UFC 112: Invincible
Yas Island
Abu Dhabi
April 10, 2010
This show is highlighted by two of the top Pound for Pound fighters, Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn, defending their titles. Demian Maia and Frankie Edgar have a shot tonight to shock the world with major upsets. Matt Hughes takes on Renzo Gracie in the other feature fight on this show. As always Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are your announcers for the show. At the outset of the show Rogan calls Anderson Silva the greatest fighter to ever fight in MMA and BJ Penn the greatest lightweight to ever walk the face of the earth. This show is outdoors!
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (13-6) vs. Mark Munoz (7-1)
Grove has won 3 of his last 4 and had an impressive submission victory over Jake Rosholt at UFC 106. Munoz is still very young in this sport but was in WEC before he entered the octagon. Munoz was welcomed to the UFC by a Matt Hamill head kick but since has rallied to win two in a row. Munoz is considered the betting favorite in this fight. Grove has a 6″ height and 8″ reach advantage. I would be surprised if Munoz wasn’t significantly stronger.
R1- Munoz got a quick take down about half way through the round but Grove was able to get back to his feet. Grove caught Munoz coming in with a right and briefly floored him. Munoz clamped onto a leg to recover and Grove landed some strikes. Munoz went for a take down and Grove sprawled and briefly got a choke but lost it. Munoz landed a couple of strikes but then got taken down in a guillotine attempt and Munoz slipped out. Grove grabbed another guillotine towards the end of the round but couldn’t hold it. Good first round. Grove 10-9.
R2- Munoz ate a knee coming in for a take down and Kendall tried to get an arm bar but Munoz slipped out and took top position. Munoz lands some good strikes from the guard. Munoz opened up with a barrage of Ground and Pound strikes on Grove and got the ref stoppage. Really good come back by Munoz.
Winner: Mark Munoz by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:50
Lightweight Fight- Terry Etim (14-2) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (13-4)
Etim is on a 4-fight win streak but doesn’t have any wins that really stand out. dos Anjos is on a 2-fight win streak and also doesn’t have any big wins that stand out. The winner of this will be looking at a big step up in competition for their next fight. dos Anjos lost to Tyson Griffin and Jeremy Stephens when he stepped up in competition and since then has 2 decision victories over lesser opponents. Etim has finished 3 of his last 4 fights. Terry Etim is the favorite to win this fight. Etim has a 4″ height and 2″ reach advantage.
R1- Etim grabbed a guillotine and pulled guard on a take down attempt. Etim kept the move on for about two minutes but dos Anjos was able to get out of the submission. The referee warns dos Anjos for striking Etim in the spine and stands them up. Etim 10-9.
R2- Etim caught dos Anjos with a knee but dos Anjos got a quick take down. dos Anjos just controlled this round from the top position. dos Anjos worked hard and got an arm bar submission to win the fight. Good finish and win for dos Anjos.
Winner: Rafael dos Anjos by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:30
Phil Davis vs. Alexander Gustafsson
This is from the pre-show. Davis is wearing some sweet neon pink trunks. Rogan says Davis looks like “a giant GSP”.
R1- Lots of grappling in this first round. Davis finally got a take down with about a minute left in the round and dropped some elbows. Davis was able to grab a choke and finished the fight as the first round was coming to an end. Nice showing by Davis.
Winner: Phil Davis by Submission (Anaconda Choke) R1 4:55
Georges St-Pierre is at the show tonight and Rogan says GSP has an interesting eye on the Main Event because Anderson Silva has talked about dropping down to 170.
Welterweight Fight- Matt Hughes (44-7) vs. Renzo Gracie (13-6-1)
Hughes was last in the octagon in May of 2009 and struggled to a decision victory over Matt Serra. Before that he posted back-to-back losses to GSP and Thiago Alves but those are 2 of the top 3 guys in the division and Hughes took the Alves fight despite Alves missing weight by a wide margin. The last I saw of Renzo Gracie was a DQ victory against Frank Shamrock in a controversial fight.
R1- Renzo landed some strikes early. Surprising first round, not a ton of action and the entire round was spend standing. I’d give that round to Renzo 10-9.
R2- Hughes got double under hooks and tried a take down but Renzo denied it. Hughes is finding a home for some leg kicks. Hughes was more aggressive in this round and finished strong. After two rounds I’ve got the fight scored 19-19.
R3- Hughes grabbed Renzo in a Muay Thai clinch and then released and landed some good shots. Hughes backed off but when they came back together he landed some more shots that wobbled Renzo. Hughes kicks Renzo’s leg out from under him twice. Hughes is continuing to pepper the leg and lands a couple good strikes as well and then floors Renzo with another strike. Hughes just goes to town on Renzo at the end of the round and finishes the fight. Renzo showed heart but he was just no match for Hughes once the fight got into the final round.
Winner: Matt Hughes by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:40
UFC Lightweight Championship Fight: B.J. Penn (c) (15-5-1) vs. Frankie Edgar (11-1)
B.J. Penn recently dispatched of the #2 guy in the division (Kenny Florian) and also decimated Diego Sanchez in short order. Edgar’s signature win was over former champion Sean Sherk. His last win was over Matt Veach. Penn has a 3″ height advantage and Edgar has a 2″ reach advantage.
R1- Edgar is doing a good job moving around early. Edgar went for a take down and ate a couple of strikes. BJ started to find the range towards the end of the round. Fairly even first round. I’ve got Penn 10-9. Edgar opened a small cut under one of BJ’s eyes.
R2- Edgar continued to bounce around the cage as Penn took the middle. Edgar was able to get Penn to the ground for like half a second before Penn got up. Close round but Penn seemed to have landed more strikes. I’ve got Penn 20-18 but both have been close rounds.
R3- Penn landed a good combination early in the round when Edgar came in for a strike. Edgar still bouncing around just as much as he did in the first round. Really close round. I’ve got Penn up 30-27 but by the slimmest of margins. Penn’s corner tells him it’s “about 2 to 1″.
R4- Edgar pushed Penn back to the cage and landed a couple of strikes toward the end of the round. Another difficult round to score for the judges. This was probably Edgar’s best round as Penn looks to be tiring a bit. I’ve got it 39-37 Penn through 4 rounds. I wish the UFC used CompuStrike for fights like this that look so close.
R5- Edgar got a take down in the first thirty seconds of the round but Penn got up very quickly. Penn had not been taken down at Lightweight in over 6 years before that. Frankie landed a good right half way through the round. Penn stuffed a couple of take down attempts. Frankie’s cardio really helping him out in this round as he’s still bouncing around Penn. BJ came on with some strikes at the end of the fight. Good fight but neither guy came close to finishing. I’ve got Penn taking the fight in a close one 48 to 47. Really impressive performance by Frankie Edgar as he did much better than anybody anticipated.
Judges score cards: 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 in favor of Frankie Edgar
Wow! Now that was a shocking decision. But I guess that’s why you don’t leave it in the judges hands. I’m partial to the saying “you have to beat the man to be the man” so on razor close rounds I tend to favor the champion. I guess these judges didn’t see it that way. 50-45 is more than a little shocking of a score card. Congrats to Frankie Edgar he definitely defied the odds. Now that B.J. is not the champ anymore I bet Gray Maynard starts campaigning for a title fight.
Winner and new champion: Frankie Edgar by Decision (Unanimous)
UFC Middleweight Championship Fight: Anderson Silva (c) (25-4) vs. Demian Maia (12-1)
Anderson Silva has certainly not wowed anybody with his last two title fights (Thales Leites and Patrick Cote) but he was amazing in his last fight against Forrest Griffin. Despite posting a record of 6-1 inside the Octagon there is no question that Demian Maia backed his way into this title fight. Maia is one of the best submission fighters on the planet but his stand-up game was brutally exposed when he lost to Nate Marquardt in 21 seconds in UFC 102 and his wrestling is nowhere near the level of his jiu jitsu. Maia is only getting this title fight because Marquardt was manhandled by Chael Sonnen (although Maia did easily beat Sonnen) at UFC 109 and Vitor Belfort is on the shelf recovering from an injury. Rogan says Anderson Silva was wearing a shirt today that said “Trust Me, I’m a Jedi”. Silva has a 2″ height and 5.5″ reach advantage. They show GSP while Silva is being introduced and he waves to the camera.
R1- Anderson just dancing around and throwing a strike here or there and basically daring Maia to come at him. Anderson is just playing with Maia and clowning with him. Anderson lands a flying knee and Maia stays on his back for a while. Anderson 10-9. It really seemed like Maia only survived that round because Anderson wanted him to.
R2- Anderson is coming at Maia with some crazy stances. Maia tries for a few take downs and gets swatted off. Anderson stands in the middle of the ring half way through the round and motions for Maia to “bring it”. Anderson looks like he is getting mad and talking trash to Maia. Anderson is landing strikes at will when he wants to. Anderson 20-18.
“This must be terrifying for Demian Maia”- Joe Rogan
R3- Maia’s face is busted up going into the round. Not much going on in this round. Anderson has one sequence where he really went after Maia. Other than that it was a bunch of leg kicks and Anderson waiting for Maia to engage. Anderson 30-27.
R4- The crowd is growing a little restless of Anderson’s antics as they have a small “Maia” chant and a bigger “GSP” chant. Anderson doing a lot of dancing around and landing an occasional strike. Big chant for “Maia” towards the end of the round. Maia holds up his hands questioning Silva at the end of the round. Rogan points out that Dana White walked up to Silva’s manager at the end of this round “upset”. Rogan laso points out that Maia’s left eye is almost completely shut. He says sometimes this can happen if you have a broken nose and you blow your nose. Interesting. Anderson 40-36.
