UFC 114: Rampage vs. Rashad Re-Cap

UFC 114: Rampage vs. Rashad
MGM Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday May 29, 2010

Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (23-3) vs. John Hathaway (13-0)

This is Diego's return to the welterweight division after a brief run in the lightweight division. Diego is 7-2 in the UFC welterweight division. Hathaway has a 2" height and 3" reach advantage.

R1- Diego went for an early take down but got stuffed. Hathaway caught Diego was a knee as he was coming in and floored him. Hathaway jumped on top and tried to finish but Diego recovered. Hathaway stayed on top for the rest of the round. Good start by Hathaway. Hathaway 10-9.

R2- Hathaway hit a good left jab early in the round. Diego got a take down two minutes into the round but Hathaway got back to his feet without taking any damage. Diego has blood coming from his nose. Hathaway is using his reach to his advantage. Hathaway landed some good shots in the last several seconds of the round. Hathaway 10-9, 20-18 for the fight.

R3- Sanchez landed a good left in the first minute. Sanchez went for a take down but was stuffed. Sanchez hit a good right. Diego got another take down attempt stuffed. Hathaway's nose has been busted open. Hathaway partially connected with a head kick. Diego started to stalk towards the end of the round but Hathaway got a brief take down. Close round. I'll give the third to Sanchez and the fight to Hathaway 29-28. Huge win for Hathaway and this win puts him on the map in the welterweight division.

Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27, 30-26

Winner: John Hathaway by Decision (Unanimous)

Matt Hughes is in attendance. Yesterday he was officially inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. He also has a fight coming up against Ricardo Almeida.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (18-3) vs. Jason Brilz (18-2-1)

Forrest Griffin was supposed to be in this fight but he got injured so enter Jason Brilz. Brilz took the fight on four weeks notice. Lil Nog debuted in the UFC at UFC 106 and took at Luiz Cane. Nog is on a 6 fight win streak. Nog has a 3" height and 3.5" reach advantage.

R1- Nog hit some good knees and kicks early. Brilz got a take down about 90 seconds into the fight. Nog slipped out but Brilz was able to get him back down onto the mat. Nog was able to slip out the back and take Brilz back and get him down but Brilz slipped out. Nog landed a couple of punches right at the end of the round. Brilz 10-9.

R2- Brilz went for a single leg and Nog grabbed a guillotine. Brilz slipped out and took top positon. Nog reversed but Brilz grabbed a guillotine. Nog got out of the move but Brilz grabbed it again and then released it but took top position. Brilz grabbed another guillotine but Nog slipped out and got back to his feet with two minutes left. Brilz landed a good right but Nog absorbed it. Nog landed a knee. Both guys swing for the fences and Brilz landed a good shot but Nog stayed on his feet but didn't engage for the rest of the round. Brilz 20-18. This would be another big upset.

R3- Brilz got an early take down. Nog swept him over and got back to his feet. Brilz went for a take down but Nog stuffed it and went for a choke but couldn't get it. Nog hit a knee. Brilz went for a take down but Nog quickly took top position. Nog caught Brilz in a crucifix but Brilz got out and took Nog's guard. Nog swept Brilz over with 30 seconds left. Nog took this round but I've got Brilz winning 29-28.

Judges score cards: 29-28 Brilz, 29-28 Nog, 29-28 Nog

Wow that was a very shocking decision. I thought Brilz clearly won that fight and so did the fans.

Winner: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Decision (Split)

Heavyweight Fight- Todd Duffee (6-0) vs. Mike Russow (12-1)

Russow has won 8 straight fights with 6 of those coming by submission. Duffee debuted in the UFC at UFC 102 and promptly beat Tim Hague in 7 seconds. Duffee has a 2" height and 5" reach advantage.

R1- Duffee throwing some leather early .Duffee hit a couple of good uppercuts that hurt Russow but he survived teh onslaught. Duffee connected on a couple of overhand rights. Duffee is just dominating this fight so far. He is landing good shots and is taking his time. Duffee landed a big time left and Russow absorbed it. Duffee 10-8.

"I'll tell you one thing, Russow can take a shot"- Joe Rogan

R2- Duffee continues to land some good shots. Russow is starting to land a couple of punches. Duffee landed a good right when Russow came in for a take down. The fight has slowed down in this round. Fans are eager for a knockout after two decisions so far. Duffee 10-9, 20-17 for the fight.

