chris caulfield Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 OOC: OK so UFC 93 was the last UFC of 2008 in my game so I've decided to do an end of year awards. Here are the catagories. Card Of The Year Knock Out Of The Year Submission Of The Year Fight Of The Year Breakthrough Fighter Of The Year Best Prespect For 2009 Fighter Of The Year I would apreciate any votes towards the different catgories. You can post your votes in here or you can PM them to me. Also I should get the new rankings up tommorow then I will wait a day or two to let the awards voting come through then I will post an award show followed by then next card, UFC 94. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]New Rankings After UFC 93[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]UFC have released the new rankings following their UFC 93 event.[/CENTER] [B][U]Lightweight[/U][/B] 1. Roger Huerta 2. Shinya Aoki 3. BJ Penn 4. Vitor Ribeiro 5. Sean Sherk 6. Kenny Florian +2 7. Eddie Alvarez -1 8. Thiago Tavares -1 9. Jeremy Stephens - New Entry 10. Rich Clementi -1 [B][U]Welterweight[/U][/B] 1. George St. Pierre 2. Matt Serra 3. Yoshiyuki Yoshida 4. Matt Hughes 5. Josh Koscheck 6. Dan Hardy +1 7. Jon Fitch -1 8. Thiago Alves 9. Dong Hyun Kim +1 10. Akihiro Gono -1 [B][U]Middleweight[/U][/B] 1. Anderson Silva +1 2. Rich Franklin -1 3. Forrest Griffin +1 4. Demian Maia - New Entry 5. Gregard Mousasi 6. Dan Henderson 7. Rousimar Palahales +1 8. Karo Parisyan -1 9. Patrick Cote -6 10. Joey Villasenor [B][U]Light Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Lyoto Machida +2 3. Thiago Silva -1 4. Wanderlei Silva -1 5. Wilson Gouveia 6. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua 7. Chuck Liddell 8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 9. Rashad Evans 10. Keith Jardine [B][U]Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2. Tim Sylvia 3. Cheick Kongo +3 4. Andrei Arlovski -1 5. Sergei Kharitonov 6. Fedor Emelianenko -2 7. Chris Tuchscherer 8. Shane Carwin 9. Pedro Rizzo 10. Aleksander Emelianenko - New Entry [B][U]P4P[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Roger Huerta +1 3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -1 4. Anderson Silva +2 5. Rich Franklin -1 6. George St. Pierre -1 7. Tim Sylvia 8. Shinya Aoki 9. Cheick Kongo - New Entry 10. BJ Penn -1 [B]Biggest Jump this month[/B]: Cheick Kongo: Kongo jumped 3 ranks this month all the way upto #3 in the Heavyweight rankings to make him now eligible for a title shot against Big Nog. He jumped so high after his brutal yet unexpected first round KO of Fedor Emelianenko. That was with no doubt Kongo's biggest win of his life. He is expected to fight Andrei Arlovski next in a #1 contenders bout as it seems certain Sylvia will get the next shot. [B]Biggest Drop this month[/B]: Patrick Cote: Cote dropped a massive six ranks all the way to #9 in the Middleweights rankings this month even though he was the first person since 2004 to take Anderson Silva out of two rounds. He may of took Silva out of his usual two rounds but he didn't look like he was going to trouble him much as Silva rode to a comfortable decision win. Cote is expected to fight either Karo Parisyan or Rousimar Palhales next. [B]Most Impressive New Entry[/B]: Demian Maia: Demian Maia debuted at a very impressive #4 in the Middleweight rankings this month after his close decision win over Joe Doerkson. He is expected to fight Joey Villasenor next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 OOC: Come on guys I havn't got a single post about the end of year awards. I'll give you till tomorrow and then I will just orget it and post the next card. And I will try the end of year awards next year. Anyway get in your nominations asap please I want this to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFC-KING Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Card Of The Year : UFC 92 Knock Out Of The Year : Cheick Kongo over Fedor Emelianenko Submission Of The Year : Kenny Florian over Mac Danzig Fight Of The Year : Mauricio Rua/Chuck Liddell Breakthrough Fighter Of The Year : Cheick Kongo Best Prespect For 2009 : Shane Carwin Fighter Of The Year : Anderson Silva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RennikKain076 Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Card Of The Year : UFC 92 Knock Out Of The Year : Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria over Fedor Emelianenko Submission Of The Year : Din Thomas over Joe Lauzon via kimura Fight Of The Year : Rampage vs Shogun Breakthrough Fighter Of The Year : Thiago Silva Best Prespect For 2009 : Thiago Silva Fighter Of The Year : Rampage Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 OOC: I've decided to forget the end of year awards till next year. I will get next card up in about 10 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Serra III[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]Today UFC announced UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Serra III. Here is the card. [B][U]Maincard[/U][/B] UFC Welterweight Championship: Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. Matt Serra (11-5) Jon Fitch (17-3) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-2) Michael Bisping (18-2) vs. Yushin Okami (21-5) Rashad Evans (13-1-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-4) Frankie Edgar (8-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (17-1) [B][U]Undercard[/U][/B] Brock Lesnar (4-1) vs. Antoni Hardonk (6-4) Gregard Mousasi (22-2-1) vs. Jonathan Goulet (23-10) Matt Arroyo (4-1) vs. Josh Burkman (9-5) Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-4) Ryan Schultz (20-10-1) vs. Terry Etim (10-1) Mark Coleman (15-9) vs. Cain Valesquez (3-0)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSelfDestruct Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 [CENTER]Maincard UFC Welterweight Championship: Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. [B]Matt Serra (11-5)[/B] Jon Fitch (17-3) vs. [B]Josh Koscheck (13-2)[/B] [B]Michael Bisping (18-2) [/B]vs. Yushin Okami (21-5) [B]Rashad Evans (13-1-1) [/B]vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-4) [B]Frankie Edgar (8-1) [/B]vs. Eddie Alvarez (17-1) Undercard [B]Brock Lesnar (4-1) [/B]vs. Artoni Hardonk (6-4) [B]Gregard Mousasi (22-2-1) [/B]vs. Jonathan Goulet (23-10) Matt Arroyo (4-1) vs. J[B]osh Burkman (9-5)[/B] [B]Houston Alexander (8-3)[/B] vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-4) [B]Ryan Schultz (20-10-1)[/B] vs. Terry Etim (10-1) Mark Coleman (15-9) vs. [B]Cain Valesquez (3-0[/B])[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadboy Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Maincard UFC Welterweight Championship: [B]Georges St. Pierre[/B] (18-2) vs. Matt Serra (11-5) [B]Jon Fitch [/B](17-3) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-2) [B]Michael Bisping[/B] (18-2) vs. Yushin Okami (21-5) [B]Rashad Evans[/B] (13-1-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-4) Frankie Edgar (8-1) vs. [B]Eddie Alvarez[/B] (17-1) Undercard [B]Brock Lesnar[/B] (4-1) vs. Artoni Hardonk (6-4) [B]Gregard Mousasi[/B] (22-2-1) vs. Jonathan Goulet (23-10) [B]Matt Arroyo[/B] (4-1) vs. Josh Burkman (9-5) Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. [B]Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou [/B](4-4) [B]Ryan Schultz[/B] (20-10-1) vs. Terry Etim (10-1) Mark Coleman (15-9) vs. [B]Cain Valesquez[/B] (3-0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RennikKain076 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 UFC Welterweight Championship: [B]Georges St. Pierre[/B] (18-2) vs. Matt Serra (11-5) [B]Jon Fitch[/B] (17-3) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-2) Michael Bisping (18-2) vs. [B]Yushin Okami[/B] (21-5) [B]Rashad Evans [/B](13-1-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-4) Frankie Edgar (8-1) vs. [B]Eddie Alvarez[/B] (17-1) Undercard [B]Brock Lesnar[/B] (4-1) vs. Artoni Hardonk (6-4) [B]Gregard Mousasi[/B] (22-2-1) vs. Jonathan Goulet (23-10) Matt Arroyo (4-1) vs. [B]Josh Burkman[/B] (9-5) Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. [B]Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou[/B] (4-4) Ryan Schultz (20-10-1) vs. [B]Terry Etim [/B](10-1) Mark Coleman (15-9) vs. [B]Cain Valesquez [/B](3-0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 94 Preview[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER][B][U]Mark Coleman (15-9) vs. Cain Valesquez (3-0)[/U][/B] Going in to this fight Coleman is a massive 18 years older than Cain. That is a big experiance gap. Cain won't be too worried though as he is still undefeated and has looked impressive in all three of his fights. Coleman will be looking to reclaim the glory days with a big win here. [B][U]Ryan Schultz (20-10-1) vs. Terry Etim (10-1)[/U][/B] Schultz makes his UFC debut against the very young Etim who is still just twenty two years old. Schultz is the only person to ever beat Roger Huerta who is currently ranked as the #1 Lightweight so there is quite abit expected of him in this fight. Etim will look to get an eleventh win in this fight and push his way up the Lightweight chart. [B][U]Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-4)[/U][/B] Sokoudjou is coming off of two consecutive losses to Matt Hamill and Glover Teixeira while Alexander is coming off of a first round TKO loss to Rashad Evans. Sokoudjou will be looking to show people he is no flop and will be looking for an early stoppage against Alexander. Houston is no scrub though and he is a very dangerous fighter and will looking to ge a win on the board. [B][U]Matt Arroyo (4-1) vs. Josh Burkman (9-5)[/U][/B] Arroyo is coming off of a impressive decision win over Ben Saunders at UFC 92 and will be looking to take his record to 5-1 with a win over Burkman here. Burkman won't just roll over though and he will give it his all. Arroyo is still only twenty six years old and another win here could be the push he needs to really kickstart his career. [B][U]Gregard Mousasi (22-2-1) vs. Jonathan Goulet (23-10)[/U][/B] Mousasi returns for the first time since his decision win over Dean Lister at UFC 88. This will only be Goulet's second fight since he moved up to Middleweight and will be looking to get another win after he won his first Middleweight fight against Ed Herman via Decision. Goulet is just on the edge of the top ten so a win over Mousasi would definately get him in there somewhere. I would say as high as #7. Mousasi is already ranked as the #5 Middleweight so a win over Goulet could put him up as high as #3 if he is lucky. [B][U]Brock Lesnar (4-1) vs. Artoni Hardonk (6-4)[/U][/B] Lesnar is on a three fight win streak. In that streak there are decision wins over Eddie Sanchez and Christian Wellisch but most impressive is his TKO win over Frank Mir. A win for Lesnar here could put him into the top ten Heavyweights if he is lucky. Hardonk will look to make a name for himself as he looks to beat one best known UFC fighters out there. [B][U]Frankie Edgar (8-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (17-1)[/U][/B] Alvarez currently 3-0 in the UFC will look to go upto 4-0 after this fight with Edgar. Alvarez has beaten Corey Hill via KO, Cole Miller via TKO and the most impressive yet was his decision win over Joe Stevenson. Edgar will look to win here as he believes he is on the verge of breaking into the top ten Lightweights so he will be going all out against Alvarez. Alvarez is already ranked as the #7 Lightweight so a win here could put him as high as #4 in the Lightweight rankings. [B][U]Rashad Evans (13-1-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-4)[/U][/B] Evans is coming off of a first round TKO over Houston Alexander at UFC 92 while Gouveia is coming off of two straight wins. He has beaten Luis Cane via submission and Keith Jardine via decision. Both fighters are ranked in the top ten Light Heavyweights. Evans is ranked at #9 and could move up to as high as #5 while Gouveia is already ranked at #5 and could move into the top three if he is lucky and then he would be eligible for a title shot against Rampage. [B][U]Michael Bisping (18-2) vs. Yushin Okami (21-5)[/U][/B] Bisping is on a three fight win streak with wins over Jason MacDonald, Alan Belcher and Evan Tanner while Okami is coming off of an unfortunate Knock Out loss to Alan Belcher way back at UFC 84. Both fighters are on the verge of breaking into the top ten so a win here could push them into them. After that there would be a whole range of new opponents would become available to them. [B][U]Jon Fitch (17-3) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-2)[/U][/B] Two of the top Welterweights go up against each other in this fight. Many believe this will be Koscheck's last challenge before getting a title shot. Koscheck already has 3 straight wins having a decision win over Diego Sanchez and TKO wins over Mike Swick and George Sotiropoulos. Fitch is coming off of a decision win over Akihiro Gono. Both fighters are ranked in the Welterweight rankings. Fitch is ranked at #7 while Koscheck is ranked at #5. A win for Fitch could put him upto #3 while a win for Koscheck could also put him into #3. [B][U]UFC Welterweight Championship: Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. Matt Serra (11-5)[/U][/B] This will e the rubber fight between these two fighters after Serra won the first fight and then St. Pierre wont the rematch and now it all comes down to the third and probably final fight between the two to see who really is the best between the two. St. Pierre is currently ranked as the #1 Welterweight and the #6 Pound for Pound fighter coming off of a decision win over Jon Fitch and a first round TKO victory ove Thiago Alves. Serra on the other hand is currntly ranked at #2 in the Welterweight rankings and is coming off of a submission win over Marcus Davis and a decision win over Diego Sanchez. This is a highly anticipated match-up as it will tell us who is the best in the Welterweight division.[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Serra III[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][U][CENTER]Undercard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Mark Coleman (15-9) vs. Cain Valesquez (3-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Mark Coleman via Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Coleman starts strongly, hitting two stiff jabs to the gloves, stinging the hands of Velasquez. The third strike is a meaty left hook that narrowly misses. If that had hit, Velasquez may well have been decapitated. Despite leaning backwards, Velasquez throws a mighty kick that explodes across the chest, Coleman staggers back. That was an enormously powerful blow, and Coleman didn't see it coming at all. They circle for a moment, sizing each other up. Velasquez throws a flurry of jabs, but Coleman blocks them easily. A right hand from Coleman lands below the eye, and a straight left glances off the shoulder. Another exchange doesn't see either fighter get an advantage. Coleman throws a heavy left, but Velasquez goes underneath it. Another hard kick from Velasquez, this time smashing into the left thigh. Coleman almost get knocked down. He throws a left hook in retaliation which misses by a mile, and gives Velasquez the chance to hit another big kick, this time to the ribs. The round has been pretty even, with the exception of those kicks by Velasquez which have really made a big difference. As the round comes to an end, it looks like those will make sure that Velasquez wins the round on points. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Velasquez.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Slow start to the round. We're nearly a minute in before Coleman throws the first meaningful punch, trying to squeeze a fizzing jab through to Velasquez's jaw, but it is parried. Velasquez steps in, but has to quickly side-step to avoid a straight right. Coleman moves in to throw some body punches but gets clipped with a big right hand. It was partially blocked, it would have been a potential knock out if that had hit home on the chin, Velasquez put a lot of weight behind it. Coleman hits a nice jab, then clinches. Velasquez hits a knee, takes a punch to the ribs, then breaks free. Coleman hits a low kick to the leg. Velasquez bursts forward and scores with a big right hand to the body, then a left hook. Coleman goes down! Good shot from Velasquez! He tries to follow up and pound on Coleman, but Coleman is up really quickly and covers up to block the two jabs that come in. Velasquez, sensing that Coleman is rattled, starts coming forward with more urgency. Coleman ends up backed up against the cage. Velasquez gets within range, fakes a left, then lunges in with a huge right hand. It is partially parried by Coleman, who wisely clinches up tightly to get some time to recover. The power that Velasquez has in his hands is really posing Coleman some problems. The clinch drags on, with Velasquez unable to break free, and the round ends like that. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Velasquez.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] They start the round with an exchange of strikes, all from fairly long range as they circle and try to work angles. None of the blows did any damage, either missing or being straight into the opponent's gloves. Velasquez is the first to land a worthwhile blow, hitting a straight right that catches Coleman on the side of the cheek. Velasquez follows up by backing him up against the cage, throws a couple of big punches, but gets pulled into a clinch without doing any serious damage. Coleman goes for a trip and almost gets it, but Velasquez is able to regain his footing at the last moment. Coleman has Velasquez against the cage, and hits three right hands to the side of the ribs. Velasquez reaches down and picks up a leg, using that as leverage to topple Coleman, who pulls guard. Velasquez starts pounding away and does some damage before Coleman grapples and pulls him down into a clinch. Coleman has both of Velasquez's arms tied up, preventing much in the way of attacking action. Velasquez uses some shoulder shrugs to the face, but Coleman isn't going to be too bothered by that. Velasquez pulls one arm free. Coleman still has tight control of the other, and brings his legs up, trying to apply an armbar. Velasquez sees it coming and blocks it easily, getting in a couple of punches for good measure. Velasquez steps through the legs and forces Coleman to release the arm so that he can cover up against a series of strikes. Coleman manages to ensare one leg though, and so Velasquez has to make do with being in half guard instead of getting the full mount that he wanted. Velasquez hits a couple of punches, takes one back, then attempts to get side control. Coleman keeps him at bay. Time is ticking away, if Velasquez is going to use this position to finish the match, it had better be done soon. Velasquez pulls Coleman's left arm to one side and straightens it out, perhaps looking to turn it into an armbar. Coleman rolls over to stop the arm getting trapped. Velasquez continues to work for it though. Time expires though, the round is over. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Velasquez. Cain Velasquez wins, with a score of 30-27 from two judges, 29-28 from the other.