UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin
GM Place
Vancouver, British Columbia
June 12, 2010
The Main Event tonight is Chuck Liddell fighting Rich Franklin. As you know, it was originally supposed to be Chuck versus Tito Ortiz but Tito withdrew and had surgery and Rich stepped in to take Tito's spot as TUF coach and his spot in this fight. There are some other intriguing fights on this card. Cro Crop versus Pat Barry, Martin Kampann against Paulo Thiago, Ben Rothwell fights Gilbert Yvel and Carlos Condit is in action against Rory MacDonald. As usual, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handle the announcing and Bruce Buffer is the ringer announcer.
Welterweight Fight- Carlos Condit (24-5) vs. Rory MacDonald (10-0)
MacDonald is only 20 years old and is the youngest fighter in the UFC. MacDonald is 1-0 inside the Octagon. Condit is a former WEC Champion. Condit is 1-1 in the UFC with two wars against Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger. Condit trains with Greg Jackson. Will it be youth or experience tonight? MacDonald is Canadian so he gets a huge ovation when announced.
R1- MacDonald quickly caught a Condit kick and took him down but let him back up. MacDonald tried to measure Condit with some shots but came up empty. Fans chant "Rory". MacDonald got a take down inside of the first minute. Condit lands some good strikes to the face from the bottom. Condit got back to his feet without taking any damage and actually controlling the situation from his back. MacDonald swung for the fences and Condit landed a good right counter that wobbled MacDonald. MacDonald landed a couple of strikes that took Condit to the fence and then MacDonald got another take down. Condit again got to his feet without taking any damage. Condit is landing some good kicks. MacDonald got a take down to end the round. MacDonald got 3 take downs but didn't do anything with them. I give the round to Condit because he delivered more damage on the ground and landed the best shot on their feet. It was close but I've got Condit 10-9. Rogan says he gave the round to MacDonald based on take downs.
R2- Condit tried for a take down but MacDonald ended up on top. Condit again gets to his feet without any damage. Condit missed a superman punch and MacDonald tried for a take down but Condit reversed it and ended up on top. MacDonald was able to kick out and ended up on top. Condit again defended and landed more strikes from the bottom and got back to his feet without taking any damage. Fans chant "Let's Go Rory." MacDonald landed a good combination in a near clinch situation. MacDonald landed a good counter front kick right at the end of the round. Both guys went for front kicks, Condit actually connected with Rory's face but Rory caught Condit's arm which knocked him off balance and knocked him down. MacDonald takes this round so I've got it at 19-19 on the score card. Good fight so far, Condit needs to be more aggressive. I've said this before in his UFC fights, but it almost feels like he's fighting a 5-Round fight.
R3- MacDonald hit a head kick that didn't fully connected in the early part of the round. MacDonald is throwing bombs but Condit is blocking them. Condit hit MacDonald with a 2-punch combination that hurt and MacDonald immediately went for the take down. Condit went for a kimura and ended up on top. Condit lands a couple of good elbows. MacDonald is cut open. Condit gets mount but then MacDonald gets him back in half guard. Condit lands more elbows. MacDonald gets back to his feet. MacDonald went for a take down and Condit easily reversed. MacDonald looks really tired or he's hurt. Rogan says it looks like something is wrong with MacDonald's eye, says it's possibly an orbital break. Condit continues to pressure MacDonald and land strikes. The ref steps in and stops the fight with about 10 seconds left in the fight. Great fight. Rogan says there is definitely something wrong with MacDonald's eye. MacDonald showed a lot of heart and at 20 years old he has a lot of life left in the UFC. Good win by Condit, he showed the killer instinct in the 3rd round that he needs to show earlier.
Winner: Carlos Condit by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:53
Heavyweight Fight- Gilbert Yvel (36-14-1) vs. Ben Rothwell (30-7)
30 of Yvel's 36 wins have come by way of knock out. Yvel fought at UFC 108 but he was stopped in that fight by Junior dos Santos. Rothwell has a 2" height, 3" reach and 21 pound advantage in this fight. Rothwell is coming off of a loss to Cain Velsaquez so both guys are coming off losses to top tier UFC Heavyweights. Yves Lavigne is the ref and gets some boos after his poor stoppage earlier on Spike TV.
