Lightweight Lightning Results

First of all, this was one of the best all-round boxing cards I’d watched in a long while. All four fights were good matchups and produced memorable fights. This reminded me of a UFC card that lacked a proven name but had a card full of good fights on it. I’d really like to see more of this in the future and with the competition MMA provides boxing these days I think there’s a good chance of it.

Edwin Valero KO2 Antonio Pitalua
Valero made his lightweight debut a successful one, but really did it tell us anything about him we didn’t already know? Fair enough, Pitalua was a solid contender and to knock him out in the 2nd round is a good performance, but I’m not completely sold on Valero yet. We know he can hit hard, but what happens when he can’t land his shots like he’s used to? What happens when he takes a good one on the chin in return? Joan Guzman is the guy I’d like to see Valero in the ring with to answer some of these questions (thats if Guzman can make 135lbs).

Michael Katsidis TKO7 Jesus Chavez
I was sort of right about Chavez, except he had a bit more early on then I anticipated. Katsidis showed little if any improvement and will still struggle against someone who can either box well or go 12 rounds at a good pace. Chavez likely would have beaten Katsidis if he was four years younger and he likely would have won easily. Katsidis needs to ditch his trainer and find a good US trainer if he wants to take it to the next level and he has the potential to do that, but most of the Australian trainers are too far behind the US trainers plus the lack of quality sparring down here will make it hard to Katsidis to be able to beat the Juan Diaz’s or Casamayor’s of the division.

Vicente Escobedo W10 Carlos Hernandez
This fight was certainly a sleeper and I don’t think anyone had any idea it would turn out to be the scrap it was. Even in his advanced boxing age, Hernandez is a game son of a bitch and despite the early knockdowns (that did have him hurt badly) he continued to press forward and deliver hard shots. I really thought the scorecards should have been closer then what they were, but Escobedo was the rightful winner. Hernandez should retire as he’ll likely end up a punching bag for up and comers if he continues on and the mans had a solid career. He’s fought some of the best fighters of the last 20 years like Mayweather, Morales and Genaro Hernandez. I’m not sure what to make of Escobedo. I doubt he stands up to some of the better punchers in the division. Him vs Katsidis might make a good co main event for a big PPV later in the year.

Rolando Reyes KO5 Julio Diaz
Not sure what happened for Diaz but this could end his career as a top 10 contender in this division. Reyes shocked everyone but himself with that 5th round as he was getting beaten comfortably until the stoppage. I’m not sure if Diaz had an off night or didn’t prepare or just simply got caught (I’m assuming the later) but with the talent in this division, a loss like that hurts him a lot.

Other Results from the weekend
Timothey Bradley unified the WBC and WBO titles after surviving two knockdowns (one in the first, one in the last rounds) against Kendall Holt to win a close 12 round decision. Neither guy impressed me too much mainly because Bradley looked shaky when under fire and Holt rarely fired enough to win the fight. I had Bradley winning by two points (114-112) but I haven’t got a scorecard handy to post up. If I was Bradley, I’d be staying away from the likes or Urango, Torres let alone Hatton or Pacquiao as he’s just not ready to handle big punchers like them. Librado Andrade won easily by 12 round decision over Vitali Tsypko on the undercard.
Alexander Povetkin won his tuneup with Jason Estrada and is set to take on Wladimir Klitschko (should he beat David Haye in June) at the end of the year. I haven’t seen the fight but apparently he didn’t look capable of beating Wlad at this stage. I think another fight for him in the meantime would be a good idea as the end of the year is a while off and a guy a bit above Estrada’s level would be ideal to give him some more solid rounds to keep him sharp for Klitschko.

Marquez KOs Diaz in war

In a fight that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the field for 2009 fight of the year, World Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez made his 1st defence a successful one with a 9th round KO win over Juan Diaz. Diaz attacked with his trademark relentless aggression from the bell and continualy backed Marquez against the ropes. Marquez used his excellent counter punches to keep Diaz honest, but it was the former WBA/WBO/IBF champion Diaz who was in control early. Midway through the 2nd round Diaz rocked the champion with a peach of a left hook that would have dropped lesser men and then followed it up with a four punch combination that landed flush on Marquez’s head. Marquez showed the chin and determination of a ring legend and fired straight back, ending the round on even terms. Still, Diaz was in front in a fight that had both men firing away with nearly (sometimes over) 100 punches a round each!