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: * [B]Notes[/B]: Cain is now 2-0 in the UFC and 4-0 overall and Coleman's name will sure look nice in his win column. [B][CENTER]Ryan Schultz (20-10-1) vs. Terry Etim (10-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Ryan Schultz via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Slow start to the round. Not much happens before they wind up clinched together, struggling for supremacy. Etim uses a trip to make a takedown, but doesn't go down himself, instead staying back. He pushes the raised legs away and dives in to get side control, but Schultz scrambles and manages to get up, pushing Etim down to the ground. Schultz ends up on top, in guard. Etim has the guard held very high. Schultz throws a big right hand, but almost puts himself right into a triangle as a result, and he is forced to fight free. Etim throws a punch and it lands right above the nose. Schultz throws four massive punches as a response, threatening to try and knock Etim right through the canvas, Etim is forced to simply cover up and try to survive. Schultz is controlling the round from this position, although it has to be said that he hasn't yet truly looked like he can stop the match from here. Etim moves to butterfly guard and then tries to scramble back up, but Schultz stops that by throwing another set of big punches, forcing Etim to go back to the full guard. The round ends with them still like that, with Schultz having totally controlled the round from the guard. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Schultz.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Nice fast-paced start from Schultz, who gets right in Etim's face from the beginning of the round, throwing some crisp jabs and then a vicious uppercut. The two jabs got parried, the uppercut missed as Etim side-stepped. Etim fires back with a left hand, then a right to the body. Schultz steps in, but only into a waist-high kick from Etim. Schultz is quick though, and manages to catch it around the knee. Using it as leverage, Schultz sweeps Etim's standing leg and takes them to the ground. Etim quickly pulls guard. Schultz fires off a couple of tentative punches, testing out the guard of Etim. Schultz tries to pass the guard, but can't, Etim isn't going to let him get a better position, as he knows that Schultz will start raining down punches. Schultz tries a big right hand, but it's easily defended. Etim gets a punch of his own in, but it didn't connect properly. Schultz again tries to get past the guard, but again is foiled. It's turned into a bit of a stalemate, although the referee probably won't stand them up as long as the punches continue to flow. Schultz fakes an elbow before trying to pass the guard for a third time, and briefly has side mount, but Etim fought it hard and gets back to guard within seconds. Butterfly guard by Etim, and Schultz is having trouble generating any attacking threat. He'll probably win the round as he has been more aggressive, but Etim has defended the danger well. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Schultz.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Schultz throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Etim throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Schultz steps back, throwing a right hand as he does to buy himself space. They circle, then move in again to exchange strikes, neither fighter getting a clear advantage. They come together again and the same result. It has become something of a stalemate at the moment. They come together to exchange strikes for the third time, and this time they wind up in a clinch. Etim hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Schultz. They struggle all the way back, with Schultz ending up backed up against the cage. Etim hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Schultz stomps downward onto his foot. Schultz manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Etim gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Schultz ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Schultz tries a high kick to start, but Etim saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Etim who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Schultz on the nose. Schultz hits a straight right, enough to stop Etim from following up any further. The time expires with them standing. Not a great round for either of them or the crowd, it was very scrappy. The 3rd round ends. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Etim by 10-9. The judges scores are unanimous, and give a score of 29-28 to Ryan Schultz.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: * [B]Notes[/B]: Schultz wins his UFC debut but Etim sure didn't roll over for him. Etim even stole the last round as he tried to win the fight late on. [B][CENTER]Houston Alexander (8-3) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-4) Sherdog's Prediction: Houston Alexander via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The fighters touch gloves, then circle. Sokoudjou throws a low kick, but it was without any conviction, it seemed designed more to keep Alexander from coming inside. Sokoudjou works an angle, then comes in with a one-two combination, Alexander responds with a crisp uppercut that wasn't far off from connecting. Sokoudjou backs off slightly, maybe a bit relieved not to have taken that one on the chin. Neither fighter appears to be looking for any sort of takedown or grapple, this is all about the striking. Alexander circles and throws a series of high jabs, but Sokoudjou blocked them with ease, using the gloves. Sokoudjou fakes a high kick, then storms in with a wild looking right hand and a series of body shots. Alexander covers up and rides out the storm, clinching to stop any further blows. It was a nice attack from Sokoudjou though, best action of the round. They stay clinched for a while, exchanging occasional punches to the ribs, then are separated by the referee. It looks like this round is going to the judges though, as there's only a few seconds remaining. Sokoudjou throws a leg kick that connects, albeit without too much force, and the round is done. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Sokoudjou by 10-9[/B]. [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] The two fighters circle. Alexander flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Sokoudjou easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Alexander could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Sokoudjou moves in, ducks under a big right hand, and gets two crisp jabs in before getting smothered into a clinch. One of those jabs landed hard, Alexander is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Alexander forces Sokoudjou back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Sokoudjou in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Alexander does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Sokoudjou saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Alexander turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Alexander is up quickly, causing Sokoudjou, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Alexander was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Alexander throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Sokoudjou to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Sokoudjou.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Alexander is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Sokoudjou picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Alexander throws a wild punch as a counter, but Sokoudjou ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Alexander gets a clubbing blow to the side of the head in, but takes a hard shot to the stomach in return. The early pattern seems to be that Alexander is looking for big punches, Sokoudjou is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Alexander manages to back Sokoudjou up against the cage. Alexander takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Sokoudjou ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Alexander can unload. Alexander may need to think about changing tactics, Sokoudjou is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Alexander fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Sokoudjou on the thigh. Sokoudjou presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Alexander gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. End of round 3. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Sokoudjou. The official scores are in; two judges give 30-27, the other 29-28, all for Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Sokoudjou will give a sigh of relief after this fight as he this is his first win in 4 fights in the UFC and is now 5-4 overall. He will be hoping this is a sign of things to come. [B][CENTER]Matt Arroyo (4-1) vs. Josh Burkman (9-5) Sherdog's Prediction: Josh Burkman via Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Arroyo lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Burkman sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Arroyo on the left cheek, but the follow up right hook only finds gloves. They get close to each other and end up in a clinch, from which Burkman manages to get the better position, pushing Arroyo up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Burkman. Arroyo hits a couple of knees to the side. There's a struggle for supremacy going on, it's difficult to see who is winning it. Burkman tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Arroyo was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Burkman down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Burkman covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Arroyo hits a big elbow to the ribs, Burkman definitely felt that. Arroyo drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Burkman brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Arroyo will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Burkman defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Arroyo unable to generate any attacks, and Burkman unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Arroyo will likely be very angry that he didn't make more of that takedown. They exchange half-hearted jabs as the round draws to an end. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Arroyo.[/B] [U][B]Round 2[/B][/U] The two fighters meet in the center with an exchange of jabs, but neither gets anything but gloves or air. They go right into a clinch, with only a few seconds of the match gone. Arroyo gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. Burkman looks to be working an angle. Burkman leads with a right hand, then comes in for a quick takedown. Arroyo saw it coming and smartly turns out of the grapple, pushing Burkman to the ground, and ending up taking his back in a great defensive move. Arroyo gets one arm in and snakes it around the throat of Burkman, squeezing his wind-pipe shut. Burkman tries to pull the arm free, but can't, and so rolls over in a last-ditch effort to break free. It is to no avail though, as that allows Arroyo to get a body-scissors in too. With no alternatives left, Burkman taps out. [B]Arroyo wins via rear choke submission at 1:44 of the second round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Arroyo with another win and is now 5-1. He will be happy with how he won the fight. It was a very impressive Choke that anyone could be proud of. [B][CENTER]Gregard Mousasi (22-2-1) vs. Jonathan Goulet (23-10) Sherdog's Prediction: Jonathan Goulet via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The two competitors start slowly, circling and looking for an opening. Goulet fakes shooting in for a takedown, but Mousasi didn't buy it for a second. In comes Goulet from an angle to the right, but Mousasi had it covered all the way, and not only easily steps out of the way of the attempted right hand, but manages to score with a solid right hand to the side of the head. Goulet felt that, and is forced to cover up quickly as Mousasi steps in quickly and unloads with a flurry of powerful blows, looking to capitalise on the earlier strike. Goulet is forced back against the cage, but to his credit, he did a good job defending those strikes and didn't seem to take any significant damage. Mousasi doesn't get in too close, realising that it would likely mean getting caught in a clinch, so he stands slightly back instead and throws some low kicks and looping punches. Goulet responds by throwing out some straight jabs, but neither fighter is really doing any damage to their opponent. Mousasi clearly grows tired of the wait, and moves in to hit a body blow. It connects, but Goulet is quick to tie him up in a clinch. That lasts quite a while, until the referee gets in there and breaks them up, telling them to fight. Goulet glances at the referee, not sure why. Mousasi scores with a stiff jab, and bobs and weaves to avoid all three of the rapid-fire punches that come back from Goulet. Nicely done. Goulet, realising that he is losing this round, comes forward with a sense of urgency, throwing right hands to put Mousasi on the back foot. Mousasi handles it well though, refusing to let Goulet get an angle, and using some nice counter punches to the body to further cement the fact that this round is going to him on points. Time expires with Goulet throwing increasingly desperate punches. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Mousasi.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Goulet starts out with a few straight rights, range-finding rather than actually dangerous. Mousasi keeps out of their way. Goulet steps forward and tries to unload with a looping left, but Mousasi moves to the side and fires off a powerful right hand of his own, landing above the left eye. Goulet doesn't go down, but definitely felt that shot. Mousasi moves in closer and fires off two punches to the face and a big hook to the body. Goulet parried the first two, but the third hit home hard. Mousasi begins to stalk Goulet, who may be slightly winded. They meet again in the center and exchange blows. Goulet hits a high jab but gets caught with another hard punch to the side of the head. Goulet clinches up, stopping Mousasi from following up. It looks like Goulet needs to change his game plan, standing up and banging with Mousasi is playing right into his opponent's hands, as Mousasi clearly has the more powerful strikes in his arsenal, and Goulet is going to get floored sooner or later, judging by this round. The referee parts them from the clinch. Mousasi continues to look ready to unleash some big punches. Goulet takes a takedown, then comes in much closer, throws a jab, and clinches back up. Goulet looks like he is going to grapple, stopping Mousasi from throwing bombs. Goulet gets in a few short punches to the ribs. The round ends with them still in the clinch. Mousasi will take that round on points, having used the threat of a knock out to basically control everything about that round except the clinches. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Mousasi by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Goulet is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Mousasi picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Goulet throws a wild punch as a counter, but Mousasi ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Goulet gets a clubbing blow to the side of the head in, but takes a hard shot to the stomach in return. The early pattern seems to be that Goulet is looking for big punches, Mousasi is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Goulet manages to back Mousasi up against the cage. Goulet takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Mousasi ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Goulet can unload. Goulet may need to think about changing tactics, Mousasi is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Goulet fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Mousasi on the thigh. Mousasi presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Goulet gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Mousasi. The three judges all give the match as 30-27 to Gegard Mousasi.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Mousasi with another win. This time against Goulet in a comfortable decision win. Mousasi should move up the rankings with this win. He will be hoping to move upto #3. [B][CENTER]Brock Lesnar (4-1) vs. Antoni Hardonk (6-4) Sherdog's Prediction: Brock Lesnar via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Hardonk and Lesnar circle to start. Lesnar throws a couple of looping punches, neither hitting, while Hardonk sits back, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Lesnar comes in closer, looking to unload with a right hand; that misses, and it allows Hardonk to slip a nice jab in, catching Lesnar just underneath the right eye. Hardonk comes in and scores with a straight left, then bounces a right hand off the body. Lesnar misses with a right cross, then backs off. Hardonk stalks him, forcing Lesnar back up against the cage. Hardonk doesn't rush in, instead standing back and throwing the occasional punch. Lesnar throws a big left hand in response, but it misses by quite a margin. Hardonk pounces, hitting lefts and rights. Lesnar covers up from the first two punches, then clinches up to prevent any more coming in. They're up against the cage, Hardonk in the dominant position. They remain that way as the time ticks down. Hardonk throws the occasional knee, but can't really do much with his arms tied up like that. The referee finally tells them to break, and they return to the center. That clinch ate up a lot of time though. Lesnar comes in hard and fast, bobbing and weaving, and throws a couple of big shots. Hardonk parries them with his gloves and scores with a well-executed counter punch, hitting just above the eye. They come in close again, throwing punches, but wind up clinched again. The time expires with them like that, and that round will definitely go down in Hardonk's favour. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Hardonk.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Lesnar is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Hardonk blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Lesnar is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Hardonk is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Lesnar can cover up. That landed above the left eye and has left an ugly red mark. No cut, but that will start to swell and could give Lesnar some problems later on. Lesnar moves in for a right hook, but takes a hard kick to the knee, then is forced to retreat so as not to get caught with the two right hands that follow. Hardonk is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Lesnar before they wind up in a clinch. That punch above the eye, or maybe the mistake that led to it, seems to have completely thrown Lesnar off, since that moment he has been comprehensively out-struck and is now in danger of losing this round. They struggle in the clinch, neither fighter managing a great deal more than minor blows. Lesnar goes for a trip, but Hardonk cleverly spins out of it and the two fighters are back to circling. Not a great round for purists, it has all been a bit disjointed, but that one shot from Hardonk may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Hardonk. [/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The two fighters meet in the center with an exchange of jabs, but neither gets anything but gloves or air. They go right into a clinch, with only a few seconds of the match gone. Hardonk gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. The two fighters are circling. Hardonk comes in for a punch, but Lesnar countered well by coming in fast and low and using a good solid takedown. Lesnar is in Hardonk's guard. Lesnar tries to pass the guard. Hardonk is holding it quite high, which is helping. Lesnar throws a couple of loose punches, then grabs the legs and turns Hardonk over. Hardonk tries to scramble free, but Lesnar is already on top of him and has his back! Lesnar doesn't waste any time, he starts throwing bombs with both left and right fists, slamming them into the side of Hardonk's head. He is trying to cover up, but a lot of shots are getting through. The referee is watching closely. A vicious right hand thunders into the ear of Hardonk, then another to the side of the nose. That's all the referee wants to see, he pulls Lesnar off. [B]Official time of the TKO is 1:49 of the third.