Strikeforce: Miami
Bank Atlantic Center
Miami, Florida
1/30/10
Two title fights are featured tonight as well as the MMA debut of former Heisman Trophy Winner Herschel Walker and Melvin Manhoef. Nick Diaz fights DREAM Welterweight Champion Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Title. Melvin Manhoef debuts against Robbie Lawler in what promises to be a slugfest. Woman’s Champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos makes her first defense of her newly won championship. Former WWE Wrestler Bobby Lashley will also make his Strikeforce debut tonight. Mauro Ranallo is joined in the announce booth by Frank Shamrock and Stephen Quadros. Jimmy Lennon, Jr is the ring announcer.
Bobby Lashley (4-0) vs. Wes Sims (22-12-1)
Sims took this fight on one week notice. Sims was a participant on the last season of TUF and lost in a first round fight to Justin Wren when he submitted to an arm triangle. Lashley has been training with American Top Team (ATT). Sims has a 6” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- To start the fight Sims mocks Lashley by asking for a “Test of Strength”. Lashley got a double leg take down and landed some good strikes. Lashley hit some good strikes and Sims gave up his back and Lashley lands some more strikes and the ref stopped the fight. Possibly was an early stoppage but definitely a dominant performance from Lashley.
Winner: Bobby Lashley by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:06
Gilbert Melendez, Brett Rogers, Scott Smith, Antonio Silva, Mo Lawal, Gegard Mousasi, and Dan Henderson are all in attendance tonight.
Middleweight Fight- Robbie Lawler (16-5-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (24-6-1)
Manhoef is coming off of a first round TKO victory over Kazuo Misaki at the K-1 Dynamite New Years Eve show in Japan. Manhoef has won 23 of his 24 wins by KO (or TKO). Lawler’s last fight was his loss to Jake Shields back in June. This should be fun.
R1- Not a lot of action to start but Manhoef is landing some kicks and then hits a combo against the cage. Manhoef threw a bunch of punches and kicks as Lawler covered up. Manhoef was really controlling the fight but Lawler hit a huge right hand out of nowhere and then landed a left hand on the way down that knocked Manhoef out. WOW. What a finish. Manhoef landed 23 strikes to Lawler’s 3 in this fight.
Winner: Robbie Lawler by KO R1 3:33
Rex Ryan (New York Jets Coach) is ringside and he’s booed and interviewed.
Heavyweight Fight- Herschel Walker (0-0) vs. Greg Nagy (1-1)
Herschel has been training at AKA with Javier Mendes. He was a Heisman Trophy winner but that was in the early 1980s, he’s now 47 and making his MMA debut in this fight. Any winnings of Walker’s will be donated to a charity that gives back to the inner city. Walker has a 4” reach advantage. This is a Heavyweight Fight but neither guy weighs over 215 pounds. Herschel got a good response from the crowd.
R1- Herschel landed some kicks and then stuffed a take down. Why is Nagy trying to tackle a running back? Herschel rolled Nagy over and landed some good Ground and Pound. Herschel got caught in a heel hook but did a good job rolling out and retaking a dominant position. Herschel got side control and landed some good punches. Herschel took this round 10-9, possibly 10-8.
R2- Herschel got a good take down in the first minute of the round. Herschel took Nagy’s back and Nagy rolled over and gave up the mount. Herschel pinned Nagy’s arms and got some strikes but Nagy rolled out. Herschel was hold Nagy and fans screamed for a knee and Walker gave them one. Herschel is just dominating this round. Another borderline 10-8 round.
R3- Nagy came out and tried to throw strikes but Herschel clinched him and took him down. Nagy went for an arm bar but couldn’t get it. Herschel got the mount again and Nagy gave up his back again. The ref stopped the fight as Nagy was just laying on his stomach and not doing anything. Good debut by Herschel. Obviously he has a lot to work on but He showed some good basic skills and dominated this fight. Walker landed 77 strikes to Nagy’s 7 during the fight.
Winner: Herschel Walker by TKO (Strikes) R3 2:17
Woman’s 145 lb Title Fight- Cris Cyborg © (8-1) vs. Marloes Coenen (17-3)
R1- They go right at it after the bell rang. Cyborg got a good trip take down and landed in Coenen’s guard. Cyborg briefly stood up and landed a good right hand. They stood back up and Cyborg landed some good strikes. Cyborg 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Coenen got thrown to the floor early in the round. Cyborg did a good job later in the round in denying a take down and then getting a take down. Cyborg is up 20-18 after the first two rounds.
R3- Cyborg gets some really good Ground and Pound towards the end of this round and the ref stops the fight.
Winner: Cris Cyborg by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:40
Brett Rogers is interviewed ringside.
UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St Pierre is in attendance at the show.
Welterweight Title Fight- Nick Diaz (20-7-1) vs. Marius Zaromskis (13-3)
Diaz has a 5” reach and 2” height advantage. Nick Diaz was last seen in June choking out Scott Smith via Rear Naked Choke in the third round. Zaromskis is the DREAM Welterweight Champion having won their tournament having defeated Seichi Ikemoto, tournament favorite Hayato Sakurai and Jason High.
R1- They come out swinging early and Diaz is using his reach to his advantage. Diaz worked hard to get a take down but could not hold Zaromskis. Diaz is looking good as he is hitting his usual assault of peppering jabs. Zaromskis hit a big time left and then a big time right and Diaz went down. Zaromskis jumped on top but Diaz defended himself and stayed in the fight as they went back to their feet. Diaz is hitting some good strikes. Diaz got him up against the cage and landed some really good strikes. Zaromskis got out of the corner but Diaz kept peppering him with strikes and eventually Zaromskis went down and the ref stopped the fight. Strong fight and another good showing by Diaz.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:38
Showing posts with label Nick Diaz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nick Diaz. Show all posts
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Strikeforce on Showtime "Lawler vs. Shields" 6/6/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on Showtime “Lawler vs. Shields” 6/6/09
St. Louis, Missouri
This is the second installment of Strikeforce on Showtime (third if you count the Challengers Series show) and this looks to be a great line-up. On top we have a battle of former Elite XC champions as Robbie Lawler takes on Jake Shields. We have former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski taking on up and comer Brett Rogers. Slugger Scott Smith will take on Nick Diaz, who is coming off of a win over Frank Shamrock at the last Showtime show. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer and he is joined by Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Kevin Randleman (17-12) vs. Mike Whitehead (23-7)
To me this is the least interesting fight on the televised card. Whitehead has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage and is 10 years younger than Randleman (27 vs. 37). Randleman is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Randleman looks like he is ready to go before the bell rings. Whitehead missed a head kick and got taken down early but Randleman couldn’t get an advantage and they stood back up. Whitehead was able to get a double leg and took Randleman to the mat but Randleman flipped him off. Whitehead got another take down but Randleman again quickly got him off. Whitehead gets yet another take down but Randleman rests and gets up again. Randleman is already really tired and it’s just the first round. Not a good first round at all. Whitehead basically took Randleman down at will and Randleman basically didn’t take much damage. Whitehead gets this 10-9 for the takedowns but if he was fighting a better fighter I think he would be getting taken to the woodshed. They should have started with Baroni/Riggs or put Feijao’s match on PPV instead of the prelims.
R2- Whitehead got a take down and is controlling Whitehead but not doing any damage as the fans boo. Whitehead is just basically laying on Randleman for the first 3 minutes of this round. Randleman finally got out but he’s just exhausted and has been since 3 minutes into the fight. Whitehead is throwing really soft strikes. This is just a bad fight. Whitehead looks like he is pawing at a kitten with some of these strikes. Whitehead is winning 20-18. I would be really surprised if either guy fights for Strikeforce again. I know if they worked for UFC this would be their last fight for that company. This is just a bad fight. Why didn’t they start with Riggs/Baroni?
At least the ring girl is cute. That’s the highlight of this fight so far.
R3- Randleman landed a big overhand right to start the round. Whitehead hit another big punch and got in for some Ground and Pound but Whitehead survived but he’s wobbly. Whitehead gets a take down and he’s going to try and ride this round out by laying on Randleman. Whitehead goes for a kimura. Randleman gets back to his feet and we have 30 seconds left in the fight. Randleman takes this round but Whitehead will win the fight 29-28. Not a good fight. Not a good opener. Keep Whitehead on the under card from now on please.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards.
Winner: Mike Whitehead by Decision (Unanimous)
The scroll the crowd and we see Pat Miletich, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson, Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko (gets a big reaction from the crowd). Mauro acknowledges the Affliction show in August but doesn’t say it by name (they do have an in ring advertisement for the brand).
Welterweight Fight- Phil Baroni (13-10) vs. Joe Riggs (29-10)
While neither one of these guys excites me I think this should be a good exciting fight between two veterans who should be hungry for a win and going for the knockout. Baroni is on a 3 fight win streak since moving down in weight. Josh Thomson is in Baroni’s corner. I can’t believe Joe Riggs is only 26 years old. Riggs is a former WEC Middleweight Champion. No touch of gloves when John McCarthy brought them together. Riggs is training with Arizona Combat Sports.
R1- They clinched early and Riggs got a take down. Riggs quickly went for a Rear Naked and it looked like he was going to get it but couldn’t lock it in and Baroni moved him back to full guard. Baroni struggled to get up and ended up in Riggs guard but McCarthy stood them back up. Riggs quickly went in and got a single leg take down but Baroni stuffed it and took the advantageous position as the bell rung. This was a really close round with Riggs winning the first half and Baroni the second half. I think Riggs edges this round out 10-9. Not exactly what I was expecting but it was competitive and a decent first round.
R2- They exchange some leather early in the round and then Riggs goes in for a Superman man punch and ended up with a take down but Baroni quickly reversed it and got a double leg of his own. They stood up and Riggs landed some punches in the corner. Riggs hit a punch and then a knee and Riggs is starting to open up with some strikes. Baroni got a take down but Riggs went for a triangle but couldn’t fully get it in and ended up releasing the submission. I’ve got Riggs taking this round as he landed the best strikes of the round and nearly finished the fight with a submission. Riggs is up 20-18 on my score card but both rounds have been close. Baroni actually out struck Riggs in the first round.
R3- They touched gloves to start the third and final round. Riggs landed some good strikes to open up the round and Baroni is in trouble early in the round but Riggs gave him time to recover. Riggs really controls this round as Baroni is taking a lot of shots and looks to be running out of gas but is somehow hanging on. Baroni made a run late in the round but Riggs took him down to ride out the fight. This was a good, competitive fight. I’ve got Riggs 30-27 and I’m confident that the judges will see it as a Unanimous decision (the first round was debatable but I can’t see giving Baroni rounds 2 or 3).
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards.
Winner: Joe Riggs by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight Joe Riggs says that he broke both of his hands and that he has a really bad flu. Riggs says he would like to fight Jake Shields.
Mauro announces the return of Gina Carano. She will take on Cris Cyborg on August 15th. We will also see Josh Thomson versus Gilbert Melendez for the Lightweight Title. Mauro had Josh and Gilbert with him at ringside. Gilbert says he will train harder and this time it will be a different story. Josh says he just got his walking boot off two weeks ago and has been training hard ever since. Josh says they will steal the show.
The next show will be the Strikeforce Challengers Show on Friday June 19th featuring Joe Villasenor. They also announce Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem for the August show.
Catchweight 180 lb Fight- Scott Smith (17-5) vs. Nick Diaz (19-7)
Smith is coming off of a comeback win against Benji Radach back at the April debut show on Showtime. On that same show Nick Diaz dominated Frank Shamrock. This should be a really fun fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage in this fight. They do not touch gloves when McCarthy brings them together before the start of the round.
R1- Diaz is using his reach early to his advantage as he’s keeping Smith at bay and making Smith come in and lunge when he throws punches. Diaz is landing lots of jabs. Diaz has Smith against the cage and is peppering him with jabs but Smith clinches him and ties him up until McCarthy breaks them up. Smith immediately sticks a good right hand but Diaz absorbs it. Smith got a take down but then released it and then hit a combo on his feet. Good fight so far, I’ve got Diaz up 20-19 but Smith started to really close the gap in the last part of the round and seemed to be finding his groove. Diaz threw 146 strikes in the first round!
R2- Diaz got in a good body shot that hurt Smith about a minute into the round and then Diaz started to pick him apart with jabs and strikes. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding from his eye. Diaz keeps hitting him right in the forehead with jabs. Diaz is just peppering Smith with a constant barrage of light punches. Smith missed a big head kick. Smith misses with a trio of big strikes and Diaz clinches him. Diaz completely controlled this round and had Smith down on the ground at the end of the round. Diaz threw 221 punches in that round and landed 125 of them. Borderline 10-8 round. I think the only thing keeping it from being 10-8 is Smith stayed on his feet for the whole round until the end and did actually get some offense in on Diaz. Diaz leading 20-18 going into the final round.
R3- They exchange some letter in the first 20 seconds of the round and then clinch. Smith misses another big kick and Diaz lands another good body shot that takes Smith to the ground. Diaz goes to take his back and Diaz locks in the Rear Naked and get the win.
Another great showing by Diaz. I don’t know what weight class Diaz is in but I’m thinking he needs a title shot here in Strikeforce. Either that or put him up against the winner of Lawler/Shields. Diaz landed 207 of 397 strikes in this fight to Smith’s 31 of 93.
Winner: Nick Diaz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 1:41
Post-Fight Diaz throws Scott Smith’s training partners under the bus and says Smith should come down the road and train with his team, “a real team.”
