UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy
The Prudential Center
Newark, New Jersey
March 27, 2010
The UFC has really been building up Georges St. Pierre as the pound for pound ace of the company. The only two multi-week build-up shows they've done have been for GSP (vs Penn and vs Hardy). GSP takes on Dan Hardy tonight in the Main Event for the Welterweight Championship. In the semi-Main Event Frank Mir will battle Shane Carwin for the Interim Heavyweight Championship and a shot at Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. Jon Fitch was supposed to take on Thiago Alves in the battle of #2 and #3 Welterweights but Alves had to drop out and Ben Saunders has stepped up and will fight Jon "Decision Machine" Fitch.
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller (16-2) vs. Mark Bocek (8-2)
Both guys have a 3 fight win streak. Miller is from New Jersey so he is the hometown guy in this fight. Bocek is a Jiu Jitsu and Kempo Black Belt. Miller is a Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt and has a background as a Division 1 wrestler. Bocek has a 4" reach advantage.
R1- Bocek shot in for a take down and Miller pulled guard with a guillotine but Bocek slipped out. Bocek got a driving take down about half way through the round. Miller grabbed a kimura and used it to sweep on top of Bocek and take his guard. Bocek was very close to tapping out. Miller also opened up a cut on the forehead of Bocek. Miller 10-9.
R2- Bocek got an early take down in this round. Bocek went for an arm triangle but was denied. Miller went for a leg lock but Bocek was able to counter the submission. Bocek is losing a lot of blood but was able to take full mount. Miller spun out of full mount but gave up his back to Bocek. Bocek trapped one of Miller's arms inside his body triangle so Miller only has one arm to defend a choke. Miller got to his feet and dropped back on Bocek but Bocek held on but couldn't finish before the bell rang. Bocek took this round and it's 19-19 going into the final round. Miller popped right up after this round and looks ready to fight. Bocek has lost a lot of blood so far.
R3- Miller hit a good right hand to start the round. Bocek went for a take down but got stuffed. Bocek went for another take down but Miller countered with a couple of knees. Bocek finally completed the take down with thirty seconds left in the round. Miller took Bocek's back in the last ten seconds of the round. This round was really all about positioning with not much damage done. I think this will be a split decision, very tough fight to call.
Judges score cards: 29-28 on all score cards
Winner: Jim Miller by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Ben Saunders (8-1-2) vs. Jon Fitch (24-3)
Thiago Alves was supposed to take on Fitch but had to drop out and Saunders stepped up and told Dana White that he wanted the fight. Saunders has a 3" height and 3.5" reach advantage. I expect Fitch to smother Saunders and ride to a decision victory because that's what he does.
R1- Fitch got a take down about a minute into the fight. And then Fitch rode Saunders for the rest of the round. Fitch 10-9. I expect more of this in the next two rounds. Fitch is a tough fighter but he's got to be the most boring fighter in the UFC.
R2- Fitch got a take down one minute into the round. The ref stood up the fight with a minute left in the round despite Fitch landing some strikes. Fitch 20-18.
R3- Fitch had to work a little harder in this round and didn't get a take down until 2 minutes left in the round. Fitch landed some good Ground and Pound at the end of the round and cut Saunders up. Fitch takes this one easily 30-27. Not exciting but effective.
Judges score cards: 30-27 on all score cards
Winner: Jon Fitch by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Kurt Pellegrino (20-4) vs. Fabricio Camoes (10-4-1)
Pellegrino is the local guy in this fight. Camoes has an 8 fight unbeaten streak and fought Caol Uno to a majority draw in his UFC debut.
R1- Camoes got Pellegrino down with a judo type throw and then took his back as Pellegrino stood up. Pellegrino dropped Camoes on his head and reversed positions and took top position. Camoes went for a triangle and then tried for a different submission but Pellegrino avoided them and moved to side control. Pellegrino landed some elbows and almost got caught in a choke but got out and maintained top position. Really good competitive first round. I've got Pellegrino 10-9.
R2- Camoes went for a take down but Pellegrino ended up on top briefly before they went back to their feet and Pellegrino got a driving take down. Pellegrino mounted with three minutes left in the round. Pellegrino really grinding out this round. Pellegrino clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and finished the fight. Great showing by Pellegrino.
Winner: Kurt Pellegrino by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:20
Interim Heavyweight Championship Fight- Frank Mir (13-4) vs. Shane Carwin (11-0)
The fighter who wins this will be guaranteed a title shot when Brock Lesnar is back to full health. Mir is consumed by his hatred for Lesnar. It will be interesting to see if this has focused him more for Carwin or if he's overlooked him. Carwin comes out to the Drowning Pool's "Bodies". Great MMA entrance song. Due to this being for the Interim title this is a 5-round fight but I don't think anybody expects this fight to go the distance. The average length of Carwin's fights is 1:07. Brock is ringside for this fight standing next to Dana White. He gets a good chorus of boos when he's shown.
R1- Mir drove in and Carwin took him back to the cage. Carwin landed some punches to the face against the cage and also landed some knees to Mir's leg. Mir came in and threw a combination but Carwin hooked him again and put him against the cage. Carwin landed some big short left uppercuts in the clinch and Mir folded to the floor. Carwin jumped on top and landed some good punches. Joe Rogan was calling it over but Mir managed to move to a better position but Carwin continued to land strikes to the side of the head and finished the fight. Great showing by Carwin.
Winner and new UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion: Shane Carwin by KO R1 3:48
Post-fight they bring Brock into the ring and interview him. Brock tells Shane he's wearing a fake belt and that he has to come after the real one.
Next up they showed the Palharres/Drwal fight that was shown on the Prelim show on Spike TV.
Welterweight Title Fight- Georges St. Pierre (c) (19-2) vs. Dan Hardy (23-6)
The UFC tells us that GSP has a 87% defensive take down rate, a 78% take down accuracy rate and has 70% ground striking accuracy. Hardy defends 62% of his take down attempts, has never been knocked down in the UFC and lands 60% more strikes than his opponents. GSP is the big crowd favorite and Hardy the heel in this one based on the fan reactions at the introductions. Big "GSP" chant right after the introductions.
R1- GSP got a quick take down in the first 30 seconds of the fight. GSP passed Hardy's guard and took his back with 3 minutes left in the round. GSP tried for an arm bar but Hardy got up and GSP immediately took him down again before Hardy could separate. GSP mounted with a minute and a half left in the round. GSP went for some Ground and Pound and Hardy gave up his back. GSP landed some light strikes from the back and he clamped in a good arm bar but Hardy kept with it and broke the hold. Dominant round by GSP. Definitely a 10-9 round, borderline 10-8. It will be interesting to see how much damage GSP did to Hardy's arm in that round.
R2- GSP got a take down 1:25 into the round and moved into side control. Hardy gave up his back and GSP again went for the arm bar but Hardy was able to slip out and take GSP's guard. GSP quickly got back to his feet. GSP starts to land some strikes and then landed a driving take down with thirty seconds left in the round. GSP has dominated so far and is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Hardy took a wild shot to open the round and GSP immediately dove in and got an easy take down. GSP stood up in Hardy's guard and landed some elbows and strikes. Hardy went for a triangle so GSP passed his guard. GSP grabbed Hardy's arm and tried for a kimura but Hardy broke loose and GSP went back to side control. Hardy got back to his feet for about a second and GSP took him down again with one minute left in the round. Hardy gave up his back and Hardy got out and GSP immediately took him back down. GSP 30-27, just a dominant performance so far by GSP.
R4- This round started just like the last one, Hardy threw a strike and missed big a large amount and GSP took him down. GSP immediately mounted and Hardy gave up his back. Hardy went for a leg lock but GSP easily threw him back to the ground and took his guard again. GSP grabbed a kimura but Hardy somehow survived. GSP is up 40-36 after four rounds.
R5- GSP got a take down twenty seconds into the round after landing a couple of strikes. GSP goes for another kimura but couldn't quite get it the way he wanted. GSP went for the kimura one for time and couldn't get it. Hardy got up and GSP slammed him back down with thirty seconds left in the fight. They fought for 25 minutes and GSP dominated every one of them. GSP 50-45 on my score card. Hardy showed a lot of heart by not tapping to a couple of tough GSP submissions but GSP was clearly in a class above Hardy tonight.
Judges score cards: 50-43, 50-44, 50-45
Winner: Georges St. Pierre by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight interview GSP says that he made a lot of technical mistakes and that he is going to talk with his trainer and get better. GSP apologizes to the fans for not finishing the fight. He says Hardy did better tonight in his first title shot then he did when he got his first shot at Matt Hughes.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman
This is a pre-show fight.
