Maximum Fighting Championship: Vindication
Edmonton Expo Center
Edmonton, Alberta
May 7, 2010
HDNet
This is the 25th show for the MFC promotion. The Main Event tonight is former UFC Middleweight Contender Thales Leites against TUF alum Jesse Taylor. Ryan Jimmo will also fight former UFC fighter Wilson Gouveia on the show. Michael Schiavello is joined by Guy Metzger and former WWE Diva Maria is the backstage interviewer.
Heavyweight Fight- Chase Gormley (6-2) vs. Ryan Fortin (4-2)
Gormley is fresh off of a run in the UFC where he fell to Brenden Schaub and Stefan Struve. Neither fight made it out of the first round. Fortin has dropped 2 of his last 3 fights and lost his last fight to Nick Penner in December of 2009. Somebody will be leaving this fight on a one fight win streak. Fortin has a 5" reach and 4" height advantage.
R1- Gormely immediately went for the take down but was denied and then he ate a combination. Gormley completed his second take down attempt. Gormley took side control and then Fortin turtled up and Gormley was able to land some strikes until Fortin got back to his feet with one minute left in the round. Fortin landed some strikes standing but then got taken down again. Gormley 10-9. Gormley landed 48 strikes in the first round.
R2- Gormley got a take down in the first thirty seconds of this round. The ref stood the fight back up with two minutes left in the round and Gormley promptly took it back to the mat. Not a real exciting fight. Gormley 20-18. Gormley landed 46 strikes in this round.
R3- Fortin landed some knees early in the round. Gormley got a take down with three minutes left in the fight and this one looks like it's all over. This one is officially a snoozer. But for Gormley it's a snoozer that he is going to win. Ref stands up the fight with 40 seconds left. And Gormley gets a take down. zzzzzzzzzzz. Gormley will win this fight 30-27 as he just out wrestled Fortin.
Judges score cards: 29-28 on all score cards. I guess Fortin's 3 knee strikes got him the 3rd round. Metzger and Schiavello are a bit perplexed as well but at least the right guy won.
Winner: Chase Gormley by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Richie Hightower (8-3) vs. Gavin Neil (7-1)
Hightower was a member of Team Serra on TUF 6. He beat Blake Bowman in his first fight in the house and then fell to current UFC fighter George Sotiropoulos. Hightower won his last fight but is 2-2-1 in his last 5 fights with a loss to Troy Mandaloniz. Gavin Neil comes out to some Weird Al Yankovic. Neil has won 3 in a row and 4 of his last 5 fights. Neil has a 3" height and 4.5" reach advantage.
R1- Neil started off in a defensive stance but clipped Hightower with a left hand. Neil jumped on top and tried to finish but Hightower recovered. Neil took Hightower's back and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke for the submission victory. Good win for Neil.
Winner: Gavin Neil by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 2:52
Welterweight Fight- Luigi Fioravanti (17-6) vs. Pete Spratt (20-17)
Fioravanti is a former UFC fighter who trains at American Top Team. At MFC 22 Fioravanti was finished by John Alessio in the third round. Since the loss to Alessio, Fioravanti has two straight wins including one over TUF alum Shane Primm by decision. Pete Spratt was on that same card and he finished Nathan Gunn in the second round. Spratt also lost to Alessio in 2008 and is coming off of a loss in his last fight. Spratt has a 3.5" reach advantage.
R1- Not much action early. Spratt lands some leg kicks half way through the round. Spratt went to the well one too many times and Luigi took him down and imediately got side control but Spratt got right to his feet. Spratt got a take down at the end of the round and then tried a guillotine but Luigi popped his head out. Spratt 10-9.
R2- Luigi got a quick take down in the first thirty seconds of the round but Spratt got back to his feet. Luigi got another take down. Spratt got back to his feet mid-way through the round. They exchanged strikes and Spratt threw a high kick that was blocked. Spratt landed a kick to the body. Spratt hit a good kick to the stomach. Spratt took Luigi down with a kick at the end of the round. Spratt stole this round and is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Spratt landed another kick to the body in the first minute that hurt Luigi. Luigi got a take down a minute and a half into the round but again could not hold Spratt on the mat. Spratt landed another kick. Spratt caught Luigi coming in and then landed some good Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in. Good win for Pete Spratt.
Winner: Pete Spratt by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:02
Light Heavyweight Fight- Dwayne Lewis (11-4) vs. Emanuel Newton (12-6)
Lewis fought on MFC 23 and knocked out Marvin Eastman in the first round of their fight and is currently on a 5 fight win streak. Newton has lost 3 consecutive fights including losses to Ryan Jimmo and Trevor Prangley (both by decision).
R1- Newton got an early take down. Lewis used the rubber guard to tie up Newton's arms and landed some strikes before the fight went back to the feet. Newton got another take down after they exchanged strikes against the ropes. Lewis grabbed a leg with 30 seconds left in the round but couldn't hold it. Lewis then tried for a guillotine but couldn't get it. Good round. Newton 10-9 as he controlled more of the round and landed more strikes.
R2- Newton landed an early kick but then got a take down stuffed. Newton got a take down one minute into the round. Newton stayed on top until the end of the round. Newton 20-18.
R3- Lewis stuffed a take down and then landed a couple of strikes. Lewis landed a couple more strikes and then Newton got a take down to save himself. Newton grinds this one out.
