UFC 114: Prelims
MGM Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday May 29, 2010
Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans finally meet tonight but first we get an hour of free fights on Spike TV. Efrain Escudero will fight Dan Lauzon and Amir Sadollah will fight Dong Hyun Kim. As always Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are your announcers and Bruce Buffer is the ring announcer.
Lightweight Fight- Efrain Escudero (13-1) vs. Dan Lauzon (12-3)
Escudero was the winner of TUF 8. Escudero beat Cole Miller at UFC 103 but then lost to Evan Dunham by submission at Fight Night 20. Lauzon lost to Cole Miller in his last fight by submission in the first round.
R1- Lauzon is throwing bombs early but not connecting. Escudero is doing a good job countering and landed a good knee. Escudero threw knees up against the cage but Lauzon blocked most of the barrage. Escudero has a cut above his left eye. Close round. I've got Escudero 10-9.
R2- Escudero came in with some strikes and landed some knees and then threw a barrage of punches against the cage. Lauzon was able to cover up and Escudero backed out to avoid punching himself out. Lauzon went for a take down but was stuffed. Lauzon looks tired and Escudero is stalking him. Escudero is landing some good kicks. Escudero landed a strike and Lauzon went down but it didn't look like it connected that well. Escudero 20-18.
R3- Lauzon hits Escudero with a low blow early in the round. Escudero threw some strikes and clinched Lauzon up against the cage. Escudero landed a couple of knees and then a leg kick. Escudero returns the low blow near the end of the round. Josh Rosenthal takes a point away from Escudero. I don't agree with that but it will be a moot point since Escudero is winning every round. Both guys throw leather at the end of the round and Lauzon cut Escudero. I've got Escudero 29-27 after the point deduction.
Judges score cards: All 3 judges score the fight 29-27
Winner: Efrain Escudero by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Luiz Cane vs. Cyrille Diabate
This is a pre-show fight. I'm thinking Cane took this early since they are showing it now. Cane is trying to rebound from his beating at the hands of lil Nog. This is the UFC debut for Diabate.
R1- Cane landed a big shot early in the first round that rocked Diabate. Diabate landed some good strikes and landed two shots that knocked Cane down then he jumped on and finished Cane. Great win by Diabate.
Winner: Cyrille Diabate by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:13
Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (3-1) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (12-0-1)
Amir has won his last two fights over Phil Baroni and Brad Blackburn, both by unanimous decision. Kim is undefeated in his MMA career since his fight against Karo Parisyan was overturned. In the UFC Kim has defeated T.J. Grant by decision, Matt Brown by split decision and Jason Tan by TKO (elbows). Goldberg points out that they have trained together in the past.
R1- Amir landed some strikes early but Kim got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the fight. Kim is controlling on top but not landing anything clean. Kim was able to get on Amir's back in the last minute of the round. Kim 10-9. Amir needs to keep the fight standing if he wants to win this one.
R2- Amir uses some kicks early but then got taken down quickly before the first minute is over. Amir was able to get back to his feet but Kim won't let go of him and takes him down again. Kim trapped one of Amir's arms and landed some strikes. Amir gave up his back very late in the round. Kim is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Kim got an early take down and this one feels like it is over. Amir got back to his feet with 80 seconds left in the fight. Amir avoided a take down. Amir tried a flying knee but Kim got a take down instead. 40 seconds left and Amir was able to get back to his feet. Amir landed some strikes but nothing that came close to finishing the fight.
Judges score cards: 30-27 on all score cards
Winner: Dong Hyun Kim by Decision (Unanimous)
Showing posts with label Luiz Cane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luiz Cane. Show all posts
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Thursday, November 26, 2009
UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 Re-Cap
UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-1) vs. Phil Baroni (13-11)
Sadollah was the winner of TUF 7 but lost in just 27 seconds in his last fight against Johny Hendricks. Both guys train at Xtreme Couture but Baroni trained for this fight at AKA. Baroni comes out to “Bad to the Bone”. This is Baroni’s first fight in UFC since UFC 51. Sadollah has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Baroni lands some strikes early and knocks Amir off-balance. Baroni lands two good uppercuts. Baroni got a take down about half way through the round but gave up the position after about a minute. Baroni tried a guillotine but couldn’t get it and Amir landed a good knee and barely missed with a big haymaker. Amir is coming on towards the end of the round. Baroni comes out of the round with his face bloodied. Baroni 10-9 but Amir could have stolen that round after Baroni gassed towards the end.
R2- Baroni looks really tired and Amir comes out as the aggressor in this round. Not a real exciting round but I’ve got Amir taking this one to even it up 19-19.
R3- Amir lands some good strikes in the first minute of the round. Amir is doing a good job changing levels in this round and he buckled Baroni against the cage with a good onslaught. Amir wins this fight 29-28 on my score card. Amir did a good job weathering the storm early and then it was all Amir in the last two rounds after Baroni ran out of steam.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira (17-3) vs. Luiz Cane (11-1)
This is a battle between two Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters that fly under the radar. The winner of this fight jumps up into title contention with another win under their belt after this fight. Big Nog and Anderson Silva are in lil Nog’s corner for the fight. Cane comes out to some Jane’s Addiction. Cane is coming off of a decision victory over Steve Cantwell at UFC 97.
R1- Nogueira starts to land some strikes and hits a good left and then another and Cane is on his heels. Nogueira is landing some good strikes and lands some lefts and then connects with a big left that knocks Cane to the ground. Lil Nog jumps on top and this fight is over. Really impressive debut for Lil Nog and he jumps right into the Light Heavyweight Title picture after the Machida/Shogun re-match.
Winner: Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:56
Chuck Liddell is at the fights tonight to check out Tito/Forrest. New WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo is also at the show and they show some highlights of his championship win over Mike Brown from earlier in the week.
Welterweight Fight- Paulo Thiago (11-1) vs. Jacob Volkmann (9-0)
This is the UFC debut of Volkmann. Thiago is coming off of a decision loss to top contender Jon Fitch at UFC 100. Volkmann comes out to some AC/DC. Thiago has a 3” reach advantage to counter Volkmann’s better entrance music. Volkmann’s nickname is “Christmas”.
R1- Thiago got a take down into side control after the first minute of the round but Volkamann quickly got back to his feet. Thiago got a take down and mounted mid-way through the round. Thaigo lands some strikes but Volkmann got back to his feet without taking any major damage. Thiago landed a big combination right at the buzzer that floored Volkmann. Thiago 10-9.
R2- Thiago caught a Volkmann kick and chopped his other leg to floor him but didn’t follow up on the ground. Volkmann got a take down into side control in the first minute of the round but Thiago got back to his feet without taking much damage. Volkmann got Thiago down again but Thiago flipped him over and took top position. Thiago landed a big shot on the ground towards the end of the round. This round was very close. Could have gone either way.
R3- Thiago caught Volkmann coming in with a right and floored him. Volkmann tried a take down but Thiago avoided it but shortly thereafter Volkmann was able to get on top. Volkmann worked Thiago into a crucifix position and landed some good elbow strikes before Thiago was able to get out of the move. Volkmann slipped of Thiago’s back and Thiago once again assumed control. Volkmann grabbed a choke from the bottom but somehow Thiago slipped out. Thiago landed some good elbows on Volkmann at the end of the round.
Rounds two and three were virtual toss ups. Thiago clearly won the first round. I’m going to say the judges will give Thiago the win via decision. Volkmann really didn’t show much other than his wrestling, he really needs to work on his striking.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27
Winner: Paulo Thiago by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (15-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-2)
This should be fun. Anthony Johnson is coming off of a destruction of Yoshiyuki Yoshida less than a month ago at UFC 104. Koscheck stopped Frank Trigg in the first round of their UFC 103 fight. The winner of this will move way up the rankings in the wide open Welterweight Division. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner. Johnson has the most knock downs per minute in the UFC. Johnson has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Long feeling out process with a few strikes landing for each fighter. Koscheck came in at the two minute mark and got caught and knocked off balance and cornered. Koscheck clinched him to get out of the corner but Johnson defended it and ended up in the superior position. Koscheck was on his knees and Johnson landed a knee to his forehead, which is illegal, and the fight was stopped by the ref. On the re-play it didn’t look like the knee hit him in the head but Koscheck did get poked in the eye at some point. They re-start the fight. Koscheck went for a single and Johnson sprawled and landed hard on the cage and Koscheck finally took him down. Tough round to score as there wasn’t a ton of damage done and the Koscheck take down at the end of the round might have swung the round to him. I believe Johnson had a point deducted so it could be Koscheck up 10-8 at this point.
R2- Koscheck returned the favor with an eye poke early in ths round. Koscheck started to land some good shots but on the re-play the big shot was a poke right into Johnson’s eye. Johnson has a bad history with getting poked in the eye. Johnson landed some good strikes in an exchange and Koscheck may have landed a shot as well. Koscheck got a take down two minutes into the round. Koscheck landed some elbows. Koscheck landed a Rear Naked Choke and Johnson tapped out. Big win for Koscheck.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:47
Post-Fight Josh Koscheck calls out Dan Hardy. Says Hardy hasn’t fought anybody and says he’s the real number one contender.
