UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez
Acer Arena
Sydney, Australia
2/20/2010
This is the debut of the UFC in Australia and we get a big Heavyweight Title Contender fight when Antonio Minotauro Nogueira takes on up and comer Cain Velasquez. There is also a big Middlweight fight with Wanderlei Silva taking on Michael Bisping.
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (25-7-2) vs. Anthony Perosh (10-5)
Perosh is fighting in his home country but took this fight on short notice. Mirko has been a real disappointment since he came back to the UFC but he still should be able to win a fight when his opponent is an unknown fighting on short notice. Perosh comes out to some Motley Crue “Kick Start My Heart” and a big ovation. Mirko counters with some “Wild Boys” from Duran Duran. We are about to have an 80s hair band throw down! This could get crazy. Perosh is only 216 pounds so he is outweighed by around 20 pounds in this fight.
R1- Cro Cop is the aggressor early. Perosh tried for a take down but Cro Cop did a good just denying him. Cro Cop hit a good left that hurt Perosh but he couldn’t follow up. Perosh has a bloody nose. Cro Cop hit Perosh with another good left. Cro Cop is finding a home for the left whenever he wants it. Cro Cop 10-9.
R2- This round consisted of Perosh continually going for take downs and getting stuffed. Cro Cop landed a big elbow from full guard that busted open Perosh. Cro Cop 20-18 after two rounds.
The doctor’s stop the fight after the second round due to the cut over Perosh’s eye. Perosh tried to hang in there he just didn’t seem like he was a UFC caliber Heavyweight at this point of his career. Good win by Cro Cop as he was dominant. I don’t think he’s as good as the majority of UFC Heavyweights but with this win he’s still a marketable fighter for them at this point of his career. They should try to put him against another young guy or a big name for his next fight.
Winner: Mirko Cro Cop by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) R2 5:00
Randy Couture is at the show and is sitting next to a blonde with large cleavage. Rashad Evans is in the crowd cheering on Jardine. Can’t wait to see him and Rampage hook it up since their fight is back on.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine (14-7-1) vs. Ryan Bader (11-0)
R1- Bader got a big take down two minutes into the round. Jardine has a cut on the top of his head. Bader got some shots in but nothing big and the ref stood them up with thirty seconds left in the round. Bader 10-9.
R2- Jardine stuffed three Bader take downs and Bader looks like he’s starting to wear down a little bit. Bader hit a kick towards the end of the round that caught Jardine off balanced and briefly knocked him down and then Bader got a brief take down. Jardine won the majority of this round except the last thirty seconds and I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Bader caught Jardine coming in with a jab at the two minute mark and then followed it up with a flying knee and then a blow that knocked Jardine into the fence on the floor and the ref stopped the fight. Bader hit a big left against the cage and Jardine’s legs gave out and he slumped to the mat. Good stoppage. Really good win by Bader against a quality opponent in Jardine.
Winner: Ryan Bader by TKO (Strikes) R3 2:10
Welterweight Fight- Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
This is from the pre-show.
R1- Foster got a quick take down but couldn’t keep Lytle down. Foster hit a spinning heel kick to the head but it was mostly blocked. Lytle grabbed a rolling knee bar and Foster tapped out. Really nice move by Lytle as Foster looked like he was winning the fight when Lytle went for that move.
Winner: Chris Lytle by Submission (Knee Bar) R1 1:41
Lightweight Fight- Joe Stevenson (36-10) vs. George Sotiropoulos (11-2)
Sotiropoulos is fighting in his home country so he should have a big home field advantage in this fight. Sotiropoulos comes out to “Iron Man” but doesn’t have any spiked shoulder pads on. Stevenson comes out to some really crappy electronica music that he seems to enjoy. Sotiropoulos is on a 5 fight win streak.
R1- George went for a single but Joe blocked it and then looked like he pulled guard. Joe briefly got an arm triangle from the bottom but couldn’t hold it. George mounted and then took Joe’s back and then took north/south position and went for an arm bar but couldn’t lock it in. George really dominated positioning in the first round but really didn’t inflict much damage. George 10-9. Fans chanted during the break between rounds and continued chanting into the second round.
R2- George hit a strike and Joe briefly went down to a knee but popped back up ready to fight. George landed some good jabs and then Stevenson got a take down. George used an omaplata to escape and take top position. Joe quickly got back on top. Joe went for an ankle lock at the end of the round but George scrambled out of it and grabbed a choke at the end of the round. Really close round. I’ve got George up 20-18 but the last round could have gone either way. George was really active off his back and got 2 different sub attempts off his back.
R3- Joe tried to grab a guillotine and pull guard but George slipped out. Back and forth round. Joe took top position with a minute and a half left in the round. They stand back up with 40 seconds left in the fight and Joe gets another take down. I’ve got Joe taking this round but George taking the fight 29-28. This could be a split decision.
Judges scored cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards. Crowd goes nuts at decision. Big win for Sotiropoulos.
Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Decision (Unanimous)
Royce Gracie is at the show tonight.
Middleweight Fight- Wanderlei Silva (32-10-1) vs. Michael Bisping (19-2)
Bisping comes out to his usual Rock N Jock “WOO HOO” theme. This is a big fight for Bisping. Bisping got KTFO by Dan Henderson but then rebounded by beating up Denis Kang.
R1- Bisping got a take down one minute into the round but Wanderlei quickly gets back up swinging. Really even round, Wanderlei had a flurry at the end of the round that might have stole the round for him as he was the aggressor in the second half of the round after Bisping got two take downs.
R2- Wanderlei caught a Bisping kick and kicked his other leg out from under him and took top position on Bisping. Bisping got a take down with two minutes left in the round but Wanderlei got back to his feet quickly. Bisping got a take down at the end of the round but Wanderlei grabbed a guillotine and Bisping looked like he was going to tap but he held on until the end of the round. Wanderlei took this round so depending on how round one was scored he’s up 20-18 or it’s tied at 19-19.
R3- Wanderlei is starting to land some strikes about half way through the round. Bisping’s most effective offense in this round so far has been a low blow and an eye poke. Wanderlei landed a right hand and started to swing for the fence. Wanderlei grabbed another Bisping kick and swept his leg out from under him again. Wanderlei hit a big right in the closing moments and it looked like the ref was about to stop the fight but he let it go to the bell. Wanderlei definitely took the final two rounds so I’ve got him winning this fight. He didn’t seem as aggressive as usual but definitely picked up the pace at the end of all of the rounds.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all score cards
Winner: Wanderlei Silva by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Antonio Minotauro Noguiera (32-5-1) vs. Cain Velasquez (7-0)
The UFC tells us that Nogueira has 53 Submission Attempts which is the most in UFC/Pride history, he has a 67% arm bar success rate and his average fight time is 12 minutes and 14 seconds. Cain has a 63% striking accuracy (2nd in UFC), lands 70% of take down attempts and has never been taken down. The winner of this fight should be in line to face Brock Lesnar either before or after the winner of Shane Carwin/Frank Mir. Minotauro comes out to the Stones.
R1- Cain looks good early as he hits some combos and Big Nog absorbs them. Cain hit some wicked shots just after the two minute mark that knocked Big Nog down and then jumped on top and quickly finished the fight. Big Nog came in with a right and Cain countered with a left and then clocked him with a big right uppercut and then floored him with a big left hand. Cain then got on top and immediately struck a big right hand to the chin that ended the fight and before Herb Dean could get in there to break it up Cain landed a couple more shots. Amazing performance by Velasquez.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:20
Light Heavyweight Fight- Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
This was from the pre-show. Bonnar needs a win badly.
R1- Soszynski bull rushes at the beginning and they clinched against the cage. Soszynski looks good early and has bloodied Bonnar’s nose. Bonnar grabbed a kick and got a take down but couldn’t do anything with it. Bonnar looked like he started getting more comfortable towards the end of the round but I’ve got Soszynski taking the round 10-9.
R2- Close round. Joe Rogan pointed out that it looked like Soszynski landed the stronger shots but Bonnar landed more shots and I think that’s pretty much how the round went. That was a tough round to judge. Soszynski landed some good shots towards the end of the round that may have stolen the round for him.
R3- Soszynski landed a shot very early that briefly knocked Bonnar to his knees and the shot cut Bonnar. Bonnar has blood all over him. Here is what Joe Rogan had to say about it “Oh My God. He is pouring blood out of his head…This is Crazy…It’s literally leaking out of his head”. The ref stops the fight to look at the cut. The ref stops the fight. In looking at the replays it looked like the cut was caused by a headbutt and that’s why after the cut happened Bonnar looked at the ref.
Winner: Krzysztof Soszynski by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) R3 1:04
Showing posts with label Chris Lytle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Lytle. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale 6/20/09 Re-Cap
The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale 6/20/09
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
This is a big show with two really good match-ups in Diego Sanchez/Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson/Nate Diaz. We also have a potential show stealer in Chris Lytle/Kevin. Plus, we have the two Ultimate Fighter 9 Finals that have Damarques Johnson facing James Wilks in the Welterweight Division and Andre Winner taking on Ross Pearson in the Lightweight Finals.
Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (34-10)
This is a battle of past ultimate fighter winners. Joe Stevenson is really in a must win situation as he is coming off of losses to Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. Nate Diaz is coming off of a close decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC 94. Stevenson won his weight class in Season 2 and Diaz won Season 5. Diaz has a 6” reach and 5” height advantage. Stevenson spent 6 weeks in Greg Jackson’s camp before this fight.
R1- Stevenson goes to touch gloves and Diaz does not touch. Stevenson gets an early take down and Diaz grabs a guillotine but could not hold onto the move. Joe lands some shots and has Nate tied up. Nate turns into Joe’s guard and Joe grabs a guillotine but Diaz held on and got out of the submission. Joe lands some knees to end the round. Joe takes this round 10-9.
R2- Joe went for a take down and Nate went for a guillotine again and didn’t get it but did fend of the take down as they ended up against the cage. Joe landed some knees against the cage and Joe gets Diaz down on the mat. Joe is controlling the round but not landing a lot of damage. I’ve got Joe up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Diaz again does not touch hands with Joe. Joe worked hard for a take down early and Nate landed a nice judo throw to get in Joe’s guard. Nate went for a submission but couldn’t get it and then briefly tried a Rear Naked but Joe scrambled back to his feet. Joe lands some more knees against the cage. Nate landed some punches in the last minute of the round while avoiding Joe’s take down. This was a pretty decent fight. I give Nate the final round but I’ve got Joe winning this fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Stevenson.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)
Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Finals: Andre Winner (10-2-1) vs. Ross Pearson (10-3)
Winner made it to the finals by defeating Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco and Cameron Dollar. Pearson made it to the finals by defeating A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson and Jason Dent. Winner has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Really even start to the fight as they started out on their feet and then clinched battling for position. This round was a virtual tie. Winner hit a flurry at the end of the round and I’ve got him barely taking this round 10-9.
R2- Lots of clinching in this round. This was another very close round. Winner hit another flurry at the end of this round but this one was not as good as the last round. Scoring could be anywhere right now. I’ve got it 19-19.
R3- They stand up and throw some leather in the middle of this round but then quickly got back to the clinch. With under a minute left they throw some more leather. Pearson has thus far landed more shots in this round as Winner looks like he’s is tiring. Pearson landed a knee and an elbow at the end of the fight and Winner took a knee as the bell rung. I’ve got Pearson winning this round so I’ve got Pearson up on my score card 29-28 but I think this is going to be a split decision as I really don’t feel there was a clear winner in this fight. This was a good close fight but it didn’t really have that explosive action that most MMA fans enjoy. Both guys deserve a shot to see if they can make it in the UFC.
Judges score card: all judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Ross Pearson.
Winner: Ross Pearson
Welterweight Fight- Chris Lytle (36-17-4) vs. Kevin Burns (8-2)
Chris Lytle is coming off of a split decision loss to Marcus Davis at UFC 93. Burns is coming off of a KO loss to Anthony Johnson back in December. Burns has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- This fight starts out how you thought it would with both guys throwing punches and some kicks. Lytle came in and Burns caught him with a short right uppercut and Lytle went down. Burns followed him to the ground but Lytle seemed to recover. Burns lands some good shots at the end of the round and Lytle is reeling. Burns took this round 10-9.
R2- Lytle came out and hit two good strikes right off the bat that sent Burns reeling. Burns went for a take down and got it but Lytle quickly got to his feet. Burns has hit Lytle with at least 3 low blows so far in this fight. He is the same guy that kept poking Anthony Johnson in the eye in a fight last year. Lytle evens this fight up at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Rashad Evans in the house, no doubt he’s still thinking about how Lyoto Machida just dismantled him. Lytle caught a kick and delivered a punch while holding onto Burns leg and Burns got cut bad by that strike. Lytle hit a big right hand half way through the round that rocked Burns. Lytle is throwing some heavy punches this round. This was a really good fight. Lytle takes the final round and wins the fight 29-28 on my score card.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan interviews Brock Lesnar via Satellite about the Frank Mir fight that is coming up in a few weeks.
Ultimate Fighter 9 Welterweight Finals: DaMarques Johnson (14-6) vs. James Wilks (6-2)
James Wilks got here by defeating Che Mills and Frank Lester twice. Damarques Johnson defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, and Nick Osipczak. Wilks is from the UK but actually fights out of California now. Damarques trains with Jeremy Horn.
R1- Wilks hit a couple of nice shots to start off the fight. Wilks is landing some good knees against the cage. Wilks went for a leg lock but couldn’t lock it in. Damarques got a couple of shots in on Wilks. Wilks landed a triangle and Damarques got out but his arm looked like it was in a weird spot. Wilks went after a Rear Naked Choke and Damarques tapped with under 10 seconds left in the round. James Wilks just dominated this fight and looked very good.
Winner: James Wilks by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:54
Lightweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (22-2) vs. Clay Guida (25-6)
Diego won his debut at Lightweight against Joe Stevenson and is looking to move up in ranking as he’s looking for a title shot. Guida is coming off of a Split Decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 94 and he beat Mac Danzig by Unanimous Decision in his fight previous to that one. Diego looks incredibly intense getting into the cage and he and Guida are jawing at each other. Diego has a 4” reach and height advantage. They have a crazy looking stare down.
R1- They are throwing shots at each other like crazy as Diego came running across the ring. Diego is nailing Guida with strikes and hits him with a flying knee. Guida looks like his face or nose is busted open. Guida gets a take down. Lucky for him because he was just getting destroyed by Diego on their feet. Sanchez uses the rubber guard and is able to get back to his feet. Diego landed a big head kick on Guida and he fell to the ground. Diego hit another flying knee and continues to eat Guida’s lunch on their feet. Diego got a take down with thirty seconds left in the round. WOW, what a SICK first round. Probably the best round of fighting I’ve seen this year. This was reminiscent of some of Eddie Alvarez’s fights in DREAM last year. Sanchez took this one 10-9. It was a borderline 10-8 round but Guida got a take down and landed some elbows. Sanchez looked awesome in this round.
R2- Guida got a take down to start this round. Diego is throwing elbows from the bottom. Guida is dominating control but Diego is landing better strikes so far this round. Diego is a bloody mess and I think it’s from the top of Guida’s head (where Diego has been hitting the strikes) and from Guida’s nose (which was probably broken in the first round). I’ve got to give this round to Diego. Cage control only goes so far. Diego did more damage in this round than Guida did with the elbows to the top of the head. Diego is up 20-18.
R3- Guida is bleeding from the nose and the head as this round starts. Clay went for a take down and Diego tried to take his back but Guida slipped into guard. Sanchez got an arm triangle briefly but Guida again slipped out. Guida is on top but Sanchez is working a kimura. Sanchez tried for an arm bar and then Guida hit some Ground and Pound as the bell rung. GREAT FIGHT. I’ve got Sanchez taking this round also as he had 4 submission attempts and the stand up in the round was even. Sanchez 30-27 on my score card. It will be interesting to see how the judges score the fight. Fight of the Year so far?
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Guida, 29-27 Sanchez and 29-28 Sanchez. I just don’t see how you would score the fight for Guida. Lying on top of a guy doesn’t beat out damage inflicted in a round. I can see how someone would give Guida round three but no way he won round two.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Split)
Solid night of fights capped by a FOTY candidate in Sanchez/Guida.
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
This is a big show with two really good match-ups in Diego Sanchez/Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson/Nate Diaz. We also have a potential show stealer in Chris Lytle/Kevin. Plus, we have the two Ultimate Fighter 9 Finals that have Damarques Johnson facing James Wilks in the Welterweight Division and Andre Winner taking on Ross Pearson in the Lightweight Finals.
Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (34-10)
This is a battle of past ultimate fighter winners. Joe Stevenson is really in a must win situation as he is coming off of losses to Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. Nate Diaz is coming off of a close decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC 94. Stevenson won his weight class in Season 2 and Diaz won Season 5. Diaz has a 6” reach and 5” height advantage. Stevenson spent 6 weeks in Greg Jackson’s camp before this fight.
R1- Stevenson goes to touch gloves and Diaz does not touch. Stevenson gets an early take down and Diaz grabs a guillotine but could not hold onto the move. Joe lands some shots and has Nate tied up. Nate turns into Joe’s guard and Joe grabs a guillotine but Diaz held on and got out of the submission. Joe lands some knees to end the round. Joe takes this round 10-9.
R2- Joe went for a take down and Nate went for a guillotine again and didn’t get it but did fend of the take down as they ended up against the cage. Joe landed some knees against the cage and Joe gets Diaz down on the mat. Joe is controlling the round but not landing a lot of damage. I’ve got Joe up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Diaz again does not touch hands with Joe. Joe worked hard for a take down early and Nate landed a nice judo throw to get in Joe’s guard. Nate went for a submission but couldn’t get it and then briefly tried a Rear Naked but Joe scrambled back to his feet. Joe lands some more knees against the cage. Nate landed some punches in the last minute of the round while avoiding Joe’s take down. This was a pretty decent fight. I give Nate the final round but I’ve got Joe winning this fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Stevenson.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)
Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Finals: Andre Winner (10-2-1) vs. Ross Pearson (10-3)
Winner made it to the finals by defeating Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco and Cameron Dollar. Pearson made it to the finals by defeating A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson and Jason Dent. Winner has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Really even start to the fight as they started out on their feet and then clinched battling for position. This round was a virtual tie. Winner hit a flurry at the end of the round and I’ve got him barely taking this round 10-9.