Judges score cards: 30-27 on all score cards
Winner: Emanuel Newton by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Jimmo (12-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-7)
This is the Co Main Event. Gouveia came in at 208 lbs and will forfeit 20% of his purse tonight. At MFC 22 Jimmo beat Marvin Eastman by Split Decision and at MFC 23 he defeated Emanuel Newton by Unanimous Decision and he's 5-0 in his last 5 fights. Gouveia is 2-3 in his last five fights and has lost his last two fights (TKO losses to Alan Belcher and Nate Marquardt). Metzger points out that Gouveia usually fights at 185 pounds so not making weight at 205 really shows that his focus is not on this fight.
R1- They basically just exchange leg kicks for three and a half minutes. Gouveia charged in with strikes and Jimmo clinched him and took him down. Jimmo lays on top of him for the rest of the round. Jimmo 10-9.
R2- Not much action in the first half of the round. Gouveia again comes in to push the action and gets clinched and then kneed and then punched. Gouveia was in trouble and Jimmo moved him inot the corner and got him down and started landing Ground and Pound. Jimmo landed soe good elbows and forearms but couldn't finish the fight. Jimmo landed some good right hands. Good round for Jimmo. Jimmo 20-18.
R3- Jimmo landed a good strike that hurt Gouveia early in the round. Gouveia landed some counter strikes that hurt Jimmo but Jimmo grabbed him and took him down. Jimmo doesn't do much in the last half of the round but he did maintain top position and will win the fight.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-26, 30-26
Winner: Ryan Jimmo by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Thales Leites (16-3) vs. Jesse Taylor (14-5)
Leities has a 3.5" reach advantage. The last time I saw TUF alum Jesse Taylor was on DREAM 10 where he defeated Dong Sik Yoon when Yoon could not continue due to injury in the first round. Taylor is 3-2 in his last 5 fights with the losses coming to Luke Rockhold and Jay Hieron. Leites fought at MFC 23 and defeated Dean Lister by Unanimous Decision. Leites is 3-2 in his last 5 fights with decision losses to Anderson Silva and Alessio Sakara. He's 2-0 since leaving the UFC. Taylor comes out to Danzig's "Mother".
R1- Taylor went for an immediate take down and got it. Taylor got cut and he is bleeding near his eye. Leities has a very active guard and almost was able to grab an arm bar. Leites then grabbed a triangle choke and finished the fight. This was pretty much what I was expecting.
Winner: Thales Leites by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:27
Showing posts with label Luigi Fioravanti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luigi Fioravanti. Show all posts
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Monday, October 05, 2009
MFC 22 "Payoff" 10/2/09 Re-Cap (HDNet)
Maximum Fighting Championship: Payoff
River Cree Casino
Enoch, Albert
October 2, 2009
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for this show. This is MFC 22 and we have a bunch of recognizable names on this card. This show is being broadcast live on HDNet. Jason Gregor is the backstage interviewer and he is joined backstage by Jason MacDonald and they discuss his Main Event fight tonight with Travis Lutter.
Lightweight Fight- Pete Spratt (19-13) vs. Nathan Gunn (7-0)
Spratt is a Muy Thai fighter and Gunn is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Gunn gets Spratt down immediately and controls the early part of the round. Spratt got back to his feet but then got taken right back down. Spratt got to his feet again but Gunn again took him down. Gunn is controlling but hasn’t done anything to hurt Spratt yet. Gunn took this round 10-9 and took Spratt down at will even though he didn’t inflict any damage.
R2- Spratt hit a big right hand to start off the round and followed it up with a kick and then a knee. Spratt was all over Gunn at the beginning of the round. Gunn instinctively clinched Spratt and was able to survive the onslaught. Gunn got a take down after he recovered some in the clinch and continued to recover after the take down. Spratt used the ropes to get out of a bad position and got a warning from the ref. Spratt went for a high kick but it was blocked. Out of nowhere Spratt loaded up a big right handed uppercut and knocked out Gunn. Gunn fell straight forward and Spratt knew he had the knockout and just walked away. Great finish by Spratt.
Winner: Pete Spratt by KO R2 4:19
Jason Gregor interviews MFC Lightweight Champion Antonio McKee. He will be fighting Carlo Prater tonight but the belt is not on the line as Prater did not make weight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (16-10) vs. Ryan Jimmo (10-1)
Eastman is a wrestler and Muy Thai fighter and a former UFC fighter and holds a victory over Rampage Jackson. Eastman is coming off a loss to Ricardo Arona. Jimmo is a karate specialist from Edmonton. Jimmo has a 5” height advantage and has not been defeated since his pro debut.
R1- Not a lot of action early on as Eastman is the aggressor as he is kind of stalking Jimmo but Jimmo is picking his shots and throwing more strikes. Eastman clinched Jimmo but Jimmo gets the better of the clinch by landing knees. Jimmo takes the first round 10-9. Jimmo out struck Eastman 27 to 9 in the first round.
R2- They clinched early in the round and then Eastman finally got a take down about half way through the round. Not a very good round from a fans stand point but I have Eastman taking it and tying up the fight 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Jimmo wins the early part of the fight by landing strikes in the clinch. Eastman got a take down with three minutes left in the round. Ref stands the fight up with 40 seconds and they clinched again. This one is a virtual toss-up. It will be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Eastman probably got the final round by getting the take down and controlling for a good majority of the round. I’m going to guess Eastman by Split Decision. Jimmo landed 65 strikes to Eastman’s 46. Jimmo has some pretty big swelling going on in the corner of his eye.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Jimmo, 29-28 Eastman, 29-28 Jimmo
Winner: Ryan Jimmo by Decision (Split)
Jason Gregor is backstage with Travis Lutter and they talk about his Main Event fight tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- David Heath (12-5) vs. Mike Nickels (7-2)
Both of these guys have fought for UFC. The only fight I saw of Nickels was his 2007 loss to Stephan Bonnar. Nickels has a 2” reach and 5” height advantage.