“This is the kind of stuff that drives Dana White nuts”- Joe Rogan
R5- Maia came in and threw some strikes and got a huge pop from the crowd. Maia is swinging for the fences. Crowd is chanting “Maia”. Maia grabbed a hold of Anderson up against the cage but couldn’t hold onto him when he tried to get him to the mat. Dan Mirgliatta calls time and tells Anderson Silva that if he keeps running around that he will take a point away from him. Fans boo after the bell rings. Maia might have taken that round but it’s a no brainer as to who won the fight. The fans turned on Anderson in this fight and even chanted “Maia” after the fight. That’s one of the strangest fights you will see.
Judges score card: scores are not announced but it is announced as a unanimous decision for Anderson Silva.
Showing posts with label Kendall Grove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kendall Grove. Show all posts
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, November 22, 2009
UFC 106 Preliminaries on Spike TV Re-Cap
UFC 106 Preliminaries
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Spike TV
Jake Rosholt against Kendall Grove and Marcus Davis against Ben Saunders highlight the Preliminary fights of UFC 106 tonight on Spike TV. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are your announcers.
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (12-6) vs. Jake Rosholt (6-1)
Rosholt is coming off a submission victory over Chris Leben at UFC 102. Kendall Grove is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101. Grove has a 5” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Rosholt got a take down within the first minute of the fight. Kendall keeps getting up and then getting dragged back down by Rosholt. Kendall really using the cage out of the referee’s view to his advantage and he gets a take down. Rosholt landed a couple of strikes and a knee after getting back to his feet. Rosholt got another take down. Rosholt looked like he was going for an arm triangle but Kendall caught him in an arm bar and Rosholt tapped out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:59
Lightweight Fight- Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulos
R1- George got a take down with two minutes left in the round after both guys had been exchanging some light strikes for the first three minutes of the round. George fought and got the mount and landed some good punches. Dent barely survived to fight in the next round. George 10-9.
R2- George caught a kick and got a take down about one and a half minutes into the round. George went for an arm bar and fought hard and finally got it and Dent tapped out.
Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:36
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (21-6) vs. Ben Saunders (7-1-2)
Davis has won 13 of his last 15 but is coming off of a split decision loss to Dan Hardy at UFC 99. Saunders has a 5” height and 7.5” reach advantage. Saunders is coming off of a TKO loss to Mike Swick, also at UFC 99.
R1- Davis landed some good strikes in the clinch but Saunders returned the favor with some good knees. Saunders bloodied up Davis with the knees. Saunders grabbed Davis in the clinch again and just destroyed him with knees and knocked him out. Really great showing by Saunders.
Winner: Ben Saunders by KO R1 3:24
Welterweight Fight- Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster
R1- A lot of action early which ended with a Larson take down. Half way through the round Foster reverses the position and lands some Ground and Pound. Both fighters were down and Larson kicked Foster in the face and the ref stepped in as it was an illegal blow. A point is deducted from Larson. Larson grabbed a guillotine at the end of the round and they called Larson for another illegal shot because Larson hit Foster when he had a hand down and Larson had him in a guillotine and he kneed him in the head. Another point is deducted from Foster. Foster takes this round 10-7 because of the two point deduction.
R2- Foster hit a good side kick and then got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Foster got caught by a big uppercut coming in for a take down and he got hurt badly and he tapped out as the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Brian Foster by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:25
Joe Rogan interviews Tito Ortiz about his return to UFC and his fight with Forrest Griffin later tonight.
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Spike TV
Jake Rosholt against Kendall Grove and Marcus Davis against Ben Saunders highlight the Preliminary fights of UFC 106 tonight on Spike TV. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are your announcers.
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (12-6) vs. Jake Rosholt (6-1)
Rosholt is coming off a submission victory over Chris Leben at UFC 102. Kendall Grove is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101. Grove has a 5” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Rosholt got a take down within the first minute of the fight. Kendall keeps getting up and then getting dragged back down by Rosholt. Kendall really using the cage out of the referee’s view to his advantage and he gets a take down. Rosholt landed a couple of strikes and a knee after getting back to his feet. Rosholt got another take down. Rosholt looked like he was going for an arm triangle but Kendall caught him in an arm bar and Rosholt tapped out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 3:59
Lightweight Fight- Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulos
R1- George got a take down with two minutes left in the round after both guys had been exchanging some light strikes for the first three minutes of the round. George fought and got the mount and landed some good punches. Dent barely survived to fight in the next round. George 10-9.
R2- George caught a kick and got a take down about one and a half minutes into the round. George went for an arm bar and fought hard and finally got it and Dent tapped out.
Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:36
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (21-6) vs. Ben Saunders (7-1-2)
Davis has won 13 of his last 15 but is coming off of a split decision loss to Dan Hardy at UFC 99. Saunders has a 5” height and 7.5” reach advantage. Saunders is coming off of a TKO loss to Mike Swick, also at UFC 99.
R1- Davis landed some good strikes in the clinch but Saunders returned the favor with some good knees. Saunders bloodied up Davis with the knees. Saunders grabbed Davis in the clinch again and just destroyed him with knees and knocked him out. Really great showing by Saunders.
Winner: Ben Saunders by KO R1 3:24
Welterweight Fight- Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster
R1- A lot of action early which ended with a Larson take down. Half way through the round Foster reverses the position and lands some Ground and Pound. Both fighters were down and Larson kicked Foster in the face and the ref stepped in as it was an illegal blow. A point is deducted from Larson. Larson grabbed a guillotine at the end of the round and they called Larson for another illegal shot because Larson hit Foster when he had a hand down and Larson had him in a guillotine and he kneed him in the head. Another point is deducted from Foster. Foster takes this round 10-7 because of the two point deduction.
R2- Foster hit a good side kick and then got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Foster got caught by a big uppercut coming in for a take down and he got hurt badly and he tapped out as the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Brian Foster by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:25
Joe Rogan interviews Tito Ortiz about his return to UFC and his fight with Forrest Griffin later tonight.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
UFC 101 "Declaration" 8/8/09 Re-Cap
UFC 101: Declaration
8/8/09
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The main interest in this show in the top 2 fights. We have Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn taking on challenger Kenny Florian and we have Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva taking on former Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. We should also see Ricardo Almeida/Kendall Grove and Kurt Pellegrino/Josh Neer as well as TUF Champion Amir Sadollah in his first post TUF fight against Johny Hendricks.
Lightweight Fight- Josh Neer (25-7-1) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (19-4)
Neer is coming off a big win at UFC Fight Night 17 over Mac Danzig.
R1- Pellegrino started the fight off with a good slam. Neer briefly locked in an arm bar but Pellegrino slammed his way out of it. Pellegrino is staying on top of Neer but both guys are active. Pellegrino takes round one 10-9.
R2- Both guys landed some stand up in the first minute of the fight. Pellegrino fought hard and got a take down. Neer keeps going for submissions from the bottom but eventually Pellegrino passed his guard and mounted him. Pellegrino then took Neer’s back with less than a minute left in the round. Pellegrino is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Pellegrino caught a Neer kick and got a quick take down early in this round. Neer opened up Pellegrino with a strike from the bottom. Neer looks like he’s got a bloody nose or mouth. Neer landed some nice elbows at the end of the round. Pellegrino is going to win this fight based on the first two rounds.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards. This was Pellegrino’s first UFC Main Card victory.
Winner: Kurt Pellegrino by Decision (Unanimous)
Tito Ortiz and Georges St-Pierre are in the crowd. GSP gets a good reaction, Tito got a mixed reaction.
Middleweight Fight- Ricardo Almeida (10-3) vs. Kendall Grove (12-5)
Almeida comes out to some Social Distortion. Almeida is coming off a win over Matt Horwich at UFC Fight Night 18. Kendall Grove is coming off of a UFC 96 TKO of Jason Day. Grove has a 6” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Almeida worked for a long time and finally got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Kendall was able to get back to his feet but then got slammed back down with 15 seconds left in the round. Almeida took this round 10-9.
R2- Almeida almost immediately got a take down to start this round. Kendall locked in an arm bar and came close but could not finish Almeida. Almeida gets some good Ground and Pound but Kendall was able to get back to his feet. Almeida finished the round with another take down. Almeida is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Almeida hit a good right hand, drove Kendall into the cage and then got a brief take down. Almeida tried to pull guard into an arm bar but Kendall landed on top and got some brief Ground and Pound before he gave up the position. Almeida is tired but he was still able to get a take down about half way through the round. Kendall was able to get back to his feet with 30 seconds left in the round but Almeida clinched him up and this one is going to go to Almeida by decision.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards.
Winner: Ricardo Almeida by Decision (Unanimous)
Chuck Liddell is in the house.
Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-0) vs. Johny Hendricks (5-0)
Hendricks is a 4-time All-American wrestler and a 2-time National Champion out of Oklahoma State. Hendricks comes out to “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. Amir has a 6” reach advantage. One weird stat is that Amir comes into the fight at 3.5 lbs under the weight limit which is something that you don’t see very often. Hopefully he didn’t over cut as this is his first fight at Welterweight (he fought at Middleweight during TUF).
R1- Amir is throwing lots of kicks and strikes early but Hendricks catches him with some strikes and Amir goes down and Mirgliatta stops the fight early. Bad stoppage. The ref actually stopped the fight as Amir was trying to get back to his feet. This isn’t the first time that Mirgliatta has done this. UFC needs to look at keeping him away from the Main Card.
Winner: Johny Hendricks by TKO (Mirgilatta) R1 0:29
Lightweight Fight- Aaron Riley (27-11-1) vs. Shane Nelson (13-3)
Greg Jackson is in Aaron Riley’s corner. Yoda! This is a re-match from a previous fight where the ref made a horrible early stoppage and Shane Nelson was awarded a cheap win due to referee error. This is the re-match so Shane is looking to prove that he deserved to win the last fight and Riley is looking to prove that it was indeed an early stoppage and he would have won the fight if it had not been stopped.
R1- Riley is trying to take it to Nelson early and has landed some good strikes. Close first round. I’ve got it going to Riley.