Marquez started to find his range more frequently in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Using a left uppercut to follow his cross, Marquez found his mark whenever Diaz was on the outside. Diaz still had plenty of success by backing up Marquez but the champion seemed to be landing the harder blows. Marquez appeared to either slow down or just take the round off in the 5th, as Diaz outworked the older man. Marquez fought well off the ropes, but was struggling to match the pace of the 23 year old challenger. Diaz cut Marquez over his troublesome right eye in the 6th round and continued to launch a two fisted assault against the champion on the ropes but Marquez never looked in trouble or weakened by the younger mans assault and continued to land heavily with his own right crosses and left uppercuts.

With the scorecards getting wider in favour of Diaz, Marquez stepped up a gear in the 7th and began catching Diaz with incrediblly accurate combinations in the 7th round. Countering Diaz’s jab with his right hand, Marquez used the punch to set up three and four punch combinations that were catching ‘the Baby Bull’ more and more. In the 8th round, Marquez opened a cut on Diaz’s right cheek before rocking Diaz with a blistering right hand towards the end of the round. With Diaz hurt for the first time in the fight, Marquez jumped on him and let his hands go, scoring with combinations to the head and (sometimes) body. Diaz survived the round, but the momentum was with Marquez heading into the late rounds.

Marquez didn’t give Diaz a chance to recover and jumped on him early in the 9th. A counter right hand midway through the round off a Diaz jab again rocked the challenger. Marquez threw and landed a five punch combination which forced Diaz to the deck for the first knockdown of the night. Diaz beat the count but his legs didn’t appear there and Marquez was ready to finish him. Two combinations, the second ending with a flush uppercut put Diaz down and out. The referee didn’t bother with the count and crowned Marquez at 2:40 of the 9th round. With the win, Marquez adds the WBA and WBO titles to his Ring Magazine belt (Casamayor previously held the WBC title but was robbed of it, the man he beat, Diego Corrales, previously held the WBO title as well and the man he beat, Jose Luis Castillo, previously held the IBF belt as well) after former titlist Nate Campbell lost the titles at the scales.

The win also puts Marquez in strong contention for the number one pound for pound spot. While I don’t agree with the ranking, I think it’s definately plausible as I thought Marquez won the fight against Pacquiao as well as his solid competition since the split decision loss to the Phillipino last March. Still, I feel you have to count the fight on the basis of the judges decision, plus Pacquiao had a solid resume’ before Marquez which seems to be forgotten by a lot of his haters. Should Pacquiao dethrone Hatton I don’t think there’ll be any question as to who the top fighter is. Still, a third fight between the two makes huge sense at this point. Can anyone remember anytime where the top two pound for pound fighters in the sport fought one another?

I’m yet to watch the Chris John-Ricardo Juarez fight. It may not happen for a while but when it does I’ll put up my scorecard as I hear it was quite a debatable decision.

Darchinyan retains titles, stops Arce in 11

WBC-WBA-IBF Junior Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan successfully defended his titles and moved closer to a place among the top pound for pound fighters in the World with an 11th round stoppage over former Junior Flyweight Champion and pound for pound contender Jorge Arce. The fight was stopped after 11 rounds due to cuts on Arce’s eyes. After Darchinyan took control of the fight in the first two rounds, Arce responded by hurting the champion in the 3rd round. Darchinyan fired back and the 3rd and 4th rounds were full of action as Arce hurt Darchinyan only to be hurt back by the champions feared punching power.

After rocking Arce with an uppercut in the 4th, the fight became one way traffic as Arce tried valiantly to get back into the fight but was simply outmatched. Darchinyan mixed up the set ups for his combinations, sometimes circling and sometimes stalking the Mexican but always landing with hard power. Although Arce had success with his left hook, he didn’t have any answer for ‘The Raging Bull’s’ firepower. The end came after another cut (which looked to be caused by Arce’s head colliding with the ropes) forced the doctor to stop the fight after the 11th round.

