chris caulfield Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFN 16: Fitch vs. Alves[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][U][CENTER]Undercard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Ben Saunders (5-3-2) vs. Randy Shearer (0-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Randy Shearer via Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/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 Shearer looks to get the better of it, landing with one crisp strike to the face in particular. Saunders backs off, a little shaken. Replays show that it landed right on the nose. Shearer press the action, forcing Saunders 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. Saunders clinches up. Shearer is displaying a much more accomplished and confident striking game than Saunders, the technique and speed with which the punches are being delivered is leaving Saunders looking ragged in comparison. The pattern continues once they've been separated, with Shearer looking the sharper of the two. He isn't overwhelming Saunders by any means, but he is comfortably controlling the pace and tempo of the round, and preventing Saunders from stamping any sort of mark on it. The 1st round ends. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Shearer by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] The round starts. They touch gloves. Saunders throws a rapid-fire series of punches, forcing Shearer to back off. Shearer throws a nice kick that thumps into the rib cage. Another kick is thrown, this time aimed at the head, but Saunders sees it coming and steps back. Shearer advances and they meet in the center. Saunders ducks a right hand, scores with a left to the gut. Shearer throws a one-two combination, neither connecting, but it does allow him to follow up with a stinging kick to the ribs. A big red mark has appeared there. Saunders bursts forward and goes for a big swing, Shearer ducks under it, hits a right to the chest, then unloads another kick. This one hits the thigh, causing Saunders to noticeably wince. It may have caught the very top of the knee judging from the replays. Saunders tries to come in to get a measure of revenge, but is met with some low kicks that make sure that he can't get close enough to throw any bombs. Shearer's impressively sharp kicking game is hurting Saunders and allowing him to take firm control of this round. There's not much time left, and Saunders is going to have to do something special to win this round now. He doesn't, as time expires without anything interesting happening. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Shearer by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Good start from Saunders, taking Shearer down almost immediately! Shearer scrambles though, and gets back to his feet without taking any damage at all. Saunders will be disappointed with that. Shearer comes in and throws two big right hands, but neither connects, and they put him off balance, allowing Saunders to score with a nice right hook to the side of the head, crunching into the top of the ear. Shearer felt that one for sure. He stalks Saunders, trying to back him up against the cage. It doesn't work though, Saunders keeps out of the way. Shearer tries a kick, but Saunders catches the foot and uses it for a trip. Saunders gets Shearer down for the second time, and this time is right on top of him in guard position. Saunders throws some punches, then tries to pass. Shearer doesn't allow it, and tries to grab an armbar in response. Saunders easily stops that, and throws some more punches. That becomes the pattern, as the fight falls into a predictable pattern; punches from Saunders followed by a pass attempt, with Shearer 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 3rd round ends. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Saunders. Randy Shearer wins the match, getting a score of 29-28 from all three judges.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: * [B]Notes[/B]: Shearer wins his MMA and UFC debut all in one go but it was tough and he will be happy to come out with the decision win. [B][CENTER]Rob Broughton (8-4-1) vs. Brad Morris (8-5) Sherdog's Prediction: Rob Broughton 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. Morris is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Broughton picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Morris throws a wild punch as a counter, but Broughton ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Morris 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 Morris is looking for big punches, Broughton is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Morris manages to back Broughton up against the cage. Morris takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Broughton ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Morris can unload. Morris may need to think about changing tactics, Broughton is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Morris fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Broughton on the thigh. Broughton presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Morris 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 1st round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Broughton.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Morris starts the round by throwing some low kicks. Broughton checks them, then comes in and clearly wants to trade punches. Morris doesn't seem too bothered by that, and they enter into the first exchange of punches of the round. Difficult to say who came out on top, neither of them did a great deal of damage, most of the shots hit the opponent's gloves. Morris cleverly head-fakes, allowing him the time and angle that he needed to catch Broughton with a beauty of a right hook. Broughton stumbles backward, but doesn't go down. Morris presses the advantage by following in with a kick, then a right hand. Broughton clinches. They remain clinched for a while. Broughton scores with a nice knee, it appeared to catch Morris in the gut. Morris uses a single leg trip and takes the fight to the ground. Morris gets to side control upon impact, and immediately goes for an armbar. Broughton reacts quickly, but is in real danger. Morris has his left arm straightened out, fortunately Broughton has managed to roll and get a good position that is stopping Morris from getting the leverage needed to apply an armlock. Morris tries to step over and fully apply it, but Broughton breaks free and gets him to back off with a couple of up-kicks. Morris steps back and motions for him to stand up. They go back to circling in the center. Broughton hits a nice right hand, but takes one back too. The time runs down; Morris will probably get that round on points, he hit the best punch of the round, and got the only takedown, plus was the one who was working toward a submission. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Morris.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Broughton doesn't waste any time, scoring with a big right hook almost immediately. Morris was caught sleeping, and that really landed hard, if it had been more accurate it might have been a knock out blow. Morris hits two sharp body shots in return, but it's clear that he is rattled. For a second it looked like Broughton was about to go for a takedown, but nothing came from it. They get in close and exchange punches, it's not clear who got the better of that. Broughton hits a good looping punch to the side of the head, that's another one that's rattled Morris. Broughton is getting more force behind his punches at the moment, and that's the key difference. Broughton with a body shot. Time ticks away, and Morris offers nothing that would make you think that he has any chance of winning this round on points. The third round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Broughton. All three judges give a score of 29-28 to Rob Broughton.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: * [B]Notes[/B]: Broughton wasn't as impressive as when he fought Kongo and he had a brief worry in the second round but he showed true heart by winning the third round and winning the decision. [B][CENTER]Heath Herring (28-16) vs. Nicolas Rodriguez (1-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Heath Herring via Split Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] They come together into a clich almost right away. Rodríguez gets a knee in, but that's about the total sum of the action, and the referee separates them. Herring moves in, but gets caught with a big kick to the legs that causes him to stumble to the mat. Rodríguez came in fast to try and capitalise, but Herring uses the guard well. Rodríguez fires off a couple of tentative punches, testing out the guard of Herring. Rodríguez tries to pass the guard, but can't, Herring isn't going to let him get a better position, as he knows that Rodríguez will start raining down punches. Rodríguez tries a big right hand, but it's easily defended. Herring gets a punch of his own in, but it didn't connect properly. Rodríguez 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. Rodríguez fakes an elbow before trying to pass the guard for a third time, and briefly has side mount, but Herring fought it hard and gets back to guard within seconds. Butterfly guard by Herring, and Rodríguez is having trouble generating any attacking threat. He'll probably win the round as he has been more aggressive, but Herring has defended the danger well. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Rodríguez.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Rodríguez starts the round like a house on fire, hitting three quick jabs and a vicious right hook. Herring covered up well, but at least one of the jabs got through and landed above the left eye. Herring backs up to buy some time, but Rodríguez keeps coming and lands a right hand to the body. Herring scores with a jab in return, then goes with a kick to the waist. Rodríguez catches the leg though and quickly rushes forward with a takedown. Herring pulls guard. Herring has the guard held very high. Rodríguez throws a big right hand, but almost puts himself right into a triangle as a result, and he is forced to fight free. Herring throws a punch and it lands right above the nose. Rodríguez throws four massive punches as a response, threatening to try and knock Herring right through the canvas, Herring is forced to simply cover up and try to survive. Rodríguez 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. Herring moves to butterfly guard and then tries to scramble back up, but Rodríguez stops that by throwing another set of big punches, forcing Herring to go back to the full guard. The round ends with them still like that, with Rodríguez having totally controlled the round from the guard. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Rodríguez.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Herring is quickest out, and comes at Rodríguez with a series of jabs and straight punches. Rodríguez covered up well, and I don't think anything got through. Rodríguez hits a body shot, but it didn't connect solidly. They get in close, and it's Herring who takes it to the ground. Rodríguez pulls guard. There's a lull, as Herring tries to pass, and Rodríguez defends it. Punches get thrown every so often, but it's really a stalemate at the moment. Rodríguez almost gets a guillotine, but it's blocked and almost leads to a kimura for Herring, but that too goes nowhere. The referee stands them up, but the time is almost over. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Herring. The official scores are: 29-28 (twice), 30-27 for Nicolás Rodríguez.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: * [B]Notes[/B]: Rodriguez gets his second win in as many fights and not many fighters can say their first two fights were wins over Jake O'Brian and Heath Herring. [B][CENTER]Ricardo Almeida (9-3) vs. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (11-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza via Decision[/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. Almeida gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. They clinch, although it's an ugly-looking one. Jacare forces his way to the side, still grappling for supremacy, and then manages to get all the way behind. Almeida gave up his back quite easily. Jacare takes Almeida down with a variation on the suplex, but Almeida keeps his wits and makes sure that he is able to pull guard pretty quickly upon landing. Jacare moves from the guard and gets side control. He is trying for the mount, but Almeida is defending it. There's a small lull as Jacare continues to try and get the mount. There it is, Almeida finally couldn't stop it. Jacare starts firing off punches, and Almeida has nowhere to go. A big elbow gets through. A right hand lands on the nose of Almeida. The referee is watching intently, I don't think he's going to let this go much longer unless Almeida can come up with some answers. Jacare hits another big elbow. And another. The referee leaps in, it's over! [B]Jacare wins via first round TKO at 1:07.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Jacare wins and is now 2-0 in the UFC and this was an impressive win which shows people that he can do more than just submissions as he wins via TKO. [B][CENTER]Chris Leben (18-6) vs. Aaron Meisner (4-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Chris Leben via Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Not the most interesting of starts to the round, it's mainly a lot of circling. The referee apparently gets bored, as he tells them to get on with it and fight. Leben complies, firing off a dangerous right cross, narrowly missing. Meisner throws a couple of stiff jabs, but they only find gloves. Leben fakes left, then comes in from the right, hitting a nice body blow. Meisner steps forward and unleashes a big kick, thundering it into Leben's ribs. He felt that one for sure. Meisner follows up by hitting a right hand too. Leben finds himself backed up against the cage. Meisner advances, and throws a scythe-like kick to the legs. Leben can't get out of the way, and almost gets felled by the impact. Meisner steps in and scores with a high head kick. Leben partially blocked it with his hands, which was probably the only thing stopping it from being a knock out blow. Leben gets a right hand jab out in response, then pulls Meisner into a clinch. Knee strike from Meisner. They break. Leben still looks hurt from that first kick. Meisner gets in close and gives a receipt for that earlier body blow, nailing a right hand to the gut. Leben hits a jab to the cheek in response, then clinches again. Time runs down, the round will end before anything more can happen. Meisner has used those powerful kicks to dominate this round. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Meisner.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Not much happening at first. Leben is the first to make a move, coming in with a right hand that narrowly misses. Meisner gets in a jab that landed on the left cheek of Leben, and leaves a mark. Quite a slow paced round so far. Leben takes another jab and moves in to retaliate, but it was a set-up and he gets creamed with a high right kick to the side of the head! Leben stumbles but doesn't go down, and has to cover up as Meisner comes in with a series of punches to try and finish the job. Leben somehow manages to hold on long enough to get his senses back, and buys some time by clinching. Hard knee from Leben from the clinch, and Meisner felt that, he looks a little tired from unloading that barrage. They break, and Leben gets in a nice right hand. Leben throws out a few jabs, nothing too dangerous though, Meisner easily avoided them. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Meisner.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] They circle to start, both throwing a few tentative jabs. An uppercut misses its mark from Meisner, providing the first moment of real action. Leben hits a nice combination of body shots to set up a big right hook, but Meisner side-stepped to safety. A few punches get thrown, but there's a lack of real action to talk about. Leben is being slightly the more aggressive, but neither fighter is really going for it. They come together again and exchange punches, but no big shots get through, and they end up clinched for a while. The referee separates them, but the time is ticking away and this round looks like it's going to the judges. End of round 3. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Leben. The official scores are in; two judges give 29-28, the other 30-27, all for Aaron Meisner.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Meisner proves that he truly belongs in the UFC with the biggest win of his career. [B][U][CENTER]Maincard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Ed Herman (14-7) vs. Demian Maia (10-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Demian Maia via Decision[/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 Maia, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. Maia 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. Herman covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. About thirty seconds pass without any contact, and the crowd become a little restless. Low kick from Herman, 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 Maia will take the round on points. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Maia.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Herman lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Maia sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Herman 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 Maia manages to get the better position, pushing Herman up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Maia. Herman 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. Maia tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Herman was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Maia down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Maia covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Herman hits a big elbow to the ribs, Maia definitely felt that. Herman drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Maia brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Herman will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Maia defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Herman unable to generate any attacks, and Maia unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Herman 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 2. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Herman.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Maia starts brightly, almost hunting Herman down by stalking him around the ring. Herman throws some jabs, but they don't have the range to hit. Maia hits the first good strike, slicing a nasty-looking kick to the hip area. Herman throws a left hook in response, but it is easily parried. Maia hits another kick, this time to the calf of Herman's front leg. The kicks that Maia has been throwing are looking really good, they're sharp, accurate, and difficult to see coming. Herman will need to figure out a counter, as currently he is being picked apart. Herman moves in quickly and grabs a clinch. They struggle like that for a full minute, exchanging short, sharp blows, but without doing any real damage. The referee gets them to part. Herman tags Maia with a straight left. Maia ducks a second one, hits a jab, then whips out a quick kick that hits perfectly to the inside of the knee of the front leg. The leg buckles, and Herman is down to one knee briefly, but quickly up before Maia can take his head off with another kick. Herman is limping slightly, that kick was beautifully judged. Herman throws a couple of big right hands, but they're easily avoided. Maia starts working angle to throw more low kicks, Herman is keeping away from them. Maia seems content not to push the action too much, he looks a bit tired from throwing all those kicks. The round ends without further major action. End of round 3. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Maia. All three judges give a score of 29-28 to Demian Maia.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Maia is now 11-0 and with another win or two he could be right in title contention. [B][CENTER]Jason Tabor (6-0) vs. Nick Diaz (17-8) Sherdog's Prediction: Jason Tabor 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. Tabor fakes a kick, then darts in to score with a left hand to the shoulder region. Diaz almost catches Tabor with a massive left hook. A big arcing kick from Tabor catches Diaz on the shoulder, it wasn't far away from landing on the side of the jaw. Diaz storms in throwing a flurry of blows, but Tabor dodges out of the way. A jab catches Diaz on the cheek, then another big kick hits home, this time into the ribs. Tabor is really using those big kicks well, they're both keeping Diaz at bay and hurting him. Diaz tries another attack, first working an angle away from the kicks then coming in with a couple of straight rights. Tabor defends it well, parrying the punches away and moving to safety before Diaz can unload with any bombs. Tabor 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 Tabor has dominated with kicks. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Tabor.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Diaz starts strongly, hitting two stiff jabs to the gloves, stinging the hands of Tabor. The third strike is a meaty left hook that narrowly misses. If that had hit, Tabor may well have been decapitated. Despite leaning backwards, Tabor throws a mighty kick that explodes across the chest, Diaz staggers back. That was an enormously powerful blow, and Diaz didn't see it coming at all. They circle for a moment, sizing each other up. Tabor throws a flurry of jabs, but Diaz blocks them easily. A right hand from Diaz lands below the eye, and a straight left glances off the shoulder. Another exchange doesn't see either fighter get an advantage. Diaz throws a heavy left, but Tabor goes underneath it. Another hard kick from Tabor, this time smashing into the left thigh. Diaz almost get knocked down. He throws a left hook in retaliation which misses by a mile, and gives Tabor 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 Tabor which have really made a big difference. As the round comes to an end, it looks like those will make sure that Tabor wins the round on points. The second round is over. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Tabor by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Tabor starts brightly by throwing some looping punches. Defended well by Diaz. They circle, throwing tentative jabs. Diaz goes for a single leg and puts Tabor on the floor, but he is up very quickly, preventing Diaz from getting on top. Tabor definitely seems to want to keep this standing. Diaz hits a nice jab, avoids a counter left hook, then comes in low and takes down Tabor again. This time Tabor isn't able to get up, and has to pull guard. Times ticking away though, Diaz will have to hurry to finish. He goes for an armbar, but Tabor defends. Diaz tries to slip past to get side control, but Tabor just about manages to keep guard. A second attempt works though, and Diaz has the side. Two big elbows land, and Tabor seems in trouble. Diaz goes for the kimura, but can't quite get it. The time expires before he can try again, and the referee separates them. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Diaz. All three judges give a score of 29-28 in favour of Jason Tabor.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: * [B]Notes[/B]: Tabor goes 2-0 in the UFC and 7-0 alltogether. Tabor will hope to rise in the Lightweight rankings with this win. [B][CENTER]Fedor Emelianenko (29-3) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (17-3) Sherdog's Prediction: Fedor Emelianenko via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Emelianenko hits the first punch of the round, scoring with a jab to the cheek. Kharitonov throws a left hook in response, but it's well wide of the mark. Emelianenko steps in and hits a low kick. Kharitonov ignores it and shoots in for a takedown. Emelianenko saw it coming though, and defends it brilliantly, sprawling at first, then pushing Kharitonov face-down to the ground so that he can take his back. Kharitonov turtles up. Emelianenko hits a couple of hard shots to the body, but can't stop Kharitonov working his way up and turning over, pulling guard. Emelianenko rains down three big punches, Kharitonov covers up and doesn't take too much damage. Emelianenko works one leg free, but Kharitonov has the other tightly wrapped up between his own. Emelianenko fires off three rapid-fire elbows to the ribs to try and soften Kharitonov up, but can't get the leg free. This is not a good position for Kharitonov though, and Emelianenko is looking dangerous. Emelianenko pushes down, then brings his free leg forward to drive a knee into the lower back. Kharitonov can't do a lot to stop that strike. Emelianenko hits a further knee, and that is enough to allow him to move into side control. Kharitonov is in huge trouble here. Elbow to the face, only partially blocked. Emelianenko briefly gets a forearm across the throat of Kharitonov, but it is knocked away before it can develop into a choke. Kharitonov tries to scramble out of it, and almost manages to pull guard again, but Emelianenko maintains side control. Knee to the ribs again. Kharitonov is taking a lot of punishment from those knee strikes. Emelianenko switches tactic and tries to grab an arm lock of some kind, Kharitonov almost got caught by surprise but not quite. The round is almost over, and there is no question that this round has gone to Emelianenko, it has been utter dominance. Kharitonov tries to get a knee strike of his own in, but it misses and Emelianenko responds with a hard elbow to the chest. That'll be the last action of the round. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Emelianenko.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] They come together into a clich almost right away. Emelianenko gets a knee in, but that's about the total sum of the action, and the referee separates them. Kharitonov moves in, but gets caught with a big kick to the legs that causes him to stumble to the mat. Emelianenko came in fast to try and capitalise, but Kharitonov uses the guard well. Emelianenko immediately tries to pass guard, but Kharitonov is not allowing it. Emelianenko fires off some punches, but Kharitonov blocks them before grabbing a butterfly guard to keep Emelianenko trapped. They stay like that for a while before Emelianenko breaks free, but only back into regular guard. Kharitonov tries a cheeky guillotine attempt, but Emelianenko easily defends it, I don't think Kharitonov really thought that was going to work. Emelianenko tries to get side control, but Kharitonov defends it. Not the second time though, and Emelianenko has the side. Kharitonov has him tied up pretty well though, and the clock is running down. Emelianenko gets in a firm couple of elbows to the ribs, but the time expires and the referee gets them to part. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Emelianenko.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Kharitonov throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Emelianenko throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Kharitonov 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. Emelianenko hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Kharitonov. They struggle all the way back, with Kharitonov ending up backed up against the cage. Emelianenko hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Kharitonov stomps downward onto his foot. Kharitonov manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Emelianenko gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Kharitonov ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Kharitonov tries a high kick to start, but Emelianenko saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Emelianenko who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Kharitonov on the nose. Kharitonov hits a straight right, enough to stop Emelianenko 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 the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Emelianenko. The official scores are in; two judges give 30-27, the other 29-28, all for Fedor Emelianenko.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Fedor truly looks like he is back to normal with two wins in a row now. Kharitonov will be devastated that he lost but he will learn from his mistakes and hopefully win his next few fights and come back for a rematch that could be for the title. [B][CENTER]Wanderlei Silva (33-8-1) vs. Rashad Evans (14-2-1) II Sherdog's Prediction: Wanderlei Silva via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Right hand from Silva was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Evans. Silva follows up by coming in close, but Evans is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. Evans ducks a right hand, but steps forward right into a brutal left cross! Silva put so much power on that swing that he almost floored himself. Evans goes down, stunned. Silva dives on top and starts punching away, landing several big shots. The referee has seen enough, and pulls Silva off, ending the match. [B]Silva wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 1:46.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: **** [B]Notes[/B]: Silva beats Rashad for a second time and this time via a first round TKO.His next fight will surely be for the title. [B][CENTER]Welterweight Tournament Semi Final: Jon Fitch (19-3) vs. Thiago Alves (15-4) Sherdog's Prediction: Jon Fitch via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] They circle to start, both throwing a few tentative jabs. An uppercut misses its mark from Alves, providing the first moment of real action. Fitch hits a nice combination of body shots to set up a big right hook, but Alves side-stepped to safety. A few punches get thrown, but there's a lack of real action to talk about. Fitch is being slightly the more aggressive, but neither fighter is really going for it. They come together again and exchange punches, but no big shots get through, and they end up clinched for a while. The referee separates them, but the time is ticking away and this round looks like it's going to the judges. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Fitch.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] The fighters touch gloves, then circle. Alves throws a low kick, but it was without any conviction, it seemed designed more to keep Fitch from coming inside. Alves works an angle, then comes in with a one-two combination, Fitch responds with a crisp uppercut that wasn't far off from connecting. Alves 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. Fitch circles and throws a series of high jabs, but Alves blocked them with ease, using the gloves. Alves fakes a high kick, then storms in with a wild looking right hand and a series of body shots. Fitch covers up and rides out the storm, clinching to stop any further blows. It was a nice attack from Alves 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. Alves throws a leg kick that connects, albeit without too much force, and the round is done. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Alves.[/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. Fitch gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. Alves gets a quick takedown, and is in guard. He is trying to get past into a side mount, but Fitch is defending it well. Alves gets slightly off balance with another attempt, and Fitch capitalises by sweeping him and getting side control. Alves takes a hard shot to the mouth. And another. Alves tries to fight back, but Fitch gets the right arm and applies an armbar for the tap out victory. [B]Fitch wins via third round armbar submission at 1:13.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Fitch wins after a tough back and forth battle with Fitch winning the first round then Alves taking the second and then the submission victory for Fitch in the third. Fitch will fight either Matt Hughes or Yoshiyuki Yoshida next and the Welterweight title will be on the line. [B][U]Post Show News Fighter Bonuses[/U][/B] Submission of the Night: Jon Fitch Knock Out of the Night: Wanderlei Silva Fight of the Night: Wanderlei Silva vs. Rashad Evans II [B][U]Injuries[/U][/B] Thiago Alves suffered a shoulder injury durin his fight and will be out for just over a month. [B][U]Resignings[/U][/B] Nocolas Rodriguez will be resigned to a new UFC contract following his 2-0 start in the UFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces UFC 101: Silva vs. St. Pierre[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]Today UFC announced UFC 101: Silva vs. St. Pierre. Here is the card. [B][U]Maincard[/U][/B] UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (24-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (20-2) Lyoto Machida (16-1) vs. Keith Jardine (15-4-1) Rousimar Palhales (9-1) vs. Thales Leites (14-1) Eddie Alvarez (19-1) vs. Josh Thomson (15-4) Anthony Johnson (7-1) vs. Matt Arroyo (7-1) [B][U]Undercard[/U][/B] Rolles Gracie (4-0) vs. Cain Velasquez (4-0) Gleison Tibau (15-5) vs. Thiago Tavares (15-1) Diego Sanchez (21-4) vs. George Sotiropoulos (8-4) Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Goran Reljic (8-0) Ben Rothwell (30-8) vs. Martin Desilets (8-2) Jesse Taylor (6-3) vs. CB Dolloway (8-0)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MK24 Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 I'm really pulling for GSP in this title fight. Has Silva lost the title at all yet in your game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 [QUOTE=MK24;456759]I'm really pulling for GSP in this title fight. Has Silva lost the title at all yet in your game?[/QUOTE] Well no otherwise he wouldn't be defending it lol. So far in my game he has defended it three times. A KO win over Karo Parisyan a decision win over Patrick Cote and another KO win over Rich Franklin. This is probably the biggest fight so far in my game. The next massive fight that will have two champions fight will probably be Jackson vs. Nogueira which if it does happen should happen around UFC 105ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MK24 Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Perhaps he could've lost it and won it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 101 Preview[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER][B][U]Jesse Taylor (6-3) vs. CB Dollaway (8-0)[/U][/B] CB Dollaway is currently 2-0 in the UFC with decision wins over Rory Singer and Joey Villasenor. Taylor hasn't been as fortunate in the UFC as he is 0-1 with his only fight a submission loss to Demian Maia. [B][U]Ben Rothwell (30-8) vs. Martin Desilets (8-2)[/U][/B] Desilets made his UFC debut at UFC 97 against Chirs Tuchscherer in a fight where he lost via a third round submission. Rothwell recently turned his fortunes around in his last fight. Before his last fight Rothwell was 0-3 in the UFC but he turned it around last fight when he beat Chris Tuchscherer via a second round TKO. [B][U]Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Goran Reljic (8-0)[/U][/B] Hamill is coming off two straight wins and will be hoping to add a third with a win over Reljic. Hamill's last two fights have both ended in TKO finishes. He has beaten Tim Boetsch with a second round TKO and he then beat David Heath via TKO in only twenty five seconds. A win here could put Hamill into the top ten Light Heavyweights. [B][U]Diego Sanchez (21-4) vs. George Sotiropoulos (8-4)[/U][/B] Diego Sanchez is coming off two straight decision wins over Akihiro Gono and Chris Lytle. Sotiropoulos however is coming off two straight losses losing his last two fights to Josh Koscheck and Matt Arroyo. Sanchez is ranked in the top ten Welterweights at #10 and a win could put him as high as #7. [B][U]Gleison Tibau (15-5) vs. Thiago Tavares (15-1)[/U][/B] Thiago Tavares is currently ranked at #6 in the Lightweight rankings and is coming off two straight decision wins over Mark Bocek and Joer Lauzon. He goes into this fight knowing a win could put him as high as #4 in the Lightweight rankings and then after another win or two he could be right in line for a title shot. [B][U]Rolles Gracie (4-0) vs. Cain Velasquez (4-0)[/U][/B] Gracie comes into this fight with three striaght wins in the UFC holding a decision win over Gabrial Gonzaga a TKO win over Brad Morris and a submission win against Ibragim Magomedov. Velasquez is 2-0 in the UFC with his most recent win a decision over the now retired Mark Coleman. A win for Gracie could put him into the top ten Heavyweight rankings. [B][U]Anthony Johnson (7-1) vs. Matt Arroyo (7-1)[/U][/B] Two young Welterweight fighters go up against eachother in this match-up as the twenty five year old Johnson takes on the twenty six year old Arroyo. Johnson has gone 3-0 in his last three fights with wins over Stve Bruno, Paul Kelly and most recently Roan Carneiro. Arroyo though has won his last four fights with decision wins over Ben Saunders and George Sotiropoulos and submission wins over Josh Burkman and Jon Koppenhaver. Both fighters are ranked in the top ten Welterweights withg Arroyo ranked at #9 and Johnson at #6. A win for Arroyo could put him as high as #6 while a win for Johnson has to ability to put him as high as #4. It is also rumoured that the winner of this fight will fight BJ Penn next and the winner of that will recieve a title shot against the tournament winner. [B][U]Eddie Alvarez (19-1) vs. Josh Thomson (15-4)[/U][/B] Eddie Alvarez is 5-0 in the UFC and four of those wins have come thanks to a (T)KO finish the other being a decision win over Joe Stevenson. Other top names he has beaten are Frankie Edgar and Jeremy Stephens. A win over Thomson could mean a title shot in the near future for Alvarez. Thomson is currently 1-1 in the UFC with a TKO win over Marcus Aurelio but then losing to Vitor Ribeiro via submission. [B][U]Rousimar Palhales (9-1) vs. Thales Leites (14-1)[/U][/B] This has the potential to be the best ground war MMA has ever seen as both of these fighters have a great ground but the advantage will lie with Rousimar Palhales as he also has potent stand up skills. Palhales is currently 2-0 in the UFC with wins over Jorge Rivera and Nate Marquardt. Leites is also coming off wins in his last two bouts as he beat Alessio Sakara and Ed Herman. Both fighters are ranked Middleweights with Leites ranked at #9 and Palhales at #7 and a win for either could put them as high as #4 and right into the title picture. [B][U]Lyoto Machida (16-1) vs. Keith Jardine (15-4-1)[/U][/B] Lyoto Machida goes into this fight coming off three straight decision wins over Tomasz Drwal, Randy Couture and most recently Chuck Liddell. Jardine is also on a winning streak beating James Irvin and Roger Hollett in his last two fights. Both fighters are ranked in the top ten Light Heavyweights with Machida ranked at #4 and Jardine ranked at #8. A win for Machida could put him into the top three Light Heavyweights and that would make him eligible for a title shot and a rematch against Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson. A win for Jardine could put him as high as #4 and after another win he could have a title shot in his hands. [B][U]UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (24-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (20-2)[/U][/B] This is surely the biggest fight in MMA ever as the Middleweight king Anderson Silva takes on the Welterweight king Georges St. Pierre as he defends his UFC Middleweight championship. St. Pierre recently moved up from the Welterweight division because of insufficent competition as he had wins over pretty much all the major contenders as he had wins over Matt Serrax2, Matt Hughesx2, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, BJ Penn and Thiago Alves. He moved up to the Middleweight division in hope of a superfight with Anderson Silva but first he had to prove himself at the new weight class against Siyar Bahadurzada. He certainly proved himself at Middleweight by submitting Siyar in less than a minute of the first round. He now stands the ultimate test at Middleweight as he goes up against Anderson Silva. Silva is undefeated in the UFC and has wins over Rich Franklinx3, Nate Marquardt, Chris Leben, Karo Parisyan, Dan Henderson and Patrick Cote. St. Pierre is currently ranked as the #1 Middleweight while Silva is at #2 but what makes this fight so big is that ios between two of the best pound for pound fighters in the world with St. Pierre being at #4 in the pound for pound rankings and Silva at #5. Whoever wins this fight will probably defend the Middleweight title against former Light Heavyweight Forrest Griffin next. If Anderson Silva wins this though he has always talked about moving up to Light Heavyweight and he coul do that and challnge the currently #1 ranked pound for pound fighter Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson for his Light Heavyweight title.[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 101: Silva vs. St. Pierre[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][U][CENTER]Undercard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Jesse Taylor (6-3) vs. CB Dollaway (8-0) Sherdog's Prediction: CB Dollaway via Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Dollaway starts brightly by throwing some looping punches. Defended well by Taylor. They circle, throwing tentative jabs. Taylor goes for a single leg and puts Dollaway on the floor, but he is up very quickly, preventing Taylor from getting on top. Dollaway definitely seems to want to keep this standing. Taylor hits a nice jab, avoids a counter left hook, then comes in low and takes down Dollaway again. This time Dollaway isn't able to get up, and has to pull guard. Times ticking away though, Taylor will have to hurry to finish. He goes for an armbar, but Dollaway defends. Taylor tries to slip past to get side control, but Dollaway just about manages to keep guard. A second attempt works though, and Taylor has the side. Two big elbows land, and Dollaway seems in trouble. Taylor goes for the kimura, but can't quite get it. The time expires before he can try again, and the referee separates them. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Taylor. [/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] A couple of straight lefts from Taylor start the round, but neither got past the gloves of Dollaway. They clinch, with Dollaway looking like he initiated it. They struggle for supremacy. Taylor gets taken down, but traps Dollaway in guard. Dollaway stands into a half-crouching position, dragging Taylor's guard with him. Taylor reaches up, parries away a couple of strikes, and tries to grab an arm to apply an armbar to. Dollaway knocks the attempt away and nails a hard shot to the ribs before reaching over and trying to nail a downward punch to the chin. Taylor blocks it. Dollaway floats over and gets into side control. Taylor scrambles to try and get back up, but is too close to the cage, which works against him. Dollaway lays in a couple of punches to the chest to soften Taylor up, then tries to move up and isolate one of the arms. Taylor makes sure to bring his body around to give him as much protection as possible. It works, as Dollaway can't get either arm isolated properly. Dollaway changes tactics and tries to get into crucifix position. Taylor fights it for as long as he possibly can, but eventually gets caught. The length of struggle is, in itself, a good defence though, as the round ends before Dollaway can do anything with the position he has achieved, which will frustrate him enormously. The 2nd round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Dollaway.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Quick start to the round from Taylor, he comes storming in with a flurry of jabs. Dollaway defends it well, parrying them away. Nice straight right from Dollaway connects. Taylor gets in close and hits a pair of nice body shots, then they clinch up. Taylor pushes Dollaway back against the cage and goes for a trip, but Dollaway blocks it. Dollaway suddenly pushes forward off the cage and uses the momentum to take Taylor down to the ground, into guard. Dollaway tries to pass guard, but Taylor doesn't allow it. Taylor throws a couple of punches, but they're parried away. He breaks his guard to bring a leg across and try to kick Dollaway in the face, but it's a mistake as Dollaway pushes the leg aside and gets side control. Dollaway pushes them closer to the cage, near his own corner so that they can give him instructions. Following what they say, Dollaway throws some heavy blows to the unprotected stomach of Taylor, then tries to isolate the closest arm. Taylor frantically tries to stop that happening, but does indeed give it up. He does manage to roll to the side, giving himself some good leverage and preventing Dollaway from extending the arm. Dollaway continues trying to apply an armbar, but Taylor is not allowing it. Eventually Dollaway turns and tries to get a crucifix position instead. Taylor fights that off too. The round ends with Dollaway still doggedly trying to get an armbar submission, and Taylor tenaciously stopping it. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Dollaway. CB Dollaway wins the match, getting a score of 29-28 from all three judges.