze him and allowed Riley to get a take down. Riley takes this round as well and is up 20-18 going into the third round.

R3- There was a fight in the crowd during this fight but they didn’t show it. While that fight was going on Riley was on top of Shane and controlling the action. Riley gets his revenge in this fight as he took each round of this fight.

“If he doesn’t win this decision I’m going to burn my headset and run naked through the crowd”- Joe Rogan

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

Winner: Aaron Riley by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight: Anderson Silva (24-4) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-5)

Silva is coming off of two lack luster fights in which his opponents really didn’t look to engage in combat with him. Silva is looking to make up for it in this fight. Forrest has not fought since he lost his Light Heavyweight Championship to Rashad Evans back in December. I read somewhere that Roy Jones Jr was going to be at this fight to scout Anderson Silva as I’ve heard they have some sort of agreement to fight after Anderson’s UFC contract is over. Forrest gets a huge reaction when he comes out for the fight. Silva is 9-0 in the UFC. Forrest got another huge reaction when he was announced. Silver got a little bit of boos when he was announced.

R1- Anderson grabbed a Forrest leg kick early and just tossed Forrest back wards. Anderson rushed in at about the two minute mark and landed a big right hand that knocked Forrest to the mat. Forrest gets back up and throws some strikes. Anderson looks pumped as he’s telling Forrest to bring it. Anderson puts his hands down and ducks Forrest’s shots and just levels him with a straight level that knocks Forrest to the mat. That was an unreal sequence that looked like it was out of a movie. Anderson gets some Ground and Pound but then let’s Forrest up. Anderson again puts his hands down and ducks Forrest’s shots and this time hits Forrest with a straight right hand. This was just a dominate performance by Anderson. WOW. Anderson Silva just ate Forrest Griffin.

Winner: Anderson Silva by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:23

UFC Lightweight Championship: B.J. Penn © (13-5-1) vs. Kenny Florian (13-3)

According to the UFC stats Penn has never been knocked down and lands 61% of his total strikes (3rd best in UFC History). Florian has also never been knocked down and lands 52% of his strikes (versus the UFC average of 35%). Penn is coming off of a well documented loss to GSP at Welterweight. Florian is coming off of an impressive victory over Joe Stevenson on UFC 91. KenFlo has a 4” reach advantage in the fight.

R1- Florian got tripped up early but he was able to get back to his feet and clinch with BJ. They clinched in the center and both hit some body shots. BJ landed a big strike near the end of the round that wobbled Florian and then BJ followed up with a couple of knees. BJ takes round one 10-9 in what was a fairly even round until the last 15 seconds.

R2- Not a lot of action in this round. BJ landed a couple of strikes around the one minute mark. Really close round with neither guy really doing much damage. I’ve got BJ up 20-18 with the second round being closer than the first.

R3- Kenny pressed BJ up against the cage for the first half of the round. Kenny controlled this round without doing a lot of damage. BJ was able to get in a couple of shots on the fence near the end of the round. Another close round. I’ve got Florian taking this one so that makes the fight Penn 29 Florian 28.

R4- BJ landed a couple of strikes to open the round. BJ got a take down about a minute into the round. BJ has trouble passing Kenny’s guard but still lands a couple of nice shots. BJ was able to mount and Kenny gave up his back. BJ nailed Kenny with some kicks to the side which opened up the Rear Naked and BJ grabbed the Rear Naked Choke for the win. Really great move by BJ Penn for the victory and successful title defense.

Winner and still champion: BJ Penn by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R4 3:54

Lightweight Fight- George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop

This was a pre-show fight featuring TUF 6 vs. TUF 8.

R1- Roop went for a kick and got taken down by Sotiropoulos. Sotiropoulos quickly mounted Roop but Roop got back to his feet. Sotiropoulos hit a good combination that stunned Roop. Sotiropoulos was able to get Roop down on the mat again and once again quickly passed his guard. Sotiropoulos is controlling this fight early much like I thought he would.

R2- Sotiropoulos got Roop down on the mat early in this round. Sotiropoulos got the kimura and tapped out Roop. Good showing for Sotiropoulos.

Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Kimura) R2 1:59

UFC 91 "Couture vs Lesnar" Re-Cap

UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar

Kenny Florian vs Joe Stevenson and Brock Lesnar versus Randy Couture headline this show. These are two fights that I am really looking forward to watching.

Middleweight Fight- Nate Quarry (16-2) vs. Demian Maia (9-0)

Maia is a jiu-jitsu fighter. Maia's last fight was a victory over Jason MacDonald by submission in the third round back at UFC 87. Nate Quarry was last seen humbling and chasing Khalib Starnes at UFC 83. This should be a good fight. If Maia wins this then he could really step up towards the top of the UFC Middleweights. Quarry gets a good pop from the crowd.

R1- Maia immediately went to the mat and tried to pull guard and then got on top of Quarry. Maia takes Quarry's back about one minutes into the fight. He has him in a triangle and is looking for a choke. Maia clamped it on and Quarry tapped. Dominate performance by Maia.

Winner: Demian Maia by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 2:13

Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (9-3) vs. Josh Hendricks (18-4)

This is the debut of Hendricks. He's been training with Randy Couture for a couple of weeks helping Couture prepare for Lesnar. Gonzaga has a 20 lb weight advantage and a 2 inch reach advantage.

R1- They start off with some dirty boxing. Gonzaga hits with some knees and then just pops Hendricks with a big punch and Hendricks hits the mat like a ton of bricks. Gonzaga hits him with another punch and the ref doesn't step in so Gonzaga hits him again and the fight is stopped. Gonzaga looked great in this fight.

Winner: Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:01

GSP is at the fight tonight, as is BJ Penn.

Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas

They jump right into this fight so it looks like it's a pre-show fight. Matt Brown took this fight on short notice.

R1- Matt Brown goes right after him and hit a couple of shots. Thomas recovered and got a take down and took side control fairly quickly. Thomas landing a lot of punches. Brown gets back to his feet. Matt Brown grabs an arm bar and then tries to move it to a triangle but Thomas slides to side control again. Brown grabbed a guillotine but couldn't finish and then went for a triangle right at the buzzer. Good first round. Thomas got in more punches but Brown got more near submission attempts.

R2- Brown clamped in an arm bar attempt early in the round and eventually turned Thomas over and got him to tap. Good fight and good showing by Brown.

Winner: Matt Brown by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 0:57

Tamdan McCrory (11-1) vs. Dustin Hazelett (13-4)

McCrory beat Luke Cuomo at UFC 87 by unanimous decision. Hazlett fell to Josh Koshcheck at UFC 82 and a victory against Josh Burkman. Hazelett comes out to some CCR. McCrory has a 3 inch height advantage.

R1- McCrory swings for the fences early and hit with some shots. Hazelett pushed McCrory down with a front kick and then missed a flying knee. Hazelett pushes forward and hits some nice strikes. McCrory comes back with some strikes of his own. They go to the ground and Hazelett ties McCrory up like a pretzel and eventually get the tap. Good fight.

Winner: Dustin Hazelett by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:59

Anderson Silva is at the show.

Lightweight Fight- Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

This is another pre-show fight.

R1- Dos Anjos took Stephens down in this round and controlled the majority of the round. He got a near submission towards the end of the round but Stephens held on.

R2- Stephens looked better in the second round. Dos Anjos has had opportunities to finish the fight but he just hasn't been able to get it done yet.

R3- Jeremy Stephens just explodes at the beginning of this round and destroys Dos Anjos. He just nailed him with an uppercut that rocked Dos Anjos. After that shot it was just a couple of shots on the ground and this one was over. Great punch.

Winner: Jeremy Stephens by KO R3 0:39

Wanderlei Silva is in the house tonight. Lots of big guns here to watch Couture/Lesnar.

Joe Rogan interviews 50 Cent during the break. 50 Cent seems to think that Brock is going to win the fight tonight.

Lightweight Fight- Kenny Florian (12-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (34-8)

This is potential fight of the night. But then again I thought that with Florian/Huerta and that one was pretty much a stinker. Stevenson just got his BJJ black belt. Florian has a 3 inch height advantage and a 4 inch reach advantage.