Heavyweight Fight- Andre Arlovski (15-6) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0)
Rogers beat Abongo Humphrey at the last Strikeforce show. Arlovski’s last fight was a loss to the #1 Heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko. Arlovski had won 5 in a row going into that fight. They show Fedor and hype his PPV fight on August 1st against Josh Barnett and they show Barnett as well. The winner of this most likely gets Overeem in August. Rogers has a 18 lb advantage and a 4.5” reach advantage. Arlovski is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and this is his Strikeforce debut. For the third fight in a row neither fighter touches gloves as McCarthy pulls them together to go over the rules.
R1- “Rogers comes in and drops Arlovski quickly and this one is over almost immediately. Wow! Rogers just destroyed a Top 5 fighter in seconds. On the re-play Rogers threw some punches and missed but kept coming and landed 3 to 4 straight punches against the cage. He hit two really big punches consecutively. Big time win for Rogers. Bring on Overeem!
Post-fight Rogers said he wants a title shot. I think he might have a good point.
“I was hungry baby”- Brett Rogers
Winner: Brett Rogers by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:22
They hype the Affliction PPV as they show highlights of Fedor/Sylvia and Fedor/Arlovski and Fedor joins Mauro ringside and they do an interview through an interpreter. Next they highlight Josh Barnett and show highlights of the Barnett/Yvel fight. Barnett joins Mauro ringside.
Catchweight 182 lb Fight- Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Jake Shields (22-4-1)
Shield is a former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and Lawler is a former Elite XC Middleweight Champion. Both guys had the belts when Elite XC went out of business so they were never beaten for their belts.
R1- Shields went for a take down but Robbie fought it off and then they clinched around the ring. Shields grabbed a guillotine and tapped out Robbie Lawler. Great showing by Shields. Lawler looked like he just never really got started and Shields got an opening and took it.
Post-fight Shields says he wants Cung Le’s belt. Says for Cung to fight him or give it over to him.
Winner: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:02
The big winners tonight were Nick Diaz, Brett Rogers and Jake Shields. Showtime is doing a good job of matching up fighters and giving some of the lesser known guys a chance to get wins and potentially become stars in the future (Diaz against Shamrock, Shields against Lawler, Rogers against Arlovski). This show started slow as the worst fight of the night (Randleman/Whitehead) opened the show but the last three fights were all either very good fights or very good spectacles. Solid night of fights and Strikeforce now has some interesting fights coming up with Rogers/Overeem, Shields/Le, Carano/Cyborg, and Thomson/Melendez either signed or on the horizon and they have a guy in Nick Diaz that has just looked fantastic in his last two fights.
St. Louis, Missouri
This is the second installment of Strikeforce on Showtime (third if you count the Challengers Series show) and this looks to be a great line-up. On top we have a battle of former Elite XC champions as Robbie Lawler takes on Jake Shields. We have former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski taking on up and comer Brett Rogers. Slugger Scott Smith will take on Nick Diaz, who is coming off of a win over Frank Shamrock at the last Showtime show. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer and he is joined by Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Kevin Randleman (17-12) vs. Mike Whitehead (23-7)
To me this is the least interesting fight on the televised card. Whitehead has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage and is 10 years younger than Randleman (27 vs. 37). Randleman is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Randleman looks like he is ready to go before the bell rings. Whitehead missed a head kick and got taken down early but Randleman couldn’t get an advantage and they stood back up. Whitehead was able to get a double leg and took Randleman to the mat but Randleman flipped him off. Whitehead got another take down but Randleman again quickly got him off. Whitehead gets yet another take down but Randleman rests and gets up again. Randleman is already really tired and it’s just the first round. Not a good first round at all. Whitehead basically took Randleman down at will and Randleman basically didn’t take much damage. Whitehead gets this 10-9 for the takedowns but if he was fighting a better fighter I think he would be getting taken to the woodshed. They should have started with Baroni/Riggs or put Feijao’s match on PPV instead of the prelims.
R2- Whitehead got a take down and is controlling Whitehead but not doing any damage as the fans boo. Whitehead is just basically laying on Randleman for the first 3 minutes of this round. Randleman finally got out but he’s just exhausted and has been since 3 minutes into the fight. Whitehead is throwing really soft strikes. This is just a bad fight. Whitehead looks like he is pawing at a kitten with some of these strikes. Whitehead is winning 20-18. I would be really surprised if either guy fights for Strikeforce again. I know if they worked for UFC this would be their last fight for that company. This is just a bad fight. Why didn’t they start with Riggs/Baroni?
At least the ring girl is cute. That’s the highlight of this fight so far.
R3- Randleman landed a big overhand right to start the round. Whitehead hit another big punch and got in for some Ground and Pound but Whitehead survived but he’s wobbly. Whitehead gets a take down and he’s going to try and ride this round out by laying on Randleman. Whitehead goes for a kimura. Randleman gets back to his feet and we have 30 seconds left in the fight. Randleman takes this round but Whitehead will win the fight 29-28. Not a good fight. Not a good opener. Keep Whitehead on the under card from now on please.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards.
Winner: Mike Whitehead by Decision (Unanimous)
The scroll the crowd and we see Pat Miletich, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson, Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko (gets a big reaction from the crowd). Mauro acknowledges the Affliction show in August but doesn’t say it by name (they do have an in ring advertisement for the brand).
Welterweight Fight- Phil Baroni (13-10) vs. Joe Riggs (29-10)
While neither one of these guys excites me I think this should be a good exciting fight between two veterans who should be hungry for a win and going for the knockout. Baroni is on a 3 fight win streak since moving down in weight. Josh Thomson is in Baroni’s corner. I can’t believe Joe Riggs is only 26 years old. Riggs is a former WEC Middleweight Champion. No touch of gloves when John McCarthy brought them together. Riggs is training with Arizona Combat Sports.
R1- They clinched early and Riggs got a take down. Riggs quickly went for a Rear Naked and it looked like he was going to get it but couldn’t lock it in and Baroni moved him back to full guard. Baroni struggled to get up and ended up in Riggs guard but McCarthy stood them back up. Riggs quickly went in and got a single leg take down but Baroni stuffed it and took the advantageous position as the bell rung. This was a really close round with Riggs winning the first half and Baroni the second half. I think Riggs edges this round out 10-9. Not exactly what I was expecting but it was competitive and a decent first round.
R2- They exchange some leather early in the round and then Riggs goes in for a Superman man punch and ended up with a take down but Baroni quickly reversed it and got a double leg of his own. They stood up and Riggs landed some punches in the corner. Riggs hit a punch and then a knee and Riggs is starting to open up with some strikes. Baroni got a take down but Riggs went for a triangle but couldn’t fully get it in and ended up releasing the submission. I’ve got Riggs taking this round as he landed the best strikes of the round and nearly finished the fight with a submission. Riggs is up 20-18 on my score card but both rounds have been close. Baroni actually out struck Riggs in the first round.
R3- They touched gloves to start the third and final round. Riggs landed some good strikes to open up the round and Baroni is in trouble early in the round but Riggs gave him time to recover. Riggs really controls this round as Baroni is taking a lot of shots and looks to be running out of gas but is somehow hanging on. Baroni made a run late in the round but Riggs took him down to ride out the fight. This was a good, competitive fight. I’ve got Riggs 30-27 and I’m confident that the judges will see it as a Unanimous decision (the first round was debatable but I can’t see giving Baroni rounds 2 or 3).
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards.
Winner: Joe Riggs by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight Joe Riggs says that he broke both of his hands and that he has a really bad flu. Riggs says he would like to fight Jake Shields.
Mauro announces the return of Gina Carano. She will take on Cris Cyborg on August 15th. We will also see Josh Thomson versus Gilbert Melendez for the Lightweight Title. Mauro had Josh and Gilbert with him at ringside. Gilbert says he will train harder and this time it will be a different story. Josh says he just got his walking boot off two weeks ago and has been training hard ever since. Josh says they will steal the show.
The next show will be the Strikeforce Challengers Show on Friday June 19th featuring Joe Villasenor. They also announce Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem for the August show.
Catchweight 180 lb Fight- Scott Smith (17-5) vs. Nick Diaz (19-7)
Smith is coming off of a comeback win against Benji Radach back at the April debut show on Showtime. On that same show Nick Diaz dominated Frank Shamrock. This should be a really fun fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage in this fight. They do not touch gloves when McCarthy brings them together before the start of the round.
R1- Diaz is using his reach early to his advantage as he’s keeping Smith at bay and making Smith come in and lunge when he throws punches. Diaz is landing lots of jabs. Diaz has Smith against the cage and is peppering him with jabs but Smith clinches him and ties him up until McCarthy breaks them up. Smith immediately sticks a good right hand but Diaz absorbs it. Smith got a take down but then released it and then hit a combo on his feet. Good fight so far, I’ve got Diaz up 20-19 but Smith started to really close the gap in the last part of the round and seemed to be finding his groove. Diaz threw 146 strikes in the first round!
R2- Diaz got in a good body shot that hurt Smith about a minute into the round and then Diaz started to pick him apart with jabs and strikes. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding from his eye. Diaz keeps hitting him right in the forehead with jabs. Diaz is just peppering Smith with a constant barrage of light punches. Smith missed a big head kick. Smith misses with a trio of big strikes and Diaz clinches him. Diaz completely controlled this round and had Smith down on the ground at the end of the round. Diaz threw 221 punches in that round and landed 125 of them. Borderline 10-8 round. I think the only thing keeping it from being 10-8 is Smith stayed on his feet for the whole round until the end and did actually get some offense in on Diaz. Diaz leading 20-18 going into the final round.
R3- They exchange some letter in the first 20 seconds of the round and then clinch. Smith misses another big kick and Diaz lands another good body shot that takes Smith to the ground. Diaz goes to take his back and Diaz locks in the Rear Naked and get the win.
Another great showing by Diaz. I don’t know what weight class Diaz is in but I’m thinking he needs a title shot here in Strikeforce. Either that or put him up against the winner of Lawler/Shields. Diaz landed 207 of 397 strikes in this fight to Smith’s 31 of 93.
Winner: Nick Diaz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 1:41
Post-Fight Diaz throws Scott Smith’s training partners under the bus and says Smith should come down the road and train with his team, “a real team.”
Heavyweight Fight- Andre Arlovski (15-6) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0)
Rogers beat Abongo Humphrey at the last Strikeforce show. Arlovski’s last fight was a loss to the #1 Heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko. Arlovski had won 5 in a row going into that fight. They show Fedor and hype his PPV fight on August 1st against Josh Barnett and they show Barnett as well. The winner of this most likely gets Overeem in August. Rogers has a 18 lb advantage and a 4.5” reach advantage. Arlovski is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and this is his Strikeforce debut. For the third fight in a row neither fighter touches gloves as McCarthy pulls them together to go over the rules.
R1- “Rogers comes in and drops Arlovski quickly and this one is over almost immediately. Wow! Rogers just destroyed a Top 5 fighter in seconds. On the re-play Rogers threw some punches and missed but kept coming and landed 3 to 4 straight punches against the cage. He hit two really big punches consecutively. Big time win for Rogers. Bring on Overeem!
Post-fight Rogers said he wants a title shot. I think he might have a good point.
“I was hungry baby”- Brett Rogers
Winner: Brett Rogers by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:22
They hype the Affliction PPV as they show highlights of Fedor/Sylvia and Fedor/Arlovski and Fedor joins Mauro ringside and they do an interview through an interpreter. Next they highlight Josh Barnett and show highlights of the Barnett/Yvel fight. Barnett joins Mauro ringside.
Catchweight 182 lb Fight- Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Jake Shields (22-4-1)
Shield is a former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and Lawler is a former Elite XC Middleweight Champion. Both guys had the belts when Elite XC went out of business so they were never beaten for their belts.
R1- Shields went for a take down but Robbie fought it off and then they clinched around the ring. Shields grabbed a guillotine and tapped out Robbie Lawler. Great showing by Shields. Lawler looked like he just never really got started and Shields got an opening and took it.
Post-fight Shields says he wants Cung Le’s belt. Says for Cung to fight him or give it over to him.
Winner: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:02
The big winners tonight were Nick Diaz, Brett Rogers and Jake Shields. Showtime is doing a good job of matching up fighters and giving some of the lesser known guys a chance to get wins and potentially become stars in the future (Diaz against Shamrock, Shields against Lawler, Rogers against Arlovski). This show started slow as the worst fight of the night (Randleman/Whitehead) opened the show but the last three fights were all either very good fights or very good spectacles. Solid night of fights and Strikeforce now has some interesting fights coming up with Rogers/Overeem, Shields/Le, Carano/Cyborg, and Thomson/Melendez either signed or on the horizon and they have a guy in Nick Diaz that has just looked fantastic in his last two fights.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Strikeforce 4/11/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on Showtime 4/11/09
San Jose, California
This is the debut show for Strikeforce on Showtime as they are taking Elite XC’s spot. The Main Event is Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer (Yes!). Gus is joined by Mauro Ranallo (former Pride and Elite XC announcer). Mauro gives us a history lesson and tells us that Strikeforce began in 2006 (Scott Coker the owner has been in MMA for 15 years). The Main Event of the first Strikeforce show (which was held in the same building as tonight’s show) was Frank Shamrock destroying Cesar Gracie in just 21 seconds. Gracie is Nick Diaz’s mentor. Nice touch of history given to the Main Event. Gina Carano, Tito Ortiz, Andrei Arlovski, Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Babalu Sobral, former Elite XC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields, former Elite XC Middleweight Champ Robbie Lawler, Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le are all in attendance tonight. They mention that Shields will fight Lawler on June 6th, they also tease Overeem for a possible fight on June 6th. Gus Johnson introduces the third member of the broadcast team, Pat Miletich. Really strong opening from Strikeforce.
