Retro Re-Cap: UFC Fight Night 6 8/17/06 Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night 6 8/17/06

Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (8-1) vs. Jonathon Goulet (16-6)

R1- Koscheck hit a big right hand early that stunned Goulet. Koscheck got some Ground and Pound and started to manhandle Goulet towards the end of the round and finally got a TKO ref stoppage. Nice performance from Koscheck.

Winner: Josh Koscheck by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:10

Middleweight Fight- Dean Lister (8-4) vs. Yuki Sasaki (20-12-1)

This is Sasaki’s UFC debut. This is Lister’s first fight in UFC as a middleweight. Lister is a black belt in jiu jitsu.

R1- Lister really controls round one as he took Sasaki’s back and pretty much rode him the entire round but couldn’t get any submissions clamped on. Lister 10-9.

R2- Sasaki falls into Lister’s guard and Lister controls Sasaki as he has a near triangle. Sasaki slips out but Lister then takes his back and Sasaki slips out again. Sasaki lands some punches at the end of the round. I’ve got Lister 20-18 but Lister looked like he was running out of steam during the stand up at the end of the round.

R3- Sasaki is winning this round and Lister is really tired and trying to get Sasaki to the mat. This fight whimpers to the end. I’ve got Lister 29-28 as both guys ran out of steam in this fight. Lister looked real good in the first two rounds but not so much after that.

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all score cards

Winner: Dean Lister by Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Fight- Chris Leben (15-2) vs. Jorge Santiago (11-5)

Santiago is the current Sengoku Middleweight Champion.

R1- Leben took Santiago down for the first half of Round One but couldn’t get anything solid. Santiago got a take down with about a minute left in the round. Really close round, neither guy did any damage.

R2- Leben caught Santiago in the second round and knocked him out early in the round. Santiago went in for a strike and left himself open and he got tagged.

Winner: Chris Leben by KO R2 0:35

Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (17-0) vs. Karo Parisyan (23-3)

R1- Diego got an early take down and took Karo’s back. Karo gets loose and takes Diego down. Karo has a cut under his eye. Karo hit an amazing judo throw but couldn’t keep Diego down. Karo got another judo throw and this time took Diego’s guard. Really good and close first round. I’ve got Karo 10-9 but could have gone either way.

R2- Karo started out the round with some good stand up and then got a take down but couldn’t land anything substantial. Diego got a take down and took Karo’s guard. This was another close round with this one going to Sanchez. I’ve got it 19-19 but could see a case being made for either guy being up 20-18 although Diego has definitely done more damage so far.

R3- Some good back and forth dirty boxing starts off the round and then Karo got a take down. Diego switched it up and took Karo’s back and then started hitting some Ground and Pound. Back to their feet and Diego is getting the better. Karo gets a judo throw but Diego ends up in Karo’s guard. Diego ends the round and the fight throwing some good Ground and Pound down on Karo. Diego takes this round and wins the fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Sanchez.

Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Unanimous)

Strikeforce on NBC 2/15/09 Re-Cap

Strikeforce on NBC 2/15/09

Tonight’s fights are from the Strikeforce “Destruction” show that was taped on November 21st.

Middleweight Fight- Tony Johnson (4-0) vs. Eric Lawson (7-2)

R1- Lawson got a good punch and take down about a minute into the round. Johnson made his way back to his feet but Lawson caught him in a Rear Naked Choke and took him down and submitted him.

Winner: Eric Lawson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:28

Middleweight Fight- Josh Neal (3-6) vs. Kurt Osiander (3-1)

Osiander is 43 years old, Neal is 24. Neal has fought and lost to Eric Lawson (who was in the first fight of tonight’s show).

R1- Both guys just started swinging after a couple of minutes and Osiander got the better of it and landed two left hands, a right hand and then got a ref stoppage due to Ground and Pound.

Winner: Kurt Osiander by TKO (punches) R1 2:16

Strike Force Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Bobby Southworth © (9-5-1) vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral (30-7)

Southworth's strategy in every fight I've ever seen him in is to simply grab his opponent and lean on them for 5 rounds. Babalu has won 13 of his last 15 fights.

R1- Southworth gets a quick take down and lays on Babalu. Babalu gets up and they clinch against the cage. Three and a half minutes gone in the fight and little to no action so far. Babalu hits an elbow and Southworth's nose is busted open. McCarthy pauses the fight to take a look at the cut. The announcers are surprised that the fight is continuing. Southworth pushes Babalu to the ground and jumps on top as the bell rings to end the round. I think you have to give this round to Babalu due to damage inflicted on Southworth.

During the intermission they stop the fight due to the cut (it was actually over his eye) and give Babalu the TKO victory.

Winner and new champion: Babalu Sobral TKO (cut) R1 5:00

Retro Re-Cap: Pride "Total Elimination" 2003

Pride “Total Elimination” 2003

UFC clashes with Pride on this show as it features a tournament between 8 Middleweight Fighters (moving to the Final 4 in November).

Middleweight Tournament Fights
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
Alistair Overeem vs. Chuck Liddell

Heavyweight Fights
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Gary Goodridge
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Igor Vovchanchyn

Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Gary Goodridge

Fedor is in the opener for this show! Fedor just came out firing at the beginning of this fight. Fedor quickly got Goodridge down and gave him some G&P and some kicks and this one was over. Phenomenal showing by Fedor as this was before he was a “big name” and he dispatched of Goodridge just like he would dispatch of Tim Sylvia last year.

Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:09

Next up they spent some time profiling Chuck Liddell and why he was fighting in the tournament for UFC.

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Chuck Liddell vs. Alistair Overeem

Talk about a stacked card. We’ve got Fedor in the first fight and Chuck Liddell in the second fight! Dana White joins the announce team on commentary for this fight. This was a pretty good fight while it lasted. For the first part of the fight it was pretty even with both fighters getting in offense. Then it looked like Alistair either got hurt or gassed and Liddell just took him apart.

Winner: Chuck Liddell by KO (Punches) R1 3:09

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Murilo Bustamante

Ricardo Arona was supposed to fight Jackson but he hurt his leg so Bustamante stepped in to take the fight. Bustamante clamped on a quick arm bar and then a triangle choke but Rampage hit a slam to get out of the submission. Bustamante then went for a guillotine choke but Rampage survived. Pretty even fight after the first round with Bustamante coming close to getting the finish with a few different submissions. Second round was controlled by Rampage with Bustamante continually trying to take the fight to the mat. Third round was pretty much the same as the first. Rampage will get this win in this one but not a particularly decisive victory. Very difficult match-up stylistically for Rampage in this fight.

Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Split)

Heavyweight Fight- Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

This actually put me to sleep when I watching it. Ricco controlled the first two rounds and really just stayed on top and smothered Big Nog throughout the fight. The announcers pretty much give the fight to Ricco without a doubt and Big Nog gets a unanimous decision. Definitely a surprising win.

In reading an explanation from Matt Hume it seems that Pride weighed “effort to finish by KO or submission” as their number one criteria in judging a fight and Big Nog did have the advantage in that category and thus he got the unanimous decision as Ricco totally controlled the fight but didn’t do any more damage than Nog did and seems to try to finish the fight less than Nog did.

Winner: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by Decision (Unanimous)

Heavyweight Fight- Cro Cop vs. Igor Vovchanchyn

Crop Cop has a large height advantage in this fight. Cro Cop hit a vicious kick about one minute into the fight and this was a highlight reel knockout! This is what Cro Cop use to be like when he was awesome. Now, he just gets kicked around by the likes of Alistair Overeem.

Winner: Cro Cop by KO (Kick)

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Kiyoshi Tamura

This was an exciting fight. It looked like Tamura was going to take it based on the early action but Yoshida came on strong and got the choke victory.

Winner: Hidehiko Yoshida by Submission (Choke)

Middleweight “Total Elimination” Tournament Fight- Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva

Rampage joins the booth to commentate this fight. This was a pretty exciting fight with Wanderlei swinging away a lot and then got the highlight reel KO about 5 minutes into the round.

Winner: Wanderlei Silva by KO R1

This really seems like a “Who’s Who” of MMA type show. Tons of big names from then and now like Fedor, Cro Cop, Liddell, Rampage, Wanderlei, Sakuraba and Big Nog under one roof. This was a fun show as it was really interesting seeing Dana and Chuck in Pride and it was nice to see Fedor before he became the monster that he is and Cro Cop when he was at the top of his game. the 4 Middleweights who survived this round of the tournament and will fight in the semis are Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Hidehiko Yoshida and Wanderlei Silva.

UFC 94: "St-Pierre vs. Penn 2" Re-Cap

UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2
January 31st, 2009
MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

This is one of the most anticipated and hyped shows for UFC. The Penn/St Pierre champion vs. champion re-match is the main draw. We also have what is basically a #1 Contenders fight between Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva. A potential FOTN on any card is the lightweight fight between Nate Diaz and Clay Guida.


Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-2) vs. Clay Guida (24-6)

Clay Guida comes out to “Hero” by the Foo Fighters. Jason Guida is in Clay’s corner and Nick Diaz is in Nate’s corner. Maybe we can make this a 4-way brawl! Diaz has a big 5” height advantage and a huge 8” reach advantage. Diaz is undefeated in the UFC.