R1- Rothwell charges right at Yvel and back him down throwing strikes. Yvel separates and grabs a guillotine and pulls guard but Rothwell easily gets out of it and takes side control. Yvel flips him over, Rothwell got back to his feet and slammed Yvel back down. Rothwell gets full mount and throws some elbows. Yvel goes for a leg lock but Rothwell spun out of it. Rothwell got Yvel in a crucifix but Yvel flipped him over and got to his feet. Yvels landed some good strikes. Good round. Yvel finished strong but I've got Rothwell taking the round 10-9.
R2- Rothwell immediately got a take down to start the round. Rothwell lands some good elbows. Yvel got back to his feet at the mid-way point of the round. Rothwell got another take down at the two minute mark. Yvel flipped him over and threw some good strikes from the top. Yvel is connecting and Rothwell tries to clinch him but Yvel breaks free and continues to land some good shots. Rothwell got back to his feet with a minute left in the round and took Yvel down again. Rothwell finished the round on top. Give Yvel this round due to damage inflicted and I've got it 19-19 going into the third.
R3- Yvel went for a take down but got taken down. Rothwell spends the majority of the round on top of Yvel. Rothwell is going to take this round and the fight 29-28.
Judges score cards: 30-27. 29-28, 29-28
Winner: Ben Rothwell by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Paulo Thiago (13-1) vs. Martin Kampmann (16-3)
Kampmann is coming off of a win at UFC 108 on the preliminaries against Jacob Volkmann by submission. Kampmann has won 3 of his last 4 including a decision win over Carlos Condit. Thiago fought at UFC 109 and choked out Mike Swick in the 2nd round. Thiago also holds a victory over title contender Josh Koscheck. The winner of this fight probably sets themselves up for a title contenders fight since GSP and Koscheck are doing TUF and they won't be fighting for a while. Thiago has a 2.5" reach advantage.
R1- Kampmann lands some strikes early. Kampmann is landing some good jabs. Kampmann landed a good right hand and knocked down Thiago with 90 seconds left in the round. Thiago retaliated by getting a trip and take down. Kampmann grabbed a guillotine and used it to get to his feet. Kmapmann went for another choke against the cage but Thiago used his legs to kick off the cage and get out of the choke. Kampmann 10-9.
R2- Thiago is just throwing haymakers but is not connecting. Kampmann got a take down at the mid-way point of the round. Thiago used a kimura to sweept Kampmann over but there is only 30 seconds left in the round. Kampmann got back to his feet and landed a couple of knees. Kampmann 20-18.
R3- Kampmann landed a counter jab and then got a take down in the first minute of the final round. Kampmann went for an arm triangle and Thiago gave up his back and was able to avoid the submission. Kampmann stayed on top of Thiago. Thiago finally got back to his feet with about 80 seconds left. Thiago threw a bomb but Kampmann took him down again. Kampmann goes for another arm triangle. Kampmann almost finished the fight but not quite. Kampmann wins this fight 30-27.
Judges score cards: 30-27 on all 3 score cards
Winner: Martin Kampmann by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (26-7-2) vs. Pat Barry (5-1)
Cro Cop fought Junior dos Santos in late 2009 and verbally submitted. Barry fought at UFC 104 and beat Antoni Hardonk by TKO in the 2nd round. Cro Cop is one of Barry's idol's. Cro Cop needs some new theme music, Duran Duran just doesn't cut it.
R1- Barry is very aggressive from the outset and landed a good shot that knocked Cro Cop down 30 seconds into the fight. Barry is landing some good leg kicks. Cro Cop returns the favor with some kicks of his own. Barry hit a good right that floored Cro Cop again. Rogan says he thinks Cro Cop broke his jaw. Cro Cop got a brief take down but Barry got back to his feet. Barry 10-9.
R2- Barry partially connected with a head kick but it was just a glancing blow and Cro Cop was able to take him down. Cro Cop got the mount and Barry gave up his back. Cro Cop takes this round and we are at 19-19 going into the final stanza.
R3- Not a lot of action in this round. Cro Cop clinched against the cage for a while and then the ref re-started them and Cro Cop backed Barry down and landed some strikes. Cro Cop knocked Barry down and jumped on top and delivered some Ground and Pound. Cro Cop clamped in a Rear Naked Choke and won the fight in the last minute. Barry just tired out and Cro Cop outlasted him. Good win by Cro Cop.
Winner: Mirko Cro Cop by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 4:30
Light Heavyweight Fight- Chuck Liddell (21-7) vs. Rich Franklin (27-5)
Chuck Liddell has changed his lifestyle going into this fight. He's training more and in different areas of his game, he's given up alcohol and he's been resting. It will be interesting to see how he matches up with Rich.
