DREAM 7 Featherweight Grand Prix 1st Round
March 8th, 2009
Saitama Super Arena - Saitama, Japan
Both DREAM and Sengoku are starting their Featherweight Tournaments this month so it will be a good chance to see how their divisions stack up against WEC. This show features the first round of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and also features fights with Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the commentators. In DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. Fights are judged not round by round but as an entire fight.
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (3-2)
Fernandes’s losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto, two of the top Featherweight fighters in the world. Fernandes is a jiu jitsu fighter. Otsuka is a free style fighter.
R1- Fernandes gets the dominant position very early. Fernandes draws some blood from Otsuka’s nose with some strikes on the ground. The ref gives a yellow card to Fernandes (not sure why as he was dominating the fight and Otsuka was basically curled up in a little ball in the corner for the first 4 minutes of the fight). Otsuka seems to be more style than substance so far as he’s losing the fight but is being kind of cocky. Otsuka got in a combo and then got hit with a low blow. Fernandes is ahead after the first round but Otsuka is starting to come on.
R2- Fernandes took Otsuka’s back about a minute into the round. Otsuka gets away and celebrates like he won the fight. Fernandes basically had to release the hold as Otsuka did a good job of defending. Fernandez got in a couple of shots and floored Otsuka but Otsuka held on. Fernades got another take down and lands some strikes but Otusuka gets back to his feet. Fernades gets yet another take down. Fernandes wins this fight and will advance to the second round.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Chase Beebe (12-3) vs. Joe Warren (0-0)
This is Joe Warren’s pro debut at the age of 32. Beebe is a 23 year old veteran of 15 fights and has fought for WEC. Warren is a wrestler and Beebe is also a wrestler and freestyle fighter.
R1- Lots of clinching early with Warren pushing the action trying for a take down and Beebe hitting some strikes. Good even fight after the first five minutes of the round. Warren got a take down with three and a half minutes left in the round but Beebe gets out after about a minute on the bottom. Warren rushed in and bounces Beebe off the rounds and then slams him. Beebe goes for an arm bar but Warren gets free. Good first round that was pretty even. Warren has three take downs and Beebe got cut near the end of the round. Beebe has won the striking battle but the take downs and the damage have Warren ahead right now.
They stop the fight between rounds due to the cut that was caused by a knee.
Winner: Joe Warren by TKO (cut)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Akiyo Nishiura (9-3-1) vs. Abel Cullum (13-2)
Abel Cullum comes out to a Heath Herring esque entrance and to Kid Rock’s “Cowboy”. Cullum is the King of the Cage Featherweight Champion and has brought his belt with him. The last time I saw Cullum fight was on the Sho XC 9/26/08 show when he lost a bantamweight fight to Wilson Reis by Unanimous Decision (it was a 5 round title fight). Cullum is a Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Nishiura has pink hair, is nicknamed “Wicky Akiyo” and is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Cullum got an arm bar a couple minutes into the fight but couldn’t get the finish with it. Good first round that was pretty even. Cullum had 4 or so submission attempts in the first round and closed out the round strongly.
R2- Cullum controlled the first part of round two. They swung at each other and Cullum pulled guard and tried a triangle but was unsuccessful. Close fight but I’ve got Cullum winning.
Winner: Abel Cullum by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (19-9) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1)
Daisuke is from the U-File Camp and his nickname is “The Arm Bar Genius”. Ishida recently fought for Strikeforce and destroyed an overmatched Justin Wilcox in that fight. He also fought and lost to Caol Uno during the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix. Ishida’s nickname is “The Endless Warrior.” I thought Ishida deserved a shot at Josh Thomson in Strikeforce but I guess he’s back in DREAM instead.
R1- Ishida got a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Ishida catches Nakamura with a couple of knees. Ishida really controlled the first half of this round. Ishida opens up a cut over the eye of Nakamura. Ishida is definitely up so far in this fight.
R2- Ishida grabbed a leg and Nakamura tried to pull guard into an arm bar or triangle but couldn’t and Ishida ended up on top. Ishida is going to take this fight. Not a dominate win but a convincing one. The announcers seem convinced that Nakamura would have won if the fight went on ten more seconds.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Shinya Aoki (19-3) vs. David Gardner (16-10)
Aoki is the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world but is going to be fighting some at Welterweight this year as he tries to win the upcoming DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. Aoki is fighting at 163 and Gardner at 162.5 tonight. Aoki definitely has the worst tights in MMA.
R1- Aoki went for a take down but got stuffed by Gardner and then Aoki flipped him over to take the dominate position. Really boring fight through 5 minutes but Aoki is dominating position. Aoki went for a sub and Gardner slipped out but then Aoki wrapped Gardner back up in his Spider Web and dragged him back to the ground. Aoki grabs a Rear Naked Choke. Gardner moved his arm and yelled out “I Love You Japan” and Aoki seized the moment and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke immediately. What a bone head move by Gardner. Aoki dominated a lesser opponent in this fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-5-2) vs. Ross Ebanez (19-6)
Kawajiri is coming off a dominating K-1 victory against Kozo Takeda on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that Kawajiri lost in a FOTYC to Eddie Alvarez in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament but Kawajiri took enough out of Alvarez that he could not continue to the finals of the Grand Prix. Ebanez if fighting out of BJ Penn’s camp and Kawajiri says he wants to use this fight to send a message to BJ Penn. Ebanez comes in at 158 lbs and Kawajiri at 154 lbs. Ebanez gets a yellow card before the fight because he did not make weight.
R1- Ibanez went for a flying knee and Kawajiri took him down but didn’t do any damage. Kawajiri got him back to the ground for the second time in the first two minutes. Kawajiri mounts and gets some Ground and Pound and Ebanez gives up his back. Kawajiri gets a body triangle and goes for a Rear Naked Choke but can’t clamp it in. Kawajiri loosens him up and gets the Rear Naked successfully this time. Good showing by Kawajiri.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Micah Miller (10-2) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2)
Micah is a former WEC fighter and his brother Cole fights for UFC. Maeda fought for the WEC Bantamweight title last year in a FOTYC against Miguel Torres. The light time I saw Miller he got destroyed on the WEC Condit/Miura under card when he lost to Josh Grispi in 50 seconds by TKO. Miller has a 5 inch height advantage, he just dwarfs Maeda when they meet in the center of the ring. This should be a good fight, I really liked what Maeda did in his fight against Torres so I’m going to have to say that he’s going to be one of the fighters to beat in this tournament.
R1- They clinched and went through the ropes to the ring apron early in the fight. They clinched and Miller pulled guard at the two minute mark. Maeda controls the fight on the ground for the next stanza of the fight. Miller uses a rubber guard and Maeda pelts him with knees to the rear end. Miller looks like he’s working towards an arm triangle but the ref stands them up and appears to give them both a yellow card. The quickly clinch and Maeda gets a take down or Miller could have pulled guard. Miller definitely seems to want to be on his back in this fight. Miller goes after Maeda’s arm but can’t do anything. Not a real exciting fight at all. I’ve got Maeda up so far as he’s been on top for the majority of the fight and is the one that is trying to strike.
R2- Maeda looks really fresh coming out of his corner. Miller has such a great reach advantage it’s almost puzzling why he doesn’t have better stand up and is constantly trying to get the fight on the ground despite his huge advantage in reach. The ref stands them up and they exchange strikes with Miller actually trying to fight on his feet and Maeda gets a take down. I’m going to give this fight to Maeda as he seemed to control the fight and Miller seemed to be fighting a more defensive fight. Not a fight to go out of your way to see. The announcers give the fight to Miller due to submission attempts.
Winner: Yoshiro Maeda by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) vs. Jong Won-Kim
This is Kim’s pro debut. He represented South Korea in Judo at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Takaya is dropping all the way from Middleweight to Featherweight for this tournament! That’s a HUGE drop! Won has his shoulder tapped up.
R1- Takaya is the aggressor early as they are staying on their feet at the beginning of the fight. They gave Kim a warning for stalling around the 3 minute mark. I must have missed that because about 30 to 45 seconds earlier he landed a strike right to the face of Takaya. Kim caught a kick thrown by Takaya and took him down to the mat but couldn’t do anything and they stood the fight back up with 3 and a half minutes to go in the round. Kim grabbed another kick and got another take down but Takaya clung to the ropes and got up quickly and the ref re-started on their feet. Pretty even first round with Takaya coming on strong at the end of the round.
R2- Takaya lands a big right hand and then gets some Ground and Pound and the fight is stopped.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Strikes) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1) vs. Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1)
Yamamoto is no relation to Kid Yamamoto but they both train together. Yamamoto was a collegiate wrestler and is known for his ground game. Yamamoto won a decision victory over Hideo Tokoro at DREAM 6 back in September. Yamamoto flips over the ropes and then does a back flip upon entering the ring. Imanari is coming into the fight as a big favorite. He is a leg lock specialist and has a background in wrestling and BJJ.
R1- Yamamoto got a strike in early that floored Imanari. Yamamoto jumped on top but Imanari wrapped him up but Yamamoto remained on top. The ref stands them up about half way through the round. Yamamoto got in another shot but Imanari popped back up. Imanari pulled guard and got a funky arm bar on Yamamoto with his legs but Yamamoto spun out and Imanari landed in side control. Imanari went hard after a traditional arm bar but Yamamoto fought through the attempt. Pretty decent first round with Imanari really going after submission in the second half of the round.
R2- Imanari is given a yellow card shortly into the round for stalling (Yamamoto got one in the first round). Imanari is really clowning around in this round and looks a little bored even though he is nowhere near dominating this fight. It’s going to be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Imanari had a bunch of submission attempts but Yamamoto landed the best strikes and landed more of them. Imanari has more talent but just seemed bored and uninspired to be in the ring tonight. Not a good way to end the night.