R2- Riley hit a good head kick about half way through the round that didn’t knock Nelson down but did daze him and allowed Riley to get a take down. Riley takes this round as well and is up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- There was a fight in the crowd during this fight but they didn’t show it. While that fight was going on Riley was on top of Shane and controlling the action. Riley gets his revenge in this fight as he took each round of this fight.
“If he doesn’t win this decision I’m going to burn my headset and run naked through the crowd”- Joe Rogan
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards.
Winner: Aaron Riley by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight: Anderson Silva (24-4) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-5)
Silva is coming off of two lack luster fights in which his opponents really didn’t look to engage in combat with him. Silva is looking to make up for it in this fight. Forrest has not fought since he lost his Light Heavyweight Championship to Rashad Evans back in December. I read somewhere that Roy Jones Jr was going to be at this fight to scout Anderson Silva as I’ve heard they have some sort of agreement to fight after Anderson’s UFC contract is over. Forrest gets a huge reaction when he comes out for the fight. Silva is 9-0 in the UFC. Forrest got another huge reaction when he was announced. Silver got a little bit of boos when he was announced.
R1- Anderson grabbed a Forrest leg kick early and just tossed Forrest back wards. Anderson rushed in at about the two minute mark and landed a big right hand that knocked Forrest to the mat. Forrest gets back up and throws some strikes. Anderson looks pumped as he’s telling Forrest to bring it. Anderson puts his hands down and ducks Forrest’s shots and just levels him with a straight level that knocks Forrest to the mat. That was an unreal sequence that looked like it was out of a movie. Anderson gets some Ground and Pound but then let’s Forrest up. Anderson again puts his hands down and ducks Forrest’s shots and this time hits Forrest with a straight right hand. This was just a dominate performance by Anderson. WOW. Anderson Silva just ate Forrest Griffin.
Winner: Anderson Silva by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:23
UFC Lightweight Championship: B.J. Penn © (13-5-1) vs. Kenny Florian (13-3)
According to the UFC stats Penn has never been knocked down and lands 61% of his total strikes (3rd best in UFC History). Florian has also never been knocked down and lands 52% of his strikes (versus the UFC average of 35%). Penn is coming off of a well documented loss to GSP at Welterweight. Florian is coming off of an impressive victory over Joe Stevenson on UFC 91. KenFlo has a 4” reach advantage in the fight.
R1- Florian got tripped up early but he was able to get back to his feet and clinch with BJ. They clinched in the center and both hit some body shots. BJ landed a big strike near the end of the round that wobbled Florian and then BJ followed up with a couple of knees. BJ takes round one 10-9 in what was a fairly even round until the last 15 seconds.
R2- Not a lot of action in this round. BJ landed a couple of strikes around the one minute mark. Really close round with neither guy really doing much damage. I’ve got BJ up 20-18 with the second round being closer than the first.
R3- Kenny pressed BJ up against the cage for the first half of the round. Kenny controlled this round without doing a lot of damage. BJ was able to get in a couple of shots on the fence near the end of the round. Another close round. I’ve got Florian taking this one so that makes the fight Penn 29 Florian 28.
R4- BJ landed a couple of strikes to open the round. BJ got a take down about a minute into the round. BJ has trouble passing Kenny’s guard but still lands a couple of nice shots. BJ was able to mount and Kenny gave up his back. BJ nailed Kenny with some kicks to the side which opened up the Rear Naked and BJ grabbed the Rear Naked Choke for the win. Really great move by BJ Penn for the victory and successful title defense.
Winner and still champion: BJ Penn by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R4 3:54
Lightweight Fight- George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop
This was a pre-show fight featuring TUF 6 vs. TUF 8.
R1- Roop went for a kick and got taken down by Sotiropoulos. Sotiropoulos quickly mounted Roop but Roop got back to his feet. Sotiropoulos hit a good combination that stunned Roop. Sotiropoulos was able to get Roop down on the mat again and once again quickly passed his guard. Sotiropoulos is controlling this fight early much like I thought he would.
R2- Sotiropoulos got Roop down on the mat early in this round. Sotiropoulos got the kimura and tapped out Roop. Good showing for Sotiropoulos.
Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Kimura) R2 1:59
8/8/09
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The main interest in this show in the top 2 fights. We have Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn taking on challenger Kenny Florian and we have Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva taking on former Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. We should also see Ricardo Almeida/Kendall Grove and Kurt Pellegrino/Josh Neer as well as TUF Champion Amir Sadollah in his first post TUF fight against Johny Hendricks.
Lightweight Fight- Josh Neer (25-7-1) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (19-4)
Neer is coming off a big win at UFC Fight Night 17 over Mac Danzig.
R1- Pellegrino started the fight off with a good slam. Neer briefly locked in an arm bar but Pellegrino slammed his way out of it. Pellegrino is staying on top of Neer but both guys are active. Pellegrino takes round one 10-9.
R2- Both guys landed some stand up in the first minute of the fight. Pellegrino fought hard and got a take down. Neer keeps going for submissions from the bottom but eventually Pellegrino passed his guard and mounted him. Pellegrino then took Neer’s back with less than a minute left in the round. Pellegrino is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Pellegrino caught a Neer kick and got a quick take down early in this round. Neer opened up Pellegrino with a strike from the bottom. Neer looks like he’s got a bloody nose or mouth. Neer landed some nice elbows at the end of the round. Pellegrino is going to win this fight based on the first two rounds.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards. This was Pellegrino’s first UFC Main Card victory.
Winner: Kurt Pellegrino by Decision (Unanimous)
Tito Ortiz and Georges St-Pierre are in the crowd. GSP gets a good reaction, Tito got a mixed reaction.
Middleweight Fight- Ricardo Almeida (10-3) vs. Kendall Grove (12-5)
Almeida comes out to some Social Distortion. Almeida is coming off a win over Matt Horwich at UFC Fight Night 18. Kendall Grove is coming off of a UFC 96 TKO of Jason Day. Grove has a 6” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Almeida worked for a long time and finally got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Kendall was able to get back to his feet but then got slammed back down with 15 seconds left in the round. Almeida took this round 10-9.
R2- Almeida almost immediately got a take down to start this round. Kendall locked in an arm bar and came close but could not finish Almeida. Almeida gets some good Ground and Pound but Kendall was able to get back to his feet. Almeida finished the round with another take down. Almeida is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Almeida hit a good right hand, drove Kendall into the cage and then got a brief take down. Almeida tried to pull guard into an arm bar but Kendall landed on top and got some brief Ground and Pound before he gave up the position. Almeida is tired but he was still able to get a take down about half way through the round. Kendall was able to get back to his feet with 30 seconds left in the round but Almeida clinched him up and this one is going to go to Almeida by decision.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards.
Winner: Ricardo Almeida by Decision (Unanimous)
Chuck Liddell is in the house.
Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-0) vs. Johny Hendricks (5-0)
Hendricks is a 4-time All-American wrestler and a 2-time National Champion out of Oklahoma State. Hendricks comes out to “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. Amir has a 6” reach advantage. One weird stat is that Amir comes into the fight at 3.5 lbs under the weight limit which is something that you don’t see very often. Hopefully he didn’t over cut as this is his first fight at Welterweight (he fought at Middleweight during TUF).
R1- Amir is throwing lots of kicks and strikes early but Hendricks catches him with some strikes and Amir goes down and Mirgliatta stops the fight early. Bad stoppage. The ref actually stopped the fight as Amir was trying to get back to his feet. This isn’t the first time that Mirgliatta has done this. UFC needs to look at keeping him away from the Main Card.
Winner: Johny Hendricks by TKO (Mirgilatta) R1 0:29
Lightweight Fight- Aaron Riley (27-11-1) vs. Shane Nelson (13-3)
Greg Jackson is in Aaron Riley’s corner. Yoda! This is a re-match from a previous fight where the ref made a horrible early stoppage and Shane Nelson was awarded a cheap win due to referee error. This is the re-match so Shane is looking to prove that he deserved to win the last fight and Riley is looking to prove that it was indeed an early stoppage and he would have won the fight if it had not been stopped.
R1- Riley is trying to take it to Nelson early and has landed some good strikes. Close first round. I’ve got it going to Riley.
R2- Riley hit a good head kick about half way through the round that didn’t knock Nelson down but did daze him and allowed Riley to get a take down. Riley takes this round as well and is up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- There was a fight in the crowd during this fight but they didn’t show it. While that fight was going on Riley was on top of Shane and controlling the action. Riley gets his revenge in this fight as he took each round of this fight.
“If he doesn’t win this decision I’m going to burn my headset and run naked through the crowd”- Joe Rogan
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards.
Winner: Aaron Riley by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight: Anderson Silva (24-4) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-5)
Silva is coming off of two lack luster fights in which his opponents really didn’t look to engage in combat with him. Silva is looking to make up for it in this fight. Forrest has not fought since he lost his Light Heavyweight Championship to Rashad Evans back in December. I read somewhere that Roy Jones Jr was going to be at this fight to scout Anderson Silva as I’ve heard they have some sort of agreement to fight after Anderson’s UFC contract is over. Forrest gets a huge reaction when he comes out for the fight. Silva is 9-0 in the UFC. Forrest got another huge reaction when he was announced. Silver got a little bit of boos when he was announced.
R1- Anderson grabbed a Forrest leg kick early and just tossed Forrest back wards. Anderson rushed in at about the two minute mark and landed a big right hand that knocked Forrest to the mat. Forrest gets back up and throws some strikes. Anderson looks pumped as he’s telling Forrest to bring it. Anderson puts his hands down and ducks Forrest’s shots and just levels him with a straight level that knocks Forrest to the mat. That was an unreal sequence that looked like it was out of a movie. Anderson gets some Ground and Pound but then let’s Forrest up. Anderson again puts his hands down and ducks Forrest’s shots and this time hits Forrest with a straight right hand. This was just a dominate performance by Anderson. WOW. Anderson Silva just ate Forrest Griffin.