R1-Chuck is landing some leg kicks early. Just lands a body kick and just missed a head kick as it as partially blocked. Rich hit a good right but Chuck landed a good shot during a clinch. Chuck got a take down two minutes into the round. Rich got back to his feet and Chuck has been cut open (not sure how it happened). Chuck caught Rich with a punch that almost knocked him down. Chuck lands a couple more strikes. Chuck landed a partial head kick and moved in quickly. He slipped and Rich hit a couple of small shots. They clinched with 10 seconds left in the round. Chuck pushed off and threw a couple of punches. Chuck threw a big right and missed. Rich countered with a right hand that hit Chuck right on the button and ended his night with 7 seconds left in the round. Chuck looked pretty good until those last 10 seconds. Big time punch by Rich Franklin.
"You've gotta expect this is the last time we see Chuck Liddell in the Octagon"- Joe Rogan
"I was just thinking the same thing"- Mike Goldberg
Winner: Rich Franklin by KO R1 4:55
Franklin says that Chuck broke Rich's left hand in the first round when he threw and landed a body kick.
Welterweight Fight- Mike Pyle vs. Jesse Lennox
R1- Pyle landed some good shots at the end of the round and floored Lennox. Pyle jumped on top and tried for a choke but couldn't finish before the bell rung. Pyle 10-9.
R2- Pyle went for a take down and didn't get it but he was able to spin around and take top position from Lennox. Pyle stayed on top for the round and took it. Pyle 20-18.
R3- Lennox came on strong at the end of the round and landed some shots around the one minute mark. Pyle clinched him but Lennox got a take down. Lennox is cut open bad. Pyle got a triangle choke and finished the fight. Good finish from the bottom by Pyle.
Winner: Mike Pyle by Triangle Choke R3 4:44
Showing posts with label Pat Barry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pat Barry. Show all posts
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Sunday, October 25, 2009
UFC 104 Spike TV Preliminary Fights Re-Cap
UFC 104: Preliminaries
10/24/09
Los Angeles, Ca
Staples Center
This is live on Spike TV before the UFC 104 PPV. Lyoto Machida makes his first defense of his Light Heavyweight Title tonight against Shogun Rua. Cain Velasquez will try to stay undefeated when he takes on Ben Rothwell. We will have two live fights on the preliminary show. TUF Champ Ryan Bader will take on Eric Schafer and in a Heavyweight Fight we will see Antoni Hardonk versus Pat Barry.
Heavyweight Fight- Antoni Hardonk (8-5) vs. Pat Barry (4-1)
These guys are former training partners. Hardonk has a 5” height, 3.5” reach and 12 lb weight advantage.
R1- Hardonk doesn’t want to touch gloves to start out. Barry lands some strikes to start the fight. Hardonk lands some leg kicks. Lots of striking from both guys. Hardonk poked Barry in the eye a couple of times. Hardonk went for a take down and got stuffed and Barry jumped on top but Hardonk got up without taking any real damage. Hardonk’s nose has been bloodied. Good first round. I’ve got Barry taking it 10-9.
R2- Barry hit a good combo to start the round and then landed another good punch. Barry hits another punch and hits a leg kick and Hardonk briefly went down. Hardonk went for a take down but got stuffed. Barry is landing some really good strikes in this round and Hardonk looks to be fading. Barry landed a big right hand and Hardonk went down. Barry followed him to the canvas and quickly finished him. Really good showing by Pat Barry.
Winner: Pat Barry by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:30
Pat Barry gets a little choked up in his post-fight interview and then ends the interview with a back flip.
Heavyweight Fight- Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve
The broadcast kind of awkwardly moves into this fight as they were talking about Bader and Schafer and all of a sudden this fight (which was taped previously) is starting on my TV.
R1- Struve is 6’11” and has a huge height advantage. Gormley got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Struve went for a leg lock and Gormley grabbed an ankle lock. Struve rolled over and went for a heel hook. Struve is able to turn Gormley over and takes his guard. Struve landed some good Ground and Pound. Struve got a triangle choke and Gormley tapped out. Good fight and finish from Struve.