Winner: Masakazu Imanari by Decision (Split)
This was a decent show. The first half of the show was actually better than the second half. I really enjoyed the first 3 Featherweight fights but the card was kind of flat after that. The second round of the Featherweight Tournament should be pretty interesting as we have:
Kid Yamamoto (got a bye in the first round of the tournament)
Masakazu Imanari
Yoshiro Maeda
Abel Cullum
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hiroyuki Takaya
First Round Fight on DREAM 8: Hideo Tokoro vs. Daiki Hata
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Retro Re-Cap: UFC Fight Night 7 12/06/06
UFC Fight Night 7 12/06/06
Welterweight Fight- Shonie Carter (81-16-8) vs. Marcus Davis (14-4)
R1- Davis got a take down and mounted early. Shonie gave up his back and Marcus went for a Rear Naked Choke but Shonie rolled through it and got in some brief offense at the end of the round. Round One to Davis 10-9.
R2- Shonie got stunned by a right hand early in the round and went down. Davis is landing jabs just really outclassing Shonie in this round. Davis is up 20-18 at this point.
R3- This was a fairly even round. Fight goes to Davis as he outclassed Shonie in the first 2 rounds of the fight.
Judges score cards say: Davis 30-26, Davis 29-28 and Davis 30-27.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Karo Parisyan (23-4) vs. Drew Fickett (30-4)
R1- Karo got a push take down about a minute into the fight and got in a shot or two but couldn’t keep Fickett down. Karo hit a good Superman punch about half way through the round. Karo looked good in the first round and is up 10-9.
R2- Karo catches a Fickett leg right at the beginning of the round and gets in some punches and lands a take down. Karo has him in the corner and both guys get cut. Karo has a bad cut under his eye. Fickett got a double leg take down with about one minute left in the round and lands some elbows. Karo controlled this round for 4 of the 5 minutes and takes a 20-18 lead into the final round.
R3- Karo is hitting jabs early in the round. Fickett tries to go for a leg lock but Karo ends up on top but let’s Fickett up. Karo is getting the better of this round as he’s hitting strikes and also threw Fickett to the ground at one point. Karo is going to take this fight 30-27.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all 3 score cards.
Winner: Karo Parisyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (9-1) vs. Jeff Joslin (5-2)
R1- Koscheck shot in and got a double leg take down after about a minute and a half. They stood up but Koscheck got another take down. Koscheck controls the round but didn’t look like he did a lot of damage. Koscheck up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Koscheck stuck with a take down and got one about half way through the round. The ref stands them up and Koscheck immediately gets another take down. Koscheck is up 20-18 as he’s just out wrestling Joslin in this fight.
R3- Koscheck continues to dominate by out wrestling Joslin in this round and gets a guillotine. It looked like Joslin was thinking about tapping but slipped out of the move. Koscheck is going to take this fight 30-27. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Koscheck.
Judges score the fight: 30-27 on all 3 score cards
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (18-0) vs. Joe Riggs (28-8)
Sanchez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Diego sticks Riggs with a left hand that floors him at the one and a half minute mark and then Diego jumps on top and hits a knee as he comes in and this fight is over.
“He believes Diego’s stand-up is about 3 years behind his”- Goldberg quoting Riggs who was talking about Sanchez.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by KO (Knee) R1 1:45
Welterweight Fight- Shonie Carter (81-16-8) vs. Marcus Davis (14-4)
R1- Davis got a take down and mounted early. Shonie gave up his back and Marcus went for a Rear Naked Choke but Shonie rolled through it and got in some brief offense at the end of the round. Round One to Davis 10-9.
R2- Shonie got stunned by a right hand early in the round and went down. Davis is landing jabs just really outclassing Shonie in this round. Davis is up 20-18 at this point.
R3- This was a fairly even round. Fight goes to Davis as he outclassed Shonie in the first 2 rounds of the fight.
Judges score cards say: Davis 30-26, Davis 29-28 and Davis 30-27.
Winner: Marcus Davis by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Karo Parisyan (23-4) vs. Drew Fickett (30-4)
R1- Karo got a push take down about a minute into the fight and got in a shot or two but couldn’t keep Fickett down. Karo hit a good Superman punch about half way through the round. Karo looked good in the first round and is up 10-9.
R2- Karo catches a Fickett leg right at the beginning of the round and gets in some punches and lands a take down. Karo has him in the corner and both guys get cut. Karo has a bad cut under his eye. Fickett got a double leg take down with about one minute left in the round and lands some elbows. Karo controlled this round for 4 of the 5 minutes and takes a 20-18 lead into the final round.
R3- Karo is hitting jabs early in the round. Fickett tries to go for a leg lock but Karo ends up on top but let’s Fickett up. Karo is getting the better of this round as he’s hitting strikes and also threw Fickett to the ground at one point. Karo is going to take this fight 30-27.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all 3 score cards.
Winner: Karo Parisyan by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (9-1) vs. Jeff Joslin (5-2)
R1- Koscheck shot in and got a double leg take down after about a minute and a half. They stood up but Koscheck got another take down. Koscheck controls the round but didn’t look like he did a lot of damage. Koscheck up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Koscheck stuck with a take down and got one about half way through the round. The ref stands them up and Koscheck immediately gets another take down. Koscheck is up 20-18 as he’s just out wrestling Joslin in this fight.
R3- Koscheck continues to dominate by out wrestling Joslin in this round and gets a guillotine. It looked like Joslin was thinking about tapping but slipped out of the move. Koscheck is going to take this fight 30-27. Not an exciting fight but an effective one for Koscheck.
Judges score the fight: 30-27 on all 3 score cards
Winner: Josh Koscheck by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (18-0) vs. Joe Riggs (28-8)
Sanchez has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Diego sticks Riggs with a left hand that floors him at the one and a half minute mark and then Diego jumps on top and hits a knee as he comes in and this fight is over.
“He believes Diego’s stand-up is about 3 years behind his”- Goldberg quoting Riggs who was talking about Sanchez.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by KO (Knee) R1 1:45
Saturday, March 14, 2009
WFC 6 "Battle in the Bay" 3/22/08 Re-Cap
WFC 6 “Battle in the Bay”
World Fighting Championships (Florida)
March 22, 2008
Tampa, Florida
Lightweight Fight- Matt McCook (2-0) vs. Gabe Maldonado (0-0)
R1- Maldonado tried to pull guard into a guillotine but quickly lost the move and gave up his guard. Maldonado then went for a triangle attempt and locked one in and McCook held on for a while but finally tapped out. Very impressive debut by Maldonado as he looked very comfortable on his back.
Winner: Gabe Maldonado by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:56
Heavyweight Fight- Daniel Perez (1-0) vs. Marcus Jones (2-0)
Jones is a former professional football player who played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
R1- Jones took a good right hand and then Perez caught him against the fence and then jumped on him for some Ground and Pound and defeated the favorite and home town guy in Jones in very quick fashion.
Winner: Daniel Perez by KO R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- York Ash (11-9) vs. Eric Reynolds (7-0)
R1- They immediately clinch and both guys work to get better position. York tries to pull guard but instead eats and slam but Reynolds lets him up and hits some strikes. Both guys have blood on them, York is definitely bleeding. Reynolds takes York’s back and gets him in a Rear Naked Choke and he hangs on for a minute but then taps out. Good showing by Reynolds.
Winner: Eric Reynolds by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:07
17 minutes into the show and we are already through three fights.
Middleweight Fight- Patrick Mikesz (4-3) vs. Joe Wissmann (2-0)
R1- Wissmann gets an early take down but Mikesz sweeps him over. Mikesz is controlling the fight in the first round as he’s on top of Wissmann for the majority of the round. Mikesz got a submission victory right near the end of the round after really controlling the fight.
Winner: Patrick Mikesz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:47
Woman’s Fight- Jessica Aguilar (4-2) vs. Angela Magana (3-1-1)
R1- Aguilar looks like the aggressor and hits a good strike early and then gets a take down. They stood up and Aguilar got another take down despite Magana grabbing the cage. Aguilar was fairly dominate in this round and took it 10-9.
R2- They both come out throwing lots of strikes but Aguilar gets another take down. Aguilar’s nose is bloody from the strikes at the beginning of the round. Magana rolled Aguilar over but Aguilar responded by doing the same and then mounted. Magana slipped out the back but Magana got her back down and landed some strikes. Aguilar up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- According to the announcers the ref stopped the fight due to a cut but on the graphic it says verbal submission. Either way Aguilar was the clear winner in this fight.
Winner: Jessica Aguilar by Submission (Verbal) R3 1:53
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tom Lawlor (4-0-1) vs. Shane Primm (4-0)
Both of these guys are from the last TUF show.
R1- Primm caught him in a triangle but couldn’t hold onto him. Lawlor catches him in a choke-type move and then destroys him with a knee to the head when Primm still had both knees on the ground so this fight is over by DQ. It was a good fight while it lasted.
Winner: Shane Primm by DQ (Illegal knee to the head) R1 2:40
Middleweight Fight- Rich Attonito (4-2) vs. Ryan Hodge (3-1)
R1- Attonito hit a big strike early and then took down Hodge and is really pressing onto him. Hodge gets up but Attonito gets another take down. Attonito just dominated this round and is up 10-9.
R2- Attonito immediately gets a take down to start the second round and pretty much just dominates Hodge for the entire round. This is 20-18 so far, if not a larger margin.
R3- Shockingly enough Attonito got a quick take down and then the ref stopped the fight. And for his effort he gets the graphic of the women’s fight next to his picture as it says “Jessica Aguilar winner by….”