Winner: Anderson Silva by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:23
UFC Lightweight Championship: B.J. Penn © (13-5-1) vs. Kenny Florian (13-3)
According to the UFC stats Penn has never been knocked down and lands 61% of his total strikes (3rd best in UFC History). Florian has also never been knocked down and lands 52% of his strikes (versus the UFC average of 35%). Penn is coming off of a well documented loss to GSP at Welterweight. Florian is coming off of an impressive victory over Joe Stevenson on UFC 91. KenFlo has a 4” reach advantage in the fight.
R1- Florian got tripped up early but he was able to get back to his feet and clinch with BJ. They clinched in the center and both hit some body shots. BJ landed a big strike near the end of the round that wobbled Florian and then BJ followed up with a couple of knees. BJ takes round one 10-9 in what was a fairly even round until the last 15 seconds.
R2- Not a lot of action in this round. BJ landed a couple of strikes around the one minute mark. Really close round with neither guy really doing much damage. I’ve got BJ up 20-18 with the second round being closer than the first.
R3- Kenny pressed BJ up against the cage for the first half of the round. Kenny controlled this round without doing a lot of damage. BJ was able to get in a couple of shots on the fence near the end of the round. Another close round. I’ve got Florian taking this one so that makes the fight Penn 29 Florian 28.
R4- BJ landed a couple of strikes to open the round. BJ got a take down about a minute into the round. BJ has trouble passing Kenny’s guard but still lands a couple of nice shots. BJ was able to mount and Kenny gave up his back. BJ nailed Kenny with some kicks to the side which opened up the Rear Naked and BJ grabbed the Rear Naked Choke for the win. Really great move by BJ Penn for the victory and successful title defense.
Winner and still champion: BJ Penn by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R4 3:54
Lightweight Fight- George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop
This was a pre-show fight featuring TUF 6 vs. TUF 8.
R1- Roop went for a kick and got taken down by Sotiropoulos. Sotiropoulos quickly mounted Roop but Roop got back to his feet. Sotiropoulos hit a good combination that stunned Roop. Sotiropoulos was able to get Roop down on the mat again and once again quickly passed his guard. Sotiropoulos is controlling this fight early much like I thought he would.
R2- Sotiropoulos got Roop down on the mat early in this round. Sotiropoulos got the kimura and tapped out Roop. Good showing for Sotiropoulos.
Winner: George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Kimura) R2 1:59
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.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
UFC Unleashed 6/18 Re-Cap
UFC Unleashed 6/18 Re-Cap
Looks like we’ve got 5 fights on tap night. I’ve already seen a couple of them but I’m looking forward to seeing Brock/Mir again.
Middleweight- Chris Leben (17-4) vs. Alessio Sakara (16-6-1)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show and is also on the UFC Wired 6/28 show.
R1- Both guys swinging pretty freely early. Leben seems to be moving forward and in slight control. They are still throwing pretty good at one another with no one with a clear advantage. Leben continues to move forward on Sakara as they exchange. Sakara gets in a couple of good shots but then eats a knee. Leben with a nice inside leg kick and then body kick. They tie up on the cage but then release. Leben gets in some punches and Sakara is rocked on the cage and Leben is on top of him landing punches and the ref stops the fight. Leben has Sakara's blood on him and is the victor. Leben got in some good punches and then rocked Sakara with 2 punches and then got on top and started punching and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Chris Leben via TKO Round 1 (3:16)
Lightweight Fight- Ryan Roberts (14-2-1) vs. Marcus Auriello (15-5)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Auriello takes him down quick and then taps him with an arm bar. This one was over before it started. Auriello just dominated. His celebration took longer than the fight did.
Winner: Marcus Auriello by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 0:16
Welterweight- David Bielkheden (12-5) vs Diego Sanchez (19-2)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Sanchez quickly takes David down and gets in a couple of shots. He’s really working trying to get in position on top to do damage or to pass. Diego is getting in a couple of shots and is really in control early. Diego gets side control and hits some short elbows and is looking for a kimura. Diego moves into full mount and finally starts to get in some good shots on David and then just starts laying it in and gets the win via opponent tap. Diego just controlled this match and won decisively. Real good showing for Diego.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Submission (punches) R1 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (9-2) vs. Kendall Grove (9-3)- UFC 69- 4/7/07
This is a fight with some really young fighters as Belcher is only 22 and Grove is 24 as of this fight.
R1- Belcher takes him down about 30 seconds in and gets side control. Grove did a good job getting out and threw some knees. Kendall seems to be the aggressor as he hits some knees and gets a take down. Kendall gets some shots in and then stops a take down at the end of the round. This was a good, close round that I think Kendall took 10-9.
R2- Kendall gets a real nice knee in early in the round and Belcher goes for a take down but gets it stuffed. Grove just starts to nail Belcher with some elbows and he took some skin off of the top of Belcher’s head with those elbows. Kendall hits a really nice combo as he gets a kick and then a punch and follows it with some good looking knees. Grove is getting some big shots in on Belcher and then hits a big slam on Belcher. Kendall has half guard and is getting in some good shots on Belcher. Kendall finishes Belcher with a nice submission from half guard. Kendall just looked great in this fight. This was definitely the best that I’ve seen him look.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Brabo Choke) R2 4:42
Heavyweight Fight- Frank Mir (10-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (1-0)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lesnar takes down Mir immediately. Lesnar gets some nice shots in but the ref calls a timeout due to a shot to the back of the head and they take a point away from Lesnar without a warning. I didn’t see anything bad based on the other MMA fights that I’ve seen. Lesnar hit him in the back of the head a couple of times but I’ve seen a lot worse without points taken away and without even a warning given. Mir was getting overwhelmed at this point so it was a real interesting call by the ref. Brock hits Mir again and starts pounding on him on the ground. Mir almost gets an arm bar. Mir gets to the guard position. Mir caught Lesnar in a knee bar with a very nice wily veteran type move and tapped him. Lesnar let down his guard and it cost him.
This was a real interesting fight, especially watching it again. Lesnar just dominated but made some real mistakes due to his inexperience. Lesnar’s offense looked awesome. I’m very interested in seeing Lesnar fight again. Great job my Mir in holding on and finding Lesnar’s weakness and taping him but I just can’t see Mir beating Noguiera.
Winner: Frank Mir by Submission (Knee Bar) R1 1:30
Looks like we’ve got 5 fights on tap night. I’ve already seen a couple of them but I’m looking forward to seeing Brock/Mir again.
Middleweight- Chris Leben (17-4) vs. Alessio Sakara (16-6-1)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
This is from the UFC 82 show and is also on the UFC Wired 6/28 show.
R1- Both guys swinging pretty freely early. Leben seems to be moving forward and in slight control. They are still throwing pretty good at one another with no one with a clear advantage. Leben continues to move forward on Sakara as they exchange. Sakara gets in a couple of good shots but then eats a knee. Leben with a nice inside leg kick and then body kick. They tie up on the cage but then release. Leben gets in some punches and Sakara is rocked on the cage and Leben is on top of him landing punches and the ref stops the fight. Leben has Sakara's blood on him and is the victor. Leben got in some good punches and then rocked Sakara with 2 punches and then got on top and started punching and the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Chris Leben via TKO Round 1 (3:16)
Lightweight Fight- Ryan Roberts (14-2-1) vs. Marcus Auriello (15-5)- UFC Fight Night 13- 4/2/08
R1- Auriello takes him down quick and then taps him with an arm bar. This one was over before it started. Auriello just dominated. His celebration took longer than the fight did.
Winner: Marcus Auriello by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 0:16
Welterweight- David Bielkheden (12-5) vs Diego Sanchez (19-2)- UFC 82- 3/1/08
Sanchez quickly takes David down and gets in a couple of shots. He’s really working trying to get in position on top to do damage or to pass. Diego is getting in a couple of shots and is really in control early. Diego gets side control and hits some short elbows and is looking for a kimura. Diego moves into full mount and finally starts to get in some good shots on David and then just starts laying it in and gets the win via opponent tap. Diego just controlled this match and won decisively. Real good showing for Diego.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Submission (punches) R1 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (9-2) vs. Kendall Grove (9-3)- UFC 69- 4/7/07
This is a fight with some really young fighters as Belcher is only 22 and Grove is 24 as of this fight.
R1- Belcher takes him down about 30 seconds in and gets side control. Grove did a good job getting out and threw some knees. Kendall seems to be the aggressor as he hits some knees and gets a take down. Kendall gets some shots in and then stops a take down at the end of the round. This was a good, close round that I think Kendall took 10-9.
R2- Kendall gets a real nice knee in early in the round and Belcher goes for a take down but gets it stuffed. Grove just starts to nail Belcher with some elbows and he took some skin off of the top of Belcher’s head with those elbows. Kendall hits a really nice combo as he gets a kick and then a punch and follows it with some good looking knees. Grove is getting some big shots in on Belcher and then hits a big slam on Belcher. Kendall has half guard and is getting in some good shots on Belcher. Kendall finishes Belcher with a nice submission from half guard. Kendall just looked great in this fight. This was definitely the best that I’ve seen him look.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (Brabo Choke) R2 4:42
Heavyweight Fight- Frank Mir (10-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (1-0)- UFC 81- 2/2/08
R1- Lesnar takes down Mir immediately. Lesnar gets some nice shots in but the ref calls a timeout due to a shot to the back of the head and they take a point away from Lesnar without a warning. I didn’t see anything bad based on the other MMA fights that I’ve seen. Lesnar hit him in the back of the head a couple of times but I’ve seen a lot worse without points taken away and without even a warning given. Mir was getting overwhelmed at this point so it was a real interesting call by the ref. Brock hits Mir again and starts pounding on him on the ground. Mir almost gets an arm bar. Mir gets to the guard position. Mir caught Lesnar in a knee bar with a very nice wily veteran type move and tapped him. Lesnar let down his guard and it cost him.