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Dollaway remains undefeated and added another loss to Taylor's record which now stands at 6-4. [B][CENTER]Ben Rothwell (30-8) vs. Martin Desilets (8-2) Sherdog's Prediction: Ben Rothwell via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Slow start to the round, nearly a minute has gone by without anything but a few jabs finding gloves. Rothwell comes in, looking for a grapple it seems, but takes a powerful kick just above the left hip. Desilets really put some venom into that strike. Rothwell backs off, clearly stung. Desilets is the one advancing now, using a left hand jab to lead. He steps forward and fires off a big kick, aimed at the head. Rothwell ducks and moves out of range, but that was clearly intended to be a match-ender, Desilets was going for the knock out. It's pretty clear that he thinks that kicks are going to do the job in this round, and it has to be said that Rothwell is looking to have a hard time countering them. On top of that, the threat of the kicks is keeping Rothwell from getting in too close. Desilets stalks Rothwell, throwing the occasional high right hand, perhaps range-finding. Rothwell is circling, seeking an opening of some kind. He moves in from the left and is quick enough to get into the clinch without taking any shots. Desilets hits a knee, but takes one right back. The kicks aren't a danger from this position, that's for sure. Desilets squirms free, but foolishly lost his concentration for a second and took a hard right hand above the eye in the process. Silly mistake. Rothwell comes in, looking more confident now, and gets in a couple of right hands and a lovely hook to the body. Desilets tags him with a jab though, and then hits another fearsome kick to the same spot above the left hip. And another! Rothwell backs off, and a huge red mark has appeared in that spot. Desilets advances and throws another head kick, but it is mostly blocked by the hands of Rothwell. The round is drawing to a close, and those kicks have certainly proved massively effective for Desilets. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Desilets.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Rothwell is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Desilets picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Rothwell throws a wild punch as a counter, but Desilets ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Rothwell 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 Rothwell is looking for big punches, Desilets is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Rothwell manages to back Desilets up against the cage. Rothwell takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Desilets ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Rothwell can unload. Rothwell may need to think about changing tactics, Desilets is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Rothwell fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Desilets on the thigh. Desilets presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Rothwell 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 the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Desilets.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Desilets puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Rothwell defended well. Straight right from Rothwell 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, Desilets probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Rothwell 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 Desilets. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Desilets. All three judges give a score of 30-27 to Martin Desilets.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Desilets gets his first win inside the UFC and is now 1-1 while Rothwell's UFC record now stands at a very unimpressive 1-4. [B][CENTER]Matt Hamill (7-2) vs. Goran Reljic (8-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Matt Hamill via Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Hamill is quickest out, and comes at Reljic with a series of jabs and straight punches. Reljic covered up well, and I don't think anything got through. Reljic hits a body shot, but it didn't connect solidly. They get in close, and it's Hamill who takes it to the ground. Reljic pulls guard. There's a lull, as Hamill tries to pass, and Reljic defends it. Punches get thrown every so often, but it's really a stalemate at the moment. Reljic almost gets a guillotine, but it's blocked and almost leads to a kimura for Hamill, but that too goes nowhere. The referee stands them up, but the time is almost over. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Hamill.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Hamill misses a right hand and is off balance, allowing Reljic to come in for a takedown. Hamill pulls guard, and it's a particulary high one, Reljic has to be careful that he doesn't get careless and end up in a triangle choke. Hamill bats away a couple of punches with his hands. Reljic tries to pass guard, but leaves an arm in for just a fraction of a second too long, and Hamill is able to clamp his legs around it and pull. That's a tight arm bar, and Reljic is going to have really trouble getting free. He tries to pull free, but it's no use. Reljic taps out to the armlock. [B]Hamill wins via armbar submission at 0:40 of the second round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Hamill with three straight wins now and this could put him into the top ten Light Heavyweights. [B][CENTER]Diego Sanchez (21-4) vs. George Sotiropoulos (8-4) Sherdog's Prediction: Diego Sanchez via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] They meet in the center. Sotiropoulos hits a nice jab, a second misses. Sanchez steps in close and hits a brutal body shot, causing Sotiropoulos to back up quickly. That was a really powerful shot. Sanchez stalks Sotiropoulos, flicking occasional jabs. It looks like Sanchez wants to stand and trade punches with Sotiropoulos. Sanchez gets within striking distance and throws a bomb of a right hand, narrowly missing. Sotiropoulos fires off a raking left hook in response, but that is off target too. They meet and exchange punches. Sotiropoulos goes for the body, but gets tagged with a left hand to the side of the head. Sotiropoulos is rattled by it, but doesn't step off, instead throwing a couple of crisp jabs. Sanchez throws another big punch, this time thundering it into Sotiropoulos's shoulder. They clinch. So far it looks like Sotiropoulos simply can't live with the power that Sanchez has in his hands, you get the sense that if this continues, Sotiropoulos is going to wind up knocked out sooner or later. The clinch is broken, but within thirty seconds they are right back in it, this time leaning against the cage. By the time that is broken, the round only has a few seconds left. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Sanchez.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Not much happening at first. Sotiropoulos is the first to make a move, coming in with a right hand that narrowly misses. Sanchez gets in a jab that landed on the left cheek of Sotiropoulos, and leaves a mark. Quite a slow paced round so far. Sotiropoulos takes another jab and moves in to retaliate, but it was a set-up and he gets creamed with a high right kick to the side of the head! Sotiropoulos stumbles but doesn't go down, and has to cover up as Sanchez comes in with a series of punches to try and finish the job. Sotiropoulos somehow manages to hold on long enough to get his senses back, and buys some time by clinching. Hard knee from Sotiropoulos from the clinch, and Sanchez felt that, he looks a little tired from unloading that barrage. They break, and Sotiropoulos gets in a nice right hand. For a second it looked like Sanchez was about to go for a takedown, but nothing came from it. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Sanchez.[/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. Sotiropoulos goes for the first takedown, but Sanchez 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. Sanchez storms back in almost immediately and takes Sotiropoulos down, into guard. It's hard to say whether that was just a good takedown or whether Sotiropoulos just had a lapse in concentration. Sanchez tries to pass the guard but can't, with Sotiropoulos employing a rubber guard now. There's a definite stalemate, Sotiropoulos is defending very well but isn't really offering any attacking threat or really trying to get out of this predicament. Sanchez makes a big effort to pass, and manages to get to half guard, but Sotiropoulos 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 Sanchez on points, the takedown is really the only noteworthy thing that has happened. The third round is over. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Sanchez. Diego Sanchez wins the match, getting a score of 30-27 from all three judges.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Sanchez with another win and he could be a title contender by the time the tournament is over. [B][CENTER]Gleison Tibau (15-5) vs. Thiago Tavares (15-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Thiago Tavares via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Tibau throws out a jab, but Tavares bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Tavares works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Tibau covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Tavares is making Tibau look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Tibau hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Tibau glances at the referee, not sure why. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Tavares got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Tibau slightly. Tibau initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Tibau looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Tavares is clearly winning them. Tibau needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Tavares tries a speculative high kick, but Tibau saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Tibau tries to work an angle, but Tavares is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Tavares, 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 scores it 10-9 for Tavares.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Tavares starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Tibau on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Tavares to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Tibau, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Tavares, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Tibau is looking a little lost so far, Tavares is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. Tavares tries to back Tibau up against the cage wall, but it comes to nothing. Tavares leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Tibau was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Tibau 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 Tibau is that although Tavares clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Tavares.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The round begins with Tibau taking the iniative, coming in quickly with a straight right and a leg kick. Tavares replies with a snap jab and a wild left that misses by a long way. Tibau goes for the takedown, but Tavares sprawls. Tibau tries to power through, but Tavares uses that against him and turns it into a takedown of his own. They're quite close to the cage, which may help Tibau defend this. Tavares is in guard. He throws a couple of half-hearted jabs, then tries to pass, but Tibau isn't allowing it. Tibau pulls Tavares in tight, locking up both his arms. Tavares pulls free and again tries to pass guard. This has turned into a bit of a stalemate, the referee may be thinking of standing them up if nothing happens soon. Tavares tries a big right hand, which Tibau defends well. He has quite a high guard, Tavares has to be wary not to fall into a triangle when leaning in like that. Tibau once again drags Tavares down into a clinch, and this time even tries to work a guillotine, but Tavares easily deals with it and hands out two solid right hands to the ribs along the way. We're back to Tavares trying to pass guard. Tibau tries to throw a big punch and almost hands an armbar to Tavares, but he realises the danger in time and manages to recover. The referee finally gets them back to their feet due to the lack of progress that has been made. Tavares scores with a jab, then a second. Tibau goes for a sweeping kick to the right knee, but it isn't fast enough and gives Tavares enough time to take him down again. Tavares quickly goes to pass guard, looking for side control, but Tibau once again defends it. It looks like a frustrating round will end with them on the ground, and almost certainly has to go to Tavares on points due to him being the aggressor and getting two takedowns in. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Tavares. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Thiago Tavares.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Tavares with a good decision win over Tibau and this win should push him up the rankings a few spots. [B][CENTER]Rolles Gracie (4-0) vs. Cain Velasquez (4-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Rolles Gracie vs. Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Quick start to the round from Velasquez, he comes storming in with a flurry of jabs. Gracie defends it well, parrying them away. Nice straight right from Gracie connects. Velasquez gets in close and hits a pair of nice body shots, then they clinch up. Velasquez pushes Gracie back against the cage and goes for a trip, but Gracie blocks it. Gracie suddenly pushes forward off the cage and uses the momentum to take Velasquez down to the ground, into guard. Velasquez tries to push free, but Gracie forces him to go back to guard by raining down some jabs. Gracie reaches over and tries to apply some sort of neck vice, but Velasquez breaks it by bringing his arms up. Gracie steps through in an effort to mount Velasquez, but can only get to half guard as one of his legs gets trapped. Gracie throws some strikes, then tries to work an armbar on the closest arm. Velasquez rolls over and uses his free arm to keep that from happening. That goes on for quite a long time, with Gracie determined to try and work the arm free and get an armbar, while Velasquez uses everything at his disposal to block it. The round ends without Gracie having made the breakthrough, although he clearly ran away with the round in terms of points. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Gracie.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Gracie starts the round like a house on fire, hitting three quick jabs and a vicious right hook. Velasquez covered up well, but at least one of the jabs got through and landed above the left eye. Velasquez backs up to buy some time, but Gracie keeps coming and lands a right hand to the body. Velasquez scores with a jab in return, then goes with a kick to the waist. Gracie catches the leg though and quickly rushes forward with a takedown. Velasquez pulls guard. Gracie doggedly tries to pass guard, but Velasquez keeps him at bay. The referee tells them that he wants to see more in the way of action or he'll stand them up. Not much of an incentive for Velasquez to do anything, but it does inspire Gracie to throw a couple of hard punches, albeit ones that are easily parried by the gloves of Velasquez. Gracie manages to work past Velasquez's right leg, but gets caught in half guard before he can get the mount that he was looking for. The fight once again slows right down, with Velasquez's tenacious defence frustrating Gracie. Velasquez sucks Gracie into a clinch, and even tries a cheeky guillotine. Gracie pushes him away though, and nails a beauty of a right hand to the cheek in response. I don't think Velasquez will be trying that move again for a while. Gracie grabs an arm and tries to twist it backward to create some torque. Velasquez uses his free arm to grab his own wrist, preventing that from happening. The time expires without anything further of note happening. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Gracie.[/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. Velasquez goes for the first takedown, but Gracie 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. Gracie storms back in almost immediately and takes Velasquez down, into guard. It's hard to say whether that was just a good takedown or whether Velasquez just had a lapse in concentration. Gracie tries to pass the guard but can't, with Velasquez employing a rubber guard now. There's a definite stalemate, Velasquez is defending very well but isn't really offering any attacking threat or really trying to get out of this predicament. Gracie makes a big effort to pass, and manages to get to half guard, but Velasquez 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 Gracie on points, the takedown is really the only noteworthy thing that has happened. The third round is over. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Gracie. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Rolles Gracie.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Gracie is now 4-0 in the in the UFC and 5-0 in MMA overall. [B][U][CENTER]Maincard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Anthony Johnson (7-1) vs. Matt Arroyo (7-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Anthony Johnson via TKO[/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 Johnson, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. Johnson 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. Arroyo covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. About thirty seconds pass without any contact, and the crowd become a little restless. Low kick from Arroyo, 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 Johnson will take the round on points. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Johnson.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Arroyo comes out fast, and looks like he is aiming for a quick takedown, but Johnson stops that plan with some looping punches. Solid right hand from Johnson connects, and that's the best moment of the opening minute of the round. Arroyo is mainly defending against punches, it looks like he is trying to work an angle to try for a takedown. Johnson seems to have noticed, as he is purposely positioning against that. Straight left from Johnson, then a low kick, then a wicked body shot. Arroyo felt that, and backs off. Arroyo tries to get in for a clinch, perhaps looking for a takedown from that position, but Johnson gets him to back off with some jabs. Johnson has really been able to stamp his gameplan on this round, Arroyo has been blocked at every turn. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Johnson.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Johnson starts tentatively, and scores with a few sharp leg kicks. A straight left connects, and Arroyo is forced backward to avoid an uppercut. Good start from Johnson. Arroyo tries to come inside, but eats a kick to the thigh. They clinch briefly, but it goes nowhere. Looping right hand from Arroyo, but it only caught Johnson on the shoulder. Another kick connects from Johnson, and that sets up a nice combination to the body. The accuracy of his kicks has been excellent so far, and is keeping Arroyo from doing very much. Arroyo gets pinned against the cage, and the referee eventually has to separate them. Right hand from Arroyo, that one definitely registered, but I don't think it had much power behind it. The time ticks away without anything further of interest happening. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Johnson. The official scores are in; two judges give 30-27, the other 29-28, all for Anthony Johnson.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Johnson now has four wins in a row and also handed Arroyo his first loss in his last five fights. [B][CENTER]Eddie Alvarez (19-1) vs. Josh Thomson (15-4) Sherdog's Prediction: Eddie Alvarez via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Alvarez puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Thomson defended well. Straight right from Thomson 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, Alvarez probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Thomson 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 Alvarez. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Alvarez by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Alvarez and Thomson circle to start. Thomson throws a couple of looping punches, neither hitting, while Alvarez sits back, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Thomson comes in closer, looking to unload with a right hand; that misses, and it allows Alvarez to slip a nice jab in, catching Thomson just underneath the right eye. Alvarez comes in and scores with a straight left, then bounces a right hand off the body. Thomson misses with a right cross, then backs off. Alvarez stalks him, forcing Thomson back up against the cage. Alvarez doesn't rush in, instead standing back and throwing the occasional punch. Thomson throws a big left hand in response, but it misses by quite a margin. Alvarez pounces, hitting lefts and rights. Thomson covers up from the first two punches, then clinches up to prevent any more coming in. They're up against the cage, Alvarez in the dominant position. They remain that way as the time ticks down. Alvarez 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. Thomson comes in hard and fast, bobbing and weaving, and throws a couple of big shots. Alvarez 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 Alvarez's favour. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Alvarez.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Thomson doesn't waste any time and throws two jabs to the face, but Alvarez easily side-steps both and circles to the left. Alvarez 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. They come together, both throwing punches. Alvarez gets a nice clean shot in, and Thomson stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. Alvarez is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. [B]Official time of the TKO is 1:22 of the third round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Alvarez with yet another win in the UFC and since signing has gone 6-0 with a very imressive five of those fights ending in a (T)KO finish. [B][CENTER]Rousimar Palhales (9-1) vs. Thales Leites (14-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Rousimar Palhales via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Leites works an angle and comes in from the side of Palhales, getting two good jabs in before a ragged left misses by quite a margin. Palhales hits a low kick to back Leites against the cage, then works the body with a series of short punches. Leites fights out and the action returns to the center. Leites misses with a straight right. Palhales hits a standing kick, and Leites is rocked, stumbling backwards and falling to the floor. Palhales leaps into action and fires off a barrage of right hands. The referee dives in and protects Leites, bringing the fight to an end. The kick didn't knock Leites out, but it left him stunned, and that was all that Palhales needed to finish the job. [B]Official time of the TKO is 2:39 of the first.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: The fight wasn't the ground battle people expected but it was a good, quick fight. Palhales used his superior stand up to win and should be boosted up the rankings quite nicely with this impressive win. [B][CENTER]Lyoto Machida (16-1) vs. Keith Jardine (15-4-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Lyoto Machida via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Machida puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Jardine defended well. Straight right from Jardine 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, Machida probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Jardine 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 Machida. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Machida.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Machida doesn't waste any time, scoring with a big right hook almost immediately. Jardine was caught sleeping, and that really landed hard, if it had been more accurate it might have been a knock out blow. Jardine hits two sharp body shots in return, but it's clear that he is rattled. Other than a few half-hearted jabs, there's been a definite lull over the past minute. They get in close and exchange punches, it's not clear who got the better of that. Machida hits a good looping punch to the side of the head, that's another one that's rattled Jardine. Machida is getting more force behind his punches at the moment, and that's the key difference. Jardine looks to be working an angle. Time ticks away, and Jardine offers nothing that would make you think that he has any chance of winning this round on points. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Machida.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Jardine is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Machida picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Jardine throws a wild punch as a counter, but Machida ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Jardine 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 Jardine is looking for big punches, Machida is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Jardine manages to back Machida up against the cage. Jardine takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Machida ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Jardine can unload. Jardine may need to think about changing tactics, Machida is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Jardine fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Machida on the thigh. Machida presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Jardine 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 the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Machida. The three judges all give the match as 30-27 to Lyoto Machida.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Machida with his fourth win in a row and if he wins one more he could be in line for a title shot and a rematch against Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson. [B][CENTER]UFC Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (24-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (20-2) Sherdog's Prediction: Georges St. Pierre via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Silva that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. Silva throws out a few jabs, nothing too dangerous though, St. Pierre easily avoided them. St. Pierre ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Silva, although no damage has actually been done yet. St. Pierre makes Silva 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. St. Pierre throws another two punches, both to the body, then steps back to avoid an uppercut. Silva lets fly with a scorching punch though, and it catches St. Pierre by surprise, putting him down! Silva follows up and starts raining down right hands. St. Pierre covers up as best he can, but it's not enough as the referee pulls Silva off, the match is over. [B]The official time is 2:41. Anderson Silva is still the UFC Middleweight champion.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ***** [B]Notes[/B]: Silva shows why he is considered one the best fighters of all time with this win. St. Pierre will remain in the Middleweight division and will hope for a rematch after getting some wins. [B][U]Post Show News Fighter Bonuses[/U][/B] Submission of the Night: Matt Hamill Knock Out of the Night: Rousimar Palhales Fight of the Night: Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre [B][U]Resignings[/U][/B] Matt Hamill, Cain Velasquez and Rolles Gracie will all be signed to new UFC contracts following UFC 101. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critical-23 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Who in the hell is going to stop friggin Silva?!?!? Man. . .amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanMMA09 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 [QUOTE=critical-23;457503]Who in the hell is going to stop friggin Silva?!?!? Man. . .amazing![/QUOTE] Nobody, hot damn. And it's not just that, but it happened in the first round. Hell, I'm almost guessing it might have been a fluke, a la Serra/GSP, well, I have a different opinion on that in real life, but that's another story. I'd definitely like to see a rematch. Btw, sorry I haven't been on lately man, busy as you know what. I'll try and start commenting everything again if I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [QUOTE=RyanMMA09;457504]Nobody, hot damn. And it's not just that, but it happened in the first round. Hell, I'm almost guessing it might have been a fluke, a la Serra/GSP, well, I have a different opinion on that in real life, but that's another story. I'd definitely like to see a rematch. Btw, sorry I haven't been on lately man, busy as you know what. I'll try and start commenting everything again if I can.[/QUOTE] GSP will get a rematch if he gets a few wins together but Silva is on a roll right now. Next in line is definately Forrest and then it's a toss up between Bisping and Mousasi. GSP will have to wait a while as the Middleweight division is quite stacked now with atleast seven or eight people worthy of getting a title shot now. Then you add in Karo, Leben, Okami and Aaron Meisner and it's a very tough division. For Gsp to get a rematch it will be the same as when he lost to Serra and he will have to get atleast two wins over high competition such as Rousimar Palhales, Dan Henderson and Gregard Mousasi. Can't see many people beating Silva after this though but I guess we will just have to wait for an upset or until he gets old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]New Rankings After UFN 16 & UFC 101[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]UFC have released the new rankings following their UFN 16 & UFC 101 events.[/CENTER] [B][U]Lightweight[/U][/B] 1. Roger Huerta 2. Vitor Ribeiro 3. Kenny Florian 4. Eddie Alvarez 5. Shinya Aoki 6. Thiago Tavares 7. Jason Tabor +1 8. Jim Miller -1 9. Billy Evangelista +1 10. Sean Sherk - New Entry [B][U]Welterweight[/U][/B] 1. Jon Fitch +2 2. Matt Hughes -1 3. Yoshiyuki Yoshida -1 4. BJ Penn 5. Anthony Johnson +1 6. Dan Hardy +1 7. Dong Hyun Kim +1 8. Thiago Alves -3 9. Diego Sanchez +1 10. Matt Serra - New Entry [B][U]Middleweight[/U][/B] 1. Anderson Silva +1 2. Forrest Griffin +1 3. Georges St. Pierre -2 4. Gregard Mousasi 5. Michael Bisping 6. Dan Henderson 7. Rousimar Palhales 8. Demian Maia 9. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza +1 10. Cung Le - New Entry [B][U]Light Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Wanderlei Silva 3. Lyoto Machida +1 4. Rich Franklin -1 5. Thiago Silva 6. Wilson Gouveia 7. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua 8. Roger Hollett +1 9. Keith Jardine -1 10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira [B][U]Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2. Shane Carwin +1 3. Fedor Emelianenko +2 4. Sergei Kharitonov -2 5. Tim Sylvia -1 6. Cheick Kongo 7. Rolles Gracie - New Entry 8. Aleksander Emelianenko -1 9. Andrei Arlovski -1 10. Brandon Vera -1 [B][U]P4P[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Roger Huerta 3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 4. Anderson Silva +1 5. Wanderlei Silva +2 6. Vitor Ribeiro 7. Kenny Florian +2 8. Lyoto Machida - New Entry 9. Rich Franklin +1 10. Jon Fitch - New Entry [B]Biggest Jump this month[/B]: Jon Fitch/Fedor Emelianenko: Fitch and Fedor moved up two ranks each this month. Fitch moved into #1 in the Welterweight rankings after he beat Thiago Alves in a back and forth fight which ended early into the third round when Fitch made Alves tap out via an armbar submission which won him submission of the night. Winning that fight meant that Fitch advanced into the Welterweight tournament final where he will face either Matt Hughes or Yoshiyuki Yoshida with the Welterweight title on the line. Fitch also debuted on the pound for pound top ten this month at #10. Fedor jumped upto #3 in the Heavyweight top ten rankings this month after he beat fellow Russian Sergei Kharitonov via decision at UFN 16. The jump means he is eligible for a title shot against champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira though he isn't expected to fight him next. He is expected to fight either Andrei Arlovski or Brandon Vera next. [B]Biggest Drop this month[/B]: Thiago Alves: Alves dropped 3 ranks this month as he was knocked out of the Welterweight tournament at the semi final stage as he lost to Jon Fitch via a third round armbar. He is expected to fight either Diego Sanchez or Matt Serra next. [B]Most Impressive New Entry[/B]: Rolles Gracie: Gracie debuted in the Heavyweight top ten rankings this month at an impressive #7 rankings him above names like Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko and Brandon Vera. He earned his spot after his most recent win at UFC 101 where he beat Cain Velasquez via decision. It is unknown who he will fight next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces UFC 102: Huerta vs. Ribeiro[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]Today UFC announced UFC 102: Huerta vs. Ribeiro. Here is the card. [B][U]Maincard[/U][/B] UFC Lightweight Championship: Roger Huerta (25-1-1) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (22-2) Michael Bisping (20-2) vs. Gregard Mousasi (24-2-1) Chuck Liddell (22-7) vs. Rashad Evans (14-3-1) Tim Sylvia (25-5) vs. Cheick Kongo (13-5) Josh Koscheck (13-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-1) [B][U]Undercard[/U][/B] Rich Clementi (32-13-1) vs. Billy Evangelista (8-0) Kendall Grove (9-7) vs. Cung Le (9-0) Aleksander Emelianenko (13-4) vs. Jake O'Brian (10-4) James Irvin (13-8) vs. Tim Boetsch (8-2) Mike Swick (11-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (30-14-1) Ville Manninen (3-1) vs. Corey Hill (2-1)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 102 Preview[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER][B][U]Ville Manninen (3-1) vs. Corey Hill (2-1)[/U][/B] Two fighters will battle it out at UFC 102 when Ville Manninen makes his UFC debut against Corey Hill. Hill is coming off his first ever loss as in his last fight at UFC 85 when he lost to Eddie Alvarez via a first round KO in Alvarez's UFC debut. Ville is also a UFC debutant and will look for similar success. [B][U]Mike Swick (11-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (30-14-1)[/U][/B] Swick comes into this fight desperately needing a win as his last two fights have ended in third round TKO finishes with him being on the losing end both times. He lost against Josh Koscheck at UFC 90 and then to Dan Hardy at UFC 93. Gono however is coming off a win in his last fight as he beat the UFC debutant Mark Miller via a second round submission at UFC 99. Gono is a top Welterweight and a win here could put him into the top ten Welterweight rankings. [B][U]James Irvin (13-8) vs. Tim Boetsch (8-2)[/U][/B] Boetsch is coming off a loss from his last fight as he lost to Matt Hamill at UFC 97 via a second round TKO. Irvin isn't much better, infact he is much worse. He lost three straight decision losses to Antonio Mendes, Tomasz Drwal and Matt Hamill and then in his most recent fight he lost to Keith Jardine via submission so this is definately a must win for him as five stright losses is just not UFC material. [B][U]Aleksander Emelianenko (13-4) vs. Jake O'Brian (10-4)[/U][/B] Aleksander is coming off a decision win over Heath Herring at UFC 93 while O'Brian is coming off three stright losses to Chirs Tuchscherer, Pedro Rizzo and most recently a TKO loss to Nicolas Rodriguez. Aleksander is currently the #8 best ranked Heavyweight but a win could put him as high as #5. [B][U]Kendall Grove (9-7) vs. Cung Le (9-0)[/U][/B] Cung Le is currently 4-0 in the UFC having decision wins over Marvin Eastman and Rory Singer and TKO wins over Ricardo Arona and Jorge Rivera. He will now step up against Kendall Grove who is coming off a decision loss to Forrest Griffin and a TKO loss to Stephan Bonnar. Le is currently ranked at #10 in the Middleweight rankings but a win could put him as high as #7. [B][U]Rich Clementi (32-13-1) vs. Billy Evangelista (8-0)[/U][/B] Evangelista is currently 3-0 holding wins over Dan Lauzon, Jorge Gurgel and Mark Bocek. Clementi wasn't as fortunate as Evangelista in his last fight as he lost to Shinya Aoki via a second round TKO at UFC 89. Evangelista is currently ranked at #9 in the top ten Lightweight rankings but a win over Clenti could put him as high as #5. [B][U]Josh Koscheck (13-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-1)[/U][/B] Koscheck is coming off two straight losses losing to Jon Fitch via a first round Knock Out at UFC 94 and then losing a decision to Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFN 15. Johnson will look to worsen the losing streak of Koscheck as he looks for his fifth straight win as he fights on his second straight event after beating Matt Arroyo at UFC 101. Johnson is currently ranked at #5 in the Welterweight rankings and a win over Koscheck could push him as high as #4. [B][U]Tim Sylvia (25-5) vs. Cheick Kongo (13-5)[/U][/B] Both of these top Heavyweights are coming into this fight coming off losses. Sylvia's loss came against the Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 97 when he lost via a third round Submission while Kongo's loss was a major upset as he got KO'ed by the UFC newcomer Rob Broughton at UFN 15. Both fighters are still top ten ranked Heavyweights with Sylvia ranked at #5 and Kongo at #6. A win could put either fighter as high as #3 in rankings. [B][U]Chuck Liddell (22-7) vs. Rashad Evans (14-3-1)[/U][/B] Liddell is coming into this fight after losing his last fight to Lyoto Machida via decision at UFC 97. Evans is also coming off a loss as he lost his last fight against Wanderlei Silva via a first roun TKO at UFN 16. Neither fighter is currently ranked in the top ten Light Heavyweights but both so easily could be and a win in this fight could put either into the rankings. [B][U]Michael Bisping (20-2) vs. Gregard Mousasi (24-2-1)[/U][/B] This fight will probably determine who will get the next Middleweight title shot after Forrest Griffin. Mousasi is currently 3-0 in the UFC with wins over Dean Lister, Jonathan Goulet and most recently Stephan Bonnar with all those wins coming via decision. Bisping has won his last five fights with decision wins over Jason Macdonald, Evan Tanner and Yushin Okami and TKO wins over Alan Belcher and Nobutatsu Suzuki. Both fighters are top five ranked Middleweights with Bisping ranked at #5 and Mousasi at #4. A win could put either man into the top three Middleweights which would make them eligible for that title shot. [B][U]UFC Lightweight Championship: Roger Huerta (25-1-1) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (22-2)[/U][/B] Roger Huerta will make his second defence of his Lightweight title against Vitor Ribeiro. Ribeiro earned his shot by going 3-0 in the UFC with wins over Din Thomas, Josh Thomas and Frankie Edgar. Huerta has been on a massive winning streak since Scott Avatar was hired. Since Avatar was hired Huerta has gone 5-0 with every fight being a win over a big name. He beat Frankie Edgar is just thirty seconds and then he got three straight decision wins beating Joe Stevenson, Tyson Griffin and then in his title winning fight BJ Penn. He then made his first defence of his title at UFC 99 when he beat Shinya Aoki via a second round TKO. Huerta is currently ranked at #1 in the Lightweight rankings and Ribeiro is ranked at #2 so this truly is a battle of the best at Lightweight. Both fighters are ranked quite high in the pound for pound rankings with Huerta ranked at #2 and Ribeiro being ranked at #6 so this is truly a big fight and it will be tough for both men.[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanMMA09 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Finally, a night where I have a little time. I'll give the first fight to [b]Corey Hill[/b], I just don't know anything about this Ville Manninen guy. I'm assuming someone retired and he was the new creation? But anyways, he lost his last fight to Alvarez, hill did, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. Mike Swick isn't looking too good in your game right now and as much as I want him to win, I think [b]Akihiro Gono[/b] is going to be more reliable for a fight like this. Not who I'm going for, but it's who I think will win. The Sandman, [b]James Irvin[/b] will surely knock out Tim Boetsch, this guy is the two oh five Phil Baroni in my opinion, similar, just bigger. Next fight should honestly be an easy win for [b]Aleksander Emelianenko[/b]. Jake O'Brian has heavy hands, but he's an easy matchup for Lil Fedor (lmao.) I'm going to choose [b]Cung Le[/b] over Kendall Grove, but it might not be as devastating as one would think. Grove is very talented, just has a terrible chin and although Cung Le has world class striking, he's not known for his knockout power. Probably not a smart fight though dude, kind of risky nobody to put against Le. In the next fight, I'll pick the upset with [b]Rich Clementi[/b], No Love is always game, kind of like Gono. Main card time, I hope [b]Anthony Johnson[/b] knocks hair boy the **** out. Honestly, I'm always against Koscheck and he's a solid solid classy athlete, but he's a Lay n Pray artist and he's boring as **** and honestly, I just can't stand the guy. Next fight is interesting, but I have Cheick Kongo losing to Big Tim. [b]Tim Sylvia[/b] is always going to be Tim Sylvia, Cheick Kongo's just not reliable enough for me to chose in this one. Seems to be the case a lot on this card lol. Finally, we get to see [b]Chuck Liddell[/b] knock Rashad Evans into the next century. The second Rashad tries to push the pace, he's getting knocked on his ass. Next fight, I'm not sure if you spelled Mousasi's first name right hmm. Actually, it's Gegard Mousasi. Either way, in real life, I'd choose Mousasi, even though Bisping's my favorite fighter. But for the game, let's say [b]Michael Bisping[/b]. I just think he's on too big of a roll to lose now. I see the TKO coming Mousasi's way, poor lad, lmao. As far as the main event goes, blah. Not the biggest main event I've seen in my life. You've got a real life overrated, but still skilled and fun to watch [b]Roger Huerta[/b] who I do think will win against a guy who basically fights in Cage Rage in Vitor Ribeiro. Honestly, he doesn't seem like he'd be the number one contender, but if he is, cool enough. We'll see how long he lasts, I don't see this going five rounds. I see Huerta losing the first, winning the second, and knocking him out in the third. What's up with NOBODY on the main card but Ribeiro being a Jiu-Jitsu specialist? I want Jits. lol. Nice card though, interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 102: Huerta vs. Ribeiro[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][U][CENTER]Undercard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Ville Manninen (3-1) vs. Corey Hill (2-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Ville Manninen via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Hill starts brightly by throwing some looping punches. Defended well by Manninen. They circle, throwing tentative jabs. Manninen goes for a single leg and puts Hill on the floor, but he is up very quickly, preventing Manninen from getting on top. Hill definitely seems to want to keep this standing. Manninen hits a nice jab, avoids a counter left hook, then comes in low and takes down Hill again. This time Hill isn't able to get up, and has to pull guard. Times ticking away though, Manninen will have to hurry to finish. He goes for an armbar, but Hill defends. Manninen tries to slip past to get side control, but Hill just about manages to keep guard. A second attempt works though, and Manninen has the side. Two big elbows land, and Hill seems in trouble. Manninen goes for the kimura, but can't quite get it. The time expires before he can try again, and the referee separates them. The 1st round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Manninen.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Hill starts fast, unleashing a bomb of a right hand, but Manninen avoids it without too much trouble. Hill isn't disheartened though, swinging two more huge punches, with Manninen getting out the way each time, but being forced all over the place. Hill finally backs off a little, breathing hard. That was quite a frantic start. Manninen opts to use that, and comes in to throw some jabs. Hill is backed up against the cage, covering up. Manninen clinches. They struggle, and the fight enters a lull. Hill hits a knee strike to the hip. Manninen slips one leg behind Hill and uses that as leverage for a big trip. Hill landed hard, with Manninen on top. They're in half guard. It's to Hill's advantage that they're right next to the cage, that is blocking Manninen from attacking the left hand side of the body. Hill is forced into action to defend a kimura attempt. Manninen tries to step over to mount, but Hill keeps his legs in position and ends up almost rolled into a ball. Manninen 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. Hill doesn't appear to be trying that though, instead trying to shift his weight so that he can get back up. Manninen isn't allowing it though, and gets a couple more punches in before settling back into half guard. Hill ties him up in a snug clinch. The action halts, and time expires before Manninen can get free. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Manninen by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Manninen leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Hill 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. Hill uses a knee to the ribs before backing Manninen up against the cage. Right hand from Manninen connects though, that was well timed. Hill breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Manninen was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Hill sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Manninen fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Hill throws a stinging jab, landing just above the left eye. Manninen steps in and fires off one of his own, but Hill bobs out of the way and scores with a pair of solid shots to the body. Manninen turns and swings, just as Hill also unloads...and it's Hill who connects first! Manninen's hands drop and he is on rubbery legs. Hill follows up with a beauty of a right hand, and that drops Manninen. The referee doesn't even wait for Hill to dive in to finish, he's seen enough, Manninen is clearly on Dream Street. [B]This bout is over! Hill wins via TKO at 3:51 of the third round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Manninen loses his UFC debut but he still impressed winning the first two rounds and then losing to what many would call a lucky punch. [B][CENTER]Mike Swick (11-4) vs. Akihiro Gono (30-14-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Akihiro Gono via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Gono hits a nice left hook. Swick felt it, and throws a ragged punch in response, missing by a mile. Gono comes in close and hits a couple of big body shots, bobbing out of the way of the jabs that were aimed for his jaw. Swick clinches up, but gets pushed all the way back to the cage, where Gono uses a trip to send them both down to the ground. Gono passes guard and gets into side control, but it's an awkward position; Swick has the entire right hand side of his body up against the cage, and both his legs wrapped around Gono's left arm. Gono's attacking options are fairly limited. He uses a couple of back fists to strike away at the face, but Swick covers up to defend them. Gono tries to pin down one of Swick's arms and bring his legs around to trap them fully, but Swick uses his free arm to stop that from happening. The ground battle enters a stalemate, as Gono finds himself unable to do any real damage other than occasional strikes, which he doesn't have the leverage to get much power behind, with virtually no chance of gaining a submission thanks to his left arm being trapped. The referee eventually stands them up, and the time expires before anything interesting can happen with them standing. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Gono.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] A couple of straight lefts from Swick start the round, but neither got past the gloves of Gono. They clinch, with Gono looking like he initiated it. They struggle for supremacy. Swick gets taken down, but traps Gono in guard. Gono tries to grab an arm to work a submission, but Swick is defending it well by using short, sharp strikes to keep him back. Gono tries to pass the guard, but has no luck. A punch from Gono connects, but there was no real power behind it. Gono fakes Swick out cleverly, and slips to a half mount. Swick manages to hit a firm elbow, then is forced to defend the full mount attempt. Gono switches tactics and tries to work a kimura on the other arm, but Swick blocks it, squirms his leg free, and secures the guard again. Gono looks frustrated at losing the half mount after having worked so hard to get it in the first place. Swick is liable to lose the round on points, but he has done a fine job of defending the submissions attempts so far. Gono tries to secure a leglock, but the guard is tight and Swick is safe. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Gono.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Slow start; nearly a full minute of circling, occasional fakes, and long-range jabs. Neither fighter is creating much. Gono works an angle, but takes a low kick to the shin when he advances. They clinch, and end up with Swick backed up against the cage. Gono gets a couple of right hands to the body, but his attempts at knee strikes are deflected by Swick, who uses his legs well to defend. Gono pulls free and takes a step back, then powers in a right hand. Swick gets out the way, ducks under a second right hand, and backs up to the center. Gono follows, and we're back to circling. Uninspiring action so far, they've both been fairly devoid of inspiration. Gono hits a couple of right hands, both hitting gloves, then a left hand to the body that connected. That was the best shot of the round so far. Swick tags him with a flicked jab to the cheek, but it had virtually no power on it. Swick leans in to a looping left, but it puts him off balance and it's only at the last second that he gets his chin out of the way of a vicious right cross that comes back. If that had hit, we may have had a knock out. Time runs out with them standing, circling again. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Gono. All three judges give a score of 30-27 to Akihiro Gono.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Gono gets his second win in a row and this win could push him into the top ten Welterweights if he is lucky. [B][CENTER]James Irvin (13-8) vs. Tim Boetsch (8-2) Sherdog's Prediction: James Irvin via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Boetsch starts strongly, hitting two stiff jabs to the gloves, stinging the hands of Irvin. The third strike is a meaty left hook that narrowly misses. If that had hit, Irvin may well have been decapitated. Despite leaning backwards, Irvin throws a mighty kick that explodes across the chest, Boetsch staggers back. That was an enormously powerful blow, and Boetsch didn't see it coming at all. They circle for a moment, sizing each other up. Irvin throws a flurry of jabs, but Boetsch blocks them easily. A right hand from Boetsch lands below the eye, and a straight left glances off the shoulder. Another exchange doesn't see either fighter get an advantage. Boetsch throws a heavy left, but Irvin goes underneath it. Another hard kick from Irvin, this time smashing into the left thigh. Boetsch almost get knocked down. He throws a left hook in retaliation which misses by a mile, and gives Irvin 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 Irvin which have really made a big difference. As the round comes to an end, it looks like those will make sure that Irvin wins the round on points. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Irvin.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Slow start. Boetsch lunges in to hit a punch, but finds nothing. He left himself wide open with that attempt, Irvin should have done better and punished him. A looping left from Boetsch, but it's wide of the mark. Boetsch looks like he is still feeling the effects of earlier, like he is still a little rocked. Irvin hits a nice series of straight rights, one seemed to get through the guard and catch Boetsch by surprise. Boetsch returns fire with a forearm blow, but a follow up right hook misses. Boetsch looks to be working an angle. They end up clinched, which seems to go on forever. Indeed, the time runs down to the extent that there's only a few seconds left by the time they are parted. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Irvin.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Irvin and Boetsch circle to start. Boetsch throws a couple of looping punches, neither hitting, while Irvin sits back, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Boetsch comes in closer, looking to unload with a right hand; that misses, and it allows Irvin to slip a nice jab in, catching Boetsch just underneath the right eye. Irvin comes in and scores with a straight left, then bounces a right hand off the body. Boetsch misses with a right cross, then backs off. Irvin stalks him, forcing Boetsch back up against the cage. Irvin doesn't rush in, instead standing back and throwing the occasional punch. Boetsch throws a big left hand in response, but it misses by quite a margin. Irvin pounces, hitting lefts and rights. Boetsch covers up from the first two punches, then clinches up to prevent any more coming in. They're up against the cage, Irvin in the dominant position. They remain that way as the time ticks down. Irvin 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. Boetsch comes in hard and fast, bobbing and weaving, and throws a couple of big shots. Irvin 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 Irvin's favour. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Irvin. James Irvin wins the match, getting a score of 30-27 from all three judges.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Irvin gets a win atlast and it's at the expense of Boetsch who was handed his second loss in a row. [B][CENTER]Aleksander Emelianenko (13-4) vs. Jake O'Brian (10-4) Sherdog's Prediction: Aleksander Emelianenko via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. O'Brien is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Emelianenko picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. O'Brien throws a wild punch as a counter, but Emelianenko ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. O'Brien 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 O'Brien is looking for big punches, Emelianenko is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and O'Brien manages to back Emelianenko up against the cage. O'Brien takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Emelianenko ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before O'Brien can unload. O'Brien may need to think about changing tactics, Emelianenko is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. O'Brien fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Emelianenko on the thigh. Emelianenko presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. O'Brien 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 the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Emelianenko.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] O'Brien comes out quick and immediately starts pressing Emelianenko back toward the cage. O'Brien tries to use the position to his advantage, pinning Emelianenko in to prevent him from moving freely, but the exchange of punches that follows is clearly won by Emelianenko, who catches O'Brien with a wicked right cross during the flurry of blows. O'Brien tries again, but Emelianenko is looking sharp and parries away any dangerous shot, getting in a few crisp jabs of his own along the way. O'Brien finally backs off, realising that this isn't working. Emelianenko is showing superior ability with his hands, they're fast and accurate, O'Brien isn't able to cope with them at close quarters, being made to look slow and ragged in comparison. O'Brien switches to using raking right hands and looping punches, keeping Emelianenko back, but its effectiveness is limited as O'Brien's punches are easily parried away, and Emelianenko can still hit the occasional right hand. The round ends with that being the pattern. Emelianenko has used his better punching technique and hand speed to confound O'Brien, and has controlled this round almost entirely. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Emelianenko by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Slow start; nearly a full minute of circling, occasional fakes, and long-range jabs. Neither fighter is creating much. O'Brien works an angle, but takes a low kick to the shin when he advances. They clinch, and end up with Emelianenko backed up against the cage. O'Brien gets a couple of right hands to the body, but his attempts at knee strikes are deflected by Emelianenko, who uses his legs well to defend. O'Brien pulls free and takes a step back, then powers in a right hand. Emelianenko gets out the way, ducks under a second right hand, and backs up to the center. O'Brien follows, and we're back to circling. Uninspiring action so far, they've both been fairly devoid of inspiration. O'Brien hits a couple of right hands, both hitting gloves, then a left hand to the body that connected. That was the best shot of the round so far. Emelianenko tags him with a flicked jab to the cheek, but it had virtually no power on it. Emelianenko leans in to a looping left, but it puts him off balance and it's only at the last second that he gets his chin out of the way of a vicious right cross that comes back. If that had hit, we may have had a knock out. Time runs out with them standing, circling again. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 O'Brien. All three judges give a score of 29-28 in favour of Aleksander Emelianenko.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Aleks with another win here and he is now 2-1 in the UFC and will hopefully be boosted up the Heavyweight rankings quite nicely with this win. [B][CENTER]Kendall Grove (9-7) vs. Cung Le (9-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Cung Le via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] A fizzing right hand from Le opens the round; it didn't find its intended target of Grove's chin, but it did land hard on the left shoulder instead. Grove fights back with a jab, but takes a hard shot to the body after leaning in too far. Le pins him to the cage with a quick burst, and unloads with lefts and rights. Grove 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. Le 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. Grove had to time that perfectly, and did. Le doesn't pull guard, instead scrambling, ending up onto his knees, with Grove taking his back! Grove tries to go for a choke, but Le bucks and twists, scrambling back to his feet and backing off. A big right hand and a high kick prevent Grove from following too closely. After that frenetic minute of action, things die down, with the fighters circling. Le scores with two leg kicks, Grove 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. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Le.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Le starts tentatively, and scores with a few sharp leg kicks. A straight left connects, and Grove is forced backward to avoid an uppercut. Good start from Le. Grove tries to come inside, but eats a kick to the thigh. They clinch briefly, but it goes nowhere. Looping right hand from Grove, but it only caught Le on the shoulder. Another kick connects from Le, and that sets up a nice combination to the body. The accuracy of his kicks has been excellent so far, and is keeping Grove from doing very much. Grove tries to back Le up against the cage wall, but it comes to nothing. Right hand from Grove, that one definitely registered, but I don't think it had much power behind it. The time ticks away without anything further of interest happening. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Le.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Grove 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. Le steps in and throws some punches, landing a crisp jab to the shoulder. Grove 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 Le, he is basically controlling the tempo and positioning of this fight through intelligent use of sharp, accurate kicks. Grove comes in fast, faking left then going right, and gets close enough to throw some body blows. Le gets in a right hand of his own, then a beauty of a high kick. It lands right on the ear, causing Grove to back off quickly. If that had had more power, it might well have scored a knock out. The round is almost over. Le has controlled this one, Grove is finding it very difficult to find a way around those kicks. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Le. All three judges give a score of 30-27 to Cung Le.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Le is now into double figures at 10-0 and this win will surely boost him up the rankings. [B][CENTER]Rich Clementi (32-13-1) vs. Billy Evangelista (8-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Billy Evangelista via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Clementi comes out fast, but gets hit with a counter right hand strike when he throws a left hand which was too high. Evangelista moves in and hits a nice body shot before they clinch. Clementi gets in a short, sharp jab to the side of the head, it looked to hit right on the ear. Evangelista didn't like that, and scores with two knee strikes and a punch to the cheek. They break apart. Evangelista swings and hits a nice right hand. Clementi fires off a series of sharp jabs, all hitting gloves. He throws out a looping left, but gets tagged with a punch to the jaw and stumbles to the ground! Evangelista dives in to finish him off, but he scrambles back up quickly and they end up facing off on their feet again. Replays show that the punch barely connected, it was more of a stumble on Clementi's part than anything else. It might not look that way to the judges though. Evangelista looks more confident after that, and puts together a nice chain of strikes, ending with a scathing low kick that catches Clementi on the outside of the calf. He definitely felt that. Time is running out; Evangelista will probably take this round on the judges' score cards, primarily due to that one dubious knock down. The 1st round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Evangelista.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Evangelista puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Clementi defended well. Straight right from Clementi 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, Evangelista probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Clementi 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 Evangelista. End of round 2. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Evangelista.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The two fighters touch gloves to start the round, and almost immediately come together in a clinch. There's a struggle for supremacy, but neither seems to be able to gain the advantage. They struggle all the way to the cage, neither seems to have a clear-cut advantage when it comes to wrestling. Things stall, neither fighter seems willing to risk attempting a takedown. The referee waits thirty seconds, then pulls them apart due to the inactivity. Clementi comes in hard and fast, throwing a scorching right hand, but it's a long way wide and Evangelista is able to clinch up. Clementi hits a knee to the ribs, then a second. He goes to the well once too often though, as the third knee gets caught, and Evangelista uses it for leverage to complete a takedown, ending up in Clementi's guard. Evangelista stands, and uses his arms to push Clementi's guard apart. Leaning down between the legs, he starts throwing vicious punches. Clementi tries to bring his legs back in to pull guard again, while simultaneously covering up, but he is having trouble; Evangelista is using his body to keep the legs from coming in. More punches rain down, and Clementi is starting to get really pounded. A big shot lands hard on the nose, then a left hand crunches into his cheek. The referee has seen enough and pulls Evangelista away, signalling the end of this match. [B]Evangelista wins via 3rd round TKO with the official time being 2:15.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Evangelista with another win and he remains undefeated and this win comes via an impressive TKO win. [B][U][CENTER]Maincard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Josh Koscheck (13-4) vs. Anthony Johnson (8-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Anthony Johnson via Split Decision[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Johnson starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Koscheck on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Johnson to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Koscheck, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Johnson, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Koscheck is looking a little lost so far, Johnson is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. Koscheck looks for an opening. Johnson leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Koscheck was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Koscheck 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 Koscheck is that although Johnson clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Johnson.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Johnson starts with a high kick, but Koscheck was well out of range. A looping left from Johnson, but it's wide of the mark. Johnson steps in and exchanges strikes with Koscheck, neither fighter gets a particular advantage from it. Koscheck parries away a nice right hand and gets in a crisp counter punch that catches Johnson 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. Johnson finally shows some fire, putting together a combination of two jabs, a cross, and an uppercut. Koscheck 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 Johnson blocked them. Johnson scores the best punch of the round so far, coming in fast, ducking under a dangerous right hand, and catching Koscheck square in the face with a lunging overhand right. Koscheck backs off and covers up, clearly having felt that one, and unfortunately Johnson's attempts to follow up and thwarted as he gets tied up in a clinch near the cage. The time expires, with Johnson probably having stolen that round thanks to that one big punch. The second round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Johnson.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] They circle to start, both throwing a few tentative jabs. An uppercut misses its mark from Johnson, providing the first moment of real action. Koscheck hits a nice combination of body shots to set up a big right hook, but Johnson side-stepped to safety. A few punches get thrown, but there's a lack of real action to talk about. Koscheck is being slightly the more aggressive, but neither fighter is really going for it. They come together again and exchange punches, but no big shots get through, and they end up clinched for a while. The referee separates them, but the time is ticking away and this round looks like it's going to the judges. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Koscheck. All three judges give a score of 29-28 to Anthony Johnson.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Johnson wins yet another and at such a young age gold must surely be in his future. [B][CENTER]Tim Sylvia (25-5) vs. Cheick Kongo (13-5) Sherdog's Prediction: Tim Sylvia via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Kongo looks to be working an angle. Kongo tries to work an angle, then steps in...and gets creamed with a high head kick! Sylvia landed it right to the ear of all places, and Kongo's legs give way, sending him crashing to the floor. The referee immediately covers him up, he is clearly out cold. [B]Sylvia gets the win via K.O. The official time is 0:21.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Sylvia with a brutal KO from that head kick and that hands Kongo his second straight KO loss. This win should boost Sylvia up the rankings abit higher. [B][CENTER]Chuck Liddell (22-7) vs. Rashad Evans (14-3-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Chuck Liddell via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Liddell forces Evans back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Liddell is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Evans clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Evans gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Liddell seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Evans who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Liddell had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Liddell throws a ragged jab, missing by a mile as Evans simply ducks under and unloads a vicious hook from below. It catches Liddell square on the jaw, and he goes down! Evans mounts and starts firing off punches, rapid-fire. The referee waits to see if Liddell can recover, decides that he can't, and pulls Evans off. The match is over. [B]Evans wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 3:46.