Bonuses and Awards for UFC 106
Here are the bonuses for UFC 106, as announced in the post-fight press conference:
Knockout of the Night- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira- $70,000
Submission of the Night- Josh Koscheck- $70,000
Fight of the Night- Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson- $70,000 to each fighter
Pretty productive night for Koscheck. In addition to his show and win money, he’ll also back an additional $140,000 for his win over Anthony Johnson.
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UFC 106 Live Results!
Be sure to follow MMA Ground N’ Pound on Twitter. I’ll be providing live updates of UFC 106, along with my analysis along the way!
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UFC 106 Preview and Predictions-Main Card
Phil Baroni vs. Amir Sadollah: Baroni will be making his return to the UFC after a four and a half year absence. He left the UFC after losing four consecutive fights to Matt Lindland, Evan Tanner (twice) and Pete Sell. Since leaving the UFC, Baroni has gone 8-6 in organizations such as PRIDE, Elite XC and Strikeforce. His last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Sadollah was the winner of season seven of The Ultimate Fighter, but since then, he’s dealt with various injuries as well as a loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC 101. That fight may have been stopped a little prematurely, but Sadollah was in trouble anyway. He’ll try to rebound here against Baroni. Baroni had been known as a guy with no gas tank whatsoever, but he appeared to be in much better condition against Riggs in his last fight. However, I think Sadollah will have too much for him here. Sadollah via submission in the 2nd.
Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Nogueira, the twin brother of UFC heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, will be making his UFC debut. He’s 17-3 overall in his MMA career, and has wins over Kazushi Sakuraba, Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson and Vladimir Matyushenko during his career. He’s an accomplished amateur boxer, and much like his brother, he is very dangerous on the ground with his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills. Cane will be taking a big leap up in competition in this contest. He’s 11-1 in his career, with the lone loss coming because of an illegal knee he delivered to James Irvin at UFC 79. Since then, he’s defeated Jason Lambert, Sokoudjou, and Steve Cantwell. Nogueira is a huge step up from guys like that. He won a unanimous decision over Cantwell, but wasn’t as dominant as many expected. He’s an extremely hard puncher, but is largely untested on the ground. I think Nogueira will test him there. Expect a slugfest for a round or so before Nogueira decides he’s had enough and brings the fight to the ground. From there, he’ll finish. Nogueira via submission in the 2nd.
Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann: Thiago will finally get a break from top 10 welterweights, as his first two fights in the Octagon were against Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. His upset of Koscheck vaulted him into the top 15 in many people’s opinion, and his solid showing against Jon Fitch at UFC 100 helped keep him there. Now, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt will be tested by a guy who is in a similar position to the one he was in against Koscheck, Jacob Volkmann. Volkmann is everyone’s underdog pick for this card. He’s undefeated at 9-0 with six submissions to his credit. He’s an outstanding wrestler to go along with his jiu jitsu skills. Thiago looked sloppy on his feet until he knocked out Koscheck with an uppercut. This is a very tough fight to call, as many of the main card fights are as well. However, I think Thiago will have a slight advantage on the ground with his jiu jitsu skills. Volkmann will put up a very good fight, but I think Thiago gets the win. Thiago via unanimous decision.
Anthony Johnson vs. Josh Koscheck: Johnson is making a quick turnaround from his brutal knockout of Yoshihiro Yoshida that took only 41 seconds at UFC 104. He’s is extremely dangerous on his feet, with explosive power in both his hands and his feet. He’s very fast and athletic, and has a collegiate wrestling background as well. In his UFC career, Johnson is 8-2, with losses coming to Rich Clementi (a fight that he took on very short notice) and Kevin Burns (a fight that should have been ruled a no contest after Burns ended the fight with an eye poke). He’ll match up against perennial top 10 welterweight Josh Koscheck. Koscheck is coming off a first round TKO win over Frank Trigg at UFC 103. He’s 13-4 overall in his MMA career, and has an impressive 11-4 record in the UFC. He was a great collegiate wrestler, winning the national championship in 2001 at 174 pounds. He was also a four-time collegiate All-American, and he placed in the top four in the nation all four years at his weight class. He has some of the most explosive takedowns in all of MMA, and has also improved his striking a great deal in recent years. However, he seems to fall in love with his striking abilities and that has come back to bite him a few times, most recently against Paulo Thiago. However, if Koscheck re-commits to his wrestling, I don’t think there is much that Johnson can do to stop it. The longer the fight stays standing, the better it will be for Johnson. However, I think Koscheck is smart enough to know that he needs to stay out of the danger zone against Johnson, and instead use his wrestling abilities. Koscheck via unanimous decision.
Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin: Ortiz will be making his return to the UFC after a long, 18 month absence. During that time, Ortiz flirted with going to other organizations, and also had surgery on his back. Ortiz says that the lingering back injury had kept him from being at 100% for some time, and that he was finally feeling healthy. We’ll see if a “healthy” Ortiz is a better Ortiz than the one we last saw. During his long UFC career, Ortiz has gone 14-6, with wins over Wanderlei Silva, Vladimir Matyushenko, Evan Tanner, Vitor Belfort and Griffin. The win over Griffin was a very close fight, with Ortiz winning the split-decision. He clearly won the first round, though the next two were debateable. He maintains that he wasn’t close to being healthy in that fight, and that was the reason for the poor showing. At his peak, Ortiz defended his light heavyweight title a UFC record five times. He utilized his wrestling, which at the time, was some of the best in MMA. For this fight, Ortiz is training standup with Freddie Roach, so it’ll be interesting to see if he’s made any improvements in his striking game. Griffin is coming off two consecutive losses to Rashad Evans and a embarrassing loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 101. He’ll be looking to make amends for that performance, and start working his way back to the top of the light heavyweight division. Griffin is 16-6 overall in his career, with wins over Rampage Jackson and Shogun Rua mixed in. He usually wins by outworking guys and with his superior stamina. However, he doesn’t possess great knockout power, and usually makes his living by throwing lots of leg kicks and jabs that keep his opponents off balance. Takedown defense is also a weakness of his, and he’s shown a pretty poor guard after being rocked on his feet. His loose guard against Evans enabled Evans to end the fight with a ground ‘n’ pound flurry. If Tito is indeed back to 100%, we’ll see him takedown Griffin early and often. We’ll know relatively early if that’s not the case. Also, can Ortiz last three full rounds with Griffin after such a long layoff? Conditioning has always been a strong suit of Ortiz, so I’m guessing that he can. It’s a very tough fight to predict because there are so many variables. How will the layoff affect Ortiz? How is Griffin’s mental state after the loss to Silva? We’ll find out in a few hours. I think Ortiz will look more like the Ortiz of old instead of an old Ortiz in this one. Ortiz via unanimous decision.
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UFC 106 Preview and Predictions-Preliminary Card
George Sotiropoulos vs. Jason Dent: Both are former cast members of The Ultimate Fighter, Sotiropoulos in season six, and Dent in season nine. Sotiropoulos made his lightweight debut at UFC 101, defeating George Roop with a Kimura in the second round. Prior to his drop to lightweight, Sotiropoulos had a 2-0 record as a welterweight. Overall he’s 10-2 in his career. He is mostly known for his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills. Dent had lost his only two UFC appearances before going on the show. He got his first UFC win at The Ultimate Fighter season nine finale, defeating Cameron Dollar with a first-round Anaconda choke. He’s a fairly well-rounded fighter, though I think Sotiropoulos is better in almost all areas. Dent is tough and should hang around for a round or so, but Sotiropoulos will eventually catch him. Sotiropoulos via submission in the 2nd.
Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes: Uno is in his 2nd UFC run. In his first run, Uno went 3-3-1 with wins over Yves Edwards and Din Thomas, and losses to B.J. Penn, Hermes Franca, and Jens Pulver. A rematch with Penn at UFC 41 ended in a draw. He made his return to the UFC at UFC 99, losing a close decision to Spencer Fisher. He’s 27-12 overall in his MMA career. Camoes will be making his UFC debut, and is 10-4 overall in his MMA career. He has a seven-fight winning streak dating back to late 2006. He’s a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Royler Gracie. Camoes is definitely dangerous on the ground, but I think Uno’s wrestling and grappling will be able to control Camoes for the majority of the fight. I also think Uno is slightly better standing. Uno via unanimous decision.
Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster: Larson is coming off a loss to Mike Pierce at UFC Fight Night 19. That night he was unable to get anything going for him, and Pierce took the unanimous decision. Overall, Larson is 26-3 in his career, with his only losses coming to Pierce and welterweight contenders Jon Fitch and Carlos Condit. He’s an excellent wrestler and grappler. Foster lost his UFC debut at UFC 103 in an entertaining battle with Rick Story. He’s 12-4 overall in his MMA career, and trains with Matt Hughes at the HIT squad in Granite City, Illinois. I don’t think his takedown defense is good enough to stop Larson from imposing his will on him for the duration of the contest. Larson via TKO in the 2nd.
Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt: Grove needs to rebound from a dissappointing unanimous decision loss to Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101. Prior to that contest, Grove had back-to-back wins over Jason Day and Evan Tanner. Overall, Grove is 10-6-1 in his MMA career. He is a solid striker, though he doesn’t use his significant size and reach advantage as much as he really should. His wrestling is average at best, though he has shown himself to be somewhat dangerous off his back. Rosholt has a great wrestling pedigree, winning three national championships at Oklahoma State University. He lost his first UFC fight to Dan Miller at UFC Fight Night 17, getting choked out in just over a minute. Rosholt rebounded to beat a seemingly disinterested Chris Leben at UFC 102. It looked as if his striking had improved, though it was still very sloppy. He also didn’t look for the takedown as much as I thought he would. The 27-year old Rosholt is still pretty young in his MMA career, and still has many holes he needs to fix in his game. I think Grove is a pretty safe pick here. Grove has his own weaknesses, but Rosholt has shown in the past that he doesn’t always have the smartest gameplan. If Grove can utilize his reach advantage to keep Rosholt out of range for the takedown, the fight could be all his. I think there’s also a chance that Grove submits Rosholt from his back. Grove via TKO in the 2nd.
Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders: Davis will be making a rare appearance on U.S. soil, as each of his past seven fights have taken place at UFC events overseas. Overall in his UFC career, Davis is a solid 8-2. He last fought Dan Hardy at UFC 99, losing a split decision. Davis comes from a boxing background, and prefers to keep his fights standing. However, he has also shown himself to be decent on the ground. Saunders is coming off a TKO loss to Mike Swick at UFC 99. He was on the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, and has gone 3-1 since the show ended against lower-end competition. He’s pretty tall for the welterweight division, and his length and reach give him an advantage in the striking department. However, like I mentioned with Grove, he doesn’t always utilize that advantage as much as he should. If Davis can close the distance on Saunders, he’ll have the advantage. If the fight hits the ground, Davis will have a very big advantage. However, I expect the majority of this fight will take place standing. Eventually, Davis will catch Saunders and will end the fight. Davis via TKO in the 1st.
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Karo Parisyan Pulls Out of UFC 106 Bout With Dustin Hazelett
Karo Parisyan has pulled out of his scheduled UFC 106 fight with Dustin Hazelett due to unspecified reasons. UFC president Dana White first reported the news via his Twitter account. He went on to mention that Hazelett would be paid both his show and win money, and that Karo wouldn’t ever fight in the UFC again.
Parisyan pulled out of his UFC 88 fight with Yoshihiro Yoshida the day before that fight with a back injury. He was also suspended after his UFC 94 victory over Dong Hyun Kim due to a failed drug test. Some reports indicate that Karo was unable to pay the fine for the positive drug test and the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to license him for the fight. However, other reports say the UFC had worked out a deal for the fine to be taken out of Parisyan’s purse for the UFC 106 fight.
Details are still emerging, and we’ll bring you the latest when we have further information.
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Aldo Dominates Brown to Win WEC Featherweight Title
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)
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WEC 44:Brown vs. Aldo Preview and Predictions
While some fans will be watching The Ultimate Fighter tonight, either by choice or because they have Direct TV and don’t have Versus, the real fight fans will be watching WEC 44. WEC 44 features a main event between Mike Brown and Jose Aldo for the featherweight title, and also features a solid undercard of action as well.
