In another installment of UK-based UFC events, UFC 95 was broadcast on Spike TV with several hours of tape delay.  The event featured a mixed bag of fights spanning across all of UFC’s weight classes.  In the main event, Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner Diego Sanchez made his debut at 155 lbs, facing a fellow ‘TUF’ champion Joe Stevenson.  UFC 95 also featured two bouts with title shot implications in the middleweight division as Chael Sonnen took on Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt faced off against Wilson Gouveia.  There were also a number of fresh faces on the card as several fighters received an opportunity to impress the fans in their Octagon debut.  Let’s see how it all turned out:

Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago (170 lbs)

The fighters circled and exchanged ineffective combinations for most of the first round.  Koscheck was the aggressor until he walked into an uppercut-hook combination from Thiago that dropped Josh to his back.  Koscheck appeared to have recovered instantly but the referee jumped on him and halted the bout before Josh had a chance to get up or Thiago had a chance to follow him to the ground.  Awful, completely unjustified stoppage.

Fight Grade: 3 1/5 2 points deduction for the stoppage

Aftermath: With a little help from the ref, Paulo Thiago is launched right to the top with a first round TKO victory over a perennial UFC contender.  A bad loss for Koscheck in a fight that he really should never have taken will drop him from title contention for the foreseable future.  A rematch would be the most logical next fight in my opinion, to see if Thiago can repeat the feat without ref help involved.

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Ultimate Fight Night 17 marked the UFC’s first event in Tampa, FL.   The card was plagued by injuries and had a late substitution in the main event after Hermes Franca pulled out with an ACL injury, leaving his training partner Jeremy Stephens to take on Joe Lauzon in the featured bout.

Luigi Fioravanti vs. Anthony Johnson (170 lbs)

In the opening matchup, Johnson successfully utilized his reach advantage to keep Fioravanti at bay with kicks and jabs.  Fioravanti attempted to even things out by bringing the fight to the ground but Johnson defended the takedown.  Fioravanti landed a knee to Johnson’s groin in the clinch;  the action was restarted after a brief break then Johnson staggered Fioravanti with a glancing right hand.  Johnson followed up with a series of hammerfists to his opponent and Luigi was not able to recover, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Fight Grade: 3/5

Aftermath: Another impressive win for Johnson shows that he is ready for a step up in competition; he should be matched with another rising star like Ben Saunders or Mike Swick.  Fioravanti will remain a gatekeeper and will most likely fight a UFC newcomer in his next bout.

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In the past, UFC has usually lined up a star-studded event for the Superbowl weekend.  This year was no exception, with a mega-matchup between the welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and the lightweight champion BJ Penn in the main event, and the undefeated lightheavyweight contenders Thiago Silva and Lyoto Machida meeting in the co-main.

The remainder of the card was so evenly matched that all eight undercard bouts went to a decision;  five of them a split decision.  It turned out that the close matchups for most part did not make for exciting fights.

Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida  (155 lbs)

In the opening bout of the broadcast, Guida’s wrestling made all the difference as he was able to control Diaz and maintain dominant position through most of the bout.  Guida had Nate’s back very quickly in the first round, and alternated between back control and top guard for much of the fight, staying out of Diaz’s submissions though not inflicting much damage on his opponent.  Diaz did a better job of keeping the fight on his feet in the third round, but outboxing Guida was not enough to win the fight for Nate.  Guida took home the split decision victory.

Fight Grade: 2/5

Aftermath: The first loss on the record of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner Nate Diaz shows that he needs to improve his wrestling to advance in the very deep decision.  Guida earns a win but will not earn many fans with a grinding methodical style – a big change from Guida’s earlier UFC bouts where he was the exciting fan favorite who often walked away on the losing end of close decisions.

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Only a day after the impressive Affliction ‘Day of Reckoning’ event, the fans were treated to another MMA show: WEC 38, broadcast live from San Diego, featured the WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner defending his title against Donald Cerrone in the main event.  The other big matchup on the card was the rematch between the former featherweight champion Urijah Faber and the UFC veteran and former champion Jens Pulver.

Jose Aldo vs. Rolando Perez (145 lbs)

In the first televised bout, both featherweights came out swinging from the opening bell.  Aldo quickly took control of the bout with crisp punches and body kicks.  Perez fired back with combinations of his own but was outgunned by Aldo.  As Perez stepped forward, Aldo fired a knee up the middle that knocked Perez on his back.  Aldo jumped on top of Perez for a quick TKO finish.

Fight Grade: 4/5

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Affliction’s second MMA event revolved around the headlining bout: a return to action by the top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, in a long awaited matchup with former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski.  The main event was scheduled to be a five-round title bout, with Fedor’s dubious WAMMA title belt on the line.  The remainder of the card was filled with names familiar to most long time MMA fans, including Josh Barnett taking on Gilbert Yvel in a matchup that was touted to produce the next challenger to the winner of the Emelianenko-Arlovski bout.  Also of note was the presence of Tito Ortiz, in the role of a color commentator.

