UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 Re-Cap

UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2
11/21/09
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, Nevada

Welterweight Fight- Amir Sadollah (2-1) vs. Phil Baroni (13-11)

Sadollah was the winner of TUF 7 but lost in just 27 seconds in his last fight against Johny Hendricks. Both guys train at Xtreme Couture but Baroni trained for this fight at AKA. Baroni comes out to “Bad to the Bone”. This is Baroni’s first fight in UFC since UFC 51. Sadollah has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.

R1- Baroni lands some strikes early and knocks Amir off-balance. Baroni lands two good uppercuts. Baroni got a take down about half way through the round but gave up the position after about a minute. Baroni tried a guillotine but couldn’t get it and Amir landed a good knee and barely missed with a big haymaker. Amir is coming on towards the end of the round. Baroni comes out of the round with his face bloodied. Baroni 10-9 but Amir could have stolen that round after Baroni gassed towards the end.

R2- Baroni looks really tired and Amir comes out as the aggressor in this round. Not a real exciting round but I’ve got Amir taking this one to even it up 19-19.

R3- Amir lands some good strikes in the first minute of the round. Amir is doing a good job changing levels in this round and he buckled Baroni against the cage with a good onslaught. Amir wins this fight 29-28 on my score card. Amir did a good job weathering the storm early and then it was all Amir in the last two rounds after Baroni ran out of steam.

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

Winner: Amir Sadollah by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira (17-3) vs. Luiz Cane (11-1)

This is a battle between two Top 10 Light Heavyweight Fighters that fly under the radar. The winner of this fight jumps up into title contention with another win under their belt after this fight. Big Nog and Anderson Silva are in lil Nog’s corner for the fight. Cane comes out to some Jane’s Addiction. Cane is coming off of a decision victory over Steve Cantwell at UFC 97.

R1- Nogueira starts to land some strikes and hits a good left and then another and Cane is on his heels. Nogueira is landing some good strikes and lands some lefts and then connects with a big left that knocks Cane to the ground. Lil Nog jumps on top and this fight is over. Really impressive debut for Lil Nog and he jumps right into the Light Heavyweight Title picture after the Machida/Shogun re-match.

Winner: Antonio “Minotouro” Nogueira by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:56

Chuck Liddell is at the fights tonight to check out Tito/Forrest. New WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo is also at the show and they show some highlights of his championship win over Mike Brown from earlier in the week.

Welterweight Fight- Paulo Thiago (11-1) vs. Jacob Volkmann (9-0)

This is the UFC debut of Volkmann. Thiago is coming off of a decision loss to top contender Jon Fitch at UFC 100. Volkmann comes out to some AC/DC. Thiago has a 3” reach advantage to counter Volkmann’s better entrance music. Volkmann’s nickname is “Christmas”.

R1- Thiago got a take down into side control after the first minute of the round but Volkamann quickly got back to his feet. Thiago got a take down and mounted mid-way through the round. Thaigo lands some strikes but Volkmann got back to his feet without taking any major damage. Thiago landed a big combination right at the buzzer that floored Volkmann. Thiago 10-9.

R2- Thiago caught a Volkmann kick and chopped his other leg to floor him but didn’t follow up on the ground. Volkmann got a take down into side control in the first minute of the round but Thiago got back to his feet without taking much damage. Volkmann got Thiago down again but Thiago flipped him over and took top position. Thiago landed a big shot on the ground towards the end of the round. This round was very close. Could have gone either way.

R3- Thiago caught Volkmann coming in with a right and floored him. Volkmann tried a take down but Thiago avoided it but shortly thereafter Volkmann was able to get on top. Volkmann worked Thiago into a crucifix position and landed some good elbow strikes before Thiago was able to get out of the move. Volkmann slipped of Thiago’s back and Thiago once again assumed control. Volkmann grabbed a choke from the bottom but somehow Thiago slipped out. Thiago landed some good elbows on Volkmann at the end of the round.