R2- Lots of clinching in this round. This was another very close round. Winner hit another flurry at the end of this round but this one was not as good as the last round. Scoring could be anywhere right now. I’ve got it 19-19.
R3- They stand up and throw some leather in the middle of this round but then quickly got back to the clinch. With under a minute left they throw some more leather. Pearson has thus far landed more shots in this round as Winner looks like he’s is tiring. Pearson landed a knee and an elbow at the end of the fight and Winner took a knee as the bell rung. I’ve got Pearson winning this round so I’ve got Pearson up on my score card 29-28 but I think this is going to be a split decision as I really don’t feel there was a clear winner in this fight. This was a good close fight but it didn’t really have that explosive action that most MMA fans enjoy. Both guys deserve a shot to see if they can make it in the UFC.
Judges score card: all judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Ross Pearson.
Winner: Ross Pearson
Welterweight Fight- Chris Lytle (36-17-4) vs. Kevin Burns (8-2)
Chris Lytle is coming off of a split decision loss to Marcus Davis at UFC 93. Burns is coming off of a KO loss to Anthony Johnson back in December. Burns has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- This fight starts out how you thought it would with both guys throwing punches and some kicks. Lytle came in and Burns caught him with a short right uppercut and Lytle went down. Burns followed him to the ground but Lytle seemed to recover. Burns lands some good shots at the end of the round and Lytle is reeling. Burns took this round 10-9.
R2- Lytle came out and hit two good strikes right off the bat that sent Burns reeling. Burns went for a take down and got it but Lytle quickly got to his feet. Burns has hit Lytle with at least 3 low blows so far in this fight. He is the same guy that kept poking Anthony Johnson in the eye in a fight last year. Lytle evens this fight up at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Rashad Evans in the house, no doubt he’s still thinking about how Lyoto Machida just dismantled him. Lytle caught a kick and delivered a punch while holding onto Burns leg and Burns got cut bad by that strike. Lytle hit a big right hand half way through the round that rocked Burns. Lytle is throwing some heavy punches this round. This was a really good fight. Lytle takes the final round and wins the fight 29-28 on my score card.
Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan interviews Brock Lesnar via Satellite about the Frank Mir fight that is coming up in a few weeks.
Ultimate Fighter 9 Welterweight Finals: DaMarques Johnson (14-6) vs. James Wilks (6-2)
James Wilks got here by defeating Che Mills and Frank Lester twice. Damarques Johnson defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, and Nick Osipczak. Wilks is from the UK but actually fights out of California now. Damarques trains with Jeremy Horn.
R1- Wilks hit a couple of nice shots to start off the fight. Wilks is landing some good knees against the cage. Wilks went for a leg lock but couldn’t lock it in. Damarques got a couple of shots in on Wilks. Wilks landed a triangle and Damarques got out but his arm looked like it was in a weird spot. Wilks went after a Rear Naked Choke and Damarques tapped with under 10 seconds left in the round. James Wilks just dominated this fight and looked very good.
Winner: James Wilks by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:54
Lightweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (22-2) vs. Clay Guida (25-6)
Diego won his debut at Lightweight against Joe Stevenson and is looking to move up in ranking as he’s looking for a title shot. Guida is coming off of a Split Decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 94 and he beat Mac Danzig by Unanimous Decision in his fight previous to that one. Diego looks incredibly intense getting into the cage and he and Guida are jawing at each other. Diego has a 4” reach and height advantage. They have a crazy looking stare down.
R1- They are throwing shots at each other like crazy as Diego came running across the ring. Diego is nailing Guida with strikes and hits him with a flying knee. Guida looks like his face or nose is busted open. Guida gets a take down. Lucky for him because he was just getting destroyed by Diego on their feet. Sanchez uses the rubber guard and is able to get back to his feet. Diego landed a big head kick on Guida and he fell to the ground. Diego hit another flying knee and continues to eat Guida’s lunch on their feet. Diego got a take down with thirty seconds left in the round. WOW, what a SICK first round. Probably the best round of fighting I’ve seen this year. This was reminiscent of some of Eddie Alvarez’s fights in DREAM last year. Sanchez took this one 10-9. It was a borderline 10-8 round but Guida got a take down and landed some elbows. Sanchez looked awesome in this round.
R2- Guida got a take down to start this round. Diego is throwing elbows from the bottom. Guida is dominating control but Diego is landing better strikes so far this round. Diego is a bloody mess and I think it’s from the top of Guida’s head (where Diego has been hitting the strikes) and from Guida’s nose (which was probably broken in the first round). I’ve got to give this round to Diego. Cage control only goes so far. Diego did more damage in this round than Guida did with the elbows to the top of the head. Diego is up 20-18.
R3- Guida is bleeding from the nose and the head as this round starts. Clay went for a take down and Diego tried to take his back but Guida slipped into guard. Sanchez got an arm triangle briefly but Guida again slipped out. Guida is on top but Sanchez is working a kimura. Sanchez tried for an arm bar and then Guida hit some Ground and Pound as the bell rung. GREAT FIGHT. I’ve got Sanchez taking this round also as he had 4 submission attempts and the stand up in the round was even. Sanchez 30-27 on my score card. It will be interesting to see how the judges score the fight. Fight of the Year so far?
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Guida, 29-27 Sanchez and 29-28 Sanchez. I just don’t see how you would score the fight for Guida. Lying on top of a guy doesn’t beat out damage inflicted in a round. I can see how someone would give Guida round three but no way he won round two.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Split)
Solid night of fights capped by a FOTY candidate in Sanchez/Guida.
Monday, January 19, 2009
UFC 93 "Franklin vs Henderson" 1/17/09 Re-Cap
UFC 93: "Franklin vs Henderson"
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (20-5) vs. Chris Lytle (36-16-4)
Looks like we are starting out with the fight on paper that should be FOTN. Davis beat Paul Kelly by submission in his last fight in October at UFC 89 and at the same show Chris Lytle scored a unanimous decision over Paul Taylor. Both guys have professional boxing experience. Lytle is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Marcus Davis comes out the House of Pain's "Jump Around." Both guys have won the majority of their fights by submission. Davis has a 2" reach advantage. Davis is the overwhelming fan favorite in this fight since he is the "Irish Hand Grenade."
"Ole" chant goes out from the crowd as the fight starts.
R1- Lytle attacks early and briefly knocks Davis back against the cage. Lytle is the aggressor but Davis is hitting some counter punches. Davis caught a kick with two minutes left in the fight and threw Lytle to the ground but didn't follow him down. Lytle went down again, on a possible slip or push, and Davis went down and tried some Ground and Pound but Lytle got back up and then ate a knee. Davis has a cut under his left eye. Good first round and really close to score. Lytle was the aggressor but got knocked off his feet twice. Very close fight so far.
R2- Lytle backed Davis up against the cage and threw bombs to open up the fight but Davis survived. Davis caught him with a body shot that knocked Lytle down. Davis hits a body kick and then some knees. This was a close round. Davis seemed like he hit more shots, Lytle seemed like he hit heavy shots. I think we've got a 19-19 fight here but I could honestly see it legitimately being scored 20-18 right now in favor of either fighter. It's a really close fight so far. Davis has a couple of minor cuts.
R3- Lytle throwing and missing with some wild shots this round. He's still pushing forward but looks like he's slowing. With about a minute and a half left they both throw punches against the cage. Lytle got knocked to his knees at the end of the round. Really good fight. I've got Davis 29-28 but I would be surprised if this wasn't a split decision.
The judges score the fight: Davis 29-28, Lytle 29-28 and Davis 29-28
Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (12-4) vs. Denis Kang (31-10-1)
This is Kang's UFC debut. Belcher is coming off of a questionable split decision victory over Ed Herman in September and has won 3 of his last 4 fights. The last time I saw Denis Kang he was getting submitted by Gegard Mousasi in the first round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. Kang is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Belcher is a Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt.
R1- Kang got an early take down and controlled the action early. Kang got his second take down of the round with two minutes left. Knag went for a kimura but couldn't get it locked in. Really strong round for Kang as he dominated but didn't inflict too much damage on Belcher. 10-9 Kang after one round.
R2- Kang got a take down one and a half minutes into the round. Belcher pulled guard near the end of the round and caught Kang in a guillotine and tapped him. It looked like Kang had run out of gas prior to getting caught. Kang was controlling this fight but not dominating. Very disappointing debut by Kang but I think you could see it coming after he got subbed by Mousasi in very short order last April.
Winner: Alan Belcher by Submission (Guillotine) R2 4:36
Post-fight interview Belcher says he thinks he needs one or two more fights before calling out Anderson Silva. No shit sherlock.
Michael Bisping is shown in the crowd and they hype up the fact that he will be one of the coaches on the next installment of TUF.