The broadcast began with a bout that had a last-minute substitution, as Bobby Green stepped in on a day’s notice to replace the injured Chris Horodecki:

Bobby Green vs. Dan Lauzon (155 lbs)

A little-known fighter, Bobby Green had a chance to make a big impression in this bout, but came out with mixed results.  Green took the fight to the more experienced Lauzon, winning the striking exchanges and scrambling well on takedown attempts.  However an errant kick to the groin caused a halt to the action.  Lauzon took his time to recover – and the foul was repeated two more times in the round: first a knee then a glancing kick both landing to the groin area.  Two points were deducted from Green by the ref Herb Dean after the third low blow, and the fans grew restless watching Lauzon massage his injured crotch for the third time.  Green did not use any kicks or knees after the final restart to avoid a disqualification.  After a scramble Lauzon was finally able to achieve a dominant position on the ground, and took Green’s back sinking in a rear naked choke.  Green tapped out with only seconds left in the round.

Fight Grade: 5 3/5 2 point deduction for the low blows

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UFC 93 took place in Dublin, Ireland; and as it has been the case with many of the overseas UFC events, it did not feature a very strong card.  In the main event, Rich Franklin took on Dan Henderson for a chance to coach the upcoming season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ opposite of Michael Bisping.  Strangely enough, the Franklin-Henderson fight was at 205 lbs, despite the fact that the winner would face Bisping at 185.

The co-main event was a rematch between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Mark Coleman – both men making a return to action after a long layoff.  The only other notable bouts on the card were the UFC debut of Denis Kang (facing Alan Belcher) and a bout between two gatekeepers of the welterweight division – Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle.  Let’s see how it all turned out:

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Traditionally the UFC has always had a stellar lineup for their end-of-year show, and this year was no different.  With the lightheavyweight title on the line in the main event, the interim heavyweight title defended in the co-main, and the third installation of the Wanderlei Silva-Quinton Jackson series, ‘The Ultimate 2008’ had plenty of hype going into the show.

Cheik Kongo vs. Mostapha Al-Turk (HW)

In the first televised bout, the UFC newcomer Al-Turk started out attempting to exchange strikes with Kongo, until Cheik caught a kick and threw Al-Turk to the canvas.  After getting up, Al-Turk went for the takedown but was thwarted, then landed a knee to Kongo’s groin from a clinch.  After a break for Cheik to recover, the fighters went back to clinch and Kongo retaliated with a knee to the groin of Al-Turk.  When the fight restarted again, Kongo came out aggressive and dropped Al-Turk then following him down, pounding away with elbows and punches that split Al-Turk’s forehead wide open and caused the referee to stop the bout, giving Kongo the TKO victory.

Fight grade: 4/5 3/5 (1 point deduction for low blows)

Aftermath: Nut shots aside, a good performance for Kongo that should place him in the top tier of contenders for the winner of the heavyweight championship mini-tournament.  He is perhaps one win away from a title shot.  Al-Turk does not impress in his debut; look for him on the televisual undercard of a UK UFC event some time in 2009.

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Another season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ passed by.  This one was a bit painful to watch at times, what with the urination in the fruit salad and ejaculation in the sushi.  Was the finale worthy of the buildup?  Let’s take a look:

Junie Browning vs. Dave Kaplan (155 lbs)

TUF back-story: Both men stood out more for their drinking problems than their fighting abilities.  While Junie was the unanimously despised, throwing glasses and fits – drunk, Kaplan was more of a happy, ‘punch-me-in-the-jaw-I-can’t-be-knocked-out’ drunk.   It was only fitting that these two met in the finale.

A few glimpses of skill managed to shine through Junie’s bad attitude, and he controlled the bout from the beginning.  While Kaplan was somewhat competitive in the first, Browning handily won the round then completely took over in the second, quickly taking down Kaplan then achieving dominant position and securing an armbar.  Kaplan had no choice but to tap out.  The fast-paced bout took the ‘Fight of the Night’ award.

Fight grade: 4/5

Aftermath:  It is usually the case that the winners of all TUF finale fights get to stay in the UFC, while the losers are shown the door.  In this case, ‘Fight of the Night’ may have earned Kaplan another fight in the Octagon (or perhaps a smaller version of it in the WEC).

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UFC ‘Fight for the Troops’ was a charitable event, held to benefit the Intrepid Center – a medical center which helps U.S. veterans who suffered a traumatic brain injury.  Ironically, several matches on the card ended with brutal concussion-inducing knockouts, along with other injuries.