While the fight was good, it didn’t live up to the hype us hardcore fans were giving it over the years. I think this had a lot to do with Arce not being able to wage the war he wanted because he was outgunned by Darchinyans power. Vic had a huge size advantage and his frame would probably suit even 122lbs whereas Arce is really at the highest weight he can be world class in. Darchinyan looked good and now that he’s added some more technique to his overpowering style it will take a strong effort to end his reign. The only marks on his career come at the hands of Z Gorres and Nonito Donaire. I’d be heading wherever I had to to see Vic fight either of those guys (or any live opponent) should it take place in Australia. Forget Mundine and all his crap, Darchinyan is the face of Australian boxing even if the moronic Australian sports media don’t give him much attention.

Lauzon submits Stephens at Fight Night

Joe Lauzon Sub2 Jeremy Stephens (Armbar)
Even though Stephens ground game is pretty average I was impressed a lot by Lauzon. He used some unorthodox but effective takedowns and guard pulls (including flying leglock attempts) to get Stephens where he wanted him and worked his ground game effectively. The armbar finish from Lauzon was great and he’s definately one to watch in the 155lb division. Credit to Stephens though for hanging in there with Lauzon on a limited preparation.

Cain Velasquez TKO2 Denis Stojnic (Referee stoppage)
Velasquez is in a lose lose situation fighting a guy like Stojnic. Sure he won by one sided beatdown, but thats what he was supposed to do. Stojnic doesn’t belong in the UFC let alone on a main card against a rising star. Velasquez needs to be in there with someone like Heath Herring who will make him work for the win (and may even beat him) or else he won’t be learning as much as he needs to. Velasquez vs Herring is a main card pay per view fight and one that I think should be booked as soon as both guys are ready. Still, it’[s unfair to be hard on Velasquez for this performance as it’s his 5th MMA fight.

Josh Neer sub2 Mac Danzig (Triangle Choke)
In my opinion (and the UFC’s) this was fight of the night. The first round went back and forth with Danzig getting the better of the striking landing some solid combinations and Neer landing some hard elbows from on top and almost securing a triangle. Neer stormed out at the start of the second round, taking the TUF 6 champion down and landing vicious elbows from inside the guard for an extended period of time. Danzig escapes and gets a sweep only to land in a triangle from Neer who semi-rolls Danzig over to force the tapout.
Neer is really a contender at lightweight right now. He’s beaten Din Thomas, lost a close decision to Nate Diaz and then submitted Mac Danzig. He’s definately not champion material or anything (right now anyway), but he’s not an easy fight for anyone. I’d have no problems seeing him in there with Sherk, Florian, Stevenson (again, Neer beat Stevenson a few years back), Sanchez etc anytime soon. Danzig needs some easier fights, sure the guy is experienced but he’s had by far the toughest run of TUF winners (bar the seaosn 4 winners) so far. Give him some guys he can whip and then raise his competition as he wins. A fight between Danzig and Sotiropolus would be a good fight right now for both men.

Anthony Johnson KO1 Luigi Fioravanti (punches)
Impressive win for Johnson. Sanchez took three rounds to stop him and Fioravanti went the distance with Chris Leben. Johnson is among the top strikers in the 170lb division right now. His takedown defence is improving with each fight and considering he’s only had eight fights he’ll be learning rapidly in the next few fights.

Kurt Pellegrino Sub2 Rob Emerson (Rear Naked Choke)
Finally! Someone finally did what anyone fighter with any title aspirations should be doing to Rob Emerson and that is raping him. Emerson is very unimpressive and I’m glad his ‘run’ has been ended by a fringe contender like Pellegrino. Good Riddance!

Gleison Tibau Sub1 Rich Clementi (Guillotine Choke)
Clementi’s game needs some work. He is well rounded but his game is at the level where he’ll beat anyone with a massive hole in his game (like Melvin Guillard) but anyone who can control where the fight goes against him will beat him. Tibau is like a bad smell that won’t go away. No one really wants to be near it, but at the same time they’re curious to find out who dropped their guts.

Matt Veach TKO1 Matt Grice (punches)
This was a great fight and it would have won fight of the night if there was a little more skill involved. Both fighters were in trouble at some point in the fight and both guys showed a lot of heart to fight at that sort of pace. The stoppage was bullshit even though I think Veach was going to finish Grice anyway considering the position he was in. Veach was in much more trouble earlier in the round after he got dropped and the referee jumped in way way too early. Veach looked good on the ground and showed an iron chin but (even though he knocked Grice down with a punch) his stand-up sucks. He needs to get himself a real stand-up coach and not Robbie Lawler.