Winner: Stefan Struve by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:04
Light Heavyweight Fight-Ryan Bader (10-0) vs. Eric Schafer (13-3-2)
Schafer is a BJJ Black Belt and will be Bader’s toughest fight to date. Bader is coming off of some leg injuries from his last fight. CB Dollaway is in Bader’s corner. Hopefully he hasn’t been helping him with submission defense. Bader was the winner of TUF 8.
R1- Bader couldn’t quite find the range for the first half of the round but was swinging with bad intentions on a lot of his punches. Bader connected solidly with a big right hand and Schafer went down and Bader connected with a couple of punches on the way down and followed Schafer to the mat. Schafer tried to catch Bader in his guard but Bader picked him up and slammed him and then landed some punches from behind. They got to their feet and Bader continued to land some good shots and Schafer went down again. Schaefer recovered well and went for a kimura but could not get it and Bader took his guard. Schafer grabbed another submission but couldn’t clamp it in. Very impressive first round for Bader but he would be wise to stay off the ground with Schafer. Borderline 10-8 round but Schafer did pull off a couple of submission attempts.
R2- Bader looks like he expended a lot of energy in the first round and Schafer has his wits back. Schafer is landing some punches and could take this round. Close round, Schafer probably took this round.
R3- Bader hit a big right hand about half way through the first minute. Bader jumped on top and tried to finish but Schafer clinched him up in his guard. Bader gets out and gets back to his feet. Schafer has blood running down his face and the ref stops to have the doc look at the cut. Bader got a take down with about a minute left in the fight. Bader takes this round and will take the fight 29-28 in my book. Good fight. Bader is very explosive but definitely needs to work on expanding his offense past just the overhand right.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-26 and 30-27. 29-26 is a really interesting score. That means that judge gave Bader two 10-8 rounds.
Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan and Dana White talk about the PPV tonight to close out the show.
10/24/09
Los Angeles, Ca
Staples Center
This is live on Spike TV before the UFC 104 PPV. Lyoto Machida makes his first defense of his Light Heavyweight Title tonight against Shogun Rua. Cain Velasquez will try to stay undefeated when he takes on Ben Rothwell. We will have two live fights on the preliminary show. TUF Champ Ryan Bader will take on Eric Schafer and in a Heavyweight Fight we will see Antoni Hardonk versus Pat Barry.
Heavyweight Fight- Antoni Hardonk (8-5) vs. Pat Barry (4-1)
These guys are former training partners. Hardonk has a 5” height, 3.5” reach and 12 lb weight advantage.
R1- Hardonk doesn’t want to touch gloves to start out. Barry lands some strikes to start the fight. Hardonk lands some leg kicks. Lots of striking from both guys. Hardonk poked Barry in the eye a couple of times. Hardonk went for a take down and got stuffed and Barry jumped on top but Hardonk got up without taking any real damage. Hardonk’s nose has been bloodied. Good first round. I’ve got Barry taking it 10-9.
R2- Barry hit a good combo to start the round and then landed another good punch. Barry hits another punch and hits a leg kick and Hardonk briefly went down. Hardonk went for a take down but got stuffed. Barry is landing some really good strikes in this round and Hardonk looks to be fading. Barry landed a big right hand and Hardonk went down. Barry followed him to the canvas and quickly finished him. Really good showing by Pat Barry.
Winner: Pat Barry by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:30
Pat Barry gets a little choked up in his post-fight interview and then ends the interview with a back flip.
Heavyweight Fight- Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve
The broadcast kind of awkwardly moves into this fight as they were talking about Bader and Schafer and all of a sudden this fight (which was taped previously) is starting on my TV.
R1- Struve is 6’11” and has a huge height advantage. Gormley got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Struve went for a leg lock and Gormley grabbed an ankle lock. Struve rolled over and went for a heel hook. Struve is able to turn Gormley over and takes his guard. Struve landed some good Ground and Pound. Struve got a triangle choke and Gormley tapped out. Good fight and finish from Struve.
Winner: Stefan Struve by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:04
Light Heavyweight Fight-Ryan Bader (10-0) vs. Eric Schafer (13-3-2)
Schafer is a BJJ Black Belt and will be Bader’s toughest fight to date. Bader is coming off of some leg injuries from his last fight. CB Dollaway is in Bader’s corner. Hopefully he hasn’t been helping him with submission defense. Bader was the winner of TUF 8.