Winner: Rich Attonito by TKO (Strikes) R3 0:25
Welterweight Fight- Efrain Ruiz (9-4) vs. David Vieira (3-0)
R1- Vieira gets him in a standing anaconda choke in the first couple of minutes but Ruiz survives. Ruiz takes his guard but Vieira slides to his back and taps him via Rear Naked Choke. Vieira looked pretty good in this fight but his stand up wasn’t tested at all.
Winner: David Vieira by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:23
WFC Welterweight Title Fight- Danny Ruiz (6-1) vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf (5-2)
This is the Main Event
R1- Ruiz landed some good stand up at the beginning of the fight and floored Waachiim but couldn’t finish him. There was a power outage during the middle of the fight and apparently Waachiim landed a punch while the lights were out. They re-started against the cage with 2 minutes left in the round. Shortly after the re-start Waachiim got him down and landed some Ground and Pound and got the KO victory.
Winner: Waachiim Spiritwolf by KO R1
World Fighting Championships (Florida)
March 22, 2008
Tampa, Florida
Lightweight Fight- Matt McCook (2-0) vs. Gabe Maldonado (0-0)
R1- Maldonado tried to pull guard into a guillotine but quickly lost the move and gave up his guard. Maldonado then went for a triangle attempt and locked one in and McCook held on for a while but finally tapped out. Very impressive debut by Maldonado as he looked very comfortable on his back.
Winner: Gabe Maldonado by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 1:56
Heavyweight Fight- Daniel Perez (1-0) vs. Marcus Jones (2-0)
Jones is a former professional football player who played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
R1- Jones took a good right hand and then Perez caught him against the fence and then jumped on him for some Ground and Pound and defeated the favorite and home town guy in Jones in very quick fashion.
Winner: Daniel Perez by KO R1 1:26
Lightweight Fight- York Ash (11-9) vs. Eric Reynolds (7-0)
R1- They immediately clinch and both guys work to get better position. York tries to pull guard but instead eats and slam but Reynolds lets him up and hits some strikes. Both guys have blood on them, York is definitely bleeding. Reynolds takes York’s back and gets him in a Rear Naked Choke and he hangs on for a minute but then taps out. Good showing by Reynolds.
Winner: Eric Reynolds by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:07
17 minutes into the show and we are already through three fights.
Middleweight Fight- Patrick Mikesz (4-3) vs. Joe Wissmann (2-0)
R1- Wissmann gets an early take down but Mikesz sweeps him over. Mikesz is controlling the fight in the first round as he’s on top of Wissmann for the majority of the round. Mikesz got a submission victory right near the end of the round after really controlling the fight.
Winner: Patrick Mikesz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:47
Woman’s Fight- Jessica Aguilar (4-2) vs. Angela Magana (3-1-1)
R1- Aguilar looks like the aggressor and hits a good strike early and then gets a take down. They stood up and Aguilar got another take down despite Magana grabbing the cage. Aguilar was fairly dominate in this round and took it 10-9.
R2- They both come out throwing lots of strikes but Aguilar gets another take down. Aguilar’s nose is bloody from the strikes at the beginning of the round. Magana rolled Aguilar over but Aguilar responded by doing the same and then mounted. Magana slipped out the back but Magana got her back down and landed some strikes. Aguilar up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- According to the announcers the ref stopped the fight due to a cut but on the graphic it says verbal submission. Either way Aguilar was the clear winner in this fight.
Winner: Jessica Aguilar by Submission (Verbal) R3 1:53
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tom Lawlor (4-0-1) vs. Shane Primm (4-0)
Both of these guys are from the last TUF show.
R1- Primm caught him in a triangle but couldn’t hold onto him. Lawlor catches him in a choke-type move and then destroys him with a knee to the head when Primm still had both knees on the ground so this fight is over by DQ. It was a good fight while it lasted.
Winner: Shane Primm by DQ (Illegal knee to the head) R1 2:40
Middleweight Fight- Rich Attonito (4-2) vs. Ryan Hodge (3-1)
R1- Attonito hit a big strike early and then took down Hodge and is really pressing onto him. Hodge gets up but Attonito gets another take down. Attonito just dominated this round and is up 10-9.
R2- Attonito immediately gets a take down to start the second round and pretty much just dominates Hodge for the entire round. This is 20-18 so far, if not a larger margin.
R3- Shockingly enough Attonito got a quick take down and then the ref stopped the fight. And for his effort he gets the graphic of the women’s fight next to his picture as it says “Jessica Aguilar winner by….”
Winner: Rich Attonito by TKO (Strikes) R3 0:25
Welterweight Fight- Efrain Ruiz (9-4) vs. David Vieira (3-0)
R1- Vieira gets him in a standing anaconda choke in the first couple of minutes but Ruiz survives. Ruiz takes his guard but Vieira slides to his back and taps him via Rear Naked Choke. Vieira looked pretty good in this fight but his stand up wasn’t tested at all.
Winner: David Vieira by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:23
WFC Welterweight Title Fight- Danny Ruiz (6-1) vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf (5-2)
This is the Main Event
R1- Ruiz landed some good stand up at the beginning of the fight and floored Waachiim but couldn’t finish him. There was a power outage during the middle of the fight and apparently Waachiim landed a punch while the lights were out. They re-started against the cage with 2 minutes left in the round. Shortly after the re-start Waachiim got him down and landed some Ground and Pound and got the KO victory.
Winner: Waachiim Spiritwolf by KO R1
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
UFC 96 3/7/09 "Jackson vs Jardine" Re-Cap
UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine
Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Jim Miller (13-1)
Maynard is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at UFC 90 and previous to that he won another unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. Jim Miller is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman at the Fight for the Troops show in December. Might we be in for a 3 round fight here? Both guys are undefeated in the UFC. Miller is on an 8 fight win streak and is 2-0 in the UFC. Randy Couture is in the corner of Maynard for this fight.
R1- Miller is the aggressor early but Maynard does a good job throwing some combos. Miller spends a long time trying to take Maynard down and Maynard does a real good job avoiding it. Miller’s face is bloodied up. Maynard landed a nice shot at the end of the round and takes the round 10-9.
R2- Maynard got in some good shots at the two minute mark of the round. Miller went for a take down and eventually pulled guard because he couldn’t get the take down but Maynard quickly slipped out. Maynard is controlling this fight right now and is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Maynard went for a take down for the first time in the fight and got a slam but then almost got caught in a leg lock but he slipped out. Miller tried to get a take down but got stuffed again and Maynard flipped it around and got some Ground and Pound. Maynard is going to win this decision 30-27.
Really solid showing by Maynard. He looked really good just didn’t show that Killer Instinct or finishing power. He’s had 3 straight decisions in which he’s controlled the fights. Would really like to see him step up in competition for his next fight as he’s definitely moving up the contenders list at this point.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0)
We are following up a decision fight with two wrestlers. Hamill beat Reese Andy his last time out but was really controlled by Rich Franklin in the fight previous to that. Munoz is a D1 Wrestling Champion who is currently training with Urijah Faber and was 2-0 in WEC. This will be the UFC debut for Munoz. Joe Rogan points out that Mo Lawal (Sengoku fighter) and Jason Lambert are in Munoz corner. Matt Hamill is the hometown guy in this fight and gets a good reaction. Matt Hamill has a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Hamill is the aggressor early and Munoz looks like he’s in a little bit of UFC debut jitters. Munoz went for a take down and didn’t get it but seems to be loosening up a little bit and starts to throw a lot more strikes and be more aggressive. Hamill lands some good shots up against the cage. Out of nowhere Hamill nailed a right high kick and Munoz just hit the mat. What a fantastic knock out kick from Hamill! Munoz had his hands down and he just got rocked.
Winner: Matt Hamill by KO (High Kick) R1 3:53
Frank Mir is up next with Mike Goldberg. Mir has just had knee surgery and they will be pushing his fight with Brock Lesnar back a few weeks. Thus, Rashad Evans will step in and Main Event the show that Lesnar/Mir was supposed to on in May on UFC 98 in Las Vegas. If Rampage wins tonight then Rampage fights Rashad. If Jardine wins then Rashad will fight Lyoto Machida. So Rampage could be Main Eventing two out of the next three UFC shows.
Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)
Pete Sell is trained by Matt Serra and he will be stepping down to Welterweight for the second time in this fight. He beat Josh Burkman in his Welterweight debut. Sell is a jiu jitsu black belt. Brown trains with Rich Franklin. Brown subbed Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 and lost a close split decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Despite the win/loss records these guys bring into the cage, this should be a pretty exciting fight.
R1- Brown is landing some good strikes early and floors Brown and the ref steps in front of Brown to break up the fight and stops Brown from jumping on Sell for some Ground and Pound but then lets the fight continue. HUGE referee error! Mat Brown then hits some knees and gets Sell down again and is nailing him with some punches. Brown is hitting some big elbows and knees on the cage and has Sell peddling back wards. Sell drops to the ground to tell Brown to come down to where he can dictate the fight but Brown steps in and lands a couple of punches and the ref stops the fight. Horrible referring by Yves Lavigne in this fight. Great showing by Matt Brown.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
This is a fight from the pre-show card. Kendall is in big need of a win. BJ Penn is in Grove’s corner.
R1- Kendall hit a big right hand after a pretty even fight and then jumped on top for the stoppage. Good win for Grove as he may have needed it to stay in the UFC.
Winner: Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0)
This is the fight that I am most looking forward to on this card as the winner of this fight has the ability to move up into the upper echelon of UFC Heavyweights like Mir, Lesnar, Big Nog and Couture. The winner of this fight should get a big name for their next fight (or a match-up against a guy like Cain Velasquez or Cheick Kongo). Carwin comes out to Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.” Nice choice for an MMA entrance theme in my opinion. Not to be outdone Gonzaga comes out to Danzig’s “Mother.” Looks like we are in for a showdown of MMA entrance themes! Neither guy is known to go deep into a fight. Gonzaga is a BJJ World Champion. Carwin has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Carwin pushed forward early but Gonzaga hit some nice punches. Gonzaga got him taken down within the first minute of the fight but Carwin got back to his feet. Carwin caught Gonzaga with a punch and Gonzaga went down and crumpled against the cage. Carwin just hit a big right hand and it connected fully.
