ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series 10/10/08 Re-Cap

ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series 10/10/08

Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros are the announcers. There are 5 fights tonight. The bigger names on the card are Jason Guida, Dave Herman and Kerry Schall.

Lightweight Fight- Rafaello Oliveira (5-0) vs. Lyle Beerbohm (7-0)

Beerbohm’s nickname is “fancy pants.” Beerbohm has only been training for 19 months. He’s from Spokane, Washington and he had is first fight after training for only one week. Beerbohm is wearing some seriously hideous tights that are very colorful and apparently made by his mother, hence the fancy pants nickname. These would make Shinya Aoki blush. This is Oliveira’s first fight on the mainland, he has one in Hawaii. Both of these fighters are undefeated. Oliveira has a 4” reach advantage. Oliveira is a Jiu Jitsu practitioner and Beerbohm is more versed in submission wrestling. Apparently Beerbohm has already called out Nick Diaz (who has a Lightweight title fight coming up against Eddie Alvarez to fill the vacant Elite XC Lightweight title on Nov 8th).

R1- Oliveira immediately gets a take down after a couple of leg kicks and then takes Beerbohm’s back and drills him with some punches. Oliveira dominates the first minute of action. Beerbohm gets caught in an attempted triangle after he rolled to the top. Oliveira hitting some elbows and has opened up a cut on Beerbohm and then Oliveira attempted a kimura but lost it. Beerbohm gets a brief guillotine but Oliveira gets command again and is looking very smooth. They stand in a clinch and Oliveira with a knee. The separate and Beerbohm charges and gets a clinch and then gets a freaking FIREMAN’S CARRY. Beerbohm gets caught in an arm bar but rolls out of it. They clinch against the cage and Beerbohm gets a slam and is in Oliveira’s full guard. Beerbohm hits one big elbow and Oliveira is bleeding heavily. Beerbohm hits a couple of more strikes. Very good and close round as Oliveira won the first half and Beerbohm won the last minute. Oliveira is in danger of having this fight stopped due to his cut. He walks out of the cage at one point during the intermission. It’s a large cut, Quadros says you “can put a quarter in it.” And the fight is stopped due to the cut. Really good first round and would like to see these two guys fight again as I think Oliveira is the better fighter, he just got caught with that one big elbow that cut him open.

Post-match Beerbohm thanks his mom for making his shorts and then calls out the winner of Diaz/Alvarez. Says he will beat up either of the two. I’m not sure if “fancy pants” has ever seen Alvarez fight.

Winner: Lyle Beerbohm by TKO (Doctor Stoppage/Cut) R1

Middleweight Fight- Alexander Shlemenko (29-5) vs. Bubba McDaniel (12-4)

This is Alexander’s US debut and his first fight against an American fighter. Alexander is a Muay Thai and Sambo fighter from Russia. Mauro says that Alexander is from the Siberian city of Omsk . He says that according to stats- 50% of the youth in this city are either in prison, hooked on drugs or dead by the age of 21. Alexander is only 24 years old but has 34 professional fights. Bubba McDaniel has 12 victories, 10 of them have been won via tap out. He is the reigning Icon Sport Middleweight Champion. Bubba has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.

R1- Bubba goes for an immediate take down and Alexander grabs the cage to stop it and gets a warning. Bubba takes him down but Alexander has an arm. Bubba hitting Alexander on the side and then they stand and Bubba is holding his back and wrestles him back to the ground but then they stand back up. Bubba gets a take down against the cage but Alexander gets back to his feet. Lots of clinching and up and down without either guy getting in anything of substantial damage. Bubba moves from north/south to side control to taking Alexander’s back. Bubba hitting him with shots and then mounts and gets some Ground and Pound. Bubba is controlling this round and starting to dominate. Bubba goes for a choke but Alexander is keeping his chin down. Alexander got back up and right at the bell he nailed Bubba with a huge knee and Bubba buckled to the floor. Alexander looked to the ref for a stoppage but it looks like Bubba may have been saved by the bell. The ref says it was a groin shot and that he is not stopping the fight. Bubba is saying that his ribs are hurting and he is lying on the ground in pain. Now they are saying that it’s not his groin and that it’s his ribs and Bubba can’t answer the bell and this one is over as Bubba can’t answer the bell. What a shot by Alexander right before the bell to win the fight in a round where he got controlled. He hit the flying knee right under his heart.

Winner: Alexander Shlemenko by TKO (Flying Knee) R1

Two really good, fun fights to start off this show. Both have been stopped between the first and second rounds. Bubba is still down and they have to help him to his feet.

Robbie Lawler is at the fights and he is interviewed by Stephen Quadros. They talk about his re-match with Joey Villasenor (Lawler won the first fight).

Welterweight Fight- Anthony Lapsley (13-3) vs. Mike Stumpf (10-1)

Stumpf has a 4 fight winning streak and is a wrestler. Lapsley is known as “The Recipe.” Lapsley is a wrestler and a boxer. He is the King of the Cage Welterweight Champion. Stumpf weighed in at 172.5 pounds but Lapsley choose to fight anyway. Lapsley has a 3” reach advantage. Stumpf is only 22 years old. Lapsley is 13-3 with 10 Submissions.

R1- Lapsley comes out throwing punches but doesn’t hit. They clinch and exchange knees. They are in an active clinch against the cage. Stumpf got a take down and is in half guard. The fight gets back to the feet and Lapsley lands a nice kick to the upper body but Stumpf grabbed a single leg take down but Lapsley takes half guard on top of Stumpf. Lapsley lands a strike or two. Lapsley lands a couple of nice shots and then an elbow to the jaw. Lapsley with hammer fists but Stumpf grabs full guard and tries to protect with one and a half minutes left in round one. Lapsley lands some strikes and goes for an arm triangle but Stumpf slips out. Lapsley with elbows and punches until Stumpf covers up. Lapsley wins Round One 10-9 and looked like he was on the verge of finishing Stumpf at times.

R2- First minute of the round is a stalemate. Lapsley hits a flying knee and then gets a single leg take down. Not a whole lot going on in this round buy Lapsley is maintaining control of the round. Lapsley is throwing some wild punches and lands one. Stumpf pulls guard and grabs a kimura. Stumpf then moves to full mount with about a minute left in the round. Stumpf basically does nothing and then gets rolled over by Lapsley. Very ho hum round after a very good first round. I have to give this round to Lapsley as he controlled the majority of it but not as convincing a round as the first. Lapsley up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- Lapsley lands a kick and a punch to start the round and then they clinch. Pretty much the same way that the other two rounds have started. Lapsley gets a take down. Not a real exciting round. This one is much like round two with Lapsley winning the round by controlling Stumpf with wrestling. Lapsley is going to win this fight 30-27.

Judges score cards say: 29-29 (WHAT fight was this judge watching?), 30-27, and 30-27. Winner by majority decision is Lapsley.

Winner: Anthony Lapsley by Decision (Majority)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Mamed Khalidov (17-3-1) vs. Jason Guida (17-17)

Khalidov is yet another fighter making his North American debut. Guida says he’s going to knock this guy out. Jason’s brother UFC fighter Clay Guida is in his corner. The announcers reference Guida’s appearance on TUF where he failed to make weight before the qualifying fights. Clay slaps him around a little bit before he gets in the cage. Mamed is from Poland. Both guys have a wrestling background. Mamed usually competes at middleweight so he is a little undersized in this fight. Mamed is undefeated in his last 12 fights. Guida claims that he is 25-17 (instead of 17-17) but Mauro says that they were unable to confirm this statistic.

R1- Guida comes right at Mamed and hits a punch and then bulrushes him. Mamed tries a rolling knee bar and is going after Guida’s legs. Guida goes for a heel hook of his own. Very exciting first minute. Guida takes his guard but Mamed goes for an arm bar but Guida escapes. Guida went for a roundhouse upkick but missed. Guida has a cut on the top of his head. Mamed catches Guida with an up kick that knocks him off guard and then gets warned about strikes to the back of Guida’s noggin. They are in the clinch and Mamed hits a punch and knee to the gut. Guida gets a take down. Mamed has used an active guard throughout the first round. This is a tough round to judge. Guida controlled the cage much more but Mamed did more damage and had more submission attempts and was very active when in a defensive position. Mamed 10-9 on my score card after one. Good first round. Guida looked really tired at the end of the first round, must have been all that weight cutting.

R2- Mamed with a good counter punch to start the round. Guida answers with a good kick that countered one by Mamed. Mamed hit a spinning heel kick that was blocked but looked great. Mamed with a combo and now he’s coming on as Guida looks winded. Mamed with a spinning back fist. Guida finally clinches to slow down Mamed’s combo’s but Mamed hits some strikes and then gets a take down. Guida with very little offense so far this round through two minutes. Guida eats a couple of punches against the cage and covers up and eats two good punches from Mamed. Mamed taking it to Guida and Guida goes for a take down and Mamed sprawls. Guida is on his knees and Mamed levels him with a punch. Guida dives at the leg and is holding onto it trying to recover. Mamed with some elbows that are close to the back of the head. Guida loses his mouthpiece and the ref stops the fight to put it back in but he can’t find it and Guida is getting a ton of time to recover here as he is down on his knees sucking wind. They can’t find Guida’s mouthpiece and they tell him he has to use another one and Guida knocks it away. They find the mouthpiece after the ref says that he is going to DQ him and then Guida throws it out to get it cleaned. Guida is stalling here and it’s just painfully obvious. This is ridiculous. Mamed with a left hand and now he is opening up on Guida against the cage and Guida is standing taking a beating and the ref steps in and stops the fight and Guida pushes the ref and then leans on him.

Man, Jason Guida just with a horrible performance here. First he totally gasses. Then he plays stalling tactics with his mouthpiece and then he pushes the ref. He totally got outclassed here by Mamed. Guida needs to go back to the minors where he belongs. He is the total opposite type of fighter than his brother is. Mamed on the other hand looked really good. I would definitely like to see him fight again as he picked Guida apart once he gassed.

Winner: Mamed Khalidov by TKO (strikes) R2 4:53


Heavyweight Fight- Dave Herman (11-0) vs. Kerry Schall (22-10)

Schall’s nickname is “Meat Truck.” They briefly discuss Schall’s loss to Fedor early in Fedor’s career. Herman’s nickname is “Pee Wee” and he’s undefeated. He was impressive in his victory over Ron Waterman. He trains by himself at his house. Says he doesn’t really have a strategy, just kind of goes with the flow and sees what happens. Both guys are wrestlers. Schall has an 18 pound weight advantage, Herman with a 2” reach advantage. Schall has 17 submissions out of his 22 victories. Herman has 8 KOs in his 11 wins. He has no decision wins (the other 3 were by submission).

R1- Herman landing some front kicks early. Herman with some knees and Schall hits Herman hard when he came in for one of them but Herman grabs Schall into a Muay Thai clinch and hits knees to the body. Schall goes down and Herman destroys Schall on the ground and this one is over.

Winner: Dave Herman by TKO (strikes) R1 1:05

Good show. Check it out if you get the opportunity.

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 7 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 7 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

Frank Mir gives Junie a good talking to after his victory. Krzysztof hurt his thumb in training (he’s one of the Light Heavyweight’s that still hasn’t fought since getting into the house). Mir takes his guys through some interesting cardio work and they hype Vinny as the best jiu jitsu guy in the house.