R1- Heath lands a couple of jabs early and you can already see the redness on the cheek of Nickels. Both guys are landing some decent strikes about mid-way through the round as they had a good exchange. Heath has opened up a cut on Nickels face. Heath took this first round as he landed better shots on Nickels and did more damage.
R2- Nickels opens up the round with a good punch and then clinches Heath and lands some elbows. Nickels is really pouring it on and Heath is just throwing wild punches to try and survive. Heath is hurt but he gets a minute to recover because his mouthpiece came out. Both guys are slugging it out. Nickels seems to be running out of gas a bit as he had some wide open punches on Death but didn’t have enough to put Heath out. Heath losses his mouthpiece again and Nickels punches him in the face as Heath looked down at it. The ref warns Heath that if it comes out again he will lose a point. This was a really good round, Nickels won this due to his performance in the first half of the round. Heath came back towards the end but couldn’t steal the round. It’s a 19-19 fight going into the final round.
So far Nickels has landed 90 punches to Heath’s 69 through 2 rounds.
R3- Heath losses his mouth piece again and he loses a point. Nickels lands several good punches about half way through the round that really has Heath rocked. Nickels went for a take down but got stuffed but then Heath got thrown down in the corner and Nickels jumped on him and took his back and tried to get a Rear Naked Choke and got the tap out. Both guys lost a lot of steam in the second round but this was still a fun fight.
Winner: Mike Nickels by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 4:02
Welterweight Fight- Luigi Fioravanti (15-5) vs. John Alessio (25-13)
Both of these guys have fought in the UFC. Luigi is a Kickboxer/BBJ fighter who trains with ATT. Alessio is a kickboxer/jiu jitsu specialist who trains at Xtreme Couture. The last I saw Luigi he lost to Anthony Johnson by TKO back in February in the UFC. John Alessio was in the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix this year but lost in the first round to Andre Galvao by submission in the first round.
R1- Pretty even fight through the first round. Almost looked straight up even, it was very close. Luigi landed 12 strikes in round one and Alessio landed 11. That’s a 10-10 round if it’s allowed to be scored that way.
R2- Luigi seems to be pushing the action a little more at the beginning of this round. This was another really close round. Luigi pressed the action but Alessio also hit a couple of nice punches towards the end of the round. This is about an even of a fight as you could have after two rounds. After two rounds Luigi has landed 36 strikes and Alessio has landed 27 so that means that Luigi out struck Alessio by 8 punches in the second round.
R3- Alessio shoots in for a quick take down but Luigi clinches and doesn’t go down. Alessio hit a SHOCKING knockout punch out of nowhere at the 3:30 mark of the round and this one is over. That one came out of nowhere. What a finish!
Winner: John Alessio by KO R3 1:34
Catch weight Fight (158 lbs) Antonio McKee (25-3-2) vs. Carlo Prater (24-6)
Prater says he’s extremely focused and trained hard for the fight but he didn’t make weight so I’m confused. McKee is a wrestling specialist. This was going to be a title fight for McKee’s title but Prater did not make weight. McKee has gone 11-0-1 since a decision loss to Karo Parisyan in 2003. McKee has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- McKee got a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the fight. McKee has landed some good strikes and has busted Prater open. At the mid-way point of the round HDNet puts up a graphic that shows McKee has landed 17 strikes to 0 for Prater. This was pretty much a 10-8 round because I don’t think Prater even landed a strike.
R2- McKee shot in at the one minute mark and got another take down. McKee is landing some punches but nothing that is putting the fight in jeopardy. The ref stops the fight to have Prater’s eye checked out. The ref tries to start the fight back on their feet but McKee reminds him he had Prater on the ground so the ref puts McKee back in Prater’s guard. The ref stands the fight back up with one minute left in the round. McKee gets another take down about 15 seconds after the stand up but Prater grabs a choke on the way down but could not lock it in. McKee takes this round 10-9 and is up 20-17 going into the third and final round.
R3- Prater keeps from getting taken down in this round and is able to land some punches to McKee’s side and back but McKee fought through and got a brief take down and then got a slam to get Prater down in the last thirty seconds of the fight. Not a very exciting third round but McKee definitely wins this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of McKee
Winner: Antonio McKee by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Travis Lutter (9-5) vs. Jason MacDonald (21-12)
Both guys are BJJ fighters and are former UFC fighters. MacDonald is from Calgary and gets a good ovation from the crowd on his entrance. MacDonald is only 3-5 in his last 8 fighters. His best wins have come against Chris Leben and Ed Herman. Out of his 21 wins he has won 17 of them by submission. MacDonald has a large 3” height and 6” reach advantage.
R1- Lutter got a take down with a minute and a half gone from the round. Lutter worked and got the mount at the mid-way point of the round. MacDonald tried to slip out but Lutter took MacDonald’s back. Lutter almost got a Rear Naked Choke but MacDonald was able to maneuver out of the submission and survive the round. Lutter up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Lutter got a take down within the first minute of the round and quickly took side control. Lutter is strictly trying to pass guard and is not looking to strike. Lutter is finally able to get the mount with about 1:45 left in the second round. McDonald gave up his back to get out of the mount and Lutter took his back but was not able to do anything with it as the round ended. Lutter has really controlled this fight and is up 20-18. While Lutter has dominated he hasn’t inflicted any damage on MacDonald so far in the fight.