Jim Miller vs. Matt Wiman (155 lbs)

This fight had a last-minute substitution: Wiman was originally slated to face Frankie Edgar, who pulled out with an injury only a week prior to the fight.  Jim Miller stepped in on short notice, and performed admirably.  After getting the better of Wiman in early exchanges, Miller pulled guard as Wiman was going to a takedown, and secured a very tight guillotine.  Miller rolled over into mount as he attempted to finish the choke; Wiman held on to Miller’s trunks despite repeated warnings from the referee Mario Yamasaki.  As Mario finally detached Wiman’s hand from Miller’s shorts, Matt was able to slip out of the guillotine.  After briefly achieving the top position Wiman let Miller up and Jim finished the round strong on the feet.

The pace slowed down a bit in the remaining two rounds, but Miller thoroughly dominated Wiman both standing and on the ground for the rest of the match.  Wiman hung in there but was never able to get an advantage, and lost all three rounds in a unanimous decision.

Fight Grade: 4.5/5

Aftermath:  A dominant performance from Miller in his second UFC bout should earn him a spot in the lightweight Top 10.  Wiman’s win streak is over with what has to be a very disappointing loss after his last performance.  Both fighters earned an additional $30,000 for the official ‘Fight of the Night’.

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WEC 37 featured featherweight and bantamweight bouts on the televised portion of the card, and was highlighted by the bantamweight champion Miguel Torres defending his belt against the undefeated challenger Manny Tapia.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Danny Martinez (145 lbs)

The first televised bout turned out to be rather lackluster.  Martinez worked hard for a takedown in the first round, but was unable to complete and ended up on his back as a result of a throw at the end round.  In the second and third, Martines gave up on the takedown attempts and instead began swinging at Benavidez with widely telegraphed shots, most of which did not find their target.  Benavidez on the other hand peppered Martinez with multiple combinations of punches and kicks, none of which seemingly did much damage.  Benavidez won a unanimous decision: 30-27 on all three scorecards.  This was the first MMA bout that I’ve seen where a woman (Kim Winslow) was the referee.

Fight grade: 2/5

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UFC 91 featured the return of the briefly retired heavyweight champion Randy Couture, taking on the challenger Brock Lesnar in the first leg of a four-man heavyweight title tournament.  The matchup was billed as ‘biggest in UFC history’ and so the undercard of this event was overlooked: the only bout besides the main event to receive any publicity was a #1 contender eliminator between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson for a shot at the lightweight title.  Three other lightweight bouts took place in the preliminary portion of the event.

Nate Quarry vs. Demian Maia (185 lbs) 

The televised card began with a striker vs. grappler matchup, and the grappler Maia wasted no time bringing the fight to the ground. From there he easily passed Quarry’s guard and achieved mount, then back control, and finished with a rear naked choke forcing a tapout less than halfway through the first round.

Fight Grade: 3/5

Aftermath: Maia once again demonstrates impeccable jiu-jitsu, gaining his fourth victory in the UFC.  Since there are no clear-cut contenders for Anderson Silva’s middleweight belt, undefeated Maia can make a good case for demanding a title shot.  However he instead asks for Michael Bisping in the post-fight interview, stirring up rumors that he may become the coach on the next season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, opposite of Bisping.

Quarry suffers his second loss in the UFC, dashing any hopes of title contendership in the foreseeable future.  Perhaps he can take on Kendall Grove in his next bout.

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WEC 36 was originally scheduled to take place on September 10th in Hollywood, Florida but was postponed due to Hurricane Ike.  The event featured two championship bouts: Urijah Faber defended his featherweight title against Mike Thomas Brown, and middleweight challenger Chael Sonnen was set to rematch champion Paulo Filho for the belt.  However Filho was not able to make weight, and so the bout was changed to three-round affair with no title on the line.  Not that it made any difference in the big picture, as Zuffa (the parent company of WEC and UFC) decided to fold WEC’s 185-lbs & 205-lbs divisions, rendering the middleweight championship belt meaningless after this event.  Also on the card, two former UFC lightweights Jens Pulver and Leonard Garcia met in a featherweight bout that would likely produce the #1 contender for the winner of Faber-Brown.

Jake Rosholt vs. Nissen Osterneck (185 lbs)

In a middleweight bout with a potential shot at a future UFC contract on the line, Osterneck came out swinging from the opening bell, and was dominating Rosholt in the standup.  However Rosholt was able to reverse the course of the round by taking Osterneck down and controlling him on the ground, winning the round despite not doing much damage.  In the second round, Nissen once again attempted to work his standup, and had Rosholt reeling at one point, but lost his balance after throwing a head kick and ended up on his back.  Rosholt capitalized and mounted his opponent; Osterneck had nothing left in the gas tank at this point and was not able to escape or offer any defense to Rosholt’s strikes as the referee Troy Waugh stepped in to stop the bout.