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Lesnar with a comeback win here and he is now 5-1 with a four fight win streak. Lesnar could move into the top ten Heavyweights with this win. [B][U][CENTER]Maincard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Frankie Edgar (8-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (17-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Eddie Alvarez via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Edgar hits a low kick, then moves in for a jab. Alvarez saw it coming and unloads with an enormous punch to the jaw. Edgar goes down immediately, he has been knocked clean out by the power of Alvarez. [B]Official time of the knock out is 0:53 of the first round. [/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Great KO win here for Alvarez. It didn't even take Alvarez a minute to win here so he will be very happy. Edgar won't see it that way though as the KO was pretty brutal. Alvarez should move up the rankings quite abit with such an impressive win. [B][CENTER]Rashad Evans (13-1-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (12-4) Sherdog's Prediction: Rashad Evans via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Evans misses an uppercut and is off balance, which allows Gouveia to get the takedown. Side mount. Gouveia is looking for an armbar, but Evans is defending it well. Evans gets a nice elbow in, that caught Gouveia by surprise. Gouveia fires off several elbows to the ribs, and Evans is left gasping for air. Those were hard, there's a big red patch where they hit. Gouveia takes the left arm, Evans couldn't defend it any longer. The armbar is applied, there's no way out. [B]Gouveia wins by tap out. The official time is 0:51.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Gouveia with another win but this was was extra impressive. Gouveia fought for that armbar for around thirty seconds and was throwing elbows like a mad man till he got it. Evans will be dissapointed with losing so quick and will be looking to get a good win next time out to et him back on track. [B][CENTER]Michael Bisping (18-2) vs. Yushin Okami (21-5) Sherdog's Prediction: Yushin Okami via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Slow start to the round, there's a lot of circling going on, not much contact though. Bisping fakes a kick, then darts in to score with a left hand to the shoulder region. Okami almost catches Bisping with a massive left hook. A big arcing kick from Bisping catches Okami on the shoulder, it wasn't far away from landing on the side of the jaw. Okami storms in throwing a flurry of blows, but Bisping dodges out of the way. A jab catches Okami on the cheek, then another big kick hits home, this time into the ribs. Bisping is really using those big kicks well, they're both keeping Okami at bay and hurting him. Okami tries another attack, first working an angle away from the kicks then coming in with a couple of straight rights. Bisping defends it well, parrying the punches away and moving to safety before Okami can unload with any bombs. Bisping hits another kick, this time to the thigh, setting it up with a couple of raking punches. That's the last significant action of the round, a round that Bisping has dominated with kicks. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Bisping by 10-8.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Good start from Okami, taking Bisping down almost immediately! Bisping scrambles though, and gets back to his feet without taking any damage at all. Okami will be disappointed with that. Bisping comes in and throws two big right hands, but neither connects, and they put him off balance, allowing Okami to score with a nice right hook to the side of the head, crunching into the top of the ear. Bisping felt that one for sure. He stalks Okami, trying to back him up against the cage. It doesn't work though, Okami keeps out of the way. Bisping tries a kick, but Okami catches the foot and uses it for a trip. Okami gets Bisping down for the second time, and this time is right on top of him in guard position. Okami throws some punches, then tries to pass. Bisping doesn't allow it, and tries to grab an armbar in response. Okami easily stops that, and throws some more punches. That becomes the pattern, as the fight falls into a predictable pattern; punches from Okami followed by a pass attempt, with Bisping blocking the pass and throwing the occasional punch in response. The round ends like that, just as the referee was about to stand them back up. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Okami[/B]. [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The two fighters circle. Okami flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Bisping easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Okami could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Bisping moves in, ducks under a big right hand, and gets two crisp jabs in before getting smothered into a clinch. One of those jabs landed hard, Okami is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Okami forces Bisping back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Bisping in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Okami does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Bisping saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Okami turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Okami is up quickly, causing Bisping, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Okami was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Okami throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Bisping to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Bisping. All three judges give a score of 29-27 in favour of Michael Bisping.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: This is surely Bispings biggest win since his move to Middleweight. He will be very pleased with his first round performance against Okami where he pretty much dominated him with those big kicks. Bisping should move into the top ten Middleweights with this win. [B][CENTER]Jon Fitch (17-3) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-2) Sherdog's Prediction: Jon Fitch via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Fitch throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but Koscheck defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. Koscheck slips past Fitch's right hand and takes him down, ending up in half guard. Koscheck throws a couple of punches to the chest, but Fitch defends them well. Koscheck tries to work out of the half guard and up to side control, but Fitch is quickly up and over, getting his back! Koscheck turns over sharply though, and locks Fitch up in his guard, putting an end to that brief moment of danger. Fitch works through into half guard. Koscheck throws a couple of punches, but it's hard to generate any power from that position. Fitch hits a big right hand, but almost regrets it as Koscheck grabs his arm and almost uses it to pull off a surprise armbar; no dice though, as Fitch gets free, and manages to get into side control. Koscheck tries to work for another armbar, keeping himself very busy from the bottom. Fitch defends it with relative ease, and then unloads with a vicious right handed strike to the jaw! That was out of nowhere, and Koscheck got nailed. He goes limp immediately, knocked out cold. [B]Fitch gets the win with a thunderbolt of a punch out of nowhere. Fitch wins via first round knock out at 1:22.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Wow! What a punch. And from side mount aswell. Fitch will be very happy with such an impressive win here and the Knock Out is just icing on the cake. Fitch should move up the rankings quite abit with such a big win. [B][CENTER]UFC Welterweight Championship: Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. Matt Serra (11-5) Sherdog's Prediction: Gerges St. Pierre via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Slow start to the round. We're nearly a minute in before Serra throws the first meaningful punch, trying to squeeze a fizzing jab through to St. Pierre's jaw, but it is parried. St. Pierre steps in, but has to quickly side-step to avoid a straight right. Serra moves in to throw some body punches but gets clipped with a big right hand. It was partially blocked, it would have been a potential knock out if that had hit home on the chin, St. Pierre put a lot of weight behind it. Serra hits a nice jab, then clinches. St. Pierre hits a knee, takes a punch to the ribs, then breaks free. Serra hits a low kick to the leg. St. Pierre bursts forward and scores with a big right hand to the body, then a left hook. Serra goes down! Good shot from St. Pierre! He tries to follow up and pound on Serra, but Serra is up really quickly and covers up to block the two jabs that come in. St. Pierre, sensing that Serra is rattled, starts coming forward with more urgency. Serra ends up backed up against the cage. St. Pierre gets within range, fakes a left, then lunges in with a huge right hand. It is partially parried by Serra, who wisely clinches up tightly to get some time to recover. The power that St. Pierre has in his hands is really posing Serra some problems. The clinch drags on, with St. Pierre unable to break free, and the round ends like that. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to St. Pierre by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] St. Pierre scores the first meaningful blow of the round, hitting a powerful overhand right that thumped past the gloves. Serra shakes it off though, and scores with a nice low kick to the outside of the thigh. He steps in to throw some strikes, but St. Pierre moves to a new angle and scores with a series of jabs. Serra turns and swings a heavy right hand, but St. Pierre goes underneath it and hits a wicked kick to the gut. That exchange really showed the difference between the two fighters; St. Pierre looks light on his feet and very agile, Serra looks slow and sluggish by comparison. Serra will need to find a way to nullify St. Pierre's footwork, perhaps by getting in close, as he has been picked apart for the first half of this round. St. Pierre darts in again, and gets in a nice flurry. Serra manages to hit a crisp jab in return, but one of St. Pierre's punches caught him above the eye, leaving a mark, so he came off the worse from that exchange. The round ends without any further big strikes happening, St. Pierre controlling the round with his superior movement. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to St. Pierre by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The round starts with some tentative striking. Both fighters look to be using their strikes merely to keep the opponent off-balance while they work for an angle for a takedown, rather than actually trying to inflict too much damage. Serra goes for the first takedown, but St. Pierre has it well-scouted and they merely end up in a clinch. They tussle, ending up all the way back against the cage. Both fighters try trips, but neither gets anything. Finally, the referee steps in and separates them. St. Pierre storms back in almost immediately and takes Serra down, into guard. It's hard to say whether that was just a good takedown or whether Serra just had a lapse in concentration. St. Pierre tries to pass the guard but can't, with Serra employing a rubber guard now. There's a definite stalemate, Serra is defending very well but isn't really offering any attacking threat or really trying to get out of this predicament. St. Pierre makes a big effort to pass, and manages to get to half guard, but Serra has him tied up pretty well all the same. Time is ticking away, what has been a very tame round looks set to end without much in the way of highlights. It'll have to go to St. Pierre on points, the takedown is really the only noteworthy thing that has happened. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 St. Pierre.[/B] [B][U]Round 4[/U][/B] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. St. Pierre lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Serra sneaks a jab through the guard and catches St. Pierre on the left cheek, but the follow up right hook only finds gloves. They get close to each other and end up in a clinch, from which Serra manages to get the better position, pushing St. Pierre up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Serra. St. Pierre hits a couple of knees to the side. There's a struggle for supremacy going on, it's difficult to see who is winning it. Serra tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that St. Pierre was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Serra down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Serra covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. St. Pierre hits a big elbow to the ribs, Serra definitely felt that. St. Pierre drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Serra brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. St. Pierre will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Serra defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with St. Pierre unable to generate any attacks, and Serra unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. St. Pierre will likely be very angry that he didn't make more of that takedown. They exchange half-hearted jabs as the round draws to an end. End of round 4. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 St. Pierre.[/B] [B][U]Round 5[/U][/B] St. Pierre starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Serra on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for St. Pierre to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Serra, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from St. Pierre, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Serra is looking a little lost so far, St. Pierre is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. St. Pierre tries to back Serra up against the cage wall, but it comes to nothing. St. Pierre leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Serra was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Serra comes back with a leg kick to set up a one-two combination, but the round is coming to a close and it's going to be too little too late. The one bright spot for Serra is that although St. Pierre clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. End of round 5. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to St. Pierre. The official scores are: 50-45 from all three judges for Georges St. Pierre. Georges St. Pierre is still the UFC Welterweight champion.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: **** [B]Notes[/B]: St. Pierre wins the trilogy, but he would of liked to win this fight abit more dominantly. He never looked in trouble of losing though so he won't be complaining. [B][U]Post Show News Fighter Bonuses[/U][/B] Submission of the Night: Wilson Gouveia Knock Out of the Night: Eddie Alvarez Fight of the Night: Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra [B][U]Injuries[/U][/B] Georges St. Pierre suffered a neck injury last night and will be out for just over a month. [B][U]Resignings[/U][/B] Yushin Okami, Houston Alexander, Rashad Evans, Wilson Gouveia, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre, Matt Serra and Eddie Alvarez will all be resigned to new UFC contracts. Unfortunately Antoni Hardonk will not be resigned. Also Mark Coleman has retired so he has been released. [B][U]Signings[/U][/B] Jason Tabor, Ville Manninen have been signed to compete in the UFC Lightweight division. Also Nicolas Rodriguez (he is new fighter who was created after Paulo Silva retired) will be cutting a massive amount of weight to compete in the UFC Heavyweight division. [B][U]Weight Changes[/U][/B] In massive news Georges St. Pierre will be moving up to the Middlewight division. He will be fighting there permenantly from this point onwards until he decides to do otherwise. He will also have to give up the UFC Welterweight title. It was announced that there would be an eight man tournament to crown the next champion that would span over several events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadboy Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Wow, can't believe I got 10 out of 11 right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]New Rankings After UFC 94[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]UFC have released the new rankings following their UFC 94 event.[/CENTER] [B][U]Lightweight[/U][/B] 1. Roger Huerta 2. Shinya Aoki 3. BJ Penn 4. Vitor Ribeiro 5. Eddie Alvarez +2 6. Sean Sherk -1 7. Kenny Florian -1 8. Thiago Tavares 9. Jeremy Stephens 10. Rich Clementi [B][U]Welterweight[/U][/B] 1. Jon Fitch +6 2. Yoshiyuki Yoshida +1 3. Matt Hughes +1 4. Dan Hardy +2 5. Matt Serra -3 6. Thiago Alves +2 7. Dong Hyun Kim +2 8. Akihiro Gono +2 9 Josh Koscheck -4 10. Roan Caneiro - New Entry [B][U]Middleweight[/U][/B] 1. Georges St. Pierre - New Entry (Weight Change) 2. Anderson Silva -1 3. Rich Franklin -1 4. Forrest Griffin -1 5. Gregard Mousasi 6. Michael Bisping - New Entry 7. Demian Maia -3 8. Dan Henderson -2 9. Karo Parisyan -1 10. Rousimar Palahales -3 [B][U]Light Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Wilson Gouveia +3 3. Lyoto Machida -1 4. Thiago Silva -1 5. Wanderlei Silva -1 6. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua 7. Chuck Liddell 8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 9. Keith Jardine +1 10. David Heath - New Entry [B][U]Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2. Tim Sylvia 3. Cheick Kongo 4. Andrei Arlovski 5. Sergei Kharitonov 6. Fedor Emelianenko 7. Chris Tuchscherer 8. Shane Carwin 9. Pedro Rizzo 10. Aleksander Emelianenko [B][U]P4P[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Roger Huerta 3. Georges St. Pierre +3 4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -1 5. Anderson Silva -1 6. Rich Franklin -1 7. Tim Sylvia 8. Shinya Aoki 9. BJ Penn +1 10. Cheick Kongo -1 [B]Biggest Jump this month[/B]: Jon Fitch: Fitch moved up a massive 6 ranks this month and he now sits atop of the Welterweight division at rank #1. This came after his brutally impresive Knock Out victory over Josh Koscheck. With Georges St. Pierre moving to Middleweight the UFC announced that there would be an eight man tournament to crown the next Welterweight champion. Fitch will be one of the favourites for this tournament but it is still unknown who he will face. [B]Biggest Drop this month[/B]: Josh Koscheck: Koscheck moved down 4 ranks in the Welterweight rankings this month and he now lies at #9. This came after he was KO'ed by the now #1 Welterweight Jon Fitch in only one minute and twenty two seconds. He is expected to compete in the Welterweight tournament despite not being in the top 8 Welterweights. [B]Most Impressive New Entry[/B]: Michael Bisping: Bisping debuted at #6 on the Middleweight rankings this month. He earned his rank after he beat Yushin Okami via decision. He is expected to fight either Karo Parisyan or Dan Henderson next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces UFC 95: Penn vs. Huerta[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]Today UFC announced UFC 95: Penn vs. Huerta. Here is the card. [B][U]Maincard[/U][/B] UFC Lightweight Championship: BJ Penn (13-4-1) vs. Roger Huerta (23-1-1) Andrei Arlovski (14-5) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (16-3) Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua (17-4) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1) Shinya Aoki (17-2) vs. Sean Sherk (33-3-1) Nate Marquardt (26-8-2) vs. Rousimar Palhales (8-1) [B][U]Undercard[/U][/B] Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Dan Hardy (19-6) Keith Jardine (13-4-1) vs. James Irvin (13-7) Shane Carwin (11-0) vs. Heath Herring (28-15) Joe Lauzon (16-5) vs, Kurt Pellegrino (11-3) Joey Villasenor (24-6) vs. