WMMA - Championship Fighting - Page 2

AlexB · 12-23-2008, 09:19 AM

LHW Summary

UFC LHW Title
Forrest Griffin (1) beat Lyota Machida (3) by TKO in 1:51 of R1 (Blurcat - Machida by TKO)

#1 Contenders Match
Tadamasa Yamada (4) beat Rashad Evans (5) by unanimous decision (Blurcat - Yamada by submission)

Thiago Silva (10) beat Roberto Aldez (7) by KO in 3:31 of R1 (Blurcat - Aldez by TKO)
Luis Arthur Cane beat Vladimir Matyushenko bystoppage in 0:39 of R1 (Blurcat - Cane by KO)

Zvonimir Asanovic beat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by unanimous decision (Blurcat - Asanovic by KO)
Anthony LeToussier beat Renato Sobral by unanimous decision (Blurcat - Le Toussier by KO)
Keith Jardine (9) beat Aleksei Chekhov by sumbission in 2:20 of R2 (Blurcat - Jardine by KO)
Wanderlei Silva (8) beat Leon Banks by unanimous decision (Blurcat - Wanderlei by TKO)

Ricky Heath beat Rob Baines by TKO in 2:52 of R1 (Blurcat - Heath by submission)
JJ Reid beat Atshushi Nakajima by unanimous decision (Blurcat - Reid by decision)
Nicolai Mickiewicz beat Dan Henderson by unanimous decision (Blurcat - Henderson by submission)
Quinton Jackson (2) beat Mauricio Rua by KO in 1:54 of R1 (Blurcat - Rampage by TKO)
Inejiro Chiba beat Rich Franklin by TKO in 3:41 of R3 (Blurcat: Chiba via KO)
Lenny McFadden beat Mike Watson by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Watson via decision)
Mike Whitehead beat Chuck Liddell (6) by submission in 0:48 of R3 (Blurcat: Liddell via KO)
Ricardo Arona beat Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Arona via submission)

The new LHW rankings have been released to take into account these fights:

1. Forrest Griffin, 29, USA, 17-4 (-)
2. Tadamasa Yamada, 27, Japan, 14-1 (+2)
3. Quinton Jackson, 30, USA, 29-7 (-1)
4. Wanderlei Silva, 32, Brazil, 33-8-1 (+4)
5. Thiago Silva, 28, Brazil, 14-0 (+5)
6. Inejiro Chiba, 34, Japan, 21-4 (NE)
7. Luis Arthur Cane, 27, Brazil, 10-1 (NE)
8. Anthony LeToussier, 29, Canada, 14-5 (NE)
9. Keith Jardine, 33, USA, 14-4-1 (-)
10. Mike Whitehead, 27, USA, 24-6 (NE)

AlexB · 12-23-2008, 02:57 PM

And so it's on to the Welterweights. Intial rankings:

1. GSP, 27, Canada, 17-2
2. Thiago Alves, 25, Brazil, 16-3
3. Jon Fitch, 30, USA, 17-3
4. Josh Koscheck, 31, USA, 11-3
5. Jake Shields, 30, USA, 22-4-1
6. Matt Hughes, 35, USA, 42-7
7. Matt Serra, 34, USA, 9-5
8. Karo Parisyan, 26, Armenia, 18-5
9. Carlos Condit, 24, USA, 23-4
10. Jack Humphreys, 27, USA, 12-2

This is a wide open division - of the top 10, six fighters lost their last matches, so Carlos Condit finds himself in the Title Eliminator.

If Matt Hughes loses, he must leave the new UFC. So did he get a nice draw? Well, no, not really... he will face the #10 ranked Jack Humphreys on UFN.

AlexB · 12-23-2008, 03:13 PM

Here's the UFC 4 card:

UFC Welterweight Title
Georges St Pierre, 17-2 (1) v. Thiago Alves, 16-3 (2) (Blurcat: GSP by decision)

Title Shot Eliminator
Jake Shields, 22-4-1 (5) v. Carlos Condit, 23-4 (9) (Blurcat: Shields by decision)

Heikichi Shimizu, 3-0 v. Nick Thompson, 36-10-1 (Blurcat: Shimizu by TKO)

Alberto Basora, 8-2 v. Fumiaki Hayashi, 13-4 (Blurcat: Hayashi by submission)

Lukas Mellberg, 10-0 v. Alan Kendall, 10-2 (Blurcat: Mellberg by submission)
Mike Swick, 12-2 v. Kafu Bunya, 10-3 (Blurcat: Swick by submission)
Hayato Sakurai, 33-8-2 v. Doug Hansen, 14-3 (Blurcat: Sakurai by TKO)
Julio Regueiro, 9-0-1 v. Gabriel Gallego, 12-0 (Blurcat: Regueira by submission)

Simon Vine, 7-3 v. Noach van der Capellen, 10-3 (Blurcat: van der Capellen by TKO)
Caol Uno, 25-11-4 v. Joe Hinchcliffe, 12-4 (Blurcat: Uno by TKO)
Matt Serra, 9-5 (7) v. Bakin Sakamoto, 12-5 (Blurcat: Serra by TKO)
Ichisake Miyagi, 14-6 v. Dominykas Janokovic, 8-4 (Blurcat: Miyagi by TKO)

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 04:37 AM

'Hell Boy' Simon Vine, 26, Temagami, Ontario, 7-3 v. 'Super Animal' Noach van der Capellen, 27, Rotterdam, 10-3
(Blurcat: van der Capellen by TKO)

Both are on a loss, so will not want to put themselves at jeopardy next time out. In fact, all of the lower bracket bar Cahill & Palacios (who fight on UFN) lost last time, so there will be at least six guys teetering on the edge in the next round of WW action

Super Animal dominates the first through his stand-up, and the second, while tighter, can in no way be scored to Vine...

And the third is more of the same – Vine is simply outgunned, and loses 30-27 on all cards.

'The Devil in Blue' Ichisake Miyagi, 31, Nagoya, 14-6 v. Dominykas 'Slamkovic' Janokovic, 26, Varna, Bulgaria, 8-4
(Blurcat: Miyagi by TKO)

Miyaki is an ex-ALPHA champ, while Slamkovic is a solid, well rounded fighter. Nevertheless you have to favour The Devil in Blue.

What a round! The Bulgarian drops Miyagi, and almost forces the stoppage. Miyagi isn't fully recovered come the 2^nd round, and the ex-BCF fighter forces the pace again, and we could be in for a shock here...

Round 3
A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Jankovic lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Miyagi sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Jankovic 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 Miyagi manages to get the better position, pushing Jankovic up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Miyagi. Jankovic 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. Miyagi tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Jankovic was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Miyagi down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Miyagi covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Jankovic hits a big elbow to the ribs, Miyagi definitely felt that. Jankovic drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Miyagi brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Jankovic will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Miyagi defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Jankovic unable to generate any attacks, and Miyagi unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Jankovic 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. Blurcat.com sees it 10-9 to Jankovic. The judges scores are unanimous, and give a score of 30-27 to Dominykas Jankovic.

By far the biggest win of Jankovic's career – he dominated the Japanese fighter in all aspects.

Matt 'The Terror' Serra, 34, East Meadow, NY, 9-5 (7) v. Bakin Sakamoto, 28, Yokohama, 12-5
(Blurcat: Serra by TKO)

This should be an interesting fight between two excellent submission fighters. I see this going the distance.

Serra wins a technical striking battle in the 1^st, but Sakamoto gets a takedown and controls the fight from the top position to level the score. It's anyone's fight going into the last...

Round 3
Serra starts fast, immediately going on the attack with jabs and straight rights. Sakamoto covers up from the initial burst, then starts throwing some raking rights and lefts. Serra bobs and weaves out of harm's way, countering by flicking off jabs whenever possible, peppering Sakamoto with strikes. None of them are likely to knock Sakamoto down, but they will add up over time. Sakamoto moves in and tries to back Serra up against the cage, but he is too quick, and won't allow himself to get caught. Sakamoto is having a real problem with Serra'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 Serra scores with a sharp left hand to the chest, and is gone before the big right hand of Sakamoto hits. Sakamoto looks frustrated, and switches tactics, no longer looking for the big punches but trying to stop Serra getting in close by using low kicks and long, raking punches. Serra is kept from doing any further damage, but Sakamoto isn't generating any offence either. Serra comes in from an angle, takes a right hand, but scores with a flurry of his own. Sakamoto tries to hit a low kick, but misses. Time is running down, Serra is going to take this round on points, he has been able to dominate it thanks to his superior movement. End of the round. Blurcat.com sees it 10-9 to Serra. Matt Serra wins, with a score of 29-28 from two judges, 30-27 from the other.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 04:39 AM

'The Ice Cold Swede' Lukas Mellberg, 25, Stockholm, 10-0 v. Alan 'Flash' Kendall, 27, Green bay, 10-2
(Blurcat: Mellberg by submission)

Another one of those striker/grappler matches – Kendall has the power, the Swede the guile, but Mellberg does have a very large chin which will give the American plenty to aim at.

Flash knocks Mellberg to the canvas in the first, and the Swede goes into survival mode for the rest of the round. The second could be 10-8 to Kendall – he dominates with kicks and strikes...

Round 3

Kendall starts fast, unleashing a bomb of a right hand, but Mellberg avoids it without too much trouble. Kendall isn't disheartened though, swinging two more huge punches, with Mellberg getting out the way each time, but being forced all over the place. Kendall finally backs off a little, breathing hard. That was quite a frantic start. Mellberg opts to use that, and comes in to throw some jabs. Kendall is backed up against the cage, covering up. Mellberg clinches. They struggle, and the fight enters a lull. Kendall hits a knee strike to the hip. Mellberg slips one leg behind Kendall and uses that as leverage for a big trip. Kendall landed hard, with Mellberg on top. They're in half guard. It's to Kendall's advantage that they're right next to the cage, that is blocking Mellberg from attacking the left hand side of the body. Kendall is forced into action to defend a kimura attempt. Mellberg tries to step over to mount, but Kendall keeps his legs in position and ends up almost rolled into a ball. Mellberg 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. Kendall doesn't appear to be trying that though, instead trying to shift his weight so that he can get back up. Mellberg isn't allowing it though, and gets a couple more punches in before settling back into half guard. Kendall ties him up in a snug clinch. The action halts, and time expires before Mellberg can get free. That's the end of the round. Blurcat.com scores 10-9 Mellberg. The three judges all give the match as 29-28 to Alan Kendall.

'Uno Shoten' Caol Uno, 33, Kanagawa, Japan, 25-11-4 v. Joe 'The Hitman' Hinchcliffe, 29, Phoenix, 12-4
(Blurcat: Uno by TKO)

Striker v. grappler part II – however Hinchcliffe is much less rounded that Kendall before him, and unless he gets a big shot in early, it's tough to see him winning.

Uno gets a takedown in each of the first two rounds, but, worryingly for The Hitman, he also wins the stand up battle: Uno rattles Hinchcliffe a couple of times. Maybe it is a mismatch?

It looks that way: Uno wins at a canter, unanimously 30-27.

Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai, 33, Tokyo, 33-8-2 v. Doug 'The Nightmare' Hansen, 28, Falkirk, Scotland, 14-3
(Blurcat: Sakurai by TKO)

The Scot is far from a can, but looks overmatched against Sakurai here.

As expected Sakurai wins the first, but Hansen gets two takedowns in the second to at least even the score...

But the third is all Mach, and Sakurai wins 29-28 for twice judge, and amazingly 30-27 on the third.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 04:40 AM

Mike 'Quick' Swick, 29, San Jose, 12-2 v. 'White Hope' Kafu Bunya, 27, Fukuoka, Japan, 10-3
(Blurcat: Swick by submission)

Both fighters have similar offensive skills, but Bunya struggles to defends against submission attempts and is a bit chinny: this is likely to depend on whether Bunya can press the action – if he takes a backward step it could be all over.

Round 1

Bunya hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Swick to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Bunya hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Swick tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Bunya having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Swick. Bunya leads with a right hand, then delivers a brutal uppercut, Swick had to step back quickly to avoid getting caught. He winds up back against the cage, and Bunya doesn't relent, moving in fast to unload with a series of jabs. Swick got some of his own in, but the upper hand is definitely with Bunya. Vicious right hand! Out of nowhere, it caught Swick flush in the face, and he slumps down against the cage. Bunya follows up with more punches, and the referee dives in to break it up. It's all over. Swick 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. Official time of the TKO is 3:55 of the first round.

Well, I guess Bunya got his game plan right – no backward step!

Heikichi Shimizu, 31, Sakai, Japan, 3-0 v. Nick 'The Goat' Thompson, 27, Minneapolis, 36-10-1
(Blurcat: Shimizu by TKO)

Shimizu is a legendary (and imaginary) world class judo player, and has arguably the best takedown ability in MMA. This does play well into The Goat's strengths, but with a title eliminator match for the winner, nothing is guaranteed...

Round 1
Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Shimizu that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. Thompson narrowly misses a right cross. Thompson ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Shimizu, although no damage has actually been done yet. Thompson fires off three straight jabs, none of which connect. Shimizu is forced up with his back against the cage though. He clearly doesn't like the thought of being trapped there for any length of time though, as he quickly comes forward with a barrage of wild punches. Thompson bobs and weaves to avoid them, but is literally bundled over in the process. There wasn't really any punch that put him down, it was simply the fact that Shimizu was advancing at a faster rate than he could back-pedal! Shimizu follows up with Thompson down on his back. Shimizu presses the advantage and starts wailing away, although most of the punches aren't landing very well. A few are though, and Thompson can't do much more than cover up. An elbow finds its way through, and looked like it landed on the bridge of the nose. Big right hand from Shimizu, who is expending a lot of energy on this attack. Thompson tries to grab a guillotine, but can't get it. Left hand, connects, from Shimizu. That landed hard on the chin, and that convinces the referee to get in and stop the match. A controversial decision. Shimizu wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 2:52.

Alberto Basora, 25, Barcelona, 8-2 v. 'The Lightning Kid' Fumiaki Hayashi, 28, Sakai, Japan, 13-4
(Blurcat: Hayashi by submission)

Neither fighter has a particularly great stand-up game, but while both can take down their opponents, Basora has not mastered the art of offence yet, and if he were to get taken down himself, he struggles to defend his opponents' submissions. Therefore the ex-ALPHA champ is heavily favoured to move on to the eliminator.

Basora is rocked from a high kick I the 1^st, and although he (just about) recovers, Hayashi wins the round. The Lightning Kid controls the 2^nd with more striking, and Hayashi looks to be in control...

Round 3

A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Hayashi lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Basora sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Hayashi 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 Basora manages to get the better position, pushing Hayashi up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Basora. Hayashi 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. Basora tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Hayashi was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Basora down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Basora covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Hayashi hits a big elbow to the ribs, Basora definitely felt that. Hayashi drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Basora brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Hayashi will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Basora defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Hayashi unable to generate any attacks, and Basora unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Hayashi 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. Blurcat.com has it down as 10-9 Hayashi. The official scores are in; two judges give 30-26, the other 29-27, all for Fumiaki Hayashi.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 04:42 AM

Title Shot Eliminator
Jake Shields, 30, San Francisco, 22-4-1 (5) v. 'The Natural Born Killer' Carlos Condit, 24, Alberquerque, 23-4 (9)
(Blurcat: Shields by decision)

These two are almost identikit copies of each other – neither being very effective on their feet, but both possessing excellent skills offensively and defensively on the mat. It's a toss up for me...

A fairly poor round, but Condit probably edges the 1^st through aggression. The following round is slightly better, and the NBK is likely two rounds up...

This fight just didn't work, and Condit edges another, winning 30-27 on all cards

'Spanish Silk' Julio Regueiro, 25, Madrid, 9-0-1 v. 'Mad Dog' Gabriel Gallego, 26. Buenos Aries, Argentina, 12-0
(Blurcat: Regueira by submission)

Regueiro signed off with GAMMA by beating the previously invincible Jack Humphreys for the title, and looks to be the business. He comes up against the unbeaten Argentinian, who vacated the ALPHA title to join the UFC. Two undefeated champions square off, and, such are the rankings, the match is not even the title shot eliminator!

Tough to call the first – both fighters had their moments. The second is very tentative, and again very tight...

Round 3
Regueiro moves in close and hits a left hook to the body. Gallego steps back, and suddenly fires off a roundhouse kick. Regueiro didn't see it coming, and it lands right behind his ear. Regueiro is down, knocked out cold, and the referee is quick to step in and stop Gallego from inflicting any more damage. Gallego wins via knock out at 0:56 of the third round.

UFC Welterweight Title

Georges 'Rush' St Pierre, 27, St Isidore, Quebec, 17-2 (1) v. Thiago 'Pitbull' Alves, Coconut Creek, Florida, 16-3 (2)
(Blurcat: GSP by decision)

The common consensus is that GSP is unbeatable – I disagree: Alves has a chance in this, which I honestly see this as a 50:50 fight...

Two takedowns in the opener see GSP get the nod. Alves really forces the 2^nd, but the Canadian gets the takedown about halfway through and wins the round from there...

Round 3
GSP hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Alves to back up against the cage, where they clinch. GSP hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Alves tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with GSP having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Alves. They come together, both throwing punches. GSP gets a nice clean shot in, and Alves stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. GSP is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. The official time is 4:42. Georges St. Pierre successfully retains the UFC Welterweight title.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 04:44 AM

Fight of the Night goes to Gallego v. Regueiro, and that also sees KO of the night for the Argentinian Gabriel Gallego.

Matt Serra picked up an eye injury that will keep him out for a couple of months, while Sakurai's kicks broke Doug Hansen's rib which will put him on the sidelines for 6 weeks. Albert Basora is out for a similar time following his domination by Hayashi – his leg took the brunt of the damage.

It was a night of contrasts for the Basora family – on the same night Albert's brother Luis won the now vacant GAMMA Welterweight title by beating David Allen by decision.

It turns out Mike Swick suffered a concussion, and he ends up with a medical suspension of 15 weeks that could endanger his position in UFC 9.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 05:45 AM

More news from around the WMMA universe:

KJ Noons stopped Spencer Fisher in the 1st round to win the Adrenaline Lightweight title

Yeijiro Yamamoto and Juro Fukuwaza each won unanimous decisions to retain their ALPHA Welterweight and Middleweight titles respectively

Neil Grove won a TKO victory over Tengiz Tedoradze to win the Cage Rage British Heavyweight belt

Masakatsu Funaki KO'd Taiei Kin to win the DREAM Middleweight crown

As mentioned above, Luis Basora won the now vacant GAMMA Welterweight title by beating David Allen by decision.

Satoru Kitaoka gained a unanimous decision over Kiuma Kunioku to gain the Sengoku Lightweight title

In the latest Strikeforce show, Cung Le tapped out to Frank Shamrock in the Middleweight Title bout

WEC failed to impress again, where Brock Larsson forced the stoppage against Luis Sapo to take the Wetlerweight belt, while Mike Thomas Brown took just 28 seconds to KO Jose Aldo and retain his Featherweight crown

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 07:21 AM

Ultimate Fight Night starts with the rookies, and ends with five of the top ten welterweights who are trying to rebound after losses.

'Rude Boy' Troy Mandaloniz, 29, Las Vegas, 3-1 v. Paul Georgieff, 26, Madison, Wisconsin, 5-2
(Blurcat: Mandaloniz via KO)

Our opener sees a man at risk: if Georgieff loses he is out of the development roster. Mandaloniz is a childhood pal of BJ Penn, but has little of The Prodigy's talent. Even so, he should have enough to consign Georgieff to the scrapheap...

After the 1^st round that went as billed, Georgieff finds a counter striking game to even the fight score going into the last...

And does enough to get the decision 29-28 on two cards, and 30-27 on the other. Georgieff keeps his job!

Andre Galvao, 26, Sao Jose, Brazil, 1-0 v. Gregor Gracie, 23, New York, 2-1
(Blurcat: Galvao via submission)

Although Gracie has the pedigree name, Galvao looks to be the superior jiu jitsu fighter, and we could see the ignomy of a Gracie tapping out...

The first two rounds see a Gracie dominating by tecnhical striking, and doing everything possible to keep the fight from going to the ground! The 3^rd finally sees Galvao get the takedown, but he doesn't have enough time to work anything – Gracie wins 29-28 twice and 30-27

Matt 'No Regard' Arroyo, 26, Tampa, 3-0 v. 'The Farm Boy' Eli Harris, 20, Boise, Idaho, 0-0
(Blurcat: Harris via KO)

Arroyo is a limited fighter, but it so happens that his area of relative strength is the rookies main weakness. The question is will he get a chance to try a submission before Harris finishes the fight?

A great 1^st sees Harris win the striking battle as expected and show excellent takedown defence until the very end of the round: a tough one to score. The 2^nd and 3^rd are much more clear cut, and Harris gets his first win with a unanimous 30-27 decision.

Dan Cramer, 23, Connecticut, 0-0 v. Sinali Shomen, 19, Nagoya, Japan, 2-1
(Blurcat: Shomen via submission)

Cramer is a striker, pure and simple, while Shomen has decent jiu-jitsu skills, and this could be the difference in the fight...

Shomen dominates the 1^st, and probably just edges a drab 2^nd. The 3^rd is more like the opener, and the Japanese fighter wins on all three cards: 29-28 on one, and 30-27 twice.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 07:22 AM

Jr Welterweight Title Eliminator
'Dangerous' Darin Blood, 25, Kailua, Hawaii, 2-0 v. Brandon Wolff, 33, Honolulu, 7-2
(Blurcat: Blood via TKO)

This all Hawaiian clash should see the younger man prevail through his far superior ground game...

The 1^st starts tentatively, with Blood beginning to get going by the end. The 2^nd sees a large swelling appear over Wolff's eye following a number of Blood punches, and Dangerous should be two up going into the last...

Round 3

Wolff leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Blood 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. Blood uses a knee to the ribs before backing Wolff up against the cage. Right hand from Wolff connects though, that was well timed. Blood breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Wolff was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Blood sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Wolff fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Wolff gets Blood backed up against the cage and throws a flurry of jabs, but doesn't do any real damage. Blood tries to get back to the center, but almost invites the takedown attempt, which promptly comes. Wolff drives him down with a waist-high tackle...but gets caught! The takedown left his head exposed and Blood applied a guillotine on the way down. Wolff is caught, that is on really tight. There's the tap out, Wolff was clearly unable to breathe with a forearm crushing his wind-pipe. Blood wins via 3rd round guillotine choke submission with the official time being 3:31.

Jr Welterweight Title Bout

'The X Factor' Xie Ming, 26, Pearl River, China, 3-0 v. 'Latino Wild Cat' Agustin Gonzalez, 22, La Paz, Mexico, 3-0
(Blurcat: Gonzalez via split decision)

Ming is an excellent kickboxer, but very poor on the ground, while Gonzalez is a good wrestler with an excellent chin. The bookies have the fight even, I give the edge to the Latino Wild Cat...

My pick gets two takedowns to take the 1^st, and both rocks Ming and gets another takedown in the 2^nd.

Round 3
Gonzalez fires off a high kick, but it's more spectacular than dangerous. Ming throws a tight jab, leading to a low kick. Gonzalez defends it well, then storms in quickly and hits a quick one-two combination. Ming goes for a counter-punch, but Gonzalez gets in a big third shot before backing out of range. That last shot landed quite hard, and it looks to have opened up a cut above the left eye. Not sure the referee has noticed yet, he's on the wrong side of Ming to see it. They come together again. Ming throws a nice left to the body, then narrowly missed with a right. Gonzalez hits two punches to the gloves, bobs and weaves, then fires off a nice straight right, not missing by much. The referee stops them there and calls for the time to be stopped. Ming may have problems here; that earlier punch definitely opened up a cut, and blood has started flowing quite heavily during that last exchange of strikes, even though none of Gonzalez's strikes landed in that area. The referee brings Ming back to the corner and gets the doctor to look at it. It looks deep. Ming's corner might have problems doing a great deal with that, it's a really ugly looking wound, and is spitting out blood at an alarming rate. The doctor shakes his head and the referee gives the signal, Gonzalez is going to take home the victory because Ming cannot continue with that cut sending a lot of blood down into his eye. Official time of the medical stoppage is 0:17 of the third round. Agustín Gonzalez is now the UFC Junior Welterweight champion.

A disappointing end, but Gonzalez was winning comfortably. Now we're back to the seniors:

'The Fist of Justice' Ikku Funaki, 25, Sendai, Japan, 5-3 v. Jon Fitch, 31, San Jose, 17-3 (3)
(Blurcat: Fitch via KO)

Fitch should be favourite here, but Funaki is a dangerous opponent who has very heavy, but slow hands. If Fitch can avoid the big loopy punches he should be OK...

The first is very tight, and I wouldn't want to pick a winner. Fitch clearly wins the 2^nd however from the clinch and through striking...

Round 3

Two jabs from the left hand of Funaki set up a hard waist-high kick, but Fitch steps back to avoid it. Nice attempt though. Funaki 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. Funaki 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 has wound up next to the cage, and Funaki comes in with a right hand lead, transitioning into a three punch combination. Fitch covered up well, taking very little damage. Funaki steps back to prepare for a second wave of attack, but a thunderous head kick from Fitch catches him on the back-foot! Funaki is down and dazed. Fitch mounts and starts firing off rights and lefts. Funaki has one arm up to block them, but that's more out of instinct than anything, and it's almost totally ineffective. Some bombs are connecting, and the referee pulls Fitch off, putting an end to the match. Fitch wins via TKO at 2:54 of the third round.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 07:24 AM

Claudio Palacios, 27, Lima, Peru, 10-2-1 v. Josh 'Kos' Koscheck, 31, Fresno, California, 11-3 (4)
(Blurcat: Koscheck via submission)

The most punchable man in MMA fights a tricky opponent in the Peruvian – however Kos will be keen to get back on track after his loss to Thiago Alves (as Fight for the Troops never happened in this universe)

The first is a surprise, as Palacios takes Koscheck down not once, but twice, dishes out some brutal elbows from the guard, and very nearly sinks in a kimura at the end of the round. It appears Koscheck may haven been taking this fight a little lightly?