St Pierre batters Penn at UFC 94

Georges St Pierre defended his UFC Welterweight Championship on Sunday with a 4th round TKO win over BJ Penn after Penn didn’t answer the bell for the 5th and final round. The win was the second successful defence of th title for St Pierre, who took it from Matt Serra at UFC 83 last year with a 2nd round TKO win. The win sets up a fight between St Pierre and number one contender Thiago Alves who is coming off victories over Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck in his last two outings. The loss also likely sets up a fight between BJ Penn, who holds the UFC Lightweight title, and number one Lightweight contender Kenny Florian.

The fighters clinched up quickly after the opening round began and St Pierre tried for the entire round to take Penn down but with no success. The fighters seperated a few times with Penn landing a hard right hand on one occassion and St Pierre landing a solid right of his own on another. The round proved to be the tactical battle many anticipated and St Pierre probably won due to his aggression. Round two was a completely different story though. St Pierre again shot in for a single leg takedown and this time managed to get Penn on his back. Working from inside Penn’s rubber guard and butterfly guard, St Pierre worked Penn over with elbows and punches while looking to pass guard. The times he managed to get to side control, Penn used freakish escapes to get back to guard but that was all he was able to do as St Pierre won the second round big.

Penn looked like the minutes rest between the second and third round did him not good as he appeared sluggish at the start of the third round. St Pierre landed solid jabs and a devastating leg kick with little attempt at defence from the former Welterweight Champion before St Pierre again took Penn to the ground. Despite being able to pass Penn’s guard more in this round, St Pierre’s offence wasn’t as dominating as in the previous round. Still, the round ended with St Pierre on top working Penn over with strikes. Penn looked even more tired at the start of the 4th and after eating several punches and leg kicks, he found himself in the familiar position of being on his back. St Pierre’s confidence was growing as he often attempted to mount Penn with little regard for the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champions guard. Midway through the round St Pierre landed his most damaging strikes of the round and after referee Herb Dean asked for Penn to fight back, ‘GSP’ turned it up. St Pierre proceeded to punish Penn with devastating punches from on top and was probably only a few seconds away from stopping Penn when the round ended.

A frustrated looking St Pierre walked back to his corner and a physically beaten Penn staggered back to his. In the corner the doctor and referee both examined Penn before JD Penn, BJ’s brother and manager told the doctor he wanted to stop the fight and awarded St Pierre with the TKO victory. The win brings St Pierre’s record to 18-2 with only five fights going the distance. Penn’s record drops to 13-5 and likely puts an end to Penn’s aspirations of winning titles in every weight division. With Thiago Alves likely next on the French-Canadian’s plate, a possible mega fight with Anderson Silva will have to wait. That fight would pit, in my opinion anyway, the two top pound for pound fighters in MMA against each other.

On the undercard, Lyoto Machida finally scored a knockout win in the UFC, knocking Thiago Silva out at the bell to end the first round. After clowning Silva in his usual way, Machida twice dropped the undefeated Brazilian and used clever inside trips on other occassions to put Silva on his back. One of these trips ended with Silva in guard and Machida delivered two bombs from a standing position that left Silva unconscious as the buzzer went to end the first round. Referee Yves Lavigne took a few seconds before calling the fight with Silva out on the mat. The win, according to Dana White, will earn Machida a shot at the title should Keith Jardine defeat Rampage Jackson at UFC 96. If Jardine is victorious, Machida will fight Evans for the belt instead.

Young star Jon Jones spoiled Stephan Bonnar’s return to the Octagon with a variety of spinning back kicks, highlight reel takedowns and a spinning elbow which nearly knocked Bonnar out in the 2nd round. Despite a late rally from the TUF1 runner-up, Jones held on for a unanimous decision victory. Karo Parisyan won in his comeback via split decision in an uneventful fight with fellow Judoka Dong Hyun Kim. Clay Guida took out another TUF winner, scoring a split decision over Nate Diaz in a fight that resembled a wrestling match. The times Diaz broke free and used his hands he looked a completely different fighter, even hurting Guida in the third round, but he spent too much time being outwrestled by Guida and was on the wrong end of a close decision.

