MMA Ground N' Pound » Recaps

UFC 121 Observations

Tim — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:09:44 +0000

UFC 121 was one of the most anticipated MMA events of 2010, and featured a main event with two of the best heavyweights in the world. Here are some of my post-UFC 121 thoughts:

Tom Lawlor can be a solid low to mid-tier UFC middleweight. He controlled Patrick Cote with his wrestling, and improved to 3-2 in the UFC. Not a championship contender, but he can do well amongst the lower fighters of the division. Cote needs to go back to the drawing board after losing back-to-back contests since returning from injuries suffered at UFC 90.
Court McGee looked lost in the first round to Ryan Jensen, but showed good toughness and cardio as he came back to dominate the 2nd round and eventually tapped out Jensen with a rear-naked choke in the 3rd. The Ultimate Fighter winner has a lot to improve upon, but still a solid victory in his first fight since the show ended.
Brendan Schaub asked for a bigger challenge, and the UFC gave him Gabriel Gonzaga. Schaub looked good in the standup, but couldn’t put Gonzaga away. However, he got a unanimous decision win over a former title challenger in a big step up in competition. Now Schaub is asking for Frank Mir, but I don’t think he’s quite ready for a challenge like that. Either way, Schaub is proving to be a prospect to watch in the heavyweight division.
Tito Ortiz is done. He got outworked and outwrestled by Matt Hamill over the course of three rounds. His striking looked ok in the first round, but got progressively worse as he tired over the next two rounds. Hamill is far from a world-beater, but he still got a victory over a MMA legend. UFC president Dana White said that Hamill has earned himself a top-10 opponent in his next fight. I’m not sure where Ortiz goes from here. White seemed to hint that he could get cut, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get one more fight.
Diego Sanchez seemed to get his “mojo” back over the last two rounds of his fight with a tough Paulo Thiago. Thiago won the first round, but Sanchez came back extremely strong in the next two rounds, implementing more of his wrestling and top game. His conditioning also helped, as Thiago seemed to tire as the fight progressed, while Sanchez seemed to be getting stronger. Sanchez discussed possibly dropping back to lightweight after this fight, but with the unanimous decision win, he may take another fight at welterweight first.
Jake Shields looked awful against Martin Kampmann, but still got the split-decision victory. A reported back injury in his training camp may have limited him, and the reported 20 pound weight cut the day before the fight probably didn’t help either. He typically has slower paced, grinding fights anyway, but this one was especially rough. Shields escaped with a split-decision win, but really didn’t show he had earned a title shot at the winner of Georges St. Pierre/Josh Koscheck. Kampmann wasn’t great in this fight either, but has proven he can hang with most of the top welterweights in the UFC.

Now, on to the main event between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez. The first thing I took away from the fight was that Brock’s gameplan was awful. I didn’t expect him to come out so fast and wild like he did, and I don’t think Velasquez really did either. He did connect with a few of his wild punches, but not enough to really slow Cain down. Lesnar did take Velasquez down twice, but Cain was able to get right back to his feet both times. Here’s part of what I wrote about Lesnar in the preview:

His top game is built entirely on control. He basically refuses to strike until he is certain that he has complete control of his opponent on the bottom, and then begins his assault.

Well, this was the complete opposite of what he did at UFC 121. He tried to advance his position too quickly without establishing top control, and Cain was able to escape to his feet. I believe a big part of this was panic. I really think Lesnar panicked when he couldn’t stop Velasquez with his bull rush early, and didn’t know how to react. Once Velasquez got back to his feet, this fight was all but finished. Velasquez took Lesnar down with about 2:50 left in the round, and had Brock’s back, landing short left and right hands to the side of Lesnar’s head. Lesnar got back up, but was bleeding and looked hurt at this point. He wasn’t anxious to get into a standup exchange with Velasquez, and lunged awkwardly for a takedown. He bounced off of Velasquez, and as Lesnar stumbled across the cage, Velasquez patiently stalked him. Just as Lesnar was getting back to his feet, Velasquez caught him with a couple shots which basically started the end of the night for Lesnar. He delivered a huge knee which clearly hurt Lesnar and dropped him.

Cain clearly learned from Shane Carwin’s fight with Lesnar at UFC 116, because he didn’t waste all of his energy trying to finish Lesnar here. Brock began to get his wits about him, and covered up. Velasquez gave Lesnar just a little space, and Brock tried to grab a leg and get to his feet. Just as he was about to get to his feet, Velasquez caught him again and put him down. Lesnar was basically defenseless at this point, and referee Herb Dean correctly stopped the fight.

Many people are pointing to the fact that Lesnar doesn’t like to get hit. Well, that may be true, but a big part of his problem is that he still hasn’t learned anything about avoiding shots on the ground. He didn’t get a hold of Velasquez or anything, basically just covered up and hoped that Cain would punch himself out like Carwin did. In the standup, I thought Brock came out aggressively, and that’s something that someone who was scared to get hit wouldn’t do. I do belive that he panicked, and also that he gassed himself out going all out like he did for the first two minutes of the round.

