UFC: The Here and Now

[D.O.]

[CENTER][IMG]http://tew.ithium.net/UFC.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] I'm not going to give you some phony detailed backstory about how I won the lottery or something like that. It would just be forced and contrived. Instead, I'm going to run the UFC. I'm going to book every fight that's been scheduled or rumored up until today, and from there on out book my own fights. You're not going to see huge signings right away, and you're not ever going to see Fedor jumping aboard the UFC, because I just don't see it happening. My first event will be TUF 7, and while the TUF 7 championship isn't officially set yet, I'm just going to choose the 2 I want to book. Unfortunately there are more scheduled fights for that card than I can fit onto a TV card, so one or two of them will be moved to UFC 86. I'm starting from July 1, so the dates of shows won't be exactly the same. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at this. Predictions are welcome on fight cards. I'm also going to be using the fictitious MMAScoop.com as my news source for announcing rumors and signings.

[D.O.]

[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] is reporting that the UFC have set their lineups for The Ultimate Fighter 7 finale and UFC 86, which will both be taking place this month. Stay tuned to [B]MMAScoop.com[/B] for all your latest news. [U][B]TUF 7 Finale[/B][/U] [B]Main Card:[/B] Kendal Grove vs. Evan Tanner Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti [SIZE="1"][I]TUF Finals:[/I][/SIZE] CB Dollaway vs. Tim Credeur Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett [B]Undercard:[/B] Jeremy Stephens vs. Spencer Fisher Drew McFedries vs. Marvin Eastman Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister Matt Arroyo vs. Matt Brown Matt Riddle vs. Dante Rivera [U][B]UFC 86 Lineup[/B][/U] [B]Main Card:[/B] [SIZE="1"][I]UFC LHW Title:[/I][/SIZE] Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin Chris Lytle vs. Josh Koscheck Ricardo Almeida vs.Patrick Cote Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio [B]Undercard:[/B] Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully Cole Miller vs. Jorge Gurgel Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz Chris Wilson vs. Steve Bruno Dennis Siver vs. Melvin Guillard Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins Rob Kimmons vs. Rob Yundt

[Dustin]

TUF 7 Finale Main Card: Kendal Grove vs. [B]Evan Tanner[/B] [B]Diego Sanchez[/B] vs. Luigi Fioravanti TUF Finals: [B]CB Dollaway[/B] vs. Tim Credeur [B]Josh Burkman[/B] vs. Dustin Hazelett Undercard: Jeremy Stephens vs. [B]Spencer Fisher[/B] [B]Drew McFedries[/B] vs. Marvin Eastman Jeremy Horn vs. [B]Dean Lister[/B] [B]Matt Arroyo[/B] vs. Matt Brown Matt Riddle vs. [B]Dante Rivera[/B] UFC 86 Lineup Main Card: UFC LHW Title: [B]Quinton Jackson[/B] vs. Forrest Griffin Chris Lytle vs. [B]Josh Koscheck[/B] [B]Ricardo Almeida[/B] vs.Patrick Cote [B]Joe Stevenson[/B] vs. Gleison Tibau [B]Tyson Griffin[/B] vs. Marcus Aurelio Undercard: [B]Gabriel Gonzaga[/B] vs. Justin McCully [B]Cole Miller[/B] vs. Jorge Gurgel [B]Corey Hill [/B]vs. Justin Buchholz [B]Chris Wilson[/B] vs. Steve Bruno Dennis Siver vs. [B]Melvin Guillard[/B] [B]Ben Saunders [/B]vs. Jared Rollins [B]Rob Kimmons[/B] vs. Rob Yundt

[chris caulfield]

TUF 7 Finale Main Card: [B]Kendal Grove[/B] vs. Evan Tanner [B]Diego Sanchez[/B] vs. Luigi Fioravanti TUF Finals: [B]CB Dollaway [/B]vs. Tim Credeur [B]Josh Burkman[/B] vs. Dustin Hazelett Undercard: Jeremy Stephens vs.[B] Spencer Fisher[/B] [B]Drew McFedries [/B]vs. Marvin Eastman [B]Jeremy Horn [/B]vs. Dean Lister [B]Matt Arroyo [/B]vs. Matt Brown [B]Matt Riddle[/B] vs. Dante Rivera UFC 86 Lineup Main Card: UFC LHW Title: [B]Quinton Jackson[/B] vs. Forrest Griffin Chris Lytle vs.[B] Josh Koscheck[/B] Ricardo Almeida vs.[B]Patrick Cote[/B] [B]Joe Stevenson [/B]vs. Gleison Tibau [B]Tyson Griffin[/B] vs. Marcus Aurelio Undercard: [B]Gabriel Gonzaga[/B] vs. Justin McCully Cole Miller vs. [B]Jorge Gurgel[/B] Corey Hill vs. [B]Justin Buchholz[/B] [B]Chris Wilson[/B] vs. Steve Bruno [B]Dennis Siver[/B] vs. Melvin Guillard [B]Ben Saunders[/B] vs. Jared Rollins Rob Kimmons vs. [B]Rob Yundt[/B]

[ACCBiggz]

TUF 7 Finale Main Card: Kendal Grove vs. [B]Evan Tanner[/B] [B]Diego Sanchez[/B] vs. Luigi Fioravanti TUF Finals: [B]CB Dollaway[/B] vs. Tim Credeur Josh Burkman vs. [B]Dustin Hazelett[/B] Undercard: [B]Jeremy Stephens[/B] vs. Spencer Fisher [B]Drew McFedries[/B] vs. Marvin Eastman Jeremy Horn vs. [B]Dean Lister[/B] [B]Matt Arroyo[/B] vs. Matt Brown Matt Riddle vs. [B]Dante Rivera[/B] UFC 86 Lineup Main Card: UFC LHW Title: Quinton Jackson vs. [B]Forrest Griffin[/B] Chris Lytle vs. [B]Josh Koscheck[/B] [B]Ricardo Almeida[/B] vs.Patrick Cote [B]Joe Stevenson[/B] vs. Gleison Tibau [B]Tyson Griffin[/B] vs. Marcus Aurelio Undercard: [B]Gabriel Gonzaga[/B] vs. Justin McCully [B]Cole Miller [/B]vs. Jorge Gurgel [B]Corey Hill[/B] vs. Justin Buchholz [B]Chris Wilson[/B] vs. Steve Bruno Dennis Siver vs. [B]Melvin Guillard[/B] [B]Ben Saunders[/B] vs. Jared Rollins [B]Rob Kimmons[/B] vs. Rob Yundt

[D.O.]