Jules and Phillipe bake Big Nog cakes for his birthday and Team Nog cooks dinner and eats together.

Team Mir has control of the selection and they choose Vinny to fight Jules. Big Nog had been hinting early that this was the fight that he wanted as well. Big Nog and Vinny get into it later in the show about something that Big Nog heard Vinny was saying about him.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Jules Bruchez vs. Vinny Magalhaes

R1- Vinny has a 3” reach and height advantage and a much bigger mouth. Vinny hits some kicks early. Jules is not really doing anything at all. Vinny continues to hit some body kicks. Vinny went for an arm bar but Jules spun out of it and Vinny quickly got guard and trapped Jules in a submission and quickly tapped him out. Jules looked like he didn’t want to be in this fight and Vinny looked good.


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

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

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

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 6 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 6 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

Roli’s “black belt” is a topic of discussion early on in the show. As apparently he has some hour long story about how he got it in like a week. Delgado will be taking on Junie this week and when the fight is made Junie pushes him and then spits at his feet and throws a black belt at him that says “McDojo BJJ”.

Junie comes in 2 pounds overweight for the fight and Mir is not happy. They put him outside on a bike in order to cut the weight.

Lightweight Fight- Junie Browning vs. Roli Delgado

Roli lost to George Roop in the preliminaries but was brought back due to an injury to another fighter. Junie looked like one of the top fighters in the house based on the preliminaries but has been nothing but headaches and drama since he’s been in the house. Everyone is rooting for a Roli victory here but my pick is Junie based on what both guys did in the preliminaries. I’m not sure if the house can handle a Junie win as his head might explode. Roli has a huge height and reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Junie goes right after him and Roli goes for a front kick. Junie grabs it and kicks him down to the mat. Roli leaps forward with a knee and then hits another. Roli hits two jabs and then a combo. Roli seems to be gaining in confidence. Roli hitting some more jabs. Roli is mixing up his punches nicely as he’s also hit a couple of body punches. The only problem I see is that he doesn’t seem to be connecting with much force right now. Roli is using his reach advantage to keep Junie at ay and fend him off with jabs. Junie is getting frustrated about half way through the round. Junie just can’t seem to find the range. Roli made a mistake and went for a take down and Junie sat on top of him but Roli got out and Junie let him up. Junie gave him a free shot at his face and Roli hit him with a nice jab- seemed to be with more force than the rest. Junie is clearly frustrated about the reach disadvantage and not being able to find his range yet. Roli went for a knee and got caught and dumped. Roli hit a spinning back fist and Junie responded with a nice left hand and then a strong right and Roli looked a little wobbly. Junie hit another good punch and Roli landed a knee near the end of the round. Pretty decent first round. I give it to Roli just by sheer numbers. He landed a ton of jabs and Junie didn’t land anything until the 3 real solid punches at the end of the round. Roli up 10-9 but I think Junie is starting to find his range.

R2- Junie is more aggressive in this round and lands a body punch. Roli went for a take down but got stuffed. Roli went for another take down but Junie stepped out of it. Junie with another body punch. Junie hit a strong combo. Roli really seems to be fading as he just has nothing behind his kicks and punches and seems to have lost his confidence he had in the middle of the first round. Roli’s hands also seem to be too low. Junie lands a body combo. Junie is really coming on strong. Roli starting to fight back a little bit. Junie lands some big punches. Roli gets rocked and Junie goes down to finish him but he can’t. Roli is really tired at this point. Junie looks like his nose is bleeding. They slug at each other to end the round and Roli hits a couple of shots. This round was all Junie 10-9 but much more in control of this round than Roli was of the round that he won. Junie really came on this round but seemed to tire at the end of the round. He clearly should have finished Roli when he went down but surprisingly didn’t show a killer instinct.

R3- Pretty even round after the first minute or so as both guys are throwing punches but not really hitting with anything. With two minutes left in the round neither guy has distanced himself in this round. Junie blocked a kick and took Roli off his feet but didn’t follow up and Roli got back to his feet after Junie let him rest. Roli hit a right hand and then followed with a left. Under one minute left in the round and this is anybody’s round. Junie landed a punch. Roli with an inside leg kick. Close round. This one could really go either way. Junie kind of controlled the action but I think Roli landed more punches. I think Junie is going to get the decision but I wouldn’t be surprised with Roli getting the win either.

Winner: Junie Browning by Decision (Split)

Junie apologized to Big Nog about the black belt scenario earlier. Junie was actually gracious in victory from what was shown.

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

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

Eliminations:
Tom Lawlor (ranked #2 LH) eliminated by Ryan Bader (Round Two)
Shane Nelson (ranked #5 LW) eliminated by Efrain Escudero (Round Two)
Shane Primm (ranked #5 LH) eliminated by Eliot Marshall (Round Two)
Roli Delgado (ranked #7 LW) eliminated by Junie Browning (Round Two)

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 5 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 5 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

The first segment deals with last weeks fight and Junie jumping the cage and everything that ensued afterwards. Junie looks like he has learned nothing so far from what has happened and seems doomed to repeat his sins and mistakes over and over.

Second segment has Anderson Silva and he trains with Big Nog’s guys! Back at the house Krzysztof is up to more hijinks and puts Efrain’s underwear in the freezer. Then they went and put itching powder in Efrain, Kyle, Phillipe, and Rolando’s bed.

Next up is the Light Heavyweight Fight announcement. Big Nog gets to choose the match-up. He matches Eliot Marshall (Team Mir) against Shane Primm (Team Nog).

Team Nog retaliates against Team Mir by opening up some cans of sardines and rubbing them all over Team Mir’s room. Most of the guys from Team Mir take it pretty well knowing that it is retaliation but Vinny gets pretty mad and goes and pisses on Efrain’s bed (he was the only one not in bed). This is definitely the Animal House season of TUF.

Big Nog is not happy about the “games” being played in the house as one of his fighters looks real tired in training. He tried to talk to Mir, but Mir brushes him off. Big Nog goes to the house to talk to the guys.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Eliot Marshall vs. Shane Primm

R1- Marshall got a take down about 20 seconds into the fight and then quickly mounted Primm. Primm gave up his back and Marshall went for a choke. After a couple of minutes of not being able to get the choke, Marshall finally clamped it in and taped Primm. Marshall really just dominated the fight. Marshall got great position early, but it really took him a lot longer than it should have to finish the fight based on the position that he had gained.

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


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

Lightweight Rankings:
1. Dave Kaplan
2. Phillipe Nover
3. Efrain Escudero
4. Junie Browning
5. George Roop
6. John Polakowski
7. Roli Delgado

Eliminations:
Tom Lawlor (ranked #2 LH) eliminated by Ryan Bader (Round Two)
Shane Nelson (ranked #5 LW) eliminated by Efrain Escudero (Round Two)
Shane Primm (ranked #5 LH) eliminated by Eliot Marshall (Round Two)

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 4 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 4 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

They start out the show by showing the guys watching the UFC 84 Penn vs Sherk show at the house. Junie and Shane Nelson are partaking in many alcoholic beverages. Junie gets into it with Kyle by throwing popcorn and nuts at him and when Kyle throws some back Junie gets pissed and throws his drink and glass at Kyle and it breaks and cuts Kyle’s arm. Later, Shane Nelson gets in someone’s face and pushes him off of a chair looking to start a fight with him. Then he got into Efrain’s face and started to push him and trying to get him to fight. Junie and Shane went outside and did more shots and threw stuff around and broke stuff and threw it in the pool. Junie was then threatening people with a bottle and Krzysztof stepped to him and told him not to threaten him. Junie backed down and then went swimming in the pool. Kryzysztof put Junie’s clothes in the pool. Junie confronts him but then backs down again. Bader then puts Junie’s stuff back into the pool. Junie then tried to push Bader into the pool but Junie went in instead. Junie then started to chill out and broke down and then they went into the house.

Line of the night- “Shane apparently has the alcohol tolerance of a 12 year old girl”

During the ordeal, Junie is shown talking about it and basically talking about the mistakes that he made during the incidents.

It’s the next morning and Dana White comes into the house. Dana calls Junie a “punk” during his camera time. Says that he doesn’t know what he is going to do yet and tells them to gather all the guys together. Dana calls Junie a “jackass.” He calls Shane a “drunken retard.” Dana says that Shane is the first 155lber that will be fighting. Dana says that he is not kicking anybody off. Says he’s going to give them a second shot. Says he doesn’t know why he is doing it. Tells them to be men and stop acting like retards.

Big Nog picks Efrain to fight Shane Nelson.

Back at the house Junie and Efrain get into a little war of the words.

Lightweight Fight- Shane Nelson vs. Efrain Escudero

R1- Shane gets an early kick. Efrain comes in tentatively and Shane is starting to get more confident with his kicks. Not a lot of action in the first two minutes. Efrain lands some light knees. Efrain lands a couple of jabs and then grabs a clinch and lands a couple of knees and then gets a takedown and lands in side control. Efrain hits a couple of elbows. Efrain looks real tentative with his offense. Shane turns over and moves him to half guard. Efrain stands up and that’s the end of the round. Round goes to Efrain as he got the take down and got in more offense.

R2- Shane comes out more aggressive at the beginning of the round. Efrain clinches him and takes him down and is in full guard. Shane gets back to his feet with two minutes left. Efrain hits a couple of really light jabs. They sprawled and Shane ended up on top. Efrain is actually getting in as much offense here as Shane is. Shane is pretty much just laying there. Efrain goes for a triangle and Shane taps out.

Winner: Efrain Escudero by Submission (Triangle Choke) R2

Junie talks more crap after the fight as he announces “that’s exactly what the UFC needs, another boring ass wrestler.” Junie jumps over the cage to get inside and has to be held back by Big Nog.

Junie is just out of control.

Light Heavyweight Rankings:
1. Krzysztof Soszynski
2. Ryan Bader
3. Jules Bruchez
4. Eliot Marshall
5. Shane Primm
6. Vinny Magalhaes
7. Kyle Kingsbury

Lightweight Rankings:
1. Dave Kaplan
2. Phillipe Nover
3. Efrain Escudero
4. Junie Browning
5. George Roop
6. John Polakowski
7. Roli Delgado

Eliminations:
Tom Lawlor (ranked #2 LH) eliminated by Ryan Bader (Round Two)
Shane Nelson (ranked #5 LW) eliminated by Efrain Escudero (Round Two)

UFC 90 Re-Cap

[b]UFC 90: Silva vs Cote[/u]

[b]Lightweight Fight- Sean Sherk (36-3-1) vs. Tyson Griffin (12-1)[/b]

Griffin comes out to "Eye of the Tiger.". This is a huge fight for him as Sherk is basically playing gate-keeper of the lightweight division here.

R1- Sherk took Tyson down and took his back pretty quickly but Tyson went to his corner and got advice and got out. Sherk is bullying Tyson around a bit in the early parts of the first round. Sherk took his back again with bout 45 seconds left but got out again. Sherk controlled the first round and won 10-9. Good first round.

R2- A lot of good stand up action in this round with both guys landing some good shots. Sherk controlled the majority of this round. Griffin had a really good burst in the middle and towards the end of the round but seemed to be struggling with his cardio. Sherk 20-18 after two rounds.