Vince Vaughn is at the show tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tito Ortiz (16-6-1) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-6)
This is a re-match from their fight at UFC 59 that ended up a Split Decision victory for Tito Ortiz. Forrest comes out to Chumbawamba’s “I get knocked down, but I get up again”.
R1- Tito got a take down in the second minute of the fight after some brief stand up. Forrest was able to get back to his feet after taking some shots. This was a close round. Forrest won the stand up in the round but Tito got the take down.
R2- Tito got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Forrest got back to his feet without taking any significant damage. Forrest hit a front kick to the face that sent Tito’s mouthpiece flying. Tito got another take down about half way through the round. Tito cut Forrest open really badly. Forrest turned Tito over with about 30 seconds left in the round. Probably 19-19 at this point.
R3- Forrest is the aggressor early in this round. Tito shot in but it was stuffed by Forrest. Tito looks a bit gassed in this round and Forrest is scoring all the points with about a minute and a half left in the round. Forrest stuffed another take down with about 40 seconds left. Forrest wins this round and I’ve got him taking the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Ortiz, 30-27 Griffin, 29-28 Forrest
Winner: Forrest Griffin by Decision (Split)
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-1) vs. Phil Baroni (13-11)
Sadollah was the winner of TUF 7 but lost in just 27 seconds in his last fight against Johny Hendricks. Both guys train at Xtreme Couture but Baroni trained for this fight at AKA. Baroni comes out to “Bad to the Bone”. This is Baroni’s first fight in UFC since UFC 51. Sadollah has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Baroni lands some strikes early and knocks Amir off-balance. Baroni lands two good uppercuts. Baroni got a take down about half way through the round but gave up the position after about a minute. Baroni tried a guillotine but couldn’t get it and Amir landed a good knee and barely missed with a big haymaker. Amir is coming on towards the end of the round. Baroni comes out of the round with his face bloodied. Baroni 10-9 but Amir could have stolen that round after Baroni gassed towards the end.
R2- Baroni looks really tired and Amir comes out as the aggressor in this round. Not a real exciting round but I’ve got Amir taking this one to even it up 19-19.
R3- Amir lands some good strikes in the first minute of the round. Amir is doing a good job changing levels in this round and he buckled Baroni against the cage with a good onslaught. Amir wins this fight 29-28 on my score card. Amir did a good job weathering the storm early and then it was all Amir in the last two rounds after Baroni ran out of steam.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira (17-3) vs. Luiz Cane (11-1)
This is a battle between two Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters that fly under the radar. The winner of this fight jumps up into title contention with another win under their belt after this fight. Big Nog and Anderson Silva are in lil Nog’s corner for the fight. Cane comes out to some Jane’s Addiction. Cane is coming off of a decision victory over Steve Cantwell at UFC 97.
R1- Nogueira starts to land some strikes and hits a good left and then another and Cane is on his heels. Nogueira is landing some good strikes and lands some lefts and then connects with a big left that knocks Cane to the ground. Lil Nog jumps on top and this fight is over. Really impressive debut for Lil Nog and he jumps right into the Light Heavyweight Title picture after the Machida/Shogun re-match.
Winner: Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:56
Chuck Liddell is at the fights tonight to check out Tito/Forrest. New WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo is also at the show and they show some highlights of his championship win over Mike Brown from earlier in the week.
Welterweight Fight- Paulo Thiago (11-1) vs. Jacob Volkmann (9-0)
This is the UFC debut of Volkmann. Thiago is coming off of a decision loss to top contender Jon Fitch at UFC 100. Volkmann comes out to some AC/DC. Thiago has a 3” reach advantage to counter Volkmann’s better entrance music. Volkmann’s nickname is “Christmas”.
R1- Thiago got a take down into side control after the first minute of the round but Volkamann quickly got back to his feet. Thiago got a take down and mounted mid-way through the round. Thaigo lands some strikes but Volkmann got back to his feet without taking any major damage. Thiago landed a big combination right at the buzzer that floored Volkmann. Thiago 10-9.
R2- Thiago caught a Volkmann kick and chopped his other leg to floor him but didn’t follow up on the ground. Volkmann got a take down into side control in the first minute of the round but Thiago got back to his feet without taking much damage. Volkmann got Thiago down again but Thiago flipped him over and took top position. Thiago landed a big shot on the ground towards the end of the round. This round was very close. Could have gone either way.
R3- Thiago caught Volkmann coming in with a right and floored him. Volkmann tried a take down but Thiago avoided it but shortly thereafter Volkmann was able to get on top. Volkmann worked Thiago into a crucifix position and landed some good elbow strikes before Thiago was able to get out of the move. Volkmann slipped of Thiago’s back and Thiago once again assumed control. Volkmann grabbed a choke from the bottom but somehow Thiago slipped out. Thiago landed some good elbows on Volkmann at the end of the round.
Rounds two and three were virtual toss ups. Thiago clearly won the first round. I’m going to say the judges will give Thiago the win via decision. Volkmann really didn’t show much other than his wrestling, he really needs to work on his striking.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27
Winner: Paulo Thiago by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (15-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-2)
This should be fun. Anthony Johnson is coming off of a destruction of Yoshiyuki Yoshida less than a month ago at UFC 104. Koscheck stopped Frank Trigg in the first round of their UFC 103 fight. The winner of this will move way up the rankings in the wide open Welterweight Division. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner. Johnson has the most knock downs per minute in the UFC. Johnson has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Long feeling out process with a few strikes landing for each fighter. Koscheck came in at the two minute mark and got caught and knocked off balance and cornered. Koscheck clinched him to get out of the corner but Johnson defended it and ended up in the superior position. Koscheck was on his knees and Johnson landed a knee to his forehead, which is illegal, and the fight was stopped by the ref. On the re-play it didn’t look like the knee hit him in the head but Koscheck did get poked in the eye at some point. They re-start the fight. Koscheck went for a single and Johnson sprawled and landed hard on the cage and Koscheck finally took him down. Tough round to score as there wasn’t a ton of damage done and the Koscheck take down at the end of the round might have swung the round to him. I believe Johnson had a point deducted so it could be Koscheck up 10-8 at this point.
R2- Koscheck returned the favor with an eye poke early in ths round. Koscheck started to land some good shots but on the re-play the big shot was a poke right into Johnson’s eye. Johnson has a bad history with getting poked in the eye. Johnson landed some good strikes in an exchange and Koscheck may have landed a shot as well. Koscheck got a take down two minutes into the round. Koscheck landed some elbows. Koscheck landed a Rear Naked Choke and Johnson tapped out. Big win for Koscheck.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:47
Post-Fight Josh Koscheck calls out Dan Hardy. Says Hardy hasn’t fought anybody and says he’s the real number one contender.
Vince Vaughn is at the show tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tito Ortiz (16-6-1) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-6)
This is a re-match from their fight at UFC 59 that ended up a Split Decision victory for Tito Ortiz. Forrest comes out to Chumbawamba’s “I get knocked down, but I get up again”.
R1- Tito got a take down in the second minute of the fight after some brief stand up. Forrest was able to get back to his feet after taking some shots. This was a close round. Forrest won the stand up in the round but Tito got the take down.
R2- Tito got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Forrest got back to his feet without taking any significant damage. Forrest hit a front kick to the face that sent Tito’s mouthpiece flying. Tito got another take down about half way through the round. Tito cut Forrest open really badly. Forrest turned Tito over with about 30 seconds left in the round. Probably 19-19 at this point.
R3- Forrest is the aggressor early in this round. Tito shot in but it was stuffed by Forrest. Tito looks a bit gassed in this round and Forrest is scoring all the points with about a minute and a half left in the round. Forrest stuffed another take down with about 40 seconds left. Forrest wins this round and I’ve got him taking the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Ortiz, 30-27 Griffin, 29-28 Forrest
Winner: Forrest Griffin by Decision (Split)
Monday, April 20, 2009
UFC 97: "Redemption" Re-Cap
UFC 97: Redemption
4/18/09
This show is highlighted by Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva defending against Thales Leites and Chuck Liddell taking on Shogun Rua. The Shogun/Liddell fight will be particularly interesting because whoever losses that fight is pretty much finished in the Light Heavyweight Division for the near future. Silva is looking to break the tie for most consecutive wins inside the Octagon (he is currently sitting at 8 straight wins). Cheick Kongo will also fight Antoni Hardonk in Heavyweight Fight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Steve Cantwell (7-1) vs. Luiz Cane (10-1)
Cantwell is a former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. Cantwell fought on the “Fight for the Troops” show in November and destroyed Razak Al-Hassan. His previous fight was an August 2008 win over Brian Stann by TKO for the WEC Title. Cane is coming off a win over Sokoudjou in which Sokoudjou gassed and then Cane finished him off. Both of these guys are borderline Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters. Cane is a Muay Thai specialist and Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Cantwell is a Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt with Kick Boxing experience. This should be an explosive fight.