R1- Nate is doing a good job early with light jabs and keeping Guida at bay. Nate pulled guard and Clay put him in a full nelson after he took his back. Clay really controlled the second half of the round. Diaz stood up and landed a couple of shots as the round ended. About as even a round as there is but probably went to Guida.

“That might be the first full nelson in UFC history”- Joe Rogan

R2- Guida basically just clinched and held Diaz a lot in this round while trying to get better position. Not much damage done in this round. Diaz tried a triangle at the end of the round but couldn’t get it. I’ve got Guida up 20-18 although he’s done very little damage to Diaz at this point. Realistically this fight is either 20-18 Guida or 19-19 at this point. It smells like a split decision to me unless Diaz can get a submission.

R3- Diaz starts this round like the first round by picking apart Guida with jabs. Diaz is hitting some good shots in this round and is mocking Guida. Guida got a clinch and tries to hold on for a win. Diaz definitely won this round.

This was a close fight. If you are judging based on an entire fight (which UFC doesn’t) then Diaz won this fight. But if you are judging each round separately then I think Guida squeaks this one out 29-28.

The judges score the fight: 29-28 Diaz, 29-28 Guida and 29-28 Guida.

Winner: Clay Guida by Decision (Split)

Welterweight Fight- Karo Parisyan (26-5) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1)

Both guys are Black Belts in Judo. Parisyan has been battling a panic disorder, a hamstring injury and a back injury. Parisyan has Greg Jackson in his corner and that’s a good thing. Parisyan is coming off a loss to Top Contender Thiago Alves and Kim’s last fight was at UFC 88 where he won a split decision against Matt Brown. Kim has a 3” height advantage and a 4” reach advantage. Frank Mir is in Kim’s corner.

R1- Kim got an early take down and then took Karo’s back. Karo flipped and tried to knock him off but Kim is just latched on like Shinya Aoki. Kim went for an arm bar but Karo slipped out. Karo then almost got caught in a triangle. Kim took this round 10-9. He didn’t do a lot of damage but he really controlled and wore down Karo.

R2- Kim got an early take down and Karo got a kimura on Kim but couldn’t finish. Karo hit a beautiful judo throw half through the round and landed in side control. Karo’s mouthpiece has come out twice and the ref warns him that if it happens again that he is deducting a point. Karo lands strikes towards the end of the round. Karo wins this round and we are at 19-19 after two rounds. Karo still seems like he is having a lot of trouble with the mouth piece.

“Dude, you are kicking his ass now”- Karo’s corner after Round Two

R3- Kim gets an early take down and Karo pushes him off and the ref warns him about up kicks to the face. A minute and a half left in the fight and this is anybody’s fight. Really tough finally round to judge. It was very even. This one is a toss up.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Karo, 29-28 Kim and 29-28 Karo.

Winner: Karo Parisyan by Decision (Split)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Stephan Bonnar (14-4) vs. Jon Jones (7-0)

Jones is undefeated and looked good in his only UFC fight and win against Andre Gusmao at UFC 87. Bonnar’s last fight was a win against Eric Schaefer at UFC 77. Jones is a JUCO National Wrestling Champion but has most of his wins by KO. On paper this should be a fun fight. Bonnar has moved his camp to Vegas and is now training with Forrest Griffin. Jones has a 4.5” reach advantage. Jones is the 3rd youngest fighter in the UFC.

R1- Jones got a good judo throw take down early in the round but couldn’t hold position. Jones got another take down and Bonnar again got to his feet. Jones hit Bonnar with a belly to back suplex and when Bonnar got up he hit him with a spinning back fist and then jumped on top of Bonnar. Bonnar is cut on his forehead. Jones landed a good knee. Jones ended the round with a take down. Jones looked great in this round. 10-9 in favor of Jones.

R2- This round was a lot closer but Jones landed 3 take downs and the stand up was relatively even. Jones 20-18.

R3- Bonnar is the aggressor in this round and Jones looks to be tiring. Bonnar tried for a take down and got it reversed. Jones almost got caught in a triangle. Bonnar took this round but Jones will win this fight 29-28. The 3rd decision of the night but the first unanimous one. Jones definitely has a lot of talent, I look forward to his next fight.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Jones.

Winner: Jon Jones by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Lyoto Machida (13-0) vs. Thiago Silva (13-0)

If Machida wins this he is next in line for a shot at Rashad Evans. If Silva wins then he probably needs 1 more quality win to get a shot. Machida was last seen taking apart Tito Ortiz in a unanimous decision victory and Silva got a Round One TKO victory over Antonio Mendes. Both fights were at UFC 84. Silva has finished all but one of his opponents. Silva looks like he came to fight. Machida is called the “most elusive fighter in UFC history.”

R1- Machida hits some strikes early then they clinch and Machida hits a low blow. Machida got a quick take down after they re-started but he gave up his spot. Lyoto hit a big left hand and Silva went down. Lyoto caught Silva with a big right and knocked him down again. Great counter punching so far for Machida. In the closing seconds of the round Machida pushes Silva down and then jumps on top of him very quickly for a couple of strikes and the bell rings for time and then Silva just lays there and doesn’t get up to go back to his corner. It looked like the first punch from Machida knocked his head back into the canvas and knocked him out. Looks like he was knocked out more from the punch then from his head hitting the mat.

Machida looked great in this fight. He just earned himself a shot at Rashad Evans. Who would have thought that we would have 3 decisions and 1 KO so far and the KO would be for Machida?

Post-match Joe Rogan introduces Machida and his interpreter and then Machida speaks in English for his interview.

Winner: Lyoto Machida by KO R1 4:59

Welterweight Title Fight- Georges St Pierre © (17-2) vs. BJ Penn (13-4-1)

Champion versus Champion. UFC stats say Penn has never been knocked down and that he lands 61% of his lead jabs (UFC average is around 30%). GSP lands 75% of his take down attempts (UFC average is 45%) and he defends 85% of his opponents take downs (UFC average is 55%). BJ is looking to be the first UFC fighter to hold belts at the same time in different weight divisions. Penn gets a big reaction from the crowd as he comes to the ring. GSP gets more of a mixed reaction from the crowd. GSP won their first match-up by Decision after getting dominated in the first round by BJ Penn. GSP has a 6” reach advantage.

R1- Very even as GSP works the first couple of minutes trying to get a take down but BJ continues to deny him. GSP takes the first round by controlling where the fight went and landing a few more strikes. 10-9 GSP but not much damage done on either guy.

R2- Penn hit a good left hand in the first 30 seconds of round two. GSP finally got a take down one minute into the round after struggling the entire first round to try and get one but failing. GSP lands some Ground and Pound and passes guard and lands some more G&P. GSP is hitting some good elbows and the crowd rewards him with a “GSP” chant. GSP dominated this round and is up 20-18 so far.

R3- GSP lands some strikes to start the round and BJs nose is bloodied. GSP powers through another take down. BJ took some offense and some hammer fists and then got back to his feet but GSP got another take down. GSP lands some good strikes towards the end of the round. GSP is in control at 30-27. Penn is going to need a knockout or submission if he wants to win this one.

R4- GSP landed some early strikes and then got another take down. Starting in the second round GSP has done what he wanted to do. GSP is landing some good Ground and Pound. GSP was just all over BJ in this round. This was a 10-8 round for GSP. I’ve got GSP up 40-35 right now with one round left. Herb Dean wants the doctor to look at BJ and Dean stops the fight. It looks like in the replay that BJ’s corner stopped the fight.

What a dominate performance by GSP. This victory quickly catapults GSP into same stratosphere as Fedor and Anderson as the top Pound for Pound fighters in the world right now.

Winner and still Welterweight Champion: Georges St Pierre by TKO R4

Post-fight they interview GSP and bring in Thiago Alves and interview him as well.

The show started out kind of surprisingly with 3 straight decisions but 2 of them were entertaining fights in Diaz/Guida and Jones/Bonner. Lyoto and GSP both looked fantastic. Rashad vs. Lyoto and GSP vs. Alves should both be really good fights. Good show by UFC.

UFC 94 Preliminary Fights Re-Cap

UFC 94: Penn vs. St Pierre 2 Prelims

Welterweight Fight- Matt Arroyo (3-2) vs. Dan Cramer (0-0)

Dan Cramer has a 3.5” reach advantage. This is Cramer’s professional MMA debut and is coming off of a Collarbone injury. Daniel Cramer was in TUF 7 but I don’t remember him. Apparently he beat Luke Zachrich and then lost to Tim Credeur in a fight that he was winning before he got caught and subbed in the first round. Cramer was a member of Team Rampage. Arroyo was a cast member of TUF6. Arroyo bowed out of a semi-final fight against Mac Danzig with a rib injury.

R1- Not a very exciting first round. Arroyo pulled guard early and Cramer got some light Ground and Pound.

R2- This round was more of the same. It’s probably 19-19 but neither guy has done anything to distance himself as the favorite going into the third round.

R3- Arroyo took Cramer’s back and looked like he was going to win via Rear Naked Choke but Cramer got out of the move but Arroyo still had his back. Cramer landed some Ground and Pound toward the end of the round.

This was a pretty tough fight to watch. Based on this fight if either guy is asked back to UFC it will definitely be against someone they are picked to lose against. Neither guy did anything to deserve to win this fight more than the other guy. Arroyo will probably get the win but I smell a split.