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (10-1) Chris Wilson (13-5) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-1-1)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces Welterweight Tournament Competitors And First Round Match-Ups[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] Today the UFC announced the 8 fighters that will compete for the right to be called the UFC Welterweight champion. The eight fighters are #1 ranked Welterweight Jon Fitch, #2 Welterweight Yoshiyuki Yoshida, #3 Welterweight Matt Hughes, #4 Welterweight Dan Hardy, #5 Welterweight Matt Serra, #6 Welterweight Thiago Alves, #7 Welterweight Dong Hyun Kim and #9 Welterweight Josh Koscheck. [CENTER]The UFC also announced the first round match-ups. Here they are. [B][U]Welterweight Tournament Quarter Final[/U][/B] Jon Fitch (18-3) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-1-1) Thiago Alves (14-4) vs. Dan Hardy (19-6) Matt Hughes (42-7) vs. Matt Serra (11-6) Yoshiyuki Yoshida (12-2) vs. Josh Koscheck (13-3)[/CENTER] They also said even if Kim and Hardy lose their fights at UFC 95 then they will still be in the tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 95 Preview[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER][B][U]Chris Wilson (13-5) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-1-1)[/U][/B] Kim is coming off of two straight wins in the UFC. A decision win over Marcus Davis and a brutal KO win over Luke Cummo. Wilson is less fortunate as he is coming off of a decision loss to Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Kim will be looking to get some much needed momentum for the Welterweight Tournament where he will be facing the #1 ranked Welterweight Jon Fitch. Kim is already ranked at #7 in the Welterweight rankings and a win here could put him as high as #4 in the rankings. [B][U]Joey Villasenor (24-6) vs. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (10-1)[/U][/B] Villasenor and Jacare will both be making their UFC debuts in this fight. Jacare is coming off of two wins outside the UFC. A split decision win over Pedro Santos and a submission win over Zelg Galesic. Villasenor and Jacare both believe that they are on the edge of the top ten Middleweights so a win here could put either of them into the top ten. [B][U]Joe Lauzon (16-5) vs, Kurt Pellegrino (11-3)[/U][/B] Lauzon is coming off of two straight losses to Thiago Tavares and Din Thomas so he will be looking to get a comfortable win here to get back on track. Lauzon believes despite the two straight losses a win here could put him into the top ten Lightweights. [B][U]Shane Carwin (11-0) vs. Heath Herring (28-15)[/U][/B] Carwin is on a 3 fight win streak in the UFC with wins over Eddie Sanchez, Christian Wellisch and Brandon Vera so he will be looking to go 4-0 in the UFC with a win over Herring. Herring is coming off of two straight losses to Andrei Arlovski and Aleksander Emelianenko voth by decision. Carwin is already ranked at #8 in the Heavyweight rankings so a win over Herring could put him as high as #5 in the rankings by the end of the night. [B][U]Keith Jardine (13-4-1) vs. James Irvin (13-7)[/U][/B] Irvin is on a very dissapointing 3 fight losing streak where he has lost to Antonio Mendes, Tomasz Drwal and most recently Matt Hamill. Jardine is also coming off of a loss as he lost to Wilson Gouveia via decision in his last fight. Jardine is still a ranked Light Heavyweight despite the loss being ranked at #9. If he beats Irvin he could move as high as #6. [B][U]Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Dan Hardy (19-6)[/U][/B] Hardy like Dong Hyun Kim will be looking for momentum going into the Weltwerweight tournament where Hardy will be fighting Thiago Alves in the Quarter Final. Hironaka is coming off of a TKO loss to Yoshiyuki Yoshida while Hardy is 2-0 in the UFC with wins over Luke Cummo and Mike Swick. [B][U]Nate Marquardt (26-8-2) vs. Rousimar Palhales (8-1)[/U][/B] A battle of the Middleweights as the #10 Middleweight Rousimar Palhales fights a person on the edge of breaking into the top ten Nate Marquardt. Nate is coming off a decision loss to Forrest Griffin while Palhales won his last fight against Jorge Rivea via submission in the third round. A win over Marquardt could push Palhales up the rankings to as high as #6. [B][U]Shinya Aoki (17-2) vs. Sean Sherk (33-3-1)[/U][/B] Aoki is still fighting for that title shot and he is hoping Sean Sherk will be his next victim. Aoki is currently 2-0 in the UFC with wins over Spencer Fisher and Rich Clementi while Sherk is coming off of a KO loss to BJ Penn in his last fight. This is a big fight for the Lightweight division as Aoki is ranked at #2 and Sherk is at #6. A win for Aoki could put him as the #1 Lightweight depending on the result of the nights main event while a win for Sherk could put him at #4 in the Lightweight rankings. [B][U]Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua (17-4) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1)[/U][/B] Two former PRIDE stars will be going at it in ths Light Heavyweight contest as both will look for the KO win. Both fighters are ranked in the Light Heavyweight division with Shogun at #6 and Wanderlei at #5. A win for Shogun could put him as high as #4 while a win for Wanderlei could easily put him into the top three which would make him eligible for a title shot which would set up Silva vs. Rampage 3. [B][U]Andrei Arlovski (14-5) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (16-3)[/U][/B] This is a massive fight in the Heavyweight division as the #4 and #5 ranked fighters go all out for what could be a future title shot. Arlovski is coming off of two straight decision wins over Aleksander Emelianenko and Heath Herring while Kharitonov won his UFC debut over Pedro Rizzo via decision. A win for either could put them into the top three Heavyweigths which would make them eiligible for a title shot agaisnt Big Nog. [B][U]UFC Lightweight Championship: BJ Penn (13-4-1) vs. Roger Huerta (23-1-1)[/U][/B] Huerta is the #1 Lightweight and he will be challenging the #3 Lightweight for his Lightweight Title. Huerta is coming off of three straight wins over Frankie Edgar, Joe Stevenson and Tyson Griffin. Penn is coming off of a impressive second round Knock Out over Sean Sherk back at UFC 90. Whoever wins this fight is almost certain to fight Shinya Aoki in their next fight. A win for Huerta could put him on the top of the Pound for Pound rankings which he is already ranked at #2 in.[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFC-KING Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 [CENTER][B]BJ Penn[/B] (13-4-1) vs. Roger Huerta (23-1-1) [B]Andrei Arlovski [/B](14-5) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (16-3) Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua (17-4) vs. [B]Wanderlei Silva [/B](32-8-1) [B]Shinya Aoki[/B] (17-2) vs. Sean Sherk (33-3-1) Nate Marquardt (26-8-2) vs. [B]Rousimar Palhales [/B](8-1) Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. [B]Dan Hardy [/B](19-6) [B]Keith Jardine[/B] (13-4-1) vs. James Irvin (13-7) [B]Shane Carwin [/B](11-0) vs. Heath Herring (28-15) [B]Joe Lauzon[/B] (16-5) vs, Kurt Pellegrino (11-3) [B]Joey Villasenor [/B](24-6) vs. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (10-1) Chris Wilson (13-5) vs. [B]Dong Hyun Kim[/B] (11-1-1)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 95: Penn vs. Huerta[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][U][CENTER]Undercard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Chris Wilson (13-5) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-1-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Dong Hyun Kim via Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Wilson throws out a jab, but Kim bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Kim works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Wilson covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Kim is making Wilson look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Wilson hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Both fighters circle. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Kim got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Wilson slightly. Wilson initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Wilson looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Kim is clearly winning them. Wilson needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Kim tries a speculative high kick, but Wilson saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Wilson tries to work an angle, but Kim is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Kim, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Kim.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Slow start to the round. We're nearly a minute in before Wilson throws the first meaningful punch, trying to squeeze a fizzing jab through to Kim's jaw, but it is parried. Kim steps in, but has to quickly side-step to avoid a straight right. Wilson moves in to throw some body punches but gets clipped with a big right hand. It was partially blocked, it would have been a potential knock out if that had hit home on the chin, Kim put a lot of weight behind it. Wilson hits a nice jab, then clinches. Kim hits a knee, takes a punch to the ribs, then breaks free. Wilson hits a low kick to the leg. Kim bursts forward and scores with a big right hand to the body, then a left hook. Wilson goes down! Good shot from Kim! He tries to follow up and pound on Wilson, but Wilson is up really quickly and covers up to block the two jabs that come in. Kim, sensing that Wilson is rattled, starts coming forward with more urgency. Wilson ends up backed up against the cage. Kim gets within range, fakes a left, then lunges in with a huge right hand. It is partially parried by Wilson, who wisely clinches up tightly to get some time to recover. The power that Kim has in his hands is really posing Wilson some problems. The clinch drags on, with Kim unable to break free, and the round ends like that. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Kim. [/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Very, very slow start to the round. Over a minute has gone before the first meaningful strike connects. It's Kim who hits it, scoring with a shot to the chest. Wilson fires back with a couple of jabs, both of which connect with the shoulder rather than the face where they were aimed. The two fighters come together in the center and exchange punches, neither getting the clear advantage. Wilson suddenly shoots in and goes for a takedown, but Kim manages to sprawl long enough to get them all the way back to the cage, which keeps him upright. Wilson tries to complete the takedown, but realises that the leverage isn't there and instead stands and clinches. Kim hits a couple of shots to the back. Wilson hits a stomp. Kim lifts his leg to go for a knee, but that gives Wilson the opportunity to lift him and slam him down to the ground. That was a hard slam! Wilson is on top, almost sitting on top of a balled-up Kim. He throws some hard downward punches, Kim defends most of them, although one hits hard above the eye. Wilson leaves his arm in for a second too long and Kim reaches up and almost gets an armbar. Wilson gets free though, although the effort puts him off-balance enough for him to stumble, giving Kim the opportunity to scramble back up. There's a nasty mark above the eye where the earlier punch connected though. They go back to circling each other. There's not much time left. Kim tries one last big attack, swinging for the fences with two bombs, but Wilson avoids both, adding a nice shot to the stomach after the second dodge. The round ends there. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Wilson. The official scores are in; two judges give 29-28, the other 30-27, all for Dong Hyun Kim.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: * [B]Notes[/B]: Kim gets some much needed momentum going into the Welterweight tournament where he goes up against Jon Fitch which is rumoured to be the main event or the co-main event of the next Ultimate Fight Night whenever it may be. [B][CENTER]Joey Villasenor (24-6) vs. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (10-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Jacare starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Villasenor on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Jacare to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Villasenor, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Jacare, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Villasenor is looking a little lost so far, Jacare is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. Villasenor throws out a few jabs, nothing too dangerous though, Jacare easily avoided them. Jacare leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Villasenor was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Villasenor comes back with a leg kick to set up a one-two combination, but the round is coming to a close and it's going to be too little too late. The one bright spot for Villasenor is that although Jacare clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. The 1st round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Jacare.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Very, very slow start to the round. Over a minute has gone before the first meaningful strike connects. It's Villasenor who hits it, scoring with a shot to the chest. Jacare fires back with a couple of jabs, both of which connect with the shoulder rather than the face where they were aimed. The two fighters come together in the center and exchange punches, neither getting the clear advantage. Jacare suddenly shoots in and goes for a takedown, but Villasenor manages to sprawl long enough to get them all the way back to the cage, which keeps him upright. Jacare tries to complete the takedown, but realises that the leverage isn't there and instead stands and clinches. Villasenor hits a couple of shots to the back. Jacare hits a stomp. Villasenor lifts his leg to go for a knee, but that gives Jacare the opportunity to lift him and slam him down to the ground. That was a hard slam! Jacare is on top, almost sitting on top of a balled-up Villasenor. He throws some hard downward punches, Villasenor defends most of them, although one hits hard above the eye. Jacare leaves his arm in for a second too long and Villasenor reaches up and almost gets an armbar. Jacare gets free though, although the effort puts him off-balance enough for him to stumble, giving Villasenor the opportunity to scramble back up. There's a nasty mark above the eye where the earlier punch connected though. They go back to circling each other. There's not much time left. Villasenor tries one last big attack, swinging for the fences with two bombs, but Jacare avoids both, adding a nice shot to the stomach after the second dodge. The round ends there. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Jacare by 10-9. [/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Villasenor is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Jacare picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Villasenor throws a wild punch as a counter, but Jacare ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Villasenor gets a clubbing blow to the side of the head in, but takes a hard shot to the stomach in return. The early pattern seems to be that Villasenor is looking for big punches, Jacare is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Villasenor manages to back Jacare up against the cage. Villasenor takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Jacare ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Villasenor can unload. Villasenor may need to think about changing tactics, Jacare is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Villasenor fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Jacare on the thigh. Jacare presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Villasenor gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. The 3rd round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Jacare. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Ronaldo Souza.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Jacare wins his UFC debut but Villasenor unfortunately loses his. Many believe Jacare could become a major force in the Middleweight division. [B][CENTER]Joe Lauzon (16-5) vs, Kurt Pellegrino (11-3) Sherdog's Prediction: Joe Lauzon via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Pellegrino throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Lauzon throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Pellegrino steps back, throwing a right hand as he does to buy himself space. They circle, then move in again to exchange strikes, neither fighter getting a clear advantage. They come together again and the same result. It has become something of a stalemate at the moment. They come together to exchange strikes for the third time, and this time they wind up in a clinch. Lauzon hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Pellegrino. They struggle all the way back, with Pellegrino ending up backed up against the cage. Lauzon hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Pellegrino stomps downward onto his foot. Pellegrino manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Lauzon gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Pellegrino ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Pellegrino tries a high kick to start, but Lauzon saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Lauzon who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Pellegrino on the nose. Pellegrino hits a straight right, enough to stop Lauzon from following up any further. The time expires with them standing. Not a great round for either of them or the crowd, it was very scrappy. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Lauzon.