R1- Cane looks good early as he landing some strikes and stalking Cantwell early. As the round went on Cantwell seemed to become more confident but Cane definitely looks like the stronger fighter in this fight. Cane is leading 10-9 after one round on my score card.
R2- Cane controlled the early part of the round but Cantwell really started to score points in the middle of the round. Really close round that I’m giving to Cantwell so it’s 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Cane landed a good combo in the first minute. Cane hit another good combo around the 4 minute mark of the round. Cane takes round three in a fairly close fight 29-28. Not a great fight for either guy, both guys fought hard and looked pretty good but both will really need to elevate their games to get up to the next level in UFC.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of Cane.
Winner: Luiz Cane by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Cheick Kongo (23-4-1) vs. Antoni Hardonk (8-4)
Kongo is coming off of an impressive first round win over Mostapha Al Turk at UFC 92. Hardonk also fought at UFC 92 and won in the second round against Mike Wessel and is currently on a 3 fight win streak. Ernesto Hoost is in Hardonk’s corner for the fight. Kongo has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Kongo grabbed Hardonk’s leg and pushed him down halfway through the round but the fight was stood back up. After they stood back up Kongo got in some good shots and then got a take down with about a minute left in the round. Kongo is up 10 to 9 after the first round.
R2- Kongo got Hardonk down quickly in this round and jumped on top for some Ground and Pound. Hardonk is bloodied up and the ref steps in to stop the fight. Really good showing by Kongo. It took him a while to get started but he looked impressive after he got the fight to the ground just like he did in his last outing.
Winner: Cheick Kongo by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:29
Light Heavyweight Fight- Krzysztof Soszynski (17-9-1) vs. Brian Stann (6-1)
Stann is a former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. He lost the belt to Steven Cantwell in August of 2008. Soszynski is from TUF Season 8. These guys are former training partners at Team Quest. Stann is currently training with Greg Jackson. If I was a betting man I would put my money on Stann in this fight. Soszynski has a 3.5” reach advantage.
R1- Soszynski got a take down at the two minute mark of the round. Soszynski laid on top of Stann for a minute and a half. Stann got up and Soszynski got another take down. Soszynski went for a kimura and couldn’t get it but went for it again and got it and Stann tapped out. And this is why I’m not a betting man. Nice win for Soszynski. Stann obviously needs some work on his ground game.
Winner: Krzysztof Soszynski by Submission (Kimura) R1 3:53
Light Heavyweight Fight- Chuck Liddell (21-6) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (17-3)
This is a feast or famine fight for these guys. The winner is in line for a title shot with another victory and the loser is all but done in the UFC as a legit title contender. Shogun is coming off a lackluster victory over Mark Coleman in what may have been the worst fight of the year. Chuck is coming off of a KO at the hands of current Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. Chuck Liddell is 39 years old, is this one of the last times we see him in the Octagon?
R1- Shogun got a take down about two and a half minutes into the round and went for a leg lock but couldn’t lock in the submission. Chuck got a take down with a minute left but immediately stood back up. Shogun landed a left hand and jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight! Shogun is back. Chuck looked really old in this fight as once Shogun hit a couple of leg kicks Chuck’s mobility looked slower and more limited. Maybe one more “money” fight for Chuck but besides that I don’t really think he should be fighting anymore.
Winner: Shogun Rua by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:28
Lightweight Fight- Sam Stout (14-5-1) vs. Matt Wiman (10-4)
Wiman is coming off of a Unanimous Decision loss to Jim Miller in December. Stout has a 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Wiman starts off by landing some good strikes and then gets a take down but can’t land anything on the ground. Both guys are swinging freely in this fight. Wiman grabbed a guillotine and tried to pull guard but Stout slipped out and landed in Wiman’s guard. Wiman went for a take down with 30 seconds left in the round but Stout flipped him over. Good first round that was very close.
R2- Wiman tried to take Stout’s back but Stout was able to move into Wiman’s guard. Stout hurt Wiman towards the end of the round but Stout could not finish him and Wiman almost landed an arm bar. Stout really started to pull away here and took this round. I’ve got the fight 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Wiman took Stout’s back and got him down onto the ground just a minute and a half into the round. Stout eventually rolls out of it and into Wiman’s guard with half the round remaining and Stout lands some Ground and Pound. They stood up and Wiman got another take down with a minute and a half left in the fight. Wiman drew some blood, got another take down and then both guys ended up swinging on their feet. This one is a toss up. I think Wiman’s going to take it as he looked better in the 1st and 2nd. Stout looked better overall but the fight is judges round by round not on the fight as a whole.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all score cards in favor of Sam Stout.
I can’t say that I disagree with the decision but it was a very close fight.
Winner: Sam Stout by Decision (Unanimous)
Channing Tatum and Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le join Mike Goldberg to hype their movie “Fighting”.
UFC Middleweight Title Fight: Anderson Silva © (23-4) vs. Thales Leites (14-1)
Thales is the next contender to try and take away Anderson’s belt. Thales has earned the title shot by winning a controversial decision over Nate Marquardt and by stopping Drew McFedries a little over a minute into the first round on the under card of Silva/Cote. Leites has won 5 straight fights and has won 27% of his fights by arm triangle. Leites is a Jiu Jitsu black belt. Anderson has 8 straight wins which is tied for the most in UFC history but is coming off of a disappointing fight against Patrick Cote. In UFC Anderson has landed 80% of his strikes. Leites comes out to “Welcome to the Jungle”. You have to like that.
R1- One minute into the fight and neither guy has thrown a strike. Two minutes into the fight and not much is going on. Anderson tries to stalk Leites down but he’s more comfortable staying away from Anderson. Leites throws a high kick at the two minute mark that is blocked. Anderson sweeps Leites to the ground with a leg kick. Leites tries to take Anderson down but he’s denied and they clinch. Really slow first round. Anderson takes it 10-9 to the boos of the crowd as he landed the best two shots of the round. Both guys are fighting more of a counter style. Anderson finally started to stalk Leites towards the end of the round when it became apparent that Leites was not going to let Anderson be the counter puncher in this fight.
R2- Leites got a take down early into the round. Anderson got back to his feet at the two minute mark without really taking any damage from Leites. They basically stand around and do nothing for a minute as Leites wants nothing to do with Anderson on his feet. Anderson basically chases Leites around the ring and lands a couple of strikes. Leites got a take down but didn’t do anything with it. Anderson at least landed some strikes. I’ve got Anderson up 20-18 in a very unimpressive fight so far. Leites wants nothing to do with Anderson on his feet and Anderson is being very wary of Leites.
R3- Anderson caught a Leites leg kick early in the round and then avoided a take down. Anderson stuffed another take down and then Leites laid on his back. Fans chant “GSP” during the fight. Anderson starts to land some strikes and Leites dives onto the ground to avoid them. Anderson landed a good side kick. Anderson went for a punch and Leites dove onto the ground again to avoid him. Anderson starts to work Leites over with some jabs. Anderson takes this round so he’s up 30-27. Unless Leites somehow wins this fight he might be dropped by UFC after this performance. He’s almost going out of his way to be “unexciting”.
R4- Anderson is landing some front kicks and leg kicks to start this round. Anderson is dancing around this round since Leites doesn’t want to exchange with him. Leites went for a take down and got stuffed. Anderson is winning this fight 40-36. I think Leites would just lay on the ground and sleep if the ref would let him.
R5- Leites actually comes out to fight in this round and Anderson gets on top and gets in a couple of shots. Leites has blood coming from his nose. Anderson hits a couple of strikes and Leites dives to the ground to avoid Anderson. Fans chant “GSP” again during this round. This is probably the most boring title fight I’ve ever seen. Leites just did not want any part of Anderson Silva in this fight. Anderson wins this fight 50-45 in a boring, dominant route. I would be surprised if Thales Leites fights for UFC again after this debacle.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 48-47 and 50-46 in favor of Anderson.
Winner and still Middleweight Champion: Anderson Silva by Decision (Unanimous)
Not a real good show from UFC. The under card was pretty decent but the Main Event just flat out did not deliver.
4/18/09
This show is highlighted by Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva defending against Thales Leites and Chuck Liddell taking on Shogun Rua. The Shogun/Liddell fight will be particularly interesting because whoever losses that fight is pretty much finished in the Light Heavyweight Division for the near future. Silva is looking to break the tie for most consecutive wins inside the Octagon (he is currently sitting at 8 straight wins). Cheick Kongo will also fight Antoni Hardonk in Heavyweight Fight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Steve Cantwell (7-1) vs. Luiz Cane (10-1)
Cantwell is a former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. Cantwell fought on the “Fight for the Troops” show in November and destroyed Razak Al-Hassan. His previous fight was an August 2008 win over Brian Stann by TKO for the WEC Title. Cane is coming off a win over Sokoudjou in which Sokoudjou gassed and then Cane finished him off. Both of these guys are borderline Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters. Cane is a Muay Thai specialist and Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Cantwell is a Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt with Kick Boxing experience. This should be an explosive fight.
