UFC 107 took place in Memphis, TN – the home of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who was supposed to take on Rashad Evans in the main or co-main event.  As it were, ‘Rampage’ decided to take some time off from fighting and we ended up with the lightweight champion BJ Penn defending his title against Diego Sanchez in the main event, with a clash of heavyweights Frank Mir and Cheik Kongo getting the second billing.

Stefan Struve vs. Paul Buentello (HW)

Round 1: Struve leads with a high kick that misses.  Buentello responds with a combination.  Buentello catches a mid kick and Struve pulls guard, but Buentello backs out of it.  Struve stands up and lands a huge uppercut then trips Paul down and lands into mount.  Buentello gives up his back and Struve locks in a body triangle.  Struve lands a few punches from the back then patiently works for a choke.  Buentello defends well.  Buentello eventually escapes and ends up on top guard, and they trade elbows as the round ends. Round 10-9 Struve

Round 2: Struve kicks, misses, and falls.  Buentello lets him stand up.  Struve pushes Buentello up against the fence.  Buentello lands punches to the body and head.  Struve dives down for a leg lock but Buentello evades.  Struve is back up and launches a flying knee but gets swatted out of mid-air by Buentello’s counter.  Struve is dazed but Buentello wants no part of ground game and lets him back up again.   Struve clinches then unloads a flurry on Buentello against the cage.  Buentello responds in kind and the last minute of the round is an absolute slugfest with both fighters trading punches with no regard for defense.  Round 10-9 Buentello

Round 3: Struve continues with the leg kicks and knees to the body.  Buentello responds with jabs and punch combinations but is getting picked apart by leg kicks.  Buentello looks unsteady on his legs as Struve finds a rhythm, alternating leg kicks with occasional punches and knees.   With less that a minute left, Buentello drops an off-balance Struve with a punch but lets him up again.  Struve looks tired and Buentello unloads with a flurry to finish out the round.  Round 10-10 draw

Stefan Struve wins a majority decision with the scores of 29-28, 29-28,28-28

Aftermath: This turned out to be an unexpectedly exciting fight.  Stefan Struve earns the third consecutive win after losing his UFC debut to Junior dos Santos.  The 6’11” Struve is certain to be a force in the years to come, but for now should get another couple of tune-up fights before jumping into title contention.  Michael Russow would be a good next fight for Struve.

Paul Buentello comfortably returns to the gatekeeper position in the heavyweight division, after being absent from the UFC for a couple of years.  I’d like to see him take on ‘TUF’ Season 10 winner Roy Nelson next.

Fight Grade: 4.5/5

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Another season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is in the books, and as usual the finale is broadcast live from Las Vegas.  The final matchup for ‘TUF 10: Rashad vs. Rampage’ ended up being Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub (both fighters were members of Team Rashad on the show).  The card was headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between Matt Hamill and Jon Jones, and featured all of the TUF 10 cast members who won at least one fight on the show, not to mention Kimbo ‘Kevin Ferguson’ Slice.  Here’s how it all went down:

Marcus Jones vs. Matt Mitrione (HW)

Round 1: Jones wastes no time taking Mitrione down.  Jones lands in side control and attempts to improve his position further but Mitrione is able to get back to his feet.  Jones eats a knee moving in to clinch.  Jones pushes Mitrione against the fence.  Mitrione changes levels for a takedown as Jones grabs hold of a guillotine choke and pulls guard.  The choke is not locked in and Mitrione is able to back out and stand up.  Jones with another takedown and Mitrione escapes again.  Jones looks tired and eats a big combination but is able to get yet another takedown as the round ends.  Round 10-9 Jones

Round 2: Jones comes out with a sloppy kick.  Mitrione lands two right hands, dropping Jones.  Jones is out.

Aftermath: Marcus Jones possess impressive grappling skills for a man his size, and could work on his striking and conditioning, but there is no training for his chin.  At his age, Jones is not likely to become a UFC-level fighter.

Matt Mitrione shows some potential but is very raw.  He needs to be developed slowly, and should next fight another TUF 10 cast-mate, like Brendan Schaub or Jon Madsen.

Fight Grade: 3/5

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UFC 106 was originally supposed to be headlined by the heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar making his first defense of the unified title against the undefeated Shane Carwin, and Tito Ortiz making his UFC return against the veteran Mark Coleman.  When Lesnar fell ill and Coleman injured himself in training, both of the featured matchups fell apart, leaving a rematch between Ortiz and Forrest Griffin as the main event.

The undercard was dominated by welterweights, with five of the matchups taking place in the 170 lbs division, and highlighted by a bout that had potential title shot implications in the light heavyweight division – Luiz Arthur Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.   As has been the case with the past few UFC pay-per-view events, four of the undercard bouts were televised on Spike prior to the main card.

