Couture dominates Coleman/Sonnen earns title shot at UFC 109

February 07, 2010 | Tim | Comments 0

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