Danny Castillo vs. Shane Roller: Castillo fights with Urijah Faber and company at Team Alpha Male. He recently dispatched of Ricardo Lamas in impressive fashion at WEC 42. His MMA record stands at 8-1, with the lone loss coming at the hands of lightweight contender Donald Cerrone at WEC 34. He possesses a strong wrestling background, but the fight with Lamas showed that he has solid striking and good knockout power as well. Roller is 6-2 in his MMA career, and 3-1 in the WEC. His lone WEC loss was to current WEC interim lightweight champion Ben Henderson at WEC 40. Roller rebounded to take a unanimous decision from Marcus Hicks at WEC 42. Roller was a three time All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, and now fights with Team Takedown, which features UFC fighters Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendricks. He probably has the better wrestling credentials of the two fighters, but I don’t think his striking is up to par with Castillo. However, I think that Roller will be able to utilize his wrestling to maintain top control on Castillo, and he’ll grind out a decision. Roller via unanimous decision.
Rob McCullough vs. Karen Darabedyan: McCullough, the former WEC lightweight champion, will try and climb back up the ladder as he takes on Darabedyan in this contest. McCullough is coming off a majority decision victory over Marcus Hicks at WEC 39. McCullough’s only two WEC losses were to lightweight champion Jamie Varner and top contender Donald Cerrone. He is a dangerous striker and has solid takedown defense. Darabedyan trains with UFC welterweight Karo Parisyan as well as WEC 44’s Manvel Gamburyan. He has a boxing background as well as a background in Judo. He’s 8-1 in his MMA career, and this is his WEC debut. Darabedyan is a late replacement for Anthony Pettis. McCullough may have his hands full with Darabedyan, but if he comes out as the aggressive McCullough of old, he should be able to get a win here. McCullough via TKO in the 2nd.
Leonard Garcia vs. Manvel Gamburyan: Garcia is trying to make his way back in the title picture at featherweight after losing a title challenge to champion Mike Brown at WEC 39. In that fight he was caught early by Brown and was never able to recover. He came back with a close, split decision win over Jameel Massouh at WEC 42. He’s a solid striker with fast hands, but sometimes gets a little sloppy. His ground game is average at best. Gamburyan made the move to featherweight and to the WEC after he had trouble competing with the UFC’s lightweights. He is 9-4 in his MMA career. His win over John Franchi at WEC 41 was hardly impressive. Gamburyan is mostly known for his smothering ground game and his skills in Judo. His striking game is definitely his weakness, and he is constantly at a reach disadvantage because of his small stature. If Garcia can utilize his striking to keep Gamburyan out of range for a takedown, he can win this fight. However, I’m not sure that he can do that for the whole fight. Inevitably, Gamburyan will get a takedown and can control the fight. Gamburyan via unanimous decision.
Mike Thomas Brown vs. Jose Aldo: After disposing of Leonard Garcia and Urijah Faber, Brown will make his third defense of the featherweight title against Jose Aldo. Brown is on a 10-fight winning streak that dates back to 2006. For Aldo to snap that string of victories, he’ll have to avoid Brown’s solid top-game and well-rounded overall game. Brown is 22-4 overall in his MMA career. His striking skills were evident when he knocked out Faber at WEC 36 , and showcased his brown belt Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills when he submitted Garcia with an arm-triangle at WEC 39. In the rematch with Faber he utilized his striking and his wrestling to control Faber throughout the contest. He’ll have a tough matchup in the young and explosive Aldo. Aldo is 15-1 in his MMA career, and has torn through his first five fights in the WEC, with only one of those fights advancing past the first round. He’s an explosive striker as evidenced by his eight second win over Cub Swanson in his most recent fight at WEC 41. However, he’s also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I know that Aldo is the more explosive of the two strikers, but I’m interested to see how Aldo will react if he has to go to the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds with Brown. I think Brown’s wrestling and top game will grind Aldo down, and eventually Brown will be able to finish the talented Brazilian. It should be one of the best fights of the year. Brown via TKO in the 4th.
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