[B][SIZE="5"][CENTER]The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale[/CENTER][/SIZE][/B] [I][CENTER]Live from The Pearl Las Vegas, Nevada[/CENTER][/I] [CENTER][SIZE="3"][B][I]The Undercard[/I][/B][/SIZE] [B]Matthew Riddle vs. Dante Rivera[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Quick start to the round from Rivera, he comes storming in with a flurry of jabs. Riddle defends it well, parrying them away. Nice straight right from Riddle connects. Rivera gets in close and hits a pair of nice body shots, then they clinch up. Rivera pushes Riddle back against the cage and goes for a trip, but Riddle blocks it. Riddle suddenly pushes forward off the cage and uses the momentum to take Rivera down to the ground, into guard. Riddle almost gets caught in a surprise armbar, leaving his arm in for far too long after a punch. Rivera tries to twist it while wrapping his legs around it, but Riddle pulls free, and it allows him an opportunity to get side control due to Rivera's legs being out of position. He lies across Rivera's chest. Rivera has locked up Riddle's right shoulder well, it's preventing him from doing much. Riddle drives a knee into the ribs, but can't generate much force. Riddle tries to spin around and get into north and south position, but Rivera blocks it by tenaciously holding onto the right arm. Riddle uses his legs to break Rivera's arms apart and trap the right one. It's a semi-crucifix position, Rivera is quite exposed. Fortunately for him then time expires before Riddle can turn it into a better attacking opportunity. End of round 1. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Riddle. [B]Round 2[/B] Riddle starts the round like a house on fire, hitting three quick jabs and a vicious right hook. Rivera covered up well, but at least one of the jabs got through and landed above the left eye. Rivera backs up to buy some time, but Riddle keeps coming and lands a right hand to the body. Rivera scores with a jab in return, then goes with a kick to the waist. Riddle catches the leg though and quickly rushes forward with a takedown. Rivera pulls guard. Riddle rains down three big punches, Rivera covers up and doesn't take too much damage. Riddle works one leg free, but Rivera has the other tightly wrapped up between his own. Riddle fires off three rapid-fire elbows to the ribs to try and soften Rivera up, but can't get the leg free. This is not a good position for Rivera though, and Riddle is looking dangerous. Riddle pushes down, then brings his free leg forward to drive a knee into the lower back. Rivera can't do a lot to stop that strike. Riddle hits a further knee, and that is enough to allow him to move into side control. Rivera is in huge trouble here. Elbow to the face, only partially blocked. Riddle briefly gets a forearm across the throat of Rivera, but it is knocked away before it can develop into a choke. Rivera tries to scramble out of it, and almost manages to pull guard again, but Riddle maintains side control. Knee to the ribs again. Rivera is taking a lot of punishment from those knee strikes. Riddle switches tactic and tries to grab an arm lock of some kind, Rivera almost got caught by surprise but not quite. The round is almost over, and there is no question that this round has gone to Riddle, it has been utter dominance. Rivera tries to get a knee strike of his own in, but it misses and Riddle responds with a hard elbow to the chest. That'll be the last action of the round. End of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Riddle. [B]Round 3[/B] The round begins with Rivera taking the iniative, coming in quickly with a straight right and a leg kick. Riddle replies with a snap jab and a wild left that misses by a long way. Rivera goes for the takedown, but Riddle sprawls. Rivera tries to power through, but Riddle uses that against him and turns it into a takedown of his own. They're quite close to the cage, which may help Rivera defend this. Riddle is in guard. He throws a couple of half-hearted jabs, then tries to pass, but Rivera isn't allowing it. Rivera pulls Riddle in tight, locking up both his arms. Riddle 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. Riddle tries a big right hand, which Rivera defends well. He has quite a high guard, Riddle has to be wary not to fall into a triangle when leaning in like that. Rivera once again drags Riddle down into a clinch, and this time even tries to work a guillotine, but Riddle easily deals with it and hands out two solid right hands to the ribs along the way. We're back to Riddle trying to pass guard. Rivera tries to throw a big punch and almost hands an armbar to Riddle, 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. Riddle scores with a jab, then a second. Rivera goes for a sweeping kick to the right knee, but it isn't fast enough and gives Riddle enough time to take him down again. Riddle quickly goes to pass guard, looking for side control, but Rivera once again defends it. It looks like a frustrating round will end with them on the ground, and almost certainly has to go to Riddle on points due to him being the aggressor and getting two takedowns in. The round ends. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Riddle.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Matthew Riddle by Unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B]Matt Arroyo vs. Matt Brown[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Brown starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Arroyo on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Brown to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Arroyo, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Brown, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Arroyo is looking a little lost so far, Brown is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. Arroyo with a body shot. Brown leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Arroyo was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Arroyo 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 Arroyo is that although Brown clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. End of the round. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Brown. [B]Round 2[/B] The two fighters circle. Arroyo flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Brown easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Arroyo could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Brown 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, Arroyo is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Arroyo forces Brown back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Brown in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Arroyo does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Brown saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Arroyo turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Arroyo is up quickly, causing Brown, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Arroyo was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Arroyo throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Brown to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. The round is over. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Brown. [B]Round 3[/B] Arroyo 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 Brown advancing. A sharp right misses, and Arroyo takes the opportunity to pull Brown in to a tight clinch against the cage. Brown tries to break free, but cannot. It looks like we know the strategies for this round already; Brown wants to stand and bang, Arroyo wants to keep things at close quarters. Brown tries for an elbow, but only succeeds in getting turned around so that he is now the one against the cage. Trip from Arroyo, and we're down to the ground. Arroyo has side control, but Brown has landed with his left hand side against the cage, so that side of the body is basically safe for now. Arroyo will have to try to work the right-hand side, and starts by ramming a knee into the ribs. Brown tries to squirm into a better position, but Arroyo puts a stop to that with a stiff elbow to the stomach. Arroyo tries to work a kimura on the right arm, but Brown defends it. Brown manages to bring a knee up and catch Arroyo in the side, something of a cheeky move given his position. Arroyo responds with five or six rapid-fire right hands to the face, but Brown covers up and doesn't take any serious damage at all. Time is ticking away though, and so far Arroyo may be easily winning the round, but he is not taking full advantage of this great position. Arroyo tries to float over into a mount, but Brown uses the cage to push away and manages to unbalance Arroyo enough to get to a kneeling position, then standing, albeit back into a clinch. A knee from Arroyo is the last action of the round. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Arroyo.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Matt Brown by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)[/I] [B]Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Lister hits a nice left hook. Horn felt it, and throws a ragged punch in response, missing by a mile. Lister 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. Horn clinches up, but gets pushed all the way back to the cage, where Lister uses a trip to send them both down to the ground. Horn tries to push free, but Lister forces him to go back to guard by raining down some jabs. Lister reaches over and tries to apply some sort of neck vice, but Horn breaks it by bringing his arms up. Lister steps through in an effort to mount Horn, but can only get to half guard as one of his legs gets trapped. Lister throws some strikes, then tries to work an armbar on the closest arm. Horn rolls over and uses his free arm to keep that from happening. That goes on for quite a long time, with Lister determined to try and work the arm free and get an armbar, while Horn uses everything at his disposal to block it. The round ends without Lister having made the breakthrough, although he clearly ran away with the round in terms of points. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Lister. [B]Round 2[/B] Lister hits the first punch of the round, scoring with a jab to the cheek. Horn throws a left hook in response, but it's well wide of the mark. Lister steps in and hits a low kick. Horn ignores it and shoots in for a takedown. Lister saw it coming though, and defends it brilliantly, sprawling at first, then pushing Horn face-down to the ground so that he can take his back. Horn turtles up. Lister hits a couple of hard shots to the body, but can't stop Horn working his way up and turning over, pulling guard. Lister tries to grab an arm to work a submission, but Horn is defending it well by using short, sharp strikes to keep him back. Lister tries to pass the guard, but has no luck. A punch from Lister connects, but there was no real power behind it. Lister fakes Horn out cleverly, and slips to a half mount. Horn manages to hit a firm elbow, then is forced to defend the full mount attempt. Lister switches tactics and tries to work a kimura on the other arm, but Horn blocks it, squirms his leg free, and secures the guard again. Lister looks frustrated at losing the half mount after having worked so hard to get it in the first place. Horn is liable to lose the round on points, but he has done a fine job of defending the submissions attempts so far. Lister tries to secure a leglock, but the guard is tight and Horn is safe. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Lister. [B]Round 3[/B] Good start from Lister, taking Horn down almost immediately! Horn scrambles though, and gets back to his feet without taking any damage at all. Lister will be disappointed with that. Horn comes in and throws two big right hands, but neither connects, and they put him off balance, allowing Lister to score with a nice right hook to the side of the head, crunching into the top of the ear. Horn felt that one for sure. He stalks Lister, trying to back him up against the cage. It doesn't work though, Lister keeps out of the way. Horn tries a kick, but Lister catches the foot and uses it for a trip. Lister gets Horn down for the second time, and this time is right on top of him in guard position. Lister throws some punches, then tries to pass. Horn doesn't allow it, and tries to grab an armbar in response. Lister easily stops that, and throws some more punches. That becomes the pattern, as the fight falls into a predictable pattern; punches from Lister followed by a pass attempt, with Horn blocking the pass and throwing the occasional punch in response. The round ends like that, just as the referee was about to stand them back up. The round is over. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Lister by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Dean Lister by unanimous decision (29-28. 30-27, 30-27)[/I] [B]Drew McFedries vs. Marvin Eastman[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/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 McFedries, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. McFedries 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. Eastman covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. Eastman narrowly misses a right cross. Low kick from Eastman, 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 McFedries will take the round on points. End of round 1. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 McFedries. [B]Round 2[/B] The fighters touch gloves, then circle. McFedries throws a low kick, but it was without any conviction, it seemed designed more to keep Eastman from coming inside. McFedries works an angle, then comes in with a one-two combination, Eastman responds with a crisp uppercut that wasn't far off from connecting. McFedries 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. Eastman circles and throws a series of high jabs, but McFedries blocked them with ease, using the gloves. McFedries fakes a high kick, then storms in with a wild looking right hand and a series of body shots. Eastman covers up and rides out the storm, clinching to stop any further blows. It was a nice attack from McFedries 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. McFedries throws a leg kick that connects, albeit without too much force, and the round is done. End of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for McFedries. [B]Round 3[/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Eastman throws out a jab, but McFedries bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. McFedries works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Eastman covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. McFedries is making Eastman look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Eastman hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. About thirty seconds pass without any contact, and the crowd become a little restless. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. McFedries got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Eastman slightly. Eastman initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Eastman looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but McFedries is clearly winning them. Eastman needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. McFedries tries a speculative high kick, but Eastman saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Eastman tries to work an angle, but McFedries is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for McFedries, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for McFedries.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Drew McFedries by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B]Jeremy Stephens vs. Spencer Fisher[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] They circle to start, both throwing a few tentative jabs. An uppercut misses its mark from Fisher, providing the first moment of real action. Stephens hits a nice combination of body shots to set up a big right hook, but Fisher side-stepped to safety. A few punches get thrown, but there's a lack of real action to talk about. Stephens 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 1. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Stephens by 10-9. [B]Round 2[/B] Exchange of strikes to start. Fisher suddenly shoots in and gets a takedown, ending up in guard. Stephens keeps the guard high. Fisher half-stands and throws a big right hand, narrowly missing the mark. Another punch connects, but Fisher leans into it too much and Stephens brings his legs up and closes them around the arm. It's Fisher now on the defensive, trying to get out of the armbar attempt. He gets in close to stop any pressure being applied, but that allows Stephens to sweep him from that position. A scramble for position ends with the situation being completely reversed, with Stephens on top in Fisher's guard. Stephens tries to pass guard, but Fisher doesn't allow it. Fisher throws a couple of punches, but they're parried away. He breaks his guard to bring a leg across and try to kick Stephens in the face, but it's a mistake as Stephens pushes the leg aside and gets side control. Stephens pushes them closer to the cage, near his own corner so that they can give him instructions. Following what they say, Stephens throws some heavy blows to the unprotected stomach of Fisher, then tries to isolate the closest arm. Fisher 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 Stephens from extending the arm. Stephens continues trying to apply an armbar, but Fisher is not allowing it. Eventually Stephens turns and tries to get a crucifix position instead. Fisher fights that off too. The round ends with Stephens still doggedly trying to get an armbar submission, and Fisher tenaciously stopping it. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Stephens. [B]Round 3[/B] Stephens and Fisher meet in the center, and both throw looping right hands at the same time. Neither hits home. Stephens throws a couple of nice jabs that cause Fisher to cover up. He throws a sharp right hand in response which narrowly misses. They clinch in the center. Fisher tries to trip Stephens, but it is easily dealt with, and Stephens cheekily does the exact same thing to Fisher, except with more success. Fisher goes crashing to the ground with Stephens on top. Stephens tries to pass guard, but Fisher doesn't allow it. Fisher throws a couple of punches, but they're parried away. He breaks his guard to bring a leg across and try to kick Stephens in the face, but it's a mistake as Stephens pushes the leg aside and gets side control. Stephens pushes them closer to the cage, near his own corner so that they can give him instructions. Following what they say, Stephens throws some heavy blows to the unprotected stomach of Fisher, then tries to isolate the closest arm. Fisher 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 Stephens from extending the arm. Stephens continues trying to apply an armbar, but Fisher is not allowing it. Eventually Stephens turns and tries to get a crucifix position instead. Fisher fights that off too. The round ends with Stephens still doggedly trying to get an armbar submission, and Fisher tenaciously stopping it. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Stephens by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)[/I] [SIZE="3"][B][I]Main Card begins Live on Spike TV[/I][/B][/SIZE] [B]Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Good start from Hazelett, taking Burkman down almost immediately! Burkman scrambles though, and gets back to his feet without taking any damage at all. Hazelett will be disappointed with that. Burkman comes in and throws two big right hands, but neither connects, and they put him off balance, allowing Hazelett to score with a nice right hook to the side of the head, crunching into the top of the ear. Burkman felt that one for sure. He stalks Hazelett, trying to back him up against the cage. It doesn't work though, Hazelett keeps out of the way. Burkman tries a kick, but Hazelett catches the foot and uses it for a trip. Hazelett gets Burkman down for the second time, and this time is right on top of him in guard position. Hazelett throws some punches, then tries to pass. Burkman doesn't allow it, and tries to grab an armbar in response. Hazelett easily stops that, and throws some more punches. That becomes the pattern, as the fight falls into a predictable pattern; punches from Hazelett followed by a pass attempt, with Burkman blocking the pass and throwing the occasional punch in response. The round ends like that, just as the referee was about to stand them back up. The round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Hazelett by 10-9. [B]Round 2[/B] Burkman starts fast, unleashing a bomb of a right hand, but Hazelett avoids it without too much trouble. Burkman isn't disheartened though, swinging two more huge punches, with Hazelett getting out the way each time, but being forced all over the place. Burkman finally backs off a little, breathing hard. That was quite a frantic start. Hazelett opts to use that, and comes in to throw some jabs. Burkman is backed up against the cage, covering up. Hazelett clinches. They struggle, and the fight enters a lull. Burkman hits a knee strike to the hip. Hazelett slips one leg behind Burkman and uses that as leverage for a big trip. Burkman landed hard, with Hazelett on top. They're in half guard. It's to Burkman's advantage that they're right next to the cage, that is blocking Hazelett from attacking the left hand side of the body. Burkman is forced into action to defend a kimura attempt. Hazelett tries to step over to mount, but Burkman keeps his legs in position and ends up almost rolled into a ball. Hazelett 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. Burkman doesn't appear to be trying that though, instead trying to shift his weight so that he can get back up. Hazelett isn't allowing it though, and gets a couple more punches in before settling back into half guard. Burkman ties him up in a snug clinch. The action halts, and time expires before Hazelett can get free. End of round 2. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Hazelett. [B]Round 3[/B] Burkman leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Hazelett 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. Hazelett uses a knee to the ribs before backing Burkman up against the cage. Right hand from Burkman connects though, that was well timed. Hazelett breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Burkman was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Hazelett sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Burkman fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. They come together in the center and exchange strikes. Burkman gets the better of it, and throws a wild right hand with evil intentions. Hazelett saw it coming, and ducks under it, allowing him the perfect position to hit Burkman with a takedown and put them on the ground. Hazelett gets past the guard, but only just, one leg is trapped by Burkman. A couple of right hands by Hazelett leave ugly red marks where they hit the unprotected stomach of Burkman. Hazelett gets both legs free and transitions higher up the body, putting Burkman in huge trouble. Hazelett manages to get a forearm firmly across the throat of Burkman and he pushes down. Burkman, with no way of getting out, has no alternative but to tap out.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Dustin Hazelett by submission at 3:11 of Round 3[/I] [I][SIZE="1"]TUF Finals:[/SIZE][/I] [B]CB Dollaway vs. Tim Credeur[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Nice fast-paced start from Dollaway, who gets right in Credeur'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 Credeur side-stepped. Credeur fires back with a left hand, then a right to the body. Dollaway steps in, but only into a waist-high kick from Credeur. Dollaway is quick though, and manages to catch it around the knee. Using it as leverage, Dollaway sweeps Credeur's standing leg and takes them to the ground. Credeur quickly pulls guard. Dollaway tries to move quickly into side control, but Credeur isn't letting that happen. Credeur reaches up and tries to grab an arm, but takes a right hand to the cheek in response. Dollaway tries to power him way through, raining down four or five hammer fists, but Credeur covered up well. Dollaway pushes a leg down and moves to the side, but Credeur spins out. Dollaway moves with him though and gets his back! No, Credeur scrambled like crazy and manages to turn right back over and pull guard again. That was an exciting sequence though, and the fans enjoyed it. Dollaway won't be pleased that he had both side control and the back, but didn't hold onto either for more than a few seconds. The fight unfortunately enters a lull, as Dollaway punctuates unsuccessful attempts to pass guard with easily defended jabs. The referee eventually gets them back up to their feet due to inactivity. Not much time left in the round though. Credeur will need to do something a bit special to avoid losing the round on points. He tries just that, throwing a big right hand and a high kick, but Dollaway backs off, safe in the knowledge that he has won this round. The time expires. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Dollaway. [B]Round 2[/B] Dollaway and Credeur meet in the center, and both throw looping right hands at the same time. Neither hits home. Dollaway throws a couple of nice jabs that cause Credeur to cover up. He throws a sharp right hand in response which narrowly misses. They clinch in the center. Credeur tries to trip Dollaway, but it is easily dealt with, and Dollaway cheekily does the exact same thing to Credeur, except with more success. Credeur goes crashing to the ground with Dollaway on top. Dollaway almost gets caught in a surprise armbar, leaving his arm in for far too long after a punch. Credeur tries to twist it while wrapping his legs around it, but Dollaway pulls free, and it allows him an opportunity to get side control due to Credeur's legs being out of position. He lies across Credeur's chest. Credeur has locked up Dollaway's right shoulder well, it's preventing him from doing much. Dollaway drives a knee into the ribs, but can't generate much force. Dollaway tries to spin around and get into north and south position, but Credeur blocks it by tenaciously holding onto the right arm. Dollaway uses his legs to break Credeur's arms apart and trap the right one. It's a semi-crucifix position, Credeur is quite exposed. Fortunately for him then time expires before Dollaway can turn it into a better attacking opportunity. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Dollaway. [B]Round 3[/B] Dollaway is quickest out, and comes at Credeur with a series of jabs and straight punches. Credeur covered up well, and I don't think anything got through. Credeur hits a body shot, but it didn't connect solidly. They get in close, and it's Dollaway who takes it to the ground. Credeur pulls guard. There's a lull, as Dollaway tries to pass, and Credeur defends it. Punches get thrown every so often, but it's really a stalemate at the moment. Credeur almost gets a guillotine, but it's blocked and almost leads to a kimura for Dollaway, but that too goes nowhere. The referee stands them up, but the time is almost over. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Dollaway.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]CB Dollaway by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)[/I] [B]Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Sanchez starts the round like a house on fire, hitting three quick jabs and a vicious right hook. Fioravanti covered up well, but at least one of the jabs got through and landed above the left eye. Fioravanti backs up to buy some time, but Sanchez keeps coming and lands a right hand to the body. Fioravanti scores with a jab in return, then goes with a kick to the waist. Sanchez catches the leg though and quickly rushes forward with a takedown. Fioravanti pulls guard. Sanchez almost gets caught in a surprise armbar, leaving his arm in for far too long after a punch. Fioravanti tries to twist it while wrapping his legs around it, but Sanchez pulls free, and it allows him an opportunity to get side control due to Fioravanti's legs being out of position. He lies across Fioravanti's chest. Fioravanti has locked up Sanchez's right shoulder well, it's preventing him from doing much. Sanchez drives a knee into the ribs, but can't generate much force. Sanchez tries to spin around and get into north and south position, but Fioravanti blocks it by tenaciously holding onto the right arm. Sanchez uses his legs to break Fioravanti's arms apart and trap the right one. It's a semi-crucifix position, Fioravanti is quite exposed. Fortunately for him then time expires before Sanchez can turn it into a better attacking opportunity. The round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Sanchez. [B]Round 2[/B] Fioravanti is the first to score a meaningful blow, tagging Sanchez with a jab to the cheek. Sanchez uses a nice straight left to return fire. Fioravanti comes in to work the body, but Sanchez saw it coming and uses a quick takedown to put Fioravanti onto the floor, falling into guard. Sanchez rains down three big punches, Fioravanti covers up and doesn't take too much damage. Sanchez works one leg free, but Fioravanti has the other tightly wrapped up between his own. Sanchez fires off three rapid-fire elbows to the ribs to try and soften Fioravanti up, but can't get the leg free. This is not a good position for Fioravanti though, and Sanchez is looking dangerous. Sanchez pushes down, then brings his free leg forward to drive a knee into the lower back. Fioravanti can't do a lot to stop that strike. Sanchez hits a further knee, and that is enough to allow him to move into side control. Fioravanti is in huge trouble here. Elbow to the face, only partially blocked. Sanchez briefly gets a forearm across the throat of Fioravanti, but it is knocked away before it can develop into a choke. Fioravanti tries to scramble out of it, and almost manages to pull guard again, but Sanchez maintains side control. Knee to the ribs again. Fioravanti is taking a lot of punishment from those knee strikes. Sanchez switches tactic and tries to grab an arm lock of some kind, Fioravanti almost got caught by surprise but not quite. The round is almost over, and there is no question that this round has gone to Sanchez, it has been utter dominance. Fioravanti tries to get a knee strike of his own in, but it misses and Sanchez responds with a hard elbow to the chest. That'll be the last action of the round. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Sanchez. [B]Round 3[/B] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Fioravanti is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Sanchez blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Fioravanti is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Sanchez is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Fioravanti 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 Fioravanti some problems later on. Fioravanti 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. Sanchez is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Fioravanti 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 Fioravanti 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. Fioravanti goes for a trip, but Sanchez 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 Sanchez may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The third round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Sanchez.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)[/I] [B]Kendal Grove vs. Evan Tanner[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Tanner lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Grove sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Tanner 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 Grove manages to get the better position, pushing Tanner up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Grove. Tanner 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. Grove tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Tanner was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Grove down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Grove covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Tanner hits a big elbow to the ribs, Grove definitely felt that. Tanner drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Grove brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Tanner will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Grove defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Tanner unable to generate any attacks, and Grove unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Tanner will likely be very angry that he didn't make more of that takedown. They exchange half-hearted jabs as the round draws to an end. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Tanner. [B]Round 2[/B] Fast start by Tanner, who has thrown three crisp jabs in the first twenty seconds, although none of them got past the gloves. Grove circles, drawing a lunge from Tanner, allowing him to score with a nice low kick to the front leg. Tanner ignores that and darts in for a takedown, but only ends up holding one leg, Grove hopping on the other to remain vertical. Tanner tries to push forward to complete the takedown, but Grove manages to pull them all the way back to the cage before ultimately going down. That's a much better position to be in though, he has his corner right there, and can use the cage to effectively cut off any form of attack to the left hand side of his body. Tanner has one leg trapped between Grove's, and is struggling to get it free. He throws a couple of punches, none of them doing much damage, and then tries to work on one of the arms. It might be a kimura that he looking for. Grove defends it well, without fully escaping it, Tanner can't really do a lot with it due to how much he is having to stretch to apply it, due to his leg being trapped. Grove suddenly releases the leg and scrambles up, looking to take Tanner's back. Tanner was ready for it though, and blocks it by pinning a half-standing Grove up against the cage. It's a precarious position for both fighters. Grove throws a couple of short-range punches. Tanner gets a leg in and trips Grove, putting him back on the ground, albeit this time in full guard. It was a nice escape attempt from Grove, at least he can take heart from the fact that it resulted in a better defensive position. Time is running out, it looks like this round will end with them in this position. The 2nd round ends. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Tanner. [B]Round 3[/B] Grove hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Tanner to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Grove hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Tanner tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Grove having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Tanner. Grove makes Tanner 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. Grove throws another two punches, both to the body, then steps back to avoid an uppercut. Tanner lets fly with a scorching punch though, and it catches Grove by surprise, putting him down! Tanner follows up and starts raining down right hands. Grove covers up as best he can, but it's not enough as the referee pulls Tanner off, the match is over.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Evan Tanner by TKO at 3:20 of Round 3[/I] [/CENTER]

[D.O.]

[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] News and Notes from Tonight’s TUF 7 Press Conference [LIST] [*]The first thing to report is the bonuses. Dustin Hazelett and Evan Tanner took Submission of the night and Knock Out of the Night respectively, having been the only two to finish their fights. The Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to Evan Tanner and Kendall Grove for their main event fight. The UFC gave out $25,000 for each bonus. [*]Another thing mentioned by Dana White that was previously unannounced was the Karo Parisyan would be taking on Jonathan Goulet at UFC 87 and that debuting 205lber Andre Gusmao would be taking on a yet to be determined opponent at the same event. [*]White mentioned that just days before the event, Marvin Eastman signed a contract extention with the organization. When asked if he regretted that after the loss, he stated that he wouldn’t have made the offer if he intended on cutting him because of a loss in this fight. [*]White was asked about Kendall Grove’s future with the company, and while he stopped short of saying Kendall would be released, he did say that Kendall needs a win badly. [*]When asked about a potential future opponent for Diego Sanchez, White was very candid in saying he likes the idea of Sanchez facing UFC 85 winner Mike Swick. [*]White was very complimentary of TUF 7 castmember Matt Brown after his victory over Matt Arroyo, saying as “The kid is a warrior. If he continues to fight like that, he’ll always have a home here.” [*]When talking about TUF 7 champ CB Dollaway, White was very harsh toward critics of the reality show. He talked about how people constantly say the show has run it’s course, but out of it comes a guy like CB Dollaway, who has legitamate potential, and said anyone who didn’t see that was an F’n idiot. [*]We’ll finish up with the biggest announcement from the press conference. Dana White has announced that he signed a deal with Renato “Babalu” Sobral to return to the UFC, and he will take on Wanderlei Silva in the main event of Ultimate Fight Night 14 in September. [/LIST] That’s it for now, stick close to [B]MMAScoop.com[/B] for all the latest new leading up to UFC 86.

[D.O.]

[U][B]MMAScoop.com[/B] Newswire[/U] [LIST] [*]Jeremy Horn has been released from his UFC contract. He had 1 fight left on his deal. [*]The UFC has signed a contract with undefeated canadian fighter Ryan Ford. The terms of the contract were not released, but he is expected to debut for the company on the September Ultimate Fight Night card. [*]Andre Gusmao's UFC 87 opponent has been confirmed as being Ultimate Fighter 3 castmember Tait Fletcher. This will be Fletcher's debut for the organization since the show where he lost a controversial decision to Josh Haynes. This officially brings the card to 11 fights. [*]Ultimate Fighter 4 fighter Pete Sell has agreed to fight Rousimar "Toquino" Palhares at UFC 88. The fight is expected to take place on the untelevised preliminary portion of the card. [*]Former Shooto Lightweight Yusuke Endo has agreed to a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. There was no word on when or who he might be fighting. [*]Brandon Vera has failed a random drug test issued by the NSAC and has been issued a 1 year suspension. No word yet on if Vera intended to appeal the decision. [/LIST]

[Cro_Cop45]

Endo!