R1- Wallace landed a couple of strikes early and then got a take down. Wallace landed a couple of strikes and then a big uppercut and then chased Hamman down throwing some wild strikes and got another take down. Hamman landed a head kick and then tried to latch onto an arm but Wallace was able to take top position and try to recover. They stood up against the cage and threw strikes and Hamman landed a good punch. Hamman ended the round on top. Good round, Wallace looks pretty tired going into the second round.
R2- Wallace got an early take down but Hamman got back to his feet and landed a judo throw and took top position. Wallace was able to turn him over and take top position but Hamman landed some good strikes from the bottom. Wallace went for a triangle and missed and Hamman took top position and landed a good strike. Hamman landed some good elbows from the top.
R3- Wallace got a take down after his corner told him not to and Hamman quickly flipped him over and took top position. They got back to their feet and Wallace landed some good strikes and got another take down but Hamman again was able to flip him over and take top position. The ref stood them back up and Wallace landed a couple of more strikes but then Hamman was able to take him down. Wallace got back to his feet and then tired a kimura but couldn't quite turn it and Hamman once again took top position. Hamman will most likely take this 29-28.
Judges score cards: 29-28 on all score cards
Winner: Jared Hamman by Decision (Unanimous)
Showing posts with label Jim Miller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Miller. Show all posts
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva 1/02/10 Re-Cap
UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva
1/02/10
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Heavyweight Fight- Junior Dos Santos (9-1) vs. Gilbert Yvel (36-13-1)
Dos Santos is 3-0 in the UFC and is a Top 10 Heavyweight. This is Yvel’s return to the UFC. This is an important fight for both guys. Dos Santos comes out to the theme to Rocky with his ear looking similar to James Thompson’s did when he fought Kimbo in Elite XC.
R1- Both guys throwing freely in the early going of this fight. Dos Santos floored Yvel with a huge left hand two minutes into the round and then started peppering him with punches on the ground and Herb Dean stepped in and stopped the fight. Dos Santos is no joke.
Winner: Junior Dos Santos by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:07
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller (15-2) vs. Duane Ludwig (27-9)
This is Duane Ludwig’s return to the UFC but he was 2-0 in his previous UFC fights. Ludwig is taking this fight on 2 weeks notice and Joe Rogan points out that he cut down from the 180s. Jim Miller comes out to CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising”.
R1- Miller hit a right that floored Ludwig and Miller quickly jumped on top and mounted. Ludwig tried to get out and Miller clamped on an arm bar and got the submission victory.
Winner: Jim Miller by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 2:31
Takanori Gomi is in the crowd and they show some of his highlights from Pride and they announce that he has signed with the UFC.
Lightweight Fight- Joe Lauzon (17-4) vs. Sam Stout (15-5-1)
R1- Lauzon got a quick take down in the opening moments of the round. Lauzon opened up a cut on Stout’s head and then grabbed a kimura but Stout was able to slip out and get back to his feet. Stout came back in the second half of the round and landed some good shots. Lauzon 10-9 but Stout almost stole that round.
R2- Stout got a take down about one minute into the round but Stout got to his feet without any damage. Stout is getting the better of the stand up in this round. This round definitely went to Stout as he ended the round in Lauzon’s guard.
R3- Stout controls the early part of the round by avoiding take downs and continually throwing strikes. Lauzon got a take down with two minutes left in the fight. Lauzon mounted and then tried for a guillotine but couldn’t clamp it in and Stout got back to his feet with one minute left in the fight. Stout really attacked at the finish and I’ve got him taking this round and the fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27
Winner: Sam Stout by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Paul Daley (22-8-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (14-4)
Daley came in overweight at 172 but Hazelett agreed to take the fight. This is Daley’s second fight in the UFC, with his first being a victory over Martin Kampmann.
R1- Both fighters felt each other out for the first half of the round mostly throwing leg and front kicks. At the half way point of the round Daley exploded with a big left hand and then jumped on top and finished the fight as Herb Dean stepped in. Very impressive finish by Daley.
Winner: Paul Daley by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:24
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rashad Evans (18-1-1) vs. Thiago Silva (14-1)
The UFC tells us that Rashad lands 58% of his take down attempts, has won 4 of his last 5 by knockout and holds the UFC record for most take downs without being swept. Thiago has won 12 of 13 fights by strike stoppage, his average UFC fight length is 3:48 and he has a 77% take down defense rate. Both fighters only have one loss on their record and it’s to the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida.
R1- Rashad quickly came at Thiago and clinched and then got a slam at the one minute mark. Rashad mounted but Thiago didn’t take any damage and got back to his feet. They threw some strikes and then Rashad got another take down about half way through the round. Silva again got to his feet without taking any damage. Rashad hit some good strikes against the cage and then got another brief take down. Rashad looks like he’s wearing Thiago down and is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Rashad got a take down in the second minute of the round. Silva got up again but Rashad slammed him back down. Thiago landed a couple of strikes but then got taken down again. Rashad 20-18.
R3- Rashad got a quick take down but couldn’t hold it. Rashad missed a big swing and then Thiago put his gloves down and leaned his chin in and he and Rashad hammed it up for the fans for a minute. Thiago landed a big time right hand that wobbled Rashad’s knees. Thiago got Rashad down but Rashad clamped onto a leg. One minute and forty five seconds left in the round and Thiago got Rashad back to his feet and Rashad is looking at the clock. Thiago is landing some good shots but he looks like he’s running out of steam. Rashad clinched Thiago against the cage and held on to win this one by decision on my score card 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all score cards
Winner: Rashad Evans by Decision (Unanimous)
1/02/10
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Heavyweight Fight- Junior Dos Santos (9-1) vs. Gilbert Yvel (36-13-1)
Dos Santos is 3-0 in the UFC and is a Top 10 Heavyweight. This is Yvel’s return to the UFC. This is an important fight for both guys. Dos Santos comes out to the theme to Rocky with his ear looking similar to James Thompson’s did when he fought Kimbo in Elite XC.
R1- Both guys throwing freely in the early going of this fight. Dos Santos floored Yvel with a huge left hand two minutes into the round and then started peppering him with punches on the ground and Herb Dean stepped in and stopped the fight. Dos Santos is no joke.
Winner: Junior Dos Santos by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:07
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller (15-2) vs. Duane Ludwig (27-9)
This is Duane Ludwig’s return to the UFC but he was 2-0 in his previous UFC fights. Ludwig is taking this fight on 2 weeks notice and Joe Rogan points out that he cut down from the 180s. Jim Miller comes out to CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising”.
R1- Miller hit a right that floored Ludwig and Miller quickly jumped on top and mounted. Ludwig tried to get out and Miller clamped on an arm bar and got the submission victory.
Winner: Jim Miller by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 2:31
Takanori Gomi is in the crowd and they show some of his highlights from Pride and they announce that he has signed with the UFC.
Lightweight Fight- Joe Lauzon (17-4) vs. Sam Stout (15-5-1)
R1- Lauzon got a quick take down in the opening moments of the round. Lauzon opened up a cut on Stout’s head and then grabbed a kimura but Stout was able to slip out and get back to his feet. Stout came back in the second half of the round and landed some good shots. Lauzon 10-9 but Stout almost stole that round.
R2- Stout got a take down about one minute into the round but Stout got to his feet without any damage. Stout is getting the better of the stand up in this round. This round definitely went to Stout as he ended the round in Lauzon’s guard.
R3- Stout controls the early part of the round by avoiding take downs and continually throwing strikes. Lauzon got a take down with two minutes left in the fight. Lauzon mounted and then tried for a guillotine but couldn’t clamp it in and Stout got back to his feet with one minute left in the fight. Stout really attacked at the finish and I’ve got him taking this round and the fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27
Winner: Sam Stout by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Paul Daley (22-8-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (14-4)
Daley came in overweight at 172 but Hazelett agreed to take the fight. This is Daley’s second fight in the UFC, with his first being a victory over Martin Kampmann.
R1- Both fighters felt each other out for the first half of the round mostly throwing leg and front kicks. At the half way point of the round Daley exploded with a big left hand and then jumped on top and finished the fight as Herb Dean stepped in. Very impressive finish by Daley.
Winner: Paul Daley by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:24
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rashad Evans (18-1-1) vs. Thiago Silva (14-1)
The UFC tells us that Rashad lands 58% of his take down attempts, has won 4 of his last 5 by knockout and holds the UFC record for most take downs without being swept. Thiago has won 12 of 13 fights by strike stoppage, his average UFC fight length is 3:48 and he has a 77% take down defense rate. Both fighters only have one loss on their record and it’s to the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida.
R1- Rashad quickly came at Thiago and clinched and then got a slam at the one minute mark. Rashad mounted but Thiago didn’t take any damage and got back to his feet. They threw some strikes and then Rashad got another take down about half way through the round. Silva again got to his feet without taking any damage. Rashad hit some good strikes against the cage and then got another brief take down. Rashad looks like he’s wearing Thiago down and is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Rashad got a take down in the second minute of the round. Silva got up again but Rashad slammed him back down. Thiago landed a couple of strikes but then got taken down again. Rashad 20-18.