R3- MacDonald is able to turn the tables on Lutter and get a takedown within the first minute of the round. MacDonald is able to hit some short elbows. MacDonald clearly won this round but didn’t win it decisively enough to make it 10-8. Lutter will win this fight 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Lutter
Winner: Travis Lutter by Decision (Unanimous)
River Cree Casino
Enoch, Albert
October 2, 2009
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for this show. This is MFC 22 and we have a bunch of recognizable names on this card. This show is being broadcast live on HDNet. Jason Gregor is the backstage interviewer and he is joined backstage by Jason MacDonald and they discuss his Main Event fight tonight with Travis Lutter.
Lightweight Fight- Pete Spratt (19-13) vs. Nathan Gunn (7-0)
Spratt is a Muy Thai fighter and Gunn is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Gunn gets Spratt down immediately and controls the early part of the round. Spratt got back to his feet but then got taken right back down. Spratt got to his feet again but Gunn again took him down. Gunn is controlling but hasn’t done anything to hurt Spratt yet. Gunn took this round 10-9 and took Spratt down at will even though he didn’t inflict any damage.
R2- Spratt hit a big right hand to start off the round and followed it up with a kick and then a knee. Spratt was all over Gunn at the beginning of the round. Gunn instinctively clinched Spratt and was able to survive the onslaught. Gunn got a take down after he recovered some in the clinch and continued to recover after the take down. Spratt used the ropes to get out of a bad position and got a warning from the ref. Spratt went for a high kick but it was blocked. Out of nowhere Spratt loaded up a big right handed uppercut and knocked out Gunn. Gunn fell straight forward and Spratt knew he had the knockout and just walked away. Great finish by Spratt.
Winner: Pete Spratt by KO R2 4:19
Jason Gregor interviews MFC Lightweight Champion Antonio McKee. He will be fighting Carlo Prater tonight but the belt is not on the line as Prater did not make weight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (16-10) vs. Ryan Jimmo (10-1)
Eastman is a wrestler and Muy Thai fighter and a former UFC fighter and holds a victory over Rampage Jackson. Eastman is coming off a loss to Ricardo Arona. Jimmo is a karate specialist from Edmonton. Jimmo has a 5” height advantage and has not been defeated since his pro debut.
R1- Not a lot of action early on as Eastman is the aggressor as he is kind of stalking Jimmo but Jimmo is picking his shots and throwing more strikes. Eastman clinched Jimmo but Jimmo gets the better of the clinch by landing knees. Jimmo takes the first round 10-9. Jimmo out struck Eastman 27 to 9 in the first round.
R2- They clinched early in the round and then Eastman finally got a take down about half way through the round. Not a very good round from a fans stand point but I have Eastman taking it and tying up the fight 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Jimmo wins the early part of the fight by landing strikes in the clinch. Eastman got a take down with three minutes left in the round. Ref stands the fight up with 40 seconds and they clinched again. This one is a virtual toss-up. It will be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Eastman probably got the final round by getting the take down and controlling for a good majority of the round. I’m going to guess Eastman by Split Decision. Jimmo landed 65 strikes to Eastman’s 46. Jimmo has some pretty big swelling going on in the corner of his eye.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Jimmo, 29-28 Eastman, 29-28 Jimmo
Winner: Ryan Jimmo by Decision (Split)
Jason Gregor is backstage with Travis Lutter and they talk about his Main Event fight tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- David Heath (12-5) vs. Mike Nickels (7-2)
Both of these guys have fought for UFC. The only fight I saw of Nickels was his 2007 loss to Stephan Bonnar. Nickels has a 2” reach and 5” height advantage.
R1- Heath lands a couple of jabs early and you can already see the redness on the cheek of Nickels. Both guys are landing some decent strikes about mid-way through the round as they had a good exchange. Heath has opened up a cut on Nickels face. Heath took this first round as he landed better shots on Nickels and did more damage.
R2- Nickels opens up the round with a good punch and then clinches Heath and lands some elbows. Nickels is really pouring it on and Heath is just throwing wild punches to try and survive. Heath is hurt but he gets a minute to recover because his mouthpiece came out. Both guys are slugging it out. Nickels seems to be running out of gas a bit as he had some wide open punches on Death but didn’t have enough to put Heath out. Heath losses his mouthpiece again and Nickels punches him in the face as Heath looked down at it. The ref warns Heath that if it comes out again he will lose a point. This was a really good round, Nickels won this due to his performance in the first half of the round. Heath came back towards the end but couldn’t steal the round. It’s a 19-19 fight going into the final round.
So far Nickels has landed 90 punches to Heath’s 69 through 2 rounds.
R3- Heath losses his mouth piece again and he loses a point. Nickels lands several good punches about half way through the round that really has Heath rocked. Nickels went for a take down but got stuffed but then Heath got thrown down in the corner and Nickels jumped on him and took his back and tried to get a Rear Naked Choke and got the tap out. Both guys lost a lot of steam in the second round but this was still a fun fight.