R1- Bader couldn’t quite find the range for the first half of the round but was swinging with bad intentions on a lot of his punches. Bader connected solidly with a big right hand and Schafer went down and Bader connected with a couple of punches on the way down and followed Schafer to the mat. Schafer tried to catch Bader in his guard but Bader picked him up and slammed him and then landed some punches from behind. They got to their feet and Bader continued to land some good shots and Schafer went down again. Schaefer recovered well and went for a kimura but could not get it and Bader took his guard. Schafer grabbed another submission but couldn’t clamp it in. Very impressive first round for Bader but he would be wise to stay off the ground with Schafer. Borderline 10-8 round but Schafer did pull off a couple of submission attempts.
R2- Bader looks like he expended a lot of energy in the first round and Schafer has his wits back. Schafer is landing some punches and could take this round. Close round, Schafer probably took this round.
R3- Bader hit a big right hand about half way through the first minute. Bader jumped on top and tried to finish but Schafer clinched him up in his guard. Bader gets out and gets back to his feet. Schafer has blood running down his face and the ref stops to have the doc look at the cut. Bader got a take down with about a minute left in the fight. Bader takes this round and will take the fight 29-28 in my book. Good fight. Bader is very explosive but definitely needs to work on expanding his offense past just the overhand right.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-26 and 30-27. 29-26 is a really interesting score. That means that judge gave Bader two 10-8 rounds.
Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan and Dana White talk about the PPV tonight to close out the show.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 Re-Cap
UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008
Heavyweight Fight- Cheick Kongo (22-4-1) vs. Mostapha Al Turk (6-3)
This is Turk's debut in UFC. He was born in Beruit, Lebanon and is fighting out of London, England. Turk is a jiu jitsu based fighter. If Kongo can win this fight he puts himself in position to be a possible title contender later in 2009 due to the soft UFC Heavyweight Division. Kongo has a 4 and a half inch reach advantage which could be huge since he's a better striker.
"This is a battle of the cool names"- Joe Rogan
R1- They exchange low blows in the first round. Kongo came on really strong in the last minute of the round and knocked Turk down and started hitting a ton of strikes and busted him open and reigned down elbows and hammer fists. Great finish by Kongo. He really took it to Turk once he got him down. This is as good as I've seen Kongo look. Rogan described it well by saying he was "completely relentless."
Winner: Cheick Kongo by TKO (strikes) R1 4:37
Randy and Kim Couture are in attendance tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rampage Jackson (28-7) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1)
What a stacked card when you can bring out Rampage/Wanderlei for the second fight on the show. This should be FOTN and has the ability to be one of the most exciting fights this year. This is the third match-up between the two fighters with Silva winning the first two. Winner of this fight steps up in line (with Lyoto Machida) to face the winner of Griffin/Evans for the Light Heavyweight Strap. Rogan calls Silva the most consistently exciting fighter in MMA history. This should be a Main Event on any show for any organization. Very mixed reaction for Rampage from the crowd. The fighters don't touch gloves prior to the fight. This is a GRUDGE match!
R1- Rampage hit a big knockout punch towards the end of the round and then continued to pound on Silva as the ref tried to pull him off. Big knockout punch by Rampage. Big left hook by Rampage. They cut to Chuck Liddell after the knockout and he looked less than thrilled with the finish. Great comeback for Rampage after the Forrest fight and he looks to step right back up in line for a re-match for the Light Heavyweight Fight.
Winner: Rampage Jackson by KO (left hook) R1 3:21
In the post-fight interview Rampage says he's back.
Heavyweight Fight- Dan Evensen vs. Pat Barry
This is from the pre-show. Barry is hyped as a big-time striker. Evenson lost to Kongo at the UFC 87 show at the end of the first round by TKO. This is Barry's debut in the UFC.
R1- Barry looked decent and it looked like Evensen tweaked something (due to Barry's leg kicks) and could not continue.
Winner: Patrick Barry by TKO (Leg Kick) R1 2:36
Middleweight Fight- CB Dollaway (8-2) vs. Mike Massenzio (11-2)
Both guys are college wrestlers with Massenzio's only loss coming on an upset at the hands of Dollaway. Dollaway has a 2 and a half inch reach advantage.
R1- Massenzio got some shots in and knocked CB down and then grabbed a guillotine but CB survived. CB mounts him and then takes his back and starts to hit him with punches on both sides of the head and Massenzio does nothing to get out of the strikes and the ref stops the fight. Not much damage done by CB but Massenzio did nothing to defend himself. Questionable finish but Massenzio didn't help himself out. Big win for CB.