Round 2
Palacios throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but Koscheck defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. They come together in the center and exchange strikes. Palacios gets the better of it, and throws a wild right hand with evil intentions. Koscheck saw it coming, and ducks under it, allowing him the perfect position to hit Palacios with a takedown and put them on the ground. Koscheck passes guard without too much trouble, and cracks Palacios with a hard punch to the cheek. Palacios tries to scramble into a better position without dropping his guard against another punch, but can't, and Koscheck maneuvers so that he has one knee planted on Palacios's chest, keeping him from rolling. Koscheck quickly secures the left arm and transitions into a tight arm bar. Palacios has no way out, he taps. Official time of the armbar submission is 1:44 of the second round.

Karo 'The Heat' Parisyan, 26, North Hollywood, 18-5 (8) v. Geoff 'Die Hard' Cahill, 36, French River, Ontario, 21-13
(Blurcat: Parisyan via submission)

Parisyan wins the first at least 10-9 through superior striking, and the second goes The Heat's way via his kicking. Cahill looks to have no answer...

Round 3
Cahill starts brightly by throwing some looping punches. Defended well by Parisyan. They circle, throwing tentative jabs. Parisyan goes for a single leg and puts Cahill on the floor, but he is up very quickly, preventing Parisyan from getting on top. Cahill definitely seems to want to keep this standing. Parisyan hits a nice jab, avoids a counter left hook, then comes in low and takes down Cahill again. This time Cahill isn't able to get up, and has to pull guard. Times ticking away though, Parisyan will have to hurry to finish. He goes for an armbar, but Cahill defends. Parisyan tries to slip past to get side control, but Cahill just about manages to keep guard. A second attempt works though, and Parisyan has the side. Two big elbows land, and Cahill seems in trouble. Parisyan goes for the kimura, but can't quite get it. The time expires before he can try again, and the referee separates them. End of the round. Blurcat.com scores it 10-9 for Parisyan. Karo Parisyan wins, with a score of 30-27 from two judges, 29-28 from the other.

Matt Hughes, 35, Hillsboro, Illinois, 42-7 (6) v. 'The Show Stopper' Jack Humphreys, 27, Mobile, Alabama, 12-2 (10)
(Blurcat: Humphreys via KO)

Hughes needs the win to keep his roster spot, and draws one of the most difficult opponents in the lowest section. It could be tough: as well as being an excellent striker, Humphreys is a good wrestler, and might be able to negate Hughes strength and take advantage of an obvious edge in the stand-up. Before losing to Julio Regueiro six months ago, Humphreys was the reigning GAMMA champ, and after four successful defences was beginning to be considered as unbeatable as Hughes was before he lost to Penn in the first of his two UFC title reigns...

The first two rounds show the problems that Hughes faces: he can't get close enough to Humphreys to get a hold of him, and The Show Stopper is making a monkey of the older man through his much better strikes...

Round 3
Hughes starts strongly, immediately rushing in for a takedown. Humphreys got taken by surprise a little, but wrestles his way free of the grapple and pulls to safety. Humphreys doesn't hang around for a second attempt, he uses a looping left to set himself up to come in close and score with a series of strikes, two or three nice body shots included. Hughes covers up, throwing the occasional jab as a counter. Humphreys goes for a vicious uppercut, but gets pulled into a clinch. Hughes goes for a takedown via a trip, but Humphreys defends it. Another trip attempt, another failure. Hughes pushes Humphreys up against the cage and tries to wrestle him to the ground, but Humphreys keeps his balance and sprawls to stop it. Humphreys gets in a hard right hand to the side of the face, taking advantage of the fact that Hughes was leaning in too far. Humphreys reverses so that Hughes is against the cage. They remain clinched, with nothing more than minor strikes being thrown, for a long time. The referee finally breaks them apart and gets them back to the center. Humphreys throws a kick, waist-high, but Hughes avoids it. That could have been used for a takedown attempt if Hughes had been quicker and caught it. Humphreys hits two or three punches in a row, stinging the gloves of Hughes. The round draws to a close. It'll be interesting to see where the judges go with this, as Humphreys clearly got the better strikes in throughout the round, but Hughes did probably show more aggression by virtue of his almost constant attempts to get the takedown. The round is over. Blurcat.com scores it 10-9 for Humphreys. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Jack Humphreys.

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 07:25 AM

Fight of the Night? Jon Fitch v. Ikku Funaki. Darin Blood gets the nod over Jos Koscheck to win Submission of the Night for his guillotine choke of Brandon Wolff.

Xie Ming is given a 28 day suspension to allow his awful cut to heal

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 07:42 AM

Welterweight Summary

UFC Welterweight Title
Georges St Pierre (1) beat Thiago Alves (2) by TKO in 4:42 of R3 (Blurcat: GSP by decision)

Title Shot Eliminator
Carlos Condit (9) beat Jake Shields (5) by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Shields by decision)

Heikichi Shimizu beat Nick Thompson by TKO in 2:52 of R1 (Blurcat: Shimizu by TKO)
Fumiaki Hayashi beat Alberto Basora by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Hayashi by submission)

Alan Kendall beat Lukas Mellberg by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Mellberg by submission)
Kafu Bunya beat Mike Swick by TKO in 3:55 of R1 (Blurcat: Swick by submission)
Hayato Sakurai beat Doug Hansen by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Sakurai by TKO)
Gabriel Gallego beat Julio Regueiro by KO in 0:56 of R3 (Blurcat: Regueira by submission)

Noach van der Capellen beat Simon Vine by unanimous decision (Blurcat: van der Capellen by TKO)
Caol Uno beat Joe Hinchcliffe by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Uno by TKO)
Matt Serra (7) beat Bakin Sakamoto by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Serra by TKO)
Dominykas Janokovic beat Ichisake Miyagi by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Miyagi by TKO)
Jon Fitch (3) beat Ikku Funaki by TKO in 2:54 of R3 (Blurcat: Fitch via KO)

Jack Humphreys (10) beat Matt Hughes (6) by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Humphreys via KO)
Karo Parisyan (8) beat Geoff Cahill by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Parisyan via submission)
Josh Koscheck (4) beat Claudio Palacios by submission in 1:44 of R2 (Blurcat: Koscheck via submission)

New Rankings -

1. GSP, 27, Canada, 18-2 (-)
2. Jon Fitch, 30, USA, 18-3 (+1)
3. Carlos Condit, 24, USA, 24-4 (+6)
4. Josh Koscheck, 31, USA, 12-3 (-)
5. Matt Serra, 34, USA, 10-5 (+2)
6. Jack Humphreys, 27, USA, 13-2 (+4)
7. Karo Parisyan, 26, Armenia, 18-5 (+1)
8. Caol Uno, 33, Japan, 26-11-4 (NE)
9. Hayato Sakurai, 33, Japan, 34-8-2 (NE)
10. Fumiaki Hayashi, 28, Japan, 14-4 (NE)

AlexB · 12-30-2008, 11:03 AM

Blurcat.com opened up it's Hall of Fame, and the inaugural members have been announced as The Iceman Chuck Liddell and Royce Gracie.

Liddell finished with four losses in his last five fights, including a submission loss to Mike Whitehead in the new UFC. However he finished with an impressive 21-7 record, and made four defences of the Light Heavyweight belt 2005-2007.

Royce Gracie was the winner of three of the first four UFC tournaments, and revolutionised martial arts fighting. He finished with a 14-3-3 record.

AlexB · 01-01-2009, 05:24 AM

Finally it's the HW's, and this is where the new UFC should shine - of the top 32 fighters, only six were previously with the UFC. Far from being a weak division, this is the strength, and Fedor may not even be the best fighter! He does sit at the top of the rankings right now, but is not the favourite for his fight against Hassan Fezzik...

1. Fedor Emelianenko, 32, Russia, 28-1
2. Hassan Fezzik, 33, Turkey, 25-0
3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 32, Brazil, 31-4-1
4. James Foster, 29, USA, 16-2
5. Andrei Arlovski, 30, Belarus, 14-5
6. Josh Barnett, 31, USA, 26-5
7. Tim Sylvia, 32, USA, 24-5
8. Kunimichi Kikuchi, 31, Japan, 20-2
9. Randy Couture, 45, USA, 16-9
10. Rick Stanley, 34, USA, 20-7-3

UFC Heavyweight Title Match
Fedor Emelianenko, 28-1 (1) v. Hassan Fezzik, 25-0 (2) (Blurcat: Fezzik via TKO)

UFC Heavyweight Title Match Eliminator
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 31-4-1 (3) v. Andrei Arlovski, 14-5 (5) (Blurcat: Minotauro via submission)

Brock Lesnar, 3-1 v. Josh Barnett, 26-5 (6) (Blurcat: Lesnar via KO)

Gunnar Nilsson, 18-3 v. Kunimichi Kikuchi, 20-2 (8) (Blurcat: Kikuchi via TKO)

Alistair Overeem, 29-11 v. Jeff Carlton, 16-3 (Blurcat:Overeem via KO)

Gabriel Gonzaga, 10-3 v. Harry Milne, 20-6 (Blurcat: Gonzaga via TKO)
Hiro Arai, 17-3 v. Lefter Oktay, 6-0 (Blurcat: Oktay via TKO)
Stratos Papaoiannou, 20-4 v. Garry McSweegan, 12-2 (Blurcat: Papaoiannou via TKO)

Mirko Filipovic, 23-6-2 v. Tim Sylvia, 24-5 (7) (Blurcat: Cro Cop via KO)

Aleksander Emelianenko, 13-3 v. Grzegorz Boniek, 13-4 (Blurcat: Boniek via KO)
Sergei Kharitonov, 16-3 v. Cheick Kongo, 12-4-1 (Blurcat: Kharitonov via TKO)
Stafford Alois, 18-7 v. Tony McCall, 20-4 (Blurcat: McCall via KO)
Randy Couture, 16-9 (9) v. Rick Stanley, 20-7-3 (10) (Blurcat: Stanley via KO)
James Foster, 16-2 (4) v. Ben Rothwell, 33-6 (Blurcat: Foster via KO)
Robun Yamazaki, 17-6 v. Junior dos Santos, 7-1 (Blurcat: dos Santos via KO)
Fabrizio Werdum, 11-4-1 v. Tim Boyer, 16-3-2 (Blurcat: Boyer via TKO)

AlexB · 01-01-2009, 05:26 AM

And so we get underway with UFC 5:

Sergei Kharitonov, 28, Plesetek, Russia, 16-3 v. Cheick Kongo, 33, Paris, France, 12-4-1
(Blurcat: Kharitonov via TKO)

Kharitonov has a good all round game, and as long as he can get inside without taking too much damage, should get the win.

Not much happens in the opener, but the 2^nd sees the Russian get a takedown and try to pound Kongo through the mat. The fight's still up for grabs, as who knows how the 1^st was scored?

But by the end of the 3^rd, it's clear Kharitanov won the fight – in a carbon copy of the 2^nd, he gets the takedown and batters Kongo. Kharitonov wins 30-27 twice and 29-28 on the third card.

'The Grim Reaper' Aleksander Emelianenko, 27, Stary Oskol, Russia 13-3 v. 'Polish Power' Grzegorz Boniek, 30, Warsaw, Poland, 13-4
(Blurcat: Boniek via KO)

Both fighters are relatively equally matched Sambo exponents: however Fedor's younger brother is 35lbs heavier and maybe this could prove to be the difference...

Round 1
Right hand from Boniek was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Emelianenko. Boniek follows up by coming in close, but Emelianenko is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. Boniek clinches with Emelianenko. A quick trip sends Emelianenko falling backward, pulling guard to take Boniek down with him. Boniek drops a bomb of a right hand, smashing into the hands of Emelianenko and forcing them back into his face. Another right hand finds its way through, landing right above the eye, stunning Emelianenko. With his opponent's wits scrambled, Boniek moves from the guard into a mount with ease, and starts unloading with rights and lefts. Emelianenko tries to cover up, but is getting decimated, and the referee is forced to come in and pull Boniek off, signalling the win. Boniek wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 1:42.

I guess not! Will this have any effect on Fedor later tonight?

'The Brixton Butcher' Stafford Alois, 32, London, 18-7 v. Tony ' The Spider' McCall, 31, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 20-4
(Blurcat: McCall via KO)

The Cockney is a striker with a weak ground game, McCall is a wrestler with poor stand-up and a weak chin. Whoever steers the fight to their strength should pick up the W. I would be amazed it if did finish with a McCall KO tbh.

The first goes to the American, who gets a takedown but fails to finish. The second follows a similar pattern: Alois attacks, McCall clinches, gets the takedown, but fails to look like ending the contest. Nevertheless Alois needs a stoppage in the third to win...

Round 3

Tentative start to the round, the fighters are circling. Alois throws out a couple of range-finding jabs, but they aren't anything that will trouble McCall. Kick to the thigh from McCall, but it lacked power. Alois tries to back McCall up against the cage wall, but it comes to nothing. They come together, both throwing punches. Alois gets a nice clean shot in, and McCall stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. Alois is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. Official time of the TKO is 1:22 of the third round.

The crowd are not happy with that decision – they feel that McCall should have been given more time as he was clearly winning before the knockdown. Regardless, the Brixton Butcher advances.

AlexB · 01-01-2009, 05:26 AM

Stratos Papaoiannou, 33, Athens, Greece, 20-4 v. Garry McSweegan, 27, Edinburgh, 12-2
(Blurcat: Papaoiannou via TKO)

Another striker v. wrestler – the difference here is that the Greek can take a punch, so this time I agree with the Blurcat prediction.

Papaoiannou dominates the first, even being the better striker before taking the Scot down and dishing out some vicious G&P. The second should go to McSweegan: he gets the better of the stand-up this time, and avoids being taken down. The 3^rd should decide the fight...

And it does – Papaoiannou gets another takedown, and while he does not dominate in the same manner as the opener, he does enough to win 29-28 on all three cards.

Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic, 34, Vinkovci, Croatia, 23-6-2 v. Tim 'The Maine-iac' Sylvia, 32, Ellsworth, Maine, 24-5 (7)
(Blurcat: Cro Cop via KO)

There is little difference between these two kickboxers, and it should be a cracking fight.

The first is an exciting demonstration of punches and kicks, that Cro Cop just edges.

Round 2
They touch gloves to begin. Sylvia throws out a looping right hand, setting up a mid-level kick. The punch found gloves, the kick found nothing but thin air as Mirko Cro Cop had stepped back in time. They meet in the center, exchanging a series of blows, and Sylvia gets the better of it, scoring with a crisp jab that causes Mirko Cro Cop to back up quickly. Sensing a chance, Sylvia follows and forces him up against the cage with some jabs. Mirko Cro Cop covers up, as two hard strikes find the gloves from Sylvia. A right hand misses, and that is the chance Mirko Cro Cop needs to quickly get out of trouble and back to the center. Great start to the round from Sylvia. For a second it looked like Mirko Cro Cop was about to go for a takedown, but nothing came from it. Mirko Cro Cop tries to work an angle, then steps in...and gets creamed with a high head kick! Sylvia landed it right to the ear of all places, and Mirko Cro Cop's legs give way, sending him crashing to the floor. The referee immediately covers him up, he is clearly out cold. Sylvia gets the win via K.O. Sylvia wins via 2nd round knock out with the official time being 2:37.

What a finish! Sylvia gets back on track with a devastating display of kicking power.

Gabriel 'Napao' Gonzaga, 29, Rio de Janeiro, 10-3 v. 'The Bulldog' Harry Milne, 33, Bolton, England, 20-6
(Blurcat: Gonzaga via TKO)

This might be a war of attrition – neither fighter is particularly exciting, and it may be that Napao's superior jiu-jitsu skills win the day

Round 1

The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Gonzaga forces Milne back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Gonzaga is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Milne clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Milne gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Gonzaga seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Milne who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Gonzaga had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Gonzaga throws a stinging jab, landing just above the left eye. Milne steps in and fires off one of his own, but Gonzaga bobs out of the way and scores with a pair of solid shots to the body. Milne turns and swings, just as Gonzaga also unloads...and it's Gonzaga who connects first! Milne's hands drop and he is on rubbery legs. Gonzaga follows up with a beauty of a right hand, and that drops Milne. The referee doesn't even wait for Gonzaga to dive in to finish, he's seen enough, Milne is clearly on Dream Street. This bout is over! Official time of the TKO is 3:21 of the first round.

So much for a boring fight! We have competition for KO of the night right there.

AlexB · 01-01-2009, 05:27 AM

'Demolition Man' Alistair Overeem, 28, Utrecht, Netherlands, 29-11 v. Jeff 'The Rock' Carlton, 31, Shreveport, Louisiana, 16-3
(Blurcat:Overeem via KO)

Carlton, an ex-GAMMA champ, is a very good well rounded fighter, but probably has less talent than the Dutchman. If Overeem turns up, he is favourite – the issue with him is whether he has prepared properly.

The opener is a big let down after the previous two fights: Carlton wins the round via a takedown, but that's pretty much all that happens. The second could be a 10-8 to Overeem though: he gets a knockdown, batters the American before getting side-control and into the crucifix position just before the bell. Much better stuff...

And Overeem continues in this guise, using a standard takedown rather than striking to get the fight to the floor, to win the third, and he gets the decision 29-28 from all three judges.

Hiro Arai, 32, Kawasaki, Japan, 17-3 v. Lefter 'The Beast' Oktay, 30, Istanbul, Turkey, 6-0
(Blurcat: Oktay via TKO)

Hassan Fezzik's protege has it all, except experience. This is the only advantage Arai has, and it will likely not be enough.

Excellent striking sees Oktay take the first, and while the 2^nd is less dynamic, again The Beast's striking gives him the edge. Going into the third, and Arai has yet to mount any sort of offensive threat...

Round 3

The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Oktay forces Arai back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Oktay is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Arai clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Arai gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Oktay seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Arai who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Oktay had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Oktay hits two body shots, then comes in low under an attempted right cross and uses a single leg to take Arai down. Nicely done. Arai pulls guard. Oktay breaks the guard and stands up, leaving Arai on his back. Arai tries to keep Oktay back with some up-kicks, Oktay has to be careful not to get caught with them, they have power. Oktay fakes a dive, pushes the legs to one side, and gets side control. Arai tries to turn into it so that he can pull guard, but Oktay isn't allowing it, and traps both arms, creating a crucifix position. Oktay starts throwing punches to the face, Arai having no arms free to block them. Big shot from Oktay, that caught Arai on the chin as he momentarily lifted his head while trying to struggle free. Arai is out like a light. The referee jumps in, this is over. Oktay wins via 3rd round knock out with the official time being 3:19.

Impressive stuff from Oktay, and will this give a further psychological edge to Fezzik later tonight?

'Swedish Superman' Gunnar Nilsson, 32, Gothenburg, 18-3 v. 'Unstoppable K' Kunimichi Kikuchi, 31, Sendai, Japan, 20-2 (8)
(Blurcat: Kikuchi via TKO)

Nilsson has previously held the GAMMA HW title, while Kikuchi once held the APLHA version for over two years. The key is who gets the dominant position – if Nilsson gets on top he should win, if it's the other way round the Japanese fighter has a slight edge.

Round 1
Right hand from Nilsson was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Kikuchi. Nilsson follows up by coming in close, but Kikuchi is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. Kikuchi throws a nice combination of punches, and although none of them find anything but gloves, it does force Nilsson backward against the cage. Kikuchi follows in and scores with a superb jab. Nilsson felt that. Kikuchi tries a venomous kick to the thigh, but Nilsson saw it coming; he catches the leg just below the knee, steps in, and puts Kikuchi down to the canvas with a trip, done with a violent snap. Kikuchi pulled guard though, stopping Nilsson from getting around and into side control. Kikuchi struggles to contain Nilsson, who passes to half guard without too much trouble. A few hard shots get thrown, and Kikuchi does well to defend them, deflecting them off his gloves. Nilsson is trying to get his leg free so that he can get into side control. Kikuchi throws a couple of punches from his back, but they do very little damage. Nilsson 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. Kikuchi tries to cover up, while Nilsson manages to get his leg free and get into a mount. Kikuchi is in big trouble. He tries to roll his hips and shift Nilsson's weight, but it's not working. Nilsson fires off a couple of punches, then drops an absolute bomb of a right hand, landing flush on the chin! Kikuchi is out, just for a second, but the referee has already pulled Nilsson off. Sharp-eyed refereeing there. This match is over by knock out. Nilsson wins via knock out at 1:49 of the first round.

Another fantastic display of ground and pound, and now we're into the fight I have been waiting for...

AlexB · 01-01-2009, 05:28 AM

UFC Heavyweight Title Match
'The Last Emperor' Fedor Emelianenko, 32, Stary Oskol, Russia, 28-1 (1) v. 'The Big Bad' Hassan Fezzik, 33, Istanbul, Turkey, 25-0 (2)
(Blurcat: Fezzik via TKO)

The fact that Fezzik is given the edge tells you all you need to know: the two best pound for pound fighters in the world square off for the new UFC title. Although the Turk is a slight favourite, this is a razor thin edge, and we could be in for a classic.

The opener is a tentative round, as each fighter tries to see if they can work an opening. Fedor probably does just enough to get the edge...

Round 2
Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Fedor that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. Fezzik looks to be working an angle. Fezzik ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Fedor, although no damage has actually been done yet. Fezzik leaps forward and puts all of his power behind a 'Superman' punch, catching Fedor completely by surprise! It smashes into his chin, and Fedor goes down, knocked out. Fezzik wins with a punch that owed as much to luck as skill, but a win is what it has resulted in, and that's the important thing. The official time is 2:16. Hassan Fezzik is now the UFC Heavyweight champion.

Wow! From out of nowhere. I believe we have our KO of the night! Not a good night for Mama Emelianenko...

Brock Lesnar, 31, Webster, South Dakota, 3-1 v. 'The Babyface Assassin' Josh Barnett, 31, Seattle, 26-5 (6)
(Blurcat: Lesnar via KO)

Will Barnett's experience overcome Lesnar's raw power, or will he be able to pull a submission from out of nowhere? If the answer to either of these questions is no, the ex-WWE superstar will win.

The crowd are going wild after seeing Fedor get KO'd, and this continues after Barnett takes Lesnar down in the first round... twice! The second is fairly tame, but sees another Barnett takedown, and Brock can't get anything going – he hasn't landed any strikes, and has failed with takedown attempts in each round. Are we in for a second shock in a row?

Round 3
Barnett works an angle and comes in from the side of Lesnar, getting two good jabs in before a ragged left misses by quite a margin. Lesnar hits a low kick to back Barnett against the cage, then works the body with a series of short punches. Barnett fights out and the action returns to the center. Lesnar backs Barnett up against the cage in a clinch. There's a struggle, and Lesnar pops his right arm free and gets in two brutal elbows to the side of the head before Barnett can re-tie the arm back up. Those were really crunching blows, the second one in particular rocked Barnett. Lesnar gets his arm free again, and delivers another two vicious blows. Barnett doesn't go down, but may well be out on his feet. The referee seems to think so, as he covers Barnett up, stopping any further punishment. Those deadly elbows have won the match for Lesnar. Official time of the TKO is 2:09 of the third round.

Out and out power, and we will see Lesnar v. Nilsson in the #1 challenger fight next time out.

UFC Heavyweight Title Match Eliminator
Antonio Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueria, 32, Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil, 31-4-1 (3) v. Andrei Arlovski, 30, Minsk, Belarus, 14-5 (5)
(Blurcat: Minotauro via submission)

Another fight in which who can impose his style on the other will likely get the victory and move on to face Hassan Fezzik?

Minotauro wins the 1^st, although only after yet another surprise – Arlovski takes Nogueira down, but momentum takes the Brazilian to the top position, from where he dominates. The second is more Minotauro, as he gets a traditional takedown before once again dominating. It's been noted that the fight is following a very similar pattern to the latter two rounds of the Overeem/Carlton fight – what will happen in the third?

Round 3

Good start from Minotauro, taking Arlovski down almost immediately! Arlovski scrambles though, and gets back to his feet without taking any damage at all. Minotauro will be disappointed with that. Arlovski comes in and throws two big right hands, but neither connects, and they put him off balance, allowing Minotauro to score with a nice right hook to the side of the head, crunching into the top of the ear. Arlovski felt that one for sure. He stalks Minotauro, trying to back him up against the cage. It doesn't work though, Minotauro keeps out of the way. Arlovski tries a kick, but Minotauro catches the foot and uses it for a trip. Minotauro gets Arlovski down for the second time, and this time is right on top of him in guard position. Minotauro throws some punches, then tries to pass. Arlovski doesn't allow it, and tries to grab an armbar in response. Minotauro easily stops that, and throws some more punches. That becomes the pattern, as the fight falls into a predictable pattern; punches from Minotauro followed by a pass attempt, with Arlovski 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. End of the round. Blurcat.com scores it 10-9 for Minotauro. The official scores are: 30-27 from all three judges for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Next up, at UFC 10, we see Minotauro v. Fezzik for the belt.

AlexB · 01-01-2009, 05:30 AM

Fight of the Night goes to Fedor v. Hassan Fezzik, who also gets the KO of the night.

There is a high injury aftermath from the event:

Tim Sylvia blew his knee out in that final kick, and is out for 6 months, which will create a gap in the tournament tree.

Kinumichi Kikichu receives a 28 day medical suspension after his KO loss, but also has hurt his back which will mean he is out for 9 weeks anyway.

