July 2, 2011
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George Sotiropoulos def. Rafael dos Anjos
Unanimous Decision | 5:00 | Round 3
Decent
. . . 
Shane Roller def. Melvin Guillard
TKO | 4:05 | Round 1
Decent
After the exciting Facebook preliminaries, the two fights on Spike had a lot to live up to. It's safe to say they did, I suppose. Neither one was all too exciting, but they sure weren't snooze-fests. Both exhibited very good technical skills by the victors.
The first was a Lightweight contest between two very tough competitors that were surprisingly not on the main card. George Sotiropoulos and Rafael dos Anjos. Round one opened with pure domination by the Aussie. Sotiropoulos landed strikes at will, and countered everything dos Anjos threw at him for the first minute, before taking him down, and working his methodical transitions from guard, to half-guard, to side control, to mount. From here, he went for an armbar to ensure the early finish, but dos Anjos wasn't going to allow it to be that easy, so he rolled Sotiropoulos over and fought off the submission attempt to land himself on top in side control. From here, he didn't do much of anything besides fend off the Australian's sloppy attempts to secure an arm. This led to the referee standing the fighters back up only to have dos Anjos be taken down again, and immediately side-mounted as the round ended.
Round two was a technical submission clinic. The round began with Sotiropoulos countering a flurry with a right hand, knocking dos Anjos off-balance, and shooting for a takedown. As soon as the floor hit the mat, the two Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts pulled out everything they had. First, dos Anjos attempted a triangle choke from the bottom. Sotiropoulos countered that by rolling dos Anjos to he could land in side control and attempt a kimoura. After that failed, dos Anjos rolled under and attempted a heel hook, which was equalled by Sotiropoulos. That transitioned into a kneebar attempt by dos Anjos, where he not only couldn't get it, but found himself in a Sambo leg lock. After fighting that off, a tired Sotiropoulos rolled over and regained side control. With seconds left in the round, he passed to mount but couldn't do anything with it.
Round three was nothing unlike the second. This time, however, Rafael dos Anjos shot in for the takedown and got it. It was pretty clear that round two had gassed out Sotiropoulos, so he was more in a defensive mode, willing to ride out the third to get a decision victory. He did however attempt plenty of submissions from the bottom. These included two armbars, a triangle, and a kimoura. dos Anjos had much more success with his multiple attempts however. George Sotiropoulos found himself in two very deep armbars, which he had to pull of crazy sweeps in order to get out of. It is very apparent that Sotiropoulos may have the best hips in MMA. With less than thirty seconds left in the round, dos Anjos was able to secure the back of Sotiropoulos, but his rear naked choke attempt was fended off until the final bell. The judges all gave Sotiropoulos the win 29-28.
The next fight, another at Lightweight was one that could easily headline a Fight Night on Spike. It was between two fighters 'in the mix', Melvin Guillard and Shane Roller. Guillard comes in the heavy favorite, but Roller proved himself a much harder opponent than previously thought. Round one began with Melving throwing five and six punch combos at the wrestler, while also shrugging off his only takedown attempt. The bad thing, nothing was hitting. Roller's elusiveness improved drastically since his last fight, as virtually nothing hit him for four minutes. The only problem was he wasn't throwing...I mean he couldn't throw back. Finally, Melvin threw a huge combo, leaving himself wide open for Roller to hit a huge hook, dropping the favorite. Guillard looked lost as Roller landed two, three, four more, ending the fight at the 4:05 mark.
The first was a Lightweight contest between two very tough competitors that were surprisingly not on the main card. George Sotiropoulos and Rafael dos Anjos. Round one opened with pure domination by the Aussie. Sotiropoulos landed strikes at will, and countered everything dos Anjos threw at him for the first minute, before taking him down, and working his methodical transitions from guard, to half-guard, to side control, to mount. From here, he went for an armbar to ensure the early finish, but dos Anjos wasn't going to allow it to be that easy, so he rolled Sotiropoulos over and fought off the submission attempt to land himself on top in side control. From here, he didn't do much of anything besides fend off the Australian's sloppy attempts to secure an arm. This led to the referee standing the fighters back up only to have dos Anjos be taken down again, and immediately side-mounted as the round ended.
Round two was a technical submission clinic. The round began with Sotiropoulos countering a flurry with a right hand, knocking dos Anjos off-balance, and shooting for a takedown. As soon as the floor hit the mat, the two Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts pulled out everything they had. First, dos Anjos attempted a triangle choke from the bottom. Sotiropoulos countered that by rolling dos Anjos to he could land in side control and attempt a kimoura. After that failed, dos Anjos rolled under and attempted a heel hook, which was equalled by Sotiropoulos. That transitioned into a kneebar attempt by dos Anjos, where he not only couldn't get it, but found himself in a Sambo leg lock. After fighting that off, a tired Sotiropoulos rolled over and regained side control. With seconds left in the round, he passed to mount but couldn't do anything with it.
Round three was nothing unlike the second. This time, however, Rafael dos Anjos shot in for the takedown and got it. It was pretty clear that round two had gassed out Sotiropoulos, so he was more in a defensive mode, willing to ride out the third to get a decision victory. He did however attempt plenty of submissions from the bottom. These included two armbars, a triangle, and a kimoura. dos Anjos had much more success with his multiple attempts however. George Sotiropoulos found himself in two very deep armbars, which he had to pull of crazy sweeps in order to get out of. It is very apparent that Sotiropoulos may have the best hips in MMA. With less than thirty seconds left in the round, dos Anjos was able to secure the back of Sotiropoulos, but his rear naked choke attempt was fended off until the final bell. The judges all gave Sotiropoulos the win 29-28.
The next fight, another at Lightweight was one that could easily headline a Fight Night on Spike. It was between two fighters 'in the mix', Melvin Guillard and Shane Roller. Guillard comes in the heavy favorite, but Roller proved himself a much harder opponent than previously thought. Round one began with Melving throwing five and six punch combos at the wrestler, while also shrugging off his only takedown attempt. The bad thing, nothing was hitting. Roller's elusiveness improved drastically since his last fight, as virtually nothing hit him for four minutes. The only problem was he wasn't throwing...I mean he couldn't throw back. Finally, Melvin threw a huge combo, leaving himself wide open for Roller to hit a huge hook, dropping the favorite. Guillard looked lost as Roller landed two, three, four more, ending the fight at the 4:05 mark.
. . . George Sotiropoulos def. Rafael dos Anjos
Unanimous Decision | 5:00 | Round 3
Decent
. . . Shane Roller def. Melvin Guillard
TKO | 4:05 | Round 1
Decent
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