[D.O.]

[CENTER][SIZE="5"][B]UFC 86 - Jackson vs. Griffin[/B][/SIZE] [I]Live from Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, Nevada[/I] [B][I][SIZE="3"]The Undercard[/SIZE][/I][/B] [B]Rob Kimmons vs. Rob Yundt[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] The two fighters circle. Yundt flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Kimmons easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Yundt could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Kimmons 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, Yundt is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Yundt forces Kimmons back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Kimmons in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Yundt does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Kimmons saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Yundt turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Yundt is up quickly, causing Kimmons, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Yundt was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Yundt throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Kimmons to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Kimmons. [B]Round 2[/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. Yundt complies, firing off a dangerous right cross, narrowly missing. Kimmons throws a couple of stiff jabs, but they only find gloves. Yundt fakes left, then comes in from the right, hitting a nice body blow. Kimmons steps forward and unleashes a big kick, thundering it into Yundt's ribs. He felt that one for sure. Kimmons follows up by hitting a right hand too. Yundt finds himself backed up against the cage. Kimmons advances, and throws a scythe-like kick to the legs. Yundt can't get out of the way, and almost gets felled by the impact. Kimmons steps in and scores with a high head kick. Yundt partially blocked it with his hands, which was probably the only thing stopping it from being a knock out blow. Yundt gets a right hand jab out in response, then pulls Kimmons into a clinch. Knee strike from Kimmons. They break. Yundt still looks hurt from that first kick. Kimmons gets in close and gives a receipt for that earlier body blow, nailing a right hand to the gut. Yundt hits a jab to the cheek in response, then clinches again. Time runs down, the round will end before anything more can happen. Kimmons has used those powerful kicks to dominate this round. The 2nd round ends. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-8 for Kimmons. [B]Round 3[/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Yundt puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Kimmons defended well. Straight right from Kimmons 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, Yundt probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Kimmons 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 Yundt. The round is over. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Yundt by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Rob Kimmons by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)[/I] [B]Jared Rollins vs. Ben Saunders[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Saunders puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but J-Roc defended well. Straight right from J-Roc 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, Saunders probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. J-Roc 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 Saunders. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Saunders. [B]Round 2[/B] Saunders throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. J-Roc throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Saunders 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. J-Roc hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Saunders. They struggle all the way back, with Saunders ending up backed up against the cage. J-Roc hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Saunders stomps downward onto his foot. Saunders manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. J-Roc gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Saunders ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Saunders tries a high kick to start, but J-Roc saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's J-Roc who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Saunders on the nose. Saunders hits a straight right, enough to stop J-Roc 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 2nd round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 J-Roc. [B]Round 3[/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. Saunders kicks J-Roc in the ribs, but J-Roc was ready, catches the foot, and uses it to trip Saunders down. Into a guard. J-Roc throws a couple of shots, but Saunders defends it well. J-Roc gets through the guard and has side control. That was well executed, but Saunders could have done better, he gave up his side too easily. It goes from bad to worse for Saunders, a wild punch is easily blocked by J-Roc, who uses it to take his back. Saunders is in real trouble now. J-Roc fires of a series of punches, and Saunders has no answer. J-Roc stretches Saunders out, and secures the rear naked choke. He doesn't get it fully at first, but then does. Saunders taps.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Jared Rollins by submission at 2:51 of Round 3[/I] [B]Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/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. Guillard gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. They are circling, then come in close. Both fighters are tentatively looking for the chance to strike. Guillard is the first to go for it, throwing a three-punch combination. Siver covered up well, taking very little damage. Guillard goes to throw a bomb, but gets clipped with a right hand before it can connect. He felt that. Siver steps in and throws a bomb of his own, and it crunches into the side of the cheek of Guillard, who goes down! Replays show the shock wave passing through his entire body as that powerful punch connected. What a strike! Siver wins this by a brutally clean knock out.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Dennis Siver by KO at 1:31 of Round 1[/I] [B]Chris Wilson vs. Steve Bruno[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/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. Wilson gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. Bruno swings for the fences, but Wilson ducks under and comes in closer, into grappling range. He scoops up Bruno onto his shoulder, and then flattens him with a slam. The crowd pop for it. Wilson gets side control, but loses it almost immediately as Bruno is able to regain composure and pull guard. Bruno struggles to contain Wilson, who passes to half guard without too much trouble. A few hard shots get thrown, and Bruno does well to defend them, deflecting them off his gloves. Wilson is trying to get his leg free so that he can get into side control. Bruno throws a couple of punches from his back, but they do very little damage. Wilson half-stands, and throws a couple of big punches with a lot of force behind them. One is blocked, but the other hits home just below the left eye. Bruno tries to cover up, while Wilson manages to get his leg free and get into a mount. Bruno is in big trouble. He tries to roll his hips and shift Wilson's weight, but it's not working. Wilson fires off a couple of punches, then drops an absolute bomb of a right hand, landing flush on the chin! Bruno is out, just for a second, but the referee has already pulled Wilson off. Sharp-eyed refereeing there. This match is over by knock out.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Chris Wilson by KO at 1:39 of Round 1[/I] [B]Cole Miller vs. Jorge Gurgel[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Miller hits the first punch of the round, scoring with a jab to the cheek. Gurgel throws a left hook in response, but it's well wide of the mark. Miller steps in and hits a low kick. Gurgel ignores it and shoots in for a takedown. Miller saw it coming though, and defends it brilliantly, sprawling at first, then pushing Gurgel face-down to the ground so that he can take his back. Gurgel turtles up. Miller hits a couple of hard shots to the body, but can't stop Gurgel working his way up and turning over, pulling guard. Miller tries to grab an arm to work a submission, but Gurgel is defending it well by using short, sharp strikes to keep him back. Miller tries to pass the guard, but has no luck. A punch from Miller connects, but there was no real power behind it. Miller fakes Gurgel out cleverly, and slips to a half mount. Gurgel manages to hit a firm elbow, then is forced to defend the full mount attempt. Miller switches tactics and tries to work a kimura on the other arm, but Gurgel blocks it, squirms his leg free, and secures the guard again. Miller looks frustrated at losing the half mount after having worked so hard to get it in the first place. Gurgel is liable to lose the round on points, but he has done a fine job of defending the submissions attempts so far. Miller tries to secure a leglock, but the guard is tight and Gurgel is safe. The round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Miller. [B]Round 2[/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Miller puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Gurgel defended well. Straight right from Gurgel 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, Miller probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Gurgel 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 Miller. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Miller. [B]Round 3[/B] Quick start to the round from Gurgel, he comes storming in with a flurry of jabs. Miller defends it well, parrying them away. Nice straight right from Miller connects. Gurgel gets in close and hits a pair of nice body shots, then they clinch up. Gurgel pushes Miller back against the cage and goes for a trip, but Miller blocks it. Miller suddenly pushes forward off the cage and uses the momentum to take Gurgel down to the ground, into guard. Gurgel tries to push free, but Miller forces him to go back to guard by raining down some jabs. Miller reaches over and tries to apply some sort of neck vice, but Gurgel breaks it by bringing his arms up. Miller steps through in an effort to mount Gurgel, but can only get to half guard as one of his legs gets trapped. Miller throws some strikes, then tries to work an armbar on the closest arm. Gurgel rolls over and uses his free arm to keep that from happening. That goes on for quite a long time, with Miller determined to try and work the arm free and get an armbar, while Gurgel uses everything at his disposal to block it. The round ends without Miller having made the breakthrough, although he clearly ran away with the round in terms of points. The 3rd round ends. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Miller.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Cole Miller by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B]Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Buchholz puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Hill defended well. Straight right from Hill 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, Buchholz probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Hill 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 Buchholz. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Buchholz. [B]Round 2[/B] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Buchholz is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Hill blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Buchholz is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Hill is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Buchholz 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 Buchholz some problems later on. Buchholz 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. Hill is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Buchholz 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 Buchholz 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. Buchholz goes for a trip, but Hill 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 Hill may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. End of round 2. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Hill. [B]Round 3[/B] Buchholz 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 Buchholz up against the cage. Right hand from Buchholz connects though, that was well timed. Hill breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Buchholz 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. Buchholz fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Hill throws a left, then a right, but neither connects. Buchholz clinches up, and they wind up against the cage. Hill tries to throw a knee, but Buchholz sweeps his standing leg and is on top on the ground. Buchholz fires off a few punches, forcing Hill to cover up. Buchholz works his way onto the right-hand side of the body, Hill unable to do much to stop him. Hill tries to scrabble out of trouble, but finds his right arm is trapped under the body of Buchholz, who is quick to turn that situation into an armbar attempt. Hill desperately tries to turn them both over to alleviate the pressure, but there is no way he can move Buchholz from that position, he has no leverage at all. Buchholz cinches in the armbar and Hill has to tap out.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Justin Buccholz by submission at 3:33 of Round 3[/I] [B]Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] McCully seems to be growing in confidence over the past thirty seconds. He has just come up with four good separate straight rights, although I don't think any of them did too much damage. He moves in for another, but takes a wicked kick from Gonzaga. McCully looks wobbly, and his hands drop. Gonzaga sees it, and comes in with a solid right hand that drops McCully to the mat. Gonzaga follows up with more punches, and the referee has to get in there and stop it, McCully was not defending himself properly. I think it's the kick that did the most damage, it seemed to scramble his brains. [/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO at 1:17 of Round 1[/I] [I][B][SIZE="3"]Main Card begins Live on PPV[/SIZE][/B][/I] [B]Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/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. Aurelio goes for the first takedown, but Griffin 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. Griffin storms back in almost immediately and takes Aurelio down, into guard. It's hard to say whether that was just a good takedown or whether Aurelio just had a lapse in concentration. Griffin tries to pass the guard but can't, with Aurelio employing a rubber guard now. There's a definite stalemate, Aurelio is defending very well but isn't really offering any attacking threat or really trying to get out of this predicament. Griffin makes a big effort to pass, and manages to get to half guard, but Aurelio 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 Griffin on points, the takedown is really the only noteworthy thing that has happened. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Griffin. [B]Round 2[/B] Fast start by Aurelio, who has thrown three crisp jabs in the first twenty seconds, although none of them got past the gloves. Griffin circles, drawing a lunge from Aurelio, allowing him to score with a nice low kick to the front leg. Aurelio ignores that and darts in for a takedown, but only ends up holding one leg, Griffin hopping on the other to remain vertical. Aurelio tries to push forward to complete the takedown, but Griffin manages to pull them all the way back to the cage before ultimately going down. That's a much better position to be in though, he has his corner right there, and can use the cage to effectively cut off any form of attack to the left hand side of his body. Aurelio has one leg trapped between Griffin's, and is struggling to get it free. He throws a couple of punches, none of them doing much damage, and then tries to work on one of the arms. It might be a kimura that he looking for. Griffin defends it well, without fully escaping it, Aurelio can't really do a lot with it due to how much he is having to stretch to apply it, due to his leg being trapped. Griffin suddenly releases the leg and scrambles up, looking to take Aurelio's back. Aurelio was ready for it though, and blocks it by pinning a half-standing Griffin up against the cage. It's a precarious position for both fighters. Griffin throws a couple of short-range punches. Aurelio gets a leg in and trips Griffin, putting him back on the ground, albeit this time in full guard. It was a nice escape attempt from Griffin, at least he can take heart from the fact that it resulted in a better defensive position. Time is running out, it looks like this round will end with them in this position. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Aurelio. [B]Round 3[/B] Right hand from Griffin was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Aurelio. Griffin follows up by coming in close, but Aurelio is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. Griffin makes Aurelio 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. Griffin throws another two punches, both to the body, then steps back to avoid an uppercut. Aurelio lets fly with a scorching punch though, and it catches Griffin by surprise, putting him down! Aurelio follows up and starts raining down right hands. Griffin covers up as best he can, but it's not enough as the referee pulls Aurelio off, the match is over.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Marcus Aurelio by TKO at 1:17 of Round 3[/I] [B]Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] The two fighters circle. Stevenson flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Tibau easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Stevenson could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Tibau 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, Stevenson is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Stevenson forces Tibau back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Tibau in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Stevenson does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Tibau saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Stevenson turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Stevenson is up quickly, causing Tibau, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Stevenson was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Stevenson throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Tibau to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. The round ends. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Tibau. [B]Round 2[/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Stevenson throws out a jab, but Tibau bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Tibau works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Stevenson covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Tibau is making Stevenson look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Stevenson hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. For a second it looked like Stevenson was about to go for a takedown, but nothing came from it. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Tibau got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Stevenson slightly. Stevenson initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Stevenson looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Tibau is clearly winning them. Stevenson needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Tibau tries a speculative high kick, but Stevenson saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Stevenson tries to work an angle, but Tibau is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Tibau, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The second round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Tibau. [B]Round 3[/B] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Stevenson lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Tibau sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Stevenson 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 Tibau manages to get the better position, pushing Stevenson up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Tibau. Stevenson 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. Tibau tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Stevenson was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Tibau down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Tibau covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Stevenson hits a big elbow to the ribs, Tibau definitely felt that. Stevenson drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Tibau brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Stevenson will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Tibau defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Stevenson unable to generate any attacks, and Tibau unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Stevenson 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. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Stevenson.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Gleison Tibau by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)[/I] [B]Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Lytle puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Koscheck defended well. Straight right from Koscheck 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, Lytle probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Koscheck 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 Lytle. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Lytle. [B]Round 2[/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Koscheck throws out a jab, but Lytle bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Lytle works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Koscheck covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Lytle is making Koscheck look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Koscheck hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. An exchange of punches goes nowhere, and they fall into a clinch. The referee separates them when nothing happens. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Lytle got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Koscheck slightly. Koscheck initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Koscheck looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Lytle is clearly winning them. Koscheck needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Lytle tries a speculative high kick, but Koscheck saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Koscheck tries to work an angle, but Lytle is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Lytle, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. End of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Lytle. [B]Round 3[/B] There's a few minor exchanges of punches to start the round, and Lytle gets the better of them. Neither fighter is throwing any bombs, but Lytle is showing the better technique, and has hit a few nice body shots. They come together again, and Lytle shows quick hands to get in three nice shots. Koscheck definitely felt them. Neither fighter seems interested in taking this to the ground, they're just circling, throwing a few punches, then regrouping. Koscheck is struggling to inflict much damage. He may need to switch tactics, as so far Lytle is looking very comfortable. Koscheck comes in with left, but Lytle saw it coming and slipped in a great right hand counter punch. Koscheck is getting frustrated. The remainder of the round is no different, as the occasional exchanges of strikes are clearly go the way of Lytle's superior technique. The third round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Lytle.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] Chris Lytle by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) [B]Ricardo Almeida vs. Patrick Cote[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Cote starts fast, unleashing a bomb of a right hand, but Almeida avoids it without too much trouble. Cote isn't disheartened though, swinging two more huge punches, with Almeida getting out the way each time, but being forced all over the place. Cote finally backs off a little, breathing hard. That was quite a frantic start. Almeida opts to use that, and comes in to throw some jabs. Cote is backed up against the cage, covering up. Almeida clinches. They struggle, and the fight enters a lull. Cote hits a knee strike to the hip. Almeida slips one leg behind Cote and uses that as leverage for a big trip. Cote landed hard, with Almeida on top. They're in half guard. It's to Cote's advantage that they're right next to the cage, that is blocking Almeida from attacking the left hand side of the body. Cote is forced into action to defend a kimura attempt. Almeida tries to step over to mount, but Cote keeps his legs in position and ends up almost rolled into a ball. Almeida 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. Cote doesn't appear to be trying that though, instead trying to shift his weight so that he can get back up. Almeida isn't allowing it though, and gets a couple more punches in before settling back into half guard. Cote ties him up in a snug clinch. The action halts, and time expires before Almeida can get free. The 1st round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Almeida by 10-9. [B]Round 2[/B] Almeida starts the round by throwing some low kicks. Cote checks them, then comes in and clearly wants to trade punches. Almeida 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. Almeida cleverly head-fakes, allowing him the time and angle that he needed to catch Cote with a beauty of a right hook. Cote stumbles backward, but doesn't go down. Almeida presses the advantage by following in with a kick, then a right hand. Cote clinches. They remain clinched for a while. Cote scores with a nice knee, it appeared to catch Almeida in the gut. Almeida uses a single leg trip and takes the fight to the ground. Almeida gets to side control upon impact, and immediately goes for an armbar. Cote reacts quickly, but is in real danger. Almeida has his left arm straightened out, fortunately Cote has managed to roll and get a good position that is stopping Almeida from getting the leverage needed to apply an armlock. Almeida tries to step over and fully apply it, but Cote breaks free and gets him to back off with a couple of up-kicks. Almeida steps back and motions for him to stand up. They go back to circling in the center. Cote hits a nice right hand, but takes one back too. The time runs down; Almeida 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. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Almeida. [B]Round 3[/B] Almeida starts strong, hitting a nice low kick and following in with a shot to the body. Cote backs off, but just gets pushed up against the cage. Almeida presses the advantage and works a nice hook to the body. Cote responds with an attempted sweep, and when that doesn't work, a punch that lands behind the ear. Almeida gets in a low kick as he backs off, and the fight returns towards the center. Cote scores with a kick to the outside of the thigh, but it didn't have a great deal of power on it. Almeida returns fire with a jab, and then tries for a takedown. Cote 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 Almeida! Cote tries to fight out of it, but Almeida keeps position well. Hard shot to the ribs by Almeida. Can he capitalise on this great position though? He tries to apply a choke hold, but Cote defends it. However, in doing so, he leaves his left arm exposed, and Almeida is able to float over and trap it inbetween his legs. Almeida falls forward and pulls, forcing Cote to tap out rather than have his arm hyper-extended.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Ricardo Almeida by submission at 2:23 of Round 3[/I] [I][SIZE="1"]Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully from the prelims is shown for the PPV audience.[/SIZE][/I] [B]Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Griffin throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Jackson throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Griffin 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. Jackson hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Griffin. They struggle all the way back, with Griffin ending up backed up against the cage. Jackson hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Griffin stomps downward onto his foot. Griffin manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Jackson gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Griffin ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Griffin tries a high kick to start, but Jackson saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Jackson who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Griffin on the nose. Griffin hits a straight right, enough to stop Jackson 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 is over. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Jackson by 10-9. [B]Round 2[/B] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Griffin is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Jackson blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Griffin is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Jackson is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Griffin 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 Griffin some problems later on. Griffin 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. Jackson is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Griffin 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 Griffin 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. Griffin goes for a trip, but Jackson 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 Jackson may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The 2nd round ends. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Jackson. [B]Round 3[/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Jackson is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Griffin picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Jackson throws a wild punch as a counter, but Griffin ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Jackson 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 Jackson is looking for big punches, Griffin is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Jackson manages to back Griffin up against the cage. Jackson takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Griffin ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Jackson can unload. Jackson may need to think about changing tactics, Griffin is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Jackson fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Griffin on the thigh. Griffin presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Jackson gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. End of round 3. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Griffin by 10-9. [B]Round 4[/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 Griffin, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. Griffin 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. Jackson covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. Griffin is looking the fitter of the two at this stage in the round. Low kick from Jackson, 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 Griffin will take the round on points. The round is over. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Griffin. [B]Round 5[/B] The two fighters circle. Jackson flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Griffin easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Jackson could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Griffin 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, Jackson is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Jackson forces Griffin back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Griffin in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Jackson does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Griffin saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Jackson turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Jackson is up quickly, causing Griffin, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Jackson was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Jackson throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Griffin to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. End of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Griffin.[/QUOTE] Official Results: [I]Forrest Griffin by unanimous decision (48-47 x3) Forrest Griffin is the NEW UFC Light Heavyweight Champion[/I][/CENTER]

[D.O.]