Rounds two and three were virtual toss ups. Thiago clearly won the first round. I’m going to say the judges will give Thiago the win via decision. Volkmann really didn’t show much other than his wrestling, he really needs to work on his striking.

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

Winner: Paulo Thiago by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (15-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-2)

This should be fun. Anthony Johnson is coming off of a destruction of Yoshiyuki Yoshida less than a month ago at UFC 104. Koscheck stopped Frank Trigg in the first round of their UFC 103 fight. The winner of this will move way up the rankings in the wide open Welterweight Division. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner. Johnson has the most knock downs per minute in the UFC. Johnson has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.

R1- Long feeling out process with a few strikes landing for each fighter. Koscheck came in at the two minute mark and got caught and knocked off balance and cornered. Koscheck clinched him to get out of the corner but Johnson defended it and ended up in the superior position. Koscheck was on his knees and Johnson landed a knee to his forehead, which is illegal, and the fight was stopped by the ref. On the re-play it didn’t look like the knee hit him in the head but Koscheck did get poked in the eye at some point. They re-start the fight. Koscheck went for a single and Johnson sprawled and landed hard on the cage and Koscheck finally took him down. Tough round to score as there wasn’t a ton of damage done and the Koscheck take down at the end of the round might have swung the round to him. I believe Johnson had a point deducted so it could be Koscheck up 10-8 at this point.

R2- Koscheck returned the favor with an eye poke early in ths round. Koscheck started to land some good shots but on the re-play the big shot was a poke right into Johnson’s eye. Johnson has a bad history with getting poked in the eye. Johnson landed some good strikes in an exchange and Koscheck may have landed a shot as well. Koscheck got a take down two minutes into the round. Koscheck landed some elbows. Koscheck landed a Rear Naked Choke and Johnson tapped out. Big win for Koscheck.

Winner: Josh Koscheck by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:47

Post-Fight Josh Koscheck calls out Dan Hardy. Says Hardy hasn’t fought anybody and says he’s the real number one contender.

Vince Vaughn is at the show tonight.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Tito Ortiz (16-6-1) vs. Forrest Griffin (16-6)

This is a re-match from their fight at UFC 59 that ended up a Split Decision victory for Tito Ortiz. Forrest comes out to Chumbawamba’s “I get knocked down, but I get up again”.

R1- Tito got a take down in the second minute of the fight after some brief stand up. Forrest was able to get back to his feet after taking some shots. This was a close round. Forrest won the stand up in the round but Tito got the take down.

R2- Tito got a take down in the first 30 seconds of the round. Forrest got back to his feet without taking any significant damage. Forrest hit a front kick to the face that sent Tito’s mouthpiece flying. Tito got another take down about half way through the round. Tito cut Forrest open really badly. Forrest turned Tito over with about 30 seconds left in the round. Probably 19-19 at this point.

R3- Forrest is the aggressor early in this round. Tito shot in but it was stuffed by Forrest. Tito looks a bit gassed in this round and Forrest is scoring all the points with about a minute and a half left in the round. Forrest stuffed another take down with about 40 seconds left. Forrest wins this round and I’ve got him taking the fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Ortiz, 30-27 Griffin, 29-28 Forrest

Winner: Forrest Griffin by Decision (Split)

Strikeforce on NBC 11/9 Show Re-Cap

Strikeforce on NBC 11/9 Show Re-Cap

Strikeforce has been back with some new shows recently and this show will focus on Frank Shamrock.

Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie

This is Cesar Gracie’s first MMA fight and he is 40 years old.

R1- Frank lands a big right about 30 seconds into the fight then gets some Ground and Pound and this one is over. You can see a white towel flying from Gracie’s corner as Frank is on top of him.

Winner: Frank Shamrock by TKO (strikes) R1

Strikeforce Middleweight Fight- Frank Shamrock © vs. Phil Baroni

This is actually one of the first fights that I saw when I started to get into MMA.

R1- Shamrock landed a big combo around one minute into the fight and Baroni went down. Mazzagatti takes a point away from Shamrock after a punch to the back of the head on the mat. Baroni came back and got some Ground and Pound but looked like he really gassed. Frank got him up against the cage and looked like he was kind of toying with Baroni. Baroni gets a take down with about 30 seconds left and rests the round out. Shamrock 10-9.