Sergei Kharitanov has picked up a stomach injury, and will be out of the gym for 5 weeks

Standard 28 day medical suspensions are also handed out to Fedor, Hiro Arai, and Mirko Filipovic

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 08:57 AM

It's Ultimate Fight Night time again, with a less than stellar rookie card, but a very good headliner!

Esteban Andres, 19, Mexico City, 0-0 v. Darrell 'Mongoose' Gorman, 21, St Louis, 0-0
(Blurcat: Andres via TKO)

Other than Cain Velasquez, Andres is probably the top prospect in the junior heavyweight division – he has a decent stand-up game and good wrestling skills. He makes his pro debut against another debutant who has a weakness against wrestlers...

The first is all about the stand-up, and the Mexican proves to have the edge. More striking 'action' in the second, during which Andres opens up Gorman and wins again.

Round 3
A thunderous kick connects from Andres, catching Gorman hard across the chest. He staggers back up against the cage, looking stunned. Andres follows in and scores with several punches. Gorman tries to cover up, but falls down and becomes overwhelmed with more punches. The referee has seen enough and jumps in to stop the match. Official time of the TKO is 1:40 of the third round.

'The Colonel' Noah Musch, 32, Stuttgart, Germany, 0-0 v. 'The Fridge' Jack Punk, 21, Seattle, 0-0
(Blurcat: Punk via KO)

Punk has all the talent in the world, but suffers physically – his conditioning is poor, and he is reuted to get cut and KO'd a lot in the gym. However, his other skills have won him a chance in the UFC developmental roster, and he faces another rookie in the German. Musch looks to be outclassed everywhere, but he has a reasonable striking game which could give him a chance.

Punk gets a takedown, but only ever gets to side control for a short period – nevertheless he wins the 1^st. The German tries to take Punk down in the 2^nd, but the American reverses and dishes out some G&P to take the 2^nd as well. The 3^rd is pretty tame stand-up as Punk tries to avoid getting hit – he wins 30-27 on two cards, 29-28 n the other.

Eli 'Nightmare' Joslin, 29, Mariposa, California, 2-0 v. Carl Seumanutafa, 29, Sunnydale, California, 4-1

(Blurcat: Seumanutafa via KO)

The TUF2 contestant that cried off before actually fighting takes on a man who should have too much for him.

Seumanutafa takes the first two rounds via his superior ground game, and wins the third through his striking. He wins 30-27 on all three cards.

Derek 'Smash-Mouth' South, 23, Gotham City, New Jersey, 1-0 v. Neil 'Old School' Wain, 33, Doncaster, England, 4-1
(Blurcat: South via decision)

'Old School' is a good nickname for Wain – he is a 'rush straight ahead and try and knock the other guy out before he gets knocked out' style of fighter. Even though South has only had one fight, he looks well rounded enough to overcome the Englishman's basic style.

A barrage of huge kicks sees South stagger Wain a couple of times, and he takes the opener. The second is slow, but South should have done enough to take that as well. The third is more stand-up, and all three judges give the fight 30-27 to South.

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 08:59 AM

UFC Junior Heavyweight Title Eliminator

Sean O'Haire, 35, Atlanta, 3-2 v. Pat ' Get Hype' Barry, 29, New Orleans, 3-0
(Blurcat: O'Haire via KO)

In all honesty the fact that this is a junior heavyweight eliminator shows that there are no decent young HW's on winning streaks – both are pretty poor and are likely to lose next time out to whoever holds the belt...

Barry might have been watching the previous fight – he scores big with kicks to takes the first two rounds. O'Haire does
step it up in the third, but doesn't get anywhere close to finishing the fight, and all three cards come back 29-28 Barry.

UFC Junior Heavyweight Title
Cain Velasquez, 26, Yuma, Arizona, 4-0 v. 'The Crusher' Mugur Boc, 27, Tighina, Moldova, 2-0
(Blurcat: Boc via decision)

Both fighters have very similar strengths and weaknesses, and it's difficult to pick a winner: often in these cases you'd go with the man who gets top position, but both struggle to maintain a grounded opponent – it's a pick 'em.

Velasquez takes the first and leaves a huge mouse over Boc's eye.

Round 2

The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Velasquez forces Boc back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Velasquez is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Boc clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Boc gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Velasquez seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Boc who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Velasquez had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Velasquez is stalking Boc, who has wound up with his back against the cage. Boc throws a right hand out, but Velasquez ducks under it and fires off a beautiful counter punch that catches Boc flush on the chin. Boc is down! Velasquez doesn't hesitate and dives in, raining down punches onto a dazed and defenceless Boc; four or five strikes connect before the referee hauls Velasquez off, giving him the win. The official time is 3:40. Cain Velasquez is the new UFC Junior Heavyweight champion.

Robun Yamazaki, 31, Kitakyushu, Japan, 17-6 v. Junior 'Cigano' dos Santos, 25, Salvador, Brazil, 7-1
(Blurcat: dos Santos via KO)

Two strikers with terrible ground games meet in a fight that will likely see the difference being Yamazaki's inability to take punches himself

dos Santos wins the 1^st, primarily through work-rate rather than effectiveness. He adds quality to quantity to take the second as well, and Yamazaki needs a major turnaround in the third...

And he doesn't get it: more superior striking gives dos Santos the win from all three judges, 30-27.

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 09:00 AM

Fabrizio 'Vai Cavalo' Werdum, 32, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 11-4-1 v. Tim 'The Tower of Power' Boyer, 30, Toronto, 16-3-2
(Blurcat: Boyer via TKO)

Boyer looks to be a tough opponent for Werdum: he defends submissions well and has an excellent stand-up game. And Werdum will likely not be able to take advantage of Boyer's dodgy chin with his own weak striking.

Werdum seems determined to show the pre-fight predictions to be wrong, and dominates the first through two takedowns and a couple of very nearly successful submission attempts.

Round 2
A brief exchange of jabs only serves to get them into a clinch, right next to the cage. The referee positions himself to watch for illegal punches. Werdum turns his hips and suddenly turns sharply, taking the legs out from under Boyer. They smash into the ground at speed, but that doesn't stop Boyer pulling guard, preventing Werdum from gaining side control, which was what he was aiming for. Werdum fires off a few punches, forcing Boyer to cover up. Werdum works his way onto the right-hand side of the body, Boyer unable to do much to stop him. Boyer tries to scrabble out of trouble, but finds his right arm is trapped under the body of Werdum, who is quick to turn that situation into an armbar attempt. Boyer desperately tries to turn them both over to alleviate the pressure, but there is no way he can move Werdum from that position, he has no leverage at all. Werdum cinches in the armbar and Boyer has to tap out. Werdum wins via 2nd round armbar submission with the official time being 0:42.

'The King of Ground and Pound' James Foster, 29, Aurora, Illinois, 16-2 (4) v. 'North Star' Ben Rothwell, 27, Kensosha, Wisconsin, 33-6
(Blurcat: Foster via KO)

Foster is an ex-GAMMA champ, who, despite being ranked #4, finds himself in the bottom tier due to a loss against the new UFC champ Hassan Fezzik. He faces Rothwell, who may find it difficult to get past Foster's wrestling skills.

The fight goes to plan in the 1^st: Foster gets the takedown and dominates. In the second Rothwell is knocked down! But he survives comfortably, but is clearly two rounds down...

Round 3
Rothwell may have realised that he left the gas on back at home, as he starts the round as if he needs to get this fight finished quickly, throwing two giant-sized right hand bombs and a vicious uppercut within the first thirty seconds. Foster dealt with them well though, avoiding the first two and parrying the uppercut away. Foster fakes a takedown, causing Rothwell to back up, ready to sprawl. Rothwell stalks Foster, forcing him back toward the cage. Rothwell moves in, looking to throw another big shot, but Foster springs forward and connects with a great punch, crunching his fist into the cheek. Rothwell goes down! Foster tries to pounce and pound his way to victory, but Rothwell has enough awareness to ensnare Foster in the guard position as he dives in. Foster tries to work free from the guard, but can't. Rothwell reaches up to try and bring Foster down into a clinch, but the attempt gets swatted away. Foster fires off a couple of punches, leaning forward to get some leverage, and Rothwell is forced to cover up. Foster switches and starts firing off some rapid-fire shots to the chest, Rothwell deals with it by pulling the guard tighter and punching upward. Foster looks like he is happy to sit there and throw punches at his leisure, with no real effort to pass guard. Rothwell 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. That's the end of the round. Blurcat.com gives that one to Foster by 10-9. The official scores are: 30-27 from all three judges for James Foster.

Randy 'The Natural' Couture, 45, Everett, Washington, 16-9 (9) v. 'The Pit Bull' Rick Stanley, 34, Philadelphia, 20-7-3 (10)
(Blurcat: Stanley via KO)

Can Captain America return after his loss to Lesnar? He faces a formidable foe, a knock out specialist who also has a decent ground game. However, Stanley can be shaken, and he only ever one punch away from both victory and defeat...

Round 1
The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Stanley forces Couture back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Stanley is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Couture clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Couture gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Stanley seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Couture who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Stanley had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Stanley hits two jabs, then a high kick. It glances off Couture's shoulder, catching him on the top of the head. He stumbles backward, ending up against the cage. Stanley charges in and starts unloading, and after several crunching punches have landed the referee has no choice but to jump in and bring the match to the end. Official time of the TKO is 3:45 of the first.

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 09:01 AM

Fight of the Night honours go to Cain Velasquez v. Mugur Boc, and Submission of the Night to Fabricio Werdum.

Mugur Boc suffered not only a defeat, but also a major pelvic injury – he will miss at least six months. Other than this however, there were no notable injuries.

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 09:16 AM

Heavyweight Summary:

UFC Heavyweight Title Match
Hassan Fezzik (2) beat Fedor Emelianenko (1) by KO in 2:16 of R2 (Blurcat: Fezzik via TKO)

UFC Heavyweight Title Match Eliminator
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria (3) beat Andrei Arlovski (5) by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Minotauro via submission)

Brock Lesnar beat Josh Barnett (6) by TKO in 2:09 of R3 (Blurcat: Lesnar via KO)
Gunnar Nilsson beat Kunimichi Kikuchi (8) by KO in 1:49 of R1(Blurcat: Kikuchi via TKO)

Alistair Overeem beat Jeff Carlton by unanimous decision (Blurcat:Overeem via KO)
Gabriel Gonzaga beat Harry Milne by TKO in 3:21 of R1 (Blurcat: Gonzaga via TKO)

Lefter Oktay beat Hiro Arai by KO in 3:19 of R3 (Blurcat: Oktay via TKO)
Stratos Papaoiannou beat Garry McSweegan by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Papaoiannou via TKO)

Tim Sylvia (7) beat Mirko Filipovic by KO in 2:37 of R2 (Blurcat: Cro Cop via KO)
Grzegorz Boniek beat Aleksander Emelianenko by TKO in 1:42 of R1 (Blurcat: Boniek via KO)

Sergei Kharitonov beat Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Kharitonov via TKO)
Stafford Alois beat Tony McCall by TKO in 1:22 of R3 (Blurcat: McCall via KO)
Rick Stanley (10) beat Randy Couture (9) by TKO in 3:45 of R1 (Blurcat: Stanley via KO)
James Foster (4) beat Ben Rothwell by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Foster via KO)
Junior dos Santos beat Robun Yamazaki by unanimous decision (Blurcat: dos Santos via KO)
Fabrizio Werdum beat Tim Boyer by submission in 0:42 of R2 (Blurcat: Boyer via TKO)

New rankings:

1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 32, Brazil, 32-4-1 (+2)
2. Hassan Fezzik, 33, Turkey, 26-0 (-)
3. James Foster, 29, USA, 17-2 (+1)
4. Brock Lesnar, 31, USA, 4-1 (NE)
5. Rick Stanley, 34, USA, 21-7-3 (+5)

6. Gunnar Nilsson, 32, Sweden, 19-3 (NE)
7. Alistair Overeem, 28, Netherlands, 30-11 (NE)

8. Tim Sylvia, 32, USA, 25-5 (-1)
9. Lefter Oktay, 30, Turkey, 7-0 (NE)
10. Stratos Papaoiannou, 33, Greece, 21-4 (NE)

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 09:27 AM

After a full round of UFC events, updated Pound for Pound Rankings

1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 32, Brazil, 32-4-1, HW (+4)
2. Hassan Fezzik, 33, Turkey, 26-0, HW (-)
3. Miguel Torres, 28, USA, 35-1, Bantamweight, WEC (+3)
4. Anderson Silva, 33, Brazil, 24-4, MW (-1)
5. Eddie Alvarez, 25, USA, 16-1, LW (NE)
6. Georges St Pierre, 27, Canada, 18-2, WW (-1)
7. Forrest Griffin, 29, USA, 17-4, LHW (-)
8. James Foster, 29, USA, 17-2, HW (+2)
9. Tadamasa Yamada, 27, Japan, 14-1, LHW (NE)
10. Rampage Jackson, 30, USA, 29-7, LHW (-2)

Hassan Fezzik has to be upset! He KO's the previous #1 guy, but sees Nogueria leapfrog everyone to the top spot - this adds even more spice to the UFC 10 HW title fight between the two.

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 10:28 AM

Other news from around the World of Mixed Martial Arts in March 2009:

Korekiyo Anzai defeated Dennis Gallagher by 4th round submission to claim the BCF Middleweight title, while Brandon Sugar won over William Powell by decision to take the BCF Lightweight belt in an excruciatingly dull match.

Cage Rage also put on a show: Casey Olsen stopped Poppies Martinez in the 2nd for the Cage Rage World Lightweight belt; Stephane Dube forced Phillipe Nover to tap in their British Lightweight title fight; and Zeig Galesic KO'd Vitor Belfort in the 4th to win the Cage Rage World Middleweight championship.

Raul Hughes pressed his claim for entry into the UFC by stopping Steve Mason in the 3rd round to retain the GAMMA Heavyweight belt.

In an eminently fogettable fight in a non-descript event, Todd Gouwenberg won both a unanimous decision victory and the Sengoku Middleweight title.

In another poor show, Gan McGee also got a unanimous decision over Bobby Hoffman in retaining the Strikeforce Heavyweight title.

PilotMan · 01-02-2009, 11:11 AM

Still reading your shows. I am surprised at how balanced the two databases seem at this point. Gygax was always a pain in my shows. He would lose when he should have won, then on the verge of being kicked out, he would upset someone who should have rolled, and then charge back toward the top, only to get beaten before getting a whole lot of momentum. You are better off without him.

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 04:43 PM

Cool - nice to know someone's reading! Things should begin to pan out over the next couple of rounds.

AlexB · 01-02-2009, 05:04 PM

UFC 6 is up next, and the middleweights are back. A reminder of the rankings after UFC 1.

1. Anderson Silva, 33, Brazil 24-4 (-)
2. Gegard Mousasi, 23, Armenia, 25-2-1 (+2)
3. Nate Marquardt, 29, USA, 28-8-2 (+4)
4. Kazuo Misaki, 32, Japan, 22-8-2 (+4)
5. Fernando Amaro, 30, Spain, 16-3 (+5)
6. Denis Kang, 31, Canada, 32-10-1 (NE)
7. Paulo Filho, 30, Brazil, 17-1 (NE)
8. Yushin Okami, 27, Japan, 21-5 (-7)
9. Jerezo, 23, Brazil, 22-8 (NE)
10. Andrew Rush, 26, England, 13-0 (NE)

After his loss to Davis Spyrou, Greg Atteveld was released, and unfortunately Frank Trigg has not recovered from his injury in time. So we've brought in the next two ranked MWs - Michael Bisping and Nissen Osterneck.

This time out, of the seniors, only Martin Kampmann is at risk of the can if he loses, but he did not get a good draw... Cale Yarbrough's spot on the development roster is also on the line.

UFC Middleweight Title
Anderson Silva, 24-4 (1) v. Gegard Mousasi, 25-2-1 (2) (Blurcat: Silva via decision)

Title Eliminator
Fernando Amaro, 16-3 (5) v. Kazuo Misaki, 22-8-2 (4) (Blurcat: Amaro via TKO)

Mal Phe Roby, 10-2 v. Denis Kang, 32-10-1 (6) (Blurcat: Kang via TKO)
Andrew Rush, 13-0 (10) v. Nate Marquardt, 28-8-2 (3) (Blurcat: Rush via KO)

Haranobu Oshiro, 10-2-1 v. Paolo Filho, 17-1 (7) (Blurcat: Filho via TKO)
Davis Spyrou, 12-4 v. Jorge Hermazabal, 13-5 (Blurcat: Spyrou via TKO)
Bixente Fontaine, 10-3 v. Stuart Strange, 9-3 (Blurcat: Strange via TKO)
Jerezo, 22-8 (9) v. Tucker Plumm, 14-7 (Blurcat: Plumm via TKO)

Martin Kampmann, 13-3 v. Yushin Okami, 21-5 (8) (Blurcat: Okami via TKO)
Matthew Dean, 10-3 v. Yoshihiro Akiyama, 12-2 (Blurcat: Dean via submission)
Matt Lindland, 21-6 v. Maarten de Vries, 13-5 (Blurcat: de Vries via KO)
Robbie Lawler, 18-5 v. Carl Ratcliffe, 8-4 (Blurcat: Lawler via KO)
Michael Bisping, 18-1 v. Jason Miller, 23-7 (Blurcat: Bisping via TKO)
Benji Radach, 19-5 v. Thales Leites, 14-2 (Blurcat: Leites via TKO)
Nissen Osterneck, 6-1 v. Jorge Santiago, 20-8 (Blurcat: Santiago via KO)
Dokouhtei Kuroki, 13-9 v. Dan Halvorsen, 22-12-2 (Blurcat: Halvorsen via TKO)

AlexB · 01-03-2009, 01:52 PM

'The Hitman' Martin Kampmann, 26, Aarhus, Denmark, 13-3 v. Yushin Okami, 27, Kanagawa, Japan, 21-5 (8)
(Blurcat: Okami via TKO)

Code:

Kampmann:    12.08    UFC1    lost to Stuart Strange            decision
 
Okami:       12.08    UFC1    (2) lost to Anderson Silva (1)    decision

This is an intriguing matchup – Okami looking to rebuild after his loss to Anderson Silva, while Kampmann must win to keep his job...

The 1st sees Okami look dangerous with stand-up, before getting a takedown from when he cements the round. The Hitman starts the 2nd with more vigour, but again gets taken down and suffers from Okami's G&P. If the Dane is to keep his job, he needs a remarkable turnaround...

Kampmann does improve, getting some good shots in that cause sweeling above Okami's eye, but it's not enough to end the fight, and Okami wins 29-28 on all three cards. The Hitman is outta here!

Haranobu Oshiro, 25, Hiroshima, 10-2-1 v. Paolo Filho, 30, Rio de Janeiro, 17-1 (7)
(Blurcat: Filho via TKO)

Code:

Oshiro:      12.08    UFN    beat Carl Ratcliffe        decision
 
Filho:       Belts Held:     WEC MW: 2007-8, 1 defence, vacated
             12.08    UFN    beat Jason Miller          submission R2

Although both fighters won last time out, there is little buzz about this fight. However it could be decent – neither has a particularly good stand-up game, and match up well on the ground.

Not much happens in either of the first two rounds: the fight does not go to ground once, and it's probably even going into the last...

Round 3
The two fighters circle. Filho flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Oshiro easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Filho could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Oshiro 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, Filho is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Filho forces Oshiro back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Oshiro in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Filho does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Oshiro saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Filho turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Filho is up quickly, causing Oshiro, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Filho was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Filho throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Oshiro to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. That's the end of the round. Blurcat.com gives that one to Oshiro by 10-9. The official scores are in; two judges give 29-28, the other 30-27, all for Haranobu Oshiro.

Something of a surprise, both in the result and the fact that this turned out to be a stand-up fight.

'The Anarchist' Matthew Dean, 26, San Jose, 10-3 v. Yoshihiro Akiyama, 33, Osaka, 12-2
(Blurcat: Dean via submission)

Code:

Dean:       Belts Held:      ALHPA MW: 2008, 1 defence, vacated
            12.08    UFC1    lost to Bixente Fontaine        decision
 
Akiyama:    12.08    UFC1    (9) lost to Mal Phe Roby        decision

Another two fighters with not great stand-up, but dean has a big advantage on the ground.

Round 1
Akiyama hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Dean to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Akiyama hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Dean tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Akiyama having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Dean. They come together, both throwing punches. Akiyama gets a nice clean shot in, and Dean stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. Akiyama is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. Official time of the TKO is 3:28 of the first.

Akiyama reasserts himself over a dangerous opponent, and the ex-ALPHA champ must win next time out.

AlexB · 01-03-2009, 01:56 PM

'The Spartan' Davis Spyrou, 26, London, 12-4 v. Jorge Hermazabal, 28, Santiago, Chile, 13-5
(Blurcat: Spyrou via TKO)

Code:

Spyrou:        12.08    UFC1   beat Greg Atteveld        TKO R1
 
Hermazabal:    Belts Held:     ALPHA MW: 2006-8, 3 defences
               12.08    UFN    beat Dan Halvorsen        TKO R1

Both fighters finished their previous bouts quickly, and they match up pretty closely – this is a tough fight to call.

The Chilean wins the first via his speed and counter-punching, and the 2nd follows a similar pattern. Can Spyrou find a way to steal this fight?

Round 3
A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Spyrou lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Hormazabal sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Spyrou 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 Hormazabal manages to get the better position, pushing Spyrou up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Hormazabal. Spyrou 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. Hormazabal tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Spyrou was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Hormazabal down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Hormazabal covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Spyrou hits a big elbow to the ribs, Hormazabal definitely felt that. Spyrou drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Hormazabal brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Spyrou will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Hormazabal defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Spyrou unable to generate any attacks, and Hormazabal unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Spyrou 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. Blurcat.com has it down as 10-9 Spyrou. The official scores are in; two judges give 29-28, the other 30-27, all for Jorge Hormazabal.

Matt 'The Law' Lindland, 38, Oregon City, 21-6 v. Maarten 'The Executioner' de Vries, 28, Amsterdam, 13-5
(Blurcat: de Vries via KO)

Code:

Lindland:    12.08    UFC1    lost to Nate Marquardt (7)     KO R3
 
de Vries:    Belts Held:      GAMMA MW: 2007-8, 2 defences
             12.08    UFC1    lost to Andrew Rush            KO R2

Classic striker v. grappler – if the fight stays standing de Vries will win, if Lindland gets the fight to the ground he is a heavy favourite.

Round 1
Lindland leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, De Vries 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. De Vries uses a knee to the ribs before backing Lindland up against the cage. Right hand from Lindland connects though, that was well timed. De Vries breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Lindland was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from De Vries sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Lindland fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. The two fighters come together in the center. Lindland leads with a left, but De Vries easily avoids it and comes in close to throw some body shots. It all gets a bit scrappy, but it ends with De Vries falling to the ground. Replays show that Lindland did catch him with a jab, but it clearly did very little damage, De Vries had already stumbled while taking a step backward. Regardless of how it happened though, De Vries is down, and Lindland is quick to rush in to capitalise. Lindland has a good position, half-straddling the upper body of De Vries, and can pick his shots. A hard right thunders into the left cheek of De Vries, and a left hits the same spot. De Vries turns his hips, looking to try and shake Lindland loose, but gets turned over completely and gives up his back! Lindland starts punching again, driving fists into the side of De Vries's face. De Vries is trapped, and can barely cover up. A few more punches connect, one vicious one to the ear looking particularly nasty, and that's enough for the referee to pull Lindland away. Official time of the TKO is 4:24 of the first.

Jerezo, 23, Brasilia, 22-8 (9) v. 'Quiet Riot' Tucker Plumm, 29, London, 14-7
(Blurcat: Plumm via TKO)

Code:

Jerezo:       Belts Held:    ALPHA MW: 2008, 0 defences
              12.08    UFN   beat Dokhuotei Kuroki        decision
 
Plumm:        Belts Held:    BCF LW: 2008, 0 defences
              12.08    UFC1  beat Benji Radach            decision

Much as it pains me to say, I disagre with the line here – IMO Plumm is overmatched, and he only wins if he lands a lucky punch.

Round 1
Jerezo leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Plumm 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. Plumm uses a knee to the ribs before backing Jerezo up against the cage. Right hand from Jerezo connects though, that was well timed. Plumm breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Jerezo was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Plumm sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Jerezo fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Jerezo makes Plumm 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. Jerezo throws another two punches, both to the body, then steps back to avoid an uppercut. Plumm lets fly with a scorching punch though, and it catches Jerezo by surprise, putting him down! Plumm follows up and starts raining down right hands. Jerezo covers up as best he can, but it's not enough as the referee pulls Plumm off, the match is over. Official time of the TKO is 3:31 of the first.

And there it was! Wow – the Plummster moves up another level

AlexB · 01-03-2009, 02:05 PM

Bixente Fontaine, 26, Paris, France, 10-3 v. 'Superstar' Stuart Strange, 26, Durham, North Carolina, 9-3
(Blurcat: Strange via TKO)

Code:

Fontaine:   12.08    UFC1    beat Matthew Dean           decision
 
Strange:    12.08    UFC1    beat Martin Kampmann        decision

Again, striker v. grappler, with the added x-factor that Strange, the grappler, has a reputation of being easy to KO...

The first sees Strange get the takedown, but fail to finish the fight. The second starts with the American immediately getting the fight to the ground, but Fontaine shows surprising defensive skills. Even so, he needs to land a big punch to get the W now...