[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] News and Notes from Tonight’s TUF 7 Press Conference [LIST] [*]Tonight's bonuses were given to Ricardo Almeida and Gabriel Gonzaga for submission and KO of the night. The fight of the night was awarded to Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin. Each was worth $55,000. [*]Gabriel Gonzaga came into tonight's fight with a sprained knee. He'll probably need to rest it for at about 2 months after tonight's event. [*]Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami and Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans will headline UFC 88 which will be held in Atlanta. [*]White stated how he wished he had time to show the Chris Wilson-Steve Bruno fight to the PPV audience. He said he was very impressed with Wilson. [*]Josh Koscheck and Joe Stevenson looked completely dejected after their losses. Stevenson was very complimentary of Tibau though, saying he hopes to one day get a rematch. [*]J-Roc was all smiles at the press conference. He mentioned he wanted to fight "that japanese dude that beat War Machine" if given the oppertunity. [*]The big topic of the presser though was Forrest Griffin's come from behind title victory. Forrest said he knows he can compete with anyone in the world, and fully expects to go out and beat whomever his next opponent is. [*]Dana confirmed that Forrest's first defense will be against Brazilian Lyoto Machida, but doesn't know when yet. [*]One other tid bit mentioned at the presser was that the UFC has signed Xtreme Couture welterweight Mike Pyle, and he'll compete at UFC Fight Night 14 against George Sotiropoulis. [/LIST] That’s it for now, stick close to [B]MMAScoop.com[/B] for all the latest new leading up to UFC 87.

[D.O.]

[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] is reporting that the UFC have set their lineups for UFC 87. Stay tuned to [B]MMAScoop.com[/B] for all your latest news. [B][U]UFC 87[/U][/B] [B]Main Card:[/B] [SIZE="1"][I]UFC WW Title:[/I][/SIZE] Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring Roger Huerta vs. Kenny Florian Jason MacDonald vs. Demien Maia Mac Danzig vs. Clay Guida [B]Undercard:[/B] Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca Karo Parisyan vs. Jonathan Goulet Cheick Kongo vs. Dan Evensen Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson Luke Cummo vs. Tamden McCrory Andre Gusmao vs. Tait Fletcher Amir Sadollah vs. Patrick Schultz

[ACCBiggz]

UFC 87 Main Card: [B]Georges St. Pierre[/B] vs. Jon Fitch Brock Lesnar vs. [B]Heath Herring[/B] Roger Huerta vs. [B]Kenny Florian[/B] Jason MacDonald vs. [B]Demien Maia[/B] Mac Danzig vs. [B]Clay Guida[/B] Undercard: Frankie Edgar vs. [B]Hermes Franca[/B] [B]Karo Parisyan[/B] vs. Jonathan Goulet [B]Cheick Kongo[/B] vs. Dan Evensen Manny Gamburyan vs. [B]Rob Emerson[/B] Luke Cummo vs. [B]Tamden McCrory[/B] [B]Andre Gusmao[/B] vs. Tait Fletcher [B]Amir Sadollah[/B] vs. Patrick Schultz

[chris caulfield]

Main Card: UFC WW Title: [B]Georges St. Pierre[/B] vs. Jon Fitch [B]Brock Lesnar[/B] vs. Heath Herring [B]Roger Huerta [/B]vs. Kenny Florian Jason MacDonald vs. [B]Demien Maia[/B] [B]Mac Danzig[/B] vs. Clay Guida Undercard: [B]Frankie Edgar[/B] vs. Hermes Franca [B]Karo Parisyan [/B]vs. Jonathan Goulet [B]Cheick Kongo [/B]vs. Dan Evensen Manny Gamburyan vs. [B]Rob Emerson[/B] [B]Luke Cummo[/B] vs. Tamden McCrory [B]Andre Gusmao [/B]vs. Tait Fletcher [B]Amir Sadollah[/B] vs. Patrick Schultz

[D.O.]

[U][B]MMAScoop.com[/B] Newswire[/U] [LIST] [*]Rob Yundt was released from his UFC contract. He went 2-0 in his time with the company. [*]The UFC will decide in the next couple of days whether or not to terminate the contract of Melvin Guillard. Guillard's last fight was seen as something of a gimme fight, and he was knocked out, so things aren't looking good for the TUF 2 star. [*]Chris Leben will take on Michael Bisping at UFC 88 in September. Also on that card will be Tim Boetsch taking on James Lee, and Gerald Harris taking on Jeremy May. [*]Strikeforce veteren Cory Devala was signed and will fight on the UFC Fight Night 14 card against TUF 7 fighter Jesse Taylor. Devala gained fame from his victory over UFC vet Joe Riggs. [*]Looking ahead to October, we have confirmed 3 huge fights for UFC 89. Matt Hughes takes on Matt Serra, Rich Franklin takes on Dan Henderson, and Diego Sanchez takes on Mike Swick. No word on if there will be a title fight at that event. The Event is expected to take place in Chicago [/LIST]

[D.O.]