This was a real interesting fight, especially watching it again. Lesnar just dominated but made some real mistakes due to his inexperience. Lesnar’s offense looked awesome. I’m very interested in seeing Lesnar fight again. Great job my Mir in holding on and finding Lesnar’s weakness and taping him but I just can’t see Mir beating Noguiera.
Winner: Frank Mir by Submission (Knee Bar) R1 1:30
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale
The Ultimate Fighter Finale
Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin are both at the show to see their fighters fight and to hype their upcoming PPV fight.
Middleweight Fight- Matt Riddle (0-0) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)
I’m think Riddle’s going to take this one, he impressed me more during the show then did Rivera even though Rivera made it further in the show than did Riddle. Riddle has a 4” reach advantage. Rivera has the edge in experience as he’s 11 years older. Riddle has been training at the Arizona Combat Sports Club, same as CB Dollaway.
R1- They clinch early and exchange a lot of knees, none of which look really damaging. Riddle slowly starts to get the advantage and then the ref breaks them up. They clinch again and exchange knees. Riddle takes Dante down with about 20 seconds left and hits some elbows. Really close tight first round. I think Riddle barely takes it by hitting more effective knees and getting the rounds only take down. Riddle 10 Rivera 9.
R2- Riddle quickly took Dante down at the beginning of the round but doesn’t get much done. They clinch up against the cage a lot in the middle of the round. Rivera hit a good overhand right but ends up getting mounted by Riddle. Riddle is hitting him with some shots and Rivera rolls over when Riddle went for an arm bar and now Rivera is in Riddle’s guard. Riddle grabs submission on Dante and pounds on Dante’s side but Dante slips out. Another really close round. I give it to Riddle again as he almost submitted Dante at the end of the round and seemed to control a lot of the time they were clinched. I’ve got Riddle up 20-18 but it’s very open to interpretation at this point.
R3- Riddle catches Dante with a right hand and then a knee at the beginning of the round. Riddle picks up Dante and takes him down. Dante had a nice rubber guard but then he lost it. Riddle gives up his position but then takes Dante down again. Riddle gets full mount and gets some shots in as the third round ends. Good showing by Matt Riddle and he wins 30-27 on my score card. Judges score the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Riddle
Winner: Matt Riddle by Decision (Unanimous)
Wanderlei Silva is in the house.
Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White and they talk about the 7/19 fight between Anderson Silva and James Irvin. Dana says he’s cleaned out the middleweight division and is going to move up to 205lbs. Says Anderson is the best p4p fighter in the world. They are really hyping Anderson Silva. They say Silva walks around at 215 so that he will have to cut weight to hit 205.
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (21-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (15-2)
Both of these guys are from Iowa. I really like what I’ve seen from Spencer, he always has good fights. Stephens is only 22. Stephens has a 3” reach advantage. This should be a good fight. Fisher lets out a “Whooo” during introductions and Mike Goldberg puts him over as a big Ric Flair fan.
R1- Stephens gets an early take down but Fisher gets right back up and takes down Stephens. Both guys are getting in some shots as Stephens has an active guard. Stephens went for a triangle and Fisher passed to half guard and works some elbows in. Fisher has blood on his elbow. Spencer hits some nice elbows from half guard. Spencer gets full mount and Stephens gives up his back with 1:15 left in the round. Stephens gets out but is still in the guard position. Fisher takes Round One has he had the dominate position for the majority of the round and got in more shots throughout the round.
R2- They stand up at the start of this round with both guys getting in shots. Stephens tried a take down but Spencer rolled through and got side control. Spencer starting to get some good shots in on Stephens. Stephens gets a slam about 10 seconds before the round ends. I’ve got Spencer up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- They stand at the beginning of this round and Stephens is getting in some good shots. Fisher goes for a take down but gets stuffed and gets a guillotine on Fisher but Fisher gets out and gets side control. Spencer gets the full mount but they quickly get back to their feet. Fisher went for another take down but slipped and Stephens got the take down. Jeremy is getting some shots in on Fisher. Jeremy goes for a guillotine and the fight ends with Stephens with the guillotine on Fisher. This round goes to Stephens so I’ve got Fisher winning 29-28. All three judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Fisher. This was a good fight.
Winner: Spencer Fisher by Decision (Unanimous)
Kevin James is in the house and he’s horsing around with Quinton Jackson.
Joe Rogan is out in the crowd and is joined by Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin and they talk about the upcoming fight in two weeks.
Next they review the “Road to the Finale” and look at how CB and Amir got to the finals.
Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) is in the house.
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (20-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (12-3)
R1- Long feeling out process. Diego hits a really nice combo about a minute and a half in and then follows it up with a flying knee. Diego hit a big kick that was partially blocked. Diego tried a take down but missed and ate a shot or two. Luigi hits a good combo. Diego comes back with a nice combo of his own as he hits several punches. Diego almost got a take down but Luigi rolled him over and they are quickly back to their feet. Luigi got a slam right at the end of the first round. Good first round, Diego was the aggressor and Luigi kind of laid back and showed good take down defense and tried to counter Diego. I gave this round to Diego put it was pretty close.
R2- Both guys start off the round by getting in a good shot. Luigi looked like he hurt his ankle getting away from Diego but he appears to be okay. Diego drilled Luigi with a right hand and Luigi hit the mat and Diego dove on him. Luigi does a nice job of getting back to his feet with minimal damage. Diego barely missed with a head kick but Diego got his back while they are standing but Luigi escapes again. Diego with another good combo as he floors Luigi. Luigi gets up but Diego pounds him back down. Luigi back to his feet again, Diego goes for a kimura but is denied. Great sequence. Really good round. I’ve got this one going to Diego so he’s up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Luigi is showing some really good take down defense in this fight. Diego gets his back and they do some crazy sprawling and they go back to their feet. Diego with a big head kick on Luigi and then a huge knee and then some Ground and Pound and this one is over. Fantastic finish by Diego. This was fight of the night so far. Luigi did a great job of stopping Diego from getting take downs but Diego showed some really improved stand up and finally picked his spot and hit a solid kick and then a spot on knee and took out Luigi for the win. This is one of the better fights that I’ve seen in the UFC this year.
Winner: Diego Sanchez TKO (punches) R3 4:07
Minotuaro Noguiera and Frank Mir are in attendance and they mention that they will be coaches in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter which will feature lightweights and light heavyweights and will take place in September. They mention that they will fight in December for the interim Heavyweight Title following the season of the Ultimate Fighter.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Middleweight Finale: Amir Sadollah (1-0) vs. CB Dollaway (7-1)
The show a short feature on what CB and Amir been doing since the Ultimate Fighter ended. This is also the first fight that they show the full entrances for.
R1- They trade some kicks early and CB gets a take down about a minute into the fight. CB gets side control and Amir gives up his back and rolls CB back into full guard. CB getting in some good shots but Amir grabs an arm bar. CB appears to tap and Herb Dean stops the fight and then CB throws arms up. Looks like he tapped to me. Great submission from Amir to win the fight much in the same way that he won the last one against CB.
Dana White presents Amir with the trophy and the 6-figure contract and then Joe Rogan interviews him.
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight: Evan Tanner (34-7) vs. Kendall Grove (10-5)
Tanner is sporting a Kimbo Slice beard and looks pretty rough but also looks like someone that I wouldn’t want to step in the cage and fight.
R1- They battle up against the cage and then Tanner gets a take down. Grove gets to his feet but eats a knee on the way up. Grove grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and hit some strikes. Grove with some more strikes. Grove has a big reach advantage and definitely looks like the better fighter when both are on their feet. Tanner grabs a leg of Grove and Grove nails Tanner with a big jumping knee. Tanner gets another take down and is back in his comfort zone. Kendall gets a triangle and escapes. Grove hits Tanner and Tanner goes down. Grove has his back and Tanner is bleeding pretty badly. Tanner slips out. Grove hits a big up kick but Tanner comes back in and gets in Kendall’s guard. Tanner gets some good shots in on the ground. Overall, a very good and even first round. Tanner got more take downs and Kendall owned the stand up game and did more damage on Tanner as Tanner was bleeding pretty badly. I’ve got Kendall Grove up 10-9 after Round One.
R2- They both come out and exchange some punches. Kendall hits a nice combo. Kendall hits Tanner with some nice shots. Kendall is really throwing some good punches early in this round. Tanner gets a take down up against the cage. Kendall quickly gets back on his feet. They sprawl and Kendall hits a big elbow and his hitting some strikes. Tanner is in trouble but grabs onto Kendall. Tanner looks like he is just barely hanging on in this fight and Kendall hits him with some nice kicks to close out the round. Kendall looked great in this round. Kendall up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Lots of clinching in this round. Tanner starting to get aggressive towards the end of the fight as he knows he needs a knock out here. This was a close third round. I think Tanner probably stole the third round which means fight goes to Kendall 29-28. One of the judges throws up a 29-28 Tanner, the next judges scores the fight 30-27 Grove, and the last judge scores it 30-26 Grove. What a weird difference in score cards.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Decision (Split)
Undercard Middleweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (15-7-1) vs. Drew McFedries (6-3)
R1- McFedries jumps at Eastman and Eastman takes him and flips him over almost hitting him with a Northern Lights bomb. Wild start. McFedries charges Eastman and hits several shots on him. McFedries is all over Eastman and the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Drew McFedries as he dominated this fight. They show Eastman post-match and his eye is swollen shut.
Winner: Drew McFedries by TKO (strikes) R1 1:08
This was a solid night of fighting with Sanchez/Fioravanti taking fight of the night and Grove/Tanner and Fisher/Stephens both having solid fights. I’m glad Amir won and I also thought that Matthew Riddle looked good in his fight. Drew McFedries looked awesome in his undercard fight.
Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin are both at the show to see their fighters fight and to hype their upcoming PPV fight.
Middleweight Fight- Matt Riddle (0-0) vs. Dante Rivera (10-2)
I’m think Riddle’s going to take this one, he impressed me more during the show then did Rivera even though Rivera made it further in the show than did Riddle. Riddle has a 4” reach advantage. Rivera has the edge in experience as he’s 11 years older. Riddle has been training at the Arizona Combat Sports Club, same as CB Dollaway.
R1- They clinch early and exchange a lot of knees, none of which look really damaging. Riddle slowly starts to get the advantage and then the ref breaks them up. They clinch again and exchange knees. Riddle takes Dante down with about 20 seconds left and hits some elbows. Really close tight first round. I think Riddle barely takes it by hitting more effective knees and getting the rounds only take down. Riddle 10 Rivera 9.
R2- Riddle quickly took Dante down at the beginning of the round but doesn’t get much done. They clinch up against the cage a lot in the middle of the round. Rivera hit a good overhand right but ends up getting mounted by Riddle. Riddle is hitting him with some shots and Rivera rolls over when Riddle went for an arm bar and now Rivera is in Riddle’s guard. Riddle grabs submission on Dante and pounds on Dante’s side but Dante slips out. Another really close round. I give it to Riddle again as he almost submitted Dante at the end of the round and seemed to control a lot of the time they were clinched. I’ve got Riddle up 20-18 but it’s very open to interpretation at this point.
R3- Riddle catches Dante with a right hand and then a knee at the beginning of the round. Riddle picks up Dante and takes him down. Dante had a nice rubber guard but then he lost it. Riddle gives up his position but then takes Dante down again. Riddle gets full mount and gets some shots in as the third round ends. Good showing by Matt Riddle and he wins 30-27 on my score card. Judges score the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Riddle
Winner: Matt Riddle by Decision (Unanimous)
Wanderlei Silva is in the house.
Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White and they talk about the 7/19 fight between Anderson Silva and James Irvin. Dana says he’s cleaned out the middleweight division and is going to move up to 205lbs. Says Anderson is the best p4p fighter in the world. They are really hyping Anderson Silva. They say Silva walks around at 215 so that he will have to cut weight to hit 205.
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (21-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (15-2)
Both of these guys are from Iowa. I really like what I’ve seen from Spencer, he always has good fights. Stephens is only 22. Stephens has a 3” reach advantage. This should be a good fight. Fisher lets out a “Whooo” during introductions and Mike Goldberg puts him over as a big Ric Flair fan.
R1- Stephens gets an early take down but Fisher gets right back up and takes down Stephens. Both guys are getting in some shots as Stephens has an active guard. Stephens went for a triangle and Fisher passed to half guard and works some elbows in. Fisher has blood on his elbow. Spencer hits some nice elbows from half guard. Spencer gets full mount and Stephens gives up his back with 1:15 left in the round. Stephens gets out but is still in the guard position. Fisher takes Round One has he had the dominate position for the majority of the round and got in more shots throughout the round.
R2- They stand up at the start of this round with both guys getting in shots. Stephens tried a take down but Spencer rolled through and got side control. Spencer starting to get some good shots in on Stephens. Stephens gets a slam about 10 seconds before the round ends. I’ve got Spencer up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- They stand at the beginning of this round and Stephens is getting in some good shots. Fisher goes for a take down but gets stuffed and gets a guillotine on Fisher but Fisher gets out and gets side control. Spencer gets the full mount but they quickly get back to their feet. Fisher went for another take down but slipped and Stephens got the take down. Jeremy is getting some shots in on Fisher. Jeremy goes for a guillotine and the fight ends with Stephens with the guillotine on Fisher. This round goes to Stephens so I’ve got Fisher winning 29-28. All three judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Fisher. This was a good fight.
Winner: Spencer Fisher by Decision (Unanimous)
Kevin James is in the house and he’s horsing around with Quinton Jackson.
Joe Rogan is out in the crowd and is joined by Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin and they talk about the upcoming fight in two weeks.
Next they review the “Road to the Finale” and look at how CB and Amir got to the finals.
Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) is in the house.
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (20-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (12-3)
R1- Long feeling out process. Diego hits a really nice combo about a minute and a half in and then follows it up with a flying knee. Diego hit a big kick that was partially blocked. Diego tried a take down but missed and ate a shot or two. Luigi hits a good combo. Diego comes back with a nice combo of his own as he hits several punches. Diego almost got a take down but Luigi rolled him over and they are quickly back to their feet. Luigi got a slam right at the end of the first round. Good first round, Diego was the aggressor and Luigi kind of laid back and showed good take down defense and tried to counter Diego. I gave this round to Diego put it was pretty close.
R2- Both guys start off the round by getting in a good shot. Luigi looked like he hurt his ankle getting away from Diego but he appears to be okay. Diego drilled Luigi with a right hand and Luigi hit the mat and Diego dove on him. Luigi does a nice job of getting back to his feet with minimal damage. Diego barely missed with a head kick but Diego got his back while they are standing but Luigi escapes again. Diego with another good combo as he floors Luigi. Luigi gets up but Diego pounds him back down. Luigi back to his feet again, Diego goes for a kimura but is denied. Great sequence. Really good round. I’ve got this one going to Diego so he’s up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Luigi is showing some really good take down defense in this fight. Diego gets his back and they do some crazy sprawling and they go back to their feet. Diego with a big head kick on Luigi and then a huge knee and then some Ground and Pound and this one is over. Fantastic finish by Diego. This was fight of the night so far. Luigi did a great job of stopping Diego from getting take downs but Diego showed some really improved stand up and finally picked his spot and hit a solid kick and then a spot on knee and took out Luigi for the win. This is one of the better fights that I’ve seen in the UFC this year.
Winner: Diego Sanchez TKO (punches) R3 4:07
Minotuaro Noguiera and Frank Mir are in attendance and they mention that they will be coaches in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter which will feature lightweights and light heavyweights and will take place in September. They mention that they will fight in December for the interim Heavyweight Title following the season of the Ultimate Fighter.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Middleweight Finale: Amir Sadollah (1-0) vs. CB Dollaway (7-1)
The show a short feature on what CB and Amir been doing since the Ultimate Fighter ended. This is also the first fight that they show the full entrances for.
R1- They trade some kicks early and CB gets a take down about a minute into the fight. CB gets side control and Amir gives up his back and rolls CB back into full guard. CB getting in some good shots but Amir grabs an arm bar. CB appears to tap and Herb Dean stops the fight and then CB throws arms up. Looks like he tapped to me. Great submission from Amir to win the fight much in the same way that he won the last one against CB.
Dana White presents Amir with the trophy and the 6-figure contract and then Joe Rogan interviews him.
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight: Evan Tanner (34-7) vs. Kendall Grove (10-5)
Tanner is sporting a Kimbo Slice beard and looks pretty rough but also looks like someone that I wouldn’t want to step in the cage and fight.
R1- They battle up against the cage and then Tanner gets a take down. Grove gets to his feet but eats a knee on the way up. Grove grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and hit some strikes. Grove with some more strikes. Grove has a big reach advantage and definitely looks like the better fighter when both are on their feet. Tanner grabs a leg of Grove and Grove nails Tanner with a big jumping knee. Tanner gets another take down and is back in his comfort zone. Kendall gets a triangle and escapes. Grove hits Tanner and Tanner goes down. Grove has his back and Tanner is bleeding pretty badly. Tanner slips out. Grove hits a big up kick but Tanner comes back in and gets in Kendall’s guard. Tanner gets some good shots in on the ground. Overall, a very good and even first round. Tanner got more take downs and Kendall owned the stand up game and did more damage on Tanner as Tanner was bleeding pretty badly. I’ve got Kendall Grove up 10-9 after Round One.
R2- They both come out and exchange some punches. Kendall hits a nice combo. Kendall hits Tanner with some nice shots. Kendall is really throwing some good punches early in this round. Tanner gets a take down up against the cage. Kendall quickly gets back on his feet. They sprawl and Kendall hits a big elbow and his hitting some strikes. Tanner is in trouble but grabs onto Kendall. Tanner looks like he is just barely hanging on in this fight and Kendall hits him with some nice kicks to close out the round. Kendall looked great in this round. Kendall up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Lots of clinching in this round. Tanner starting to get aggressive towards the end of the fight as he knows he needs a knock out here. This was a close third round. I think Tanner probably stole the third round which means fight goes to Kendall 29-28. One of the judges throws up a 29-28 Tanner, the next judges scores the fight 30-27 Grove, and the last judge scores it 30-26 Grove. What a weird difference in score cards.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Decision (Split)
Undercard Middleweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (15-7-1) vs. Drew McFedries (6-3)
R1- McFedries jumps at Eastman and Eastman takes him and flips him over almost hitting him with a Northern Lights bomb. Wild start. McFedries charges Eastman and hits several shots on him. McFedries is all over Eastman and the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Drew McFedries as he dominated this fight. They show Eastman post-match and his eye is swollen shut.
Winner: Drew McFedries by TKO (strikes) R1 1:08
This was a solid night of fighting with Sanchez/Fioravanti taking fight of the night and Grove/Tanner and Fisher/Stephens both having solid fights. I’m glad Amir won and I also thought that Matthew Riddle looked good in his fight. Drew McFedries looked awesome in his undercard fight.
UFC Wired 6/21 Re-Cap
UFC Wired 6/21 Re-Cap
Middleweight Fight- Scott Smith (11-2) vs. Pete Sell (7-2) Ultimate Fighter Finale 4- 11/11/06
R1- About a minute in they start landing some nice shots on one another. Smith hit a couple of shots that looked to rock Sell but Sell clinch to avoid any more damage. This round is all stand up with both guys swinging for the fences. Sell has a cut under one of his eyes and Smith is doing some damage to his face. Smith knocks him down with about a minute left in the round. Really good opening round with both guys swinging for the fences and having some fun.