Round 3
Slow start to this round, Fontaine is being tentative and Strange looks like he is waiting for an angle to appear. The first exchange of strikes doesn't really go anywhere. A second set falls in Fontaine's favour, as he gets a nice jab in, hitting right above the nose, and a solid shot to the body. Strange goes in for a takedown but only manages to secure one leg. Fontaine hammers down two shots to the back, but can't really do a lot else. Strange tries to push him over onto his back, but Fontaine manages to pull free and back off. Strange throws a high left handed jab then goes in for another takedown. Good sprawl from Fontaine, and he backs off. Strange doesn't get a chance to go for a third, because Fontaine takes the fight to him with a barrage of lefts and rights, forcing him back against the cage. Fontaine clinches up, only after hitting a hard shot to the stomach though. The clinch seems to go on forever, with Strange unable to get a good enough position to try a takedown, and Fontaine tied up too much to really throw any decent strikes. Eventually the time runs out and they head back to their corners. End of the round. Blurcat.com sees it 10-9 to Fontaine. All three judges give a score of 29-28 in favour of Stuart Strange.

'Ruthless' Robbie Lawler, 27, San Diego, 18-5 v. 'Mr Awesome' Carl Ratcliffe, 26, Athens, Georgia, 8-4
(Blurcat: Lawler via KO)

Code:

Lawler:       Belts Held:     ICON MW: 2005-6, 1 defence
                              ICON MW: 2007-8, 0 defences, vacated
                              EliteXC MW: 2007-8, 1 defence, vacated
              12.08    UFC1   (3) lost to Denis Kang        submission R3
 
Ratcliffe:    12.08    UFN    lost to Haranobu Oshiro       decision

This is a fight likely to stay on its feet – both are strikers, and Lawler will be keen to kickstart his career.

A very poor 1st: Lawler probably gets the nod just through coming forward, but really nothing happened.

Round 2
Ratcliffe doesn't waste any time and throws two jabs to the face, but Lawler easily side-steps both and circles to the left. Lawler throws a head fake, then comes in fast from an angle with a looping punch, but misses and takes a glancing shot to the shoulder from a left hand counter. Ratcliffe ducks a right hand, but steps forward right into a brutal left cross! Lawler put so much power on that swing that he almost floored himself. Ratcliffe goes down, stunned. Lawler dives on top and starts punching away, landing several big shots. The referee has seen enough, and pulls Lawler off, ending the match. Lawler wins via second round TKO at 1:35.

'The Demon from Derbyshire' Andrew Rush, 26, Derbyshire, England, 13-0 (10) v. Nate 'The Great' Marquardt, 29, Lander, Wyoming, 28-8-2 (3)
(Blurcat: Rush via KO)

Code:

Rush:         Belts Held:    BCF MW: 2008, 1 defence, vacated
              12.08    UFC1    beat Maarten de Vries        KO R2
 
Marquardt:    12.08    UFC1    (7) beat Matt Lindland       KO R3

Again, I have to be semi-traitorous and go against the Brit here: Marquardt has too much for me against Rush, and I think he will win it on the ground. Hopefully I will be as right/wrong as I was with Tucker Plumm...

Unfortunately the first round suggests I'm not, as Nate The Great gets two takedowns and clearly has an edge. Two more takedowns in the second, and it does look like Rush's ground deficiencies are being ruthlessly exploited...

Round 3
Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Rush that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. About thirty seconds pass without any contact, and the crowd become a little restless. Marquardt ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Rush, although no damage has actually been done yet. A brief exchange of jabs only serves to get them into a clinch, right next to the cage. The referee positions himself to watch for illegal punches. Marquardt turns his hips and suddenly turns sharply, taking the legs out from under Rush. They smash into the ground at speed, but that doesn't stop Rush pulling guard, preventing Marquardt from gaining side control, which was what he was aiming for. Marquardt passes guard without too much trouble, and cracks Rush with a hard punch to the cheek. Rush tries to scramble into a better position without dropping his guard against another punch, but can't, and Marquardt maneuvers so that he has one knee planted on Rush's chest, keeping him from rolling. Marquardt quickly secures the left arm and transitions into a tight arm bar. Rush has no way out, he taps. Official time of the armbar submission is 2:45 of the third round.

A first defeat for the sheep-shagger (oh, how quickly I turn!), and Marquardt further enhances his reputation

AlexB · 01-03-2009, 02:07 PM

Mal Phe Roby, 31, Sumatra, 10-2 v. Denis Kang, 31, Saint Pierre & Michelon, 32-10-1 (6)
(Blurcat: Kang via TKO)

Code:

Roby:        12.08    UFC1    beat Yoshihiro Akiyama (9)    decision
 
Kang:        12.08    UFC1    beat Robbie Lawler (3)        submission R3

Kang knocked off the number 3 ranked fighter Robbie Lawler last time out, and I see him taking care of business again here: although he is a submission fighter, the difference here will be his stand up.

Kang wins the first via a takedown and couple of submission attempts.

Round 2
Roby leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Kang 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. Kang uses a knee to the ribs before backing Roby up against the cage. Right hand from Roby connects though, that was well timed. Kang breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Roby was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Kang sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Roby fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. They come together, both throwing punches. Kang gets a nice clean shot in, and Roby stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. Kang is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. Official time of the TKO is 4:54 of the second round.

I'm beginning to look like a genius with my predictions for this event (all genuinely written beforehand) – the counter-argument would be my comments for the previous 10!

Title Eliminator
Fernando Amaro, 31, Madrid, 16-3 (5) v. 'Grabaka Hitman' Kazuo Misaki, 32, Chiba, Japan, 22-8-2 (4)
(Blurcat: Amaro via TKO)

Code:

Amaro:        Belts Held:    GAMMA MW:   2006-7, 2 defences
              12.08    UFC1    (10) beat Frank Trigg (6)      TKO R1
 
Misaki:       12.08    UFC1    (8) beat Jorge Santiago        TKO R1

Another well-matched contest: my money's staying in my wallet on this one!

Amaro gets two takedowns in the 1st, but the referee stands them up both times – nevertheless the Spaniard should have won the round.

Round 2
Right hand from Amaro was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Misaki. Amaro follows up by coming in close, but Misaki is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. They exchange punches. Amaro hits a nice jab just above the left eye, but takes a hard punch to the cheek at the same time. Amaro momentarily loses his footing and drops his hands, that shot having really rung his bell. Misaki shoots off another right hand to capitalise, and this time it's the killer blow, Amaro falls back and crash-lands on the floor, he was out cold from the instant that punch hit. A knock out victory for Misaki. The official time of the knock out is 1:38 of round 2.

UFC Middleweight Title
Anderson 'The Spider' Silva, 33, Curitaba, Brazil, 24-4 (1) v. Gegard 'Yerevan' Mousasi, 23, Yerevan, Armenia, 25-2-1 (2)
(Blurcat: Silva via decision)

Code:

Silva:        Belts Held:    UFC MW: 2006-present, 5 defences
              12.08    UFC1    (1) beat Yushin OKami (2)    decision
 
Mousasi:      Belts Held:    DREAM MW: 2008, 0 defences, vacated
              12.08    UFC1    (4) beat Thales Leites (5)   TKO R2

On the face of it, Mousasi's only chance is to get a takedown and control Silva from the top position. If it goes any other way, the Brazilian wins – however, there is always the chance...

Round 1
Mousasi 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 Mousasi up against the cage. Right hand from Mousasi connects though, that was well timed. Silva breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Mousasi 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. Mousasi fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Mousasi hits a stinging right hand, Silva felt it too. Mousasi moves in to follow up, but Silva anticipated it well and scores with a massive kick. Mousasi is stunned, and stumbles to the ground. Silva is on top of him almost right away, and fires off a series of punches. Mousasi covers up, barely, but a lot of shots are getting through. The referee decides that enough is enough, and pulls Silva off, it's a TKO victory. The official time of the TKO is 3:26 of round 1. Anderson Silva successfully retains the UFC Middleweight title.

AlexB · 01-03-2009, 02:09 PM

Fight of the Night honours go to Davis Spyrou v. Jorge Hermazabal, KO of the Night to Kazuo Misaki and Submission of the Night to Nate Marqardt.

Despite the win, Robbie Lawler picked up a pec injury, but he should only be out for 5-6 weeks. Andrew Rush hurt his knee, and is out for a similar length of time.

AlexB · 01-04-2009, 09:10 AM

And so onto Ultimate Fight to round off the second round of middleweight action...

'The Everlasting' Tuck Durdell, 18, Snow Lake, Manitoba, 1-0 v. Brandon 'Sweet Dreams' Sene, 27, Bozeman, Montana, 2-2
Blurcat: Durdell via TKO

Code:

Durdell:	12.08	UFN	beat Brandon Sene		decision

Sene:		12.08	UFN	lost to Tuck Durdell		decision

Such is the system that this is a possibility, and Sene and Durdell draw each other for a second consecutive time. There's no reason to think that the result will any different this time around.

Dudell gets Sene down in the first, gets half mount and tries a couple of submissions. Although Sene initiates a takedown in the second, Durdell rolls through to end in top position, from where it's a carbon copy of the first. Sweet Dreams is struggling again in this rematch: the third is no different, and sees some pretty tepid stand-up. Once again Durdell wins a decision, this time getting 30-27 from all three judges.

Cale Yarbrough, 22, Marietta, Georgia, 0-2 v. Nick Catone, 28, Lawrenceville, NJ, 5-1
Blurcat: Catone via KO

Code:

Yarbrough:	12.08	UFN	lost to Cooper Richardson	TKO R3

Catone:		12.08	UFN	lost to Amir Sadollah		TKO R2

Neither fighter is likely to graduate from the developmental squad, but Catone probably has the edge: if that is the result Yarbrough will be released.

But the at-risk Yarbrough dominates the 1st via superior stand-up. This time he continues his dominance, and rocks Catone in the 2nd. Like the opener, the final round is pretty poor, and Yarbrough saves his skin, winning 29-28 (twice) and 30-27.

'Super Cooper' Cooper Richardson, 25, Chicago, 1-0 v. 'Alley Cat' Leroy Thompson, 18, Myrtle Beach, California, 0-0
Blurcat: Thompson via TKO

Code:

Richardson:	12.08	UFN	beat Cale Yarbrough		TKO R3

Thompson is young, but is showing promise. He makes his debut tonight against the only fighter to walk out to ABBA...

The rookie bullies Super Cooper in the first, while the second is much tamer, and pretty even. The third shows the difference in the respective levels of the fighters – Thompson can afford to showboat in winning his first pro fight 30-27 on all three cards

'Thunder & Lightning' Tyler Lass, 21, San Diego, 0-1 v. Nick Klein, 24, Sun Prairie, 3-1
Blurcat: Lass via decision

Code:

Lass:		12.08	UFN	lost to Adam white		TKO R2

Klein:		12.08	UFN	lost to Bristol Marunde		KO R5

Despite losing out last time, Lass is considered to be a prospect. His last opponent was Adam White, who is potentially one of the future stars of the division – Klein is not and I think Lass will even up his record.

Not much happens in the opener, but in the 2nd Lass looks like he is trying to kick Klein literally out of the cage. As he had so much success with this tactic, Lass repeats the trick in the 3rd, and Klein will likely be limping for some time – Lass goes to 1-1, winning 30-27 in the eyes of all three judges.

AlexB · 01-04-2009, 09:12 AM

Jr MW Title Shot Eliminator
Samuel 'The Animal' Russo, 22, Huntsville, Ontario, 1-0 v. Adam 'Hollywood' White, 21, Los Angeles, 1-0
Blurcat: White via decision

Code:

Russo:		12.08	UFN	beat Rob Yundt			decision

White:		12.08	UFN	beat Tyler Lass			TKO R2

As above I have high hopes for 'Hollywood' White, and he should advance to a title shot as he appears to be superior to Russo in every department.

Russo actually takes white down in the first, but like Tuck Durdell earlier, White rolls through to get on top – this is bad news for The Animal, as White dishes out some vicious ground & pound. The second is much closer however, and could be scored either way.

Round 3
Russo starts off by throwing two excellent low kicks to the leading leg of White. Those will accumulate fast and give White some problems moving. Russo switches it up and throws a big right hand, missing. White, who has been overwhelmed for the first thirty seconds of this round, steps in and throws a bomb of a right hand...and it connects! Russo goes down from the first strike that White has thrown since the round began! White doesn't dive in, instead taking his time. Russo recovered well from the punch, and remains seated on the floor, ready to defend. White throws a pair of kicks to the legs, then gets in closer, looking for a way to get past the guard. Another kick to the legs precedes him trying to swiftly get past the legs, but it is to no avail as Russo is able to pull guard, just, that was close. Russo has the guard held very high. White throws a big right hand, but almost puts himself right into a triangle as a result, and he is forced to fight free. Russo throws a punch and it lands right above the nose. White throws four massive punches as a response, threatening to try and knock Russo right through the canvas, Russo is forced to simply cover up and try to survive. White is controlling the round from this position, although it has to be said that he hasn't yet truly looked like he can stop the match from here. Russo moves to butterfly guard and then tries to scramble back up, but White stops that by throwing another set of big punches, forcing Russo to go back to the full guard. The round ends with them still like that, with White having totally controlled the round from the guard. The third round is over. Blurcat.com gives that one to White by 10-9. Adam White wins the match, getting a score of 30-27 from all three judges.

Another dominating performance from Adam 'Hollywood' White.

'The Warrior' Dokouhtei Kuroki, 36, Osaka, 13-9 v. Dan 'The Perfectionist' Halvorsen, 36, Chicago, 22-12-2
Blurcat: Halvorsen via TKO

Code:

Kuroki:		Belts Held:	ALPHA MW:   2006, 1 defence
		12.08	UFN	lost to Jerezo			decision

Halvorsen:	Belts Held:	GAMMA MW:   2005-6, 1 defence
		12.08	UFN	lost to Jorge Hermazabal	TKO R1

Two veteran wrestlers, both ex-champs and both looking to rebound after opening losses. Halvorsen looks to have the edge.

Somewhat surprisingly, the first is a striking battle, and Halvorsen wins it, leaving the Japanese fighter with some nasty swelling around his eyes. The second sees Halvorsen dominate Kuroki, again all while standing, and surely The Warrior has to try taking this fight to ground to win?

Round 3
Two jabs from the left hand of Halvorsen set up a hard waist-high kick, but Kuroki steps back to avoid it. Nice attempt though. Halvorsen moves in closer, bobbing and weaving, and looks to score with a looping right hand, but Kuroki 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. Halvorsen finds himself backed up against the cage briefly, and has to scramble to safety to avoid a flurry of strikes. Kuroki is working for position, and is currently looking the more composed of the two. Halvorsen forces Kuroki back against the cage and comes in close to try and unload. Kuroki pushes him away with a shove, palm across the face, and Halvorsen loses his balance and is dumped onto the ground. Kuroki leaps into action to follow up. Kuroki is firing off punches while kneeling across Halvorsen's upper body in a half-mount, and there's not a lot Halvorsen can do about it. He needs to get out of there, or at least pull guard, but can do neither as he can't get his hips free. Kuroki rains down the punches even faster, and Halvorsen is just getting pounded into oblivion; even though he managed to block three quarters of the shots coming in, that's still five or six good shots that have gotten through. Those five or six shots are enough for the referee at any rate, as he calls an end to the match, obviously feeling that Halvorsen was getting overwhelmed by that barrage. Kuroki wins via third round TKO at 2:10.

Nissen Osterneck, 28, Hawaii, 6-1 v. Jorge Santiago, 28, Rio de Janeiro, 20-8
Blurcat: Santiago via KO

Code:

Osterneck:	3.09	WEC39	beat Rob Kimmons		submission R2

Santiago:	12.08	UFC1	lost to Kazuo Misaki (8)	TKO R1

Osterneck is making his UFC debut tonight, and looks to have a tough match-up: Santiago has better jui-jitsu and better striking. The Hawaiian's only chance appears to be to land a strike that exposes Santiago's dodgy punch resistance.

Santiago wins the opening round through his striking, and also the second: Osterneck is struggling to get anything going at all here...

Round 3
Right hand from Osterneck was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Santiago. Osterneck follows up by coming in close, but Santiago is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. Osterneck comes in hard and fast, throwing a scorching right hand, but it's a long way wide and Santiago is able to clinch up. Osterneck hits a knee to the ribs, then a second. He goes to the well once too often though, as the third knee gets caught, and Santiago uses it for leverage to complete a takedown, ending up in Osterneck's guard. Santiago moves from the guard and gets side control. He is trying for the mount, but Osterneck is defending it. There's a small lull as Santiago continues to try and get the mount. There it is, Osterneck finally couldn't stop it. Santiago starts firing off punches, and Osterneck has nowhere to go. A big elbow gets through. A right hand lands on the nose of Osterneck. The referee is watching intently, I don't think he's going to let this go much longer unless Osterneck can come up with some answers. Santiago hits another big elbow. And another. The referee leaps in, it's over! The official time is 1:30.

AlexB · 01-04-2009, 09:15 AM

UFC Jr MW Title Fight
Amir Sadollah, 28, Brooklyn, NY, 2-0 v. 'Made in Germany' Ralph Kohl, 25, Hamburg, 4-1
Blurcat: Kohl via TKO

Code:

Sadollah:    12.08    UFN    beat Nick Catone        TKO R2
 
Kohl:        no recent form

The line is for the German, but I see Sadollah taking the vacant belt: he has more of a ground game, and while he can take a punch, Kohl has been wobbled in all of his fights.

However, Kohl wins the first by preventing Sadollah from getting too close. However, the TUF winner gets Kohl to thr ground twice in the 2nd, and shows the German's deficiencies on the floor – he can't quite get the finish though.

Round 3
Kohl kicks Sadollah in the ribs, but Sadollah was ready, catches the foot, and uses it to trip Kohl down. Into a guard. Sadollah throws a couple of shots, but Kohl defends it well. Sadollah gets through the guard and has side control. That was well executed, but Kohl could have done better, he gave up his side too easily. It goes from bad to worse for Kohl, a wild punch is easily blocked by Sadollah, who uses it to take his back. Kohl is in real trouble now. Sadollah fires of a series of punches, and Kohl has no answer. Sadollah stretches Kohl out, and secures the rear naked choke. He doesn't get it fully at first, but then does. Kohl taps. Official time of the rear naked choke submission is 0:47 of the third round. Amir Sadollah is now the UFC Junior Middleweight champion.

Sadollah wins the belt, but I do not see him being able to hold on to it against White next time out.

Benji 'Razor' Radach, 29, Castle Rock, Washington, 19-5 v. Thales Leites, 27, Rio de Janeiro, 14-2
Blurcat: Leites via TKO

Code:

Radach:        12.08    UFC1    lost to Tucker Plumm              decision
 
Leites:        12.08    UFC1    (5) lost to Gegard Mousasi (4)    TKO R2

The Brazilian lost in the initial eliminator, and will want to get immediately back on track. While he should win, Radach does score well in wrestling, which can cause Leites some problems.

Round 1
Radach throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but Leites defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. Leites throws a combination but gets smothered into a clinch. They back up against the cage. Radach hits a wicked uppercut, taking Leites completely by surprise, then starts wailing away with lefts and rights. Leites can only cover up against the ferocious attack, but that doesn't stop a couple of big shots landing. More shots rain down, and Leites is getting obliterated, he can't throw any counter punches as he can't move his hands down without getting hit again, and he can't get past Radach to safety either. The referee finally sees enough and covers Leites up. Radach wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 1:44.

Wow – that was unexpected: Thales Leites must win next time out or he's gone, just two fights after going into the title eliminator!

Michael 'The Count' Bisping, 30, Clitheroe, England, 18-1 v. Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, 28, Las Vegas, 23-7
Blurcat: Bisping via TKO

Code:

Bisping:      Belts Held:    C.Rage LHW: 2004, 1 defence
              4.09    TKO37    beat Jorge Rivera        decision
 
Miller:       Belts Held:    ICON MW:    2006, 0 defences
              12.08    UFN    lost to Paulo Filho        submission R2

Bisping was not happy about missing out on the initial roster, and will want to prove a point in tonight's headline event. However, Miller is another well rounded fighter, and it could be a tough outing for The Count, despite being favoured by the oddsmakers.

Scrappy first round – Bisping may have just edged it. There may have been some tiredness in there, as Bisping fought for TKO earlier this month? If there was, he shook it off as he just dominates round 2 with his striking. If he can hold it together for another round, he will win comfortably...

Round 3
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. Bisping gets a knee to the ribs in, but it wasn't particularly hard. They break. Mayhem misses with a right hand, and leaves himself open to a left hook. Mayhem goes down, although replays confirm that it was a stumble, Bisping was a few inches away from connecting with that left. Bisping tries to quickly mount Mayhem to capitalise, but doesn't get there in time, Mayhem is already half way back up. They enagage in a fairly ragged scramble for supremacy and Mayhem slips out and gets his back! Bisping turtles up, and takes a few heavy shots to the ribs. Mayhem gets his legs around Bisping and uses them to roll him over. Exposed, Bisping tries to turn so that he is on top, but Mayhem has already rammed one arm around his throat and has a tight choke-hold applied. Bisping is in big trouble, and obviously can't see a way out as he taps out pretty quickly. Official time of the rear choke submission is 1:32 of the third round.

AlexB · 01-04-2009, 09:19 AM

Fight of the night goes to Bisping v. Miller, while Jason Miller also gets Submission of the Night: his technique and opponent were more skilled than Amir Sadollah's. Fans have voted the Bisping/Miller fight the best yet in the new UFC, so it was a good long-term decision to put it on TV.

Injury update: Jorge Santiago picked up a Shoulder strain, and will not be training for around a month, while Cale Yarbough revealed he put both his career and body on the line tonight: he will also be out for a round a month with a pelvic injury he picked up a couple of days before the fight.

AlexB · 01-04-2009, 09:53 AM

Middleweight R2 summary:

UFC Middleweight Title
Anderson Silva (1) beat Gegard Mousasi (2) by TKO R1 (Blurcat: Silva via decision)

Title Eliminator
Kazuo Misaki (4) beat Fernando Amaro (5) by KO R2 (Blurcat: Amaro via TKO)

Denis Kang (6) beat Mal Phe Roby by TKO R2 (Blurcat: Kang via TKO)
Nate Marquardt (3) beat Andrew Rush (10) by submission R3 (Blurcat: Rush via KO)

Haranobu Oshiro beat Paolo Filho (7) by decision (Blurcat: Filho via TKO)
Jorge Hermazabal beat Davis Spyrou by decision (Blurcat: Spyrou via TKO)
Stuart Strange beat Bixente Fontaine by decision (Blurcat: Strange via TKO)
Tucker Plumm beat Jerezo (9) by TKO R1 (Blurcat: Plumm via TKO)

Yushin Okami (8) beat Martin Kampmann by decision (Blurcat: Okami via TKO)
Yoshihiro Akiyama beat Matthew Dean by TKO R1 (Blurcat: Dean via submission)
Matt Lindland beat Maarten de Vries by TKO R1 (Blurcat: de Vries via KO)
Robbie Lawler beat Carl Ratcliffe by TKO R2 (Blurcat: Lawler via KO)
Jason Miller beat Michael Bisping by submission R3 (Blurcat: Bisping via TKO)
Benji Radach beat Thales Leites by TKO R1 (Blurcat: Leites via TKO)
Jorge Santiago beat Nissen Osterneck by TKO R3 (Blurcat: Santiago via KO)
Dokouhtei Kuroki beat Dan Halvorsen by TKO R3 (Blurcat: Halvorsen via TKO)

Martin Kampmann suffered his third defeat in a row, and he gets the boot. Everyone else survived, but next time out there are five senior fighters who must win, and three juniors:

Maarten de Vries
Matthew Dean
Carl Ratcliffe
Thales Leites
Dan Halvorsen
Brandon Sene
Nick Klein
Nick Catone

This is where the new format adds a lot of extra spice: de Vries and Dean both wore championship belts last year, and Halvorsen was a champ 2005-6!

As usual, the new rankings are updated immediately:

1. Anderson Silva, 33, Brazil 25-4 (-)
2. Kazuo Misaki, 32, Japan, 23-8-2 (+2)
3. Nate Marquardt, 29, USA, 29-8-2 (-)
4. Denis Kang, 31, Canada, 33-10-1 (+2)
5. Yushin Okami, 27, Japan, 22-5 (+3)
6. Tucker Plumm, 29, England, 15-7 (NE)
7. Gegard Mousasi, 23, Armenia, 25-3-1 (-5)
8. Haranobu Oshiro, 25, Japan, 11-2-1 (NE)
9. Stuart Strange, 26, Brazil, 10-3 (NE)
10. Jorge Hermazabal, 28, Chile, 14-5 (NE)

AlexB · 01-04-2009, 03:46 PM

The usual monthly round-up of WMMA news - in April 2009...

Rory Markham captured the Adrenaline Welterweight Title by stopping Chris Wilson in the second round

Affliction has a new Light Heavyweight champ: Petey Mack won a split decision over Jerry Bogdanovich. If the fight were more exciting people may be calling for a rematch, but it was not the best...

Buddy Garner won a non-controversial unanimous decision over Neil Napier to win the GAMMA Middleweight belt.

Although most feds put on shows, there was a dearth of title fights or exciting fights: the best of the month was in WEC, where Miguel Torres stooped Manny Tapia in the opening round to retain his Bantamweight title.

