UFC Live on Versus: Vera vs. Jones

UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones
1ST Bank Arena
Broomfield, Colorado
March 21, 2010
Versus

Thank You Dana White and the UFC for getting Versus back on DirecTV just in time for this show. I know it was no coincidence. This is the UFC's debut show on Versus and it's a solid "free" TV card headlined by Jon "Bones" Jones versus Brandon Vera. Top 10 Heavyweight Junior dos Santos will also take on Gabriel Gonzaga in the Co-Main Event. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are the announcers for the show and Bruce Buffer is the ring announcer.

Middleweight Fight- James Irvin (14-5) vs. Alessio Sakara (18-7)

This is the Middleweight debut for James Irvin. Sakara has won 3 of his last 4 fights. Sakara is a former pro boxer and Irvin loves to stand up so we could see an explosive fight between these two guys. Irvin has a 3" reach and 2" height advantage. If I was a betting man I wouldn't bet on this fight but I'd go with Sakara if I had to make a choice. It's always interesting to watch a guys first performance when moving down in weight and seeing how their body adjusts to the move during the fight. Sakara is now training full time at American Top Team and is 3-1 since moving to that camp.

R1- Irvin clipped Sakara and he went down early but bounced right back up. Sakara is landing some good hard strikes and is doing a good job of changing levels. Sakara nailed Irvin with a punch to the eye but the ref stopped the fight when Irvin complained of an eye poke. Weird stoppage as it looked like Sakara was about to finish Irvin and the ref is going to award the win to Sakara by TKO. Weird finish and a quick stoppage but the right guy won the fight.

Winner: Alessio Sakara by TKO (Punches) R1 3:01

Urijah Faber is in the house and Mike Goldberg hypes the upcoming Faber/Jose Aldo WEC PPV.I think Urijah goes to every MMA event.

Shane Carwin fights Frank Mir on Saturday at UFC 111 for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title with the winner facing Brock Lesnar. They show a pre-taped interview with Carwin and Joe Rogan. Carwin is 11-0 with 11 knockouts.

Heavyweight Fight- Cheick Kongo (24-6-1) vs. Paul Buentello (25-11)

This is another fight between two guys who like to stand and bang. Buentello is coming off of a loss to Stefan Struve in his return to the UFC. Kongo has a 2" height and 5" reach advantage. I'm taking Kongo in this one. Buentello has been training with Shane Carwin for tonight's fight.

R1- Kongo got a take down at the one minute mark. Buentello tried his best to illegally use the cage to save his fall but failed. Buentello got back up and Kongo took him back down with a slam. Buentello got to his feet and then it looked like he dislocated his finger and Herb Dean stopped the fight for a minute. Kongo got another take down with a minute left in the round. Kongo 10-9.

R2- Kongo threw some good strikes against the cage and then took Buentello down again in the first minute of the round. Kongo landed some good knees to the body but then hit Buentello in the head with a knee while Buentello still had one knee on the ground and was in the process of getting up so Herb Dean steps in and gives Buentello a minute to recover. Herb Dean takes one point away from Kongo for the illegal knee to a downed opponent. Kongo got another take down shortly after the fight was re-started. Kongo landing some knees to the body. Kongo landed some knees to Buentello's head. Kongo landed some good strikes and got another take down. This is a borderline 10-8 round in favor of Kongo. Depending on how this round was scored Kongo is up 29-28 or 29-27 after his one point deduction.

"He's getting molested"- Joe Rogan

R3- Kongo got a quick take down at the start of the final round. Kongo hit some elbows to Buentello's side and Buentello tapped out. Really strong showing for Kongo.

Winner: Cheick Kongo by Submission (Strikes) R3 1:16

GSP is interviewed by Joe Rogan via satellite to discuss his title defense on Saturday against Dan Hardy.

Heavyweight Fight- Junior Dos Santos (10-1) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4)

If Dos Santos can keep winning he is one or two fights away from fighting for the title. Santos trains with Big Nog, Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva. Gonzaga is a former jiu-jitsu world champion. Dos Santos is a jiu-jitsu purple wins. Neither fighter has ever been to a decision. Gonzaga out weighs Dos Santos by 17 pounds but Dos Santos says he will make that up with his speed. Dos Santos is my pick in this one.

R1- Gonzaga got a take down but Dos Santos did a good job on getting right back to his feet. Dos Santos is doing a good job in changing levels and is starting to land some strikes. Dos Santos landed a big left and Gonzaga went down. Dos Santos was able to get through with some Ground and Pound shots and this one is all over. Really impressive win for Dos Santos. The Heavyweight Division is just stacked right now with young guys like Dos Santos, Velasquez, Brock, Shane Carwin and Todd Duffee. And that's not even mentioning guys like Mir and Big Nog.

Winner: Junior Dos Santos by KO (Strikes) R1 3:53

Welterweight Fight- John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts

This is from the pre-show so this one is going to be a quick one. This is Roberts UFC debut.

R1- Roberts got a take down but Howard got back to his feet. Roberts grabbed a kimura and used it to sweep Howard back to the ground. Roberts landed some Ground and Pound. Howard picked up Roberts and slammed him and took top position. Roberts went for an omaplata but Howard got out of the submission and then delivered a huge left hand that knocked Roberts out while Roberts was still on the mat. Fantastic punch by Howard. Roberts looked pretty good early in the fight but he just got tagged. Howard is now 4-0 in the UFC and has won 7 straight fights.

Winner: John Howard by KO (Punch) R1 2:01

Light Heavyweight Fight- Jon Jones (9-1) vs. Brandon Vera (11-4)

Jones is coming off of a demolition of Matt Hamill where he got DQ'd due to downward elbows but he just blew out Hamill and destroyed him. The Hamill DQ loss is the only loss on Jones's record. This is the 2nd fight for Jones since he's joined Greg Jackson's camp. Jones has a background as a JUCO wrestling champion and comes at his opponent with a lot of different angles and does moves that aren't commonly used in MMA. He's a very unique talent. Brandon Vera is a Muay Thai fighter who also has a brown belt in bjj. Vera is a very good fighter but has honestly looked lackluster in the last year or two. Jones has a 6.5" reach advantage in this fight. I see this as a very even fight. I'm going to take Jones via decision as most of Vera's recent fights seem to have gone to decision if my memory is correct.