R3- Russow caught Duffee half way through this round with a shocking knockout. Down 20-17 on my score card and he came back and out of nowhere landed a couple

"That's the craziest thing I've ever seen in a thousand fights. Oh My God! Mike Russow is standing in front of us and he's as surprised as we are. I'm standing up. I can't even sit down right now. That's the craziest thing I've ever seen. Oh My God!"- Joe Rogan
"If that was in a movie you'd say shut up that can't happen in real life"- Joe Rogan
"It just did"- Mike Goldberg

Winner: Mike Russow by KO R3 2:03

The Korean Zombie is in the house. San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan is at the show too.

Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe (8-2)

This is from the pre-show. Lowe fought for KOTC in April of this year and beat Steve Berger by knockout in the first round.

R1- Lowe got a take down but Guillard popped back up to his feet. Melvin landed some good knees while Lowe clinched him against the cage. Melvin landed some hammer fists. Lowe went for a take down and Guillard nailed him with a knee to the body and Lowe just keeled over and this one is over. Guillard came in and gave him a shot or two before the ref stopped it but it was the knee that did Lowe in.

Winner: Melvin Guillard by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:28

Guillard calls out Jeremy Stephens after the fight.

Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (19-3) vs. Dan Miller (11-3)

Bisping last fought at UFC 110 where he lost a unanimous decision to Wanderlei Silva. Previously at UFC 105 Bisping beat Denis Kang in the 2nd round. Dan Miller is coming off of a loss to Demain Maia at UFC 109. After the referee gives them instructions they don't touch gloves and Miller gives him a little shove back to the corner.

R1- Miller hit a good left early and then kicked Bisping in the balls. Bisping landed a right hand. Both guys are landing some shots. Really even fight so far. I think Bisping takes this round because he started to land some good shots at the end of the round. Bisping 10-9.

R2- Miller is starting to throw some leg kicks. Bisping is landing jabs and has open a cut on or near Miller's nose. Bisping stuffed a take down and then landed a good right hand at the mid-way point of the round. Bisping 20-18.

R3- Miller threw a good overhand right but Bisping answered early in the last round. Miller got a take down at the half-way point in the round. Bisping quickly backed up to the wall and got to his feet. Miller landed a couple of strikes at the end. Even if you give Miller this round it's still Bisping by decision. Unless the same judges from the Brilz/Nog fight are judging this fight.

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

Winner: Michael Bisping by Decision (Unanimous)

Mike Tyson and his face tatoo are at the fights tonight. So are Snoop Dogg, Larry Fitzgerald and David Spade. And is Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rampage Jackson (30-7) vs. Rashad Evans (19-1-1)

Rashad last fought at UFC 108 where he won a decision against Thiago Silva. Rampage has not fought since March of 2009 when he beat Rashad's training partner Keith Jardine by unanimous decision. The UFC tells us that Rampage lands 84% of clinch strikes, defends 77% of take downs and has the 2nd best submission defense rate in MMA history. Rashad defends 63% of take downs, has never lost a fight when landing a take down and 4 of his last wins have come by way of knockout. This should be a good fight. Despite the layoff I've got Rampage. Rashad is boo'd as he enters the Octagon. Dana White has said the winner of this gets the first shot at Shogun Rua. Rampage has a 2" height advantage but Rashad has a 2" reach advantage.

R1- Rashad hit a right hand really early that stunned Rampage. Rashad rushed in and clinched Rampage against the cage and tried for a take down. Herb Dean separates the fighters. Rashad got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Rampage got back to his feet but ate a strike on the way up. Dean separates them again with 25 seconds left in the round. Rampage landed some offense right at the end of the round. Rashad 10-9.

R2- Rashad came in and clinched Rampage early in the round to a chorus of boos. They separated and then Rashad came in and clinched again. Dean separates them again. Rashad clinches Rampage again. Neither fighter has really done anything in this round besides Rashad clinching Rampage. Rashad went for a take down and didn't get it but did land a strike or two. Rashad 20-18.