AlexB · 01-05-2009, 03:02 PM

The lightweight draw has been made, and while the top four are in the top two fights, there is a chance for an unexpected contender below... (Fighters in red at risk of getting sacked)

UFC Lightweight Championship
Eddie Alvarez, 16-1 (1) v. Go Yamamoto, 14-1 (2) (Blurcat: Alvarez by split decision)

UFC Lightweight Title Shot Eliminator
Kenny Florian, 12-3 (3) v. Diego Sanchez, 20-2 (4) (Blurcat: Sanchez by TKO)

Jason Dalglish, 10-2 v. Mario de Souza, 13-6 (Blurcat: Dalglish by TKO)
Paolo Roberto Bezzera, 10-1 v. Carlos da Guia, 6-0 (10) (Blurcat: da Guia by TKO)

Roger Huerta, 21-2-1 (8) v. Jackson Gray, 10-3 (Blurcat: Huerta by TKO)
Jonathan Huang, 10-3 v. Vitor Ribeiro, 20-2 (6) (Blurcat: Ribeiro by submission)
Clay Guida, 25-9 v. Charles Stiles, 9-1-1 (Blurcat: Stiles by submission)
Gesias Calvacante, 15-2-1 (5) v. Gilbert Melendez, 15-2 (7) (Blurcat: Calvacante by KO)

Tatsuya Kawajiri, 22-6-2 v. Joe Stevenson, 29-10 (Blurcat: Kawajiri by TKO)
Sean Morrison, 12-4 v. Mitsuhiro Ishida, 17-5-1 (Blurcat: Morrison by decision)
Edson Edmilson, 14-7 v. Frankie Edgar, 9-2 (Blurcat: Edmilson by submission)
Josh Thomson, 16-3 v. Ricardo Fernandes, 15-8 (Blurcat: Thomson by submission)
Sean Sherk, 33-4-1 v. Joachim Hansen, 19-8-1 (Blurcat: Hansen by KO)
BJ Penn, 13-5-1 (9) v. Giovani Silva, 22-9 (Blurcat: Penn by decision)
Tankanori Gomi, 29-5 v. Tyson Griffin, 12-3 (Blurcat: Gomi by KO)
Nate Diaz, 10-3 v. Shinya Aoki, 18-4 (Blurcat: Diaz by split decision)

UFC Jr LW Title Bout
Gray Maynard, 7-0 v. Joseph Duarte, 5-0 (Blurcat: Maynard by TKO)

UFC Jr LW Eliminator
Stefan Champion, 3-0 v. Pat Troy, 1-0 (Blurcat: Champion by decision)

Bae Yoon, 0-2 v. Nicholas Bretton, 2-1 (Blurcat: Bretton by submission)
Kyle Winterburn, 0-2 v. Erik Owings, 3-3 (Blurcat: Winterburn by TKO)
Luke Hilton, 4-2 v. Corey Hill, 3-1 (Blurcat: Hilton by decision)
Dale Hartt, 5-2 v. Joseph Stanley, 1-0 (Blurcat: Stanley by submission)

Giovani Silva is a veteran Brazilian from GAMMA, signed to replace Rodolphe Gygax, who was canned after failing to break his losing streak last time out - he gets a nice intriduction to the new MMA order: a fight against a BJ Penn on the rebound!

JonInMiddleGA · 01-05-2009, 03:18 PM

FWIW, I'm reading along. And so far I think I like the 3-and-out format as it should serve to keep the roster & matchups fresh.

AlexB · 01-05-2009, 05:26 PM

Thanks - nice to know there's at least two people reading! As from the third round of each weight onwards, there will always be a few fighters on two losses, so there will be quite a good turnaround on the roster.

AlexB · 01-05-2009, 05:30 PM

And so onto the UFC 7 opener...

Josh 'The Punk' Thomson, 30, San Jose, 16-3 v. Ricardo Fernandes, 30, Fortaleza, Brazil, 15-8
(Blurcat: Thomson by submission)

Code:

Thomson:      Belts Held:     Strikeforce LW: 2008, 0 defences, vacated
              1.09    UFC2    lost to Diego Sanchez (10)  decision
 
Fernandes:    Belts Held:     ALHPA LW: 2006-8, 4 defences
              1.09    UFC2    lost to Gilbert Melendez    KO R3

Two ex-champs face off after a defeat, and Thomson looks to be favourite given his superior wrestling.

The first goes to form, seeing a Thomson takedown and submission attempts. Fernandes is down again in the second... but this time he is stunned by a sharp straight right hand to the cheek. Thomson moves in for the kill, but the Brazilian regains his composure and defends well against more submissions. Nevertheless it's at least 20-18...

Both fighters stay on their fight for the final five minutes, but it's Thomson that's on top again, opening up Fernandes with some accurate strikes. Thomson wins 30-37 twice and, bizarrely, 29-28 once.

Edson Edmilson, 32, Sao Paulo, 14-7 v. Frankie 'The Answer' Edgar, 27, Toms River, NJ, 9-2
(Blurcat: Edmilson by submission)

Code:

Edmilson:     Belts Held:     ALPHA LW: 2005-6, 2 defences
              1.09    UFN     lost to G. Calvacante (4)   KO R3
 
Edgar:        1.09    UFC2    lost to Clay Guida          submission R3

Edmilson must win tonight, and he is 7 inches taller than his opponent - this may be the telling factor as they look well matched otherwise.

Edgar gets the takedown in the first, but the ground battle from there is pretty even. The Answer repeats the trick in the second, and Edmilson must stop the fight in the next five minutes or we have lost another ex-champ...

But Edgar repels anything the Brazilian throws at him, and wins on 30-27 on all three cards. Edson Edmilson is no longer in the UFC.

Tatsuya 'The Crusher' Kawajiri, 30, Inashiki, Japan, 22-6-2 v. Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson, 27, Torrance, California, 29-10
(Blurcat: Kawajiri by TKO)

Code:

Kawajiri:     1.09    UFN     lost to Charles Stiles      decision
 
Stevenson:    1.09    UFC2    lost to Roger Huerta        decision

Another match of two very even fighters - neither is great on their feet, both good wrestlers and both good on the ground. This should be a close fight, and has evey chance of seeing the final bell.

An intriguing ground based first, and Stevenson wins via two takedowns, although Kawajiri looked dangerous from his back. Joe Daddy scores an excellent takedown in the second, and looks much more dominant in winning the second...

Round 3
They clinch. Kawajiri gets in a nice knee, but a second attempt sees him swept to the ground. Kawajiri landed hard with Stevenson right on top of him, it looks like he got winded. Stevenson hits three big punches to the face, and Kawajiri is rocked. Stevenson gets an arm, locks in a kimura, and Kawajiri has no alternative but to tap out. Official time of the kimura submission is 0:47 of the third round.

An excellent display from Stevenson as he gets back on track.

AlexB · 01-05-2009, 05:34 PM

Jonathan Huang, 26, Thailand, 10-3 v. Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro, 30, Rio de Janeiro, 20-2 (6)
(Blurcat: Ribeiro by submission)

Code:

Huang:		1.09	UFN	beat Rodolphe Gygax		submission R1

Ribeiro:	1.09	UFC2	beat Takanori Gomi		TKO R1

This looks like another ground battle, but Shaolin looks to be a strong favourite - he has fantastic takedown ability, while Huang struggles to stop being taken to the mat. Both fighters looked good last time out, although Huang, as an unknown, still has something to prove as his opponent is now no longer on the roster.

The fight starts off almost identically to the opening round of the previous fight, and sees Ribeiro on top. The second is much tamer, and tough to score, but the Thai probably edged it.

The third is all about the stand-up, and Huang's Muay Thai background sees him dominate - according to all three judges, he wins 29-28. Now maybe people will take notice.

'The Man With No Nickname' Sean Morrison, 29, Louisville, Kentucky, 12-4 v. 'The Endless Warrior' Mitsuhiro Ishida, 30, Tsukuba, Japan, 17-5-1
(Blurcat: Morrison by decision)

Code:

Morrison:	Belts Held:	GAMMA LW: 2007-8, 5 defences, vacated
		1.09	UFC2	(5) lost to Go Yamamoto (7)	decision

Ishida:		1.09	UFC2	lost to Jason Dalglish		decision

The Endless Warrior may be so called as his fights seem to go on forever - he is a superb wrestler, defends well against submissions, but has little to no offence. Morrison should win if he can keep the fight standing - which goes against his usual strengths...

Ishida tries to press in the first, but Morrison shows his far superior striking through counter-punching, darting in an out, and generally making Ishida look like a monkey. And the American looks very impressive the 2nd, landing one lovely shot that caused Ishida to shoot: Morrison rode the attempt, got a takedown of his own and dished out some brutal ground & pound. This is the fighter we expected to see last time...

Once again Morrison dominates the third, and gets a unanimous 30-27 verdict.

'El Matador' Roger Huerta, 25, Los Angeles, 21-2-1 (8) v. Jackson 'Pocket Rocket' Gray, 27, Vallejo, California, 10-3
(Blurcat: Huerta by TKO)

Code:

Huerta:		1.09	UFC2	beat Joe Stevenson		decision

Gray:		1.09	UFN	beat Tyson Griffin		decision

If Huerta can get the wrestler to the floor, he should win at a canter. However, Gray could spring a surprise if he can stay on his feet - but even then he is only a 50:50 shot.

The first is exactly as billed, Huerta gets the takedown, dishes out some G&P, gets the mount and only just fails to secure the finish. Could have been a 10-8 round. Huerta puts Gray down in the second with an absolutely crushing leg kick, and proceeds to ground and pound again. This is pure domination, and very impressive to watch...

Huerta takes the safe route in the final round, stays on his feet, out of danger and wins 30-27 on all cards.

AlexB · 01-05-2009, 05:38 PM

'JZ' Gesias Calvacante, 25, Rio de Janeiro, 15-2-1 (5) v. 'El Nino' Gilbert Melendez, 26, Villalba, Puerto Rico, 15-2 (7)
(Blurcat: Calvacante by KO)

Code:

Calvacante:	1.09	UFN	(4) beat Edson Edmilson		KO R3

Melendez:	Belts Held:	Strikeforce LW: 2004, vacated
				WEC LW:		2006-8, 1 defence
		1.09	UFC2	beat Ricardo Fernandes		KO R3

Melendez has his work cut out tonight - if he stays standing he is in trouble, but he may struggle to get JZ down to the ground. Even if he does get Calvacante down, he will find it difficult to impose himseld on the Brazilan.

Huge kicks win the first for JZ, while his fists secure the second round. Unless there is a major turnaround, the fight will again go as predicted... The third sees a change, but only in the way JZ wins the round - this times he boxes his way to the points. Although one judge sees gives the score 29-28, the other two sees the fight for what it was: 30-27 Calvacante.

'The Carpenter' Clay Guida, 27, Round Lake, Illinois, 25-9 v. Charles 'Rogue' Stiles, 25, Sao Paolo, 9-1-1
(Blurcat: Stiles by submission)

Code:

Guida:		Belts Held:	Strikeforce LW: 2006, 0 defences
		1.09	UFC2	beat Frank Edgar		sumbission R3

Stiles:		1.09	UFN	beat Tatsuya Kawajiri		decision

This is a fascinating fight - Guida could well get Stiles down, but if he does he may put himself in danger. The worry is that the fight turns into a striking battle between two fighters with relatively average stand-up.

Guida marches out and beckons Stiles on to him, and then demonstrates why: he thinks he can spark him out! The aggression wins him the first, but in the second it's the Brazilian that presses - all this achieves is to allow Guida to counter-punch perfectly to go two rounds up. This is a much better striking battle than we thought, but surely Stiles has to try and get the fight to ground...

It's actually Guida that takes Stiles down, although he does little from the position, he wins 30-27 thrice.

'The Miniature Killer' Jason Dalglish, 27, Edinburgh, 10-2 v. Mario de Souza, 30, Rio de Janeiro, 13-6
(Blurcat: Dalglish by TKO)

Code:

Dalglish:	Belts Held:	BCF LW: 2008, 0 defences, vacated
		1.09	UFC2	beat Mitsuhiro Ishida		decision

de Souza:	1.09	UFC2	beat Sean Sherk (8)		decision

This is another tough fight to call - both will be pleased to avoided Bezzera and da Guia. Dalglish is a better stand-up fighter than de Souza, and this may be difference. However, last time out the Brazilan beat Sean Sherk, who is of very similar style to the Scot...

Much superior striking sees the Scot take the first, and also the second, in which he also causes huge welt about de Souza's eye. Can the Brazilian turn this one around, or will Britain get it's first man into the eliminator fight?...

Round 3
Slow start to the round. We're nearly a minute in before de Souza throws the first meaningful punch, trying to squeeze a fizzing jab through to Dalglish's jaw, but it is parried. Dalglish steps in, but has to quickly side-step to avoid a straight right. de Souza 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, Dalglish put a lot of weight behind it. de Souza hits a nice jab, then clinches. Dalglish hits a knee, takes a punch to the ribs, then breaks free. de Souza hits a low kick to the leg. Dalglish bursts forward and scores with a big right hand to the body, then a left hook. de Souza goes down! Good shot from Dalglish! He tries to follow up and pound on de Souza, but de Souza is up really quickly and covers up to block the two jabs that come in. Dalglish, sensing that de Souza is rattled, starts coming forward with more urgency. de Souza ends up backed up against the cage. Dalglish gets within range, fakes a left, then lunges in with a huge right hand. It is partially parried by de Souza, who wisely clinches up tightly to get some time to recover. The power that Dalglish has in his hands is really posing de Souza some problems. The clinch drags on, with Dalglish unable to break free, and the round ends like that. That's the end of the round. Blurcat.com scores it 10-9 for Dalglish. The official scores are: 30-27 from all three judges for Jason Dalglish.

A good fight, and Dalglish is really raising some eyebrows with his two fights thus far.

AlexB · 01-05-2009, 05:40 PM

'The Serpent' Paolo Roberto Bezzera, 25, Salvador, Brazil, 10-1 v. Carlos da Guia, 24, Sao Paulo, 6-0 (10)
(Blurcat: da Guia by TKO)

Code:

Bezzera:	1.09	UFC2	beat Nate Diaz			KO R1

da Guia:	1.09	UFC2	beat Shinya Aoki (3)		KO R2

Two tough young fighters face off in yet another pick 'em fight. da Guia is the current darling after knocking off the #3 ranked Aoki, but in truth this could go either way.

Surprisingly the first is a bit of a damp squib: da Guia is more aggressive and will probably get the nod. The second is better, but not by much - however da Guia is certainly the winner of the second. Will the fight explode into action in the third?

Round 3
Bezerra throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but da Guia defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. Bezerra pushes da Guia up against the cage in a clinch. Bezerra throws a knee, then a couple of short punches to the side of the head. da Guia pushes him away and steps in to score with an uppercut. Bezerra took it flush on the chin and is rocked! Another right hand drops Bezerra against the cage, and da Guia follows up by unloading with a barrage of punches. The referee gets in and pulls da Guia away, he wins the match by TKO. Official time of the TKO is 1:33 of the third round.

Yes it will, and we will see Jason Dalglish take on Carlos da Guia for a shot at the Lightweight belt at UFC 12.

UFC Lightweight Title Shot Eliminator
Kenny 'KenFlo' Florian, 32, Westwood, Massachusetts, 12-3 (3) v. 'Nightmare' Diego Sanchez, 27, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 20-2 (4)
(Blurcat: Sanchez by TKO)

Code:

Florian:	1.09	UFC2	(9) beat Joachim Hansen (6)	decision

Sanchez:	1.09	UFC2	(10) beat Josh Thomson		decision

This is becoming a bit repetitive, but this is another very evenly matched fight. The only area where there is an obvious difference is the clinch: if the fight stays close and standing, Florian may be able to use his elbows and better dirty boxing skills to sneak a win.

Round 1
Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Florian that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. Sanchez looks to be working an angle. Sanchez ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Florian, although no damage has actually been done yet. Florian misses with a straight right. Sanchez hits a standing kick, and Florian is rocked, stumbling backwards and falling to the floor. Sanchez leaps into action and fires off a barrage of right hands. The referee dives in and protects Florian, bringing the fight to an end. The kick didn't knock Florian out, but it left him stunned, and that was all that Sanchez needed to finish the job. Official time of the TKO is 2:42 of the first.

Diego takes out Florian for the second time, this time at KenFlo's own weight, and he will advance to the title fight next time out. His decision to drop down another weight to replace Caol Uno is looking like paying dividends.

UFC Lightweight Championship
Eddie Alvarez, 25, Kensington,. Philadelphia, 16-1 (1) v. Go Yamamoto, 31, Osaka, Japan, 14-1 (2)
(Blurcat: Alvarez by split decision)

Code:

Alvarez:	Belts Held:	UFC LW: 2009-present, 0 defences
		1.09	UFC2	(2) beat BJ Penn (1)		TKO R2

Yamamoto:	Belts Held:	ALPHA LW: 2008, 1 defence, vacated
		1.09	UFC2	(7) beat Sean Morrison (5)	decision

The two top Lightweights face off for the belt in - yes, you've guessed it - another extremely difficult macth to call. I'm going for Yamamota as he tends to be a little calmer, making fewer mistakes. Against that, Alvarez beat BJ Penn last time out. Even the bookies can't really split them: whoever heard of someone being favourite to win by split decision???

Round 1
Alvarez throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but Yamamoto defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. Yamamoto misses with a right hand, and leaves himself open to a left hook. Yamamoto goes down, although replays confirm that it was a stumble, Alvarez was a few inches away from connecting with that left. Alvarez tries to quickly mount Yamamoto to capitalise, but doesn't get there in time, Yamamoto is already half way back up. They enagage in a fairly ragged scramble for supremacy and Yamamoto slips out and gets his back! Yamamoto gets one arm in and snakes it around the throat of Alvarez, squeezing his wind-pipe shut. Alvarez tries to pull the arm free, but can't, and so rolls over in a last-ditch effort to break free. It is to no avail though, as that allows Yamamoto to get a body-scissors in too. With no alternatives left, Alvarez taps out. Official time of the rear choke submission is 1:27 of the first round. Go Yamamoto wins the UFC Lightweight title.

Very impressive - along with Sean Morrison's own performance earlier this puts Morrison's loss to Yamamoto in perspective. Go Yamamato indeed!

AlexB · 01-05-2009, 05:41 PM

Fight of the Night goes to Kawajiri v. Stevenson, while Go Yamamoto win the Submisson of the Night.

A tough card for injuries: Kenny Florian will miss five weeks with a rib injury, while Jason Dalglish will miss six with an ankle injury.

Now we know the reason Gesias Calvacante changed from kicking to punching after dominating the first: he threw so many kicks out there he tore his groin, and will be out for around two months.

Clay Guida hurt his foot, and will be out for four weeks, and Vitor Ribeiro is out for nine weeks with an ankle. Frankie Edgar has a nicked shoulder, and will miss 5-6 weeks of training.

Despite the number of injuries, none will keep anyone out of the next event - the only casualty is Edson Edmilson, who it turns out couldn't stop an injured Frankie Edgar in the third, so you can have little sympathy.

12-23-2008, 02:57 PM	#52
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	And so it's on to the Welterweights. Intial rankings: 1. GSP, 27, Canada, 17-2 2. Thiago Alves, 25, Brazil, 16-3 3. Jon Fitch, 30, USA, 17-3 4. Josh Koscheck, 31, USA, 11-3 5. Jake Shields, 30, USA, 22-4-1 6. Matt Hughes, 35, USA, 42-7 7. Matt Serra, 34, USA, 9-5 8. Karo Parisyan, 26, Armenia, 18-5 9. Carlos Condit, 24, USA, 23-4 10. Jack Humphreys, 27, USA, 12-2 This is a wide open division - of the top 10, six fighters lost their last matches, so Carlos Condit finds himself in the Title Eliminator. If Matt Hughes loses, he must leave the new UFC. So did he get a nice draw? Well, no, not really... he will face the #10 ranked Jack Humphreys on UFN. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-23-2008, 03:13 PM	#53
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Here's the UFC 4 card: UFC Welterweight Title Georges St Pierre, 17-2 (1) v. Thiago Alves, 16-3 (2) (Blurcat: GSP by decision) Title Shot Eliminator Jake Shields, 22-4-1 (5) v. Carlos Condit, 23-4 (9) (Blurcat: Shields by decision) Heikichi Shimizu, 3-0 v. Nick Thompson, 36-10-1 (Blurcat: Shimizu by TKO) Alberto Basora, 8-2 v. Fumiaki Hayashi, 13-4 (Blurcat: Hayashi by submission) Lukas Mellberg, 10-0 v. Alan Kendall, 10-2 (Blurcat: Mellberg by submission) Mike Swick, 12-2 v. Kafu Bunya, 10-3 (Blurcat: Swick by submission) Hayato Sakurai, 33-8-2 v. Doug Hansen, 14-3 (Blurcat: Sakurai by TKO) Julio Regueiro, 9-0-1 v. Gabriel Gallego, 12-0 (Blurcat: Regueira by submission) Simon Vine, 7-3 v. Noach van der Capellen, 10-3 (Blurcat: van der Capellen by TKO) Caol Uno, 25-11-4 v. Joe Hinchcliffe, 12-4 (Blurcat: Uno by TKO) Matt Serra, 9-5 (7) v. Bakin Sakamoto, 12-5 (Blurcat: Serra by TKO) Ichisake Miyagi, 14-6 v. Dominykas Janokovic, 8-4 (Blurcat: Miyagi by TKO) __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 12-23-2008 at 03:30 PM.