R1- Jones immediately got a take down on a judo type throw. Vera did a good job of kicking Jones off. Jones landed a knee and then got another take down. Vera hit an illegal up kick on Jones (it was illegal because Jones had a knee on the mat). Herb Dean takes a point away from Brandon Vera which could be huge with Vera's recent history of decisions. Dean restarts the fight with Jones in full guard. Vera tries another up kick but this time it brushed off Jones's shoulder. Rogan is commenting that Vera is looking for an arm bar. Jones hits some good Ground and Pound and Vera covers up and turns his back and Dean stops the fight. Jones landed some good shots and Vera looked like he got hurt bad. Good stoppage by Dean as Vera is still down on his knees with his hands on his face. In the replay Jones hit a crushing elbow strike to the side of Vera's face. Rogan says he may have done something to Vera's orbital socket. Great win for Jon Jones. Jon Jones is the real deal.

Winner: Jon Jones by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:19

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)

UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera Re-Cap

UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera
8/30/09
Rose Garden Arena
Portland, Or

Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera (10-3) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (19-9-1)

Krzysztof has looked very good since leaving his season of TUF. He beat Andre Gusmao in the first round of his last fight at UFC 98 and before that he defeated Brian Stann at UFC 97. Vera handled Mike Patt at UFC 96 in his last fight but lost a close fight previous to that to Keith Jardine in which both guys looked awful and neither deserved to win. Vera has a slight height and reach advantage.

R1- Vera hit some counter strikes early that backed Krzysztof off early. Lots of clinching in the first round as both guys struggled to get position on the other guy. Krzysztof got stuffed at the end of the round and Vera landed a couple of elbows. Close round that I give to Vera 10-9.

R2- Krzysztof had a tough time in this round catching up to Vera. Vera once again did a good job of countering Krzysztof’s attacks. Krzysztof’s only real offense was clinching and leaning on Vera. Krzysztof got a take down at the one minute mark but could hold it or do anything with it. Neither guy really did anything to win this round but Vera hit more strikes. I’ve got Vera up 20-18.

R3- Krzysztof clinched Vera and Vera nearly got a kimura but couldn’t lock it in. Vera landed some good knees in the clinch and then took down Krzysztof and landed some shots before Krzysztof got back to his feet. Krzysztof got really tired at the end of the round. Vera is going to take this fight 30-27 in my book. Not an exciting fight but Vera continues to improve at Light Heavyweight. Krzysztof was just outmatched in this fight.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards. Post-fight Vera wore an Affliction T-shirt. It’s been a while since one of those has been in the Octagon.

Winner: Brandon Vera by Decision (Unanimous)

Rashad Evans is in attendance and he gets a round of boos from the crowd.

Middleweight Fight- Demian Maia (11-0) vs. Nate Marquardt (31-8-2)

This fight is for a shot at Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Marquardt has been impressive lately in his fight at UFC 88 with Martin Kampmann and his victory over Wilson Gouveia. Maia is undefeated and has recently submitted Nate Quarry and Jason MacDonald. Both of these guys are easily Top 10 Middleweights in the World Rankings and borderline Top 5 guys right now. The winner of this fight is a Top 5 World Middleweight. Maia is a BJJ Black Belt who has been working on his striking with Wanderlei Silva and Marquardt is part of Greg Jackson’s training camp.

R1- Maia came in with a kick and Marquardt just blasted him with a big time right hand and Maia hit the mat like a ton of bricks. Maia was not out but the ref stopped the fight. I’m not crazy about the stoppage. Marquardt would have probably finished the fight but he didn’t jump right on Maia and I think that influenced the decision. Either way that was a great punch by Marquardt.

Looks like Marquardt has earned his re-match with Anderson Silva and honestly that match can happen ASAP as neither Marquardt nor Anderson Silva got hurt in the slightest in their fights.

Winner: Nate Marquardt by KO R1 0:21

Middleweight Fight- Chris Leben (18-5) vs. Jake Rosholt (5-1)

Chris Leben’s last fight was a loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 89. After that fight Leben served a suspension for failing a drug test. Rosholt got submitted quickly by Dan Miller in his last fight. This fight is in Leben’s hometown. Rosholt has a 2” height and 4” reach advantage.

R1- Not much action in the first couple of minutes. Rosholt jumped in and Leben got a take down that almost looked like Rosholt pulled guard. Leben gave up his position to try and get a good shot but he didn’t and both fighters got back to their feet. Rosholt got a take down with a minute left in the round and landed some strikes. Leben took some wild shots at the end of the round and landed some. Leben looked like he got hurt by some of those Rosholt strikes. I give the first round to Rosholt as he did more damage but it was close.

R2- Rosholt went for a kick but Leben countered with a left hand and it dropped Rosholt as he was caught in the air and Leben jumped on top. The ref stood the fight back up due to lack of action by Leben. Leben had a leg kick blocked but landed a good punch and then clinched Rosholt up against the cage. Rosholt broke free and landed a punch and got a take down. Leben looks really tired right now. Rosholt landed some good strikes towards the end of the round but let Leben up. I’ve got Leben taking this round although it was very close so it’s 19-19 going into the final round.

R3- Rosholt got an early take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Rosholt got an arm triangle and it looked like Leben was going to tap but he ended up passing out in the submission. Good showing by Rosholt. Leben had a tough time with his conditioning in this fight.

Winner: Jake Rosholt by Submission (Arm Triangle) R3 1:30

Heavyweight Fight- Tim Hague (10-1) vs. Todd Duffee (5-0)

This is a pre-show fight. The Heavyweight Division in UFC is all of the sudden pretty stacked. The winner of this fight will move up the ladder.

R1- Todd Duffee almost immediately knocked Hague down and then just destroyed him on the mat for a very quick finish. He hit a big left hand right off that bat when Hague left his chin wide open.

7 seconds is officially the fastest knockout in UFC history and Duffee got it in his UFC debut.

Winner: Todd Duffee by TKO (Punches) R1 0:07

UFC 103 is advertised. Rich Franklin vs Vitor Belfort. Mirko Crop Cop vs Junior dos Santos and Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick. September 19th!

Light Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine (14-6-1) vs. Thiago Silva (13-1)

Both of these fighters are coming off losses to two of the top Light Heavyweight fighters in the world. Jardine lost to Rampage Jackson and Silva got mauled by Lyoto Machida. Both fighters are borderline Top 10 World Light Heavyweights. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the Co-Main Event of the evening.

R1- Jardine hit a body kick but Silva took him down to the mat about 30 seconds into the fight but Jardine got back to his feet without taking any damage. Jardine came in with a flurry but Silva stuck Jardine with a punch and he went down. Silva landed some big shots on Jardine while he was on the mat and the ref jumped in and stopped the fight. Good stoppage as Jardine went limp after Silva hit two shots on the ground.

Winner: Thiago Silva by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:35

Middleweight Fight- Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson

This is our second re-show fight. Mike Goldberg drops the interesting trivia that Aaron Simpson and his wife competed together on American Gladiators.