Middleweight Fight- Jeremy Horn (88-18-5) vs. Rousimar Palhares (17-2)
Palhares is coming off of a decision loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 88 in a close fight that I scored in favor of Henderson 29-28. Palhares is an aggressive submission fighter and a jiu jitsu black belt. Horn has a 3" reach and 6" height advantage. Horn has over 50 submissions in his MMA career and has fought in over 100 career MMA fights.
R1- Horn pulled guard early but Palhares quickly took his back but Horn survived and was able to roll over. Palhares missed with a leg lock and Horn missed with a triangle. Palhares really controlled and almost dominating first round. This was a borderline 10-8 round in favor of Palhares.
R2- Palhares got a big slam and take down about 15 seconds into round two. Palhares has been warned a couple of times about grabbing onto the cage. Horn survived and got a single leg and then mounted Palhares and got him in an arm triangle but couldn't clamp it in right. Horn hit some stand up but then Palhaes got a take down. Very close first round with Palhares controlling the beginning and end and Horn controlling the middle. I've got Palhares 20-17 so far but I could see it as close as 19-19 depending on what the judges favor when they score.
R3- Huge suplex by Palhares to start off the round. Palhares just controls this round as Palhares was winded but Horn couldn't do anything. Palhares is going to take this by unanimous decision.
Judges say: 30-27 for all three judges.
Winner: Rousimar Palhares by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway
This is a pre-show fight. Egan got a huge response from the crowd. This is the UFC debut of both guys. Hathaway has more experience.
R1- Hathaway dominated on the ground early. The crowd was really behind Egan. Hathaway finished Egan in the final minute of the round due to ref stoppage. Hathaway looked really good. Egan got in virtually no offense.
Winner: John Hathaway by TKO (strikes) R1 4:36
Light Heavyweight Fight- Mark Coleman (15-8) vs. Shogun Rua (16-3)
This is a re-match from their much talked about Pride fight where Rua broke his arm and then their was a post-fight melee in the ring. Coleman comes out to AC/DCs "Back in Black." This is the "Co-Main Event."
R1- Coleman rushes in early and eats a Shogun knee but got the take down. Rua going for a knee bar but Coleman escaped. Rua with a knee but Coleman took him down. Basically this fight is Coleman trying to Ground and Pound and Shogun trying to go for subs. Shogun is starting to come on at the end of the round with some good leg kicks. Coleman looking tired towards the end of the round. Shogun hit a good knee and Coleman dove at his leg. Big left hand from Rua and Coleman crumbles to the floor but grabs onto Rua's leg. Rua 10-9 in this round as Coleman just ran out of gas.
Phil Baroni is in Coleman's corner and telling Coleman that he's hurt Rua badly and that Rua is looking for a way out as Coleman has trouble finding his corner.
R2- Coleman got a take down after he ate a couple of strikes. Rua hitting more strikes and Coleman is having a difficult time keeping his hands up. Coleman got a take down with about 2 minutes left but couldn't hold him down. Rua peppered Coleman with some shots and Coleman got another take down. Rua got a shoulder lock. Both guys look tired. Coleman survives to fight another round if he can make it back to his corner. Rua is up 20-18 but not looking particularly good so far.
R3- Coleman got a take down and is laying on top of Rua. Rua is going after Coleman's leg and Coleman is continually grabbing the cage to help against the move. Coleman back on top and is on Rua's back and is taking some shots. Rua escaped and hit a knee to Coleman where Coleman's knees were on the ground. The ref separated them but on replay it was to the body which was a legal shot. Both guys are just gassed. Rua hitting Coleman with some shots and knocks him down and the ref stops the fight.
That was hard to watch. Both guys clearly didn't have the stamina needed to be ready for this fight. After Rua's interview with Rogan, Rua and Coleman shake hands and embrace a couple of times to squash their feud.
Winner: Shogun Rua by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:36
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rich Franklin (26-3-1) vs. Dan Henderson (23-7)
Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares by decision at UFC 88 and Franklin's last fight was a win at the same show when he finished Matt Hamill. Henderson is a two-time Olympic wrestler and the only fighter to hold two belts at the same time in Pride. Both of these guys have recent losses to Anderson Silva so they are basically the #2 and #3 fighters in the Middleweight Division but are fighting at Light Heavyweight as Silva has basically forced them to move up. The winner is going to coach opposite of Michael Bisping in the next TUF installment.
R1- Henderson got a couple of good strikes in early, slipped but then got on top of Franklin. Franklin took some punishment but made it back to his feet about half way through the round. They exchanged on their feet as both guys got in shots. Henderson hit Franklin with an accidental headbutt that opened up a cut on his forehead. Henderson up 10-9 after Round One.
R2- Pretty even round but Henderson got a take down at the two minute mark and controlled for the rest of the fight. Henderson is up 20-18 so far so Franklin needs to finish if he wants to get a win.
R3- They mix it up at the beginning of the round with Franklin avoiding a take down but he couldn't avoid a second. Franklin started to land some good shots toward the end of the fight but then Henderson hit him with an eye poke and they had to take a break in the action. Not much action after the eye poke. Henderson takes this 29-28 in a rather boring fight for a Main Event.
Judges scores are: 29-28 Henderson, 30-27 Franklin and 29-28 Henderson. What's up with the 30-27 Franklin? Not a dominant win for Henderson but based on MMA scoring criteria he won the fight.
Winner: Dan Henderson by Decision (Split)
Not a great show from UFC but about what I was expecting. Davis/Lytle was Fight of the Night. BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre is just two weeks away!
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (20-5) vs. Chris Lytle (36-16-4)
Looks like we are starting out with the fight on paper that should be FOTN. Davis beat Paul Kelly by submission in his last fight in October at UFC 89 and at the same show Chris Lytle scored a unanimous decision over Paul Taylor. Both guys have professional boxing experience. Lytle is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Marcus Davis comes out the House of Pain's "Jump Around." Both guys have won the majority of their fights by submission. Davis has a 2" reach advantage. Davis is the overwhelming fan favorite in this fight since he is the "Irish Hand Grenade."
"Ole" chant goes out from the crowd as the fight starts.
R1- Lytle attacks early and briefly knocks Davis back against the cage. Lytle is the aggressor but Davis is hitting some counter punches. Davis caught a kick with two minutes left in the fight and threw Lytle to the ground but didn't follow him down. Lytle went down again, on a possible slip or push, and Davis went down and tried some Ground and Pound but Lytle got back up and then ate a knee. Davis has a cut under his left eye. Good first round and really close to score. Lytle was the aggressor but got knocked off his feet twice. Very close fight so far.
R2- Lytle backed Davis up against the cage and threw bombs to open up the fight but Davis survived. Davis caught him with a body shot that knocked Lytle down. Davis hits a body kick and then some knees. This was a close round. Davis seemed like he hit more shots, Lytle seemed like he hit heavy shots. I think we've got a 19-19 fight here but I could honestly see it legitimately being scored 20-18 right now in favor of either fighter. It's a really close fight so far. Davis has a couple of minor cuts.
R3- Lytle throwing and missing with some wild shots this round. He's still pushing forward but looks like he's slowing. With about a minute and a half left they both throw punches against the cage. Lytle got knocked to his knees at the end of the round. Really good fight. I've got Davis 29-28 but I would be surprised if this wasn't a split decision.
The judges score the fight: Davis 29-28, Lytle 29-28 and Davis 29-28
Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (12-4) vs. Denis Kang (31-10-1)
This is Kang's UFC debut. Belcher is coming off of a questionable split decision victory over Ed Herman in September and has won 3 of his last 4 fights. The last time I saw Denis Kang he was getting submitted by Gegard Mousasi in the first round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. Kang is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Belcher is a Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt.
R1- Kang got an early take down and controlled the action early. Kang got his second take down of the round with two minutes left. Knag went for a kimura but couldn't get it locked in. Really strong round for Kang as he dominated but didn't inflict too much damage on Belcher. 10-9 Kang after one round.
R2- Kang got a take down one and a half minutes into the round. Belcher pulled guard near the end of the round and caught Kang in a guillotine and tapped him. It looked like Kang had run out of gas prior to getting caught. Kang was controlling this fight but not dominating. Very disappointing debut by Kang but I think you could see it coming after he got subbed by Mousasi in very short order last April.
Winner: Alan Belcher by Submission (Guillotine) R2 4:36
Post-fight interview Belcher says he thinks he needs one or two more fights before calling out Anderson Silva. No shit sherlock.
Michael Bisping is shown in the crowd and they hype up the fact that he will be one of the coaches on the next installment of TUF.
Middleweight Fight- Jeremy Horn (88-18-5) vs. Rousimar Palhares (17-2)
Palhares is coming off of a decision loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 88 in a close fight that I scored in favor of Henderson 29-28. Palhares is an aggressive submission fighter and a jiu jitsu black belt. Horn has a 3" reach and 6" height advantage. Horn has over 50 submissions in his MMA career and has fought in over 100 career MMA fights.
R1- Horn pulled guard early but Palhares quickly took his back but Horn survived and was able to roll over. Palhares missed with a leg lock and Horn missed with a triangle. Palhares really controlled and almost dominating first round. This was a borderline 10-8 round in favor of Palhares.