[CENTER][SIZE="5"][B]UFC 87 - Seek and Destroy[/B][/SIZE] [I]Live From The Target Center Minneapolis, Minnesota[/I] [B][SIZE="3"][I]The Undercard[/I][/SIZE][/B] [B]Amir Sadollah vs. Patrick Schultz[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Tentative start, neither fighter is willing to commit yet. Sadollah fires off a jab, but it was easily blocked. Schultz fakes a kick, then comes in hard and fast with a takedown, sending Sadollah to the floor. The momentum causes Schultz to almost go completely over the top though, and Sadollah is able to flip him to the side and end up on top, in the guard position. Sadollah tries to work free from the guard, but can't. Schultz reaches up to try and bring Sadollah down into a clinch, but the attempt gets swatted away. Sadollah fires off a couple of punches, leaning forward to get some leverage, and Schultz is forced to cover up. Sadollah switches and starts firing off some rapid-fire shots to the chest, Schultz deals with it by pulling the guard tighter and punching upward. Sadollah looks like he is happy to sit there and throw punches at his leisure, with no real effort to pass guard. Schultz occasionally tries to roll his hips to get free, but it may be that he has realised that this round is beyond saving, and is just making sure that he doesn't put himself into a position to be knocked out or submitted by trying to escape. Indeed, time ticks away with nothing breaking the pattern of occasional strikes and defensive positioning. The 1st round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Sadollah. [B]Round 2[/B] Schultz doesn't hold back, starting by immediately shooting in for a takedown. Sadollah sprawls and keeps him at bay. Schultz pushes harder, but Sadollah has the much better position and manages to flip him over, putting Schultz on his back. Sadollah gets sucked into his guard though. Sadollah fires off a couple of tentative punches, testing out the guard of Schultz. Sadollah tries to pass the guard, but can't, Schultz isn't going to let him get a better position, as he knows that Sadollah will start raining down punches. Sadollah tries a big right hand, but it's easily defended. Schultz gets a punch of his own in, but it didn't connect properly. Sadollah 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. Sadollah fakes an elbow before trying to pass the guard for a third time, and briefly has side mount, but Schultz fought it hard and gets back to guard within seconds. Butterfly guard by Schultz, and Sadollah is having trouble generating any attacking threat. He'll probably win the round as he has been more aggressive, but Schultz has defended the danger well. The second round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Sadollah. [B]Round 3[/B] Sadollah isn't hanging around, right from the start Schultz is forced onto the back foot by four hard shots, although none of them get through the gloves. Schultz circles, steps in, then unloads a combination of punches, but Sadollah weaves out of the way and scores with a beauty of a right hand, glancing above the right eye. That was some lovely counter punching from Sadollah, the timing had to be perfect and it was. Schultz is looking a bit frustrated, and uncorks a ragged-looking uppercut that missed by several inches. Sadollah really should have taken advantage of that mistake, Schultz was wide open for a moment there. Sadollah hits a high kick, catching Schultz on the shoulder. Jab from Schultz finds the mark, but it didn't have much power behind it as he was leaning backward too much. Sadollah fires off a couple of straight punches in response, but only finds gloves. They clinch, and the fight enters a lull. Schultz scores with a knee from the clinch, it landed around the hip area of Sadollah, who responds with a couple of shots to the ribs. The time runs out with them still clinched though. The 3rd round ends. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Sadollah.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Amir Sadollah by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B]Andre Gusmao vs. Tait Fletcher[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Gusmao throws a low kick early on, although it missed. Fletcher flicks out a couple of jabs, trying to work an angle. He steps in to throw a body shot but gets caught with a left hook. Fletcher stumbles backwards, falling on his ass, stunned. Gusmao charges in and throws a knock out powered right hand, but Fletcher parries it and brings his legs around Gusmao's waist to pull guard. Gusmao passes guard and gets into side control, but it's an awkward position; Fletcher has the entire right hand side of his body up against the cage, and both his legs wrapped around Gusmao's left arm. Gusmao's attacking options are fairly limited. He uses a couple of back fists to strike away at the face, but Fletcher covers up to defend them. Gusmao tries to pin down one of Fletcher's arms and bring his legs around to trap them fully, but Fletcher uses his free arm to stop that from happening. The ground battle enters a stalemate, as Gusmao 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. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Gusmao. [B]Round 2[/B] Fletcher is the first to score a meaningful blow, tagging Gusmao with a jab to the cheek. Gusmao uses a nice straight left to return fire. Fletcher comes in to work the body, but Gusmao saw it coming and uses a quick takedown to put Fletcher onto the floor, falling into guard. Gusmao tries to grab an arm to work a submission, but Fletcher is defending it well by using short, sharp strikes to keep him back. Gusmao tries to pass the guard, but has no luck. A punch from Gusmao connects, but there was no real power behind it. Gusmao fakes Fletcher out cleverly, and slips to a half mount. Fletcher manages to hit a firm elbow, then is forced to defend the full mount attempt. Gusmao switches tactics and tries to work a kimura on the other arm, but Fletcher blocks it, squirms his leg free, and secures the guard again. Gusmao looks frustrated at losing the half mount after having worked so hard to get it in the first place. Fletcher is liable to lose the round on points, but he has done a fine job of defending the submissions attempts so far. Gusmao tries to secure a leglock, but the guard is tight and Fletcher is safe. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Gusmao by 10-9. [B]Round 3[/B] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Gusmao puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Fletcher defended well. Straight right from Fletcher 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, Gusmao probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Fletcher 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 Gusmao. End of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Gusmao.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Andre Gusmao by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B]Luke Cummo vs. Tamden McCrory[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Cummo is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as McCrory picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Cummo throws a wild punch as a counter, but McCrory ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Cummo 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 Cummo is looking for big punches, McCrory is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Cummo manages to back McCrory up against the cage. Cummo takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but McCrory ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Cummo can unload. Cummo may need to think about changing tactics, McCrory is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Cummo fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching McCrory on the thigh. McCrory presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Cummo gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. End of round 1. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 McCrory. [B]Round 2[/B] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. McCrory is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Cummo blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from McCrory is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Cummo is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before McCrory 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 McCrory some problems later on. McCrory 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. Cummo is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of McCrory 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 McCrory 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. McCrory goes for a trip, but Cummo 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 Cummo may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The second round is over. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Cummo. [B]Round 3[/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 McCrory, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. McCrory 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. Cummo covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. A looping left from McCrory, but it's wide of the mark. Low kick from Cummo, 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 McCrory will take the round on points. The 3rd round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to McCrory by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Tamdan McCrory by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)[/I] [B]Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] The two fighters touch gloves as the round begins. Emerson starts brightly, throwing out a series of jabs and raking punches, but Manny is too light on his feet and avoids all of them. Manny steps in and hits a lovely overhand right, then a low kick to the outside of the thigh. Emerson throws a vicious right cross, but Manny goes under it and catches Emerson with a scathing left hand to the gut. The next few minutes follow a very similar pattern; Manny using his excellent movement to 'hit and run', coming in from a variety of angles to score with crisp punches, dodging out of the way of Emerson's counters. Emerson is being made to look sluggish by comparison, and the amount of punches that Manny has landed in comparison to him is becoming huge. None of them have been particularly big punches, certainly nothing likely to end a fight, but the sheer number of them must be hurting Emerson. Emerson finally hits a meaningful blow, catching Manny coming in with a low kick. Manny still gets a crisp jab in though, and is back out of range before Emerson can apply a second strike. The round comes to an end with Manny having dominated. The round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Manny. [B]Round 2[/B] Emerson throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Manny throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Emerson 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. Manny hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Emerson. They struggle all the way back, with Emerson ending up backed up against the cage. Manny hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Emerson stomps downward onto his foot. Emerson manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Manny gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Emerson ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Emerson tries a high kick to start, but Manny saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Manny who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Emerson on the nose. Emerson hits a straight right, enough to stop Manny 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. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Manny. [B]Round 3[/B] Emerson goes to the center, and immediately throws some jabs, looking to engage in a striking battle. Manny doesn't commit though, instead circling and looking for an angle. Manny comes in, ducks a right hand, then unleashes a flurry of punches. Emerson covers up at first, then throws a scathing right hand, but Manny is already out of range. Manny repeats the trick, working a new angle, darting in, then firing off strikes while keeping out of the way of any counter punches. It happens a third time, and Emerson is beginning to look frustrated. Manny's footwork and general movement is looking good, Emerson is being made to look very slow and lumbering in comparison. Furthermore, Manny is being able to launch multiple short bursts of offense without really being in any danger, Emerson has yet to hit any sort of meaningful punch, simply because Manny is too quick. Emerson finally gets in close enough to grapple with Manny, clinching up. Emerson scores a nice body punch, then steps back and goes for a vicious right hand, but Manny bobs out of the way and hits a right hook of his own. Time is ticking away, and Emerson is well behind in this round, he needs to do something special. Emerson swings for the fences, but Manny has no problem avoiding it. The round peters out. The round ends. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Manny.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Manny Gamburyan by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B]Cheick Kongo vs. Dan Evensen[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Evensen starts fast, coming out almost immediately with a three punch combination. None of them get through, and Kongo manages to squeeze a jab of his own through and score just above the left cheek. They exchange a flurry of blows right in the center, it's difficult to see who got the best of it, and both of them retreat a few steps to recover. Good start to the round, early indications are that this is going to be all about the striking, neither fighter has even hinted at going for a takedown. Kongo uses a low kick to set up a nice right hand, and Evensen is forced back against the cage. Kongo picks his shots and gets a big punch to the body in. Evensen uses a couple of looping punches to make Kongo keep back, but it doesn't last for long, as Kongo bursts forward and hits two big right hands, taking a counter punch to the body though, and they wind up in a clinch. They exchange weak-looking blows from that position, before the referee grows tired of the inactivity and breaks them apart. Evensen scores with a low kick. Evensen looks to be working an angle. Kongo unwinds a right hook that narrowly misses. That will be the last action of the round though. End of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Kongo. [B]Round 2[/B] Touch of gloves starts the round. Kongo comes in quickly, and unloads with a beauty of a combination, two jabs, a hook, a body punch and an uppercut. One of the jabs and the body shot definitely got through, the others were blocked. Evensen backs off, only offering a wayward right hand in response. They circle, then Kongo once again comes in with an aggressive rush. They exchange blows in a flurry, with Kongo bobbing and weaving excellently while throwing out crisp jabs. Evensen got a leg kick in, but his jabs didn't find their mark. Kongo is relying on his superior striking skills so far, and it is paying dividends, Evensen is getting picked apart and is looking increasingly unable to to contend with his opponent's better technique. Kongo throws a low kick, and that is really the first mistake of the round from him, as it is sloppy and allows Evensen to move in and grab a clinch. Evensen forces Kongo back against the cage, and is clearly happy to have gained a position where Kongo cannot unload with strikes as effectively. Evensen hits a knee, then gets three or four small punches in to the side of the head. Not much power in them though. Kongo sneaks in an elbow, and then attempts to get free, to no avail. Evensen goes for a trip, but Kongo pushes free and quickly gets back to the center. Evensen keeps his distance for a few moments to recover his composure, then gets ready to fight again. Kongo works an angle, throwing quick jabs all the time, then switches stance and hits a long looping punch that finds gloves. A right hand follows up though, and that does find the mark, causing Evensen to throw a wild haymaker in response. Kongo tries to capitalise with a further flurry, and hits a nice left hook, but Evensen soon has them back in a clinch. That goes on for a while, until the clock runs down. End of round 2. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Kongo. [B]Round 3[/B] Evensen comes out quick and immediately starts pressing Kongo back toward the cage. Evensen tries to use the position to his advantage, pinning Kongo in to prevent him from moving freely, but the exchange of punches that follows is clearly won by Kongo, who catches Evensen with a wicked right cross during the flurry of blows. Evensen tries again, but Kongo is looking sharp and parries away any dangerous shot, getting in a few crisp jabs of his own along the way. Evensen finally backs off, realising that this isn't working. Kongo is showing superior ability with his hands, they're fast and accurate, Evensen isn't able to cope with them at close quarters, being made to look slow and ragged in comparison. Evensen switches to using raking right hands and looping punches, keeping Kongo back, but its effectiveness is limited as Evensen's punches are easily parried away, and Kongo can still hit the occasional right hand. The round ends with that being the pattern. Kongo has used his better punching technique and hand speed to confound Evensen, and has controlled this round almost entirely. The round is over. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Kongo by 10-9. [/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B]Karo Parisyan vs. Jonathan Goulet[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Goulet comes out strongly, looking for an early knock down, but three crisp jabs all get blocked, and Parisyan ties him up in a clinch inside of the first thirty seconds. They struggle in the clinch for a while. Goulet breaks free and steps back. Parisyan tries to follow, but takes a harsh kick to the hip as a result. Goulet moves in and throws some high speed jabs. Parisyan defends them fairly easily, and throws a right hand, narrowly missing. Goulet thunders another kick into the hip area. Parisyan backs off, limping slightly. Parisyan fakes a takedown, allowing him to bring out a left cross from way down. Goulet manages to parry it away, but it glances off the side of his head nonetheless. Parisyan tries to capitalise, coming in with a looping overhand right, but Goulet gets out of the way and has the time to pick his spot for another brutal kick. This one is slightly higher, crashing into the rib cage. Parisyan is having real trouble finding a way past those kicks, they are so powerful that they're allowing Goulet to dictate the action. He will win this round on points, as time is about to run out. The round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Goulet by 10-9. [B]Round 2[/B] Good start from Parisyan, taking Goulet down almost immediately! Goulet scrambles though, and gets back to his feet without taking any damage at all. Parisyan will be disappointed with that. Goulet comes in and throws two big right hands, but neither connects, and they put him off balance, allowing Parisyan to score with a nice right hook to the side of the head, crunching into the top of the ear. Goulet felt that one for sure. He stalks Parisyan, trying to back him up against the cage. It doesn't work though, Parisyan keeps out of the way. Goulet tries a kick, but Parisyan catches the foot and uses it for a trip. Parisyan gets Goulet down for the second time, and this time is right on top of him in guard position. Parisyan throws some punches, then tries to pass. Goulet doesn't allow it, and tries to grab an armbar in response. Parisyan easily stops that, and throws some more punches. That becomes the pattern, as the fight falls into a predictable pattern; punches from Parisyan followed by a pass attempt, with Goulet 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. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Parisyan. [B]Round 3[/B] Parisyan starts strongly, hitting two stiff jabs to the gloves, stinging the hands of Goulet. The third strike is a meaty left hook that narrowly misses. If that had hit, Goulet may well have been decapitated. Despite leaning backwards, Goulet throws a mighty kick that explodes across the chest, Parisyan staggers back. That was an enormously powerful blow, and Parisyan didn't see it coming at all. They circle for a moment, sizing each other up. Goulet throws a flurry of jabs, but Parisyan blocks them easily. A right hand from Parisyan lands below the eye, and a straight left glances off the shoulder. Another exchange doesn't see either fighter get an advantage. Parisyan throws a heavy left, but Goulet goes underneath it. Another hard kick from Goulet, this time smashing into the left thigh. Parisyan almost get knocked down. He throws a left hook in retaliation which misses by a mile, and gives Goulet 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 Goulet which have really made a big difference. As the round comes to an end, it looks like those will make sure that Goulet wins the round on points. End of round 3. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Goulet by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Jonathan Goulet by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)[/I] [B]Frank Edgar vs. Hermes Franca[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] The fighters come together right in the center. Franca throws out a jab, but Edgar bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Edgar works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Franca covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Edgar is making Franca look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Franca hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Franca looks to be working an angle. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Edgar got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Franca slightly. Franca initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Franca looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Edgar is clearly winning them. Franca needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Edgar tries a speculative high kick, but Franca saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Franca tries to work an angle, but Edgar is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Edgar, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The 1st round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Edgar by 10-9. [B]Round 2[/B] Slow start; nearly a full minute of circling, occasional fakes, and long-range jabs. Neither fighter is creating much. Edgar works an angle, but takes a low kick to the shin when he advances. They clinch, and end up with Franca backed up against the cage. Edgar gets a couple of right hands to the body, but his attempts at knee strikes are deflected by Franca, who uses his legs well to defend. Edgar pulls free and takes a step back, then powers in a right hand. Franca gets out the way, ducks under a second right hand, and backs up to the center. Edgar follows, and we're back to circling. Uninspiring action so far, they've both been fairly devoid of inspiration. Edgar 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. Franca tags him with a flicked jab to the cheek, but it had virtually no power on it. Franca 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 ends. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Edgar. [B]Round 3[/B] The two fighters circle. Franca flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Edgar easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Franca could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Edgar 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, Franca is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Franca forces Edgar back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Edgar in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Franca does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Edgar saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Franca turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Franca is up quickly, causing Edgar, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Franca was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Franca throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Edgar to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. The round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Edgar. [/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Frank Edgar by Unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [B][SIZE="3"][I]Main Card begins Live on PPV[/I][/SIZE][/B] [B]Mac Danzig vs. Clay Guida[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Danzig and Guida circle to start. Guida throws a couple of looping punches, neither hitting, while Danzig sits back, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Guida comes in closer, looking to unload with a right hand; that misses, and it allows Danzig to slip a nice jab in, catching Guida just underneath the right eye. Danzig comes in and scores with a straight left, then bounces a right hand off the body. Guida misses with a right cross, then backs off. Danzig stalks him, forcing Guida back up against the cage. Danzig doesn't rush in, instead standing back and throwing the occasional punch. Guida throws a big left hand in response, but it misses by quite a margin. Danzig pounces, hitting lefts and rights. Guida covers up from the first two punches, then clinches up to prevent any more coming in. They're up against the cage, Danzig in the dominant position. They remain that way as the time ticks down. Danzig 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. Guida comes in hard and fast, bobbing and weaving, and throws a couple of big shots. Danzig 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 Danzig's favour. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Danzig. [B]Round 2[/B] Danzig hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Guida to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Danzig hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Guida tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Danzig having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Guida. Guida gets caught with a solid right hand out of nowhere, and is rocked. Danzig follows up with another one, and Guida looks in trouble all of a sudden. He is backed up against the cage and Danzig is unloading. The punches are raining down, Guida is covering up. The referee has seen enough and stops the fight, clearly feeling that Guida was unable to defend himself intelligently. Danzig wins.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Mac Danzig by TKO at 3:53 of Round 2[/I] [B]Jason MacDonald vs. Demien Maia[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Maia starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep MacDonald on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Maia to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught MacDonald, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Maia, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. MacDonald is looking a little lost so far, Maia is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. MacDonald throws out a few jabs, nothing too dangerous though, Maia easily avoided them. Maia leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. MacDonald was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. MacDonald 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 MacDonald is that although Maia clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. The 1st round ends. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Maia. [B]Round 2[/B] The two fighters circle. MacDonald flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Maia easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before MacDonald could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Maia 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, MacDonald is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. MacDonald forces Maia back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Maia in position, waiting to unload a big punch. MacDonald does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Maia saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. MacDonald turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. MacDonald is up quickly, causing Maia, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but MacDonald was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. MacDonald throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Maia to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. End of round 2. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Maia. [B]Round 3[/B] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Maia lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. MacDonald sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Maia 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 MacDonald manages to get the better position, pushing Maia up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from MacDonald. Maia 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. MacDonald tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Maia was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take MacDonald down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. MacDonald covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Maia hits a big elbow to the ribs, MacDonald definitely felt that. Maia drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. MacDonald brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Maia will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but MacDonald defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Maia unable to generate any attacks, and MacDonald unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Maia will likely be very angry that he didn't make more of that takedown. They exchange half-hearted jabs as the round draws to an end. The round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Maia.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Demian Maia by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)[/I] [B]Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Herring is quickest out, and comes at Lesnar with a series of jabs and straight punches. Lesnar covered up well, and I don't think anything got through. Lesnar hits a body shot, but it didn't connect solidly. They get in close, and it's Herring who takes it to the ground. Lesnar pulls guard. There's a lull, as Herring tries to pass, and Lesnar defends it. Punches get thrown every so often, but it's really a stalemate at the moment. Lesnar 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. End of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Herring. [B]Round 2[/B] Herring leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Lesnar 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. Lesnar uses a knee to the ribs before backing Herring up against the cage. Right hand from Herring connects though, that was well timed. Lesnar breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Herring was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Lesnar sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Herring fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Herring misses a right hand and gives Lesnar an angle, allowing him to come in from the side. He tries to take Herring over with a type of suplex, which is partially blocked. Lesnar tries a second time, this time completing the move by slamming Herring down onto the mat stomach-first. Lesnar briefly has his back, but Herring scrambles and manages to turn and get into guard. Herring has a very loose guard applied, almost daring Lesnar to pass. A right hand from Lesnar, then he does pass into side control, but Herring immediately scrambles as soon as Lesnar started moving, and they end up struggling for position. Herring manages to slip behind Lesnar and get his back. Lesnar tries to turn, but gets flattened and Herring sinks in a choke. It isn't in fully yet. Lesnar tries to work free but Herring uses his legs to stretch out Lesnar's entire body, and that's enough, Lesnar has no escape and has to tap.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Heath Herring by Submission at 4:27 of Round 2[/I] [B]Roger Huerta vs. Kenny Florian[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Florian starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Huerta on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Florian to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Huerta, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Florian, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Huerta is looking a little lost so far, Florian is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. They both seem to be looking for an opening, and it's creating a stalemate at the moment. Florian leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Huerta was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Huerta 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 Huerta is that although Florian clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Florian. [B]Round 2[/B] Exchange of punches to start, nothing really hit though. They go into a clinch, and the pace disappears as both fighters try and get the advantage. Eventually the referee separates them. Jab from Florian, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. Florian puts on a burst of energy and fires off a big sequence of punches, maybe twelve or thirteen in a row, although not many actually connected. Huerta covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. Florian glances at the referee, not sure why. Low kick from Huerta, almost to the groin, although it didn't look intentional. They come together in a clinch again, and it returns to a stalemate. Not a great round by anyone's standard, but that flurry should mean that Florian will take the round on points. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Florian. [B]Round 3[/B] Fast start by Florian, who has thrown three crisp jabs in the first twenty seconds, although none of them got past the gloves. Huerta circles, drawing a lunge from Florian, allowing him to score with a nice low kick to the front leg. Florian ignores that and darts in for a takedown, but only ends up holding one leg, Huerta hopping on the other to remain vertical. Florian tries to push forward to complete the takedown, but Huerta manages to pull them all the way back to the cage before ultimately going down. That's a much better position to be in though, he has his corner right there, and can use the cage to effectively cut off any form of attack to the left hand side of his body. Florian has one leg trapped between Huerta's, and is struggling to get it free. He throws a couple of punches, none of them doing much damage, and then tries to work on one of the arms. It might be a kimura that he looking for. Huerta defends it well, without fully escaping it, Florian can't really do a lot with it due to how much he is having to stretch to apply it, due to his leg being trapped. Huerta suddenly releases the leg and scrambles up, looking to take Florian's back. Florian was ready for it though, and blocks it by pinning a half-standing Huerta up against the cage. It's a precarious position for both fighters. Huerta throws a couple of short-range punches. Florian gets a leg in and trips Huerta, putting him back on the ground, albeit this time in full guard. It was a nice escape attempt from Huerta, at least he can take heart from the fact that it resulted in a better defensive position. Time is running out, it looks like this round will end with them in this position. The round is over. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Florian by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] Kenny Florian by unanimous decision (30-27 x3) [B]Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch[/B] [QUOTE][B]Round 1[/B] Two jabs from the left hand of GSP set up a hard waist-high kick, but Fitch steps back to avoid it. Nice attempt though. GSP moves in closer, bobbing and weaving, and looks to score with a looping right hand, but Fitch uses the gloves to parry it away, then counter-strikes with a crisp jab and a kick to the knee. Good opening to the round, both fighters are looking lively. GSP finds himself backed up against the cage briefly, and has to scramble to safety to avoid a flurry of strikes. Fitch is working for position, and is currently looking the more composed of the two. Fitch throws a ragged jab, missing by a mile as GSP simply ducks under and unloads a vicious hook from below. It catches Fitch square on the jaw, and he goes down! GSP mounts and starts firing off punches, rapid-fire. The referee waits to see if Fitch can recover, decides that he can't, and pulls GSP off. The match is over. GSP wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 2:16. Georges St. Pierre retains the UFC Welterweight title. [/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Georges St. Pierre by TKO at 2:16 of Round 1[/I] [SIZE="1"][I]Frank Edgar vs. Hermes Franca from the prelims is shown for the PPV audience.[/I][/SIZE][/CENTER]

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[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] News and Notes from Tonight’s UFC 87 Press Conference [LIST] [*]Tonight's bonuses were given to Georges St. Pierre and Heath Herring for KO and submission of the night respectively. The Fight of the Night was awarded to Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca. Each was worth $60,000. [*]Georges St. Pierre's next title fight was confirmed as being against Thiago Alves, but a dates, obviously, hasn't been set. [*]Karo Parisyan was adament in the press conference that he did not lose that fight. he talked about how he thought those judges were all idiots, and don't know anything about fighting. He said he wanted a rematch with Goulet. [*]When asked if he had any fights he could break the news on, White said they'd be holding UFC Fight Night 15 in early December. He said CB Dollaway, Matt Brown, Matthew Riddle, and Kendall Grove would all be on the card. [*]White also confirmed that UFC 89 would feature fights between Keith Jardine and James Irvin and TUF 7 alumnus Roman Mitichyan against debuting Thomas Schulte. However, the biggest fight he had to confirm was Matt Hamill against Thiago Silva. [*]White was asked what is next for Herring, and he stated that he could be in line for a title shot, but it'd be something they'd have to sit down and talk about. [/LIST] That’s it for now, stick close to [B]MMAScoop.com[/B] for all the latest new leading up to UFC Fight Night 14.