R1- Both guys throw leather early into the fight. Simpson shot in and got a take down. Herman quickly got back to his feet but Simpson slammed him back down. Herman is trying some weird type of soccer style bicycle kick while Simpson is standing hovering above him. Herman hit a couple of up kicks and backed Simpson off. Herman got to his feet and hit a knee but Simpson tossed him to the mat. Very entertaining fight so far. Simpson hit a good combo and then hit a punch that floored Herman. Simpson jumped on top but Herman did a good job of defending. Herman got up but Simpson took him back down and got some Ground and Pound. Good first round that Simpson took 10-9. Herman limps back to his corner as it looks like his knee is hurt.

R2- Herman came out and tried a kick but Simpson grabbed it and took him down and Herman hurt his leg again and the ref stopped the fight. Herman showed a lot of heart in this fight and Simpson looks like he’s going to be a good fighter in the Middleweight division.

Winner: Aaron Simpson by TKO (Ref Stoppage) R2 0:17

Heavyweight Fight- Antonio Minotauro Nogueira (31-5-1) vs. Randy Couture (16-9)

The UFC tells us that Nogueira’s average fight length is 12:18, he lands 75% of strikes thrown when standing up and he leads Pride & UFC in Submission Attempts. The fans have this fight pegged at 77% in favor of Couture. Rogan says Big Nog had a meniscus tear and a bad staph infection going into the Frank Mir fight where he was hospitalized five weeks before the fight. Couture, fighting in his home town, gets a huge reaction at introductions.

Brock Lesnar is at this show for the fight and he gets some boos when he is shown.

R1- Both guys throw some leather early and Big Nog tries to pull guard but Randy avoids it. Big Nog hurt Randy about 2 minutes into the fight and followed him to the ground. Big Nog locked in a choke and Randy somehow was able to get out of the move and get back to his fight. Both guys exchange some leather a couple of times and pop the crowd. Both guys just slug it out at about the one minute mark left in the round with both guys landing good shots. Really good first round that I’ve got Big Nog taking 10-9.

R2- Big Nog hit some good strikes early and tried to pull guard on a guillotine but Randy slipped out and took Big Nog’s guard. Randy controlled but Big Nog flipped him over and mounted Randy. Big Nog went for an arm triangle and punched Randy to try to get a better position with the submission but Randy got free. Randy got back to his feet with one minute left in the round. Both guys throw leather with Randy backing down first. Randy rocked Big Nog with a big left hand but Big Nog took it and stayed on his feet. Randy hit him with a follow-up left jab but Big Nog absorbed it. Another good round. I’ve got Big Nog up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Randy started out the round with a good combo. Big Nog came next with a combo of his own and then dropped Randy and got on top and hit some hammer punches with Randy fighting through and hanging on. Big Nog passed guard and took side control. Randy was able to flip Big Nog over. Goldberg says Lesnar is next to them shouting instructions at Couture. Randy lands some elbows from the top. Big Nog reversed Randy right at the end of the fight. Really good fight. I’ve got Big Nog taking all three rounds and redeeming himself after the Frank Mir fight.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 in favor of Big Nog.

Winner: Antonio Minotauro Nogueira by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Fight- Evan Dunham vs. Marcus Aurelio

This is our third pre-show fight. Aurelio took this fight on short notice.

R1- Dunham got in a punch at the half way point of round one that knocked down Aurelio and Dunham followed him to the ground and got some good Ground and Pound but could not finish the fight. They went back to their feet and Dunham continued to win the round. Dunham took this round 10-9 and was really in control from the mid-point to the end of the round.

Dunham is an Xtreme Couture fighter and they show Shawn Thompkins giving him advice in the corner during the rest between rounds.

R2- Aurelio tries several times to get Dunham in the first minute and finally got him down after about a minute was gone from the round. Dunham was able to get back to his feet without taking much damage but Aurelio looks a lot more confident in this round. This was a fairly even round that will go to Aurelio due to the take down so it’s 19-19 going into the third and final round.

R3- Aurelio got a take down right off the bat in the final round. Aurelio got an Anaconda Choke submission attempt but Dunham was able to slip out. Dunham got a take down but did nothing with it as Aurelio quickly got back to his feet. The final minute of this fight sees Dunham trying to make this into a slugfest and Aurelio trying to take Dunham down. Really close round as they go toe to toe at the end of the round but I’ve got it for Aurelio due to the take down and submission attempt. So I’ve got Aurelio winning 29-28 in a very close fight.

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

30-27? Really?

Winner: Evan Dunham by Decision (Split)

UFC 96 3/7/09 "Jackson vs Jardine" Re-Cap

UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine

Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Jim Miller (13-1)

Maynard is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at UFC 90 and previous to that he won another unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. Jim Miller is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman at the Fight for the Troops show in December. Might we be in for a 3 round fight here? Both guys are undefeated in the UFC. Miller is on an 8 fight win streak and is 2-0 in the UFC. Randy Couture is in the corner of Maynard for this fight.

R1- Miller is the aggressor early but Maynard does a good job throwing some combos. Miller spends a long time trying to take Maynard down and Maynard does a real good job avoiding it. Miller’s face is bloodied up. Maynard landed a nice shot at the end of the round and takes the round 10-9.

R2- Maynard got in some good shots at the two minute mark of the round. Miller went for a take down and eventually pulled guard because he couldn’t get the take down but Maynard quickly slipped out. Maynard is controlling this fight right now and is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Maynard went for a take down for the first time in the fight and got a slam but then almost got caught in a leg lock but he slipped out. Miller tried to get a take down but got stuffed again and Maynard flipped it around and got some Ground and Pound. Maynard is going to win this decision 30-27.

Really solid showing by Maynard. He looked really good just didn’t show that Killer Instinct or finishing power. He’s had 3 straight decisions in which he’s controlled the fights. Would really like to see him step up in competition for his next fight as he’s definitely moving up the contenders list at this point.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards

Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0)

We are following up a decision fight with two wrestlers. Hamill beat Reese Andy his last time out but was really controlled by Rich Franklin in the fight previous to that. Munoz is a D1 Wrestling Champion who is currently training with Urijah Faber and was 2-0 in WEC. This will be the UFC debut for Munoz. Joe Rogan points out that Mo Lawal (Sengoku fighter) and Jason Lambert are in Munoz corner. Matt Hamill is the hometown guy in this fight and gets a good reaction. Matt Hamill has a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Hamill is the aggressor early and Munoz looks like he’s in a little bit of UFC debut jitters. Munoz went for a take down and didn’t get it but seems to be loosening up a little bit and starts to throw a lot more strikes and be more aggressive. Hamill lands some good shots up against the cage. Out of nowhere Hamill nailed a right high kick and Munoz just hit the mat. What a fantastic knock out kick from Hamill! Munoz had his hands down and he just got rocked.