Where do they go from here? Velasquez will defend his title against Junior Dos Santos at an upcoming pay-per-view, and he’s already a heavy favorite. For Lesnar? No one seems to really know. Some say he will retire or go back to the WWE. I don’t belive that to be the case. I think he has too much pride to go out like that. Others are suggesting he fight Frank Mir in his next fight. This makes some sense. A fight with Mir would be one he would be favored in, and with it being a rubber match between the two, would also be a pretty big money fight for the UFC. I’m sure the UFC wants to get him back in the title picture as soon as possible, and a win over Mir may do that. With Shane Carwin out for awhile after he undergoes back surgery next week, he may be next in line for a title shot after the Velasquez/JDS fight. UFC officials may be hoping for a JDS win, as his striking is probably better than Cain’s, but his wrestling skills aren’t. Lesnar could, at least in theory, have a big advantage in that department if they fought. The fight with Velasquez could have gone completely differently if Lesnar had just been patient with the first takedown, but Velasquez was impressive and is only getting better right now.

UFC 116 Post-Fight Thoughts

Tim — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:47:41 +0000

UFC 116 was, quite simply, one of the most exciting MMA Pay-Per-Views of all time. From the prelims to the main card, nearly every fight provided great finishes, exciting back-and-forth action or fantastic comebacks. Here are some of my post-fight notes.

Brendan Schaub has the hands and the power to reach the middle of the UFC’s heavyweight division. His quick 1st round KO of Chris Tuchscherer was impressive. He’s still young enough and talented enough to improve on his ground game, which is something he’ll have to do to ever compete with the best heavyweights in the world.
George Sotiropolous is definitely closing in on a lightweight title shot. He controlled much of the first two rounds against Kurt Pellegrino, and showed improved striking. His ground game is still one of the best in the UFC’s lightweight division, though his takedown defense still needs work. He’s probably one more win away from being in the title shot conversation after improving his UFC record to 6-0 with the unanimous decision win.
The Stephan Bonnar/Krzysztof Soszynski fight was far from pretty, but was extremely entertaining. Bonnar got a much needed win. No one ever doubted his guts, and he showed a ton of them on Saturday night.
Chris Lytle likes to downplay his ground credentials, but he used them to notch a submission win over Matt Brown. The armbar was probably headed to submission of the night status, until the next two fights happened anyway.
What can you really say about Chris Leben? Not only did he take the fight against a really tough opponent in Yoshihiro Akiyama on very short notice only 2 weeks after his last fight, but he was the one who was able to dig down deep to latch onto a triangle only seconds before the bell. Leben combines one of the toughest chins in all of MMA with an obvious abundance of heart and has now won two fights in two weeks. Akiyama, meanwhile, needs to get his conditioning up to par. He looks like a more natural welterweight in the Octagon, and that is where his future may be.
Shane Carwin impressed me in the first round. His all-out blitz of Brock Lesnar was a little shocking to witness, but proved that what everyone said about his power was true. However, that was all completely undone as he was unable to finish a clearly hurt Lesnar, and came out in the second round completely gassed. His cardio had been a question coming in, and remains one after the fight.
Brock Lesnar proved that he can take punishment from one of the biggest and hardest hitters in all of MMA, and still had the heart to fight on. His cardio was impressive, as he came out in the 2nd round much fresher than Carwin. He was able to get the takedown, and patiently worked for the submission. Lesnar had already proven that he was the most dominant heavyweight in the UFC, but this victory answered many questions that people had about him, namely his ability to recover from adversity during a fight.

UFC 112 Thoughts

Tim — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:53:27 +0000

I know I’m a bit late to the party on my UFC 112 post-fight thoughts, but I needed a little time to digest what I saw. It was definitely an interesting day/night of MMA.

Frankie Edgar was masterful in his performance against B.J. Penn. It’s unfortunate that the events of the main event will take a little away from Edgar’s victory. No, I really don’t think he won the fight, and yes, I think something wasn’t quite right with Penn. However, he got the decision and the record books will show he defeated the number one lightweight fighter of all time, and he is now the UFC lightweight champion.

What’s next for Edgar? Good question. I think Kenny Florian (who is currently battling a case of Staph infection) is the likely next challenger for the belt. He looked very impressive in wins over Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi since losing to Penn at UFC 101, and he’s marketable too. Gray Maynard is pushing for the fight, but I think Florian is the most likely choice. Some also think Penn should get an immediate rematch (much like “Shogun” Rua got after the close decision loss to Lyoto Machida), but I think a Penn/Maynard #1 contender’s match makes sense. I imagine Edgar would be the underdog no matter who he faces next, but being the underdog didn’t seem to affect him on Saturday.

The Hughes/Gracie fight didn’t do much for me. Hughes didn’t look himself either. Maybe it was something to do with jet lag or something, but Hughes and Penn both looked out of it. Hughes probably lost the first round against Renzo, but repeated leg kicks and fatigue finally did Gracie in late in the 3rd round. It’s tough to imagine Gracie fighting again in the UFC, but he said after the fight that he intended to do so. The fight certainly didn’t do much for Hughes either. I don’t know who the next fight for him would be. Perhaps a rematch with Serra? There really aren’t many compelling matchups for Hughes right now.