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: **** [B]Notes[/B]: Evans with a massive win and this will surely put him in the Light Heavyweight rankings by the end of the month. [B][CENTER]Michael Bisping (20-2) vs. Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Michael Bisping via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Right hand from Mousasi was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Bisping. Mousasi follows up by coming in close, but Bisping is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. They clinch. Mousasi hits a knee. Body shot from Bisping. Mousasi goes for a second knee, but gets shoved away. He seems to stumble as he steps backward, and falls to the floor in an awkward moment. Bisping is on him fast, and scores with a big punch that landed sweetly. Mousasi covers up, but Bisping is raining down punches from the half mount position. At least two hard shots get through. Bisping moves up into side control, briefly looks like he is considering trying to take an arm, then goes back to teeing off on Mousasi's head with fists. Mousasi tries to wriggle free, but isn't really getting anywhere because Bisping is lying right across his upper body. Bisping uses his legs to ensnare Mousasi's right arm, and then starts firing off more and more punches. With only his left hand to try and block them, Mousasi is taking more punches than he is blocking. The referee is looking very closely at this, unless Mousasi does something dramatic pretty soon, I doubt this will go much longer. Bisping stops to take a deep breath, then starts firing off another barrage. Mousasi 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]Official time of the TKO is 1:21 of the first round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Bisping wins and if all goes well he will surely get a title shot against the winner of Forrest vs. Silva. [B][CENTER]UFC Lightweight Championship: Roger Huerta (25-1-1) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (22-2) Sherdog's Prediction: Roger Huerta via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [U][B]Round 1[/B][/U] Ribeiro misses with a straight right. Huerta hits a standing kick, and Ribeiro is rocked, stumbling backwards and falling to the floor. Huerta leaps into action and fires off a barrage of right hands. The referee dives in and protects Ribeiro, bringing the fight to an end. The kick didn't knock Ribeiro out, but it left him stunned, and that was all that Huerta needed to finish the job. [B]The official time is 1:47. Roger Huerta retains the UFC Lightweight title.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Huerta with his second defence. Huerta has been dominating the Lightweight division for this last year and a half. The next challenge for Huerta will be either Kenny Florian or Eddie Alvarez. [B][U]Post Show News Fighter Bonuses[/U][/B] Submission of the Night: N/A Knock Out of the Night: Tim Sylvia Fight of the Night: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans [B][U]Avatar's Thoughts (OOC: This will be a new feature where I post my thoughts on the show as a whole[/U][/B] Wow what a maincard with only one fight going the distance. The other four didn't even get to the end of the first round and they all ended in (T)KO finishes aswell. Bisping has earned a future title shot. Huerta makes another defence. Cung Le and Evangelista extend their undefeated streaks to 10 and 9 respectively. Evans gets a massive win over the Light Heavyweight legend Chuck Liddell. And last but not least James Irvin wins a fight!!!. OOC: oh and sorry RyanMMA09 Mousasi's first name is Gegard. [B][U]Resignings[/U][/B] James Irvin, Anthony Johnson, Billy Evangelista, Gegard Mousasi and Chuck Liddell will all be resigned to new UFC contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 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 102[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]UFC have released the new rankings following their UFC 102 events.[/CENTER] [B][U]Lightweight[/U][/B] 1. Roger Huerta 2. Kenny Florian +1 3. Eddie Alvarez +1 4. Vitor Ribeiro -2 5. Shinya Aoki 6. Thiago Tavares 7. Jason Tabor 8. Billy Evangelista +1 9. Jim Miller -1 10. Sean Sherk [B][U]Welterweight[/U][/B] 1. Jon Fitch 2. Matt Hughes 3. Yoshiyuki Yoshida 4. Anthony Johnson +1 5. BJ Penn -1 6. Dan Hardy 7. Dong Hyun Kim 8. Diego Sanchez +1 9. Thiago Alves -1 10. Akihiro Gono - New Entry [B][U]Middleweight[/U][/B] 1. Anderson Silva 2. Michael Bisping +3 3. Forrest Griffin -1 4. Georges St. Pierre -1 5. Rousimar Palhales +2 6. Dan Henderson 7. Demian Maia 8. Cung Le +2 9. Gegard Mousasi -5 10. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza -1 [B][U]Light Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Wanderlei Silva 3. Lyoto Machida 4. Rich Franklin 5. Thiago Silva 6. Wilson Gouveia 7. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua 8. Roger Hollett 9. Keith Jardine 10. Rashad Evans - New Entry [B][U]Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2. Shane Carwin 3. Tim Sylvia +2 4. Fedor Emelianenko -1 5. Sergei Kharitonov -1 6. Rolles Gracie +1 7. Aleksander Emelianenko +1 8. Cheick Kongo -2 9. Andrei Arlovski 10. Brandon Vera [B][U]P4P[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Roger Huerta 3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 4. Anderson Silva 5. Wanderlei Silva 6. Michael Bisping - New Entry 7. Kenny Florian 8. Lyoto Machida 9. Rich Franklin 10. Jon Fitch [B]Biggest Jump this month[/B]: Micheal Bisping: Bisping jumped up three ranks in the Middleweight top ten rankings this month and now sits at #2 behind only Anderson Silva. He is now above fighters like Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin and Georges St. Pierre. He earned his #2 spot this month when he beat the then #4 ranked Middleweight Gegard Mousasi at UFC 102 via a first round TKO in just one minte and twenty one seconds. He is expected to fight either Forrest Griffin or Anderson Silva next with the title on the line in either case. [B]Biggest Drop this month[/B]: Gegard Mousasi: Mousasi dropped a massive five ranks in the Middleweight top ten this month and he now lies at #9. This came after his quick TKO loss to the now #2 ranked Middleweight Michael Bisping. It is unknown who he will fight next. [B]Most Impressive New Entry[/B]: Micheal Bisping(P4P): Along with moving up to #2 in the Middleweight rankings this month Bisping also debuted in the pound for pound top ten rankings at a very impressive #6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces UFC 103: Nogueira vs. Carwin[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]Today UFC announced UFC 103: Nogueira vs. Carwin. Here is the card. [B][U]Maincard[/U][/B] UFC Heavyweight Championship: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-4-1) vs. Shane Carwin (14-0) BJ Penn (13-5-1) vs. Diego Sanchez (22-4) Jason Tabor (7-0) vs. Sean Sherk (33-4-1) Thiago Silva (17-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (13-5) Andrei Arlovski (14-7) vs. Brandon Vera (11-2) [B][U]Undercard[/U][/B] Stephan Bonnar (12-7) vs. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (12-1) Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-4) vs. Roger Hollett (11-2) Alan Belcher (13-7) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (19-3-1) Nate Diaz (8-3) vs. Thiago Tavares (16-1) Dustin Hazelett (10-4) vs. Ben Saunders (5-4-2) Chris Tuchscherer (14-1) vs. Daniel Puder (8-0)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanMMA09 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 The most exciting thing about this past show is that The Count is now the unnoficial but basically official contender to Silva's belt. War Bisping! I wasn't surprised with most of the results, I called all but two I think, although one of them surprised the hell out of me. Rashad Evans is just one of those guys I don't like, it's not his personality, seems to be a nice guy, but he annoys the hell out of me in the cage, I just find his fighting style boring and even though I believe the win, I can't picture Liddell getting one flashed knocked out by Rashad, but hey, he's now in the top ten of your second best division, so I'm impressed. The Clementi fight I got wrong could have gone either way, congrats to the undefeated Evangelista. And may I be the first to say, lmfao at Tim Sylvia winning with a head kick, that's just classic. Nice show though, crazy stuff, fights didn't go the distance much. Next card, 103, wow lol, I can't believe you're already that far. [b]Chris Tucscherer[/b] will walk right through Daniel Puder, one, because I'm not big on Puder, and two, because Tuchscherer is one of the best wrestling prospects you've got. Next fight is kind of meh for me. I'm going to go ahead and guess [b]Dustin Hazelett[/b], but I could see Saunders winning. Either way, I don't give a rat's ass about either. No offense to them of course. Nick Diaz's brother, [b]Nate Diaz[/b] should sub Thiago Tavares, but probably not a good matchup for him, so I question that booking. Feed him nobodies in the undercard and when he's ready for the main card, give him stylistic matchups, like you would with Damien Maia. Question about our next fight, who's Siyar Bahadurzada? As a seventeen year old who's training and inspiring to be a pro fighter one day, I'd like to think I'm fairly educated about MMA, but this is one name I've never heard of. Because of this, [b]Alan Belcher[/b] gets my guess, but I could also see this other guy in. But please, fill me in on him, never heard the name lol. Lil Nog wins against Roger Hollett, war [b]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira[/b]. Dude's a beast, Hollett's not at his level. Lil Nog should get the sub, but I'm sure he'll get beat up before it. Please tell me what the last fight in the undercard is, because something tells me that Stephan Bonnar and Jacara, who I choose to win, [b]Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza[/b], is at least an Above Average rated fight, seems high for the undercard hmm. Whoo for the main card lol, looks pretty stacked man. [b]Brandon Vera[/b] will beat Andrei Arlovski, this isn't the same Arlovski from a couple of years ago. He's done as far as I'm concerned, in real life, he may prove me wrong in Affliction, but I don't see him winning this. [b]Thiago Silva[/b] will most likely walk through Wilson Gouveia, Gouveia just doesn't look right in your game, just kind of meh. Thing is though, I'm tired of all the Thiagos lol, I get confused of which is which. Another guy that I've never heard anything about, Jason Tabor will get sat on by Lay n Pray artist, [b]Sean Sherk[/b] for fifteen minutes. He will pick up his boring little decision and go from there. Co main event better do me justice lol. [b]BJ Penn[/b] just doesn't look good in these games and he should, he's basically unbeatable at one fifty five in real live and Diego is beastly in this game, but I'm going with BJ, because he's BJ lol. Main event time. Now I have been waiting for this fight, but I wish Couture would have fought Carwin before he retired to test the guy, because I don't think he's quite ready for Big Nog. Shane Carwin will take Nog down, pound on him for a while, but eventually get subbed by [b]Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira[/b]. But I'm really looking forward to that fight. Nice card, not big on your undercard, but whatever. Cool stuff lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 [QUOTE=RyanMMA09;460328]The most exciting thing about this past show is that The Count is now the unnoficial but basically official contender to Silva's belt. War Bisping! I wasn't surprised with most of the results, I called all but two I think, although one of them surprised the hell out of me. Rashad Evans is just one of those guys I don't like, it's not his personality, seems to be a nice guy, but he annoys the hell out of me in the cage, I just find his fighting style boring and even though I believe the win, I can't picture Liddell getting one flashed knocked out by Rashad, but hey, he's now in the top ten of your second best division, so I'm impressed. The Clementi fight I got wrong could have gone either way, congrats to the undefeated Evangelista. And may I be the first to say, lmfao at Tim Sylvia winning with a head kick, that's just classic. Nice show though, crazy stuff, fights didn't go the distance much. Next card, 103, wow lol, I can't believe you're already that far. [b]Chris Tucscherer[/b] will walk right through Daniel Puder, one, because I'm not big on Puder, and two, because Tuchscherer is one of the best wrestling prospects you've got. Next fight is kind of meh for me. I'm going to go ahead and guess [b]Dustin Hazelett[/b], but I could see Saunders winning. Either way, I don't give a rat's ass about either. No offense to them of course. Nick Diaz's brother, [b]Nate Diaz[/b] should sub Thiago Tavares, but probably not a good matchup for him, so I question that booking. Feed him nobodies in the undercard and when he's ready for the main card, give him stylistic matchups, like you would with Damien Maia. Question about our next fight, who's Siyar Bahadurzada? As a seventeen year old who's training and inspiring to be a pro fighter one day, I'd like to think I'm fairly educated about MMA, but this is one name I've never heard of. Because of this, [b]Alan Belcher[/b] gets my guess, but I could also see this other guy in. But please, fill me in on him, never heard the name lol. Lil Nog wins against Roger Hollett, war [b]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira[/b]. Dude's a beast, Hollett's not at his level. Lil Nog should get the sub, but I'm sure he'll get beat up before it. Please tell me what the last fight in the undercard is, because something tells me that Stephan Bonnar and Jacara, who I choose to win, [b]Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza[/b], is at least an Above Average rated fight, seems high for the undercard hmm. Whoo for the main card lol, looks pretty stacked man. [b]Brandon Vera[/b] will beat Andrei Arlovski, this isn't the same Arlovski from a couple of years ago. He's done as far as I'm concerned, in real life, he may prove me wrong in Affliction, but I don't see him winning this. [b]Thiago Silva[/b] will most likely walk through Wilson Gouveia, Gouveia just doesn't look right in your game, just kind of meh. Thing is though, I'm tired of all the Thiagos lol, I get confused of which is which. Another guy that I've never heard anything about, Jason Tabor will get sat on by Lay n Pray artist, [b]Sean Sherk[/b] for fifteen minutes. He will pick up his boring little decision and go from there. Co main event better do me justice lol. [b]BJ Penn[/b] just doesn't look good in these games and he should, he's basically unbeatable at one fifty five in real live and Diego is beastly in this game, but I'm going with BJ, because he's BJ lol. Main event time. Now I have been waiting for this fight, but I wish Couture would have fought Carwin before he retired to test the guy, because I don't think he's quite ready for Big Nog. Shane Carwin will take Nog down, pound on him for a while, but eventually get subbed by [b]Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira[/b]. But I'm really looking forward to that fight. Nice card, not big on your undercard, but whatever. Cool stuff lol.[/QUOTE] O.K. first of all thankyou for your reply as I love reading them. First Siyar is someone who I signed to test St. Pierre in the Middleweight division. He is currently fighting in Shooto and World Victory Road in real life and is the current Shooto Middleweight champion. In my game he was on a six fight win streak and was Shooto and KOTC champion. The Jacare fight is either rated as High or Very High but is still on the undercard. The reason being on my UFC cards there is always the main event and then two fights from each weight. Out the two fights from each of the divisions there is always a interesting fight and then a one with an up and comer or just a random match up. With the main card being 5 fights long that only gives enough room for the main event and 4 more fights and Arlovski vs. Vera was just abit more interesting then Bonnar vs. Jacare. Thankyou for calling the main card stacked as I wasn't to sure about it to be honest. I think the first four fights are all rated very high and then the main event is rated as massive. Tabor is a Featherweight in real life but I switched him to Lightweight with the in game editor so I could sign him. He starts the game at 3-0 and he got to 5-0 and then I signed him. He is now 7-0 thanks to two wins in the UFC. I actually wanted Couture to fight Lesnar but people voted for him to fight Machida so it was out of my hands unfortunately. Talking about Lesnar since he left the UFC he has signed for Pancrase, KOTC, IFL and most recently DREAM. He has gone 3-0 since leaving and is the Heavyweight King Of Pancrase and could be Heavyweight champion in all four promotions he's in if given the chance to be honest. I'll try to get the show preview up later and then hopefully the actual show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 103 Preview[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER][B][U]Chris Tuchscherer (14-1) vs. Daniel Puder (8-0)[/U][/B] Tuchscherer comes into this fight after being handed his first ever loss by Ben Rothwell. That was back at UFC 99 when he lost via a second round TKO. Puder however is still undefeated and is still going strong. He is 2-0 in the UFC now with wins over Brad Morris and Ibragim Magomedov. Neither fighter is currently ranked but they are both on the edge of the top ten so a win here could put them into the bottom end of the top ten. [B][U]Dustin Hazelett (10-4) vs. Ben Saunders (5-4-2)[/U][/B] Hazelett will fight for the first time since Scott Avatar was signed. Suanders has fought four times though and all four times he has lost. He has lost to Karo Parisyan, Matt Arroyo, Paul Kelly and most recently Randy Shearer and all the losses came via decision. Saunders will have to win surely to get any chance of being resigned. Hazelett is only twenty four years old and still has plenty of time to improve but he will still be wanting to win here. [B][U]Nate Diaz (8-3) vs. Thiago Tavares (16-1)[/U][/B] Two very young fighters will go head to head in the Lightweight division in this bout. Both fighters are still only twenty four years old. Diaz is coming off a loss to Jeremy Stephens via decision back at UFN 14. Tavares has won his last three fights via decision beating Joe Lauzon, Mark Bocek and Gleison Tibau. Tavares is currently ranked at #6 in the Lightweight top ten rankings but a win over Diaz could push him as high as #4. [B][U]Alan Belcher (13-7) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (19-3-1)[/U][/B] Siyar came into the UFC riding high on a massive win streak and being a champion in two seperate promotions. He was in the Main Event in his UFC debut against Georges St. Pierre. He lost in the first round though via an impressive submission in only fourty seven seconds. He will go up against Alan Belcher in his second UFC fight. Belcher is coming off three straight losses as he has lost to Patrick Cote and Michael Bisping both via TKO and then most recently he lost to Forrest Griffin via decision. A win for Siyar could put him into the top ten Middleweight rankings. [B][U]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-4) vs. Roger Hollett (11-2)[/U][/B] Nogueira is currently 1-1 in the UFC. He started with a split decision win over Matt Hamill but most recently he lost to Thiago Silva via decision back at UFC 96. Hollett is currently 0-1 in the UFC as he lost his UFC debut to Keith Jardine via decision at UFC 98. Hollett is a ranked Light Heavyweight being ranked at #8 and a win could put him as high as #6. A win for Nogueira could easily put him into the top ten. [B][U]Andrei Arlovski (14-7) vs. Brandon Vera (11-2)[/U][/B] Two top ten Heavyweight will square off to kick off the main card. Arlovski comes into this fight off two straight losses to Sergei Kharitonov and Shane Carwin. Vera has been much more fortunate with his recent outings earning two straight wins. A TKO win over Frank Mir and more recently a decision win over Pedro Rizzo. Both fighters are top ten Heavyweights with Arlovski at #9 and Vera at #10. The winner could move up as high as #6 while the loser will probably drop off the rankings. [B][U]Thiago Silva (17-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (13-5)[/U][/B] Thiago Silva comes into this fight coming off his first ever loss. That loss was handed to him by Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson via decision back at UFC 100. Gouveia is also coming off a loss as he lost to Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua via a contraversial third round TKO back at UFC 99. Both fighters are top ten ranked Light Heavyweights. Silva is ranked at #5 while Gouveia is ranked at #6. The winner could move up as high as #3. [B][U]Jason Tabor (7-0) vs. Sean Sherk (33-4-1)[/U][/B] Tabor comes into this fight undefeated and 2-0 in the UFC. So far in the UFC he has beaten Kurt Pellegrino and Nick Diaz both via decision but he will truly step up to the big stage as he faces Sean Sherk. Sherk is coming into this fight off two straight losses. He lost to BJ Penn via a second round KO and then he lost to Shinya Aoki via decision. Both fighters are ranked Lightweights with Tabor ranked at #7 and Sherk ranked at #10. A win for Tabor could put him as high as #4 while a win for Sherk could put him as high as #6. [B][U]BJ Penn (13-5-1) vs. Diego Sanchez (22-4)[/U][/B] This fight will mark BJ Penn's re-debut in the Welterweight division. He moved up after he lost his title to Roger Huerta via decision back at UFC 95. Sanchez is on a good streak right now and he will look to give it a big boost of momentum with a win over Penn. Diego has won his last three fights having beaten Akihiro Gono, Chris Lytle and George Sotiropoulos all via decision. Both fighters are ranked Welterweight fighters with Penn being ranked at #5 and Sanchez ranked at #8. A win for either fighter would put them right into contention for a shot at the tournament winner. A win for Penn could put him as high as #3 while a win for Diego could put him as high as #4. [B][U]UFC Heavyweight Championship: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-4-1) vs. Shane Carwin (14-0)[/U][/B] Carwin will step up to the big stage as he challenges Big Nog for the Heavyweight title. Carwin has earned his title shot by going 6-0 in the UFC having wins over Eddie Sanchez, Christian Wellisch, Brandon Vera, Heath Herring, Pedro Rizzo and most recently a decision win over Andrei Arlovski. Nogueira has been a dominant champion though as he has defended his belt twice now and neither fight has gone to a decision as Nog has won it in dominant fashion. In his first defence he knocked out Fedor Emelianenko in the first round and handed the Russian only his second ever loss. In his Second defence he defeated Tim Sylvia via a third round submission after winning the first two rounds. This is a battle of the #1 and #2 Heavyweights so this is truly a battle of the best in the Heavyweight division. Carwin will be the underdog going into this fight despite being undefeated as Nogueira is currently ranked as the third best pound for pound fighter in the world.