Judges: 29-28 Cramer, 29-28 Arroyo and 29-28 Cramer

Winner: Dan Cramer by Decision (Split)

Welterweight Fight- John Howard (10-4) vs. Chris Wilson (13-4)

Wilson has a 6” height advantage and a 3” reach advantage. At UFC 87 Wilson decisioned Steve Bruno 30-27 on all cards. At UFC 82 Chris Wilson lost a decision to top contender Jon Fitch. This is Howard’s UFC debut and has won his last 3 fights. Wilson has won 5 of his last 6 with his only loss being to Fitch, he took that fight on short notice.

R1- Pretty even fight through the first half of the round with Howard catching Wilson on the nose and causing some blood loss. Wilson hit a good combo right after this and took control. This was a close round with pretty good action. I give the slight edge to Wilson.

R2- Howard opened up more at the beginning of the round and the tired out and Wilson came on at the end. I’ve got the fight 19-19 right now with the advantage going to Wilson for the final round.

R3- Howard took Wilson’s back at the beginning of the round. Howard goes for a Rear Naked Choke about two minutes into the round but he couldn’t finish. Howard continues to maintain a triangle on Wilson and has his back. Wilson was able to get out and take guard but Howard went for a leg lock and both guys stand up with 50 seconds left. Howard got a take down and took guard with 30 seconds left but is just resting at this point. Howard limped to the finish but he won this round and thus in my opinion he wins the fight.

This was a good win for Howard as it was his UFC debut and Wilson is a tough opponent.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Howard, 29-28 Wilson and 29-28 Howard.

Winner: John Howard by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Thiago Tavares (17-3) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (10-4)

Tavares has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Gamburyan got rocked at UFC 87 by a big Rob Emerson punch and lost in 12 seconds.

R1- Tavares got a take down but Manvel almost got a kimura submission. Tavares controlled the round and got a slam with one minute left. Tavares 10-9 after round one.

R2- This round was a snoozer. Thiago came on at the end of the round but this one is a toss up.

R3- They mostly stand up and strike in this round. Tavares lands a good punch and a good knee in the middle of the round.

Judges scores are all 29-28 in favor of Tavares. Another kind of blah under card fight.

Winner: Thiago Tavares by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Jake O’Brien (10-2) vs. Christian Wellisch (9-3)

O’Brien is dropping down from Heavyweight for this fight.

R1- O’Brien hit a good punch about 20 seconds into the fight but Wellisch fought through it. Wellisch seemed like he really wanted to take this to the ground but O’Brien remained in control of the fight through the first round. O’Brien 10-9.

R2- O’Brien continuted to control this round by bloodying Christian’s nose and getting two take downs. O’Brien 20-18.

R3- Wellisch looked better in this round as O’Brien began to fade. O’Brien got a couple of take downs but got in little offense.

I’ve got O’Brien 29-28 in this fight. Not an exciting fight.

Judges score the fight 29-28 Wellisch, 29-28 O’Brien and 29-28 O’Brien.

Winner: Jake O’Brien by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Akihiro Gono (28-13-7) vs. Jon Fitch (21-3)

Fitch has a 6” reach advantage and a 4” height advantage. Fitch is coming off of a lopsided loss to one of the top P4P fighters in the world GSP in which he showed a lot of heart by going 5 full rounds with the champ.

R1- Fitch controlled this round and took Gono’s back at the end of the round but couldn’t get into a good enough position to go for a finish. Fitch 10-9.

R2- Fitch dominated this round. Almost a 10-8 round but I don’t think Fitch did enough damage. Fitch went for a late arm bar but Gono survived. Fitch 20-18.

R3- Gono showed some life in this round but Fitch does what he does which is smother his opponents in a boring fashion.

Judges score cards say: 30-27, 30-27, 30-26 in favor of Fitch.

Winner: Jon Fitch by Decision (Unanimous)

This has got to take the cake as the most boring and pedestrian UFC under card that there has ever been. Five decisions on the under card and while they were competitive none of them were anywhere near exciting fights.

WEC 38: "Varner vs. Cerrone" 1/25/09 Re-Cap

WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone (1/25/09) – San Diego, CA (San Diego Sports Arena)

Craig Hummer joins Frank Mir in the broadcast booth, so that’s a change from their normal duo.

Featherweight Fight- José Aldo (12-1) vs. Rolando Perez (4-1-1)

Aldo is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and a very aggressive striker. Perez leans more towards the stand up game but can also submit his opponents and was a high school wrestler. This is the debut for Perez in WEC. Perez is the hometown guy in this fight as he is from San Diego. Perez has advantages in both height and reach.

R1- Really good first round with Aldo with a slight advantage in the stand up at the beginning of the round. Perez started to land some combinations in the middle but the Aldo came on strong in the last two minutes landing several good strikes and drawing blood. Perez came in with a punch and Aldo hit a great counter knee strike that just floored Perez and then Aldo just had to give him a shoot or two before the ref stepped in.

Good one round fight.

Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:15

Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia are at ringside and interviewed about their March 1st fight for the WEC Featherweight Title. The TapouT guys are at ringside as are Brock Larson and Rashad Evans.

Welterweight Fight- Danillo Villefort (8-2) vs. Mike Campbell (6-0)

Villefort has a 4” height advantage and a big 6” reach advantage. Campbell has been training recently with Mark Delegrati. This is the WEC debut for Campbell.

R1- Campbell grabbed a leg kick and got a take down. Villefort went for a triangle but Campbell fought it off and picked him up and slammed him. Villefort went for a leg lock and Campbell tried to roll out and eventually did. Villefort looks very comfortable on the ground. Villefort got a take down with about two minutes left and started working some elbows. Campbell gave up his back and Villefort continued to pound on his ears and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Villefort looked good in this fight. He looks like he has some really good jiu jitsu skills.

Winner: Danillo Villefort by TKO (strikes) R1 3:53

Villefort drops the F bomb in the post-fight interview (live on Versus!) and says he is here to fight for the belt.

Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen (5-2) vs. Frank Gomez (6-0)

Due to the first two fights getting finished in the 1st round we get a fight from the pre-show. Gomez has a large 6” height advantage and 3” reach advantage. Gomez is only 22 years old and is a jiu jitsu and Muy Thai fighter and is making his WEC debut.

R1- Jorgensen got a take down about 30 seconds into the round and went for a guillotine but couldn’t lock it in. Jorgensen caught him with what Mir called a “Power Guillotine” or “Power Choke” and described it as an upside Rear Naked Choke. Very impressive fight and finish by Jorgensen.

Winner: Scott Jorgensen by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:09

Featherweight Fight- Urijah Faber (21-2) vs. Jens Pulver (22-10-1)

This is a re-match from a 5 round draw they had last year that was a FOTY candidate even tough Faber won every round. Pulver hung tough in the fight and had Faber on the ropes a couple of times. It was the #2 voted FOTY last year for WEC. Both guys are wounded coming off of losses. Faber lost the belt in his last fight to Mike Brown in which he made a mistake and got caught and lost despite cracking one of Brown’s ribs. Pulver got handled easily by Leonard Garcia in his last fight. This is a must win fight for both guys. Pulver has been dealing with a lot of personal issues recently (both good and bad) and asked for the fight to be moved to the March show but it was not.

R1- Faber hurt Pulver with a punch about a minute in and then tracked down Pulver took him down and submitted him. Very impressive victory for Faber and you have to think that this is the end of the road for Pulver in WEC as he’s lost 3 in a row.

Winner: Urijah Faber by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:34

Jens Pulver drops the F bomb in a post-fight interview. They actually asked him if he was “still relevant in the Featherweight Division.”

WEC Lightweight Championship: Jamie Varner © (15-2) vs. Donald Cerrone (9-0)

Cerrone is undefeated in MMA (has 1 no contest) and was also 25-0 as an amateur kick boxer. Mir says that Cerrone also has some very good submission from the guard position. Cerrone has won 8 of 9 fights by submission. He is training with Greg Jackson and also has been training with GSP.

Varner has been training with the Arizona Combat Club (Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero also train there). He is a well rounded fighter, was an all-American wrestler and has boxing experience.

R1- Varner hit a good combo about one and a half minutes into the fight as he landed a big left and then got a take down. Cerrone grabs a rubber guard type move that nullifies Varner’s offense and Mir says that he might have a slight choke in. Varner sits up and lands some big Ground and Pound. Cerrone has a big bump on his forehead. Varner slipped and Cerrone was able to get back to his feet and actually get some offense in. Varner up 10-9 after one round. Varner looked very impressive in Ground and Pound and Cerrone showed the ability to take a large amount of punishment. Really good first round.

R1- Cerrone lands some kicks but then gets taken down and Cerrone escapes nicely after a few strikes. Cerrone was winning the stand up but then Varner got the take down. Varner lands some good Ground and Pound and Cerrone escapes again. Cerrone really stalking Varner in this round. Varner got another take down to end the round but Cerrone grabbed Varner’s arm for a near arm bar. This was a very even round. Varner got 3 take downs but did little with 2 of them and when the fight was on their feet he was constantly back pedaling and moving away from Cerrone. Very debatable round but I’ve got it for Cerrone. So that makes it 19-19 right now. If conditioning becomes a factor I believe Cerrone is going to have the advantage.

