TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Seven “Voices In My Head”
Team Rashad is up 6-0 on Team Rampage and looks to continue their domination after Darrill Schoonover submitted Zak Jensen. Hmmm…seems like I wrote almost the same thing last week. Scott Junk and Marcus Jones are the only hopes for Team Rampage to get on the board with a win. Rashad picks Matt Mitrione to fight Scott Junk. Dana says Junk has fought in the UFC before and is a tough guy. This could be the first win for Team Rampage. This leaves Marcus Jones to fight Mike Wessel in the final fight of the first round.
Rampage and Rashad start the show by getting in each other’s faces. Scott Junk tries to get between them but they just go back at it. Too bad these guys won’t be fighting. People would pay to see this fight.
Matt Mitrione gets into it with teammate Jon Madsen during a sparring session and Rashad reads him the riot act and tells him to channel his aggression into his upcoming fight. The other guys set up a calendar and pick days that they think Meathead (Mitrione) will explode.
Heavyweight Fight- Matt Mitrione (2-0) vs. Scott Junk (6-2-1)
Mitrione has a 2” height and a huge 8” reach advantage.
R1- Mitrione hits a good punch early that floors Junk but he doesn’t follow up. Mitrione hits another shot and knocks Junk down for the second time in the first minute but again doesn’t follow up. Junk is very apprehensive at this point. Mitrione grabs a kick and punches Junk and floors him again. Mitrione starts hitting Junk with some punches while he’s on the ground and if he would have been more aggressive the fight would have been over but again he lets him up. Mitrione is winning this fight by a large margin but isn’t showing any type of killer instinct to finish the fight. Junk wanted the fight to end there but Mitrione didn’t want to finish it. Really sloppy fighting over the next minute. Both guys are tired and Mitrione has very little on his punches at this point. Junk lands some good punches against the cage towards the end of the round. Mitrione won this round but Junk came back towards the end. Dana was pretty excited about the first round but it was really sloppy and both guys were totally gassed in the last half of the first round. Mitrione should have finished this one off in the first two minutes.
R2- Both guys are really tired. Mitrione is landing some strikes but he has nothing behind them. Junk gets a take down in the second minute of the round but the fighters are stood up after about a minute. This is a tough round to judge. Mitrione landed more strikes but had very little behind them. Junk got a take down and landed a couple of nice shots during the round.
Judges score the fight: 19-19, 20-18 and 20-18
Winner: Matt Mitrione by Decision (Majority)
Rampage was not happy with the decision and completely destroyed a door at the training facility. He kicked a whole in it, punched it repeatedly and ripped it in half and threw it on the floor.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
UFC 104 Spike TV Preliminary Fights Re-Cap
UFC 104: Preliminaries
10/24/09
Los Angeles, Ca
Staples Center
This is live on Spike TV before the UFC 104 PPV. Lyoto Machida makes his first defense of his Light Heavyweight Title tonight against Shogun Rua. Cain Velasquez will try to stay undefeated when he takes on Ben Rothwell. We will have two live fights on the preliminary show. TUF Champ Ryan Bader will take on Eric Schafer and in a Heavyweight Fight we will see Antoni Hardonk versus Pat Barry.
Heavyweight Fight- Antoni Hardonk (8-5) vs. Pat Barry (4-1)
These guys are former training partners. Hardonk has a 5” height, 3.5” reach and 12 lb weight advantage.
R1- Hardonk doesn’t want to touch gloves to start out. Barry lands some strikes to start the fight. Hardonk lands some leg kicks. Lots of striking from both guys. Hardonk poked Barry in the eye a couple of times. Hardonk went for a take down and got stuffed and Barry jumped on top but Hardonk got up without taking any real damage. Hardonk’s nose has been bloodied. Good first round. I’ve got Barry taking it 10-9.
R2- Barry hit a good combo to start the round and then landed another good punch. Barry hits another punch and hits a leg kick and Hardonk briefly went down. Hardonk went for a take down but got stuffed. Barry is landing some really good strikes in this round and Hardonk looks to be fading. Barry landed a big right hand and Hardonk went down. Barry followed him to the canvas and quickly finished him. Really good showing by Pat Barry.
Winner: Pat Barry by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:30
Pat Barry gets a little choked up in his post-fight interview and then ends the interview with a back flip.
Heavyweight Fight- Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve
The broadcast kind of awkwardly moves into this fight as they were talking about Bader and Schafer and all of a sudden this fight (which was taped previously) is starting on my TV.
R1- Struve is 6’11” and has a huge height advantage. Gormley got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Struve went for a leg lock and Gormley grabbed an ankle lock. Struve rolled over and went for a heel hook. Struve is able to turn Gormley over and takes his guard. Struve landed some good Ground and Pound. Struve got a triangle choke and Gormley tapped out. Good fight and finish from Struve.
Winner: Stefan Struve by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:04
Light Heavyweight Fight-Ryan Bader (10-0) vs. Eric Schafer (13-3-2)
Schafer is a BJJ Black Belt and will be Bader’s toughest fight to date. Bader is coming off of some leg injuries from his last fight. CB Dollaway is in Bader’s corner. Hopefully he hasn’t been helping him with submission defense. Bader was the winner of TUF 8.
R1- Bader couldn’t quite find the range for the first half of the round but was swinging with bad intentions on a lot of his punches. Bader connected solidly with a big right hand and Schafer went down and Bader connected with a couple of punches on the way down and followed Schafer to the mat. Schafer tried to catch Bader in his guard but Bader picked him up and slammed him and then landed some punches from behind. They got to their feet and Bader continued to land some good shots and Schafer went down again. Schaefer recovered well and went for a kimura but could not get it and Bader took his guard. Schafer grabbed another submission but couldn’t clamp it in. Very impressive first round for Bader but he would be wise to stay off the ground with Schafer. Borderline 10-8 round but Schafer did pull off a couple of submission attempts.
R2- Bader looks like he expended a lot of energy in the first round and Schafer has his wits back. Schafer is landing some punches and could take this round. Close round, Schafer probably took this round.
R3- Bader hit a big right hand about half way through the first minute. Bader jumped on top and tried to finish but Schafer clinched him up in his guard. Bader gets out and gets back to his feet. Schafer has blood running down his face and the ref stops to have the doc look at the cut. Bader got a take down with about a minute left in the fight. Bader takes this round and will take the fight 29-28 in my book. Good fight. Bader is very explosive but definitely needs to work on expanding his offense past just the overhand right.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-26 and 30-27. 29-26 is a really interesting score. That means that judge gave Bader two 10-8 rounds.
Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan and Dana White talk about the PPV tonight to close out the show.
10/24/09
Los Angeles, Ca
Staples Center
This is live on Spike TV before the UFC 104 PPV. Lyoto Machida makes his first defense of his Light Heavyweight Title tonight against Shogun Rua. Cain Velasquez will try to stay undefeated when he takes on Ben Rothwell. We will have two live fights on the preliminary show. TUF Champ Ryan Bader will take on Eric Schafer and in a Heavyweight Fight we will see Antoni Hardonk versus Pat Barry.
Heavyweight Fight- Antoni Hardonk (8-5) vs. Pat Barry (4-1)
These guys are former training partners. Hardonk has a 5” height, 3.5” reach and 12 lb weight advantage.
R1- Hardonk doesn’t want to touch gloves to start out. Barry lands some strikes to start the fight. Hardonk lands some leg kicks. Lots of striking from both guys. Hardonk poked Barry in the eye a couple of times. Hardonk went for a take down and got stuffed and Barry jumped on top but Hardonk got up without taking any real damage. Hardonk’s nose has been bloodied. Good first round. I’ve got Barry taking it 10-9.
R2- Barry hit a good combo to start the round and then landed another good punch. Barry hits another punch and hits a leg kick and Hardonk briefly went down. Hardonk went for a take down but got stuffed. Barry is landing some really good strikes in this round and Hardonk looks to be fading. Barry landed a big right hand and Hardonk went down. Barry followed him to the canvas and quickly finished him. Really good showing by Pat Barry.
Winner: Pat Barry by TKO (Strikes) R2 2:30
Pat Barry gets a little choked up in his post-fight interview and then ends the interview with a back flip.
Heavyweight Fight- Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve
The broadcast kind of awkwardly moves into this fight as they were talking about Bader and Schafer and all of a sudden this fight (which was taped previously) is starting on my TV.
R1- Struve is 6’11” and has a huge height advantage. Gormley got a take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Struve went for a leg lock and Gormley grabbed an ankle lock. Struve rolled over and went for a heel hook. Struve is able to turn Gormley over and takes his guard. Struve landed some good Ground and Pound. Struve got a triangle choke and Gormley tapped out. Good fight and finish from Struve.
Winner: Stefan Struve by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 4:04
Light Heavyweight Fight-Ryan Bader (10-0) vs. Eric Schafer (13-3-2)
Schafer is a BJJ Black Belt and will be Bader’s toughest fight to date. Bader is coming off of some leg injuries from his last fight. CB Dollaway is in Bader’s corner. Hopefully he hasn’t been helping him with submission defense. Bader was the winner of TUF 8.
R1- Bader couldn’t quite find the range for the first half of the round but was swinging with bad intentions on a lot of his punches. Bader connected solidly with a big right hand and Schafer went down and Bader connected with a couple of punches on the way down and followed Schafer to the mat. Schafer tried to catch Bader in his guard but Bader picked him up and slammed him and then landed some punches from behind. They got to their feet and Bader continued to land some good shots and Schafer went down again. Schaefer recovered well and went for a kimura but could not get it and Bader took his guard. Schafer grabbed another submission but couldn’t clamp it in. Very impressive first round for Bader but he would be wise to stay off the ground with Schafer. Borderline 10-8 round but Schafer did pull off a couple of submission attempts.
R2- Bader looks like he expended a lot of energy in the first round and Schafer has his wits back. Schafer is landing some punches and could take this round. Close round, Schafer probably took this round.
R3- Bader hit a big right hand about half way through the first minute. Bader jumped on top and tried to finish but Schafer clinched him up in his guard. Bader gets out and gets back to his feet. Schafer has blood running down his face and the ref stops to have the doc look at the cut. Bader got a take down with about a minute left in the fight. Bader takes this round and will take the fight 29-28 in my book. Good fight. Bader is very explosive but definitely needs to work on expanding his offense past just the overhand right.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-26 and 30-27. 29-26 is a really interesting score. That means that judge gave Bader two 10-8 rounds.
Winner: Ryan Bader by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Rogan and Dana White talk about the PPV tonight to close out the show.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights "16 Sharks" Episode Six Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Six “16 Sharks”
Team Rashad is up 5-0 on Team Rampage and looks to continue their domination after Justin Wren submitted veteran Wes Sims last week.
Rashad Evans has a special treat for his team as he brought in one of the guys who trains GSP to work with his team (Phil Nurse). Rashad has to have a sit down with Darrill Schoonover about his drinking. Rashad says it’s affecting his conditioning. Rampage and Schoonover get into a little bit of a verbal sparring session which ends up with Schoonover saying he wants to drop down to 205 and take on Rampage.
Team Rashad maintains the control of the fights and Rashad picks Schoonover against Zak Jensen. Rampage keeps riding Rampage and they have another verbal altercation which almost escalates to more. Rashad made sure that he stepped in for his guy.
Zak Jensen seems to be catching a lot of flack from the rest of the house members. Zak got cut during a sparring session and Kimbo was shown doing a fist bump in the back and was excited about possibly getting another shot. Jensen’s mans up and doesn’t let the cut affect him.
Heavyweight Fight- Darrill Schoonover (10-0) vs. Zak Jensen (7-2)
Jensen has a 2” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Darrill started to land some good knees and then landed several punches but Jensen was able to clinch him and then Darrill pulled guard and went for a triangle. Jensen hit several hammer fists. Darrill went back to the triangle choke but he didn’t have a good angle and Jensen landed some punches but Darrill was able to get a better grip on the submission and finished the fight. This was one of the better fights on the show so far even though it wasn’t very long.
Winner: Darrill Schoonover by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1
Only Scott Junk and Marcus Jones are left for Team Rampage. Scott Junk seems like the guy they’ve been talking about on Team Rampage that might be able to end Team Rashad’s run of terror on Team Rampage.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Team Rashad is up 5-0 on Team Rampage and looks to continue their domination after Justin Wren submitted veteran Wes Sims last week.
Rashad Evans has a special treat for his team as he brought in one of the guys who trains GSP to work with his team (Phil Nurse). Rashad has to have a sit down with Darrill Schoonover about his drinking. Rashad says it’s affecting his conditioning. Rampage and Schoonover get into a little bit of a verbal sparring session which ends up with Schoonover saying he wants to drop down to 205 and take on Rampage.
Team Rashad maintains the control of the fights and Rashad picks Schoonover against Zak Jensen. Rampage keeps riding Rampage and they have another verbal altercation which almost escalates to more. Rashad made sure that he stepped in for his guy.
Zak Jensen seems to be catching a lot of flack from the rest of the house members. Zak got cut during a sparring session and Kimbo was shown doing a fist bump in the back and was excited about possibly getting another shot. Jensen’s mans up and doesn’t let the cut affect him.
Heavyweight Fight- Darrill Schoonover (10-0) vs. Zak Jensen (7-2)
Jensen has a 2” height and 4” reach advantage.
R1- Darrill started to land some good knees and then landed several punches but Jensen was able to clinch him and then Darrill pulled guard and went for a triangle. Jensen hit several hammer fists. Darrill went back to the triangle choke but he didn’t have a good angle and Jensen landed some punches but Darrill was able to get a better grip on the submission and finished the fight. This was one of the better fights on the show so far even though it wasn’t very long.
Winner: Darrill Schoonover by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1
Only Scott Junk and Marcus Jones are left for Team Rampage. Scott Junk seems like the guy they’ve been talking about on Team Rampage that might be able to end Team Rashad’s run of terror on Team Rampage.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Monday, October 19, 2009
WEC 43 "Cerrone vs. Henderson" 10/10/09 Re-Cap
WEC 43 “Cerrone vs. Henderson”
AT&T Center
San Antonio, Tx
October 10, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers tonight. Tonight we will see the Interim Lightweight Title on the line as Donald Cerrone takes on Ben Henderson. Jamie Varner is still the champ but is hurt so he will be fighting the winner of this fight.
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (11-4) vs. Will Campuzano (6-0)
At WEC 39 Page won by KO in 18 seconds. Campuzano has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage. Campuzano is making his WEC debut and is from Dallas, Tx.
R1- Page went right after him and both guys swung wildly and Page got a take down. Page almost got caught in a triangle but quickly slipped out and took Campuzano’s back and submitted him with a Rear Naked Choke. Another really strong showing by Page.
Winner: Damacio Page by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:02
Todd Harris is joined ringside by WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown. They talk about his upcoming title defense against Jose Aldo.
WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner is ringside to check out the Henderson/Cerrone fight. Nate Marquardt is ringside with a cutie. The TapouT crew is in the house and Chuck Liddell is at the show with his Dancing with the Stars partner Anna Trebunskaya. Miguel Angel Torres is also at this event. Urijah Faber joins Harris and Mir in the announce booth and says he’s ready for a possible January return.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (13-1) vs. Yves Jabouin (14-4)
Assuncao is a BJJ Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Jabouin will be making his WEC debut and is on a 4 fight win streak. Yves trains with GSP and David Louiseau.
R1- Yves is a really quick fighter but Assuncao is sitting in the pocket and letting Yves come to him early. Assuncao got a body kick caught and Yves took him down and took his guard. Assuncao quickly got back to his feet. Assuncao is landing some good punches and he shot in but Yves stuffed him and took his guard again. Yves stood up again and let Assuncao up. Yves went for a kick but got briefly caught and almost taken down. Both guys are throwing really good shots at each other. Really good and close first round. Yves probably took the first round due to the take downs.
R2- Both guys are landing some strikes in the early part of the round. Assuncao chopped Yves down with a leg kick and Yves was going for a strike. Yves threw a back kick and Assuncao slipped but he clinched Yves. Assuncao went for a take down and pulled guard on a guillotine but Yves was able to pop his head out. Looks like we’ve probably got a 19-19 fight going into the third round.
R3- Assuncao tripped up Yves early but could not capitalize. Assuncao clinched and fought hard for a take down. Assuncao got him down and took his back. Yves got back to his feet but took a knee as he was getting up. Yves hit a spinning back fist but Assuncao did not flinch. The fight ended with Assuncao on Yves back. I’ve got Assuncao taking the decision in a very close and competitive fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Assuncao, 30-27 Jabouin and 29-28 Assuncao. Wow, you rarely see a fight scored 30-27 in two different directions.
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Fight- Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier
Fabiano is probably the next contender to Mike Brown if he can continue to get wins. This is Semerzier’s WEC debut and Fabiano is a Top 5 World Featherweight. Miguel Torres is in Mackens corner.
R1- Fabiano hit a left hand and then got a double leg take down. Fabiano got caught in a triangle and he tapped out. Huge upset by Mackens Semerzier!
Winner: Mackens Semerzier by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:14
Lightweight Fight- Rich Crunkilton (18-2) vs. Dave Jansen (10-0)
This is the WEC debut for Dave Jansen. Crunkilton last fought in WEC in 2006. Jansen is from Team Quest
R1- Some pretty good wrestling exchanges by both guys early on in the fight. Jansen spent a lot of the first round on the top and they exchanged Anacoda and North/South choke exchanges. Crunkilton landed some good punches and hurt Jansen towards the end of the first round but he was able to weather the storm.
R2- Jansen was able to get a take down in the first minute of the round. When they are on their feet Crunkilton is definitely winning the stand up game. Jansen has probably done enough so far to be up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Crunkilton landed some early strikes but Jansen once again got a take down. Crunkilton grabbed a choke but couldn’t finish the fight. Crunkilton is continuing to hurt Jansen with strikes but Jansen again got a take down. Jansen went for a kimura but could not finish with the submission. Looks like Jansen by decision from where I’m sitting.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Winner: Dave Jansen by Decision (Unanimous)
1:03
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Noah Thomas
This was a pre-show fight. Jorgensen usually has really fun fights. Thomas has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. Jorgensen has colored the top of his hair red and is wearing some sweet colorful tights.
R1- Jorgensen landed an early right that buckled Thomas’s legs just a bit. Jorgensen got a take down but wasn’t able to do much with it. Jorgensen lands some good punches and Thomas falls down. Jorgensen follows him down and lands some punches but Thomas wraps him up. Jorgensen landed some good elbows and the ref moved in and stopped the fight. Really good showing by Jorgensen.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:13
Interim Lightweight Title Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-1) vs. Ben Henderson (9-1)
Cerrone lost a close decision to current champ Jamie Varner when the fight was stopped early due to an incidental but illegal strike by Cerrone. I had Varner winning the fight 48-47 when it was stopped and the judges awarded Varner a Unanimous Decision win. That was in January of this year and Jamie Varner has not fought since due to injuries sustained in the fight. Cerrone won his last fight against previously undefeated James Krause by a Rear Naked Choke Submission near the end of the first round. Henderson won his last fight against Shane Roller by TKO in the first round. Henderson got caught at the beginning of the fight and almost got submitted but quickly recovered to win the fight in under two minutes. Cerrone has Greg “Yoda” Jackson in his corner for the fight. Cerrone has a 3” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Cerrone immediately missed a kick and slipped and Henderson charged in and got caught in a guillotine. Cerrone got him down but Henderson slipped out but then got caught in a triangle choke. Henderson got a take down with 2 minutes left in the round. Henderson got in some shots from the top but I’ve got to give the round to Cerrone as he almost finished the fight with the early submissions. Cerrone 10 Henderson 9.
R2- Henderson got a take down but Cerrone quickly reversed him and took his back and Henderson reversed him and took his guard. Cerrone landed an up kick and went for a kimura and then briefly got an arm bar but Henderson quickly got out and took Cerrone’s guard again. Really great round so far. Henderson lands some good punches. Henderson really took over this round at the end and did more damage then he did in the first round. I’ve got the fight even at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Henderson went for an early take down and got it. Cerrone got back to his feet at the mid point of the round without taking any significant damage. Henderson got a brief take down but couldn’t hold it and then completed a take down with a slam but again couldn’t hold Cerrone down. Henderson takes this round and he’s up 29-28 after three rounds.