12-30-2008, 04:37 AM	#54
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	'Hell Boy' Simon Vine, 26, Temagami, Ontario, 7-3 v. 'Super Animal' Noach van der Capellen, 27, Rotterdam, 10-3 (Blurcat: van der Capellen by TKO) Both are on a loss, so will not want to put themselves at jeopardy next time out. In fact, all of the lower bracket bar Cahill & Palacios (who fight on UFN) lost last time, so there will be at least six guys teetering on the edge in the next round of WW action Super Animal dominates the first through his stand-up, and the second, while tighter, can in no way be scored to Vine... And the third is more of the same – Vine is simply outgunned, and loses 30-27 on all cards. 'The Devil in Blue' Ichisake Miyagi, 31, Nagoya, 14-6 v. Dominykas 'Slamkovic' Janokovic, 26, Varna, Bulgaria, 8-4 (Blurcat: Miyagi by TKO) Miyaki is an ex-ALPHA champ, while Slamkovic is a solid, well rounded fighter. Nevertheless you have to favour The Devil in Blue. What a round! The Bulgarian drops Miyagi, and almost forces the stoppage. Miyagi isn't fully recovered come the 2^nd round, and the ex-BCF fighter forces the pace again, and we could be in for a shock here... Round 3 A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Jankovic lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Miyagi sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Jankovic 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 Miyagi manages to get the better position, pushing Jankovic up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Miyagi. Jankovic 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. Miyagi tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Jankovic was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Miyagi down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Miyagi covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Jankovic hits a big elbow to the ribs, Miyagi definitely felt that. Jankovic drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Miyagi brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Jankovic will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Miyagi defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Jankovic unable to generate any attacks, and Miyagi unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Jankovic 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. Blurcat.com sees it 10-9 to Jankovic. The judges scores are unanimous, and give a score of 30-27 to Dominykas Jankovic. By far the biggest win of Jankovic's career – he dominated the Japanese fighter in all aspects. Matt 'The Terror' Serra, 34, East Meadow, NY, 9-5 (7) v. Bakin Sakamoto, 28, Yokohama, 12-5 (Blurcat: Serra by TKO) This should be an interesting fight between two excellent submission fighters. I see this going the distance. Serra wins a technical striking battle in the 1^st, but Sakamoto gets a takedown and controls the fight from the top position to level the score. It's anyone's fight going into the last... Round 3 Serra starts fast, immediately going on the attack with jabs and straight rights. Sakamoto covers up from the initial burst, then starts throwing some raking rights and lefts. Serra bobs and weaves out of harm's way, countering by flicking off jabs whenever possible, peppering Sakamoto with strikes. None of them are likely to knock Sakamoto down, but they will add up over time. Sakamoto moves in and tries to back Serra up against the cage, but he is too quick, and won't allow himself to get caught. Sakamoto is having a real problem with Serra'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 Serra scores with a sharp left hand to the chest, and is gone before the big right hand of Sakamoto hits. Sakamoto looks frustrated, and switches tactics, no longer looking for the big punches but trying to stop Serra getting in close by using low kicks and long, raking punches. Serra is kept from doing any further damage, but Sakamoto isn't generating any offence either. Serra comes in from an angle, takes a right hand, but scores with a flurry of his own. Sakamoto tries to hit a low kick, but misses. Time is running down, Serra is going to take this round on points, he has been able to dominate it thanks to his superior movement. End of the round. Blurcat.com sees it 10-9 to Serra. Matt Serra wins, with a score of 29-28 from two judges, 30-27 from the other. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 04:39 AM	#55
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	'The Ice Cold Swede' Lukas Mellberg, 25, Stockholm, 10-0 v. Alan 'Flash' Kendall, 27, Green bay, 10-2 (Blurcat: Mellberg by submission) Another one of those striker/grappler matches – Kendall has the power, the Swede the guile, but Mellberg does have a very large chin which will give the American plenty to aim at. Flash knocks Mellberg to the canvas in the first, and the Swede goes into survival mode for the rest of the round. The second could be 10-8 to Kendall – he dominates with kicks and strikes... Round 3 Kendall starts fast, unleashing a bomb of a right hand, but Mellberg avoids it without too much trouble. Kendall isn't disheartened though, swinging two more huge punches, with Mellberg getting out the way each time, but being forced all over the place. Kendall finally backs off a little, breathing hard. That was quite a frantic start. Mellberg opts to use that, and comes in to throw some jabs. Kendall is backed up against the cage, covering up. Mellberg clinches. They struggle, and the fight enters a lull. Kendall hits a knee strike to the hip. Mellberg slips one leg behind Kendall and uses that as leverage for a big trip. Kendall landed hard, with Mellberg on top. They're in half guard. It's to Kendall's advantage that they're right next to the cage, that is blocking Mellberg from attacking the left hand side of the body. Kendall is forced into action to defend a kimura attempt. Mellberg tries to step over to mount, but Kendall keeps his legs in position and ends up almost rolled into a ball. Mellberg 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. Kendall doesn't appear to be trying that though, instead trying to shift his weight so that he can get back up. Mellberg isn't allowing it though, and gets a couple more punches in before settling back into half guard. Kendall ties him up in a snug clinch. The action halts, and time expires before Mellberg can get free. That's the end of the round. Blurcat.com scores 10-9 Mellberg. The three judges all give the match as 29-28 to Alan Kendall. 'Uno Shoten' Caol Uno, 33, Kanagawa, Japan, 25-11-4 v. Joe 'The Hitman' Hinchcliffe, 29, Phoenix, 12-4 (Blurcat: Uno by TKO) Striker v. grappler part II – however Hinchcliffe is much less rounded that Kendall before him, and unless he gets a big shot in early, it's tough to see him winning. Uno gets a takedown in each of the first two rounds, but, worryingly for The Hitman, he also wins the stand up battle: Uno rattles Hinchcliffe a couple of times. Maybe it is a mismatch? It looks that way: Uno wins at a canter, unanimously 30-27. Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai, 33, Tokyo, 33-8-2 v. Doug 'The Nightmare' Hansen, 28, Falkirk, Scotland, 14-3 (Blurcat: Sakurai by TKO) The Scot is far from a can, but looks overmatched against Sakurai here. As expected Sakurai wins the first, but Hansen gets two takedowns in the second to at least even the score... But the third is all Mach, and Sakurai wins 29-28 for twice judge, and amazingly 30-27 on the third. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 04:40 AM	#56
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Mike 'Quick' Swick, 29, San Jose, 12-2 v. 'White Hope' Kafu Bunya, 27, Fukuoka, Japan, 10-3 (Blurcat: Swick by submission) Both fighters have similar offensive skills, but Bunya struggles to defends against submission attempts and is a bit chinny: this is likely to depend on whether Bunya can press the action – if he takes a backward step it could be all over. Round 1 Bunya hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Swick to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Bunya hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Swick tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Bunya having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Swick. Bunya leads with a right hand, then delivers a brutal uppercut, Swick had to step back quickly to avoid getting caught. He winds up back against the cage, and Bunya doesn't relent, moving in fast to unload with a series of jabs. Swick got some of his own in, but the upper hand is definitely with Bunya. Vicious right hand! Out of nowhere, it caught Swick flush in the face, and he slumps down against the cage. Bunya follows up with more punches, and the referee dives in to break it up. It's all over. Swick 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. Official time of the TKO is 3:55 of the first round. Well, I guess Bunya got his game plan right – no backward step! Heikichi Shimizu, 31, Sakai, Japan, 3-0 v. Nick 'The Goat' Thompson, 27, Minneapolis, 36-10-1 (Blurcat: Shimizu by TKO) Shimizu is a legendary (and imaginary) world class judo player, and has arguably the best takedown ability in MMA. This does play well into The Goat's strengths, but with a title eliminator match for the winner, nothing is guaranteed... Round 1 Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Shimizu that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. Thompson narrowly misses a right cross. Thompson ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Shimizu, although no damage has actually been done yet. Thompson fires off three straight jabs, none of which connect. Shimizu is forced up with his back against the cage though. He clearly doesn't like the thought of being trapped there for any length of time though, as he quickly comes forward with a barrage of wild punches. Thompson bobs and weaves to avoid them, but is literally bundled over in the process. There wasn't really any punch that put him down, it was simply the fact that Shimizu was advancing at a faster rate than he could back-pedal! Shimizu follows up with Thompson down on his back. Shimizu presses the advantage and starts wailing away, although most of the punches aren't landing very well. A few are though, and Thompson can't do much more than cover up. An elbow finds its way through, and looked like it landed on the bridge of the nose. Big right hand from Shimizu, who is expending a lot of energy on this attack. Thompson tries to grab a guillotine, but can't get it. Left hand, connects, from Shimizu. That landed hard on the chin, and that convinces the referee to get in and stop the match. A controversial decision. Shimizu wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 2:52. Alberto Basora, 25, Barcelona, 8-2 v. 'The Lightning Kid' Fumiaki Hayashi, 28, Sakai, Japan, 13-4 (Blurcat: Hayashi by submission) Neither fighter has a particularly great stand-up game, but while both can take down their opponents, Basora has not mastered the art of offence yet, and if he were to get taken down himself, he struggles to defend his opponents' submissions. Therefore the ex-ALPHA champ is heavily favoured to move on to the eliminator. Basora is rocked from a high kick I the 1^st, and although he (just about) recovers, Hayashi wins the round. The Lightning Kid controls the 2^nd with more striking, and Hayashi looks to be in control... Round 3 A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Hayashi lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Basora sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Hayashi 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 Basora manages to get the better position, pushing Hayashi up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Basora. Hayashi 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. Basora tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Hayashi was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Basora down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Basora covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Hayashi hits a big elbow to the ribs, Basora definitely felt that. Hayashi drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Basora brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Hayashi will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Basora defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Hayashi unable to generate any attacks, and Basora unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Hayashi 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. Blurcat.com has it down as 10-9 Hayashi. The official scores are in; two judges give 30-26, the other 29-27, all for Fumiaki Hayashi. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 04:42 AM	#57
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Title Shot Eliminator Jake Shields, 30, San Francisco, 22-4-1 (5) v. 'The Natural Born Killer' Carlos Condit, 24, Alberquerque, 23-4 (9) (Blurcat: Shields by decision) These two are almost identikit copies of each other – neither being very effective on their feet, but both possessing excellent skills offensively and defensively on the mat. It's a toss up for me... A fairly poor round, but Condit probably edges the 1^st through aggression. The following round is slightly better, and the NBK is likely two rounds up... This fight just didn't work, and Condit edges another, winning 30-27 on all cards 'Spanish Silk' Julio Regueiro, 25, Madrid, 9-0-1 v. 'Mad Dog' Gabriel Gallego, 26. Buenos Aries, Argentina, 12-0 (Blurcat: Regueira by submission) Regueiro signed off with GAMMA by beating the previously invincible Jack Humphreys for the title, and looks to be the business. He comes up against the unbeaten Argentinian, who vacated the ALPHA title to join the UFC. Two undefeated champions square off, and, such are the rankings, the match is not even the title shot eliminator! Tough to call the first – both fighters had their moments. The second is very tentative, and again very tight... Round 3 Regueiro moves in close and hits a left hook to the body. Gallego steps back, and suddenly fires off a roundhouse kick. Regueiro didn't see it coming, and it lands right behind his ear. Regueiro is down, knocked out cold, and the referee is quick to step in and stop Gallego from inflicting any more damage. Gallego wins via knock out at 0:56 of the third round. UFC Welterweight Title Georges 'Rush' St Pierre, 27, St Isidore, Quebec, 17-2 (1) v. Thiago 'Pitbull' Alves, Coconut Creek, Florida, 16-3 (2) (Blurcat: GSP by decision) The common consensus is that GSP is unbeatable – I disagree: Alves has a chance in this, which I honestly see this as a 50:50 fight... Two takedowns in the opener see GSP get the nod. Alves really forces the 2^nd, but the Canadian gets the takedown about halfway through and wins the round from there... Round 3 GSP hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Alves to back up against the cage, where they clinch. GSP hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Alves tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with GSP having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Alves. They come together, both throwing punches. GSP gets a nice clean shot in, and Alves stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. GSP is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. The official time is 4:42. Georges St. Pierre successfully retains the UFC Welterweight title. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 04:44 AM	#58
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Fight of the Night goes to Gallego v. Regueiro, and that also sees KO of the night for the Argentinian Gabriel Gallego. Matt Serra picked up an eye injury that will keep him out for a couple of months, while Sakurai's kicks broke Doug Hansen's rib which will put him on the sidelines for 6 weeks. Albert Basora is out for a similar time following his domination by Hayashi – his leg took the brunt of the damage. It was a night of contrasts for the Basora family – on the same night Albert's brother Luis won the now vacant GAMMA Welterweight title by beating David Allen by decision. It turns out Mike Swick suffered a concussion, and he ends up with a medical suspension of 15 weeks that could endanger his position in UFC 9. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 05:45 AM	#59
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	More news from around the WMMA universe: KJ Noons stopped Spencer Fisher in the 1st round to win the Adrenaline Lightweight title Yeijiro Yamamoto and Juro Fukuwaza each won unanimous decisions to retain their ALPHA Welterweight and Middleweight titles respectively Neil Grove won a TKO victory over Tengiz Tedoradze to win the Cage Rage British Heavyweight belt Masakatsu Funaki KO'd Taiei Kin to win the DREAM Middleweight crown As mentioned above, Luis Basora won the now vacant GAMMA Welterweight title by beating David Allen by decision. Satoru Kitaoka gained a unanimous decision over Kiuma Kunioku to gain the Sengoku Lightweight title In the latest Strikeforce show, Cung Le tapped out to Frank Shamrock in the Middleweight Title bout WEC failed to impress again, where Brock Larsson forced the stoppage against Luis Sapo to take the Wetlerweight belt, while Mike Thomas Brown took just 28 seconds to KO Jose Aldo and retain his Featherweight crown __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 07:21 AM	#60
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Ultimate Fight Night starts with the rookies, and ends with five of the top ten welterweights who are trying to rebound after losses. 'Rude Boy' Troy Mandaloniz, 29, Las Vegas, 3-1 v. Paul Georgieff, 26, Madison, Wisconsin, 5-2 (Blurcat: Mandaloniz via KO) Our opener sees a man at risk: if Georgieff loses he is out of the development roster. Mandaloniz is a childhood pal of BJ Penn, but has little of The Prodigy's talent. Even so, he should have enough to consign Georgieff to the scrapheap... After the 1^st round that went as billed, Georgieff finds a counter striking game to even the fight score going into the last... And does enough to get the decision 29-28 on two cards, and 30-27 on the other. Georgieff keeps his job! Andre Galvao, 26, Sao Jose, Brazil, 1-0 v. Gregor Gracie, 23, New York, 2-1 (Blurcat: Galvao via submission) Although Gracie has the pedigree name, Galvao looks to be the superior jiu jitsu fighter, and we could see the ignomy of a Gracie tapping out... The first two rounds see a Gracie dominating by tecnhical striking, and doing everything possible to keep the fight from going to the ground! The 3^rd finally sees Galvao get the takedown, but he doesn't have enough time to work anything – Gracie wins 29-28 twice and 30-27 Matt 'No Regard' Arroyo, 26, Tampa, 3-0 v. 'The Farm Boy' Eli Harris, 20, Boise, Idaho, 0-0 (Blurcat: Harris via KO) Arroyo is a limited fighter, but it so happens that his area of relative strength is the rookies main weakness. The question is will he get a chance to try a submission before Harris finishes the fight? A great 1^st sees Harris win the striking battle as expected and show excellent takedown defence until the very end of the round: a tough one to score. The 2^nd and 3^rd are much more clear cut, and Harris gets his first win with a unanimous 30-27 decision. Dan Cramer, 23, Connecticut, 0-0 v. Sinali Shomen, 19, Nagoya, Japan, 2-1 (Blurcat: Shomen via submission) Cramer is a striker, pure and simple, while Shomen has decent jiu-jitsu skills, and this could be the difference in the fight... Shomen dominates the 1^st, and probably just edges a drab 2^nd. The 3^rd is more like the opener, and the Japanese fighter wins on all three cards: 29-28 on one, and 30-27 twice. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 07:22 AM	#61
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Jr Welterweight Title Eliminator 'Dangerous' Darin Blood, 25, Kailua, Hawaii, 2-0 v. Brandon Wolff, 33, Honolulu, 7-2 (Blurcat: Blood via TKO) This all Hawaiian clash should see the younger man prevail through his far superior ground game... The 1^st starts tentatively, with Blood beginning to get going by the end. The 2^nd sees a large swelling appear over Wolff's eye following a number of Blood punches, and Dangerous should be two up going into the last... Round 3 Wolff leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Blood 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. Blood uses a knee to the ribs before backing Wolff up against the cage. Right hand from Wolff connects though, that was well timed. Blood breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Wolff was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Blood sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Wolff fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Wolff gets Blood backed up against the cage and throws a flurry of jabs, but doesn't do any real damage. Blood tries to get back to the center, but almost invites the takedown attempt, which promptly comes. Wolff drives him down with a waist-high tackle...but gets caught! The takedown left his head exposed and Blood applied a guillotine on the way down. Wolff is caught, that is on really tight. There's the tap out, Wolff was clearly unable to breathe with a forearm crushing his wind-pipe. Blood wins via 3rd round guillotine choke submission with the official time being 3:31. Jr Welterweight Title Bout 'The X Factor' Xie Ming, 26, Pearl River, China, 3-0 v. 'Latino Wild Cat' Agustin Gonzalez, 22, La Paz, Mexico, 3-0 (Blurcat: Gonzalez via split decision) Ming is an excellent kickboxer, but very poor on the ground, while Gonzalez is a good wrestler with an excellent chin. The bookies have the fight even, I give the edge to the Latino Wild Cat... My pick gets two takedowns to take the 1^st, and both rocks Ming and gets another takedown in the 2^nd. Round 3 Gonzalez fires off a high kick, but it's more spectacular than dangerous. Ming throws a tight jab, leading to a low kick. Gonzalez defends it well, then storms in quickly and hits a quick one-two combination. Ming goes for a counter-punch, but Gonzalez gets in a big third shot before backing out of range. That last shot landed quite hard, and it looks to have opened up a cut above the left eye. Not sure the referee has noticed yet, he's on the wrong side of Ming to see it. They come together again. Ming throws a nice left to the body, then narrowly missed with a right. Gonzalez hits two punches to the gloves, bobs and weaves, then fires off a nice straight right, not missing by much. The referee stops them there and calls for the time to be stopped. Ming may have problems here; that earlier punch definitely opened up a cut, and blood has started flowing quite heavily during that last exchange of strikes, even though none of Gonzalez's strikes landed in that area. The referee brings Ming back to the corner and gets the doctor to look at it. It looks deep. Ming's corner might have problems doing a great deal with that, it's a really ugly looking wound, and is spitting out blood at an alarming rate. The doctor shakes his head and the referee gives the signal, Gonzalez is going to take home the victory because Ming cannot continue with that cut sending a lot of blood down into his eye. Official time of the medical stoppage is 0:17 of the third round. Agustín Gonzalez is now the UFC Junior Welterweight champion. A disappointing end, but Gonzalez was winning comfortably. Now we're back to the seniors: 'The Fist of Justice' Ikku Funaki, 25, Sendai, Japan, 5-3 v. Jon Fitch, 31, San Jose, 17-3 (3) (Blurcat: Fitch via KO) Fitch should be favourite here, but Funaki is a dangerous opponent who has very heavy, but slow hands. If Fitch can avoid the big loopy punches he should be OK... The first is very tight, and I wouldn't want to pick a winner. Fitch clearly wins the 2^nd however from the clinch and through striking... Round 3 Two jabs from the left hand of Funaki set up a hard waist-high kick, but Fitch steps back to avoid it. Nice attempt though. Funaki 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. Funaki 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 has wound up next to the cage, and Funaki comes in with a right hand lead, transitioning into a three punch combination. Fitch covered up well, taking very little damage. Funaki steps back to prepare for a second wave of attack, but a thunderous head kick from Fitch catches him on the back-foot! Funaki is down and dazed. Fitch mounts and starts firing off rights and lefts. Funaki has one arm up to block them, but that's more out of instinct than anything, and it's almost totally ineffective. Some bombs are connecting, and the referee pulls Fitch off, putting an end to the match. Fitch wins via TKO at 2:54 of the third round. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 07:24 AM	#62
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Claudio Palacios, 27, Lima, Peru, 10-2-1 v. Josh 'Kos' Koscheck, 31, Fresno, California, 11-3 (4) (Blurcat: Koscheck via submission) The most punchable man in MMA fights a tricky opponent in the Peruvian – however Kos will be keen to get back on track after his loss to Thiago Alves (as Fight for the Troops never happened in this universe) The first is a surprise, as Palacios takes Koscheck down not once, but twice, dishes out some brutal elbows from the guard, and very nearly sinks in a kimura at the end of the round. It appears Koscheck may haven been taking this fight a little lightly? Round 2 Palacios throws two high punches, then steps in for a hook to the body. Nice combination, but Koscheck defended with ease. They clinch up next to the cage, but a short struggle only ends with them separating and coming back in. They come together in the center and exchange strikes. Palacios gets the better of it, and throws a wild right hand with evil intentions. Koscheck saw it coming, and ducks under it, allowing him the perfect position to hit Palacios with a takedown and put them on the ground. Koscheck passes guard without too much trouble, and cracks Palacios with a hard punch to the cheek. Palacios tries to scramble into a better position without dropping his guard against another punch, but can't, and Koscheck maneuvers so that he has one knee planted on Palacios's chest, keeping him from rolling. Koscheck quickly secures the left arm and transitions into a tight arm bar. Palacios has no way out, he taps. Official time of the armbar submission is 1:44 of the second round. Karo 'The Heat' Parisyan, 26, North Hollywood, 18-5 (8) v. Geoff 'Die Hard' Cahill, 36, French River, Ontario, 21-13 (Blurcat: Parisyan via submission) Parisyan wins the first at least 10-9 through superior striking, and the second goes The Heat's way via his kicking. Cahill looks to have no answer... Round 3 Cahill starts brightly by throwing some looping punches. Defended well by Parisyan. They circle, throwing tentative jabs. Parisyan goes for a single leg and puts Cahill on the floor, but he is up very quickly, preventing Parisyan from getting on top. Cahill definitely seems to want to keep this standing. Parisyan hits a nice jab, avoids a counter left hook, then comes in low and takes down Cahill again. This time Cahill isn't able to get up, and has to pull guard. Times ticking away though, Parisyan will have to hurry to finish. He goes for an armbar, but Cahill defends. Parisyan tries to slip past to get side control, but Cahill just about manages to keep guard. A second attempt works though, and Parisyan has the side. Two big elbows land, and Cahill seems in trouble. Parisyan goes for the kimura, but can't quite get it. The time expires before he can try again, and the referee separates them. End of the round. Blurcat.com scores it 10-9 for Parisyan. Karo Parisyan wins, with a score of 30-27 from two judges, 29-28 from the other. Matt Hughes, 35, Hillsboro, Illinois, 42-7 (6) v. 'The Show Stopper' Jack Humphreys, 27, Mobile, Alabama, 12-2 (10) (Blurcat: Humphreys via KO) Hughes needs the win to keep his roster spot, and draws one of the most difficult opponents in the lowest section. It could be tough: as well as being an excellent striker, Humphreys is a good wrestler, and might be able to negate Hughes strength and take advantage of an obvious edge in the stand-up. Before losing to Julio Regueiro six months ago, Humphreys was the reigning GAMMA champ, and after four successful defences was beginning to be considered as unbeatable as Hughes was before he lost to Penn in the first of his two UFC title reigns... The first two rounds show the problems that Hughes faces: he can't get close enough to Humphreys to get a hold of him, and The Show Stopper is making a monkey of the older man through his much better strikes... Round 3 Hughes starts strongly, immediately rushing in for a takedown. Humphreys got taken by surprise a little, but wrestles his way free of the grapple and pulls to safety. Humphreys doesn't hang around for a second attempt, he uses a looping left to set himself up to come in close and score with a series of strikes, two or three nice body shots included. Hughes covers up, throwing the occasional jab as a counter. Humphreys goes for a vicious uppercut, but gets pulled into a clinch. Hughes goes for a takedown via a trip, but Humphreys defends it. Another trip attempt, another failure. Hughes pushes Humphreys up against the cage and tries to wrestle him to the ground, but Humphreys keeps his balance and sprawls to stop it. Humphreys gets in a hard right hand to the side of the face, taking advantage of the fact that Hughes was leaning in too far. Humphreys reverses so that Hughes is against the cage. They remain clinched, with nothing more than minor strikes being thrown, for a long time. The referee finally breaks them apart and gets them back to the center. Humphreys throws a kick, waist-high, but Hughes avoids it. That could have been used for a takedown attempt if Hughes had been quicker and caught it. Humphreys hits two or three punches in a row, stinging the gloves of Hughes. The round draws to a close. It'll be interesting to see where the judges go with this, as Humphreys clearly got the better strikes in throughout the round, but Hughes did probably show more aggression by virtue of his almost constant attempts to get the takedown. The round is over. Blurcat.com scores it 10-9 for Humphreys. The official scores are: 30-27 (twice), 29-28 for Jack Humphreys. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 07:25 AM	#63
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Fight of the Night? Jon Fitch v. Ikku Funaki. Darin Blood gets the nod over Jos Koscheck to win Submission of the Night for his guillotine choke of Brandon Wolff. Xie Ming is given a 28 day suspension to allow his awful cut to heal __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 12-30-2008 at 07:26 AM.

12-30-2008, 07:42 AM	#64
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Welterweight Summary UFC Welterweight Title Georges St Pierre (1) beat Thiago Alves (2) by TKO in 4:42 of R3 (Blurcat: GSP by decision) Title Shot Eliminator Carlos Condit (9) beat Jake Shields (5) by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Shields by decision) Heikichi Shimizu beat Nick Thompson by TKO in 2:52 of R1 (Blurcat: Shimizu by TKO) Fumiaki Hayashi beat Alberto Basora by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Hayashi by submission) Alan Kendall beat Lukas Mellberg by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Mellberg by submission) Kafu Bunya beat Mike Swick by TKO in 3:55 of R1 (Blurcat: Swick by submission) Hayato Sakurai beat Doug Hansen by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Sakurai by TKO) Gabriel Gallego beat Julio Regueiro by KO in 0:56 of R3 (Blurcat: Regueira by submission) Noach van der Capellen beat Simon Vine by unanimous decision (Blurcat: van der Capellen by TKO) Caol Uno beat Joe Hinchcliffe by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Uno by TKO) Matt Serra (7) beat Bakin Sakamoto by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Serra by TKO) Dominykas Janokovic beat Ichisake Miyagi by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Miyagi by TKO) Jon Fitch (3) beat Ikku Funaki by TKO in 2:54 of R3 (Blurcat: Fitch via KO) Jack Humphreys (10) beat Matt Hughes (6) by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Humphreys via KO) Karo Parisyan (8) beat Geoff Cahill by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Parisyan via submission) Josh Koscheck (4) beat Claudio Palacios by submission in 1:44 of R2 (Blurcat: Koscheck via submission) New Rankings - 1. GSP, 27, Canada, 18-2 (-) 2. Jon Fitch, 30, USA, 18-3 (+1) 3. Carlos Condit, 24, USA, 24-4 (+6) 4. Josh Koscheck, 31, USA, 12-3 (-) 5. Matt Serra, 34, USA, 10-5 (+2) 6. Jack Humphreys, 27, USA, 13-2 (+4) 7. Karo Parisyan, 26, Armenia, 18-5 (+1) 8. Caol Uno, 33, Japan, 26-11-4 (NE) 9. Hayato Sakurai, 33, Japan, 34-8-2 (NE) 10. Fumiaki Hayashi, 28, Japan, 14-4 (NE) __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

12-30-2008, 11:03 AM	#65
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Blurcat.com opened up it's Hall of Fame, and the inaugural members have been announced as The Iceman Chuck Liddell and Royce Gracie. Liddell finished with four losses in his last five fights, including a submission loss to Mike Whitehead in the new UFC. However he finished with an impressive 21-7 record, and made four defences of the Light Heavyweight belt 2005-2007. Royce Gracie was the winner of three of the first four UFC tournaments, and revolutionised martial arts fighting. He finished with a 14-3-3 record. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-01-2009, 05:24 AM	#66
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Finally it's the HW's, and this is where the new UFC should shine - of the top 32 fighters, only six were previously with the UFC. Far from being a weak division, this is the strength, and Fedor may not even be the best fighter! He does sit at the top of the rankings right now, but is not the favourite for his fight against Hassan Fezzik... 1. Fedor Emelianenko, 32, Russia, 28-1 2. Hassan Fezzik, 33, Turkey, 25-0 3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 32, Brazil, 31-4-1 4. James Foster, 29, USA, 16-2 5. Andrei Arlovski, 30, Belarus, 14-5 6. Josh Barnett, 31, USA, 26-5 7. Tim Sylvia, 32, USA, 24-5 8. Kunimichi Kikuchi, 31, Japan, 20-2 9. Randy Couture, 45, USA, 16-9 10. Rick Stanley, 34, USA, 20-7-3 UFC Heavyweight Title Match Fedor Emelianenko, 28-1 (1) v. Hassan Fezzik, 25-0 (2) (Blurcat: Fezzik via TKO) UFC Heavyweight Title Match Eliminator Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 31-4-1 (3) v. Andrei Arlovski, 14-5 (5) (Blurcat: Minotauro via submission) Brock Lesnar, 3-1 v. Josh Barnett, 26-5 (6) (Blurcat: Lesnar via KO) Gunnar Nilsson, 18-3 v. Kunimichi Kikuchi, 20-2 (8) (Blurcat: Kikuchi via TKO) Alistair Overeem, 29-11 v. Jeff Carlton, 16-3 (Blurcat:Overeem via KO) Gabriel Gonzaga, 10-3 v. Harry Milne, 20-6 (Blurcat: Gonzaga via TKO) Hiro Arai, 17-3 v. Lefter Oktay, 6-0 (Blurcat: Oktay via TKO) Stratos Papaoiannou, 20-4 v. Garry McSweegan, 12-2 (Blurcat: Papaoiannou via TKO) Mirko Filipovic, 23-6-2 v. Tim Sylvia, 24-5 (7) (Blurcat: Cro Cop via KO) Aleksander Emelianenko, 13-3 v. Grzegorz Boniek, 13-4 (Blurcat: Boniek via KO) Sergei Kharitonov, 16-3 v. Cheick Kongo, 12-4-1 (Blurcat: Kharitonov via TKO) Stafford Alois, 18-7 v. Tony McCall, 20-4 (Blurcat: McCall via KO) Randy Couture, 16-9 (9) v. Rick Stanley, 20-7-3 (10) (Blurcat: Stanley via KO) James Foster, 16-2 (4) v. Ben Rothwell, 33-6 (Blurcat: Foster via KO) Robun Yamazaki, 17-6 v. Junior dos Santos, 7-1 (Blurcat: dos Santos via KO) Fabrizio Werdum, 11-4-1 v. Tim Boyer, 16-3-2 (Blurcat: Boyer via TKO) __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 01-02-2009 at 09:17 AM.

