UFC 106 Recap and Thoughts

November 22, 2009 | Tim | Comments 1

UFC 106 Mixed Martial Arts

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