R1- Cane looks good early as he landing some strikes and stalking Cantwell early. As the round went on Cantwell seemed to become more confident but Cane definitely looks like the stronger fighter in this fight. Cane is leading 10-9 after one round on my score card.
R2- Cane controlled the early part of the round but Cantwell really started to score points in the middle of the round. Really close round that I’m giving to Cantwell so it’s 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Cane landed a good combo in the first minute. Cane hit another good combo around the 4 minute mark of the round. Cane takes round three in a fairly close fight 29-28. Not a great fight for either guy, both guys fought hard and looked pretty good but both will really need to elevate their games to get up to the next level in UFC.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of Cane.
Winner: Luiz Cane by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Cheick Kongo (23-4-1) vs. Antoni Hardonk (8-4)
Kongo is coming off of an impressive first round win over Mostapha Al Turk at UFC 92. Hardonk also fought at UFC 92 and won in the second round against Mike Wessel and is currently on a 3 fight win streak. Ernesto Hoost is in Hardonk’s corner for the fight. Kongo has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Kongo grabbed Hardonk’s leg and pushed him down halfway through the round but the fight was stood back up. After they stood back up Kongo got in some good shots and then got a take down with about a minute left in the round. Kongo is up 10 to 9 after the first round.
R2- Kongo got Hardonk down quickly in this round and jumped on top for some Ground and Pound. Hardonk is bloodied up and the ref steps in to stop the fight. Really good showing by Kongo. It took him a while to get started but he looked impressive after he got the fight to the ground just like he did in his last outing.
Winner: Cheick Kongo by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:29
Light Heavyweight Fight- Krzysztof Soszynski (17-9-1) vs. Brian Stann (6-1)
Stann is a former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. He lost the belt to Steven Cantwell in August of 2008. Soszynski is from TUF Season 8. These guys are former training partners at Team Quest. Stann is currently training with Greg Jackson. If I was a betting man I would put my money on Stann in this fight. Soszynski has a 3.5” reach advantage.
R1- Soszynski got a take down at the two minute mark of the round. Soszynski laid on top of Stann for a minute and a half. Stann got up and Soszynski got another take down. Soszynski went for a kimura and couldn’t get it but went for it again and got it and Stann tapped out. And this is why I’m not a betting man. Nice win for Soszynski. Stann obviously needs some work on his ground game.
Winner: Krzysztof Soszynski by Submission (Kimura) R1 3:53
Light Heavyweight Fight- Chuck Liddell (21-6) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (17-3)
This is a feast or famine fight for these guys. The winner is in line for a title shot with another victory and the loser is all but done in the UFC as a legit title contender. Shogun is coming off a lackluster victory over Mark Coleman in what may have been the worst fight of the year. Chuck is coming off of a KO at the hands of current Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. Chuck Liddell is 39 years old, is this one of the last times we see him in the Octagon?
R1- Shogun got a take down about two and a half minutes into the round and went for a leg lock but couldn’t lock in the submission. Chuck got a take down with a minute left but immediately stood back up. Shogun landed a left hand and jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight! Shogun is back. Chuck looked really old in this fight as once Shogun hit a couple of leg kicks Chuck’s mobility looked slower and more limited. Maybe one more “money” fight for Chuck but besides that I don’t really think he should be fighting anymore.
Winner: Shogun Rua by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:28
Lightweight Fight- Sam Stout (14-5-1) vs. Matt Wiman (10-4)
Wiman is coming off of a Unanimous Decision loss to Jim Miller in December. Stout has a 3” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Wiman starts off by landing some good strikes and then gets a take down but can’t land anything on the ground. Both guys are swinging freely in this fight. Wiman grabbed a guillotine and tried to pull guard but Stout slipped out and landed in Wiman’s guard. Wiman went for a take down with 30 seconds left in the round but Stout flipped him over. Good first round that was very close.
R2- Wiman tried to take Stout’s back but Stout was able to move into Wiman’s guard. Stout hurt Wiman towards the end of the round but Stout could not finish him and Wiman almost landed an arm bar. Stout really started to pull away here and took this round. I’ve got the fight 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Wiman took Stout’s back and got him down onto the ground just a minute and a half into the round. Stout eventually rolls out of it and into Wiman’s guard with half the round remaining and Stout lands some Ground and Pound. They stood up and Wiman got another take down with a minute and a half left in the fight. Wiman drew some blood, got another take down and then both guys ended up swinging on their feet. This one is a toss up. I think Wiman’s going to take it as he looked better in the 1st and 2nd. Stout looked better overall but the fight is judges round by round not on the fight as a whole.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all score cards in favor of Sam Stout.
I can’t say that I disagree with the decision but it was a very close fight.
Winner: Sam Stout by Decision (Unanimous)
Channing Tatum and Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le join Mike Goldberg to hype their movie “Fighting”.
UFC Middleweight Title Fight: Anderson Silva © (23-4) vs. Thales Leites (14-1)
Thales is the next contender to try and take away Anderson’s belt. Thales has earned the title shot by winning a controversial decision over Nate Marquardt and by stopping Drew McFedries a little over a minute into the first round on the under card of Silva/Cote. Leites has won 5 straight fights and has won 27% of his fights by arm triangle. Leites is a Jiu Jitsu black belt. Anderson has 8 straight wins which is tied for the most in UFC history but is coming off of a disappointing fight against Patrick Cote. In UFC Anderson has landed 80% of his strikes. Leites comes out to “Welcome to the Jungle”. You have to like that.
R1- One minute into the fight and neither guy has thrown a strike. Two minutes into the fight and not much is going on. Anderson tries to stalk Leites down but he’s more comfortable staying away from Anderson. Leites throws a high kick at the two minute mark that is blocked. Anderson sweeps Leites to the ground with a leg kick. Leites tries to take Anderson down but he’s denied and they clinch. Really slow first round. Anderson takes it 10-9 to the boos of the crowd as he landed the best two shots of the round. Both guys are fighting more of a counter style. Anderson finally started to stalk Leites towards the end of the round when it became apparent that Leites was not going to let Anderson be the counter puncher in this fight.
R2- Leites got a take down early into the round. Anderson got back to his feet at the two minute mark without really taking any damage from Leites. They basically stand around and do nothing for a minute as Leites wants nothing to do with Anderson on his feet. Anderson basically chases Leites around the ring and lands a couple of strikes. Leites got a take down but didn’t do anything with it. Anderson at least landed some strikes. I’ve got Anderson up 20-18 in a very unimpressive fight so far. Leites wants nothing to do with Anderson on his feet and Anderson is being very wary of Leites.
R3- Anderson caught a Leites leg kick early in the round and then avoided a take down. Anderson stuffed another take down and then Leites laid on his back. Fans chant “GSP” during the fight. Anderson starts to land some strikes and Leites dives onto the ground to avoid them. Anderson landed a good side kick. Anderson went for a punch and Leites dove onto the ground again to avoid him. Anderson starts to work Leites over with some jabs. Anderson takes this round so he’s up 30-27. Unless Leites somehow wins this fight he might be dropped by UFC after this performance. He’s almost going out of his way to be “unexciting”.
R4- Anderson is landing some front kicks and leg kicks to start this round. Anderson is dancing around this round since Leites doesn’t want to exchange with him. Leites went for a take down and got stuffed. Anderson is winning this fight 40-36. I think Leites would just lay on the ground and sleep if the ref would let him.
R5- Leites actually comes out to fight in this round and Anderson gets on top and gets in a couple of shots. Leites has blood coming from his nose. Anderson hits a couple of strikes and Leites dives to the ground to avoid Anderson. Fans chant “GSP” again during this round. This is probably the most boring title fight I’ve ever seen. Leites just did not want any part of Anderson Silva in this fight. Anderson wins this fight 50-45 in a boring, dominant route. I would be surprised if Thales Leites fights for UFC again after this debacle.
Judges score cards say: 49-46, 48-47 and 50-46 in favor of Anderson.
Winner and still Middleweight Champion: Anderson Silva by Decision (Unanimous)
Not a real good show from UFC. The under card was pretty decent but the Main Event just flat out did not deliver.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
UFC 89 "Bisping vs Leben" Re-Cap
UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben
Live from the UK on Spike TV! Brandon Vera takes on Keith Jardine in a Light Heavyweight Fight. Michael Bisping accepts his biggest challenge since stepping down in weight to Middleweight as he fights Chris Leben. Marcus Davis, Paul Kelly, Chris Lytle, Paul Taylor, Luiz Cane and Sokoudjou will also be fighting tonight. We should see some pretty exciting fights based on the line-up.
Welterweight Fight- Paul Kelly (8-0) vs. Marcus Davis (19-5)
R1- Davis lays in wait early and snaps off some jabs when Kelly comes in to strike. Davis hit a good body kick and then another after a couple of low kicks. Davis sweeps in and gets a take down with one and a half minutes. Davis is in half guard and hits a couple of elbows and then passes guard to take side control but Kelly spins out. Kelly has a cut near his right ear. Davis takes round one by a score of 10-9. Not a dominant round but Davis got in more strikes and got a take down.