01-01-2009, 05:26 AM	#67
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	And so we get underway with UFC 5: Sergei Kharitonov, 28, Plesetek, Russia, 16-3 v. Cheick Kongo, 33, Paris, France, 12-4-1 (Blurcat: Kharitonov via TKO) Kharitonov has a good all round game, and as long as he can get inside without taking too much damage, should get the win. Not much happens in the opener, but the 2^nd sees the Russian get a takedown and try to pound Kongo through the mat. The fight's still up for grabs, as who knows how the 1^st was scored? But by the end of the 3^rd, it's clear Kharitanov won the fight – in a carbon copy of the 2^nd, he gets the takedown and batters Kongo. Kharitonov wins 30-27 twice and 29-28 on the third card. 'The Grim Reaper' Aleksander Emelianenko, 27, Stary Oskol, Russia 13-3 v. 'Polish Power' Grzegorz Boniek, 30, Warsaw, Poland, 13-4 (Blurcat: Boniek via KO) Both fighters are relatively equally matched Sambo exponents: however Fedor's younger brother is 35lbs heavier and maybe this could prove to be the difference... Round 1 Right hand from Boniek was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Emelianenko. Boniek follows up by coming in close, but Emelianenko is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. Boniek clinches with Emelianenko. A quick trip sends Emelianenko falling backward, pulling guard to take Boniek down with him. Boniek drops a bomb of a right hand, smashing into the hands of Emelianenko and forcing them back into his face. Another right hand finds its way through, landing right above the eye, stunning Emelianenko. With his opponent's wits scrambled, Boniek moves from the guard into a mount with ease, and starts unloading with rights and lefts. Emelianenko tries to cover up, but is getting decimated, and the referee is forced to come in and pull Boniek off, signalling the win. Boniek wins via 1st round TKO with the official time being 1:42. I guess not! Will this have any effect on Fedor later tonight? 'The Brixton Butcher' Stafford Alois, 32, London, 18-7 v. Tony ' The Spider' McCall, 31, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 20-4 (Blurcat: McCall via KO) The Cockney is a striker with a weak ground game, McCall is a wrestler with poor stand-up and a weak chin. Whoever steers the fight to their strength should pick up the W. I would be amazed it if did finish with a McCall KO tbh. The first goes to the American, who gets a takedown but fails to finish. The second follows a similar pattern: Alois attacks, McCall clinches, gets the takedown, but fails to look like ending the contest. Nevertheless Alois needs a stoppage in the third to win... Round 3 Tentative start to the round, the fighters are circling. Alois throws out a couple of range-finding jabs, but they aren't anything that will trouble McCall. Kick to the thigh from McCall, but it lacked power. Alois tries to back McCall up against the cage wall, but it comes to nothing. They come together, both throwing punches. Alois gets a nice clean shot in, and McCall stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. Alois is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. Official time of the TKO is 1:22 of the third round. The crowd are not happy with that decision – they feel that McCall should have been given more time as he was clearly winning before the knockdown. Regardless, the Brixton Butcher advances. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-01-2009, 05:27 AM	#69
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	'Demolition Man' Alistair Overeem, 28, Utrecht, Netherlands, 29-11 v. Jeff 'The Rock' Carlton, 31, Shreveport, Louisiana, 16-3 (Blurcat:Overeem via KO) Carlton, an ex-GAMMA champ, is a very good well rounded fighter, but probably has less talent than the Dutchman. If Overeem turns up, he is favourite – the issue with him is whether he has prepared properly. The opener is a big let down after the previous two fights: Carlton wins the round via a takedown, but that's pretty much all that happens. The second could be a 10-8 to Overeem though: he gets a knockdown, batters the American before getting side-control and into the crucifix position just before the bell. Much better stuff... And Overeem continues in this guise, using a standard takedown rather than striking to get the fight to the floor, to win the third, and he gets the decision 29-28 from all three judges. Hiro Arai, 32, Kawasaki, Japan, 17-3 v. Lefter 'The Beast' Oktay, 30, Istanbul, Turkey, 6-0 (Blurcat: Oktay via TKO) Hassan Fezzik's protege has it all, except experience. This is the only advantage Arai has, and it will likely not be enough. Excellent striking sees Oktay take the first, and while the 2^nd is less dynamic, again The Beast's striking gives him the edge. Going into the third, and Arai has yet to mount any sort of offensive threat... Round 3 The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Oktay forces Arai back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Oktay is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Arai clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Arai gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Oktay seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Arai who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Oktay had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Oktay hits two body shots, then comes in low under an attempted right cross and uses a single leg to take Arai down. Nicely done. Arai pulls guard. Oktay breaks the guard and stands up, leaving Arai on his back. Arai tries to keep Oktay back with some up-kicks, Oktay has to be careful not to get caught with them, they have power. Oktay fakes a dive, pushes the legs to one side, and gets side control. Arai tries to turn into it so that he can pull guard, but Oktay isn't allowing it, and traps both arms, creating a crucifix position. Oktay starts throwing punches to the face, Arai having no arms free to block them. Big shot from Oktay, that caught Arai on the chin as he momentarily lifted his head while trying to struggle free. Arai is out like a light. The referee jumps in, this is over. Oktay wins via 3rd round knock out with the official time being 3:19. Impressive stuff from Oktay, and will this give a further psychological edge to Fezzik later tonight? 'Swedish Superman' Gunnar Nilsson, 32, Gothenburg, 18-3 v. 'Unstoppable K' Kunimichi Kikuchi, 31, Sendai, Japan, 20-2 (8) (Blurcat: Kikuchi via TKO) Nilsson has previously held the GAMMA HW title, while Kikuchi once held the APLHA version for over two years. The key is who gets the dominant position – if Nilsson gets on top he should win, if it's the other way round the Japanese fighter has a slight edge. Round 1 Right hand from Nilsson was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Kikuchi. Nilsson follows up by coming in close, but Kikuchi is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. Kikuchi throws a nice combination of punches, and although none of them find anything but gloves, it does force Nilsson backward against the cage. Kikuchi follows in and scores with a superb jab. Nilsson felt that. Kikuchi tries a venomous kick to the thigh, but Nilsson saw it coming; he catches the leg just below the knee, steps in, and puts Kikuchi down to the canvas with a trip, done with a violent snap. Kikuchi pulled guard though, stopping Nilsson from getting around and into side control. Kikuchi struggles to contain Nilsson, who passes to half guard without too much trouble. A few hard shots get thrown, and Kikuchi does well to defend them, deflecting them off his gloves. Nilsson is trying to get his leg free so that he can get into side control. Kikuchi throws a couple of punches from his back, but they do very little damage. Nilsson 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. Kikuchi tries to cover up, while Nilsson manages to get his leg free and get into a mount. Kikuchi is in big trouble. He tries to roll his hips and shift Nilsson's weight, but it's not working. Nilsson fires off a couple of punches, then drops an absolute bomb of a right hand, landing flush on the chin! Kikuchi is out, just for a second, but the referee has already pulled Nilsson off. Sharp-eyed refereeing there. This match is over by knock out. Nilsson wins via knock out at 1:49 of the first round. Another fantastic display of ground and pound, and now we're into the fight I have been waiting for... __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-01-2009, 05:28 AM	#70
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	UFC Heavyweight Title Match 'The Last Emperor' Fedor Emelianenko, 32, Stary Oskol, Russia, 28-1 (1) v. 'The Big Bad' Hassan Fezzik, 33, Istanbul, Turkey, 25-0 (2) (Blurcat: Fezzik via TKO) The fact that Fezzik is given the edge tells you all you need to know: the two best pound for pound fighters in the world square off for the new UFC title. Although the Turk is a slight favourite, this is a razor thin edge, and we could be in for a classic. The opener is a tentative round, as each fighter tries to see if they can work an opening. Fedor probably does just enough to get the edge... Round 2 Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Fedor that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. Fezzik looks to be working an angle. Fezzik ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Fedor, although no damage has actually been done yet. Fezzik leaps forward and puts all of his power behind a 'Superman' punch, catching Fedor completely by surprise! It smashes into his chin, and Fedor goes down, knocked out. Fezzik wins with a punch that owed as much to luck as skill, but a win is what it has resulted in, and that's the important thing. The official time is 2:16. Hassan Fezzik is now the UFC Heavyweight champion. Wow! From out of nowhere. I believe we have our KO of the night! Not a good night for Mama Emelianenko... Brock Lesnar, 31, Webster, South Dakota, 3-1 v. 'The Babyface Assassin' Josh Barnett, 31, Seattle, 26-5 (6) (Blurcat: Lesnar via KO) Will Barnett's experience overcome Lesnar's raw power, or will he be able to pull a submission from out of nowhere? If the answer to either of these questions is no, the ex-WWE superstar will win. The crowd are going wild after seeing Fedor get KO'd, and this continues after Barnett takes Lesnar down in the first round... twice! The second is fairly tame, but sees another Barnett takedown, and Brock can't get anything going – he hasn't landed any strikes, and has failed with takedown attempts in each round. Are we in for a second shock in a row? Round 3 Barnett works an angle and comes in from the side of Lesnar, getting two good jabs in before a ragged left misses by quite a margin. Lesnar hits a low kick to back Barnett against the cage, then works the body with a series of short punches. Barnett fights out and the action returns to the center. Lesnar backs Barnett up against the cage in a clinch. There's a struggle, and Lesnar pops his right arm free and gets in two brutal elbows to the side of the head before Barnett can re-tie the arm back up. Those were really crunching blows, the second one in particular rocked Barnett. Lesnar gets his arm free again, and delivers another two vicious blows. Barnett doesn't go down, but may well be out on his feet. The referee seems to think so, as he covers Barnett up, stopping any further punishment. Those deadly elbows have won the match for Lesnar. Official time of the TKO is 2:09 of the third round. Out and out power, and we will see Lesnar v. Nilsson in the #1 challenger fight next time out. UFC Heavyweight Title Match Eliminator Antonio Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueria, 32, Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil, 31-4-1 (3) v. Andrei Arlovski, 30, Minsk, Belarus, 14-5 (5) (Blurcat: Minotauro via submission) Another fight in which who can impose his style on the other will likely get the victory and move on to face Hassan Fezzik? Minotauro wins the 1^st, although only after yet another surprise – Arlovski takes Nogueira down, but momentum takes the Brazilian to the top position, from where he dominates. The second is more Minotauro, as he gets a traditional takedown before once again dominating. It's been noted that the fight is following a very similar pattern to the latter two rounds of the Overeem/Carlton fight – what will happen in the third? Round 3 Good start from Minotauro, taking Arlovski down almost immediately! Arlovski scrambles though, and gets back to his feet without taking any damage at all. Minotauro will be disappointed with that. Arlovski comes in and throws two big right hands, but neither connects, and they put him off balance, allowing Minotauro to score with a nice right hook to the side of the head, crunching into the top of the ear. Arlovski felt that one for sure. He stalks Minotauro, trying to back him up against the cage. It doesn't work though, Minotauro keeps out of the way. Arlovski tries a kick, but Minotauro catches the foot and uses it for a trip. Minotauro gets Arlovski down for the second time, and this time is right on top of him in guard position. Minotauro throws some punches, then tries to pass. Arlovski doesn't allow it, and tries to grab an armbar in response. Minotauro easily stops that, and throws some more punches. That becomes the pattern, as the fight falls into a predictable pattern; punches from Minotauro followed by a pass attempt, with Arlovski 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. End of the round. Blurcat.com scores it 10-9 for Minotauro. The official scores are: 30-27 from all three judges for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Next up, at UFC 10, we see Minotauro v. Fezzik for the belt. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-01-2009, 05:30 AM	#71
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Fight of the Night goes to Fedor v. Hassan Fezzik, who also gets the KO of the night. There is a high injury aftermath from the event: Tim Sylvia blew his knee out in that final kick, and is out for 6 months, which will create a gap in the tournament tree. Kinumichi Kikichu receives a 28 day medical suspension after his KO loss, but also has hurt his back which will mean he is out for 9 weeks anyway. Sergei Kharitanov has picked up a stomach injury, and will be out of the gym for 5 weeks Standard 28 day medical suspensions are also handed out to Fedor, Hiro Arai, and Mirko Filipovic __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 08:57 AM	#72
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	It's Ultimate Fight Night time again, with a less than stellar rookie card, but a very good headliner! Esteban Andres, 19, Mexico City, 0-0 v. Darrell 'Mongoose' Gorman, 21, St Louis, 0-0 (Blurcat: Andres via TKO) Other than Cain Velasquez, Andres is probably the top prospect in the junior heavyweight division – he has a decent stand-up game and good wrestling skills. He makes his pro debut against another debutant who has a weakness against wrestlers... The first is all about the stand-up, and the Mexican proves to have the edge. More striking 'action' in the second, during which Andres opens up Gorman and wins again. Round 3 A thunderous kick connects from Andres, catching Gorman hard across the chest. He staggers back up against the cage, looking stunned. Andres follows in and scores with several punches. Gorman tries to cover up, but falls down and becomes overwhelmed with more punches. The referee has seen enough and jumps in to stop the match. Official time of the TKO is 1:40 of the third round. 'The Colonel' Noah Musch, 32, Stuttgart, Germany, 0-0 v. 'The Fridge' Jack Punk, 21, Seattle, 0-0 (Blurcat: Punk via KO) Punk has all the talent in the world, but suffers physically – his conditioning is poor, and he is reuted to get cut and KO'd a lot in the gym. However, his other skills have won him a chance in the UFC developmental roster, and he faces another rookie in the German. Musch looks to be outclassed everywhere, but he has a reasonable striking game which could give him a chance. Punk gets a takedown, but only ever gets to side control for a short period – nevertheless he wins the 1^st. The German tries to take Punk down in the 2^nd, but the American reverses and dishes out some G&P to take the 2^nd as well. The 3^rd is pretty tame stand-up as Punk tries to avoid getting hit – he wins 30-27 on two cards, 29-28 n the other. Eli 'Nightmare' Joslin, 29, Mariposa, California, 2-0 v. Carl Seumanutafa, 29, Sunnydale, California, 4-1 (Blurcat: Seumanutafa via KO) The TUF2 contestant that cried off before actually fighting takes on a man who should have too much for him. Seumanutafa takes the first two rounds via his superior ground game, and wins the third through his striking. He wins 30-27 on all three cards. Derek 'Smash-Mouth' South, 23, Gotham City, New Jersey, 1-0 v. Neil 'Old School' Wain, 33, Doncaster, England, 4-1 (Blurcat: South via decision) 'Old School' is a good nickname for Wain – he is a 'rush straight ahead and try and knock the other guy out before he gets knocked out' style of fighter. Even though South has only had one fight, he looks well rounded enough to overcome the Englishman's basic style. A barrage of huge kicks sees South stagger Wain a couple of times, and he takes the opener. The second is slow, but South should have done enough to take that as well. The third is more stand-up, and all three judges give the fight 30-27 to South. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 08:59 AM	#73
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	UFC Junior Heavyweight Title Eliminator Sean O'Haire, 35, Atlanta, 3-2 v. Pat ' Get Hype' Barry, 29, New Orleans, 3-0 (Blurcat: O'Haire via KO) In all honesty the fact that this is a junior heavyweight eliminator shows that there are no decent young HW's on winning streaks – both are pretty poor and are likely to lose next time out to whoever holds the belt... Barry might have been watching the previous fight – he scores big with kicks to takes the first two rounds. O'Haire does step it up in the third, but doesn't get anywhere close to finishing the fight, and all three cards come back 29-28 Barry. UFC Junior Heavyweight Title Cain Velasquez, 26, Yuma, Arizona, 4-0 v. 'The Crusher' Mugur Boc, 27, Tighina, Moldova, 2-0 (Blurcat: Boc via decision) Both fighters have very similar strengths and weaknesses, and it's difficult to pick a winner: often in these cases you'd go with the man who gets top position, but both struggle to maintain a grounded opponent – it's a pick 'em. Velasquez takes the first and leaves a huge mouse over Boc's eye. Round 2 The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Velasquez forces Boc back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Velasquez is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Boc clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Boc gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Velasquez seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Boc who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Velasquez had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Velasquez is stalking Boc, who has wound up with his back against the cage. Boc throws a right hand out, but Velasquez ducks under it and fires off a beautiful counter punch that catches Boc flush on the chin. Boc is down! Velasquez doesn't hesitate and dives in, raining down punches onto a dazed and defenceless Boc; four or five strikes connect before the referee hauls Velasquez off, giving him the win. The official time is 3:40. Cain Velasquez is the new UFC Junior Heavyweight champion. Robun Yamazaki, 31, Kitakyushu, Japan, 17-6 v. Junior 'Cigano' dos Santos, 25, Salvador, Brazil, 7-1 (Blurcat: dos Santos via KO) Two strikers with terrible ground games meet in a fight that will likely see the difference being Yamazaki's inability to take punches himself dos Santos wins the 1^st, primarily through work-rate rather than effectiveness. He adds quality to quantity to take the second as well, and Yamazaki needs a major turnaround in the third... And he doesn't get it: more superior striking gives dos Santos the win from all three judges, 30-27. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 09:00 AM	#74
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Fabrizio 'Vai Cavalo' Werdum, 32, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 11-4-1 v. Tim 'The Tower of Power' Boyer, 30, Toronto, 16-3-2 (Blurcat: Boyer via TKO) Boyer looks to be a tough opponent for Werdum: he defends submissions well and has an excellent stand-up game. And Werdum will likely not be able to take advantage of Boyer's dodgy chin with his own weak striking. Werdum seems determined to show the pre-fight predictions to be wrong, and dominates the first through two takedowns and a couple of very nearly successful submission attempts. Round 2 A brief exchange of jabs only serves to get them into a clinch, right next to the cage. The referee positions himself to watch for illegal punches. Werdum turns his hips and suddenly turns sharply, taking the legs out from under Boyer. They smash into the ground at speed, but that doesn't stop Boyer pulling guard, preventing Werdum from gaining side control, which was what he was aiming for. Werdum fires off a few punches, forcing Boyer to cover up. Werdum works his way onto the right-hand side of the body, Boyer unable to do much to stop him. Boyer tries to scrabble out of trouble, but finds his right arm is trapped under the body of Werdum, who is quick to turn that situation into an armbar attempt. Boyer desperately tries to turn them both over to alleviate the pressure, but there is no way he can move Werdum from that position, he has no leverage at all. Werdum cinches in the armbar and Boyer has to tap out. Werdum wins via 2nd round armbar submission with the official time being 0:42. 'The King of Ground and Pound' James Foster, 29, Aurora, Illinois, 16-2 (4) v. 'North Star' Ben Rothwell, 27, Kensosha, Wisconsin, 33-6 (Blurcat: Foster via KO) Foster is an ex-GAMMA champ, who, despite being ranked #4, finds himself in the bottom tier due to a loss against the new UFC champ Hassan Fezzik. He faces Rothwell, who may find it difficult to get past Foster's wrestling skills. The fight goes to plan in the 1^st: Foster gets the takedown and dominates. In the second Rothwell is knocked down! But he survives comfortably, but is clearly two rounds down... Round 3 Rothwell may have realised that he left the gas on back at home, as he starts the round as if he needs to get this fight finished quickly, throwing two giant-sized right hand bombs and a vicious uppercut within the first thirty seconds. Foster dealt with them well though, avoiding the first two and parrying the uppercut away. Foster fakes a takedown, causing Rothwell to back up, ready to sprawl. Rothwell stalks Foster, forcing him back toward the cage. Rothwell moves in, looking to throw another big shot, but Foster springs forward and connects with a great punch, crunching his fist into the cheek. Rothwell goes down! Foster tries to pounce and pound his way to victory, but Rothwell has enough awareness to ensnare Foster in the guard position as he dives in. Foster tries to work free from the guard, but can't. Rothwell reaches up to try and bring Foster down into a clinch, but the attempt gets swatted away. Foster fires off a couple of punches, leaning forward to get some leverage, and Rothwell is forced to cover up. Foster switches and starts firing off some rapid-fire shots to the chest, Rothwell deals with it by pulling the guard tighter and punching upward. Foster looks like he is happy to sit there and throw punches at his leisure, with no real effort to pass guard. Rothwell 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. That's the end of the round. Blurcat.com gives that one to Foster by 10-9. The official scores are: 30-27 from all three judges for James Foster. Randy 'The Natural' Couture, 45, Everett, Washington, 16-9 (9) v. 'The Pit Bull' Rick Stanley, 34, Philadelphia, 20-7-3 (10) (Blurcat: Stanley via KO) Can Captain America return after his loss to Lesnar? He faces a formidable foe, a knock out specialist who also has a decent ground game. However, Stanley can be shaken, and he only ever one punch away from both victory and defeat... Round 1 The two fighters circle. A series of looping punches from Stanley forces Couture back up against the cage, and he has to cover up to withstand the three strikes that follow. No real damage caused, but Stanley is aggressively chasing this match. A hook finds the body and Couture clinches. They almost lose their balance as they jockey for position, Couture gets in a couple of knees when they regain their footing. Stanley seems to be trying to break the clinch, it's Couture who is holding it tight, perhaps hoping to calm the energetic start that Stanley had. The referee finally does break them up, after nearly a full minute of inactivity. Stanley hits two jabs, then a high kick. It glances off Couture's shoulder, catching him on the top of the head. He stumbles backward, ending up against the cage. Stanley charges in and starts unloading, and after several crunching punches have landed the referee has no choice but to jump in and bring the match to the end. Official time of the TKO is 3:45 of the first. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 09:01 AM	#75
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Fight of the Night honours go to Cain Velasquez v. Mugur Boc, and Submission of the Night to Fabricio Werdum. Mugur Boc suffered not only a defeat, but also a major pelvic injury – he will miss at least six months. Other than this however, there were no notable injuries. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 09:16 AM	#76
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Heavyweight Summary: UFC Heavyweight Title Match Hassan Fezzik (2) beat Fedor Emelianenko (1) by KO in 2:16 of R2 (Blurcat: Fezzik via TKO) UFC Heavyweight Title Match Eliminator Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria (3) beat Andrei Arlovski (5) by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Minotauro via submission) Brock Lesnar beat Josh Barnett (6) by TKO in 2:09 of R3 (Blurcat: Lesnar via KO) Gunnar Nilsson beat Kunimichi Kikuchi (8) by KO in 1:49 of R1(Blurcat: Kikuchi via TKO) Alistair Overeem beat Jeff Carlton by unanimous decision (Blurcat:Overeem via KO) Gabriel Gonzaga beat Harry Milne by TKO in 3:21 of R1 (Blurcat: Gonzaga via TKO) Lefter Oktay beat Hiro Arai by KO in 3:19 of R3 (Blurcat: Oktay via TKO) Stratos Papaoiannou beat Garry McSweegan by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Papaoiannou via TKO) Tim Sylvia (7) beat Mirko Filipovic by KO in 2:37 of R2 (Blurcat: Cro Cop via KO) Grzegorz Boniek beat Aleksander Emelianenko by TKO in 1:42 of R1 (Blurcat: Boniek via KO) Sergei Kharitonov beat Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Kharitonov via TKO) Stafford Alois beat Tony McCall by TKO in 1:22 of R3 (Blurcat: McCall via KO) Rick Stanley (10) beat Randy Couture (9) by TKO in 3:45 of R1 (Blurcat: Stanley via KO) James Foster (4) beat Ben Rothwell by unanimous decision (Blurcat: Foster via KO) Junior dos Santos beat Robun Yamazaki by unanimous decision (Blurcat: dos Santos via KO) Fabrizio Werdum beat Tim Boyer by submission in 0:42 of R2 (Blurcat: Boyer via TKO) New rankings: 1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 32, Brazil, 32-4-1 (+2) 2. Hassan Fezzik, 33, Turkey, 26-0 (-) 3. James Foster, 29, USA, 17-2 (+1) 4. Brock Lesnar, 31, USA, 4-1 (NE) 5. Rick Stanley, 34, USA, 21-7-3 (+5) 6. Gunnar Nilsson, 32, Sweden, 19-3 (NE) 7. Alistair Overeem, 28, Netherlands, 30-11 (NE) 8. Tim Sylvia, 32, USA, 25-5 (-1) 9. Lefter Oktay, 30, Turkey, 7-0 (NE) 10. Stratos Papaoiannou, 33, Greece, 21-4 (NE) __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 01-02-2009 at 09:17 AM.