Full Results
Georges St Pierre TKO4 (corner stoppage) BJ Penn
Lyoto Machida KO1 (punch) Thiago Silva
Jon Jones UD Stephan Bonnar
Karo Parisyan SD Dong Hyun Kim
Clay Guida SD Nate Diaz
Jon Fitch UD Akihiro Gono
Thiago Tavares UD Manny Gamburyan
John Howard SD Chris Wilson
Jake O’Brien SD Cristian Wellisch
Dan Cramer SD Matt Arroyo

Mosley turns back clock; stops Margarito

‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley turned back the clock yesterday and put on the best performance of his 16 year career scoring a one sided 9th round TKO win over WBA champion Antonio Margarito. Mosley dominated the fight with his blistering hand speed, landing solid right hands frequently throughout the fight. Margarito showed his trademark toughness as he took many bombs every round yet walked through them. However, Mosley proved that no matter how tough the boxer, everyone has their limits and Margarito finally went down after eight rounds of brutal punishment. Margarito bravely answered the bell for the 9th round, but Mosley pounced and cornered Margarito delivering unanswered shots that forced Magarito’s corner to throw in the towel after he went down a second time.

The performance quite simply was unbelievable. Mosley’s firepower looked the best it had since before he lost his ’0′ to Vernon Forrest back in 2002. His handspeed made Miguel Cotto look sluggish in his fight with Margarito last year. The big factor in the fight in my opinion was the ease with which Mosley both stayed off the ropes and tied Margarito up after he’d land his combinations. Margarito looked like an amatuer as he followed Mosley around and took heavy shots. Credit must go to Margarito for lasting until the 9th round because there wouldn’t be another fighter in history who could take that sort of punishment for nine rounds. Still, Mosley looked the best he’s ever looked. His gameplan was perfect as he attacked Margarito instead of trying to outbox him and once he got him backing up the fight was his. He countered Margarito’s attacks with heavy right hands throughout the contest which managed to slow down Margarito’s output and didn’t let up at all in any round.

This leaves the Welterweight division in an interesting state. No doubt after this performance that Mosley is the top dog, but not too long ago the division was all about Miguel Cotto and Paul Williams after Mayweather retired. Williams had just beaten Margarito and Cotto had beaten Shane Mosley. Williams has now moved up after splitting fights with Carlos Quintana (the 2nd of those he won with a brutal first round KO) and is out of the picture as I can’t imagine him making 147lbs again. Cotto then lost to Margarito who just lost to Mosley. So you have the top three guys all having split fights with one another. I think the best way to sort this out is to go ahead with Cotto-Margarito II and give the winner a rematch with Mosley. The winner of that fight would leave no doubt as to who the real champion is. Maybe Mosley-Berto or Mosley-Clottey could be made in the mean time to keep Sugar Shane busy?

As far as this fight goes for Mosley’s legacy, it’s freakin’ huge! I’ve always thought Mosley was a great fighter and an underrated fighter in the modern era. Sure he dropped two decisions to both Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright, but those are two guys that no one else in their division would fight. Wright was naturally bigger then Mosley being a fully fledged Junior Middleweight and Forrest just had the style to beat Mosley. The facts are, Mosley was the best Lightweight in the World for a few years, he was the best Welterweight in the World for two years and is the best again now and he held titles at Junior Middleweight as well as the linear title (I’ll refrain from calling him the best fighter at that weight because the decision over De La Hoya was controversial and he lost his titles to the other titlist Wright in his first defence). Then you’ve got the guys he beat; Oscar De La Hoya twice, Antonio Margarito, Fernando Vargas twice, Ricardo Mayorga, Luis Collazo and Jesse James Leija. Considering most of those fights came at Welterweight and above that’s a serious resume’ for a guy who started as a Lightweight.

The fight was not without controversy as Mosley’s trainer called a member of the California State Athletic Commission over to examine a ‘plaster like substance’ on Margarito’s handwraps. Margarito’s hands were re-wrapped and the CSAC took the ‘plastered’ handwraps as evidence and will conduct a full investigation into the incident. This is a very serious allegation as it’s cheating but to the point where it endangers another fighter in the ring. Boxers have been given life bans in the past for this offence and I hope Margarito hasn’t tainted what should be a memorable fight with a controversy like this.

Note- normally I’d make up my scorecard and post it on here, since this takes less effort (it’s Australia day after all), I scored every round for Mosley.

