UFC Fight Night 1/11/10 Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night
Patriot Center
Fairfax, Virginia
1/11/10

Top Lightweight contender Gray Maynard will take on Nate Diaz in the Main Event tonight in a re-match from The Ultimate Fighter TV show. TUF Winner Amir Sadollah face a tough fight against Brad Blackburn and TUF winner Efrain Escudero is also in action as is prospect Aaron Simpson.

Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (3-1) vs. Brad Blackburn (15-9-1)

Amir is coming off of a UFC 106 win against Phil Baroni. Blackburn is coming off of a split decision victory over Edgar Garcia. Amir fights out of Richmond so he is a big fan favorite in this fight. Blackburn is yet to lose in the UFC.

R1- Both guys are landing shots early in this round. Amir hit a good right hand with one minute left to go in the round and it rocked Blackburn. Amir then hit and elbow and got a take down but Black burn was able to recover and push him off. Close round that Amir took with the push at the end. Amir 10-9 after one round.

R2- Blackburn hit a right hand and caught a kick at the same time and briefly knocked Amir down at the mid-way point of the round. Amir landed another right that briefly wobbled Blackburn right at the end of the round. Really close round that I give to Blackburn that makes the fight 19-19 on my score card.

R3- Amir landed a knee against the cage and Blackburn got rocked and taken down. Amir was able to land some good punches about half way through the round. Amir is going to take this round and will win via decision.

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

Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Rogan interviews Randy Couture ringside and they discuss his upcoming fight against Mark Coleman.

Middleweight Fight- Aaron Simpson (6-0) vs. Tom Lawlor (6-1)

Simpson has knockouts in all six of his fights. Simpson is coming off of a win at UFC 102 against Ed Herman and Lawlor is coming off of a 55 second submission victory over CB Dollaway at UFC 100. This is Lawlor’s 2nd fight at Middleweight in the UFC.

R1- Lawler landed a good uppercut in the first few moments of the fight. Lawler went for a take down and Simpson landed some punches and Lawlor gave up the take down attempt. Lawlor is looking good in the early going. Lawlor is landing some good punches in this fight. Lawlor hit a right hand counter punch and then came in with a barrage of punches and Simpson finally grabbed a clinch to stop the onslaught. Lawlor landed a good uppercut and continued to land good strikes. Lawlor looked really good in the first round and definitely took this round.

R2- Simpson landed some shots against the cage and then got a take down. Lawlor hit a good right hand that knocked Simpson into the cage and got a brief take down. Lawlor pulled guard at the end of the round but never really had it clamped in as the bell rung. Really close round, could have gone either way.

R3- Lawlor lands some good punches at the start of the round. Both guys are freely throwing leather at the beginning of the round. Simpson got a take down slam but Lawlor got back to his feet quickly and returned the favor. Lawlor tried to grab a kimura but couldn’t hold it and Simpson ended up on top. Simpson briefly mounted and then tried to take Lawlor’s back. Lawlor is worn out and Simpson is in totally control of this round. Simpson clearly took this round. This is going to be a close fight to call. Lawlor took round one and possibly could have squeaked out a 10-8 round, round two was a toss up and round three was Simpson 10-9. I think we could see a split or majority decision here. I’m calling Simpson via Split Decision. Really good fight.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Lawlor, 29-28 Simpson and 29-28 Simpson

Winner: Aaron Simpson by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Evan Dunham (9-0) vs. Efrain Escudero (13-0)

Both guys are coming into this fight undefeated. Efrain is coming off of a UFC 103 win against Cole Miller and Dunham is coming off a UFC 102 Split Decision win over Ricardo Almeida in a close fight that I had Almeida winning 29-28.

R1- Efrain landed a good jumping knee half-way through the round and then hit some strikes. Dunham went down but was able to defend on the ground and stay in the fight. Efrain grabs a guillotine choke but Dunham was able to escape back to his feet. Dunham pushed Escudero to the ground at the end of the round. Escudero 10-9.

R2- Dunham looks recovered and hits some strikes at the beginning of the round. Both guys are landing some decent strikes in this round. Dunham got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Dunham is landing some good strikes on the ground. Dunham takes Efrain’s back. Dunham won this round so it’s even at 19-19 going into the final round.