Winner: Mike Nickels by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 4:02
Welterweight Fight- Luigi Fioravanti (15-5) vs. John Alessio (25-13)
Both of these guys have fought in the UFC. Luigi is a Kickboxer/BBJ fighter who trains with ATT. Alessio is a kickboxer/jiu jitsu specialist who trains at Xtreme Couture. The last I saw Luigi he lost to Anthony Johnson by TKO back in February in the UFC. John Alessio was in the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix this year but lost in the first round to Andre Galvao by submission in the first round.
R1- Pretty even fight through the first round. Almost looked straight up even, it was very close. Luigi landed 12 strikes in round one and Alessio landed 11. That’s a 10-10 round if it’s allowed to be scored that way.
R2- Luigi seems to be pushing the action a little more at the beginning of this round. This was another really close round. Luigi pressed the action but Alessio also hit a couple of nice punches towards the end of the round. This is about an even of a fight as you could have after two rounds. After two rounds Luigi has landed 36 strikes and Alessio has landed 27 so that means that Luigi out struck Alessio by 8 punches in the second round.
R3- Alessio shoots in for a quick take down but Luigi clinches and doesn’t go down. Alessio hit a SHOCKING knockout punch out of nowhere at the 3:30 mark of the round and this one is over. That one came out of nowhere. What a finish!
Winner: John Alessio by KO R3 1:34
Catch weight Fight (158 lbs) Antonio McKee (25-3-2) vs. Carlo Prater (24-6)
Prater says he’s extremely focused and trained hard for the fight but he didn’t make weight so I’m confused. McKee is a wrestling specialist. This was going to be a title fight for McKee’s title but Prater did not make weight. McKee has gone 11-0-1 since a decision loss to Karo Parisyan in 2003. McKee has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- McKee got a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the fight. McKee has landed some good strikes and has busted Prater open. At the mid-way point of the round HDNet puts up a graphic that shows McKee has landed 17 strikes to 0 for Prater. This was pretty much a 10-8 round because I don’t think Prater even landed a strike.
R2- McKee shot in at the one minute mark and got another take down. McKee is landing some punches but nothing that is putting the fight in jeopardy. The ref stops the fight to have Prater’s eye checked out. The ref tries to start the fight back on their feet but McKee reminds him he had Prater on the ground so the ref puts McKee back in Prater’s guard. The ref stands the fight back up with one minute left in the round. McKee gets another take down about 15 seconds after the stand up but Prater grabs a choke on the way down but could not lock it in. McKee takes this round 10-9 and is up 20-17 going into the third and final round.
R3- Prater keeps from getting taken down in this round and is able to land some punches to McKee’s side and back but McKee fought through and got a brief take down and then got a slam to get Prater down in the last thirty seconds of the fight. Not a very exciting third round but McKee definitely wins this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of McKee
Winner: Antonio McKee by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Travis Lutter (9-5) vs. Jason MacDonald (21-12)
Both guys are BJJ fighters and are former UFC fighters. MacDonald is from Calgary and gets a good ovation from the crowd on his entrance. MacDonald is only 3-5 in his last 8 fighters. His best wins have come against Chris Leben and Ed Herman. Out of his 21 wins he has won 17 of them by submission. MacDonald has a large 3” height and 6” reach advantage.
R1- Lutter got a take down with a minute and a half gone from the round. Lutter worked and got the mount at the mid-way point of the round. MacDonald tried to slip out but Lutter took MacDonald’s back. Lutter almost got a Rear Naked Choke but MacDonald was able to maneuver out of the submission and survive the round. Lutter up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Lutter got a take down within the first minute of the round and quickly took side control. Lutter is strictly trying to pass guard and is not looking to strike. Lutter is finally able to get the mount with about 1:45 left in the second round. McDonald gave up his back to get out of the mount and Lutter took his back but was not able to do anything with it as the round ended. Lutter has really controlled this fight and is up 20-18. While Lutter has dominated he hasn’t inflicted any damage on MacDonald so far in the fight.
R3- MacDonald is able to turn the tables on Lutter and get a takedown within the first minute of the round. MacDonald is able to hit some short elbows. MacDonald clearly won this round but didn’t win it decisively enough to make it 10-8. Lutter will win this fight 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Lutter
Winner: Travis Lutter by Decision (Unanimous)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
UFC Fight Night 17 2/7/09 Re-Cap
UFC Fight Night 17
February 7th, 2009
USF Sun Dome - Tampa, FL
No major drawing cards on the show tonight but the last time UFC ran a show similar to this (Fight for the Troops) they had a really good show. On paper we’ve got some interesting fights in Lauzon/Stephens, Neer/Danzig, Johnson/Fioravanti and Pellegrino/Emerson.
Welterweight Fight- Anthony Johnson (6-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (13-4)
Anthony Johnson is coming off of a big Third Round KO of Kevin Burns in their re-match at the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale. Fioravanti is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Florida. Johnson is a JUCO wrestler and a feared striker. This is a big fight for both guys. Johnson has a big 8” reach advantage and a 6” height advantage. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner for the fight as Johnson has been training with Le and Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Josh Thomson. Fioravanti has won 3 of his last 4 fights with the loss coming at the hands of Diego Sanchez.
R1- Johnson scored mostly in this round with leg kicks and then caught Luigi towards the end of the round with a punch and then laid it on and got the Ground and Pound victory. Very impressive victory by Johnson as it took Diego Sanchez 3 rounds to get a TKO win over Luigi.
I’m looking forward to Johnson stepping up in competition for his next fight in the Welterweight Division. Post-fight Johnson says he’s disappointed with his performance so that’s a good sign that this guy is going to work really hard to continue to improve.