R3- Rashad got a quick take down but couldn’t hold it. Rashad missed a big swing and then Thiago put his gloves down and leaned his chin in and he and Rashad hammed it up for the fans for a minute. Thiago landed a big time right hand that wobbled Rashad’s knees. Thiago got Rashad down but Rashad clamped onto a leg. One minute and forty five seconds left in the round and Thiago got Rashad back to his feet and Rashad is looking at the clock. Thiago is landing some good shots but he looks like he’s running out of steam. Rashad clinched Thiago against the cage and held on to win this one by decision on my score card 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all score cards
Winner: Rashad Evans by Decision (Unanimous)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
UFC 103: Preliminaries on Spike TV Re-Cap
UFC 103: Preliminaries
9/19/09
Dallas, Texas
American Airlines Center
These fights are on being brought to us on Spike TV before the UFC 103 PPV.
Middleweight Fight- Drew McFedries (8-5) vs. Tomasz Drwal (16-2)
Drwal fought at the TUF 9 Finale and got a first round Ground and Pound TKO of Mike Ciesnolevicz. McFedries fought last on UFC 98 and beat Xavier Foupa- Pokam in 37 seconds. Don’t blink this one could end quickly. Drwal has a 4” reach advantage. McFedries has to be the most exciting 8-5 fighter on the planet, which is why he’s still employed by the UFC. In his two previous fights in the UFC Drwal fought at Light Heavyweight.
R1- And there are some technical difficulties early in the first fight so we miss the first 45-50 seconds of the fight. If the fight goes this long McFedries usually comes up on the short end. McFedries had a couple of cuts on his face early into the fight. Drwal gets a take down about two minutes into the fight but McFedries got back to his feet and Drwal landed some nice knees. Both guys stood toe to toe and exchanged punches. Drwal hit a good right hand and McFedries looks to be tiring. Drwal gets McFedries down again and is landing some Ground and Pound and he mounts McFedries but there is only 10 seconds left in the round and McFedries will make it to the second round. Drwal is up 10-9 after round one. Both guys have cuts on their face.
R2- Drwal landed a nice punch right out of the gate and pushed forward and clinched McFedries and took him down. Drwal moved quickly to side control and then mounted and clamped on a choke and got the win. Nice showing by Tomasz Drwal.
Winner: Tomasz Drwal by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:03
Welterweight Fight- Rick Story vs. Brian Foster
Story last fought at UFC 99 and lost a unanimous decision to John Hathaway (I had it scored 29-28).
R1- Both guys are just swinging for the fences in the opening minute. Just throwing wild punches. Foster hit him with a big gut punch and then hit him with a judo throw and clamped in a guillotine but Story popped his head out. Story ended up in Foster’s guard and passed his guard and then took his back. Story’s nose is busted open and he’s bleeding a lot but he’s keeping top position. Foster got back to his feet and both guys started swinging for the fences again. Good first round that went to Story due to his control of the round.
R2- They come out and go after each other again and Story gets a take down. Story grabbed an arm triangle and Foster tapped out. Nice finish by Story. Rogan says it’s the first time he’s seen a guy finished from an arm triangle while inside the guard which shows the strength of Story.
Winner: Rick Story by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 1:09
Joe Rogan interviews Rich Franklin backstage. Franklin says he’s tired because he hasn’t taken his pre-fight nap yet. Franklin says he’s worked a little with Robbie Lawler because he has a similar style to Belfort.
Lightweight Fight- Efrain Escudero (12-0) vs. Cole Miller (15-3)
Escudero was the TUF 9 winner and this is his first fight since winning TUF. Miller has recent wins over Jorge Gurgel and Junie Browning. Miller is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and Efrain has a strong wrestling background. Miller has a 4” height and 2” reach advantage. Based on those stats Escudero should have a strength advantage. Joe says that Escudero struggled to make weight yesterday at the weigh-ins.
R1- Both guys being very tentative early in the fight. Escudero got a sweep of Miller on a kick but let him back up. Miller is started to get more confident and is pushing the action and landing some strikes and really looks like he has more than a 2” reach advantage. Escudero finally caught Miller and slammed him hard to the mat but Miller got back to his feet. Escudero is starting to push the action now and he just leveled Miller with a big right hand that floored him. Escudero jumped on top and hit three punches on the floor and that’s it. Really impressive finish by Escudero.
Winner: Efrain Escudero by TKO (Punches) R1 3:36
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez
Jim Miller is coming off of a big decision win over Mac Danzig at UFC 100. Miller’s only losses have come to Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar, both of which I have ranked in the World Top 10 Lightweights.
R1- They open up by both throwing strikes. Miller hit a good right that briefly floored Lopez. Miller landed some good leg kicks. Miller landed a really good left and then jumped all over Lopez but Lopez grabbed the guard and survived the onslaught. Lopez got back to his feet but Miller grabbed a front guillotine choke. Lopez slipped out and Miller pounded him with some Ground and Pound and then took Lopez’s back and then Lopez got him back to full guard. Miller took that round 10-9 and is in control of the fight.
R2- Lopez hurt his shoulder in the second round and you could see the bone popped out of place and he had to verbally submit.
Winner: Jim Miller by TKO R2 0:48
Joe Rogan interviews Vitor Belfort backstage and they talk about the fight tonight. Joe tries to bait him into talking about a possible Anderson Silva fight in the future but Vitor says he’s just taking it one fight at a time right now.
Joe is now with Dana White backstage and hype up the fights tonight to close out the show.
9/19/09
Dallas, Texas
American Airlines Center
These fights are on being brought to us on Spike TV before the UFC 103 PPV.
Middleweight Fight- Drew McFedries (8-5) vs. Tomasz Drwal (16-2)
Drwal fought at the TUF 9 Finale and got a first round Ground and Pound TKO of Mike Ciesnolevicz. McFedries fought last on UFC 98 and beat Xavier Foupa- Pokam in 37 seconds. Don’t blink this one could end quickly. Drwal has a 4” reach advantage. McFedries has to be the most exciting 8-5 fighter on the planet, which is why he’s still employed by the UFC. In his two previous fights in the UFC Drwal fought at Light Heavyweight.
R1- And there are some technical difficulties early in the first fight so we miss the first 45-50 seconds of the fight. If the fight goes this long McFedries usually comes up on the short end. McFedries had a couple of cuts on his face early into the fight. Drwal gets a take down about two minutes into the fight but McFedries got back to his feet and Drwal landed some nice knees. Both guys stood toe to toe and exchanged punches. Drwal hit a good right hand and McFedries looks to be tiring. Drwal gets McFedries down again and is landing some Ground and Pound and he mounts McFedries but there is only 10 seconds left in the round and McFedries will make it to the second round. Drwal is up 10-9 after round one. Both guys have cuts on their face.
R2- Drwal landed a nice punch right out of the gate and pushed forward and clinched McFedries and took him down. Drwal moved quickly to side control and then mounted and clamped on a choke and got the win. Nice showing by Tomasz Drwal.
Winner: Tomasz Drwal by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:03
Welterweight Fight- Rick Story vs. Brian Foster
Story last fought at UFC 99 and lost a unanimous decision to John Hathaway (I had it scored 29-28).
R1- Both guys are just swinging for the fences in the opening minute. Just throwing wild punches. Foster hit him with a big gut punch and then hit him with a judo throw and clamped in a guillotine but Story popped his head out. Story ended up in Foster’s guard and passed his guard and then took his back. Story’s nose is busted open and he’s bleeding a lot but he’s keeping top position. Foster got back to his feet and both guys started swinging for the fences again. Good first round that went to Story due to his control of the round.
R2- They come out and go after each other again and Story gets a take down. Story grabbed an arm triangle and Foster tapped out. Nice finish by Story. Rogan says it’s the first time he’s seen a guy finished from an arm triangle while inside the guard which shows the strength of Story.
Winner: Rick Story by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 1:09
Joe Rogan interviews Rich Franklin backstage. Franklin says he’s tired because he hasn’t taken his pre-fight nap yet. Franklin says he’s worked a little with Robbie Lawler because he has a similar style to Belfort.
Lightweight Fight- Efrain Escudero (12-0) vs. Cole Miller (15-3)
Escudero was the TUF 9 winner and this is his first fight since winning TUF. Miller has recent wins over Jorge Gurgel and Junie Browning. Miller is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and Efrain has a strong wrestling background. Miller has a 4” height and 2” reach advantage. Based on those stats Escudero should have a strength advantage. Joe says that Escudero struggled to make weight yesterday at the weigh-ins.