R3- Dunham went for a quick take down and Efrain tried to grab a guillotine and rolled over on top of Dunham trying to secure a choke but couldn’t not clamp it in and they scrambled back to their feet. Dunham stuck with it and got a take down about a minute into the fight. Dunham went for an arm bar and Efrain tapped out. Big win for Dunham.

Winner: Evan Dunham by Submission (Arm Bar) R3 1:59

Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (9-0) vs. Nate Diaz (11-4)

Nate Diaz is the only fighter that Maynard has lost to as Diaz beat Maynard on their season of TUF. Maynard is still officially unbeaten because the TUF fights (except for the finals) do not count on the fighters records. At UFC Fight Night 19 Gray Maynard beat Roger Huerta by Split Decision (I had the fight 30-27 for Maynard). Diaz is coming off a Guillotine Choke win over Melvin Guillard on the same show. Maynard is one of the top contenders for BJ Penn’s belt so this is a very important fight for him.

R1- Maynard is throwing some bombs early on. Diaz has opened up a cut on Maynard despite not landing any significant shots. Maynard is starting to land some decent shots. Both guys talk a little trash in the first round. Close round. I’ve got Maynard edging Diaz 10-9.

R2- Maynard hit a good overhand right about a minute and a half into the round but Diaz absorb the blow. Gray hit a good knee half way through the round that floored Diaz but Maynard let him back to his feet. Maynard hit a good left that sent Diaz to his knees before he quickly got back up. Maynard took this round and I’ve got him winning 20-18.

R3- Diaz hit a right hand about a minute and a half into the round that briefly floored Maynard but he popped back up. Diaz is landing some strikes this round and is looking much better than he did in the first two rounds. Maynard landed a good punch and then briefly got on top of Diaz but Diaz got up quickly. Maynard finished well in this round but I think Diaz still took this round. I’ve got Maynard taking this fight 29-28.

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

Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Split)

The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale Unaired Fights 6/20/09 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale Unaired Fights 6/20/09
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada

Welterweight Fight- Brad Blackburn (14-9-1) vs. Edgar Garcia (7-0)

Blackburn is a former IFL fighter who is 2-0 in the UFC. This is Garcia’s debut in the UFC but has fought for WEC.

R1- Blackburn hits some nice strikes early grabs a guillotine. Garcia slams Blackburn hard but he jumps right back up. Garcia seems to be finding his range as the round goes on. This was a pretty even round, really close to a 10-10.

R2- Blackburn seems like he’s landing more strikes as he’s hitting leg strikes and Garcia is not attempting anything but punches. Another close round that I gave to Blackburn.

R3- Very even but uneventful fight. Blackburn got a take down at the end of the round but then got nailed with a left hand and went down and popped back up. I honestly think this should be a draw, 29-29.

Judges score the fight: 29-28 Garcia, 29-28 Blackburn, 29-28 Blackburn.

Winner: Brad Blackburn by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Jason Dent (18-10) vs. Cameron Dollar (5-2)

Both of these fighters were participants on Season 9 of TUF. Dollar got some crazy butterfly tattoos put on his chest since the season ended.

R1- Dent is throwing more strikes early and is landing some decent shots. Cameron got him up against the fence and landed some nice strikes. Dollar went for a take down and Dent grabbed an Anaconda Choke and Dollar eventually tapped. Dollar dominated this fight and Dent did nothing until the finish.

Winner: Jason Dent by Submission (Anaconda Choke) R1 4:46

Lightweight Fight- Melvin Guillard (40-8-3) vs. Gleison Tibau (29-5)

R1- Not a lot of action in this round but Tibau got a couple of take downs which will swing the round in his favor.

R2- Melvin had the advantage in the stand-up in this round and even got a take down. This is a very even fight that I’ve got 19-19 so far. When Gleison’s gotten take downs he hasn’t done anything with them.

R3- Melvin started this round with a couple of strikes and Gleison answered and got a take down. Tibau controlled on the ground until about a minute and a half left in the round. Tibau got another take down at the one minute mark and ends the fight with some Ground and Pound from the mount position.

