UFC 98 Unaired Fights Re-Cap

UFC 98: Unaired Fights
5/23/09
MGM Grand
Las Vegas, Nevada

Lightweight Fight- Dave Kaplan (3-2) vs. George Roop (8-5)

Roop has a 3” reach and a 7” height advantage.

R1- Kaplan came into the fight with a cut on his nose and Roop opened it up early. Kaplan got a take down in the last minute of the round but didn’t do anything with it. Even fight through the first round but Kaplan was starting to figure out Roop towards the end of the round..

R2- Roop went in for a knee but got taken down but couldn’t do anything with it. Kaplan got another take down about half way through the round but again didn’t do anything before stand up. Kaplan got yet another take down. Not a lot of damage done in this round but it definitely went to Kaplan.

R3- Kaplan got another take down about a minute into the round and moved around until he got into the mount position but couldn’t do anything from this position either.

I think you have to give this fight to Kaplan. This was a competitive fight but honestly neither of these guys have the skill currently to be in the UFC. I would be very surprised if Roop is back for another fight. Kaplan might be back just based on the fact that he’s an entertaining guy.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Kaplan, 30-27 Roop (huh?), and 30-27 Roop. Somehow the judges scored the fight in favor of George Roop by Split Decision. I though Kaplan took the second and third rounds.

Winner: George Roop by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Phillipe Nover (6-1-1) vs. Kyle Bradley (13-6-1)

Nover was the runner-up to Efrain Escudero on TUF Season 8.

R1- Bradley pushed Nover down and hit a couple of shots and Yves Lavigne stopped the fight way early.

“What is going on? Oh My God. That is a terrible decision by Yves Lavigne. Oh No. Oh Nooo. Oh No. You know we need to make a rule where if the referee screws up like that we let them fight again. Oh it was a terrible decision.” – Joe Rogan

“That’s a big, big screw up by Yves Lavigne”- Joe Rogan

I was wondering why the crowd was killing Yves Lavigne all night during the Main Show. Now I know.

Winner: Kyle Bradley by TKO R1 1:03

Welterweight Fight- Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-3) vs. Brandon Wolff (7-3)

This is an epic battle of Japan vs. Hawaii. Both guys are coming off of losses. Yoshida is coming off of a vicious knockout at the hands of Josh Koscheck.

R1- Yoshida got a take down and went for a guillotine. Wolff rolled through but Yoshida held on to the move and Wolff taped out in Yoshida’s guard.

Winner: Yoshiyuki Yoshida by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:24

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale 12/13/08 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale 12/13/08 Re-Cap

Lightweight Fight- Junie Browning (2-1) vs. Dave Kaplan (3-1)

Since leaving the house Junie has been training at Xtreme Couture and working on his stand up game and his ability to be a civil person. Kaplan is a former Division 1 wrestler. Kaplan comes out wearing sunglasses and a gold chain and dancing to some pop tune. He gets a laugh out of Joe Rogan. Junie Browning fittingly picks an Eminem song for his entrance. "Without You" is a better song to hype up a fighter but he goes with a song that is more fitting to his personality. Junie has a 3 inch reach and height advantage in this fight.

R1- Junie shows good stand up and Kaplan gets cut early. Kaplan shows a good chin in the first round. Junie takes round one with his stand up and is up 10-9.

R2- Junie got a take down and an arm bar and finished Kaplan pretty quickly in Round Two. Junie looked good in this fight.

Winner: Junie Browning by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 1:32

Light Heavyweight Fight- Eliot Marshall vs. Jules Bruchez

R1- Marshall just imposed his will on Jules in this fight and dominated.

Winner: Eliot Marshall by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:27

Middleweight Fight- Jason MacDonald (22-10) vs. Wilson Gouveia (11-5)

MacDonald has a 4 inch reach advantage and a 2 inch height advantage. Gouveia failed to make weight in this fight as he came in 3 pounds over the acceptable threshold. MacDonald chose to take the fight anyway.

R1- Gouveia caught MacDonald coming in early and then hit a ton of elbows, cut MacDonald and finished him.

Winner: Wilson Gouveia by Submission (Strikes) R1 2:18

Welterweight Fight- Kevin Burns (8-1) vs. Anthony Johnson (5-2)

This is a re-match from early this year from a fight that Burns continually poked Johnson in the eye and finally finished him off with a big eye poke and was given the victory. It was one of the worst decision's I've ever seen in MMA. This is the re-match and a chance for Johnson to get his win back. The win was not overturned on the early fight basically because Vegas had already paid out the bets for the Burns win by the time the appeal was heard. AJ trains with Cung Le and Josh Thomson and has a 3 inch height and 4 inch reach advantage in this fight. AJ is a former JUCO wrestler and Burns is a jiu jitsu fighter and taekwondo black belt.