Winner: Matt Hamill by KO (High Kick) R1 3:53

Frank Mir is up next with Mike Goldberg. Mir has just had knee surgery and they will be pushing his fight with Brock Lesnar back a few weeks. Thus, Rashad Evans will step in and Main Event the show that Lesnar/Mir was supposed to on in May on UFC 98 in Las Vegas. If Rampage wins tonight then Rampage fights Rashad. If Jardine wins then Rashad will fight Lyoto Machida. So Rampage could be Main Eventing two out of the next three UFC shows.

Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)

Pete Sell is trained by Matt Serra and he will be stepping down to Welterweight for the second time in this fight. He beat Josh Burkman in his Welterweight debut. Sell is a jiu jitsu black belt. Brown trains with Rich Franklin. Brown subbed Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 and lost a close split decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Despite the win/loss records these guys bring into the cage, this should be a pretty exciting fight.

R1- Brown is landing some good strikes early and floors Brown and the ref steps in front of Brown to break up the fight and stops Brown from jumping on Sell for some Ground and Pound but then lets the fight continue. HUGE referee error! Mat Brown then hits some knees and gets Sell down again and is nailing him with some punches. Brown is hitting some big elbows and knees on the cage and has Sell peddling back wards. Sell drops to the ground to tell Brown to come down to where he can dictate the fight but Brown steps in and lands a couple of punches and the ref stops the fight. Horrible referring by Yves Lavigne in this fight. Great showing by Matt Brown.

Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32

Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day

This is a fight from the pre-show card. Kendall is in big need of a win. BJ Penn is in Grove’s corner.

R1- Kendall hit a big right hand after a pretty even fight and then jumped on top for the stoppage. Good win for Grove as he may have needed it to stay in the UFC.

Winner: Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32

Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0)

This is the fight that I am most looking forward to on this card as the winner of this fight has the ability to move up into the upper echelon of UFC Heavyweights like Mir, Lesnar, Big Nog and Couture. The winner of this fight should get a big name for their next fight (or a match-up against a guy like Cain Velasquez or Cheick Kongo). Carwin comes out to Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.” Nice choice for an MMA entrance theme in my opinion. Not to be outdone Gonzaga comes out to Danzig’s “Mother.” Looks like we are in for a showdown of MMA entrance themes! Neither guy is known to go deep into a fight. Gonzaga is a BJJ World Champion. Carwin has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Carwin pushed forward early but Gonzaga hit some nice punches. Gonzaga got him taken down within the first minute of the fight but Carwin got back to his feet. Carwin caught Gonzaga with a punch and Gonzaga went down and crumpled against the cage. Carwin just hit a big right hand and it connected fully.

Really good statement made tonight by Carwin as he took some early punishment from Gonzaga and escaped a take down to come back and knock out Gonzaga in less than two minutes.

Winner: Shane Carwin by KO R1 1:09

Welterweight Fight- Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan

This is our second pre-show fight of the night. Brought to you by Shane Carwin, Matt Hamill and Matt Brown.

R1- McCrory gets a quick take down and passed the guard of Madigan within the first minute of the fight. McCrory is pushed back to full guard but gets in some Ground and Pound punches. McCrory passes again and mounts Madigan. McCrory almost got caught in a leg lock but got back into position and took out Madigan with some Ground and Pound. Madigan really didn’t provide a lot of resistance for McCrory in this fight. This was pretty much all McCrory.

Winner: Tamdan McCrory by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35

Post-Fight McCrory drops some language and complains that he didn’t choose his music. He calls out Dana White for choosing his music! Says he wanted to come out to “Thunder Horse” cause he came out here on his “f’n Thunder Horse and handled business.” Best post-fight interview ever.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)

If Rampage wins then he goes on to fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson is currently my #3 ranked Light Heavyweight in the world and is 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has victories over Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson and a loss to Forrest Griffin in a close decision. I’ve got Jardine ranked #9 as he is also 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has wins over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera and got demolished by Wanderlei Silva. I think Jardine is going to be a tough match-up for Rampage kind of like Forrest was. Rampage is in a better camp now then he was for the Forrest fight so it will be interesting to see how this camp makes his game plan for an unorthodox guy like Jardine.

UFC pulls out the statistical analysis for this fight (I love this stuff). Rampage lands 81% of his clinch strikes and is successful on 68% of his clinch take downs. Jardine lands 86% of his leg kicks and 92% of his body shots. Jardine has a 3” reach advantage.

Rashad Evans joins Mike and Joe in the broadcast booth for this fight. Rashad will fight Rampage if Rampage wins but is also a training partner of Jardine.

R1- The clinched early and got broken up by the ref. Jardine is employing a stick and move style early into the fight. They tied up against the cage again. Rampage hit a nice combo at the one minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Jardine towards the end of the round. A fairly close round that I give to Rampage 10-9. Rampage is clearly the aggressor and Jardine is being somewhat effective and is sticking and moving but is also getting chased around the ring a lot by Rampage.

R2- Rampage hit a big left hand on Jardine about 2 minutes into the round and then jumped on top to try and finish but Jardine weathered the storm and got back to his feet and clinched Rampage. Rampage got a take down but Jardine again quickly got up and clinched Rampage. Jardine hit Rampage with a low blow and Rampage wanted to continue on and shortly thereafter Jardine got in a good combo and had Rampage wobbly up against the cage but Rampage survived and didn’t go down and looked to gather his wits pretty quickly. Good round with both guys getting in some good shots. I’ve got Rampage up 20-18 so far after two rounds but Cecil Peoples is judging so these fighters will want to finish this fight before it gets to the judges score cards.

R3- Jackson got a take down shortly after the one minute mark of the round but couldn’t hold Jardine down. Pretty even stand up this round. Jardine goes for a take down but is not able to get it. One minute left in the fight and the ref breaks a clinch. Rampage chases Jardine down and lands some good shots but Jardine stays on his feet and escapes. Rampage levels Jardine with a left hand right before the buzzer and Jardine clutches Rampage’s leg. Rampage takes this round and he’s got this fight 30-27 on my score card. A good fight that was clearly won by Rampage although Rampage could not finish Jardine.

Judges score cards have the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Rampage (and of course Cecil Peoples comes up with the same score that I did after I complained about his judging).