R2- Palhares got a big slam and take down about 15 seconds into round two. Palhares has been warned a couple of times about grabbing onto the cage. Horn survived and got a single leg and then mounted Palhares and got him in an arm triangle but couldn't clamp it in right. Horn hit some stand up but then Palhaes got a take down. Very close first round with Palhares controlling the beginning and end and Horn controlling the middle. I've got Palhares 20-17 so far but I could see it as close as 19-19 depending on what the judges favor when they score.
R3- Huge suplex by Palhares to start off the round. Palhares just controls this round as Palhares was winded but Horn couldn't do anything. Palhares is going to take this by unanimous decision.
Judges say: 30-27 for all three judges.
Winner: Rousimar Palhares by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway
This is a pre-show fight. Egan got a huge response from the crowd. This is the UFC debut of both guys. Hathaway has more experience.
R1- Hathaway dominated on the ground early. The crowd was really behind Egan. Hathaway finished Egan in the final minute of the round due to ref stoppage. Hathaway looked really good. Egan got in virtually no offense.
Winner: John Hathaway by TKO (strikes) R1 4:36
Light Heavyweight Fight- Mark Coleman (15-8) vs. Shogun Rua (16-3)
This is a re-match from their much talked about Pride fight where Rua broke his arm and then their was a post-fight melee in the ring. Coleman comes out to AC/DCs "Back in Black." This is the "Co-Main Event."
R1- Coleman rushes in early and eats a Shogun knee but got the take down. Rua going for a knee bar but Coleman escaped. Rua with a knee but Coleman took him down. Basically this fight is Coleman trying to Ground and Pound and Shogun trying to go for subs. Shogun is starting to come on at the end of the round with some good leg kicks. Coleman looking tired towards the end of the round. Shogun hit a good knee and Coleman dove at his leg. Big left hand from Rua and Coleman crumbles to the floor but grabs onto Rua's leg. Rua 10-9 in this round as Coleman just ran out of gas.
Phil Baroni is in Coleman's corner and telling Coleman that he's hurt Rua badly and that Rua is looking for a way out as Coleman has trouble finding his corner.
R2- Coleman got a take down after he ate a couple of strikes. Rua hitting more strikes and Coleman is having a difficult time keeping his hands up. Coleman got a take down with about 2 minutes left but couldn't hold him down. Rua peppered Coleman with some shots and Coleman got another take down. Rua got a shoulder lock. Both guys look tired. Coleman survives to fight another round if he can make it back to his corner. Rua is up 20-18 but not looking particularly good so far.
R3- Coleman got a take down and is laying on top of Rua. Rua is going after Coleman's leg and Coleman is continually grabbing the cage to help against the move. Coleman back on top and is on Rua's back and is taking some shots. Rua escaped and hit a knee to Coleman where Coleman's knees were on the ground. The ref separated them but on replay it was to the body which was a legal shot. Both guys are just gassed. Rua hitting Coleman with some shots and knocks him down and the ref stops the fight.
That was hard to watch. Both guys clearly didn't have the stamina needed to be ready for this fight. After Rua's interview with Rogan, Rua and Coleman shake hands and embrace a couple of times to squash their feud.
Winner: Shogun Rua by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:36
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rich Franklin (26-3-1) vs. Dan Henderson (23-7)
Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares by decision at UFC 88 and Franklin's last fight was a win at the same show when he finished Matt Hamill. Henderson is a two-time Olympic wrestler and the only fighter to hold two belts at the same time in Pride. Both of these guys have recent losses to Anderson Silva so they are basically the #2 and #3 fighters in the Middleweight Division but are fighting at Light Heavyweight as Silva has basically forced them to move up. The winner is going to coach opposite of Michael Bisping in the next TUF installment.
R1- Henderson got a couple of good strikes in early, slipped but then got on top of Franklin. Franklin took some punishment but made it back to his feet about half way through the round. They exchanged on their feet as both guys got in shots. Henderson hit Franklin with an accidental headbutt that opened up a cut on his forehead. Henderson up 10-9 after Round One.
R2- Pretty even round but Henderson got a take down at the two minute mark and controlled for the rest of the fight. Henderson is up 20-18 so far so Franklin needs to finish if he wants to get a win.
R3- They mix it up at the beginning of the round with Franklin avoiding a take down but he couldn't avoid a second. Franklin started to land some good shots toward the end of the fight but then Henderson hit him with an eye poke and they had to take a break in the action. Not much action after the eye poke. Henderson takes this 29-28 in a rather boring fight for a Main Event.
Judges scores are: 29-28 Henderson, 30-27 Franklin and 29-28 Henderson. What's up with the 30-27 Franklin? Not a dominant win for Henderson but based on MMA scoring criteria he won the fight.
Winner: Dan Henderson by Decision (Split)
Not a great show from UFC but about what I was expecting. Davis/Lytle was Fight of the Night. BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre is just two weeks away!
Sunday, November 02, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, July 07, 2008
UFC 86 "Jackson vs Griffin" Re-Cap/Thoughts
UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (11-1) vs. Marcus Aurelio (16-5)
Griffin comes out to "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. They put over Griffin as being the only guy to beat WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Griffin is definitely the fan favorite in this one. Aurelio has a win over Gomi to his credit.
R1- Long feeling out process. Marcus gets taken down and Tyson hits him with some hammer punches. Marcus is trying to catch Tyson in a submission. Marcus seems content to stay in the guard and go for submissions and eat some of Tyson's punches. In the stand up game Tyson controlled the cage and got in more shots. Round One goes to Griffin 10-9.
Jamie Pressly is in the house, I think she was at the last show. Seems like she could be a pretty big fight fan. Thiago Alves is in Aurelio's corner.
R2- They start out this round completely opposite of last round as they both come out throwing but then slow down a little. Griffin has the classy sponsor of "Condom Depot" on his ass. Griffin gets a slam with 2 minutes left in the round after a long clinch. Marcus is able to reverse it and get a slam of his own and looks to be taking Griffin's back but Griffin rolls over and is on top. Marcus almost gets a triangle but doesn't get it. This was a much closer round than the first one but I've still got Griffin winning this one and have Griffin up 20-18 at this point.
R3- Marcus is really tired in this round and Griffin is hitting a lot more punches this round. Griffin runs in and gets a take down with about a minute and a half left. Marcus almost gets an arm submission a couple of times near the end of the fight. I've got Griffin taking this fight 30-27. He controlled the fight without dominating. All 3 judges score the fight 30-27.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)
Michael Bisping is at the fight and they show a video segment of him and talk about how good he has looked since he moved down to 185 lbs.
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koshcheck (12-2) vs. Chris Lytle (35-15-4)
We have our second Condom Depot fighter of the night in Chris Lytle. Koscheck gets booed when he comes out. Koscheck has a 5" reach advantage.
R1- Lytle throws a lot at first but doesn't hit much. Koshcheck just kind of sits back and waits and gets a take down with about 2 and a half minutes left in the round. Lytle grabs a guillotine but can't hold it and Koscheck has half guard. Not a lot of action in this round but I've got it Koscheck 10-9 as he controlled the ground for the last half of the fight and when they were stood up Lytle was more aggressive but didn't really land anything substantial.
R2- Koscheck went for a take down and it was stopped but he landed some nice shots. Koscheck goes for another take down and Lytle grabs him in a guillotine just like in Round One. Koscheck gets out of the submission and is in half guard and throws some elbows. Koscheck puts him up against the cage and is getting some nice, hard shots in on Lytle. Lytle is bleeding and continues to take some shots from Koscheck. Koscheck is nailing him and Lytle grabs him to stop the punches. Lots of blood on the canvas near the cage. There is even blood on the camera lens at ringside. Koscheck just laying on him and punching him. Lytle has a pool of blood under his head. He's lost a ton of blood. This was a 10-8 round to Koscheck. I've got it 20-17 after two rounds with Koscheck just absolutely dominating the Second Round.
R3- Koscheck has Lytle's blood in his hair. Koscheck tries to get a take down. Lytle goes for a kimura and then a guillotine but Koscheck spins out and Lytle grabs him again but Koscheck gets out of the move and Koscheck is on top again. Koscheck landing more elbows. Rogan makes the comment of this being bloodier than BJ Penn/Joe Stevenson. Koscheck is hitting Lytle with punches and the ref stand them up. The announcers thought he was going to stop the fight. Just a crazy call by the ref in this position as Koscheck had a dominate position and was being active and punching Lytle. When Lytle stands up he has blood all of his head and arms. Lytle gets some shots in but slips on his own blood and Koscheck clinches him. Koscheck just trying not to make a mistake. Ref separates them again. Both guys just throwing at the end of the round. The fans boo Koscheck at the end of the fight but man he put on a good fight tonight and Lytle just bleed all over the place. This is a fight that needs to be seen just for the blood. Good fight and good showing by Koscheck. I've got Koscheck winning 30-26. Koscheck's hair is basically red with Lytle's blood after the fight. Scorecards at the end of the fight are 30-26, 29-27, 30-28. Some interesting scores there.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Decision (Unanimous)
Wilmer Valderrama is at the show again, I think he was at the last show also (like Pressly).