Heavyweight Title Fight- Brett Rogers (9-0) vs. Abongo Humphrey (5-0)
I’ve been impressed with Rogers the first two times that I’ve seen him. Rogers has a large 5’ height, 8.5’ reach and 23 pound advantage in this fight. Humphrey is a Jiu Jitsu and Kickboxing fighter while Rogers is a freestyle fighter. Humphrey has won all 5 of his fights by KO. He is BET’s Iron Ring Heavyweight Champion. Rogers has 8 wins by KO and 1 by submission. I don’t think we will be seeing a decision in this fight.
R1- Good first round as both fighters were very active. Rogers started to take over at the half way point of the round and landed some good strikes towards the end of the round. Herb Dean took a point away from Rogers for grabbing Humphrey’s hair after he had given him two warnings. With the point deduction I’ve got the first round at 9-9 (Rogers getting the 10 but losing a point on referee deduction).
Mickey Rourke is at the show and Kevin Randleman is also shown in the same picture.
R2- Rogers got Humphrey on the cage and just nailed him with a bunch of shots. Humphrey finally hit the canvas after he’d been bloodied and this one was over. Rogers really started to take over at the end of the first round and just destroyed him with some big shots early in round two. Great showing for Rogers, I’m eager to see him step up in competition soon and see how he does.
Winner: Brett Rogers by KO R2 1:38
Woman’s 150lb Fight- Cris Cyborg (6-1) vs. Hitomi Akano (14-5)
This should be an interesting fight as Cyborg came in around 7 pounds overweight for the fight and it was much publicized on the web. Cyborg has a 3.5” height, 6.5” weight and 6” reach advantage. Cyborg is a Muay Thai and BJJ fighter and Akano is a grappler and judo fighter. Akano has won 11 of her 15 fights by submission.
R1- Very active first round with Cyborg really taking the fight to Akano and knocking her down several times in the round. 10-9 round for Cyborg.
R2- Another big round for Cyborg. Akano went for a flying arm bar and Cyborg drove her to the ground and laid in some good punches on her. Cyborg is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Cyborg really lays into Akano at the beginning of the round and the ref steps in to call the fight. Cyborg’s size advantage was really just too much for Akano.
They heavily pimp Cyborg vs. Gina Carano throughout this fight.
Winner: Cris Cyborg by TKO (Strikes) R3 0:35
They preview the next Strikeforce show on June 6th on Showtime. Robbie Lawler will take on Jake Shields. Babalu Sobral will defend the Light Heavyweight Belt against Rafael Feijao.
Middleweight Fight- Scott Smith (16-5) vs. Benji Radach (19-4)
Scott Smith is coming off a fight against Terry Martin in November for Strikeforce in which he finished Martin in less than 30 seconds. Radach was last seen defeating Ninja Rua in a October in a good fight. This should be a stand-up war.
R1- Both guys landed shots for the first part of the round. Smith landed some good shots and chased Benji around the cage but Benji fought back and hit a punch that hurt Smith. Benji then jumped to the offensive and landed some good offense. Benji went for a take down at the end of the round and got it and landed a couple of shots. I’ve got Radach up 10-9 after a good first round.
R2- Radach landed some good shots in the middle of the round and then grabbed a guillotine but Smith slipped out. Smith is busted open. Radach is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Smith’s got a bloody face but he battles and gets some shots in on Benji. Benji shoots and Smith grabs a guillotine but Benji dumps him to the mat. Smith continues to push forward and lands a nice jab and bloodies Benji. Two minutes left in the fight and Smith needed a knockout and Smith landed a big right hand and got the Knockout punch and then jumped on top with a punch and the ref stopped the fight. Great comeback win for Smith. Good fight.
Winner: Scott Smith by KO R3 3:24
Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Fight- Gilbert Melendez (14-2) vs. Rodrigo Damm (8-2)
Damm is taking this fight on short notice due to Josh Thomson sustaining an injury and having to drop out. Since Thomson is unavailable to defend his Lightweight title this fight is for the interim title. This is a 5-round fight due to it being for the interim title. Melendez is a former Strikeforce Lightweight champion having lost the title to Josh Thomson last year.
R1- Melendez caught a Damm kick early and took him down and really controlled Damm all round long. Melendez 10-9.
R2- Melendez hit a big right hand about two minutes into the round and this one is over. Melendez just dominated an inferior opponent who took the fight on short notice in this fight. Good fight from Melendez as he really needed a win after losing to Thomson and Ishida.
Winner and new Interim Lightweight Champion: Gilbert Melendez by KO R2 2:02
Cung Le is interviewed ringside about his new movie “Fighting.”
180 lb Catchweight Fight- Frank Shamrock (23-9-2) vs. Nick Diaz (18-7)
This should be a good fight based on all the trash talking and the history surrounding the fight. I think both guys will want to stand up and trade. Diaz is generally a pretty good jab guy but he also tends to be a slow starter and Shamrock has a lot more power than most of the guys Diaz faces since Diaz is moving up in weight for this fight. Diaz is coming off of wins against Thomas Denny, Mushin Corbbrey and Katsuya Inoue but Shamrock is definitely a step up in caliber than those guys. Shamrock is coming off a loss in his last fight against Cung Le in which Shamrock sustained a broken arm. Diaz has a 3’ height and 2’ reach advantage.
R1- Diaz caught a kick and got a take down in the first minute. Diaz easily passed guard but Shamrock slipped out before Diaz did any damage. Shamrock slipped and Diaz jumped on top and mounted Shamrock and got in a lot of punches but Shamrock was able to block a lot of them. First round goes to Diaz. It was pretty even with Diaz getting two take downs. Diaz did not take advantage of the first take down but did get some damage in on the second one. Diaz up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Diaz is talking trash all through out this fight and is doing a good job using his reach advantage to keep Shamrock at bay. Diaz is landing some good jabs in this round and he’s just picking Shamrock apart and Shamrock is down in the corner and Diaz lays in some good Ground and Pound until John McCarthy stops the fight. Diaz showed some good sportsmanship in helping up Shamrock after the fight.
Really good showing by Diaz. Diaz looked really motivated in this fight and looked better than he has in his last 3 fights. I think this fight shows what Diaz can do when he’s motivated. Diaz landed 129 punches in this fight (78 standing arm strikes, 44 ground strikes and 7 standing leg strikes).
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:57
Strong show from Strikeforce on the debut on Showtime. All 5 fights were entertaining tonight. I look forward to seeing more live Strikeforce shows in the future.
San Jose, California
This is the debut show for Strikeforce on Showtime as they are taking Elite XC’s spot. The Main Event is Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer (Yes!). Gus is joined by Mauro Ranallo (former Pride and Elite XC announcer). Mauro gives us a history lesson and tells us that Strikeforce began in 2006 (Scott Coker the owner has been in MMA for 15 years). The Main Event of the first Strikeforce show (which was held in the same building as tonight’s show) was Frank Shamrock destroying Cesar Gracie in just 21 seconds. Gracie is Nick Diaz’s mentor. Nice touch of history given to the Main Event. Gina Carano, Tito Ortiz, Andrei Arlovski, Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Babalu Sobral, former Elite XC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields, former Elite XC Middleweight Champ Robbie Lawler, Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le are all in attendance tonight. They mention that Shields will fight Lawler on June 6th, they also tease Overeem for a possible fight on June 6th. Gus Johnson introduces the third member of the broadcast team, Pat Miletich. Really strong opening from Strikeforce.
Heavyweight Title Fight- Brett Rogers (9-0) vs. Abongo Humphrey (5-0)
I’ve been impressed with Rogers the first two times that I’ve seen him. Rogers has a large 5’ height, 8.5’ reach and 23 pound advantage in this fight. Humphrey is a Jiu Jitsu and Kickboxing fighter while Rogers is a freestyle fighter. Humphrey has won all 5 of his fights by KO. He is BET’s Iron Ring Heavyweight Champion. Rogers has 8 wins by KO and 1 by submission. I don’t think we will be seeing a decision in this fight.
R1- Good first round as both fighters were very active. Rogers started to take over at the half way point of the round and landed some good strikes towards the end of the round. Herb Dean took a point away from Rogers for grabbing Humphrey’s hair after he had given him two warnings. With the point deduction I’ve got the first round at 9-9 (Rogers getting the 10 but losing a point on referee deduction).
Mickey Rourke is at the show and Kevin Randleman is also shown in the same picture.
R2- Rogers got Humphrey on the cage and just nailed him with a bunch of shots. Humphrey finally hit the canvas after he’d been bloodied and this one was over. Rogers really started to take over at the end of the first round and just destroyed him with some big shots early in round two. Great showing for Rogers, I’m eager to see him step up in competition soon and see how he does.
Winner: Brett Rogers by KO R2 1:38
Woman’s 150lb Fight- Cris Cyborg (6-1) vs. Hitomi Akano (14-5)
This should be an interesting fight as Cyborg came in around 7 pounds overweight for the fight and it was much publicized on the web. Cyborg has a 3.5” height, 6.5” weight and 6” reach advantage. Cyborg is a Muay Thai and BJJ fighter and Akano is a grappler and judo fighter. Akano has won 11 of her 15 fights by submission.
R1- Very active first round with Cyborg really taking the fight to Akano and knocking her down several times in the round. 10-9 round for Cyborg.
R2- Another big round for Cyborg. Akano went for a flying arm bar and Cyborg drove her to the ground and laid in some good punches on her. Cyborg is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Cyborg really lays into Akano at the beginning of the round and the ref steps in to call the fight. Cyborg’s size advantage was really just too much for Akano.
They heavily pimp Cyborg vs. Gina Carano throughout this fight.
Winner: Cris Cyborg by TKO (Strikes) R3 0:35
They preview the next Strikeforce show on June 6th on Showtime. Robbie Lawler will take on Jake Shields. Babalu Sobral will defend the Light Heavyweight Belt against Rafael Feijao.
Middleweight Fight- Scott Smith (16-5) vs. Benji Radach (19-4)
Scott Smith is coming off a fight against Terry Martin in November for Strikeforce in which he finished Martin in less than 30 seconds. Radach was last seen defeating Ninja Rua in a October in a good fight. This should be a stand-up war.
R1- Both guys landed shots for the first part of the round. Smith landed some good shots and chased Benji around the cage but Benji fought back and hit a punch that hurt Smith. Benji then jumped to the offensive and landed some good offense. Benji went for a take down at the end of the round and got it and landed a couple of shots. I’ve got Radach up 10-9 after a good first round.
R2- Radach landed some good shots in the middle of the round and then grabbed a guillotine but Smith slipped out. Smith is busted open. Radach is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Smith’s got a bloody face but he battles and gets some shots in on Benji. Benji shoots and Smith grabs a guillotine but Benji dumps him to the mat. Smith continues to push forward and lands a nice jab and bloodies Benji. Two minutes left in the fight and Smith needed a knockout and Smith landed a big right hand and got the Knockout punch and then jumped on top with a punch and the ref stopped the fight. Great comeback win for Smith. Good fight.
Winner: Scott Smith by KO R3 3:24
Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Fight- Gilbert Melendez (14-2) vs. Rodrigo Damm (8-2)
Damm is taking this fight on short notice due to Josh Thomson sustaining an injury and having to drop out. Since Thomson is unavailable to defend his Lightweight title this fight is for the interim title. This is a 5-round fight due to it being for the interim title. Melendez is a former Strikeforce Lightweight champion having lost the title to Josh Thomson last year.
R1- Melendez caught a Damm kick early and took him down and really controlled Damm all round long. Melendez 10-9.
R2- Melendez hit a big right hand about two minutes into the round and this one is over. Melendez just dominated an inferior opponent who took the fight on short notice in this fight. Good fight from Melendez as he really needed a win after losing to Thomson and Ishida.
Winner and new Interim Lightweight Champion: Gilbert Melendez by KO R2 2:02
Cung Le is interviewed ringside about his new movie “Fighting.”
180 lb Catchweight Fight- Frank Shamrock (23-9-2) vs. Nick Diaz (18-7)
This should be a good fight based on all the trash talking and the history surrounding the fight. I think both guys will want to stand up and trade. Diaz is generally a pretty good jab guy but he also tends to be a slow starter and Shamrock has a lot more power than most of the guys Diaz faces since Diaz is moving up in weight for this fight. Diaz is coming off of wins against Thomas Denny, Mushin Corbbrey and Katsuya Inoue but Shamrock is definitely a step up in caliber than those guys. Shamrock is coming off a loss in his last fight against Cung Le in which Shamrock sustained a broken arm. Diaz has a 3’ height and 2’ reach advantage.
R1- Diaz caught a kick and got a take down in the first minute. Diaz easily passed guard but Shamrock slipped out before Diaz did any damage. Shamrock slipped and Diaz jumped on top and mounted Shamrock and got in a lot of punches but Shamrock was able to block a lot of them. First round goes to Diaz. It was pretty even with Diaz getting two take downs. Diaz did not take advantage of the first take down but did get some damage in on the second one. Diaz up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Diaz is talking trash all through out this fight and is doing a good job using his reach advantage to keep Shamrock at bay. Diaz is landing some good jabs in this round and he’s just picking Shamrock apart and Shamrock is down in the corner and Diaz lays in some good Ground and Pound until John McCarthy stops the fight. Diaz showed some good sportsmanship in helping up Shamrock after the fight.