WEC Bantamweight champion Miguel Torres is in the house.

R3- Griffin comes out firing and hit a nice shot to open the round but Sherk countered. This was a pretty even round but I think Sherk hit more clean shots. Really good fight that i've got Sherk winning 30-27. Good performance from Sherk.

Judges score cards are: 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Sherk.

Winner: Sean Sherk by Decision (Unanimous)

[b]Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (11-3-1) vs. Junior Dos Santos (6-1)[/b]

Werdum is waiting in the wings for the winner of the mini-tournament involving Coture, Noguiera, Mir and Lesnar. Dos Santos is a newcomer to UFC and has Big Nog in his corner. Dos Santos is a Jiu-Jitsu guy, a solid striker and has a good chin. Rogan says that Werdum is bulking up due to "Giant Freaks like Brock Lesnar" being in the Heavyweight division now (Werdum is up to 256 lbs). Apparently Werdum was (or maybe still is) Cro Cop's jiu jitsu coach.

Dan Severn is in the crowd.

R1- Dos Santos caught Werdum with a big uppercut about 1:15 into the fight and then quickly finished Werdum. Wow, that was a shocker. Looks like the UFC Heavyweight Division might have a new player. Werdum just got caught and actually leaned into the uppercut.

Winner: Junior Dos Santos by KO R1 1:20

Georges St-Pierre is at the show tonight.

[b]Lightweight Fight- Rich Clementi (40-12-1) vs. Gray Maynard (6-0)[/b]

I think Rich has the advantage in experience but I'll have to go back and look at how many fights they've had to figure that out for sure.

R1- Maynard got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round and got in some shots but not too much. First round was uneventful until the Maynard take down. Maynard takes round one 10-9 but this is anybody's fight.

Matt Hughes is in the crowd tonight, seems like there are a ton of guys at the show tonight. Hughes got a smattering of boos from the crowd.

R2- Maynard got a take down early into the round and clamped on a guillotine but Clementi stood up and got out of the hold. Maynard took Clementi down and avoided a triangle but Clementi grabbed his arm. Maynard avoided a submission and moved back to half guard. Clementi is doing a good job in keeping an active guard and constantly looking for submissions. Maynard takes this round, so i've got him up 20-18.

R3- Maynard gets an early slam/take down. Maynard took him down until about 2 minutes left when Clementi got up but Maynard took him down again. Clementi escaped out and tried to take Maynard's back but couldn't and Maynard took him down again. I've got Maynard 30-27.

Not a real exciting fight but Maynard controlled the fight and thus gets the victory.

Judges score cards are: 30-27 on all three score cards.

Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Unanimous)

Rashad Evans is at the fights tonight, he was a college team mate of Gray Maynard at Michigan State.

[b]Welterweight Fight- Thiago Alves (21-4) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-2)[/b]

Koscheck comes in to the RHCP "Higher Ground." Koscheck has better intro music and a 3" reach advantage. I really disliked Koscheck on TUF because he was a jerk and a boring fighter but you really have to respect him for stepping up to take Sanchez's spot on short notice. Plus, he's destruction of Chris Lytle a few months back was pretty great. That and he's fighting a guy that didn't make weight for his last fight. Someone Koscheck has become the fan favorite in this fight for me even though he still gets boo'd by the fans.

R1- Koscheck slipped early but got out of dodge before Alves could touch him. Alves popped Koshcheck about a minute in and Koscheck went down and Alves pounced on him. Koscheck grabbed onto a leg to avoid further pain but Alves stood up and then kicked Josh in the head. Somehow Koscheck holds on and recovers. Koscheck comes back with a couple of jabs. Koscheck starting to land some shots. Koscheck went for a take down but was denied. Really strong first round. Alves owned the beginning and Koscheck came back and controlled the second half of the round. Alves takes this 10-9 as he came close to finishing Koscheck early.

R2- Koscheck is throwing a lot of punches early and hits a head kick that looked to be partially deflected. Koscheck is really active here in the second round and is coming close to hitting a lot of big shots. Alves is hitting some leg kicks. Koscheck goes for a take down but Alves defends it well. Nobody really dominated this round but I think Koscheck controlled the majority of it while Alves mostly only got leg kicks. I've got it 19-19 right now.

R3- Alves comes out and rocks Koscheck against the cage. He hit a knee and then some punches. Koshcheck does a good job of holding onto Alves to avoid more punishment and wobbles to his feet and throws kicks to try and keep Alves at bay. Alves hits a left and then Koscheck clinches him. Alves hits a decent right and Koscheck clinches him again. Koscheck complains about an eye poke and the ref stops it for about 30 seconds. Koscheck has recovered from the shots earlier in the round and we've got two minutes and thirty seconds left in the fight with Alves in the lead. Koscheck pokes Alves in the eye and they stop the fight for recovery time. Alves hit a big leg kick that buckled Josh. Alves seems to be the agressor as the fight is coming to a close. Alves hits another good leg kick. They swing for the fences towards the end. Alves hits a big punch right at the end and then takes Koscheck down after the bell as Alves didn't hear the bell. Alves wins this round and the fight 29-28 in a good, entertaining fight.

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

Winner: Thiago Alves by Decision (Unanimous)

Post-match interview sees Rogan calling for a title shot for Alves and Alves agreeing.

Jeff Samardzija, Cubs pitcher and former Notre Dame Wide Receiver, is at the show tonight. And Clay Guida is sitting right near him.

[b]Middleweight Title Fight- Anderson Silva (22-4) vs. Patrick Cote (14-4)[/b]

Silva has a 3" height advantage and a 2.5" reach advantage. We've already seen one big upset tonight in Werdum, let's see if we get another. I don't think we will but I don't think anybody expects Cote to win so you never know.

R1- Not much action in the first two minutes as Anderson is just kind of waiting for a spot and watching Cote. Anderson gets a few leg kicks in on Cote. Andrerson hit a kick and they mixed it up a little bit. Anderson then threw a knee that looked like it landed but he lost his balance and couldn't really follow up. Cote's forehead is cut. Not a great round but Anderson seemed to control the flow and tempo of the round and definitely hit the two best strikes of the round. I've got Anderson up 10-9 after round one.

R2- Anderson landed a good left to start the round and definitely looks more aggressive than the last round. Cote hit a spinning back fist and Anderson clinched him. Anderson with some leg kicks. Cote charged at him and Silva ducked him and landed in his guard. They are back tot heir feet now. Silva hit a low kick and Cote blocked it and then Silva tried it again and Cote caught it again and they clinched against the cage. Anderson starts to hit some knees to the body. Not a ton of offense but i've got Anderson taking this round as well so he's up 20-18. Anderson almost seems like he's playing with Cote in this fight just waiting for his spot to strike. This is Anderson's first time being taken to the third round in UFC and Cote seems proud of that fact as he holds up 3 fingers as the round starts.

R3- A few seconds into the round Cote blew out his knee without Anderson even touching him. Just a freak accident.

Winner: Anderson Silva TKO (Ref Stoppage) R3 0:39

[b]Middleweight Fight- Thales Leites (13-1) vs. Drew McFedries (7-4)[/b]

This was a pre-show fight. I'm thinking this is McFedries by KO since it looks like this will be a quick fight. Leites is coming off of his oddball win against Marquardt and has a 4 fight win streak. Leites has a 6" reach advantage.

R1- McFedries swings for the fences early and looked like he hit a strike but Leites held on and got McFedries to the ground. This one should be about over as McFedries only shot was on his feet. Leites gets the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over. Well I had that one wrong.

Winner: Thales Leites by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:18

This was a decent show that ended poorly due to the freak accident/injury of Patrick Cote. Alves/Koscheck was a very good fight. Dos Santos/Werdum was a huge upset. Sherk/Griffin was decent.

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 10/4/08 Re-Cap

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 10/4/08

They start off the show announcing that Ken Shamrock has sustained a cut and had to get stitches right above his eye and he will not be able to fight Kimbo Slice tonight. Seth Pettruzelli of UFC and TUF fame will take his place. Gus Johnson interviews Shamrock and then they speak ringside to the doctor that made the decision to not allow him to fight.

Card for tonight is:

-Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson vs. Seth Petruzelli
-Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley
-Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson
-Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald
-Benji Radach vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua

Looks like a pretty decent card as we’ve got some pretty decent fighters like Shields, Arlovski and Rua to watch tonight. They talk about the Elite XC/Affliction relationship, which is the reason for the Arlovski/Nelson fight and they also talk about Fedor. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is on the under card and rumor has it that we will get highlights of that fight on tonight’s show time permitting. Edson Berto is also on the under card. I wish they would have done a pre-CBS Showtime card so I could see his fight. He doesn’t have the best record but he’s real fun to watch.

The announcers tonight, as usual, are Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Gus is great. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. They are running the show in Florida so Kimbo should draw in a good crowd tonight.

Middleweight Fight- Ninja Rua (16-8-1) vs. Benji Radach (18-4)

Radach has 14 knockouts in his 18 wins. Rua was the Middleweight Champ for Elite XC before dropping the belt to Robbie Lawler.

R1- Radach lands some shots early and then gets Ninja down on his knees and looked like he had a chance to put him away. Ninja gets back to his feet and pushes forward and shoves Benji down. Radach lands a big punch and follows with another lesser punch. Radach is a free swinger and he’s taking it to Ninja early. Ninja landed a shot but then came in unprotected and Benji knocked him back against the cage. Ninja is hurt. Benji is hitting him up against the cage. Both guys went down at the same time, I think Benji hit Ninja with a punch but then slipped. Benji tries to take Ninja’s back but Ninja instead gets the advantage and lands a couple of shots and then they go back to their feet and they are clinched. Ninja is getting some of his bearings back but is face is beaten up pretty good. Ninja with a knee and follows with a punch. Benji takes Ninja down but Ninja grabs an arm but then releases it. Ninja is active on the bottom as Benji is in his guard, but it’s a loose guard. Ninja goes for a heel hook. Benji spins out and regains a dominant position. Ninja grabs a guillotine but Benji again gets out. Ninja grabs a heel hook but Benji fights out. Ninja now has Benji up against the cage. Ninja ends the round in a dominant position. Really good first round and a great way for Elite XC to come out swinging on this show. Radach takes the first round 10-9 but Ninja regained his barring and made the fight close towards the end of the round as he had a bunch of submission attempts.

R2- Ninja comes out as the aggressor in this round and hits a couple of knees. Ninja walking down Benji and in control but comes in and eats a big straight right hand that rocks him but he remains on his feet. Ninja clinches against the cage but Benji denies the take down. Benji caught Ninja with a punch as he was coming in and Ninja slipped going for a knee and Benji immediately hit Ninja right square in the face several times and the fight is stopped.

Great fight for Benji. Ninja showed a pretty good chin as he took a bunch of strong shots but he just had really poor defense tonight and Benji picked his shots well and gets a really good victory for him and puts him in line for a shot at Middleweight Champ Robbie Lawler.

Winner: Benji Radach by TKO R2 2:31

Karyn Bryant interviews Gina Carano. They discuss her issues making weight for the fight.