R1- Florian gets some strikes in early but Stevenson stalks him down against the cage. Stevenson went for a slam but Florian grabbed onto the cage to avoid the slam but still got taken down. Florian quickly sprawled back up to avoid damage. Florian got a take down and took half guard. Florian mounted and began to ground and pound on Stevenson and then Stevenson turned over and Florian took his back. Stevenson went to stand up and Florian got a Rear Naked Choke and tapped him out. Fantastic finish by Florian. Good fight.

Winner: Kenny Florian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:03

Post-fight Florian says he wants BJ's belt.

UFC Heavyweight Title Fight- Randy Couture © (16-8) vs. Brock Lesnar (2-1)

Brock comes out to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. Lesnar has a huge 45 pound weight advantage and a 6 inch reach advantage. Lesnar has a 81 inch reach. Lesnar is the heel in this fight as he got a round of boos when he was introduced. Couture got a heroes welcome. Big "Randy" chant by the crowd right before the round starts.

R1- They clinched almost immediately. Crowd chants "Randy". Not much in the first minute and a half. Brock landed some knees and Randy got in a good punch when they clinch was broken. Lesnar dove in and went for a take down. Brock finishes the take down with a slam and Randy grabs half guard but Brock slips out and Randy slips out the back also and reverses position and tries to take Brocks back but Brock dumped him back on the ground and took half guard again. Lesnar lands some good punches in half guard. Couture gets back to his feet with about 45 seconds left in the round. Good first round. Brock controlled most of the action so I'll give him the round 10-9. Couture hung in there and kept away from getting a lot of damage.

R2- Lesnar stuck Randy with an elbow about 15 seconds into the round and he looked a little stunned. Brock rushed in but Randy clinched him against the cage. Brock hit a knee and Randy responded with a punch cutting Brock under the eye. Brock caught Randy with a knee as they broke clinch and then hit him with a couple of punches and he went down and Lesnar just nailed Randy with hammer punches and then the ref stopped the fight. Great finish by Lesnar. Ref probably could have let the fight go on a little longer but it's tough to call something like that.

Winner and new champion: Brock Lesnar R2 3:07

Lightweight Fight- Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley

Another undercard fight

R1- Good even first round. Gurgel started to come on towards the end of the round. Gurgel didn't try to take down Riley at all.

R2- Riley definitely took this round as he dominated until about the last 30 seconds when Gurgel took Riley down.

R3- Riley opened up about a minute into this round with a great combo that almost finished Gurgel. Good fight. Aaron Riley is going to win this one via decision.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 in favor of Aaron Riley on all 3 judges score cards.

Winner: Aaron Riley by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Fight- Alvin Robinson vs. Mark Bocek

Under card fight.

R1- Bocek gets a take down early into the fight. Robinson reversed the position after about a minute and a half and then Bocek took the advantage right back. Bocek lands some good elbows from the half guard position. Bocek clamped on a submission at the end of the round but Robinson lasted. Bocek takes this round 10-9.

R2- Bocek gets a quick take down and gets side control. Bocek got a guillotine in on Robinson. Bocek then took his back and looked for a Rear Naked Choke. Robinson fought back and got on top of Bockek with about 30 seconds left but Bocek moved him back over onto his back. Bocek up 20-18 so far and has dominated on the ground.

R3- Bocek slammed Robinson without 30 seconds of the round starting. Bocek got in some good Ground and Pound about half way through the round and then got a Rear Naked Choke and tapped out Robinson. Great showing by Bocek.

Winner: Mark Bocek by Rear Naked Choke R3 3:16

Just a great show from UFC. Definitely the best show UFC has put on this year. Brock/Randy was a good fight. Florian/Stevenson delivered a good one round fight. Maia and Gonzaga looked great in victory. Jeremy Stephens got a highlight reel knockout. Brown/Thomas, Hazelett/McCrory, Bocek/Robinson and Riley/Gurgel were all decent to good fights. Not a bad fight on the show and we got 4 under card fights.