R2- Kelly is throwing a lot of punches in this round but Davis is avoiding them. Goldberg and Rogan have a real interesting conversation about how Davis avoids the punches but does so in a way that he barely avoids them so he can stay in position to throw a counter punch and he doesn’t lose position so that he will have to work back to get that position again. Kelly gets a take down two minutes into the round. Marcus Davis grabs a guillotine and finishes Paul Kelly. Great finish by Davis as Davis looked really good in this fight after a poor showing last time out against Mike Swick.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:16
Welterweight Fight- Paul Taylor (9-3-1) vs. Chris Lytle (35-16-4)
This one should be a slugfest. Lytle was last seen bleeding all over the Octagon in a loss to Josh Koscheck. Taylor has lost to both of the fighters in the previous fight (Kelly and Davis).
R1- They mix it up immediately. Both guys just nailing each other with Lytle landing some nice shots. Lytle hit a judo throw but Taylor got up immediately. Lots of clinching towards the middle and end of the round. First round went to Lytle as he got in more offense and dictated where the fight went. Lytle is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- They start this round just like they did the last one as both guys are just swinging for the fences. Lytle backs him up against the cage and then takes him down one minute into the round but Taylor sprawls out. Lytle stays with it and gets back to an advantage. Lytle goes for a guillotine but can’t clamp it in and Taylor gets back to his feet. Taylor gets a brief take down but Lytle gets right back to his feet. Lytle seems to be tiring out and Taylor nips him with a low blow. Another close round but Lytle again controlled the fight and landed better shots. Lytle is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- They stand up at the beginning of the round and Lytle begins to pick Taylor apart with shots and pushes him against the cage. Taylor trying to swing back and they clinch. Lytle is starting to tire and Taylor is making Lytle chase him and then hurting him with leg kicks. Lytle clinches him against the cage. Lytle landed some good shots and then slipped but got another clinch and then took Taylor down. Taylor gets back to his feet with less than a minute left. Taylor is hitting some good shots here to finish the round but Lytle holds on. Good fight. Taylor takes this round but Lytle takes the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Chris Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight Chris Lytle says that he would like to fight Marcus Davis.
Next up, Joe Rogan interviews Anderson Silva about his Middleweight Title fight against Patrick Cote. The fight is next week on October 25th.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Sokoudjou (5-2) vs. Luiz Cane (9-1)
R1- Soko hits some strikes early. Soko continues to control the fight early with kicks and punches. Cane blocking well but he’s definitely being hit with some damage. Soko is doing a good job mixing up his strikes and going low, middle and high. Soko slows down towards the end of the round and Cane starts to get in some offense. First round goes to Sokoudjou but he has to be concerned as he seemed to tire towards the end of the round. Soko up 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Cane hits a low blow to start off the round. Not a lot of action in this round as Cane jabs at Soko. Soko throws some body kicks but they don’t back Cane off. Cane gets some shots in against the cage. Soko looks really tired and Cane hits a nice knee. Cane hits another knee and then pounds Soko on the ground with a bunch of strikes until the ref steps in to stop the fight. Good showing by Cane as he just outlasted Sokoudjou. Soko looked great for about two minutes but came in without the conditioning needed to win a MMA fight.
Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (strikes) R2 4:15
Post-match Joe Rogan interviews Middleweight Contender Patrick Cote.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine (13-5-1) vs. Brandon Vera (9-2)
This is an interesting fight as both guys are coming off of disappointing fights. Jardine got destroyed by Wanderlei Silva and Vera had a lackluster win against Reece Andy. This is the first fight that they show the ring entrances for. Brandon Vera comes out to The Blackeyed Peas. This should be a pretty good fight.
R1- Jardine comes in quick and gets a strike and then a take down. Vera hits some elbows in the area of the back of the head and Jardine is cut. Vera is going for Jardine’s arm as Jardine is bleeding all over Vera. Vera hit another big elbow onto the top of Jardine’s head. Jardine posture’s up and lands some good, strong elbows to Vera. The ref stand the fight up with two minutes remaining in the first round. Vera hits a body kick. Vera catches Jardine with a punch as he came in and he looked wobbled but then Jardine caught Vera. Both guys back to their feet and Jardine went for a take down and landed some strikes against the cage and Vera looked to be in a bit of trouble but got back to his feet and then the bell rang. Round One goes to Jardine as he got the take down and delivered some good elbows and finished strong. Jardine 10-9 but anybody’s fight going into round two.
R2- Jardine went for a take down but was denied by Vera. Vera went for a kick and Vera caught it and dumped Jardine and jumped on top of him but Jardine but he got up pretty quickly. Vera connected with a couple of body kicks. Jardine charged in towards the end of the round twice but didn’t really hit anything of notice. Not a lot of action in this round. I’ll give it to Vera but not a convincing round. 19-19 after two rounds. Joe and Mike speculated on Jardine sustaining a possible injury early in round two but weren’t definitive about it.
R3- Vera hits a kick and punch early in the round. They are trading some light strikes throughout the early part of the round. Vera hit a good straight left hand. Jardine went for a take down but Vera stopped it and they clinched against the cage. Jardine with some dirty boxing but then they separate. One and a half minutes remain. Jardine came out and closed strong. Really close fight. Nobody really won this fight. I’ve got to go with Jardine, just barely over Vera but like I said earlier I don’t think anybody clearly won this fight.
Scorecards: 29-28 Vera, 29-28 Jardine and 29-28 Jardine.
Winner: Keith Jardine by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (17-1) vs. Chris Leben (18-4)
Chris Leben comes out to a song that sounds like it’s from The Sex Pistols. Bisping comes out to a Sports Jock “Woo Hoo” anthem song, can’t remember who sings it but it’s one of those songs that on all the “Jock Rock” CDs. The hometown guy, Bisping, gets a strong reaction from the crowd. Bisping has a 3” height advantage and a 5” reach advantage. Bisping was voted the 12th most popular sports figure in the UK by BBC.
R1- Leben hitting some leg kicks early and is controlling where the fight goes. Leben catches a Bisping kick and gets some shots in on him. Bisping caught a Leben kick and delivered a nice high kick. Bisping is starting to land some shots. Bisping lands some more shots and then Leben clinches him and then they release. Leben is bleeding from the nose but he continues to push forward. Bisping hit a good right hand. Leben is starting to swing for the fences. Leben went for a swing and Bisping ducked and as the bell rang he was in the midst of a take down. Leben controlled this round early and Bisping took it late. I’ve got Bisping taking round one 10-9. Good opening round.
R2- Leben slipped early in the round and then hit Bisping with a left hook. Bisping is doing a good job in this round of avoiding Leben’s strikes and counter punching. Leben starts pushing forward towards the end of the round and Bisping is backing away from him. Leben hit a big left toward the end of the round. This was a close round. I think Bisping lost some points in the round towards then end by somewhat running away from Leben. This was close, I’ll give it to Bisping. 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Leben hits a left body kick and then a left hand to start the round. Bisping went for a kick and it was stopped but Leben could not score any damage. Leben hits a combo that sends Bisping back into the fence but can’t follow up. Leben got a take down with one minute and 45 seconds left in the round. Leben is busted open. Bisping gets back to his feet. Bisping runs away from Leben for the last 20 seconds of the fight and Leben mocks him. Leben definitely took this round. This was much like the Jardine/Vera fight in that I don’t think anybody really “won” the fight. Leben had a lot more damage on his face. Bisping clearly took round one, Leben clearly took round three. I think Bisping barely took round 2. So I’ve got Bisping winning a close decision 29-28.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 Bisping. Wow, I’m not sure how Bisping won that last round on these score cards.
Winner: Michael Bisping by Decision (Unanimous)
Decent show with the under card out shining the co-Main Events. Both Bisping/Leben and Jardine/Vera were decent fights but a little underwhelming as both ended in decisions without someone really coming out of the fight as a clear winner.
Live from the UK on Spike TV! Brandon Vera takes on Keith Jardine in a Light Heavyweight Fight. Michael Bisping accepts his biggest challenge since stepping down in weight to Middleweight as he fights Chris Leben. Marcus Davis, Paul Kelly, Chris Lytle, Paul Taylor, Luiz Cane and Sokoudjou will also be fighting tonight. We should see some pretty exciting fights based on the line-up.
Welterweight Fight- Paul Kelly (8-0) vs. Marcus Davis (19-5)
R1- Davis lays in wait early and snaps off some jabs when Kelly comes in to strike. Davis hit a good body kick and then another after a couple of low kicks. Davis sweeps in and gets a take down with one and a half minutes. Davis is in half guard and hits a couple of elbows and then passes guard to take side control but Kelly spins out. Kelly has a cut near his right ear. Davis takes round one by a score of 10-9. Not a dominant round but Davis got in more strikes and got a take down.