Woman’s 140lb Fight- Gina Carano (6-0) vs. Kelly Kobald (16-2-1)

They show Cyborg watching at ringside and say that she won her fight earlier and they put her over. These will be 3 minute rounds.

R1- Carano lands a good shot right at the beginning. Kobald goes for a take down, the announcers say that Kobold doesn’t want to stand up with Carano. They battle against the cage for a while with Kobold trying to get the take down. Carano gets out and lands some shots. Kobold swinging wildly in defense. Carano landing better punches and landing knees. Kobold goes for another take down and they clinch against the cage. Shamrock notes that Kobold’s nose is busted open and they unclinch and you can see it now. They both swing at each other to close the round. Carano takes this round 10-9.

R2- Carano hits a good punch early and clinches Kobald but Kobald holds on. Kobald goes for another take down. Kobald lands a good punch but Carano answers. Kobald goes for another take down but is denied again. Carano is hitting some shots now and is starting to pick Kobald apart. Kobald finally gets a take down at the end of the round and lands a couple of shots. This was a much closer round but I’m not sure that I would give it to Kobald as I had Carano winning it pretty well up until the take down with 10 seconds left. I’ve got Carano 20-18.

R3- Kobald comes right across the ring at Carano trying for another take down. Gina still defending the take down after a full minute gone in the round. Ref separates them and Carano starts getting some nice strikes in on Kobald. Kobald clinches again going for a take down. Gina with a knee and another in defense. One minute left in the fight. Gina has Kobald in a Rear Naked from the side and gets a take down but can’t get the submission. They are back to their feet as Carano lost the move when they went to the ground. Carano with some strikes and a front kick. Kobald is exhausted at this point and Carano is just picking her apart. Carano takes this round and will win by decision. I’ve got it 30-27, but I could see a 29-28. They show Cyborg ringside again and are hyping a fight between her and Carano. Carano landed 62 strikes to Kobold’s 28 during the fight.

Judges scores are: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27.

Winner: Gina Carano by Decision (Unanimous)

Gus is in the ring and interviews Gina. Gus brings up Cyborg and asks if she’s is Gina’s next opponent. Gina says that she will fight whoever they put in front of her and puts Cyborg over.

Heavyweight Fight- Andrei Arlovski (13-5) vs. Roy Nelson (13-2)

This fight is brought to us by Affliction. Nelson is on a 5 fight win streak and he has finished all of those fights. Nelson has one of the worst physiques that you will see on an MMA fighter. Andrei has a 4 inch height advantage and “Big Country” Nelson has a 22 lb weight advantage. Nelson is a former IFL Heavyweight Champion. Andrei is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Arlovski gets a good reaction from the crowd. Tito Ortiz is shown ringside and they say that it is rumored that he could be a part of Elite XC in the future. Mauro says that he is having back surgery and will be back in action next year. Mauro says that he bets Frank would like to see Tito as a part of Elite XC and Frank answers that it “would give me something to do with my fists.”

R1- Arlovski starts off with some low kicks and Nelson clinches. Andrei takes him down but Nelson rolls over and is on top of Andrei. Nelson passes quickly into side control. Nelson going for an arm submission but gives it up. Nelson moves to the north/south position but Andrei bucks out of it. Nelson gets back into half guard and then moves to side control again and has an arm. The ref brings them back to their feet. Big Country clinches against the cage again. Arlovski lands a good knee. The ref separates them again. Arlovski gets some shots in on Nelson. Nelson clinches again. The first round goes to Nelson as he controlled the round early on the ground. As the round went on it seemed like Nelson grew tired and it allowed Arlovski to stand and get some good strikes in. Nelson 10-9 after one round.

At the end of the round Karyn Bryant interviews Tito Ortiz ringside. Tito says he’s still a Free Agent but says he’s about a week away from signing a deal. Tito says that he would be interested in a fight with Frank Shamrock.

R2- Nelson hits a shot early and it wobbles Arlovski but instead of following up he clinches Arlovski against the cage. Arlovski hits a knee on Nelson. Arlovski hits a left hand and then a right and then a kick. Great combination by Andrei. Andrei has a clinch and lands some knees and punches. Andrei with a leg kick and then some jabs and then just destroys Nelson with a big left hand and this one is over. Nelson got tired and Andrei just owned this round.

Winner: Andrei Arlovski by KO R2

Welterweight Title Fight- Jake Shields © (21-4-1) vs. Paul Daley (18-6-2)

Shields has a 3” height advantage but Daley has a 2.5” reach advantage. Daley is the Cage Rage Welterweight Champion. Shields has won 10 straight fights.

R1- Shields pushes early. Daley hits a nice strike as Shields attempts a take down. Daley sprawls out of it nicely. Shields goes for a take down and gets it with about three and a half minutes left. Shields passes guard and gets full mount. Shields landing some strikes. Shields continuing with some Ground and Pound and it seems to be growing in velocity and he starts to hit some elbows. Shields moves back to side control and gets full mount again and lands some Ground and Pound strikes. Shields is just controlling Daley right now. Shields goes for an arm bar but can’t get it so he regains full mount and goes for it again but Daley flips him over and is now in Shields guard and Daley hits a couple of nice shots. Round one goes to Shields 10-9, Daley needs to keep the fight standing up if he wants to win.

Karyn is backstage with Kimbo Slice. Kimbo’s answers are real short and he looks like he’s ready to get down to business.

R2- Daley pushes Shields early and Shields goes for a take down but Daley sprawls. Shields goes for another take down and goes for a heel hook but Daley gets out of it. Shields take down is stuffed again. Shields finally gets a take down and is immediately in full mount. Shields is getting in some light Ground and Pound. Shields with elbows and Daley smiles at him but can’t get out from under Shields. Shields moves to side control and then back to mount and goes for an arm bar and Daley has to tap out.

This was a tough fight for Shields as Daley was clearly better on stand up. Shields definitely showed some weaknesses tonight but still won the fight.

Winner and still champion: Jake Shields by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 3:47

Gus interviews Jake in the ring after the fight. Shields says that he’s up for whatever Elite XC has for him and suggests moving up in weight to take on Robbie Lawler.

They show highlights of the Cyborg/Takahashi fight after the break. Cyborg won by Unanimous Decision. Gina is shown ringside. They hype up a Cyborg/Carano fight but don’t announce it as official.

Heavyweight Fight- Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (3-0) vs. Seth Petruzelli (10-4)

Kimbo is backstage getting hyped up. Bas Rutten is by his side. The announcers put over Kimbo for taking this fight tonight after Shamrock could not go. Kimbo has the physical advantage in this fight. He’s 2 inches taller, 29 pounds heavier and has a 4 inch reach advantage. Hulk Hogan is shown at ringside with a large breasted blonde woman.

R1- Kimbo just got destroyed in about 20 seconds by Seth! Wow. That was an amazing performance by Seth. I think Elite XC just folded before our very own eyes here on National Television. Man, I can just see Dana White smiling at this.

Seth hit a quick jab and possibly a front kick and Kimbo was down on his knees and Seth just kept pounding him until the ref stepped in.

Gus interviews Seth and Kimbo post match. Seth is very gracious in victory. Kimbo doesn’t shy away and still gets on the mic but then kind of walks away before Gus can ask him what is next for him.

Winner: Seth Petruzelli by TKO (strikes) R1 0:14

Good night of fights and a shocking Main Event. Great TV, but it’s got to be the worst thing to happen for Elite XC from a business perspective because Kimbo was their meal ticket into the mainstream.

Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion II 9/20/08

Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion II 9/20/08

Lon McHeron (this is how they spelled it but I think they spell it differently on the TV show) and Ken Shamrock are the announcers. Ken marvels at the "sights" at the Mansion. They discuss the "distractions" that the fighters are facing tonight. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.

Middleweight Fight- Kenneth Seegrist (5-0) vs. Eric Lawson (6-2)

R1- Seegrist goes for a quick punch but gets caught and gets taken down immediately after the bell rings. See grist grabs a guillotine but Lawson slips out. Lawson takes his back and gets a slam but Seegrist grabs another guillotine but Lawson gets out. Seegrist grabs yet another guillotine but Lawson slips out again. Lawson lands some punches and mounts Seegrist and Lawson submits Seegrist with a Rear Naked Choke to give Seegrist his first loss. Seegrists forehead is busted open.

Winner: Eric Lawson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:07

Light Heavyweight Fight- Anthony Ruiz (21-11) vs. Trevor Prangley (17-5)

Hopefully this is better than the snore fest Ruiz had with Bobby Southworth earlier this year.

R1- Ruiz clinches early and Prangley gets in a couple of shots. Ruiz likes to lay and lean on people if the Southworth fight is any indication. Prangley landed a nice knee. Ruiz answered with a couple of punches and clinched. Prangley has Ruiz's back and is trying to work a choke on the ground. Ruiz gets out of trouble First round goes to Prangley.

R2- Prangley gets a big take down immediately and gets side control. Trevor has Ruiz's back but doesn't have the hooks in on him. Ruiz gets back to his feet but gets taken down again. Prangley is up 20-18 in a rather boring fight.

R3- Prangley gets another take down at the beginning of the round. Prangley is riding Ruiz's back again. Ruiz gets back to his feet and again gets taken down.

Prangley is going to win this 30-27 in a very boring fight. Ruiz basically did nothing in this fight, much like the last fight he had against Southworth. Judges score the fight 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of Prangley

Winner: Trevor Prangley by Decision (Unanimous)

Hef is at ringside surrounded by babes.

Lightweight Fight- Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-4-1) vs. Justin Wilcox (5-2)

Ishida comes out to "Give it Away" by the Chili Peppers. Wilcox comes out to a generic rap song. Both guys are listed as wrestlers. Apparently Wilcox was on TUF Season 5, at least that's what Jimmy Lennon Jr tells me during introductions. This is Ishida's mainland US debut (he has fought in Hawaii).

R1- After one minute they haven't landed any punches but it's already more exciting than the last fight as they feel each other out. Ishida shoots in and goes for a take down and Ishida grabs an amazingly fast arm bar and this one is over. Amazing move. Almost looked like a flying arm bar. Wow.

Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 1:21

Middleweight Fight- Terry Martin (17-5) vs. Cory Devela (9-2)


Devela's nickname is "The One" so I'm guessing he's a fan of Billy Gunn. The last I saw of Martin he was losing to Vitor Belfort in Affliction earlier this year. He looked decent until the finish.

R1- Martin gets a slam and takes down Devela in the first minute. They stand back up and exchange a little bit. Pretty even first round.

R2- Martin gets a take down and is in Devela's guard. Devala gets back to his feet. Devela seems to be winning the stand up fight.

R3- They stand up for the majority of the round and then Terry Martin hits a good punch and knocks Devela down and the ref stops the fight pretty quickly.

Winner: Terry Martin by TKO (strikes) R3 2:08

Lightweight Fight- Ashe Bowman (9-4) vs. Josh Thomson (16-2)


Bowman comes out to some Van Halen, circa Sammy Hager. Gilbert Melendez joins the announcers for this fight. Ashe apparently trains with Ken Shamrock. Thomson is the Strikeforce Lightweight champ but this is a non-title fight. Thomson is on a 7 fight win streak. Thomson has a skunk stripe in his hair.