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)

Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulous (155 lbs)

Round 1: A mostly even exchange on the feet takes place for the first half of the round, with Dent effectively negating George’s reach advantage.  Sotiropoulous shoots for a takedown midway through the round, and quickly passes to side control then mount.  Dent gives up his back attempting to escape but George maintains control, going back to mount and landing elbows that Dent has no answer for.  Dent covers up, waiting out the end of the round.   Round 10-9 Sotiropoulous

Round 2: Dent is looking to keep it on the feet after having some success in striking exchanges, but Sotiropoulous catches a kick and down they go.  Sotiropoulous transitions to guard, side control, north-south, back mount.  Dent briefly escapes to his feet but gets dragged back down.  George gives up mount to look for an armbar.  Dent defends; Sotiropoulous uses a triangle-like setup to force Dent’s elbow to hyper-extend, and Jason has no choice but to tap out.

Aftermath: A beautiful display of jiu-jitsu from Sotiropoulous, ending with a slick submission, earns George his fourth straight win in the Octagon.  He should next take on Thiago Tavares, who has been held back from fighting by persistent injuries.   Jason Dent needs to go down to WEC’s 145 lbs division, as he just does not have the size to be competitive at lightweight.

Fight Grade: 4/5

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Broadcast from Manchester, England, UFC 105 was televised in US on Spike TV and featured both winners of ‘The Ultimate Fighter: US vs UK’ making their post-TUF UFC debut.  The UK coach Michael Bisping was also on the card, taking on Dennis Kang and looking to rebound from the brutal knockout loss at the hands of Dan Henderson in his last bout.  The main event had Randy Couture returning to the light-heavyweight weight class against Brandon Vera, and Mike Swick took on Dan Hardy in the co-main for a shot at the UFC welterweight title.

Ross Pearson vs. Aaron Riley (155 lbs)

Round 1: After some initial circling, Pearson begins to find his striking range, and scores with punches and kicks.  Pearson clinches and pushes Riley against the fence, then unloads a series of knees.  Riley breaks free and tries to fire back but can’t get any offense going.  Pearson clinches again, punishing Riley with knees and elbows.  Pearson mixing up his striking and most attacks are right on target.  Round 10-9 Pearson

Round 2: Riley tries to be the aggressor early in the second but Pearson quickly forces another clinch.  Riley keeps trying to regain some distance but is being punished in striking range as well as in clinch.  Pearson lands a flying knee and Riley starts bleeding profusely.  The fight is stopped to check the cut and the ringside doctor calls an end to the bout.

Aftermath: A good post-TUF debut for Ross Pearson, completely shutting down a veteran opponent.   He should face Melvin Guillard in his next bout, to truly test Pearson’s impressive striking game.   Riley does not show much in the loss, and will likely be used as a fodder for other lightweight prospects.

Fight Grade: 3.5/5

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Following in the footsteps of now-defunct IFL and Elite XC, Strikeforce became the third MMA promotion to broadcast an event live on national television.  The inaugural CBS event was highlighted by the top heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko taking on the undefeated Brett Rogers.  The televised card also featured a middleweight title bout between Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller and Jake Shields, a non-title bout between Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, and another heavyweight clash with Fabricio Werdum taking on Antonio ‘Big Foot’ Silva.

Antonio Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum (HW)

Round 1: After an initial feeling out process, Silva lands the first significant offense of the fight, dropping Werdum with an uppercut in a moment reminiscent of Werdum’s loss to Junior Dos Santos.  Silva pounces and unloads, but Werdum miraculously survives and works his way back to the feet.  Werdum exchanges with Silva then attempts to pull guard, but Antonio manages to keep the fight standing and punishes Werdum on the feet.  Round 10-9 Silva

Round 2: Werdum attacks early with a flurry.  Silva fires back and again drops Werdum.  Werdum invites Silva into his guard; Antonio accepts the invitation and gets swept.  Silva escapes back to his feet and they clinch against the fence.  After a stalemate in clinch, they separate and Werdum takes Silva down with a single-leg.  Werdum attempts an arm triangle, then spins for a kneebar as Silva defends.  Round 10-9 Werdum

Round 3: The fighters trade leg kicks.  Werdum lands a combination and follows it up with a takedown.  Silva gives up his back and stands up.  Werdum lands several knees from a plumb clinch.  Silva responds with a combination of punches then gets taken down again.  Werdum has Silva’s back; Silva regains half-guard but gets blasted with punches from the top.  Round 10-9 Werdum

Fabricio Werdum defeats Antonio Silva by unanimous decision (29-28 on all scorecards).

Aftermath: This fight was supposed to be the first part in a mini-tournament for the right to face the  Strikeforce heavyweight champion Allistair Overeem.  The next step for the Fabricio Werdum should be the winner of the night’s main event.  And might as well match up Silva with the loser while we’re at it.

Fight Grade: 4/5

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