R2- Kelly is throwing a lot of punches in this round but Davis is avoiding them. Goldberg and Rogan have a real interesting conversation about how Davis avoids the punches but does so in a way that he barely avoids them so he can stay in position to throw a counter punch and he doesn’t lose position so that he will have to work back to get that position again. Kelly gets a take down two minutes into the round. Marcus Davis grabs a guillotine and finishes Paul Kelly. Great finish by Davis as Davis looked really good in this fight after a poor showing last time out against Mike Swick.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:16
Welterweight Fight- Paul Taylor (9-3-1) vs. Chris Lytle (35-16-4)
This one should be a slugfest. Lytle was last seen bleeding all over the Octagon in a loss to Josh Koscheck. Taylor has lost to both of the fighters in the previous fight (Kelly and Davis).
R1- They mix it up immediately. Both guys just nailing each other with Lytle landing some nice shots. Lytle hit a judo throw but Taylor got up immediately. Lots of clinching towards the middle and end of the round. First round went to Lytle as he got in more offense and dictated where the fight went. Lytle is up 10-9 after one round.
R2- They start this round just like they did the last one as both guys are just swinging for the fences. Lytle backs him up against the cage and then takes him down one minute into the round but Taylor sprawls out. Lytle stays with it and gets back to an advantage. Lytle goes for a guillotine but can’t clamp it in and Taylor gets back to his feet. Taylor gets a brief take down but Lytle gets right back to his feet. Lytle seems to be tiring out and Taylor nips him with a low blow. Another close round but Lytle again controlled the fight and landed better shots. Lytle is up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- They stand up at the beginning of the round and Lytle begins to pick Taylor apart with shots and pushes him against the cage. Taylor trying to swing back and they clinch. Lytle is starting to tire and Taylor is making Lytle chase him and then hurting him with leg kicks. Lytle clinches him against the cage. Lytle landed some good shots and then slipped but got another clinch and then took Taylor down. Taylor gets back to his feet with less than a minute left. Taylor is hitting some good shots here to finish the round but Lytle holds on. Good fight. Taylor takes this round but Lytle takes the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Chris Lytle.
Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight Chris Lytle says that he would like to fight Marcus Davis.
Next up, Joe Rogan interviews Anderson Silva about his Middleweight Title fight against Patrick Cote. The fight is next week on October 25th.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Sokoudjou (5-2) vs. Luiz Cane (9-1)
R1- Soko hits some strikes early. Soko continues to control the fight early with kicks and punches. Cane blocking well but he’s definitely being hit with some damage. Soko is doing a good job mixing up his strikes and going low, middle and high. Soko slows down towards the end of the round and Cane starts to get in some offense. First round goes to Sokoudjou but he has to be concerned as he seemed to tire towards the end of the round. Soko up 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Cane hits a low blow to start off the round. Not a lot of action in this round as Cane jabs at Soko. Soko throws some body kicks but they don’t back Cane off. Cane gets some shots in against the cage. Soko looks really tired and Cane hits a nice knee. Cane hits another knee and then pounds Soko on the ground with a bunch of strikes until the ref steps in to stop the fight. Good showing by Cane as he just outlasted Sokoudjou. Soko looked great for about two minutes but came in without the conditioning needed to win a MMA fight.
Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (strikes) R2 4:15
Post-match Joe Rogan interviews Middleweight Contender Patrick Cote.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine (13-5-1) vs. Brandon Vera (9-2)
This is an interesting fight as both guys are coming off of disappointing fights. Jardine got destroyed by Wanderlei Silva and Vera had a lackluster win against Reece Andy. This is the first fight that they show the ring entrances for. Brandon Vera comes out to The Blackeyed Peas. This should be a pretty good fight.
R1- Jardine comes in quick and gets a strike and then a take down. Vera hits some elbows in the area of the back of the head and Jardine is cut. Vera is going for Jardine’s arm as Jardine is bleeding all over Vera. Vera hit another big elbow onto the top of Jardine’s head. Jardine posture’s up and lands some good, strong elbows to Vera. The ref stand the fight up with two minutes remaining in the first round. Vera hits a body kick. Vera catches Jardine with a punch as he came in and he looked wobbled but then Jardine caught Vera. Both guys back to their feet and Jardine went for a take down and landed some strikes against the cage and Vera looked to be in a bit of trouble but got back to his feet and then the bell rang. Round One goes to Jardine as he got the take down and delivered some good elbows and finished strong. Jardine 10-9 but anybody’s fight going into round two.
R2- Jardine went for a take down but was denied by Vera. Vera went for a kick and Vera caught it and dumped Jardine and jumped on top of him but Jardine but he got up pretty quickly. Vera connected with a couple of body kicks. Jardine charged in towards the end of the round twice but didn’t really hit anything of notice. Not a lot of action in this round. I’ll give it to Vera but not a convincing round. 19-19 after two rounds. Joe and Mike speculated on Jardine sustaining a possible injury early in round two but weren’t definitive about it.
R3- Vera hits a kick and punch early in the round. They are trading some light strikes throughout the early part of the round. Vera hit a good straight left hand. Jardine went for a take down but Vera stopped it and they clinched against the cage. Jardine with some dirty boxing but then they separate. One and a half minutes remain. Jardine came out and closed strong. Really close fight. Nobody really won this fight. I’ve got to go with Jardine, just barely over Vera but like I said earlier I don’t think anybody clearly won this fight.
Scorecards: 29-28 Vera, 29-28 Jardine and 29-28 Jardine.
Winner: Keith Jardine by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (17-1) vs. Chris Leben (18-4)
Chris Leben comes out to a song that sounds like it’s from The Sex Pistols. Bisping comes out to a Sports Jock “Woo Hoo” anthem song, can’t remember who sings it but it’s one of those songs that on all the “Jock Rock” CDs. The hometown guy, Bisping, gets a strong reaction from the crowd. Bisping has a 3” height advantage and a 5” reach advantage. Bisping was voted the 12th most popular sports figure in the UK by BBC.
R1- Leben hitting some leg kicks early and is controlling where the fight goes. Leben catches a Bisping kick and gets some shots in on him. Bisping caught a Leben kick and delivered a nice high kick. Bisping is starting to land some shots. Bisping lands some more shots and then Leben clinches him and then they release. Leben is bleeding from the nose but he continues to push forward. Bisping hit a good right hand. Leben is starting to swing for the fences. Leben went for a swing and Bisping ducked and as the bell rang he was in the midst of a take down. Leben controlled this round early and Bisping took it late. I’ve got Bisping taking round one 10-9. Good opening round.
R2- Leben slipped early in the round and then hit Bisping with a left hook. Bisping is doing a good job in this round of avoiding Leben’s strikes and counter punching. Leben starts pushing forward towards the end of the round and Bisping is backing away from him. Leben hit a big left toward the end of the round. This was a close round. I think Bisping lost some points in the round towards then end by somewhat running away from Leben. This was close, I’ll give it to Bisping. 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Leben hits a left body kick and then a left hand to start the round. Bisping went for a kick and it was stopped but Leben could not score any damage. Leben hits a combo that sends Bisping back into the fence but can’t follow up. Leben got a take down with one minute and 45 seconds left in the round. Leben is busted open. Bisping gets back to his feet. Bisping runs away from Leben for the last 20 seconds of the fight and Leben mocks him. Leben definitely took this round. This was much like the Jardine/Vera fight in that I don’t think anybody really “won” the fight. Leben had a lot more damage on his face. Bisping clearly took round one, Leben clearly took round three. I think Bisping barely took round 2. So I’ve got Bisping winning a close decision 29-28.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 Bisping. Wow, I’m not sure how Bisping won that last round on these score cards.
Winner: Michael Bisping by Decision (Unanimous)
Decent show with the under card out shining the co-Main Events. Both Bisping/Leben and Jardine/Vera were decent fights but a little underwhelming as both ended in decisions without someone really coming out of the fight as a clear winner.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
UFC 85 "Bedlam" Re-Cap/Thoughts
UFC 85: "Bedlam"
O2 Arena, London, England
Heavyweight Fight- Fabrico Werdum (10-3-1) vs. Brandon Vera (8-1)
The Heavyweight division is far and away UFC's weakest division right now so the winner of this match is gonna rise to right near the top of the division. This looks like it has the potential to be a good fight.
R1- A lot of clinching early. Werdum gets in a shot or two. Werdum again comes at Vera and hits a couple of shots and then they clinch. Vera hits a knee or two. Werdum takes him down. Werdum getting in some offense in Vera's guard. Vera kicks him off and then fights off another take down. Vera caught Werdum with a left hook but Werdum avoided further damage and they clinch against the cage. Werdum gets another take down. Werdum gets in the mount position and Vera is just covering up and the ref stops it. Brandon Vera disputes the stoppage as he was taking some shots but he popped right back up after the finish. Joe Rogan says the finish was pre-mature. I have to agree that this was a bad stoppage. Werdum may have gone on and won in about 15 or 20 seconds but the stoppage looked pre-mature as Vera just popped right back up at the finish.
Winner: Fabrico Werdum by TKO R1 4:40
Post-Match Vera basically says "there was only 15 seconds left in the round. Let me take my ass whipping and let's go to Round 2".