R3- Rampage caught Rashad as Rashad tried to avoid Rampage and then went to clinch him. He landed a good right that knocked Rashad off-balance and down to the mat backwards. Rampage jumped on top and landed some good strikes. Rashad held onto Rampage to try and survive and Rashad got back to his feet. Rampage gave Rashad time to recover when they got back to their feet and Rashad shot and got a take down. Rampage got back to his feet with 40 seconds left in the fight but Rashad took him down again. Rampage 10-9 but Rashad is going to take this one 29-28 by wining a 2nd round in which both guys really did nothing. Unfortunately this fight didn't live up to the hype and even though Rashad won I have a hard time thinking he's deserving of a shot at Shogun after two decision victories.

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

Winner: Rashad Evans by Decision (Unanimous)

UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 Re-Cap

UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada

Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-1) vs. Phil Baroni (13-11)

Sadollah was the winner of TUF 7 but lost in just 27 seconds in his last fight against Johny Hendricks. Both guys train at Xtreme Couture but Baroni trained for this fight at AKA. Baroni comes out to “Bad to the Bone”. This is Baroni’s first fight in UFC since UFC 51. Sadollah has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.

R1- Baroni lands some strikes early and knocks Amir off-balance. Baroni lands two good uppercuts. Baroni got a take down about half way through the round but gave up the position after about a minute. Baroni tried a guillotine but couldn’t get it and Amir landed a good knee and barely missed with a big haymaker. Amir is coming on towards the end of the round. Baroni comes out of the round with his face bloodied. Baroni 10-9 but Amir could have stolen that round after Baroni gassed towards the end.

R2- Baroni looks really tired and Amir comes out as the aggressor in this round. Not a real exciting round but I’ve got Amir taking this one to even it up 19-19.

R3- Amir lands some good strikes in the first minute of the round. Amir is doing a good job changing levels in this round and he buckled Baroni against the cage with a good onslaught. Amir wins this fight 29-28 on my score card. Amir did a good job weathering the storm early and then it was all Amir in the last two rounds after Baroni ran out of steam.

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

Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira (17-3) vs. Luiz Cane (11-1)

This is a battle between two Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters that fly under the radar. The winner of this fight jumps up into title contention with another win under their belt after this fight. Big Nog and Anderson Silva are in lil Nog’s corner for the fight. Cane comes out to some Jane’s Addiction. Cane is coming off of a decision victory over Steve Cantwell at UFC 97.

R1- Nogueira starts to land some strikes and hits a good left and then another and Cane is on his heels. Nogueira is landing some good strikes and lands some lefts and then connects with a big left that knocks Cane to the ground. Lil Nog jumps on top and this fight is over. Really impressive debut for Lil Nog and he jumps right into the Light Heavyweight Title picture after the Machida/Shogun re-match.

Winner: Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:56

Chuck Liddell is at the fights tonight to check out Tito/Forrest. New WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo is also at the show and they show some highlights of his championship win over Mike Brown from earlier in the week.

Welterweight Fight- Paulo Thiago (11-1) vs. Jacob Volkmann (9-0)

This is the UFC debut of Volkmann. Thiago is coming off of a decision loss to top contender Jon Fitch at UFC 100. Volkmann comes out to some AC/DC. Thiago has a 3” reach advantage to counter Volkmann’s better entrance music. Volkmann’s nickname is “Christmas”.

R1- Thiago got a take down into side control after the first minute of the round but Volkamann quickly got back to his feet. Thiago got a take down and mounted mid-way through the round. Thaigo lands some strikes but Volkmann got back to his feet without taking any major damage. Thiago landed a big combination right at the buzzer that floored Volkmann. Thiago 10-9.

R2- Thiago caught a Volkmann kick and chopped his other leg to floor him but didn’t follow up on the ground. Volkmann got a take down into side control in the first minute of the round but Thiago got back to his feet without taking much damage. Volkmann got Thiago down again but Thiago flipped him over and took top position. Thiago landed a big shot on the ground towards the end of the round. This round was very close. Could have gone either way.

R3- Thiago caught Volkmann coming in with a right and floored him. Volkmann tried a take down but Thiago avoided it but shortly thereafter Volkmann was able to get on top. Volkmann worked Thiago into a crucifix position and landed some good elbow strikes before Thiago was able to get out of the move. Volkmann slipped of Thiago’s back and Thiago once again assumed control. Volkmann grabbed a choke from the bottom but somehow Thiago slipped out. Thiago landed some good elbows on Volkmann at the end of the round.