Really good statement made tonight by Carwin as he took some early punishment from Gonzaga and escaped a take down to come back and knock out Gonzaga in less than two minutes.
Winner: Shane Carwin by KO R1 1:09
Welterweight Fight- Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan
This is our second pre-show fight of the night. Brought to you by Shane Carwin, Matt Hamill and Matt Brown.
R1- McCrory gets a quick take down and passed the guard of Madigan within the first minute of the fight. McCrory is pushed back to full guard but gets in some Ground and Pound punches. McCrory passes again and mounts Madigan. McCrory almost got caught in a leg lock but got back into position and took out Madigan with some Ground and Pound. Madigan really didn’t provide a lot of resistance for McCrory in this fight. This was pretty much all McCrory.
Winner: Tamdan McCrory by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
Post-Fight McCrory drops some language and complains that he didn’t choose his music. He calls out Dana White for choosing his music! Says he wanted to come out to “Thunder Horse” cause he came out here on his “f’n Thunder Horse and handled business.” Best post-fight interview ever.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
If Rampage wins then he goes on to fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson is currently my #3 ranked Light Heavyweight in the world and is 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has victories over Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson and a loss to Forrest Griffin in a close decision. I’ve got Jardine ranked #9 as he is also 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has wins over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera and got demolished by Wanderlei Silva. I think Jardine is going to be a tough match-up for Rampage kind of like Forrest was. Rampage is in a better camp now then he was for the Forrest fight so it will be interesting to see how this camp makes his game plan for an unorthodox guy like Jardine.
UFC pulls out the statistical analysis for this fight (I love this stuff). Rampage lands 81% of his clinch strikes and is successful on 68% of his clinch take downs. Jardine lands 86% of his leg kicks and 92% of his body shots. Jardine has a 3” reach advantage.
Rashad Evans joins Mike and Joe in the broadcast booth for this fight. Rashad will fight Rampage if Rampage wins but is also a training partner of Jardine.
R1- The clinched early and got broken up by the ref. Jardine is employing a stick and move style early into the fight. They tied up against the cage again. Rampage hit a nice combo at the one minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Jardine towards the end of the round. A fairly close round that I give to Rampage 10-9. Rampage is clearly the aggressor and Jardine is being somewhat effective and is sticking and moving but is also getting chased around the ring a lot by Rampage.
R2- Rampage hit a big left hand on Jardine about 2 minutes into the round and then jumped on top to try and finish but Jardine weathered the storm and got back to his feet and clinched Rampage. Rampage got a take down but Jardine again quickly got up and clinched Rampage. Jardine hit Rampage with a low blow and Rampage wanted to continue on and shortly thereafter Jardine got in a good combo and had Rampage wobbly up against the cage but Rampage survived and didn’t go down and looked to gather his wits pretty quickly. Good round with both guys getting in some good shots. I’ve got Rampage up 20-18 so far after two rounds but Cecil Peoples is judging so these fighters will want to finish this fight before it gets to the judges score cards.
R3- Jackson got a take down shortly after the one minute mark of the round but couldn’t hold Jardine down. Pretty even stand up this round. Jardine goes for a take down but is not able to get it. One minute left in the fight and the ref breaks a clinch. Rampage chases Jardine down and lands some good shots but Jardine stays on his feet and escapes. Rampage levels Jardine with a left hand right before the buzzer and Jardine clutches Rampage’s leg. Rampage takes this round and he’s got this fight 30-27 on my score card. A good fight that was clearly won by Rampage although Rampage could not finish Jardine.
Judges score cards have the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Rampage (and of course Cecil Peoples comes up with the same score that I did after I complained about his judging).
Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight they have Rashad and Rampage face to face in each others face with both guys talking trash.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
We get another pre-show fight. Brandon Vera is looking to bounce back with this fight. He’s coming off of a close decision loss at UFC 89 to Keith Jardine in which neither guy really did enough to truly say that they won the fight as both guys put on a lackluster performance.
R1- Vera starts the fight off aggressively. Vera looks like he’s physically starting to adjust better to the Light Heavyweight weight. Vera is hitting some good leg kicks. Patt barely missed a high leg kick with a minute and a half left in the round. Vera looked really good in round one and clearly took it 10-9.
R2- Vera is just destroying Patt with leg kicks and literally chops him down to the ground until the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Vera as he just took out Patt with leg kicks in this fight. Maybe this will get Vera going as he looked really good and looks like he is adjusting to the new weight finally.
Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (Leg Kicks) R2 1:27
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
R1- Boetsch really comes at Brilz early and lands some strikes. Brilz got a take down at around the one and a half minute mark but Boetsch got back up when Brilz tried to pass. Pretty decent and even first round. Rogan points out that Jason Brilz corner forgot a stool and he had to stand up during the break between rounds.
R2- Brilz got a take down about one minute into the round and passes guard to side control. Brilz is really controlling the fight on the ground in this round. Brilz definitely takes this round so it’s probably 19-19 but Round One could have gone either way.
R3- Brilz got Boetsch to the mat at the half way mark of the round. Brilz controls this round and bloodies up Boetsch a little bit towards the end of the round. Brilz is going to win this fight by Decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 all for Brilz
Winner: Jason Brilz by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a solid show. It ended up being much stronger than it looked on paper. Rampage/Jardine ended up being a good solid fight and we had great showings by Hamill, Brown, and Carwin. Gray Maynard, Kendall Grove and Brandon Vera also put on good performances.
Lightweight Fight- Gray Maynard (7-0) vs. Jim Miller (13-1)
Maynard is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Rich Clementi at UFC 90 and previous to that he won another unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar. Jim Miller is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman at the Fight for the Troops show in December. Might we be in for a 3 round fight here? Both guys are undefeated in the UFC. Miller is on an 8 fight win streak and is 2-0 in the UFC. Randy Couture is in the corner of Maynard for this fight.
R1- Miller is the aggressor early but Maynard does a good job throwing some combos. Miller spends a long time trying to take Maynard down and Maynard does a real good job avoiding it. Miller’s face is bloodied up. Maynard landed a nice shot at the end of the round and takes the round 10-9.
R2- Maynard got in some good shots at the two minute mark of the round. Miller went for a take down and eventually pulled guard because he couldn’t get the take down but Maynard quickly slipped out. Maynard is controlling this fight right now and is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Maynard went for a take down for the first time in the fight and got a slam but then almost got caught in a leg lock but he slipped out. Miller tried to get a take down but got stuffed again and Maynard flipped it around and got some Ground and Pound. Maynard is going to win this decision 30-27.
Really solid showing by Maynard. He looked really good just didn’t show that Killer Instinct or finishing power. He’s had 3 straight decisions in which he’s controlled the fights. Would really like to see him step up in competition for his next fight as he’s definitely moving up the contenders list at this point.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Mark Munoz (5-0)
We are following up a decision fight with two wrestlers. Hamill beat Reese Andy his last time out but was really controlled by Rich Franklin in the fight previous to that. Munoz is a D1 Wrestling Champion who is currently training with Urijah Faber and was 2-0 in WEC. This will be the UFC debut for Munoz. Joe Rogan points out that Mo Lawal (Sengoku fighter) and Jason Lambert are in Munoz corner. Matt Hamill is the hometown guy in this fight and gets a good reaction. Matt Hamill has a 5 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Hamill is the aggressor early and Munoz looks like he’s in a little bit of UFC debut jitters. Munoz went for a take down and didn’t get it but seems to be loosening up a little bit and starts to throw a lot more strikes and be more aggressive. Hamill lands some good shots up against the cage. Out of nowhere Hamill nailed a right high kick and Munoz just hit the mat. What a fantastic knock out kick from Hamill! Munoz had his hands down and he just got rocked.
Winner: Matt Hamill by KO (High Kick) R1 3:53
Frank Mir is up next with Mike Goldberg. Mir has just had knee surgery and they will be pushing his fight with Brock Lesnar back a few weeks. Thus, Rashad Evans will step in and Main Event the show that Lesnar/Mir was supposed to on in May on UFC 98 in Las Vegas. If Rampage wins tonight then Rampage fights Rashad. If Jardine wins then Rashad will fight Lyoto Machida. So Rampage could be Main Eventing two out of the next three UFC shows.
Welterweight Fight- Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)
Pete Sell is trained by Matt Serra and he will be stepping down to Welterweight for the second time in this fight. He beat Josh Burkman in his Welterweight debut. Sell is a jiu jitsu black belt. Brown trains with Rich Franklin. Brown subbed Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 and lost a close split decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Despite the win/loss records these guys bring into the cage, this should be a pretty exciting fight.
R1- Brown is landing some good strikes early and floors Brown and the ref steps in front of Brown to break up the fight and stops Brown from jumping on Sell for some Ground and Pound but then lets the fight continue. HUGE referee error! Mat Brown then hits some knees and gets Sell down again and is nailing him with some punches. Brown is hitting some big elbows and knees on the cage and has Sell peddling back wards. Sell drops to the ground to tell Brown to come down to where he can dictate the fight but Brown steps in and lands a couple of punches and the ref stops the fight. Horrible referring by Yves Lavigne in this fight. Great showing by Matt Brown.
Winner: Matt Brown by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Middleweight Fight- Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
This is a fight from the pre-show card. Kendall is in big need of a win. BJ Penn is in Grove’s corner.