R3- Varner got some good shots in on Cerrone and then took him down around the two minute mark of the round. Cerrone has a cut on his eye. Varner goes for a guillotine and Cerrone reverses and they go back to their feet. Cerrone is definitely having some issues with his eye. Varner lands some good shots. Varner gets a take down with 30 seconds left in the round. Varner took this round by a good margin. I’ve got Varner up 29-28.

R4- Varner landed a good roundhouse left kick but Cerrone absorbed the shot. Varner backing up a lot in this round. Varner got a take down a little after the two minute mark. Cerrone gets out after very little punishment. Varner got another take down at the one minute mark of the round.
Cerrone is landing more from his guard than Varner is giving him. This was another really close round. I could see giving this to Cerrone but I don’t think he did enough damage so I think Varner takes it with the take downs. Varner 39-37.

R5- Varner gets an early take down. Cerrone escapes with a nice kick off move. Cerrone got the next take down. As Varner was getting up Cerrone grazed him with a knee to the head and Varner stayed down. Varner had risen up and then went back down to his knees and got grazed by the knee. Varner says he can’t see and the ref is going to stop the fight. It is called an unintentional foul and they are going to score all 5 rounds. I’ve got Cerrone taking this round and the fight going to Varner 48-47.

This was a really good fight that unfortunately ended poorly.

Judges score cards say 49-46 Varner, 48-47 Cerrone and 49-46 Varner.

Winner: Jamie Varner by Decision (Unanimous)

Varner says he broke his hand in the 2nd or 3rd round. The fans are booing him and he tells them to “Fing boo him”. Varner says that as soon as he gets cleared to fight that he’ll grant the re-match to Cerrone.

Overall, another strong show from the WEC on Versus.

Affliction "Day of Reckoning" 1/24/09- Re-Cap

Affliction: Day of Reckoning (1/24/09) – Anaheim, CA (Honda Center)

Lightweight Fight- Dan Lauzon (11-2) vs. Bobby Green (7-1)

Bobby Green is fighting on short notice as he replaced Chris Horodecki. Lauzon is a wrestler and jiu jitsu fighter. Green describes his fighting style as “hood”.

R1- Green really took it to Lauzon in the first round. Green hit Lauzon with two low blows and we get two five minute rest periods and two warnings for Green. Green is winning the fight but can’t keep his knee off of Lauzon’s jock. They start back and Green hits him with another low blow although it was a glancing blow. Lauzon looks like he sold this one more than the others. Green got a point deducted for this. Green should just stop throwing kicks at this point unless he’s kicking him in the low part of the legs. Lauzon went for a heel hook but Green survived. Lauzon then quickly took Greens back and tapped him out with only about 10 seconds left in the round.

This would have been a good fight if we didn’t have 15 minutes worth of waiting due to the three low blows. Edit those out and it was a good one round fight.

Winner: Dan Lauzon by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:55

Heavyweight Fight- Paul Buentello (29-10) vs. Kiril Sidelnikov (5-2)

Kiril is Fedor’s protégé and he is nicknamed “Baby Fedor”. No pressure there at all. That’s like dubbing some poor Quarterback as the next “Joe Montana”. Buentello has a 3” height advantage, a 6” reach advantage and a 15 pound weight advantage.

R1- Decent first round as Buentello opened up a cut under Kiril’s eye. Buentello takes the first round 10-9.

R2- The first half of this round was more of the same but Kiril got a good flurry into the corner before Buentello wrapped him up. Buentello started landing some good shots towards the end of the round. Buentello took this round as he controlled with the exception of the flurry by Kiril. Buentello 20-18.

R3- Buentello just picked Kiril apart in this round. Kiril lost his mouthpiece twice and the second time the doctor at ringside stopped the fight. Buentello looked solid in this fight and Kiril didn’t show much of looking like Fedor except in his ability to take a punch. The strikes landed in the first round were about the same and by the end of the fight Buentello had landed twice as many strikes as Kiril.

Winner: Paul Buentello by TKO (Ref Stoppage) R3 4:18

Light Heavyweight Fight- Renato Sobral (31-7) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-3)

Sokoudjou was last seen gassing in about two minutes in UFC and then getting taken apart by Luiz Cane. Prior to that he got a TKO victory in Round One against Kazuhiro Nakamura and prior to that he got submitted by Lyoto Machida. Sokoudjou needs to finish in the first round if he is going to win this fight. Babalu fought on the November Strikeforce card and beat Bobby Southworth for their Light Heavyweight Title. Babalu got a decision victory over Mike Whitehead at the first Affliction show.

R1- Not a great first round as neither guy really got going. Sokoudjou had good take down defense and landed a couple of shots in Ground and Pound. Sokoudjou up 10-9 in a very even round.

R2- Babalu got a quick take down at the beginning of the round and landed some Ground and Pound. Babalu got the Anaconda choke clamped in and finished the fight. Sokoudjou once again gets foiled after the first round. Babalu looked good and I think we just need to comes to terms that Sokoudjou isn’t a very good MMA fighter.

Winner: Renato Sobral by Submission (Anaconda Choke) R2 2:36

Middleweight Fight- Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland

Lindland looked very out of shape in his fight back in July for Affliction so it will be interesting to see if he has cardio in this fight if it goes for a while. Belfort looked good in his win over Terry Martin back in July.

R1- Belfort stuck Lindland early and floored him and then just destroyed him. Utter dominance by Belfort. I guess we won’t have to worry about Lindland’s cardio. Lindland has been very unimpressive in his last two fights.

Winner: Vitor Belfort by KO R1 0:37

Post-match Tito Ortiz says he sees Vitor taking apart Anderson Silva. Lindland and Terry Martin probably weren’t even in the Top 25 Middleweights much less among the top P4P fighters in the world. Impressive victory by Vitor but let’s see him beat a Top 5 or Top 10 Middleweight before jumping to Anderson Silva.


Heavyweight Fight- Josh Barnett (23-5) vs. Gilbert Yvel (42-12)

Barnett beat Pedro Rizzo in somewhat of a snoozer at the last Affliction show. Barnett is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and New Japan Professional Wrestler. Yvel is a Muy Thai fighter and Kick Boxer. He has 37 Knockouts in his career.

R1- Barnett got a take down and controlled the round and really poured on some Ground and Pound at the end of the round but Yvel held on and showed a tremendous ability to take punishment. Possibly a 10-8 round.

R2- Barnett dominated this round as he got an early take down and got some Ground and Pound but didn’t inflict the punishment that he did in the last round. Yvel got in some offense in the last 20 seconds. Barnett 20-17 so far.

Scott Farrell should not be on my television. He has a face for radio. Ditto for Chuck Zito.

R3- Barnett got another takedown and hit more Ground and Pound until Yvel tapped out to punches. Good showing from Barnett.

Winner: Josh Barnett by Submission (Strikes) R3 3:05

WAMMA Heavyweight Championship: Fedor Emelianenko © (28-1) vs. Andrei Arlovski (15-5)

R1- This was a weird fight. They fought evenly for about the first two and a half minutes. Arlovski started to push forward and take a brief lead and then Fedor hit a shot that looked like it barely hit and Arlovski dropped like a ton of bricks. I’ve watched this replay several times and it barely looks like it hit. I guess it hit in the right spot.

Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by KO R1 (3:14)

Overall, this was a solid show. I thought it was clearly above and beyond their first show. They did a good job improving the pacing of the show. Fedor and Belfort both had good knockout showings and Babalu and Barnett looked good. No above average fights on the show but no stinkers like Negao/Lindland from last show and no issues with the ring ropes. The announcing was adequate but left a lot to be desired when you compare it to the UFC. I think Tito Ortiz was the weak link in the booth as he didn’t come anywhere close to providing the type of analysis and insight that you get from guys like Joe Rogan, Frank Shamrock and Bas Rutten. They need to just stop with the backstage announcing as it just didn’t feel right- probably due to the guys they had doing it and the fact that they went backstage in between fights when they would be better served showing the corners (UFC had some great moments from Phil Baroni and Rich Franklin during corners at the last show). Good performance from Affliction and an upgrade from their first show.

Mainstream MMA- "New Era" 4/5/08 Re-Cap

Mainstream MMA - New Era
Mainstream MMA
April 5, 2008
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

This was from the Fight Zone show on Sport South. The announcers for the show were Jay Adams and Justin Brown. Razak Al-Hassan (debuted for UFC at Fight For The Troops against WEC Veteran Steve Cantwell) was also on this show but his fight was not shown as only the final 4 fights from this show made the cut for TV.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rashad Brooks (3-3) vs. Derek Mehman (0-0)

Mehman is 6'4" and has a 6" height advantage. The winner of this is going to get a title shot at the next show. The announcers said Mehman was 1-0 going into this fight but Sherdog does not have record of that fight.

R1- Brooks tried a weird flipping kick and instead got his back taken and got tagged with some punches. Mehman got another take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Mehman put him in a half nelson and it did nothing. Mehman then flattened him out and hit lots of punches to the side of the head until the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.

Winner: Derek Mehman by TKO (strikes) R1

Welterweight Fight- Luke Gwaltney (12-10-1) vs. Eric Wisely (1-1)(20-2)

Luke has a 5" height advantage and also looks to have a good reach advantage in this fight. Wisely has a 1-1 record according to Sherdog but the announcers made reference to him being something like 20-2 in boxing. Sherdog has Luke at 12-10-1 going into the fight, the announcers said he is 23-10. He is only 22 years old so either way that's a bunch of fights.