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[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] is reporting that the UFC have set their lineups for UFC Fight Night 14 & UFC 88. Stay tuned to [B]MMAScoop.com[/B] for all your latest news. [U][B]UFC Fight Night 14[/B][/U] [B]Main Card:[/B] Wanderlei Silva vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral Nathan Diaz vs. Josh Neer George Sotiropoulis vs. Mike Pyle Gray Maynard vs. Matt Grice [B]Undercard:[/B] Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer Ryan Ford vs. Troy "Rude Boy" Mandaloniz Joe Lauzon vs. Ryan Roberts Cory Devala vs. Jesse Taylor Anthony Johnson vs. Kyle Bradley John Halverson vs. Yusuke Endo [U][B]UFC 88[/B][/U] [B]Main Card:[/B] [SIZE="1"][I]UFC MW Title:[/I][/SIZE] Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans Chris Leben vs. Michael Bisping Rameau Sokoudjou Thierry vs. Glover Teixeira Ed Herman vs. Alessio Sakara [B]Under Card:[/B] Dong Hyun Kim vs. Paul Kelly Paul Taylor vs. Akihiro Gono Cain Velasquez vs. Tom Murphy Rousimar Palhares vs. Pete "Drago" Sell James Lee vs. Tim Boetsch Dan Hardy vs. Mike Dolce Gerald Harris vs. Jeremy May

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UFC Fight Night 14 Main Card: [B]Wanderlei Silva[/B] vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral [B]Nathan Diaz[/B] vs. Josh Neer [B]George Sotiropoulis[/B] vs. Mike Pyle [B]Gray Maynard[/B] vs. Matt Grice Undercard: [B]Houston Alexander[/B] vs. Eric Schafer [B]Ryan Ford[/B] vs. Troy "Rude Boy" Mandaloniz [B]Joe Lauzon[/B] vs. Ryan Roberts Cory Devala vs. [B]Jesse Taylor[/B] [B]Anthony Johnson[/B] vs. Kyle Bradley [B]John Halverson[/B] vs. Yusuke Endo UFC 88 Main Card: UFC MW Title: [B]Anderson Silva[/B] vs. Yushin Okami Chuck Liddell vs. [B]Rashad Evans[/B] Chris Leben vs. [B]Michael Bisping[/B] [B]Rameau Sokoudjou Thierry[/B] vs. Glover Teixeira [B]Ed Herman[/B] vs. Alessio Sakara Under Card: [B]Dong Hyun Kim[/B] vs. Paul Kelly Paul Taylor vs. [B]Akihiro Gono[/B] [B]Cain Velasquez[/B] vs. Tom Murphy [B]Rousimar Palhares[/B] vs. Pete "Drago" Sell James Lee vs. [B]Tim Boetsch[/B] [B]Dan Hardy[/B] vs. Mike Dolce [B]Gerald Harris[/B] vs. Jeremy May

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[U][B]MMAScoop.com[/B] Newswire[/U] [LIST] [*]Patrick Schultz has been released from his UFC contract following his loss at UFC 87. Schultz was also 0-2 in TUF 7 tapings. [*]Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will return to the octagon for UFC 90 in New Jersey, as he'll take on Luis "Bahna" Cane. It will be Rampage's first fight since losing his Light Heavyweight Title to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. [*]Also taking place on the UFC 90 card will be the return of Sean Sherk. He'll be taking on lightweight veteren Rich Clementi. Joe Stevenson will take on Jorge Gurgel in a fight between TUF 2 castmates, and Evan Tanner will take on Dean Lister. [*]UFC 89 has been titled Triple Threat, in reference to their triple main event. As mentioned previously, Rich Franklin will battle Dan Henderson, Matt Serra battles Matt Hughes, and Diego Sanchez battles Mike Swick that night. [*]UFC Fight Night 15 will feature fights with many rising young stars. CB Dollaway will take on TUF 3 fighter Jesse Forbes. Matt Brown will take on Jess Liaudin, and Ryan Ford will battle frenchman David Baron. [*]ATT fighter Steve Bruno has chosen to move down to 155, where he feels he'll better be able to compete against the UFC competition. [/LIST]

[D.O.]

[CENTER][B][SIZE="5"]UFC Fight Night 14[/SIZE][/B] [I]Live From Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska[/I] [B][I][SIZE="3"]The Undercard[/SIZE][/I][/B] [b]John Halverson vs. Yusuke Endo[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Endo is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Halverson picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Endo throws a wild punch as a counter, but Halverson ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Endo 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 Endo is looking for big punches, Halverson is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Endo manages to back Halverson up against the cage. Endo takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Halverson ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Endo can unload. Endo may need to think about changing tactics, Halverson is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Endo fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Halverson on the thigh. Halverson presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Endo gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. End of round 1. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Halverson by 10-9. [b]Round 2[/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 Halverson, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. Halverson 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. Endo covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. Endo looks to be working an angle. Low kick from Endo, 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 Halverson will take the round on points. The round is over. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Halverson. [b]Round 3[/b] Halverson starts fast, unleashing a bomb of a right hand, but Endo avoids it without too much trouble. Halverson isn't disheartened though, swinging two more huge punches, with Endo getting out the way each time, but being forced all over the place. Halverson finally backs off a little, breathing hard. That was quite a frantic start. Endo opts to use that, and comes in to throw some jabs. Halverson is backed up against the cage, covering up. Endo clinches. They struggle, and the fight enters a lull. Halverson hits a knee strike to the hip. Endo slips one leg behind Halverson and uses that as leverage for a big trip. Halverson landed hard, with Endo on top. They're in half guard. It's to Halverson's advantage that they're right next to the cage, that is blocking Endo from attacking the left hand side of the body. Halverson is forced into action to defend a kimura attempt. Endo tries to step over to mount, but Halverson keeps his legs in position and ends up almost rolled into a ball. Endo 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. Halverson doesn't appear to be trying that though, instead trying to shift his weight so that he can get back up. Endo isn't allowing it though, and gets a couple more punches in before settling back into half guard. Halverson ties him up in a snug clinch. The action halts, and time expires before Endo can get free. End of round 3. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Endo.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]John Halverson by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)[/I] [b]Anthony Johnson vs. Kyle Bradley[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] The fighters come together right in the center. Bradley throws out a jab, but Johnson bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Johnson works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Bradley covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Johnson is making Bradley look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Bradley hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. For a second it looked like Johnson was about to go for a takedown, but nothing came from it. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Johnson got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Bradley slightly. Bradley initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Bradley looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Johnson is clearly winning them. Bradley needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Johnson tries a speculative high kick, but Bradley saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Bradley tries to work an angle, but Johnson is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Johnson, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The 1st round ends. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Johnson. [b]Round 2[/b] Not much happening at first. Bradley is the first to make a move, coming in with a right hand that narrowly misses. Johnson gets in a jab that landed on the left cheek of Bradley, and leaves a mark. Quite a slow paced round so far. Bradley 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! Bradley stumbles but doesn't go down, and has to cover up as Johnson comes in with a series of punches to try and finish the job. Bradley somehow manages to hold on long enough to get his senses back, and buys some time by clinching. Hard knee from Bradley from the clinch, and Johnson felt that, he looks a little tired from unloading that barrage. They break, and Bradley gets in a nice right hand. Johnson looks for an opening. End of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Johnson. [b]Round 3[/b] A fizzing right hand from Johnson opens the round; it didn't find its intended target of Bradley's chin, but it did land hard on the left shoulder instead. Bradley fights back with a jab, but takes a hard shot to the body after leaning in too far. Johnson pins him to the cage with a quick burst, and unloads with lefts and rights. Bradley 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. Johnson 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. Bradley had to time that perfectly, and did. Johnson doesn't pull guard, instead scrambling, ending up onto his knees, with Bradley taking his back! Bradley tries to go for a choke, but Johnson bucks and twists, scrambling back to his feet and backing off. A big right hand and a high kick prevent Bradley from following too closely. After that frenetic minute of action, things die down, with the fighters circling. Johnson scores with two leg kicks, Bradley 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. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Johnson.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Anthony Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [b]Cory Devala vs. Jesse Taylor[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] The two fighters touch gloves as the round begins. Taylor starts brightly, throwing out a series of jabs and raking punches, but Devela is too light on his feet and avoids all of them. Devela steps in and hits a lovely overhand right, then a low kick to the outside of the thigh. Taylor throws a vicious right cross, but Devela goes under it and catches Taylor with a scathing left hand to the gut. The next few minutes follow a very similar pattern; Devela using his excellent movement to 'hit and run', coming in from a variety of angles to score with crisp punches, dodging out of the way of Taylor's counters. Taylor is being made to look sluggish by comparison, and the amount of punches that Devela has landed in comparison to him is becoming huge. None of them have been particularly big punches, certainly nothing likely to end a fight, but the sheer number of them must be hurting Taylor. Taylor finally hits a meaningful blow, catching Devela coming in with a low kick. Devela still gets a crisp jab in though, and is back out of range before Taylor can apply a second strike. The round comes to an end with Devela having dominated. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Devela. [b]Round 2[/b] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Taylor is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Devela blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Taylor is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Devela is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Taylor 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 Taylor some problems later on. Taylor 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. Devela is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Taylor 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 Taylor 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. Taylor goes for a trip, but Devela 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 Devela may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The second round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Devela. [b]Round 3[/b] They circle each other. Taylor misses with a low kick, and Devela darts in to hit a jab before retreating. They come together and exchange punches, both got a few shots in. Devela is looking much lighter on his feet, and keeps moving in, hitting a few punches, then getting back out of range. Taylor is trying to catch him coming in, but doesn't have the timing quite right. It happens again. Devela isn't getting much power on the punches, but he is getting ahead on points. Taylor tries to get in close, but Devela is keeping moving, and isn't letting himself get cornered. They both seem to be looking for an opening, and it's creating a stalemate at the moment. Devela gets a solid punch in, catching Taylor just above the left eye. Taylor finally gets a clinch, forcing Devela up against the cage, but it's too little, too late as the round ends. End of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Devela.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Cory Devala by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [b]Joe Lauzon vs. Ryan Roberts[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Lauzon and Roberts meet in the center, and both throw looping right hands at the same time. Neither hits home. Lauzon throws a couple of nice jabs that cause Roberts to cover up. He throws a sharp right hand in response which narrowly misses. They clinch in the center. Roberts tries to trip Lauzon, but it is easily dealt with, and Lauzon cheekily does the exact same thing to Roberts, except with more success. Roberts goes crashing to the ground with Lauzon on top. Lauzon passes guard and gets into side control, but it's an awkward position; Roberts has the entire right hand side of his body up against the cage, and both his legs wrapped around Lauzon's left arm. Lauzon's attacking options are fairly limited. He uses a couple of back fists to strike away at the face, but Roberts covers up to defend them. Lauzon tries to pin down one of Roberts's arms and bring his legs around to trap them fully, but Roberts uses his free arm to stop that from happening. The ground battle enters a stalemate, as Lauzon 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. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Lauzon. [b]Round 2[/b] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Lauzon lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Roberts sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Lauzon 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 Roberts manages to get the better position, pushing Lauzon up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Roberts. Lauzon 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. Roberts tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Lauzon was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Roberts down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Roberts covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Lauzon hits a big elbow to the ribs, Roberts definitely felt that. Lauzon drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Roberts brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Lauzon will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Roberts defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Lauzon unable to generate any attacks, and Roberts unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Lauzon will likely be very angry that he didn't make more of that takedown. They exchange half-hearted jabs as the round draws to an end. The round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Lauzon. [b]Round 3[/b] Nice fast-paced start from Lauzon, who gets right in Roberts'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 Roberts side-stepped. Roberts fires back with a left hand, then a right to the body. Lauzon steps in, but only into a waist-high kick from Roberts. Lauzon is quick though, and manages to catch it around the knee. Using it as leverage, Lauzon sweeps Roberts's standing leg and takes them to the ground. Roberts quickly pulls guard. Lauzon tries to grab an arm to work a submission, but Roberts is defending it well by using short, sharp strikes to keep him back. Lauzon tries to pass the guard, but has no luck. A punch from Lauzon connects, but there was no real power behind it. Lauzon fakes Roberts out cleverly, and slips to a half mount. Roberts manages to hit a firm elbow, then is forced to defend the full mount attempt. Lauzon switches tactics and tries to work a kimura on the other arm, but Roberts blocks it, squirms his leg free, and secures the guard again. Lauzon looks frustrated at losing the half mount after having worked so hard to get it in the first place. Roberts is liable to lose the round on points, but he has done a fine job of defending the submissions attempts so far. Lauzon tries to secure a leglock, but the guard is tight and Roberts is safe. The third round is over. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Lauzon.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Joe Lauzon by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [b]Ryan Ford vs. Troy "Rude Boy" Mandaloniz[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Rude Boy is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Ford blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Rude Boy is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Ford is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Rude Boy 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 Rude Boy some problems later on. Rude Boy 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. Ford is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Rude Boy 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 Rude Boy 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. Rude Boy goes for a trip, but Ford 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 Ford may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Ford. [b]Round 2[/b] The fighters come together right in the center. Rude Boy throws out a jab, but Ford bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Ford works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Rude Boy covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Ford is making Rude Boy look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Rude Boy hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Ford with a body shot. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Ford got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Rude Boy slightly. Rude Boy initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Rude Boy looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Ford is clearly winning them. Rude Boy needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Ford tries a speculative high kick, but Rude Boy saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Rude Boy tries to work an angle, but Ford is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Ford, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Ford by 10-9. [b]Round 3[/b] They circle each other. Rude Boy misses with a low kick, and Ford darts in to hit a jab before retreating. They come together and exchange punches, both got a few shots in. Ford is looking much lighter on his feet, and keeps moving in, hitting a few punches, then getting back out of range. Rude Boy is trying to catch him coming in, but doesn't have the timing quite right. It happens again. Ford isn't getting much power on the punches, but he is getting ahead on points. Rude Boy tries to get in close, but Ford is keeping moving, and isn't letting himself get cornered. Rude Boy gets pinned against the cage, and the referee eventually has to separate them. Ford gets a solid punch in, catching Rude Boy just above the left eye. Rude Boy finally gets a clinch, forcing Ford up against the cage, but it's too little, too late as the round ends. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Ford.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Ryan Ford by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)[/I] [b]Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Slow start to the round, Schafer is circling while Alexander seems content to just throw the occasional looping punch to cause him to back up. Schafer steps in and fires off two jabs, neither connecting, then has to almost throw himself to one side to avoid a devastating looking punch! Alexander was clearly looking for the highlight reel K.O. punch, had that connected there is no way that Schafer was getting back up. There's a warning to Schafer, he must now know, if he didn't already, that Alexander has knock out intentions tonight. Schafer throws a right hand, then backs up sharply, clearly not loving the idea of getting too close. Alexander still looks calm, throwing the occasional jab or two to keep Schafer off balance. Schafer is bobbing and weaving, trying to find an angle of attack. Jabs and an occasional low kick from Alexander are making that hard though. A crisp right hand from Schafer stings the gloves of Alexander, and he follows up with a kick that crashed into the ribs. That really connected, great strike. Schafer looks to be growing in confidence, and comes in again, using the right hand lead once more. Alexander was ready though, and fires off a high kick. It connects with the side of the jaw, Schafer did not see that one coming! He staggers and falls to the floor, totally unbalanced. Alexander is right in there; hammer fist to the side of the head, and another! There's a third. Schafer is in big trouble. Vicious punch. The referee leaps in, that is all she wrote! That kick caught Schafer out, and from there onwards there was only going to be one outcome. The official time is 4:58. [/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Houston Alexander by TKO at 4:58 of Round 1[/I] [B][SIZE="3"][I]Main Card begins Live on SpikeTV[/I][/SIZE][/B] [b]Gray Maynard vs. Matt Grice[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Grice hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Maynard to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Grice hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Maynard tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Grice having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Maynard. Grice makes Maynard 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. Grice throws another two punches, both to the body, then steps back to avoid an uppercut. Maynard lets fly with a scorching punch though, and it catches Grice by surprise, putting him down! Maynard follows up and starts raining down right hands. Grice covers up as best he can, but it's not enough as the referee pulls Maynard off, the match is over. Maynard wins via TKO at 3:48 of the first round. [/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Gray Maynard by TKO at 3:48 of Round 1[/I] [b]George Sotiropoulis vs. Mike Pyle[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/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. Pyle goes for the first takedown, but Sotiropoulos 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. Sotiropoulos storms back in almost immediately and takes Pyle down, into guard. It's hard to say whether that was just a good takedown or whether Pyle just had a lapse in concentration. Sotiropoulos tries to pass the guard but can't, with Pyle employing a rubber guard now. There's a definite stalemate, Pyle is defending very well but isn't really offering any attacking threat or really trying to get out of this predicament. Sotiropoulos makes a big effort to pass, and manages to get to half guard, but Pyle 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 Sotiropoulos on points, the takedown is really the only noteworthy thing that has happened. The 1st round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Sotiropoulos. [b]Round 2[/b] A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Sotiropoulos lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Pyle sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Sotiropoulos 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 Pyle manages to get the better position, pushing Sotiropoulos up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Pyle. Sotiropoulos 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. Pyle tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Sotiropoulos was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Pyle down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Pyle covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Sotiropoulos hits a big elbow to the ribs, Pyle definitely felt that. Sotiropoulos drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Pyle brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Sotiropoulos will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Pyle defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Sotiropoulos unable to generate any attacks, and Pyle unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Sotiropoulos will likely be very angry that he didn't make more of that takedown. They exchange half-hearted jabs as the round draws to an end. The 2nd round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Sotiropoulos by 10-9. [b]Round 3[/b] Sotiropoulos hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Pyle to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Sotiropoulos hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Pyle tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Sotiropoulos having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Pyle. Pyle comes in looking for a kick, but Sotiropoulos side-steps out of the way and then easily takes him down. Pyle was off-balance from the kick, and had no way of blocking the takedown. Sotiropoulos drops a bomb of a right hand, smashing into the hands of Pyle and forcing them back into his face. Another right hand finds its way through, landing right above the eye, stunning Pyle. With his opponent's wits scrambled, Sotiropoulos moves from the guard into a mount with ease, and starts unloading with rights and lefts. Pyle tries to cover up, but is getting decimated, and the referee is forced to come in and pull Sotiropoulos off, signalling the win. Sotiropoulos wins via 3rd round TKO with the official time being 4:41.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]George Sotiropoulis by TKO at 4:41 of Round 3[/I] [SIZE="1"][I]Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer from the prelims is shown for the TV audience.[/I][/SIZE] [b]Nathan Diaz vs. Josh Neer[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Diaz is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Neer picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Diaz throws a wild punch as a counter, but Neer ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Diaz 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 Diaz is looking for big punches, Neer is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Diaz manages to back Neer up against the cage. Diaz takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Neer ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Diaz can unload. Diaz may need to think about changing tactics, Neer is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Diaz fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Neer on the thigh. Neer presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Diaz 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 round is over. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Neer by 10-9. [b]Round 2[/b] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Diaz is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Neer blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Diaz is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Neer is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Diaz 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 Diaz some problems later on. Diaz 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. Neer is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Diaz 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 Diaz 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. Diaz goes for a trip, but Neer 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 Neer may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The 2nd round ends. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Neer. [b]Round 3[/b] The fighters come together right in the center. Diaz throws out a jab, but Neer bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Neer works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Diaz covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Neer is making Diaz look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Diaz hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Neer looks to be working an angle. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Neer got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Diaz slightly. Diaz initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Diaz looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Neer is clearly winning them. Diaz needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Neer tries a speculative high kick, but Diaz saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Diaz tries to work an angle, but Neer is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Neer, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. End of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Neer. The three judges all give the match as 30-27 to Josh Neer.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] [I]Josh Neer by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [b]Wanderlei Silva vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Sobral is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Wanderlei picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Sobral throws a wild punch as a counter, but Wanderlei ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Sobral 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 Sobral is looking for big punches, Wanderlei is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Sobral manages to back Wanderlei up against the cage. Sobral takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Wanderlei ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Sobral can unload. Sobral may need to think about changing tactics, Wanderlei is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Sobral fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Wanderlei on the thigh. Wanderlei presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Sobral 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 round is over. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Wanderlei. [b]Round 2[/b] Wanderlei starts tentatively, and scores with a few sharp leg kicks. A straight left connects, and Sobral is forced backward to avoid an uppercut. Good start from Wanderlei. Sobral tries to come inside, but eats a kick to the thigh. They clinch briefly, but it goes nowhere. Looping right hand from Sobral, but it only caught Wanderlei on the shoulder. Another kick connects from Wanderlei, and that sets up a nice combination to the body. The accuracy of his kicks has been excellent so far, and is keeping Sobral from doing very much. Both fighters circle. Right hand from Sobral, 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. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Wanderlei. [b]Round 3[/b] Wanderlei's straight right hand punch finds its mark early, tagging Sobral below the right eye, leaving a mark. Sobral throws a couple of strikes in return, but can't find a way past the gloves. Wanderlei keeps Sobral off balance by switching between looping punches, low kicks, and plenty of jabs. Sobral can't work an angle under the barrage, and backs off. Wanderlei tries to press the advantage, but Sobral is quick to clinch up. Sobral goes for a trip but Wanderlei kicks it away. Sobral drops down and tries for a single leg, but Wanderlei bends down and blocks it. There's an awkward moment as neither can do a great deal. Sobral eventually releases the leg and gets back into the clinch. Wanderlei hits a knee, and they part. Sobral throws a nice kick. Wanderlei gets in close enough to hit a kick to the body, then darts back out of range. He repeats the trick, this time replacing the kick with a hard right hand. It appears that he is using 'hit and run' tactics, and Sobral isn't coping with it yet. Wanderlei goes for it again, and this time almost gets taken down as Sobral times it well and shoots in. Wanderlei sprawls to block the first attempt, then scrabbles free on the second push, getting out from the side. Sobral was very close then. Wanderlei keeps Sobral back, throwing kicks. The action unfortunately peters out, with Sobral unable to get in close enough to go for a takedown, Wanderlei unwilling to risk the takedown by coming in and throwing strikes. The time eventually runs out on the round. End of the round. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Wanderlei by 10-9. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Wanderlei Silva.[/QUOTE] [B]Official Results:[/B] Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)[/CENTER]