Just a quick note that the ref here, Dan Miragliotta, is also the guy who didn't stop the Kimbo fight when James Thompson had Kimbo and was just destroying him up against the cage and then on the other end stopped the Thompson/Kimbo fight when Thompson was ahead on the card but took a couple of shots and had his ear busted open. Stopping a fight is a tough call but it's odd that the same game had had two controversial stoppages within what I think is 8 days.
Guy Ritchie is in the house.
Middleweight Fight- Nate Marquardt (29-7-2) vs. Thales Leites (12-1)
I've never seen Leites fight before. Marquardt has only one loss in the UFC and it was to Anderson Silva. Leites has a 4" reach advantage.
R1- Leites gets a couple of shots in near the cage about a minute in. Leites gets in a shot on the cage and then Nate comes after him and Leites just sticks Nate with a shot and he slumps to the mat. Leites all over Nate trying to finish him. Leites has a mount on Nate but Nate works him back to half guard. Nate gets up and looks to be recovered. Leites hits him with a jab. Nate hits a shot and then they clinch against the cage. Nate with a combo on Leites and Leites looks like he's hurt but he survives. Pretty even round with Nate finishing strong but Leites got the big shot and take down and he wins the round 10-9. Still anybody's fight.
R2- Nate comes out almost immediately with a right hand but then has to retreat quickly as Leites comes after him. Nate hits a nice combo and then rushes Leites and takes him down and nails him with an ILLEGAL knee to the face when Leites was down. Herb Dean calls for the doctor. Doctor says he's okay and Dean is going to give the fighter time to recover. Herb Dean takes a point away from Nate and they restart. Nate takes Leites down and Dean warns him about shots to the back of the head. Nate is trying to make up that point. Leites is busted open. Nate hitting some elbows. Nate dominating at this point. Joe Rogan says he thinks Leites nose is broken. Nate slips and gets mounted late in the round and the bell rings with Leites on top. Nate dominated this round but also lost a point due to the illegal knee. I've got the fight Leites 19 Nate 18 so far.
R3- They exchange so decent shots early in the round and Nate takes Leites down. Leites gets a submission attempt and Nate slips out. Ref stops the fight again and takes another point away from Nate, this time for a shot to the back of the head. With two points being taken away Nate has to finish in this fight or he will lose. Rogan says he thinks the shot was to the side of the head and it was a mistake. They re-start and Nate hits a knee. Both guys are really tired with about 30 seconds left. Nate has dominated this fight since the illegal knee. Nate picks up Leites and basically pile drives him right near the end of the fight. Nate wins the final two rounds but since he lost a point in both of them then they are scored 9-9.
I've got this one Leites 28 Nate 27 with the 2 points deducted from Nate. Judges score the fight 28-27 Leites, 28-27 Nate, and 28-27 Leites.
Winner: Thales Leites by Decision (Split)
Interesting how both of the first fights have been controversial due to referee decisions.
Chuck Liddell is at the show.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (23-7) vs. Luiz Cane (8-1-1)
This is from the pre-show.
R1- Cane landed some shots when they clinched and then when Lambert was coming at him Cane nailed him. Lambert slumped down when Cane caught him again. Lambert trying to stay in this fight but seems to be getting overwhelmed and he gets caught again and it's called. Lambert just left himself open too much when he was going for strikes and paid the price.
Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (Strikes) R1
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (19-4) vs. Mike Swick (11-2)
I've been really impressed with what I've seen from Marcus Davis. Davis is on an 11 fight win streak. Swick has a large 7" reach advantage. Davis is former pro boxer turned MMA fighter. Fans are solidly behind Davis in this fight.
R1- Swick trying some kicks early and misses a knee. Davis connecting on more stuff early but nothing really damaging. They tie up and Davis gets a take down but can't control it and then Swick takes Davis down. Swick is getting in some good shots and has Davis pinned against the cage. Swick with some elbows. Davis is busted open, announcers think it's mostly old scar tissue. Swick wins this round as he took Davis down and Davis could not get back to his feet. Swick 10 Davis 9.
R2- Swick went for a kick and got popped with a right hand. Swick retaliates with akick and then hits a knee and floors Davis and is now down on top fo Davis in his guard. Swick looks surprisingly good tonight. They get back to their feet. Davis hits some combos up against the cage. Davis hitting some uppercuts and shots while they clinch and they are exchanging knees. Davis takes Swick down. Davis gets up but Swick takes him right down and has side control but not enough time to do anything with it. Swick control the beginning of this round, Davis the middle and Swick the end. Davis showed some life this round but I think Swick took this round although Davis may have done more damage so he could have gotten the nod in this round.
R3- They are exchanging shots throughout the first minute. Yamasaki deducts a point from Mike Swick for holding the fence- he had previously been warned. This could be huge if Davis were to win this round. Swick sees this and gets real aggressive and takes Davis down and is hitting him with shots. Davis is busted open. I think Swick takes this round as well. After the point deducted I've got Swick 29-27. Swick was really impressive here and Davis just never got going. Judges score the contest 29-27.
Winner: Mike Swick by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (16-1) vs. Jason Day (17-5)
This is announced as the "Co-Main Event". Bisping gets a big reaction, of course he's from England.
R1- Bisping gets Day to the ground about a minute in and a half in and lands some really good shots. Day is holding his head. Bisping continues to get some shots in on Day. Day gets back to his feet but gets taken down again. Bisping has his back and is hitting him with lots of punches. The ref finally steps in and stops the fight (Miragliotta's got to be real gun shy by now but this was a perfect stoppage). Bisping was very impressive in this fight and just dominated.
Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (strikes)
Catchweight Fight- Matt Hughes (43-6) vs. Thiago Alves (20-4)
Alves did not make weight so they are fighting this as a "catchweight" fight. Hughes has a 3" reach advantage. Alves is only 24 years old.
R1- Thiago denies Hughes an early take down. Hughes goes for another one but it gets stuffed. Hughes pulls guard on Thiago. Thiago lands a couple of nice punches and then they stand up. Thiago hits a knee but Hughes is able to take Thiago down. Matt not really doing any damage to Thiago and Thiago gets up to his feet. Thiago takes Hughes down after a sprawl and Thiago lands some nice punches. Hughes controlled a lot of the middle portion of this round but Thiago did more damage. Alves 10 Hughes 9.
R2- Thiago hits a knee early and he's on top on the mat. Hughes is busted open. Alves hits Hughes with a flying knee and Hughes is a bloody mess and slumps to the mat. Herb Dean steps in to stop this fight and it's over. Alves looked really impressive here. When Hughes ate that knee Hughes felt right on his knee.
Winner: Thiago Alves by TKO (Knee Strike) R2 1:02
Post-match Matt Hughes says he's got at least one fight left in him and that's with Matt Serra.
Some more prelim fights:
Lightweight Fight- Matt Wiman vs. Thiago Tavares
R1- Wiman charges at Tavares throwing punches but Tavares grabs him in a guillotine and then grabs him in a triangle type move and then hits Wiman with a couple of upkicks. Wiman does a roll through into a leg lock but Tavares escapes. Tavares now with a heel hook but Wiman escapes. Really good fight so far and only two minutes in. Tavares on top and hitting some punches. Wiman catches him in a triangle but Tavares escapes and throws some punches. Good fight so far.
R2- Both guys come out swining in the second round and Tavares pops Wiman right in the face but Wiman takes it and comes back. Really good stuff early in this round. Wiman connects with a good punch. Tavares gets in a kick but then gets taken down. Wiman takes his back. Wiman peppers Tavares with some shots on the cage and Tavares just slumps to the mat and this one is over. Really good fight, great finish by Wiman.
Winner: Matt Wiman KO R2 1:57
Middleweight Fight- Jorge Rivera (15-6) vs. Martin Kampmann (12-1)
R1- Kampmann gets Rivera down and is in his guard about a minute in. Kampmann picks him up and slams him down on his back. Rivera went for an armbar but missed. Kampmann attempts to take the back of Rivera. Kampmann now with a guillotine and Rivera submits. Good showing by Kampmann as he dominated this one.
Winner: Martin Kampmann by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:44
Overall Thoughts:
This was a good show that started out with 2 controversial finishes. Michael Bisping and Mike Swick really impressed me with their showings tonight. Thiago Alves looked great but he didn't make weight so he has that looming over him. The UFC doesn't seem to care too much though as he was one of the fighters that was awarded a bonus for his performance.
O2 Arena, London, England
Heavyweight Fight- Fabrico Werdum (10-3-1) vs. Brandon Vera (8-1)
The Heavyweight division is far and away UFC's weakest division right now so the winner of this match is gonna rise to right near the top of the division. This looks like it has the potential to be a good fight.