R4- Cerrone went for a take down and got Henderson in another guillotine. Henderson slipped out after being in the choke for about a minute. Cerrone stuffed two take downs and landed a good uppercut at the end of the second one. Henderson shot again and Cerrone again stuffed him and landed another good punch. Cerrone chopped Henderson down to the mat with a late leg kick. Cerrone easily took this round and I’ve got it scored 38-38 with one round left. Jamie Varner is showed in the crowd and he’s booed.
R5- I’ve got the fight scored 38-38 so this is the Championship Round. Henderson went for an early take down and fought for it but Cerrone denied him. Cerrone landed two good punches. Cerrone went for a punch for looked like he more pushed Henderson down at the three minute mark and then Cerrone followed him to the ground. Cerrone went for an omaplata but couldn’t not clamp it on. Cerrone went for a triangle but Henderson slipped out his head out although Cerrone still had his arm in a kimura type move. Henderson landed a couple of shots from up top but Cerrone got back to his feet with less than a minute left. Henderson got Cerrone down but Cerrone landed an up kick and then trapped Henderson’s arm in a wicked submission but Henderson rolled out of it. Really good fight. I’ve got Cerrone taking the final round and winning the fight 48-47.
Judges score cards say: 48-47 all in favor of Ben Henderson.
Winner and new WEC Interim Lightweight Champion: Ben Henderson by Decision (Unanimous)
AT&T Center
San Antonio, Tx
October 10, 2009
Todd Harris and Frank Mir are the announcers tonight. Tonight we will see the Interim Lightweight Title on the line as Donald Cerrone takes on Ben Henderson. Jamie Varner is still the champ but is hurt so he will be fighting the winner of this fight.
Bantamweight Fight- Damacio Page (11-4) vs. Will Campuzano (6-0)
At WEC 39 Page won by KO in 18 seconds. Campuzano has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage. Campuzano is making his WEC debut and is from Dallas, Tx.
R1- Page went right after him and both guys swung wildly and Page got a take down. Page almost got caught in a triangle but quickly slipped out and took Campuzano’s back and submitted him with a Rear Naked Choke. Another really strong showing by Page.
Winner: Damacio Page by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:02
Todd Harris is joined ringside by WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown. They talk about his upcoming title defense against Jose Aldo.
WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner is ringside to check out the Henderson/Cerrone fight. Nate Marquardt is ringside with a cutie. The TapouT crew is in the house and Chuck Liddell is at the show with his Dancing with the Stars partner Anna Trebunskaya. Miguel Angel Torres is also at this event. Urijah Faber joins Harris and Mir in the announce booth and says he’s ready for a possible January return.
Featherweight Fight- Raphael Assuncao (13-1) vs. Yves Jabouin (14-4)
Assuncao is a BJJ Black Belt who is on a 5 fight win streak. Jabouin will be making his WEC debut and is on a 4 fight win streak. Yves trains with GSP and David Louiseau.
R1- Yves is a really quick fighter but Assuncao is sitting in the pocket and letting Yves come to him early. Assuncao got a body kick caught and Yves took him down and took his guard. Assuncao quickly got back to his feet. Assuncao is landing some good punches and he shot in but Yves stuffed him and took his guard again. Yves stood up again and let Assuncao up. Yves went for a kick but got briefly caught and almost taken down. Both guys are throwing really good shots at each other. Really good and close first round. Yves probably took the first round due to the take downs.
R2- Both guys are landing some strikes in the early part of the round. Assuncao chopped Yves down with a leg kick and Yves was going for a strike. Yves threw a back kick and Assuncao slipped but he clinched Yves. Assuncao went for a take down and pulled guard on a guillotine but Yves was able to pop his head out. Looks like we’ve probably got a 19-19 fight going into the third round.
R3- Assuncao tripped up Yves early but could not capitalize. Assuncao clinched and fought hard for a take down. Assuncao got him down and took his back. Yves got back to his feet but took a knee as he was getting up. Yves hit a spinning back fist but Assuncao did not flinch. The fight ended with Assuncao on Yves back. I’ve got Assuncao taking the decision in a very close and competitive fight.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 Assuncao, 30-27 Jabouin and 29-28 Assuncao. Wow, you rarely see a fight scored 30-27 in two different directions.
Winner: Raphael Assuncao by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Fight- Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier
Fabiano is probably the next contender to Mike Brown if he can continue to get wins. This is Semerzier’s WEC debut and Fabiano is a Top 5 World Featherweight. Miguel Torres is in Mackens corner.
R1- Fabiano hit a left hand and then got a double leg take down. Fabiano got caught in a triangle and he tapped out. Huge upset by Mackens Semerzier!
Winner: Mackens Semerzier by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 2:14
Lightweight Fight- Rich Crunkilton (18-2) vs. Dave Jansen (10-0)
This is the WEC debut for Dave Jansen. Crunkilton last fought in WEC in 2006. Jansen is from Team Quest
R1- Some pretty good wrestling exchanges by both guys early on in the fight. Jansen spent a lot of the first round on the top and they exchanged Anacoda and North/South choke exchanges. Crunkilton landed some good punches and hurt Jansen towards the end of the first round but he was able to weather the storm.
R2- Jansen was able to get a take down in the first minute of the round. When they are on their feet Crunkilton is definitely winning the stand up game. Jansen has probably done enough so far to be up 20-18 going into the third round.
R3- Crunkilton landed some early strikes but Jansen once again got a take down. Crunkilton grabbed a choke but couldn’t finish the fight. Crunkilton is continuing to hurt Jansen with strikes but Jansen again got a take down. Jansen went for a kimura but could not finish with the submission. Looks like Jansen by decision from where I’m sitting.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Winner: Dave Jansen by Decision (Unanimous)
1:03
Bantamweight Fight- Scott Jorgensen vs. Noah Thomas
This was a pre-show fight. Jorgensen usually has really fun fights. Thomas has a 5” height and 2” reach advantage. Jorgensen has colored the top of his hair red and is wearing some sweet colorful tights.
R1- Jorgensen landed an early right that buckled Thomas’s legs just a bit. Jorgensen got a take down but wasn’t able to do much with it. Jorgensen lands some good punches and Thomas falls down. Jorgensen follows him down and lands some punches but Thomas wraps him up. Jorgensen landed some good elbows and the ref moved in and stopped the fight. Really good showing by Jorgensen.
Winner: Scott Jorgensen by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:13
Interim Lightweight Title Fight- Donald Cerrone (10-1) vs. Ben Henderson (9-1)
Cerrone lost a close decision to current champ Jamie Varner when the fight was stopped early due to an incidental but illegal strike by Cerrone. I had Varner winning the fight 48-47 when it was stopped and the judges awarded Varner a Unanimous Decision win. That was in January of this year and Jamie Varner has not fought since due to injuries sustained in the fight. Cerrone won his last fight against previously undefeated James Krause by a Rear Naked Choke Submission near the end of the first round. Henderson won his last fight against Shane Roller by TKO in the first round. Henderson got caught at the beginning of the fight and almost got submitted but quickly recovered to win the fight in under two minutes. Cerrone has Greg “Yoda” Jackson in his corner for the fight. Cerrone has a 3” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Cerrone immediately missed a kick and slipped and Henderson charged in and got caught in a guillotine. Cerrone got him down but Henderson slipped out but then got caught in a triangle choke. Henderson got a take down with 2 minutes left in the round. Henderson got in some shots from the top but I’ve got to give the round to Cerrone as he almost finished the fight with the early submissions. Cerrone 10 Henderson 9.
R2- Henderson got a take down but Cerrone quickly reversed him and took his back and Henderson reversed him and took his guard. Cerrone landed an up kick and went for a kimura and then briefly got an arm bar but Henderson quickly got out and took Cerrone’s guard again. Really great round so far. Henderson lands some good punches. Henderson really took over this round at the end and did more damage then he did in the first round. I’ve got the fight even at 19-19 after two rounds.
R3- Henderson went for an early take down and got it. Cerrone got back to his feet at the mid point of the round without taking any significant damage. Henderson got a brief take down but couldn’t hold it and then completed a take down with a slam but again couldn’t hold Cerrone down. Henderson takes this round and he’s up 29-28 after three rounds.
R4- Cerrone went for a take down and got Henderson in another guillotine. Henderson slipped out after being in the choke for about a minute. Cerrone stuffed two take downs and landed a good uppercut at the end of the second one. Henderson shot again and Cerrone again stuffed him and landed another good punch. Cerrone chopped Henderson down to the mat with a late leg kick. Cerrone easily took this round and I’ve got it scored 38-38 with one round left. Jamie Varner is showed in the crowd and he’s booed.
R5- I’ve got the fight scored 38-38 so this is the Championship Round. Henderson went for an early take down and fought for it but Cerrone denied him. Cerrone landed two good punches. Cerrone went for a punch for looked like he more pushed Henderson down at the three minute mark and then Cerrone followed him to the ground. Cerrone went for an omaplata but couldn’t not clamp it on. Cerrone went for a triangle but Henderson slipped out his head out although Cerrone still had his arm in a kimura type move. Henderson landed a couple of shots from up top but Cerrone got back to his feet with less than a minute left. Henderson got Cerrone down but Cerrone landed an up kick and then trapped Henderson’s arm in a wicked submission but Henderson rolled out of it. Really good fight. I’ve got Cerrone taking the final round and winning the fight 48-47.
Judges score cards say: 48-47 all in favor of Ben Henderson.
Winner and new WEC Interim Lightweight Champion: Ben Henderson by Decision (Unanimous)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Five Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Five
Team Rashad is up 4-0 on Team Rampage and looking to inflict more damage this week.
Wes Sims is not happy because he stepped on man juice in the shower. He blames Zak Jensen. Later on Sims and Zak were training and they just showed Jensen passed out and insinuated that Sims had submitted him. Coincidence or psychic phenomenon.
Matt Mitrione hurt his shoulder and wants to get a cortisone shot but Rashad says no. They tape his shoulder down during practice so he doesn’t hurt it more. Mike Wessel thinks he’s faking it so that he can fight less and avoid some of the harder guys.
Fight Announcement: Rashad picks Justin Wren to fight Wes Sims. Rashad says that Sims has more experience but Rashad feels that Wren is better in everything else. Wren fights under Travis Lutter when he’s not doing TUF. Sims trains with Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman. Dana gives the advantage to Sims because he’s built more like a heavyweight.
Heavyweight Fight- Wes Sims (22-12-1) vs. Justin Wren (8-1)
Sims has a 7” height and 6” reach advantage.
R1- Wren went for a quick take down and clinched Sims against the cage but Sims got loose. Wren grabbed a clinch and got a take down. Wren passed the guard to mount and locked in a choke and the ref had to stop the fight as Sims passed out in the hold. Team Rampage is just horrible. I don’t know how with the great cornering that Rampage is giving. “Get up Wes, get up, get out Wes, get out of there”- Rampage
Winner: Justin Wren by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1
Dana comes away from the fight very impressed with Justin Wren. Says he doesn’t know what the hell happened to Wes Sims since he left the UFC but he got choked out quickly. Team Rashad is 5-0 with 3 first round fights left. Rampage’s first 4 picks have all been eliminated.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Team Rashad is up 4-0 on Team Rampage and looking to inflict more damage this week.
Wes Sims is not happy because he stepped on man juice in the shower. He blames Zak Jensen. Later on Sims and Zak were training and they just showed Jensen passed out and insinuated that Sims had submitted him. Coincidence or psychic phenomenon.
Matt Mitrione hurt his shoulder and wants to get a cortisone shot but Rashad says no. They tape his shoulder down during practice so he doesn’t hurt it more. Mike Wessel thinks he’s faking it so that he can fight less and avoid some of the harder guys.
Fight Announcement: Rashad picks Justin Wren to fight Wes Sims. Rashad says that Sims has more experience but Rashad feels that Wren is better in everything else. Wren fights under Travis Lutter when he’s not doing TUF. Sims trains with Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman. Dana gives the advantage to Sims because he’s built more like a heavyweight.
Heavyweight Fight- Wes Sims (22-12-1) vs. Justin Wren (8-1)
Sims has a 7” height and 6” reach advantage.
R1- Wren went for a quick take down and clinched Sims against the cage but Sims got loose. Wren grabbed a clinch and got a take down. Wren passed the guard to mount and locked in a choke and the ref had to stop the fight as Sims passed out in the hold. Team Rampage is just horrible. I don’t know how with the great cornering that Rampage is giving. “Get up Wes, get up, get out Wes, get out of there”- Rampage
Winner: Justin Wren by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1
Dana comes away from the fight very impressed with Justin Wren. Says he doesn’t know what the hell happened to Wes Sims since he left the UFC but he got choked out quickly. Team Rashad is 5-0 with 3 first round fights left. Rampage’s first 4 picks have all been eliminated.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Sunday, October 11, 2009
DREAM 11 10/5/09 Re-Cap
HEIWA DREAM.11 Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round (10/5/09) – Yokohama Arena
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for the show. Tonight we will see the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Featherweight Grand Prix, Joachim Hansen will defend against Shinya Aoki and the Super Hulk Tournament continues!
Featherweight Grand Prix Reserve Fight- Daiki Hata (5-3) vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (7-7)
Miyata comes out to Bon Jovi. Hata beat semi-finalist Hideo Tokoro by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Featherweight Grand Prix but could not continue to the next round due to injury. Now he is better so he gets a spot in the reserve match. Michael Schiavello is in lust with Miyata’s body and has dubbed him “Sexy Miyata”.
R1- Miyata quickly takes Hata’s back and controlled him for a couple of minutes but couldn’t deliver any damage and the ref calls for a stand up with 6:30 left in the first round and delivers a yellow card to Hata. Miyata got a double leg take down with about 4 minutes left in the round. Miyata is able to take mount position with about 45 seconds left in the round and lands some Ground and Pound. Miyata is really controlling this fight so far but in DREAM the fight is judged on an overall basis and not by round.
R2- Miyata got a quick take down in the first half minute of the final round. Hata got up but Miyata slammed him back down with 3 minutes left in the round. Hata got back up and hit a couple of leg kicks and then Miyata went to take him down and Hata grabbed a guillotine choke and tried hard for the submission but Miyata hung in there and slipped out. Miyata got another take down in the final minute of the fight. Miyata controlled this fight for almost all of the fight but Hata came closer to finishing the fight. I’ve got Miyata taking this one.
Winner: Kazuyuki Miyata by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Hideo Tokoro (22-16-1) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (11-6-1)
Tokoro has reached the semi-finals by beating Abel Cullum via Rear Naked Choke in the second round. In the first round Tokoro actually lost to Daiki Hata by Unanimous Decision but Hata was injured so Tokoro took his place in the 2nd round. Takaya has advanced to the semi-finals by beating Jong Won-Kim by 2nd round TKO and by defeating Yoshiro Maeda by TKO in the second round. Takaya likes to “smack people in the face.”
R1- Takaya landed a couple of strikes at the two and a half minute mark of the fight. Tokoro tried a jumping high kick but missed and Takaya gave him a nice strike for his troubles but let him back up. Tokoro went for a take down but got stuffed and ate some kicks to his legs. Takaya is really controlling this fight and caught Tokoro with a combo but Tokoro clinched and pulled guard. Tokoro tried a knee and then hit a good right hand that buckled Takaya’s legs. Tokoro hit another strike and tried to pull guard on a triangle but Tokoro took his guard. Takaya wakes up and delivers some great Ground and Pound shots and it looked like the ref stopped the fight right after the bell but I think he was just calling for the end of the round. Takaya was dangerously close to finishing the fight. Really good first round.
R2- Takaya got Tokoro down and quickly finished him with some Ground and Pound. Looks like Takaya really hurt Tokoro at the end of the last round and just finished it here at the beginning of this round. Really good fight.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Bibiano Fernandes (5-3) vs. Joe Warren (2-0)
Fernandes is a 5-time world jiu jitsu champion. Fernandes advance to this point by defeating Masakazu Imanari and Takafumi Otsuka by decision. Joe Warren is a decorated wrestler who has defeated tournament favorite Kid Yamamoto and Chase Beebe in this tournament (these were his first two MMA fights).
R1- They clinched early and Warren almost got a take down but couldn’t hold it and then got a slam and landed in Bibiano’s guard. Bibiano locked in an arm bar and Joe Warren tapped Bibiano’s leg and submitted.
Post-fight Warren looks confused like he didn’t tap and the Bibiano comes at Warren and points at him (possibly flipping him the bird) and then takes off out of the ring and on the ramp again points at him. Really strange happenings after this fight finished. Looks like Bibiano has to be the favorite for the finals due to the time of this fight versus the time of the other semi-final.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Hong-Man Choi
Minowa beat Bob Sapp in the first round to advance and Hong-Man Choi defeated Jose Canseco. Yes, that Jose Canseco. Choi is 7’2” and 355 lbs. Minowa is 5’9” and 201 lbs.
R1- Minowa looks like he’s half the size of Choi. Minowa tried for a take down and got stuffed and Choi was briefly on top but then stood up. Minowa landed an over hand right but Choi answered with a knee. Minowa went for a take down and fought and got it with about 6 minutes left in the round. Minowa is landing some knees to Choi’s side but really isn’t doing much and the ref stands them up at 3 minutes left in the round and gives Choi a yellow card. Choi got top position on Minowa and landed some strikes but then stood back up. Not a real exciting round. Both guys look pretty tired.
R2-Minowa went for a take down and didn’t initially get it but he twisted around and got on top and tried for a leg lock and he got it and tapped out Choi. Good showing by Minowa just because of the huge size dis-advantage that he had.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (leg lock) R2
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Bob Sapp vs. Sokoudjou
Bob Sapp lost in the first round to Minowa but is filling in for Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi was pretty vocal in saying that he didn’t want to fight Sokoudjou because he thought he was on the gas. Sokoudjou beat Jan Nortje in the first round to advance.
R1- Sapp missed a wild right hand and got taken down. Sokoudjou put his knee on Sapp’s stomach and landed some Ground and Pound and eventually the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2) vs. Melchor Barracuda (2-3)
Kawajiri last fought at DREAM 9 where he beat JZ Calvacante by Unanimous Decision.
R1- Barracuda swung wildly to start but was clinched by Kawajiri. Kawajiri got him to the ground and took his guard. Kawajiri was able to move to the mount position. Kawajiri landed some good Ground and Pound and Barracuda’s corner stepped in and the ref stopped the fight. Very one-sided fight as was expected in this one. Kawajiri should be in line to face the winner of Hansen/Aoki.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO (Punches) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kazushi Sakuraba (24-12-1) vs. Rubin Williams
Is a pro boxer who is 29-8-1 as a boxer with 16 knockouts but has lost his last 6 fights as a boxer. He’s been training in MMA for one year. This fight was added to the show late to spur attendance due to the drawing power of Sakuraba. Sakuraba was last seen losing to Kiyoshi Tamura and Melvin Manhoef so he’s on a 2 fight losing streak coming into this fight.
R1- Sakuraba starts out with some leg kicks and you can tell Williams doesn’t like them. Sakuraba shoots in and Williams tries to clinch him on the ground to minimize damage. Sakuraba lands some strikes and tries to set up for an arm bar or a kimura. Williams taps out to a kimura. Sakuraba made quick work of Williams.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Kimura) R1
DREAM Lightweight Title Fight- Joachim Hansen © (19-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (21-4)
Joachim Hansen actually lost to Eddie Alvarez in the 2nd round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix but came back as a replacement for Alvarez when Alvarez won his semi-final fight but then could not continue to the finals due to an injury. Hansen won his reserve fight so he moved on to the finals and defeated Shinya Aoki by TKO (Strikes) in the first round in a pretty short fight. Since then Hansen has not fought but Aoki has gone on to fight a bunch of fights. At DREAM 6 Aoki beat Todd Moore by Rear Naked Choke in the first round, at the DREAM/K-1 Show he beat Eddie Alvarez for the WAMMA Lightweight Championship by Heel Hook Submission, at DREAM 7 he beat David Gardner by Rear Naked Choke Submission, at DREAM 8 he lost a Welterweight fight to Hayato Sakari by first round TKO (punches) in 27 seconds and at DREAM 10 he defeated Vitor Ribeiro by Unanimous Decision. Aoki is a consensus Top 5 Lightweight. He’s ranked by most as the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world behind BJ Penn.