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

Post-fight they have Rashad and Rampage face to face in each others face with both guys talking trash.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt

We get another pre-show fight. Brandon Vera is looking to bounce back with this fight. He’s coming off of a close decision loss at UFC 89 to Keith Jardine in which neither guy really did enough to truly say that they won the fight as both guys put on a lackluster performance.

R1- Vera starts the fight off aggressively. Vera looks like he’s physically starting to adjust better to the Light Heavyweight weight. Vera is hitting some good leg kicks. Patt barely missed a high leg kick with a minute and a half left in the round. Vera looked really good in round one and clearly took it 10-9.

R2- Vera is just destroying Patt with leg kicks and literally chops him down to the ground until the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Vera as he just took out Patt with leg kicks in this fight. Maybe this will get Vera going as he looked really good and looks like he is adjusting to the new weight finally.

Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (Leg Kicks) R2 1:27

Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz

R1- Boetsch really comes at Brilz early and lands some strikes. Brilz got a take down at around the one and a half minute mark but Boetsch got back up when Brilz tried to pass. Pretty decent and even first round. Rogan points out that Jason Brilz corner forgot a stool and he had to stand up during the break between rounds.

R2- Brilz got a take down about one minute into the round and passes guard to side control. Brilz is really controlling the fight on the ground in this round. Brilz definitely takes this round so it’s probably 19-19 but Round One could have gone either way.

R3- Brilz got Boetsch to the mat at the half way mark of the round. Brilz controls this round and bloodies up Boetsch a little bit towards the end of the round. Brilz is going to win this fight by Decision.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 all for Brilz

Winner: Jason Brilz by Decision (Unanimous)


Overall, this was a solid show. It ended up being much stronger than it looked on paper. Rampage/Jardine ended up being a good solid fight and we had great showings by Hamill, Brown, and Carwin. Gray Maynard, Kendall Grove and Brandon Vera also put on good performances.

UFC 89 "Bisping vs Leben" Re-Cap

UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben

Live from the UK on Spike TV! Brandon Vera takes on Keith Jardine in a Light Heavyweight Fight. Michael Bisping accepts his biggest challenge since stepping down in weight to Middleweight as he fights Chris Leben. Marcus Davis, Paul Kelly, Chris Lytle, Paul Taylor, Luiz Cane and Sokoudjou will also be fighting tonight. We should see some pretty exciting fights based on the line-up.

Welterweight Fight- Paul Kelly (8-0) vs. Marcus Davis (19-5)

R1- Davis lays in wait early and snaps off some jabs when Kelly comes in to strike. Davis hit a good body kick and then another after a couple of low kicks. Davis sweeps in and gets a take down with one and a half minutes. Davis is in half guard and hits a couple of elbows and then passes guard to take side control but Kelly spins out. Kelly has a cut near his right ear. Davis takes round one by a score of 10-9. Not a dominant round but Davis got in more strikes and got a take down.

R2- Kelly is throwing a lot of punches in this round but Davis is avoiding them. Goldberg and Rogan have a real interesting conversation about how Davis avoids the punches but does so in a way that he barely avoids them so he can stay in position to throw a counter punch and he doesn’t lose position so that he will have to work back to get that position again. Kelly gets a take down two minutes into the round. Marcus Davis grabs a guillotine and finishes Paul Kelly. Great finish by Davis as Davis looked really good in this fight after a poor showing last time out against Mike Swick.

Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:16

Welterweight Fight- Paul Taylor (9-3-1) vs. Chris Lytle (35-16-4)

This one should be a slugfest. Lytle was last seen bleeding all over the Octagon in a loss to Josh Koscheck. Taylor has lost to both of the fighters in the previous fight (Kelly and Davis).

R1- They mix it up immediately. Both guys just nailing each other with Lytle landing some nice shots. Lytle hit a judo throw but Taylor got up immediately. Lots of clinching towards the middle and end of the round. First round went to Lytle as he got in more offense and dictated where the fight went. Lytle is up 10-9 after one round.

R2- They start this round just like they did the last one as both guys are just swinging for the fences. Lytle backs him up against the cage and then takes him down one minute into the round but Taylor sprawls out. Lytle stays with it and gets back to an advantage. Lytle goes for a guillotine but can’t clamp it in and Taylor gets back to his feet. Taylor gets a brief take down but Lytle gets right back to his feet. Lytle seems to be tiring out and Taylor nips him with a low blow. Another close round but Lytle again controlled the fight and landed better shots. Lytle is up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- They stand up at the beginning of the round and Lytle begins to pick Taylor apart with shots and pushes him against the cage. Taylor trying to swing back and they clinch. Lytle is starting to tire and Taylor is making Lytle chase him and then hurting him with leg kicks. Lytle clinches him against the cage. Lytle landed some good shots and then slipped but got another clinch and then took Taylor down. Taylor gets back to his feet with less than a minute left. Taylor is hitting some good shots here to finish the round but Lytle holds on. Good fight. Taylor takes this round but Lytle takes the fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Chris Lytle.

Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)

Post-fight Chris Lytle says that he would like to fight Marcus Davis.

Next up, Joe Rogan interviews Anderson Silva about his Middleweight Title fight against Patrick Cote. The fight is next week on October 25th.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Sokoudjou (5-2) vs. Luiz Cane (9-1)

R1- Soko hits some strikes early. Soko continues to control the fight early with kicks and punches. Cane blocking well but he’s definitely being hit with some damage. Soko is doing a good job mixing up his strikes and going low, middle and high. Soko slows down towards the end of the round and Cane starts to get in some offense. First round goes to Sokoudjou but he has to be concerned as he seemed to tire towards the end of the round. Soko up 10-9 after the first round.

R2- Cane hits a low blow to start off the round. Not a lot of action in this round as Cane jabs at Soko. Soko throws some body kicks but they don’t back Cane off. Cane gets some shots in against the cage. Soko looks really tired and Cane hits a nice knee. Cane hits another knee and then pounds Soko on the ground with a bunch of strikes until the ref steps in to stop the fight. Good showing by Cane as he just outlasted Sokoudjou. Soko looked great for about two minutes but came in without the conditioning needed to win a MMA fight.

Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (strikes) R2 4:15

Post-match Joe Rogan interviews Middleweight Contender Patrick Cote.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine (13-5-1) vs. Brandon Vera (9-2)

This is an interesting fight as both guys are coming off of disappointing fights. Jardine got destroyed by Wanderlei Silva and Vera had a lackluster win against Reece Andy. This is the first fight that they show the ring entrances for. Brandon Vera comes out to The Blackeyed Peas. This should be a pretty good fight.