Winner: CB Dollaway by TKO (strikes) R1 3:01
Light Heavyweight FIght- Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy
Hamill is coming off a loss to Rich Franklin and Andy is coming off a loss to Brandon Vera. This is a pre-show fight.
R1- They stand up for the round and trade strikes. Hamill got a cut under his eye but pushed forward for the majority of the round. The guy in Matt Hamill's corner drops the f bomb about 50 times as Hamill reads his lips for instruction.
R2- Andy looked for some take downs but Hamill stuffed them and then hit some good strikes on Andy. Andy just slumped down to his knees and basically looked like he gave up as Hamill started to hit him with strikes. The ref finally stops it. Great second round by Hamill.
Winner: Matt Hamill by TKO (strikes) R2 2:15
Brock Lesnar joins Mike and Joe between the fights. Basically says he's not the champ yet until he beats the winner of Mir/Big Nog.
UFC Interim Heavyweight Title Fight- Antonio Minotauro Nogueira © (31-4-1) vs. Frank Mir (11-3)
Mir's average fight lasts 3:38 according to Mike Goldberg. Big Nog comes out to the Rolling Stones.
R1- Mir hit a good jab early. Mir is looking good early and gets a take down but gives it up to stand back up. Mir knocked down Big Nog at the 3 minute mark but again lets Big Nog up. Big Nog got in a good combo against the cage at the end of the round. Mir looked really good in this first round and got another knock down at the end of the first round. Mir won this round. Possibly 10-8. The announcers say it's 10-8, Big Nog got in some shots but Mir knocked Big Nog down 3 times.
R2- Mir hits Big Nog with two big punches and knocks him down and then jumps on top with some punches and Herb Dean stops the fight. Surprising finish and I think the stoppage was early considering how much punishment Big Nog takes but Mir was definitely owning this fight.
Post-fight Mir basically stares down Lesnar.
Winner and new Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion: Frank Mir by TKO (strikes) R2 1:54
Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Forrest Griffin © (16-4) vs. Rashad Evans (17-0-1)
The battle of the winners of TUF Season 1 and Season 2. And they are Main Eventing a show with Wanderlei Silva, Big Nog, Frank Mir and Rampage Jackson. Forrest has a 4 inch reach advantage and a 2 inch height advantage. I have a feeling that Rashad is going to win this fight but I've got to pull for Forrest since he's from Athens.
R1- Huge "Forrest" chant at the beginning of the round. Rashad laying back early like he did in the Liddell fight. Forrest took Round One 10-9. Rashad looked like he definitely has the quickness factor but he's laying back more and Forrest is pushing forward. If this fight stays on it's feet I can see Rashad getting a big punch in and ending this.
R2- Forrest hit a big right hand about a minute into the fight and they really mixed it up against the cage and then Rashad smiled at him and kind of gave him that "you can't hurt me" look. Forrest is doing a really good job with his kicks in this fight. Forrest took this round as well and is up 20-18 on my score card. His leg kicks seem to be taking their toll and Rashad is having trouble so far with Forrest's reach advantage. Still anybody's fight but Forrest is the aggressor so far and is out striking Rashad. Rashad has more power though so he's far from out with 3 rounds left. Neither guy looks to have sustained significant damage.
R3- Rashad grabs a Forrest leg kick and takes him down and is delivering hammer fists to Forrest. Forrest was in trouble but took him to full guard. Rashad hits some nice elbows while in Forrest's guard. Rashad delivering lots of punches from the top and the ref stops the fight. Big time round from Rashad. Forrest shows a lot of class and immediately congratulates Rashad once he gets up.
Winner and NEW Light Heavyweight Champion: Rashad Evans by TKO (strikes) R3 2:46
Heavyweight Fight- Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
This is a pre-show fight. This is Wessell's UFC debut.
R1- Wessell overpowers him early and gets him to the ground. Back to their feet. Wessell is thick. Hardonk hits some good knees. Wessell gets Hardonk down again and Hardonk goes for a triangle but can't get it. Wessell gets full mount right at the buzzer. Wessell is bloodied up from the knees to his face. Good first round.
R2- Hardonk takes Wessell's back and gets the hooks in on him. Hardonk finishes him with strikes.
Winner: Antoni Hardonk by TKO (strikes) R2 2:09
Overall a strong show with a good Main Event in Evans/Griffin. Mir/Big Nog was a surprisingly one-sided fight and Silva/Jackson had a big KO. FOTN was Evans/Griffin.