Fedor KOs Arlovski at Day of Reckoning

Fedor Emelianenko KO1 (punch) Andre Arlovski
Fedor Emelianenko won again over another top ranked opponent, knocking Andrei Arlovski out in the first round of their fight for Fedor’s WAMMA Heavyweight title. Arlovski was getting the better of the fight, using a solid one-two combination as well as hard leg kicks and front kicks which kept the former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion off balance throughout the contest. Fedor looked to be strung on a couple of occasions by Arlovski’s power but recovered quickly and fought back. Arlovski was also showing good takedown defence, avoiding going to the mat when the Sambo expert got a hold of him.
However as many other fighters have found, Fedor’s well rounded skills and patience proved Arlovski’s undoing and the one time Arlovski made a mistake Fedor ended the fight suddenly. Arlovski backed Fedor into a corner with a front kick and a right hand and then jumped in with a flying knee only to be caught in mid-air by a short overhand right and knocked unconscious. In a fight that lasted 3 minutes 14 seconds, Arlovski controlled probably 3:10 of that time and yet those few seconds is all that Fedor needed to end matters.
While Fedor did look human in this fight, Arlovski is one of the top fighters in the World and would likely destroy every Heavyweight in the UFC. The way to beating Fedor seems to be standing up but the thing is, no one has the sharp skills Arlovski has on his feet plus the wrestling skills and ground skills to keep Fedor from taking him down. It’s pick your poison with Fedor as he has more then enough stand-up skills to hang with 99% of the World’s Heavyweights and the ground skills to handle probably any of them, plus the takedowns and takedown defence to control where the fight goes. Lesnar is way too green and makes too many mistakes that a true Heavyweight with Fedor’s skills will capitilise on. Mir could catch Fedor on the ground but would likely be knocked out before he got the fight there. Fedor’s next opponent looks to be Josh Barnett and I don’t give Barnett much of a chance at all. His ground game is good, but it’s not at the level where he can catch someone like Fedor. Anyone not giving this guy his props right now is a fucking moron!

Josh Barnett Sub3 (strikes) Gilbert Yvel
Sure he got the job done, but this was a seriously bad performance from Barnett. His ground game just looked sloppy, period. His punches didn’t look to be as devastating as some of the other fighters we see who get to the same positions and his submissions were slow enough for ever Gilbert Yvel to get out of. Barnett has to get back on form or improve if that’s all he’s capable of if he’s going to be fighting Fedor next.

Vitor Belfort KO1 (punches) Matt Lindland
Wow! Vitor of old comes back (for now anyway). He blitzed Lindland in the same fashion he blitzed Wanderlei Silva and Martin Eastman and Tank Abbott and the likes those years ago. Lindland was out for a while and it was good to see him leave on his feet under his own control. A knockout like that is a potential career ender especially for a fighter in his late 30′s like Lindland. Vitor though, what a way to crack into the Middleweight elite. Lindland had a lot of hype at Middleweight as one of the top dogs even though he’s been relatively inactive so this is a huge win for Vitor. Rumour has it his Affliction contract has expired and the UFC is in need of top Middleweights. I’d definately be hyped for Belfort-Anderson Silva. Vitor’s never been knocked out before, so it’ll be interesting to see how that fight would go. Unlike Patrick Cote’ who just had a punchers chance, Vitor has that plus a BJJ black belt. Even though his heart can be questioned at times, Vitor’s as dangerous a challenger as anyone out there for Anderson Silva at 185lbs.

Renato Babalu Sub2 (Anaconda Choke) Sokoudjou
Sokoudjou looked good early, but gassed out bad and Babalu is not someone you want on top of you know matter who you are. I would really like to see Babalu vs Little Nogueira now as they seem to be the top two 205lbers outside of the UFC. Babalu took some good shots but didn’t get discouraged and finished the fight with a slick choke as we’ve seen him do before. It was also good to see him let the choke go after Sokoudjou tapped.

Antonio Rogerio ‘Little’ Nogueira KO2 (knee) Vladimir Matyushenko
Matyushenko surprised everyone including Nogueira by trying to box and he didn’t look too bad. Nogueira seemed tentative when it came to answering back thinking Matyushenko was just trying to get him to open up so he could take him down. The worst thing Matyushenko did was hurt and cut Nogueira because once he did that, Nogueira opened up and things got bad for Matyushenko. He got hurt with a solid knee to the midsection and then one to the head finished him off. The fight was strange as it was a mixture of really bad and really good.

