UFC 104 Spike TV Preliminary Fights Re-Cap

UFC 104: Preliminaries
10/24/09
Los Angeles, Ca
Staples Center

This is live on Spike TV before the UFC 104 PPV. Lyoto Machida makes his first defense of his Light Heavyweight Title tonight against Shogun Rua. Cain Velasquez will try to stay undefeated when he takes on Ben Rothwell. We will have two live fights on the preliminary show. TUF Champ Ryan Bader will take on Eric Schafer and in a Heavyweight Fight we will see Antoni Hardonk versus Pat Barry.

Heavyweight Fight- Antoni Hardonk (8-5) vs. Pat Barry (4-1)

These guys are former training partners. Hardonk has a 5” height, 3.5” reach and 12 lb weight advantage.

R1- Hardonk doesn’t want to touch gloves to start out. Barry lands some strikes to start the fight. Hardonk lands some leg kicks. Lots of striking from both guys. Hardonk poked Barry in the eye a couple of times. Hardonk went for a take down and got stuffed and Barry jumped on top but Hardonk got up without taking any real damage. Hardonk’s nose has been bloodied. Good first round. I’ve got Barry taking it 10-9.

R2- Barry hit a good combo to start the round and then landed another good punch. Barry hits another punch and hits a leg kick and Hardonk briefly went down. Hardonk went for a take down but got stuffed. Barry is landing some really good strikes in this round and Hardonk looks to be fading. Barry landed a big right hand and Hardonk went down. Barry followed him to the canvas and quickly finished him. Really good showing by Pat Barry.

Winner: Pat Barry by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:30

Pat Barry gets a little choked up in his post-fight interview and then ends the interview with a back flip.

Heavyweight Fight- Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve

The broadcast kind of awkwardly moves into this fight as they were talking about Bader and Schafer and all of a sudden this fight (which was taped previously) is starting on my TV.

R1- Struve is 6’11” and has a huge height advantage. Gormley got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Struve went for a leg lock and Gormley grabbed an ankle lock. Struve rolled over and went for a heel hook. Struve is able to turn Gormley over and takes his guard. Struve landed some good Ground and Pound. Struve got a triangle choke and Gormley tapped out. Good fight and finish from Struve.

Winner: Stefan Struve by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:04

Light Heavyweight Fight-Ryan Bader (10-0) vs. Eric Schafer (13-3-2)

Schafer is a BJJ Black Belt and will be Bader’s toughest fight to date. Bader is coming off of some leg injuries from his last fight. CB Dollaway is in Bader’s corner. Hopefully he hasn’t been helping him with submission defense. Bader was the winner of TUF 8.

R1- Bader couldn’t quite find the range for the first half of the round but was swinging with bad intentions on a lot of his punches. Bader connected solidly with a big right hand and Schafer went down and Bader connected with a couple of punches on the way down and followed Schafer to the mat. Schafer tried to catch Bader in his guard but Bader picked him up and slammed him and then landed some punches from behind. They got to their feet and Bader continued to land some good shots and Schafer went down again. Schaefer recovered well and went for a kimura but could not get it and Bader took his guard. Schafer grabbed another submission but couldn’t clamp it in. Very impressive first round for Bader but he would be wise to stay off the ground with Schafer. Borderline 10-8 round but Schafer did pull off a couple of submission attempts.

R2- Bader looks like he expended a lot of energy in the first round and Schafer has his wits back. Schafer is landing some punches and could take this round. Close round, Schafer probably took this round.

R3- Bader hit a big right hand about half way through the first minute. Bader jumped on top and tried to finish but Schafer clinched him up in his guard. Bader gets out and gets back to his feet. Schafer has blood running down his face and the ref stops to have the doc look at the cut. Bader got a take down with about a minute left in the fight. Bader takes this round and will take the fight 29-28 in my book. Good fight. Bader is very explosive but definitely needs to work on expanding his offense past just the overhand right.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-26 and 30-27. 29-26 is a really interesting score. That means that judge gave Bader two 10-8 rounds.

Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Rogan and Dana White talk about the PPV tonight to close out the show.

UFC Fight Night 15 9/17/08 Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night 9/17/08

Light Heavyweight Fight- Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. Eric Schafer (11-3-2)

Schafer has a 3 inch height and 4 inch reach advantage. Alexander is the hometown fighter in this one and he gets a huge reaction. Alexander usually has short fights so this one could be quick.