UFC awarded Evans/Griffin the "Fight of the Night" 60K bonus and Rampage got the 60K "KO of the Night" bonus. No submission bonus was given as no fight ended by submission.
Where do we go from here?
Light Heavyweight Division- Looks like we are set up with Rashad Evans vs Rampage Jackson for the Light Heavyweight Championship with the winner taking on Lyoto Machida/Thiago Silva winner. Forrest versus Chuck Liddell would be an interesting fight for Forrest's next fight.
Heavyweight Division- Obviously we have the Lesnar/Mir re-match. It will be interesting to see where they go with Big Nog. Maybe a fight with Randy Couture?
Heavyweight Fight- Cheick Kongo (22-4-1) vs. Mostapha Al Turk (6-3)
This is Turk's debut in UFC. He was born in Beruit, Lebanon and is fighting out of London, England. Turk is a jiu jitsu based fighter. If Kongo can win this fight he puts himself in position to be a possible title contender later in 2009 due to the soft UFC Heavyweight Division. Kongo has a 4 and a half inch reach advantage which could be huge since he's a better striker.
"This is a battle of the cool names"- Joe Rogan
R1- They exchange low blows in the first round. Kongo came on really strong in the last minute of the round and knocked Turk down and started hitting a ton of strikes and busted him open and reigned down elbows and hammer fists. Great finish by Kongo. He really took it to Turk once he got him down. This is as good as I've seen Kongo look. Rogan described it well by saying he was "completely relentless."
Winner: Cheick Kongo by TKO (strikes) R1 4:37
Randy and Kim Couture are in attendance tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rampage Jackson (28-7) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1)
What a stacked card when you can bring out Rampage/Wanderlei for the second fight on the show. This should be FOTN and has the ability to be one of the most exciting fights this year. This is the third match-up between the two fighters with Silva winning the first two. Winner of this fight steps up in line (with Lyoto Machida) to face the winner of Griffin/Evans for the Light Heavyweight Strap. Rogan calls Silva the most consistently exciting fighter in MMA history. This should be a Main Event on any show for any organization. Very mixed reaction for Rampage from the crowd. The fighters don't touch gloves prior to the fight. This is a GRUDGE match!
R1- Rampage hit a big knockout punch towards the end of the round and then continued to pound on Silva as the ref tried to pull him off. Big knockout punch by Rampage. Big left hook by Rampage. They cut to Chuck Liddell after the knockout and he looked less than thrilled with the finish. Great comeback for Rampage after the Forrest fight and he looks to step right back up in line for a re-match for the Light Heavyweight Fight.
Winner: Rampage Jackson by KO (left hook) R1 3:21
In the post-fight interview Rampage says he's back.
Heavyweight Fight- Dan Evensen vs. Pat Barry
This is from the pre-show. Barry is hyped as a big-time striker. Evenson lost to Kongo at the UFC 87 show at the end of the first round by TKO. This is Barry's debut in the UFC.
R1- Barry looked decent and it looked like Evensen tweaked something (due to Barry's leg kicks) and could not continue.
Winner: Patrick Barry by TKO (Leg Kick) R1 2:36
Middleweight Fight- CB Dollaway (8-2) vs. Mike Massenzio (11-2)
Both guys are college wrestlers with Massenzio's only loss coming on an upset at the hands of Dollaway. Dollaway has a 2 and a half inch reach advantage.
R1- Massenzio got some shots in and knocked CB down and then grabbed a guillotine but CB survived. CB mounts him and then takes his back and starts to hit him with punches on both sides of the head and Massenzio does nothing to get out of the strikes and the ref stops the fight. Not much damage done by CB but Massenzio did nothing to defend himself. Questionable finish but Massenzio didn't help himself out. Big win for CB.
Winner: CB Dollaway by TKO (strikes) R1 3:01
Light Heavyweight FIght- Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy
Hamill is coming off a loss to Rich Franklin and Andy is coming off a loss to Brandon Vera. This is a pre-show fight.
R1- They stand up for the round and trade strikes. Hamill got a cut under his eye but pushed forward for the majority of the round. The guy in Matt Hamill's corner drops the f bomb about 50 times as Hamill reads his lips for instruction.
R2- Andy looked for some take downs but Hamill stuffed them and then hit some good strikes on Andy. Andy just slumped down to his knees and basically looked like he gave up as Hamill started to hit him with strikes. The ref finally stops it. Great second round by Hamill.