Rounds two and three were virtual toss ups. Thiago clearly won the first round. I’m going to say the judges will give Thiago the win via decision. Volkmann really didn’t show much other than his wrestling, he really needs to work on his striking.

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

Winner: Paulo Thiago by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (15-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-2)

This should be fun. Anthony Johnson is coming off of a destruction of Yoshiyuki Yoshida less than a month ago at UFC 104. Koscheck stopped Frank Trigg in the first round of their UFC 103 fight. The winner of this will move way up the rankings in the wide open Welterweight Division. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner. Johnson has the most knock downs per minute in the UFC. Johnson has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.

R1- Long feeling out process with a few strikes landing for each fighter. Koscheck came in at the two minute mark and got caught and knocked off balance and cornered. Koscheck clinched him to get out of the corner but Johnson defended it and ended up in the superior position. Koscheck was on his knees and Johnson landed a knee to his forehead, which is illegal, and the fight was stopped by the ref. On the re-play it didn’t look like the knee hit him in the head but Koscheck did get poked in the eye at some point. They re-start the fight. Koscheck went for a single and Johnson sprawled and landed hard on the cage and Koscheck finally took him down. Tough round to score as there wasn’t a ton of damage done and the Koscheck take down at the end of the round might have swung the round to him. I believe Johnson had a point deducted so it could be Koscheck up 10-8 at this point.

R2- Koscheck returned the favor with an eye poke early in ths round. Koscheck started to land some good shots but on the re-play the big shot was a poke right into Johnson’s eye. Johnson has a bad history with getting poked in the eye. Johnson landed some good strikes in an exchange and Koscheck may have landed a shot as well. Koscheck got a take down two minutes into the round. Koscheck landed some elbows. Koscheck landed a Rear Naked Choke and Johnson tapped out. Big win for Koscheck.

Winner: Josh Koscheck by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:47

Post-Fight Josh Koscheck calls out Dan Hardy. Says Hardy hasn’t fought anybody and says he’s the real number one contender.

Vince Vaughn is at the show tonight.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Tito Ortiz (16-6-1) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-6)

This is a re-match from their fight at UFC 59 that ended up a Split Decision victory for Tito Ortiz. Forrest comes out to Chumbawamba’s “I get knocked down, but I get up again”.

R1- Tito got a take down in the second minute of the fight after some brief stand up. Forrest was able to get back to his feet after taking some shots. This was a close round. Forrest won the stand up in the round but Tito got the take down.

R2- Tito got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Forrest got back to his feet without taking any significant damage. Forrest hit a front kick to the face that sent Tito’s mouthpiece flying. Tito got another take down about half way through the round. Tito cut Forrest open really badly. Forrest turned Tito over with about 30 seconds left in the round. Probably 19-19 at this point.

R3- Forrest is the aggressor early in this round. Tito shot in but it was stuffed by Forrest. Tito looks a bit gassed in this round and Forrest is scoring all the points with about a minute and a half left in the round. Forrest stuffed another take down with about 40 seconds left. Forrest wins this round and I’ve got him taking the fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Ortiz, 30-27 Griffin, 29-28 Forrest

Winner: Forrest Griffin by Decision (Split)

Retro Re-Cap: Pride "Total Elimination" 2003

Pride “Total Elimination” 2003

UFC clashes with Pride on this show as it features a tournament between 8 Middleweight Fighters (moving to the Final 4 in November).

Middleweight Tournament Fights
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
Alistair Overeem vs. Chuck Liddell

Heavyweight Fights
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Gary Goodridge
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Igor Vovchanchyn

Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Gary Goodridge

Fedor is in the opener for this show! Fedor just came out firing at the beginning of this fight. Fedor quickly got Goodridge down and gave him some G&P and some kicks and this one was over. Phenomenal showing by Fedor as this was before he was a “big name” and he dispatched of Goodridge just like he would dispatch of Tim Sylvia last year.

Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:09

Next up they spent some time profiling Chuck Liddell and why he was fighting in the tournament for UFC.