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

Ken Shamrock with a thrilling post fight interview in which he doesn't even ask Josh who he wants to fight next. Based on tonight I wouldn't mind him fighting Ishida before the Melendez re-match. Especially since Ishida has a recent victory over Melendez.

Middleweight Fight- Joe Riggs (28-10) vs. Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2)

They announce Misaki as a "World Top 10 Fighter." I look around at some web sites and he is ranked number 9 at mmafighting.com for Middleweight Fighters, below Frank Trigg and above Yoshihiro Akiyama. MMA Weekly has him at #6, below Matt Lindland (who based on his Affliction fight doesn't deserve to be in the Top 25) and above Yushin Okami.

R1- They kind of dance around for the first couple of minutes feeling each other out but not throwing any punches. Misaki gets the first strike as he lands a kick. Riggs lands a decent jab. Lots of dancing around and we are at the end of round one. I don't see how you could possibly give this round to either fighter.

R2- Misaki lands a combo about two minutes in. Very little action in this round, similar to the first. Misaki lands a kick to the gut. Riggs hits a punch and Misaki goes down but he pops right back up. Misaki returns the favor and Riggs hits the floor and Misaki jumps on top and continues to pound on Riggs. The ref stops the fight and it's over. Riggs was still covering up so Riggs is complaining of a quick stoppage.

Winner: Kazuo Misaki by TKO (strikes) R2

Not a real good show but Ishida and Thomson put on good quick exhibitions. Check those out as they only put in a total of about 3 minutes. Martin/Devala and Seegrist/Lawson were decent fights.

ShoXC Elite Challengers Series 9/26 Re-Cap

ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series

Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros will be doing the announcing tonight.

Welterweight Fight- Erik Apple vs Matt Makowski (3-0)

Apple has not fought in the last year and a half, Makowski’s last victory was against Nick Serra. Makowski spent the last three weeks with Greg Jackson training.

R1- Apple came out quick but Matt caught him and took him down but Apple flipped him over and is in Matt’s guard. Matt has an active guard as he went for some submissions but Apple denied him. Apple went for a kimura but Matt slipped out. Apple is really dominating the positioning so far but hasn’t landed a lot of damage. Apple takes this round 10-9 and really controlled almost the entire round but didn’t land much damage.

R2- Apple got some kicks in at the beginning of the round and then Matt pulled guard with a guillotine. Definitely a questionable move since he spent almost the entire first round on his back. Apple got out and is in half guard. Matt gave up his back with 2 minutes left in the round and then tapped to a Rear Naked Choke.

This fight was pretty much all Apple as he was just too experienced and seemed to impose his will on Makowski in this fight. I think Elite XC will probably push Apple as they are in need of contenders for Jake Shields.

Winner: Erik Apple by Rear Naked Choke R2 2:04.

Middleweight Fight- Giva Santana (11-0) vs. Jaime Jara (19-5)

Jara is 39 years old, kind of out of place for a show like this that should be focusing on more young and up and coming fighters. Santana is also up there in years at 36.

R1- Santana eats a punch and Jara pulls guard with a guillotine but Santana gets out and is in side control. Santana moves to half guard and then gets a mount and then takes Jara’s back. Santana is getting some shots in but doesn’t seem to want to go for the choke. Back to their feet with 1 minute left in the round. Santana got another take down at the end of the round. Santana wins this round 10-9.

R2- Santana got knocked down at the beginning of the round, looked more like a slip, but Jara didn’t attack. Santana went for a heel hook but Jara got out pretty easily and then hit a jab. Jara hit a big left hand that floored Santana but again didn’t follow up due to Santana’s jiu jitsu. Santana got a take down but Jara got right back up. Jara got some shots in on the cage but Santana clinched to stop the onslaught. Jara takes this round and its 19-19 after 2 rounds with Jara with the momentum.

R3- Both guys are throwing shots to start the round. Jara’s eye is bleeding but he remains the aggressor. Santana shoots but can’t get the take down. Santana landed a good right and then followed with a leg kick. Santana with another body kick and then they clinch with one minute left. Jara gets in a couple of strikes as they clinch again with 20 seconds left. Santana hits a knee with about 5 seconds left. Close round, I think Santana is going to take it as he messed up Jara’s face pretty good with some strikes in the third round. Neither guy really distanced themselves in this fight as the better fighter.

Judges scores are: 29-28 Jara, 29-28 Santana and 29-28 Jara.

Interesting decision, can’t say that I agree or disagree with it but I thought Santana would get the win due to damage. I see a re-match at the next Challengers show.

Winner: Jaime Jara by Decision (Split)

Featherweight Fight- Malaipet (3-2) vs. David Douglas (5-1)

Malaipet came in 4.5 lbs overweight. Douglas agreed to fight so will be giving up 10% of his purse to Douglas and 10% to the California State Athletic Commission. Douglas is a Cesar Gracie trainee. Malaipet is a Muy Thai fighter.

R1- Douglas storms to the center of the ring and it’s on! Douglas with a take down 5 seconds into the fight. Douglas gets free and hits several punches and is taking it to Malaipet. Lots of Ground and Pound by Douglas. Malaipet finally rolls him over but gets caught in a triangle that looks more like a head scissors move as he doesn’t have a choke in. Back to their feet and Douglas backs him down against the cage and delivers a big shot. Douglas looks hurt as Malaipet caught him. Malaipet then hit a kick and Douglas fell down awkwardly backwards. Douglas is laying on his back resting. Ref stands up Douglas. Douglas goes for a take down and gets it. Back to their feet and Malaipet ends the round with a flurry. Great first round. I think Malaipet took it as Douglas won the first half but just gassed and looked beaten at several times in the second half of the first round.

R2- Douglas went for a take down but was denied and then ate a knee. Malaipet hitting strikes. Douglas trying to come back by throwing wild strikes. Malaipet throws another knee. Douglas once again just laying down and resting. Back on their feet and Malaipet with leg kicks. Douglas gets a take down. They are stood up but Douglas gets another take down. Douglas mounts Malaipet and is getting some strikes in. Douglas got in a bunch of strikes but didn’t have much power behind them. Douglas finished really strong in this round. Fight could be going either way so far. Malaipet definitely is the fresher fighter.

R3- Malaipet jumped at Douglas and Douglas caught him and took him down. Douglas in half guard getting some Ground and Pound and then takes side control. Douglas in the mounted Ground and Pound position know and Malaipet is busted open. Douglas doesn’t have much on his punches right now. Douglas just continuing to pepper Malaipet with light strikes and the ref finally stops the fight.

This was a fun fight. If Douglas gets some cardio he could be a good fighter. Malaipet is real raw but has talent if he can learn the ground.

Winner: David Douglas by TKO (strikes) R3 2:51

Heavyweight Fight- Shane Del Rosario (4-0) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (4-0)

This is the “Semi” Main Event. Both fighters are undefeated so far and have finished all of their fighters- Carl with 4 KOs and Shane with 3 KOs and 1 Submission.

R1- Carl gets a throw early to get a take down and he’s in full guard. Shane gets a triangle attempt from the bottom. Carl tries a slam to get out of it but can’t. Shane seems to have the move locked in pretty well but Carl slips out and passes guard. Carl goes for an arm bar but Shane escapes. Carl is now in half guard. Carl moves to north/south position and now to side control. Carl ends the round in the dominate position. Close round as Carl was in a dominate position for about 3-4 minutes of the round but Shane was closer to victory with the submission triangle attempt. Carl probably takes this round 10-9.

R2- Carl went for a take down early and got stuffed. Carl got stuffed again and Shane hit some knees and strikes and finished the fight.

Winner: Shane Del Rosario by TKO (strikes) R2 1:07

Elite XC Bantamweight Title Fight- Wilson Reis (5-0) vs. Abel Cullum (11-1)

This is for the vacant Elite XC Bantamweight Title. Reis was on the 7/26 Showtime card and won by unanimous decision. Reis was strong on the ground but showed a lot of opportunity in the stand up game. Cullum is the King of the Cage 130lb champion and has a 10 fight win streak and is stepping up in weight to take this fight. Cullum has a 4” reach advantage.

R1- Reis got a quick take down. Reis passes guard and tries to mount but Cullum is actively defending and ends up on top but then Reis goes for an arm bar and Cullum flips out and gets back to his feet. Some nifty ground work so far. Reis catches a leg kick and gets a take down again. Cullum gets to his feet but gets taken down again. Cullum is doing a good job defending so far. Cullum stands up again, and again gets taken back down. Lots of action early with most of it being on the ground. Reis dominated in terms of positioning and won the round. Reis 10-9. Good first round.

R2- Cullum threw a couple of shots and then Reis took him down again. Cullum with some elbows from the bottom. Reis went for the back but Cullum slipped out and Reis again on top. Cullum doing a good job being slippery and switches positions and is in Reis’ guard. Cullum is getting some Ground and Pound from the guard position. Reis goes for the arm bar from the bottom but Cullum slips out again and is once again in full guard. Cullum getting more shots in. Reis goes for the arm bar again from the bottom but can’t get it so goes for the leg and then goes to full mount and an arm triangle attempt but can’t finish with anything and ends up in the guard. Really good round and could have gone either way as Cullum got in a lot of strikes and Reis got in a few submission attempts near the end of the round.

R3- Reis landed a good shot about 20 seconds into the round and then got a take down. Back to their feet and they clinch as Cullum hits some knees. Reis shots in and gets another take down. Reis is denied from taking the back and Cullum reverses position and is now in full guard. Reis goes for an arm bar but Cullum rolls out and then Reis reverses position so he’s in full guard now. Reis gets Cullum’s back but Cullum squeezes out of it and reverses so he’s in Reis’s guard to end the round. Another solid round. This one goes to Reis due to his positioning and control of the round.

R4- They go back and forth a little of their feet. Reis gets a take down. Reis again controlled the ground and too this round but couldn’t finish.

R5- Reis got a take down and is in Cullum’s guard. Reis controlled for the first 3 minutes, Cullum briefly rolled over but Reis quickly reversed. Reis went the rest of the way in Cullum’s guard and it looks like he will take this fight by a pretty wide score.

Judges score cards are: 49-46, 48-47 and 49-46 for Reis.

Winner and new champion: Wilson Reis by Decision (Unanimous)

The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Episode 3

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 3 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

This is Week Three but only Week One of the fighters being in the house. Two fighters have “fractured noses”- Karn Grigoryan and Brian McLaughlin.

Team Selection starts off the show:

Dana calls out Brian and Karn and says that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has put them on a 180 day suspension. So he has to send them home. They brought back Kyle Kingsbury and they said that the 155 pounder that they want has to be flown back so they agree that he will be the last pick of the show. Mir wins choice of first fighter or first fighter. He chooses first fighter.

First Pick- Krzysztof Soszynski (Team Mir)- He was my #1 Light Heavyweight
Second Pick- Ryan Bader (Team Nog)

Here are the picks for each team in order of how they were chosen. All the Light Heavyweights were chosen first, not sure if this is how it was planned or not.