R1- Kendall hit a big right hand after a pretty even fight and then jumped on top for the stoppage. Good win for Grove as he may have needed it to stay in the UFC.
Winner: Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:32
Heavyweight Fight- Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Shane Carwin (10-0)
This is the fight that I am most looking forward to on this card as the winner of this fight has the ability to move up into the upper echelon of UFC Heavyweights like Mir, Lesnar, Big Nog and Couture. The winner of this fight should get a big name for their next fight (or a match-up against a guy like Cain Velasquez or Cheick Kongo). Carwin comes out to Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.” Nice choice for an MMA entrance theme in my opinion. Not to be outdone Gonzaga comes out to Danzig’s “Mother.” Looks like we are in for a showdown of MMA entrance themes! Neither guy is known to go deep into a fight. Gonzaga is a BJJ World Champion. Carwin has a 4 inch reach advantage in this fight.
R1- Carwin pushed forward early but Gonzaga hit some nice punches. Gonzaga got him taken down within the first minute of the fight but Carwin got back to his feet. Carwin caught Gonzaga with a punch and Gonzaga went down and crumpled against the cage. Carwin just hit a big right hand and it connected fully.
Really good statement made tonight by Carwin as he took some early punishment from Gonzaga and escaped a take down to come back and knock out Gonzaga in less than two minutes.
Winner: Shane Carwin by KO R1 1:09
Welterweight Fight- Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan
This is our second pre-show fight of the night. Brought to you by Shane Carwin, Matt Hamill and Matt Brown.
R1- McCrory gets a quick take down and passed the guard of Madigan within the first minute of the fight. McCrory is pushed back to full guard but gets in some Ground and Pound punches. McCrory passes again and mounts Madigan. McCrory almost got caught in a leg lock but got back into position and took out Madigan with some Ground and Pound. Madigan really didn’t provide a lot of resistance for McCrory in this fight. This was pretty much all McCrory.
Winner: Tamdan McCrory by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:35
Post-Fight McCrory drops some language and complains that he didn’t choose his music. He calls out Dana White for choosing his music! Says he wanted to come out to “Thunder Horse” cause he came out here on his “f’n Thunder Horse and handled business.” Best post-fight interview ever.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)
If Rampage wins then he goes on to fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Title. Jackson is currently my #3 ranked Light Heavyweight in the world and is 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has victories over Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson and a loss to Forrest Griffin in a close decision. I’ve got Jardine ranked #9 as he is also 2-1 in his last 3 fights. He has wins over Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera and got demolished by Wanderlei Silva. I think Jardine is going to be a tough match-up for Rampage kind of like Forrest was. Rampage is in a better camp now then he was for the Forrest fight so it will be interesting to see how this camp makes his game plan for an unorthodox guy like Jardine.
UFC pulls out the statistical analysis for this fight (I love this stuff). Rampage lands 81% of his clinch strikes and is successful on 68% of his clinch take downs. Jardine lands 86% of his leg kicks and 92% of his body shots. Jardine has a 3” reach advantage.
Rashad Evans joins Mike and Joe in the broadcast booth for this fight. Rashad will fight Rampage if Rampage wins but is also a training partner of Jardine.
R1- The clinched early and got broken up by the ref. Jardine is employing a stick and move style early into the fight. They tied up against the cage again. Rampage hit a nice combo at the one minute mark. Rampage hit some shots as he chased Jardine towards the end of the round. A fairly close round that I give to Rampage 10-9. Rampage is clearly the aggressor and Jardine is being somewhat effective and is sticking and moving but is also getting chased around the ring a lot by Rampage.
R2- Rampage hit a big left hand on Jardine about 2 minutes into the round and then jumped on top to try and finish but Jardine weathered the storm and got back to his feet and clinched Rampage. Rampage got a take down but Jardine again quickly got up and clinched Rampage. Jardine hit Rampage with a low blow and Rampage wanted to continue on and shortly thereafter Jardine got in a good combo and had Rampage wobbly up against the cage but Rampage survived and didn’t go down and looked to gather his wits pretty quickly. Good round with both guys getting in some good shots. I’ve got Rampage up 20-18 so far after two rounds but Cecil Peoples is judging so these fighters will want to finish this fight before it gets to the judges score cards.
R3- Jackson got a take down shortly after the one minute mark of the round but couldn’t hold Jardine down. Pretty even stand up this round. Jardine goes for a take down but is not able to get it. One minute left in the fight and the ref breaks a clinch. Rampage chases Jardine down and lands some good shots but Jardine stays on his feet and escapes. Rampage levels Jardine with a left hand right before the buzzer and Jardine clutches Rampage’s leg. Rampage takes this round and he’s got this fight 30-27 on my score card. A good fight that was clearly won by Rampage although Rampage could not finish Jardine.
Judges score cards have the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 Rampage (and of course Cecil Peoples comes up with the same score that I did after I complained about his judging).
Winner: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-fight they have Rashad and Rampage face to face in each others face with both guys talking trash.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
We get another pre-show fight. Brandon Vera is looking to bounce back with this fight. He’s coming off of a close decision loss at UFC 89 to Keith Jardine in which neither guy really did enough to truly say that they won the fight as both guys put on a lackluster performance.
R1- Vera starts the fight off aggressively. Vera looks like he’s physically starting to adjust better to the Light Heavyweight weight. Vera is hitting some good leg kicks. Patt barely missed a high leg kick with a minute and a half left in the round. Vera looked really good in round one and clearly took it 10-9.
R2- Vera is just destroying Patt with leg kicks and literally chops him down to the ground until the ref stops the fight. Great showing by Vera as he just took out Patt with leg kicks in this fight. Maybe this will get Vera going as he looked really good and looks like he is adjusting to the new weight finally.
Winner: Brandon Vera by TKO (Leg Kicks) R2 1:27
Light Heavyweight Fight- Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
R1- Boetsch really comes at Brilz early and lands some strikes. Brilz got a take down at around the one and a half minute mark but Boetsch got back up when Brilz tried to pass. Pretty decent and even first round. Rogan points out that Jason Brilz corner forgot a stool and he had to stand up during the break between rounds.
R2- Brilz got a take down about one minute into the round and passes guard to side control. Brilz is really controlling the fight on the ground in this round. Brilz definitely takes this round so it’s probably 19-19 but Round One could have gone either way.
R3- Brilz got Boetsch to the mat at the half way mark of the round. Brilz controls this round and bloodies up Boetsch a little bit towards the end of the round. Brilz is going to win this fight by Decision.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 all for Brilz
Winner: Jason Brilz by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a solid show. It ended up being much stronger than it looked on paper. Rampage/Jardine ended up being a good solid fight and we had great showings by Hamill, Brown, and Carwin. Gray Maynard, Kendall Grove and Brandon Vera also put on good performances.
Monday, March 02, 2009
WEC 39 "Brown vs Garcia" 3/1/09 Re-Cap
Todd Harris is the lead announcer but instead of Frank Mir we’ve got Jens Pulver in a Sweater Vest! Mir must be training for the Lesnar fight. Lil Evil in a freakin’ Sweater Vest. Wow, Jim Tressel must be a proud father.
Lightweight Fight- Marcus Hicks (8-1) vs. Rob McCullough (16-5)
McCullough is the former WEC Lightweight Champion having lost his belt to Jamie Varner. McCullough has a huge 5” reach advantage. He also has professional kickboxing experience so we will see if he can use this reach advantage.
R1- Not much action early and then they clinch against the cage in the first two minutes. Very little action in the first round. Neither guy did anything to take this round. Hicks seemed to be slightly more aggressive and maybe landed a better shot so he’s probably up on the score cards.
R2- Hicks knocked McCullough down with a straight left hand during the first minute of Round Two and then jumped in and grabbed a guillotine. McCullough survived and took Hicks guard and got in some shots before they stood up. McCullough starts to get in some offense towards the end of the round and gets in a bunch of offense in the last minute in a flurry. Hicks landed the big punch of this round and got a near sub but McCullough came on strong and got in more strikes and stole this round. Looks like a 19-19 fight so far going into the third round. The second round was much better than the first round.
R3- Not much action in the first two minutes of the fight. Both guys look very apprehensive. With about 1:30 left in the fight and round the ref says to the fighters “I’m going to call a no contest if you two don’t engage.” One minute left, the guy who wins this minute wins the fight. Somebody just needs to tell these guys that! Really strange fight. At least McCullough tried to get in some offense in the last 10 seconds. McCullough is up on my score card 29-28 in a very lackluster opener. Very un-WEC like opener to the show.
Judges score the fight: 29-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Majority)
They interview Miguel Torres about the upcoming show in Chicago.
Urijah Faber is at the show tonight but I think that he attends every MMA fight.
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (31-11-2)
Aldo is coming into this fight with a lot of buzz around him. Mickle is only 25 and has a ton of pro fights. He’s a wrestler who wins most of his fights by submission. This is Mickle’s debut in WEC. Aldo is a jiu jitsu black belt who wins most fights by knock out. Aldo is 22 years old.
R1- Aldo lands some good kicks but Mickel is hanging in there with him early and landing some punches. Aldo gets him up against the cage and starts destroying him with punches and the ref stops the fight before Mickel even goes down. Aldo just missed with a big lightning quick kick before his flurry. Impressive showing by Aldo even though the fight was stopped early.
Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:39
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-4) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-2-1)
Galvao is a jiu jitsu black belt with good Muy Thai skills.
R1- Page is all over Galvao at the beginning of the fight and then just destroys Galvao. Galvao didn’t know what hit him. Now that’s how you finish a fight!
Winner: Damacio Page by KO R1 0:18
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszewski (30-11) vs. Ricardo Lamas (5-0)
Lamas has a wrestling background and this is his WEC debut. Bart is a jiu jitsu brown belt who can finish with both KO and submission. Bart definitely has the experience factor on his side for this fight.