R1- A lot of clinching early. Werdum gets in a shot or two. Werdum again comes at Vera and hits a couple of shots and then they clinch. Vera hits a knee or two. Werdum takes him down. Werdum getting in some offense in Vera's guard. Vera kicks him off and then fights off another take down. Vera caught Werdum with a left hook but Werdum avoided further damage and they clinch against the cage. Werdum gets another take down. Werdum gets in the mount position and Vera is just covering up and the ref stops it. Brandon Vera disputes the stoppage as he was taking some shots but he popped right back up after the finish. Joe Rogan says the finish was pre-mature. I have to agree that this was a bad stoppage. Werdum may have gone on and won in about 15 or 20 seconds but the stoppage looked pre-mature as Vera just popped right back up at the finish.
Winner: Fabrico Werdum by TKO R1 4:40
Post-Match Vera basically says "there was only 15 seconds left in the round. Let me take my ass whipping and let's go to Round 2".
Just a quick note that the ref here, Dan Miragliotta, is also the guy who didn't stop the Kimbo fight when James Thompson had Kimbo and was just destroying him up against the cage and then on the other end stopped the Thompson/Kimbo fight when Thompson was ahead on the card but took a couple of shots and had his ear busted open. Stopping a fight is a tough call but it's odd that the same game had had two controversial stoppages within what I think is 8 days.
Guy Ritchie is in the house.
Middleweight Fight- Nate Marquardt (29-7-2) vs. Thales Leites (12-1)
I've never seen Leites fight before. Marquardt has only one loss in the UFC and it was to Anderson Silva. Leites has a 4" reach advantage.
R1- Leites gets a couple of shots in near the cage about a minute in. Leites gets in a shot on the cage and then Nate comes after him and Leites just sticks Nate with a shot and he slumps to the mat. Leites all over Nate trying to finish him. Leites has a mount on Nate but Nate works him back to half guard. Nate gets up and looks to be recovered. Leites hits him with a jab. Nate hits a shot and then they clinch against the cage. Nate with a combo on Leites and Leites looks like he's hurt but he survives. Pretty even round with Nate finishing strong but Leites got the big shot and take down and he wins the round 10-9. Still anybody's fight.
R2- Nate comes out almost immediately with a right hand but then has to retreat quickly as Leites comes after him. Nate hits a nice combo and then rushes Leites and takes him down and nails him with an ILLEGAL knee to the face when Leites was down. Herb Dean calls for the doctor. Doctor says he's okay and Dean is going to give the fighter time to recover. Herb Dean takes a point away from Nate and they restart. Nate takes Leites down and Dean warns him about shots to the back of the head. Nate is trying to make up that point. Leites is busted open. Nate hitting some elbows. Nate dominating at this point. Joe Rogan says he thinks Leites nose is broken. Nate slips and gets mounted late in the round and the bell rings with Leites on top. Nate dominated this round but also lost a point due to the illegal knee. I've got the fight Leites 19 Nate 18 so far.
R3- They exchange so decent shots early in the round and Nate takes Leites down. Leites gets a submission attempt and Nate slips out. Ref stops the fight again and takes another point away from Nate, this time for a shot to the back of the head. With two points being taken away Nate has to finish in this fight or he will lose. Rogan says he thinks the shot was to the side of the head and it was a mistake. They re-start and Nate hits a knee. Both guys are really tired with about 30 seconds left. Nate has dominated this fight since the illegal knee. Nate picks up Leites and basically pile drives him right near the end of the fight. Nate wins the final two rounds but since he lost a point in both of them then they are scored 9-9.
I've got this one Leites 28 Nate 27 with the 2 points deducted from Nate. Judges score the fight 28-27 Leites, 28-27 Nate, and 28-27 Leites.
Winner: Thales Leites by Decision (Split)
Interesting how both of the first fights have been controversial due to referee decisions.
Chuck Liddell is at the show.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Jason Lambert (23-7) vs. Luiz Cane (8-1-1)
This is from the pre-show.
R1- Cane landed some shots when they clinched and then when Lambert was coming at him Cane nailed him. Lambert slumped down when Cane caught him again. Lambert trying to stay in this fight but seems to be getting overwhelmed and he gets caught again and it's called. Lambert just left himself open too much when he was going for strikes and paid the price.
Winner: Luiz Cane by TKO (Strikes) R1
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (19-4) vs. Mike Swick (11-2)
I've been really impressed with what I've seen from Marcus Davis. Davis is on an 11 fight win streak. Swick has a large 7" reach advantage. Davis is former pro boxer turned MMA fighter. Fans are solidly behind Davis in this fight.
R1- Swick trying some kicks early and misses a knee. Davis connecting on more stuff early but nothing really damaging. They tie up and Davis gets a take down but can't control it and then Swick takes Davis down. Swick is getting in some good shots and has Davis pinned against the cage. Swick with some elbows. Davis is busted open, announcers think it's mostly old scar tissue. Swick wins this round as he took Davis down and Davis could not get back to his feet. Swick 10 Davis 9.
R2- Swick went for a kick and got popped with a right hand. Swick retaliates with akick and then hits a knee and floors Davis and is now down on top fo Davis in his guard. Swick looks surprisingly good tonight. They get back to their feet. Davis hits some combos up against the cage. Davis hitting some uppercuts and shots while they clinch and they are exchanging knees. Davis takes Swick down. Davis gets up but Swick takes him right down and has side control but not enough time to do anything with it. Swick control the beginning of this round, Davis the middle and Swick the end. Davis showed some life this round but I think Swick took this round although Davis may have done more damage so he could have gotten the nod in this round.
R3- They are exchanging shots throughout the first minute. Yamasaki deducts a point from Mike Swick for holding the fence- he had previously been warned. This could be huge if Davis were to win this round. Swick sees this and gets real aggressive and takes Davis down and is hitting him with shots. Davis is busted open. I think Swick takes this round as well. After the point deducted I've got Swick 29-27. Swick was really impressive here and Davis just never got going. Judges score the contest 29-27.
Winner: Mike Swick by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Michael Bisping (16-1) vs. Jason Day (17-5)
This is announced as the "Co-Main Event". Bisping gets a big reaction, of course he's from England.
R1- Bisping gets Day to the ground about a minute in and a half in and lands some really good shots. Day is holding his head. Bisping continues to get some shots in on Day. Day gets back to his feet but gets taken down again. Bisping has his back and is hitting him with lots of punches. The ref finally steps in and stops the fight (Miragliotta's got to be real gun shy by now but this was a perfect stoppage). Bisping was very impressive in this fight and just dominated.
Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO (strikes)
Catchweight Fight- Matt Hughes (43-6) vs. Thiago Alves (20-4)
Alves did not make weight so they are fighting this as a "catchweight" fight. Hughes has a 3" reach advantage. Alves is only 24 years old.
R1- Thiago denies Hughes an early take down. Hughes goes for another one but it gets stuffed. Hughes pulls guard on Thiago. Thiago lands a couple of nice punches and then they stand up. Thiago hits a knee but Hughes is able to take Thiago down. Matt not really doing any damage to Thiago and Thiago gets up to his feet. Thiago takes Hughes down after a sprawl and Thiago lands some nice punches. Hughes controlled a lot of the middle portion of this round but Thiago did more damage. Alves 10 Hughes 9.
R2- Thiago hits a knee early and he's on top on the mat. Hughes is busted open. Alves hits Hughes with a flying knee and Hughes is a bloody mess and slumps to the mat. Herb Dean steps in to stop this fight and it's over. Alves looked really impressive here. When Hughes ate that knee Hughes felt right on his knee.
Winner: Thiago Alves by TKO (Knee Strike) R2 1:02
Post-match Matt Hughes says he's got at least one fight left in him and that's with Matt Serra.
Some more prelim fights:
Lightweight Fight- Matt Wiman vs. Thiago Tavares
R1- Wiman charges at Tavares throwing punches but Tavares grabs him in a guillotine and then grabs him in a triangle type move and then hits Wiman with a couple of upkicks. Wiman does a roll through into a leg lock but Tavares escapes. Tavares now with a heel hook but Wiman escapes. Really good fight so far and only two minutes in. Tavares on top and hitting some punches. Wiman catches him in a triangle but Tavares escapes and throws some punches. Good fight so far.
R2- Both guys come out swining in the second round and Tavares pops Wiman right in the face but Wiman takes it and comes back. Really good stuff early in this round. Wiman connects with a good punch. Tavares gets in a kick but then gets taken down. Wiman takes his back. Wiman peppers Tavares with some shots on the cage and Tavares just slumps to the mat and this one is over. Really good fight, great finish by Wiman.
Winner: Matt Wiman KO R2 1:57
Middleweight Fight- Jorge Rivera (15-6) vs. Martin Kampmann (12-1)
R1- Kampmann gets Rivera down and is in his guard about a minute in. Kampmann picks him up and slams him down on his back. Rivera went for an armbar but missed. Kampmann attempts to take the back of Rivera. Kampmann now with a guillotine and Rivera submits. Good showing by Kampmann as he dominated this one.
Winner: Martin Kampmann by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:44
Overall Thoughts:
This was a good show that started out with 2 controversial finishes. Michael Bisping and Mike Swick really impressed me with their showings tonight. Thiago Alves looked great but he didn't make weight so he has that looming over him. The UFC doesn't seem to care too much though as he was one of the fighters that was awarded a bonus for his performance.
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