Really good showing by Diaz. Diaz looked really motivated in this fight and looked better than he has in his last 3 fights. I think this fight shows what Diaz can do when he’s motivated. Diaz landed 129 punches in this fight (78 standing arm strikes, 44 ground strikes and 7 standing leg strikes).
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:57
Strong show from Strikeforce on the debut on Showtime. All 5 fights were entertaining tonight. I look forward to seeing more live Strikeforce shows in the future.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Retro Re-Cap: The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale 11/5/05
UFC: Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale 11/5/05
Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine vs. Kerry Schall
R1- Jardine just kind of picks his spots early and lands some good shots. Schall looks to be heavy. This is jus pretty much a straight stand up fight. Jardine wins the round and bloodies Schall’s nose.
R2- Not a very exciting fight so far through a round and a half. Jardine just picked apart Schall with leg kicks until he finally chopped him down like a tree and fight was ended.
Winner: Keith Jardine by TKO (leg kicks) R2 3:28
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis vs. Melvin Guillard
This should be a fun fight.
R1- Guillard charges about a minute in and hits several good punches and then takes Davis down. Melvin got in a couple of good shots and then grabbed a guillotine on Marcus. Davis pops his head out after about a minute and is now in Davis’s guard. Melvin gets another take down with about 30 seconds left in the round and gets side control. Melvin takes round one 10 to 9.
R2- Melvin got another take down (that’s three so far) about one minute into the round. Melvin opened up a big cut on Marcus and the ref stops the ref to check the cut. Melvin caught him with an elbow above the eye and the doctor stops the fight.
Winner: Melvin Guillard by Ref Stoppage (Cut) R2 2:55
Welterweight Fight- Josh Burkman vs. Sam Morgan
R1- Burkman gets a quick take down and immediately beats Morgan. Wow. Burkman took him down and then just nailed him with a couple of shots that knocked Morgan out. It looked like when Burkman drove him into the mat the impact might have knocked Morgan out.
Winner: Josh Burkman by TKO (strikes) R1 0:21
Welterweight Fight- Kenny Florian vs. Kit Cope
Kit Cope is a Muy Thai fighter.
R1- Florian immediately clinches with him. Good action early as they clinch and battle. Florian caught a right hand going in for a take down but managed to clinch with Cope. Florian struggled but finally got a take down. Florian mounted but was quickly moved by Cope to full guard. Cope got to his feet but got taken down again. Florian took a mount and got lots of punches in. Florian then grabbed an arm bar but the bell rang before Cope would give up. Cope tapped but it was after the bell.
R2- Florian gets a quick take down and takes Cope’s back and quickly put on Rear Naked Choke and Cope tapped out again. Florian looked great in this fight.
Winner: Kenny Florian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 0:37
TUF Welterweight Finals Fight- Joe Stevenson vs. Luke Cuomo
Cuomo has a 5 inch height advantage and 4 inch reach advantage. When asked if the fighters have any questions Stevenson says “Luke I am your father.”
R1- Stevenson gets this fight to the ground within the first 30 seconds. Stevenson grabs an arm triangle but Luke gets out of it and moves Joe to full guard and then escaped back to his feet. Joe gets another take down half way through the round. Joe takes side control and lands some good elbows. Joe gets a bunch of elbows in on Luke and the fight was in danger of being stopped but Luke lasted until the bell range. Stevenson easily took round one.
R2- Luke hit a good clean right hand to start the round but Stevenson quickly recovered and good the take down. Stevenson went for an arm bar but Luke escaped. The exchanged some shots standing and then Luke got a take down but Joe grabbed Luke’s leg and moved to the top position. Joe hits some good elbows from the top. This was a close round and goes to Stevenson so he’s up 20-18. Good fight so far.
R3- Luke got in a punch to start the round and then Joe went for a take down but Luke reversed it on him. Luke’s conditioning is helping him out in this part of the fight. Luke got some shots in on Stevenson. Stevenson got up and quickly took down Luke. Luke went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Joe went for a leg lock but abandoned it. They briefly got separated and Joe got in a slam to take Luke back down. This was a real good fight. I think Luke took round 3 but I’ve got Joe 29-28 for the fight.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Stevenson
TUF 2 Welterweight Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)
TUF Heavyweight Finals Fight- Rashad Evans vs. Brad Imes
Imes has a huge 8 inch height advantage and a huge 6 inch reach advantage. Look for Rashad to take him to the mat quickly.
R1- Brad hit a couple of jabs early and then grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and tried some knees. Rashad answered with a good right and Imes again grabbed a clinch. Brad got a take down a little over a minute into the fight but couldn’t do anything with it. Brad hit a good elbow and then a left hand. Rashad came back with 3 punches but Brad keeps coming at Rashad. Rashad hit two big right hands and Brad tried to clinch but Rashad kept firing and knocked Brad down. Rashad jumped on top to try and finish but Brad hung in there. Rashad passed the guard but Brad rolled over to his knees and got to his feet. Brad is cut from those punches. This was a good first round. Brad was winning until Rashad hit that series of punches that knocked Brad down and almost finished him. Rashad 10-9 after one round.
R2- Even start to the round. Rashad starts to get the distance on his jab. Brad comes up with some good shots and tied to finish Rashad but Rashad weathered the storm and never left his feet. Brad got Rashad up against the fence and swung at him a bunch of times but Rashad showed good head movement and ducked the onslaught. Rashad got off the fence and hit some jabs. Both guys are really winded with about a minute and a half to go in the round. Rashad stuck Brad with two right hands. Rashad hit another right but Brad came back at the end of the round with some shots. Really good round. I think Brad took this round but it was close. I’ve got 19-19 after two rounds. Good fight so far.
R3- Rashad connects with some shots early in the round. Rashad caught Brad leaning in and nailed him with a left hand that staggered and then dropped Brad. Rashad jumps on top for the finish but Brad tries to wrap him up. Brad gets to his feet and tries to get some shots in on Rashad. Brad clinches and then gets a take down and gets half guard. Rashad got back to his feet after some elbows. 90 seconds left in the round. Both guys are really tired. They swing at the end but both guys are too tired to do any damage. Really close round and really close fight. I’ve got Rashad with a close victory 29-28. Good fight.
Judges score the fight- 29-28 Rashad, 29-28 Imes and 29-28 Rashad.
TUF 2 Heavyweight Winner: Rashad Evans by Decision (Split)
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz
They meet heads during the meeting at the beginning of the fight and John McCarthy pushes Diaz back to his corner. Looks like a lot of bad blood is brewing between these two guys.
R1- Diego quickly takes Nick’s back. Diaz spins around and Diego is in his guard but Diaz is very active. Diego lands some pretty decent shots but Diaz remains pretty active which is making him hard to hit. Nick reverses and gets Diego in side control but Diego quickly reverses back. Diego is surprisingly controlling Diaz on the ground. Diego looked really good in this round. Sanchez 10-9 in the first round.
R2- Diaz slips really early but luckily it doesn’t hurt him. Diego gets a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the round. Diego picks Nick up and slams him down and then gets some shots in on Nick. Diego moved Nick up against the cage and got some good Ground and Pound in on him. Diaz reversed a mount and got in Diego’s guard but Diego got out of it before the end of the round. Diaz has a cut near his eye. Diego got another take down at the end of the round. Sanchez is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Diaz starts out the round with a left hand and a jab. Nick is doing a good job at the start of the round avoiding take downs and hitting jabs but Diego gets a take down within the first minute of the round. Diego is bleeding and it’s dripping onto Diaz as Diego is in his guard. They got back to their feet but Diego quickly took Nick’s back. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding now. There is a good amount of blood flowing and it’s tough to see exactly who it is coming from. Diaz gets a take down with about two and a half minutes left. Both guys look to be cut badly. Diaz is on top but Diego grabs an arm bar. Diaz frees himself from the move. Diego slips out and they roll around a little bit and Diego ends up in Nick’s guard. This was a close round, probably went to Diaz. I’ve got Sanchez winning 29-28. Really good fight.
Judges score the fight 30-27 in favor of Sanchez.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Unanimous)
This was a very enjoyable show with some good fights- Sanchez/Diaz, Imes/Evans, Stevenson/Cuomo and it also had some good performances from Florian, Jardine and Guillard.
Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine vs. Kerry Schall
R1- Jardine just kind of picks his spots early and lands some good shots. Schall looks to be heavy. This is jus pretty much a straight stand up fight. Jardine wins the round and bloodies Schall’s nose.
R2- Not a very exciting fight so far through a round and a half. Jardine just picked apart Schall with leg kicks until he finally chopped him down like a tree and fight was ended.
Winner: Keith Jardine by TKO (leg kicks) R2 3:28
Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis vs. Melvin Guillard
This should be a fun fight.
R1- Guillard charges about a minute in and hits several good punches and then takes Davis down. Melvin got in a couple of good shots and then grabbed a guillotine on Marcus. Davis pops his head out after about a minute and is now in Davis’s guard. Melvin gets another take down with about 30 seconds left in the round and gets side control. Melvin takes round one 10 to 9.
R2- Melvin got another take down (that’s three so far) about one minute into the round. Melvin opened up a big cut on Marcus and the ref stops the ref to check the cut. Melvin caught him with an elbow above the eye and the doctor stops the fight.
Winner: Melvin Guillard by Ref Stoppage (Cut) R2 2:55
Welterweight Fight- Josh Burkman vs. Sam Morgan
R1- Burkman gets a quick take down and immediately beats Morgan. Wow. Burkman took him down and then just nailed him with a couple of shots that knocked Morgan out. It looked like when Burkman drove him into the mat the impact might have knocked Morgan out.
Winner: Josh Burkman by TKO (strikes) R1 0:21
Welterweight Fight- Kenny Florian vs. Kit Cope
Kit Cope is a Muy Thai fighter.
R1- Florian immediately clinches with him. Good action early as they clinch and battle. Florian caught a right hand going in for a take down but managed to clinch with Cope. Florian struggled but finally got a take down. Florian mounted but was quickly moved by Cope to full guard. Cope got to his feet but got taken down again. Florian took a mount and got lots of punches in. Florian then grabbed an arm bar but the bell rang before Cope would give up. Cope tapped but it was after the bell.
R2- Florian gets a quick take down and takes Cope’s back and quickly put on Rear Naked Choke and Cope tapped out again. Florian looked great in this fight.
Winner: Kenny Florian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 0:37
TUF Welterweight Finals Fight- Joe Stevenson vs. Luke Cuomo
Cuomo has a 5 inch height advantage and 4 inch reach advantage. When asked if the fighters have any questions Stevenson says “Luke I am your father.”
R1- Stevenson gets this fight to the ground within the first 30 seconds. Stevenson grabs an arm triangle but Luke gets out of it and moves Joe to full guard and then escaped back to his feet. Joe gets another take down half way through the round. Joe takes side control and lands some good elbows. Joe gets a bunch of elbows in on Luke and the fight was in danger of being stopped but Luke lasted until the bell range. Stevenson easily took round one.
R2- Luke hit a good clean right hand to start the round but Stevenson quickly recovered and good the take down. Stevenson went for an arm bar but Luke escaped. The exchanged some shots standing and then Luke got a take down but Joe grabbed Luke’s leg and moved to the top position. Joe hits some good elbows from the top. This was a close round and goes to Stevenson so he’s up 20-18. Good fight so far.
R3- Luke got in a punch to start the round and then Joe went for a take down but Luke reversed it on him. Luke’s conditioning is helping him out in this part of the fight. Luke got some shots in on Stevenson. Stevenson got up and quickly took down Luke. Luke went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Joe went for a leg lock but abandoned it. They briefly got separated and Joe got in a slam to take Luke back down. This was a real good fight. I think Luke took round 3 but I’ve got Joe 29-28 for the fight.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Stevenson
TUF 2 Welterweight Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)
TUF Heavyweight Finals Fight- Rashad Evans vs. Brad Imes
Imes has a huge 8 inch height advantage and a huge 6 inch reach advantage. Look for Rashad to take him to the mat quickly.
R1- Brad hit a couple of jabs early and then grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and tried some knees. Rashad answered with a good right and Imes again grabbed a clinch. Brad got a take down a little over a minute into the fight but couldn’t do anything with it. Brad hit a good elbow and then a left hand. Rashad came back with 3 punches but Brad keeps coming at Rashad. Rashad hit two big right hands and Brad tried to clinch but Rashad kept firing and knocked Brad down. Rashad jumped on top to try and finish but Brad hung in there. Rashad passed the guard but Brad rolled over to his knees and got to his feet. Brad is cut from those punches. This was a good first round. Brad was winning until Rashad hit that series of punches that knocked Brad down and almost finished him. Rashad 10-9 after one round.
R2- Even start to the round. Rashad starts to get the distance on his jab. Brad comes up with some good shots and tied to finish Rashad but Rashad weathered the storm and never left his feet. Brad got Rashad up against the fence and swung at him a bunch of times but Rashad showed good head movement and ducked the onslaught. Rashad got off the fence and hit some jabs. Both guys are really winded with about a minute and a half to go in the round. Rashad stuck Brad with two right hands. Rashad hit another right but Brad came back at the end of the round with some shots. Really good round. I think Brad took this round but it was close. I’ve got 19-19 after two rounds. Good fight so far.
R3- Rashad connects with some shots early in the round. Rashad caught Brad leaning in and nailed him with a left hand that staggered and then dropped Brad. Rashad jumps on top for the finish but Brad tries to wrap him up. Brad gets to his feet and tries to get some shots in on Rashad. Brad clinches and then gets a take down and gets half guard. Rashad got back to his feet after some elbows. 90 seconds left in the round. Both guys are really tired. They swing at the end but both guys are too tired to do any damage. Really close round and really close fight. I’ve got Rashad with a close victory 29-28. Good fight.