R1- Lamas grabbed a kick and got a take down but Bart gets out without sustaining any damage. Bart pulls guard and tries for a kimura but can’t get it and instead he eats some Ground and Pound from Lamas. Bart gets back to his feet and ends the round with a flurry. Close round going to Lamas.
R2- Lamas gets some good Ground and Pound in about half way through the round. Both guys swing pretty good to close the round. Good fight so far but I’ve got Lamas up 20-18.
R3- Bart controlled the early part of this round but then Lamas got a take down about half way through the round and stays on top for the rest of the fight. Lamas is going to take this decision victory.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Richado Lamas by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Brown © (20-4) vs. Leonard Garcia (16-3)
Leonard Garcia is coming off of a demolition of Jens Pulver and Mike Brown is coming off of his title victory against Urijah Faber. Leonard Garcia is from Texas so he’s the hometown guy in this fight.
R1- Mike Brown rocked Garcia right off the bat and Garcia went down quickly. Brown jumped on top of him with some Ground and Pound and then took Garcia’s back. Garcia is bleeding and Brown is really dominating him right now. Garcia moves back into the guard position. What a frantic start to this fight. Brown looks like he has an arm triangle and Garcia taps out.
What a great fight by Mike Brown. His win over Urijah could have been called a fluke but this really puts Brown on the map as he just dominated Garcia from start to finish. Great showing by Brown. Post-match Mike Brown says he’s ready to fight Urijah in a re-match.
Winner and still champion: Mike Brown by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 1:57
WEC 40 will take place on April 5th in Chicago and will feature one of the top Pound For Pound fighters in the world in Miguel Torres.
This was a solid show. Three fights really stood out in the “excitement factor.” Brown/Garcia, Page/Galvao and Aldo/Mickle. None of those fights even lasted 2 minutes but they were all really fun to watch.
Lightweight Fight- Marcus Hicks (8-1) vs. Rob McCullough (16-5)
McCullough is the former WEC Lightweight Champion having lost his belt to Jamie Varner. McCullough has a huge 5” reach advantage. He also has professional kickboxing experience so we will see if he can use this reach advantage.
R1- Not much action early and then they clinch against the cage in the first two minutes. Very little action in the first round. Neither guy did anything to take this round. Hicks seemed to be slightly more aggressive and maybe landed a better shot so he’s probably up on the score cards.
R2- Hicks knocked McCullough down with a straight left hand during the first minute of Round Two and then jumped in and grabbed a guillotine. McCullough survived and took Hicks guard and got in some shots before they stood up. McCullough starts to get in some offense towards the end of the round and gets in a bunch of offense in the last minute in a flurry. Hicks landed the big punch of this round and got a near sub but McCullough came on strong and got in more strikes and stole this round. Looks like a 19-19 fight so far going into the third round. The second round was much better than the first round.
R3- Not much action in the first two minutes of the fight. Both guys look very apprehensive. With about 1:30 left in the fight and round the ref says to the fighters “I’m going to call a no contest if you two don’t engage.” One minute left, the guy who wins this minute wins the fight. Somebody just needs to tell these guys that! Really strange fight. At least McCullough tried to get in some offense in the last 10 seconds. McCullough is up on my score card 29-28 in a very lackluster opener. Very un-WEC like opener to the show.
Judges score the fight: 29-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of McCullough.
Winner: Rob McCullough by Decision (Majority)
They interview Miguel Torres about the upcoming show in Chicago.
Urijah Faber is at the show tonight but I think that he attends every MMA fight.
Featherweight Fight- Jose Aldo (13-1) vs. Chris Mickle (31-11-2)
Aldo is coming into this fight with a lot of buzz around him. Mickle is only 25 and has a ton of pro fights. He’s a wrestler who wins most of his fights by submission. This is Mickle’s debut in WEC. Aldo is a jiu jitsu black belt who wins most fights by knock out. Aldo is 22 years old.
R1- Aldo lands some good kicks but Mickel is hanging in there with him early and landing some punches. Aldo gets him up against the cage and starts destroying him with punches and the ref stops the fight before Mickel even goes down. Aldo just missed with a big lightning quick kick before his flurry. Impressive showing by Aldo even though the fight was stopped early.
Winner: Jose Aldo by TKO (Strikes) R1 1:39
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (10-4) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-2-1)
Galvao is a jiu jitsu black belt with good Muy Thai skills.
R1- Page is all over Galvao at the beginning of the fight and then just destroys Galvao. Galvao didn’t know what hit him. Now that’s how you finish a fight!
Winner: Damacio Page by KO R1 0:18
Lightweight Fight- Bart Palaszewski (30-11) vs. Ricardo Lamas (5-0)
Lamas has a wrestling background and this is his WEC debut. Bart is a jiu jitsu brown belt who can finish with both KO and submission. Bart definitely has the experience factor on his side for this fight.
R1- Lamas grabbed a kick and got a take down but Bart gets out without sustaining any damage. Bart pulls guard and tries for a kimura but can’t get it and instead he eats some Ground and Pound from Lamas. Bart gets back to his feet and ends the round with a flurry. Close round going to Lamas.
R2- Lamas gets some good Ground and Pound in about half way through the round. Both guys swing pretty good to close the round. Good fight so far but I’ve got Lamas up 20-18.
R3- Bart controlled the early part of this round but then Lamas got a take down about half way through the round and stays on top for the rest of the fight. Lamas is going to take this decision victory.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all cards
Winner: Richado Lamas by Decision (Unanimous)
WEC Featherweight Title Fight- Mike Brown © (20-4) vs. Leonard Garcia (16-3)
Leonard Garcia is coming off of a demolition of Jens Pulver and Mike Brown is coming off of his title victory against Urijah Faber. Leonard Garcia is from Texas so he’s the hometown guy in this fight.
R1- Mike Brown rocked Garcia right off the bat and Garcia went down quickly. Brown jumped on top of him with some Ground and Pound and then took Garcia’s back. Garcia is bleeding and Brown is really dominating him right now. Garcia moves back into the guard position. What a frantic start to this fight. Brown looks like he has an arm triangle and Garcia taps out.
What a great fight by Mike Brown. His win over Urijah could have been called a fluke but this really puts Brown on the map as he just dominated Garcia from start to finish. Great showing by Brown. Post-match Mike Brown says he’s ready to fight Urijah in a re-match.
Winner and still champion: Mike Brown by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 1:57
WEC 40 will take place on April 5th in Chicago and will feature one of the top Pound For Pound fighters in the world in Miguel Torres.
This was a solid show. Three fights really stood out in the “excitement factor.” Brown/Garcia, Page/Galvao and Aldo/Mickle. None of those fights even lasted 2 minutes but they were all really fun to watch.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Strikeforce on NBC 2/22/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on NBC 2/22/09
This is the Josh Thomson edition of Strikeforce on NBC. Josh Thomson is the current
Lightweight Fight- Ashe Bowman (9-4) vs. Josh Thomson (16-2)
This is from the Strikeforce show at the Playboy Mansion from 9/20/08. Thomson is the Strikeforce Lightweight champion. I’m pretty sure this was a non-title fight although after the fight Lon MacEachern calls this a successful title defense.
R1- Josh goes for a high kick early but it's blocked. Thomson lands some punches and takes down Ashe and quickly finishes. Great showing by Thomson against an over matched fighter.
Winner: Josh Thomson by TKO (strikes) R1 1:14
Lightweight Fight- Josh Thomson (11-2) vs. Nick Gonzalez (11-4)
This fight is from June of 2007. Thomson has a 4” height advantage for this fight. Both guys were riding win streaks coming into the fight. This fight was originally shown on NBC last April.
R1- Thomson connects lightly with a lighting quick kick and then takes down Gonzales. Thomson’s got his back and is going for a choke. Thomson controlling early. Thomson taps Gonzales quickly. Thomson looked awesome in this fight.
Winner: Josh Thomson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:42
Lightweight Fight- Josh Thomson (12-2) vs. Adam Lynn (11-7)
This fight is from September 2007. It was on Strikeforce’s first show at the Playboy Mansion.
R1- The fight is joined in progress about half way through the first round. Thomson just kind of all the sudden came alive. He jumped in and hit a right hand and tripped his opponent up and then jumped on top and finished him with Ground and Pound.
Winner: Josh Thomson by TKO (Strikes) R1
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight- Gilbert Melendez © (14-1) vs. Josh Thomson (14-2)
This fight is from June 2008. This was a five round fight and they showed highlights of the early part of the fight with Thomson controlling.
R5- They joined this fight in progress at the beginning of the 5th round. At this stage of the fight I had Thomson up on my score card 40-36 as he won the first 4 rounds of the fight. Towards the end of the round both guys open it up and are going at each other with some really good exchanges. The first half of the round was kind of blah but they had a big explosion for about a minute and it ends with a close round. I had Thomson taking this round and winning the fight 50-45. All 3 judges scored the fight 50-45.
Winner and new Strikeforce Lightweight Champion: Josh Thomson by Decision (Unanimous)
This is the Josh Thomson edition of Strikeforce on NBC. Josh Thomson is the current
Lightweight Fight- Ashe Bowman (9-4) vs. Josh Thomson (16-2)
This is from the Strikeforce show at the Playboy Mansion from 9/20/08. Thomson is the Strikeforce Lightweight champion. I’m pretty sure this was a non-title fight although after the fight Lon MacEachern calls this a successful title defense.
R1- Josh goes for a high kick early but it's blocked. Thomson lands some punches and takes down Ashe and quickly finishes. Great showing by Thomson against an over matched fighter.