R2- Baroni comes out and gets in a couple of shots. The first half of the round was pretty even. Sharmrock lands a couple of shots against the cage and Baroni tries to dive in to stop the onslaught but Frank stuffs him and goes for a choke. Frank gets the choke in and Baroni doesn’t tap out but goes limp and the ref stops the fight.

Winner and still champ: Frank Shamrock by TKO (Rear Naked Choke) R2

CBS/Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08

Gus Johnson is the lead announcer. Good move in my opinion as he will put a “legitimate” face to MMA for the casual fans. They pair him with Mauro Ranallo, the usual voice of Elite XC. Mauro isn’t the most popular guy but I like him. The third member of the announce crew is Frank Shamrock. They name drop Bruce Lee as one of the fore fathers of MMA. They move to street fighter turned MMA fighter Kimbo Slice and briefly touch on his fight tonight versus James Thompson.

Card for tonight is:

Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Phil Baroni vs. Joe Villasenor
Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers

Frank Shamrock does a segment where he goes over some basic MMA styles and talks about striking and grappling. And goes over some terms like “Ground and Pound”, “Guard”, “Half Guard”, “Clinch”, “Arm Bar”, “Rear Naked Choke”, and “Take Down”. Frank goes over some of the do’s and don’ts of MMA. He talks about the 3 ways a fight can end: KO/TKO, Submission/Tap Out, and Judges Decision.

Heavyweight Fight- Jon Murphy (4-2) vs. Brett Rogers (6-0)

Of these guys I’ve only seen Brett Rogers fight and from what I remember he was fairly impressive. Brett Rogers is lead to the ring by a rapping Busta Rhymes. Stuff like this and the dancers that opened the show are what I can do without.

R1- Murphy catches Rogers early and Rogers clinches with him and backs him into the cage and gets in a couple of shots. Rogers hits Murphy with a couple of shots and this one was over. Not the prettiest fight but Rogers showed good power and got the KO very early in the fight. He moves to 7-0 and moves up the Elite XC Heavyweight ladder.

Winner: Brett Rogers KO R1 1:01

Middleweight Fight- Phil Baroni (10-9) vs. Joey Villasenor (25-6)

I’ve seen a couple of Villasenor’s Elite XC fights and he’s unspectacular but really solid and seems really hart to beat. I haven’t seen that much of Baroni but he’s got a big rep so this should be an interesting fight as both guys like to stand up and punch. Baroni guarantees a knockout in the pre-match interviews. Mark Coleman is in Baroni’s corner. Villasenor has won his last two fights, Baroni has lost 3 of his last 4.

R1- Baroni pushes the pace early and gets a take down as he catches Villasenor in a kick. Drilled Baroni with a left hook and now has a guillotine on Baroni. Vallasenor with some shots and Baroni is shaken. Villasenor all over Barnoi and Villasenor gets the win. Mild upset in terms of name status but not in terms of records. Great win for Villasenor.

Winner: Joey Villasenor by TKO (punches) R1 1:11

Two fights and both have been finished very quickly.

Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1)

R1- Carano takes young down early but Young gets back to her feet. Carano hit a good right hand and then hit a good left jab. Young hit a good right hand. Young takes down Carano. Carano is just smothering Young and Young can’t do anything despite being on top. The first round was very competitive. Both got in one take down but I think Carano got in more clean shots. Carano 10-9 but very close.

R2- Carano got caught doing a kick and Young got in a couple of knees. Then they exchanged some punches. Lots of action early in round two. Carano is starting to go to town and Young got hit right in the nose but is holding on and fighting back. Carano with a big left. Carano is peppering Young with punches but Young is holding on. Carano kicks Young to the ground and is going for a Rear Naked Choke but is having trouble clamping it on. Young gets saved by the bell in round two. Really exciting fight so far. Young’s face is jacked up. Carano 20-18.