Winner: Matt Hamill by TKO (strikes) R2 2:15
Brock Lesnar joins Mike and Joe between the fights. Basically says he's not the champ yet until he beats the winner of Mir/Big Nog.
UFC Interim Heavyweight Title Fight- Antonio Minotauro Nogueira © (31-4-1) vs. Frank Mir (11-3)
Mir's average fight lasts 3:38 according to Mike Goldberg. Big Nog comes out to the Rolling Stones.
R1- Mir hit a good jab early. Mir is looking good early and gets a take down but gives it up to stand back up. Mir knocked down Big Nog at the 3 minute mark but again lets Big Nog up. Big Nog got in a good combo against the cage at the end of the round. Mir looked really good in this first round and got another knock down at the end of the first round. Mir won this round. Possibly 10-8. The announcers say it's 10-8, Big Nog got in some shots but Mir knocked Big Nog down 3 times.
R2- Mir hits Big Nog with two big punches and knocks him down and then jumps on top with some punches and Herb Dean stops the fight. Surprising finish and I think the stoppage was early considering how much punishment Big Nog takes but Mir was definitely owning this fight.
Post-fight Mir basically stares down Lesnar.
Winner and new Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion: Frank Mir by TKO (strikes) R2 1:54
Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Forrest Griffin © (16-4) vs. Rashad Evans (17-0-1)
The battle of the winners of TUF Season 1 and Season 2. And they are Main Eventing a show with Wanderlei Silva, Big Nog, Frank Mir and Rampage Jackson. Forrest has a 4 inch reach advantage and a 2 inch height advantage. I have a feeling that Rashad is going to win this fight but I've got to pull for Forrest since he's from Athens.
R1- Huge "Forrest" chant at the beginning of the round. Rashad laying back early like he did in the Liddell fight. Forrest took Round One 10-9. Rashad looked like he definitely has the quickness factor but he's laying back more and Forrest is pushing forward. If this fight stays on it's feet I can see Rashad getting a big punch in and ending this.
R2- Forrest hit a big right hand about a minute into the fight and they really mixed it up against the cage and then Rashad smiled at him and kind of gave him that "you can't hurt me" look. Forrest is doing a really good job with his kicks in this fight. Forrest took this round as well and is up 20-18 on my score card. His leg kicks seem to be taking their toll and Rashad is having trouble so far with Forrest's reach advantage. Still anybody's fight but Forrest is the aggressor so far and is out striking Rashad. Rashad has more power though so he's far from out with 3 rounds left. Neither guy looks to have sustained significant damage.
R3- Rashad grabs a Forrest leg kick and takes him down and is delivering hammer fists to Forrest. Forrest was in trouble but took him to full guard. Rashad hits some nice elbows while in Forrest's guard. Rashad delivering lots of punches from the top and the ref stops the fight. Big time round from Rashad. Forrest shows a lot of class and immediately congratulates Rashad once he gets up.
Winner and NEW Light Heavyweight Champion: Rashad Evans by TKO (strikes) R3 2:46
Heavyweight Fight- Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
This is a pre-show fight. This is Wessell's UFC debut.
R1- Wessell overpowers him early and gets him to the ground. Back to their feet. Wessell is thick. Hardonk hits some good knees. Wessell gets Hardonk down again and Hardonk goes for a triangle but can't get it. Wessell gets full mount right at the buzzer. Wessell is bloodied up from the knees to his face. Good first round.
R2- Hardonk takes Wessell's back and gets the hooks in on him. Hardonk finishes him with strikes.
Winner: Antoni Hardonk by TKO (strikes) R2 2:09
Overall a strong show with a good Main Event in Evans/Griffin. Mir/Big Nog was a surprisingly one-sided fight and Silva/Jackson had a big KO. FOTN was Evans/Griffin.
UFC awarded Evans/Griffin the "Fight of the Night" 60K bonus and Rampage got the 60K "KO of the Night" bonus. No submission bonus was given as no fight ended by submission.
Where do we go from here?
Light Heavyweight Division- Looks like we are set up with Rashad Evans vs Rampage Jackson for the Light Heavyweight Championship with the winner taking on Lyoto Machida/Thiago Silva winner. Forrest versus Chuck Liddell would be an interesting fight for Forrest's next fight.
Heavyweight Division- Obviously we have the Lesnar/Mir re-match. It will be interesting to see where they go with Big Nog. Maybe a fight with Randy Couture?
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