R1- Wisely hit some good leg kicks and they briefly threw in the corner. Not a lot of strikes landed and a long feeling out process. Give the round to Wisely 10-9.

R2- Wisely got a take down and some Ground and Pound. Gwaltney kicked out but came up with a blood nose. Wisely got another take down, hit some Ground and Pound and got a full mount. Gwaltney kicked off the cage to get up but got taken down again. Wisely up 20-18 so far.

R3- Gwaltney got the take down and Wisely hit some punches from the bottom and the ref stepped in as Gwaltney was very bloody. Apparently when he made the take down he landed on his head (possibly on the bottom of the cage) and sustained a big gash that opened up really quickly. Fight was stopped due to blood, Wisely was up on points at this point anyway and had looked good in the fight.

Winner: Eric Wisely by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) R3

Middleweight Title Fight- Brian Monaghan (2-2) vs. Tom Grubb (4-0)

This is for the vacant Middleweight Title. The announcers have Grubb at 8-0 going into the fight and they have Monaghan at 5-2. Monaghan has fought Drew McFedries but came up on the short end of that one. This fight is 4 5-minute rounds with a 1 round Sudden Victory if the score cards are even after 4 rounds.

R1-Grubb pulled guard but landed in full mount. He was able to quickly turn it over and controlled the round from there. Grubb 10-9.

R2- Monaghan got a take down but Grubb reversed it and controlled the round again. Grubb 20-18 but not much damage inflicted.

R3- Grubb got a take down, they were stood up and so he got another take down. Really superior wrestling by Grubb.

R4- Grubb got a take down, went for a crucifix, then got a full mount and trapped Monaghan in a side choke and got the submission victory.

Good showing by Grubb. Not a very excited fight but he had superior wrestling and ended it with a good submission.

Winner and new Middleweight Champ: Tom Grubb by Submission (Choke) R4

Lightweight Title Fight- Joe Pearson (c) (26-10-1) vs. Erik Koch (2-0)

This is the Main Event. Pearson is a Militech fighter. Peason has a fought and lost to Miguel Torres in 2006, beat Yoshiro Maeda in 2006 in Pride Buchido, and lost to Urijah Faber in WEC in 2007 (I'm pretty sure I've seen that fight). Koch has a victory over Eric Wisely by decision from the last MMA Mainstream show. Koch has a 7 pound weight advantage in this fight.

R1- Koch hits a quick kick that is caught by Pearson and Pearson takes him down but Koch immediately maneuvers into a triangle choke. Pearson tries to fight it off and toughs it out for about 30 seconds but he has to tap. Very explosive start to the fight and a great finish.

Winner and new champion: Erik Koch by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 0:47

This show definitely seemed to have some more refined fighters than the RFC show had on it. I would be interested in seeing Koch, Grubb and Wisely fight again to see how they progress.

Sengoku "No Ran" 1/4/09 Re-Cap

Sengoku “No Ran” 1/4/09

This show has two title fights for vacant titles. Takanori Gomi will fight Satoru Kitaoka for the Lightweight Championship and former UFC fighter Jorge Santiago will take on Kazuo Misaki for the vacant Middleweight Title. Also in action are former Elite XC Heavyweights Dave “Pee Wee” Herman and Antonio Silva (who held the Elite XC Heavyweight Title).

Heavyweight Fight- Dave Herman (13-0) vs. Mu Bae Choi (7-3)

Dave “Pee Wee” Herman has been very impressive in his Elite XC fights. The biggest names he has beaten are Ron Waterman and Kerry Schall so he’s relatively untested.

Choi is a Korean fighter who has a victory over Gary Goodridge but has lost to former Pro-Wrestler Sylvester Terkay (known as “The Predator” when he wrestled as a Bruiser Brody knock-off for Zero One in Japan). Choi has fought for K-1, Pancrase and Pride. Choi lost his first Sengoku fight to Marcio Cruz.

R1- Herman hit some good knees to the body early but got taken down after a clinch but got back up after little to no damage. Herman caught his opponent in the corner and peppered him with knees and strikes and took him down but Choi latched onto his leg so that he could survive the onslaught. Herman got taken down toward the end of the round and Choi tried a submission but Herman slipped out. Good first round, Herman won this due to the strikes that he landed but Choi showed a lot of heart.

R2- Slow start to the second round as it looks like Herman is kind of waiting for Choi to make a move and getting some wind back. Choi hits some strikes and Herman takes some punishment and goes down on the ropes and the ref stops the fight. Definitely a shocking loss for Herman. He’s pretty much self-trained, so if he can get in a good camp I think he’s got a ton of promise but he just didn’t look like he came into this fight with a good game plan and made too many rookie mistakes and it looked like he lost his wind.

Winner: Mu Bae Choi by TKO R2 2:22

Lightweight Fight- Sergey Golyaev (12-6) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (14-6-2)

Sergey is a Russian fighter who has fought in M-1 and Shooto and is 1-0 in Sengoku with a Split Decision over Takanori Gomi (who is in the Lightweight Title Fight later on this same show).

Eiji has fought in KOTC, Pride and DEEP and is currently 2-1 in Sengoku. He has career victories over Joachim Hansen, Samy Schiavo, and Gleison Tibau and has lost to John Alessio and Satoru Kitaoka (Satoru is in the title fight later against Gomi).

R1- Eiji gets an early takedown. Sergey has a very active guard. Eiji controlled for the majority of the round and then got an arm bar out of nowhere for the win. Good showing for Eiji.

Winner: Eiji Mitsuoka by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 4:22


Heavyweight Fight- Antonio Silva (11-1) vs. Yoshihiro Nakao (7-1)

Silva is the freakishly large Elite XC Heavyweight Champion who has been suspended in the US for failing a drug test at a previous Elite XC event. Silva has a huge height advantage over his opponent. Silva fights out of American Top Team. Nakao has a win over Don Frye in K-1 in 2004.

R1- Silva is pushing this guy around and he calls a “timeout” due to his knee hurting. I’ve never seen that before. He can’t continue and the ref calls the fight.

Winner: Antonio Silva by TKO (Knee Injury) R1 1:42

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (2-0) vs. Yukiya Naito (15-4-2)

All of Lawal’s fights have been for Sengoku and so far he is 2-0. Not sure if this was contested under Light Heavyweight or Middleweight class as Lawal is listed at 185 on Sherdog and Naito is listed at 205. This is Naito’s first fight for Sengoku but he has previously fought in DEEP, K-1, and Pancrase. Naito is on a 6 fight win streak and has not lost since 2006. His last 4 fights were all by TKO and he has stopped his opponent before a decision in all 6 fights.

R1- King Mo is basically throwing punches and stalking his opponent. King Mo is definitely a free swinger with some personality. King Mo hit a big punch that hurt Naito and then jumped all over him and the ref stopped the fight. Very impressive performance from King Mo. He’s got my curiosity piqued. I would definitely like to see him again.

Winner: Muhammed Lawal by TKO (strikes)


Light Heavyweight Fight- Hidehiko Yoshida (8-6-1) vs. Sanae Kikuta (27-6-3)

Yoshida has wins over Naoya Ogawa, Don Frye, Kiyoshi Tamura, Mark Hunt and Tank Abbott and has lost to Wanderlei Silva (2x), Rulon Garnder, Cro Cop, James Thompson and Josh Barnett. He is 1-1 in Sengoku and has fought mostly in Pride in his career.

Kikuta has wins over Minoru Suzuki, Ikuhisa Minowa, and Alexander Otsuka and has lost to the likes of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Yuki Kondo, Murilo Bustamante, and Renzo Gracie. He is a veteran of Shooto, Pancrease, UFC, and Pride. He is 1-0 in Sengoku. I’m guessing this is a Light Heavyweight Fight as Sherdog has Yoshida listed at 225 and Kikuta 200.

R1- Yoshida went for a kick and Kikuta got a take down a couple of minutes into the fight. Very slow first round. Kikuta controlled the fight so he gets the 10-9 score in round one but he didn’t do any damage.

R2- Yoshida gets on top early in this round. Both guys go for a leg lock but they get tangled up in the ropes so they are broken up. Yoshida lands some stand up and clearly has better stand up. Kikuta pulls guard and goes for a leg lock. They get stood back up and Kikuta pulls guard but Yoshida hits some Ground and Pound before Kikuta goes for another leg lock. Kikuta ended the round on top with some Ground and Pound. This was a good round and very close. I give it to Yoshida because his stand up with superior and all other things were about even. Kikuta tried some leg locks but didn’t seem close to getting a sub. I’ve got it 19-19 after two rounds.

R3- Yoshida lands some shots and then does a judo throw but Kikuta holds on and takes his back. Kikuta controlling this round by mounting Yoshida. Kikuta finishes the round with some Ground and Pound. Kikuta will win this decision 20-18. Not a dominating win but he controlled the first and third rounds. Surprisingly the judges render a split decision.