Fair performance from both fighters, though it’s not clear whether either one is ready for a move up to the UFC at this point.

Fight grade: 4/5

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Only a week after UFC 89, which was broadcast on Spike TV from UK, UFC was back on pay-per-view with another event – their first one in Chicago, Illinois.  UFC 90 was headlined by Anderson Silva defending his middleweight title against an unlikely contender in Patrick Cote.  The card also featured four lightweight bouts, only two of which made the televised broadcast.

Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk (155 lbs)

The broadcast began with one of the lightweight bouts:  a matchup between two fighters with very similar styles.  It turned out that Sherk was a little better than Griffin in every area.  Sherk took Griffin down early in the first round and quickly took Tyson’s back but was shaken off.  Sherk achieved several more takedowns over the course of the fight, but was not able to keep Griffin on the ground for more than a few seconds, while Tyson’s takedown attempts fell short. 

By the middle of the second round, both fighters abandoned the idea of ground fighting, and the remainder of the bout was mainly a kickboxing match.  On the feet Sherk had the edge as well with sharp uppercuts and knees and quick combinations of strikes.  Griffin turned up the intensity of his attacks in the third round, but it was not enough as Sherk walked away with a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) . The bout earned the official ‘Fight of the Night’ award.

Aftermath:  Sherk positions himself back in the lightweight title picture, and has mentioned his desire to face the winner of the upcoming bout between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson.  Griffin lost but had a solid performance; this may be a good time to match him up with Nate Diaz, who is still undefeated in the Octagon. 

Fight grade: 4/5

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UFC 89 took place in Birmingham, England, marking the third UFC event in England for 2008.  The event was broadcast on Spike TV with a tape delay.  The main event was a middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben – the fight that was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 85 but was scratched from that card as Leben was serving a brief jail sentence stemming from a probation violation.   The remainder of the televised portion of the card was split up between the welterweight and lightheavyweight divisions, with two matchups in both weight classes.

Marcus Davis vs. Paul Kelly (170 lbs)

The broadcast began with a welterweight matchup between undefeated Paul Kelly and ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ alumnus Marcus Davis, fresh off his first loss in twelve bouts.  Davis controlled the action in the first round with superb footwork, staying out of Kelly’s range while landing punches and kicks from the outside.  Davis took Kelly down late in the round, and was briefly caught in a guillotine before working out of it and pounding Kelly on the ground.  Kelly got back to his feet but still lost the round.

In second round Kelly tried to unload on Davis but once again had a hard time dealing with Marcus’ footwork and finding his target.  Kelly slammed Davis with an explosive takedown; Davis responded with a guillotine of his own and Paul Kelly was forced to tap out.

Aftermath: Back on the winning track, Marcus Davis asked to fight on UFC’s upcoming event in Dublin, Ireland in his post-fight interview.  Considering how frequently Davis appears on UFC’s European events, his request is virtually a given, and Chris Lytle will be his likely opponent.  Paul Kelly was dealt his first professional loss; he too will likely appear on the Dublin card and should face David Baron, who was choked out by Jim Miller on the same night in an untelevised preliminary bout.

Fight grade: 3/5

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The latest installment of Elite XC’s ‘Saturday Night Fights’ on CBS was scheduled to feature the abysmal main event of Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock.  In a bizarre turn of events, Shamrock received a cut to his eyebrow while sparring in preparation for the bout.  The laceration required stitches, and the Florida Athletic Commission barred Shamrock from participating in the event.  This left EXC scrambling for a last minute replacement to salvage the main event; they ended up pitting Kimbo against Seth Petruzelli, a lightheavyweight who was scheduled to face Aaron Rosa on the untelevised undercard.

Murillo Rua vs Benji Radach (185 lbs bout)

The televised portion of the event began with a #1 contender bout for the Elite XC’s middleweight title, which will be defended by Robbie Lawler against Joey Villasenor on November 8th.  Radach came out of the gates swinging, throwing relentless hooks that staggered Rua and dropped him to his knees.   Rua recovered and fired back, and twice in the first round both fighters found themselves knocked down simultaneously for a moment.  Rua secured a takedown late in the round and worked for a leg lock, but Radach resisted and survived the round.

In the second, Rua seemingly figured out Radach’s stand up game, and was landing flying knees to the body of Benji, backing him up against the fence.  Rua threw another flying knee; Radach countered with a jab which knocked Rua off-balance and dropped him.  Rua was slow to cover up, and Radach landed several huge punches to his downed opponent, knocking ‘Ninja’ out cold.  A great brawl to start off the evening.

Aftermath: Radach will go on to face the winner of the Lawler-Villasenor for the title – that is if the Elite XC organization survives beyond the November event.  Rua suffers a very brutal knockout, another setback to his rollercoaster of a career.

Fight Grade: 5/5

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