R1- Both guys being very tentative early in the fight. Escudero got a sweep of Miller on a kick but let him back up. Miller is started to get more confident and is pushing the action and landing some strikes and really looks like he has more than a 2” reach advantage. Escudero finally caught Miller and slammed him hard to the mat but Miller got back to his feet. Escudero is starting to push the action now and he just leveled Miller with a big right hand that floored him. Escudero jumped on top and hit three punches on the floor and that’s it. Really impressive finish by Escudero.
Winner: Efrain Escudero by TKO (Punches) R1 3:36
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez
Jim Miller is coming off of a big decision win over Mac Danzig at UFC 100. Miller’s only losses have come to Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar, both of which I have ranked in the World Top 10 Lightweights.
R1- They open up by both throwing strikes. Miller hit a good right that briefly floored Lopez. Miller landed some good leg kicks. Miller landed a really good left and then jumped all over Lopez but Lopez grabbed the guard and survived the onslaught. Lopez got back to his feet but Miller grabbed a front guillotine choke. Lopez slipped out and Miller pounded him with some Ground and Pound and then took Lopez’s back and then Lopez got him back to full guard. Miller took that round 10-9 and is in control of the fight.
R2- Lopez hurt his shoulder in the second round and you could see the bone popped out of place and he had to verbally submit.
Winner: Jim Miller by TKO R2 0:48
Joe Rogan interviews Vitor Belfort backstage and they talk about the fight tonight. Joe tries to bait him into talking about a possible Anderson Silva fight in the future but Vitor says he’s just taking it one fight at a time right now.
Joe is now with Dana White backstage and hype up the fights tonight to close out the show.
Monday, July 20, 2009
UFC 100 Unaired Fights Re-Cap
UFC 100: Making History Unaired Fights
7/11/09
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice (10-2) vs. Shannon Gugerty (11-3)
Grice fought on the Fight Night in February and lost by TKO in the first round to Matt Veach in a really good fight that had a some what early ref stoppage. The last time I saw Gugerty was on the July of 2008 Fight Night show where he made his UFC debut and choked out Dale Hartt. Gugerty is in the same camp as Brandon Vera and Dean Lister.
R1- Gugerty got a quick take down about 30 seconds into the fight. Grice got to his feet but Gugerty grabbed a guillotine choke and Grice fought to shake him off but he couldn’t and Gugerty gets the submission victory. Impressive showing for Gugerty as he controlled the entire fight.
Winner: Shannon Gugerty by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:36
Middleweight Fight- CB Dollaway (9-2) vs.Tom Lawlor (5-1)
CB has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. Lawlor was on Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter and was eliminated by eventual champion Ryan Bader. Dollaway was also on The Ultimate Fighter but he was on Season 7. On the show Lawlor fought as a Light Heavyweight when he was on TUF. The last I saw CB was on UFC 92 where he was impressive in his victory over Mike Massenzio.
R1- Don’t Blink! Dollaway went for a take down and Lawlor grabbed CB in a guillotine choke and pulled guard and choked CB out. Lawlor had to basically tell the ref that CB had passed out in the submission. Fantastic showing by Lawlor.
Winner: Tom Lawlor by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:55
Welterweight Fight- Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1) vs. T.J. Grant (14-2)
Kim lost a Split Decision at UFC 94 to Karo Parisyan but the decision was later reversed due to Parisyan testing positive for prescription painkillers.
R1- Grant got an early take down but Kim reversed it and took TJ’s guard. They got back to their feet with two minutes left in the round with neither guy sustaining any damage on the ground but Kim got another take down. Kim won this round by controlling the action but neither guy really did much damage. Grant looks like he did sustain a cut under his right eye during the round.
R2- Kim grabbed a guillotine at the one minute mark of the round but TJ fought out and Kim ended up in TJ’s guard. Kim controlled the rest of the round by staying on top of TJ. Grant hit an illegal upkick to Kim’s head when Kim still had his knee on the mat so they stopped the fight for a minute and Mazzagatti took a point away from Grant. So after three it’s actually 20-17 in favor of Kim. Grant has to finish this fight to win.
R3- Kim got a judo throw about half way through the round to get TJ down to the ground. Kim once again controlled this round. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Kim as he took this fight 30-26 on my score card.
Judges scores: 30-26 on all score cards
Winner: Dong Hyun Kim by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jon Jones (8-0) vs. Jake O’Brien (11-2)
Jon Jones has a huge 8” reach advantage in this fight. Jones last fought on UFC 94 and defeated Stephan Bonnar by Unanimous Decision. Previous to that he beat Andre Gusmao by Decision at UFC 87. Jones is a very exciting fighter that based on his last two decisions needs to work on finishing fights. O’Brien also fought on UFC 94 and also won a Decision by defeating Christian Wellisch. Jones got a good ovation when he was introduced.
R1- O’Brien went for a quick take down but could not get it. O’Brien is landing some jabs but continues to be stuffed when going for take downs in the early part of this fight. Jones starts to land some kicks. Very even round that could have been scored either way. Jones might have taken it by stuffing the take downs and spending the second part of the round landing kicks.
R2- Jones went for a jumping kick and then a high kick early in the round but could not connect on either. Jones again starts to land some kicks. Jones went for a spinning back fist and clipped the top of O’Brien’s head. O’Brien went for a take down but Jones stuffed him and went for a guillotine attempt and Jones finished him. This is the under card of guillotine chokes! Jones moves to 3-0 in the UFC and 9-0 in his career.
Winner: Jon Jones by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:43
Light Heavyweight Fight- Stephan Bonnar (14-5) vs. Mark Coleman (15-9)
Both of these guys are coming off of unimpressive performances. Bonnar lost to Jon Jones at UFC 94 and Coleman lost to Shogun Rua at UFC 93 by TKO where both guys gassed really badly. Bonnar has a 3” height and 5” reach advantage. Coleman has the strength advantage in this fight.
R1- Coleman got a quick take down within the first minute of the fight. Bonnar is very active from the bottom and is going for multiple submissions but Coleman was able to avoid getting caught. Stephan was able to reverse positions and get Coleman in a crucifix position and landed some elbows. Bonnar continues to land some shots in on Coleman. Bonnar went for a kimura at the end of the round but ran out of time. Bonnar took the first round 10-9.
R2- Bonnar hit a good left hand to start the round. Bonnar went for a spinning back fist and Coleman caught him and took him down and then Coleman busted Bonnar up with a couple of elbows. Coleman hit some more strikes but Bonnar responded with some elbows from the bottom. Bonnar continues to look for submission from the bottom but Coleman rolls out of the attempts and briefly took his back before taking Bonnar’s guard again. Coleman evened this fight up 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Coleman went for a take down and Bonnar sprawled out of it and grabbed a guillotine but Coleman held on and completed the single leg take down. After the take down Coleman controlled the fight and he’s going to take this decision 29-28. Not a particularly impressive showing but Coleman looked much better here then he did against Shogun. Bonnar really needs a win badly in his next fight as he just got outmuscled in this one.
Judges scores: 29-28 on all 3 score cards in favor of Coleman.
Winner: Mark Coleman by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Mac Danzig (19-6-1) vs. Jim Miller (13-2)
Danzig is coming off of back to back losses to the likes of Clay Guida and Josh Neer. Miller is coming off of a loss to Gray Maynard. Both guys are in need of a win.
R1- Miller got a take down about a minute into the fight. At about the two and half minute mark Miller hit a good elbow that didn’t look too bad but a big cut opened up on Danzig’s forehead. Danzig got back to his feet but Miller wrestled him back to the mat. Danzig is losing a lot of blood. Miller takes this round 10-9.
“With all that blood, this is like hot oil wrestling”- Joe Rogan
R2- Miller got an early take down and continued his control in this fight. Miller lands some punches from Danzig’s guard. They stand up the fight with one minute left in the round. Danzig got a guillotine choke with about 10 seconds left in the round but the bell rang. Miller is up 20-18.
“Look at this Octagon. It’s like someone threw a bucket of red paint everywhere”- Joe Rogan
R3- Miller again is controlling where the action goes. Miller took Danzig’s back with about a minute left in the fight. Danzig went for a Rear Naked with about 40 seconds left but Danzig slipped out with twenty seconds left and briefly got side control but the fight ended with Danzig in Miller’s guard. I’ve got Miller in this fight 30-27. He did enough to win the fight.
Judges score cards: all three judges scored the fight 30-27
Winner: Jim Miller by Decision (Unanimous)
7/11/09
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice (10-2) vs. Shannon Gugerty (11-3)
Grice fought on the Fight Night in February and lost by TKO in the first round to Matt Veach in a really good fight that had a some what early ref stoppage. The last time I saw Gugerty was on the July of 2008 Fight Night show where he made his UFC debut and choked out Dale Hartt. Gugerty is in the same camp as Brandon Vera and Dean Lister.
R1- Gugerty got a quick take down about 30 seconds into the fight. Grice got to his feet but Gugerty grabbed a guillotine choke and Grice fought to shake him off but he couldn’t and Gugerty gets the submission victory. Impressive showing for Gugerty as he controlled the entire fight.