Winner: Anthony Johnson by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:39
Lightweight Fight- Josh Neer (24-7-1) vs. Mac Danzig (19-5-1)
Danzig is coming off of a September loss to Clay Guida in which he was really controlled by Guida’s wrestling. Neer fought on the same show and lost a split decision to Nate Diaz. Both guys are in a need to win situation as they don’t want to start racking up multiple losses in a row. Danzig won TUF Season 6 in 2007. Neer has a 3” height advantage and a 2” reach advantage.
R1- Danzig got caught early when he went for a head kick but weathered the storm. Danzig hit a good combo about a minute in a half in to even the fight back out. Danzig caught Neer coming in with a minute and half left and then took his guard. Neer grabbed a triangle but Danzig spun out and survived. Neer unloaded in the corner. Neer showboated towards the end of the round. Neer ended the round on an upswing. Very good and very close first round. Neer controlled early, Danzig took the middle part of the round with a knock down and Neer came on strong at the end. Danzig also opened up a cut on Neer’s face.
R2- Danzig got a take down stuffed and Neer unloaded with some good elbows. Neer tried to take his back but slipped off and Danzig took guard. Neer got another triangle with a minute and a half left in the round and Danzig had to tap.
Really good fight and a good showing by both guys as it was very competitive.
Winner: Josh Neer by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 3:36
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (4-0) vs. Denis Stojnic (12-1)
Velasquez is an up and coming Heavyweight prospect and this is Stojnic’s first fight in the UFC. Cain has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Stojnic is from Amsterdam and his nickname is “Denis the Menace.”
R1- Velasquez just dominated this round. Stojnic showed a good chin but wasn’t able to get in any offense. Velasquez 10-8. Velasquez showed really good technique throughout the fight and did a good job mixing in strikes, kicks and knees.
R2- Velasquez took Stojnic down and Ground and Pound him over and over. The ref stopped the fight a little early but there was no question that Velasquez was just dominating this fight. Good showing by Velasquez, the only thing that was missing was a dominant finish.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:34
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice vs. Matt Veach
This is a pre-show fight. Veach took this fight on short notice and has Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawler in his corner.
R1- Veach really pushed the pace early and got a take down. Grice caught Veach in an Anaconda Choke but Veach quickly got out of it. Grice caught Veach with an uppercut and then got on top of him with some Ground and Pound and tried to finish. Grice looked like he punched himself out when he was going for the finish. Grice went for a guillotine and Veach took his guard. Veach was looking very tired and taking some shots and he landed a good shot on Grice and took him down and got the finish. Looked like an early ref stoppage but it was a really good fight.
Winner: Matt Veach by TKO R1 4:34
Lightweight Fight- Joe Lauzon (16-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-3)
Stephens is coming off of a win at UFC 91 over Rafael Dos Anjos. Lauzon’s last fight was a win over Kyle Bradley. Previous to that he had won 6 straight fights before losing to Top Contender Kenny Florian. Hermes Franca was originally supposed to fight Lauzon. Stephens trains with Franca. Lauzon was on Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter and was BJ Penn’s team.
R1- Lauzon did a good job early in the round in working his strategy and keeping Stephens close to him and on the mat. Stephens came on late in the round with some Ground and Pound and a big slam. Close first round, very competitive.
R2- Lauzon again controlled the first part of this round and got some light Ground and Pound. At about one and a half minutes left in the round Stephens flipped it over and opened up a cut on Lauzon. Lauzon reverses but he’s bleeding pretty good. Lauzon caught Stephens in an arm bar and got a tap out as the round was ending. Really good job by Lauzon quickly getting a finish after he started to lose blood as the fight could have been ended if the round ended depending on where the cut was.
Winner: Joe Lauzon by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Dan Miller vs. Jake Rosholt
This is our second pre-show fight.
R1- Rosholt got a quick take down but got reversed. Miller caught Rosholt in a guillotine and he got caught and tapped. His corner was yelling for him to watch for it but apparently he didn’t hear them.
Winner: Dan Miller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:03
Overall, I was very satisfied with this show. Anthony Johnson and Cain Velasquez both looked really good. Grice/Veach and Lauzon/Stephens were both good fights and I thought Danzig/Neer was a really good fight. Danzig/Neer is probably the best fight I’ve seen so far this year although it’s only February.
February 7th, 2009
USF Sun Dome - Tampa, FL
No major drawing cards on the show tonight but the last time UFC ran a show similar to this (Fight for the Troops) they had a really good show. On paper we’ve got some interesting fights in Lauzon/Stephens, Neer/Danzig, Johnson/Fioravanti and Pellegrino/Emerson.
Welterweight Fight- Anthony Johnson (6-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (13-4)
Anthony Johnson is coming off of a big Third Round KO of Kevin Burns in their re-match at the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale. Fioravanti is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Florida. Johnson is a JUCO wrestler and a feared striker. This is a big fight for both guys. Johnson has a big 8” reach advantage and a 6” height advantage. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner for the fight as Johnson has been training with Le and Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Josh Thomson. Fioravanti has won 3 of his last 4 fights with the loss coming at the hands of Diego Sanchez.
R1- Johnson scored mostly in this round with leg kicks and then caught Luigi towards the end of the round with a punch and then laid it on and got the Ground and Pound victory. Very impressive victory by Johnson as it took Diego Sanchez 3 rounds to get a TKO win over Luigi.