R1- Hansen went for a big uppercut but missed and Aoki clinched him and got him to the ground. Hansen got back to his feet momentarily but Aoki wrestled him back down. Hansen kicked Aoki with two upkicks. One while he was standing and one while he had one knee on the ground. The ref calls for time. The announcers are saying that this is legal but that Aoki may have been hit with a shot to the groin. All the attention in the corner is being paid to Aoki’s eye and his vision and not his groin. Hansen’s corner is wondering what is going on. If this is for a groin kick then Aoki is milking this for everything it’s worth because he was about to get finished after those upkicks that badly damaged him. They re-start the fight with Aoki on top of Hansen. Hansen has an active guard and is landing some strikes on Aoki but nothing damaging. Hansen went for an arm bar and almost had it but Aoki countered nicely with some kicks and then a leg lock. Hansen countered back with some good elbows to the thigh area of Aoki. Aoki tried to lock on a reverse body triangle but Hansen escaped and got to his feet and briefly took Aoki’s back and then landed some strikes. Aoki got a double leg take down with about a minute forty left. Aoki is really not doing much while on top in this fight. This was a close round. Aoki spent most of the round on top but Hansen has come closer to finishing the fight. I’m not sure how they will score the upkicks that caused the stoppage.
R2- Hansen hit a couple strikes but then got clinched and taken down. Aoki is not doing anything on top so the fight is being stood up and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. Hansen came close to hitting a kick or knee to the head but Aoki got a take down. The ref moved the fighters to the center of the ring and Aoki quickly took mount position. Aoki goes for an arm bar with 45 seconds left as Hansen is blocking the move and checking with his corner to see how much time is left. Hansen rolled the wrong way and got caught with about 3 seconds left in the round and he tapped out. Wow, talk about a huge mistake by Hansen. All he had to do was hold on for about 3 seconds in the position that he was in instead of rolling over.
Winner and new champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Arm Bar) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Finals: Bibiano Fernandes (6-3)vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-6-1)
R1- Takaya landed an early strike and then went for a knee and got taken down. Fernandes went for a quick arm bar but came up empty and Takaya got on top. Fernandes quickly went for a leg lock but Takaya got out and quickly got back to his feet. Fernandes got a take down after he landed a strike. Fernandes stood them back up and jumped on Takaya’s back to try and get a Rear Naked Choke. The ref breaks the fighters and they re-start. Takaya landed a good right hand. Both guys are standing and landing some strikes as Fernandes continues to look for the take down. Fernandes got a take down with about two and a half minutes left in the round. Takaya put his back against the ropes and used the ropes to get back to his feet and then freed himself from Fernandes. Takaya swung with some good punches but Fernandes was able to push him off but he did sustain a cut near his eye during that exchange. Really good first round. Takaya looked like he hurt Fernandes at the end of the round.
R2- Fernandes countered a Takaya strike and knocked Takaya down. Takaya quickly got back up but Fernandez quickly got a take down. Fernandes quickly landed some punches and took Takaya’s back and Takaya stood up and moved Fernandes back to the corner and the referee broke the hold. Both guys throw some leather but neither is able to land anything solid. Takaya has some blood coming from his mouth and his left eye is swelling. Takaya landed some nice punches but Fernandes hung in there. Both guys are just swinging for the fences to try to win this fight. Awesome fight. This one is a toss up. I would probably have to give the fight to Fernandes because he came closer to finishing the fight and also scored a knock down in the second round. Really close round and one of the fights of the year.
Judges score the fight: Fernandes, Takaya and Fernandes
Winner and new champion: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Split)
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for the show. Tonight we will see the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Featherweight Grand Prix, Joachim Hansen will defend against Shinya Aoki and the Super Hulk Tournament continues!
Featherweight Grand Prix Reserve Fight- Daiki Hata (5-3) vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (7-7)
Miyata comes out to Bon Jovi. Hata beat semi-finalist Hideo Tokoro by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Featherweight Grand Prix but could not continue to the next round due to injury. Now he is better so he gets a spot in the reserve match. Michael Schiavello is in lust with Miyata’s body and has dubbed him “Sexy Miyata”.
R1- Miyata quickly takes Hata’s back and controlled him for a couple of minutes but couldn’t deliver any damage and the ref calls for a stand up with 6:30 left in the first round and delivers a yellow card to Hata. Miyata got a double leg take down with about 4 minutes left in the round. Miyata is able to take mount position with about 45 seconds left in the round and lands some Ground and Pound. Miyata is really controlling this fight so far but in DREAM the fight is judged on an overall basis and not by round.
R2- Miyata got a quick take down in the first half minute of the final round. Hata got up but Miyata slammed him back down with 3 minutes left in the round. Hata got back up and hit a couple of leg kicks and then Miyata went to take him down and Hata grabbed a guillotine choke and tried hard for the submission but Miyata hung in there and slipped out. Miyata got another take down in the final minute of the fight. Miyata controlled this fight for almost all of the fight but Hata came closer to finishing the fight. I’ve got Miyata taking this one.
Winner: Kazuyuki Miyata by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Hideo Tokoro (22-16-1) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (11-6-1)
Tokoro has reached the semi-finals by beating Abel Cullum via Rear Naked Choke in the second round. In the first round Tokoro actually lost to Daiki Hata by Unanimous Decision but Hata was injured so Tokoro took his place in the 2nd round. Takaya has advanced to the semi-finals by beating Jong Won-Kim by 2nd round TKO and by defeating Yoshiro Maeda by TKO in the second round. Takaya likes to “smack people in the face.”
R1- Takaya landed a couple of strikes at the two and a half minute mark of the fight. Tokoro tried a jumping high kick but missed and Takaya gave him a nice strike for his troubles but let him back up. Tokoro went for a take down but got stuffed and ate some kicks to his legs. Takaya is really controlling this fight and caught Tokoro with a combo but Tokoro clinched and pulled guard. Tokoro tried a knee and then hit a good right hand that buckled Takaya’s legs. Tokoro hit another strike and tried to pull guard on a triangle but Tokoro took his guard. Takaya wakes up and delivers some great Ground and Pound shots and it looked like the ref stopped the fight right after the bell but I think he was just calling for the end of the round. Takaya was dangerously close to finishing the fight. Really good first round.
R2- Takaya got Tokoro down and quickly finished him with some Ground and Pound. Looks like Takaya really hurt Tokoro at the end of the last round and just finished it here at the beginning of this round. Really good fight.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Bibiano Fernandes (5-3) vs. Joe Warren (2-0)
Fernandes is a 5-time world jiu jitsu champion. Fernandes advance to this point by defeating Masakazu Imanari and Takafumi Otsuka by decision. Joe Warren is a decorated wrestler who has defeated tournament favorite Kid Yamamoto and Chase Beebe in this tournament (these were his first two MMA fights).
R1- They clinched early and Warren almost got a take down but couldn’t hold it and then got a slam and landed in Bibiano’s guard. Bibiano locked in an arm bar and Joe Warren tapped Bibiano’s leg and submitted.
Post-fight Warren looks confused like he didn’t tap and the Bibiano comes at Warren and points at him (possibly flipping him the bird) and then takes off out of the ring and on the ramp again points at him. Really strange happenings after this fight finished. Looks like Bibiano has to be the favorite for the finals due to the time of this fight versus the time of the other semi-final.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Hong-Man Choi
Minowa beat Bob Sapp in the first round to advance and Hong-Man Choi defeated Jose Canseco. Yes, that Jose Canseco. Choi is 7’2” and 355 lbs. Minowa is 5’9” and 201 lbs.
R1- Minowa looks like he’s half the size of Choi. Minowa tried for a take down and got stuffed and Choi was briefly on top but then stood up. Minowa landed an over hand right but Choi answered with a knee. Minowa went for a take down and fought and got it with about 6 minutes left in the round. Minowa is landing some knees to Choi’s side but really isn’t doing much and the ref stands them up at 3 minutes left in the round and gives Choi a yellow card. Choi got top position on Minowa and landed some strikes but then stood back up. Not a real exciting round. Both guys look pretty tired.
R2-Minowa went for a take down and didn’t initially get it but he twisted around and got on top and tried for a leg lock and he got it and tapped out Choi. Good showing by Minowa just because of the huge size dis-advantage that he had.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (leg lock) R2
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Bob Sapp vs. Sokoudjou
Bob Sapp lost in the first round to Minowa but is filling in for Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi was pretty vocal in saying that he didn’t want to fight Sokoudjou because he thought he was on the gas. Sokoudjou beat Jan Nortje in the first round to advance.
R1- Sapp missed a wild right hand and got taken down. Sokoudjou put his knee on Sapp’s stomach and landed some Ground and Pound and eventually the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2) vs. Melchor Barracuda (2-3)
Kawajiri last fought at DREAM 9 where he beat JZ Calvacante by Unanimous Decision.
R1- Barracuda swung wildly to start but was clinched by Kawajiri. Kawajiri got him to the ground and took his guard. Kawajiri was able to move to the mount position. Kawajiri landed some good Ground and Pound and Barracuda’s corner stepped in and the ref stopped the fight. Very one-sided fight as was expected in this one. Kawajiri should be in line to face the winner of Hansen/Aoki.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO (Punches) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kazushi Sakuraba (24-12-1) vs. Rubin Williams
Is a pro boxer who is 29-8-1 as a boxer with 16 knockouts but has lost his last 6 fights as a boxer. He’s been training in MMA for one year. This fight was added to the show late to spur attendance due to the drawing power of Sakuraba. Sakuraba was last seen losing to Kiyoshi Tamura and Melvin Manhoef so he’s on a 2 fight losing streak coming into this fight.
R1- Sakuraba starts out with some leg kicks and you can tell Williams doesn’t like them. Sakuraba shoots in and Williams tries to clinch him on the ground to minimize damage. Sakuraba lands some strikes and tries to set up for an arm bar or a kimura. Williams taps out to a kimura. Sakuraba made quick work of Williams.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Kimura) R1
DREAM Lightweight Title Fight- Joachim Hansen © (19-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (21-4)
Joachim Hansen actually lost to Eddie Alvarez in the 2nd round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix but came back as a replacement for Alvarez when Alvarez won his semi-final fight but then could not continue to the finals due to an injury. Hansen won his reserve fight so he moved on to the finals and defeated Shinya Aoki by TKO (Strikes) in the first round in a pretty short fight. Since then Hansen has not fought but Aoki has gone on to fight a bunch of fights. At DREAM 6 Aoki beat Todd Moore by Rear Naked Choke in the first round, at the DREAM/K-1 Show he beat Eddie Alvarez for the WAMMA Lightweight Championship by Heel Hook Submission, at DREAM 7 he beat David Gardner by Rear Naked Choke Submission, at DREAM 8 he lost a Welterweight fight to Hayato Sakari by first round TKO (punches) in 27 seconds and at DREAM 10 he defeated Vitor Ribeiro by Unanimous Decision. Aoki is a consensus Top 5 Lightweight. He’s ranked by most as the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world behind BJ Penn.
R1- Hansen went for a big uppercut but missed and Aoki clinched him and got him to the ground. Hansen got back to his feet momentarily but Aoki wrestled him back down. Hansen kicked Aoki with two upkicks. One while he was standing and one while he had one knee on the ground. The ref calls for time. The announcers are saying that this is legal but that Aoki may have been hit with a shot to the groin. All the attention in the corner is being paid to Aoki’s eye and his vision and not his groin. Hansen’s corner is wondering what is going on. If this is for a groin kick then Aoki is milking this for everything it’s worth because he was about to get finished after those upkicks that badly damaged him. They re-start the fight with Aoki on top of Hansen. Hansen has an active guard and is landing some strikes on Aoki but nothing damaging. Hansen went for an arm bar and almost had it but Aoki countered nicely with some kicks and then a leg lock. Hansen countered back with some good elbows to the thigh area of Aoki. Aoki tried to lock on a reverse body triangle but Hansen escaped and got to his feet and briefly took Aoki’s back and then landed some strikes. Aoki got a double leg take down with about a minute forty left. Aoki is really not doing much while on top in this fight. This was a close round. Aoki spent most of the round on top but Hansen has come closer to finishing the fight. I’m not sure how they will score the upkicks that caused the stoppage.
R2- Hansen hit a couple strikes but then got clinched and taken down. Aoki is not doing anything on top so the fight is being stood up and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. Hansen came close to hitting a kick or knee to the head but Aoki got a take down. The ref moved the fighters to the center of the ring and Aoki quickly took mount position. Aoki goes for an arm bar with 45 seconds left as Hansen is blocking the move and checking with his corner to see how much time is left. Hansen rolled the wrong way and got caught with about 3 seconds left in the round and he tapped out. Wow, talk about a huge mistake by Hansen. All he had to do was hold on for about 3 seconds in the position that he was in instead of rolling over.
Winner and new champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Arm Bar) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Finals: Bibiano Fernandes (6-3)vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-6-1)
R1- Takaya landed an early strike and then went for a knee and got taken down. Fernandes went for a quick arm bar but came up empty and Takaya got on top. Fernandes quickly went for a leg lock but Takaya got out and quickly got back to his feet. Fernandes got a take down after he landed a strike. Fernandes stood them back up and jumped on Takaya’s back to try and get a Rear Naked Choke. The ref breaks the fighters and they re-start. Takaya landed a good right hand. Both guys are standing and landing some strikes as Fernandes continues to look for the take down. Fernandes got a take down with about two and a half minutes left in the round. Takaya put his back against the ropes and used the ropes to get back to his feet and then freed himself from Fernandes. Takaya swung with some good punches but Fernandes was able to push him off but he did sustain a cut near his eye during that exchange. Really good first round. Takaya looked like he hurt Fernandes at the end of the round.
R2- Fernandes countered a Takaya strike and knocked Takaya down. Takaya quickly got back up but Fernandez quickly got a take down. Fernandes quickly landed some punches and took Takaya’s back and Takaya stood up and moved Fernandes back to the corner and the referee broke the hold. Both guys throw some leather but neither is able to land anything solid. Takaya has some blood coming from his mouth and his left eye is swelling. Takaya landed some nice punches but Fernandes hung in there. Both guys are just swinging for the fences to try to win this fight. Awesome fight. This one is a toss up. I would probably have to give the fight to Fernandes because he came closer to finishing the fight and also scored a knock down in the second round. Really close round and one of the fights of the year.
Judges score the fight: Fernandes, Takaya and Fernandes
Winner and new champion: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Split)
Thursday, October 08, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Four Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Four
Last week we saw Roy Nelson beat Kimbo Slice and Team Rashad is now up 3 fights to 0. Roy said something to Rampage after the fight and Rampage pushed him but Roy kept walking.
Marcus Jones is bent over in the middle of the hall wet with sweat. Kimbo thinks he just came out of the shower but Jones says that he didn’t.
Team Rashad has begged Demico Rogers and Scott Junk as the top guys on Team Rampage and are plotting who to match them up against. Looks like they will set up Justin Wren against Scott Junk, Brendan Schaub against Demico, Matt Mitrione against Marcus Jones. They want to set it up so they have the top 4 guys at the finals. Wren says that he doesn’t want to fight Junk because they are best friends. The coaches told the guys not to say anything and Matt Mitrione spilled the beans to Team Rampage.
“I need a win like fish need water”- Rampage Jackson
Fight Announcement: Rashad picks Brendan Schaub vs. Demico Rogers.
Brendan Schaub (4-0) vs. Demico Rogers (4-0)
Before the fight they show Rashad’s coaches warming up Schaub and then they show Rampage’s guys just sitting around because Rampage and his coaches went out to get some food. Both guys are 6’4” with Demico having a 3” reach advantage.
R1- Demico went for a bad looking take down and Schaub easily blocked it. Both guys throw some leather and Demico got a take down. Demico was able to land some punches before Schaub pushed him out of the guard but then Demico was able to jump back into the guard. Demico passed the guard to side control and landed some elbows but Schaub slipped out and took Demico’s guard with 2 minutes left in the round. Schaub was able to catch Demico in a choke and Demico tapped. Demico was lying on his stomach and Rampage told him to get on his knees and then Schaub tapped him out.
Winner: Brendan Schaub by Submission (Choke) R1
Demico was just sitting by himself in the ring after the fight and Rashad came up and gave him some encouragement. Team Rashad is up 4-0 and Team Rampage is not looking like they are going to rebound anytime soon.
“We kickin’ Rampage’s ass”- Rashad Evans
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Last week we saw Roy Nelson beat Kimbo Slice and Team Rashad is now up 3 fights to 0. Roy said something to Rampage after the fight and Rampage pushed him but Roy kept walking.
Marcus Jones is bent over in the middle of the hall wet with sweat. Kimbo thinks he just came out of the shower but Jones says that he didn’t.
Team Rashad has begged Demico Rogers and Scott Junk as the top guys on Team Rampage and are plotting who to match them up against. Looks like they will set up Justin Wren against Scott Junk, Brendan Schaub against Demico, Matt Mitrione against Marcus Jones. They want to set it up so they have the top 4 guys at the finals. Wren says that he doesn’t want to fight Junk because they are best friends. The coaches told the guys not to say anything and Matt Mitrione spilled the beans to Team Rampage.
“I need a win like fish need water”- Rampage Jackson
Fight Announcement: Rashad picks Brendan Schaub vs. Demico Rogers.
Brendan Schaub (4-0) vs. Demico Rogers (4-0)
Before the fight they show Rashad’s coaches warming up Schaub and then they show Rampage’s guys just sitting around because Rampage and his coaches went out to get some food. Both guys are 6’4” with Demico having a 3” reach advantage.
R1- Demico went for a bad looking take down and Schaub easily blocked it. Both guys throw some leather and Demico got a take down. Demico was able to land some punches before Schaub pushed him out of the guard but then Demico was able to jump back into the guard. Demico passed the guard to side control and landed some elbows but Schaub slipped out and took Demico’s guard with 2 minutes left in the round. Schaub was able to catch Demico in a choke and Demico tapped. Demico was lying on his stomach and Rampage told him to get on his knees and then Schaub tapped him out.
Winner: Brendan Schaub by Submission (Choke) R1
Demico was just sitting by himself in the ring after the fight and Rashad came up and gave him some encouragement. Team Rashad is up 4-0 and Team Rampage is not looking like they are going to rebound anytime soon.
“We kickin’ Rampage’s ass”- Rashad Evans
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brendan Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Monday, October 05, 2009
MFC 22 "Payoff" 10/2/09 Re-Cap (HDNet)
Maximum Fighting Championship: Payoff
River Cree Casino
Enoch, Albert
October 2, 2009
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for this show. This is MFC 22 and we have a bunch of recognizable names on this card. This show is being broadcast live on HDNet. Jason Gregor is the backstage interviewer and he is joined backstage by Jason MacDonald and they discuss his Main Event fight tonight with Travis Lutter.
Lightweight Fight- Pete Spratt (19-13) vs. Nathan Gunn (7-0)
Spratt is a Muy Thai fighter and Gunn is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Gunn gets Spratt down immediately and controls the early part of the round. Spratt got back to his feet but then got taken right back down. Spratt got to his feet again but Gunn again took him down. Gunn is controlling but hasn’t done anything to hurt Spratt yet. Gunn took this round 10-9 and took Spratt down at will even though he didn’t inflict any damage.
R2- Spratt hit a big right hand to start off the round and followed it up with a kick and then a knee. Spratt was all over Gunn at the beginning of the round. Gunn instinctively clinched Spratt and was able to survive the onslaught. Gunn got a take down after he recovered some in the clinch and continued to recover after the take down. Spratt used the ropes to get out of a bad position and got a warning from the ref. Spratt went for a high kick but it was blocked. Out of nowhere Spratt loaded up a big right handed uppercut and knocked out Gunn. Gunn fell straight forward and Spratt knew he had the knockout and just walked away. Great finish by Spratt.