[D.O.]

[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] News and Notes from Tonight’s UFC Fight Night 14 Press Conference where some chaos insued. [LIST] [*]Tonight's bonuses were given to Gray Maynard and Houston Alexander were awarded co-KO of the night (no submissions.) The fight of the night was awarded to George Sotiropoulis and Mike Pyle. Each was worth $30,000. [*]Dana White mentioned during the presser that John Halverson was actually on the last fight of his deal with the UFC and while they'll try to bring him back after tonight's win, he is a free agent. [*]White said that Gray Maynard and Josh Neer would face each other in the main event of December's UFC Fight Night 15, with the winner most likely going on to face the winner of BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian, which will take place at UFC 91 in December. [*]Dana White mentioned that he talked to Shogun during the night before the event and they've tentatively scheduled his comeback fight for January. [*]When asked why the main event didn't get the FOTN bonus, White said "trust me, they got something." [*]Joe Lauzon talked about how he was glad to have his loss behind him, and looked to get a tougher test next time out. Once he finished talking, Nate Diaz spoke up and said, "Why don't you fight me then? I ain't no bitch." Lauzon's response of "you would BE my bitch if you fought me," had Nate ready to scrap right then and there, but people stepped in to restore order. [/LIST]

[D.O.]

[CENTER][B][SIZE="5"]UFC 88 - Double Trouble[/SIZE][/B] [I]Live From The Philips Arena Atlanta, Georgia[/I] [SIZE="3"][B][I]The Undercard[/I][/B][/SIZE] [b]Gerald Harris vs. Jeremy May[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Slow start to the round, there's a lot of circling going on, not much contact though. Harris fakes a kick, then darts in to score with a left hand to the shoulder region. May almost catches Harris with a massive left hook. A big arcing kick from Harris catches May on the shoulder, it wasn't far away from landing on the side of the jaw. May storms in throwing a flurry of blows, but Harris dodges out of the way. A jab catches May on the cheek, then another big kick hits home, this time into the ribs. Harris is really using those big kicks well, they're both keeping May at bay and hurting him. May tries another attack, first working an angle away from the kicks then coming in with a couple of straight rights. Harris defends it well, parrying the punches away and moving to safety before May can unload with any bombs. Harris 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 Harris has dominated with kicks. The first round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Harris. [b]Round 2[/b] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. May is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Harris blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from May is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Harris is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before May 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 May some problems later on. May 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. Harris is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of May 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 May 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. May goes for a trip, but Harris 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 Harris may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The second round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Harris. [b]Round 3[/b] Slow start to the round. We're nearly a minute in before May throws the first meaningful punch, trying to squeeze a fizzing jab through to Harris's jaw, but it is parried. Harris steps in, but has to quickly side-step to avoid a straight right. May moves in to throw some body punches but gets clipped with a big right hand. It was partially blocked, it would have been a potential knock out if that had hit home on the chin, Harris put a lot of weight behind it. May hits a nice jab, then clinches. Harris hits a knee, takes a punch to the ribs, then breaks free. May hits a low kick to the leg. Harris bursts forward and scores with a big right hand to the body, then a left hook. May goes down! Good shot from Harris! He tries to follow up and pound on May, but May is up really quickly and covers up to block the two jabs that come in. Harris, sensing that May is rattled, starts coming forward with more urgency. May ends up backed up against the cage. Harris gets within range, fakes a left, then lunges in with a huge right hand. It is partially parried by May, who wisely clinches up tightly to get some time to recover. The power that Harris has in his hands is really posing May some problems. The clinch drags on, with Harris unable to break free, and the round ends like that. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Harris.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Gerald Harris by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [b]Dan Hardy vs. Mike Dolce[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Hardy starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Dolce on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Hardy to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Dolce, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Hardy, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Dolce is looking a little lost so far, Hardy is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. Hardy looks for an opening. Hardy leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Dolce was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Dolce 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 Dolce is that although Hardy clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. The round ends. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Hardy. [b]Round 2[/b] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Dolce is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Hardy blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Dolce is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Hardy is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Dolce 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 Dolce some problems later on. Dolce 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. Hardy is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Dolce 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 Dolce 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. Dolce goes for a trip, but Hardy 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 Hardy may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Hardy. [b]Round 3[/b] Hardy starts fast, immediately going on the attack with jabs and straight rights. Dolce covers up from the initial burst, then starts throwing some raking rights and lefts. Hardy bobs and weaves out of harm's way, countering by flicking off jabs whenever possible, peppering Dolce with strikes. None of them are likely to knock Dolce down, but they will add up over time. Dolce moves in and tries to back Hardy up against the cage, but he is too quick, and won't allow himself to get caught. Dolce is having a real problem with Hardy's movement, which is allowing him to dart in and out almost at will, hitting quick jabs and avoiding any counters. There's another example, as Hardy scores with a sharp left hand to the chest, and is gone before the big right hand of Dolce hits. Dolce looks frustrated, and switches tactics, no longer looking for the big punches but trying to stop Hardy getting in close by using low kicks and long, raking punches. Hardy is kept from doing any further damage, but Dolce isn't generating any offence either. Hardy comes in from an angle, takes a right hand, but scores with a flurry of his own. Dolce tries to hit a low kick, but misses. Time is running down, Hardy is going to take this round on points, he has been able to dominate it thanks to his superior movement. End of round 3. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Hardy by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Dan Hardy by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [b]James Lee vs. Tim Boetsch[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Nice fast-paced start from Lee, who gets right in Boetsch'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 Boetsch side-stepped. Boetsch fires back with a left hand, then a right to the body. Lee steps in, but only into a waist-high kick from Boetsch. Lee is quick though, and manages to catch it around the knee. Using it as leverage, Lee sweeps Boetsch's standing leg and takes them to the ground. Boetsch quickly pulls guard. Lee passes guard and gets into side control, but it's an awkward position; Boetsch has the entire right hand side of his body up against the cage, and both his legs wrapped around Lee's left arm. Lee's attacking options are fairly limited. He uses a couple of back fists to strike away at the face, but Boetsch covers up to defend them. Lee tries to pin down one of Boetsch's arms and bring his legs around to trap them fully, but Boetsch uses his free arm to stop that from happening. The ground battle enters a stalemate, as Lee 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. The round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Lee. [b]Round 2[/b] Slow start, both fighters are throwing tentative punches without threatening anything more powerful. Boetsch puts together the first exciting moment, stringing together four punches in quick succession, but Lee defended well. Straight right from Lee 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, Boetsch probably getting the slightly better punches in, and then fall into a clinch. That goes nowhere, and the referee separates them. Lee 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 Boetsch. The second round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Boetsch. [b]Round 3[/b] A couple of straight lefts from Boetsch start the round, but neither got past the gloves of Lee. They clinch, with Lee looking like he initiated it. They struggle for supremacy. Boetsch gets taken down, but traps Lee in guard. Boetsch tries to push free, but Lee forces him to go back to guard by raining down some jabs. Lee reaches over and tries to apply some sort of neck vice, but Boetsch breaks it by bringing his arms up. Lee steps through in an effort to mount Boetsch, but can only get to half guard as one of his legs gets trapped. Lee throws some strikes, then tries to work an armbar on the closest arm. Boetsch rolls over and uses his free arm to keep that from happening. That goes on for quite a long time, with Lee determined to try and work the arm free and get an armbar, while Boetsch uses everything at his disposal to block it. The round ends without Lee having made the breakthrough, although he clearly ran away with the round in terms of points. The third round is over. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Lee.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]James Lee by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)[/I] [b]Rousimar Palhares vs. Pete "Drago" Sell[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Toquinho starts fast, firing off several crisp jabs that keep Sell on the back foot. A solid left hits gloves, but it's really just a set-up for Toquinho to step in and use an uppercut. Not sure how much of it caught Sell, but certainly enough to to make him grab a clinch to stop any further punishment. Great start to the round from Toquinho, it has been total domination so far. The clinch is broken, and the two fighters exchange some long range jabs that are easily avoided. Sell is looking a little lost so far, Toquinho is controlling this round by virtue of his crisp accurate punches and higher aggression levels. Sell looks to be working an angle. Toquinho leads with the left, then moves in and gets in a wicked right hand that grazes the cheek. Sell was fortunate there, if that had landed properly it would have been over. Sell 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 Sell is that although Toquinho clearly won the round, he didn't actually turn that dominance into any sort of real damage. End of the round. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Toquinho by 10-9. [b]Round 2[/b] The two fighters circle. Sell flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Toquinho easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Sell could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Toquinho 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, Sell is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Sell forces Toquinho back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Toquinho in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Sell does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Toquinho saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Sell turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Sell is up quickly, causing Toquinho, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Sell was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Sell throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Toquinho to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Toquinho. [b]Round 3[/b] Toquinho 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 Sell advancing. A sharp right misses, and Toquinho takes the opportunity to pull Sell in to a tight clinch against the cage. Sell tries to break free, but cannot. It looks like we know the strategies for this round already; Sell wants to stand and bang, Toquinho wants to keep things at close quarters. Sell tries for an elbow, but only succeeds in getting turned around so that he is now the one against the cage. Trip from Toquinho, and we're down to the ground. Toquinho has side control, but Sell has landed with his left hand side against the cage, so that side of the body is basically safe for now. Toquinho will have to try to work the right-hand side, and starts by ramming a knee into the ribs. Sell tries to squirm into a better position, but Toquinho puts a stop to that with a stiff elbow to the stomach. Toquinho tries to work a kimura on the right arm, but Sell defends it. Sell manages to bring a knee up and catch Toquinho in the side, something of a cheeky move given his position. Toquinho responds with five or six rapid-fire right hands to the face, but Sell covers up and doesn't take any serious damage at all. Time is ticking away though, and so far Toquinho may be easily winning the round, but he is not taking full advantage of this great position. Toquinho tries to float over into a mount, but Sell uses the cage to push away and manages to unbalance Toquinho enough to get to a kneeling position, then standing, albeit back into a clinch. A knee from Toquinho is the last action of the round. End of the round. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-9 Toquinho.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Rousimar Palhares by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)[/I] [b]Cain Velasquez vs. Tom Murphy[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Murphy and Velasquez start slowly, exchanging some jabs. Velasquez is the first to chance a big shot, bringing an uppercut out from way down, forcing Murphy to back-pedal swiftly to avoid getting hit. Velasquez wisely keeps up the pressure, stalking Murphy, using searching right hands to keep him moving. Murphy fires back with a low kick, catching Velasquez on the outside of the calf. Velasquez steps in, and the two fighers are close. Murphy pushes forward, throwing a right hand, and Velasquez goes down! Replays show that it was more of a stumble, the punch barely connected. Murphy gets tied up in guard as he tries to follow up. Murphy looks to pound out a victory, throwing some big punches. Velasquez's guard prevents him from getting his body behind the shots though, and none of them have enough power to really trouble Velasquez. A couple do get through and hit home though. Velasquez reaches up and smothers Murphy into a clinch. He fights free, with some difficulty, and starts punching away again. Velasquez parries the shots away. Unfortunately the round enters a lull, with Murphy unable to pass guard and so being content just to throw punches from there, while Velasquez is unwilling to risk letting Murphy pass guard. We enter the final thirty seconds of the round before Murphy gets a breakthrough, managing to power through the guard and mount Velasquez! Velasquez covers up and tries to buck and roll his hips to desperately try and dislodge Murphy. It doesn't work, but it does unbalance him enough to reduce the amount of punches being thrown. Some do come raining down though, and Velasquez is probably relieved when the round ends with him not having taken too much damage. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Murphy. [b]Round 2[/b] Velasquez scores with a straight left, but gets one right back from Murphy. Tentative opening. Velasquez comes in slowly, faking a straight left, but Murphy goes for the legs and takes him down to the floor. Velasquez gets guard. Murphy throws out a right hand, parried away by Velasquez. The guard is quite tight, for the moment at least Murphy looks content to stay there and throw some punches. Velasquez 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, Velasquez thought it was going for the face. Another punch lands in the same place, and a red mark starts to develop. Velasquez reaches up and pulls Murphy down into a clinch, and tries to work an armbar from the bottom. Murphy 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. Velasquez looked like he might be considering trying to apply a triangle then, as Murphy was very exposed, but he didn't get a chance due to the ferocity of the punches. Murphy gets back down to kneeling in the guard. Another right hand lands to the ribs. Velasquez fires off two punches from his back, but Murphy defends them easily by simply leaning backward out of reach. Murphy stands again, the guard remaining tight around him, and throws another couple of bombs. This time Velasquez does try to apply the triangle, and an armbar at the same time, but Murphy breaks free. Time is ticking down, looks like Velasquez will survive this ground and pound attack. The round ends without further note. End of round 2. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Murphy by 10-9. [b]Round 3[/b] Velasquez is quickest out, and comes at Murphy with a series of jabs and straight punches. Murphy covered up well, and I don't think anything got through. Murphy hits a body shot, but it didn't connect solidly. They get in close, and it's Velasquez who takes it to the ground. Murphy pulls guard. There's a lull, as Velasquez tries to pass, and Murphy defends it. Punches get thrown every so often, but it's really a stalemate at the moment. Murphy almost gets a guillotine, but it's blocked and almost leads to a kimura for Velasquez, but that too goes nowhere. The referee stands them up, but the time is almost over. The round ends. MMAScoop.com has it down as 10-8 Velasquez.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Tom Murphy by unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 29-27)[/I] [b]Paul Taylor vs. Akihiro Gono[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/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 Taylor, who then has to react quickly to avoid a right hook that was aimed right at the chin. Taylor 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. Gono covered up well, and gets in a couple of shots of his own before moving out of range again. An exchange of punches goes nowhere, and they fall into a clinch. The referee separates them when nothing happens. Low kick from Gono, 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 Taylor will take the round on points. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Taylor. [b]Round 2[/b] Taylor and Gono circle to start. Gono throws a couple of looping punches, neither hitting, while Taylor sits back, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Gono comes in closer, looking to unload with a right hand; that misses, and it allows Taylor to slip a nice jab in, catching Gono just underneath the right eye. Taylor comes in and scores with a straight left, then bounces a right hand off the body. Gono misses with a right cross, then backs off. Taylor stalks him, forcing Gono back up against the cage. Taylor doesn't rush in, instead standing back and throwing the occasional punch. Gono throws a big left hand in response, but it misses by quite a margin. Taylor pounces, hitting lefts and rights. Gono covers up from the first two punches, then clinches up to prevent any more coming in. They're up against the cage, Taylor in the dominant position. They remain that way as the time ticks down. Taylor 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. Gono comes in hard and fast, bobbing and weaving, and throws a couple of big shots. Taylor 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 Taylor's favour. The round ends. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Taylor. [b]Round 3[/b] The fighters come together right in the center. Gono throws out a jab, but Taylor bobs out of the way and uses a right hand to glance a blow off the side of the ribs in response. Taylor works an angle and storms in suddenly with three crisp jabs and a looping overhand punch, Gono covered up quickly but at least one of the jabs hit home. Taylor is making Gono look sluggish in comparison, such is the speed and crispness with which he is delivering strikes. Gono hits a low kick before back-pedalling to avoid a clubbing blow. Taylor looks for an opening. They meet in the center to exchange a flurry of strikes that gets the crowd on their feet. Taylor got slightly the better of it, he definitely snuck through a right hand that rocked Gono slightly. Gono initiates a clinch, and the action grinds to a halt. Gono looks out of ideas, he is being repeatedly lured into these exchange of strikes, but Taylor is clearly winning them. Gono needs to find some way to deal with them. Not much time left in this round. The referee separates them. Taylor tries a speculative high kick, but Gono saw it coming and was well out of range by the time it came. Gono tries to work an angle, but Taylor is having none of it and fires off a straight right hand to keep him from stepping in. Comfortable round for Taylor, he will probably be disappointed not to have done more damage given his dominance of the striking in this round. The round is over. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Taylor by 10-9.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] Paul Taylor by unanimous decision (30-27 x3) [b]Dong Hyun Kim vs. Paul Kelly[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Kelly comes out quick and immediately starts pressing Kim back toward the cage. Kelly tries to use the position to his advantage, pinning Kim in to prevent him from moving freely, but the exchange of punches that follows is clearly won by Kim, who catches Kelly with a wicked right cross during the flurry of blows. Kelly tries again, but Kim is looking sharp and parries away any dangerous shot, getting in a few crisp jabs of his own along the way. Kelly finally backs off, realising that this isn't working. Kim is showing superior ability with his hands, they're fast and accurate, Kelly isn't able to cope with them at close quarters, being made to look slow and ragged in comparison. Kelly switches to using raking right hands and looping punches, keeping Kim back, but its effectiveness is limited as Kelly's punches are easily parried away, and Kim can still hit the occasional right hand. The round ends with that being the pattern. Kim has used his better punching technique and hand speed to confound Kelly, and has controlled this round almost entirely. End of round 1. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Kim. [b]Round 2[/b] The two fighters circle. Kelly flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Kim easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Kelly could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Kim 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, Kelly is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Kelly forces Kim back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Kim in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Kelly does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Kim saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Kelly turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Kelly is up quickly, causing Kim, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Kelly was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Kelly throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Kim to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. End of the round. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Kim. [b]Round 3[/b] Flat start to the round, thirty seconds of circling without any actual contact. The fans begin to get a bit restless. Kelly is the first to try something, stringing together a couple of jabs and a low kick, but Kim blocked the first two and avoided the latter. A lunge from Kelly is meant to set up a punch, but it's clumsy and just leaves him off balance. Kim is quick to react, and gets a great shot to the side of the face in before Kelly 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 Kelly some problems later on. Kelly 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. Kim is staying on it though, and glances three shots off the gloves of Kelly 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 Kelly 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. Kelly goes for a trip, but Kim 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 Kim may prove decisive. As the round comes to an end, they wind up back in another clinch, with nothing coming of it. The round is over. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Kim.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] Dong Hyun Kim by unanimous decision (30-27 x3) [SIZE="3"][I][b]Main Card begins Live on PPV[/b][/I][/SIZE] [b]Ed Herman vs. Alessio Sakara[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] The round starts. They touch gloves. Sakara throws a rapid-fire series of punches, forcing Herman to back off. Herman throws a nice kick that thumps into the rib cage. Another kick is thrown, this time aimed at the head, but Sakara sees it coming and steps back. Herman advances and they meet in the center. Sakara ducks a right hand, scores with a left to the gut. Herman 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. Sakara bursts forward and goes for a big swing, Herman ducks under it, hits a right to the chest, then unloads another kick. This one hits the thigh, causing Sakara to noticeably wince. It may have caught the very top of the knee judging from the replays. Sakara 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. Herman's impressively sharp kicking game is hurting Sakara and allowing him to take firm control of this round. There's not much time left, and Sakara is going to have to do something special to win this round now. He doesn't, as time expires without anything interesting happening. The 1st round ends. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Herman. [b]Round 2[/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. Sakara complies, firing off a dangerous right cross, narrowly missing. Herman throws a couple of stiff jabs, but they only find gloves. Sakara fakes left, then comes in from the right, hitting a nice body blow. Herman steps forward and unleashes a big kick, thundering it into Sakara's ribs. He felt that one for sure. Herman follows up by hitting a right hand too. Sakara finds himself backed up against the cage. Herman advances, and throws a scythe-like kick to the legs. Sakara can't get out of the way, and almost gets felled by the impact. Herman steps in and scores with a high head kick. Sakara partially blocked it with his hands, which was probably the only thing stopping it from being a knock out blow. Sakara gets a right hand jab out in response, then pulls Herman into a clinch. Knee strike from Herman. They break. Sakara still looks hurt from that first kick. Herman gets in close and gives a receipt for that earlier body blow, nailing a right hand to the gut. Sakara hits a jab to the cheek in response, then clinches again. Time runs down, the round will end before anything more can happen. Herman has used those powerful kicks to dominate this round. The round is over. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Herman. [b]Round 3[/b] Herman starts the round by throwing some low kicks. Sakara checks them, then comes in and clearly wants to trade punches. Herman 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. Herman cleverly head-fakes, allowing him the time and angle that he needed to catch Sakara with a beauty of a right hook. Sakara stumbles backward, but doesn't go down. Herman presses the advantage by following in with a kick, then a right hand. Sakara clinches. They remain clinched for a while. Sakara scores with a nice knee, it appeared to catch Herman in the gut. Herman uses a single leg trip and takes the fight to the ground. Herman gets to side control upon impact, and immediately goes for an armbar. Sakara reacts quickly, but is in real danger. Herman has his left arm straightened out, fortunately Sakara has managed to roll and get a good position that is stopping Herman from getting the leverage needed to apply an armlock. Herman tries to step over and fully apply it, but Sakara breaks free and gets him to back off with a couple of up-kicks. Herman steps back and motions for him to stand up. They go back to circling in the center. Sakara hits a nice right hand, but takes one back too. The time runs down; Herman 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 round 3. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Herman.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Ed Herman by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)[/I] [b]Rameau Sokoudjou Thierry vs. Glover Teixeira[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] They meet in the center. Glover hits a nice jab, a second misses. Sokoudjou steps in close and hits a brutal body shot, causing Glover to back up quickly. That was a really powerful shot. Sokoudjou stalks Glover, flicking occasional jabs. It looks like Sokoudjou wants to stand and trade punches with Glover. Sokoudjou gets within striking distance and throws a bomb of a right hand, narrowly missing. Glover fires off a raking left hook in response, but that is off target too. They meet and exchange punches. Glover goes for the body, but gets tagged with a left hand to the side of the head. Glover is rattled by it, but doesn't step off, instead throwing a couple of crisp jabs. Sokoudjou throws another big punch, this time thundering it into Glover's shoulder. They clinch. So far it looks like Glover simply can't live with the power that Sokoudjou has in his hands, you get the sense that if this continues, Glover 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. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Sokoudjou. [b]Round 2[/b] The round starts slowly, with both fighters circling, tentatively throwing out the occasional jab. Glover is the first to make a positive move, stepping in to throw a right hand, although he probably wishes that he hadn't, as Sokoudjou picks him off with a crisp jab to the cheek. Glover throws a wild punch as a counter, but Sokoudjou ducks and backs off out of range. They meet again in the center for an exchange of punches. Glover 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 Glover is looking for big punches, Sokoudjou is happy to avoid them and use quick counter punches instead. They clinch up, and Glover manages to back Sokoudjou up against the cage. Glover takes a half step backward and throws a big right hand to the head, but Sokoudjou ducks under at the last second, scores with a pair of punches to the gut, then darts out of trouble before Glover can unload. Glover may need to think about changing tactics, Sokoudjou is looking far sharper in these striking battles, and is beginning to control the pace and tempo of the round. Glover fakes a right hand, then shoots out a low kick, catching Sokoudjou on the thigh. Sokoudjou presses forward for the first time, getting in close and using a couple of jabs to the body. Glover gets a nice left hook in, glancing off the gloves, and then clinches up. Time ticks away and the round ends just a few seconds after the referee separates them. That's the end of the round. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Sokoudjou. [b]Round 3[/b] Sokoudjou isn't hanging around, right from the start Glover is forced onto the back foot by four hard shots, although none of them get through the gloves. Glover circles, steps in, then unloads a combination of punches, but Sokoudjou weaves out of the way and scores with a beauty of a right hand, glancing above the right eye. That was some lovely counter punching from Sokoudjou, the timing had to be perfect and it was. Glover is looking a bit frustrated, and uncorks a ragged-looking uppercut that missed by several inches. Sokoudjou really should have taken advantage of that mistake, Glover was wide open for a moment there. Sokoudjou hits a high kick, catching Glover on the shoulder. Jab from Glover finds the mark, but it didn't have much power behind it as he was leaning backward too much. Sokoudjou fires off a couple of straight punches in response, but only finds gloves. They clinch, and the fight enters a lull. Glover scores with a knee from the clinch, it landed around the hip area of Sokoudjou, who responds with a couple of shots to the ribs. The time runs out with them still clinched though. The 3rd round ends. MMAScoop.com gives that one to Sokoudjou by 10-9. [/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Sokoudjou by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)[/I] [b]Chris Leben vs. Michael Bisping[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] A couple of straight lefts from Leben start the round, but neither got past the gloves of Bisping. They clinch, with Bisping looking like he initiated it. They struggle for supremacy. Leben gets taken down, but traps Bisping in guard. Bisping almost gets caught in a surprise armbar, leaving his arm in for far too long after a punch. Leben tries to twist it while wrapping his legs around it, but Bisping pulls free, and it allows him an opportunity to get side control due to Leben's legs being out of position. He lies across Leben's chest. Leben has locked up Bisping's right shoulder well, it's preventing him from doing much. Bisping drives a knee into the ribs, but can't generate much force. Bisping tries to spin around and get into north and south position, but Leben blocks it by tenaciously holding onto the right arm. Bisping uses his legs to break Leben's arms apart and trap the right one. It's a semi-crucifix position, Leben is quite exposed. Fortunately for him then time expires before Bisping can turn it into a better attacking opportunity. The round ends. MMAScoop.com scores 10-9 Bisping. [b]Round 2[/b] Tentative start, neither fighter is willing to commit yet. Bisping fires off a jab, but it was easily blocked. Leben fakes a kick, then comes in hard and fast with a takedown, sending Bisping to the floor. The momentum causes Leben to almost go completely over the top though, and Bisping is able to flip him to the side and end up on top, in the guard position. Bisping immediately tries to pass guard, but Leben is not allowing it. Bisping fires off some punches, but Leben blocks them before grabbing a butterfly guard to keep Bisping trapped. They stay like that for a while before Bisping breaks free, but only back into regular guard. Leben tries a cheeky guillotine attempt, but Bisping easily defends it, I don't think Leben really thought that was going to work. Bisping tries to get side control, but Leben defends it. Not the second time though, and Bisping has the side. Leben has him tied up pretty well though, and the clock is running down. Bisping 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. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Bisping. [b]Round 3[/b] Leben throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Bisping throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Leben 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. Bisping hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Leben. They struggle all the way back, with Leben ending up backed up against the cage. Bisping hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Leben stomps downward onto his foot. Leben manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Bisping gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Leben ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Leben tries a high kick to start, but Bisping saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Bisping who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Leben on the nose. Leben hits a straight right, enough to stop Bisping 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. MMAScoop.com scores it 10-9 for Bisping.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Michael Bisping by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)[/I] [b]Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Slow start to the round, Evans is circling while Liddell seems content to just throw the occasional looping punch to cause him to back up. Evans steps in and fires off two jabs, neither connecting, then has to almost throw himself to one side to avoid a devastating looking punch! Liddell was clearly looking for the highlight reel K.O. punch, had that connected there is no way that Evans was getting back up. There's a warning to Evans, he must now know, if he didn't already, that Liddell has knock out intentions tonight. Evans throws a right hand, then backs up sharply, clearly not loving the idea of getting too close. Liddell still looks calm, throwing the occasional jab or two to keep Evans off balance. Liddell leads with a right hand, then delivers a brutal uppercut, Evans had to step back quickly to avoid getting caught. He winds up back against the cage, and Liddell doesn't relent, moving in fast to unload with a series of jabs. Evans got some of his own in, but the upper hand is definitely with Liddell. Vicious right hand! Out of nowhere, it caught Evans flush in the face, and he slumps down against the cage. Liddell follows up with more punches, and the referee dives in to break it up. It's all over. Evans wasn't knocked out, but that one punch was a beauty, and it stopped him getting any sort of defence together to stop the following punches.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Chuck Liddell by TKO at 3:42 of Round 1[/I] [I]UFC MW Title:[/I] [b]Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami[/b] [QUOTE][b]Round 1[/b] Okami throws the first punch of the round, a high searching jab that didn't carry a great deal of threat with it. Silva throws a one-two combination in return, neither connecting, then steps in and delivers a hard kick to the outside of the thigh. Okami 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. Silva hits a knee to the ribs. A couple of shots to the back from Okami. They struggle all the way back, with Okami ending up backed up against the cage. Silva hits another knee, but there wasn't much power behind it. Okami stomps downward onto his foot. Okami manages to reverse their positions, but that only lasts about thirty seconds before it gets reversed once more. Silva gets an arm free and tries to throw a big shot to the cheek, Okami ducks under it and gets the arm back under control. The referee finally breaks them up, and we're back to where we started. Okami tries a high kick to start, but Silva saw it coming and easily avoids it. They come back together in the center, and it's Silva who gets the first sustained attack of the round, hitting two hard body shots and a jab that caught Okami on the nose. Okami hits a straight right, enough to stop Silva 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. MMAScoop.com sees it 10-9 to Silva. [b]Round 2[/b] Okami leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Silva 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. Silva uses a knee to the ribs before backing Okami up against the cage. Right hand from Okami connects though, that was well timed. Silva breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Okami was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Silva sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Okami fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Silva comes inside Okami and hits a body shot, then a right cross. Okami swings with a right hand to counter, but Silva ducks it and comes back with a big punch of his own. Okami goes down like a ton of bricks, that punch was right on the money. Silva moves in quickly to deliver another two punches before the referee pulls him away. They weren't necessary, Okami was out cold, but Silva wasn't doing anything wrong there, he was merely instinctively following up. That was a deadly accurate punch, Silva hit that as sweetly as is possible. Anderson Silva retains the UFC Middleweight title.[/QUOTE] [b]Official Results:[/b] [I]Anderson Silva by KO at 3:37 of Round 2[/I] [I][SIZE="1"]Rousimar Palhares vs. Pete Sell from the prelims is shown for the PPV audience.[/SIZE][/I] [/CENTER]

[D.O.]

[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] News and Notes from Tonight’s UFC 88 Press Conference. [LIST] [*]Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell both received KO bonuses for their impressive finishes. The fight of the night bonus was given to Rousimar Palhares and Pete Sell for their fight. The bonus for the night was $75,000. [*]Dana White mentioned that Eric Schafer and Kyle Bradley were let go yesterday due to losses they suffered at UFC Fight Night 14. [*]White mentioned when asked if Anderson Silva was out of potential opponents, that Toquino, Ricardo Almeida, and Michael Bisping are all options, as well as a Franklin-Henderson winner. [*]Paul Taylor talked about wanting another crack at Marcus Davis, after his impressive win over Gono. [*]Chuck Liddell talked candidly about wanting a title shot after his win over Rashad. [*]Cain Velasquez said he wants to get back into the octagon "as soon as possible" to wash this taste of losing out of his mouth. [*]Nate Diaz vs. Joe Lauzon has been booked for December after the scuffle from Wednesday's press conference. [*]Lastly, UFC Fight Night 15 will feature Roger Huerta vs. Spencer Fisher. White said they haven't decided if that's the main event, or the Maynard-Neer fight. [/LIST]

[D.O.]

[B]MMAScoop.com[/B] is reporting that the UFC have set their lineups for UFC 89. Stay tuned to [B]MMAScoop.com[/B] for all your latest news. [B][U]UFC 89[/U][/B] [B]Main Card:[/B] Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra Diego Sanchez vs. Mike Swick Keith Jardine vs. James Irvin Thiago Silva vs. Matt Hamill [B]Undercard:[/B] Goran Reljic vs. Mike Whitehead Wilson Gouveia vs. Antonio Mendes Jon Koppenhaver vs. Ryo Chonan Terry Etim vs. Sam Stout Roman Mitichyan vs. Thomas Schulte Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. David Bielkheden Jake Rosholt vs. Dan Cramer