I’m looking forward to Johnson stepping up in competition for his next fight in the Welterweight Division. Post-fight Johnson says he’s disappointed with his performance so that’s a good sign that this guy is going to work really hard to continue to improve.
Winner: Anthony Johnson by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:39
Lightweight Fight- Josh Neer (24-7-1) vs. Mac Danzig (19-5-1)
Danzig is coming off of a September loss to Clay Guida in which he was really controlled by Guida’s wrestling. Neer fought on the same show and lost a split decision to Nate Diaz. Both guys are in a need to win situation as they don’t want to start racking up multiple losses in a row. Danzig won TUF Season 6 in 2007. Neer has a 3” height advantage and a 2” reach advantage.
R1- Danzig got caught early when he went for a head kick but weathered the storm. Danzig hit a good combo about a minute in a half in to even the fight back out. Danzig caught Neer coming in with a minute and half left and then took his guard. Neer grabbed a triangle but Danzig spun out and survived. Neer unloaded in the corner. Neer showboated towards the end of the round. Neer ended the round on an upswing. Very good and very close first round. Neer controlled early, Danzig took the middle part of the round with a knock down and Neer came on strong at the end. Danzig also opened up a cut on Neer’s face.
R2- Danzig got a take down stuffed and Neer unloaded with some good elbows. Neer tried to take his back but slipped off and Danzig took guard. Neer got another triangle with a minute and a half left in the round and Danzig had to tap.
Really good fight and a good showing by both guys as it was very competitive.
Winner: Josh Neer by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 3:36
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (4-0) vs. Denis Stojnic (12-1)
Velasquez is an up and coming Heavyweight prospect and this is Stojnic’s first fight in the UFC. Cain has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Stojnic is from Amsterdam and his nickname is “Denis the Menace.”
R1- Velasquez just dominated this round. Stojnic showed a good chin but wasn’t able to get in any offense. Velasquez 10-8. Velasquez showed really good technique throughout the fight and did a good job mixing in strikes, kicks and knees.
R2- Velasquez took Stojnic down and Ground and Pound him over and over. The ref stopped the fight a little early but there was no question that Velasquez was just dominating this fight. Good showing by Velasquez, the only thing that was missing was a dominant finish.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:34
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice vs. Matt Veach
This is a pre-show fight. Veach took this fight on short notice and has Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawler in his corner.
R1- Veach really pushed the pace early and got a take down. Grice caught Veach in an Anaconda Choke but Veach quickly got out of it. Grice caught Veach with an uppercut and then got on top of him with some Ground and Pound and tried to finish. Grice looked like he punched himself out when he was going for the finish. Grice went for a guillotine and Veach took his guard. Veach was looking very tired and taking some shots and he landed a good shot on Grice and took him down and got the finish. Looked like an early ref stoppage but it was a really good fight.
Winner: Matt Veach by TKO R1 4:34
Lightweight Fight- Joe Lauzon (16-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-3)
Stephens is coming off of a win at UFC 91 over Rafael Dos Anjos. Lauzon’s last fight was a win over Kyle Bradley. Previous to that he had won 6 straight fights before losing to Top Contender Kenny Florian. Hermes Franca was originally supposed to fight Lauzon. Stephens trains with Franca. Lauzon was on Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter and was BJ Penn’s team.
R1- Lauzon did a good job early in the round in working his strategy and keeping Stephens close to him and on the mat. Stephens came on late in the round with some Ground and Pound and a big slam. Close first round, very competitive.
R2- Lauzon again controlled the first part of this round and got some light Ground and Pound. At about one and a half minutes left in the round Stephens flipped it over and opened up a cut on Lauzon. Lauzon reverses but he’s bleeding pretty good. Lauzon caught Stephens in an arm bar and got a tap out as the round was ending. Really good job by Lauzon quickly getting a finish after he started to lose blood as the fight could have been ended if the round ended depending on where the cut was.
Winner: Joe Lauzon by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Dan Miller vs. Jake Rosholt
This is our second pre-show fight.
R1- Rosholt got a quick take down but got reversed. Miller caught Rosholt in a guillotine and he got caught and tapped. His corner was yelling for him to watch for it but apparently he didn’t hear them.
Winner: Dan Miller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:03
Overall, I was very satisfied with this show. Anthony Johnson and Cain Velasquez both looked really good. Grice/Veach and Lauzon/Stephens were both good fights and I thought Danzig/Neer was a really good fight. Danzig/Neer is probably the best fight I’ve seen so far this year although it’s only February.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
UFC Wired 7/13/ Re-Cap
UFC Wired 7/13 Re-Cap
Light Heavyweight Fight- Alessio Sakara (14-4) vs. Drew McFedries (4-1)- UFC 65- 11/18/06
McFedries took this fight on short notice.
R1- McFedries is the aggressor early and is taking lots of swings. They compare him to Robbie Lawler. Sakara hits some knees in the clinch. McFedries lands some nice shots and takes down Sakara briefly. Sakara becomes the aggressor and then they exchange. Sakara knocks out McFedries mouthpiece. Both of these guys are really going at each other. Sakara gets some really nice shots in and seems to be taking over the round. Sakara hits some nice left handed punches. McFedries takes Sakara down but they are quickly back to their feet. Sakara with some more shots and one of them looked like it hurt Drew but he continues to fight back. Sakara went down and the McFedries jumped on top and reigned punches and got the TKO. Good fight.