Mark Munoz weathered an early storm fromKendall Grove to get the 2nd round TKO victory. Grove was impressive in firing off multiple submission attempts in the first round, but was unable to finish. Munoz looked energized heading into the 2nd round, and once he had Grove on his back against the cage, was able to finish the fight. The fight won “Fight of the Night” honors, so both guys at least left Abu Dhabi with their wallets being a little more full.

Now, onto the main event. Anderson Silva somehow managed to look unbeatable, spectacular, asinine, and childish all in the course of 25 minutes. It was evident early on that Demian Maia posed little to no threat to the reigning middleweight champ, and Silva obviously knew that too. Starting in the 2nd round, Silva began to mock and berate the challenger, trying to get Maia to enter into exchanges. Maia was unwilling to do so, so much of the action for the next three rounds involved Silva pounding on the canvas or signaling for Maia to come forward. The fans in attendance were not pleased with Silva, and with Maia showing toughness and some late life in the 5th round with a still unwilling to engage Silva, the crowd turned in Maia’s favor. UFC president Dana White was quite upset with Silva and the fight in general, and left after the fourth round, not even sticking around to place the belt around the champ’s waist after the decision was read.

It’s quite obvious that Silva is bored with the challengers he’s getting at the middleweight division, so it’s up to Dana White to find him some challenging opponents. I’d be all for Silva making the permanent move up to light heavyweight where there are many interesting matchups, but with Silva and current champion Lyoto Machida unwilling to fight each other, there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to do that either. It seems that Silva will probably face opponents from each division, though it seems unlikely and nearly impossible for him to headline a card, unless it’s a fight against Georges St. Pierre or Brock Lesnar. Chael Sonnen or Vitor Belfort will likely face him next from the middleweight group, and though both would likely offer better challenges than Maia did, neither is a serious threat to take the title from Silva in my opinion. Since Silva has already beaten a former light heavyweight champion in Forrest Griffin, and the fact that the UFC probably doesn’t want to take away a serious championship contender by feeding him to Silva, a matchup with a heavyweight may very well be next for Silva. Fights with Frank Mir or Cain Velasquez would offer a serious challenge, and Iwould expect Silva to be excited for those matchups. However, with Velasquez likely to face the winner of the Shane Carwin/Brock Lesnar fight, Mir may be the logical matchup.

*Photo courtesy Yahoo Sports*

UFC on Versus 1 Recap and Analysis

Tim — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:44:31 +0000

UFC on Versus 1 showcased two up-and-coming prospects who will eventually become title contenders against two UFC veterans trying to keep their place near the top of their divisions. In both instances, youth won out.

Heavyweight prospect Junior dos Santos, 4-0 in the UFC heading into this fight, faced a former title contender and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in Gabriel Gonzaga. Some were picking Gonzaga due to his superiority on the ground, but dos Santos proved from the opening bell that if you try and strike with him, you will be in for a short night. Just under four minutes into the fight, dos Santos caught Gonzaga with an overhand left that floored him. A few follow up shots finished Gonzaga’s night. The impressive showing from dos Santos should put him in line for a future title shot. Some are suggesting a potential Cain Velasquez/dos Santos fight with the winner getting a shot at the title after the winner of this weekend’s Frank Mir/Shane Carwin showdown.

In the main event of the evening, Jon Jones, one of the top prospects in all of MMA, took on former top prospect Brandon Vera. Early on, Jones showed that his offensive Greco-Roman wresting would be difficult to deal with as he threw Vera to the ground in the opening minute. The fight soon moved back standing, but Jones got another takedown soon thereafter. This time, Vera landed an illegal upkick that briefly paused the action, before the fight resumed with Jones in the top position. From there, Jones landed a hard elbow strike to the right side of Vera’s face. The shot really hurt Vera, as he quickly turned to his stomach and covered up. A few more strikes landed from Jones before the fight was stopped. After the fight, it was revealed that the Jones elbow broke three bones in Vera’s face. Jones shouldn’t be rushed into title contention just yet, but will likely face a top 10 light heavyweight in his next fight as the UFC slowly moves him up the ladder.

In other main card action, Cheick Kongo battered former UFC heavyweight title contender Paul Buentello from the opening bell, eventually forcing Buentello to tap out from strikes early in the third round. In the opening fight of the evening, Alessio Sakara battered James Irvin early and often. Irvin, who was making the weight cut to middleweight for the first time, clearly looked weak at the weigh ins and at the fight itself. A left hook from Sakara in the middle of the first round caught Irvin right on the eye, forcing a stop to the contest. Sakara was awarded the TKO victory and has now won three straight fights.

In preliminary card action, lightweight Clay Guida returned to the win column by submitting Shannon Gurgerty via arm triangle in the 2nd round. The Ultimate Fighter season 10 finalist Brendan Schaub fought for the first time since losing to Roy Nelson in the finale, and got a 1st round TKO win over Chase Gormley. Finally, in a welterweight fight, John Howard moved to 4-0 in his UFC career by surviving an early test from newcomer Daniel Roberts to knock him out two minutes into the fight.