R1- Alexander gets a clinch early and hits Schafer with a knee and then really rocks him with another. Alexander is trying to finish and Schafer is trying to survive and gets Alexander into his guard but Alexander gets back up as he wants the fight to remain standing. Alexander with some leg kicks and then gets driven into the cage. Schafer going for take downs but Alexander is denying him. Schafer finally gets a take down and gets side control. Schafer going for short elbows. Alexander gets out of the position but then gets turned over and mounted by Schafer. Schafer hitting some strikes. Schafer with some elbows and punches. One minute left in the round. Schafer landing punches and Alexander gives up his back but Schafer doesn’t take it and continues with Ground & Pound. Schafer goes for an arm triangle and Alexander taps out. Good, exciting opening fight. Schafer did a good job weathering the early storm and after several take down attempts he stayed with it and finally got one and then ended the fight.

This is Alexander’s third straight loss in the UFC. Eric Schafer has won three straight fights but had lost his last two in UFC to Stephan Bonnar and Michael Bisping.

Winner: Eric Schafer by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:53

Middleweight Fight- Ed Herman (16-5) vs. Alan Belcher (11-4)

R1- Lots of action early and then they clinch and are separated. Both guys hitting some strikes. Pretty even fight through the first half of the round. Herman hit a good combo and tried a take down but it was stopped and they clinched again. Herman picked Belcher up with a double-leg and got the take down. Herman is trying for what Rogan is calling a “Darth Choke” but Belcher gets to his feet. Herman gets another take down with half a minute left and is going for the same choke again. Pretty even round when they stood up but Herman took Belcher down twice and had two submission attempts. Herman is up 10-9 after Round One.

R2- Belcher hit a big left hand to start out the round. Herman hits a good combo after a couple of counter punches. Belcher with a couple of body punches and then hit a big punch that rocked Herman back into the cage. Belcher hit a kick to the midsection but got caught and taken down by Herman. Belcher got back to his feet with minimal damage from Herman. 45 seconds left in the round. Close round. Belcher controlled the first 2 and a half minutes and rocked Herman. Herman then got a take down and control for about a minute and the rest was even. Overall, I give Belcher this round which makes it 19-19.

R3- Herman went for a quick take down but got stuffed. Belcher landing some jabs. Herman went for another take down but Belcher stopped it again and they clinch against the cage and then get separated. Belcher showing good hands in this fight. Belcher goes for a spinning back fist and Herman goes for a take down but doesn’t get it. Herman stays with it and gets the take down. Herman gets some strikes in but Belcher gets back to his feet. One minute and fifteen seconds remain in the fight. It’s very even to this point so this will probably decide the fight. Herman gets another take down with 45 seconds left and lands some good punches. Herman continuing to hit some punches. Herman ends the fight in a dominate position. Belcher won the stand up part of the fight but Herman dominated in take downs and on the ground. Very, very close fight but I’ve got to give it to Herman as I think he won rounds 1 and 3 with a strong finish. Herman 29-28 on my score card. Not a dominate win but a good win and a good fight.

Judges score the fight: 29-28 Belcher, 29-28 Herman, and 29-28 Belcher.

Interesting decision, not sure that I agree with it though.

Winner: Alan Belcher by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Mac Danzig (19-4-1) vs. Clay Guida (23-6)

This should be a really fun fight.

R1- Danzig seems to be the aggressor early as he backs down Guida twice but doesn’t land anything substantial. Guida went for a take down on a Danzig kick but couldn’t get it. Danzig landed a couple of shots about two minutes into the round. Danzig rushes Guida and hits a big combo but Guida grabs him and takes him down. Great sequence of events. Danzig goes for a kimura from the bottom but Guida backs him up against the cage and Danzig gets back to his feet with no damage from Guida but Guida picks up Danzig and slams him down. Danzig once again has his back to the cage and stands up again and Guida slams him down again. Guida gets a couple of shots in but Danzig works his way back to his feet at the end of the round. Interesting round as Danzig won the first part of the round by winning the stand up game but Guida got several take downs and slams although not much actually offense on the ground. Almost an even round. Probably have to give it to Guida due to the slams but based on the way the judges scored the Belcher fight I would say that they would probably give it to Danzig. Guida 10-9. Good round.