R1- This was a close first round with the stand up being pretty even. AJ got 2 take downs and Burns had 1 submission attempt. AJ took this round 10-9.

R2- AJ got a take down in this round and controlled the action. AJ 20-18.

R3- AJ hit a HUGE big left kick for the KO. Wow! They had just talked about him training with Cung Le and then he Cung Le'd Burns.

Winner: Anthony Johnson by KO (High Kick) R3 0:28

Forrest Griffin and Frank Mir are interviewed and they talk about UFC 92 and the Spike TV Video Game Awards.

Light Heavyweight TUF 8 Finale: Ryan Bader (8-0) vs. Vinny Magalhaes (3-2)

Bader is a two-time All American College wrestler and beat Kingsbury, Lawlor and Eliot Marshall (who won impressively earlier) to get to the finals. Bader is training with CB Dollaway. We'll see if CB can teach him how to avoid an arm bar. Vinny is a 4 time Jiu Jitsu World Champion and a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. He beat Lance Evans (Rashad's brother), Bruchez (who got destroyed earlier) and Krzysztof Soszynski (who I thought would make the finals) in order to get to the finals. Forrest Griffin has been training with Vinny lately.

R1- Pretty even fight in the first couple of minutes. Bader hit a big right hand shot that put Vinny down. The shot was partially deflected but it put Vinny down and then Bader jumped on top with hammer fists and Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight.

Winner and TUF 8 Light Heavyweight Winner: Ryan Bader by KO R1 2:18

Light Heavyweight Fight- Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Shane Primm

Dan Henderson is in Krzysztof's corner.

R1- Good first round. Krzysztof controlled as he was the superior striker in the round but Primm did a good job trying take downs and staying close to Krzysztof to avoid a lot of striking opportunities. 10-9 Krzysztof after one round.

R2- Krzysztof got a kimura half way through the round and tapped him out.

Winner: Krzysztof Soszynski by Submission (Kimura) R2 3:27

Lightweight TUF 8 Finale: Phillipe Nover (6-0-1) vs. Efrain Escudero (11-0)

Nover was a relative unknown coming into this season of TUF but has developed into the favorite to win the fight. He defeated Joe Duarte, Kaplan and George Roop to make the finals. Nover has just recently received his jiu jitsu black belt. He is a nurse from Brooklyn. Efrain defeated Pariente, Shane Nelson and Junie Browning to make the finals. He is a former high school and JUCO wrestler and is described as a "free style" fighter.

R1- Escudero got a good shot in on Phillipe early as he was getting up from a take down. Efrain got Phillipe's back and then later got in some good Ground and Pound. Really good first round that was controlled by Efrain to the tune of 10-9. Nover had a couple of near submission attempts.

R2- Efrain controlled this round with his wrestling and goes up 20-18. The round ended with a bang as Nover came at Efrain and hit a kick but Efrain absorbed it and slammed Phillipe to the mat.

R3- Nover's stand up looked better at the beginning of this round but he still got taken down. Nover worked his way into an Omaplata attempt in this round and nearly got it locked in. Phillipe stole this round by working that submission attempt for about two minutes at the end of the round. Efrain wins the fight 29-28 on my score card.

Judges all score the fight 29-28 in favor of Efrain.

Winner and TUF 8 Lightweight Winner: Efrain Escudero by Decision (Unanimous)

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Episode 11 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 11 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

The fights on today’s show are:
Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall
Lightweight Fight- Phillipe Nover vs. George Roop

Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall

They are focusing on Marshall’s jiu jitsu as his chance to upset Bader. Marshall has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight. The winner will move on to fight in the finals. I like Bader in this fight.

R1- Pretty even first half to the first round. Bader catches one of Eliot’s kicks and takes him down right in front of Big Nog in the corner. Bader pinned Marshall up against the fence and delivered some decent shots on him. Bader takes round 1 10-9 due to the take down.

R2- Bader catches another Marshall kick and get an early take down. Bader stays on top of Marshall for the majority of the round and they are stood up at the one and a half minute mark. Bader almost immediately takes down Marshall again. So far Bader is just showing that he is a superior wrestler to Marshall and Marshall hasn’t done much on his back to show his jiu jitsu skills that he and Mir were talking up. Bader is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Marshall goes in and gets taken down by Bader almost immediately. Bader is just dominating this fight from a wrestling perspective. He’s not doing much damage once he gets him down but he’s controlling him. Very reminiscent of Josh Koscheck from season one. He would dominate guys on the ground but couldn’t finish them. The ref stands up the fight right after Bader lands an elbow. About five seconds after they are on their feet Bader gets another take down. Marshall goes for a kimura but Bader slams him and then hits him with a forearm. The ref stands them up again with one minute left in the fight. Marshall goes for a high kick and Bader ducks it and gets yet another take down. Bader takes this fight 30-27. He just dominated Marshall from a wrestling perspective and Marshall juts didn’t show any of his jiu jitsu and got in very little offense.