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Lauzon doesn't waste any time and throws two jabs to the face, but Pellegrino easily side-steps both and circles to the left. Pellegrino throws a head fake, then comes in fast from an angle with a looping punch, but misses and takes a glancing shot to the shoulder from a left hand counter. Lauzon makes Pellegrino back up against the cage by throwing some looping punches. He comes in closer and hits a right hook to the body, getting a jab to the cheek in return. Lauzon throws another two punches, both to the body, then steps back to avoid an uppercut. Pellegrino lets fly with a scorching punch though, and it catches Lauzon by surprise, putting him down! Pellegrino follows up and starts raining down right hands. Lauzon covers up as best he can, but it's not enough as the referee pulls Pellegrino off, the match is over. [B]Official time of the TKO is 1:34 of the second round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Pellegrino will be happy with this upset win but Lauzon has now lost three fights in a row and his job could be in danger. [B][CENTER]Shane Carwin (11-0) vs. Heath Herring (28-15) Sherdog's Prediction: Shane Carwin via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Carwin scores the first meaningful blow of the round, hitting a powerful overhand right that thumped past the gloves. Herring shakes it off though, and scores with a nice low kick to the outside of the thigh. He steps in to throw some strikes, but Carwin moves to a new angle and scores with a series of jabs. Herring turns and swings a heavy right hand, but Carwin goes underneath it and hits a wicked kick to the gut. That exchange really showed the difference between the two fighters; Carwin looks light on his feet and very agile, Herring looks slow and sluggish by comparison. Herring will need to find a way to nullify Carwin's footwork, perhaps by getting in close, as he has been picked apart for the first half of this round. Carwin darts in again, and gets in a nice flurry. Herring manages to hit a crisp jab in return, but one of Carwin's punches caught him above the eye, leaving a mark, so he came off the worse from that exchange. The round ends without any further big strikes happening, Carwin controlling the round with his superior movement. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Carwin by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Carwin is quickest out, and comes at Herring with a series of jabs and straight punches. Herring covered up well, and I don't think anything got through. Herring hits a body shot, but it didn't connect solidly. They get in close, and it's Carwin who takes it to the ground. Herring pulls guard. There's a lull, as Carwin tries to pass, and Herring defends it. Punches get thrown every so often, but it's really a stalemate at the moment. Herring almost gets a guillotine, but it's blocked and almost leads to a kimura for Carwin, but that too goes nowhere. The referee stands them up, but the time is almost over. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Carwin.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The two fighters touch gloves as the round begins. Herring starts brightly, throwing out a series of jabs and raking punches, but Carwin is too light on his feet and avoids all of them. Carwin steps in and hits a lovely overhand right, then a low kick to the outside of the thigh. Herring throws a vicious right cross, but Carwin goes under it and catches Herring with a scathing left hand to the gut. The next few minutes follow a very similar pattern; Carwin using his excellent movement to 'hit and run', coming in from a variety of angles to score with crisp punches, dodging out of the way of Herring's counters. Herring is being made to look sluggish by comparison, and the amount of punches that Carwin has landed in comparison to him is becoming huge. None of them have been particularly big punches, certainly nothing likely to end a fight, but the sheer number of them must be hurting Herring. Herring finally hits a meaningful blow, catching Carwin coming in with a low kick. Carwin still gets a crisp jab in though, and is back out of range before Herring can apply a second strike. The round comes to an end with Carwin having dominated. End of round 3. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Carwin. All three judges give a score of 30-27 in favour of Shane Carwin.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Carwin with another impressive win this time over Herring. Herring isn't doing too well as of late and really needs a win in his next fight. [B][CENTER]Keith Jardine (13-4-1) vs. James Irvin (13-7) Sherdog's Prediction: Keith Jardine via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Irvin throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Jardine throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Irvin steps back, throwing a right hand as he does to buy himself space. They circle, then move in again to exchange strikes, neither fighter getting a clear advantage. They come together again and the same result. It has become something of a stalemate at the moment. They come together to exchange strikes for the third time, and this time they wind up in a clinch. Jardine hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Irvin. They struggle all the way back, with Irvin ending up backed up against the cage. Jardine hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Irvin stomps downward onto his foot. Irvin manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Jardine gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Irvin ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Irvin tries a high kick to start, but Jardine saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Jardine who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Irvin on the nose. Irvin hits a straight right, enough to stop Jardine from following up any further. The time expires with them standing. Not a great round for either of them or the crowd, it was very scrappy. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Jardine.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Jardine clinches up with Irvin, who was looking ready to unload a right hand. Their grappling doesn't last long though, as Jardine uses a trip to take Irvin down. Irvin pulls guard. Jardine passes guard without too much trouble, and cracks Irvin with a hard punch to the cheek. Irvin tries to scramble into a better position without dropping his guard against another punch, but can't, and Jardine maneuvers so that he has one knee planted on Irvin's chest, keeping him from rolling. Jardine quickly secures the left arm and transitions into a tight arm bar. [B]Irvin has no way out, he taps. The official time is 0:48.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Jardine with the submission win over Irvin less then a minute into the second round. Jardine should move up a few ranks with this impressive win. [B][CENTER]Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Dan Hardy (19-6) Sherdog's Prediction: Dan Hardy via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Hardy starts fast, unleashing a bomb of a right hand, but Hironaka avoids it without too much trouble. Hardy isn't disheartened though, swinging two more huge punches, with Hironaka getting out the way each time, but being forced all over the place. Hardy finally backs off a little, breathing hard. That was quite a frantic start. Hironaka opts to use that, and comes in to throw some jabs. Hardy is backed up against the cage, covering up. Hironaka clinches. They struggle, and the fight enters a lull. Hardy hits a knee strike to the hip. Hironaka slips one leg behind Hardy and uses that as leverage for a big trip. Hardy landed hard, with Hironaka on top. They're in half guard. It's to Hardy's advantage that they're right next to the cage, that is blocking Hironaka from attacking the left hand side of the body. Hardy is forced into action to defend a kimura attempt. Hironaka tries to step over to mount, but Hardy keeps his legs in position and ends up almost rolled into a ball. Hironaka fires some stiff punches to the back, then one to the face. He reaches through and tries to secure an armbar, but has to be careful as he is in danger of getting picked off with a counter armbar too. Hardy doesn't appear to be trying that though, instead trying to shift his weight so that he can get back up. Hironaka isn't allowing it though, and gets a couple more punches in before settling back into half guard. Hardy ties him up in a snug clinch. The action halts, and time expires before Hironaka can get free. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Hironaka. [/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Hironaka is forced onto the backfoot almost immediately, having to retreat to avoid a series of sharp jabs. He ends up with his back to the cage, with Hardy advancing. A sharp right misses, and Hironaka takes the opportunity to pull Hardy in to a tight clinch against the cage. Hardy tries to break free, but cannot. It looks like we know the strategies for this round already; Hardy wants to stand and bang, Hironaka wants to keep things at close quarters. Hardy tries for an elbow, but only succeeds in getting turned around so that he is now the one against the cage. Trip from Hironaka, and we're down to the ground. Hironaka has side control, but Hardy has landed with his left hand side against the cage, so that side of the body is basically safe for now. Hironaka will have to try to work the right-hand side, and starts by ramming a knee into the ribs. Hardy tries to squirm into a better position, but Hironaka puts a stop to that with a stiff elbow to the stomach. Hironaka tries to work a kimura on the right arm, but Hardy defends it. Hardy manages to bring a knee up and catch Hironaka in the side, something of a cheeky move given his position. Hironaka responds with five or six rapid-fire right hands to the face, but Hardy covers up and doesn't take any serious damage at all. Time is ticking away though, and so far Hironaka may be easily winning the round, but he is not taking full advantage of this great position. Hironaka tries to float over into a mount, but Hardy uses the cage to push away and manages to unbalance Hironaka enough to get to a kneeling position, then standing, albeit back into a clinch. A knee from Hironaka is the last action of the round. The second round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Hironaka. [/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] A crisp jab from Hardy starts the round, it tagged Hironaka on the cheek. Straight right from Hironaka in response, glancing off the side of the head, albeit without much power. Hardy steps in for an attack but is smothered by Hironaka who clinches. Hardy has to react quickly to avoid being tossed to the ground, but can't stop being driven into the cage. Hironaka is virtually man-handling Hardy with his wrestling ability. Up against the cage, Hironaka has the much stronger position. Right hand connects to the side of the body. And another. There isn't a great deal of power on them, but they're forming a big red mark on the body, and Hardy can't really do a lot in response; he can't seem to wrestle Hironaka off, and he can't work into a position to unload any strikes either. Hironaka fires off another two punches, then goes for a trip. Hardy spins out, almost falls, but manages to squirm out and back off quickly to the center. That was close, and Hardy knows it. Hironaka throws a combination but gets smothered into a clinch. They back up against the cage. Hardy hits a wicked uppercut, taking Hironaka completely by surprise, then starts wailing away with lefts and rights. Hironaka can only cover up against the ferocious attack, but that doesn't stop a couple of big shots landing. More shots rain down, and Hironaka is getting obliterated, he can't throw any counter punches as he can't move his hands down without getting hit again, and he can't get past Hardy to safety either. [B]The referee finally sees enough and covers Hironaka up. The official time is 3:53.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Great comeback win here for Hardy with him losing the first two rounds to Hironaka but then getting the TKO win in the third. Despite losing the first two rounds people will be impressed by Hardy after such a great TKO stoppage. This will make Hardy alot more confident going into his Welterweight tournament fight against Thiago Alves. [B][U][CENTER]Maincard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Nate Marquardt (26-8-2) vs. Rousimar Palhales (8-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Rousimar Palhales via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Palhales scores the first meaningful blow of the round, hitting a powerful overhand right that thumped past the gloves. Marquardt shakes it off though, and scores with a nice low kick to the outside of the thigh. He steps in to throw some strikes, but Palhales moves to a new angle and scores with a series of jabs. Marquardt turns and swings a heavy right hand, but Palhales goes underneath it and hits a wicked kick to the gut. That exchange really showed the difference between the two fighters; Palhales looks light on his feet and very agile, Marquardt looks slow and sluggish by comparison. Marquardt will need to find a way to nullify Palhales's footwork, perhaps by getting in close, as he has been picked apart for the first half of this round. Palhales darts in again, and gets in a nice flurry. Marquardt manages to hit a crisp jab in return, but one of Palhales's punches caught him above the eye, leaving a mark, so he came off the worse from that exchange. The round ends without any further big strikes happening, Palhales controlling the round with his superior movement. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Palhales. [/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Marquardt tries to work an angle from the start, but is kept back by some sharp kicks, one landing painfully across the outside of the calf. Palhales steps in and throws some punches, landing a crisp jab to the shoulder. Marquardt lands a jab of his own, but gets hit with a vicious waist-high kick when stepping in to follow up. Good tactics so far from Palhales, he is basically controlling the tempo and positioning of this fight through intelligent use of sharp, accurate kicks. Marquardt comes in fast, faking left then going right, and gets close enough to throw some body blows. Palhales gets in a right hand of his own, then a beauty of a high kick. It lands right on the ear, causing Marquardt to back off quickly. If that had had more power, it might well have scored a knock out. The round is almost over. Palhales has controlled this one, Marquardt is finding it very difficult to find a way around those kicks. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Palhales. [/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] They start the round with an exchange of strikes, all from fairly long range as they circle and try to work angles. None of the blows did any damage, either missing or being straight into the opponent's gloves. Palhales is the first to land a worthwhile blow, hitting a straight right that catches Marquardt on the side of the cheek. Palhales follows up by backing him up against the cage, throws a couple of big punches, but gets pulled into a clinch without doing any serious damage. Marquardt goes for a trip and almost gets it, but Palhales is able to regain his footing at the last moment. Marquardt has Palhales against the cage, and hits three right hands to the side of the ribs. Palhales reaches down and picks up a leg, using that as leverage to topple Marquardt, who pulls guard. Palhales starts pounding away and does some damage before Marquardt grapples and pulls him down into a clinch. Marquardt has both of Palhales's arms tied up, preventing much in the way of attacking action. Palhales uses some shoulder shrugs to the face, but Marquardt isn't going to be too bothered by that. Palhales pulls one arm free. Marquardt still has tight control of the other, and brings his legs up, trying to apply an armbar. Palhales sees it coming and blocks it easily, getting in a couple of punches for good measure. Palhales steps through the legs and forces Marquardt to release the arm so that he can cover up against a series of strikes. Marquardt manages to ensare one leg though, and so Palhales has to make do with being in half guard instead of getting the full mount that he wanted. Palhales hits a couple of punches, takes one back, then attempts to get side control. Marquardt keeps him at bay. Time is ticking away, if Palhales is going to use this position to finish the match, it had better be done soon. Palhales pulls Marquardt's left arm to one side and straightens it out, perhaps looking to turn it into an armbar. Marquardt rolls over to stop the arm getting trapped. Palhales continues to work for it though. Time expires though, the round is over. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Palhales. All three judges give a score of 30-27 in favour of Rousimar Palhales.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Palhales is now 2-0 in the UFC with this impressive decision win over Marquardt. Palhales should move up a few ranks after this win. [B][CENTER]Shinya Aoki (17-2) vs. Sean Sherk (33-3-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Sean Sherk via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The two fighters circle. Sherk flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Aoki easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Sherk could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Aoki moves in, ducks under a big right hand, and gets two crisp jabs in before getting smothered into a clinch. One of those jabs landed hard, Sherk is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Sherk forces Aoki back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Aoki in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Sherk does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Aoki saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Sherk turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Sherk is up quickly, causing Aoki, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Sherk was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Sherk throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Aoki to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. The 1st round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Aoki. [/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Fast start by Aoki, who has thrown three crisp jabs in the first twenty seconds, although none of them got past the gloves. Sherk circles, drawing a lunge from Aoki, allowing him to score with a nice low kick to the front leg. Aoki ignores that and darts in for a takedown, but only ends up holding one leg, Sherk hopping on the other to remain vertical. Aoki tries to push forward to complete the takedown, but Sherk manages to pull them all the way back to the cage before ultimately going down. That's a much better position to be in though, he has his corner right there, and can use the cage to effectively cut off any form of attack to the left hand side of his body. Aoki has one leg trapped between Sherk's, and is struggling to get it free. He throws a couple of punches, none of them doing much damage, and then tries to work on one of the arms. It might be a kimura that he looking for. Sherk defends it well, without fully escaping it, Aoki can't really do a lot with it due to how much he is having to stretch to apply it, due to his leg being trapped. Sherk suddenly releases the leg and scrambles up, looking to take Aoki's back. Aoki was ready for it though, and blocks it by pinning a half-standing Sherk up against the cage. It's a precarious position for both fighters. Sherk throws a couple of short-range punches. Aoki gets a leg in and trips Sherk, putting him back on the ground, albeit this time in full guard. It was a nice escape attempt from Sherk, at least he can take heart from the fact that it resulted in a better defensive position. Time is running out, it looks like this round will end with them in this position. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Aoki. [/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Sherk is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Aoki picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Sherk throws a wild punch as a counter, but Aoki ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Sherk gets a clubbing blow to the side of the head in, but takes a hard shot to the stomach in return. The early pattern seems to be that Sherk is looking for big punches, Aoki is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Sherk manages to back Aoki up against the cage. Sherk takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Aoki ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Sherk can unload. Sherk may need to think about changing tactics, Aoki is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Sherk fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Aoki on the thigh. Aoki presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Sherk gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. The third round is over. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Aoki. The official scores are in; two judges give 30-27, the other 29-28, all for Shinya Aoki.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Aoki with his most impressive win since joining the UFC as he beats Sean Sherk via decision. Sherk now has two losses in a row against Penn and Aoki so he will be looking to get an easy win in his next fight. [B][CENTER]Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua (17-4) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-8-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Wanderlei Silva via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Rua throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but Silva defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. Rua scores with a low kick to the outside of the knee, then backs off. Those will take their toll. Silva responds with a right hand that hits gloves, a left hook to the body that stings Rua, then throws a spectacular head kick that connects! Rua was backing off after those two punches and didn't see it coming, he goes sailing backward, his body entirely limp. Silva has knocked Rua out cold with one brutally powerful kick. [B]Silva wins via knock out at 1:56 of the first round. [/B] [B]Rating[/B]: **** [B]Notes[/B]: What a win for Silva and that will surely get KO of the night. Silva will be hoping for a title shot soon after this but he needs to get into the top three in the rankings which is possible after such an impressive win over Shogun. [B][CENTER]Andrei Arlovski (14-5) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (16-3) Sherdog's Prediction: Andrei Arlovski via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Arlovski isn't hanging around, right from the start Kharitonov is forced onto the back foot by four hard shots, although none of them get through the gloves. Kharitonov circles, steps in, then unloads a combination of punches, but Arlovski weaves out of the way and scores with a beauty of a right hand, glancing above the right eye. That was some lovely counter punching from Arlovski, the timing had to be perfect and it was. Kharitonov is looking a bit frustrated, and uncorks a ragged-looking uppercut that missed by several inches. Arlovski really should have taken advantage of that mistake, Kharitonov was wide open for a moment there. Arlovski hits a high kick, catching Kharitonov on the shoulder. Jab from Kharitonov finds the mark, but it didn't have much power behind it as he was leaning backward too much. Arlovski fires off a couple of straight punches in response, but only finds gloves. They clinch, and the fight enters a lull. Kharitonov scores with a knee from the clinch, it landed around the hip area of Arlovski, who responds with a couple of shots to the ribs. The time runs out with them still clinched though. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Arlovski. [/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Arlovski misses with a straight right. Kharitonov hits a standing kick, and Arlovski is rocked, stumbling backwards and falling to the floor. Kharitonov leaps into action and fires off a barrage of right hands. The referee dives in and protects Arlovski, bringing the fight to an end. The kick didn't knock Arlovski out, but it left him stunned, and that was all that Kharitonov needed to finish the job. [B]Kharitonov wins via 2nd round TKO with the official time being 1:31.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Massive win for Sergei here and this could mean a future title shot. [B][CENTER]UFC Lightweight Championship: BJ Penn (13-4-1) vs. Roger Huerta (23-1-1) Sherdog's Prediction: BJ Penn via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Penn is quickest out, and comes at Huerta with a series of jabs and straight punches. Huerta covered up well, and I don't think anything got through. Huerta hits a body shot, but it didn't connect solidly. They get in close, and it's Penn who takes it to the ground. Huerta pulls guard. There's a lull, as Penn tries to pass, and Huerta defends it. Punches get thrown every so often, but it's really a stalemate at the moment. Huerta almost gets a guillotine, but it's blocked and almost leads to a kimura for Penn, but that too goes nowhere. The referee stands them up, but the time is almost over. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Penn.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Fast start by Penn, who has thrown three crisp jabs in the first twenty seconds, although none of them got past the gloves. Huerta circles, drawing a lunge from Penn, allowing him to score with a nice low kick to the front leg. Penn ignores that and darts in for a takedown, but only ends up holding one leg, Huerta hopping on the other to remain vertical. Penn tries to push forward to complete the takedown, but Huerta manages to pull them all the way back to the cage before ultimately going down. That's a much better position to be in though, he has his corner right there, and can use the cage to effectively cut off any form of attack to the left hand side of his body. Penn has one leg trapped between Huerta's, and is struggling to get it free. He throws a couple of punches, none of them doing much damage, and then tries to work on one of the arms. It might be a kimura that he looking for. Huerta defends it well, without fully escaping it, Penn can't really do a lot with it due to how much he is having to stretch to apply it, due to his leg being trapped. Huerta suddenly releases the leg and scrambles up, looking to take Penn's back. Penn was ready for it though, and blocks it by pinning a half-standing Huerta up against the cage. It's a precarious position for both fighters. Huerta throws a couple of short-range punches. Penn gets a leg in and trips Huerta, putting him back on the ground, albeit this time in full guard. It was a nice escape attempt from Huerta, at least he can take heart from the fact that it resulted in a better defensive position. Time is running out, it looks like this round will end with them in this position. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Penn[/B]. [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The two fighters circle. Penn flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Huerta easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Penn could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Huerta moves in, ducks under a big right hand, and gets two crisp jabs in before getting smothered into a clinch. One of those jabs landed hard, Penn is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Penn forces Huerta back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Huerta in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Penn does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Huerta saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Penn turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Penn is up quickly, causing Huerta, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Penn was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Penn throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Huerta to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Huerta.[/B] [B][U]Round 4[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Penn is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Huerta picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Penn throws a wild punch as a counter, but Huerta ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Penn gets a clubbing blow to the side of the head in, but takes a hard shot to the stomach in return. The early pattern seems to be that Penn is looking for big punches, Huerta is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Penn manages to back Huerta up against the cage. Penn takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Huerta ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Penn can unload. Penn may need to think about changing tactics, Huerta is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Penn fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Huerta on the thigh. Huerta presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Penn gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. The fourth round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Huerta.[/B] [B][U]Round 5[/U][/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Penn throws out a jab, but Huerta bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Huerta works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Penn covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Huerta is making Penn look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Penn hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. They both seem to be looking for an opening, and it's creating a stalemate at the moment. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Huerta got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Penn slightly. Penn initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Penn looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Huerta is clearly winning them. Penn needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Huerta tries a speculative high kick, but Penn saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Penn tries to work an angle, but Huerta is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Huerta, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Huerta. Roger Huerta wins, with a score of 48-47 from two judges, 49-46 from the other. Roger Huerta is the new UFC Lightweight champion.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Wow! What a comeback from Huerta. He must have real heart to come back against an opponent like BJ Penn after losing the first two rounds but then winning the next three to win the title. Huerta will be very happy with this win and winning the title. Seeing a new champion crowned is a fitting end to a great show which had submissions big Knock Outs and then right at the end a history making comeback that has firmly placed Roger Huerta as the best fighter in the Lightweight division. [B][U]Post Show News Fighter Bonuses[/U][/B] Submission of the Night: Keith Jardine Knock Out of the Night: Wanderlei Silva Fight of the Night: BJ Penn vs. Roger Huerta [B][U]Resignings[/U][/B] Heath Herring, Dong Hyun Kim and Roger Huerta will all be resigned to new UFC contracts, but unfortunately Chris Wilson won't be resigned and will leave after his next fight or after his contract expires. [B][U]Weight Changes[/U][/B] In another massive weight change BJ Penn fresh off losing his Lightweight championship to Roger Huerta has announced his next fight will be at Welterweight and he hopes to fight there for a long time. He didn't rule out a move back to Lightweight or even a move to Middleweight when asked but he said it won't be for a long time before he moves again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]New Rankings After UFC 95[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]UFC have released the new rankings following their UFC 95 event.[/CENTER] [B][U]Lightweight[/U][/B] 1. Roger Huerta 2. Shinya Aoki 3. Vitor Ribeiro +1 4. Eddie Alvarez +1 5. Kenny Florian +2 6. Thiago Tavares +2 7. Jeremy Stephens +2 8. Sean Sherk -2 9. Rich Clementi +1 10. Jim Miller - New Entry [B][U]Welterweight[/U][/B] 1. Dan Hardy +3 2. Jon Fitch -1 3. Yoshiyuki Yoshida -1 4. Matt Hughes -1 5. BJ Penn - New Entry (Weight Change) 6. Dong Hyun Kim +1 7. Matt Serra -2 8. Thiago Alves -2 9. Akihiro Gono -1 9 Josh Koscheck -1 [B][U]Middleweight[/U][/B] 1. Georges St. Pierre 2. Anderson Silva 3. Rich Franklin 4. Forrest Griffin 5. Gregard Mousasi 6. Rousimar Palhales +4 7. Michael Bisping -1 8. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza - New Entry 9. Demian Maia -2 10. Dan Henderson -2 [B][U]Light Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Wanderlei Silva +3 3. Wilson Gouveia -1 4. Lyoto Machida -1 5. Thiago Silva -1 6. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira +2 7. Chuck Liddell 8. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua -2 9. Keith Jardine 10. David Heath [B][U]Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2. Sergei Kharitonov +3 3. Tim Sylvia -1 4. Cheick Kongo -1 5. Andrei Arlovski -1 6. Fedor Emelianenko 7. Shane Carwin +1 8. Chris Tuchscherer -1 9. Pedro Rizzo 10. Fabricio Werdum - New Entry [B][U]P4P[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Roger Huerta 3. Georges St. Pierre 4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 5. Anderson Silva 6. Rich Franklin 7. Shinya Aoki +1 8. Wanderlei Silva - New Entry 9. Sergei Kharitonov - New Entry 10. Tim Sylvia -3 [B]Biggest Jump this month[/B]: Rousimar Palhales: Rousimar jumped up a massive 4 spots on the Middleweight rankings this month and he now stands at #6. He earned that right after he beat Nate Marquardt via decision. He is expected to fight someone like Jacare or Michael Bisping next. [B]Biggest Drop this month[/B]: Sean Sherk: Sherk dropped a full two ranks this month and now only lies at #8 in the Lightweight rankings after his tough decision loss to the current #2 Lightweight Shinya Aoki. He is expected to fight Jeremy Stephens or Rich Clementi next. [B]Most Impressive New Entry[/B]: Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza/Wanderlei Silva (P4P): Jacare debuted on the Middleweight rankings this month at a pretty high #8 considering he has only one fight in the UFC. That fight was against Joey Villasenor and Jacare won it via decision. He is expected to fight someone like Rousimar Palhales or Michael Bisping next. Wanderlei debuted on the P4P rankings this month at #8. He also moved up to #2 in the Light Heavyweight rankings. This all came about when he beat Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua via a brutal first round KO. He is expected to either get a title shot against Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson who he has already beat twice or he could fight someone else like Lyoto Machida or Wilson Gouveia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces UFC 96: Silva vs. Franklin III[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]Today UFC announced UFC 96: Silva vs. Franklin III. Here is the card. [B][U]Maincard[/U][/B] UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (23-4) vs. Rich Franklin (25-3) Thiago Silva (16-0) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) Forrest Griffin (17-5) vs. Alan Belcher (13-6) Ben Rothwell (29-7) vs. Brock Lesnar (5-1) Kenny Florian (10-3) vs. Din Thomas (21-8) [B][U]Undercard[/U][/B] Diego Sanchez (19-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (29-13-7) Jorge Gurgel (12-3) vs. Billy Evangelista (6-0) Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-4) vs. David Heath (7-3) Cung Le (7-0) vs. Ricardo Arona (13-6) Anthony Johnson (5-1) vs. Steve Bruno (11-3) Jake O'Brian (10-3) vs. Nicolas Rodriguez (0-0)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RennikKain076 Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 UFC Middleweight Championship: [B]Anderson Silva[/B] (23-4) vs. Rich Franklin (25-3) [B]Thiago Silva [/B](16-0) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) [B]Forrest Griffin[/B] (17-5) vs. Alan Belcher (13-6) [B]Ben Rothwell[/B] (29-7) vs. Brock Lesnar (5-1) [B]Kenny Florian [/B](10-3) vs. Din Thomas (21-8) Undercard [B]Diego Sanchez[/B] (19-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (29-13-7) Jorge Gurgel (12-3) vs. [B]Billy Evangelista [/B](6-0) [B]Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou [/B](5-4) vs. David Heath (7-3) Cung Le (7-0) vs. [B]Ricardo Arona[/B] (13-6) [B]Anthony Johnson[/B] (5-1) vs. Steve Bruno (11-3) [B]Jake O'Brian [/B](10-3) vs. Nicolas Rodriguez (0-0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFC-KING Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 [B]Anderson Silva[/B] (23-4) vs. Rich Franklin (25-3) [B]Thiago Silva[/B] (16-0) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) [B]Forrest Griffin[/B] (17-5) vs. Alan Belcher (13-6) [B]Ben Rothwell[/B] (29-7) vs. Brock Lesnar (5-1) [B]Kenny Florian [/B](10-3) vs. Din Thomas (21-8) [B]Diego Sanchez[/B] (19-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (29-13-7) Jorge Gurgel (12-3) vs. [B]Billy Evangelista [/B](6-0) [B]Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou[/B] (5-4) vs. David Heath (7-3) [B]Cung Le[/B] (7-0) vs. Ricardo Arona (13-6) [B]Anthony Johnson[/B] (5-1) vs. Steve Bruno (11-3) [B]Jake O'Brian[/B] (10-3) vs. Nicolas Rodriguez (0-0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 96 Preview[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER][B][U]Jake O'Brian (10-3) vs. Nicolas Rodriguez (0-0)[/U][/B] Rodriguez will not only make his UFC debut but also his pro MMA debut. Rodriguez is only 19 years old but was a hot free agent and the UFC were lucky to get him. He is supposed to have fantastic ground and pound skills but also great stand-up and ground skills. Rodriguez had to do alot more than just have good skills to get into the UFC though. He has cut over one hundred pounds to get to 265. Not to mention he is a massive 7 foot 2 inches tall. O'Brian won't be to scared though as he will look to exploit Rodriguez's lack of experiance. O'Brian has lost his last two fights to Chris Tuchscherer and Pedro Rizzo both by decision. [B][U]Anthony Johnson (5-1) vs. Steve Bruno (11-3)[/U][/B] Johnson is only 25 and is supposed to be a future star in the Welterweight division so a win here over Bruno would be a step in the right direction. He is coming off of a decision win over fellow up and comer Paul Kelly back at UFC 90. [B][U]Cung Le (7-0) vs. Ricardo Arona (13-6)[/U][/B] Cung Le will face his toughest task yet as he goes up against former PRIDE star Ricardo Arona. Cung is 2-0 in the UFC with decision wins over both Marvin Eastman and Rory Singer while Arona has gone the opposite way in the UFC losing his first and only fight so far to Glover Teixeira via a first round TKO. Cung believes a win over someone like Arona could put him into the top ten Middleweights. This will also be Arona's Middleweight debut. [B][U]Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-4) vs. David Heath (7-3)[/U][/B] The top ten