R1- Jardine comes in quick and gets a strike and then a take down. Vera hits some elbows in the area of the back of the head and Jardine is cut. Vera is going for Jardine’s arm as Jardine is bleeding all over Vera. Vera hit another big elbow onto the top of Jardine’s head. Jardine posture’s up and lands some good, strong elbows to Vera. The ref stand the fight up with two minutes remaining in the first round. Vera hits a body kick. Vera catches Jardine with a punch as he came in and he looked wobbled but then Jardine caught Vera. Both guys back to their feet and Jardine went for a take down and landed some strikes against the cage and Vera looked to be in a bit of trouble but got back to his feet and then the bell rang. Round One goes to Jardine as he got the take down and delivered some good elbows and finished strong. Jardine 10-9 but anybody’s fight going into round two.

R2- Jardine went for a take down but was denied by Vera. Vera went for a kick and Vera caught it and dumped Jardine and jumped on top of him but Jardine but he got up pretty quickly. Vera connected with a couple of body kicks. Jardine charged in towards the end of the round twice but didn’t really hit anything of notice. Not a lot of action in this round. I’ll give it to Vera but not a convincing round. 19-19 after two rounds. Joe and Mike speculated on Jardine sustaining a possible injury early in round two but weren’t definitive about it.

R3- Vera hits a kick and punch early in the round. They are trading some light strikes throughout the early part of the round. Vera hit a good straight left hand. Jardine went for a take down but Vera stopped it and they clinched against the cage. Jardine with some dirty boxing but then they separate. One and a half minutes remain. Jardine came out and closed strong. Really close fight. Nobody really won this fight. I’ve got to go with Jardine, just barely over Vera but like I said earlier I don’t think anybody clearly won this fight.

Scorecards: 29-28 Vera, 29-28 Jardine and 29-28 Jardine.

Winner: Keith Jardine by Decision (Split)

Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (17-1) vs. Chris Leben (18-4)

Chris Leben comes out to a song that sounds like it’s from The Sex Pistols. Bisping comes out to a Sports Jock “Woo Hoo” anthem song, can’t remember who sings it but it’s one of those songs that on all the “Jock Rock” CDs. The hometown guy, Bisping, gets a strong reaction from the crowd. Bisping has a 3” height advantage and a 5” reach advantage. Bisping was voted the 12th most popular sports figure in the UK by BBC.

R1- Leben hitting some leg kicks early and is controlling where the fight goes. Leben catches a Bisping kick and gets some shots in on him. Bisping caught a Leben kick and delivered a nice high kick. Bisping is starting to land some shots. Bisping lands some more shots and then Leben clinches him and then they release. Leben is bleeding from the nose but he continues to push forward. Bisping hit a good right hand. Leben is starting to swing for the fences. Leben went for a swing and Bisping ducked and as the bell rang he was in the midst of a take down. Leben controlled this round early and Bisping took it late. I’ve got Bisping taking round one 10-9. Good opening round.

R2- Leben slipped early in the round and then hit Bisping with a left hook. Bisping is doing a good job in this round of avoiding Leben’s strikes and counter punching. Leben starts pushing forward towards the end of the round and Bisping is backing away from him. Leben hit a big left toward the end of the round. This was a close round. I think Bisping lost some points in the round towards then end by somewhat running away from Leben. This was close, I’ll give it to Bisping. 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Leben hits a left body kick and then a left hand to start the round. Bisping went for a kick and it was stopped but Leben could not score any damage. Leben hits a combo that sends Bisping back into the fence but can’t follow up. Leben got a take down with one minute and 45 seconds left in the round. Leben is busted open. Bisping gets back to his feet. Bisping runs away from Leben for the last 20 seconds of the fight and Leben mocks him. Leben definitely took this round. This was much like the Jardine/Vera fight in that I don’t think anybody really “won” the fight. Leben had a lot more damage on his face. Bisping clearly took round one, Leben clearly took round three. I think Bisping barely took round 2. So I’ve got Bisping winning a close decision 29-28.

Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 Bisping. Wow, I’m not sure how Bisping won that last round on these score cards.

Winner: Michael Bisping by Decision (Unanimous)

Decent show with the under card out shining the co-Main Events. Both Bisping/Leben and Jardine/Vera were decent fights but a little underwhelming as both ended in decisions without someone really coming out of the fight as a clear winner.

UFC Unleashed 7/19 Re-Cap

UFC Unleashed 7/19 Re-Cap

This was a double shot of UFC Unleashed.

Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (8-0) vs. Frankie Edgar (5-0)- UFC 67- 2/3/07

This was on the 7/13 episode of UFC Wired.

This is Edgar’s UFC debut. Both guys are undefeated coming into this fight.

R1- Edgar gets the first take down but Tyson gets a guillotine but Edgar gets out of it. Tyson picks him up and slams him and they sprawl. The stand up is pretty even in this round. Edgar gets another take down and is in Griffin’s guard. Edgar lands some good shots. Edgar 10-9 in a good first round.

R2- Griffin lands a really nice uppercut early in the round. Edgar gets a take down with about 2 minutes left after Griffin had been winning the round. Back on their feet and Griffin knocks Edgar down with a leg kick and then goes for another but Edgar takes him down. They sprawl and Tyson gets his back but Edgar transitions into a mount. This was a really close round. Edgar finished it really well and Griffin had trouble getting back to his corner and I think that and the take downs ultimately won the round for Edgar. I’ve got Edgar 20-18 in a really close fight so far.

R3- They are pretty even at the stand up at the beginning of the round. Edgar gets some knees and Griffin looks like he complains about a low blow but the ref tells him to fight on. Edgar starts to control the fight and has Griffin in the corner and is hitting him with punches. Edgar gets a take down. Edgar gets some more punches in as they stand up. Edgar gets another take down and is controlling this round. Edgar with more punches as they stand up and then gets another take down. Griffin reverses into a knee bar and Edgar looks like he’s going to hold on for the rest of the fight. Really good fight. Edgar really dominated this round with Griffin almost getting a submission at the end. Really good fight, I’ve got Edgar winning 30-27, but a really close 30-27.

Judges score the fight: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Edgar.

Winner: Frankie Edgar by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Michael Bisping (12-0) vs. Eric Schafer (9-1-2)- UFC 66- 12/30/06

Looks like this is pre Bisping/Evans.

R1- First part of the fight is Bisping trying to strike and Schafer trying to take him down. Schafer got a good take down about a minute and a half into the round. Schafer went for Bisping's back and Bisping dropped him on his head but Schafer held on and remained at an advantage. They got back to their feet and Bisping hit a big kick and then grabbed a guillotine but lost it quickly. Bisping hit a couple of nice punches but Schafer got another take down. Bisping turns him over and hit some nice punches. Bisping is starting to lay into Schafer and the ref stops the fight.

Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (strikes) 4:24

Welterweight Fight- Thiago Alves (13-2) vs. Spencer Fisher (15-1)- UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2- 10/3/05

This should be a good fight. It’s interesting seeing Fisher fight at Welterweight.

R1- Both guys throwing early and providing some exciting action. Fisher gets an early take down. Fisher got an ankle lock on Alves but Alves flips over and gets in half guard. Alves controls the round but Fisher does almost get a couple submissions. Alves hits an illegal knee right at the end of the round and Herb Dean takes a point away from him. Round would have gone to Alves 10-9, instead it’s 9-9.

R2- Alves gets a take down fairly quickly into the round. Alves hits some really nice elbows. Fisher got back to his feet and landed a couple of punches. Alves got another take down with one minute left in the round. Alves lands some good punches in full guard. Fisher gets a triangle with 30 seconds left and Alves taps.

Wow, what a surprising finish. I was expecting Alves to take this one but Fisher got the triangle out of nowhere and won the fight.

Winner: Spencer Fisher by Submission (Triangle)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (22-6) vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral (27-6)- UFC 68- 3/3/07

This was on the 6/21 UFC Wired show.

R1- Sobral opens up with some early strikes and takes Lambert down quickly. Sobral controls the fight on the ground. Sobral briefly had a Rear Naked Choke but Lambert got out of it. Lambert got back to his feet and got in some nice shots and took Sobral down and did some Ground and Pound to end the round.

R2- Sobral hits some early knees but Lambert gets a take down. Sobral gets back to his feet but gets take down again. The ref stands them up and almost immediately Lambert nails Sobral and just floors him and ends the fight.

Winner: Jason Lambert by KO R2 3:36

Light Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine (12-3-1) vs. Houston Alexander (6-1)- UFC 71- 5/26/07

This was on the UFC Wired 4/26 Show.

This is Alexander’s UFC debut and they put Jardine over as being heavily favored coming off of his win against Forrest Griffin.

R1- Jardine starts off with some shots and gets Alexander down. He charges but Alexander catches him and just swarms on him laying down a ton of punches and a knee and more punches and Jardine just crumbles. Alexander takes time to scream at him after he’s knocked out. Just a wild one minute fight. Alexander landed a ton of brutal shots.

Winner: Houston Alexander by KO R1 0:41

Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera (5-0) vs. Justin Eilers (9-4-1- UFC 57- 2/4/06

R1- They clinch for about a minute until the ref separates them. Vera starts to try some kicks and hits one and Eilers does what is almost a Flair flop and on the way down Vera hits him with a knee for the KO.

Winner: Brandon Vera KO (Knee Strike) R1 1:25

Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera (6-0) vs. Assuerio Silva (30-3)- UFC 60- 5/27/06

R1- Vera slipped and went down about 2 minutes into the fight but quickly got back to his feet. Vera got a guillotine, got slammed but held on and Silva tapped.

Winner: Brandon Vera by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:39

Heavyweight Fight- Frank Mir (9-2) vs. Brandon Vera (7-0)

R1- Vera hit a nice left and then came back with another good punch that rocked Mir a little bit 30 seconds into the round. Vera then hit a big knee and followed with a smaller knee blow. Vera took half guard and Mir’s nose is bleeding. Vera with some nice right hands and the ref steps in and stops the fight. Impressive showing by Vera.

Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (strikes) R1 1:09

UFC 85 "Bedlam" Re-Cap/Thoughts

UFC 85: "Bedlam"
O2 Arena, London, England

Heavyweight Fight- Fabrico Werdum (10-3-1) vs. Brandon Vera (8-1)

The Heavyweight division is far and away UFC's weakest division right now so the winner of this match is gonna rise to right near the top of the division. This looks like it has the potential to be a good fight.

R1- A lot of clinching early. Werdum gets in a shot or two. Werdum again comes at Vera and hits a couple of shots and then they clinch. Vera hits a knee or two. Werdum takes him down. Werdum getting in some offense in Vera's guard. Vera kicks him off and then fights off another take down. Vera caught Werdum with a left hook but Werdum avoided further damage and they clinch against the cage. Werdum gets another take down. Werdum gets in the mount position and Vera is just covering up and the ref stops it. Brandon Vera disputes the stoppage as he was taking some shots but he popped right back up after the finish. Joe Rogan says the finish was pre-mature. I have to agree that this was a bad stoppage. Werdum may have gone on and won in about 15 or 20 seconds but the stoppage looked pre-mature as Vera just popped right back up at the finish.

Winner: Fabrico Werdum by TKO R1 4:40

Post-Match Vera basically says "there was only 15 seconds left in the round. Let me take my ass whipping and let's go to Round 2".

Just a quick note that the ref here, Dan Miragliotta, is also the guy who didn't stop the Kimbo fight when James Thompson had Kimbo and was just destroying him up against the cage and then on the other end stopped the Thompson/Kimbo fight when Thompson was ahead on the card but took a couple of shots and had his ear busted open. Stopping a fight is a tough call but it's odd that the same game had had two controversial stoppages within what I think is 8 days.

Guy Ritchie is in the house.

Middleweight Fight- Nate Marquardt (29-7-2) vs. Thales Leites (12-1)

I've never seen Leites fight before. Marquardt has only one loss in the UFC and it was to Anderson Silva. Leites has a 4" reach advantage.

R1- Leites gets a couple of shots in near the cage about a minute in. Leites gets in a shot on the cage and then Nate comes after him and Leites just sticks Nate with a shot and he slumps to the mat. Leites all over Nate trying to finish him. Leites has a mount on Nate but Nate works him back to half guard. Nate gets up and looks to be recovered. Leites hits him with a jab. Nate hits a shot and then they clinch against the cage. Nate with a combo on Leites and Leites looks like he's hurt but he survives. Pretty even round with Nate finishing strong but Leites got the big shot and take down and he wins the round 10-9. Still anybody's fight.

R2- Nate comes out almost immediately with a right hand but then has to retreat quickly as Leites comes after him. Nate hits a nice combo and then rushes Leites and takes him down and nails him with an ILLEGAL knee to the face when Leites was down. Herb Dean calls for the doctor. Doctor says he's okay and Dean is going to give the fighter time to recover. Herb Dean takes a point away from Nate and they restart. Nate takes Leites down and Dean warns him about shots to the back of the head. Nate is trying to make up that point. Leites is busted open. Nate hitting some elbows. Nate dominating at this point. Joe Rogan says he thinks Leites nose is broken. Nate slips and gets mounted late in the round and the bell rings with Leites on top. Nate dominated this round but also lost a point due to the illegal knee. I've got the fight Leites 19 Nate 18 so far.