Lightweight Fight- Gleison Tibau (27-4) vs. Joe Stevenson (33-8)
Tibau comes out to "Iron Man."
R1- Stevenson catches Tibau with a nice left early but he absorbs it. Stevenson hits a right and Tibau goes down. Stevenson grabs a brief guillotine but Tibau gets out. They sprawl and go back to their feet. Tibau gets a take down but doesn't get anything. Stevenson darts in and gets a take down with two and a half minutes left in the round. Tibau catches him in an arm submission. Stevenson looks worried. Tibau is hitting Stevenson with some punches while he has him in the arm submission. Stevenson just kind of sitting and watching the clock and looking bored and telling the ref to stand them up. Stevenson plays it off like the move didn't hurt but Tibau had him trapped for about half the round. Tibau 10-9 in round one on my score card. Could see it being judged the other way if someone bought into Joe's selling of the move.
BJ Penn is shown and he mugs for the camera and gets a good response. He's got a hottie next to him.
R2- Tibau gets a take down but they quickly stand up. Tibau with another take down and passes guard quickly. Tibau mounts but Stevenson sprawls out without any damage. Tibau gets another take down but Stevenson grabs him in a guillotine and Tibau taps out. Surprising turn of events as I had Tibau winning the first round and this round until Stevenson grabbed that one move. Good job by Stevenson in sticking in there and taking advantage of the move when he got the opportunity.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:57
Red Hot Chili Pepper front man Anthony Kedis is in the house.
Middleweight Fight- Patrick Cote (13-4) vs. Ricardo Almeida (9-2)
This is the Co-Main Event. Almeida comes out to CCR's "Fortunate Son." Cote gets a good reaction from the fans.
WEC Bantamweight Champ Miguel Torres is at the fight. He had a really exciting fight on the last WEC show that featured the Main Event of Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver.
R1- The clinch and Almeida jumps into Cote and grabs him and pulls guard. Cote gets out of it pretty quickly and they stand back up. They clinch for a while and Almeida gets a take down with two minutes left in the round. Almeida gets in a couple of good shots and then gets some Ground and Pound. Almeida really controlling the first round and Cote ends the round on his back. Ameida takes Round One 10-9. Cote has a tear on his glove and they have to tape it so he gets a little longer to recover.
R2- Almeida pulls guard and goes into a rubber guard type move where Cote can't do much. Cote hits a punch and gets out of the hold. Cote is starting to land a couple of shots in the stand up game. Almeida gets a brief guillotine but Cote slips out. Cote lands a right hand right before the buzzer. This was a real close round. Almeida tried to pull guard the entire round and Cote tried to stay on his feet. I think Cote hitting that punch at the end and flooring Almeida might have won him the round. I'll go 19-19 right now but could see Almeida up 20-18.
R3- Cote hits a really nice leg kick about a minute and a half into the round. Cote hits a good combo. Not much action in this round but Cote is starting to bring it. Almeida gets a take down with 30 seconds left in the round. Almeida misses a submission and Cote gets on top and gets in a couple of shots. This fight is really too close to call and I can see it going either way. Either way, neither guy finished so they can't really complain if they get the loss. This was the least exciting fight of the night by a wide margin. I think Almeida probably gets the win in this fight, possibly by split decision. Judges score cards are 29-28 Cote, 29-28 Almeida, and 29-28 Cote.
They kind of billed this as the winner gets a shot at Anderson Silva, but Cote didn't really do anything to deserve a title shot IMO.
Winner: Patrick Cote by Decision (Split)
Light Heavyweight Championship Fight- Rampage Jackson © vs. Forrest Griffin (15-4)
Forrest gets a big reaction and has Mandy Moore on his side. Rampage gets the heel reaction.
R1- Forrest is more active early and is getting some shots in on Rampage. Rampage gets a good shot in on Forrest about two and a half minutes into the fight. Forrest is effectively using some leg kicks. Rampage with a really good combination half way through the round and it wobbles Forrest. Forrest comes right back and takes at Rampage. Forrest using the leg kicks effectively. Forrest comes in and eats a big Rampage uppercut and he goes down with about a minute left in the Round. Rampage jumps on top and Forrest tries to latch onto Rampage. Rampage moves him against the cage. Rampage gets some shots in but Forrest gets to his feet and hits some knees. They exchange on their feet and are swinging for the fences. Really good first round and Rampage looks a little bit like he underestimated Forrest as he walks to his corner. Forrest did a really good job in Round One but I think he ultimately lost the Round due to getting caught with that uppercut. Forrest really got rocked at two different times during the Round even though I thought that he controlled a lot of the fight and did a great job with the leg kicks. I'll go Rampage 10-9 in Round One but Forrest made a great showing and has set himself up well for the rest of the fight.
R2- Forrest opens up with a leg kick and Rampage limps a little bit. Forrest with another leg kick and then another. Forrest hits some knees and takes Rampage down. Forrest has half guard. Forrest hitting some elbows. Forrest passes the guard and gets side control. Forrest working on elbows and punches to the head. Forrest gets to full mount. Big "Forrest" chant from the crowd. Forrest with short elbows. Forrest just dominated this round and ties up the fight and definitely has all the momentum on his side going into Round Three. It will be interesting to see how Rampage's leg is when Round Three starts. That looked like a 10-8 round which makes this 19-18 Forrest.
R3- Rampage with a good combo about 2 minutes into the round. Rampage hits a good counter punch that briefly stuns Forrest. Rampage with another combo. Forrest has hit a couple of kicks this round but not much else. Rampage with a couple of nice punches. Rampage with a body shot. Rampage with another good counter punch as he caught Forrest with a left. They swing for the fences at the end of the round. Good comeback round for Rampage as he takes this round. Forrest lost a lot of momentum this round and didn't try for a take down where he dominated last round. Rampage 28 Forrest 28.
R4- They really go after each other about 30 seconds into the round and Rampage lands a hook and Forrest bails out before he catches another one. Rampage with another good shot and then they clinch and Rampage ends up with the take down and he's on top. Forrest is cut above the right eye. Forrest doing a pretty good job defending and grabs a triangle. Rampage picks him up and goes to slam him off and does. Really good fight. Rampage back in Forrest's guard and Forrest is doing a good job defending. Forrest almost got a submission but Rampage bailed out and as Forrest was trying to get up Rampage caught him with a good shot but didn't knock him down. Rampage hits a couple of nice shots again as they mix it up in the last minute of the round. Forrest almost caught Rampage with a submission but Rampage really out landed Forrest in this round and cut him open. I've got this Rampage 38 Forrest 37 right now. Very close fight. Rampage has barely won three rounds in my book and Forrest dominated the one round that he took. I can see one of the rounds I gave to Rampage possible going to Forrest on some of the score cards. Forrest is controlling the pace of the fight but Rampage is out landing him on punches.
R5- Forrest going back to the leg kicks early in this round. Forrest hits a big leg kick, Rampage came back with a big punch and Forrest returned the favor. Forrest looks to be landing more in this round so far about 3 and a half minutes into the round. This one is going to come down to the wire. Both guys landing some shots in the last 30 seconds and they end the fight in a clinch. Great Fight. I think Forrest took the final round which on my score card puts it even at 47-47. Wow. It will be interesting to see how the judges score this one.
Judges score the fight:
48-46 Forrest
48-46 Forrest
49-46 Forrest
Great Fight. Looks like two of the judges gave one of the close rounds that I scored for Rampage to Forrest (probably had to be Round 1). Not sure about the 49-46 as I didn't see Forrest win 4 of the 5 rounds.
Part of me says that to "be the champ you have to beat the champ" and part of me says that Forrest did control the pace of the fight and should have gotten the win. IMO it was a really even 50/50 fight that definitely needs a re-match. I think Rampage overlooked Forrest, especially when I look back at the 5 minute interview that Rampage did on ESPN news the day before the fight. Kudos to both guys for putting on a great fight, definitely one of the top this year that I have seen.
Winner and new champion: Forrest Griffin
Pre-Show Fight:
Lighweight Fight- Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Silver
R1- Guillard just jumps Silver at the beginning and nails some shots but Silver gets back to his feet. Guillard nails Silver with a ton of punches and this one is over. Great showing for Guillard.
Winner: Melvin Guillard by TKO (punches) R1 0:36
Overall, this was a really good show. Forrest/Rampage is a contender for FOTY, Koscheck/Lytle and Stevenson/Tibau were both good fights as well.
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (11-1) vs. Marcus Aurelio (16-5)
Griffin comes out to "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. They put over Griffin as being the only guy to beat WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Griffin is definitely the fan favorite in this one. Aurelio has a win over Gomi to his credit.
R1- Long feeling out process. Marcus gets taken down and Tyson hits him with some hammer punches. Marcus is trying to catch Tyson in a submission. Marcus seems content to stay in the guard and go for submissions and eat some of Tyson's punches. In the stand up game Tyson controlled the cage and got in more shots. Round One goes to Griffin 10-9.
Jamie Pressly is in the house, I think she was at the last show. Seems like she could be a pretty big fight fan. Thiago Alves is in Aurelio's corner.