[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC 103: Nogueira vs. Carwin[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][U][CENTER]Undercard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Chris Tuchscherer (14-1) vs. Daniel Puder (8-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Chris Tuchscherer via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Quick start to the round from Puder, he comes storming in with a flurry of jabs. Tuchscherer defends it well, parrying them away. Nice straight right from Tuchscherer connects. Puder gets in close and hits a pair of nice body shots, then they clinch up. Puder pushes Tuchscherer back against the cage and goes for a trip, but Tuchscherer blocks it. Tuchscherer suddenly pushes forward off the cage and uses the momentum to take Puder down to the ground, into guard. The fight falls into a lull as a pattern develops; Tuchscherer punctuating attempts to pass guard with some sharp punches to the body and face, while Puder parries away any big blows and puts all of his effort into making sure Tuchscherer doesn't get a better position. Things heat up as Tuchscherer manages to break the guard and get through into a half mount. Puder hits a nice clean right hand in response. Tuchscherer 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. Puder knows that having the leg trapped is his key to not ending up in huge trouble, and so has it locked up tight. Tuchscherer tries a half-hearted attempt at a kimura, but Puder defends it well. The round ends with Tuchscherer still unable to transition into side control, although he has landed enough shots to have lit up Puder's upper body with red marks, and definitely won the round on points. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Tuchscherer.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Slow start to this round, Puder is being tentative and Tuchscherer looks like he is waiting for an angle to appear. The first exchange of strikes doesn't really go anywhere. A second set falls in Puder's favour, as he gets a nice jab in, hitting right above the nose, and a solid shot to the body. Tuchscherer goes in for a takedown but only manages to secure one leg. Puder hammers down two shots to the back, but can't really do a lot else. Tuchscherer tries to push him over onto his back, but Puder manages to pull free and back off. Tuchscherer throws a high left handed jab then goes in for another takedown. Good sprawl from Puder, and he backs off. Tuchscherer doesn't get a chance to go for a third, because Puder takes the fight to him with a barrage of lefts and rights, forcing him back against the cage. Puder clinches up, only after hitting a hard shot to the stomach though. The clinch seems to go on forever, with Tuchscherer unable to get a good enough position to try a takedown, and Puder tied up too much to really throw any decent strikes. Eventually the time runs out and they head back to their corners. The 2nd round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Puder.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Hardly the most exciting start to the round, as within thirty seconds, and without a single decent strike being thrown, the two competitors end up clinched near the cage. Puder hits a jab, landing just above the left eye. Tuchscherer drops and locks his arms around the waist, and manages to scoop up and take down Puder. Good move. Tuchscherer throws out a right hand, parried away by Puder. The guard is quite tight, for the moment at least Tuchscherer looks content to stay there and throw some punches. Puder isn't offering any sort of attacking threat yet, instead concentrating on keeping the strikes from landing. A big punch is driven into the ribs, Puder thought it was going for the face. Another punch lands in the same place, and a red mark starts to develop. Puder reaches up and pulls Tuchscherer down into a clinch, and tries to work an armbar from the bottom. Tuchscherer defends it easily, and gets in a sharp jab to the face too. He stands up slightly, leaning forward into the guard, and starts throwing some right hands. One gets through, the others are parried. Puder looked like he might be considering trying to apply a triangle then, as Tuchscherer was very exposed, but he didn't get a chance due to the ferocity of the punches. Tuchscherer gets back down to kneeling in the guard. Another right hand lands to the ribs. Puder fires off two punches from his back, but Tuchscherer defends them easily by simply leaning backward out of reach. Tuchscherer stands again, the guard remaining tight around him, and throws another couple of bombs. This time Puder does try to apply the triangle, and an armbar at the same time, but Tuchscherer breaks free. Time is ticking down, looks like Puder will survive this ground and pound attack. The round ends without further note. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Tuchscherer. The judges are split; Chris Tuchscherer gets 30-27 from the first, Daniel Puder gets 29-28 from the second, the third gives 29-28 to Chris Tuchscherer. Chris Tuchscherer gets the split decision victory.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Tuchscherer scrapes the split decision victory and now neither fight is undefeated. Puder has his first loss and this win may put Tuchscherer back into the top ten Heavyweights. [B][CENTER]Dustin Hazelett (10-4) vs. Ben Saunders (5-4-2) Sherdog's Prediction: Dustin Hazelett via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Hazelett 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 Saunders advancing. A sharp right misses, and Hazelett takes the opportunity to pull Saunders in to a tight clinch against the cage. Saunders tries to break free, but cannot. It looks like we know the strategies for this round already; Saunders wants to stand and bang, Hazelett wants to keep things at close quarters. Saunders tries for an elbow, but only succeeds in getting turned around so that he is now the one against the cage. Trip from Hazelett, and we're down to the ground. Hazelett has side control, but Saunders has landed with his left hand side against the cage, so that side of the body is basically safe for now. Hazelett will have to try to work the right-hand side, and starts by ramming a knee into the ribs. Saunders tries to squirm into a better position, but Hazelett puts a stop to that with a stiff elbow to the stomach. Hazelett tries to work a kimura on the right arm, but Saunders defends it. Saunders manages to bring a knee up and catch Hazelett in the side, something of a cheeky move given his position. Hazelett responds with five or six rapid-fire right hands to the face, but Saunders covers up and doesn't take any serious damage at all. Time is ticking away though, and so far Hazelett may be easily winning the round, but he is not taking full advantage of this great position. Hazelett tries to float over into a mount, but Saunders uses the cage to push away and manages to unbalance Hazelett enough to get to a kneeling position, then standing, albeit back into a clinch. A knee from Hazelett is the last action of the round. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Hazelett by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Hazelett leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Saunders 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. Saunders uses a knee to the ribs before backing Hazelett up against the cage. Right hand from Hazelett connects though, that was well timed. Saunders breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Hazelett was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Saunders sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Hazelett fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Hazelett comes in fast and low and takes Saunders down to the mat by the legs. Nicely done. He keeps hold of one leg, and applies a leglock. That was all in one motion, Saunders got taken by surprise. Hazelett sits back and wrenches in the hold, and that looks painful. Saunders is holding on. He tries to twist free, but it's on tight. Saunders gives in and taps out. [B]Hazelett wins via leglock submission at 3:28 of the second round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Hazelett helps to pile on the losses to Saunders fight record. Hazelett however is the only person to ever finish Saunders so that is a good achievement. [B][CENTER]Nate Diaz (8-3) vs. Thiago Tavares (16-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Thiago Tavares via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Quick start to the round from Diaz, he comes storming in with a flurry of jabs. Tavares defends it well, parrying them away. Nice straight right from Tavares connects. Diaz gets in close and hits a pair of nice body shots, then they clinch up. Diaz pushes Tavares back against the cage and goes for a trip, but Tavares blocks it. Tavares suddenly pushes forward off the cage and uses the momentum to take Diaz down to the ground, into guard. Tavares stands into a half-crouching position, dragging Diaz's guard with him. Diaz reaches up, parries away a couple of strikes, and tries to grab an arm to apply an armbar to. Tavares knocks the attempt away and nails a hard shot to the ribs before reaching over and trying to nail a downward punch to the chin. Diaz blocks it. Tavares floats over and gets into side control. Diaz scrambles to try and get back up, but is too close to the cage, which works against him. Tavares lays in a couple of punches to the chest to soften Diaz up, then tries to move up and isolate one of the arms. Diaz makes sure to bring his body around to give him as much protection as possible. It works, as Tavares can't get either arm isolated properly. Tavares changes tactics and tries to get into crucifix position. Diaz fights it for as long as he possibly can, but eventually gets caught. The length of struggle is, in itself, a good defence though, as the round ends before Tavares can do anything with the position he has achieved, which will frustrate him enormously. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Tavares.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Diaz starts brightly by throwing some looping punches. Defended well by Tavares. They circle, throwing tentative jabs. Tavares goes for a single leg and puts Diaz on the floor, but he is up very quickly, preventing Tavares from getting on top. Diaz definitely seems to want to keep this standing. Tavares hits a nice jab, avoids a counter left hook, then comes in low and takes down Diaz again. This time Diaz isn't able to get up, and has to pull guard. Times ticking away though, Tavares will have to hurry to finish. He goes for an armbar, but Diaz defends. Tavares tries to slip past to get side control, but Diaz just about manages to keep guard. A second attempt works though, and Tavares has the side. Two big elbows land, and Diaz seems in trouble. Tavares goes for the kimura, but can't quite get it. The time expires before he can try again, and the referee separates them. The second round is over. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Tavares by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Nice fast-paced start from Tavares, who gets right in Diaz'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 Diaz side-stepped. Diaz fires back with a left hand, then a right to the body. Tavares steps in, but only into a waist-high kick from Diaz. Tavares is quick though, and manages to catch it around the knee. Using it as leverage, Tavares sweeps Diaz's standing leg and takes them to the ground. Diaz quickly pulls guard. Tavares passes guard and gets into side control, but it's an awkward position; Diaz has the entire right hand side of his body up against the cage, and both his legs wrapped around Tavares's left arm. Tavares's attacking options are fairly limited. He uses a couple of back fists to strike away at the face, but Diaz covers up to defend them. Tavares tries to pin down one of Diaz's arms and bring his legs around to trap them fully, but Diaz uses his free arm to stop that from happening. The ground battle enters a stalemate, as Tavares finds himself unable to do any real damage other than occasional strikes, which he doesn't have the leverage to get much power behind, with virtually no chance of gaining a submission thanks to his left arm being trapped. The referee eventually stands them up, and the time expires before anything interesting can happen with them standing. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Tavares. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Thiago Tavares.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Tavares gets his fourth decision win in a row and this one could boost him as high as #4 in the Lightweight rankings. [B][CENTER]Alan Belcher (13-7) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (19-3-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Siyar Bahadurzada via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Belcher 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. Bahadurzada steps in and throws some punches, landing a crisp jab to the shoulder. Belcher 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 Bahadurzada, he is basically controlling the tempo and positioning of this fight through intelligent use of sharp, accurate kicks. Belcher comes in fast, faking left then going right, and gets close enough to throw some body blows. Bahadurzada gets in a right hand of his own, then a beauty of a high kick. It lands right on the ear, causing Belcher to back off quickly. If that had had more power, it might well have scored a knock out. The round is almost over. Bahadurzada has controlled this one, Belcher is finding it very difficult to find a way around those kicks. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Bahadurzada.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Bahadurzada and Belcher circle to start. Belcher throws a couple of looping punches, neither hitting, while Bahadurzada sits back, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Belcher comes in closer, looking to unload with a right hand; that misses, and it allows Bahadurzada to slip a nice jab in, catching Belcher just underneath the right eye. Bahadurzada comes in and scores with a straight left, then bounces a right hand off the body. Belcher misses with a right cross, then backs off. Bahadurzada stalks him, forcing Belcher back up against the cage. Bahadurzada doesn't rush in, instead standing back and throwing the occasional punch. Belcher throws a big left hand in response, but it misses by quite a margin. Bahadurzada pounces, hitting lefts and rights. Belcher covers up from the first two punches, then clinches up to prevent any more coming in. They're up against the cage, Bahadurzada in the dominant position. They remain that way as the time ticks down. Bahadurzada 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. Belcher comes in hard and fast, bobbing and weaving, and throws a couple of big shots. Bahadurzada 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 Bahadurzada's favour. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Bahadurzada.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Belcher throws out a jab, but Bahadurzada bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Bahadurzada works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Belcher covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Bahadurzada is making Belcher look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Belcher hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Bahadurzada is looking the slightly more fit of the two fighters. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Bahadurzada got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Belcher slightly. Belcher initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Belcher looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Bahadurzada is clearly winning them. Belcher needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Bahadurzada tries a speculative high kick, but Belcher saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Belcher tries to work an angle, but Bahadurzada is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Bahadurzada, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Bahadurzada by 10-9. The official scores are: 30-27 from all three judges for Siyar Bahadurzada.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Siyar gets his first UFC win and proves to everyone that he wasn't just a can brought in to lose to St. Pierre. [B][CENTER]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-4) vs. Roger Hollett (11-2) Sherdog's Prediction: Roger Hollett via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Nogueira throws out a jab, but Hollett bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Hollett works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Nogueira covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Hollett is making Nogueira look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Nogueira 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. Hollett got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Nogueira slightly. Nogueira initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Nogueira looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Hollett is clearly winning them. Nogueira needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Hollett tries a speculative high kick, but Nogueira saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Nogueira tries to work an angle, but Hollett is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Hollett, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Hollett.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Hollett starts tentatively, and scores with a few sharp leg kicks. A straight left connects, and Nogueira is forced backward to avoid an uppercut. Good start from Hollett. Nogueira tries to come inside, but eats a kick to the thigh. They clinch briefly, but it goes nowhere. Looping right hand from Nogueira, but it only caught Hollett on the shoulder. Another kick connects from Hollett, and that sets up a nice combination to the body. The accuracy of his kicks has been excellent so far, and is keeping Nogueira from doing very much. Hollett looks to be working an angle. Right hand from Nogueira, that one definitely registered, but I don't think it had much power behind it. The time ticks away without anything further of interest happening. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Hollett.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Hollett starts brightly by throwing some looping punches. Defended well by Nogueira. They circle, throwing tentative jabs. Nogueira goes for a single leg and puts Hollett on the floor, but he is up very quickly, preventing Nogueira from getting on top. Hollett definitely seems to want to keep this standing. Nogueira hits a nice jab, avoids a counter left hook, then comes in low and takes down Hollett again. This time Hollett isn't able to get up, and has to pull guard. Times ticking away though, Nogueira will have to hurry to finish. He goes for an armbar, but Hollett defends. Nogueira tries to slip past to get side control, but Hollett just about manages to keep guard. A second attempt works though, and Nogueira has the side. Two big elbows land, and Hollett seems in trouble. Nogueira goes for the kimura, but can't quite get it. The time expires before he can try again, and the referee separates them. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Nogueira by 10-9. All three judges give a score of 29-28 to Roger Hollett.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Hollett gets his first win in the UFC and is now 1-1 in the UFC. Nog made a effort in the last round and actually won the round but it was too late by then. [B][CENTER]Stephan Bonnar (12-7) vs. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza (12-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Jacare starts the round by throwing some low kicks. Bonnar checks them, then comes in and clearly wants to trade punches. Jacare doesn't seem too bothered by that, and they enter into the first exchange of punches of the round. Difficult to say who came out on top, neither of them did a great deal of damage, most of the shots hit the opponent's gloves. Jacare cleverly head-fakes, allowing him the time and angle that he needed to catch Bonnar with a beauty of a right hook. Bonnar stumbles backward, but doesn't go down. Jacare presses the advantage by following in with a kick, then a right hand. Bonnar clinches. They remain clinched for a while. Bonnar scores with a nice knee, it appeared to catch Jacare in the gut. Jacare uses a single leg trip and takes the fight to the ground. Jacare gets to side control upon impact, and immediately goes for an armbar. Bonnar reacts quickly, but is in real danger. Jacare has his left arm straightened out, fortunately Bonnar has managed to roll and get a good position that is stopping Jacare from getting the leverage needed to apply an armlock. Jacare tries to step over and fully apply it, but Bonnar breaks free and gets him to back off with a couple of up-kicks. Jacare steps back and motions for him to stand up. They go back to circling in the center. Bonnar hits a nice right hand, but takes one back too. The time runs down; Jacare will probably get that round on points, he hit the best punch of the round, and got the only takedown, plus was the one who was working toward a submission. End of the round. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Jacare.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Jacare 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 Bonnar advancing. A sharp right misses, and Jacare takes the opportunity to pull Bonnar in to a tight clinch against the cage. Bonnar tries to break free, but cannot. It looks like we know the strategies for this round already; Bonnar wants to stand and bang, Jacare wants to keep things at close quarters. Bonnar tries for an elbow, but only succeeds in getting turned around so that he is now the one against the cage. Trip from Jacare, and we're down to the ground. Jacare has side control, but Bonnar has landed with his left hand side against the cage, so that side of the body is basically safe for now. Jacare will have to try to work the right-hand side, and starts by ramming a knee into the ribs. Bonnar tries to squirm into a better position, but Jacare puts a stop to that with a stiff elbow to the stomach. Jacare tries to work a kimura on the right arm, but Bonnar defends it. Bonnar manages to bring a knee up and catch Jacare in the side, something of a cheeky move given his position. Jacare responds with five or six rapid-fire right hands to the face, but Bonnar covers up and doesn't take any serious damage at all. Time is ticking away though, and so far Jacare may be easily winning the round, but he is not taking full advantage of this great position. Jacare tries to float over into a mount, but Bonnar uses the cage to push away and manages to unbalance Jacare enough to get to a kneeling position, then standing, albeit back into a clinch. A knee from Jacare is the last action of the round. The second round is over. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Jacare.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Jacare works an angle and comes in from the side of Bonnar, getting two good jabs in before a ragged left misses by quite a margin. Bonnar hits a low kick to back Jacare against the cage, then works the body with a series of short punches. Jacare fights out and the action returns to the center. Jacare looks to be working an angle. Bonnar steps in to throw a right hand, but doesn't get a chance to pull the trigger as Jacare is already in with a takedown. Bonnar hits the floor hard, and Jacare winds up in his guard. Jacare fires off a few punches, forcing Bonnar to cover up. Jacare works his way onto the right-hand side of the body, Bonnar unable to do much to stop him. Bonnar tries to scrabble out of trouble, but finds his right arm is trapped under the body of Jacare, who is quick to turn that situation into an armbar attempt. Bonnar desperately tries to turn them both over to alleviate the pressure, but there is no way he can move Jacare from that position, he has no leverage at all. Jacare cinches in the armbar and Bonnar has to tap out. [B]Official time of the armbar submission is 2:55 of the third.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Jacare wins with an impressive armbar half way through the third round. [B][U][CENTER]Maincard[/CENTER][/U][/B] [B][CENTER]Andrei Arlovski (14-7) vs. Brandon Vera (11-2) Sherdog's Prediction: Andrei Arlovski via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Arlovski is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Vera picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Arlovski throws a wild punch as a counter, but Vera ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Arlovski 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 Arlovski is looking for big punches, Vera is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Arlovski manages to back Vera up against the cage. Arlovski takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Vera ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Arlovski can unload. Arlovski may need to think about changing tactics, Vera is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Arlovski fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Vera on the thigh. Vera presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Arlovski 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 the round. [B]Sherdog.com gives that one to Vera by 10-9.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Vera starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Arlovski on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Vera to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Arlovski, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Vera, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Arlovski is looking a little lost so far, Vera is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. Vera gets pinned against the cage, and the referee eventually has to separate them. Vera leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Arlovski was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Arlovski 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 Arlovski is that although Vera clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. The round is over. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Vera.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Vera and Arlovski circle to start. Arlovski throws a couple of looping punches, neither hitting, while Vera sits back, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Arlovski comes in closer, looking to unload with a right hand; that misses, and it allows Vera to slip a nice jab in, catching Arlovski just underneath the right eye. Vera comes in and scores with a straight left, then bounces a right hand off the body. Arlovski misses with a right cross, then backs off. Vera stalks him, forcing Arlovski back up against the cage. Vera doesn't rush in, instead standing back and throwing the occasional punch. Arlovski throws a big left hand in response, but it misses by quite a margin. Vera pounces, hitting lefts and rights. Arlovski covers up from the first two punches, then clinches up to prevent any more coming in. They're up against the cage, Vera in the dominant position. They remain that way as the time ticks down. Vera 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. Arlovski comes in hard and fast, bobbing and weaving, and throws a couple of big shots. Vera 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 Vera's favour. End of round 3. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Vera. All three judges give a score of 30-27 in favour of Brandon Vera.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Vera gets his third win in a row and hands Arlovski his third loss in a row. [B][CENTER]Thiago Silva (17-1) vs. Wilson Gouveia (13-5) Sherdog's Prediction: Thiago Silva via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The two fighters circle. Gouveia flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Silva easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Gouveia could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Silva 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, Gouveia is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Gouveia forces Silva back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Silva in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Gouveia does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Silva saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Gouveia turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Gouveia is up quickly, causing Silva, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Gouveia was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Gouveia throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Silva to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. The first round is over. [B]Sherdog.com has it down as 10-9 Silva.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Gouveia 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 Silva advancing. A sharp right misses, and Gouveia takes the opportunity to pull Silva in to a tight clinch against the cage. Silva tries to break free, but cannot. It looks like we know the strategies for this round already; Silva wants to stand and bang, Gouveia wants to keep things at close quarters. Silva tries for an elbow, but only succeeds in getting turned around so that he is now the one against the cage. Trip from Gouveia, and we're down to the ground. Gouveia has side control, but Silva has landed with his left hand side against the cage, so that side of the body is basically safe for now. Gouveia will have to try to work the right-hand side, and starts by ramming a knee into the ribs. Silva tries to squirm into a better position, but Gouveia puts a stop to that with a stiff elbow to the stomach. Gouveia tries to work a kimura on the right arm, but Silva defends it. Silva manages to bring a knee up and catch Gouveia in the side, something of a cheeky move given his position. Gouveia responds with five or six rapid-fire right hands to the face, but Silva covers up and doesn't take any serious damage at all. Time is ticking away though, and so far Gouveia may be easily winning the round, but he is not taking full advantage of this great position. Gouveia tries to float over into a mount, but Silva uses the cage to push away and manages to unbalance Gouveia enough to get to a kneeling position, then standing, albeit back into a clinch. A knee from Gouveia is the last action of the round. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Gouveia.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Silva starts with a high kick, but Gouveia was well out of range. Gouveia looks to be working an angle. Silva steps in and exchanges strikes with Gouveia, neither fighter gets a particular advantage from it. Gouveia parries away a nice right hand and gets in a crisp counter punch that catches Silva 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. Silva finally shows some fire, putting together a combination of two jabs, a cross, and an uppercut. Gouveia 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 Silva blocked them. Silva scores the best punch of the round so far, coming in fast, ducking under a dangerous right hand, and catching Gouveia square in the face with a lunging overhand right. Gouveia backs off and covers up, clearly having felt that one, and unfortunately Silva's attempts to follow up and thwarted as he gets tied up in a clinch near the cage. The time expires, with Silva probably having stolen that round thanks to that one big punch. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores 10-9 Silva. Thiago Silva wins the match, getting a score of 29-28 from all three judges.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: **** [B]Notes[/B]: Silva is back on track with this win and Gouveia now has two straight losses. [B][CENTER]Jason Tabor (7-0) vs. Sean Sherk (33-4-1) Sherdog's Prediction: Sean Sherk via TKO[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Sherk throws out a jab, but Tabor bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Tabor works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Sherk covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Tabor is making Sherk look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Sherk hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Other than a few half-hearted jabs, there's been a definite lull over the past minute. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Tabor got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Sherk slightly. Sherk initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Sherk looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Tabor is clearly winning them. Sherk needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Tabor tries a speculative high kick, but Sherk saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Sherk tries to work an angle, but Tabor is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Tabor, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. End of round 1. [B]Sherdog.com sees it 10-9 to Tabor.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Sherk throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Tabor throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Sherk 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. Tabor hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Sherk. They struggle all the way back, with Sherk ending up backed up against the cage. Tabor hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Sherk stomps downward onto his foot. Sherk manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Tabor gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Sherk ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Sherk tries a high kick to start, but Tabor saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Tabor who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Sherk on the nose. Sherk hits a straight right, enough to stop Tabor 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 round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Tabor.[/B] [B][U]Round 3[/U][/B] Not the most interesting of starts to the round, it's mainly a lot of circling. The referee apparently gets bored, as he tells them to get on with it and fight. Sherk complies, firing off a dangerous right cross, narrowly missing. Tabor throws a couple of stiff jabs, but they only find gloves. Sherk fakes left, then comes in from the right, hitting a nice body blow. Tabor steps forward and unleashes a big kick, thundering it into Sherk's ribs. He felt that one for sure. Tabor follows up by hitting a right hand too. Sherk finds himself backed up against the cage. Tabor advances, and throws a scythe-like kick to the legs. Sherk can't get out of the way, and almost gets felled by the impact. Tabor steps in and scores with a high head kick. Sherk partially blocked it with his hands, which was probably the only thing stopping it from being a knock out blow. Sherk gets a right hand jab out in response, then pulls Tabor into a clinch. Knee strike from Tabor. They break. Sherk still looks hurt from that first kick. Tabor gets in close and gives a receipt for that earlier body blow, nailing a right hand to the gut. Sherk hits a jab to the cheek in response, then clinches again. Time runs down, the round will end before anything more can happen. Tabor has used those powerful kicks to dominate this round. That's the end of the round. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Tabor. All three judges give a score of 30-27 to Jason Tabor.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: ** [B]Notes[/B]: Tabor with a big win here and this should boost him up the Lightweight rankings quite nicely. [B][CENTER]BJ Penn (13-5-1) vs. Diego Sanchez (22-4) Sherdog's Prediction: BJ Penn via Submission[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] They touch gloves to begin. Penn throws out a looping right hand, setting up a mid-level kick. The punch found gloves, the kick found nothing but thin air as Sanchez had stepped back in time. They meet in the center, exchanging a series of blows, and Penn gets the better of it, scoring with a crisp jab that causes Sanchez to back up quickly. Sensing a chance, Penn follows and forces him up against the cage with some jabs. Sanchez covers up, as two hard strikes find the gloves from Penn. A right hand misses, and that is the chance Sanchez needs to quickly get out of trouble and back to the center. Great start to the round from Penn. Penn throws a right hand, narrowly missing. Sanchez almost seems to be inviting him on to throw punches, he could be trying to lure him into over-committing. Penn throws a jab that connects, albeit without much power, but it causes Sanchez to back up quickly, back toward the cage. Penn comes in quickly, throwing looping punches, but gets reckless and Sanchez grabs the opportunity by nailing a big right cross! Penn collapses in a heap, his left leg buckling underneath him in at an awkward angle. [B]Sanchez has knocked him out cold with a killer punch. Official time of the knock out is 2:33 of the first round.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: *** [B]Notes[/B]: Sanchez wins in a major upset. Penn re-debut in the Welterweight division has gone terrible. [B][CENTER]UFC Heavyweight Championship: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-4-1) vs. Shane Carwin (14-0) Sherdog's Prediction: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via Knock Out[/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Round 1[/U][/B] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Carwin is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Nogueira blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Carwin is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Nogueira is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Carwin 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 Carwin some problems later on. Carwin 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. Nogueira is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Carwin 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 Carwin 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. Carwin goes for a trip, but Nogueira 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 Nogueira may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The round ends. [B]Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Nogueira.[/B] [B][U]Round 2[/U][/B] Nogueira scores with a kick to the outside of the thigh, but it didn't have a great deal of power on it. Carwin returns fire with a jab, and then tries for a takedown. Nogueira doesn't pull guard, but instead tries to spin out of it and get back to his feet, but it proves to be a mistake as he isn't able to get free and only ends up giving his back to Carwin! Nogueira tries to fight out of it, but Carwin keeps position well. Hard shot to the ribs by Carwin. Can he capitalise on this great position though? He tries to apply a choke hold, but Nogueira defends it. However, in doing so, he leaves his left arm exposed, and Carwin is able to float over and trap it inbetween his legs. Carwin falls forward and pulls, forcing Nogueira to tap out rather than have his arm hyper-extended. [B]Official time of the armbar submission is 0:58 of the second. Shane Carwin is the new UFC Heavyweight champion.[/B] [B]Rating[/B]: **** [B]Notes[/B]: New Champ!!! New Champ!!! What a way to win your first title. Carwin should be making a debut in the pound for pound top ten rankings at the end of the month after this win and he will almost definately be ranked as the #1 Heavyweight. [B][U]Post Show News Fighter Bonuses[/U][/B] Submission of the Night: Dustin Hazelett Knock Out of the Night: Diego Sanchez Fight of the Night: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Shane Carwin [B][U]Avatar's Thoughts[/U][/B] Tuchscherer got a nice win tonight and that should get him back into the rankings. It was a bad night for the Nogueira brothers as they both lost. Lil Nog now has two losses in a row and Big Nog is beltless. Shane Carwin will remember this neght for the rest of his life. Not only did he become the UFC Heavyweight champion but he also became the first person to ever finish Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Sanchez got a big win tonight. The contenders for the tournament winners first title defence has been rounded down to two now and one of them is Diego Sanchez, the other being Anthony Johnson. Roger Hollett and Siyar Bahadurzada both get their first UFC wins and maybe this can set them off on a winning streak. Jacare and Tabor both moved closer to a title shot. They are still a few fights off now but there sure is top level potential there. [B][U]Injuries[/U][/B] Jason Tabor sustained a rib injury during his fight with Sean Sherk and will be out for almost three months because of it. [B][U]Resignings[/U][/B] Both Thiago Silva and Andrei Arlovksi will be resigned to new UFC contracts. However Ben Saunder's contract will now be renewed and he will be released after his nex fight or when his current contract expires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanMMA09 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Not only did Nog lose, but he got subbed? Amazing, but would that make Tim Sylvia the #1 contender? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 Yes it would. A quick spoiler from the nexr rankings is Nog only fropped to #2 in the Heavyweight rankings so the #3 Tim Sylvia is thhe only fighter eligible for a title shot. Fedor will be fighting soon though. And so will Sergei and Rolles so there will be plenty of contenders coming through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 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 103[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]UFC have released the new rankings following their UFC 103 events.[/CENTER] [B][U]Lightweight[/U][/B] 1. Roger Huerta 2. Kenny Florian 3. Eddie Alvarez 4. Jason Tabor +3 5. Thiago Tavares +1 6. Vitor Ribeiro -2 7. Shinya Aoki -2 8. Billy Evangelista 9. Jim Miller 10. Jeremy Stephens - New Entry [B][U]Welterweight[/U][/B] 1. Jon Fitch 2. Matt Hughes 3. Yoshiyuki Yoshida 4. Anthony Johnson 5. Diego Sanchez +3 6. Dan Hardy 7. Dong Hyun Kim 8. Akihiro Gono +2 9. Thiago Alves 10. BJ Penn -5 [B][U]Middleweight[/U][/B] 1. Anderson Silva 2. Michael Bisping 3. Forrest Griffin 4. Georges St. Pierre 5. Rousimar Palhales 6. Dan Henderson 7. Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza +3 8. Demian Maia -1 9. Cung Le -1 10. Siyar Bahadurzada - New Entry [B][U]Light Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Wanderlei Silva 3. Lyoto Machida 4. Rich Franklin 5. Thiago Silva 6. Roger Hollett +2 7. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua 8. Keith Jardine +1 9. Wilson Gouveia -3 10. Rashad Evans - New Entry [B][U]Heavyweight[/U][/B] 1. Shane Carwin +1 2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -1 3. Tim Sylvia 4. Fedor Emelianenko 5. Sergei Kharitonov 6. Rolles Gracie 7. Brandon Vera +3 8. Aleksander Emelianenko -1 9. Chris Tuchscherer - New Entry 10. Cheick Kongo -2 [B][U]P4P[/U][/B] 1. Quinton Jackson 2. Roger Huerta 3. Anderson Silva +1 4. Shane Carwin - New Entry 5. Wanderlei Silva 6. Michael Bisping 7. Kenny Florian 8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -5 9. Lyoto Machida -1 10. Rich Franklin -1 [B]Biggest Jump this month[/B]: Diego Sanchez/Jason Tabor: Both Sanchez and Tabor jumped three ranks this month. Let's start with Tabor. He beat Sean Sherk this month with a hard fought decision win. He jumped up to #4 in the Lightweight rankings, another win and he could be getting a title shot. He is expected to fight either Vitor Ribeiro or Shinya Aoki next. Sanchez also jumped three ranks this month and he now sits at #5 in the Welterweight top ten. This came after he KO'ed BJ Penn in the first round in a major upset. He is expected to fight Anthony Johnson next with the first shot at the tournament winner on the line. [B]Biggest Drop this month[/B]: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira(P4P): Big Nog dropped a massive five ranks in the pound for pound rankings this month and now he lies at #8. This came after he lost to Shane Carwin via a second round submission. This is the first time ever Nog has lost and it didn't go to a decision so this surely marks great thing for Carwin. Nog is expected to fight either Sergei Kharitonov or Brandon Vera next. [B]Most Impressive New Entry[/B]: Shane Carwin(P4P): Carwin debuted in the pound for pound top ten rankings this month at a very impressive #4. This came after he became the first person to ever stop Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a mma fight. He beat Nogueira via a second round submission and in the process he won the UFC Heavyweight title. He is expected to make his first title defence against Tim Sylvia who just recently KO'ed Cheick Kongo in just twenty one seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wackyplanetshop/ufc-section-banner.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"]UFC Announces UFC 104: Jackson vs. Silva III[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [CENTER]Today UFC announced UFC 104: Jackson vs. Silva III. Here is the card. [B][U]Maincard[/U][/B] UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Quinton Jackson (33-6) vs. Wanderlei Silva (34-8-1) Rashad Evans (15-3-1) vs. Rich Franklin (26-4) Patrick Cote (14-6) vs. Rousimar Palhales (10-1) Thiago Alves (15-5) vs. Akihiro Gono (31-14-7) Fedor Emelianenko (30-3) vs. Ben Rothwell (30-9) [B][U]Undercard[/U][/B] Tyson Griffin (13-3) vs. Rich Clementi (32-14-1) Pedro Rizzo (18-10) vs. Rolles Gracie (5-0) Glover Teixeira (8-4) vs. James Irvin (14-8) Yushin Okami (22-6) vs. Alan Belcher (13-8) II Jeremy Stephens (15-3) vs. Matt Wiman (9-4) Terry Etim (10-2) vs. Paul Kelly (8-2)[/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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