Team Mir:
Krzysztof Soszysnki- LH
Vinny Magalhaes- LH
Eliot Marshall- LH
Tom Lawlor- LH
Junie Browning- LW
Shane Nelson- LW
Dave Kaplan- LW
George Roop- LW

Team Nog:
Ryan Bader- LH
Shane Primm- LH
KyleKingsbury- LH
Jules Bruchez- LH
Phillipe Nover- LW
Efrain Escudero- LW
John Polakowski- LW
Mystery 155lb (will be on the show later)

Team Nog gets to pick the first fight. Back in the house and Junie seems to be getting drunk and getting everybody stirred up. Krzysztof calls Junie the “Chris Leben” of this show, says he might even be worse. Junie breaks stuff and he’s lying down near the pool breaking down and crying and some of the guys carry him back into the house.

And the Mystery Fighter is…Roli Delgado.

Team Nog gets to pick the first fight. He picks Ryan Bader against Tom Lawlor. These are two of my top Light Heavyweights so it looks like we are starting off with a decent fight. Lawlor is from American Top Team. Bader was a two-time All American wrestler from Arizona State. Both guys are good wrestlers.

Krzysztof says it’s time to mess around with the other team so he gets some of the guys from Team Mir together and they get some shrink wrap and shrink wrap all of Ryan Bader’s underwear and socks to his bed. They also got all of Team Nog’s underwear together and shrink wrapped it into a big ball and they tape it to the diving board.

Both guys make weight. Noguiera and his coaches came over for dinner at the house and eats and plays pool with his team.

Light Heavyweight Fight: Tom Lawlor (4-1-1) (Team Mir) vs. Ryan Bader (7-0) (Team Nog)

R1- Bader went for a couple of take downs early but was denied and they did some dirty boxing for a second. Bader landed a good right. Bader then got a take down in under a minute and landed in half guard. Bader landed some shots from this position but Lawlor got back up to his feet. Lawlor came in at him and Bader basically speared him and took him down. Once again Bader in half guard. Bader with some short elbows and punches. Bader postured up and landed a big overhand right on Lawlor and knocked him out. Great showing by Bader as IMO going into the fight I thought these were going to be two of the better Light Heavyweights in the house.

Winner: Ryan Bader by KO R1

Light Heavyweight Rankings:
1. Krzysztof Soszynski
2. Ryan Bader
3. Jules Bruchez
4. Eliot Marshall
5. Shane Primm
6. Vinny Magalhaes
7. Kyle Kingsbury

Lightweight Rankings:
1. Junie Browning
2. Efrain Escudero
3. Dave Kaplan
4. Phillipe Nover
5. Shane Nelson
6. George Roop
8. John Polakowski

Eliminations:
Tom Lawlor (ranked #2 LH) eliminated by Ryan Bader (Round Two)

The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Episode 2

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 2 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

The last 16 fighters will fight tonight to see who gets into the house this season. Last weeks standouts were Krzysztof Soszynski, Jules Bruchez, Junie Browning, Dave Kaplan and Phillipe Nover.

Lightweight Fight- Wesley Murch (3-2) vs. John Polakowski (2-1)

Murch quotes Winston Churchill before the fight in his pre-fight interview. He’s from England and he’s “carrying the pride of a nation on his shoulders.” Polakowski kind of reminds me of someone who should be in a Judd Aptow movie.

R1- They go right after each other at the beginning. Murch gets a take down and looks like he opened up a cut on Polakowski. Murch went for a heel hook but Polakowski got out and ended up on top of Murch. Mir and Big Nog both shout out instructions to the fighters during this fight. They are back on their feet. Polakowski hits a knee. Murch takes his back and Polakowski spits out his mouthpiece. Polakowski turns over and he’s in Murch’s guard. Murch has trouble getting up at the end of the round and looks to have hurt his leg. Not a great first round but it was competitive and pretty even.

R2- Murch limps out to start the round and then hits a knee and then falls down and the ref stops the fight. Polakowski confirms my Judd Aptow comment by running around the ring like a lunatic. Mir calls him a “goof ball.”

Light Heavyweight Fight- Shane Primm (1-0) vs. Sean O’Connell (1-1)

R1- Primm has a noticeable height advantage and quickly grabs a Muy Thai clinch and hits a couple of knees but I don’t think they really connected. O’Connell goes for a take down and gets it. Primm goes for an arm bar but O’Connell slips out of it. Primm gets side control but losses it quickly. Primm is hitting some light knees and then goes for a kimura and then to side control. Primm has really good positioning throughout this fight but doesn’t seem to have the killer instinct. Primm takes his back and get the choke and O’Connell taps out. Good showing for Primm as he looked good in terms of positioning but needs to do a better job of utilizing the positions he’s in.

Lightweight Fight- Ido Pariente (13-4) vs. Efrain Escudero (10-0)

Pariente is from Israel. Escudero is 10-0. We will see if this is a legit 10-0.

R1- Escudero gets a take down but gives up his position. Escudero gets another take down, this time he’s in the center of the cage. Escudero takes his back and gets a headlock and then turns it into a choke and Pariente taps out.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Lopez (4-3) vs. Tom Lawlor (4-1-1)

Lopez is a bounty hunter and Lawlor seems to have the attitude of a pro wrestler.

R1- Lawlor gets a quick take down. Lawlor quickly takes his back but also gets some warnings about striking to the back of the head but Lopez taps out quickly. Lawlor just dominated that fight.

Lightweight Fight- Roli Delgado vs. George Roop

R1- Mir says that these are two of the tallest 155 pounders he’s seen. Dana says it’s the “Battle of the Bean Poles.” Only highlights are shown of this fight. Delgado gets Roop in a guillotine and Mir shouts instructions to Roop and Roop listens and gets out of the hold. George won by decision.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Kyle Kingsbury vs. Ryan Bader

R1- Bader is jacked up. Bader showed strong wrestling and won with an arm triangle. He looked pretty good but only highlights were shown.

Lightweight Fight- Charles Diaz vs. Shane Nelson

R1- Mir said that Diaz was all talk and that Shane overwhelmed him. Only highlights were shown. Looked like Shane won by decision.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Eliot Marshall (5-1) vs. Karn Grigoryan (5-0)

R1- Karn throws some shots early and then stuffs a take down and takes Marshall’s guard. Marshall went for a triangle but couldn’t get it locked in on Karn. Marshall swept him over and mounted Karn and Karn gave up his back. Karn rolled over and was in Marshall’s guard. Marshall went for a triangle again but Karn slipped out again. Good first round as both guys were very active on the mat.

R2- Marshall starts out the round winning the standing game by hitting some strikes. Karn comes back with some of his own. Marshall gets a take down and is in side control.

R3- Marshall took Karn’s back after some good jiu jitsu and then got the mount and delivered some shots buts Karn rolled him over and took Marshall’s guard. Karn got cut badly and started to bleed all over Marshall and the ref stood them back up.

This was a close fight. Both guys looked good at times but neither guy seemed to have the killer instinct. Mir told Marshall that he won but Karn won by Split Decision. Mir wasn’t real happy with the decision. Dana told him that he thought he won the fight.

Antwain Britt broke his hand and is going home since it will take too long for it to heal. I’m thinking that they will give this spot to Marshall. And that’s what they do.


Light Heavyweight Rankings:
1. Krzysztof Soszynski
2. Tom Lawlor
3. Ryan Bader
4. Jules Bruchez
5. Karn Grigoryan
6. Eliot Marshall
7. Shane Primm
8. Vinny Magalhaes


Lightweight Rankings:
1. Junie Browning
2. Efrain Escudero
3. Dave Kaplan
4. Phillipe Nover
5. Shane Nelson
6. George Roop
7. Brian McLaughlin
8. John Polakowski

DREAM.6 9/23/08 Re-Cap

DREAM 6 9/23/08 Re-Cap

Once again Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice are the announcers. This show will focus around the Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals and Finals. We have Souza vs. Galesic and Mousasi vs. Manhoef. Plus, we have Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem.

Middleweight Reseve Fight- Andrews Nakahara (0-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-5)

This is just in case someone gets injured in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Joachim Hansen fought in the Lightweight Reserve Fight and ended up fighting for the title and winning it at the last show. Yoon holds a win over both Galesic and Manhoef. Nakahara's only fight was against Sakuraba. Nakahara comes out to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Not a bad choice.

R1- Nakahara hits an early kick but then they clinch. Yoon pulled guard but then they separated with little action. They stand up and then Yoon gets a take down. Nakahura goes for a submission but he's in the ropes and Yoon escapes. Yoon has a mount on Nakahara but doesn't really seem to be doing much with it, looks like he's waiting for a submission. Nakahara eventually escapes. Nakahara got Yoon down and hit some knees at the end of the round. Not a real thrilling round, fairly close, round probably goes to Yoon due to ring control (in DREAM rounds are not judged, the fights are judged as a whole).

R2- They swing pretty wildly to start the round and Nakahara connects with some shots and takes Yoon down and then works him over via Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight. Impressive round for Nakahara.

Winner: Andrews Nakahara by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) vs. Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1)

This is going to be striker (Manhoef) versus submission wrestler (Mousasi). Should be interesting. Mousasi has won his last 9 fights and beat Denis Kang in the opener of this tournament. Manhoef has 21 finishes by TKO or KO out of his 22 wins. Mousasi is a slight favorite according to the odds makers.

R1- Mousasi shoots in early and Manhoef sprawls but Mousasi eventually takes him down and almost immediately has his back. Manhoef flips him over but Mousasi gets a triangle. Manhoef picks him up and slams him down and the move gets clamped in harder and it's over as Manhoef taps. Very impressive and short victory for Mousasi. Getting a quick victory in this fight really sets up Mousasi as the probable favorite for the finals later.

Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Triangle) R1 1:28

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (9-1) vs. Zelg Galesic (9-3)

This is very similar to the last fight as it pits a striker (Galesic) versus the submission guy (Jacare). Galesic comes out to Linkin Park. Jacare lost his debut MMA fight and has not lost since.

R1- Jacare shoots in and gets a quick take down. Jacare gets some shots and then easily passes guard. Jacare takes the mount but Galesic flips him over and Jacare grabs an arm bar and wins. Wow, great performance by Jacare. That was one of the quickest arm bars and arm bar submissions that you will see.

Jacare and Mousasi both put their opponents away quickly in the first round with submissions. Should be a good final.

Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Submission (Arm Bar) R1

Featherweight Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1) vs. Hideo Tokoro (22-13-1)

Tokoro has won fights on both DREAM.4 and DREAM.5. He's looking to make it three wins in three straight DREAM shows. His fight against Darren Uyenoyama was one of the better fights on that show. Kid Yamamoto is in Atsushi's corner for the fight. Yamamoto's last 6 fights have all gone to a submission (he is 4-2 in those fights).

R1- Tokoro gets a couple of good strikes in early. Yamamoto got in a big strike that knocked down Tokoro about 1 minute in and then pounced on him but Tokoro grabbed guard to protect himself. Back on their feet and Yamamoto continues to hit some jabs and lands a flying knee. Tokoro getting in a couple of kicks. Tokoro pulls guard as he went after Yamamoto's arm. Back to their feet and it's pretty even right now. Yamamoto bloodies Tokoro's nose. Tokoro pulls guard again after a missed somersault kick. Yamamoto has the advantage after the first round.