R2- Sell starts to come back in Round 2 as he is getting in some good shots but then gets caught with a nice punch. Sell catches Smith with a punch to the side and then goes in and gets knocked out by Scott Smith. Tremendous finish and knock out punch by Smith.
Winner: Scott Smith by KO R2
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (17-4) vs. Paul Taylor (8-1)- UFC 75- 9/8/07
R1- This is a good back and forth fight and Taylor nails Davis with a kick and jumps on him and starts to nail him with Ground and Pound and was almost finished but somehow survived. Taylor hits some more big right hands up against the cage. Davis somehow comes back and with about a minute left in the round gets side control and then gets full mount and is nailing Taylor with Ground and Pound of his own. Taylor flips him over but gets caught in an arm bar and taps out. Good fight.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (8-3) vs. Chris Price (8-0)- UFC The Final Chapter- 10/10/06
R1- Kendall mounts up Price up against the cage with about a minute and a half left and gets some really good shots in on him. Kendall with lots of elbows and the ref stops the fight. Price had some nasty cuts on his eyebrows. The announcement is that the win was by tap out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (strikes) R1
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (22-6) vs. Renato Sobral (27-6)- UFC 68- 3/3/07
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
Middleweight Fight- Scott Smith (11-2) vs. Pete Sell (7-2) Ultimate Fighter Finale 4- 11/11/06
R1- About a minute in they start landing some nice shots on one another. Smith hit a couple of shots that looked to rock Sell but Sell clinch to avoid any more damage. This round is all stand up with both guys swinging for the fences. Sell has a cut under one of his eyes and Smith is doing some damage to his face. Smith knocks him down with about a minute left in the round. Really good opening round with both guys swinging for the fences and having some fun.
R2- Sell starts to come back in Round 2 as he is getting in some good shots but then gets caught with a nice punch. Sell catches Smith with a punch to the side and then goes in and gets knocked out by Scott Smith. Tremendous finish and knock out punch by Smith.
Winner: Scott Smith by KO R2
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (17-4) vs. Paul Taylor (8-1)- UFC 75- 9/8/07
R1- This is a good back and forth fight and Taylor nails Davis with a kick and jumps on him and starts to nail him with Ground and Pound and was almost finished but somehow survived. Taylor hits some more big right hands up against the cage. Davis somehow comes back and with about a minute left in the round gets side control and then gets full mount and is nailing Taylor with Ground and Pound of his own. Taylor flips him over but gets caught in an arm bar and taps out. Good fight.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (8-3) vs. Chris Price (8-0)- UFC The Final Chapter- 10/10/06
R1- Kendall mounts up Price up against the cage with about a minute and a half left and gets some really good shots in on him. Kendall with lots of elbows and the ref stops the fight. Price had some nasty cuts on his eyebrows. The announcement is that the win was by tap out.
Winner: Kendall Grove by Submission (strikes) R1
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (22-6) vs. Renato Sobral (27-6)- UFC 68- 3/3/07
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
Saturday, April 26, 2008
UFC Unleashed 4/23 Re-Cap
Lightweight Fight- Rich Clementi (37-12-1) vs. Melvin Guillard (39-7-3)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
R1- Both guys feeling each other out. Guillard has a real explosive combo but hasn’t connected yet. Guillard has “Condom Depot” as the ad on his shorts, classy. Clementi grabs Guillard in a bear hug and slams him. Clementi has Guillard’s back and basically has him in a full nelson. Guillard flips it over and they get back to their feet. Guillard nails Clementi with a couple of punches and then slams him down. Clementi reverses and he’s on top. Real back and forth fight, Clementi with more cage control in Round 1. Clementi grabs a choke and it’s over. Clementi then does a classy “crotch chop” while above Guillard after the win.
Winner: Rich Clementi via submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:40
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (10-4) vs. Jorge Rivera (14-6)- UFC 80- 1/19/08
Jorge takes him down quickly and is landing some punches against the cage. Jorge has his back and is landing more punches. Kendall to his feet but he’s eating punch after punch and this one is over quickly and impressively. Jorge with a dominating win.
Winner: Jorge Rivera via TKO (punches) R1 1:20
Light Heavyweight Fight- Lyoto Machida (11-0) vs. Sokoudjou (4-1)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
R1- Machida is unbeaten so far. Soko has been training with Dan Henderson. Soko hits a couple of nice punches early and gets a take down but Machida quickly reverses and is on top controlling in the half guard. Machida is going after his arm but gives it up and is trying to get some punches. Soko doing a good job defending but not actively seeming to try and get out. The ref stands them up. Soko with another take down but they are quickly back to their feet. Round goes to Machida but he definitely wasn’t dominating.
R2- Not much going on in this round. Machida is hitting a couple of kicks and then he gets an opening and trips Soku and goes after him in full guard with a bunch of punches. Machida going for a submission now with an arm triangle but losses it. Soko seems to be real winded as he’s really been controlled in this fight and especially this round. Machida on top and throwing some elbows. Machida grabs the arm triangle again and gets the victory. Real good win for Machida. He seems like a real good technical fighter, not exciting but seems like a real good tactician.
Winner: Lyoto Machida by submission (arm triangle) R2 4:20
Welterweight- Interim Welterweight Title Match: Georges St-Pierre (14-2) vs. Matt Hughes (43-5)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
This is the third fight between these two fighters. This was on UFC Wired just a week or so ago.
R1- The first minute is active but both guys real cautious as nothing of note has been hit yet. Hughes tried for an early take down but Georges backed down. Hughes again goes for take down but is denied. Georges going for some kicks and then a Superman punch and Hughes goes for a take down but the clinch and Georges takes Hughes down and is on top in full guard. Georges with some light punches from the top. Georges pushes Hughes up against the cage. Georges with some short elbows. Georges with some punches again. Georges dominating so far but not really close to a stoppage. Hughes needs to find a way out. Georges slams Hughes a couple of times. Georges got his back in the last 10 seconds. Easy round to Georges here as he just dominated. Hughes really didn’t even get any offense at all in.
R2- Georges again takes Hughes down. Georges now in half guard. Hughes trying to get some offense from the bottom as he hits an elbow. Georges with some elbows. He’s in full guard now. Georges back on top in half guard and mounts Hughes and has his back with 1:30 left in the round. They battle and Georges has him up against the cage now. Hughes now with Georges leg but can’t get the takedown. They are tied up and Georges with a great take down into side control. Georges with an arm bar type move and Hughes taps.
Georges St-Pierre just absolutely dominated this fight from start to finish.
Winner: Georges St-Pierre by Verbal Submission (arm bar) R2 4:54.
R1- Both guys feeling each other out. Guillard has a real explosive combo but hasn’t connected yet. Guillard has “Condom Depot” as the ad on his shorts, classy. Clementi grabs Guillard in a bear hug and slams him. Clementi has Guillard’s back and basically has him in a full nelson. Guillard flips it over and they get back to their feet. Guillard nails Clementi with a couple of punches and then slams him down. Clementi reverses and he’s on top. Real back and forth fight, Clementi with more cage control in Round 1. Clementi grabs a choke and it’s over. Clementi then does a classy “crotch chop” while above Guillard after the win.
Winner: Rich Clementi via submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:40
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove (10-4) vs. Jorge Rivera (14-6)- UFC 80- 1/19/08
Jorge takes him down quickly and is landing some punches against the cage. Jorge has his back and is landing more punches. Kendall to his feet but he’s eating punch after punch and this one is over quickly and impressively. Jorge with a dominating win.
Winner: Jorge Rivera via TKO (punches) R1 1:20
Light Heavyweight Fight- Lyoto Machida (11-0) vs. Sokoudjou (4-1)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
R1- Machida is unbeaten so far. Soko has been training with Dan Henderson. Soko hits a couple of nice punches early and gets a take down but Machida quickly reverses and is on top controlling in the half guard. Machida is going after his arm but gives it up and is trying to get some punches. Soko doing a good job defending but not actively seeming to try and get out. The ref stands them up. Soko with another take down but they are quickly back to their feet. Round goes to Machida but he definitely wasn’t dominating.
R2- Not much going on in this round. Machida is hitting a couple of kicks and then he gets an opening and trips Soku and goes after him in full guard with a bunch of punches. Machida going for a submission now with an arm triangle but losses it. Soko seems to be real winded as he’s really been controlled in this fight and especially this round. Machida on top and throwing some elbows. Machida grabs the arm triangle again and gets the victory. Real good win for Machida. He seems like a real good technical fighter, not exciting but seems like a real good tactician.
Winner: Lyoto Machida by submission (arm triangle) R2 4:20
Welterweight- Interim Welterweight Title Match: Georges St-Pierre (14-2) vs. Matt Hughes (43-5)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
This is the third fight between these two fighters. This was on UFC Wired just a week or so ago.
R1- The first minute is active but both guys real cautious as nothing of note has been hit yet. Hughes tried for an early take down but Georges backed down. Hughes again goes for take down but is denied. Georges going for some kicks and then a Superman punch and Hughes goes for a take down but the clinch and Georges takes Hughes down and is on top in full guard. Georges with some light punches from the top. Georges pushes Hughes up against the cage. Georges with some short elbows. Georges with some punches again. Georges dominating so far but not really close to a stoppage. Hughes needs to find a way out. Georges slams Hughes a couple of times. Georges got his back in the last 10 seconds. Easy round to Georges here as he just dominated. Hughes really didn’t even get any offense at all in.