ranked Light Heavyweight David Heath goes against someone who lost three fights in a row but won his last fight against Houston Alexander and is looking to get back on track with another win. Sokoudjou hopes a win over the #10 ranked Light Heavyweight might put him into the top ten instead. [B][U]Jorge Gurgel (12-3) vs. Billy Evangelista (6-0)[/U][/B] Evangelista with only his second fight in the UFC goes up against veteran Jorge Gurgel. Evangelista won his UFC debut against Dan Luazon via decision back at UFC 90. Evangelista is only 25 years old while Gurgel is 32 years old so Gurgel will look to put those extra years of experiance to use as he goes up against Evangelista. [B][U]Diego Sanchez (19-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (29-13-7)[/U][/B] Snachez and Gono will be dissapointed with not being in the Welterweight Grand Prix but they will just see it as a challenge to get better. They say while the tournament is going on they could string a few wins together and by the time the tournament is over they could be in line for the first title shot against the tournament winner. Sanchez will be hoping for a big win here as he has lost he last two fights against Matt Serra and Josh Koscheck both by decision. Gono is also coming off of a decision loss to Jon Fitch back at UFN 14. Gono is a ranked Welterweight being ranked at #9 so both fighters will be fighting for a spot in the rankings. [B][U]Kenny Florian (10-3) vs. Din Thomas (21-8)[/U][/B] Kenny Florian is coming off of three straight wins including a very impressive second round submission win over Mac Danzig which won him submission of the night back at UFC 93. Din however is coming off of a decision loss to Vitor Ribeiro back at UFN 14. Florian is ranked at #5 in the Lightweight rankings and is hoping another win or two could give him a Lightweight title shot against newly crowned champion Roger Huerta. [B][U]Ben Rothwell (29-7) vs. Brock Lesnar (5-1)[/U][/B] Lesnar goes up against Ben Rothwell as he looks to lengthen his winning streak to five. One must respect Lesnar for working his way up the card since Avatar took charge of match booking. He was bumped down from co-main eventing with Frank Mir to fightin gon the undercard against Christian Wellisch and Eddie Sanchez. He worked his way up the right way untill he got his big chance to get revenge on Frank Mir at UFN 14. He won that fight via third round TKO and then went on to beat Antoni Hardonk via third round TKO at UFC 94. He now faces Rothwell who he thinks if he beats he will move into the top ten in the Heavyweight rankings. Rothwell will be hoping to stop all that though as he desperately needs a win after losing his last two fights to Pedro Rizzo and Brandon Vera. [B][U]Forrest Griffin (17-5) vs. Alan Belcher (13-6)[/U][/B] Becher is coming off of two straight TKO losses to Michael Bisping and Patrick Cote but he still refuses to get easy competition as he goes up against the #4 ranked Middleweight in Forrest Griffin. Griffin has won both his Middleweight fights since moving down from Light Heavyweight beating Kendall Grove and Nate Marquardt both via decision. Another win for Griffin would almost certainly mean he will get the next title shot against the winner of the nights main event as it is said that the UFC want to test St. Pierre at Middleweight against someone like Karo Parisyan or Dan Henderson instead of just throwing him into the lion's den against Anderson Silva (or Rich Franklin by the end of tonight). That situation will give Griffin an extra reason to go all out against Belcher. [B][U]Thiago Silva (16-0) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3)[/U][/B] This is a big fight for the Light Heavyweight division as the #5 and #6 ranked fighters go all out. Both fighters if they win could be right in title contention but would likely have to win another fight aswell. Nogueira won his UFC debut back at UFC 93 when he beat Matt Hamill via Split decision. Thiago is still undefeated and is 16-0 and since Avatar was hired by the UFC he has gone 4-0 with wins over James Lee, James Lambert, Antonio Mendes and Tomasz Drwal. [B][U]UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (23-4) vs. Rich Franklin (25-3)[/U][/B] This match-up may suprise many people but Rich Franklin has been begging for this fight ever since his first round TKO win over Dan Henderson. Silva took the fight straight away with no questions. Silva is obviously very confident after already beating Franklin twice both times the fight not getting out of the second round. Franklin however was adamant that he recieve a third chance after being ranked as the #1 Middleweight for many months until Silva regained it. He has won two straight fights since Avatar was hired beating both Chris Leben and Dan Henderson and both via TKO. Silva has also won two fights since Avatar was hired beating Karo Parisyan via a second round KO and then beating Patrick Cote via decision at UFC 93. A win for Silva may put him back on top of the Middleweight rankings after being kocked down to #2 since Georges St. Pierre moved up from Welterweight.[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 96: Silva vs. Franklin III[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][U][CENTER]Undercard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Jake O'Brian (10-3) vs. Nicolas Rodriguez (0-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Jake O'Brian via Split Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. O'Brien puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Rodríguez defended well. Straight right from Rodríguez in response, but it caught nothing but gloves. They start circling. The referee tells them to fight, the lack of action so far is worrying. They get in close and exchange body shots, O'Brien probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Rodríguez gets a nice kick in just before the time expires, but it's unlikely that is going to stop the judges giving that round to O'Brien. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for O'Brien.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] O'Brien throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but Rodríguez defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. O'Brien seems to be growing in confidence over the past thirty seconds. He has just come up with four good separate straight rights, although I don't think any of them did too much damage. He moves in for another, but takes a wicked kick from Rodríguez. O'Brien looks wobbly, and his hands drop. Rodríguez sees it, and comes in with a solid right hand that drops O'Brien to the mat. Rodríguez follows up with more punches, and the referee has to get in there and stop it, O'Brien was not defending himself properly. I think it's the kick that did the most damage, it seemed to scramble his brains. [B]Official time of the TKO is 1:56 of the second.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Rodriguez with a win in his first ever pro fight. O'Brian isn't exactly the average fighter you fight in your first fight but Rodriguez still won and by a stoppage aswell. [B][CENTER]Anthony Johnson (5-1) vs. Steve Bruno (11-3) Sherdog's Prediction: Anthony Johnson via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Bruno isn't hanging around, right from the start Johnson is forced onto the back foot by four hard shots, although none of them get through the gloves. Johnson circles, steps in, then unloads a combination of punches, but Bruno weaves out of the way and scores with a beauty of a right hand, glancing above the right eye. That was some lovely counter punching from Bruno, the timing had to be perfect and it was. Johnson is looking a bit frustrated, and uncorks a ragged-looking uppercut that missed by several inches. Bruno really should have taken advantage of that mistake, Johnson was wide open for a moment there. Bruno hits a high kick, catching Johnson on the shoulder. Jab from Johnson finds the mark, but it didn't have much power behind it as he was leaning backward too much. Bruno fires off a couple of straight punches in response, but only finds gloves. They clinch, and the fight enters a lull. Johnson scores with a knee from the clinch, it landed around the hip area of Bruno, who responds with a couple of shots to the ribs. The time runs out with them still clinched though. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Bruno.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Johnson starts fast, coming out almost immediately with a three punch combination. None of them get through, and Bruno manages to squeeze a jab of his own through and score just above the left cheek. They exchange a flurry of blows right in the center, it's difficult to see who got the best of it, and both of them retreat a few steps to recover. Good start to the round, early indications are that this is going to be all about the striking, neither fighter has even hinted at going for a takedown. Bruno uses a low kick to set up a nice right hand, and Johnson is forced back against the cage. Bruno picks his shots and gets a big punch to the body in. Johnson uses a couple of looping punches to make Bruno keep back, but it doesn't last for long, as Bruno bursts forward and hits two big right hands, taking a counter punch to the body though, and they wind up in a clinch. They exchange weak-looking blows from that position, before the referee grows tired of the inactivity and breaks them apart. Johnson scores with a low kick. Bruno looks to be working an angle. Bruno unwinds a right hook that narrowly misses. That will be the last action of the round though. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Bruno.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Bruno hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Johnson to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Bruno hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Johnson tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Bruno having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Johnson. Johnson gets a nice single leg, and transitions into a side mount. Bruno blocks an arm bar attempt, but is having trouble keeping the full mount from happening. Johnson scores with a nice elbow, and there is the full mount. Bruno is wide open, and takes two hard punches to the face. Johnson takes the arm. Bruno is fighting it, but it looks like it's only a matter of time. The kimura is applied, and Bruno has no choice but to tap. [B]The official time of the kimura submission is 3:58 of round 3.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Very impressive submission here for Johnson which now takes his record to an impressive 6-1. Bruno will be dissapointed with losing in such a fashion after beating Johnson for two straight rounds. [B][CENTER]Cung Le (7-0) vs. Ricardo Arona (13-6) Sherdog's Prediction: Cung Le via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The two fighters meet in the center with an exchange of jabs, but neither gets anything but gloves or air. They go right into a clinch, with only a few seconds of the match gone. Le gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. Arona throws a ragged jab, missing by a mile as Le simply ducks under and unloads a vicious hook from below. It catches Arona square on the jaw, and he goes down! Le mounts and starts firing off punches, rapid-fire. The referee waits to see if Arona can recover, decides that he can't, and pulls Le off. The match is over. [B]Official time of the TKO is 1:35 of the first round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Very impressive first round TKO win for Le. He will be hoping to break into the top ten Middleweights with such an impressive win. [B][CENTER]Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-4) vs. David Heath (7-3) Sherdog's Prediction: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Heath comes out fast, and looks like he is aiming for a quick takedown, but Sokoudjou stops that plan with some looping punches. Solid right hand from Sokoudjou connects, and that's the best moment of the opening minute of the round. Heath is mainly defending against punches, it looks like he is trying to work an angle to try for a takedown. Sokoudjou seems to have noticed, as he is purposely positioning against that. Straight left from Sokoudjou, then a low kick, then a wicked body shot. Heath felt that, and backs off. Heath tries to get in for a clinch, perhaps looking for a takedown from that position, but Sokoudjou gets him to back off with some jabs. Sokoudjou has really been able to stamp his gameplan on this round, Heath has been blocked at every turn. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Sokoudjou.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] There is some tentative circling to begin with, before they meet in the center for the first action of the round. It's a tight affair, both fighters heavily using the jab, but Sokoudjou looks to get the better of it, landing with one crisp strike to the face in particular. Heath backs off, a little shaken. Replays show that it landed right on the nose. Sokoudjou press the action, forcing Heath back against the cage and upping the tempo with rapid-fire lefts and rights, bobbing and weaving at the same time to keep from getting caught with a counter punch. Heath clinches up. Sokoudjou is displaying a much more accomplished and confident striking game than Heath, the technique and speed with which the punches are being delivered is leaving Heath looking ragged in comparison. The pattern continues once they've been separated, with Sokoudjou looking the sharper of the two. He isn't overwhelming Heath by any means, but he is comfortably controlling the pace and tempo of the round, and preventing Heath from stamping any sort of mark on it. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Sokoudjou.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Heath comes out quick and immediately starts pressing Sokoudjou back toward the cage. Heath tries to use the position to his advantage, pinning Sokoudjou in to prevent him from moving freely, but the exchange of punches that follows is clearly won by Sokoudjou, who catches Heath with a wicked right cross during the flurry of blows. Heath tries again, but Sokoudjou is looking sharp and parries away any dangerous shot, getting in a few crisp jabs of his own along the way. Heath finally backs off, realising that this isn't working. Sokoudjou is showing superior ability with his hands, they're fast and accurate, Heath isn't able to cope with them at close quarters, being made to look slow and ragged in comparison. Heath switches to using raking right hands and looping punches, keeping Sokoudjou back, but its effectiveness is limited as Heath's punches are easily parried away, and Sokoudjou can still hit the occasional right hand. The round ends with that being the pattern. Sokoudjou has used his better punching technique and hand speed to confound Heath, and has controlled this round almost entirely. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Sokoudjou by 10-9. The official scores are: 30-27 from all three judges for Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.[/B] [B]Rating:[/B] *** [B]Notes[/B]: Sokoudjou with a second consecutive win here and he will be hoping this is a sign of things to come. I bet he can't wait for his next fight. [B][CENTER]Jorge Gurgel (12-3) vs. Billy Evangelista (6-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Billy Evangelista via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Gurgel hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Evangelista to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Gurgel hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Evangelista tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Gurgel having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Evangelista. Gurgel swings and misses with a right hand. Evangelista counters with a shot to the chest, connecting solidly. Gurgel backs off, but only finds himself backed up against the cage. Evangelista follows up quickly, snapping off two crisp jabs. They get close, Gurgel goes to clinch but Evangelista hits a wicked uppercut that catches Gurgel flush on the chin. Right on the button! Gurgel drops to the floor, and Evangelista is quick to follow up, smelling potential victory. Evangelista gets side control, and Gurgel has to cover up immediately to deflect two scathing right hands. Evangelista is looking to get a crucifix, which Gurgel is fighting while simultaneously trying to roll his hips to either pull guard to get back up. Neither happens, as Evangelista lets him roll, but cleverly stays with him, taking his back as a result. Gurgel turtles up, but not before taking a brutal punch just below the left ear. The crowd certainly reacted to that shot. Evangelista, clearly sensing it's time to kill this match off, starts throwing bombs from either side, smashing into the side of Gurgel's face. Gurgel tries to cover up, but it's futile; the referee pulls Evangelista off to save Gurgel from any further punishment. [B]Evangelista wins via TKO at 3:48 of the first round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Evangelista with a quick TKO victory over Gurgel that should put him on everyone's mind as to the long term future of the Lightweight division with him still only being 25 years old. [B][CENTER]Diego Sanchez (19-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (29-13-7) Sherdog's Prediction: Diego Sanchez via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Sanchez starts the round like a house on fire, hitting three quick jabs and a vicious right hook. Gono covered up well, but at least one of the jabs got through and landed above the left eye. Gono backs up to buy some time, but Sanchez keeps coming and lands a right hand to the body. Gono scores with a jab in return, then goes with a kick to the waist. Sanchez catches the leg though and quickly rushes forward with a takedown. Gono pulls guard. The fight falls into a lull as a pattern develops; Sanchez punctuating attempts to pass guard with some sharp punches to the body and face, while Gono parries away any big blows and puts all of his effort into making sure Sanchez doesn't get a better position. Things heat up as Sanchez manages to break the guard and get through into a half mount. Gono hits a nice clean right hand in response. Sanchez throws a couple of hard punches to the stomach. He has one leg trapped, and is trying to pull that free so that he can move further up the body and really start pounding away. Gono knows that having the leg trapped is his key to not ending up in huge trouble, and so has it locked up tight. Sanchez tries a half-hearted attempt at a kimura, but Gono defends it well. The round ends with Sanchez still unable to transition into side control, although he has landed enough shots to have lit up Gono's upper body with red marks, and definitely won the round on points. The 1st round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Sanchez.