UFC Fight Night 18 4/1/09 Preliminary Fights Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night 18 Prelims
April 1, 2009
Nashville, Tn

Middleweight Fight- Ricardo Almeida (9-3) vs. Matt Horwich (24-10-1)

R1- Kind of a blah first round until the end when Almeida took Horwich down with a guillotine and then Horwich came up with a heel hook. Pretty close first round.

R2- Almeida really dominates the first part of this round by taking Horwich’s guard and then getting in some good Ground and Pound. Almeida really dominated this entire round.

R3- Almeida gets two take downs in the first part of this round and continued to dominate Horwich in this round. Almedia wins this fight via unanimous decision.

All 3 judges scored the fight 30-27.

Winner: Ricardo Almeida by Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Fight- Tim Credeur (12-4) vs. Nick Catone (7-0)

Credeur has a 2.5” reach and 3” height advantage in this fight. Tim looked really good in his dismantling of undefeated Nate Loughran at the Fight for the Troops back in December. Let’s see if he can beat his second undefeated fighter in a row.

R1- Catone got a take down early but Credeur grabbed an arm bar from the bottom but couldn’t fully lock it in and Catone returned to Credeur’s guard. Credeur grabs a heel hook but couldn’t hold on to that one either. Credeur also got a near kimura. Catone has had octagon control in this round but Credeur has almost finished the fight several times so far and landed another near arm bar towards the end of the round. Credeur 10-9.

R2- Catone got a take down and Credeur again looked for submissions and ended with a guillotine victory. Credeur looked really good for the second straight fight.

Winner: Tim Credeur by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 3:45

Middleweight Fight- Rob Kimmons (21-4) vs. Joe Vedepo (9-2)

R1- Lots of action early and Kimmons connected with a couple of punches. Both guys have been opened up. Kimmons catches Vedepo in a guillotine choke and Vedepo passes out in the submission.

Winner: Rob Kimmons by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:54

Welterweight Fight- Brock Larson (25-2) vs. Jesse Sanders (21-4)

Sanders has a 4” reach advantage. Brock Larson most recently fought for WEC and just destroyed Carlo Prater in their fight back in August of 2008.

R1- Larson got a take down within the first minute of the fight and then took Sanders back. Larson hit some good shots to the side of the head of Sanders. Larson is just destroying Sanders and locks in the Rear Naked Choke and submits him.

Larson looked awesome in this fight. It was his first UFC appearance since 2006 and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in UFC. He has really looked good in his last two fights.

Winner: Brock Larson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 2:01

Middleweight Fight- Tim McKenzie (12-5) vs. Aaron Simpson (4-0)

Simpson is another guy that is coming over from WEC. In Simpson’s last fight in WEC in November of 2008 he decimated David Avellan in 18 seconds with a right handed knockout reel punch. McKenzie has a green Mohawk. Simpson trains at Arizona Combat Sports.

R1- Lots of action early in this one as Simpson grabbed a clinch and hit a couple of shot and then took McKenzie down. Simpson got in a couple of shots before McKenzie got up. Simpson hit McKenzie with a good shot and he went down and then Simpson landed some Ground and Pound. Mario Yamazaki stepped in and stopped the fight earlier then he should have but Simpson looked great.

Winner: Aaron Simpson by TKO (punches) R1 1:40

Middleweight Fight- Jorge Rivera (15-7) vs. Nissen Osterneck (5-1)

It looks like it’s WEC night tonight as Osterneck is another WEC fighter debuting on this show. He last fought on WEC 36 and lost to Jake Rosholt by second round TKO but put on a good fight. This is Rivera’s first fight since the loss of his daughter.

R1- Osterneck got a take down to start the fight but Jorge swept him over and they stood back up. Rivera got a take down and almost fell victim to a triangle but maintained the dominant position and landed some punches but Nissen got back to his feet. Pretty even first round.

R2- Lots of clinching and pretty even fight until Rivera nailed a big right hand near the one minute mark and fell into Nissen’s guard. Rivera takes this round.

R3- Both guys are really tired in this round. Not a real exciting round

Judges score cards are: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28- split decision for Rivera.

Winner: Jorge Rivera by Decision (Split)

Catchweight Fight- Gleison Tibau (28-5) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-4)

This should have been a lightweight fight but both guys missed weight with Tibau weighing in at 156.5 and Stephens at 158. Hermes Franca is in Stephens’ corner.

R1- Tibau fought for a take down the entire first round and finally got one with a minute and a half left. Tibau then went for an arm triangle but couldn’t clamp it on. Tibau 10-9 after one round.

R2- Tibau got a take down about a minute and a half into this round. With about a minute left Tibau went for the arm triangle again but couldn’t get it. He ended up getting it clinched it but not tight enough to tap Stephens as he held on until the bell sounded. Tibau 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Tibau got a take down about half way through the round after avoiding some bombs from Stephens. Stephens grabbed a clinch in the last minute and tried some jumping knees but got take down again. Tibau will win this fight 30-27.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28

Winner: Gleison Tibau by Decision (Unanimous)

WEC 36: "Faber vs Brown" 11/5/08

WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown- 11/5/08

This looks like a real good show with Faber/Brown, Filho/Sonnen, Garcia/Pulver and Rosholt and Cerrone on the show. Paulo Filho failed to make weight so this will not be a title fight. Kind of a weird situation where the champ didn’t make weight.