R2- They start out this round completely opposite of last round as they both come out throwing but then slow down a little. Griffin has the classy sponsor of "Condom Depot" on his ass. Griffin gets a slam with 2 minutes left in the round after a long clinch. Marcus is able to reverse it and get a slam of his own and looks to be taking Griffin's back but Griffin rolls over and is on top. Marcus almost gets a triangle but doesn't get it. This was a much closer round than the first one but I've still got Griffin winning this one and have Griffin up 20-18 at this point.
R3- Marcus is really tired in this round and Griffin is hitting a lot more punches this round. Griffin runs in and gets a take down with about a minute and a half left. Marcus almost gets an arm submission a couple of times near the end of the fight. I've got Griffin taking this fight 30-27. He controlled the fight without dominating. All 3 judges score the fight 30-27.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)
Michael Bisping is at the fight and they show a video segment of him and talk about how good he has looked since he moved down to 185 lbs.
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koshcheck (12-2) vs. Chris Lytle (35-15-4)
We have our second Condom Depot fighter of the night in Chris Lytle. Koscheck gets booed when he comes out. Koscheck has a 5" reach advantage.
R1- Lytle throws a lot at first but doesn't hit much. Koshcheck just kind of sits back and waits and gets a take down with about 2 and a half minutes left in the round. Lytle grabs a guillotine but can't hold it and Koscheck has half guard. Not a lot of action in this round but I've got it Koscheck 10-9 as he controlled the ground for the last half of the fight and when they were stood up Lytle was more aggressive but didn't really land anything substantial.
R2- Koscheck went for a take down and it was stopped but he landed some nice shots. Koscheck goes for another take down and Lytle grabs him in a guillotine just like in Round One. Koscheck gets out of the submission and is in half guard and throws some elbows. Koscheck puts him up against the cage and is getting some nice, hard shots in on Lytle. Lytle is bleeding and continues to take some shots from Koscheck. Koscheck is nailing him and Lytle grabs him to stop the punches. Lots of blood on the canvas near the cage. There is even blood on the camera lens at ringside. Koscheck just laying on him and punching him. Lytle has a pool of blood under his head. He's lost a ton of blood. This was a 10-8 round to Koscheck. I've got it 20-17 after two rounds with Koscheck just absolutely dominating the Second Round.
R3- Koscheck has Lytle's blood in his hair. Koscheck tries to get a take down. Lytle goes for a kimura and then a guillotine but Koscheck spins out and Lytle grabs him again but Koscheck gets out of the move and Koscheck is on top again. Koscheck landing more elbows. Rogan makes the comment of this being bloodier than BJ Penn/Joe Stevenson. Koscheck is hitting Lytle with punches and the ref stand them up. The announcers thought he was going to stop the fight. Just a crazy call by the ref in this position as Koscheck had a dominate position and was being active and punching Lytle. When Lytle stands up he has blood all of his head and arms. Lytle gets some shots in but slips on his own blood and Koscheck clinches him. Koscheck just trying not to make a mistake. Ref separates them again. Both guys just throwing at the end of the round. The fans boo Koscheck at the end of the fight but man he put on a good fight tonight and Lytle just bleed all over the place. This is a fight that needs to be seen just for the blood. Good fight and good showing by Koscheck. I've got Koscheck winning 30-26. Koscheck's hair is basically red with Lytle's blood after the fight. Scorecards at the end of the fight are 30-26, 29-27, 30-28. Some interesting scores there.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Decision (Unanimous)
Wilmer Valderrama is at the show again, I think he was at the last show also (like Pressly).
Lightweight Fight- Gleison Tibau (27-4) vs. Joe Stevenson (33-8)
Tibau comes out to "Iron Man."
R1- Stevenson catches Tibau with a nice left early but he absorbs it. Stevenson hits a right and Tibau goes down. Stevenson grabs a brief guillotine but Tibau gets out. They sprawl and go back to their feet. Tibau gets a take down but doesn't get anything. Stevenson darts in and gets a take down with two and a half minutes left in the round. Tibau catches him in an arm submission. Stevenson looks worried. Tibau is hitting Stevenson with some punches while he has him in the arm submission. Stevenson just kind of sitting and watching the clock and looking bored and telling the ref to stand them up. Stevenson plays it off like the move didn't hurt but Tibau had him trapped for about half the round. Tibau 10-9 in round one on my score card. Could see it being judged the other way if someone bought into Joe's selling of the move.
BJ Penn is shown and he mugs for the camera and gets a good response. He's got a hottie next to him.
R2- Tibau gets a take down but they quickly stand up. Tibau with another take down and passes guard quickly. Tibau mounts but Stevenson sprawls out without any damage. Tibau gets another take down but Stevenson grabs him in a guillotine and Tibau taps out. Surprising turn of events as I had Tibau winning the first round and this round until Stevenson grabbed that one move. Good job by Stevenson in sticking in there and taking advantage of the move when he got the opportunity.
Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:57
Red Hot Chili Pepper front man Anthony Kedis is in the house.
Middleweight Fight- Patrick Cote (13-4) vs. Ricardo Almeida (9-2)
This is the Co-Main Event. Almeida comes out to CCR's "Fortunate Son." Cote gets a good reaction from the fans.
WEC Bantamweight Champ Miguel Torres is at the fight. He had a really exciting fight on the last WEC show that featured the Main Event of Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver.
R1- The clinch and Almeida jumps into Cote and grabs him and pulls guard. Cote gets out of it pretty quickly and they stand back up. They clinch for a while and Almeida gets a take down with two minutes left in the round. Almeida gets in a couple of good shots and then gets some Ground and Pound. Almeida really controlling the first round and Cote ends the round on his back. Ameida takes Round One 10-9. Cote has a tear on his glove and they have to tape it so he gets a little longer to recover.
R2- Almeida pulls guard and goes into a rubber guard type move where Cote can't do much. Cote hits a punch and gets out of the hold. Cote is starting to land a couple of shots in the stand up game. Almeida gets a brief guillotine but Cote slips out. Cote lands a right hand right before the buzzer. This was a real close round. Almeida tried to pull guard the entire round and Cote tried to stay on his feet. I think Cote hitting that punch at the end and flooring Almeida might have won him the round. I'll go 19-19 right now but could see Almeida up 20-18.
R3- Cote hits a really nice leg kick about a minute and a half into the round. Cote hits a good combo. Not much action in this round but Cote is starting to bring it. Almeida gets a take down with 30 seconds left in the round. Almeida misses a submission and Cote gets on top and gets in a couple of shots. This fight is really too close to call and I can see it going either way. Either way, neither guy finished so they can't really complain if they get the loss. This was the least exciting fight of the night by a wide margin. I think Almeida probably gets the win in this fight, possibly by split decision. Judges score cards are 29-28 Cote, 29-28 Almeida, and 29-28 Cote.
They kind of billed this as the winner gets a shot at Anderson Silva, but Cote didn't really do anything to deserve a title shot IMO.
Winner: Patrick Cote by Decision (Split)
Light Heavyweight Championship Fight- Rampage Jackson © vs. Forrest Griffin (15-4)
Forrest gets a big reaction and has Mandy Moore on his side. Rampage gets the heel reaction.
R1- Forrest is more active early and is getting some shots in on Rampage. Rampage gets a good shot in on Forrest about two and a half minutes into the fight. Forrest is effectively using some leg kicks. Rampage with a really good combination half way through the round and it wobbles Forrest. Forrest comes right back and takes at Rampage. Forrest using the leg kicks effectively. Forrest comes in and eats a big Rampage uppercut and he goes down with about a minute left in the Round. Rampage jumps on top and Forrest tries to latch onto Rampage. Rampage moves him against the cage. Rampage gets some shots in but Forrest gets to his feet and hits some knees. They exchange on their feet and are swinging for the fences. Really good first round and Rampage looks a little bit like he underestimated Forrest as he walks to his corner. Forrest did a really good job in Round One but I think he ultimately lost the Round due to getting caught with that uppercut. Forrest really got rocked at two different times during the Round even though I thought that he controlled a lot of the fight and did a great job with the leg kicks. I'll go Rampage 10-9 in Round One but Forrest made a great showing and has set himself up well for the rest of the fight.
R2- Forrest opens up with a leg kick and Rampage limps a little bit. Forrest with another leg kick and then another. Forrest hits some knees and takes Rampage down. Forrest has half guard. Forrest hitting some elbows. Forrest passes the guard and gets side control. Forrest working on elbows and punches to the head. Forrest gets to full mount. Big "Forrest" chant from the crowd. Forrest with short elbows. Forrest just dominated this round and ties up the fight and definitely has all the momentum on his side going into Round Three. It will be interesting to see how Rampage's leg is when Round Three starts. That looked like a 10-8 round which makes this 19-18 Forrest.
R3- Rampage with a good combo about 2 minutes into the round. Rampage hits a good counter punch that briefly stuns Forrest. Rampage with another combo. Forrest has hit a couple of kicks this round but not much else. Rampage with a couple of nice punches. Rampage with a body shot. Rampage with another good counter punch as he caught Forrest with a left. They swing for the fences at the end of the round. Good comeback round for Rampage as he takes this round. Forrest lost a lot of momentum this round and didn't try for a take down where he dominated last round. Rampage 28 Forrest 28.