Judges score the fight- 29-28 Rashad, 29-28 Imes and 29-28 Rashad.
TUF 2 Heavyweight Winner: Rashad Evans by Decision (Split)
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz
They meet heads during the meeting at the beginning of the fight and John McCarthy pushes Diaz back to his corner. Looks like a lot of bad blood is brewing between these two guys.
R1- Diego quickly takes Nick’s back. Diaz spins around and Diego is in his guard but Diaz is very active. Diego lands some pretty decent shots but Diaz remains pretty active which is making him hard to hit. Nick reverses and gets Diego in side control but Diego quickly reverses back. Diego is surprisingly controlling Diaz on the ground. Diego looked really good in this round. Sanchez 10-9 in the first round.
R2- Diaz slips really early but luckily it doesn’t hurt him. Diego gets a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the round. Diego picks Nick up and slams him down and then gets some shots in on Nick. Diego moved Nick up against the cage and got some good Ground and Pound in on him. Diaz reversed a mount and got in Diego’s guard but Diego got out of it before the end of the round. Diaz has a cut near his eye. Diego got another take down at the end of the round. Sanchez is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Diaz starts out the round with a left hand and a jab. Nick is doing a good job at the start of the round avoiding take downs and hitting jabs but Diego gets a take down within the first minute of the round. Diego is bleeding and it’s dripping onto Diaz as Diego is in his guard. They got back to their feet but Diego quickly took Nick’s back. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding now. There is a good amount of blood flowing and it’s tough to see exactly who it is coming from. Diaz gets a take down with about two and a half minutes left. Both guys look to be cut badly. Diaz is on top but Diego grabs an arm bar. Diaz frees himself from the move. Diego slips out and they roll around a little bit and Diego ends up in Nick’s guard. This was a close round, probably went to Diaz. I’ve got Sanchez winning 29-28. Really good fight.
Judges score the fight 30-27 in favor of Sanchez.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Unanimous)
This was a very enjoyable show with some good fights- Sanchez/Diaz, Imes/Evans, Stevenson/Cuomo and it also had some good performances from Florian, Jardine and Guillard.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Elite XC CBS "Saturday Night Fights" 7/26/08
Elite XC Saturday Night Fights on CBS 7/26/08
Tonight we’ve got the Middleweight Title re-match from the first CBS show as Robbie Lawler defends against Scott Smith. Nick Diaz will be in action against Thomas Denny. Jake Shields will also be fighting.
Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock will do the announcing. Gus puts over that their first show was the most watched MMA telecast in the history of the sport. Gus definitely brings a high level of professionalism and legitimacy to the broadcast. Who do you want for your announcer- Gus Johnson or Jay Glazer? It should be interesting if Lawler wins and Shamrock interviews him as that is a rumored potential match-up later this year.
Woman’s Bantamweight Fight- Shayna Baszler (11-4) vs. Christiane Cyborg (4-0)
Gina Carano is at ringside for the fight and gets a good reaction when she is shown. Baszler has won 4 fights in a row. Cyborg is the wife of the former Pride Fighter by the same last name. They are fighting at 140 lbs. This is Cyborg’s US debut. Three of her four wins are by KO. All of Baszler’s wins have been by submission. Baszler trains with Josh Barnett. These rounds are only 3 minutes.
R1- Cyborg is very active early with some strikes but Shayna gets a take down and goes for a knee bar and instead takes a toe hold. Cyborg gets out and is on top of Shayna and landing some strikes. Shayna goes for another leg submission. Close first round. Cyborg landing more punches and Baszler attempting three submissions. Really close fight.
A commercial for Pineapple Express is shown. It looks awesome.
R2- They come out fighting with both women throwing and attacking. Cyborg lands some nice punches and seems to be taking over this fight. She lands a nasty knee. Cyborg is just picking Shayna apart. Shayna goes to the floor and Cyborg walks away like the fight is over and then leaps up on the cage and is celebrating. What a huge mistake. Cyborg gives Mazzagatti a look of disbelief. Cyborg comes back and lands some nice shots. Cyborg is just lighting Shayna up against the cage. Cyborg finally gets a KO. Cyborg looked awesome. I’m not sure she has much between the ears but she can fight. Very exciting second round. Cyborg landed 48 punches in the two rounds.
Winner: Chrisiane Cyborg by TKO (strikes) R2 2:48
Karyn Bryant interviews Gina Carano at ringside. Carano says she wants to fight Cyborg. Carano will be fighting on the next CBS show on October 4th.
Welterweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (20-4-1) vs. Nick Thompson (26-9-1)
This fight is for the vacant Elite XC Welterweight Championship. Nick Thompson is a law school graduate and will be taking the BAR exam in 2 days. Mauro puts over the Thompson has given Eddie Alvarez his only loss. Thompson is on a 12 fight win streak, Shields is on a 9 fight win streak. Shields is the hometown fighter in this fight. Thompson is announced as the Bodog Welterweight Title holder.
R1- Shields take the fight down quickly and gets full mount almost immediately. Nick slips out by Shields grabs a guillotine and finishes the fight quickly in impressive fashion. Great showing by Jake Shields.
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Karyn Bryant is at ringside with Kimbo Slice. Kimbo will be on the October show at Ft Lauderdale.
Lightweight Fight- Nick Diaz (17-7) vs. Thomas Denny (26-16)
This is definitely a showcase fight for Nick Diaz as Elite XC is just killing time before his showdown/re-match with KJ Noons. Thomas Denny looks like the MMA version of Jeff Hardy. Diaz is the hometown fighter in this fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage and a 4” height advantage.
R1- Denny comes out early and tries to take it to Diaz, who usually likes to start methodically from what I’ve seen. Denny got a take down but no damage. Denny goes for a take down but Diaz has his Denny’s arm. Diaz is going for the arm bar but losses it. Both guys are landing some pretty good shots. Denny is getting in a surprising amount of offense. Diaz starting to get more shots. Diaz is starting to find the range with the jab and Denny is trying to keep Diaz close by clinching him. Diaz hit a good stiff left that knocked Denny backwards and then he goes down and Diaz lands a couple of shots as he gets back to his feet. Diaz is landing more shots and Denny is clinching to try and hold on until round two. Denny almost looks out on his feet but he’s staying on his feet. Fans are on their feet. Really exciting close to the round. Diaz 10-9. Diaz landed 75 punches in the first round.
R2- Diaz landing some nice punches early in the round and Denny is wobbly. Diaz starting to play to the crowd and then peppers Denny. Denny just trying to cover up but this looks like the end for him. Denny finally goes down and Diaz hits a couple of well placed punches and the ref puts an end to this one. Good fight and a fantastic introduction of Nick Diaz to the casual viewers. They just made a very methodical fighter (not that this is a bad thing) seem like one of the most exciting fighters going today. Diaz landed 93 strikes in this fight, 91 punches in 5 minutes and 30 seconds.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30
Anderson Silva is in the crowd (he cornered Feijao on the Showtime portion of the card earlier) and Gus Johnson and Mauro Rannallo both put him over as the P4P best fighter in the world.
Middleweight Title Fight- Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)
Lawler has a 4” reach advantage. Lawler was winning the striking game in the last fight but it was pretty even when it was stopped. Both fighters are 15-4 with 1 no contest.
R1- Smith getting some leg kicks early. Lawler blocks a big high kick. They are starting to throw some punches now about 2 minutes into the fight. Lawler hits a roundhouse to the body and then blocks another roundhouse to his head from Smith. Lawler finding the range as he hits three punches in a row and Smith bounces off the fence a little wobbled. Lawler with a left kick and then a right hand and then another left kick and another right. Lawler misses a big leg kick and Smith comes back and pushes forward and hits a nice punch. Smith landing some strikes. Close round. If I had to pick I would go Lawler 10-9. Smith started to come back toward the end of the round to even it up towards the end.
R2- Lawler hits a body kick and then they clinch and Smith gets some nice shots in on Lawler. Lawler now backs Smith up against the cage and hits him with 2 or 3 really hard punches. Lawler is busted open. Lawler hitting Smith with body shots in a clinch. Lawler with some nice dirty boxing shots. Robbie Lawler is cut bad, Mauro comments that they had some plasma land near them. Lawler getting some knees and Smith gets buckled and is down to his knees. Smith gets back up but eats another knee and falls to the ground and Herb Dean stops the fight. Smith really got hurt by the knees to the body.
Good fight but not as exciting as the first one.
Winner: Robbie Lawler by TKO (strikes) R2 2:35
While this show didn’t have the star power of Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano (other than in the audience) I thought that this show featured better fights and was a better effort than the first CBS show. No doubt this will not do as well in the ratings but it was a good night of fights.
Tonight we’ve got the Middleweight Title re-match from the first CBS show as Robbie Lawler defends against Scott Smith. Nick Diaz will be in action against Thomas Denny. Jake Shields will also be fighting.
Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock will do the announcing. Gus puts over that their first show was the most watched MMA telecast in the history of the sport. Gus definitely brings a high level of professionalism and legitimacy to the broadcast. Who do you want for your announcer- Gus Johnson or Jay Glazer? It should be interesting if Lawler wins and Shamrock interviews him as that is a rumored potential match-up later this year.
Woman’s Bantamweight Fight- Shayna Baszler (11-4) vs. Christiane Cyborg (4-0)
Gina Carano is at ringside for the fight and gets a good reaction when she is shown. Baszler has won 4 fights in a row. Cyborg is the wife of the former Pride Fighter by the same last name. They are fighting at 140 lbs. This is Cyborg’s US debut. Three of her four wins are by KO. All of Baszler’s wins have been by submission. Baszler trains with Josh Barnett. These rounds are only 3 minutes.
R1- Cyborg is very active early with some strikes but Shayna gets a take down and goes for a knee bar and instead takes a toe hold. Cyborg gets out and is on top of Shayna and landing some strikes. Shayna goes for another leg submission. Close first round. Cyborg landing more punches and Baszler attempting three submissions. Really close fight.
A commercial for Pineapple Express is shown. It looks awesome.
R2- They come out fighting with both women throwing and attacking. Cyborg lands some nice punches and seems to be taking over this fight. She lands a nasty knee. Cyborg is just picking Shayna apart. Shayna goes to the floor and Cyborg walks away like the fight is over and then leaps up on the cage and is celebrating. What a huge mistake. Cyborg gives Mazzagatti a look of disbelief. Cyborg comes back and lands some nice shots. Cyborg is just lighting Shayna up against the cage. Cyborg finally gets a KO. Cyborg looked awesome. I’m not sure she has much between the ears but she can fight. Very exciting second round. Cyborg landed 48 punches in the two rounds.
Winner: Chrisiane Cyborg by TKO (strikes) R2 2:48
Karyn Bryant interviews Gina Carano at ringside. Carano says she wants to fight Cyborg. Carano will be fighting on the next CBS show on October 4th.
Welterweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (20-4-1) vs. Nick Thompson (26-9-1)
This fight is for the vacant Elite XC Welterweight Championship. Nick Thompson is a law school graduate and will be taking the BAR exam in 2 days. Mauro puts over the Thompson has given Eddie Alvarez his only loss. Thompson is on a 12 fight win streak, Shields is on a 9 fight win streak. Shields is the hometown fighter in this fight. Thompson is announced as the Bodog Welterweight Title holder.
R1- Shields take the fight down quickly and gets full mount almost immediately. Nick slips out by Shields grabs a guillotine and finishes the fight quickly in impressive fashion. Great showing by Jake Shields.
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Karyn Bryant is at ringside with Kimbo Slice. Kimbo will be on the October show at Ft Lauderdale.
Lightweight Fight- Nick Diaz (17-7) vs. Thomas Denny (26-16)
This is definitely a showcase fight for Nick Diaz as Elite XC is just killing time before his showdown/re-match with KJ Noons. Thomas Denny looks like the MMA version of Jeff Hardy. Diaz is the hometown fighter in this fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage and a 4” height advantage.
R1- Denny comes out early and tries to take it to Diaz, who usually likes to start methodically from what I’ve seen. Denny got a take down but no damage. Denny goes for a take down but Diaz has his Denny’s arm. Diaz is going for the arm bar but losses it. Both guys are landing some pretty good shots. Denny is getting in a surprising amount of offense. Diaz starting to get more shots. Diaz is starting to find the range with the jab and Denny is trying to keep Diaz close by clinching him. Diaz hit a good stiff left that knocked Denny backwards and then he goes down and Diaz lands a couple of shots as he gets back to his feet. Diaz is landing more shots and Denny is clinching to try and hold on until round two. Denny almost looks out on his feet but he’s staying on his feet. Fans are on their feet. Really exciting close to the round. Diaz 10-9. Diaz landed 75 punches in the first round.
R2- Diaz landing some nice punches early in the round and Denny is wobbly. Diaz starting to play to the crowd and then peppers Denny. Denny just trying to cover up but this looks like the end for him. Denny finally goes down and Diaz hits a couple of well placed punches and the ref puts an end to this one. Good fight and a fantastic introduction of Nick Diaz to the casual viewers. They just made a very methodical fighter (not that this is a bad thing) seem like one of the most exciting fighters going today. Diaz landed 93 strikes in this fight, 91 punches in 5 minutes and 30 seconds.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30
Anderson Silva is in the crowd (he cornered Feijao on the Showtime portion of the card earlier) and Gus Johnson and Mauro Rannallo both put him over as the P4P best fighter in the world.