Full Results:

MAIN CARD

Jon Jones def. Brandon Vera via TKO – Round 1, 3:19

Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga via KO – Round 1, 3:53

Cheick Kongo def. Paul Buentello via TKO – Round 3, 1:16

Alessio Sakara def. James Irvin via TKO – Round 1, 3:01

PRELIMINARY CARD

Clay Guida def. Shannon Gugerty via submission - Round 2, 3:40

Vladimir Matyushenko def. Eliot Marshall via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)

Darren Elkins def. Duane Ludwig via TKO- Round 1, 0:44

John Howard def. Daniel Roberts via knockout – Round 1, 2:01

Brendan Schaub def. Chase Gormley via TKO – Round 1, 0:47

Mike Pierce def. Julio Paulino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Jason Brilz def. Eric Schafer via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Photo courtesy: The Denver Post

UFC 110 Recap-Velasquez Stops Nogueira, Silva decisions Bisping

Tim — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:30:38 +0000

UFC 110 was the organization’s first event in Australia, and from the crowd reaction, it was definitely a success. It was a very entertaining night of fights, and the Australian crowd really got into the event, assuring a future venture into the region.

Cain Velasquez proved me and everyone else who doubted his power wrong by taking out one of the best heavyweights of all-time in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. From the opening bell, Velasquez was the better and faster striker. He consistently beat Nogueira to the punch, and with the success he was having on his feet, he felt no need to venture into the danger zone that is Nogueira’s guard. The end came about halfway through the first round when Velasquez connected on a right hook to the chin of Nogueira, followed by a left hook to the temple. Nogueira went down in a heap and a few follow up shots from Velasquez finished him off.

UFC president Dana White said that Velasquez is on “standby” for a title shot right now, meaning if the winner of the Frank Mir/Shane Carwin fight at UFC 111 is too injured to fight Brock Lesnar in early summer, then Velasquez would get the title shot instead. If he doesn’t fight Lesnar next, look for Velasquez to take on the winner of the Junior dos Santos/Gabriel Gonzaga matchup at UFC on Versus I, scheduled for March 21st.

In the co-main event of the evening, Wanderlei Silva got a much needed win, getting the unanimous decision nod over Michael Bisping. Bisping once again seemed hesitant to engage with the more powerful Silva, but utilized takedowns and good movement to win the first round. The second round seemed to be in Bisping’s favor as well, until Silva nearly finished him with a guillotine in the closing seconds of the round. That probably pushed the round into Silva’s column. It could be argued that the third round was going Bisping’s way too until Silva dropped him in the closing seconds. Silva could have finished the fight right there if the bell hadn’t sounded. Silva will likely take on another contender in the UFC’s middleweight division, while Bisping will face another mid-level middleweight to get back on track.

George Sotiropoulos impressed the hometown crowd as well as UFC fans from across the world with his dominating unanimous decision victory over Joe Stevenson. Throughout the fight, Sotiropoulos showed the difference between black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as his Jiu Jitsu was clearly supperior to Stevenson’s. Sotiropoulos controlled the vast majority of the fight and showed a very solid striking game as well. At 5-0 in the UFC, Sotiropoulos will probably get a fringe title contender in the lightweight division, perhaps someone like Tyson Griffin or Sean Sherk. Stevenson, who had looked much improved since joining Greg Jackson’s camp, will go back to the drawing board in hopes of eventually getting another title shot in the lightweight division.

Ryan Bader showed continued improvement in his all-around game, getting a KO victory over Keith Jardine in the third round of their contest. Bader got the takedown in the first round, and spent a lot of time in top control, dropping punches and elbows down on Jardine. Jardine did a good job of defending takedowns in the second round, but Bader’s takedown in the closing seconds of the round probably gave the nod to Bader again. In the third, Bader got a slam on Jardine, but Jardine scrambled to his feet nicely. Bader landed a right hook that was followed by a knee and a left hook that dropped and finished Jardine. It was an impressive performance for the former Ultimate Fighter winner, and one that should earn him a shot against another fringe light heavyweight contender next. An opponent such as Thiago Silva would be a good test for Bader. Jardine’s future is much cloudier as he dropped his third straight fight. I don’t expect the UFC to release him, but he’ll definitely need a win the next time out or he’ll be in some serious danger.

In the opening fight of the PPV, Mirko Cro Cop easily dispatched of the overmatched Anthony Perosh after the doctor stopped the fight between the second and third rounds. Perosh replaced Ben Rothwell just days prior to the contest, giving him very little time to prepare. Cro Cop likely won the first round 10-8, as he battered Perosh throughout the round. In the second round, Cro Cop cut Perosh with a pretty vicious elbow. The fight was allowed to continue after the doctor looked at the cut, but after Cro Cop delivered more punishment, the fight was called off after the round. It still wasn’t a vintage Cro Cop performance, he definitely still looked slow to me, but a win is a win. Cro Cop still thinks he’s among the division’s best, but don’t expect the UFC to feed him to a top contender yet. Dana White’s post-fight comments point to a future fight against Rothwell, the man he was suppossed to fight last night.