R4- They really go after each other about 30 seconds into the round and Rampage lands a hook and Forrest bails out before he catches another one. Rampage with another good shot and then they clinch and Rampage ends up with the take down and he's on top. Forrest is cut above the right eye. Forrest doing a pretty good job defending and grabs a triangle. Rampage picks him up and goes to slam him off and does. Really good fight. Rampage back in Forrest's guard and Forrest is doing a good job defending. Forrest almost got a submission but Rampage bailed out and as Forrest was trying to get up Rampage caught him with a good shot but didn't knock him down. Rampage hits a couple of nice shots again as they mix it up in the last minute of the round. Forrest almost caught Rampage with a submission but Rampage really out landed Forrest in this round and cut him open. I've got this Rampage 38 Forrest 37 right now. Very close fight. Rampage has barely won three rounds in my book and Forrest dominated the one round that he took. I can see one of the rounds I gave to Rampage possible going to Forrest on some of the score cards. Forrest is controlling the pace of the fight but Rampage is out landing him on punches.
R5- Forrest going back to the leg kicks early in this round. Forrest hits a big leg kick, Rampage came back with a big punch and Forrest returned the favor. Forrest looks to be landing more in this round so far about 3 and a half minutes into the round. This one is going to come down to the wire. Both guys landing some shots in the last 30 seconds and they end the fight in a clinch. Great Fight. I think Forrest took the final round which on my score card puts it even at 47-47. Wow. It will be interesting to see how the judges score this one.
Judges score the fight:
48-46 Forrest
48-46 Forrest
49-46 Forrest
Great Fight. Looks like two of the judges gave one of the close rounds that I scored for Rampage to Forrest (probably had to be Round 1). Not sure about the 49-46 as I didn't see Forrest win 4 of the 5 rounds.
Part of me says that to "be the champ you have to beat the champ" and part of me says that Forrest did control the pace of the fight and should have gotten the win. IMO it was a really even 50/50 fight that definitely needs a re-match. I think Rampage overlooked Forrest, especially when I look back at the 5 minute interview that Rampage did on ESPN news the day before the fight. Kudos to both guys for putting on a great fight, definitely one of the top this year that I have seen.
Winner and new champion: Forrest Griffin
Pre-Show Fight:
Lighweight Fight- Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Silver
R1- Guillard just jumps Silver at the beginning and nails some shots but Silver gets back to his feet. Guillard nails Silver with a ton of punches and this one is over. Great showing for Guillard.
Winner: Melvin Guillard by TKO (punches) R1 0:36
Overall, this was a really good show. Forrest/Rampage is a contender for FOTY, Koscheck/Lytle and Stevenson/Tibau were both good fights as well.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
UFC Unleashed 6/11 Re-Cap
UFC Unleashed 6/11 Re-Cap
Lightweight Fight- Jeffrey Cox (9-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (7-2)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Manny hits a side kick at the beginning when it looked like they were going to tap gloves. Gamburyan is Karo Parisyan’s cousin. They clinch for a while and Manny flips Cox over with s judo throw and then chokes him out with a guillotine.
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:41
Welterweight Fight- Kyle Bradley(13-4-1) vs. Chris Lytle (34-15-4)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lytle opens up on him early and is just pounding Bradley and this one is over very quickly. Lytle just overwhelms Bradley. The ref stops the fight and then Bradley pulls guard on the ref. Great stand up by Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by TKO (punches) R1 0:33
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koshcheck (11-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (12-3)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show.
R1- Haslett takes it right to Koscheck at the beginning and back him up to the cage and then Koscheck comes back after him in an exciting exchange to start the fight. Koscheck looking good early and is throwing a lot of punches and looking to be the aggressor but then Hazelett comes back and gets some good attempts in. Koscheck comes at him and pins him up against the cage. Hazelett goes for the guillotine and looks like he might be able to finish here but Koscheck gets out of it. Hazelett throws a big knee. Koscheck with a good combo. Koscheck takes him down but Hazelett goes for the triangle with 20 seconds left as the round ends. Really good first round with both guys looking real good. This was really even IMO, not sure who really won the fight. If I had to choose I would pick Koscheck because even though he ended the round at a disadvantage he had the most control of the fight throughout and seemed to me to get in more shots on his opponent and also got the only takedown of the round. Really close round, really a toss up.
R2- They are fighting for while pretty evenly but then Koscheck hits a real nice head kick and quickly follows it up with some punches and the ref stops the fight. Really nice finish from Koscheck who has really improved his stand up game since the Ultimate Fighter Season 1.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by TKO (punches) R2 1:24
This is also from UFC 82.
Middleweight Championship- Anderson Silva (c) (20-4) vs. Dan Henderson (22-6)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Feeling out process in the early going. Henderson finally goes in after about a minute and we start to see some action now. Silva throwing some kicks now but not doing damage with them. Henderson grabs Silva and takes him down. Silva grabs a headlock and Henderson isn't doing anything on top. Henderson starting to get in a couple of punches but Silva still has him in a headlock which is limiting the damage that can be inflicted. Henderson has side control with 30 seconds left but Silva spins out and Henderson is now in full guard. Round One comes to an end with what seems to be little damage inflicted by either fighter. Henderson wins the round due to cage control and his take down. 10-9 Henderson.
R2- They are trading some jabs and kicks early. Silva starting to get some kicks in. Silva takes down Henderson. They are up and against the fence. Henderson is controlling Silva against the cage in a greco clinch. Henderson with a knee. They trade some punches and Silva is dominating with punches and gets on top. Nails an elbow, Henderson grabs Silva and is trying to get out. Silva has half guard. Silva has his back and is throwing punches. Silva is delivering punches and has him in a body triangle. Silva throwing punches. Silva trying to flatten out Henderson but they roll over and Silva's got the rear naked choke clamped on and Henderson taps.
Good fight. Silva really dominated the second round
Winner and still champ: Anderson Silva via tap out from Rear Naked Choke Round 2 4:52
Lightweight Fight- Jeffrey Cox (9-4) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (7-2)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Manny hits a side kick at the beginning when it looked like they were going to tap gloves. Gamburyan is Karo Parisyan’s cousin. They clinch for a while and Manny flips Cox over with s judo throw and then chokes him out with a guillotine.
Winner: Manvel Gamburyan by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:41
Welterweight Fight- Kyle Bradley(13-4-1) vs. Chris Lytle (34-15-4)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lytle opens up on him early and is just pounding Bradley and this one is over very quickly. Lytle just overwhelms Bradley. The ref stops the fight and then Bradley pulls guard on the ref. Great stand up by Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by TKO (punches) R1 0:33
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koshcheck (11-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (12-3)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show.
R1- Haslett takes it right to Koscheck at the beginning and back him up to the cage and then Koscheck comes back after him in an exciting exchange to start the fight. Koscheck looking good early and is throwing a lot of punches and looking to be the aggressor but then Hazelett comes back and gets some good attempts in. Koscheck comes at him and pins him up against the cage. Hazelett goes for the guillotine and looks like he might be able to finish here but Koscheck gets out of it. Hazelett throws a big knee. Koscheck with a good combo. Koscheck takes him down but Hazelett goes for the triangle with 20 seconds left as the round ends. Really good first round with both guys looking real good. This was really even IMO, not sure who really won the fight. If I had to choose I would pick Koscheck because even though he ended the round at a disadvantage he had the most control of the fight throughout and seemed to me to get in more shots on his opponent and also got the only takedown of the round. Really close round, really a toss up.
R2- They are fighting for while pretty evenly but then Koscheck hits a real nice head kick and quickly follows it up with some punches and the ref stops the fight. Really nice finish from Koscheck who has really improved his stand up game since the Ultimate Fighter Season 1.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by TKO (punches) R2 1:24
This is also from UFC 82.
Middleweight Championship- Anderson Silva (c) (20-4) vs. Dan Henderson (22-6)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Feeling out process in the early going. Henderson finally goes in after about a minute and we start to see some action now. Silva throwing some kicks now but not doing damage with them. Henderson grabs Silva and takes him down. Silva grabs a headlock and Henderson isn't doing anything on top. Henderson starting to get in a couple of punches but Silva still has him in a headlock which is limiting the damage that can be inflicted. Henderson has side control with 30 seconds left but Silva spins out and Henderson is now in full guard. Round One comes to an end with what seems to be little damage inflicted by either fighter. Henderson wins the round due to cage control and his take down. 10-9 Henderson.
R2- They are trading some jabs and kicks early. Silva starting to get some kicks in. Silva takes down Henderson. They are up and against the fence. Henderson is controlling Silva against the cage in a greco clinch. Henderson with a knee. They trade some punches and Silva is dominating with punches and gets on top. Nails an elbow, Henderson grabs Silva and is trying to get out. Silva has half guard. Silva has his back and is throwing punches. Silva is delivering punches and has him in a body triangle. Silva throwing punches. Silva trying to flatten out Henderson but they roll over and Silva's got the rear naked choke clamped on and Henderson taps.
Good fight. Silva really dominated the second round
Winner and still champ: Anderson Silva via tap out from Rear Naked Choke Round 2 4:52
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