R2- Shortly after the round starts they stop the action to check Tokoro's bloody nose. Tokoro grabs an arm and gets a near submission but Yamamoto turns back into him. Tokoro really trying for the submission as this might be his only way to win. 30 seconds left in the fight and Tokoro is trying to straighten out the arm but Yamamoto is stopping him and then landing some strikes. Good effort at the end by Tokoro but it looks to me like Yamamoto is going to win by decision. Yamamoto does some post match push ups.

Winner: Atsushi Yamamoto by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Hayato Sakurai (32-8-2)

R1- Hironaka got a take down about a minute into the fight. Not much happened and they went back to their feet. Sakurai starts to find the range in the stand up game. Sakurai lost his balance and Hironaka took his guard and then tried to pass and ended back up in the guard. Hironaka hits an illegal kick as he kicked Sakurai in the chin when he was on the mat (in DREAM you can only kick a downed opponent- or knee- if both guys are on the mat). They re-start with 1:30 left in the round. Sakurai hit a good body shot. Sakurai is finishing the round strong.

R2- Hironaka works early to take this to the mat and Sakurai tries to keep it on the feet. No one really seems to be winning this round. Kind of a boring fight so far. Sakurai lands two knees towards the end and then a big punch that floors Hironaka and then gets some Ground and Pound to finish off the fight as the bell rings. Sakurai closed very well and should win this fight.

Winner: Hayato Sakurai by Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Fight- Masanori Tonooka (1-1) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1)

R1- Akiyama got a take down after about 2 minutes of stand up. Akiyama ties him up and gets some good Ground and Pound. Akiyama just kind of toying with his inexperienced opponent. Akiyama takes his back but then losses it. Akiyama takes him down again and lands in side control. Akiyama moves to a mount position and goes for an arm. He gets the arm bar and this one is over.

Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 6:26

Lightweight Fight- Todd Moore (9-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-3)

Moore fought most recently in WEC. He has lost his last 2 fights. This should be interesting as Aoki will try to jump on Moore and ride him to a submission victory or a decision and Moore is going to have to try and knock off the gnat that is the favored Aoki. JZ and Yves Edwards are in Moore's corner. Aoki has a height and reach advantage.

R1- Aoki jumps on Moore's back about a minute in and Moor backs into the corner. Aoki clamps in the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over before it started.

Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (23-6-2) vs. Alistair Overeem (28-11)

Overeem has a height and weight advantage. Overeem's strenghts are his strength and his striking and that's also Cro Cops strengths. Fedor is ringside at the fight tonight. Cro Cop is coming out to Duran Duran. Fedor enters the ring with a bouquet of flowers and shakes Overeem's hand and the Cro Cop and presents flowers to the corner of each fighter.

R1- Overem throws Cro Cop down for the first take down about one minute into the fight and takes Cro Cops guard. Cro Cop is busted open above the eye as Alistair is getting in some shots but nothing too damaging. The ref stops the fight a little under 3 minutes into the fight to check the cut. They re-start in the same position with Overeem in Cro Cops guard. Overeem gets pushed away and they stand back up. Cro Cop hits a kick and follows with a high kick but Overeem catches it and dumps Cro Cop onto the mat and takes his guard and starts to deliver some Ground and Pound. Overeem started to hit some better shots and he really lays into Cro Cop on a shot of two. The ref stops the fight at 5:30 to again check the cut above Cro Cops eye. They are back on their feet and Overeem hits some knees. Overeem hits a low blow. Cro Cop takes more than enough time to recover and now he will try to get back into this fight. Overeem clinches and goes back to the knees and Overeem hits him low again. Overeem gets a yellow card. Cro Cop is bleeding pretty good. Cro Cop is laying down like he's been shot. I think he knows he's overmatched and he's going to take this way out so that he gets a no decision. Overeem hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Ten minutes later and Cro Cop is still down. Cro Cop can't continue due to the shots to the family jewels but he was getting owned in this fight. Alistair won this fight easily in my mind. Once the fight was over Cro Cop got to his feet and left pretty quickly although still limping a bit but nothing like he looked like he was dying in the ring for the last 15 minutes.

Decision: No Contest

Alistair takes the microphone. He apologizes for the fight ending the way that it did. Says he's the number 1 heavyweight in DREAM.

Middleweight Grand Prix Finals Championship Fight- Gegard Mousasi (23-2-1) vs. Ronaldo Souza (10-1)

R1- Jacare gets a slam about a minute in. Mousasi tried to grab the ropes to hold on but the ref warned him. Jacare postures up and comes down with a punch but instead eats a kick and he is out! Mousasi with the up kick for the championship. Wow.

Winner and new Middleweight Champion: Gegard Mousasi by KO R1 2:15

UFC Fight Night 15 9/17/08 Re-Cap

UFC Fight Night 9/17/08

Light Heavyweight Fight- Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. Eric Schafer (11-3-2)

Schafer has a 3 inch height and 4 inch reach advantage. Alexander is the hometown fighter in this one and he gets a huge reaction. Alexander usually has short fights so this one could be quick.

R1- Alexander gets a clinch early and hits Schafer with a knee and then really rocks him with another. Alexander is trying to finish and Schafer is trying to survive and gets Alexander into his guard but Alexander gets back up as he wants the fight to remain standing. Alexander with some leg kicks and then gets driven into the cage. Schafer going for take downs but Alexander is denying him. Schafer finally gets a take down and gets side control. Schafer going for short elbows. Alexander gets out of the position but then gets turned over and mounted by Schafer. Schafer hitting some strikes. Schafer with some elbows and punches. One minute left in the round. Schafer landing punches and Alexander gives up his back but Schafer doesn’t take it and continues with Ground & Pound. Schafer goes for an arm triangle and Alexander taps out. Good, exciting opening fight. Schafer did a good job weathering the early storm and after several take down attempts he stayed with it and finally got one and then ended the fight.

This is Alexander’s third straight loss in the UFC. Eric Schafer has won three straight fights but had lost his last two in UFC to Stephan Bonnar and Michael Bisping.

Winner: Eric Schafer by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:53

Middleweight Fight- Ed Herman (16-5) vs. Alan Belcher (11-4)

R1- Lots of action early and then they clinch and are separated. Both guys hitting some strikes. Pretty even fight through the first half of the round. Herman hit a good combo and tried a take down but it was stopped and they clinched again. Herman picked Belcher up with a double-leg and got the take down. Herman is trying for what Rogan is calling a “Darth Choke” but Belcher gets to his feet. Herman gets another take down with half a minute left and is going for the same choke again. Pretty even round when they stood up but Herman took Belcher down twice and had two submission attempts. Herman is up 10-9 after Round One.

R2- Belcher hit a big left hand to start out the round. Herman hits a good combo after a couple of counter punches. Belcher with a couple of body punches and then hit a big punch that rocked Herman back into the cage. Belcher hit a kick to the midsection but got caught and taken down by Herman. Belcher got back to his feet with minimal damage from Herman. 45 seconds left in the round. Close round. Belcher controlled the first 2 and a half minutes and rocked Herman. Herman then got a take down and control for about a minute and the rest was even. Overall, I give Belcher this round which makes it 19-19.

R3- Herman went for a quick take down but got stuffed. Belcher landing some jabs. Herman went for another take down but Belcher stopped it again and they clinch against the cage and then get separated. Belcher showing good hands in this fight. Belcher goes for a spinning back fist and Herman goes for a take down but doesn’t get it. Herman stays with it and gets the take down. Herman gets some strikes in but Belcher gets back to his feet. One minute and fifteen seconds remain in the fight. It’s very even to this point so this will probably decide the fight. Herman gets another take down with 45 seconds left and lands some good punches. Herman continuing to hit some punches. Herman ends the fight in a dominate position. Belcher won the stand up part of the fight but Herman dominated in take downs and on the ground. Very, very close fight but I’ve got to give it to Herman as I think he won rounds 1 and 3 with a strong finish. Herman 29-28 on my score card. Not a dominate win but a good win and a good fight.

Judges score the fight: 29-28 Belcher, 29-28 Herman, and 29-28 Belcher.

Interesting decision, not sure that I agree with it though.

Winner: Alan Belcher by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Mac Danzig (19-4-1) vs. Clay Guida (23-6)

This should be a really fun fight.

R1- Danzig seems to be the aggressor early as he backs down Guida twice but doesn’t land anything substantial. Guida went for a take down on a Danzig kick but couldn’t get it. Danzig landed a couple of shots about two minutes into the round. Danzig rushes Guida and hits a big combo but Guida grabs him and takes him down. Great sequence of events. Danzig goes for a kimura from the bottom but Guida backs him up against the cage and Danzig gets back to his feet with no damage from Guida but Guida picks up Danzig and slams him down. Danzig once again has his back to the cage and stands up again and Guida slams him down again. Guida gets a couple of shots in but Danzig works his way back to his feet at the end of the round. Interesting round as Danzig won the first part of the round by winning the stand up game but Guida got several take downs and slams although not much actually offense on the ground. Almost an even round. Probably have to give it to Guida due to the slams but based on the way the judges scored the Belcher fight I would say that they would probably give it to Danzig. Guida 10-9. Good round.

R2- Guida looks to be more aggressive early in this round as he backs down Danzig and pushes forward. Danzig hits a good punch and then a front kick but Guida fights back and runs him down and gets a take down but Danzig goes right for his arm again and stands right up. Guida shoots in again about half way through the round and gets a take partial take down but Danzig doesn’t go all the way down and doesn’t take any damage. Danzig lands a couple of good shots with about a minute left but Guida grabs him and clinches and then takes Danzig’s back with 30 seconds left and takes him down and goes for a Rear Naked. Danzig rolls over and Guida finishes the fight in a dominate position but without landing much damage. I think Guida stole this round at the end with the big take down. I had Danzig winning based on strikes but Guida put himself in a position to finish the fight. I’ve got Guida winning a very close 20-18 so far.

R3- They sprawl early as Danzig missed a kick and then stopped a Guida take down. They both got some good shots in during a dirty boxing clinch. Danzig then got his first take down of the fight and attempted a kimura. Guida escaped and briefly took Danzig’s back. Guida with some knees against the cage. Danzig looks really tired and Guida is smothering him against the cage. Danzig got to his feet but got taken down again. Guida isn’t doing much damage but he’s controlling the fight. Danzig back to his feet but Guida is still holding him. Guida ends the fight with a flurry of punches on the ground. I’ve got Guida taking this fight 30-27. Not a dominate performance as far as damage but Guida controlled the fight with his wrestling.

Judges score cards are: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Guida.

This is Guida’s second win a row after a loss to Roger Huerta. This is Danzig’s first loss after two consecutive wins.

Winner: Clay Guida by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Rogan is joined by Dana White. Dana announces a fight on December 10th live from Ft Bragg a 3-Hour event called “UFC Fights for the Troops” to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (9-2) vs. Josh Neer (24-6-1)

This is the first fight that we get the ring walk and entrance music. Josh Neer is from nearby Des Moines, Iowa. Jens Pulver is in his corner for the fight. Neer comes out to some soft rock that sounds like something from Nickelback. Diaz comes out to some rap with his brother Nick by his side. Diaz has a four inch reach advantage.