Full Results:

Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:20
Wanderlei Silva def. Michael Bisping via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
George Sotiropoulos def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Bader def. Keith Jardine via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 2:10
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Anthony Perosh via TKO (cut) – Round 2, 5:00

Prelims

Krzysztof Soszynski def. Stephan Bonnar via TKO (cut) – Round 3, 1:04
Chris Lytle def. Brian Foster via submission (knee-bar) – Round 1, 1:41
C.B. Dollaway def. Goran Reljic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
James Te Huna def. Igor Pokrajac via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:26

*Photo courtesy Sherdog.com

Couture dominates Coleman/Sonnen earns title shot at UFC 109

Tim — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:22:53 +0000

The Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman fight was one that fans had wanted to see for years. Perhaps the fight would have been more competitive about 10 years ago. Tonight, Coleman showed absolutely nothing as he was dominated from the opening bell by Couture.

Couture came out fast in the opening frame, tagging Coleman repeatedly with shots. Coleman looked like he really didn’t know what to do. Later in the first, Couture used some of his “dirty boxing” as he clinched with Coleman against the cage. The first round was an easy 10-9 round for Couture.

The second round began much the same, but after a clinch, Couture scored a takedown. He quickly moved to mount before Coleman gave up his back. From there, Couture applied the rear naked choke, ending Coleman’s night. Coleman’s best shots of the day came in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. As he was doing the interview with Rogan, Coleman responded to some heckling from Tito Ortiz saying, “Fuck you Tito.” Coleman clearly looks done at this point in his career, but he stated he was going to continue to fight during the interview. Who UFC president Dana White can put in there with Coleman is anyone’s guess.

Chael Sonnen dominated Nate Marquardt to earn a title shot against the winner of the Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort fight at UFC 112. Sonnen used his wrestling advantage to take Marquardt down repeatedly. Marquardt had very little to offer off his back, sans an elbow that cut Sonnen badly in the 2nd round. Marquardt finally showed a little offense in late in the 3rd round, catching Sonnen with a deep guillotine. Sonnen was able to fight it off and Marquardt was simply too gassed to hold onto the hold anymore. The fight ended with Marquardt on top, but that was his only bright moment of the night. Sonnen was very impressive, and his trash talking of Anderson Silva leading up to their fight would be very entertaining if the fight comes to fruition.

Paulo Thiago moved to 2-1 against the fight camp A.K.A., as he choked out Mike Swick in the second round. The first round was pretty even with Thiago getting the better of the striking for the most part. However, Thiago dropped Swick with a left hook early in the 2nd round and quickly applied a D’arce choke to get the victory. After already beating Swick’s teammate Josh Koscheck in Thiago’s first UFC bout, a rematch between the two could be on the horizon. Koscheck was originally slated to take on Thiago at UFC 109, but an injury forced him off the card and into a fight with Paul Daley at UFC 113.

Demian Maia showed improved striking in his unanimous decision victory over Dan Miller. Miller did a good job to avoid any precarious positions on the canvas against the BJJ wizard Maia, but was unable to control the fight with his striking. Maia recovered nicely after his opening round loss to Marquardt. Considering he dominated Sonnen, the new number one contender to the middleweight title, when they fought at UFC 95, he may be in line for a title shot in the not too distant future.

Matt Serra ended Frank Trigg’s night and possibly his career with a vicious knockout in the first round of their fight tonight. Trigg never attempted a takedown, and ended up paying for it as Serra connected with an overhand right that floored Trigg. A few more follow up shots on the canvas ended the fight. Trigg protested the stoppage (as he did in his last loss to Koscheck), but he was clearly out. Trigg should retire after consecutive first round knockouts. He can no longer be competitive at this level. I’m not sure what the next step is for Serra, but a rematch with Matt Hughes could possibly be on the UFC’s radar.

Full Results:

Randy Couture def. Mark Coleman via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:09

Chael Sonnen def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Paulo Thiago def. Mike Swick via technical submission (D’arce choke) – Round 2, 1:54

Demian Maia def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Matt Serra def. Frank Trigg via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:23

Mac Danzig def. Justin Buchholz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Melvin Guillard def. Ronys Torres via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Robert Emerson def. Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Phil Davis def. Brian Stann via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)

Chris Tuchscherer def. Tim Hague via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Joey Beltran def. Rolles Gracie via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:31

*Scores from the undercard courtesy of MMA Junkie*

Quick Post-UFC 107 Thoughts

Tim — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:21:03 +0000

B.J. Penn had one of the best performances of his career tonight. He completely dominated Diego Sanchez from the opening bell until the doctor stoppage in the 5th round. He didn’t lose a round, was never in danger, and basically dominated every minute of that fight. Penn’s basically run out of challengers in the UFC’s lightweight division. Potential fights against Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard would probably be even more lopsided than this one. It’s going to be tough to find a worthy opponent for Penn.

Frank Mir was also impressive in his 1st round submission victory over Cheick Kongo. Mir rocked Kongo with a big left hook, and followed Kongo to the ground where he locked in a guillotine choke. Kongo was forced to tap just over a minute into the first round. Mir is making a strong case for deserving a 3rd fight against Brock Lesnar.