And the fight is stopped in between rounds.

R3- Gina Carano by TKO (ref stoppage) R2

Elite XC Middleweight Title Fight: Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)

This is the fight that I’ve been looking forward to the most on this show. This is Lawler’s first title defense. Interesting note that these guys have the same exact record of 15 wins and 4 losses.

R1- Smith throwing some big kicks early but coming up empty. Lawler really taking his time and not rushing in. Smith charged at Lawler and got popped. Lawler the aggressor now as he’s hitting some shots. Smith tags Lawler with a kick and then bedlam breaks loose as both guys are just swinging back and forth. Lots of misses and Lawler hits a combo. Both guys really opening up. Lawler hitting with some jabs and Smith countering. Lawler with a big body shot that hurts Smith. Lawler with a body kick. Lawler with some right hooks. Lawler with a great body kick and then ends the round with a right knee and a ton of punches. Smith is saved by the bell. Lawler just looked awesome at the end of this round. This round took a while to get going but once it did it was really fun. Lawler takes this round 10-9.

R2- Lawler is the aggressor at the start of round two. Big side kick by Lawler. Smith fighting back but coming up short on kicks. Smith clinches him and lands some nice knees to the head of Lawler. Smith know peppering Lawler with some punches. Lawler comes back with punches. Lots of dirty boxing. Lawler continuing to hit shots on Smith. Smith continues to throw shots. Really back and forth round. These guys are really throwing at each other. Both guys are bloody. Great round. Really even. Lawler is cut on the top of his head. I think Smith probably takes this round, 19-19 after two.

R3- Lawler jabbing early looking for an opening. Lawler starting to hit some elbows but his head cut has opened back up. Lawler went for a take down but got stuffed and now they stand up again. Smith got a finger in the eye and they stop the fight to allow him to recover. The doctor comes in and stops the fight. What a shame as Scott Smith is begging them to let him continue to fight. The crowd is chanting “bulls**t, bulls**t”. Well, I really enjoyed this fight and will look forward to the re-match.

Decision: No Contest, Lawler retains belt

Heavyweight Fight: Kimbo Slice (2-0) vs. James Thompson (16-8)

R1- Kimbo takes down Thompson but then Thompson gets Kimbo to the ground. Kimbo gets up but gets taken back down. James Thompson gets to side control but Kimbo gets to his feet. Kimbo is caught in a guillotine. Kimbo trying to get out with some knees. Kimbo finally frees himself. Kimbo takes Thompson down. Kimbo tried a slam but slipped and Thompson now has Kimbo in side control. Kimbo flips him over. Kimbo hitting a couple of elbows. First round comes to an end. I think Thompson won the first round 10-9.

R2- Kimbo with some punches and Thompson is in trouble. Thompson locks him up. Kimbo briefly got Thompson in a guillotine but Thompson has side control on Kimbo. The ref stands them up as there was not much movement. Kimbo hitting some shots. Thompson looks to be finished and Kimbo hits some shots but Thompson holds on and drops Kimbo with a double leg take down. Thompson hitting some elbows on Kimbo. Thompson just dominated the second half of this round. Kimbo won the first half but then just got dominated. Both rounds could go either way but I’ve got Thompson up 20-18 so far. Kimbo had a chance to put Thompson away in the middle of this round but couldn’t do it.

R3- Kimbo hits two nice shots and Thompson’s ear popped open and is bleeding like crazy and the ref stops the fight. Thompson is not happy. Thompson ear is just disgusting. Kimbo escaped this fight and this fight really exposed him.

Winner: Kimbo Slice by TKO R3 0:38

This was a good show, would have been better if Lawler/Smith would have had a finish as that was the fight of the night. The woman’s fight was very good. And the show started with two real quick knockouts which I think was a good thing to get the show kicked off. The Main Event was nowhere near as good as Lawler/Smith but it was interesting. Kimbo was definitely exposed and it will be interesting to see where they go with him now. Obviously, he’s still undefeated but he’s gonna have a tough time with any heavyweight who can get him off his feet.