I’ve got Tibau winning this 29-28. Tibau clearly took round three. The other two rounds were very close.

Judges score cards say: Split Decision in favor of Guillard. Wow.

Winner: Melvin Guillard by Decision (Split)

Welterweight Fight- Nick Osipczak (3-1) vs. Frank Lester (3-3)

Nick has a 6” reach and 3” height advantage. This is the official first UFC fight for both of these TUF fighters.

R1- Nick grabbed a kick and took Frank down early. Nick was just the better fighter in there and won by Rear Naked Choke. Lester was trying to muscle through the fight and he just didn’t get it done.

Winner: Nick Osipczak by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:40

Catchweight Fight- Mike Ciesnolevicz (18-3) vs. Tomasz Drwal (15-2)

Ciesnolevicz weighed in at 208 lbs thus making this a catchweight fight instead of a Light Heavyweight Fight.

R1- Drwal landed some good strikes in a clinch against the cage about half way through the round and also landed some nice strikes after a stand up with about a minute and a half left in the round. Drwal landed a big time knee that dropped Mike and then he hit some Ground and Pound for the TKO victory.

Winner: Tomasz Drwal by TKO (Strikes) R1

UFN 7/19/08 Unaired Fights Re-Cap

Ultimate Fight Night 7/19/08 Unaired Fights

[b]Lightweight Fight- Shannon Gugerty (10-2) vs Dale Hartt (5-0)[/b]

R1- Hartt took Gugerty down with a guillotine early but Gugerty fought out of it without much damage. Gugerty controls the fight by staying on top once he escaped the guillotine and then Hartt gave up his back. Gugerty got a choke in and Hartt taped out. Good fight by Gugerty as he got on top and then waited for Hartt to make a mistake and capitalized.

This was Gugerty's debut in UFC.

Winner: Shannon Gugerty by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:33

[b]Welterweight Fight- Brad Blackburn (12-9-1) vs. James Giboo (11-2)[/b]

Blackburn has fought in the IFL. Giboo has won 6 straight fights. This is both guys debut in the UFC.

R1- Blackburn got a good shot in about a minute into the fight and then took Giboo's guard. They stood up and Blackburn got another nice shot in on Giboo and took his guard again. Blackburn is just dominating the stand up game. Blackburn nailed him with a left hand with about a minute left in the round and then jumped on top of Giboo but couldn't finish. Blackburn dominated this round. Possibly a 10-8 round as Giboo really didn't get anything in during the first round.

R2- Blackburn starts this round by hitting three straight punches and Giboo went down but Blackburn couldn't finish. Blackburn is just dominating Giboo but once the fight goes to the ground Giboo is surviving. Blackburn is eating him alive on their feet though. The ref calls this one and Blackburn gets the dominate victory. Blackburn looked really good on his feet but needs a lot of work on his ground game as he would probably get controlled by a good jiu jitsu guy.

Winner: Brad Blackburn by TKO (strikes) R2 2:29

[b]Middleweight Fight- Nate Loughran (8-0) vs. Johnny Rees (10-0)[/b]

Somebody is getting their first loss tonight.

R1- Loughran pulls guard early and looks for a triangle but Rees denies him. Rees gets in a couple of shots but Loughran is doing a good job controlling him. Loughran is bleeding from a Rees strike. Loughran goes for another triangle and looks to have locked it in but Rees postures out of it. Loughran once again grabs a triangle/arm bar submission and is hitting some elbows on Rees. Rees finally taps. This was a pretty even back and forth fight that mostly took place on the ground. Good job by Loughran in sticking to his game plan and finally getting the finish.

Winner: Nate Loughran by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:21

[b]Middleweight Fight- Tim Credeur (10-4) vs. Cale Yarbrough (0-0)[/b]

Both of these guys were on the last season of TUF. This is Cale's first official MMA fight. Both guys lost to CB Dollaway during the season.

R1- They start out with both guys throwing punches. Credeur seems to be hitting more shots early. Creduer comes on strong about 2 minutes into the fight by hitting strikes and Cale goes down and the ref stops the fight.

Winner: Tim Credeur by TKO (strikes) R1 1:54