Judges score the fight 30-27 in favor of Bader.

Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Fight- Phillipe Nover vs. George Roop

I think Phillipe has to be the favorite in this fight. Roop has a 4 inch height advantage but the reach is even.

R1- Nover immediately gets two shots in on Roop and gets a take down. Roop pushes off the cage to reverse positions. Nover fights hard for a kimura and gets it and Roop taps. Really impressive showing by Nover. He really made a statement to me that he is the #1 lightweight on the show and he is the guy to beat.

Winner: Phillipe Nover by Submission (Kimura) R1

Light Heavyweight Rankings:
1. Krzysztof Soszynski
2. Ryan Bader
3. Vinny Magalhaes

Lightweight Rankings:
1. Phillipe Nover
2. Efrain Escudero
3. Junie Browning

Eliminations:
Tom Lawlor (ranked #2 LH) eliminated by Ryan Bader (Round Two)
Shane Nelson (ranked #5 LW) eliminated by Efrain Escudero (Round Two)
Shane Primm (ranked #5 LH) eliminated by Eliot Marshall (Round Two)
Roli Delgado (ranked #7 LW) eliminated by Junie Browning (Round Two)
Jules Brunchez (ranked #3 LH) eliminated by Vinny Magalhaes (Round Two)
Dave Kaplan (ranked #1 LW) eliminated by Phillipe Nover (Round Two)
Kyle Kingsbury (ranked #5 LH) eliminated by Krzysztof Soszynski (Round Two)
John Polakowski (ranked #5 LW) eliminated by George Roop (Round Two)
Eliot Marshall (ranked #4 LH) eliminated by Ryan Bader (Round Three)
George Roop (ranked #4 LW) eliminated by Phillipe Nover (Round Three)

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Episode 8 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 8 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

Team Nog had been eating Tom Lawlor’s fruit tray every day (I thought he was eliminated). So Lawler decides to get back at them by pissing in his own fruit tray.

Light Heavyweight fight is selected by Frank Mir and he choices Dave Kaplan to take on Phillip Nover. Should be a good fight as I have these guys as the top 2 based on my limited exposure to them.

Team Nog comes home and starts snacking on the pee filled fruit platter and they are eating it! Wow.

“The fruit tasted completely normal. In fact, it may have tasted better than normal”- Kyle Kingsbury

Dave Kaplan was a division 1 wrestler and has a background in Tai Boxing.

Now, somebody is eating Phillipe Nover’s sushi and they plan to add a very special surprise to Nover’s sushi and whoever is eating it. They add some sperm to the sushi. Wow, this is getting rough. Dave Kaplan eats it! Kaplan tells them that they will have his fecal matter on them within 3 days.

Junie gets pissed off during practice and is upset because no one wants to train with him.

Lightweight Fight- Dave Kaplan vs. Phillipe Nover

Nover has a huge 8” reach advantage in this fight. He also has a 3” height advantage.

R1- Nover lands some really good shots early and Kaplan crumples to the ground and Nover jumps on top but Kaplan defends well. Phillipe hits some shots and then rolls over to a Rear Naked Choke and destroys Kaplan in short order. Very impressive victory for Nover and he just became the odds on favorite to win the Lightweight Division of this seasons Ultimate Fighter. Dana White compares Nover to GSP.

Winner: Phillipe Nover by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

Krzysztof Soszynski faces Kyle Kingsbury next week in the last Light Heavyweight fight before the semi-finals.

Light Heavyweight Rankings:
1. Krzysztof Soszynski
2. Ryan Bader
3. Vinny Magalhaes
4. Eliot Marshall
5. Kyle Kingsbury

Lightweight Rankings:
1. Phillipe Nover
2. Efrain Escudero
3. Junie Browning
4. George Roop
5. John Polakowski

Eliminations:
Tom Lawlor (ranked #2 LH) eliminated by Ryan Bader (Round Two)
Shane Nelson (ranked #5 LW) eliminated by Efrain Escudero (Round Two)
Shane Primm (ranked #5 LH) eliminated by Eliot Marshall (Round Two)
Roli Delgado (ranked #7 LW) eliminated by Junie Browning (Round Two)
Jules Brunchez (ranked #3 LH) eliminated by Vinny Magalhaes (Round Two)
Dave Kaplan (ranked #1 LW) eliminated by Phillipe Nover (Round Two)