Winner: Josh Thomson by TKO (strikes) R1 1:14
Lightweight Fight- Josh Thomson (11-2) vs. Nick Gonzalez (11-4)
This fight is from June of 2007. Thomson has a 4” height advantage for this fight. Both guys were riding win streaks coming into the fight. This fight was originally shown on NBC last April.
R1- Thomson connects lightly with a lighting quick kick and then takes down Gonzales. Thomson’s got his back and is going for a choke. Thomson controlling early. Thomson taps Gonzales quickly. Thomson looked awesome in this fight.
Winner: Josh Thomson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:42
Lightweight Fight- Josh Thomson (12-2) vs. Adam Lynn (11-7)
This fight is from September 2007. It was on Strikeforce’s first show at the Playboy Mansion.
R1- The fight is joined in progress about half way through the first round. Thomson just kind of all the sudden came alive. He jumped in and hit a right hand and tripped his opponent up and then jumped on top and finished him with Ground and Pound.
Winner: Josh Thomson by TKO (Strikes) R1
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight- Gilbert Melendez © (14-1) vs. Josh Thomson (14-2)
This fight is from June 2008. This was a five round fight and they showed highlights of the early part of the fight with Thomson controlling.
R5- They joined this fight in progress at the beginning of the 5th round. At this stage of the fight I had Thomson up on my score card 40-36 as he won the first 4 rounds of the fight. Towards the end of the round both guys open it up and are going at each other with some really good exchanges. The first half of the round was kind of blah but they had a big explosion for about a minute and it ends with a close round. I had Thomson taking this round and winning the fight 50-45. All 3 judges scored the fight 50-45.
Winner and new Strikeforce Lightweight Champion: Josh Thomson by Decision (Unanimous)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Retro Re-Cap: UFC Fight Night 8 1/25/07
UFC Fight Night 8 1/25/07
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (20-2) vs. Hermes Franca (17-5)
Franca is sporting some sweet bright purple hair for this fight.
R1- Franca got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Franca went for a leg lock but Spencer got out without any damage. Pretty even stand up throughout the round and then Franca got another take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Franca got some good Ground and Pound at the end of the round to secure a 10-9 round.
R2- Franca grabbed a leg and took Spencer’s guard in the first minute of the round. They stood back up and Franca seemed to be getting a little bit tired. Franca got some good stand up in late in the round and Spencer didn’t go down but the ref stopped the fight. Franca was throwing some loopy haymakers and he happened to hit Spencer with one and that was what really hurt Spencer.
Winner: Hermes Franca TKO (Strikes) R2 4:03
Heavyweight Fight- Heath Herring (26-11) vs. Jake O’Brien (9-0)
This is Heath Herring’s UFC debut. O’Brien was a D1 wrestler at Purdue. Herring has 15 pounds on O’Brien.
R1- Herring hit a left hand and knocked O’Brien down at the two minute mark but O’Brien turned the tables on his and took his guard. O’Brien ended the round in Herring’s half guard. Not much action in the first round and not much damage done. O’Brien 10-9.
R2- O’Brien shot and got a take down about one minute into the round but can’t really get anything despite mounting and taking Herring’s back. O’Brien got Heath down again and opened up a cut on Herring. Heath got a brief take down at the end of the round but O’Brien easily rolled him over. O’Brien 20-18 so far.
R3- O’Brien really controlled but didn’t inflict any offense. They stood up with about a minute left and Herring landed a bunch but then got taken down again. Really poor showing by Herring and O’Brien fought a smart fight he just didn’t do anything to put Herring away.
Judges say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of O’Brien
Winner: Jake O’Brien by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Ed Herman (13-4) vs. Chris Price (8-1)
Price comes in at 192 pounds and did not make the 185 weight limit. Herman agreed to the fight anyway. That’s a large amount to miss weight.
R1- Herman got a take down and Price got a kimura but couldn’t keep it. Harman got an arm bar and tapped out Price. Good showing by Herman.
Winner: Ed Herman by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 2:58
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rashad Evans (14-0) vs. Sean Salmon (9-1)
R1- Salmon goes for a Karate Kid type move early that looks hilarious. Not much contact in the first minute. Neither guy really looks like they want to fight early. Evans is content to counter punch. They tie up 2 minutes in and Salmon takes Evans down and gets half guard. Salmon got side control but Evans quickly got to his feet. Salmon gets a couple of punches in on the cage. Salmon grabs a leg and takes down Evans again. Salmon is landing some blows on Evans. Round 1 easily goes to Salmon as Rashad didn’t really do anything and got taken down twice and sustained more damage.
R2- Salmon comes in and slips and Evans hits a knee and then attacks and gets his first advantage of the fight. After this Evans looks like the aggressor as he’s started to take control of the ring and then he just DESTROYS Salmon with a kick to the head. Awesome finish to the fight after a very poor first round by Evans. Evans started really slow, seemed very nervous but after he got that one knee his demeanor kind of changed and then he just nailed the finish.
Winner: Rashad Evans via KO (kick) R2
Lightweight Fight- Spencer Fisher (20-2) vs. Hermes Franca (17-5)
Franca is sporting some sweet bright purple hair for this fight.
R1- Franca got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Franca went for a leg lock but Spencer got out without any damage. Pretty even stand up throughout the round and then Franca got another take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Franca got some good Ground and Pound at the end of the round to secure a 10-9 round.
R2- Franca grabbed a leg and took Spencer’s guard in the first minute of the round. They stood back up and Franca seemed to be getting a little bit tired. Franca got some good stand up in late in the round and Spencer didn’t go down but the ref stopped the fight. Franca was throwing some loopy haymakers and he happened to hit Spencer with one and that was what really hurt Spencer.
Winner: Hermes Franca TKO (Strikes) R2 4:03
Heavyweight Fight- Heath Herring (26-11) vs. Jake O’Brien (9-0)
This is Heath Herring’s UFC debut. O’Brien was a D1 wrestler at Purdue. Herring has 15 pounds on O’Brien.
R1- Herring hit a left hand and knocked O’Brien down at the two minute mark but O’Brien turned the tables on his and took his guard. O’Brien ended the round in Herring’s half guard. Not much action in the first round and not much damage done. O’Brien 10-9.
R2- O’Brien shot and got a take down about one minute into the round but can’t really get anything despite mounting and taking Herring’s back. O’Brien got Heath down again and opened up a cut on Herring. Heath got a brief take down at the end of the round but O’Brien easily rolled him over. O’Brien 20-18 so far.
R3- O’Brien really controlled but didn’t inflict any offense. They stood up with about a minute left and Herring landed a bunch but then got taken down again. Really poor showing by Herring and O’Brien fought a smart fight he just didn’t do anything to put Herring away.
Judges say: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of O’Brien
Winner: Jake O’Brien by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Ed Herman (13-4) vs. Chris Price (8-1)
Price comes in at 192 pounds and did not make the 185 weight limit. Herman agreed to the fight anyway. That’s a large amount to miss weight.
R1- Herman got a take down and Price got a kimura but couldn’t keep it. Harman got an arm bar and tapped out Price. Good showing by Herman.
Winner: Ed Herman by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 2:58
Light Heavyweight Fight- Rashad Evans (14-0) vs. Sean Salmon (9-1)
R1- Salmon goes for a Karate Kid type move early that looks hilarious. Not much contact in the first minute. Neither guy really looks like they want to fight early. Evans is content to counter punch. They tie up 2 minutes in and Salmon takes Evans down and gets half guard. Salmon got side control but Evans quickly got to his feet. Salmon gets a couple of punches in on the cage. Salmon grabs a leg and takes down Evans again. Salmon is landing some blows on Evans. Round 1 easily goes to Salmon as Rashad didn’t really do anything and got taken down twice and sustained more damage.
R2- Salmon comes in and slips and Evans hits a knee and then attacks and gets his first advantage of the fight. After this Evans looks like the aggressor as he’s started to take control of the ring and then he just DESTROYS Salmon with a kick to the head. Awesome finish to the fight after a very poor first round by Evans. Evans started really slow, seemed very nervous but after he got that one knee his demeanor kind of changed and then he just nailed the finish.
Winner: Rashad Evans via KO (kick) R2
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
UFC Fight Night 17 2/7/09 Re-Cap
UFC Fight Night 17
February 7th, 2009
USF Sun Dome - Tampa, FL
No major drawing cards on the show tonight but the last time UFC ran a show similar to this (Fight for the Troops) they had a really good show. On paper we’ve got some interesting fights in Lauzon/Stephens, Neer/Danzig, Johnson/Fioravanti and Pellegrino/Emerson.
Welterweight Fight- Anthony Johnson (6-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (13-4)
Anthony Johnson is coming off of a big Third Round KO of Kevin Burns in their re-match at the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale. Fioravanti is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Florida. Johnson is a JUCO wrestler and a feared striker. This is a big fight for both guys. Johnson has a big 8” reach advantage and a 6” height advantage. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner for the fight as Johnson has been training with Le and Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Josh Thomson. Fioravanti has won 3 of his last 4 fights with the loss coming at the hands of Diego Sanchez.
R1- Johnson scored mostly in this round with leg kicks and then caught Luigi towards the end of the round with a punch and then laid it on and got the Ground and Pound victory. Very impressive victory by Johnson as it took Diego Sanchez 3 rounds to get a TKO win over Luigi.
I’m looking forward to Johnson stepping up in competition for his next fight in the Welterweight Division. Post-fight Johnson says he’s disappointed with his performance so that’s a good sign that this guy is going to work really hard to continue to improve.
Winner: Anthony Johnson by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:39
Lightweight Fight- Josh Neer (24-7-1) vs. Mac Danzig (19-5-1)
Danzig is coming off of a September loss to Clay Guida in which he was really controlled by Guida’s wrestling. Neer fought on the same show and lost a split decision to Nate Diaz. Both guys are in a need to win situation as they don’t want to start racking up multiple losses in a row. Danzig won TUF Season 6 in 2007. Neer has a 3” height advantage and a 2” reach advantage.