Middleweight Fight- Jake Rosholt (4-0) vs. Nissen Osterneck (5-0)

Rosholt was one of the fighters showcased on the last season of Tapout and he looked very impressive in his fight on that show if my memory serves correct. This is the WEC debut of both fighters and they are both undefeated so far in their professional careers.

R1- Nissen charges early and hit some punches but Jake recovers and slams Nissen to the mat and takes side control. Rosholt threw some punches but then almost got caught in an arm bar and Nissen got back to his feet and delivered some more punches to Rosholt. Nissen is landing some good punches and shots. Rosholt got another take down and again landed some good punches. Rosholt hit a bunch of punches towards the end of the round but Nissen held on as Rosholt attempted a choke at the end of the round. Very good first round. Rosholt owned the fight when it was on the ground and Nissen controlled when it was on the feet. Rosholt 10-9 in my book as he controlled more of the round.

R2- Rosholt went for a take down early but Nissen grabbed a kimura and took the advantage. Jake escaped and took half guard. They got back to their feet and Nissen hit a bunch of good solid shots. Then he went for a spinning back fist and missed and Rosholt took him down and mounted him. Great chin by Rosholt. Rosholt finished him as Nissen just burnt himself out and then Rosholt took advantage.

Really good fight and good showing by Rosholt as he controlled when on the ground and took a bunch of shots. Rosholt showed a really good shin and good conditioning. Rosholt needs a lot of work on his stand up- specifically his defense.

Winner: Jake Rosholt by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:48

Hermes Franca, Miguel Torres, Jamie Varner and Carlos Conduit are all at the show tonight in attendance.

Featherweight Fight- Leonard Garcia (15-3) vs. Jens Pulver (22-9-1)

On paper this looks like the most exciting fight of the night. Jens gets a good response from the fans.

R1- Jens hits a couple of shots early. Garcia answers about a minute into the round and rocks Pulver against the cage. Jens is down and Garcia is nailing him and Garcia gets a quick victory. Very impressive showing for Garcia and it looks like he steps right up in line to face the winner of Faber/Brown.

Winner: Leonard Garcia by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:12

Middleweight Fight- David Avellan (2-0) vs. Aaron Simpson (3-0)

Both of these guys are undefeated.

R1- Aaron Simpson just levels Avellan with a fantastic right hand and knocked Avellan out right at the beginning of the fight. That was a highlight reel knockout.

Winner: Aaron Simpson by KO R1 0:18


NON-TITLE- Middleweight Fight- Paulo Filho (16-0) vs. Chael Sonnen (22-9-1)

Filho is one of the top ranked Middleweight fighters in the world being ranked as high as #2 behind Anderson Silva in some of the rankings. Filho did not make weight. Sonnen gets a good response from the fans. Filho gets a round of boos upon his introduction.

R1- Filho grabs a single leg and fights hard for a take down but Sonnen does a good job of denying. Filho slips going for a punch but stays on his back seeing if Sonnen wants to come down and fight him on the ground. Filho pretty much spends the whole round on his back trying to catch Sonnen with a submission. Round One is slow paced and Sonnen is up 10-9.

R2- Filho missed on a single leg and Sonnen got a take down about one minute into the round but then quickly gave up his position. Sonnen gave Filho a good leg kick when he tried to shoot. Sonnen got a slam in when Filho tried to pull guard. Filho started to get in some offense towards the end of the round but right now it’s Sonnen 20-18.

R3- This is Sonnen’s fight to lose. Sonnen using the jab to keep Filho away. Filho looking like he doesn’t even want to be in the cage tonight. What a boring fight. Filho is just doing and trying to do nothing.

Sonnen is going to win this dud of a fight 30-27. Filho definitely didn’t live up to his hype. Not really looking forward to the re-match for the title either.

All three judges score the fight 30-27

Winner: Chael Sonnen by Decision (Unanimous)

WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Urijah Faber (21-1) © vs. Mike Brown (19-4)

Brown is from Florida so he gets a good reaction from the crowd.

R1- Faber lands some punches early. Brown muscled Faber against the cage and tried for a take down but Faber caught him in a clinch and delivered a big knee. Faber hit a jab and then Brown took Faber down and Faber popped right back up. Faber went for an elbow but got caught with a good clean punch from Brown and knocked down. Brown is just nailing Faber on the ground and this one is in danger of being stopped and the ref stops the fight. Wow. Really good, short fight. Would like to see a re-match as Faber got caught in a weird position and would be very interested to see if Brown can do it again.

Winner and new WEC Featherweight Champion: Mike Brown by TKO (strikes) R1 2:23

Overall, this was a pretty decent show that had only 1 stinker. Leonard Garcia and Mike Brown came up as the biggest winners tonight. They might face each other down the road very shortly.