Winner: Pete Spratt by KO R2 4:19
Jason Gregor interviews MFC Lightweight Champion Antonio McKee. He will be fighting Carlo Prater tonight but the belt is not on the line as Prater did not make weight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (16-10) vs. Ryan Jimmo (10-1)
Eastman is a wrestler and Muy Thai fighter and a former UFC fighter and holds a victory over Rampage Jackson. Eastman is coming off a loss to Ricardo Arona. Jimmo is a karate specialist from Edmonton. Jimmo has a 5” height advantage and has not been defeated since his pro debut.
R1- Not a lot of action early on as Eastman is the aggressor as he is kind of stalking Jimmo but Jimmo is picking his shots and throwing more strikes. Eastman clinched Jimmo but Jimmo gets the better of the clinch by landing knees. Jimmo takes the first round 10-9. Jimmo out struck Eastman 27 to 9 in the first round.
R2- They clinched early in the round and then Eastman finally got a take down about half way through the round. Not a very good round from a fans stand point but I have Eastman taking it and tying up the fight 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Jimmo wins the early part of the fight by landing strikes in the clinch. Eastman got a take down with three minutes left in the round. Ref stands the fight up with 40 seconds and they clinched again. This one is a virtual toss-up. It will be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Eastman probably got the final round by getting the take down and controlling for a good majority of the round. I’m going to guess Eastman by Split Decision. Jimmo landed 65 strikes to Eastman’s 46. Jimmo has some pretty big swelling going on in the corner of his eye.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Jimmo, 29-28 Eastman, 29-28 Jimmo
Winner: Ryan Jimmo by Decision (Split)
Jason Gregor is backstage with Travis Lutter and they talk about his Main Event fight tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- David Heath (12-5) vs. Mike Nickels (7-2)
Both of these guys have fought for UFC. The only fight I saw of Nickels was his 2007 loss to Stephan Bonnar. Nickels has a 2” reach and 5” height advantage.
R1- Heath lands a couple of jabs early and you can already see the redness on the cheek of Nickels. Both guys are landing some decent strikes about mid-way through the round as they had a good exchange. Heath has opened up a cut on Nickels face. Heath took this first round as he landed better shots on Nickels and did more damage.
R2- Nickels opens up the round with a good punch and then clinches Heath and lands some elbows. Nickels is really pouring it on and Heath is just throwing wild punches to try and survive. Heath is hurt but he gets a minute to recover because his mouthpiece came out. Both guys are slugging it out. Nickels seems to be running out of gas a bit as he had some wide open punches on Death but didn’t have enough to put Heath out. Heath losses his mouthpiece again and Nickels punches him in the face as Heath looked down at it. The ref warns Heath that if it comes out again he will lose a point. This was a really good round, Nickels won this due to his performance in the first half of the round. Heath came back towards the end but couldn’t steal the round. It’s a 19-19 fight going into the final round.
So far Nickels has landed 90 punches to Heath’s 69 through 2 rounds.
R3- Heath losses his mouth piece again and he loses a point. Nickels lands several good punches about half way through the round that really has Heath rocked. Nickels went for a take down but got stuffed but then Heath got thrown down in the corner and Nickels jumped on him and took his back and tried to get a Rear Naked Choke and got the tap out. Both guys lost a lot of steam in the second round but this was still a fun fight.
Winner: Mike Nickels by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 4:02
Welterweight Fight- Luigi Fioravanti (15-5) vs. John Alessio (25-13)
Both of these guys have fought in the UFC. Luigi is a Kickboxer/BBJ fighter who trains with ATT. Alessio is a kickboxer/jiu jitsu specialist who trains at Xtreme Couture. The last I saw Luigi he lost to Anthony Johnson by TKO back in February in the UFC. John Alessio was in the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix this year but lost in the first round to Andre Galvao by submission in the first round.
R1- Pretty even fight through the first round. Almost looked straight up even, it was very close. Luigi landed 12 strikes in round one and Alessio landed 11. That’s a 10-10 round if it’s allowed to be scored that way.
R2- Luigi seems to be pushing the action a little more at the beginning of this round. This was another really close round. Luigi pressed the action but Alessio also hit a couple of nice punches towards the end of the round. This is about an even of a fight as you could have after two rounds. After two rounds Luigi has landed 36 strikes and Alessio has landed 27 so that means that Luigi out struck Alessio by 8 punches in the second round.
R3- Alessio shoots in for a quick take down but Luigi clinches and doesn’t go down. Alessio hit a SHOCKING knockout punch out of nowhere at the 3:30 mark of the round and this one is over. That one came out of nowhere. What a finish!
Winner: John Alessio by KO R3 1:34
Catch weight Fight (158 lbs) Antonio McKee (25-3-2) vs. Carlo Prater (24-6)
Prater says he’s extremely focused and trained hard for the fight but he didn’t make weight so I’m confused. McKee is a wrestling specialist. This was going to be a title fight for McKee’s title but Prater did not make weight. McKee has gone 11-0-1 since a decision loss to Karo Parisyan in 2003. McKee has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- McKee got a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the fight. McKee has landed some good strikes and has busted Prater open. At the mid-way point of the round HDNet puts up a graphic that shows McKee has landed 17 strikes to 0 for Prater. This was pretty much a 10-8 round because I don’t think Prater even landed a strike.
R2- McKee shot in at the one minute mark and got another take down. McKee is landing some punches but nothing that is putting the fight in jeopardy. The ref stops the fight to have Prater’s eye checked out. The ref tries to start the fight back on their feet but McKee reminds him he had Prater on the ground so the ref puts McKee back in Prater’s guard. The ref stands the fight back up with one minute left in the round. McKee gets another take down about 15 seconds after the stand up but Prater grabs a choke on the way down but could not lock it in. McKee takes this round 10-9 and is up 20-17 going into the third and final round.
R3- Prater keeps from getting taken down in this round and is able to land some punches to McKee’s side and back but McKee fought through and got a brief take down and then got a slam to get Prater down in the last thirty seconds of the fight. Not a very exciting third round but McKee definitely wins this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of McKee
Winner: Antonio McKee by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Travis Lutter (9-5) vs. Jason MacDonald (21-12)
Both guys are BJJ fighters and are former UFC fighters. MacDonald is from Calgary and gets a good ovation from the crowd on his entrance. MacDonald is only 3-5 in his last 8 fighters. His best wins have come against Chris Leben and Ed Herman. Out of his 21 wins he has won 17 of them by submission. MacDonald has a large 3” height and 6” reach advantage.
R1- Lutter got a take down with a minute and a half gone from the round. Lutter worked and got the mount at the mid-way point of the round. MacDonald tried to slip out but Lutter took MacDonald’s back. Lutter almost got a Rear Naked Choke but MacDonald was able to maneuver out of the submission and survive the round. Lutter up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Lutter got a take down within the first minute of the round and quickly took side control. Lutter is strictly trying to pass guard and is not looking to strike. Lutter is finally able to get the mount with about 1:45 left in the second round. McDonald gave up his back to get out of the mount and Lutter took his back but was not able to do anything with it as the round ended. Lutter has really controlled this fight and is up 20-18. While Lutter has dominated he hasn’t inflicted any damage on MacDonald so far in the fight.
R3- MacDonald is able to turn the tables on Lutter and get a takedown within the first minute of the round. MacDonald is able to hit some short elbows. MacDonald clearly won this round but didn’t win it decisively enough to make it 10-8. Lutter will win this fight 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Lutter
Winner: Travis Lutter by Decision (Unanimous)
River Cree Casino
Enoch, Albert
October 2, 2009
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for this show. This is MFC 22 and we have a bunch of recognizable names on this card. This show is being broadcast live on HDNet. Jason Gregor is the backstage interviewer and he is joined backstage by Jason MacDonald and they discuss his Main Event fight tonight with Travis Lutter.
Lightweight Fight- Pete Spratt (19-13) vs. Nathan Gunn (7-0)
Spratt is a Muy Thai fighter and Gunn is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Gunn gets Spratt down immediately and controls the early part of the round. Spratt got back to his feet but then got taken right back down. Spratt got to his feet again but Gunn again took him down. Gunn is controlling but hasn’t done anything to hurt Spratt yet. Gunn took this round 10-9 and took Spratt down at will even though he didn’t inflict any damage.
R2- Spratt hit a big right hand to start off the round and followed it up with a kick and then a knee. Spratt was all over Gunn at the beginning of the round. Gunn instinctively clinched Spratt and was able to survive the onslaught. Gunn got a take down after he recovered some in the clinch and continued to recover after the take down. Spratt used the ropes to get out of a bad position and got a warning from the ref. Spratt went for a high kick but it was blocked. Out of nowhere Spratt loaded up a big right handed uppercut and knocked out Gunn. Gunn fell straight forward and Spratt knew he had the knockout and just walked away. Great finish by Spratt.
Winner: Pete Spratt by KO R2 4:19
Jason Gregor interviews MFC Lightweight Champion Antonio McKee. He will be fighting Carlo Prater tonight but the belt is not on the line as Prater did not make weight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Marvin Eastman (16-10) vs. Ryan Jimmo (10-1)
Eastman is a wrestler and Muy Thai fighter and a former UFC fighter and holds a victory over Rampage Jackson. Eastman is coming off a loss to Ricardo Arona. Jimmo is a karate specialist from Edmonton. Jimmo has a 5” height advantage and has not been defeated since his pro debut.
R1- Not a lot of action early on as Eastman is the aggressor as he is kind of stalking Jimmo but Jimmo is picking his shots and throwing more strikes. Eastman clinched Jimmo but Jimmo gets the better of the clinch by landing knees. Jimmo takes the first round 10-9. Jimmo out struck Eastman 27 to 9 in the first round.
R2- They clinched early in the round and then Eastman finally got a take down about half way through the round. Not a very good round from a fans stand point but I have Eastman taking it and tying up the fight 19-19 going into the final round.
R3- Jimmo wins the early part of the fight by landing strikes in the clinch. Eastman got a take down with three minutes left in the round. Ref stands the fight up with 40 seconds and they clinched again. This one is a virtual toss-up. It will be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Eastman probably got the final round by getting the take down and controlling for a good majority of the round. I’m going to guess Eastman by Split Decision. Jimmo landed 65 strikes to Eastman’s 46. Jimmo has some pretty big swelling going on in the corner of his eye.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Jimmo, 29-28 Eastman, 29-28 Jimmo
Winner: Ryan Jimmo by Decision (Split)
Jason Gregor is backstage with Travis Lutter and they talk about his Main Event fight tonight.
Light Heavyweight Fight- David Heath (12-5) vs. Mike Nickels (7-2)
Both of these guys have fought for UFC. The only fight I saw of Nickels was his 2007 loss to Stephan Bonnar. Nickels has a 2” reach and 5” height advantage.
R1- Heath lands a couple of jabs early and you can already see the redness on the cheek of Nickels. Both guys are landing some decent strikes about mid-way through the round as they had a good exchange. Heath has opened up a cut on Nickels face. Heath took this first round as he landed better shots on Nickels and did more damage.
R2- Nickels opens up the round with a good punch and then clinches Heath and lands some elbows. Nickels is really pouring it on and Heath is just throwing wild punches to try and survive. Heath is hurt but he gets a minute to recover because his mouthpiece came out. Both guys are slugging it out. Nickels seems to be running out of gas a bit as he had some wide open punches on Death but didn’t have enough to put Heath out. Heath losses his mouthpiece again and Nickels punches him in the face as Heath looked down at it. The ref warns Heath that if it comes out again he will lose a point. This was a really good round, Nickels won this due to his performance in the first half of the round. Heath came back towards the end but couldn’t steal the round. It’s a 19-19 fight going into the final round.
So far Nickels has landed 90 punches to Heath’s 69 through 2 rounds.
R3- Heath losses his mouth piece again and he loses a point. Nickels lands several good punches about half way through the round that really has Heath rocked. Nickels went for a take down but got stuffed but then Heath got thrown down in the corner and Nickels jumped on him and took his back and tried to get a Rear Naked Choke and got the tap out. Both guys lost a lot of steam in the second round but this was still a fun fight.
Winner: Mike Nickels by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 4:02
Welterweight Fight- Luigi Fioravanti (15-5) vs. John Alessio (25-13)
Both of these guys have fought in the UFC. Luigi is a Kickboxer/BBJ fighter who trains with ATT. Alessio is a kickboxer/jiu jitsu specialist who trains at Xtreme Couture. The last I saw Luigi he lost to Anthony Johnson by TKO back in February in the UFC. John Alessio was in the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix this year but lost in the first round to Andre Galvao by submission in the first round.
R1- Pretty even fight through the first round. Almost looked straight up even, it was very close. Luigi landed 12 strikes in round one and Alessio landed 11. That’s a 10-10 round if it’s allowed to be scored that way.
R2- Luigi seems to be pushing the action a little more at the beginning of this round. This was another really close round. Luigi pressed the action but Alessio also hit a couple of nice punches towards the end of the round. This is about an even of a fight as you could have after two rounds. After two rounds Luigi has landed 36 strikes and Alessio has landed 27 so that means that Luigi out struck Alessio by 8 punches in the second round.
R3- Alessio shoots in for a quick take down but Luigi clinches and doesn’t go down. Alessio hit a SHOCKING knockout punch out of nowhere at the 3:30 mark of the round and this one is over. That one came out of nowhere. What a finish!
Winner: John Alessio by KO R3 1:34
Catch weight Fight (158 lbs) Antonio McKee (25-3-2) vs. Carlo Prater (24-6)
Prater says he’s extremely focused and trained hard for the fight but he didn’t make weight so I’m confused. McKee is a wrestling specialist. This was going to be a title fight for McKee’s title but Prater did not make weight. McKee has gone 11-0-1 since a decision loss to Karo Parisyan in 2003. McKee has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- McKee got a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the fight. McKee has landed some good strikes and has busted Prater open. At the mid-way point of the round HDNet puts up a graphic that shows McKee has landed 17 strikes to 0 for Prater. This was pretty much a 10-8 round because I don’t think Prater even landed a strike.
R2- McKee shot in at the one minute mark and got another take down. McKee is landing some punches but nothing that is putting the fight in jeopardy. The ref stops the fight to have Prater’s eye checked out. The ref tries to start the fight back on their feet but McKee reminds him he had Prater on the ground so the ref puts McKee back in Prater’s guard. The ref stands the fight back up with one minute left in the round. McKee gets another take down about 15 seconds after the stand up but Prater grabs a choke on the way down but could not lock it in. McKee takes this round 10-9 and is up 20-17 going into the third and final round.
R3- Prater keeps from getting taken down in this round and is able to land some punches to McKee’s side and back but McKee fought through and got a brief take down and then got a slam to get Prater down in the last thirty seconds of the fight. Not a very exciting third round but McKee definitely wins this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of McKee
Winner: Antonio McKee by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Travis Lutter (9-5) vs. Jason MacDonald (21-12)
Both guys are BJJ fighters and are former UFC fighters. MacDonald is from Calgary and gets a good ovation from the crowd on his entrance. MacDonald is only 3-5 in his last 8 fighters. His best wins have come against Chris Leben and Ed Herman. Out of his 21 wins he has won 17 of them by submission. MacDonald has a large 3” height and 6” reach advantage.
R1- Lutter got a take down with a minute and a half gone from the round. Lutter worked and got the mount at the mid-way point of the round. MacDonald tried to slip out but Lutter took MacDonald’s back. Lutter almost got a Rear Naked Choke but MacDonald was able to maneuver out of the submission and survive the round. Lutter up 10-9 after one round.
R2- Lutter got a take down within the first minute of the round and quickly took side control. Lutter is strictly trying to pass guard and is not looking to strike. Lutter is finally able to get the mount with about 1:45 left in the second round. McDonald gave up his back to get out of the mount and Lutter took his back but was not able to do anything with it as the round ended. Lutter has really controlled this fight and is up 20-18. While Lutter has dominated he hasn’t inflicted any damage on MacDonald so far in the fight.
R3- MacDonald is able to turn the tables on Lutter and get a takedown within the first minute of the round. MacDonald is able to hit some short elbows. MacDonald clearly won this round but didn’t win it decisively enough to make it 10-8. Lutter will win this fight 29-28.
Judges score the fight: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Lutter
Winner: Travis Lutter by Decision (Unanimous)
Thursday, October 01, 2009
TUF 10 Heavyweights Episode Three Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Three
“The Enemy”
In the first two weeks we’ve seen Team Rashad take the first two fights and Rashad has picked Roy Nelson to take on Kimbo Slice on tonight’s show. This will most likely be the highest rating in the history of TUF (which was already previously set this season).
The guys are sitting around a table talking about how this fight could have been the Main Event of a big card with Kimbo netting around $500K and Roy getting around $100K. Rashad thinks Roy has enough experience to step into the cage with Kimbo whereas some of the other guys may not have.
Keith Jardine (from TUF season 2 and a current UFC fighter) drops by Team Rashad’s training session. Jardine and Rashad currently train together at Greg Jackson’s camp. Rashad and Rampage predictably get into a war of words and James McSweeney and Rampage get into a small back and forth as well.
Team Rampage is mostly working with Kimbo on take down defense and getting up off his back when he’s on the ground.
“That’s a big belly. Biggest belly I’ve ever seen. I wonder if his feet get wet when he takes a shower. I bet he hasn’t seen his little friend in years.”- Rampage on Roy Nelson (when discussing Kimbo’s ability to get up if Roy was on top of him in his guard)
During training Marcus Jones seems to be having some trouble with one of his knees. Marcus wants to fight next and Rampage tells him to get his knee better first. Marcus likes flowers, comic books and dungeons & dragons.
Heavyweight Fight- Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. Kimbo Slice (3-1)
Kimbo has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Roy has the obvious advantage in weight and experience.
R1- Both guys are a little tentative early not wanting to step in too aggressively and make a big mistake. Kimbo lands the first meaningful punches of the fight and starts to really swing at Roy on the fence and Roy clinches him. Kimbo did a good job of avoiding the take down for a while but then Roy pulled him from the cage and swept his leg and got him down and quickly mounted Kimbo with about a minute and a half left in the round. Roy moved from mount to side control and landed some punches. Roy got him in a crucifix position and Roy landed a bunch of punches but Kimbo got saved by the bell and fairly quickly got to his feet. Round One is scored in favor of Roy Nelson.
R2- Kimbo swings to start the round and connected with some shots but Roy was able to get a take down. Roy again took side control and went for the crucifix again. Roy was able to land some punches in the crucifix position and Kimbo was unable to get out of that position and the ref stopped the fight.
Dana White was critical of the stoppage and said that Roy’s punches were not hard enough to warrant stopping the fight. Dana says that Kimbo did step up and that he needs to use the rest of his time on the show to learn and he will becoming a better fighter. Dana also says that Kimbo could fight again if there is an injury or someone has to leave.
Winner: Roy Nelson by TKO (Punches) R2
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brandon Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rampage #3: Demico Rogers
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
“The Enemy”
In the first two weeks we’ve seen Team Rashad take the first two fights and Rashad has picked Roy Nelson to take on Kimbo Slice on tonight’s show. This will most likely be the highest rating in the history of TUF (which was already previously set this season).
The guys are sitting around a table talking about how this fight could have been the Main Event of a big card with Kimbo netting around $500K and Roy getting around $100K. Rashad thinks Roy has enough experience to step into the cage with Kimbo whereas some of the other guys may not have.
Keith Jardine (from TUF season 2 and a current UFC fighter) drops by Team Rashad’s training session. Jardine and Rashad currently train together at Greg Jackson’s camp. Rashad and Rampage predictably get into a war of words and James McSweeney and Rampage get into a small back and forth as well.
Team Rampage is mostly working with Kimbo on take down defense and getting up off his back when he’s on the ground.
“That’s a big belly. Biggest belly I’ve ever seen. I wonder if his feet get wet when he takes a shower. I bet he hasn’t seen his little friend in years.”- Rampage on Roy Nelson (when discussing Kimbo’s ability to get up if Roy was on top of him in his guard)
During training Marcus Jones seems to be having some trouble with one of his knees. Marcus wants to fight next and Rampage tells him to get his knee better first. Marcus likes flowers, comic books and dungeons & dragons.
Heavyweight Fight- Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. Kimbo Slice (3-1)
Kimbo has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage. Roy has the obvious advantage in weight and experience.