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Tentative start to the round by both fighters, neither looks willing to commit themselves and make the first mistake. Gono stalks Sanchez, working him back toward the cage. There's an exchange of strikes...and Gono is down! Sanchez goes to finish it, but gets sucked into the guard position. Replays show that Sanchez stunned Gono with a nice straight right to the cheek during the earlier flurry, and that's what dropped him. Sanchez fires off a couple of tentative punches, testing out the guard of Gono. Sanchez tries to pass the guard, but can't, Gono isn't going to let him get a better position, as he knows that Sanchez will start raining down punches. Sanchez tries a big right hand, but it's easily defended. Gono gets a punch of his own in, but it didn't connect properly. Sanchez again tries to get past the guard, but again is foiled. It's turned into a bit of a stalemate, although the referee probably won't stand them up as long as the punches continue to flow. Sanchez fakes an elbow before trying to pass the guard for a third time, and briefly has side mount, but Gono fought it hard and gets back to guard within seconds. Butterfly guard by Gono, and Sanchez is having trouble generating any attacking threat. He'll probably win the round as he has been more aggressive, but Gono has defended the danger well. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Sanchez. [/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Fast start by Sanchez, who has thrown three crisp jabs in the first twenty seconds, although none of them got past the gloves. Gono circles, drawing a lunge from Sanchez, allowing him to score with a nice low kick to the front leg. Sanchez ignores that and darts in for a takedown, but only ends up holding one leg, Gono hopping on the other to remain vertical. Sanchez tries to push forward to complete the takedown, but Gono manages to pull them all the way back to the cage before ultimately going down. That's a much better position to be in though, he has his corner right there, and can use the cage to effectively cut off any form of attack to the left hand side of his body. Sanchez has one leg trapped between Gono's, and is struggling to get it free. He throws a couple of punches, none of them doing much damage, and then tries to work on one of the arms. It might be a kimura that he looking for. Gono defends it well, without fully escaping it, Sanchez can't really do a lot with it due to how much he is having to stretch to apply it, due to his leg being trapped. Gono suddenly releases the leg and scrambles up, looking to take Sanchez's back. Sanchez was ready for it though, and blocks it by pinning a half-standing Gono up against the cage. It's a precarious position for both fighters. Gono throws a couple of short-range punches. Sanchez gets a leg in and trips Gono, putting him back on the ground, albeit this time in full guard. It was a nice escape attempt from Gono, at least he can take heart from the fact that it resulted in a better defensive position. Time is running out, it looks like this round will end with them in this position. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Sanchez. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Diego Sanchez.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Sanchez with a good decision win over Gono that should put him back into the top ten Welterweights. [B][U][CENTER]Maincard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Kenny Florian (10-3) vs. Din Thomas (21-8) Sherdog's Prediction: Kenny Florian via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Exchange of punches to start, nothing really hit though. They go into a clinch, and the pace disappears as both fighters try and get the advantage. Eventually the referee separates them. Jab from Florian, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. Florian puts on a burst of energy and fires off a big sequence of punches, maybe twelve or thirteen in a row, although not many actually connected. Thomas covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. Florian with a body shot. Low kick from Thomas, almost to the groin, although it didn't look intentional. They come together in a clinch again, and it returns to a stalemate. Not a great round by anyone's standard, but that flurry should mean that Florian will take the round on points. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Florian by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] The two fighters circle. Thomas flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Florian easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Thomas could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Florian moves in, ducks under a big right hand, and gets two crisp jabs in before getting smothered into a clinch. One of those jabs landed hard, Thomas is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Thomas forces Florian back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Florian in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Thomas does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Florian saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Thomas turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Thomas is up quickly, causing Florian, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Thomas was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Thomas throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Florian to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Florian by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Thomas lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Florian sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Thomas on the left cheek, but the follow up right hook only finds gloves. They get close to each other and end up in a clinch, from which Florian manages to get the better position, pushing Thomas up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Florian. Thomas hits a couple of knees to the side. There's a struggle for supremacy going on, it's difficult to see who is winning it. Florian tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Thomas was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Florian down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Florian covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Thomas hits a big elbow to the ribs, Florian definitely felt that. Thomas drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Florian brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Thomas will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Florian defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Thomas unable to generate any attacks, and Florian unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Thomas will likely be very angry that he didn't make more of that takedown. They exchange half-hearted jabs as the round draws to an end. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Thomas. All three judges give a score of 29-28 to Kenny Florian.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Florian with yet another win. This one wasn't as impressive but it was a win none the less and he will be hoping it puts him into the top three Lightweights. [B][CENTER]Ben Rothwell (29-7) vs. Brock Lesnar (5-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Brock Lesnar via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Tentative start to the round, the fighters are circling. Rothwell throws out a couple of range-finding jabs, but they aren't anything that will trouble Lesnar. Kick to the thigh from Lesnar, but it lacked power. For a second it looked like Rothwell was about to go for a takedown, but nothing came from it. The two fighters come together in the center. Lesnar leads with a left, but Rothwell easily avoids it and comes in close to throw some body shots. It all gets a bit scrappy, but it ends with Rothwell falling to the ground. Replays show that Lesnar did catch him with a jab, but it clearly did very little damage, Rothwell had already stumbled while taking a step backward. Regardless of how it happened though, Rothwell is down, and Lesnar is quick to rush in to capitalise. Rothwell covers up, but Lesnar is raining down punches from the half mount position. At least two hard shots get through. Lesnar moves up into side control, briefly looks like he is considering trying to take an arm, then goes back to teeing off on Rothwell's head with fists. Rothwell tries to wriggle free, but isn't really getting anywhere because Lesnar is lying right across his upper body. Lesnar uses his legs to ensnare Rothwell's right arm, and then starts firing off more and more punches. With only his left hand to try and block them, Rothwell is taking more punches than he is blocking. The referee is looking very closely at this, unless Rothwell does something dramatic pretty soon, I doubt this will go much longer. Lesnar stops to take a deep breath, then starts firing off another barrage. Rothwell takes at least three hard shots to the face during the attack, and that's enough for the referee, he calls an end to the match. [B]Lesnar wins via first round TKO at 1:26.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Lesnar brings his streak upto five wins in a row now and this has to be the most dominant win so far though. It was a very impressive TKO stoppage and it didn't even take him 2 minutes. He will be hoping to break into the top ten Heavweights with this win. [B][CENTER]Forrest Griffin (17-5) vs. Alan Belcher (13-6) Sherdog's Prediction: Forrest Griffin via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Belcher is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Griffin picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Belcher throws a wild punch as a counter, but Griffin ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Belcher gets a clubbing blow to the side of the head in, but takes a hard shot to the stomach in return. The early pattern seems to be that Belcher is looking for big punches, Griffin is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Belcher manages to back Griffin up against the cage. Belcher takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Griffin ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Belcher can unload. Belcher may need to think about changing tactics, Griffin is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Belcher fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Griffin on the thigh. Griffin presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Belcher gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Griffin. [/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Belcher puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Griffin defended well. Straight right from Griffin in response, but it caught nothing but gloves. They start circling. The referee tells them to fight, the lack of action so far is worrying. They get in close and exchange body shots, Belcher probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Griffin gets a nice kick in just before the time expires, but it's unlikely that is going to stop the judges giving that round to Belcher. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Belcher.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Griffin starts with a high kick, but Belcher was well out of range. About thirty seconds pass without any contact, and the crowd become a little restless. Griffin steps in and exchanges strikes with Belcher, neither fighter gets a particular advantage from it. Belcher parries away a nice right hand and gets in a crisp counter punch that catches Griffin on the shoulder. The round has been a little flat so far, neither of them is really forcing the issue. They enter into a clinch, which doesn't help matters, and that seems to last for an eternity before the referee separates them and tells them to get on with it. Griffin finally shows some fire, putting together a combination of two jabs, a cross, and an uppercut. Belcher did well to defend it, bobbing and weaving out of the way and using his gloves to parry away anything that was too close. He uses a low kick to the thigh as a response, then steps in and unloads with two fine punches, although Griffin blocked them. Griffin scores the best punch of the round so far, coming in fast, ducking under a dangerous right hand, and catching Belcher square in the face with a lunging overhand right. Belcher backs off and covers up, clearly having felt that one, and unfortunately Griffin's attempts to follow up and thwarted as he gets tied up in a clinch near the cage. The time expires, with Griffin probably having stolen that round thanks to that one big punch. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Griffin. Forrest Griffin wins the match, getting a score of 29-28 from all three judges.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Griffin wins and is now 3-0 in the Middleweight division. He will surely fight the winner of the main event next. [B][CENTER]Thiago Silva (16-0) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) Sherdog's Prediction: Thiago Silva via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] A fizzing right hand from Silva opens the round; it didn't find its intended target of Nogueira's chin, but it did land hard on the left shoulder instead. Nogueira fights back with a jab, but takes a hard shot to the body after leaning in too far. Silva pins him to the cage with a quick burst, and unloads with lefts and rights. Nogueira looks for a moment like he may be about to get overwhelmed, especially after a right hand appears to hit flush on the chin, but he recovers well and works his way back to the center. Silva is looking the more confident of the two by far. He smells blood, and comes in looking for a big right hand, only to walk right into a takedown. Nogueira had to time that perfectly, and did. Silva doesn't pull guard, instead scrambling, ending up onto his knees, with Nogueira taking his back! Nogueira tries to go for a choke, but Silva bucks and twists, scrambling back to his feet and backing off. A big right hand and a high kick prevent Nogueira from following too closely. After that frenetic minute of action, things die down, with the fighters circling. Silva scores with two leg kicks, Nogueira hits a tasty right hand to the body, but otherwise nothing much happens for the next couple of exchanges. Indeed, the clock runs down and the round ends without further noteworthy events. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Silva by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Silva starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Nogueira on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Silva to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Nogueira, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Silva, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Nogueira is looking a little lost so far, Silva is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. About thirty seconds pass without any contact, and the crowd become a little restless. Silva leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Nogueira was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Nogueira comes back with a leg kick to set up a one-two combination, but the round is coming to a close and it's going to be too little too late. The one bright spot for Nogueira is that although Silva clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Silva.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Slow start to the round. We're nearly a minute in before Nogueira throws the first meaningful punch, trying to squeeze a fizzing jab through to Silva's jaw, but it is parried. Silva steps in, but has to quickly side-step to avoid a straight right. Nogueira moves in to throw some body punches but gets clipped with a big right hand. It was partially blocked, it would have been a potential knock out if that had hit home on the chin, Silva put a lot of weight behind it. Nogueira hits a nice jab, then clinches. Silva hits a knee, takes a punch to the ribs, then breaks free. Nogueira hits a low kick to the leg. Silva bursts forward and scores with a big right hand to the body, then a left hook. Nogueira goes down! Good shot from Silva! He tries to follow up and pound on Nogueira, but Nogueira is up really quickly and covers up to block the two jabs that come in. Silva, sensing that Nogueira is rattled, starts coming forward with more urgency. Nogueira ends up backed up against the cage. Silva gets within range, fakes a left, then lunges in with a huge right hand. It is partially parried by Nogueira, who wisely clinches up tightly to get some time to recover. The power that Silva has in his hands is really posing Nogueira some problems. The clinch drags on, with Silva unable to break free, and the round ends like that. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Silva. The judges scores are unanimous, and give a score of 30-27 to Thiago Silva.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Silva with a straight forward decision win over Lil Nog. Silva after another win could be next in line for a title shot. [B][CENTER]UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (23-4) vs. Rich Franklin (25-3) Sherdog's Prediction: Anderson Silva via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Silva leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Franklin deals with it well. They clinch, but only for a few seconds before it gets broken. Both throw stiff jabs at the same time, neither connects properly. Back to the clinch. It has been a disjointed start to the round, the flow hasn't quite developed properly. Franklin uses a knee to the ribs before backing Silva up against the cage. Right hand from Silva connects though, that was well timed. Franklin breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Silva was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Franklin sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Silva fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. They are circling, then come in close. Both fighters are tentatively looking for the chance to strike. Franklin is the first to go for it, throwing a three-punch combination. Silva covered up well, taking very little damage. Franklin goes to throw a bomb, but gets clipped with a right hand before it can connect. He felt that. Silva steps in and throws a bomb of his own, and it crunches into the side of the cheek of Franklin, who goes down! Replays show the shock wave passing through his entire body as that powerful punch connected. What a strike! Silva wins this by a brutally clean knock out. [B]Official time of the knock out is 4:41 of the first. Anderson Silva retains the UFC Middleweight title.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ***** [B]Notes[/B]: That was a brutal Knock Out win for Silva. Franklin loses for a third straight time against Silva and one must wonder what is left for him in the Middleweight division. [B][U]Post Show News Fighter Bonuses[/U][/B] Submission of the Night: Anthony Johnson Knock Out of the Night: Anderson Silva Fight of the Night: Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin [B][U]Resignings[/U][/B] Rich Franklin, Cung Le and Diego Sanchez will all be resigned to new UFC contracts. After a freak string of circumstances Brock Lesnar has left the UFC but the UFC are doing all they can to resign him. [B][U]Signings[/U][/B] Nick Diaz has been signed to compete in the UFC Lightweight division. Randy Shearer (ramdomly created after Thomas Denny retired) will be signed to compete into the UFC Welterweight division. Nobutatsu Suzuki and Siyar Bahadurzada will both be signed to compete in the UFC Middleweight division. And last but not least Roger Hollett has been signed to compete in the UFC Light Heavyweight division. [B][U]Weight Changes[/U][/B] Rich Franklin after being destroyed for a third straight time by Anderson Silva has decided to move up to the Light Heavyweight Division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.