R3- They exchange so decent shots early in the round and Nate takes Leites down. Leites gets a submission attempt and Nate slips out. Ref stops the fight again and takes another point away from Nate, this time for a shot to the back of the head. With two points being taken away Nate has to finish in this fight or he will lose. Rogan says he thinks the shot was to the side of the head and it was a mistake. They re-start and Nate hits a knee. Both guys are really tired with about 30 seconds left. Nate has dominated this fight since the illegal knee. Nate picks up Leites and basically pile drives him right near the end of the fight. Nate wins the final two rounds but since he lost a point in both of them then they are scored 9-9.

I've got this one Leites 28 Nate 27 with the 2 points deducted from Nate. Judges score the fight 28-27 Leites, 28-27 Nate, and 28-27 Leites.

Winner: Thales Leites by Decision (Split)

Interesting how both of the first fights have been controversial due to referee decisions.

Chuck Liddell is at the show.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (23-7) vs. Luiz Cane (8-1-1)

This is from the pre-show.

R1- Cane landed some shots when they clinched and then when Lambert was coming at him Cane nailed him. Lambert slumped down when Cane caught him again. Lambert trying to stay in this fight but seems to be getting overwhelmed and he gets caught again and it's called. Lambert just left himself open too much when he was going for strikes and paid the price.

Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (Strikes) R1

Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (19-4) vs. Mike Swick (11-2)

I've been really impressed with what I've seen from Marcus Davis. Davis is on an 11 fight win streak. Swick has a large 7" reach advantage. Davis is former pro boxer turned MMA fighter. Fans are solidly behind Davis in this fight.

R1- Swick trying some kicks early and misses a knee. Davis connecting on more stuff early but nothing really damaging. They tie up and Davis gets a take down but can't control it and then Swick takes Davis down. Swick is getting in some good shots and has Davis pinned against the cage. Swick with some elbows. Davis is busted open, announcers think it's mostly old scar tissue. Swick wins this round as he took Davis down and Davis could not get back to his feet. Swick 10 Davis 9.

R2- Swick went for a kick and got popped with a right hand. Swick retaliates with akick and then hits a knee and floors Davis and is now down on top fo Davis in his guard. Swick looks surprisingly good tonight. They get back to their feet. Davis hits some combos up against the cage. Davis hitting some uppercuts and shots while they clinch and they are exchanging knees. Davis takes Swick down. Davis gets up but Swick takes him right down and has side control but not enough time to do anything with it. Swick control the beginning of this round, Davis the middle and Swick the end. Davis showed some life this round but I think Swick took this round although Davis may have done more damage so he could have gotten the nod in this round.

R3- They are exchanging shots throughout the first minute. Yamasaki deducts a point from Mike Swick for holding the fence- he had previously been warned. This could be huge if Davis were to win this round. Swick sees this and gets real aggressive and takes Davis down and is hitting him with shots. Davis is busted open. I think Swick takes this round as well. After the point deducted I've got Swick 29-27. Swick was really impressive here and Davis just never got going. Judges score the contest 29-27.

Winner: Mike Swick by Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (16-1) vs. Jason Day (17-5)

This is announced as the "Co-Main Event". Bisping gets a big reaction, of course he's from England.

R1- Bisping gets Day to the ground about a minute in and a half in and lands some really good shots. Day is holding his head. Bisping continues to get some shots in on Day. Day gets back to his feet but gets taken down again. Bisping has his back and is hitting him with lots of punches. The ref finally steps in and stops the fight (Miragliotta's got to be real gun shy by now but this was a perfect stoppage). Bisping was very impressive in this fight and just dominated.

Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (strikes)

Catchweight Fight- Matt Hughes (43-6) vs. Thiago Alves (20-4)

Alves did not make weight so they are fighting this as a "catchweight" fight. Hughes has a 3" reach advantage. Alves is only 24 years old.

R1- Thiago denies Hughes an early take down. Hughes goes for another one but it gets stuffed. Hughes pulls guard on Thiago. Thiago lands a couple of nice punches and then they stand up. Thiago hits a knee but Hughes is able to take Thiago down. Matt not really doing any damage to Thiago and Thiago gets up to his feet. Thiago takes Hughes down after a sprawl and Thiago lands some nice punches. Hughes controlled a lot of the middle portion of this round but Thiago did more damage. Alves 10 Hughes 9.

R2- Thiago hits a knee early and he's on top on the mat. Hughes is busted open. Alves hits Hughes with a flying knee and Hughes is a bloody mess and slumps to the mat. Herb Dean steps in to stop this fight and it's over. Alves looked really impressive here. When Hughes ate that knee Hughes felt right on his knee.

Winner: Thiago Alves by TKO (Knee Strike) R2 1:02

Post-match Matt Hughes says he's got at least one fight left in him and that's with Matt Serra.


Some more prelim fights:

Lightweight Fight- Matt Wiman vs. Thiago Tavares

R1- Wiman charges at Tavares throwing punches but Tavares grabs him in a guillotine and then grabs him in a triangle type move and then hits Wiman with a couple of upkicks. Wiman does a roll through into a leg lock but Tavares escapes. Tavares now with a heel hook but Wiman escapes. Really good fight so far and only two minutes in. Tavares on top and hitting some punches. Wiman catches him in a triangle but Tavares escapes and throws some punches. Good fight so far.

R2- Both guys come out swining in the second round and Tavares pops Wiman right in the face but Wiman takes it and comes back. Really good stuff early in this round. Wiman connects with a good punch. Tavares gets in a kick but then gets taken down. Wiman takes his back. Wiman peppers Tavares with some shots on the cage and Tavares just slumps to the mat and this one is over. Really good fight, great finish by Wiman.

Winner: Matt Wiman KO R2 1:57

Middleweight Fight- Jorge Rivera (15-6) vs. Martin Kampmann (12-1)

R1- Kampmann gets Rivera down and is in his guard about a minute in. Kampmann picks him up and slams him down on his back. Rivera went for an armbar but missed. Kampmann attempts to take the back of Rivera. Kampmann now with a guillotine and Rivera submits. Good showing by Kampmann as he dominated this one.

Winner: Martin Kampmann by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:44

Overall Thoughts:
This was a good show that started out with 2 controversial finishes. Michael Bisping and Mike Swick really impressed me with their showings tonight. Thiago Alves looked great but he didn't make weight so he has that looming over him. The UFC doesn't seem to care too much though as he was one of the fighters that was awarded a bonus for his performance.