Winner: Sanae Kikuta by Decision (Split)


Middleweight Title Fight- Jorge Santiago (20-7) vs. Kazuo Misaki (21-8-2)

I most recently saw Misaki fight for Strikeforce in September when he stopped Joe Riggs with some Ground and Pound in the second round. Misaki is on a 3 fight win streak and has career wins over Denis Kang, Dan Henderson, Phil Baroni, and Ed Herman. In his career he has lost to Chris Lytle, Nate Marquardt (x2), Ricardo Almeida, Frank Trigg, Dan Henderson (although he beat him the next time he fought him), and Paulo Filho. Misaki is a veteran of Pancrase and Pride.

Santiago is on a 8 fight win streak since losing back to back fights to Alan Belcher and Chris Leben. He has also lost to Diego Sanchez, Manny Gamburyan and Joey Villasenor in his career. He has victories over Jeremy Horn, Kazuhiro Nakamura and Sean Salmon. He is 2-0 in Sengoku.

R1- Misaki got the first real advantage of the fight when Santiago hit a punch but Misaki tripped him and then jumped on top into his guard. Santiago caught Misaki in an arm bar but Misaki got out very quickly and retained guard. Very even first round with Misaki getting the edge due to controlling the action.

R2- Very even round with some good stand up exchanges. Santiago won this round with a couple of good strikes (one a over hand right and the other a kick to the side and Santiago definitely looks like he’s in better shape after two rounds. I’ve got it 19-19 after two rounds.

R3- Misaki went for a jumping kick but got caught and knocked down. Very close round as they stood up for the majority of the round and both guys landed some pretty decent shots. This round was a toss up.

R4- Misaki starts the round as the aggressor and is landing some leg kicks. Santiago finally caught one of the them and took Misaki’s guard with about a minute and a half left in the round. Santiago went for an arm bar after some brief Ground and Pound but Misaki rolled out and took Santiago’s guard but didn’t have any time to do anything. Another very close round. Last two rounds could have gone either way.

R5- Misaki has a good mouse over his eye as he comes out to start the round. Both guys cardio looks good. Santiago shot in after some even stand up and took Misaki down. Misaki has a cut over his eye. Misaki gave up his back and Santiago clamped in the Rear Naked and the ref stopped the fight.

Very good fight and a very close fight. Definitely deserving of a re-match down the round.

Winner and new champion: Jorge Santiago by Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R5 3:26

Lightweight Title Fight- Satoru Kitaoka (23-8-9) vs. Takanori Gomi (29-4)

Gomi needs no introduction as he has been one of the best Lightweight fighters in MMA in the last several years. He holds career victories over Dokonjonsuke Mishima, Charles Bennett, Jens Pulver, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hayato Sakurai, Marcus Aurelio, Mitsuhiro Ishida and Duane Ludwig. He has lost to Sergey Golyaev (who fought early on this show), Marcus Aurelio (although he won the re-match), BJ Penn and Joachim Hansen. In 2008 Gomi was 2-1 and in Sengoku he is also 2-1.

Kitaoka has fought mainly in Pancrase and is 4-0 in Sengoku. He has career wins over Eiji Mitsuoka (fought earlier on this show), Paul Daley, Kurt Pellegrino and Carlos Condit. He is on a 4 fight win streak, all in Sengoku.

R1- Gomi got a take down after Satoru missed a take down and he took Satoru’s back but Satoru quickly rolled through and both guys went for leg holds with Satoru locking one in on Gomi. Very exciting sequence and then Gomi tapped out. Wow, great showing for Kitaoki. Very reminiscent of Aoki/Alvarez.

Winner and new champion: Satoru Kitaoka by Submission (Achilles Lock) R1


I thought this was a pretty decent show. I was impressed by Muhammad Lawal and enjoyed the Santiago/Misaki fight as it was definitely FOTN. The Lightweight fights were both short but I think that with those 4 guys that Sengoku has a fairly competitive Lightweight Division and I would like to see more of Kitaoka as he is now on a 5 fight win streak in Sengoku.

UFC 93 "Franklin vs Henderson" 1/17/09 Re-Cap

UFC 93: "Franklin vs Henderson"

Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis (20-5) vs. Chris Lytle (36-16-4)

Looks like we are starting out with the fight on paper that should be FOTN. Davis beat Paul Kelly by submission in his last fight in October at UFC 89 and at the same show Chris Lytle scored a unanimous decision over Paul Taylor. Both guys have professional boxing experience. Lytle is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Marcus Davis comes out the House of Pain's "Jump Around." Both guys have won the majority of their fights by submission. Davis has a 2" reach advantage. Davis is the overwhelming fan favorite in this fight since he is the "Irish Hand Grenade."

"Ole" chant goes out from the crowd as the fight starts.

R1- Lytle attacks early and briefly knocks Davis back against the cage. Lytle is the aggressor but Davis is hitting some counter punches. Davis caught a kick with two minutes left in the fight and threw Lytle to the ground but didn't follow him down. Lytle went down again, on a possible slip or push, and Davis went down and tried some Ground and Pound but Lytle got back up and then ate a knee. Davis has a cut under his left eye. Good first round and really close to score. Lytle was the aggressor but got knocked off his feet twice. Very close fight so far.

R2- Lytle backed Davis up against the cage and threw bombs to open up the fight but Davis survived. Davis caught him with a body shot that knocked Lytle down. Davis hits a body kick and then some knees. This was a close round. Davis seemed like he hit more shots, Lytle seemed like he hit heavy shots. I think we've got a 19-19 fight here but I could honestly see it legitimately being scored 20-18 right now in favor of either fighter. It's a really close fight so far. Davis has a couple of minor cuts.

R3- Lytle throwing and missing with some wild shots this round. He's still pushing forward but looks like he's slowing. With about a minute and a half left they both throw punches against the cage. Lytle got knocked to his knees at the end of the round. Really good fight. I've got Davis 29-28 but I would be surprised if this wasn't a split decision.

The judges score the fight: Davis 29-28, Lytle 29-28 and Davis 29-28

Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Split)

Middleweight Fight- Alan Belcher (12-4) vs. Denis Kang (31-10-1)

This is Kang's UFC debut. Belcher is coming off of a questionable split decision victory over Ed Herman in September and has won 3 of his last 4 fights. The last time I saw Denis Kang he was getting submitted by Gegard Mousasi in the first round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. Kang is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt. Belcher is a Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt.

R1- Kang got an early take down and controlled the action early. Kang got his second take down of the round with two minutes left. Knag went for a kimura but couldn't get it locked in. Really strong round for Kang as he dominated but didn't inflict too much damage on Belcher. 10-9 Kang after one round.

R2- Kang got a take down one and a half minutes into the round. Belcher pulled guard near the end of the round and caught Kang in a guillotine and tapped him. It looked like Kang had run out of gas prior to getting caught. Kang was controlling this fight but not dominating. Very disappointing debut by Kang but I think you could see it coming after he got subbed by Mousasi in very short order last April.

Winner: Alan Belcher by Submission (Guillotine) R2 4:36

Post-fight interview Belcher says he thinks he needs one or two more fights before calling out Anderson Silva. No shit sherlock.

Michael Bisping is shown in the crowd and they hype up the fact that he will be one of the coaches on the next installment of TUF.

Middleweight Fight- Jeremy Horn (88-18-5) vs. Rousimar Palhares (17-2)

Palhares is coming off of a decision loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 88 in a close fight that I scored in favor of Henderson 29-28. Palhares is an aggressive submission fighter and a jiu jitsu black belt. Horn has a 3" reach and 6" height advantage. Horn has over 50 submissions in his MMA career and has fought in over 100 career MMA fights.

R1- Horn pulled guard early but Palhares quickly took his back but Horn survived and was able to roll over. Palhares missed with a leg lock and Horn missed with a triangle. Palhares really controlled and almost dominating first round. This was a borderline 10-8 round in favor of Palhares.

R2- Palhares got a big slam and take down about 15 seconds into round two. Palhares has been warned a couple of times about grabbing onto the cage. Horn survived and got a single leg and then mounted Palhares and got him in an arm triangle but couldn't clamp it in right. Horn hit some stand up but then Palhaes got a take down. Very close first round with Palhares controlling the beginning and end and Horn controlling the middle. I've got Palhares 20-17 so far but I could see it as close as 19-19 depending on what the judges favor when they score.

R3- Huge suplex by Palhares to start off the round. Palhares just controls this round as Palhares was winded but Horn couldn't do anything. Palhares is going to take this by unanimous decision.

Judges say: 30-27 for all three judges.

Winner: Rousimar Palhares by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway

This is a pre-show fight. Egan got a huge response from the crowd. This is the UFC debut of both guys. Hathaway has more experience.

R1- Hathaway dominated on the ground early. The crowd was really behind Egan. Hathaway finished Egan in the final minute of the round due to ref stoppage. Hathaway looked really good. Egan got in virtually no offense.

Winner: John Hathaway by TKO (strikes) R1 4:36

Light Heavyweight Fight- Mark Coleman (15-8) vs. Shogun Rua (16-3)

This is a re-match from their much talked about Pride fight where Rua broke his arm and then their was a post-fight melee in the ring. Coleman comes out to AC/DCs "Back in Black." This is the "Co-Main Event."

R1- Coleman rushes in early and eats a Shogun knee but got the take down. Rua going for a knee bar but Coleman escaped. Rua with a knee but Coleman took him down. Basically this fight is Coleman trying to Ground and Pound and Shogun trying to go for subs. Shogun is starting to come on at the end of the round with some good leg kicks. Coleman looking tired towards the end of the round. Shogun hit a good knee and Coleman dove at his leg. Big left hand from Rua and Coleman crumbles to the floor but grabs onto Rua's leg. Rua 10-9 in this round as Coleman just ran out of gas.