R2- Guida looks to be more aggressive early in this round as he backs down Danzig and pushes forward. Danzig hits a good punch and then a front kick but Guida fights back and runs him down and gets a take down but Danzig goes right for his arm again and stands right up. Guida shoots in again about half way through the round and gets a take partial take down but Danzig doesn’t go all the way down and doesn’t take any damage. Danzig lands a couple of good shots with about a minute left but Guida grabs him and clinches and then takes Danzig’s back with 30 seconds left and takes him down and goes for a Rear Naked. Danzig rolls over and Guida finishes the fight in a dominate position but without landing much damage. I think Guida stole this round at the end with the big take down. I had Danzig winning based on strikes but Guida put himself in a position to finish the fight. I’ve got Guida winning a very close 20-18 so far.

R3- They sprawl early as Danzig missed a kick and then stopped a Guida take down. They both got some good shots in during a dirty boxing clinch. Danzig then got his first take down of the fight and attempted a kimura. Guida escaped and briefly took Danzig’s back. Guida with some knees against the cage. Danzig looks really tired and Guida is smothering him against the cage. Danzig got to his feet but got taken down again. Guida isn’t doing much damage but he’s controlling the fight. Danzig back to his feet but Guida is still holding him. Guida ends the fight with a flurry of punches on the ground. I’ve got Guida taking this fight 30-27. Not a dominate performance as far as damage but Guida controlled the fight with his wrestling.

Judges score cards are: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Guida.

This is Guida’s second win a row after a loss to Roger Huerta. This is Danzig’s first loss after two consecutive wins.

Winner: Clay Guida by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White. Dana announces a fight on December 10th live from Ft Bragg a 3-Hour event called “UFC Fights for the Troops” to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (9-2) vs. Josh Neer (24-6-1)

This is the first fight that we get the ring walk and entrance music. Josh Neer is from nearby Des Moines, Iowa. Jens Pulver is in his corner for the fight. Neer comes out to some soft rock that sounds like something from Nickelback. Diaz comes out to some rap with his brother Nick by his side. Diaz has a four inch reach advantage.

R1- They clinch early and Neer gets an immediate take down. Neer goes for a choke but lets it go. Neer takes his back and Diaz stands up and Neer takes him down but Diaz back to his feet again with Neer still on his back. Nate gets turned around and they sprawl and are back to their feet with a clinch. Diaz gets some shots in on Neer to the corner. Diaz is landing some good jabs and then gets a great looking judo throw and ends in side control but Neer gets him to half guard. Neer gets out but gets puched. Diaz fights his way back to full guard and then steps over and transitions to the back in a great move but can’t get anything. Diaz ends the fight on top of Neer. Neer controlled early but Diaz looked great late first hitting jabs, then a judo throw and then some good ground work. I’ve got Diaz taking this round 10-9.

R2- They exchange to start the round. Neer gets a take down but Diaz scrambles and reverses it so he’s in full guard. Neer gets back to his feet and gets a take down and has Nate’s back. Neer goes for a choke but Nate turns out of it. Lots of action as Neer goes for an arm bar and Nate for a triangle and both come up short. Neer gets some shots in and continues to be at and advantage but Diaz gets to his feet and they clinch. Diaz peppers him with jabs. Close round, I think Neer took this one so I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.

R3- They come out with Nate as the aggressor and they clinch against the cage. Nate gets a take down and is in half guard. Neer gets out but Diaz gets back to full guard and then stands up and then gets full guard again. Neer to his feet and they clinch. Diaz winning the final round half way through. Diaz takes Neer’s back and then turns to full mount. Nate with some strikes. They stand up with 20 seconds left and Diaz gets another judo throw and ends with some strikes. Diaz wins round three and will win this fight 29-28.

Judges scorecards are: 29-28 Neer, 29-28 Diaz and 29-28 Diaz.

Winner: Nate Diaz by Decision (Split)

I thought this was a real solid show with 4 good fights. The only real disappointing thing I could see was that only 1 fight went to a finish. 2 really close fights as they were judged as split decision.

UFC Unleashed 7/19 Re-Cap

UFC Unleashed 7/19 Re-Cap

This was a double shot of UFC Unleashed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Winner: Frankie Edgar by Decision (Unanimous)

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

Looks like this is pre Bisping/Evans.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Winner: Spencer Fisher by Submission (Triangle)

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

This was on the 6/21 UFC Wired show.

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

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

Winner: Jason Lambert by KO R2 3:36

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

This was on the UFC Wired 4/26 Show.

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

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

Winner: Houston Alexander by KO R1 0:41

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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