Kenny Florian started off a little tenative in the opening minutes against Clay Guida. He found the range near the end of the 1st round, and continued into the 2nd. After knocking Guida down, Florian was able to get the rear naked choke and forced Guida to tap. I don’t know who would be next for Florian, but I think it’s clear he’s the 2nd best lightweight in the UFC.

Jon Fitch won a unanimous decision over Mike Pierce, though the fight was closer than the scores indicated. Pierce was a very tough opponent, but Fitch survived. The fight wasn’t overally entertaining, and since Fitch is gunning for a rematch with GSP, he needs to start making his case more emphatically.

Stefan Struve beat UFC veteran Paul Buentello in a sloppy, but entertaining affair. Struve looked good in the 1st round as he was attempting submissions, but both fighters seemed to tire as the fight wore on. Struve ended up winning the majority decision.

Here is a list of the bonuses awarded for UFC 107:

Submission of the night: Damarques Johnson for his triangle choke of Edgar Garcia

Knockout of the night: T.J. Grant for his 1st round KO of Kevin Burns

Fight of the night: Alan Belcher and Wilson Gouveia. They were throwing bombs until Belcher finished Gouveia off three minutes into round one.

*All bonuses were $65,000*

The Ultimate Finale 10 Recap

Tim — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:56:03 +0000

Another winner of The Ultimate Fighter was crowned, one of MMA’s best young fighters showed what all the hype was about, and Kimbo Slice won his UFC debut. However, that sentence made the event sound much better than it actually was.

All eyes were on Kimbo Slice as he made his UFC debut against Houston Alexander. Alexander had come off three straight losses in the Octagon. However, as an exciting striker with no ground game to speak of, Alexander appeared to be a good stylistic matchup for Slice. No one expected this fight to last three rounds or hit the floor, but it actually did both.

Alexander spent the majority of the first round circling on the outside, offering little besides the occasional leg kick. Kimbo didn’t seem willing to press the action either, though he landed a couple decent jabs when Alexander got within striking range.

The action picked up a little in the second round. Kimbo connected with a decent jab, and moments later, used a clinch and took Alexander down. Kimbo quickly moved to mount, but Alexander escaped to his feet. Another clinch came later in the round, and this time Kimbo slammed Alexander. He landed a few good shots while Alexander was still a little dazed from the slam, but again Alexander got to his feet. One more takedown, a half-hearted rear naked choke attempt from Kimbo, and a few more punches ended the round, a clear win for Slice.

The third round featured two gassed fighters. Alexander threw a few more leg kicks, one which seemed to hurt Kimbo. Kimbo had one more takedown where he did little damage, but that was about the extent of the action for the last round. The first and third rounds were difficult to score due to the lack of action between the two fighters. In the end, all three judges scored the fight for Kimbo, 29-28 (twice) and 30-27.

There were definitely some positive signs for fans of Kimbo. His ground game was improved from what we’ve seen in the past, but a few things need to be kept in mind. First, Alexander has shown no semblance of a ground game in any of his previous fights either. A fighter with better ground skills wouldn’t have been controlled like Alexander was. Second, Alexander is a natural light heavyweight. Kimbo cut down to take the fight at a catchweight of 215 pounds, but has stated he doesn’t want to fight in the light heavyweight division. Therefore, the majority of guys that Kimbo fights in the future won’t be 208 pound light heavyweights, they will be guys in the neighborhood of 240 pounds or more. He won’t be able to throw guys that size around like he did to Alexander.

Kimbo needs to learn how to check leg kicks, as his bad left knee was clearly a target for Alexander. His striking looked a little better in general, but we really didn’t get to see enough of it to make a clear judgment. It will be interesting who the UFC decides to put against Kimbo in the future. There aren’t many heavyweights currently in the UFC that I think Kimbo can really handle.

In the co-main event of the evening, Jon Jones showed why there has been so much hype about his future in the sport. At just 22 years old, Jones basically manhandled a solid light heavyweight with a good wrestling pedigree in Matt Hamill. Jones successfully defended a takedown attempt from Hamill, and moments later, utilized his own Greco-Roman wrestling background to throw Hamill to the canvas. He got full mount and was raining down shots on Hamill. He looked like he thought the fight should have been stopped, but eventually began to drop down 12 to 6 elbows (elbows that come straight down as opposed to elbows that come from the side or diagonally). The blows are illegal in the Unified rules, and since Hamill was unable to continue, Jones was disqualified.

Even though the fight will show up as a loss on his record, Jones basically will be looked at as the winner of the contest. The loss will have no bearing on his advancement through the light heavyweight division. Jones moves to 4-0 inside the UFC. Look for him to matchup with another mid-level UFC light heavyweight in the near future. There’s no need for the UFC to rush him to the front of the class with his whole future ahead of him. There are still some things that Jones needs to work on before he can hang with the top of the division, but his training with Greg Jackson will help him continue to improve.

In finale of The Ultimate Fighter, MMA veteran Roy Nelson took on Brendan Schaub. The striking was pretty even early, as Schaub was connecting with decent jabs. Nelson was able to get the clinch and a takedown, but Schaub was able to scramble to his feet without taking much damage. However, the end would come soon after. Schaub landed a few more good shots before a big right hook from Nelson landed behind Schaub’s ear. The shot knocked Schaub out cold, and a follow up shot from Nelson finished the fight.