R1- Both guys are a little tentative early not wanting to step in too aggressively and make a big mistake. Kimbo lands the first meaningful punches of the fight and starts to really swing at Roy on the fence and Roy clinches him. Kimbo did a good job of avoiding the take down for a while but then Roy pulled him from the cage and swept his leg and got him down and quickly mounted Kimbo with about a minute and a half left in the round. Roy moved from mount to side control and landed some punches. Roy got him in a crucifix position and Roy landed a bunch of punches but Kimbo got saved by the bell and fairly quickly got to his feet. Round One is scored in favor of Roy Nelson.
R2- Kimbo swings to start the round and connected with some shots but Roy was able to get a take down. Roy again took side control and went for the crucifix again. Roy was able to land some punches in the crucifix position and Kimbo was unable to get out of that position and the ref stopped the fight.
Dana White was critical of the stoppage and said that Roy’s punches were not hard enough to warrant stopping the fight. Dana says that Kimbo did step up and that he needs to use the rest of his time on the show to learn and he will becoming a better fighter. Dana also says that Kimbo could fight again if there is an injury or someone has to leave.
Winner: Roy Nelson by TKO (Punches) R2
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rashad #2: Brandon Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rampage #3: Demico Rogers
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Strikeforce Challengers Series 9/25/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce Challengers Series
Tulsa, Oklahoma
September 25, 2009
This is the third Strikeforce Challengers Series event on Showtime. Mauro Ranallo, Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich are the announcers for tonight’s event. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.
Heavyweight Fight- Daniel Cormier (0-0) vs. Gary Frazier (0-0)
This is the MMA debut for both fighters. Cormier was an Olympic wrestler and Frazier has a background in football and track. Frazier is listed as a boxer/wrestler. Cormier is training under Bob Cook at the American Kickboxing Academy (Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Cain Velasquez, Josh Thomson). Muhammed Lawal is in Cormier’s corner and is one of the reasons that Cormier got his start in MMA. Frazier has a 5.5” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Cormier took the center of the cage and Frazier seems to be content to back off and try to look for an opening but not really any action in the first minute of the fight. Cormier landed the first strikes of the fight and then stuffed a take down attempt. Frazier runs away from Cormier then tries to dive at him but Cormier jumps on top of him and hits him with some Ground and Pound as Frazier is turtled up. Cormier was able to switch position and took side control and landed some punches. Frazier gets back up and runs away from Cormier and then throws some strikes that back off Cormier. Good round for Cormier as he easily took this round. It was a borderline 10-8 round.
R2- Cormier tried for a single leg and Frazier avoided it by grabbing onto the cage on three separated instances. He should have had a point deducted because he clearly did it twice more after he was warned and was able to avoid a take down due to an illegal activity. Cormier landed some strikes about half way through the round. Frazier went for a knee but missed and slipped and Cormier jumped on top and landed some hammer fists. Cormier passed guard to the mount and landed some more Ground and Pound. Frazier gave up his back and Cormier landed some punches on his ears and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Good debut by Cormier. Frazier was clearly out of his league in this fight.
Winner: Daniel Cormer by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:39
Catchweight Fight- Thomas Longacre (5-0) vs. Travis Calanoc (4-0)
Colanoc is from Tulsa and is listed as a boxer/jiu jitsu fighter. Longacre is from Tyler, Texas and is listed as a kickboxer. Longacre is the XFL (whatever that is) Featherweight Champion. Longacre has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight. Longacre is listed at 148 lbs and Calanoc is listed at 146.5 so not sure if both guys missed weight for this fight or what.
R1- Longacre landed a combo in the first minute that knocked Calanoc back to the cage but couldn’t tell if it was a punch or a slip to avoid a punch. Longacre is throwing a lot of strikes and has taken the center of the cage. Longacre looked really good early but he went for a head kick and Calanoc blocked it and landed a knee and then a punch that hurt Longacre. Longacre was able to clinch so that he had some time to recover. Calanoc was able to trip Longacre and tried to pull guard with a guillotine but he slipped right off and Longacre sat down in his guard but he couldn’t hold the position. Really good first round with some twists and turns. Longacre looked really good early but Calanoc came closer to stopping the fight. This round could have gone either way.
R2- Longacre takes the center of the octagon like he did in the first half of last round. Fairly even round with Longacre being more aggressive and looking more confident. Longacre landed a really good combo at the four minute mark. Calanoc pulled guard and grabbed a guillotine but he couldn’t hold it and Longacre quickly got back to his feet. Longacre took this round.
R3- Longacre got a take down about a minute into the fight and quickly took side control but he gave up the position. Longacre is again winning the stand up battle in this round. Calanoc tries to pull guard with a guillotine choke but Longacre quickly slips out and ends in Calanoc’s guard. Calanoc went for an arm bar but Longacre avoided it and got back to his feet. Both guys throw in the last ten seconds trying to land the punch that ends the fight. Longacre is going to win this round and will win the fight. Good fight.
Judges score cards say: All three judges score the fight 30-27
Winner: Thomas Longacre by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Tyron Woodley (3-0) vs. Zack Light (6-8)
Woodley is a two-time All-American wrestler from Missouri and Zack Light is also a college wrestler. Zack Light is also the wrestling coach at the Wolfslair (Michael Bisping, Rampage Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Paul Kelly) in the UK. All 3 of Woodley’s wins have come by submission and he trains with American Top Team (Denis Kang, JZ Calvancante, Jorge Santiago, Thiago Silva, Mike Brown, Luis Cane).
R1- Woodley has some quick strikes. Woodley got a slam on Light about one and a half minutes into the fight. Woodley was able to get mount and land some strikes and then clamped in an arm triangle. Woodley couldn’t finish Light and went back to full mount. Good round by Woodley, he looked solid.
R2- Light came in for a punch and Woodley caught him with a knee. Then Woodley landed a right hand that floored Light. Light quickly got up but Woodley got a fast take down. Woodley again went for the arm triangle but gave it up in favor of the full mount and some Ground and Pound. Woodley again went for the arm triangle. The fighters went back to their feet with two minutes left in the round and Woodley got another take down and mounted. Light pushed off the cage and Woodley clamped in an arm bar and Light tapped. Great counter by Woodley. Woodley looked really good, can’t wait to see him fight again.
Winner: Tyron Woodley by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 3:38
Heavyweight Fight- Ray Sefo (1-0) vs. Kevin Jordan (11-7)
Jordan played football at Memphis and is listed as a boxer/jiu jitsu fighter. Sefo is a 6-time World Champion Kickboxer. Sefo has the highest knockout ratio in K-1. Sefo has not fought in MMA since 2005. Jordan has a 3.5” height and 3” reach advantage. Sefo has been training at Xtreme Couture. Shawn Thompkins is in Sefo’s corner for the fight.
R1- Sefo lands a couple of kicks and Jordan goes for a take down but Sefo rolls over on top. Sefo tried to pass and he got reversed and Jordan took side control. Jordan went for a key lock but Sefo held on to his arm and avoid the submission. Jordan transitioned to full mount and lands some punches. Sefo is able to survive the round but Jordan definitely takes round one.
R2- Jordan went for a take down right off the bat and got stuffed. Jordan looked like he hurt his leg or his knee and didn’t get up. Sefo seized the opportunity and jumped down on Jordan and then Jordan pushed him off but couldn’t stand up and tapped out. Well that was a freak injury. Sefo was lucky to get out of here with a win. He definitely needs to work on his ground game if he wants to continue in MMA.
Winner: Ray Sefo by TKO (Knee Injury) R2 0:24
Middleweight Fight- Tim Kennedy (10-2) vs. Zak Cummings (10-0)
Kennedy is 1-0 in Strikeforce while Cummings is making his Strikeforce debut. Kennedy beat Nick Thompson in his last fight for Strikeforce. Zak Cummings is listed as a jiu jitsu fighter. Kennedy is listed as a kickboxer. Kennedy is a Green Beret trained in Special Forces.
R1- Kennedy went for a take down and landed it within the first 30 seconds of the fight. Cummings gave up his back and Kennedy landed some strikes and Cummings moved back to his back. Kennedy is landed some good strikes on Cummings. Kennedy is just all over Cummings. Kennedy took this round 10-8. Cummings has a good size mouse on his eye and looks like he has a cut right above his right eye.
R2- Kennedy went for a choke about two minutes into the round but couldn’t lock it in. Cummings went for a take down but Kennedy sprawled out and clamped on a north/south choke and Cummings tapped out. Great fight for Kennedy.
Winner: Tim Kennedy by Submission (North/South Choke) R2 2:43
Tulsa, Oklahoma
September 25, 2009
This is the third Strikeforce Challengers Series event on Showtime. Mauro Ranallo, Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich are the announcers for tonight’s event. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.
Heavyweight Fight- Daniel Cormier (0-0) vs. Gary Frazier (0-0)
This is the MMA debut for both fighters. Cormier was an Olympic wrestler and Frazier has a background in football and track. Frazier is listed as a boxer/wrestler. Cormier is training under Bob Cook at the American Kickboxing Academy (Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Cain Velasquez, Josh Thomson). Muhammed Lawal is in Cormier’s corner and is one of the reasons that Cormier got his start in MMA. Frazier has a 5.5” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Cormier took the center of the cage and Frazier seems to be content to back off and try to look for an opening but not really any action in the first minute of the fight. Cormier landed the first strikes of the fight and then stuffed a take down attempt. Frazier runs away from Cormier then tries to dive at him but Cormier jumps on top of him and hits him with some Ground and Pound as Frazier is turtled up. Cormier was able to switch position and took side control and landed some punches. Frazier gets back up and runs away from Cormier and then throws some strikes that back off Cormier. Good round for Cormier as he easily took this round. It was a borderline 10-8 round.
R2- Cormier tried for a single leg and Frazier avoided it by grabbing onto the cage on three separated instances. He should have had a point deducted because he clearly did it twice more after he was warned and was able to avoid a take down due to an illegal activity. Cormier landed some strikes about half way through the round. Frazier went for a knee but missed and slipped and Cormier jumped on top and landed some hammer fists. Cormier passed guard to the mount and landed some more Ground and Pound. Frazier gave up his back and Cormier landed some punches on his ears and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.
Good debut by Cormier. Frazier was clearly out of his league in this fight.
Winner: Daniel Cormer by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:39
Catchweight Fight- Thomas Longacre (5-0) vs. Travis Calanoc (4-0)
Colanoc is from Tulsa and is listed as a boxer/jiu jitsu fighter. Longacre is from Tyler, Texas and is listed as a kickboxer. Longacre is the XFL (whatever that is) Featherweight Champion. Longacre has a 3.5” reach advantage in this fight. Longacre is listed at 148 lbs and Calanoc is listed at 146.5 so not sure if both guys missed weight for this fight or what.
R1- Longacre landed a combo in the first minute that knocked Calanoc back to the cage but couldn’t tell if it was a punch or a slip to avoid a punch. Longacre is throwing a lot of strikes and has taken the center of the cage. Longacre looked really good early but he went for a head kick and Calanoc blocked it and landed a knee and then a punch that hurt Longacre. Longacre was able to clinch so that he had some time to recover. Calanoc was able to trip Longacre and tried to pull guard with a guillotine but he slipped right off and Longacre sat down in his guard but he couldn’t hold the position. Really good first round with some twists and turns. Longacre looked really good early but Calanoc came closer to stopping the fight. This round could have gone either way.
R2- Longacre takes the center of the octagon like he did in the first half of last round. Fairly even round with Longacre being more aggressive and looking more confident. Longacre landed a really good combo at the four minute mark. Calanoc pulled guard and grabbed a guillotine but he couldn’t hold it and Longacre quickly got back to his feet. Longacre took this round.
R3- Longacre got a take down about a minute into the fight and quickly took side control but he gave up the position. Longacre is again winning the stand up battle in this round. Calanoc tries to pull guard with a guillotine choke but Longacre quickly slips out and ends in Calanoc’s guard. Calanoc went for an arm bar but Longacre avoided it and got back to his feet. Both guys throw in the last ten seconds trying to land the punch that ends the fight. Longacre is going to win this round and will win the fight. Good fight.
Judges score cards say: All three judges score the fight 30-27
Winner: Thomas Longacre by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Tyron Woodley (3-0) vs. Zack Light (6-8)
Woodley is a two-time All-American wrestler from Missouri and Zack Light is also a college wrestler. Zack Light is also the wrestling coach at the Wolfslair (Michael Bisping, Rampage Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Paul Kelly) in the UK. All 3 of Woodley’s wins have come by submission and he trains with American Top Team (Denis Kang, JZ Calvancante, Jorge Santiago, Thiago Silva, Mike Brown, Luis Cane).
R1- Woodley has some quick strikes. Woodley got a slam on Light about one and a half minutes into the fight. Woodley was able to get mount and land some strikes and then clamped in an arm triangle. Woodley couldn’t finish Light and went back to full mount. Good round by Woodley, he looked solid.
R2- Light came in for a punch and Woodley caught him with a knee. Then Woodley landed a right hand that floored Light. Light quickly got up but Woodley got a fast take down. Woodley again went for the arm triangle but gave it up in favor of the full mount and some Ground and Pound. Woodley again went for the arm triangle. The fighters went back to their feet with two minutes left in the round and Woodley got another take down and mounted. Light pushed off the cage and Woodley clamped in an arm bar and Light tapped. Great counter by Woodley. Woodley looked really good, can’t wait to see him fight again.
Winner: Tyron Woodley by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 3:38
Heavyweight Fight- Ray Sefo (1-0) vs. Kevin Jordan (11-7)
Jordan played football at Memphis and is listed as a boxer/jiu jitsu fighter. Sefo is a 6-time World Champion Kickboxer. Sefo has the highest knockout ratio in K-1. Sefo has not fought in MMA since 2005. Jordan has a 3.5” height and 3” reach advantage. Sefo has been training at Xtreme Couture. Shawn Thompkins is in Sefo’s corner for the fight.
R1- Sefo lands a couple of kicks and Jordan goes for a take down but Sefo rolls over on top. Sefo tried to pass and he got reversed and Jordan took side control. Jordan went for a key lock but Sefo held on to his arm and avoid the submission. Jordan transitioned to full mount and lands some punches. Sefo is able to survive the round but Jordan definitely takes round one.
R2- Jordan went for a take down right off the bat and got stuffed. Jordan looked like he hurt his leg or his knee and didn’t get up. Sefo seized the opportunity and jumped down on Jordan and then Jordan pushed him off but couldn’t stand up and tapped out. Well that was a freak injury. Sefo was lucky to get out of here with a win. He definitely needs to work on his ground game if he wants to continue in MMA.
Winner: Ray Sefo by TKO (Knee Injury) R2 0:24
Middleweight Fight- Tim Kennedy (10-2) vs. Zak Cummings (10-0)
Kennedy is 1-0 in Strikeforce while Cummings is making his Strikeforce debut. Kennedy beat Nick Thompson in his last fight for Strikeforce. Zak Cummings is listed as a jiu jitsu fighter. Kennedy is listed as a kickboxer. Kennedy is a Green Beret trained in Special Forces.
R1- Kennedy went for a take down and landed it within the first 30 seconds of the fight. Cummings gave up his back and Kennedy landed some strikes and Cummings moved back to his back. Kennedy is landed some good strikes on Cummings. Kennedy is just all over Cummings. Kennedy took this round 10-8. Cummings has a good size mouse on his eye and looks like he has a cut right above his right eye.
R2- Kennedy went for a choke about two minutes into the round but couldn’t lock it in. Cummings went for a take down but Kennedy sprawled out and clamped on a north/south choke and Cummings tapped out. Great fight for Kennedy.
Winner: Tim Kennedy by Submission (North/South Choke) R2 2:43
UFC 103 "Franklin vs. Belfort" Re-Cap
UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort
9/19/09
Dallas, Texas
American Airlines Center
Vitor Belfort makes his return tonight against Rich Franklin in a 195 pound catch weight fight. Junior dos Santos will fight Mirko Cro Cop in an important fight in the Heavyweight Division. Josh Koscheck greats Frank Trigg in his return to the Octagon and top Welterweight contender Martin Kampmann will be in action.
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (13-2) vs. Hermes Franca (20-7)
Tyson Griffin is coming off of a Unanimous Decision win over Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 18. Hermes Franca comes out to the same music Chipper Jones does when he comes to bat (Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne). Franca came in over weight at 159 lbs. Griffin agreed to go ahead with the fight. Tyson Griffin comes out to the theme from Rocky, but it has nowhere near the impact of when Matt Serra used it in his fight against Matt Hughes (although Serra would go on to lose a close decision). Tyson Griffin has had “Fight of the Night” in 5 of his 8 UFC fights, that’s a pretty impressive statistic.
R1- Griffin is landing some strikes early. Griffin got Franca off his feet but he popped right back up. Franca really hasn’t brought any offense in this first round. Griffin wins this round with a comfortable 10-9 but Franca doesn’t look like he’s been hurt. Not sure why he didn’t make weight but he looks lethargic.
R2- Hermes comes out firing wildly to start the second round. Franca grabbed Griffin’s leg on a kick but Griffin was able to strike his way out. Just as I was thinking that Franca looked slow tonight Griffin popped him with a straight right hand. Franca hit the floor and Griffin jumped on top. Griffin landed a bunch of punches and Hermes hung in there for a while but Griffin ended up over powering him for the TKO victory. Good win by Griffin tonight as he came ready to fight and I’m not sure Hermes did.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by TKO (Punches) R1 3:26
Jon Fitch is in attendance at the fights tonight.
UFC 104 is Lyoto Machida defending the UFC Light Heavyweight Title against Shogun Rua on October 24th in Los Angeles. Ben Rothwell will also take on undefeated Cain Velasquez on the under card.
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (14-4) vs. Frank Trigg (19-6)
Koscheck is in need of a win after falling to Paulo Thiago in an upset and is only 1-2 in his last 3 fights. This is Trigg’s first fight since his return to the UFC. Trigg is fighting out of Xtreme Couture. Trigg comes out to LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”. Koscheck counters with “Higher Ground” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Koscheck has had some time off since his last loss as he has been nursing a broken foot.
R1- Trigg landed a good right early but Josh absorbed the blow nicely. Koscheck caught Trigg with a looping right hand that looked like it may have caught him behind the ear and it knocked Trigg forward. Trigg then stood up and leaned on the cage and Koscheck blasted him with a right hand. Koscheck then started wailing on Trigg against the cage and the ref stopped the fight. Nice showing by Koscheck. Trigg was upset about the stoppage but he looked like he was getting tagged.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by TKO (strikes) R1 1:25
Post-Fight Koscheck says he would like to fight Matt Hughes.
Tito Ortiz is in the crowd.
Welterweight Fight- Martin Kampmann (15-2) vs. Paul Daley (21-8-2)
This fight was originally Kampmann versus Mike Swick but Swick got injured and Daley is filling in. Kampmann won a war at UFC Fight Night 18 in a close decision win versus Carlos Condit. If Kampmann wins he is the most likely next contender to the thrown of GSP. Kampmann is 2-0 in the Welterweight Division. The last time I saw Paul Daley fight was on an Elite XC CBS Show where he tapped out to Jake Shields. Kampmann has a 3” height advantage while Daley has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Both guys are swinging a lot early and it looked like Daley connected on a couple of his. Kampmann went for a take down but was denied. Daley is looking pretty good so far. Kampmann presses Daley up against the cage and landed a nice knee. Daley landed a nice left and it staggered Kampmann. Daley got Kampmann up against the cage and landed some shots. Kampmann didn’t go down but Yves Lavigne stopped the fight as Kampmann looked like he was out on his feet. Very impressive showing by Daley. Kampmann really needed to get the fight to the ground and he never did. I guess Daley saved Kampmann from a worse beating at the hands of GSP. Looking at the re-play Rogan says that Lavigne should have probably let the fight go for another punch or two but it was a close call.
Winner: Paul Daley by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:31
Mike Swick is in the crowd. The door is open for him now in the Welterweight Division with Kampmann’s loss.
Lightweight Fight- Robert Emerson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos
R1- This fight starts off pretty even in the first round. Dos Anjos went for several take downs but Emerson was able to keep the fight standing until the very send of the round. Dos Anjos took this round 10-9 but it was close.