Winner: Shannon Gugerty by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:36
Middleweight Fight- CB Dollaway (9-2) vs.Tom Lawlor (5-1)
CB has a 2” reach and 2” height advantage. Lawlor was on Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter and was eliminated by eventual champion Ryan Bader. Dollaway was also on The Ultimate Fighter but he was on Season 7. On the show Lawlor fought as a Light Heavyweight when he was on TUF. The last I saw CB was on UFC 92 where he was impressive in his victory over Mike Massenzio.
R1- Don’t Blink! Dollaway went for a take down and Lawlor grabbed CB in a guillotine choke and pulled guard and choked CB out. Lawlor had to basically tell the ref that CB had passed out in the submission. Fantastic showing by Lawlor.
Winner: Tom Lawlor by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:55
Welterweight Fight- Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1) vs. T.J. Grant (14-2)
Kim lost a Split Decision at UFC 94 to Karo Parisyan but the decision was later reversed due to Parisyan testing positive for prescription painkillers.
R1- Grant got an early take down but Kim reversed it and took TJ’s guard. They got back to their feet with two minutes left in the round with neither guy sustaining any damage on the ground but Kim got another take down. Kim won this round by controlling the action but neither guy really did much damage. Grant looks like he did sustain a cut under his right eye during the round.
R2- Kim grabbed a guillotine at the one minute mark of the round but TJ fought out and Kim ended up in TJ’s guard. Kim controlled the rest of the round by staying on top of TJ. Grant hit an illegal upkick to Kim’s head when Kim still had his knee on the mat so they stopped the fight for a minute and Mazzagatti took a point away from Grant. So after three it’s actually 20-17 in favor of Kim. Grant has to finish this fight to win.
R3- Kim got a judo throw about half way through the round to get TJ down to the ground. Kim once again controlled this round. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Kim as he took this fight 30-26 on my score card.
Judges scores: 30-26 on all score cards
Winner: Dong Hyun Kim by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jon Jones (8-0) vs. Jake O’Brien (11-2)
Jon Jones has a huge 8” reach advantage in this fight. Jones last fought on UFC 94 and defeated Stephan Bonnar by Unanimous Decision. Previous to that he beat Andre Gusmao by Decision at UFC 87. Jones is a very exciting fighter that based on his last two decisions needs to work on finishing fights. O’Brien also fought on UFC 94 and also won a Decision by defeating Christian Wellisch. Jones got a good ovation when he was introduced.
R1- O’Brien went for a quick take down but could not get it. O’Brien is landing some jabs but continues to be stuffed when going for take downs in the early part of this fight. Jones starts to land some kicks. Very even round that could have been scored either way. Jones might have taken it by stuffing the take downs and spending the second part of the round landing kicks.
R2- Jones went for a jumping kick and then a high kick early in the round but could not connect on either. Jones again starts to land some kicks. Jones went for a spinning back fist and clipped the top of O’Brien’s head. O’Brien went for a take down but Jones stuffed him and went for a guillotine attempt and Jones finished him. This is the under card of guillotine chokes! Jones moves to 3-0 in the UFC and 9-0 in his career.
Winner: Jon Jones by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:43
Light Heavyweight Fight- Stephan Bonnar (14-5) vs. Mark Coleman (15-9)
Both of these guys are coming off of unimpressive performances. Bonnar lost to Jon Jones at UFC 94 and Coleman lost to Shogun Rua at UFC 93 by TKO where both guys gassed really badly. Bonnar has a 3” height and 5” reach advantage. Coleman has the strength advantage in this fight.
R1- Coleman got a quick take down within the first minute of the fight. Bonnar is very active from the bottom and is going for multiple submissions but Coleman was able to avoid getting caught. Stephan was able to reverse positions and get Coleman in a crucifix position and landed some elbows. Bonnar continues to land some shots in on Coleman. Bonnar went for a kimura at the end of the round but ran out of time. Bonnar took the first round 10-9.
R2- Bonnar hit a good left hand to start the round. Bonnar went for a spinning back fist and Coleman caught him and took him down and then Coleman busted Bonnar up with a couple of elbows. Coleman hit some more strikes but Bonnar responded with some elbows from the bottom. Bonnar continues to look for submission from the bottom but Coleman rolls out of the attempts and briefly took his back before taking Bonnar’s guard again. Coleman evened this fight up 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Coleman went for a take down and Bonnar sprawled out of it and grabbed a guillotine but Coleman held on and completed the single leg take down. After the take down Coleman controlled the fight and he’s going to take this decision 29-28. Not a particularly impressive showing but Coleman looked much better here then he did against Shogun. Bonnar really needs a win badly in his next fight as he just got outmuscled in this one.
Judges scores: 29-28 on all 3 score cards in favor of Coleman.
Winner: Mark Coleman by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Mac Danzig (19-6-1) vs. Jim Miller (13-2)
Danzig is coming off of back to back losses to the likes of Clay Guida and Josh Neer. Miller is coming off of a loss to Gray Maynard. Both guys are in need of a win.
R1- Miller got a take down about a minute into the fight. At about the two and half minute mark Miller hit a good elbow that didn’t look too bad but a big cut opened up on Danzig’s forehead. Danzig got back to his feet but Miller wrestled him back to the mat. Danzig is losing a lot of blood. Miller takes this round 10-9.
“With all that blood, this is like hot oil wrestling”- Joe Rogan
R2- Miller got an early take down and continued his control in this fight. Miller lands some punches from Danzig’s guard. They stand up the fight with one minute left in the round. Danzig got a guillotine choke with about 10 seconds left in the round but the bell rang. Miller is up 20-18.
“Look at this Octagon. It’s like someone threw a bucket of red paint everywhere”- Joe Rogan
R3- Miller again is controlling where the action goes. Miller took Danzig’s back with about a minute left in the fight. Danzig went for a Rear Naked with about 40 seconds left but Danzig slipped out with twenty seconds left and briefly got side control but the fight ended with Danzig in Miller’s guard. I’ve got Miller in this fight 30-27. He did enough to win the fight.
Judges score cards: all three judges scored the fight 30-27
Winner: Jim Miller by Decision (Unanimous)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
UFC 96 3/7/09 "Jackson vs Jardine" Re-Cap
UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine
Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Jim Miller (13-1)
Maynard is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at UFC 90 and previous to that he won another unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. Jim Miller is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman at the Fight for the Troops show in December. Might we be in for a 3 round fight here? Both guys are undefeated in the UFC. Miller is on an 8 fight win streak and is 2-0 in the UFC. Randy Couture is in the corner of Maynard for this fight.
R1- Miller is the aggressor early but Maynard does a good job throwing some combos. Miller spends a long time trying to take Maynard down and Maynard does a real good job avoiding it. Miller’s face is bloodied up. Maynard landed a nice shot at the end of the round and takes the round 10-9.
R2- Maynard got in some good shots at the two minute mark of the round. Miller went for a take down and eventually pulled guard because he couldn’t get the take down but Maynard quickly slipped out. Maynard is controlling this fight right now and is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Maynard went for a take down for the first time in the fight and got a slam but then almost got caught in a leg lock but he slipped out. Miller tried to get a take down but got stuffed again and Maynard flipped it around and got some Ground and Pound. Maynard is going to win this decision 30-27.
Really solid showing by Maynard. He looked really good just didn’t show that Killer Instinct or finishing power. He’s had 3 straight decisions in which he’s controlled the fights. Would really like to see him step up in competition for his next fight as he’s definitely moving up the contenders list at this point.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0)
We are following up a decision fight with two wrestlers. Hamill beat Reese Andy his last time out but was really controlled by Rich Franklin in the fight previous to that. Munoz is a D1 Wrestling Champion who is currently training with Urijah Faber and was 2-0 in WEC. This will be the UFC debut for Munoz. Joe Rogan points out that Mo Lawal (Sengoku fighter) and Jason Lambert are in Munoz corner. Matt Hamill is the hometown guy in this fight and gets a good reaction. Matt Hamill has a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Hamill is the aggressor early and Munoz looks like he’s in a little bit of UFC debut jitters. Munoz went for a take down and didn’t get it but seems to be loosening up a little bit and starts to throw a lot more strikes and be more aggressive. Hamill lands some good shots up against the cage. Out of nowhere Hamill nailed a right high kick and Munoz just hit the mat. What a fantastic knock out kick from Hamill! Munoz had his hands down and he just got rocked.
Winner: Matt Hamill by KO (High Kick) R1 3:53
Frank Mir is up next with Mike Goldberg. Mir has just had knee surgery and they will be pushing his fight with Brock Lesnar back a few weeks. Thus, Rashad Evans will step in and Main Event the show that Lesnar/Mir was supposed to on in May on UFC 98 in Las Vegas. If Rampage wins tonight then Rampage fights Rashad. If Jardine wins then Rashad will fight Lyoto Machida. So Rampage could be Main Eventing two out of the next three UFC shows.
Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)
Pete Sell is trained by Matt Serra and he will be stepping down to Welterweight for the second time in this fight. He beat Josh Burkman in his Welterweight debut. Sell is a jiu jitsu black belt. Brown trains with Rich Franklin. Brown subbed Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 and lost a close split decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Despite the win/loss records these guys bring into the cage, this should be a pretty exciting fight.
R1- Brown is landing some good strikes early and floors Brown and the ref steps in front of Brown to break up the fight and stops Brown from jumping on Sell for some Ground and Pound but then lets the fight continue. HUGE referee error! Mat Brown then hits some knees and gets Sell down again and is nailing him with some punches. Brown is hitting some big elbows and knees on the cage and has Sell peddling back wards. Sell drops to the ground to tell Brown to come down to where he can dictate the fight but Brown steps in and lands a couple of punches and the ref stops the fight. Horrible referring by Yves Lavigne in this fight. Great showing by Matt Brown.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
This is a fight from the pre-show card. Kendall is in big need of a win. BJ Penn is in Grove’s corner.
R1- Kendall hit a big right hand after a pretty even fight and then jumped on top for the stoppage. Good win for Grove as he may have needed it to stay in the UFC.
Winner: Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0)
This is the fight that I am most looking forward to on this card as the winner of this fight has the ability to move up into the upper echelon of UFC Heavyweights like Mir, Lesnar, Big Nog and Couture. The winner of this fight should get a big name for their next fight (or a match-up against a guy like Cain Velasquez or Cheick Kongo). Carwin comes out to Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.” Nice choice for an MMA entrance theme in my opinion. Not to be outdone Gonzaga comes out to Danzig’s “Mother.” Looks like we are in for a showdown of MMA entrance themes! Neither guy is known to go deep into a fight. Gonzaga is a BJJ World Champion. Carwin has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Carwin pushed forward early but Gonzaga hit some nice punches. Gonzaga got him taken down within the first minute of the fight but Carwin got back to his feet. Carwin caught Gonzaga with a punch and Gonzaga went down and crumpled against the cage. Carwin just hit a big right hand and it connected fully.
Really good statement made tonight by Carwin as he took some early punishment from Gonzaga and escaped a take down to come back and knock out Gonzaga in less than two minutes.
Winner: Shane Carwin by KO R1 1:09
Welterweight Fight- Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan
This is our second pre-show fight of the night. Brought to you by Shane Carwin, Matt Hamill and Matt Brown.
R1- McCrory gets a quick take down and passed the guard of Madigan within the first minute of the fight. McCrory is pushed back to full guard but gets in some Ground and Pound punches. McCrory passes again and mounts Madigan. McCrory almost got caught in a leg lock but got back into position and took out Madigan with some Ground and Pound. Madigan really didn’t provide a lot of resistance for McCrory in this fight. This was pretty much all McCrory.
Winner: Tamdan McCrory by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
Post-Fight McCrory drops some language and complains that he didn’t choose his music. He calls out Dana White for choosing his music! Says he wanted to come out to “Thunder Horse” cause he came out here on his “f’n Thunder Horse and handled business.” Best post-fight interview ever.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
If Rampage wins then he goes on to fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson is currently my #3 ranked Light Heavyweight in the world and is 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has victories over Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson and a loss to Forrest Griffin in a close decision. I’ve got Jardine ranked #9 as he is also 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has wins over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera and got demolished by Wanderlei Silva. I think Jardine is going to be a tough match-up for Rampage kind of like Forrest was. Rampage is in a better camp now then he was for the Forrest fight so it will be interesting to see how this camp makes his game plan for an unorthodox guy like Jardine.
UFC pulls out the statistical analysis for this fight (I love this stuff). Rampage lands 81% of his clinch strikes and is successful on 68% of his clinch take downs. Jardine lands 86% of his leg kicks and 92% of his body shots. Jardine has a 3” reach advantage.
Rashad Evans joins Mike and Joe in the broadcast booth for this fight. Rashad will fight Rampage if Rampage wins but is also a training partner of Jardine.
R1- The clinched early and got broken up by the ref. Jardine is employing a stick and move style early into the fight. They tied up against the cage again. Rampage hit a nice combo at the one minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Jardine towards the end of the round. A fairly close round that I give to Rampage 10-9. Rampage is clearly the aggressor and Jardine is being somewhat effective and is sticking and moving but is also getting chased around the ring a lot by Rampage.
R2- Rampage hit a big left hand on Jardine about 2 minutes into the round and then jumped on top to try and finish but Jardine weathered the storm and got back to his feet and clinched Rampage. Rampage got a take down but Jardine again quickly got up and clinched Rampage. Jardine hit Rampage with a low blow and Rampage wanted to continue on and shortly thereafter Jardine got in a good combo and had Rampage wobbly up against the cage but Rampage survived and didn’t go down and looked to gather his wits pretty quickly. Good round with both guys getting in some good shots. I’ve got Rampage up 20-18 so far after two rounds but Cecil Peoples is judging so these fighters will want to finish this fight before it gets to the judges score cards.
R3- Jackson got a take down shortly after the one minute mark of the round but couldn’t hold Jardine down. Pretty even stand up this round. Jardine goes for a take down but is not able to get it. One minute left in the fight and the ref breaks a clinch. Rampage chases Jardine down and lands some good shots but Jardine stays on his feet and escapes. Rampage levels Jardine with a left hand right before the buzzer and Jardine clutches Rampage’s leg. Rampage takes this round and he’s got this fight 30-27 on my score card. A good fight that was clearly won by Rampage although Rampage could not finish Jardine.
Judges score cards have the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Rampage (and of course Cecil Peoples comes up with the same score that I did after I complained about his judging).
Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight they have Rashad and Rampage face to face in each others face with both guys talking trash.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
We get another pre-show fight. Brandon Vera is looking to bounce back with this fight. He’s coming off of a close decision loss at UFC 89 to Keith Jardine in which neither guy really did enough to truly say that they won the fight as both guys put on a lackluster performance.
R1- Vera starts the fight off aggressively. Vera looks like he’s physically starting to adjust better to the Light Heavyweight weight. Vera is hitting some good leg kicks. Patt barely missed a high leg kick with a minute and a half left in the round. Vera looked really good in round one and clearly took it 10-9.
R2- Vera is just destroying Patt with leg kicks and literally chops him down to the ground until the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Vera as he just took out Patt with leg kicks in this fight. Maybe this will get Vera going as he looked really good and looks like he is adjusting to the new weight finally.
Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (Leg Kicks) R2 1:27
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
R1- Boetsch really comes at Brilz early and lands some strikes. Brilz got a take down at around the one and a half minute mark but Boetsch got back up when Brilz tried to pass. Pretty decent and even first round. Rogan points out that Jason Brilz corner forgot a stool and he had to stand up during the break between rounds.
R2- Brilz got a take down about one minute into the round and passes guard to side control. Brilz is really controlling the fight on the ground in this round. Brilz definitely takes this round so it’s probably 19-19 but Round One could have gone either way.
R3- Brilz got Boetsch to the mat at the half way mark of the round. Brilz controls this round and bloodies up Boetsch a little bit towards the end of the round. Brilz is going to win this fight by Decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 all for Brilz
Winner: Jason Brilz by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a solid show. It ended up being much stronger than it looked on paper. Rampage/Jardine ended up being a good solid fight and we had great showings by Hamill, Brown, and Carwin. Gray Maynard, Kendall Grove and Brandon Vera also put on good performances.
Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Jim Miller (13-1)
Maynard is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at UFC 90 and previous to that he won another unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. Jim Miller is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman at the Fight for the Troops show in December. Might we be in for a 3 round fight here? Both guys are undefeated in the UFC. Miller is on an 8 fight win streak and is 2-0 in the UFC. Randy Couture is in the corner of Maynard for this fight.
R1- Miller is the aggressor early but Maynard does a good job throwing some combos. Miller spends a long time trying to take Maynard down and Maynard does a real good job avoiding it. Miller’s face is bloodied up. Maynard landed a nice shot at the end of the round and takes the round 10-9.
R2- Maynard got in some good shots at the two minute mark of the round. Miller went for a take down and eventually pulled guard because he couldn’t get the take down but Maynard quickly slipped out. Maynard is controlling this fight right now and is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Maynard went for a take down for the first time in the fight and got a slam but then almost got caught in a leg lock but he slipped out. Miller tried to get a take down but got stuffed again and Maynard flipped it around and got some Ground and Pound. Maynard is going to win this decision 30-27.