Middleweight Title Fight- Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)
Lawler has a 4” reach advantage. Lawler was winning the striking game in the last fight but it was pretty even when it was stopped. Both fighters are 15-4 with 1 no contest.
R1- Smith getting some leg kicks early. Lawler blocks a big high kick. They are starting to throw some punches now about 2 minutes into the fight. Lawler hits a roundhouse to the body and then blocks another roundhouse to his head from Smith. Lawler finding the range as he hits three punches in a row and Smith bounces off the fence a little wobbled. Lawler with a left kick and then a right hand and then another left kick and another right. Lawler misses a big leg kick and Smith comes back and pushes forward and hits a nice punch. Smith landing some strikes. Close round. If I had to pick I would go Lawler 10-9. Smith started to come back toward the end of the round to even it up towards the end.
R2- Lawler hits a body kick and then they clinch and Smith gets some nice shots in on Lawler. Lawler now backs Smith up against the cage and hits him with 2 or 3 really hard punches. Lawler is busted open. Lawler hitting Smith with body shots in a clinch. Lawler with some nice dirty boxing shots. Robbie Lawler is cut bad, Mauro comments that they had some plasma land near them. Lawler getting some knees and Smith gets buckled and is down to his knees. Smith gets back up but eats another knee and falls to the ground and Herb Dean stops the fight. Smith really got hurt by the knees to the body.
Good fight but not as exciting as the first one.
Winner: Robbie Lawler by TKO (strikes) R2 2:35
While this show didn’t have the star power of Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano (other than in the audience) I thought that this show featured better fights and was a better effort than the first CBS show. No doubt this will not do as well in the ratings but it was a good night of fights.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Elite XC: "Return of the King" 6/14 Re-Cap/Thoughts
Elite XC: Return of the King
They focus on the Main Event during the lead-in promo with KJ Noons vs. Yves Edwards. This show is named for KJ Noons who is returning to his home, Hawaii, to defend the lightweight title.
The card for tonight is:
Rafael Feijao – (205) vs. Wayne Cole – (204)
Dave “Pee Wee” Herman – (243 ½) vs. Ron Waterman – (263)
Murilo “Ninja” Rua – (184) vs. Tony Bonello – (185)
Nick Diaz – (169) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey – (163 ½)
EliteXC Lightweight World Title Match: KJ Noons ©– (160) vs. Yves Edwards – (158 ½)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Wayne Cole (11-6) vs. Rafael Feijao (5-1)
Wayne Cole was last seen on the Frank Shamrock/Cung Le card destroying Mike Kyle. Feijao has trained with Anderson Silva and Noguiera. This will be the first time I’ve seen Feijao fight. Looks like Anderson Silva is in Feijao’s corner, or someone who looks a lot like him. Maura Ranallo notes that Feijao’s lone loss was due to disqualification.
R1- They mix up at the beginning with both guys landing shots and then Rafael takes Cole down. Back to their feet and they clinch. Ranallo confirms that Anderson Silva is in Rafael’s corner. Rafael is hitting some knees. The ref stops the fight and tells Cole that he has five minutes, looks like he called a low blow. They come back and Rafael hits a couple of kicks and then they clinch again. Both guys are very quick and aggressive. Rafael separates from the clinch and hits a couple of nice punches. He goes for a knee but Cole grabs it so Rafael hits him with this other knee. Rafael with two more knees and Cole is down and in trouble. Rafael just nailing Cole with shots and the ref stops the fight. Rafael Feijao looked very impressive in victory in this fight.
Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (strikes) R1 2:47
Scott Smith joins Mauro Ranallo ringside and they show highlights from the CBS Saturday Night Fights show. Scott says his eye is fine and that his foot is also fine, he pulled some ligaments in it but he’s running on it now and he’s ready to fight. Says he and Lawler have some unfinished business to take care of. Smith says he needs to move around move during the next fight and not eat as much punishment (jabs). Ranallo announces that the re-match is coming up Saturday July 26th at 9PM on CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights. I definitely will tune in for this as I really liked their first fight.
Heavyweight Fight: Dave Herman (10-0) vs. Ron Waterman (15-5-2)
They hype Waterman as a “Jack of all Trades” and talk about some of the former jobs he’s had, they don’t mention WWE developmental wrestler. He’s 42 years old. Ranallo says that Cro Cop called Waterman the most powerful man he’s ever faced. Herman is hyped as an undefeated young prospect. Herman is 10-0 with 7 KOs and 3 Subs.
R1- Herman boxes around Waterman early but Waterman quickly takes him down. Waterman has Herman against the fence and is getting some Ground and Pound. They sprawl and Herman gets up but Waterman takes him down and Herman gets up again. Good job by Herman escaping with minimal punishment. Herman hits a Karate Kid kick right to Waterman’s face that just looked fantastic as it echoed when it hit. Waterman trying to take Herman down again and Herman is hitting him with some elbows, a couple of which are dangerously close to the back of the head. Herman hits a knee to the side and Herman is in full mount and Ground and Pounds Waterman until the ref stops the fight. Really impressive fight for Herman.
Winner: Dave Herman by TKO (strikes) R1 2:19
Two impressive victories by young fighters to start off this show as Herman and Feijao are both guys that I want to see more from.
Stephen Quadros interviews Yves Edwards backstage. They talk about Yves’ comeback and working with American Top Team and of course the fight tonight.
Middleweight Fight- Tony Bonnello (16-0-1) vs. Ninja Rua (15-8-1)
Bonnello is undefeated and he is looking to get the fight on the ground. Ninja says he’s never submitted and the only way he is leaving the cage is if he gets knocked out. Ninja is a former EliteXC Middleweight Champion but he lost to Robbie Lawler. This is Bonnello’s US TV debut. Bonnello looks pretty intense during the pre-fight ref talk. I think he was cussing at Rua during this as the ref was giving instructions.
R1- Bonnello aggressive early but Rua gets a take down. Ninja has side control. Ninja with some elbows and some shots to the side. Ninja hitting some nice elbows. Bonnello just getting dominated. Rua is just destroying this guy with elbows. Rua in the full mount now getting some Ground and Pound but then moves back to side mount where he was having more success. Rua is hitting more elbows. Rua hits a couple shots to the side. Rua puts his knee on Bonnello’s belly and starts hitting Bonnello with punches. Bonnello has no answer and the ref stops the fight. Rua just dominated this fight. Nice to see after the other guy was talking trash to him during the ref instructions. Domination. Great showing by Rua. The only things Bonnello showed was that he can take a punch, actually lots of punches.
Winner: Ninja Rua by TKO (strikes) R1 3:16
Post-Fight Rua says he wants his belt back. So we’ve got Smith/Lawler coming up and potentially Rua getting the winner of the fight.
Stephen Quadros is backstage with KJ Noons and they talk about the fight.
Catch weight (168 lbs) Fight- Nick Diaz (16-7-1) vs. Mushin Corbbrey (12-2)
Neither of these guys made weight for this fight. Nick Diaz just fought last month at the DREAM.3 fight. They say that Diaz went to a plastic surgeon after the Noons fight (which was stopped due to a Diaz cut) to get some scar tissue removed to try and correct the issue he’s had with cuts. Neither one of these guys made weight for the fight but the winner is going to be considered a leading candidate to fight the winner of Noons/Edwards for the lightweight belt. Makes perfect sense to me. Diaz missed weight by 9 pounds. Mushin is from Savannah, Georgia.
R1- Diaz goes for an early take down but comes up empty. Diaz has a noticeable reach advantage and hits a couple of jabs. Diaz hits a nice left hand. Both guys are hitting shots now. Diaz is hitting more clean shots but Mushin is hitting some knees and dirty boxing. Diaz hits a couple more nice shots. Mushin has some really quick punches and is able to land a good shot to Diaz but Diaz comes right back with jabs. This was a good first round with a lot of action. It was pretty even but Diaz controlled the fight more and landed more punches. Mushin started to come on towards the end of the round so it will be interesting to see who comes out and controls round 2. Diaz up 10-9 so far on my scorecard.
R2- Diaz trying to get a take down but he is denied again. Diaz is hitting some nice jabs and it looks like he is wearing Mushin down. Mushin getting in some counter punches but is still getting tagged by Diaz jabs. Diaz starting to hit some more punches and is talking trash and putting a little “show” in his game. Mushin hits a good counter punch. Diaz looks like he’s cut. Diaz goes for another take down but he still doesn’t get it. Diaz with more jabs and one of them catches Mushin off balance. Diaz gets a take down but there is only 15 seconds left. Diaz takes this round based on controlling the fight and landing more punches. Diaz’s jabs seem to be talking their toll on Mushin. Mushin is not out of this fight but he needs to finish to win. Diaz is up 20-18 on my scorecard.
R3- Diaz goes for a take down but is denied. Diaz hitting more jabs. Diaz gets a take down after a knee. Diaz moves from half guard to side control and is going after an arm submission. Diaz was going for a kimura, looks like he is going for an arm bar but Mushin escapes. Diaz pins him against the cage and is picking him off with shots against the cage now. Quadros compares this round to a spider and fly. Diaz moves very well to full mount, great move. Diaz is hitting Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight.
This was an enjoyable fight and Diaz looked really good. Diaz dominated the fight without dominating until Round 3. He just controlled the fight and did what he wanted except that he wasn’t able to get a take down that mattered until the third round. Corbbrey looks to have talented he was just outclassed by Diaz. I would like to see Corbbrey fight Edson Berto in the future. Nate Diaz was in Nick’s corner in a wife beater.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R3 3:59
Anderson Silva is shown again in the crowd watching the fights. They mention that he is considered to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Anderson mugs for the camera.
Elite XC hypes some upcoming shows:
July 26th on Showtime (must be the prelims for the CBS show)
July 26th on CBS at 9 PM- Lawler/Smith II
Lightweight Title Fight- KJ Noons © (5-1) vs. Yves Edwards (34-13-1)
R1- Noons comes out and hits an immediate kick and then they are going back and forth. Yves hits a good knee but then gets tagged and Noons is all over Edwards and is Ground and Pounding him and this one is over in 47 seconds. Wow, I thought Yves was going to take this one but KJ looked really strong in this one as he just exploded on Yves after Yves was knocked to the mat. On the replay Yves got caught with a punch right to the jaw and then Noons just jumped on him and went to town hitting a barrage of punches.
Winner: KJ Noons by TKO (strikes) R1 and still Elite XC Lightweight Champion
Post-Match they interview KJ and Yves. Yves says he got his ass whooped. Then they bring in Nick Diaz and we are about to go all Pro Wres in this bad boy! Diaz says let’s go and KJ lunges at Diaz and we get a pull apart as the Diaz boys rain on KJ’s parade. KJ’s dad almost getting into it with Nick. At least they are starting to sell their next big fights as they hyped Smith/Lawler II during this show and now we have Noons/Diaz II which looks promising.
Overall, this was a good solid show. A couple of quick fights with very good showings by Herman and Feijao. Ninja looked dominate in his fight. Diaz had a good fight and looked really good and KJ Noons dominated Yves Edwards.
They focus on the Main Event during the lead-in promo with KJ Noons vs. Yves Edwards. This show is named for KJ Noons who is returning to his home, Hawaii, to defend the lightweight title.
The card for tonight is:
Rafael Feijao – (205) vs. Wayne Cole – (204)
Dave “Pee Wee” Herman – (243 ½) vs. Ron Waterman – (263)
Murilo “Ninja” Rua – (184) vs. Tony Bonello – (185)
Nick Diaz – (169) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey – (163 ½)
EliteXC Lightweight World Title Match: KJ Noons ©– (160) vs. Yves Edwards – (158 ½)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Wayne Cole (11-6) vs. Rafael Feijao (5-1)
Wayne Cole was last seen on the Frank Shamrock/Cung Le card destroying Mike Kyle. Feijao has trained with Anderson Silva and Noguiera. This will be the first time I’ve seen Feijao fight. Looks like Anderson Silva is in Feijao’s corner, or someone who looks a lot like him. Maura Ranallo notes that Feijao’s lone loss was due to disqualification.
R1- They mix up at the beginning with both guys landing shots and then Rafael takes Cole down. Back to their feet and they clinch. Ranallo confirms that Anderson Silva is in Rafael’s corner. Rafael is hitting some knees. The ref stops the fight and tells Cole that he has five minutes, looks like he called a low blow. They come back and Rafael hits a couple of kicks and then they clinch again. Both guys are very quick and aggressive. Rafael separates from the clinch and hits a couple of nice punches. He goes for a knee but Cole grabs it so Rafael hits him with this other knee. Rafael with two more knees and Cole is down and in trouble. Rafael just nailing Cole with shots and the ref stops the fight. Rafael Feijao looked very impressive in victory in this fight.
Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (strikes) R1 2:47
Scott Smith joins Mauro Ranallo ringside and they show highlights from the CBS Saturday Night Fights show. Scott says his eye is fine and that his foot is also fine, he pulled some ligaments in it but he’s running on it now and he’s ready to fight. Says he and Lawler have some unfinished business to take care of. Smith says he needs to move around move during the next fight and not eat as much punishment (jabs). Ranallo announces that the re-match is coming up Saturday July 26th at 9PM on CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights. I definitely will tune in for this as I really liked their first fight.
Heavyweight Fight: Dave Herman (10-0) vs. Ron Waterman (15-5-2)
They hype Waterman as a “Jack of all Trades” and talk about some of the former jobs he’s had, they don’t mention WWE developmental wrestler. He’s 42 years old. Ranallo says that Cro Cop called Waterman the most powerful man he’s ever faced. Herman is hyped as an undefeated young prospect. Herman is 10-0 with 7 KOs and 3 Subs.