R2- Dos Anjos is landing some good leg kicks. Emerson is starting to land some punches. Dos Anjos got a take down about half way through the round but Emerson got right up. Dos Anjos continues to land kicks and Emerson is limping from the shots. Dos Anjos is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Dos Anjos landed a good leg kick to start the round and then got a take down. Good fight by Dos Anjos as I’ve got him taking the fight 30-27.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards.
Winner: Rafael Dos Anjos by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (25-6-2) vs. Junior dos Santos (8-1)
dos Santos UFC debut was an upset of Fabricio Werdum that knocked Werdum out of the UFC. I’ve got dos Santos as a Top 10 Heavyweight right now and Cro Cop on the outside looking in. I’m confident in saying that the winner of this fight is a tried and true Top 10 Heavyweight and would be a win away from a potential shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Now I’m doubting myself as to the theme song that Tyson Griffin came out to because dos Santos is coming out to one of the Rocky themes. dos Santos is a Jiu Jitsu purple belt, with good chins that has most of his wins by KO- at least that’s what the UFC graphic tells me. Cro Cop comes out to some Duran Duran. My sister loved that band back in the 80s. I wonder if Cro Cop was a Wild Boy like Simon LeBon when he was younger? dos Santos has a 10 lb and 4” reach advantage on Cro Cop. Cro Cop got the best ovation of the night so far when he was introduced.
R1- dos Santos quickly charged at Cro Cop but Cro Cop clinched him against the cage to avoid damage. Cro Cop threw a high kick but it was blocked. dos Santos landed some punches up against the cage but Cro Cop was able to get out of trouble. dos Santos ran Cro Cop down but Cro Cop clinched him again. dos Santos has sustained a couple of cuts over his eyes. dos Santos takes the first round 10-9 as he was much more aggressive but Cro Cop is definitely still in this fight. I think the longer this fight goes on the more it swings to Cro Cop.
R2- Cro Cop swings a high kick but it’s avoided. dos Santos went in with a flurry and both guys landed strikes during the exchange. Cro Cop missed with another head kick. dos Santos is landing some strikes. Cro Cop nailed dos Santos with a low blow. dos Santos landed a couple of good shots and opened up a cut over Cro Cop’s eye. I’ve got dos Santos up 20-18 after two rounds. This is dos Santos’s first fight that’s been over one round so I think Cro Cop still has a shot at this he just has to finish the fight if he wants to win.
R3- Cro Cop opened up the round more aggressive and landed a solid right hand. dos Santos landed some knees. Cro Cop slipped and dos Santos swung with a left and it might have grazed Cro Cop because he looked a little wobbly after the punch and dos Santos followed with a knee. dos Santos then hit another knee and a punch. dos Santos starting to take over this fight. dos Santos with a big knee and then a left and Cro Cop is in big trouble with three minutes left in the round. dos Santos is hitting knees at will. Cro Cops says he can’t see as his face and eyes are all red and this fight is over. Kind of an anti-climatic finish but a great win for dos Santos over a respected veteran. On the re-play dos Santos hit Cro Cop with a big punch to his eye and that was when Cro Cop verbally submitted.
dos Santos is probably one fight away from a title shot. He’s got victories know over Cro Cop and Fabricio Werdum and both of those guys are legit heavyweights.
Winner: Junior dos Santos by Submission (Verbal) R3 2:00
Catch weight Fight (195 lbs)- Rich Franklin (27-4) vs. Vitor Belfort (18-8)
Franklin is coming off of a close win over Wanderlei Silva in the Main Event of UFC 99. I actually had Wanderlei taking the fight by decision but what do I know as the decision was unanimous in favor of Franklin. Prior to that fight Franklin lost a split decision to Dan Henderson. Franklin is Main Eventing his 3rd event in a row which is very impressive for a guy without a belt. The last two fights of Belfort’s that I saw were both for Affliction. The first was a TKO over Terry Martin and the second was a quick destruction of Matt Lindland back in January. Franklin has landed the 2nd most strikes in UFC history behind GSP. Franklin also succeeds in 71% of his takedown attempts. Belfort won his first 3 UFC fights in under 3 minutes. He has also out struck his opponents 62-23 in his last 4 fights. Belfort has been training at Xtreme Couture and has Shawn Thompkins in his corner for the fight. This is Belfort’s first fight since 2005 when he lost a split decision to Tito Ortiz.
R1- Long feeling out process to start out the fight. So far two minutes gone and not much action. Franklin is trying to push the action but is being very cautious and Vitor is content to counter punch to start. Vitor hit Franklin with a big left uppercut after a right jab and Franklin hit the floor. Belfort jumped on top but the ref stopped the fight and Franklin was not quick to get back to his feet. Vitor made Franklin look really bad in that fight. I’m guessing Dana White is salivating over making a Belfort versus Anderson Silva fight.
Looking at the re-play Vitor actually missed with the big left uppercut and it looked like he hit Franklin on the top of the head with a punch afterwards. He really didn’t look like he connected solidly he just hit Franklin in the right spot.
Winner: Vitor Belfort by KO R1 3:02
Lightweight Fight- Nik Lentz vs. Rafaello Oliveira
Lentz is a training partner of Sean Sherk and this is his UFC debut.
R1- Oliveira went for a take down and Lentz tried for a guillotine but could not lock it in. Lentz quickly got back to his feet. Oliveira landed a goof right hand and then rushed in but Lentz grabbed a guillotine. Oliveira slammed him and Lentz lost the submission on the ground. Both guys threw some leather and then Oliveira got a big slam to take down Lentz. They went back to their feet and Lentz landed some good shots and hurt Oliveira but he survived. Lentz got a take down right at the end of the round. Good first round and Lentz may have stole the round with his performance in the last minute.
R2- Lentz grabbed another guillotine but let hit go. Oliveira spent the second part of the round on top of Lentz. Not a lot of action in this round as Oliveira has really tired since the first round. Looks like we could have a 19-19 fight going into the third round.
R3- Oliveira starts out this round much like he ended the last round by taking the top position. Lentz got a take down about half way through the round. Lentz stays on top and lands some Ground and Pound and rides this one out in top position. I’ve got Lentz as the 29-28 winner in this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for Nick Lentz
Winner: Nick Lentz by Decision (Unanimous)
9/19/09
Dallas, Texas
American Airlines Center
Vitor Belfort makes his return tonight against Rich Franklin in a 195 pound catch weight fight. Junior dos Santos will fight Mirko Cro Cop in an important fight in the Heavyweight Division. Josh Koscheck greats Frank Trigg in his return to the Octagon and top Welterweight contender Martin Kampmann will be in action.
Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (13-2) vs. Hermes Franca (20-7)
Tyson Griffin is coming off of a Unanimous Decision win over Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 18. Hermes Franca comes out to the same music Chipper Jones does when he comes to bat (Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne). Franca came in over weight at 159 lbs. Griffin agreed to go ahead with the fight. Tyson Griffin comes out to the theme from Rocky, but it has nowhere near the impact of when Matt Serra used it in his fight against Matt Hughes (although Serra would go on to lose a close decision). Tyson Griffin has had “Fight of the Night” in 5 of his 8 UFC fights, that’s a pretty impressive statistic.
R1- Griffin is landing some strikes early. Griffin got Franca off his feet but he popped right back up. Franca really hasn’t brought any offense in this first round. Griffin wins this round with a comfortable 10-9 but Franca doesn’t look like he’s been hurt. Not sure why he didn’t make weight but he looks lethargic.
R2- Hermes comes out firing wildly to start the second round. Franca grabbed Griffin’s leg on a kick but Griffin was able to strike his way out. Just as I was thinking that Franca looked slow tonight Griffin popped him with a straight right hand. Franca hit the floor and Griffin jumped on top. Griffin landed a bunch of punches and Hermes hung in there for a while but Griffin ended up over powering him for the TKO victory. Good win by Griffin tonight as he came ready to fight and I’m not sure Hermes did.
Winner: Tyson Griffin by TKO (Punches) R1 3:26
Jon Fitch is in attendance at the fights tonight.
UFC 104 is Lyoto Machida defending the UFC Light Heavyweight Title against Shogun Rua on October 24th in Los Angeles. Ben Rothwell will also take on undefeated Cain Velasquez on the under card.
Welterweight Fight- Josh Koscheck (14-4) vs. Frank Trigg (19-6)
Koscheck is in need of a win after falling to Paulo Thiago in an upset and is only 1-2 in his last 3 fights. This is Trigg’s first fight since his return to the UFC. Trigg is fighting out of Xtreme Couture. Trigg comes out to LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”. Koscheck counters with “Higher Ground” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Koscheck has had some time off since his last loss as he has been nursing a broken foot.
R1- Trigg landed a good right early but Josh absorbed the blow nicely. Koscheck caught Trigg with a looping right hand that looked like it may have caught him behind the ear and it knocked Trigg forward. Trigg then stood up and leaned on the cage and Koscheck blasted him with a right hand. Koscheck then started wailing on Trigg against the cage and the ref stopped the fight. Nice showing by Koscheck. Trigg was upset about the stoppage but he looked like he was getting tagged.
Winner: Josh Koscheck by TKO (strikes) R1 1:25
Post-Fight Koscheck says he would like to fight Matt Hughes.
Tito Ortiz is in the crowd.
Welterweight Fight- Martin Kampmann (15-2) vs. Paul Daley (21-8-2)
This fight was originally Kampmann versus Mike Swick but Swick got injured and Daley is filling in. Kampmann won a war at UFC Fight Night 18 in a close decision win versus Carlos Condit. If Kampmann wins he is the most likely next contender to the thrown of GSP. Kampmann is 2-0 in the Welterweight Division. The last time I saw Paul Daley fight was on an Elite XC CBS Show where he tapped out to Jake Shields. Kampmann has a 3” height advantage while Daley has a 4” reach advantage.
R1- Both guys are swinging a lot early and it looked like Daley connected on a couple of his. Kampmann went for a take down but was denied. Daley is looking pretty good so far. Kampmann presses Daley up against the cage and landed a nice knee. Daley landed a nice left and it staggered Kampmann. Daley got Kampmann up against the cage and landed some shots. Kampmann didn’t go down but Yves Lavigne stopped the fight as Kampmann looked like he was out on his feet. Very impressive showing by Daley. Kampmann really needed to get the fight to the ground and he never did. I guess Daley saved Kampmann from a worse beating at the hands of GSP. Looking at the re-play Rogan says that Lavigne should have probably let the fight go for another punch or two but it was a close call.
Winner: Paul Daley by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:31
Mike Swick is in the crowd. The door is open for him now in the Welterweight Division with Kampmann’s loss.
Lightweight Fight- Robert Emerson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos
R1- This fight starts off pretty even in the first round. Dos Anjos went for several take downs but Emerson was able to keep the fight standing until the very send of the round. Dos Anjos took this round 10-9 but it was close.
R2- Dos Anjos is landing some good leg kicks. Emerson is starting to land some punches. Dos Anjos got a take down about half way through the round but Emerson got right up. Dos Anjos continues to land kicks and Emerson is limping from the shots. Dos Anjos is up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Dos Anjos landed a good leg kick to start the round and then got a take down. Good fight by Dos Anjos as I’ve got him taking the fight 30-27.
Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards.
Winner: Rafael Dos Anjos by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (25-6-2) vs. Junior dos Santos (8-1)
dos Santos UFC debut was an upset of Fabricio Werdum that knocked Werdum out of the UFC. I’ve got dos Santos as a Top 10 Heavyweight right now and Cro Cop on the outside looking in. I’m confident in saying that the winner of this fight is a tried and true Top 10 Heavyweight and would be a win away from a potential shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Now I’m doubting myself as to the theme song that Tyson Griffin came out to because dos Santos is coming out to one of the Rocky themes. dos Santos is a Jiu Jitsu purple belt, with good chins that has most of his wins by KO- at least that’s what the UFC graphic tells me. Cro Cop comes out to some Duran Duran. My sister loved that band back in the 80s. I wonder if Cro Cop was a Wild Boy like Simon LeBon when he was younger? dos Santos has a 10 lb and 4” reach advantage on Cro Cop. Cro Cop got the best ovation of the night so far when he was introduced.
R1- dos Santos quickly charged at Cro Cop but Cro Cop clinched him against the cage to avoid damage. Cro Cop threw a high kick but it was blocked. dos Santos landed some punches up against the cage but Cro Cop was able to get out of trouble. dos Santos ran Cro Cop down but Cro Cop clinched him again. dos Santos has sustained a couple of cuts over his eyes. dos Santos takes the first round 10-9 as he was much more aggressive but Cro Cop is definitely still in this fight. I think the longer this fight goes on the more it swings to Cro Cop.
R2- Cro Cop swings a high kick but it’s avoided. dos Santos went in with a flurry and both guys landed strikes during the exchange. Cro Cop missed with another head kick. dos Santos is landing some strikes. Cro Cop nailed dos Santos with a low blow. dos Santos landed a couple of good shots and opened up a cut over Cro Cop’s eye. I’ve got dos Santos up 20-18 after two rounds. This is dos Santos’s first fight that’s been over one round so I think Cro Cop still has a shot at this he just has to finish the fight if he wants to win.
R3- Cro Cop opened up the round more aggressive and landed a solid right hand. dos Santos landed some knees. Cro Cop slipped and dos Santos swung with a left and it might have grazed Cro Cop because he looked a little wobbly after the punch and dos Santos followed with a knee. dos Santos then hit another knee and a punch. dos Santos starting to take over this fight. dos Santos with a big knee and then a left and Cro Cop is in big trouble with three minutes left in the round. dos Santos is hitting knees at will. Cro Cops says he can’t see as his face and eyes are all red and this fight is over. Kind of an anti-climatic finish but a great win for dos Santos over a respected veteran. On the re-play dos Santos hit Cro Cop with a big punch to his eye and that was when Cro Cop verbally submitted.
dos Santos is probably one fight away from a title shot. He’s got victories know over Cro Cop and Fabricio Werdum and both of those guys are legit heavyweights.
Winner: Junior dos Santos by Submission (Verbal) R3 2:00
Catch weight Fight (195 lbs)- Rich Franklin (27-4) vs. Vitor Belfort (18-8)
Franklin is coming off of a close win over Wanderlei Silva in the Main Event of UFC 99. I actually had Wanderlei taking the fight by decision but what do I know as the decision was unanimous in favor of Franklin. Prior to that fight Franklin lost a split decision to Dan Henderson. Franklin is Main Eventing his 3rd event in a row which is very impressive for a guy without a belt. The last two fights of Belfort’s that I saw were both for Affliction. The first was a TKO over Terry Martin and the second was a quick destruction of Matt Lindland back in January. Franklin has landed the 2nd most strikes in UFC history behind GSP. Franklin also succeeds in 71% of his takedown attempts. Belfort won his first 3 UFC fights in under 3 minutes. He has also out struck his opponents 62-23 in his last 4 fights. Belfort has been training at Xtreme Couture and has Shawn Thompkins in his corner for the fight. This is Belfort’s first fight since 2005 when he lost a split decision to Tito Ortiz.
R1- Long feeling out process to start out the fight. So far two minutes gone and not much action. Franklin is trying to push the action but is being very cautious and Vitor is content to counter punch to start. Vitor hit Franklin with a big left uppercut after a right jab and Franklin hit the floor. Belfort jumped on top but the ref stopped the fight and Franklin was not quick to get back to his feet. Vitor made Franklin look really bad in that fight. I’m guessing Dana White is salivating over making a Belfort versus Anderson Silva fight.
Looking at the re-play Vitor actually missed with the big left uppercut and it looked like he hit Franklin on the top of the head with a punch afterwards. He really didn’t look like he connected solidly he just hit Franklin in the right spot.
Winner: Vitor Belfort by KO R1 3:02
Lightweight Fight- Nik Lentz vs. Rafaello Oliveira
Lentz is a training partner of Sean Sherk and this is his UFC debut.
R1- Oliveira went for a take down and Lentz tried for a guillotine but could not lock it in. Lentz quickly got back to his feet. Oliveira landed a goof right hand and then rushed in but Lentz grabbed a guillotine. Oliveira slammed him and Lentz lost the submission on the ground. Both guys threw some leather and then Oliveira got a big slam to take down Lentz. They went back to their feet and Lentz landed some good shots and hurt Oliveira but he survived. Lentz got a take down right at the end of the round. Good first round and Lentz may have stole the round with his performance in the last minute.
R2- Lentz grabbed another guillotine but let hit go. Oliveira spent the second part of the round on top of Lentz. Not a lot of action in this round as Oliveira has really tired since the first round. Looks like we could have a 19-19 fight going into the third round.
R3- Oliveira starts out this round much like he ended the last round by taking the top position. Lentz got a take down about half way through the round. Lentz stays on top and lands some Ground and Pound and rides this one out in top position. I’ve got Lentz as the 29-28 winner in this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for Nick Lentz
Winner: Nick Lentz by Decision (Unanimous)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Two Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Two
“All About Survival”
In week one we saw Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson jawing at each other, Kimbo Slice introduced, a bloody first match in which Jon Madsen was easily victorious and we saw what looks to be a much better team drafted by Rashad.
At the start of the show Rampage brings in a specialist and they show Kimbo working on his ground game during the Team Rampage training session. In the Team Rashad training session Roy Nelson was being a little bit of a pain by not following his coaching and Rashad and one of his coaches have some conversations with Roy.
At the fight announcements Rampage asks Roy Nelson what his name is. Rampage picks James McSweeney versus Wes Shivers. Rampage says he wants to get Rashad’s first pick out. Rashad says he feels his guy is going to walk all over Rampage’s guy.
Team Rashad runs 5 minutes late in their training and Rampage and Rashad have a little back and forth with one another.
Wes Shivers (2-0) vs. James McSweeney (3-3)
Shivers is the bigger fighter as he has a 3” height and 6.5” reach advantage. McSweeney was Rashad’s first round pick and trains with Rashad at Greg Jackson’s camp.
R1- Shivers does not touch gloves to start. Shivers lands some strikes early as McSweeney retreats. Shivers clinches and sweeps McSweeney to the ground. Shivers went for a kimura but could not clamp it in and McSweeney got to his feet. McSwinney lands some kicks and then Shivers kicks him in the balls. Shivers lands some strikes and McSwinney is trying anything he can to fight back. Shivers looks like he’s running out of gas towards the end of the round. Wes took this first round as the only thing that McSwinney really had going for him was the fact that Wes got tired. McSwinney landed some leg kicks but that was really his only offense. Still anybody’s fight since Wes Shivers seems to have hit the wall.
R2- McSwinney went for a head kick and missed and Shivers briefly took him down but couldn’t hold him. McSwinney is starting to land more strikes but Shivers grabs a leg kick and takes him down. Shivers moves to the mount position and lands some Ground and Pound. McSwinney gives up his back and Shivers tries for a Rear Naked but can’t clamp it in and McSwinney flipped him over and took his guard but then quickly got back to his feet. Shivers is really tired and I think McSwinney is right behind him. McSwinney really hasn’t landed anything substantial this round. Just as I say that McSwinney lands a punch and then a kick and then pulls guard on a guillotine which is probably enough to take this round. Shivers pulls out of the guillotine as the round ends. Close round, I think McSwinney might have stolen this round with the punch/kick combo. Both guys are totally exhausted.
The ref says they have a decision. There is no way McSwinney took the first round so I’m thinking that Shivers is going to be the winner. He must have eeked out that second round.
Judges score cards say: 19-19, 20-18, 20-18 in favor of McSwinney. Wow, I don’t know how McSwinney won that first round.
Winner: James McSwinney by Decision (Majority)
Fight Announcement: The ball is now in Rashad’s court and he is up 2-0. Rashad picks Roy Nelson against Kimbo Slice. Wow. Dana says Roy has better all-around skills than Kimbo but that Kimbo is explosive and has the ability to knock Roy out. Dana says this is the true test for Kimbo Slice.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rampage #1: Kimbo Slice
Team Rashad #2: Brandon Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rampage #3: Demico Rogers
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
“All About Survival”
In week one we saw Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson jawing at each other, Kimbo Slice introduced, a bloody first match in which Jon Madsen was easily victorious and we saw what looks to be a much better team drafted by Rashad.