Winner: Drew McFedries by TKO R1 4:07
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (8-0) vs. Frankie Edgar (5-0)- UFC 67- 2/3/07
This is Edgar’s UFC debut. Both guys are undefeated coming into this fight.
R1- Edgar gets the first take down but Tyson gets a guillotine but Edgar gets out of it. Tyson picks him up and slams him and they sprawl. The stand up is pretty even in this round. Edgar gets another take down and is in Griffin’s guard. Edgar lands some good shots. Edgar 10-9 in a good first round.
R2- Griffin lands a really nice uppercut early in the round. Edgar gets a take down with about 2 minutes left after Griffin had been winning the round. Back on their feet and Griffin knocks Edgar down with a leg kick and then goes for another but Edgar takes him down. They sprawl and Tyson gets his back but Edgar transitions into a mount. This was a really close round. Edgar finished it really well and Griffin had trouble getting back to his corner and I think that and the take downs ultimately won the round for Edgar. I’ve got Edgar 20-18 in a really close fight so far.
R3- They are pretty even at the stand up at the beginning of the round. Edgar gets some knees and Griffin looks like he complains about a low blow but the ref tells him to fight on. Edgar starts to control the fight and has Griffin in the corner and is hitting him with punches. Edgar gets a take down. Edgar gets some more punches in as they stand up. Edgar gets another take down and is controlling this round. Edgar with more punches as they stand up and then gets another take down. Griffin reverses into a knee bar and Edgar looks like he’s going to hold on for the rest of the fight. Really good fight. Edgar really dominated this round with Griffin almost getting a submission at the end. Really good fight, I’ve got Edgar winning 30-27, but a really close 30-27.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Edgar.
Winner: Frankie Edgar by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Jon Fitch (17-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (11-1)- UFC 68- 3/3/07
R1- Fitch gets a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Fitch takes his back but then gets rolled back over and is in Luigi’s guard. Fitch doesn’t really inflict much damage and they get back to their feet. Luigi got some points towards the end of the round with some punches but Fitch took this round 10-9. Not overly exciting, but that’s Jon Fitch. He’s America’s version of Shinya Aoki.
R2- Fitch gets a slam with about one and a half minutes gone in the round- Luigi grabbed onto the top of the cage to prevent being slammed hard. Fitch takes Luigi’s back gets a choke clamped in and gets the tap out victory.
Winner: Jon Fitch by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Alessio Sakara (14-4) vs. Drew McFedries (4-1)- UFC 65- 11/18/06
McFedries took this fight on short notice.
R1- McFedries is the aggressor early and is taking lots of swings. They compare him to Robbie Lawler. Sakara hits some knees in the clinch. McFedries lands some nice shots and takes down Sakara briefly. Sakara becomes the aggressor and then they exchange. Sakara knocks out McFedries mouthpiece. Both of these guys are really going at each other. Sakara gets some really nice shots in and seems to be taking over the round. Sakara hits some nice left handed punches. McFedries takes Sakara down but they are quickly back to their feet. Sakara with some more shots and one of them looked like it hurt Drew but he continues to fight back. Sakara went down and the McFedries jumped on top and reigned punches and got the TKO. Good fight.
Winner: Drew McFedries by TKO R1 4:07
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (8-0) vs. Frankie Edgar (5-0)- UFC 67- 2/3/07
This is Edgar’s UFC debut. Both guys are undefeated coming into this fight.
R1- Edgar gets the first take down but Tyson gets a guillotine but Edgar gets out of it. Tyson picks him up and slams him and they sprawl. The stand up is pretty even in this round. Edgar gets another take down and is in Griffin’s guard. Edgar lands some good shots. Edgar 10-9 in a good first round.
R2- Griffin lands a really nice uppercut early in the round. Edgar gets a take down with about 2 minutes left after Griffin had been winning the round. Back on their feet and Griffin knocks Edgar down with a leg kick and then goes for another but Edgar takes him down. They sprawl and Tyson gets his back but Edgar transitions into a mount. This was a really close round. Edgar finished it really well and Griffin had trouble getting back to his corner and I think that and the take downs ultimately won the round for Edgar. I’ve got Edgar 20-18 in a really close fight so far.
R3- They are pretty even at the stand up at the beginning of the round. Edgar gets some knees and Griffin looks like he complains about a low blow but the ref tells him to fight on. Edgar starts to control the fight and has Griffin in the corner and is hitting him with punches. Edgar gets a take down. Edgar gets some more punches in as they stand up. Edgar gets another take down and is controlling this round. Edgar with more punches as they stand up and then gets another take down. Griffin reverses into a knee bar and Edgar looks like he’s going to hold on for the rest of the fight. Really good fight. Edgar really dominated this round with Griffin almost getting a submission at the end. Really good fight, I’ve got Edgar winning 30-27, but a really close 30-27.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Edgar.
Winner: Frankie Edgar by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Jon Fitch (17-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (11-1)- UFC 68- 3/3/07
R1- Fitch gets a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Fitch takes his back but then gets rolled back over and is in Luigi’s guard. Fitch doesn’t really inflict much damage and they get back to their feet. Luigi got some points towards the end of the round with some punches but Fitch took this round 10-9. Not overly exciting, but that’s Jon Fitch. He’s America’s version of Shinya Aoki.
R2- Fitch gets a slam with about one and a half minutes gone in the round- Luigi grabbed onto the top of the cage to prevent being slammed hard. Fitch takes Luigi’s back gets a choke clamped in and gets the tap out victory.
Winner: Jon Fitch by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
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.
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