R1- Danzig got caught early when he went for a head kick but weathered the storm. Danzig hit a good combo about a minute in a half in to even the fight back out. Danzig caught Neer coming in with a minute and half left and then took his guard. Neer grabbed a triangle but Danzig spun out and survived. Neer unloaded in the corner. Neer showboated towards the end of the round. Neer ended the round on an upswing. Very good and very close first round. Neer controlled early, Danzig took the middle part of the round with a knock down and Neer came on strong at the end. Danzig also opened up a cut on Neer’s face.
R2- Danzig got a take down stuffed and Neer unloaded with some good elbows. Neer tried to take his back but slipped off and Danzig took guard. Neer got another triangle with a minute and a half left in the round and Danzig had to tap.
Really good fight and a good showing by both guys as it was very competitive.
Winner: Josh Neer by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 3:36
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (4-0) vs. Denis Stojnic (12-1)
Velasquez is an up and coming Heavyweight prospect and this is Stojnic’s first fight in the UFC. Cain has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Stojnic is from Amsterdam and his nickname is “Denis the Menace.”
R1- Velasquez just dominated this round. Stojnic showed a good chin but wasn’t able to get in any offense. Velasquez 10-8. Velasquez showed really good technique throughout the fight and did a good job mixing in strikes, kicks and knees.
R2- Velasquez took Stojnic down and Ground and Pound him over and over. The ref stopped the fight a little early but there was no question that Velasquez was just dominating this fight. Good showing by Velasquez, the only thing that was missing was a dominant finish.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:34
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice vs. Matt Veach
This is a pre-show fight. Veach took this fight on short notice and has Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawler in his corner.
R1- Veach really pushed the pace early and got a take down. Grice caught Veach in an Anaconda Choke but Veach quickly got out of it. Grice caught Veach with an uppercut and then got on top of him with some Ground and Pound and tried to finish. Grice looked like he punched himself out when he was going for the finish. Grice went for a guillotine and Veach took his guard. Veach was looking very tired and taking some shots and he landed a good shot on Grice and took him down and got the finish. Looked like an early ref stoppage but it was a really good fight.
Winner: Matt Veach by TKO R1 4:34
Lightweight Fight- Joe Lauzon (16-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-3)
Stephens is coming off of a win at UFC 91 over Rafael Dos Anjos. Lauzon’s last fight was a win over Kyle Bradley. Previous to that he had won 6 straight fights before losing to Top Contender Kenny Florian. Hermes Franca was originally supposed to fight Lauzon. Stephens trains with Franca. Lauzon was on Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter and was BJ Penn’s team.
R1- Lauzon did a good job early in the round in working his strategy and keeping Stephens close to him and on the mat. Stephens came on late in the round with some Ground and Pound and a big slam. Close first round, very competitive.
R2- Lauzon again controlled the first part of this round and got some light Ground and Pound. At about one and a half minutes left in the round Stephens flipped it over and opened up a cut on Lauzon. Lauzon reverses but he’s bleeding pretty good. Lauzon caught Stephens in an arm bar and got a tap out as the round was ending. Really good job by Lauzon quickly getting a finish after he started to lose blood as the fight could have been ended if the round ended depending on where the cut was.
Winner: Joe Lauzon by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Dan Miller vs. Jake Rosholt
This is our second pre-show fight.
R1- Rosholt got a quick take down but got reversed. Miller caught Rosholt in a guillotine and he got caught and tapped. His corner was yelling for him to watch for it but apparently he didn’t hear them.
Winner: Dan Miller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:03
Overall, I was very satisfied with this show. Anthony Johnson and Cain Velasquez both looked really good. Grice/Veach and Lauzon/Stephens were both good fights and I thought Danzig/Neer was a really good fight. Danzig/Neer is probably the best fight I’ve seen so far this year although it’s only February.
February 7th, 2009
USF Sun Dome - Tampa, FL
No major drawing cards on the show tonight but the last time UFC ran a show similar to this (Fight for the Troops) they had a really good show. On paper we’ve got some interesting fights in Lauzon/Stephens, Neer/Danzig, Johnson/Fioravanti and Pellegrino/Emerson.
Welterweight Fight- Anthony Johnson (6-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (13-4)
Anthony Johnson is coming off of a big Third Round KO of Kevin Burns in their re-match at the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale. Fioravanti is the home town guy in this fight as he’s from Florida. Johnson is a JUCO wrestler and a feared striker. This is a big fight for both guys. Johnson has a big 8” reach advantage and a 6” height advantage. Cung Le is in Anthony Johnson’s corner for the fight as Johnson has been training with Le and Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Josh Thomson. Fioravanti has won 3 of his last 4 fights with the loss coming at the hands of Diego Sanchez.
R1- Johnson scored mostly in this round with leg kicks and then caught Luigi towards the end of the round with a punch and then laid it on and got the Ground and Pound victory. Very impressive victory by Johnson as it took Diego Sanchez 3 rounds to get a TKO win over Luigi.
I’m looking forward to Johnson stepping up in competition for his next fight in the Welterweight Division. Post-fight Johnson says he’s disappointed with his performance so that’s a good sign that this guy is going to work really hard to continue to improve.
Winner: Anthony Johnson by TKO (Strikes) R3 4:39
Lightweight Fight- Josh Neer (24-7-1) vs. Mac Danzig (19-5-1)
Danzig is coming off of a September loss to Clay Guida in which he was really controlled by Guida’s wrestling. Neer fought on the same show and lost a split decision to Nate Diaz. Both guys are in a need to win situation as they don’t want to start racking up multiple losses in a row. Danzig won TUF Season 6 in 2007. Neer has a 3” height advantage and a 2” reach advantage.
R1- Danzig got caught early when he went for a head kick but weathered the storm. Danzig hit a good combo about a minute in a half in to even the fight back out. Danzig caught Neer coming in with a minute and half left and then took his guard. Neer grabbed a triangle but Danzig spun out and survived. Neer unloaded in the corner. Neer showboated towards the end of the round. Neer ended the round on an upswing. Very good and very close first round. Neer controlled early, Danzig took the middle part of the round with a knock down and Neer came on strong at the end. Danzig also opened up a cut on Neer’s face.
R2- Danzig got a take down stuffed and Neer unloaded with some good elbows. Neer tried to take his back but slipped off and Danzig took guard. Neer got another triangle with a minute and a half left in the round and Danzig had to tap.
Really good fight and a good showing by both guys as it was very competitive.
Winner: Josh Neer by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 3:36
Heavyweight Fight- Cain Velasquez (4-0) vs. Denis Stojnic (12-1)
Velasquez is an up and coming Heavyweight prospect and this is Stojnic’s first fight in the UFC. Cain has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Stojnic is from Amsterdam and his nickname is “Denis the Menace.”
R1- Velasquez just dominated this round. Stojnic showed a good chin but wasn’t able to get in any offense. Velasquez 10-8. Velasquez showed really good technique throughout the fight and did a good job mixing in strikes, kicks and knees.
R2- Velasquez took Stojnic down and Ground and Pound him over and over. The ref stopped the fight a little early but there was no question that Velasquez was just dominating this fight. Good showing by Velasquez, the only thing that was missing was a dominant finish.
Winner: Cain Velasquez by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:34
Lightweight Fight- Matt Grice vs. Matt Veach
This is a pre-show fight. Veach took this fight on short notice and has Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawler in his corner.
R1- Veach really pushed the pace early and got a take down. Grice caught Veach in an Anaconda Choke but Veach quickly got out of it. Grice caught Veach with an uppercut and then got on top of him with some Ground and Pound and tried to finish. Grice looked like he punched himself out when he was going for the finish. Grice went for a guillotine and Veach took his guard. Veach was looking very tired and taking some shots and he landed a good shot on Grice and took him down and got the finish. Looked like an early ref stoppage but it was a really good fight.
Winner: Matt Veach by TKO R1 4:34
Lightweight Fight- Joe Lauzon (16-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-3)
Stephens is coming off of a win at UFC 91 over Rafael Dos Anjos. Lauzon’s last fight was a win over Kyle Bradley. Previous to that he had won 6 straight fights before losing to Top Contender Kenny Florian. Hermes Franca was originally supposed to fight Lauzon. Stephens trains with Franca. Lauzon was on Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter and was BJ Penn’s team.
R1- Lauzon did a good job early in the round in working his strategy and keeping Stephens close to him and on the mat. Stephens came on late in the round with some Ground and Pound and a big slam. Close first round, very competitive.
R2- Lauzon again controlled the first part of this round and got some light Ground and Pound. At about one and a half minutes left in the round Stephens flipped it over and opened up a cut on Lauzon. Lauzon reverses but he’s bleeding pretty good. Lauzon caught Stephens in an arm bar and got a tap out as the round was ending. Really good job by Lauzon quickly getting a finish after he started to lose blood as the fight could have been ended if the round ended depending on where the cut was.
Winner: Joe Lauzon by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 4:43
Middleweight Fight- Dan Miller vs. Jake Rosholt
This is our second pre-show fight.
R1- Rosholt got a quick take down but got reversed. Miller caught Rosholt in a guillotine and he got caught and tapped. His corner was yelling for him to watch for it but apparently he didn’t hear them.
Winner: Dan Miller by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 1:03
Overall, I was very satisfied with this show. Anthony Johnson and Cain Velasquez both looked really good. Grice/Veach and Lauzon/Stephens were both good fights and I thought Danzig/Neer was a really good fight. Danzig/Neer is probably the best fight I’ve seen so far this year although it’s only February.
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)
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)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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
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
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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 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.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Monday, February 02, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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.
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