R1- Herman boxes around Waterman early but Waterman quickly takes him down. Waterman has Herman against the fence and is getting some Ground and Pound. They sprawl and Herman gets up but Waterman takes him down and Herman gets up again. Good job by Herman escaping with minimal punishment. Herman hits a Karate Kid kick right to Waterman’s face that just looked fantastic as it echoed when it hit. Waterman trying to take Herman down again and Herman is hitting him with some elbows, a couple of which are dangerously close to the back of the head. Herman hits a knee to the side and Herman is in full mount and Ground and Pounds Waterman until the ref stops the fight. Really impressive fight for Herman.
Winner: Dave Herman by TKO (strikes) R1 2:19
Two impressive victories by young fighters to start off this show as Herman and Feijao are both guys that I want to see more from.
Stephen Quadros interviews Yves Edwards backstage. They talk about Yves’ comeback and working with American Top Team and of course the fight tonight.
Middleweight Fight- Tony Bonnello (16-0-1) vs. Ninja Rua (15-8-1)
Bonnello is undefeated and he is looking to get the fight on the ground. Ninja says he’s never submitted and the only way he is leaving the cage is if he gets knocked out. Ninja is a former EliteXC Middleweight Champion but he lost to Robbie Lawler. This is Bonnello’s US TV debut. Bonnello looks pretty intense during the pre-fight ref talk. I think he was cussing at Rua during this as the ref was giving instructions.
R1- Bonnello aggressive early but Rua gets a take down. Ninja has side control. Ninja with some elbows and some shots to the side. Ninja hitting some nice elbows. Bonnello just getting dominated. Rua is just destroying this guy with elbows. Rua in the full mount now getting some Ground and Pound but then moves back to side mount where he was having more success. Rua is hitting more elbows. Rua hits a couple shots to the side. Rua puts his knee on Bonnello’s belly and starts hitting Bonnello with punches. Bonnello has no answer and the ref stops the fight. Rua just dominated this fight. Nice to see after the other guy was talking trash to him during the ref instructions. Domination. Great showing by Rua. The only things Bonnello showed was that he can take a punch, actually lots of punches.
Winner: Ninja Rua by TKO (strikes) R1 3:16
Post-Fight Rua says he wants his belt back. So we’ve got Smith/Lawler coming up and potentially Rua getting the winner of the fight.
Stephen Quadros is backstage with KJ Noons and they talk about the fight.
Catch weight (168 lbs) Fight- Nick Diaz (16-7-1) vs. Mushin Corbbrey (12-2)
Neither of these guys made weight for this fight. Nick Diaz just fought last month at the DREAM.3 fight. They say that Diaz went to a plastic surgeon after the Noons fight (which was stopped due to a Diaz cut) to get some scar tissue removed to try and correct the issue he’s had with cuts. Neither one of these guys made weight for the fight but the winner is going to be considered a leading candidate to fight the winner of Noons/Edwards for the lightweight belt. Makes perfect sense to me. Diaz missed weight by 9 pounds. Mushin is from Savannah, Georgia.
R1- Diaz goes for an early take down but comes up empty. Diaz has a noticeable reach advantage and hits a couple of jabs. Diaz hits a nice left hand. Both guys are hitting shots now. Diaz is hitting more clean shots but Mushin is hitting some knees and dirty boxing. Diaz hits a couple more nice shots. Mushin has some really quick punches and is able to land a good shot to Diaz but Diaz comes right back with jabs. This was a good first round with a lot of action. It was pretty even but Diaz controlled the fight more and landed more punches. Mushin started to come on towards the end of the round so it will be interesting to see who comes out and controls round 2. Diaz up 10-9 so far on my scorecard.
R2- Diaz trying to get a take down but he is denied again. Diaz is hitting some nice jabs and it looks like he is wearing Mushin down. Mushin getting in some counter punches but is still getting tagged by Diaz jabs. Diaz starting to hit some more punches and is talking trash and putting a little “show” in his game. Mushin hits a good counter punch. Diaz looks like he’s cut. Diaz goes for another take down but he still doesn’t get it. Diaz with more jabs and one of them catches Mushin off balance. Diaz gets a take down but there is only 15 seconds left. Diaz takes this round based on controlling the fight and landing more punches. Diaz’s jabs seem to be talking their toll on Mushin. Mushin is not out of this fight but he needs to finish to win. Diaz is up 20-18 on my scorecard.
R3- Diaz goes for a take down but is denied. Diaz hitting more jabs. Diaz gets a take down after a knee. Diaz moves from half guard to side control and is going after an arm submission. Diaz was going for a kimura, looks like he is going for an arm bar but Mushin escapes. Diaz pins him against the cage and is picking him off with shots against the cage now. Quadros compares this round to a spider and fly. Diaz moves very well to full mount, great move. Diaz is hitting Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight.
This was an enjoyable fight and Diaz looked really good. Diaz dominated the fight without dominating until Round 3. He just controlled the fight and did what he wanted except that he wasn’t able to get a take down that mattered until the third round. Corbbrey looks to have talented he was just outclassed by Diaz. I would like to see Corbbrey fight Edson Berto in the future. Nate Diaz was in Nick’s corner in a wife beater.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R3 3:59
Anderson Silva is shown again in the crowd watching the fights. They mention that he is considered to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Anderson mugs for the camera.
Elite XC hypes some upcoming shows:
July 26th on Showtime (must be the prelims for the CBS show)
July 26th on CBS at 9 PM- Lawler/Smith II
Lightweight Title Fight- KJ Noons © (5-1) vs. Yves Edwards (34-13-1)
R1- Noons comes out and hits an immediate kick and then they are going back and forth. Yves hits a good knee but then gets tagged and Noons is all over Edwards and is Ground and Pounding him and this one is over in 47 seconds. Wow, I thought Yves was going to take this one but KJ looked really strong in this one as he just exploded on Yves after Yves was knocked to the mat. On the replay Yves got caught with a punch right to the jaw and then Noons just jumped on him and went to town hitting a barrage of punches.
Winner: KJ Noons by TKO (strikes) R1 and still Elite XC Lightweight Champion
Post-Match they interview KJ and Yves. Yves says he got his ass whooped. Then they bring in Nick Diaz and we are about to go all Pro Wres in this bad boy! Diaz says let’s go and KJ lunges at Diaz and we get a pull apart as the Diaz boys rain on KJ’s parade. KJ’s dad almost getting into it with Nick. At least they are starting to sell their next big fights as they hyped Smith/Lawler II during this show and now we have Noons/Diaz II which looks promising.
Overall, this was a good solid show. A couple of quick fights with very good showings by Herman and Feijao. Ninja looked dominate in his fight. Diaz had a good fight and looked really good and KJ Noons dominated Yves Edwards.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
DREAM.3 5/11/08 Re-Cap/Thoughts
DREAM.3 5.11.08
We are about 35 minutes in and awaiting the first match.
Featherweight Fight- Takeshi Yamazaki (13-7-2) vs. Shoji Maruyama (6-2-1)
R1- Shoji goes after Takeshi to start off with but Takeshi wraps him up. Takeshi's got him in full mount and is hitting him with some strikes. They briefly get back to their feet and then Takeshi takes him down again. Shoji gets some good punches from the back but Takeshi is overall controlling this fight. Back to their feet but this time Shoji gets the take down but it's quickly reversed. Takeshi has full mount. They stand up but quickly tie up again. Takeshi looking for another take down. Takeshi again gets the take down.They do some sprawling. Takeshi grabs an arm bar but Shoji some how twists and gets out and then delivers some punches as the round ends. REALLY boring first nine minutes. The last minute picked up and actually had some action. I almost thought that my least favorite fighter in the world, Shinya Aoki, was involved but he wasn't. He must have trained Takeshi Yamazaki.
R2- Shoji starts the second round (in DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes) with a take down but quickly losses his position. They stand back up and Takeshi quickly takes him back down but Shoji then reverses and lands a couple of nice punches but then they tie up again. Takeshi has pretty much done no damage in this fight but has controlled the majority of it. And the fight limps to an end. Just a really, really boring fight. Takeshi just hugged his way to a Shinya Aoki like victory in this one. Man, DREAM has some really really boring fights sometimes. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Winner: Takeshi Yamazaki by Decision (Unanimous)
They are really pushing Jason "Mayhem" Miller. They had a 10 minute video package of him before the show started and are now cutting to another hype video for him. I'm almost expecting a "Blood Runs Cold" promo and him to come out in Glacier like attire for the fight. That being said, i'd rather watch his promos than that first fight again. Man, that was just brutal. 60 minutes in and only one fight down. One really, really boring fight.
Middleweight Tournament Round 1:
Jason Miller (20-5) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-3)
Shibata is formerly of New Japan Pro Wrestling but I thought he was a lot heavier as he's fighting here at 185. Shibata runs down to the ring eager to fight. Shibata has lost his last three fights. Mayhem comes in looking like a member of the Beastie Boys or 3rd Bass.
R1- Right off the bat they are throwing and in the first 15 seconds we have more excitement than in almost all of the previous fight. Miller goes to slam Shibata and does but then gets caught with a couple of kicks. Miller really showboats early, basically not taking Shibata seriously and really outright disrespecting him. After he ate a couple of the kicks he straightened up though. Miller is in full mount now and Miller looks up at the camera like a jackass and then hits some punches. Man, this Miller guy really rubs me the wrong way. Seems like he has all the skills. He's just a jackass. Miller trying to get an armbar but Shibata survives and Miller is back to the mount. Miller gets some freedom and hits Shibata with a couple of hard punches to the face. Miller nails Shibata with a knee to the face. Miller now getting in some short punches to the face. Miller is dominating this fight so far. Miller with a lot of punches to the face and the fight is called.
Miller's actual fighting was impressive. I wasn't too impressed with his sportsmanship though. I'm all for someone who wants to showboat (see: Frank Shamrock) but a guy who is a HUGE favorite in the match just showboating to disrespect his opponent just shows that the guy is a pure jackass. Post-Match Jason Miller gets on the mic and thanks Shibata- yeah whatever. Actions speak louder than words. Miller is a douche.
Winner: Jason Miller by TKO (punches)
Middleweight Tournament Reserve Fight:
Melvin Manhoef 20-4-1 vs. Dae Won Kim (4-3)
Manhoef has 19 of his 20 wins by KO or TKO so this should be interesting. Looks like this is for the right to be in the Middleweight tournament IF someone is not able to continue on after winning.
R1- A couple of minutes in they start exchanging really good and Kim actually looks like he's getting the better of the exchanges and then he takes Melvin down and gets side control. Melvin reverses and is on top and drills Kim with a couple of punches and a knee to the back/side of the head and wins the fight.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO R1 4:08
Non-Tournament Lightweight Fight:
Bu Kyung Jung (0-2) vs. Daisuke Nakamura (13-9)
Nakamura controls the fight early by being on top and then getting another take down and getting on top again. This is a real ground oriented fight with Nakamura controlling. Kind of boring )I think the word "sterile" might be better. A lot of DREAM fights just feel "sterile") first round. Nakamura in control so far.
R2- In round 2 Nakamura drops Jung with a punch and it's over.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by KO R2
Welterweight Champion Eliminator:
Nick Diaz (15-7) vs. 16-5-3 Katsuya Inoue (16-5-3)
They play the Beck song "Loser" as they show these guys stats on the screen and talk about the upcoming fight.
R1- Diaz takes it to Inoue early. Diaz kind of stalking Inoue down throughout the ring and controlling the pace early on. Diaz is looking really good early in this fight. He's pushing the pace more than in some of the previous fights i've seen him in. Diaz gets a take down and Inoue is busted open as he has blood in his nose/mouth area. They get back to their feet quickly and the ref stops the fight to check the cut. They stop the fight again when Diaz is called for an illegal kick with Inoue in the ropes but he doesn't appear to be penalized. Back to the action and they are both throwing pretty good at one another. Diaz is landing some nice shots and looked to be out on his feet and Inoue's corner throws in the towel. Nice showing by Diaz.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Corner Submission) R1
They review the Final 8 Middleweights left in the tournament:
Gegard Mousasi
Ronald Souza
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kiyoshi Tamura
Taiei Kin
Dong Sik Yoon
Zelg Galesic
Jason Miller
They review the Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal match-ups:
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim Hansen
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Firmino
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Tatsuya Kawajiri (21-4-2) vs. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (12-3)
R1- Kawajiri takes him down and is getting some shots and and the crowd is behind him. He's controlling the ground game early. Kawajiri is starting to open up about half way through the first round and is landing some good shots. They exchange on their feet and Kawajiri knocks him down and hits him with a knee. First round goes to Kawajiri as he's controlling the fight so far and looked like he had the opportunity to finish Buscape around the middle of the round but then they went to the mat and Buscape recovered.
R2- Kawjiri takes him down early in R2. Kawajiri landing some ground and pound on Buscape. Kawajiri just dominating this round. Somehow Buscape gets Kawajiri's back with about a minute and half left.
One thing that I really dislike about DREAM is that they aren't showing the time left in the round anywhere on the screen. I don't remember them doing this on the previous shows. Kawajiri turns it back over and gets some shots in at the bell. Kawajiri rolled in this one and definitely will be advancing.
I've liked what i've seen of Kawajiri in the two fights i've seen him in with DREAM but he hasn't shown finishing power as he hasn't finished either of his two fights in this tournament.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2: Joachim Hansen (17-6-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (13-1)
This is the fight that I'm most looking forward to seeing on the show as I was impressed with both guys on DREAM.1. Hansen was real solid in his fight although he didn't finish and Alvarez looked very impressive in his win.