At the start of the show Rampage brings in a specialist and they show Kimbo working on his ground game during the Team Rampage training session. In the Team Rashad training session Roy Nelson was being a little bit of a pain by not following his coaching and Rashad and one of his coaches have some conversations with Roy.
At the fight announcements Rampage asks Roy Nelson what his name is. Rampage picks James McSweeney versus Wes Shivers. Rampage says he wants to get Rashad’s first pick out. Rashad says he feels his guy is going to walk all over Rampage’s guy.
Team Rashad runs 5 minutes late in their training and Rampage and Rashad have a little back and forth with one another.
Wes Shivers (2-0) vs. James McSweeney (3-3)
Shivers is the bigger fighter as he has a 3” height and 6.5” reach advantage. McSweeney was Rashad’s first round pick and trains with Rashad at Greg Jackson’s camp.
R1- Shivers does not touch gloves to start. Shivers lands some strikes early as McSweeney retreats. Shivers clinches and sweeps McSweeney to the ground. Shivers went for a kimura but could not clamp it in and McSweeney got to his feet. McSwinney lands some kicks and then Shivers kicks him in the balls. Shivers lands some strikes and McSwinney is trying anything he can to fight back. Shivers looks like he’s running out of gas towards the end of the round. Wes took this first round as the only thing that McSwinney really had going for him was the fact that Wes got tired. McSwinney landed some leg kicks but that was really his only offense. Still anybody’s fight since Wes Shivers seems to have hit the wall.
R2- McSwinney went for a head kick and missed and Shivers briefly took him down but couldn’t hold him. McSwinney is starting to land more strikes but Shivers grabs a leg kick and takes him down. Shivers moves to the mount position and lands some Ground and Pound. McSwinney gives up his back and Shivers tries for a Rear Naked but can’t clamp it in and McSwinney flipped him over and took his guard but then quickly got back to his feet. Shivers is really tired and I think McSwinney is right behind him. McSwinney really hasn’t landed anything substantial this round. Just as I say that McSwinney lands a punch and then a kick and then pulls guard on a guillotine which is probably enough to take this round. Shivers pulls out of the guillotine as the round ends. Close round, I think McSwinney might have stolen this round with the punch/kick combo. Both guys are totally exhausted.
The ref says they have a decision. There is no way McSwinney took the first round so I’m thinking that Shivers is going to be the winner. He must have eeked out that second round.
Judges score cards say: 19-19, 20-18, 20-18 in favor of McSwinney. Wow, I don’t know how McSwinney won that first round.
Winner: James McSwinney by Decision (Majority)
Fight Announcement: The ball is now in Rashad’s court and he is up 2-0. Rashad picks Roy Nelson against Kimbo Slice. Wow. Dana says Roy has better all-around skills than Kimbo but that Kimbo is explosive and has the ability to knock Roy out. Dana says this is the true test for Kimbo Slice.
Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rampage #1: Kimbo Slice
Team Rashad #2: Brandon Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rampage #3: Demico Rogers
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Sunday, September 20, 2009
UFC 103: Preliminaries on Spike TV Re-Cap
UFC 103: Preliminaries
9/19/09
Dallas, Texas
American Airlines Center
These fights are on being brought to us on Spike TV before the UFC 103 PPV.
Middleweight Fight- Drew McFedries (8-5) vs. Tomasz Drwal (16-2)
Drwal fought at the TUF 9 Finale and got a first round Ground and Pound TKO of Mike Ciesnolevicz. McFedries fought last on UFC 98 and beat Xavier Foupa- Pokam in 37 seconds. Don’t blink this one could end quickly. Drwal has a 4” reach advantage. McFedries has to be the most exciting 8-5 fighter on the planet, which is why he’s still employed by the UFC. In his two previous fights in the UFC Drwal fought at Light Heavyweight.
R1- And there are some technical difficulties early in the first fight so we miss the first 45-50 seconds of the fight. If the fight goes this long McFedries usually comes up on the short end. McFedries had a couple of cuts on his face early into the fight. Drwal gets a take down about two minutes into the fight but McFedries got back to his feet and Drwal landed some nice knees. Both guys stood toe to toe and exchanged punches. Drwal hit a good right hand and McFedries looks to be tiring. Drwal gets McFedries down again and is landing some Ground and Pound and he mounts McFedries but there is only 10 seconds left in the round and McFedries will make it to the second round. Drwal is up 10-9 after round one. Both guys have cuts on their face.
R2- Drwal landed a nice punch right out of the gate and pushed forward and clinched McFedries and took him down. Drwal moved quickly to side control and then mounted and clamped on a choke and got the win. Nice showing by Tomasz Drwal.
Winner: Tomasz Drwal by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:03
Welterweight Fight- Rick Story vs. Brian Foster
Story last fought at UFC 99 and lost a unanimous decision to John Hathaway (I had it scored 29-28).
R1- Both guys are just swinging for the fences in the opening minute. Just throwing wild punches. Foster hit him with a big gut punch and then hit him with a judo throw and clamped in a guillotine but Story popped his head out. Story ended up in Foster’s guard and passed his guard and then took his back. Story’s nose is busted open and he’s bleeding a lot but he’s keeping top position. Foster got back to his feet and both guys started swinging for the fences again. Good first round that went to Story due to his control of the round.
R2- They come out and go after each other again and Story gets a take down. Story grabbed an arm triangle and Foster tapped out. Nice finish by Story. Rogan says it’s the first time he’s seen a guy finished from an arm triangle while inside the guard which shows the strength of Story.
Winner: Rick Story by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 1:09
Joe Rogan interviews Rich Franklin backstage. Franklin says he’s tired because he hasn’t taken his pre-fight nap yet. Franklin says he’s worked a little with Robbie Lawler because he has a similar style to Belfort.
Lightweight Fight- Efrain Escudero (12-0) vs. Cole Miller (15-3)
Escudero was the TUF 9 winner and this is his first fight since winning TUF. Miller has recent wins over Jorge Gurgel and Junie Browning. Miller is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and Efrain has a strong wrestling background. Miller has a 4” height and 2” reach advantage. Based on those stats Escudero should have a strength advantage. Joe says that Escudero struggled to make weight yesterday at the weigh-ins.
R1- Both guys being very tentative early in the fight. Escudero got a sweep of Miller on a kick but let him back up. Miller is started to get more confident and is pushing the action and landing some strikes and really looks like he has more than a 2” reach advantage. Escudero finally caught Miller and slammed him hard to the mat but Miller got back to his feet. Escudero is starting to push the action now and he just leveled Miller with a big right hand that floored him. Escudero jumped on top and hit three punches on the floor and that’s it. Really impressive finish by Escudero.
Winner: Efrain Escudero by TKO (Punches) R1 3:36
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez
Jim Miller is coming off of a big decision win over Mac Danzig at UFC 100. Miller’s only losses have come to Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar, both of which I have ranked in the World Top 10 Lightweights.
R1- They open up by both throwing strikes. Miller hit a good right that briefly floored Lopez. Miller landed some good leg kicks. Miller landed a really good left and then jumped all over Lopez but Lopez grabbed the guard and survived the onslaught. Lopez got back to his feet but Miller grabbed a front guillotine choke. Lopez slipped out and Miller pounded him with some Ground and Pound and then took Lopez’s back and then Lopez got him back to full guard. Miller took that round 10-9 and is in control of the fight.
R2- Lopez hurt his shoulder in the second round and you could see the bone popped out of place and he had to verbally submit.
Winner: Jim Miller by TKO R2 0:48
Joe Rogan interviews Vitor Belfort backstage and they talk about the fight tonight. Joe tries to bait him into talking about a possible Anderson Silva fight in the future but Vitor says he’s just taking it one fight at a time right now.
Joe is now with Dana White backstage and hype up the fights tonight to close out the show.
9/19/09
Dallas, Texas
American Airlines Center
These fights are on being brought to us on Spike TV before the UFC 103 PPV.
Middleweight Fight- Drew McFedries (8-5) vs. Tomasz Drwal (16-2)
Drwal fought at the TUF 9 Finale and got a first round Ground and Pound TKO of Mike Ciesnolevicz. McFedries fought last on UFC 98 and beat Xavier Foupa- Pokam in 37 seconds. Don’t blink this one could end quickly. Drwal has a 4” reach advantage. McFedries has to be the most exciting 8-5 fighter on the planet, which is why he’s still employed by the UFC. In his two previous fights in the UFC Drwal fought at Light Heavyweight.
R1- And there are some technical difficulties early in the first fight so we miss the first 45-50 seconds of the fight. If the fight goes this long McFedries usually comes up on the short end. McFedries had a couple of cuts on his face early into the fight. Drwal gets a take down about two minutes into the fight but McFedries got back to his feet and Drwal landed some nice knees. Both guys stood toe to toe and exchanged punches. Drwal hit a good right hand and McFedries looks to be tiring. Drwal gets McFedries down again and is landing some Ground and Pound and he mounts McFedries but there is only 10 seconds left in the round and McFedries will make it to the second round. Drwal is up 10-9 after round one. Both guys have cuts on their face.
R2- Drwal landed a nice punch right out of the gate and pushed forward and clinched McFedries and took him down. Drwal moved quickly to side control and then mounted and clamped on a choke and got the win. Nice showing by Tomasz Drwal.
Winner: Tomasz Drwal by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:03
Welterweight Fight- Rick Story vs. Brian Foster
Story last fought at UFC 99 and lost a unanimous decision to John Hathaway (I had it scored 29-28).
R1- Both guys are just swinging for the fences in the opening minute. Just throwing wild punches. Foster hit him with a big gut punch and then hit him with a judo throw and clamped in a guillotine but Story popped his head out. Story ended up in Foster’s guard and passed his guard and then took his back. Story’s nose is busted open and he’s bleeding a lot but he’s keeping top position. Foster got back to his feet and both guys started swinging for the fences again. Good first round that went to Story due to his control of the round.
R2- They come out and go after each other again and Story gets a take down. Story grabbed an arm triangle and Foster tapped out. Nice finish by Story. Rogan says it’s the first time he’s seen a guy finished from an arm triangle while inside the guard which shows the strength of Story.
Winner: Rick Story by Submission (Arm Triangle) R2 1:09
Joe Rogan interviews Rich Franklin backstage. Franklin says he’s tired because he hasn’t taken his pre-fight nap yet. Franklin says he’s worked a little with Robbie Lawler because he has a similar style to Belfort.
Lightweight Fight- Efrain Escudero (12-0) vs. Cole Miller (15-3)
Escudero was the TUF 9 winner and this is his first fight since winning TUF. Miller has recent wins over Jorge Gurgel and Junie Browning. Miller is a Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and Efrain has a strong wrestling background. Miller has a 4” height and 2” reach advantage. Based on those stats Escudero should have a strength advantage. Joe says that Escudero struggled to make weight yesterday at the weigh-ins.
R1- Both guys being very tentative early in the fight. Escudero got a sweep of Miller on a kick but let him back up. Miller is started to get more confident and is pushing the action and landing some strikes and really looks like he has more than a 2” reach advantage. Escudero finally caught Miller and slammed him hard to the mat but Miller got back to his feet. Escudero is starting to push the action now and he just leveled Miller with a big right hand that floored him. Escudero jumped on top and hit three punches on the floor and that’s it. Really impressive finish by Escudero.
Winner: Efrain Escudero by TKO (Punches) R1 3:36
Lightweight Fight- Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez
Jim Miller is coming off of a big decision win over Mac Danzig at UFC 100. Miller’s only losses have come to Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar, both of which I have ranked in the World Top 10 Lightweights.
R1- They open up by both throwing strikes. Miller hit a good right that briefly floored Lopez. Miller landed some good leg kicks. Miller landed a really good left and then jumped all over Lopez but Lopez grabbed the guard and survived the onslaught. Lopez got back to his feet but Miller grabbed a front guillotine choke. Lopez slipped out and Miller pounded him with some Ground and Pound and then took Lopez’s back and then Lopez got him back to full guard. Miller took that round 10-9 and is in control of the fight.
R2- Lopez hurt his shoulder in the second round and you could see the bone popped out of place and he had to verbally submit.
Winner: Jim Miller by TKO R2 0:48
Joe Rogan interviews Vitor Belfort backstage and they talk about the fight tonight. Joe tries to bait him into talking about a possible Anderson Silva fight in the future but Vitor says he’s just taking it one fight at a time right now.
Joe is now with Dana White backstage and hype up the fights tonight to close out the show.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode 1 Re-Cap
TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode One
“Size Does Matter”
This season features Heavyweights. The coaches are Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans. We have a couple of high profile fighters in Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson. They start off with Rampage and Rashad sitting on a bench and talking trash to each other. Dana comes in and tells Rampage and Rashad not to get into a fight as they have 5 minutes. Dana rounds the guys up and tells them that 15 guys are there and they have 1 more guy coming in. Dana says he knows for a fact that this next guy is a fighter but says the question is if he is a Mixed Martial Artist. Rampage says “Who is it Tank Abbott?” And in walks Kimbo Slice. Rampage says “he’s on my team”. A couple of guys react negatively to him when he comes in but not openly towards him. Brendan Schaub compares it to a sheep entering the room with a bunch of wolves.
“When the fighters started walking in I was like damn. These guys are big as hell.”- Rampage Jackson
“I think there’s gonna be millions of fans that tune in to this show to see me eat some crow and want Kimbo to prove me wrong. So here we go, we’re gonna find out”- Dana White
Dana tells the guys that they are going to get their gear on and divide up into teams and train for two hours and then they will pick teams after the coaches evaluate them and then they will move into the house tonight. Rampage adds “And I’ve got Kimbo Slice.”
“As soon as he seen Kimbo, he’s said Kimbo’s on my team. And I’m thinking cool…..Nothing against Kimbo, but I’m thinking there are probably a few other fighters that are more well rounded then Kimbo.”- Rashad Evans
Rashad Evans has Greg Jackson helping him out to do evaluations. Yoda! Now that’s a HUGE advantage. Rashad has two training partners on this edition of TUF, Brendan Schaub and James McSweeney. Tiki Ghosn is one of Rampage’s assistant coaches. A couple of the football players talk about how this training camp is harder than the NFL’s training camps.
Dana flips a coin for the right to choose who picks first. Dana says that the winner of the coin flip can choose to pick the first fighter or the first two fights. Then, the team has to win both fights in order to keep control of choosing the fights. Rashad wins and decides to pick the first fighter.
Draft Picks:
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rampage #1: Kimbo Slice
Team Rashad #2: Brandon Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rampage #3: Demico Rogers
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rampage #6: Wes Shivers
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
“My team is bigger. And size does matter.”- Rampage
Rampage gets to pick the first two fights. The first fight Rampage chooses is Jon Madsen from Team Rashad against Abe Wagner. Rashad says Madsen is his number one wrestler. Madsen is a college wrestler who has worked with Robbie Lawler and Matt Hughes. He’s an undersized Heavyweight compared to a lot of the guys on this show. Rampage says that Abe has good stand up and good jiu jitsu.
“Abe is the toughest computer geek I’ve ever met” – Wes Sims
Abe Wagner (6-1) vs. Jon Madsen (1-0)
Wagner has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Madsen gets a quick take down and got some Ground and Pound and was able to maintain top position and opened up Abe with some strikes. Abe lost a ton of blood and was laying in a pool of his blood by the end of the round. Abe got beaten up but he got up pretty quickly after the round was over and went right back to his corner. That was a 10-8 round in favor of Madsen on my score card.
R2- Madsen pulled a really poor sportsmanship move at the beginning of this round as he faked going for a touch of the gloves and instead went for an immediate take down on Abe. The ref stands them up after a minute due to inactivity. Madsen quickly takes down Abe again and gets him pinned against the cage. Madsen looks really tired as he is in great position but isn’t doing anything and the ref stands them up again half way through the round. Madsen gets yet another take down. Madsen controlled this fight and was dominate in the first round but didn’t show the ability to finish or have the proper stamina needed that will hurt him in the next round.
Judges score cards say: 20-16, 20-17 and 20-17
Winner: Jon Madsen by Decision (Unanimous)
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
“Size Does Matter”
This season features Heavyweights. The coaches are Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans. We have a couple of high profile fighters in Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson. They start off with Rampage and Rashad sitting on a bench and talking trash to each other. Dana comes in and tells Rampage and Rashad not to get into a fight as they have 5 minutes. Dana rounds the guys up and tells them that 15 guys are there and they have 1 more guy coming in. Dana says he knows for a fact that this next guy is a fighter but says the question is if he is a Mixed Martial Artist. Rampage says “Who is it Tank Abbott?” And in walks Kimbo Slice. Rampage says “he’s on my team”. A couple of guys react negatively to him when he comes in but not openly towards him. Brendan Schaub compares it to a sheep entering the room with a bunch of wolves.
“When the fighters started walking in I was like damn. These guys are big as hell.”- Rampage Jackson
“I think there’s gonna be millions of fans that tune in to this show to see me eat some crow and want Kimbo to prove me wrong. So here we go, we’re gonna find out”- Dana White
Dana tells the guys that they are going to get their gear on and divide up into teams and train for two hours and then they will pick teams after the coaches evaluate them and then they will move into the house tonight. Rampage adds “And I’ve got Kimbo Slice.”
“As soon as he seen Kimbo, he’s said Kimbo’s on my team. And I’m thinking cool…..Nothing against Kimbo, but I’m thinking there are probably a few other fighters that are more well rounded then Kimbo.”- Rashad Evans
Rashad Evans has Greg Jackson helping him out to do evaluations. Yoda! Now that’s a HUGE advantage. Rashad has two training partners on this edition of TUF, Brendan Schaub and James McSweeney. Tiki Ghosn is one of Rampage’s assistant coaches. A couple of the football players talk about how this training camp is harder than the NFL’s training camps.
Dana flips a coin for the right to choose who picks first. Dana says that the winner of the coin flip can choose to pick the first fighter or the first two fights. Then, the team has to win both fights in order to keep control of choosing the fights. Rashad wins and decides to pick the first fighter.
Draft Picks:
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rampage #1: Kimbo Slice
Team Rashad #2: Brandon Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rampage #3: Demico Rogers
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rampage #6: Wes Shivers
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen
“My team is bigger. And size does matter.”- Rampage
Rampage gets to pick the first two fights. The first fight Rampage chooses is Jon Madsen from Team Rashad against Abe Wagner. Rashad says Madsen is his number one wrestler. Madsen is a college wrestler who has worked with Robbie Lawler and Matt Hughes. He’s an undersized Heavyweight compared to a lot of the guys on this show. Rampage says that Abe has good stand up and good jiu jitsu.
“Abe is the toughest computer geek I’ve ever met” – Wes Sims
Abe Wagner (6-1) vs. Jon Madsen (1-0)
Wagner has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.
R1- Madsen gets a quick take down and got some Ground and Pound and was able to maintain top position and opened up Abe with some strikes. Abe lost a ton of blood and was laying in a pool of his blood by the end of the round. Abe got beaten up but he got up pretty quickly after the round was over and went right back to his corner. That was a 10-8 round in favor of Madsen on my score card.
R2- Madsen pulled a really poor sportsmanship move at the beginning of this round as he faked going for a touch of the gloves and instead went for an immediate take down on Abe. The ref stands them up after a minute due to inactivity. Madsen quickly takes down Abe again and gets him pinned against the cage. Madsen looks really tired as he is in great position but isn’t doing anything and the ref stands them up again half way through the round. Madsen gets yet another take down. Madsen controlled this fight and was dominate in the first round but didn’t show the ability to finish or have the proper stamina needed that will hurt him in the next round.
Judges score cards say: 20-16, 20-17 and 20-17
Winner: Jon Madsen by Decision (Unanimous)
Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
UFC Fight Night 19 (9/16/09) Re-Cap
UFC Fight Night 19
Tulsa, OK (Cox Convention Center)
9/16/09
No Joe Rogan tonight so Kenny Florian will be replacing him on Color Commentary. Gray Maynard will take a big step tonight towards a Lightweight Title Fight if he can beat Roger Huerta. This is a risky fight for the UFC as Huerta plans on going Hollywood after the fight. Former WEC Champion Carlos Condit tries to get his first UFC win after a razor think loss to Martin Kampmann in his debut. TUF fighters fight it out tonight as Nate Diaz/Melvin Guillard and Nate Quarry/Tim Credeur collide. Hopefully Steve Cantwell/Brian Stann will make the main show and/or we can see Brock Larson/Mike Pierce. Phillipe Nover was pulled from his undercard fight with Sam Stout tonight when he suffered a seizure.