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Chuck Liddell vs. Alistair Overeem

Talk about a stacked card. We’ve got Fedor in the first fight and Chuck Liddell in the second fight! Dana White joins the announce team on commentary for this fight. This was a pretty good fight while it lasted. For the first part of the fight it was pretty even with both fighters getting in offense. Then it looked like Alistair either got hurt or gassed and Liddell just took him apart.

Winner: Chuck Liddell by KO (Punches) R1 3:09

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Murilo Bustamante

Ricardo Arona was supposed to fight Jackson but he hurt his leg so Bustamante stepped in to take the fight. Bustamante clamped on a quick arm bar and then a triangle choke but Rampage hit a slam to get out of the submission. Bustamante then went for a guillotine choke but Rampage survived. Pretty even fight after the first round with Bustamante coming close to getting the finish with a few different submissions. Second round was controlled by Rampage with Bustamante continually trying to take the fight to the mat. Third round was pretty much the same as the first. Rampage will get this win in this one but not a particularly decisive victory. Very difficult match-up stylistically for Rampage in this fight.

Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Split)

Heavyweight Fight- Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

This actually put me to sleep when I watching it. Ricco controlled the first two rounds and really just stayed on top and smothered Big Nog throughout the fight. The announcers pretty much give the fight to Ricco without a doubt and Big Nog gets a unanimous decision. Definitely a surprising win.

In reading an explanation from Matt Hume it seems that Pride weighed “effort to finish by KO or submission” as their number one criteria in judging a fight and Big Nog did have the advantage in that category and thus he got the unanimous decision as Ricco totally controlled the fight but didn’t do any more damage than Nog did and seems to try to finish the fight less than Nog did.

Winner: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Decision (Unanimous)

Heavyweight Fight- Cro Cop vs. Igor Vovchanchyn

Crop Cop has a large height advantage in this fight. Cro Cop hit a vicious kick about one minute into the fight and this was a highlight reel knockout! This is what Cro Cop use to be like when he was awesome. Now, he just gets kicked around by the likes of Alistair Overeem.

Winner: Cro Cop by KO (Kick)

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Kiyoshi Tamura

This was an exciting fight. It looked like Tamura was going to take it based on the early action but Yoshida came on strong and got the choke victory.

Winner: Hidehiko Yoshida by Submission (Choke)

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva

Rampage joins the booth to commentate this fight. This was a pretty exciting fight with Wanderlei swinging away a lot and then got the highlight reel KO about 5 minutes into the round.

Winner: Wanderlei Silva by KO R1

This really seems like a “Who’s Who” of MMA type show. Tons of big names from then and now like Fedor, Cro Cop, Liddell, Rampage, Wanderlei, Sakuraba and Big Nog under one roof. This was a fun show as it was really interesting seeing Dana and Chuck in Pride and it was nice to see Fedor before he became the monster that he is and Cro Cop when he was at the top of his game. the 4 Middleweights who survived this round of the tournament and will fight in the semis are Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Hidehiko Yoshida and Wanderlei Silva.

Affliction Banned 7/19 PPV Re-Cap

Affliction Banned PPV

Affliction is really throwing money at this PPV as they have Michael Buffer doing the ring announcing and Megadeth starting off the show playing on stage. The music isn't very good but they have the fighters walking through the stage towards the ring and lining up on the stage which is a cool visual.

Jay Glazer and Frank Trigg are the two announcers. As i've previously stated they could have really used a Mauro Ranallo, Mike Goldberg and/or Lon McEachern type guy to anchor the broadcast.

Welterweight Fight- Mike Pyle (16-5-1) vs. JJ Ambrose(9-1)

R1- Pyle gets a take down about a minute into the fight and quickly mounts. Ambrose gives up his back. Pyle is just getting dominated and Pyle taps him quickly. Definitely a mismatch here. Very Elite XC squash feel to this fight to start off the night. Pyle looked good but Ambrose was fighting outside of his talent level. Good fight to put Pyle over for the next show, not so much for Ambrose as he didn't even contend. Decent opener as I'm sure that they didn't want to start out with a fight like Goodridge/Buentello had or have a fight go the distance to begin the first PPV.