01-02-2009, 09:27 AM	#77
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	After a full round of UFC events, updated Pound for Pound Rankings 1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, 32, Brazil, 32-4-1, HW (+4) 2. Hassan Fezzik, 33, Turkey, 26-0, HW (-) 3. Miguel Torres, 28, USA, 35-1, Bantamweight, WEC (+3) 4. Anderson Silva, 33, Brazil, 24-4, MW (-1) 5. Eddie Alvarez, 25, USA, 16-1, LW (NE) 6. Georges St Pierre, 27, Canada, 18-2, WW (-1) 7. Forrest Griffin, 29, USA, 17-4, LHW (-) 8. James Foster, 29, USA, 17-2, HW (+2) 9. Tadamasa Yamada, 27, Japan, 14-1, LHW (NE) 10. Rampage Jackson, 30, USA, 29-7, LHW (-2) Hassan Fezzik has to be upset! He KO's the previous #1 guy, but sees Nogueria leapfrog everyone to the top spot - this adds even more spice to the UFC 10 HW title fight between the two. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 10:28 AM	#78
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Other news from around the World of Mixed Martial Arts in March 2009: Korekiyo Anzai defeated Dennis Gallagher by 4th round submission to claim the BCF Middleweight title, while Brandon Sugar won over William Powell by decision to take the BCF Lightweight belt in an excruciatingly dull match. Cage Rage also put on a show: Casey Olsen stopped Poppies Martinez in the 2nd for the Cage Rage World Lightweight belt; Stephane Dube forced Phillipe Nover to tap in their British Lightweight title fight; and Zeig Galesic KO'd Vitor Belfort in the 4th to win the Cage Rage World Middleweight championship. Raul Hughes pressed his claim for entry into the UFC by stopping Steve Mason in the 3rd round to retain the GAMMA Heavyweight belt. In an eminently fogettable fight in a non-descript event, Todd Gouwenberg won both a unanimous decision victory and the Sengoku Middleweight title. In another poor show, Gan McGee also got a unanimous decision over Bobby Hoffman in retaining the Strikeforce Heavyweight title. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 11:11 AM	#79
PilotMan Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Seven miles up	Still reading your shows. I am surprised at how balanced the two databases seem at this point. Gygax was always a pain in my shows. He would lose when he should have won, then on the verge of being kicked out, he would upset someone who should have rolled, and then charge back toward the top, only to get beaten before getting a whole lot of momentum. You are better off without him. __________________ He's just like if Snow White was competitive, horny, and capable of beating the shit out of anyone that called her Pops. Like Steam? Join the FOFC Steam group here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FOFConSteam

01-02-2009, 04:43 PM	#80
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Cool - nice to know someone's reading! Things should begin to pan out over the next couple of rounds. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-02-2009, 05:04 PM	#81
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	UFC 6 is up next, and the middleweights are back. A reminder of the rankings after UFC 1. 1. Anderson Silva, 33, Brazil 24-4 (-) 2. Gegard Mousasi, 23, Armenia, 25-2-1 (+2) 3. Nate Marquardt, 29, USA, 28-8-2 (+4) 4. Kazuo Misaki, 32, Japan, 22-8-2 (+4) 5. Fernando Amaro, 30, Spain, 16-3 (+5) 6. Denis Kang, 31, Canada, 32-10-1 (NE) 7. Paulo Filho, 30, Brazil, 17-1 (NE) 8. Yushin Okami, 27, Japan, 21-5 (-7) 9. Jerezo, 23, Brazil, 22-8 (NE) 10. Andrew Rush, 26, England, 13-0 (NE) After his loss to Davis Spyrou, Greg Atteveld was released, and unfortunately Frank Trigg has not recovered from his injury in time. So we've brought in the next two ranked MWs - Michael Bisping and Nissen Osterneck. This time out, of the seniors, only Martin Kampmann is at risk of the can if he loses, but he did not get a good draw... Cale Yarbrough's spot on the development roster is also on the line. UFC Middleweight Title Anderson Silva, 24-4 (1) v. Gegard Mousasi, 25-2-1 (2) (Blurcat: Silva via decision) Title Eliminator Fernando Amaro, 16-3 (5) v. Kazuo Misaki, 22-8-2 (4) (Blurcat: Amaro via TKO) Mal Phe Roby, 10-2 v. Denis Kang, 32-10-1 (6) (Blurcat: Kang via TKO) Andrew Rush, 13-0 (10) v. Nate Marquardt, 28-8-2 (3) (Blurcat: Rush via KO) Haranobu Oshiro, 10-2-1 v. Paolo Filho, 17-1 (7) (Blurcat: Filho via TKO) Davis Spyrou, 12-4 v. Jorge Hermazabal, 13-5 (Blurcat: Spyrou via TKO) Bixente Fontaine, 10-3 v. Stuart Strange, 9-3 (Blurcat: Strange via TKO) Jerezo, 22-8 (9) v. Tucker Plumm, 14-7 (Blurcat: Plumm via TKO) Martin Kampmann, 13-3 v. Yushin Okami, 21-5 (8) (Blurcat: Okami via TKO) Matthew Dean, 10-3 v. Yoshihiro Akiyama, 12-2 (Blurcat: Dean via submission) Matt Lindland, 21-6 v. Maarten de Vries, 13-5 (Blurcat: de Vries via KO) Robbie Lawler, 18-5 v. Carl Ratcliffe, 8-4 (Blurcat: Lawler via KO) Michael Bisping, 18-1 v. Jason Miller, 23-7 (Blurcat: Bisping via TKO) Benji Radach, 19-5 v. Thales Leites, 14-2 (Blurcat: Leites via TKO) Nissen Osterneck, 6-1 v. Jorge Santiago, 20-8 (Blurcat: Santiago via KO) Dokouhtei Kuroki, 13-9 v. Dan Halvorsen, 22-12-2 (Blurcat: Halvorsen via TKO) __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 01-04-2009 at 12:06 PM.

01-03-2009, 01:52 PM	#82
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	'The Hitman' Martin Kampmann, 26, Aarhus, Denmark, 13-3 v. Yushin Okami, 27, Kanagawa, Japan, 21-5 (8) (Blurcat: Okami via TKO) Code: Kampmann: 12.08 UFC1 lost to Stuart Strange decision Okami: 12.08 UFC1 (2) lost to Anderson Silva (1) decision This is an intriguing matchup – Okami looking to rebuild after his loss to Anderson Silva, while Kampmann must win to keep his job... The 1st sees Okami look dangerous with stand-up, before getting a takedown from when he cements the round. The Hitman starts the 2nd with more vigour, but again gets taken down and suffers from Okami's G&P. If the Dane is to keep his job, he needs a remarkable turnaround... Kampmann does improve, getting some good shots in that cause sweeling above Okami's eye, but it's not enough to end the fight, and Okami wins 29-28 on all three cards. The Hitman is outta here! Haranobu Oshiro, 25, Hiroshima, 10-2-1 v. Paolo Filho, 30, Rio de Janeiro, 17-1 (7) (Blurcat: Filho via TKO) Code: Oshiro: 12.08 UFN beat Carl Ratcliffe decision Filho: Belts Held: WEC MW: 2007-8, 1 defence, vacated 12.08 UFN beat Jason Miller submission R2 Although both fighters won last time out, there is little buzz about this fight. However it could be decent – neither has a particularly good stand-up game, and match up well on the ground. Not much happens in either of the first two rounds: the fight does not go to ground once, and it's probably even going into the last... Round 3 The two fighters circle. Filho flicks out a couple of jabs, then an unconventinal looping right hand. Oshiro easily side-steps it, but trips and falls to the ground! He is up quickly, before Filho could get in. Replays confirm that it was purely a stumble, the punch was well wide of the mark. Oshiro 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, Filho is a little rattled. They struggle in the clinch, both throwing small punches to the back and ribs. The referee separates them. Filho forces Oshiro back up against the cage, and starts throwing jabs. He looks to be keeping Oshiro in position, waiting to unload a big punch. Filho does, lunging in with a huge right cross, but Oshiro saw it coming and goes underneath it, scoring with a right hand to the gut on the way past. Filho turns and tries to follow up immediately, but gets tagged with a wicked left hook that drops him to one knee. Filho is up quickly, causing Oshiro, who was about to dive in, to back off. Replays show that the punch connected, but Filho was already going downward to duck the punch, so it wasn't as powerful as first thought. Filho throws a high kick, but it doesn't do anything but cause Oshiro to step back. The time expires without anything further of note happening. That's the end of the round. Blurcat.com gives that one to Oshiro by 10-9. The official scores are in; two judges give 29-28, the other 30-27, all for Haranobu Oshiro. Something of a surprise, both in the result and the fact that this turned out to be a stand-up fight. 'The Anarchist' Matthew Dean, 26, San Jose, 10-3 v. Yoshihiro Akiyama, 33, Osaka, 12-2 (Blurcat: Dean via submission) Code: Dean: Belts Held: ALHPA MW: 2008, 1 defence, vacated 12.08 UFC1 lost to Bixente Fontaine decision Akiyama: 12.08 UFC1 (9) lost to Mal Phe Roby decision Another two fighters with not great stand-up, but dean has a big advantage on the ground. Round 1 Akiyama hits some tentative punches, then comes in fast and forces Dean to back up against the cage, where they clinch. Akiyama hits a nice body shot, but takes two short punches to the side of the head in return. Dean tries a trip, but it doesn't go anywhere. They separate, with Akiyama having to stay sharp to avoid a scorching right hand from Dean. They come together, both throwing punches. Akiyama gets a nice clean shot in, and Dean stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. Akiyama is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. Official time of the TKO is 3:28 of the first. Akiyama reasserts himself over a dangerous opponent, and the ex-ALPHA champ must win next time out. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 01-04-2009 at 02:00 PM.

01-03-2009, 01:56 PM	#83
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	'The Spartan' Davis Spyrou, 26, London, 12-4 v. Jorge Hermazabal, 28, Santiago, Chile, 13-5 (Blurcat: Spyrou via TKO) Code: Spyrou: 12.08 UFC1 beat Greg Atteveld TKO R1 Hermazabal: Belts Held: ALPHA MW: 2006-8, 3 defences 12.08 UFN beat Dan Halvorsen TKO R1 Both fighters finished their previous bouts quickly, and they match up pretty closely – this is a tough fight to call. The Chilean wins the first via his speed and counter-punching, and the 2nd follows a similar pattern. Can Spyrou find a way to steal this fight? Round 3 A touch of gloves to start the round, and we're underway. Spyrou lets rip with a vicious straight right almost immediately, but it's easily avoided. Hormazabal sneaks a jab through the guard and catches Spyrou 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 Hormazabal manages to get the better position, pushing Spyrou up against the cage. Right hand to the ribs from Hormazabal. Spyrou 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. Hormazabal tries a knee of his own, but that is the opportunity that Spyrou was waiting for and he sweeps the standing leg to take Hormazabal down to the ground, in side control. Excellent takedown. Hormazabal covers up to defend against a pair of back-hand blows, and even manages to sneak a knee strike in. Spyrou hits a big elbow to the ribs, Hormazabal definitely felt that. Spyrou drives a knee to the near side, then attempts to float-over into a mount. Hormazabal brought his legs in though, and manages to pull guard. Spyrou will be disappointed with that. He tries to get a big punch in, but Hormazabal defends it well and gets a hold of both arms. The fight grinds to a halt, with Spyrou unable to generate any attacks, and Hormazabal unwilling to give up a good defensive position. The referee stands them up. Spyrou 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. Blurcat.com has it down as 10-9 Spyrou. The official scores are in; two judges give 29-28, the other 30-27, all for Jorge Hormazabal. Matt 'The Law' Lindland, 38, Oregon City, 21-6 v. Maarten 'The Executioner' de Vries, 28, Amsterdam, 13-5 (Blurcat: de Vries via KO) Code: Lindland: 12.08 UFC1 lost to Nate Marquardt (7) KO R3 de Vries: Belts Held: GAMMA MW: 2007-8, 2 defences 12.08 UFC1 lost to Andrew Rush KO R2 Classic striker v. grappler – if the fight stays standing de Vries will win, if Lindland gets the fight to the ground he is a heavy favourite. Round 1 Lindland leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, De Vries 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. De Vries uses a knee to the ribs before backing Lindland up against the cage. Right hand from Lindland connects though, that was well timed. De Vries breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Lindland was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from De Vries sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Lindland fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. The two fighters come together in the center. Lindland leads with a left, but De Vries easily avoids it and comes in close to throw some body shots. It all gets a bit scrappy, but it ends with De Vries falling to the ground. Replays show that Lindland did catch him with a jab, but it clearly did very little damage, De Vries had already stumbled while taking a step backward. Regardless of how it happened though, De Vries is down, and Lindland is quick to rush in to capitalise. Lindland has a good position, half-straddling the upper body of De Vries, and can pick his shots. A hard right thunders into the left cheek of De Vries, and a left hits the same spot. De Vries turns his hips, looking to try and shake Lindland loose, but gets turned over completely and gives up his back! Lindland starts punching again, driving fists into the side of De Vries's face. De Vries is trapped, and can barely cover up. A few more punches connect, one vicious one to the ear looking particularly nasty, and that's enough for the referee to pull Lindland away. Official time of the TKO is 4:24 of the first. Jerezo, 23, Brasilia, 22-8 (9) v. 'Quiet Riot' Tucker Plumm, 29, London, 14-7 (Blurcat: Plumm via TKO) Code: Jerezo: Belts Held: ALPHA MW: 2008, 0 defences 12.08 UFN beat Dokhuotei Kuroki decision Plumm: Belts Held: BCF LW: 2008, 0 defences 12.08 UFC1 beat Benji Radach decision Much as it pains me to say, I disagre with the line here – IMO Plumm is overmatched, and he only wins if he lands a lucky punch. Round 1 Jerezo leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Plumm 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. Plumm uses a knee to the ribs before backing Jerezo up against the cage. Right hand from Jerezo connects though, that was well timed. Plumm breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Jerezo was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Plumm sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Jerezo fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Jerezo makes Plumm 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. Jerezo throws another two punches, both to the body, then steps back to avoid an uppercut. Plumm lets fly with a scorching punch though, and it catches Jerezo by surprise, putting him down! Plumm follows up and starts raining down right hands. Jerezo covers up as best he can, but it's not enough as the referee pulls Plumm off, the match is over. Official time of the TKO is 3:31 of the first. And there it was! Wow – the Plummster moves up another level __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 01-03-2009 at 02:01 PM.

01-03-2009, 02:05 PM	#84
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Bixente Fontaine, 26, Paris, France, 10-3 v. 'Superstar' Stuart Strange, 26, Durham, North Carolina, 9-3 (Blurcat: Strange via TKO) Code: Fontaine: 12.08 UFC1 beat Matthew Dean decision Strange: 12.08 UFC1 beat Martin Kampmann decision Again, striker v. grappler, with the added x-factor that Strange, the grappler, has a reputation of being easy to KO... The first sees Strange get the takedown, but fail to finish the fight. The second starts with the American immediately getting the fight to the ground, but Fontaine shows surprising defensive skills. Even so, he needs to land a big punch to get the W now... Round 3 Slow start to this round, Fontaine is being tentative and Strange looks like he is waiting for an angle to appear. The first exchange of strikes doesn't really go anywhere. A second set falls in Fontaine's favour, as he gets a nice jab in, hitting right above the nose, and a solid shot to the body. Strange goes in for a takedown but only manages to secure one leg. Fontaine hammers down two shots to the back, but can't really do a lot else. Strange tries to push him over onto his back, but Fontaine manages to pull free and back off. Strange throws a high left handed jab then goes in for another takedown. Good sprawl from Fontaine, and he backs off. Strange doesn't get a chance to go for a third, because Fontaine takes the fight to him with a barrage of lefts and rights, forcing him back against the cage. Fontaine clinches up, only after hitting a hard shot to the stomach though. The clinch seems to go on forever, with Strange unable to get a good enough position to try a takedown, and Fontaine tied up too much to really throw any decent strikes. Eventually the time runs out and they head back to their corners. End of the round. Blurcat.com sees it 10-9 to Fontaine. All three judges give a score of 29-28 in favour of Stuart Strange. 'Ruthless' Robbie Lawler, 27, San Diego, 18-5 v. 'Mr Awesome' Carl Ratcliffe, 26, Athens, Georgia, 8-4 (Blurcat: Lawler via KO) Code: Lawler: Belts Held: ICON MW: 2005-6, 1 defence ICON MW: 2007-8, 0 defences, vacated EliteXC MW: 2007-8, 1 defence, vacated 12.08 UFC1 (3) lost to Denis Kang submission R3 Ratcliffe: 12.08 UFN lost to Haranobu Oshiro decision This is a fight likely to stay on its feet – both are strikers, and Lawler will be keen to kickstart his career. A very poor 1st: Lawler probably gets the nod just through coming forward, but really nothing happened. Round 2 Ratcliffe doesn't waste any time and throws two jabs to the face, but Lawler easily side-steps both and circles to the left. Lawler throws a head fake, then comes in fast from an angle with a looping punch, but misses and takes a glancing shot to the shoulder from a left hand counter. Ratcliffe ducks a right hand, but steps forward right into a brutal left cross! Lawler put so much power on that swing that he almost floored himself. Ratcliffe goes down, stunned. Lawler dives on top and starts punching away, landing several big shots. The referee has seen enough, and pulls Lawler off, ending the match. Lawler wins via second round TKO at 1:35. 'The Demon from Derbyshire' Andrew Rush, 26, Derbyshire, England, 13-0 (10) v. Nate 'The Great' Marquardt, 29, Lander, Wyoming, 28-8-2 (3) (Blurcat: Rush via KO) Code: Rush: Belts Held: BCF MW: 2008, 1 defence, vacated 12.08 UFC1 beat Maarten de Vries KO R2 Marquardt: 12.08 UFC1 (7) beat Matt Lindland KO R3 Again, I have to be semi-traitorous and go against the Brit here: Marquardt has too much for me against Rush, and I think he will win it on the ground. Hopefully I will be as right/wrong as I was with Tucker Plumm... Unfortunately the first round suggests I'm not, as Nate The Great gets two takedowns and clearly has an edge. Two more takedowns in the second, and it does look like Rush's ground deficiencies are being ruthlessly exploited... Round 3 Dull first sixty seconds to the round, as neither fighter looks willing to commit much to attack. They're both looking for angles to come in from, but they're constantly countering each other. A crisp jab from Rush that almost found its way through the guard is the sole highlight as we reach the minute mark. About thirty seconds pass without any contact, and the crowd become a little restless. Marquardt ducks out of the way of a punch, then back steps quickly, just in time to avoid the uppercut that was coming. Better from Rush, although no damage has actually been done yet. A brief exchange of jabs only serves to get them into a clinch, right next to the cage. The referee positions himself to watch for illegal punches. Marquardt turns his hips and suddenly turns sharply, taking the legs out from under Rush. They smash into the ground at speed, but that doesn't stop Rush pulling guard, preventing Marquardt from gaining side control, which was what he was aiming for. Marquardt passes guard without too much trouble, and cracks Rush with a hard punch to the cheek. Rush tries to scramble into a better position without dropping his guard against another punch, but can't, and Marquardt maneuvers so that he has one knee planted on Rush's chest, keeping him from rolling. Marquardt quickly secures the left arm and transitions into a tight arm bar. Rush has no way out, he taps. Official time of the armbar submission is 2:45 of the third round. A first defeat for the sheep-shagger (oh, how quickly I turn!), and Marquardt further enhances his reputation __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 01-04-2009 at 02:11 PM.

01-03-2009, 02:07 PM	#85
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Mal Phe Roby, 31, Sumatra, 10-2 v. Denis Kang, 31, Saint Pierre & Michelon, 32-10-1 (6) (Blurcat: Kang via TKO) Code: Roby: 12.08 UFC1 beat Yoshihiro Akiyama (9) decision Kang: 12.08 UFC1 beat Robbie Lawler (3) submission R3 Kang knocked off the number 3 ranked fighter Robbie Lawler last time out, and I see him taking care of business again here: although he is a submission fighter, the difference here will be his stand up. Kang wins the first via a takedown and couple of submission attempts. Round 2 Roby leads with the right hand to set up a low kick, Kang 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. Kang uses a knee to the ribs before backing Roby up against the cage. Right hand from Roby connects though, that was well timed. Kang breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Roby was basically gifted a free shot. Three quick jabs from Kang sting the gloves, then a crashing hook to the body finds its mark. Good recovery. Roby fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. They come together, both throwing punches. Kang gets a nice clean shot in, and Roby stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. Kang is on top of him quickly, and unloads with two more big punches, both connect solidly. The referee jumps in and pulls him away before a third is thrown, this match is over by TKO. Replays show the referee may have been slightly early. Official time of the TKO is 4:54 of the second round. I'm beginning to look like a genius with my predictions for this event (all genuinely written beforehand) – the counter-argument would be my comments for the previous 10! Title Eliminator Fernando Amaro, 31, Madrid, 16-3 (5) v. 'Grabaka Hitman' Kazuo Misaki, 32, Chiba, Japan, 22-8-2 (4) (Blurcat: Amaro via TKO) Code: Amaro: Belts Held: GAMMA MW: 2006-7, 2 defences 12.08 UFC1 (10) beat Frank Trigg (6) TKO R1 Misaki: 12.08 UFC1 (8) beat Jorge Santiago TKO R1 Another well-matched contest: my money's staying in my wallet on this one! Amaro gets two takedowns in the 1st, but the referee stands them up both times – nevertheless the Spaniard should have won the round. Round 2 Right hand from Amaro was thrown with power, but bounced off the gloves of Misaki. Amaro follows up by coming in close, but Misaki is ready with a straight right hand that glances off the side of the head. They exchange punches. Amaro hits a nice jab just above the left eye, but takes a hard punch to the cheek at the same time. Amaro momentarily loses his footing and drops his hands, that shot having really rung his bell. Misaki shoots off another right hand to capitalise, and this time it's the killer blow, Amaro falls back and crash-lands on the floor, he was out cold from the instant that punch hit. A knock out victory for Misaki. The official time of the knock out is 1:38 of round 2. UFC Middleweight Title Anderson 'The Spider' Silva, 33, Curitaba, Brazil, 24-4 (1) v. Gegard 'Yerevan' Mousasi, 23, Yerevan, Armenia, 25-2-1 (2) (Blurcat: Silva via decision) Code: Silva: Belts Held: UFC MW: 2006-present, 5 defences 12.08 UFC1 (1) beat Yushin OKami (2) decision Mousasi: Belts Held: DREAM MW: 2008, 0 defences, vacated 12.08 UFC1 (4) beat Thales Leites (5) TKO R2 On the face of it, Mousasi's only chance is to get a takedown and control Silva from the top position. If it goes any other way, the Brazilian wins – however, there is always the chance... Round 1 Mousasi 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 Mousasi up against the cage. Right hand from Mousasi connects though, that was well timed. Silva breaks the clinch and backs off. That was sloppy on his part, Mousasi 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. Mousasi fires off a low kick again, but it's well wide. Mousasi hits a stinging right hand, Silva felt it too. Mousasi moves in to follow up, but Silva anticipated it well and scores with a massive kick. Mousasi is stunned, and stumbles to the ground. Silva is on top of him almost right away, and fires off a series of punches. Mousasi covers up, barely, but a lot of shots are getting through. The referee decides that enough is enough, and pulls Silva off, it's a TKO victory. The official time of the TKO is 3:26 of round 1. Anderson Silva successfully retains the UFC Middleweight title. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! Last edited by AlexB : 01-04-2009 at 02:06 PM.

01-03-2009, 02:09 PM	#86
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Fight of the Night honours go to Davis Spyrou v. Jorge Hermazabal, KO of the Night to Kazuo Misaki and Submission of the Night to Nate Marqardt. Despite the win, Robbie Lawler picked up a pec injury, but he should only be out for 5-6 weeks. Andrew Rush hurt his knee, and is out for a similar length of time. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

01-04-2009, 09:10 AM	#87
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	And so onto Ultimate Fight to round off the second round of middleweight action... 'The Everlasting' Tuck Durdell, 18, Snow Lake, Manitoba, 1-0 v. Brandon 'Sweet Dreams' Sene, 27, Bozeman, Montana, 2-2 Blurcat: Durdell via TKO Code: Durdell: 12.08 UFN beat Brandon Sene decision Sene: 12.08 UFN lost to Tuck Durdell decision Such is the system that this is a possibility, and Sene and Durdell draw each other for a second consecutive time. There's no reason to think that the result will any different this time around. Dudell gets Sene down in the first, gets half mount and tries a couple of submissions. Although Sene initiates a takedown in the second, Durdell rolls through to end in top position, from where it's a carbon copy of the first. Sweet Dreams is struggling again in this rematch: the third is no different, and sees some pretty tepid stand-up. Once again Durdell wins a decision, this time getting 30-27 from all three judges. Cale Yarbrough, 22, Marietta, Georgia, 0-2 v. Nick Catone, 28, Lawrenceville, NJ, 5-1 Blurcat: Catone via KO Code: Yarbrough: 12.08 UFN lost to Cooper Richardson TKO R3 Catone: 12.08 UFN lost to Amir Sadollah TKO R2 Neither fighter is likely to graduate from the developmental squad, but Catone probably has the edge: if that is the result Yarbrough will be released. But the at-risk Yarbrough dominates the 1st via superior stand-up. This time he continues his dominance, and rocks Catone in the 2nd. Like the opener, the final round is pretty poor, and Yarbrough saves his skin, winning 29-28 (twice) and 30-27. 'Super Cooper' Cooper Richardson, 25, Chicago, 1-0 v. 'Alley Cat' Leroy Thompson, 18, Myrtle Beach, California, 0-0 Blurcat: Thompson via TKO Code: Richardson: 12.08 UFN beat Cale Yarbrough TKO R3 Thompson is young, but is showing promise. He makes his debut tonight against the only fighter to walk out to ABBA... The rookie bullies Super Cooper in the first, while the second is much tamer, and pretty even. The third shows the difference in the respective levels of the fighters – Thompson can afford to showboat in winning his first pro fight 30-27 on all three cards 'Thunder & Lightning' Tyler Lass, 21, San Diego, 0-1 v. Nick Klein, 24, Sun Prairie, 3-1 Blurcat: Lass via decision Code: Lass: 12.08 UFN lost to Adam white TKO R2 Klein: 12.08 UFN lost to Bristol Marunde KO R5 Despite losing out last time, Lass is considered to be a prospect. His last opponent was Adam White, who is potentially one of the future stars of the division – Klein is not and I think Lass will even up his record. Not much happens in the opener, but in the 2nd Lass looks like he is trying to kick Klein literally out of the cage. As he had so much success with this tactic, Lass repeats the trick in the 3rd, and Klein will likely be limping for some time – Lass goes to 1-1, winning 30-27 in the eyes of all three judges. __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!