Nelson, the favorite before the show started, claim’s the “six-figure contract.” Since Nelson has much more MMA experience than most of the past Ultimate Fighter winners, expect him to get a shot at a mid-tier heavyweight for his next fight. He’s a good addition to the UFC’s heavyweight crop, and can compete with almost anyone in the division. I still think Schaub is a good prospect as well. He’ll probably land a UFC contract of his own. Hopefully they’ll work him up very slowly.

Full Results:

Roy Nelson def. Brendan Schaub via KO (punch) – Round 1, 3:45

Matt Hamill def. Jon Jones via DQ (illegal elbow strike) – Round 1, 4:14

Kimbo Slice def. Houston Alexander via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Frankie Edgar def. Matt Veach via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:22

Matt Mitrione def. Marcus Jones via KO (punches) – Round 2, 0:10

James McSweeney def. Darrill Schoonover via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:20

Jon Madsen def. Justin Wren via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Brian Stann def. Rodney Wallace via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

John Howard def. Dennis Hallman via KO (punches) – Round 3, 4:55

Mark Bocek def. Joe Brammer via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:36

Photo courtesy of Sherdog.

UFC 106 Recap and Thoughts

Tim — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:25:38 +0000

UFC 106 was a card that was plagued by injuries and cancellations, but it turned out to be one of the more entertaining events of the year.

The pay-per-view began with a fight between Amir Sadollah and Phil Baroni. Baroni had his moments in the first round, but characteristically gassed in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. He continually dropped his hands, and Sadollah basically picked him apart for two rounds. Sadollah won a unanimous decision and got a much needed win after a quick knockout loss at the hands of Johny Hendricks. For Baroni, one has to question whether he should even be in there with UFC caliber fighters anymore. It may be a one-and-done return for the “New York Bad Ass.”

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the twin brother of UFC heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, proved that he belongs with the upper-echelon of fighters in the UFC’s light heavyweight division with a first round destruction of rising star Luiz Cane. Nogueira battered Cane from the opening bell with superior boxing and quick hands. Cane kept coming forward, but eventually went down from a big shot from Nogueira. A few glancing shots on the ground ended the fight and put the rest of the division on notice. Cane will take a step backwards after this loss, but he still is a good prospect. For Nogueira, possible fights with Rich Franklin, Forrest Griffin, or Keith Jardine may be on the horizon.

The Paulo Thiago and Jacob Volkmann fight was a back-and-forth affair. I scored the first two rounds for Thiago and the third for Volkmann. Volkmann was rocked several times on his feet, but showed himself to be a prospect in the UFC’s deep welterweight division. Thiago won the unanimous decision, but Volkmann certainly earned himself another fight in the UFC.

The Josh Koscheck/Anthony Johnson fight looked to be an explosive battle on paper. Two strong welterweights with powerful striking and exciting styles seemed to be a good matchup. Though I expected Koscheck to look for takedowns early, he stayed in the pocket and threw with Johnson. He was hit solidly a few times, but didn’t appear to be in any danger in the first round. Koscheck connected on a few solid shots of his own. An odd illegal knee that appeared to barely graze Koscheck put the fight in danger, but referee Mario Yamasaki allowed the fight to continue against doctor’s orders. Koscheck scored a late takedown to take the round on my card, and with the point deduction, I had it 10-8 Koscheck after one.

The second round proved to be just as odd as the first. Koscheck poked Johnson in the eye several times, the second of which caused a pause in the action as Johnson recovered. Koscheck eventually got the takedown and landed several solid elbows from Johnson’s guard that opened a cut on Johnson’s face. Koscheck continued the assault, and Johnson gassed pretty quickly. With just under a minute left in the round, Koscheck worked for a rear naked choke, which he eventually got. Johnson was forced to tap, giving Koscheck a huge win. After the fight, Koscheck called out Dan Hardy and said that Hardy hadn’t fought anybody yet. That statement was odd because Hardy was just coming off a win over Mike Swick, Koscheck’s teammate and good friend. Anyway, Koscheck said that he deserved the shot against Georges St. Pierre, not Hardy. I’m sure Dana White will have something to say about this situation soon.

In the main event of the evening, Tito Ortiz returned from an 18-month layoff to face Forrest Griffin, himself coming off a tough loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 101. In the first round, Forrest was getting the better of the striking before Tito scored a double leg takedown. Ortiz was able to deliver a few elbows from the top, but Griffin scrambled to his feet pretty quickly. Griffin continued to get the better of the striking exchanges for the majority of the round. A late takedown from Ortiz made the round closer, but I still scored it for Forrest 10-9.

The second round opened with some more exchanges on the feet. Ortiz caught a Griffin kick and used it to takedown Griffin. Not much damage landed from Ortiz, and Griffin was able to return to his feet. Griffin had the advantage in the striking department for the majority of this round, and for that matter, the fight as well. Ortiz was able to get another takedown, and this time does a little damage with elbows from the top. Griffin was busted open over his eye, but eventually swept Ortiz and was in top position, dropping a few elbows of his own. The second round was closer than the first. I scored it 10-9 Ortiz, though I wouldn’t have argued with 10-9 Griffin either.