Winner: Mike Pyle by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 2:51

Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (13-3) vs. Edwin Dewees (35-12)

Frank Trigg says that Dewees is over matched going into this fight. Not much of a way to make me want to see them fight. This Nogueira is the brother of the UFC Heavyweight Champ.

R1- Slow start with Dewees hitting some leg kicks and circling Nog. Nog finally gets a take down (more like Dewees fell into the ropes and Nog took advantage). Nog got some shots in but then let Dewees back up. Nog gets a Muy Thai clinch and gets some shots in and then starts leveling Dewees in the corner and lights him up and lands more shots on him on the ground and Herb Dean stops the fight. Another match that felt like a "showcase" for one fighter and not really a competitive fight. Nothing wrong with that as long as they follow up at some point by giving these guys better fights. The only thing is that Ambrose and Dewees kind of come off as jobbers by not putting up much of a fight.

Winner: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by TKO (strikes) R1 4:06

Middleweight Fight- Fabio Negao (8-3) vs. Matt Lindland (20-5)

R1- Linland pops him about 10 seconds in and Negao folds and then Lindland grabs a guillotine and Negao looks like he is going to tap. Negao finally gets out of the move after about a minute and a half. Lindland hit a double fist shot and then a head butt (which he got a warning for). With one minute left Negao finally gets back to his feet. Both guys looking tired at the end of the round. Lindland is throwing some weak shots at this point. Lindland dominated this round but then really gassed at the end of the round. Lindland 10-9 (almost a 10-8 but Negao actually got in a couple of shots in the last minute after Lindland ran out of breath). Negao didn't show much offense but he survived and Lindland seems to be running out of gas.

R2- Negao gets in some shots here in Round 2. Lindland manages to get a take down about 2 minutes into the round. Lindland controls the rest of the round on the ground but never looked like he was going to finish Negao. Right now i've got Lindland 20-18.

R3- Both guys look really tired in this round. If either guy was in there with a younger in shape fighter that they would probably get finished here pretty quickly. Really sloppy looking fighting in this round as both guys are just dead tired. It's like they are fighting in slow motion. Lindland gets a take down that take Negao out of the ring (they need to do a better job of making sure that the ring is set up to ensure that this doesn't happen).

Lindland looked like a world better in the first 2 minutes and after that this was a very hard fight to watch with two fighters that didn't seem to have the proper conditioning needed. Lindland is going to take this 30-27. Really hard fight to watch. Not really looking forward to seeing these two guys fight anytime soon.

Winner: Matt Lindland by Decision (Unanimous)

"Still one of the top middleweights in the world, your winner Matt Lindland"- Big John McCarthy

Nice job toeing the company line but that fight probably doesn't even get Lindland in the Top 50 Middleweights in the world right now. Maybe once he gets back in ring shape but if he was in there against anyone in the Top 20 he would have been defeated easily at the end of the first round when he started to gas or in the second round.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Renato "Babalu" Sobral (29-7) vs. Mike Whitehead (21-5)

Whitehead is fighting out of Extreme Couture. It seems like at least one fighter from each fight has trained at Extreme Couture so far.

R1- They stand up for the first 4 and a half minutes and it's pretty even but doesn't really hold my attention. Babalu gets a quick take down but Whitehead pops back up.

R2- Whitehead gets a take down with 2 minutes gone in the round but Babalu looked like he wanted to be in the guard. Another decent round that just really didn't catch my attention. Babalu grabs an arm submission but Whitehead again gets out of it.

R3- They have another take down in this round that goes outside of the ring. Affliction really needs to fix this issue as it could end in somebody getting hurt. A minute or so later this happens again and the fight is stopped for a minute. Babalu grabs a guillotine with 2 and a half minutes left but Whitehead escapes and is in Babalu's guard.

Undertaker is shown at ringside.Overall this just wasn't a very exciting fight. Babalu started to get the crowd into it late but overall it fell flat. I've got nothing against a fight being inside a ring instead of a cage but the ring ropes need to be fixed and be sturdier as they really halted a lot of momentum in this fight.

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

Winner: Renato "Babalu" Sobral by Decision (Unanimous)

Donald Trump is shown at ringside sitting next to Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson and in front of Steve Austin.

Four fights left. So far this has been a very lackluster PPV. The remaining four fights all have promise though so hopefully they will finish up strong.