R2- Georges again takes Hughes down. Georges now in half guard. Hughes trying to get some offense from the bottom as he hits an elbow. Georges with some elbows. He’s in full guard now. Georges back on top in half guard and mounts Hughes and has his back with 1:30 left in the round. They battle and Georges has him up against the cage now. Hughes now with Georges leg but can’t get the takedown. They are tied up and Georges with a great take down into side control. Georges with an arm bar type move and Hughes taps.
Georges St-Pierre just absolutely dominated this fight from start to finish.
Winner: Georges St-Pierre by Verbal Submission (arm bar) R2 4:54.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
UFC Wired (Airdate 4/13/08)
UFC Wired (Aired 4/13/08)
Middleweight- Patrick Cote vs. Kendall Grove- UFC 74- 8/25/07
R1- A couple of shots exchanged early and then they tie up on the cage. Lots of jockeying for position but not much action. The ref separates them due to inactivity. Some exchanges and then Grove ties him up and works him back into the cage. Cote switches on him. Grove is the more aggressive fighter during stand-up but isn’t really hitting anything. Grove goes for take down and is denies. Cote destroys him with a short left hand and then jumps and mounts Grove. Grove gives up his back and Cote is trying to finish but Grove rolls back over. Cote is nailing him. Grove trying to hold on with 15 seconds left in the round but the ref stops the fight.
Real boring fight until the last 30 seconds when Cote exploded when Grove went for a takedown and left himself undefended.
Winner: Patrick Cote winner by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:45
Middleweight- Chris Leben vs. Khalib Starnes- UFC 71- 5/26/07
R1- Leben is the aggressor early. Starnes ties him up but Chris breaks loose. Leben with some strikes. Leben goes for a jumping kick and leaves his feet but Starnes can’t capitalize. Leben gets in a couple of more shots following a leg kick by Starnes. Leben with some wild punches and some of them connecting but Starnes covering up good to minimize damage. Leben looks like he might be punching himself out here. Starnes ties him up but gets pushed off. Leben with some more left hands. Leben misses with a spinning kick and gets takedown down. Big mistake. Leben trying to get a rubber guard as Starnes is in full guard. Starnes ends the round with a flurry of punches. This was a close round. Leben controlled the right up right and it was up right for most of the first round. Starnes got a takedown but did nothing with it until the last 5 seconds of the round. Leben 10-9.
R2- Start of this round is pretty even for the first minute or so. No one with a clear advantage. Starnes lands a nice right hand and then follows it up by taking down Leben and is on top in full guard. Starnes stands up and comes down with a punch and lands a couple more but now they are on their feet again. Starnes clinches him and backs him up against the cage. Starnes with some knees and they separate again. Leben looks tired but so does Starnes. Leben with a knee. They trade jabs. Starnes looks real tired now and Leben is landing some punches. Leben nails a knee. Starnes was real impressive at the beginning of this round but then gassed and Leben got in some good damage towards the end of the round. Round still goes to Starnes but I think Leben might have the advantage in cardio going into the final round. I’ve got the scorecard as 19-19.
R3- They trade some at the beginning and Leben is the aggressor. Leben had him up against the cage and got a couple of blows and then got a kick to the gut. Starnes to the mat and leben falls into his guard. Leben is not doing much on top. Getting a couple of punches in. Leben stands up then gets back on top this time in half guard and lands a short elbow. Starnes flips him over very impressively. Leben punching from the bottom. Leben trying to work the rubber guard. Leben getting in a lot more offense and then Starnes nails a nice elbow. Leben pestering him from the bottom with punches, elbows and kicks. Starnes stands up and then lands a punch and goes into half guard. 30 seconds left. Leben still punching from the bottom. Khalib trying to get some punches from the top but Leben continues to punch. I give this round to Leben as he controlled the first half and then did just as much damage from the bottom as Starnes did from the top.
Somehow Khalib Starnes gets a unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. It was real close but the only round that Starnes clearly won was Round 2. That’s why you don’t leave the match to the judges’ decision.
Winner: Khalib Starnes via Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight- Interim Welterweight Title Match: Georges St-Pierre (14-2) vs. Matt Hughes (43-5)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
R1- The first minute is active but both guys real cautious as nothing of note has been hit yet. Hughes tried for an early take down but Georges backed down. Hughes again goes for take down but is denied. Georges going for some kicks and then a Superman punch and Hughes goes for a take down but the clinch and Georges takes Hughes down and is on top in full guard. Georges with some light punches from the top. Georges pushes Hughes up against the cage. Georges with some short elbows. Georges with some punches again. Georges dominating so far but not really close to a stoppage. Hughes needs to find a way out. Georges slams Hughes a couple of times. Georges got his back in the last 10 seconds. Easy round to Georges here as he just dominated. Hughes really didn’t even get any offense at all in.
R2- Georges again takes Hughes down. Georges now in half guard. Hughes trying to get some offense from the bottom as he hits an elbow. Georges with some elbows. He’s in full guard now. Georges back on top in half guard and mounts Hughes and has his back with 1:30 left in the round. They battle and Georges has him up against the cage now. Hughes now with Georges leg but can’t get the takedown. They are tied up and Georges with a great take down into side control. Georges with an armbar type move and Hughes taps.
Georges St-Pierre just absolutely dominated this fight from start to finish.
Winner: Georges St-Pierre by Verbal Submission (armbar) R2 4:54.
Middleweight- Patrick Cote vs. Kendall Grove- UFC 74- 8/25/07
R1- A couple of shots exchanged early and then they tie up on the cage. Lots of jockeying for position but not much action. The ref separates them due to inactivity. Some exchanges and then Grove ties him up and works him back into the cage. Cote switches on him. Grove is the more aggressive fighter during stand-up but isn’t really hitting anything. Grove goes for take down and is denies. Cote destroys him with a short left hand and then jumps and mounts Grove. Grove gives up his back and Cote is trying to finish but Grove rolls back over. Cote is nailing him. Grove trying to hold on with 15 seconds left in the round but the ref stops the fight.
Real boring fight until the last 30 seconds when Cote exploded when Grove went for a takedown and left himself undefended.
Winner: Patrick Cote winner by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:45
Middleweight- Chris Leben vs. Khalib Starnes- UFC 71- 5/26/07
R1- Leben is the aggressor early. Starnes ties him up but Chris breaks loose. Leben with some strikes. Leben goes for a jumping kick and leaves his feet but Starnes can’t capitalize. Leben gets in a couple of more shots following a leg kick by Starnes. Leben with some wild punches and some of them connecting but Starnes covering up good to minimize damage. Leben looks like he might be punching himself out here. Starnes ties him up but gets pushed off. Leben with some more left hands. Leben misses with a spinning kick and gets takedown down. Big mistake. Leben trying to get a rubber guard as Starnes is in full guard. Starnes ends the round with a flurry of punches. This was a close round. Leben controlled the right up right and it was up right for most of the first round. Starnes got a takedown but did nothing with it until the last 5 seconds of the round. Leben 10-9.
R2- Start of this round is pretty even for the first minute or so. No one with a clear advantage. Starnes lands a nice right hand and then follows it up by taking down Leben and is on top in full guard. Starnes stands up and comes down with a punch and lands a couple more but now they are on their feet again. Starnes clinches him and backs him up against the cage. Starnes with some knees and they separate again. Leben looks tired but so does Starnes. Leben with a knee. They trade jabs. Starnes looks real tired now and Leben is landing some punches. Leben nails a knee. Starnes was real impressive at the beginning of this round but then gassed and Leben got in some good damage towards the end of the round. Round still goes to Starnes but I think Leben might have the advantage in cardio going into the final round. I’ve got the scorecard as 19-19.
R3- They trade some at the beginning and Leben is the aggressor. Leben had him up against the cage and got a couple of blows and then got a kick to the gut. Starnes to the mat and leben falls into his guard. Leben is not doing much on top. Getting a couple of punches in. Leben stands up then gets back on top this time in half guard and lands a short elbow. Starnes flips him over very impressively. Leben punching from the bottom. Leben trying to work the rubber guard. Leben getting in a lot more offense and then Starnes nails a nice elbow. Leben pestering him from the bottom with punches, elbows and kicks. Starnes stands up and then lands a punch and goes into half guard. 30 seconds left. Leben still punching from the bottom. Khalib trying to get some punches from the top but Leben continues to punch. I give this round to Leben as he controlled the first half and then did just as much damage from the bottom as Starnes did from the top.
Somehow Khalib Starnes gets a unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. It was real close but the only round that Starnes clearly won was Round 2. That’s why you don’t leave the match to the judges’ decision.
Winner: Khalib Starnes via Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight- Interim Welterweight Title Match: Georges St-Pierre (14-2) vs. Matt Hughes (43-5)- UFC 79- 12/29/07
R1- The first minute is active but both guys real cautious as nothing of note has been hit yet. Hughes tried for an early take down but Georges backed down. Hughes again goes for take down but is denied. Georges going for some kicks and then a Superman punch and Hughes goes for a take down but the clinch and Georges takes Hughes down and is on top in full guard. Georges with some light punches from the top. Georges pushes Hughes up against the cage. Georges with some short elbows. Georges with some punches again. Georges dominating so far but not really close to a stoppage. Hughes needs to find a way out. Georges slams Hughes a couple of times. Georges got his back in the last 10 seconds. Easy round to Georges here as he just dominated. Hughes really didn’t even get any offense at all in.
R2- Georges again takes Hughes down. Georges now in half guard. Hughes trying to get some offense from the bottom as he hits an elbow. Georges with some elbows. He’s in full guard now. Georges back on top in half guard and mounts Hughes and has his back with 1:30 left in the round. They battle and Georges has him up against the cage now. Hughes now with Georges leg but can’t get the takedown. They are tied up and Georges with a great take down into side control. Georges with an armbar type move and Hughes taps.
Georges St-Pierre just absolutely dominated this fight from start to finish.
Winner: Georges St-Pierre by Verbal Submission (armbar) R2 4:54.
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