R1- They clinch early and Neer gets an immediate take down. Neer goes for a choke but lets it go. Neer takes his back and Diaz stands up and Neer takes him down but Diaz back to his feet again with Neer still on his back. Nate gets turned around and they sprawl and are back to their feet with a clinch. Diaz gets some shots in on Neer to the corner. Diaz is landing some good jabs and then gets a great looking judo throw and ends in side control but Neer gets him to half guard. Neer gets out but gets puched. Diaz fights his way back to full guard and then steps over and transitions to the back in a great move but can’t get anything. Diaz ends the fight on top of Neer. Neer controlled early but Diaz looked great late first hitting jabs, then a judo throw and then some good ground work. I’ve got Diaz taking this round 10-9.

R2- They exchange to start the round. Neer gets a take down but Diaz scrambles and reverses it so he’s in full guard. Neer gets back to his feet and gets a take down and has Nate’s back. Neer goes for a choke but Nate turns out of it. Lots of action as Neer goes for an arm bar and Nate for a triangle and both come up short. Neer gets some shots in and continues to be at and advantage but Diaz gets to his feet and they clinch. Diaz peppers him with jabs. Close round, I think Neer took this one so I’ve got it 19-19 going into the final round.

R3- They come out with Nate as the aggressor and they clinch against the cage. Nate gets a take down and is in half guard. Neer gets out but Diaz gets back to full guard and then stands up and then gets full guard again. Neer to his feet and they clinch. Diaz winning the final round half way through. Diaz takes Neer’s back and then turns to full mount. Nate with some strikes. They stand up with 20 seconds left and Diaz gets another judo throw and ends with some strikes. Diaz wins round three and will win this fight 29-28.

Judges scorecards are: 29-28 Neer, 29-28 Diaz and 29-28 Diaz.

Winner: Nate Diaz by Decision (Split)

I thought this was a real solid show with 4 good fights. The only real disappointing thing I could see was that only 1 fight went to a finish. 2 really close fights as they were judged as split decision.

The Ultimate Fight 8- Episode 1 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 8- Episode 1 Re-Cap
Team Noguiera vs. Team Mir

They are doing 32 fighters this season, just like last season and they will fight their way into the house. One of the guys (Phillipe Nover) faints right before Dana gives his opening speech. We will have Light Heavyweight and Lightweights this season. The coaches are Antonio Noguiera and Frank Mir.

Jason Guida (Clay’s brother) comes in over weight and has a tough time cutting it and weighs in at 207 lbs. The doctor says that he isn’t in the condition to cut the weight so he’s sent home and they bring in Mike Stewart as an alternate to take his place.

The coaches will evaluate the guys during their first round fights and then pick them after the first round is over. The fights will be 2 5-minute rounds.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Mike Stewart (1-0) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (16-8-1)

Krzysztof just dominates and destroys this poor Mike Stewart kid with a lot of punches early and this one is stopped very quickly.

Lightweight Fight- Fernando Bernstein (2-0) vs. Dave Kaplan (2-1)

Both guys went after it early but Kaplan ended up winning with a Rear Naked Choke.

Lightweight Fight- Joe Duarte (3-0) vs. Phillipe Nover (4-0-1)

Pretty close first round as Duarte got a take down but Nover bloodied Duarte’s nose. Nover took his back quickly in Round Two and submitted him.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Eric Magee (3-1) vs. Jules Bruchez (0-0)

Bruchez took his back a couple minutes in and got a win.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Vinny Magalhaes vs. Lance Evans

Lance is Rashad Evans’ brother. Only highlights are shown of this one. Lance got a rib injury during the fight and it looked like Vinny got the win because of it.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Ryan Jimmo vs. Antwain Britt

Britt got the win by decision, only highlights were shown.

Lightweight Fight- Brian McLaughlin vs. Brandon Garner

Garner hit an illegal knee to the face of Brian when he was grounded. The fight was ruled a No Contest. Brian was said to be dominating the fight, so they take him into the house as the winner.

Lightweight- Junie Browning (2-0) vs. Jose Aguilar (2-0)

Both of these guys have a ton of ego. Junie looked very impressive in the first round and Aguilar didn’t come out of his corner for round two.

There looks to be some good fighters so far with the ones that looked the best being Soszynski, Bruchez and Browning.


Light Heavyweight Rankings:
1. Krzysztof Soszynski
2. Jules Bruchez
3. Antwain Britt
4. Vinny Magalhaes


Lightweight Rankings:
1. Junie Browning
2. Dave Kaplan
3. Phillipe Nover
4. Brian McLaughlin

UFN 7/19/08 Unaired Fights Re-Cap

Ultimate Fight Night 7/19/08 Unaired Fights

[b]Lightweight Fight- Shannon Gugerty (10-2) vs Dale Hartt (5-0)[/b]

R1- Hartt took Gugerty down with a guillotine early but Gugerty fought out of it without much damage. Gugerty controls the fight by staying on top once he escaped the guillotine and then Hartt gave up his back. Gugerty got a choke in and Hartt taped out. Good fight by Gugerty as he got on top and then waited for Hartt to make a mistake and capitalized.

This was Gugerty's debut in UFC.

Winner: Shannon Gugerty by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:33

[b]Welterweight Fight- Brad Blackburn (12-9-1) vs. James Giboo (11-2)[/b]

Blackburn has fought in the IFL. Giboo has won 6 straight fights. This is both guys debut in the UFC.

R1- Blackburn got a good shot in about a minute into the fight and then took Giboo's guard. They stood up and Blackburn got another nice shot in on Giboo and took his guard again. Blackburn is just dominating the stand up game. Blackburn nailed him with a left hand with about a minute left in the round and then jumped on top of Giboo but couldn't finish. Blackburn dominated this round. Possibly a 10-8 round as Giboo really didn't get anything in during the first round.

R2- Blackburn starts this round by hitting three straight punches and Giboo went down but Blackburn couldn't finish. Blackburn is just dominating Giboo but once the fight goes to the ground Giboo is surviving. Blackburn is eating him alive on their feet though. The ref calls this one and Blackburn gets the dominate victory. Blackburn looked really good on his feet but needs a lot of work on his ground game as he would probably get controlled by a good jiu jitsu guy.

Winner: Brad Blackburn by TKO (strikes) R2 2:29

[b]Middleweight Fight- Nate Loughran (8-0) vs. Johnny Rees (10-0)[/b]

Somebody is getting their first loss tonight.

R1- Loughran pulls guard early and looks for a triangle but Rees denies him. Rees gets in a couple of shots but Loughran is doing a good job controlling him. Loughran is bleeding from a Rees strike. Loughran goes for another triangle and looks to have locked it in but Rees postures out of it. Loughran once again grabs a triangle/arm bar submission and is hitting some elbows on Rees. Rees finally taps. This was a pretty even back and forth fight that mostly took place on the ground. Good job by Loughran in sticking to his game plan and finally getting the finish.

Winner: Nate Loughran by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:21

[b]Middleweight Fight- Tim Credeur (10-4) vs. Cale Yarbrough (0-0)[/b]

Both of these guys were on the last season of TUF. This is Cale's first official MMA fight. Both guys lost to CB Dollaway during the season.

R1- They start out with both guys throwing punches. Credeur seems to be hitting more shots early. Creduer comes on strong about 2 minutes into the fight by hitting strikes and Cale goes down and the ref stops the fight.

Winner: Tim Credeur by TKO (strikes) R1 1:54

UFC 87 Prelim Re-Cap

UFC 87 Unaired Fights


Light Heavyweight Fight- Jon Jones (6-0) vs. Andre Gusmao (5-0)

R1- Jones got a take down about 2 minutes into the fight but didn't get much in. At the 4 minute mark Jones started taking Gusmao apart on the fence but the ref saw a low blow and separated them. Both guys really started to mix it up in the last 30 seconds and ended a rather slow first round with a good flurry. Pretty even first round probably going to Jones.

R2- Jones caught him with another low blow early in the second round. Gusmao gets a take down but they scramble and Jones quickly gets back to his feet. Another close but not particularly engaging round.

R3- Jones is the aggressor in this fight as he spends a lot of time pushing forward and Gusmao is doing a lot of back stepping. Jones stops a couple of take downs. Jones gets a take down with a minute left and takes side control quickly but gives up the position and ends up in Gusmao's full guard. Gusmao tries to grab a couple of submissions but Jones gets out of it. Jones got a little sloppy at the end and almost got caught. Jones is going to take this one. Jones has a lot of talent he just needs a lot more experience to put it all together. Rogan says he's only been in MMA for 9 months.

Judges scores are 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Jon Jones.

Winner: Jon Jones by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Chris Wilson (12-4-1) vs. Steve Bruno (12-3)

R1- Wilson looks pretty good in Round One and took Bruno's back with about a minute and a half left in the round but Wilson couldn't finish him.

R2- Wilson took Bruno's back quickly in Round 2 but Bruno escaped very quickly. Wilson then took Bruno down at the 1 minute mark of the round. After a separation Wilson hit some nice strikes and then just destroyed Bruno with a big knee. Wilson just dominating this round.

R3- Wilson gets some really nice shots in about 45 seconds into the round and Bruno goes down. Wilson takes his back about 2 minutes into the round. Wilson just over matched Bruno in this fight but couldn't finish him.

Judges scores are 30-27 on all score cards in favor of Chris Wilson.

Winner: Chris Wilson by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Luke Cummo (9-5) vs. Tamdan McCrory (10-1)

R1- Tamdan got a take down about 2 minutes into the round and then took his back. Tamdan locked in a Rear Naked Choke and Cummo fought it pretty good. Cummo escaped the choke but Tamdan remained in control of the round. Tamdan grabbed an arm but Cummo rolled through and ended up in Tamdan's guard to end the round. Round easily goes to Tamdan.

R2- Tamdan quickly got a take down to start the round. Tamdan took his back about a minute and a half into the round. Tamdan grabbed an arm bar but Cummo rooled through it and took Tamdan's guard again. Tamdan regained control and laid in some good shots on Cummo. Tamdan is up 20-18 so far.

R3- Cummo came out better in round 3 landing a couple of shots and getting a take down. Tamdan turns him over fairly quickly and resumes control of the fight. They stood up with one minute left in the round but Tamdan again got a take down. Cummo got a triangle with 45 seconds left in the fight. Tamdan stands him up and slams him and gets out of the move. Good showing by Tamdan in this fight. I wonder if anybody on the prelims is going to finish their opponent tonight?

Judges score the fight:29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 for Tamdan.

Winner: Tamdan McCrory by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Ben Saunders (5-0-2) vs. Ryan Thomas (13-1)

R1- They are swinging pretty wildly in the beginning of the round. Saunders lands a good combo but Thomas grabs him and they sprawl. Both guys are hitting with some strikes. Saunders gets in some strikes and Thomas goes down. Thomas traps him in a triangle but Saunders pops out. Saunders attempts to take his back and gets a body triangle with less than a minute left in the round. Saunders takes the first round 10-9.

R2- Saunders fought to get a take down in the first part of the round but stood back up. Saunders landing some kicks. Thomas tries to do the same but slips and Saunders waits for him to stand up after some brief sprawling. Thomas looked like he got hurt by a body shot and then ate some punches. Saunders fairly quickly got an arm bar and got the win by submission. Really good showing by Saunders. He showed some inexperience early but recognized his ground game wasn't as good as Thomas so he tried to stay up on his feet for the majority of the second round.

Winner: Ben Saunders by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 2:28