The third round was completely dominated by Griffin. He was landing at will over a clearly gassed and frustrated Ortiz. A few missed takedown attempts couldn’t stop the onslaught from Griffin. The fight ended with Griffin clearly taking the third round, and the fight on my scorecard, 29-28. One judge scored it 29-28 Ortiz (not sure what he was looking at), but the other two scored it for Griffin, giving him the split-decision victory in the rematch. After the fight, Forrest implied that he’d like to have a third fight with Ortiz to break the 1-1 deadlock. Ortiz talked about a neck injury and a “broken skull” that he suffered during training, drawing boos from the crowd. Griffin came to his defense, and Ortiz was very complimentary of Griffin as well. I’m not sure if Tito is done as an upper-tier light heavyweight, or if the 18 month layoff was the main reason for how slow he looked tonight. I’m willing to give him one more shot against a bigger name light-heavyweight (Franklin, Jardine, etc.) to see how he fares. There are also rumors he may be named one of the coaches for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. I guess we’ll see what Dana has in store for him.

On the undercard, George Sotiropoulos dominated Jason Dent with his slick submission game, eventually ending the fight in the 2nd round with an armbar. Brock Larson had a wild fight with Brian Foster. Larson was docked two points in the first round, one for an illegal kick while Foster was down, and the second for an illegal knee while Foster was down. Foster overcame the illegal blows to submit Larson with punches in the second round.

Kendall Grove was getting dominated by Jake Rosholt in their fight, but was able to lock in a triangle choke near the end of the first round to submit Rosholt. It was a big win for Grove, and another rookie mistake by the young Rosholt. He still has a promising future, but he needs to shore up some holes in his game.

Meanwhile, Ben Saunders used his length and reach advantage, along with a plethora of knees, to get a TKO victory over the tough Marcus Davis. Saunders was coming off a loss to Mike Swick, so he needed to rebound here. For Davis, this is his second consecutive loss. At 36 years old, it’s beginning to look like Davis has seen his best days.

Full Results:

Forrest Griffin def. Tito Ortiz via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

Josh Koscheck def. Anthony Johnson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:27

Paulo Thiago def. Jacob Volkmann via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Luiz Cane via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:56

Amir Sadollah def. Phil Baroni via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS

Ben Saunders def. Marcus Davis via knockout (knees) – Round 1, 3:24

Kendall Grove def. Jake Rosholt via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:59

Brian Foster def. Brock Larson via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:25

Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes declared majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)

George Sotiropoulos def. Jason Dent via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:36

Aldo Dominates Brown to Win WEC Featherweight Title

Tim — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:13:53 +0000

Jose Aldo had a run of 5 straight TKO’s in the WEC heading into this fight, while Mike Brown had won his previous 10 fights. Somebody’s streak had to end, and this time it was Brown’s. Aldo likely won a close first round before closing out Brown in the 2nd to win the WEC Featherweight title.

Aldo came out very patient, much different than the way he came out in his eight second win over Cub Swanson in his last fight. He knew that Brown was a tougher opponent and he needed to prepare for a possible five round fight. His speed advantage was noticeable from the start of the contest. Midway through the round, Aldo connected with a flurry of punches that briefly stunned Brown. That flurry probably enabled Aldo to win the first round. The 2nd round began with another Aldo flurry before Brown dropped down for a takedown attempt. He was unsuccessful and tried to sink in a guillotine. Brown was unable to secure the guillotine, and ended up on his back with Aldo in the mount position. Brown scrambled and turned over, giving up his back. Aldo had the hooks in and pounded out Brown to earn the TKO victory. The end came just over a minute into round 2. Aldo was very impressive.

In the co-main event, Manvel Gamburyan struggled to get takedowns in the early going against Leonard Garcia, but was eventually successful later in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. The takedowns and ground control from Gamburyan enabled him to win a unanimous decision. The win could set Gamburyan up for a title shot in the future.

Also on the televised card, Shane Roller was able to overcome some rough spots to defeat Danny Castillo via submission in the 3rd round. After Castillo clearly won the first round, Roller won the 2nd after getting the mount on Castillo and nearly finishing the fight. However, it was Roller who clearly looked gassed at the end of two rounds. In the third round, Castillo had the early advantage, gaining the mount on Roller. However, Roller was able to get out of the position and eventually took Castillo’s back before sinking in the fight ending rear-naked choke. It was an important win for Roller.

Full Results:

Jose Aldo def. Mike Brown via TKO (strikes) – Round, 1:20 (to become new WEC featherweight champion)

Manny Gamburyan def. Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Karen Darabedyan def. Rob McCullough via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)

Shane Roller def. Danny Castillo via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:32

Kamal Shalorus def. Will Kerr via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:26

L.C. Davis def. Diego Nunes via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

Cub Swanson def. John Franchi via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:50

Antonio Banuelos def. Kenji Osawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Ricardo Lamas def. James Krause via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Frank Gomez def. Seth Dikun via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)