R1- Alvarez pops Hansen early and Hansen hits the floor. Alvarez jumps on top and Hansen defends really well and recovers. Back to their feet and Alvarez hitting some jabs and shots. Alvarez just dominating Hansen on their feet and Hansen grabs Alvarez and pulls him into his guard. They stand back up and both guys are mixing now, Hansen hits a knee to the body. Both guys mixing it up. Hansen goes for a knee and Alvarez grabs it and floors him but then stands back up as he'd rather fight standing up right now. Alvarez nails Hansen and he crumples again but Alvarez lets him recover. Alvarez takes Hansen down again. Alvarez with some light Ground and Pound. Alvarez looks like his nose is busted, Hansen is cut as well. Alvarez muscles Hansen down with another take down and lands a couple of shots and then stands back up. They mix it up on their feet and Alvarez grabs and slams Hansen. Alvarez is looking really good so far. Hansen tries a take down but is denied. They mix it up really well in the last 30 seconds of the round. Alvarez definitely took R1 and is ahead by a good bit in my book. Hansen really needs to come out and dominate R2 if he wants to win.
R2- Hansen takes Alvarez down early but he gets back to his feet. Hansen has him in a guillotine type move but doesn't have it tight. Alvarez pops his head out and is on top in Hansen's guard. Hansen rolls over and is now on top and getting some Ground and Pound in. Hansen has Alvarez in a triangle type move but Alvarez again slips out and gets a couple of punches in. Back to their feet and Alvarez lands a couple of punches. Both guys mixing it up. Alvarez takes Hansen's back but doesn't do anything with it. Hansen going for a lot of submission in this round and almost gets an armbar but Alvarez slips out again. Hansen with a couple of knees and then lays down on his back. Alvarez with a couple of leg kicks. Alvarez lands some punches against the ropes. Alvarez lands a kick at the end.
This was a really good fight. Definitely the best DREAM fight to this point. Alvarez wins this by clearly winning the first 10 minute round and then they were very even in Round 2 and Alvarez finished strong.
Winner: Eddie Alvarez by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Caol Uno (24-10-4) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1)
R1- Lots of stand up and little action early. And their is a low blow and Caol Uno gets 5 minutes to recover from Ishida kicking him right where it counts. They start to mix it up when they come back and have some really nice sprawling. Ishida's face is all busted up (looks like his nose) and they stop to take a look at it. They show a replay and Uno nailed him with a nice punch on the side of the temple and then later right on the side of the nose. Both guys really throwing at one another. They are in the corner and really throwing at one other. Ishida finally takes down Uno. Ishida gets another take down but doesn't seem to be doing much with them. Ishida gets in position for a Rear Naked Choke but isn't able to get it clamped on. Both announcers say Uno took this first round. It was really close, Ishida started to control later in the round and seems to have the momentum going into R2.
R2- Ishida takes Uno's back fairly early in R2 and Uno taps out.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:39
Overall, this was a ho-hum show. I really enjoyed the last two fights (Uno/Ishida and Alvarez/Hansen). The mid-card was decent (with Nick Diaz being the highlight) and there were a couple of what seems to be a DREAM trademark of just stale fights where one guy just latches onto the other guy for 15 minutes and rides his opponent to victory without trying for damage or a submission. I like some of the fighters in DREAM and they put on some good fights but their overall shows come off as very sterile.
We are about 35 minutes in and awaiting the first match.
Featherweight Fight- Takeshi Yamazaki (13-7-2) vs. Shoji Maruyama (6-2-1)
R1- Shoji goes after Takeshi to start off with but Takeshi wraps him up. Takeshi's got him in full mount and is hitting him with some strikes. They briefly get back to their feet and then Takeshi takes him down again. Shoji gets some good punches from the back but Takeshi is overall controlling this fight. Back to their feet but this time Shoji gets the take down but it's quickly reversed. Takeshi has full mount. They stand up but quickly tie up again. Takeshi looking for another take down. Takeshi again gets the take down.They do some sprawling. Takeshi grabs an arm bar but Shoji some how twists and gets out and then delivers some punches as the round ends. REALLY boring first nine minutes. The last minute picked up and actually had some action. I almost thought that my least favorite fighter in the world, Shinya Aoki, was involved but he wasn't. He must have trained Takeshi Yamazaki.
R2- Shoji starts the second round (in DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes) with a take down but quickly losses his position. They stand back up and Takeshi quickly takes him back down but Shoji then reverses and lands a couple of nice punches but then they tie up again. Takeshi has pretty much done no damage in this fight but has controlled the majority of it. And the fight limps to an end. Just a really, really boring fight. Takeshi just hugged his way to a Shinya Aoki like victory in this one. Man, DREAM has some really really boring fights sometimes. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Winner: Takeshi Yamazaki by Decision (Unanimous)
They are really pushing Jason "Mayhem" Miller. They had a 10 minute video package of him before the show started and are now cutting to another hype video for him. I'm almost expecting a "Blood Runs Cold" promo and him to come out in Glacier like attire for the fight. That being said, i'd rather watch his promos than that first fight again. Man, that was just brutal. 60 minutes in and only one fight down. One really, really boring fight.
Middleweight Tournament Round 1:
Jason Miller (20-5) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-3)
Shibata is formerly of New Japan Pro Wrestling but I thought he was a lot heavier as he's fighting here at 185. Shibata runs down to the ring eager to fight. Shibata has lost his last three fights. Mayhem comes in looking like a member of the Beastie Boys or 3rd Bass.
R1- Right off the bat they are throwing and in the first 15 seconds we have more excitement than in almost all of the previous fight. Miller goes to slam Shibata and does but then gets caught with a couple of kicks. Miller really showboats early, basically not taking Shibata seriously and really outright disrespecting him. After he ate a couple of the kicks he straightened up though. Miller is in full mount now and Miller looks up at the camera like a jackass and then hits some punches. Man, this Miller guy really rubs me the wrong way. Seems like he has all the skills. He's just a jackass. Miller trying to get an armbar but Shibata survives and Miller is back to the mount. Miller gets some freedom and hits Shibata with a couple of hard punches to the face. Miller nails Shibata with a knee to the face. Miller now getting in some short punches to the face. Miller is dominating this fight so far. Miller with a lot of punches to the face and the fight is called.
Miller's actual fighting was impressive. I wasn't too impressed with his sportsmanship though. I'm all for someone who wants to showboat (see: Frank Shamrock) but a guy who is a HUGE favorite in the match just showboating to disrespect his opponent just shows that the guy is a pure jackass. Post-Match Jason Miller gets on the mic and thanks Shibata- yeah whatever. Actions speak louder than words. Miller is a douche.
Winner: Jason Miller by TKO (punches)
Middleweight Tournament Reserve Fight:
Melvin Manhoef 20-4-1 vs. Dae Won Kim (4-3)
Manhoef has 19 of his 20 wins by KO or TKO so this should be interesting. Looks like this is for the right to be in the Middleweight tournament IF someone is not able to continue on after winning.
R1- A couple of minutes in they start exchanging really good and Kim actually looks like he's getting the better of the exchanges and then he takes Melvin down and gets side control. Melvin reverses and is on top and drills Kim with a couple of punches and a knee to the back/side of the head and wins the fight.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO R1 4:08
Non-Tournament Lightweight Fight:
Bu Kyung Jung (0-2) vs. Daisuke Nakamura (13-9)
Nakamura controls the fight early by being on top and then getting another take down and getting on top again. This is a real ground oriented fight with Nakamura controlling. Kind of boring )I think the word "sterile" might be better. A lot of DREAM fights just feel "sterile") first round. Nakamura in control so far.
R2- In round 2 Nakamura drops Jung with a punch and it's over.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by KO R2
Welterweight Champion Eliminator:
Nick Diaz (15-7) vs. 16-5-3 Katsuya Inoue (16-5-3)
They play the Beck song "Loser" as they show these guys stats on the screen and talk about the upcoming fight.
R1- Diaz takes it to Inoue early. Diaz kind of stalking Inoue down throughout the ring and controlling the pace early on. Diaz is looking really good early in this fight. He's pushing the pace more than in some of the previous fights i've seen him in. Diaz gets a take down and Inoue is busted open as he has blood in his nose/mouth area. They get back to their feet quickly and the ref stops the fight to check the cut. They stop the fight again when Diaz is called for an illegal kick with Inoue in the ropes but he doesn't appear to be penalized. Back to the action and they are both throwing pretty good at one another. Diaz is landing some nice shots and looked to be out on his feet and Inoue's corner throws in the towel. Nice showing by Diaz.
Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Corner Submission) R1
They review the Final 8 Middleweights left in the tournament:
Gegard Mousasi
Ronald Souza
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kiyoshi Tamura
Taiei Kin
Dong Sik Yoon
Zelg Galesic
Jason Miller
They review the Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal match-ups:
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim Hansen
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Firmino
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Tatsuya Kawajiri (21-4-2) vs. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (12-3)
R1- Kawajiri takes him down and is getting some shots and and the crowd is behind him. He's controlling the ground game early. Kawajiri is starting to open up about half way through the first round and is landing some good shots. They exchange on their feet and Kawajiri knocks him down and hits him with a knee. First round goes to Kawajiri as he's controlling the fight so far and looked like he had the opportunity to finish Buscape around the middle of the round but then they went to the mat and Buscape recovered.
R2- Kawjiri takes him down early in R2. Kawajiri landing some ground and pound on Buscape. Kawajiri just dominating this round. Somehow Buscape gets Kawajiri's back with about a minute and half left.
One thing that I really dislike about DREAM is that they aren't showing the time left in the round anywhere on the screen. I don't remember them doing this on the previous shows. Kawajiri turns it back over and gets some shots in at the bell. Kawajiri rolled in this one and definitely will be advancing.
I've liked what i've seen of Kawajiri in the two fights i've seen him in with DREAM but he hasn't shown finishing power as he hasn't finished either of his two fights in this tournament.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2: Joachim Hansen (17-6-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (13-1)
This is the fight that I'm most looking forward to seeing on the show as I was impressed with both guys on DREAM.1. Hansen was real solid in his fight although he didn't finish and Alvarez looked very impressive in his win.
R1- Alvarez pops Hansen early and Hansen hits the floor. Alvarez jumps on top and Hansen defends really well and recovers. Back to their feet and Alvarez hitting some jabs and shots. Alvarez just dominating Hansen on their feet and Hansen grabs Alvarez and pulls him into his guard. They stand back up and both guys are mixing now, Hansen hits a knee to the body. Both guys mixing it up. Hansen goes for a knee and Alvarez grabs it and floors him but then stands back up as he'd rather fight standing up right now. Alvarez nails Hansen and he crumples again but Alvarez lets him recover. Alvarez takes Hansen down again. Alvarez with some light Ground and Pound. Alvarez looks like his nose is busted, Hansen is cut as well. Alvarez muscles Hansen down with another take down and lands a couple of shots and then stands back up. They mix it up on their feet and Alvarez grabs and slams Hansen. Alvarez is looking really good so far. Hansen tries a take down but is denied. They mix it up really well in the last 30 seconds of the round. Alvarez definitely took R1 and is ahead by a good bit in my book. Hansen really needs to come out and dominate R2 if he wants to win.
R2- Hansen takes Alvarez down early but he gets back to his feet. Hansen has him in a guillotine type move but doesn't have it tight. Alvarez pops his head out and is on top in Hansen's guard. Hansen rolls over and is now on top and getting some Ground and Pound in. Hansen has Alvarez in a triangle type move but Alvarez again slips out and gets a couple of punches in. Back to their feet and Alvarez lands a couple of punches. Both guys mixing it up. Alvarez takes Hansen's back but doesn't do anything with it. Hansen going for a lot of submission in this round and almost gets an armbar but Alvarez slips out again. Hansen with a couple of knees and then lays down on his back. Alvarez with a couple of leg kicks. Alvarez lands some punches against the ropes. Alvarez lands a kick at the end.
This was a really good fight. Definitely the best DREAM fight to this point. Alvarez wins this by clearly winning the first 10 minute round and then they were very even in Round 2 and Alvarez finished strong.
Winner: Eddie Alvarez by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Caol Uno (24-10-4) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1)
R1- Lots of stand up and little action early. And their is a low blow and Caol Uno gets 5 minutes to recover from Ishida kicking him right where it counts. They start to mix it up when they come back and have some really nice sprawling. Ishida's face is all busted up (looks like his nose) and they stop to take a look at it. They show a replay and Uno nailed him with a nice punch on the side of the temple and then later right on the side of the nose. Both guys really throwing at one another. They are in the corner and really throwing at one other. Ishida finally takes down Uno. Ishida gets another take down but doesn't seem to be doing much with them. Ishida gets in position for a Rear Naked Choke but isn't able to get it clamped on. Both announcers say Uno took this first round. It was really close, Ishida started to control later in the round and seems to have the momentum going into R2.
R2- Ishida takes Uno's back fairly early in R2 and Uno taps out.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:39
Overall, this was a ho-hum show. I really enjoyed the last two fights (Uno/Ishida and Alvarez/Hansen). The mid-card was decent (with Nick Diaz being the highlight) and there were a couple of what seems to be a DREAM trademark of just stale fights where one guy just latches onto the other guy for 15 minutes and rides his opponent to victory without trying for damage or a submission. I like some of the fighters in DREAM and they put on some good fights but their overall shows come off as very sterile.
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