Phil Baroni is in Coleman's corner and telling Coleman that he's hurt Rua badly and that Rua is looking for a way out as Coleman has trouble finding his corner.

R2- Coleman got a take down after he ate a couple of strikes. Rua hitting more strikes and Coleman is having a difficult time keeping his hands up. Coleman got a take down with about 2 minutes left but couldn't hold him down. Rua peppered Coleman with some shots and Coleman got another take down. Rua got a shoulder lock. Both guys look tired. Coleman survives to fight another round if he can make it back to his corner. Rua is up 20-18 but not looking particularly good so far.

R3- Coleman got a take down and is laying on top of Rua. Rua is going after Coleman's leg and Coleman is continually grabbing the cage to help against the move. Coleman back on top and is on Rua's back and is taking some shots. Rua escaped and hit a knee to Coleman where Coleman's knees were on the ground. The ref separated them but on replay it was to the body which was a legal shot. Both guys are just gassed. Rua hitting Coleman with some shots and knocks him down and the ref stops the fight.

That was hard to watch. Both guys clearly didn't have the stamina needed to be ready for this fight. After Rua's interview with Rogan, Rua and Coleman shake hands and embrace a couple of times to squash their feud.

Winner: Shogun Rua by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:36

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rich Franklin (26-3-1) vs. Dan Henderson (23-7)

Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares by decision at UFC 88 and Franklin's last fight was a win at the same show when he finished Matt Hamill. Henderson is a two-time Olympic wrestler and the only fighter to hold two belts at the same time in Pride. Both of these guys have recent losses to Anderson Silva so they are basically the #2 and #3 fighters in the Middleweight Division but are fighting at Light Heavyweight as Silva has basically forced them to move up. The winner is going to coach opposite of Michael Bisping in the next TUF installment.

R1- Henderson got a couple of good strikes in early, slipped but then got on top of Franklin. Franklin took some punishment but made it back to his feet about half way through the round. They exchanged on their feet as both guys got in shots. Henderson hit Franklin with an accidental headbutt that opened up a cut on his forehead. Henderson up 10-9 after Round One.

R2- Pretty even round but Henderson got a take down at the two minute mark and controlled for the rest of the fight. Henderson is up 20-18 so far so Franklin needs to finish if he wants to get a win.

R3- They mix it up at the beginning of the round with Franklin avoiding a take down but he couldn't avoid a second. Franklin started to land some good shots toward the end of the fight but then Henderson hit him with an eye poke and they had to take a break in the action. Not much action after the eye poke. Henderson takes this 29-28 in a rather boring fight for a Main Event.

Judges scores are: 29-28 Henderson, 30-27 Franklin and 29-28 Henderson. What's up with the 30-27 Franklin? Not a dominant win for Henderson but based on MMA scoring criteria he won the fight.

Winner: Dan Henderson by Decision (Split)

Not a great show from UFC but about what I was expecting. Davis/Lytle was Fight of the Night. BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre is just two weeks away!

RFC 11- Revenge of the Warriors 2/23/08 Re-Cap

RFC 11 - Revenge of the Warriors
Real Fighting Championships
February 23, 2008
USF Sun Dome,
Tampa, Fla.

Sport South is showing a series called "Fight Zone" and this card was shown in it's entirety. Jay Adams and Alan Berube were the announcers for the fights.

Welterweight Fight- David Silva (2-0) vs. Zack Barros (0-3)

Both of these guys are BJJ fighters.

R1- Silva struck early and then got a take down. The ref paused the fight to check out the cut on Barros. Silva quickly took Barros' back and made him tap. Dominate performance by Silva but I guess that's what you get when you match an undefeated fighter up against one that has never won.

Winner: David Silva by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 2:21

Welterweight Fight- Corey Swanson (0-0) vs. Joe Robinson (1-0)

Robinson is a Vale Tudo fighter.

R1- Robinson got a quick take down took his back and finished him. Impressive showing for Robinson.

Winner: Joe Robinson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:06

Featherweight Fight- Den Lyn (0-1) vs. Dieulhomme Chera (2-1)

Chera is known as "J Lee". Lyn has tons of tats on his body. J Lee is a Chute Fighter.

R1- Lyn caught J Lee with a wild haymaker as he was getting up after a take down and then the ref stopped the fight. Looked like a questionnable stoppage to me.

Winner: Den Lyn by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:53


Super Heavyweight Fight- Shawn Vaughn (3-0) vs. Miguel Gonzalez (2-0)

Vaughn is a Chute Fighter and Gonzalez a BJJ fighter.

R1- Vaughn is showing some serious plumber crack in this fight and is having trouble keeping his pants up (yes, I just typed those words talking about an MMA fight). This is quite frankly a little bit repulsive. Gonzalez got him down and hit him with some Ground and Pound and Vaughn taped out.

Winner: Miguel Gonzalez by Submission (Punches) R1 1:04

So far we have 4 squashes and then a special appearance and in-ring interview from HULK HOGAN!

Featherweight Fight- James Austin (3-0) vs. James Wynn (1-4)

Austin is a submission fighter and has a victory over J Lee who also fought on this card.

R1- Wynn landed a quick strike and then got a take down. Austin got a heel hook and near tap from the bottom and then took the top position. Wynn attempted an arm bar, triangle and then another arm bar but Austin got out. Austin got full mount and got a triangle for the submission victory. Good fight.

Winner: James Austin by Submission (Triangle) R1 4:20

Featherweight Fight- Ricky Bennett (1-1) vs. Gilbert Burgos (1-0)

Bennett is a submission fighter and Burgos is a BJJ fighter.

R1- Burgos got an early take down, controlled the fight and got a submission with a Rear Naked Choke.

Winner: Gilbert Burgos by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:40

RFC Champion Edson Berto (has fought against KJ Noons and Yves Edwards for Elite XC) is back stage and they interview him but he won't be fighting tonight. He's a really fun fighter from what I've seen.

Middleweight Fight- Garreth Joseph (1-0) vs. Danny Babcock (3-1)

Joseph has a win over Zach Barros who fought in the first fight on the show.

R1- Both guys are swinging for the fences early and often. Joseph is connecting with punches and knees and then gets a big KO of Babcock. Good offense by Joseph but neither guy showed any signs of defense. Fun fight.

Winner: Garreth Joseph by KO R1 2:21

Middleweight Fight- Tony Sousa (2-1) vs. Carl Greco (5-3)

Greco is the RFC Middleweight Champion but he won't be defending his title tonight. Sousa trains with American Top Team and is a BJJ Fighter. Greco is a Chute Fighter. Greco had a 1-2 record in Pride and lost to Wanderlei Silva by Decision back in 1999.

R1- Greco controlled early but then Sousa took his back and Greco eventually slipped out. Good first round with Greco controlling and drawing some blood at the end of the round. Greco 10-9.

R2- Greco got him down early in this round and hit some Ground and Pound and got the win.

Winner: Carl Greco by Submission (Strikes) R2 1:06

A lot of mis-matches on the show so it's hard to see who has the ability to become a good fighter but I wouldn't mind seeing David Silva, James Austin and Joe Robinson again.

Strikeforce on NBC 1/18/08 Re-Cap

Strikeforce on NBC 1/18/08 Re-Cap

Just one fight on tap for tonight and it's the semi Main-Event from the Strikeforce "Payback" show that took place back on 10/3/08.

Frank Trigg (17-6) vs. Falaniko Vitale (26-8)

Trigg is a veteran of UFC and Pride. He has victories over Kazuo Misaki, Jason Miller, an d Dennis Hallman. His only losses have come to Hayato Sakurai, Matt Hughes (2x), Georges St Pierre, Robbie Lawler and Carlos Conduit. So he has lost to some pretty good fighters. He is on a 2 fight win streak. Vitale has also been in UFC and holds victories over Matt Lindland (Lindland won the re-match) and Yushin Okami. He has losses to Robbie Lawler (2x), Jason Miller, and Jeremy Horn. Vitale is also on a 2 fight win streak coming into the fight.

R1- Trigg was the aggressor in the first round and pushed the fight throughout the round. At one point he took and landed some nice standing elbows. Trigg took round one 10-9.

R2- Not as much action in this round and the fighters began to tire. Announcers blamed it partially on the altitude (fighting in Colorado). Trigg was throwing much lighter punches in this round. He still landed with quite a few but they were far less effective in this round. That being said, Trigg still won the round and is up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- Trigg started out with a take down but there was really not much action in this round. Vitale hit a big right hand about half way through the round and got a take down but quickly lost his position. Trigg ended the round with a take down. Very close round that I gave to Vitale. So I've got Trigg taking the fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Trigg.

Winner: Frank Trigg by Decision (Unanimous)

Strikeforce on NBC 1/11/08 Re-Cap

Strikeforce on NBC 1/11/08 Re-Cap

All 3 of these fights were from the Strikeforce "Payback" show that took place on 10/3/08.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Carlos Zevallos (0-0) vs. Andre Walker (1-3)

This is the MMA debut for Carlos Zevallos. Both guys have backgrounds in Muy Thai.