Really solid showing by Maynard. He looked really good just didn’t show that Killer Instinct or finishing power. He’s had 3 straight decisions in which he’s controlled the fights. Would really like to see him step up in competition for his next fight as he’s definitely moving up the contenders list at this point.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0)
We are following up a decision fight with two wrestlers. Hamill beat Reese Andy his last time out but was really controlled by Rich Franklin in the fight previous to that. Munoz is a D1 Wrestling Champion who is currently training with Urijah Faber and was 2-0 in WEC. This will be the UFC debut for Munoz. Joe Rogan points out that Mo Lawal (Sengoku fighter) and Jason Lambert are in Munoz corner. Matt Hamill is the hometown guy in this fight and gets a good reaction. Matt Hamill has a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Hamill is the aggressor early and Munoz looks like he’s in a little bit of UFC debut jitters. Munoz went for a take down and didn’t get it but seems to be loosening up a little bit and starts to throw a lot more strikes and be more aggressive. Hamill lands some good shots up against the cage. Out of nowhere Hamill nailed a right high kick and Munoz just hit the mat. What a fantastic knock out kick from Hamill! Munoz had his hands down and he just got rocked.
Winner: Matt Hamill by KO (High Kick) R1 3:53
Frank Mir is up next with Mike Goldberg. Mir has just had knee surgery and they will be pushing his fight with Brock Lesnar back a few weeks. Thus, Rashad Evans will step in and Main Event the show that Lesnar/Mir was supposed to on in May on UFC 98 in Las Vegas. If Rampage wins tonight then Rampage fights Rashad. If Jardine wins then Rashad will fight Lyoto Machida. So Rampage could be Main Eventing two out of the next three UFC shows.
Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)
Pete Sell is trained by Matt Serra and he will be stepping down to Welterweight for the second time in this fight. He beat Josh Burkman in his Welterweight debut. Sell is a jiu jitsu black belt. Brown trains with Rich Franklin. Brown subbed Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 and lost a close split decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Despite the win/loss records these guys bring into the cage, this should be a pretty exciting fight.
R1- Brown is landing some good strikes early and floors Brown and the ref steps in front of Brown to break up the fight and stops Brown from jumping on Sell for some Ground and Pound but then lets the fight continue. HUGE referee error! Mat Brown then hits some knees and gets Sell down again and is nailing him with some punches. Brown is hitting some big elbows and knees on the cage and has Sell peddling back wards. Sell drops to the ground to tell Brown to come down to where he can dictate the fight but Brown steps in and lands a couple of punches and the ref stops the fight. Horrible referring by Yves Lavigne in this fight. Great showing by Matt Brown.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
This is a fight from the pre-show card. Kendall is in big need of a win. BJ Penn is in Grove’s corner.
R1- Kendall hit a big right hand after a pretty even fight and then jumped on top for the stoppage. Good win for Grove as he may have needed it to stay in the UFC.
Winner: Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0)
This is the fight that I am most looking forward to on this card as the winner of this fight has the ability to move up into the upper echelon of UFC Heavyweights like Mir, Lesnar, Big Nog and Couture. The winner of this fight should get a big name for their next fight (or a match-up against a guy like Cain Velasquez or Cheick Kongo). Carwin comes out to Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.” Nice choice for an MMA entrance theme in my opinion. Not to be outdone Gonzaga comes out to Danzig’s “Mother.” Looks like we are in for a showdown of MMA entrance themes! Neither guy is known to go deep into a fight. Gonzaga is a BJJ World Champion. Carwin has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Carwin pushed forward early but Gonzaga hit some nice punches. Gonzaga got him taken down within the first minute of the fight but Carwin got back to his feet. Carwin caught Gonzaga with a punch and Gonzaga went down and crumpled against the cage. Carwin just hit a big right hand and it connected fully.
Really good statement made tonight by Carwin as he took some early punishment from Gonzaga and escaped a take down to come back and knock out Gonzaga in less than two minutes.
Winner: Shane Carwin by KO R1 1:09
Welterweight Fight- Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan
This is our second pre-show fight of the night. Brought to you by Shane Carwin, Matt Hamill and Matt Brown.
R1- McCrory gets a quick take down and passed the guard of Madigan within the first minute of the fight. McCrory is pushed back to full guard but gets in some Ground and Pound punches. McCrory passes again and mounts Madigan. McCrory almost got caught in a leg lock but got back into position and took out Madigan with some Ground and Pound. Madigan really didn’t provide a lot of resistance for McCrory in this fight. This was pretty much all McCrory.
Winner: Tamdan McCrory by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
Post-Fight McCrory drops some language and complains that he didn’t choose his music. He calls out Dana White for choosing his music! Says he wanted to come out to “Thunder Horse” cause he came out here on his “f’n Thunder Horse and handled business.” Best post-fight interview ever.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
If Rampage wins then he goes on to fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson is currently my #3 ranked Light Heavyweight in the world and is 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has victories over Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson and a loss to Forrest Griffin in a close decision. I’ve got Jardine ranked #9 as he is also 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has wins over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera and got demolished by Wanderlei Silva. I think Jardine is going to be a tough match-up for Rampage kind of like Forrest was. Rampage is in a better camp now then he was for the Forrest fight so it will be interesting to see how this camp makes his game plan for an unorthodox guy like Jardine.
UFC pulls out the statistical analysis for this fight (I love this stuff). Rampage lands 81% of his clinch strikes and is successful on 68% of his clinch take downs. Jardine lands 86% of his leg kicks and 92% of his body shots. Jardine has a 3” reach advantage.
Rashad Evans joins Mike and Joe in the broadcast booth for this fight. Rashad will fight Rampage if Rampage wins but is also a training partner of Jardine.
R1- The clinched early and got broken up by the ref. Jardine is employing a stick and move style early into the fight. They tied up against the cage again. Rampage hit a nice combo at the one minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Jardine towards the end of the round. A fairly close round that I give to Rampage 10-9. Rampage is clearly the aggressor and Jardine is being somewhat effective and is sticking and moving but is also getting chased around the ring a lot by Rampage.
R2- Rampage hit a big left hand on Jardine about 2 minutes into the round and then jumped on top to try and finish but Jardine weathered the storm and got back to his feet and clinched Rampage. Rampage got a take down but Jardine again quickly got up and clinched Rampage. Jardine hit Rampage with a low blow and Rampage wanted to continue on and shortly thereafter Jardine got in a good combo and had Rampage wobbly up against the cage but Rampage survived and didn’t go down and looked to gather his wits pretty quickly. Good round with both guys getting in some good shots. I’ve got Rampage up 20-18 so far after two rounds but Cecil Peoples is judging so these fighters will want to finish this fight before it gets to the judges score cards.
R3- Jackson got a take down shortly after the one minute mark of the round but couldn’t hold Jardine down. Pretty even stand up this round. Jardine goes for a take down but is not able to get it. One minute left in the fight and the ref breaks a clinch. Rampage chases Jardine down and lands some good shots but Jardine stays on his feet and escapes. Rampage levels Jardine with a left hand right before the buzzer and Jardine clutches Rampage’s leg. Rampage takes this round and he’s got this fight 30-27 on my score card. A good fight that was clearly won by Rampage although Rampage could not finish Jardine.
Judges score cards have the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Rampage (and of course Cecil Peoples comes up with the same score that I did after I complained about his judging).
Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight they have Rashad and Rampage face to face in each others face with both guys talking trash.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
We get another pre-show fight. Brandon Vera is looking to bounce back with this fight. He’s coming off of a close decision loss at UFC 89 to Keith Jardine in which neither guy really did enough to truly say that they won the fight as both guys put on a lackluster performance.
R1- Vera starts the fight off aggressively. Vera looks like he’s physically starting to adjust better to the Light Heavyweight weight. Vera is hitting some good leg kicks. Patt barely missed a high leg kick with a minute and a half left in the round. Vera looked really good in round one and clearly took it 10-9.
R2- Vera is just destroying Patt with leg kicks and literally chops him down to the ground until the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Vera as he just took out Patt with leg kicks in this fight. Maybe this will get Vera going as he looked really good and looks like he is adjusting to the new weight finally.
Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (Leg Kicks) R2 1:27
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
R1- Boetsch really comes at Brilz early and lands some strikes. Brilz got a take down at around the one and a half minute mark but Boetsch got back up when Brilz tried to pass. Pretty decent and even first round. Rogan points out that Jason Brilz corner forgot a stool and he had to stand up during the break between rounds.
R2- Brilz got a take down about one minute into the round and passes guard to side control. Brilz is really controlling the fight on the ground in this round. Brilz definitely takes this round so it’s probably 19-19 but Round One could have gone either way.