Middleweight Fight- Nate Quarry (17-3) vs. Tim Credeur (13-4)
Credeur is coming off a second round guillotine submission of Nick Catone at Fight Night 18. Credeur is 3-0 in the UFC and has really improved since his TUF days. Credeur has a 3” height and 2.5” reach advantage. Quarry has to be the favorite coming into this fight. Quarry’s only losses in the UFC have come to Rich Franklin and Demain Maia.
R1- Credeur is out striking Quarry early but doesn’t seem to be hurting him. Credeur caught Quarry with a solid left hand at the 1:20 mark and Quarry went down. Credeur jumped on top and grabbed a Rear Naked Choke with over a minute left in the round but Quarry rolled over and survived. Really great action. Credeur closed the round with some strikes and has bloodied Quarry’s nose. Impressive first round for Credeur as he’s up 10-9.
R2- Credeur opens up the round with strikes and has Quarry on the run early but he got popped by Quarry. Both guys go toe to toe swinging for the fences and Credeur went down. Credeur definitely doesn’t want to get into a shot for shot against Quarry. Quarry lands on top of Credeur and takes his guard. Quarry has done a good job of weathering the storm so far and turned the tide quickly in this round to tie it up 19-19 going into the third and final round.
R3- Credeur opens up this round landing some good strikes but Quarry unloaded on Credeur with a huge right hand. The punch looked so violent that Herb Dean rushed in and almost stopped the fight but Credeur was able to survive the strike. Quarry took Credeur’s guard. They get back to their feet but Credeur looks like he’s still really feeling the effects of that one punch. Credeur is taking some big shots and finally goes down with Quarry following him and taking his guard. Quarry takes this round and will take the fight 29-28. Good fight, Credeur showed a lot of heart but Quarry was just too big and too strong for him. Quarry finished the fight with a big mouse under his right eye.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-27 and 29-28 in favor of Quarry
Winner: Nate Quarry by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Carlos Condit (23-5) vs. Jake Ellenberger (21-4)
This is Jake Ellenberger’s debut in the UFC as he is filling in for the injured Chris Lytle. Condit is a former WEC Welterweight Champion who lost in his debut to Martin Kampmann in a very close split decision. Condit has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Ellenberger grabbed a Condit kick early and punched him and took him down. Condit does a really good job in his guard and got back to his feet without taking any damage. Ellenberger again counters a kick with a punch and just drills Condit up against the cage and Condit goes down. Ellenberger jumps on top and Condit is in deep trouble. Ellenberger went for a choke but Condit was able to escape and get back to his feet. Condit hit Ellenberger with a big knee to the chin. Ellenberger absorbed two more knees and then fired a Hail Mary punch and looked like he grazed Condit right in the temple and Condit just crumpled. I thought for sure that was the end of the fight as Ellenberger jumped on top and reigned punches to the back of Condit’s head but Condit took Ellenberger down and took half guard. There is still two minutes left in this fight and so far it has been CRAZY. Condit was able to move to mount but Ellenberger kicked him off. Ellenberger grabbed a guillotine but Condit rolled out and ended up with Ellenberger in his guard. Condit has a very active guard and is hitting some elbows. Condit went for a triangle but Ellenberger slipped out quickly before it was even close and they stood back up. Ellenberger landed a head kick but it looked like it was just a glancing blow. Holy Crap, what a first round. Ellenberger is no joke and I can’t believe that Condit survived that first round. Condit clearly has to get this fight on the ground if he wants to win. You have to give that first round to Ellenberger 10-9.
R2- Ellenberger is swinging for the fences early but missed two big haymakers. Ellenberger got a double leg take down. Condit landed some elbows. Ellenberger is getting very little offense in despite being in an advantageous position. Condit got a kimura but could not submit Ellenberger because Ellenberger was holding onto the fence. Condit did however roll over Ellenberger and took mount. Condit was able to get in some shots but was moved to half guard. Condit re-mounts and tries to take Ellenberger’s back but he slips and Ellenberger takes his guard. Condit once again is active from his guard and Ellenberger is not really trying to improve his position. Back to their feet with 15 seconds left. Condit landed a couple of strikes before the land ended. Ellenberger got a take down and laid on top of Condit for a while but really didn’t get in any offense in this round. Condit had a near submission and was able to mount and score points from his guard. I think that’s enough as Condit controlled the striking and landed many more shots in this round than did Ellenberger. It will be interesting to see how judges score this round and I think many will give it to Ellenberger just for kind of laying on Condit and getting the take down. I’ve got it Condit 10-9 and that evens up the fight 19-19 on my score card.
R3- Condit threw a leg kick early but it was mostly deflected. Ellenberger got an early take down. Condit again worked strikes from the guard position. Ellenberger landed a big elbow but shortly thereafter Condit was able to slide out of his grasp and they stood back up with three and a half minutes remaining in the fight. Ellenberger threw a kick but it landed on Condit’s arm. Condit got a take down and Ellenberger grabbed a guillotine but Condit easily slipped out and moved to half guard. Condit controlled from the top and landed some good strikes. Condit went to take Ellenberger’s back and landed some more good strikes. Ellenberger spins out as Condit went for a submission and took Condit’s guard. Condit kicked him off and they stood back up. Ellenberger went for a single leg but Condit. The ref keeps warning Condit for striking to the back of Ellenberger’s head but I haven’t seen it as Carlos is not hitting him directly to the back of his head. Condit stuffed the take down and took Ellenberger’s back and flattened him out and continued to land strikes. I’ve got Condit taking this round 10-9 which gives him the fight 29-28 in a really good fight. I don’t know how Condit survived the first round but he really weathered that storm and wore out Ellenberger. It will be interesting to see how judges score this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Condit, 29-28 Ellenberger and 29-28 Condit
So that’s 2 split decisions in his first two fights for Condit in the UFC. Ellenberger looked very game in the first round.
Winner: Carlos Condit by Decision (Split)
Mike Goldberg interviews Rich Franklin via Satellite.
Gray Maynard (8-0) vs. Roger Huerta (22-2-1)
Huerta is coming off of a lackluster loss to Kenny Florian by decision (30-27) back at UFC 87. Gray Maynard is coming off an impressive win over Jim Miller at UFC 96. Maynard is undefeated and is quickly moving up the Lightweight ladder. With another impressive win or two he could find himself as the #1 Contender to B.J. Penn. Huerta could be taking off to Hollywood after this fight so it will be interesting to see how prepared he is for this fight.
R1- Maynard came in at early and landed some good strikes. Huerta came in and Maynard landed a good counter punch that knocked Huerta off center. Maynard looks really quick so far early in this fight. Huerta got Maynard up against the fence and was able to land several strikes. Maynard was able to retreat and when Huerta came in again Maynard was able to pop him with a jab. Maynard went for a single leg but Huerta was able to sprawl out of the take down. Good first round that was pretty even. Huerta had the one flurry but overall Maynard landed more strikes and controlled more of the round. Maynard 10-9 after one round. Florian gave this round to Huerta.
R2- Maynard countered a Huerta kick with a good right hand and Huerta ducked and moved and slid in the Octagon to gain his balance and avoid Maynard. Maynard hit a good right that knocked Huerta off-balance and then Maynard landed another left but it appeared to just be a glancing blow. Huerta charged at Maynard and threw like 7 or 8 shots but Maynard ducked all of them and then Maynard landed a jab that took Huerta briefly off his feet as he lost his balance. Maynard is far from dominating this fight but he’s doing enough to win the rounds. I’ve got Maynard up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Maynard landed a couple of strikes early. Maynard rushed in and took Huerta down. Huerta got back to his feet briefly but Maynard pulled him back down. Maynard’s nose is bleeding from a shot earlier in the fight. Maynard has a funky looking kimura locked in on Huerta and Maynard eventually let it go as Huerta was not going to tap and was able to twist out of the move. Huerta was briefly on top but then Maynard was able to grind him back down. Maynard takes this round and I’ve got him winning 30-27 on my score card. It was a close fight but I had Maynard winning all of the rounds. The only one that really seemed debatable was the first round. Maynard needs another quality win and then he could be a contender for the Lightweight Title.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Huerta, 30-27 Maynard and 30-27 Maynard.
29-28 Huerta? What was Chris Lee smoking?
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Split)
Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-4) vs. Melvin Guillard (41-8-3)
In his last fight Melvin won a Split Decision over Gleison Tibau at the Ultimate Fight 9 Finale. I actually had the fight scored in favor of Tibau 29-28. On the same show Nate lost a close fight to Joe Stevenson by 29-28 decision on all score cards. Diaz has a 5” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Diaz threw a loopy right hand and Guillard stuck him with a quick right that knocked him down but Guillard let him back up. Diaz locked him up and got a take down but Guillard got back to his feet and hit Diaz with a judo throw and then let Diaz back to his feet. Diaz again got Guillard down but Guillard again quickly got to his feet without taking any damage. Diaz has some blood coming from near his eye. Fairly close round but Diaz really didn’t do anything to hurt Guillard and Guillard opened up a cut on Diaz and knocked him down early in the round. I’ve got Guillard taking a close round 10 to 9.
R2- Guillard went for another judo throw and was able to get Diaz down on the mat but he let Diaz back to his feet. Diaz is starting to land some strikes. Guillard fakes being hurt but then gets caught by Diaz as Diaz pulled guard and locked in a choke and Guillard submitted. What a huge mistake by Guillard and Diaz capitalized beautifully.
Winner: Nate Diaz by Guillotine Choke R2 2:13
Really good night of fights.
Tulsa, OK (Cox Convention Center)
9/16/09
No Joe Rogan tonight so Kenny Florian will be replacing him on Color Commentary. Gray Maynard will take a big step tonight towards a Lightweight Title Fight if he can beat Roger Huerta. This is a risky fight for the UFC as Huerta plans on going Hollywood after the fight. Former WEC Champion Carlos Condit tries to get his first UFC win after a razor think loss to Martin Kampmann in his debut. TUF fighters fight it out tonight as Nate Diaz/Melvin Guillard and Nate Quarry/Tim Credeur collide. Hopefully Steve Cantwell/Brian Stann will make the main show and/or we can see Brock Larson/Mike Pierce. Phillipe Nover was pulled from his undercard fight with Sam Stout tonight when he suffered a seizure.
Middleweight Fight- Nate Quarry (17-3) vs. Tim Credeur (13-4)
Credeur is coming off a second round guillotine submission of Nick Catone at Fight Night 18. Credeur is 3-0 in the UFC and has really improved since his TUF days. Credeur has a 3” height and 2.5” reach advantage. Quarry has to be the favorite coming into this fight. Quarry’s only losses in the UFC have come to Rich Franklin and Demain Maia.
R1- Credeur is out striking Quarry early but doesn’t seem to be hurting him. Credeur caught Quarry with a solid left hand at the 1:20 mark and Quarry went down. Credeur jumped on top and grabbed a Rear Naked Choke with over a minute left in the round but Quarry rolled over and survived. Really great action. Credeur closed the round with some strikes and has bloodied Quarry’s nose. Impressive first round for Credeur as he’s up 10-9.
R2- Credeur opens up the round with strikes and has Quarry on the run early but he got popped by Quarry. Both guys go toe to toe swinging for the fences and Credeur went down. Credeur definitely doesn’t want to get into a shot for shot against Quarry. Quarry lands on top of Credeur and takes his guard. Quarry has done a good job of weathering the storm so far and turned the tide quickly in this round to tie it up 19-19 going into the third and final round.
R3- Credeur opens up this round landing some good strikes but Quarry unloaded on Credeur with a huge right hand. The punch looked so violent that Herb Dean rushed in and almost stopped the fight but Credeur was able to survive the strike. Quarry took Credeur’s guard. They get back to their feet but Credeur looks like he’s still really feeling the effects of that one punch. Credeur is taking some big shots and finally goes down with Quarry following him and taking his guard. Quarry takes this round and will take the fight 29-28. Good fight, Credeur showed a lot of heart but Quarry was just too big and too strong for him. Quarry finished the fight with a big mouse under his right eye.
Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-27 and 29-28 in favor of Quarry
Winner: Nate Quarry by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Carlos Condit (23-5) vs. Jake Ellenberger (21-4)
This is Jake Ellenberger’s debut in the UFC as he is filling in for the injured Chris Lytle. Condit is a former WEC Welterweight Champion who lost in his debut to Martin Kampmann in a very close split decision. Condit has a 2” height and 3” reach advantage.
R1- Ellenberger grabbed a Condit kick early and punched him and took him down. Condit does a really good job in his guard and got back to his feet without taking any damage. Ellenberger again counters a kick with a punch and just drills Condit up against the cage and Condit goes down. Ellenberger jumps on top and Condit is in deep trouble. Ellenberger went for a choke but Condit was able to escape and get back to his feet. Condit hit Ellenberger with a big knee to the chin. Ellenberger absorbed two more knees and then fired a Hail Mary punch and looked like he grazed Condit right in the temple and Condit just crumpled. I thought for sure that was the end of the fight as Ellenberger jumped on top and reigned punches to the back of Condit’s head but Condit took Ellenberger down and took half guard. There is still two minutes left in this fight and so far it has been CRAZY. Condit was able to move to mount but Ellenberger kicked him off. Ellenberger grabbed a guillotine but Condit rolled out and ended up with Ellenberger in his guard. Condit has a very active guard and is hitting some elbows. Condit went for a triangle but Ellenberger slipped out quickly before it was even close and they stood back up. Ellenberger landed a head kick but it looked like it was just a glancing blow. Holy Crap, what a first round. Ellenberger is no joke and I can’t believe that Condit survived that first round. Condit clearly has to get this fight on the ground if he wants to win. You have to give that first round to Ellenberger 10-9.
R2- Ellenberger is swinging for the fences early but missed two big haymakers. Ellenberger got a double leg take down. Condit landed some elbows. Ellenberger is getting very little offense in despite being in an advantageous position. Condit got a kimura but could not submit Ellenberger because Ellenberger was holding onto the fence. Condit did however roll over Ellenberger and took mount. Condit was able to get in some shots but was moved to half guard. Condit re-mounts and tries to take Ellenberger’s back but he slips and Ellenberger takes his guard. Condit once again is active from his guard and Ellenberger is not really trying to improve his position. Back to their feet with 15 seconds left. Condit landed a couple of strikes before the land ended. Ellenberger got a take down and laid on top of Condit for a while but really didn’t get in any offense in this round. Condit had a near submission and was able to mount and score points from his guard. I think that’s enough as Condit controlled the striking and landed many more shots in this round than did Ellenberger. It will be interesting to see how judges score this round and I think many will give it to Ellenberger just for kind of laying on Condit and getting the take down. I’ve got it Condit 10-9 and that evens up the fight 19-19 on my score card.
R3- Condit threw a leg kick early but it was mostly deflected. Ellenberger got an early take down. Condit again worked strikes from the guard position. Ellenberger landed a big elbow but shortly thereafter Condit was able to slide out of his grasp and they stood back up with three and a half minutes remaining in the fight. Ellenberger threw a kick but it landed on Condit’s arm. Condit got a take down and Ellenberger grabbed a guillotine but Condit easily slipped out and moved to half guard. Condit controlled from the top and landed some good strikes. Condit went to take Ellenberger’s back and landed some more good strikes. Ellenberger spins out as Condit went for a submission and took Condit’s guard. Condit kicked him off and they stood back up. Ellenberger went for a single leg but Condit. The ref keeps warning Condit for striking to the back of Ellenberger’s head but I haven’t seen it as Carlos is not hitting him directly to the back of his head. Condit stuffed the take down and took Ellenberger’s back and flattened him out and continued to land strikes. I’ve got Condit taking this round 10-9 which gives him the fight 29-28 in a really good fight. I don’t know how Condit survived the first round but he really weathered that storm and wore out Ellenberger. It will be interesting to see how judges score this fight.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Condit, 29-28 Ellenberger and 29-28 Condit
So that’s 2 split decisions in his first two fights for Condit in the UFC. Ellenberger looked very game in the first round.
Winner: Carlos Condit by Decision (Split)
Mike Goldberg interviews Rich Franklin via Satellite.
Gray Maynard (8-0) vs. Roger Huerta (22-2-1)
Huerta is coming off of a lackluster loss to Kenny Florian by decision (30-27) back at UFC 87. Gray Maynard is coming off an impressive win over Jim Miller at UFC 96. Maynard is undefeated and is quickly moving up the Lightweight ladder. With another impressive win or two he could find himself as the #1 Contender to B.J. Penn. Huerta could be taking off to Hollywood after this fight so it will be interesting to see how prepared he is for this fight.
R1- Maynard came in at early and landed some good strikes. Huerta came in and Maynard landed a good counter punch that knocked Huerta off center. Maynard looks really quick so far early in this fight. Huerta got Maynard up against the fence and was able to land several strikes. Maynard was able to retreat and when Huerta came in again Maynard was able to pop him with a jab. Maynard went for a single leg but Huerta was able to sprawl out of the take down. Good first round that was pretty even. Huerta had the one flurry but overall Maynard landed more strikes and controlled more of the round. Maynard 10-9 after one round. Florian gave this round to Huerta.
R2- Maynard countered a Huerta kick with a good right hand and Huerta ducked and moved and slid in the Octagon to gain his balance and avoid Maynard. Maynard hit a good right that knocked Huerta off-balance and then Maynard landed another left but it appeared to just be a glancing blow. Huerta charged at Maynard and threw like 7 or 8 shots but Maynard ducked all of them and then Maynard landed a jab that took Huerta briefly off his feet as he lost his balance. Maynard is far from dominating this fight but he’s doing enough to win the rounds. I’ve got Maynard up 20-18 on my score card.
R3- Maynard landed a couple of strikes early. Maynard rushed in and took Huerta down. Huerta got back to his feet briefly but Maynard pulled him back down. Maynard’s nose is bleeding from a shot earlier in the fight. Maynard has a funky looking kimura locked in on Huerta and Maynard eventually let it go as Huerta was not going to tap and was able to twist out of the move. Huerta was briefly on top but then Maynard was able to grind him back down. Maynard takes this round and I’ve got him winning 30-27 on my score card. It was a close fight but I had Maynard winning all of the rounds. The only one that really seemed debatable was the first round. Maynard needs another quality win and then he could be a contender for the Lightweight Title.
Judges score cards say: 29-28 Huerta, 30-27 Maynard and 30-27 Maynard.
29-28 Huerta? What was Chris Lee smoking?
Winner: Gray Maynard by Decision (Split)
Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-4) vs. Melvin Guillard (41-8-3)
In his last fight Melvin won a Split Decision over Gleison Tibau at the Ultimate Fight 9 Finale. I actually had the fight scored in favor of Tibau 29-28. On the same show Nate lost a close fight to Joe Stevenson by 29-28 decision on all score cards. Diaz has a 5” reach and 3” height advantage.
R1- Diaz threw a loopy right hand and Guillard stuck him with a quick right that knocked him down but Guillard let him back up. Diaz locked him up and got a take down but Guillard got back to his feet and hit Diaz with a judo throw and then let Diaz back to his feet. Diaz again got Guillard down but Guillard again quickly got to his feet without taking any damage. Diaz has some blood coming from near his eye. Fairly close round but Diaz really didn’t do anything to hurt Guillard and Guillard opened up a cut on Diaz and knocked him down early in the round. I’ve got Guillard taking a close round 10 to 9.
R2- Guillard went for another judo throw and was able to get Diaz down on the mat but he let Diaz back to his feet. Diaz is starting to land some strikes. Guillard fakes being hurt but then gets caught by Diaz as Diaz pulled guard and locked in a choke and Guillard submitted. What a huge mistake by Guillard and Diaz capitalized beautifully.
Winner: Nate Diaz by Guillotine Choke R2 2:13
Really good night of fights.
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