R1- Walker caught Carlos right out of the gate with a big right hand and then jumped on top of him but could not finish. Walker controlled the early portion of the round. Carlos reversed a take down and took full mount and landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Carlos Zevallos by TKO (punches) R1 4:49


Featherweight Fight- Ricky Johnson (0-1) vs. Tyler Toner (6-1)

R1- Only highlights are shown of Round One and Johnson is busted up and Toner finished the round strong.

R2- Johnson has some facial cuts. Toner got a take down after a knee to the body. Johnson went for a knee bar but instead ate some Ground and Pound. Toner is in full mount and Johnson is getting busted up pretty good until the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Tyler Toner by TKO (punches) R2 3:44

Welterweight Fight- Duane Ludwig (16-8) vs. Sammy Morgan (19-11)

This was the Main Event of the "Payback" show and is also a re-match between these two as Sammy Morgan stopped Duane Ludwig 52 seconds into the first round of their first encounter. Ludwig has wins over Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett, Thomas Denny, Jens Pulver, Genki Sudo, Jonathan Goulet and Tony Fryklund. He's also lost to BJ Penn, Takanori Gomi, Paul Daley, Josh Thomson, and Tyson Griffin. Sammy Morgan was on the UFC The Ultimate Fighter Season 2.

R1- Morgan got an early take down but Ludwig got up quickly and both guys are swinging for the fences. Ludwig hit a good uppercut that knocked Sammy down and Ludwig got on top and Sammy tapped out.

Winner: Duane Ludwig by TKO (punches) R1 2:01

K-1/DREAM Dynamite 12/31/08 Show Re-Cap

K-1/DREAM Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008
December 31, 2008
Saitama Super Arena,
Saitama, Japan


DREAM Open-Weight Fight- Ikuhisa Minowa (40-19-8) vs. Errol Zimmerman 0-0)

R1- Minowa pretty much immediately got a take down and submission due to a leg hold.

Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Toe Hold) R1 1:01

K-1 (156.5 pounds) Fight- Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko

This was fought under K-1 rules.

R1- Artur took a slight advantage in this round with a brief knockdown and hit a really nice spinning back fist.

R2- Artur got a kick for a knockdown and then basically got a trip for a second one. Good round.

R3- Artur basically controlled this round and got a take down. This was a good and competitive fight.

Winner: Artur Kyshenko by Majority Decision

DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Bob Sapp (9-3-1) vs. Akihito Tanaka (0-0)

Tanaka wore a fish mask to the ring and fought in it. I think this was supposed to be a "comedy" fight but man it was bad.

R1- The first 4 minutes were controlled by the guy in the fish mask. He got Sapp down and Sapp was like a turtle on his back. Sapp finally got back to his feet and finished the guy off. Embarrassing fight.

Winner: Bob Sapp by TKO (punches) R1 5:22

DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Semmy Schilt (25-14-1) vs. Siala Siliga (3-0)

R1- Siliga controlled most of the fight keeping Schilt on his back but Schilt was able to get a triangle from his back to get the win.

Winner: Semmy Schilt by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 5:31

DREAM (176.4 pounds) Fight- Hayato Sakurai (33-8-2) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-5-1)

Shibata is a former New Japan Pro Wrestler who has more heart than brains. Coming into this fight he is 2-5-1 and regularly takes on fights that he is almost no chance of winning (he has already fought Ralek Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Jason Miller and Yoshihiro Akiyama in his young career). Sakurai is highly favored to win this fight. Shibata has a height advantage going for him.

R1- Shibata runs straight for him at the beginning and it almost looks like Sakurai tries to hit him with a leg lariot as they collide in mid-air. They go toe to toe right after each other from the opening bell. Hayato gets on top with some Ground and Pound but also gets bloodied up around his eyes. Hayato finally finished off the tough Shibata with a TKO at the 7 minute mark. Decent fight- a lot better than the first 3 DREAM fights.

Winner: Hayato Sakurai by TKO (Punches) R1 7:01

K-1 (154.3 pounds) Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kozo Takeda

This was fought under K-1 rules.

R1- Kawajiri quickly got a knock down and Takeda got a standing 10 count. Kawajiri was just all over him hitting huge uppercuts. Takeda's nose was busted open really badly. Kawajiri got a jumping knee knockdown and Takeda again took a standing 10 count but Kawajiri quickly finished him off. Kawajiri looked AWSOME in this fight.

Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO R1


K-1 Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Badr Hari

R1- Overeem hit a giant knee early in round 1 and then got a left handed KO. Domination.

Winner: Alistair Overeen by TKO R1

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (23-6-2) vs. Hong Man Choi (1-1)

Cro Cop got destroyed in his last fight against Alistair Overeem but was able to get a "no decision" out of it when he took a low blow and could not continue. Overeem wanted a re-match on this show but Cro Cop wanted no part of that. Instead Cro Cop takes on a 7'2" 352 lb giant who has little to no mobility. All Cro Cop needs to do here is stay out of his reach for the first couple of minutes until he tires out.This guy lost to Fedor last year in under two minutes.

R1- Hong Man is winning the fight early. Cro Cop nails Hong Man with a low blow. Hong Man gets up from the low blow and then Cro Cop destroys his leg with one kick to the knee. Cro Cop looked bored.

Winner: Cro Cop TKO (Low Kick) R1 6:32

K-1 Gegard Mousasi vs. Musashi

Mousasi is a Top 10 (maybe Top 5) Middleweight MMA fighter with superior submissions. He's had a great year.

R1- Mousasi shows great stand up in this fight and gets a quick knock down. He gets another knock down by basically pushing Musashi down. He gets a third knock down of the fight and gets a standing 10 count. Mousasi finally finishes him off. He just basically ate his lunch in this fight. Fantastic showing by Mousasi.

Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO R1

DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Melvin Manhoef (22-5-1) vs. Mark Hunt (5-4)

Manhoef destroyed Sakuraba (who is in the Main Event tonight) last year before losing to Gegard Mousasi in the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix. Hunt has lost his last 3 matches. He has lost to Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, and Josh Barnett (all Top 10 Heavyweights). Manhoef has a weight disadvantage in this fight. Hunt holds victories over Wanderlei Silva and Cro Cop in a past life.

R1- Hunt charged right in and ate a big right hook and then Manhoef reigned down shots on him until the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Melvin Manhoef by KO (punches) R1 0:18

WAMMA Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Eddie Alvarez (15-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (18-3)

Both of these guys are legit Top 5 Lightweights. Alvarez is a Fighter of the Year Candidate and has had two of the most exciting fights in all of MMA this year (Hansen and Kawajiri). Aoki is a jiu jitsu beast who has beaten JZ Cavalcante (had a very controversial no contest and then just rode JZ to a lay and pray victory in the re-match), Katsuhiko Nagata, Todd Moore and Caol Uno in 2008. His only loss in 2008 was to Joachim Hansen in the finals of the Dream Lightweight tournament in which both guys fought twice that night and Hansen was filling in for an injured Alvarez.

This is defnitely the most anticipated fight of the show. Alvarez comes out to "The Champ is Here." Aoki is wearing his trade mark HIDEOUSLY UGLY tights. For this fight they are pink and yellow.

R1- Aoki grabbed an Alvarez kick shortly into the fight and took him down. Aoki grabbed a heel hook. Alvarez tried to counter but Aoki just had to good of a grip and Alvarez tapped. Very impressive showing for Aoki. He's one of the top jiu jitsu guys going in MMA and his jiu jitsu trumped Alvarez's stand up before Alvarez could even get going tonight.

Winner and new WAMMA Lightweight Champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Heel Hook) R1 1:32

DREAM Fight- Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-3) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1)

I'm not going to lie. This fight put me to sleep. From what I can remember Tamura controlled and got some good Ground and Pound in during the first round. Sakuraba basically just fought to stay in the fight and tried to grab submissions where possible.

Winner: Kiyoshi Tamura by Decision (Unanimous)


This was not a good show. Aoki, Kawajiri and Mousasi were really impressive in their victories. Joachim Hansen vs JZ was unfortunately cancelled but I don't think that could have saved this wreck.

Strikeforce on NBC 12/28 Show Re-Cap

Strikeforce 12/28 Show Re-Cap

This one had been sitting on TV for a while.

Welterweight Fight- Brandon Thatch (3-0) vs. Brandon Magana (5-1) Playboy Mansion II- 9/20/08

This fight has 3 3-minute rounds.

R1- Magana controlled with a takedown and keep the fight on the ground but didn't do much damage.

R2- Magana got another take down and controlled the round. Thatch landed more strikes in the round but Magana got another take down at the end of the round.

R3- Magana with another take down, got a full mount and took Thatch's back but didn't get anything from either position. Magana ended the fight with another take down.

This was an example of Magana winning the fight due to being a superior wrestler. Very reminiscent of some of Josh Koscheck's fights from the Ultimate Fighter 1 show before Koscheck advanced his game.

Winner: Brandon Magana by Decision (Split)

Luke Stewart (5-1) vs. Jesse Juarez (6-4)- Playboy Mansion II- 9/20/08

This is a standard 3 5-minute round fight.

R1- Pretty even round to start with. Stewart started to control the fight once he got it to the ground and ended up submitting Juarez at the end of the first round.

Winner: Luke Stewart by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 4:55

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?

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)