Featherweight Fight- Mark Hominick (15-8) vs. Savant Young (9-7)

Homnick is working with Extreme Couture, shocking isn't it?

R1- I think the fact that they are using an over sized ring is actually discouraging action as it gives guys more room to move around and stay away from their opponent. Decent first round but still felt kind of flat to me.

R2- Young gets a take down with two minutes left in the round. Hominick tries to get a triangle but Young slams him. Hominick tries an arm bar and then switches back to try a triangle but can't seem to lock in anything like he wants to. Hominick finally gets his submission as Young taps to the arm bar.

This was a decent fight and probably the best on the show so far, which isn't saying much so far.

Winner: Mark Homnick by Submission (Arm Bar) 4:25

Megadeth plays another song. Fast Forward...

Heavyweight Fight- Josh Barnett (22-5) vs. Pedro Rizzo (16-7)

R1- Decent first round but kind of pedestrian. Seemed like more of a boxing match than a MMA fight.

R2- Out of nowhere Barnett just nails Rizzo and Rizzo falls back on his face knocked out. Nice finish by Barnett.

Winner: Josh Barnett by KO R2 1:44

Heavyweight Fight- Andrei Arlovski (12-5) vs. Ben Rothwell (29-5)

Arlovski gets a good reaction.

R1- Arlovski gets a take down with about 2 and a half minutes left and then attempts a heel hook but Rothwell gets out. Arlovski got some good shots in with about a minute left in the round. Arlvoski takes Round 1 10-9. Best round of the night so far one could argue.

R2- They mix it up pretty good at the beginning of the round and Arlovski goes to town on him but Rothwell hands on and then Arlovski takes him down. Arlovski went for the heel hook again and missed and Rothwell took Arlovski's guard. Rothwell's nose is busted open and he's bleeding all over Arlovski's chest. They stand the fight back up and Arlovski is all over Rothwell and Arlovski nails him with a knee. Great finish in this round by Arlovski to win the round. Arlovski is up 20-18

R3- They start off the round with clinching. Arlovski nails Rothwell with a big right hand and then a short combo and takes out Rothwell.

This was a good fight. Really the first fight on this show that I would classify as more than mediocre. Good showing by Arlovski as he sets himself up for a possible meeting with the winner of Fedor/Sylvia and/or Barnett.

Winner:Andrei Arlovski R3 1:13

Michael Buffer takes time to announce celebrities at ringside such as Michael Strahan, James Toney, Korn, Don Johnson, Bill Goldberg, Rob Schneider, Manny Ramirez (gets boos). While they introduce Donald Trump, Michael Madsen is standing right behind him but gets no love (I guess Buffer feels that Don Johnson is greater than Reservoir Dogs).

Megadeth plays again. Fast Forward...

Wamma Heavyweight Title Fight- Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) vs. Tim Sylvia (24-4)

Sylvia gets a round of boos when he is introduced. Fedor gets a decent round of applause.

R1- Fedor immediately hits Sylvia with about 8 quick punches and Sylvia goes down and then Fedor jumps on him and lands several shots and then Rear Naked Chokes him for the tap out victory. Just total decimation by Fedor. Great showing by Fedor as he definitely cemented his status as the top Heavyweight in the world and arguably the best fighter in the world.

Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Overall, a very lukewarm start for Affliction. They finished good with the Arlovski fight and the Fedor fight and Barnett put on a good showing but overall it was a very pedestrian night of fighting. It's tough to be too harsh on Affliction since this is their first PPV but I just didn't think this was a PPV quality event. The good news is that they have a lot of talent on the roster that they used like Fedor, Arlovski, Barnett, Babalu and Lil Nog. They definitely need to fix the ring so that fighters don't fall out of it. They also need to get a Play-By-Play Announcer because Jay Glazer just didn't do it for me. He would be decent as a third guy in the booth but he can't anchor the PPV. Trigg was decent enough and would probably be a lot better with someone better to play off of. It was kind of surreal the way they played the entire night around Randy Couture in that he was one of the first guys on the broadcast, his fighters fought all night long and then Fedor said that he would like to fight him during his post-match interview. They even bring Randy Couture to the middle of the ring and ask him he he wants to fight Fedor- to which he says he does.