R3- Brilz got Boetsch to the mat at the half way mark of the round. Brilz controls this round and bloodies up Boetsch a little bit towards the end of the round. Brilz is going to win this fight by Decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 all for Brilz
Winner: Jason Brilz by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a solid show. It ended up being much stronger than it looked on paper. Rampage/Jardine ended up being a good solid fight and we had great showings by Hamill, Brown, and Carwin. Gray Maynard, Kendall Grove and Brandon Vera also put on good performances.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
UFC: Fight For The Troops 12/10/08 Re-Cap
UFC Fight for the Troops 12/10/08
On paper this looked like a show that could be easily skipped. But when it played out it was one of the most exciting nights of UFC fights this year. A fantastic knockout from Josh Koscheck, a dominate performance from Ben Saunders, a nasty submission from Steve Cantwell and another great performance from Mike Swick. A big night for TUF alums as not only Saunders, Swick and Koscheck got big wins but Tim Credeur looked really good.
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller (12-1) vs. Matt Wiman (10-3)
Wiman came in on a 4 fight win streak and Miller came in on a 7 fight win streak. Miller took the fight on one week notice. Wiman had a 2 inch height advantage but Miller had a 4 inch reach advantage.
R1- Good first round with Miller winning it 10-9. Miller got an early guillotine and almost got the submission victory early.
R2- Miller took this round as well and is now up 20-18. He is really controlling the fight through two rounds.
R3- Wiman started out this round strong but Miller got a quick take down and ultimately won the fight 30-27 in my book.
The judges scored the fight: 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 in favor of Miller
Winner: Jim Miller by Decision (Unanimous)
They show celebrity testimonials when they come back from commercial to solicit donations to the troops. Some of the celebs included Charlie Sheen, Jack Black, Chris O'Donnell, Samuel L Jackson, Mick Foley, 50 Cent, Laura Prepon and James Gandolfini.
Middleweight Fight- Tim Credeur (11-4) vs. Nate Loughran (9-0)
Nate is a jiu jitsu fighter who trains with David Terrell. Rich Clementi is in Tim's corner. Tim has been training a lot at Xtreme Couture since TUF.
R1- Credeur's striking is superior in Round One and he takes the first round 10-9.
R2- Nate gets his eye busted open early in the second round. Tim controls on the ground early and in the stand up game late. This round was all Tim.
The fight was stopped after two rounds. Tim dominated Nate in this fight and looked one thousand times better than he did during any of his TUF fights.
Winner: Tim Credeur by TKO (verbal submission between rounds) R2
Light Heavyweight- Steve Cantwell (6-1) vs. Razak Al-Hassan (7-0)
Razak comes into the fight undefeated and has a huge five and a half inch reach advantage. Cantwell was last seen on WEC as their Light Heavyweight Champion but they disbanded the division so now he is in UFC.
R1- This was a good fight with pretty even stand up to start. Cantwell got an arm bar and Razak would not tap and Cantwell just destroyed Razak's arm and the ref stopped the fight. What a sick move and a great debut for Cantwell. Cantwell took much joy in his snapping his opponent's arm during the post-match interview.
Winner: Steve Cantwell by TKO (ref stoppage) R1 4:04
Welterweight Fight- Mike Swick (12-2) vs. Jonathan Goulet (22-4)
Swick has a three and a half inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Swick got a quick take down and just pounded Goulet on his knees until the ref stopped the fight. Wow! Swick looked awesome here.
Winner: Mike Swick by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:33
Welterweight Fight- Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolfe
This was from the pre-show. Thanks to Mike Swick for his quick finish, so we get another fight.
R1- Saunders hits big knees in the Muy Thai clinch. Saunders just with a barrage of knees and kicks and this one is over fairly quickly. Another awesome performance by a TUF alum.
Winner: Ben Saunders by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:49
Welterweight: Josh Koscheck (13-3) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2)
Yoshida has a 3 fight win streak and is a judo black belt. Koscheck has a three inch reach advantage. Koscheck just fought 45 days ago in a loss to Thiago Alves. I really disliked Koscheck when he was on TUF. Not only did he come off as an arrogant prick but he was also a very boring fighter. Koscheck has really changed my mind this year with his performances against Dustin Hazlett and Chris Lytle and stepping up to fight Thiago Alves on short notice and continuing to stay booked for this fight. It's hard not to like him based on what he has done this year.
R1- About two minutes into the fight Koscheck hit Yoshi with a punch that hurt him. Yoshi was stunned and could not defend and Koscheck just leveled him with a huge KO to win the fight. Great KO for Koscheck.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by KO R1 2:15
Welterweight Fight- Steve Bruno vs. Johnny Rees
This pre-show fight is brought to you by Josh Koscheck's quick KO in the Main Event.
R1- Very even first round that got some boos from the crowd.
R2- Bruno took Rees back several times and finally clamped in a Rear Naked and got the submission victory.
Winner: Steve Bruno by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 3:44
On paper this looked like a show that could be easily skipped. But when it played out it was one of the most exciting nights of UFC fights this year. A fantastic knockout from Josh Koscheck, a dominate performance from Ben Saunders, a nasty submission from Steve Cantwell and another great performance from Mike Swick. A big night for TUF alums as not only Saunders, Swick and Koscheck got big wins but Tim Credeur looked really good.
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller (12-1) vs. Matt Wiman (10-3)
Wiman came in on a 4 fight win streak and Miller came in on a 7 fight win streak. Miller took the fight on one week notice. Wiman had a 2 inch height advantage but Miller had a 4 inch reach advantage.
R1- Good first round with Miller winning it 10-9. Miller got an early guillotine and almost got the submission victory early.
R2- Miller took this round as well and is now up 20-18. He is really controlling the fight through two rounds.
R3- Wiman started out this round strong but Miller got a quick take down and ultimately won the fight 30-27 in my book.
The judges scored the fight: 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 in favor of Miller
Winner: Jim Miller by Decision (Unanimous)
They show celebrity testimonials when they come back from commercial to solicit donations to the troops. Some of the celebs included Charlie Sheen, Jack Black, Chris O'Donnell, Samuel L Jackson, Mick Foley, 50 Cent, Laura Prepon and James Gandolfini.
Middleweight Fight- Tim Credeur (11-4) vs. Nate Loughran (9-0)
Nate is a jiu jitsu fighter who trains with David Terrell. Rich Clementi is in Tim's corner. Tim has been training a lot at Xtreme Couture since TUF.
R1- Credeur's striking is superior in Round One and he takes the first round 10-9.
R2- Nate gets his eye busted open early in the second round. Tim controls on the ground early and in the stand up game late. This round was all Tim.
The fight was stopped after two rounds. Tim dominated Nate in this fight and looked one thousand times better than he did during any of his TUF fights.
Winner: Tim Credeur by TKO (verbal submission between rounds) R2
Light Heavyweight- Steve Cantwell (6-1) vs. Razak Al-Hassan (7-0)
Razak comes into the fight undefeated and has a huge five and a half inch reach advantage. Cantwell was last seen on WEC as their Light Heavyweight Champion but they disbanded the division so now he is in UFC.
R1- This was a good fight with pretty even stand up to start. Cantwell got an arm bar and Razak would not tap and Cantwell just destroyed Razak's arm and the ref stopped the fight. What a sick move and a great debut for Cantwell. Cantwell took much joy in his snapping his opponent's arm during the post-match interview.
Winner: Steve Cantwell by TKO (ref stoppage) R1 4:04
Welterweight Fight- Mike Swick (12-2) vs. Jonathan Goulet (22-4)
Swick has a three and a half inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Swick got a quick take down and just pounded Goulet on his knees until the ref stopped the fight. Wow! Swick looked awesome here.
Winner: Mike Swick by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:33
Welterweight Fight- Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolfe
This was from the pre-show. Thanks to Mike Swick for his quick finish, so we get another fight.
R1- Saunders hits big knees in the Muy Thai clinch. Saunders just with a barrage of knees and kicks and this one is over fairly quickly. Another awesome performance by a TUF alum.
Winner: Ben Saunders by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:49
Welterweight: Josh Koscheck (13-3) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2)
Yoshida has a 3 fight win streak and is a judo black belt. Koscheck has a three inch reach advantage. Koscheck just fought 45 days ago in a loss to Thiago Alves. I really disliked Koscheck when he was on TUF. Not only did he come off as an arrogant prick but he was also a very boring fighter. Koscheck has really changed my mind this year with his performances against Dustin Hazlett and Chris Lytle and stepping up to fight Thiago Alves on short notice and continuing to stay booked for this fight. It's hard not to like him based on what he has done this year.
R1- About two minutes into the fight Koscheck hit Yoshi with a punch that hurt him. Yoshi was stunned and could not defend and Koscheck just leveled him with a huge KO to win the fight. Great KO for Koscheck.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by KO R1 2:15
Welterweight Fight- Steve Bruno vs. Johnny Rees
This pre-show fight is brought to you by Josh Koscheck's quick KO in the Main Event.
R1- Very even first round that got some boos from the crowd.
R2- Bruno took Rees back several times and finally clamped in a Rear Naked and got the submission victory.
Winner: Steve Bruno by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 3:44
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