Other Results
Dan Lauzon Sub1 (Rear Naked Choke) Bobby Green
Jay Hieron TKO1 (strikes) Jason High
Paul Buentello TKO3 Kirill Sidelnikov
LC Davis UD3 Bao Quach
Alberto Rios UD3 Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper KO2 (punch) Patrick Speight

Thoughts
I’d love for Affliction to be able to stay around because, even though its not the UFC, it’s good to get something different with quality fights on it from time to time. Even if they just put a show on 2-3 times a year when Fedor fights I don’t care. Affliction is about the only way we’ll see Fedor in legitimate fights and they’ve delivered Sylvia and Arlovski, the two best UFC Heavyweights for a period of time already. Those two fights are among the biggest Heavyweight fights in MMA history. I hope there’s a third show, but if they do close down I hope Fedor and the UFC can come to terms so he can prove to everyone (well not everyone because there’s some morons out there) that he is the best MMA Heavyweight of all-time.

Evans, Mir, Rampage score KOs at UFC 92

Evans pounds out Griffin in three
In what was the best fight of the night, undefeated winner of season two of The Ultimate Fighter Rashad Evans won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with a third round technical knockout over Season one winner Forrest Griffin. The win marks the third man to hold the Light Heavyweight belt this year, with Griffin taking it from Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 86 before losing it in his first defence yesterday.
Both fighters started the first round of the fight slowly with Griffin landing more shots compared to Evans solid but infrequent bombs. The second round saw some furious exchanges with both guys looking hurt at different points in the fight. Evans ate a left hook early in the round which prompted Griffin to open up and chase Evans across the Octagon raining down blows. Evans retaliated by tauning Griffin then countering with a left hook. Later in the round Evans landed a series of bombs on Griffin that looked like they hurt the champion but Griffin fired back. Griffin landed heavily with a right hand at the end of the round which cemented the round for him on my card.
In the third round the fight finally hit the deck after Griffin slipped and Evans was quick to pounce, landing some hard shots from inside the champions guard. Griffin entually got wrist control but couldn’t control the challengers posture which made his submission attempts near impossible. Griffin tried a kimura from his back but Evans never let him get close. A triangle choke attempt from Griffin saw Evans briefly pass his guard and land some shots although Forrest was quick to get back to full guard. Evans finally got the opening he was after and landed a thunderous right hand from the guard which dazed Griffin. Numerous follow-up shots with first the right hand and eventually both hands had Griffin seriously hurt. Steve Mazzaghatti finally stepped in and halted the bout after what looked like Griffin tapped (although he claimed in the post fight interview that he didn’t and was just flailing from the punches) and crowned Evans the new champion at 2:46 of the third round.

Mir becomes first man to stop Nogueira
Fedor Emelianenko couldn’t do it. Josh Barnett couldn’t do it. Mirko Cro Cop couldn’t do it and either could Tim Sylvia or Heath Herring. But Jiu Jitsu stylist Frank Mir became the first man to stop Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with strikes in the second round of their five round clash for the Interim UFC Heavyweight title. The win sets up a rematch for the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship with Brock Lesnar, a rematch from a great fight earlier in the year which Mir won by kneebar in 90 seconds after taking heavy punishment for at least 60 of those seconds.
Right from the start Mir dominated the fight with his stand-up against the sluggish looking Nogueira. Landing with crisp combinations usually consisting of  right uppercut from his southpaw stance, Mir constantly kept Nogueira off balance and forced him back when he tried for a clinch. After a brief battle on the ground courtesy of a Mir takedown, Mir then dropped Nogueira with a combination and looked to finish on the ground. Nogueira showed his usual composure when hurt which has seen him score famous come from behind victories over the likes of Mirko Cro Cop and Bob Sapp and saw off Mirs attack before Mir took the fight back to the feet. Standing up, Mir continued to get off first with crisp combinations while Nogueira failed to pull the trigger on anything before Mir again dropped Nogueira at the end of the round.
Nothing changed in the second round with Mir again easily outboxing the former PRIDE Heavyweight champion and landing with clean, crisp combinations. Mir then dropped Nogueira for the third time of the night with punches but this time was able to follow up and force referee Herb Dean to step in and rescue Nogueira for the first time in his 38 fight career. An emotional Mir thanked his team and his family for helping him to get back to where he was after his horrific motorcycle accident in 2004 which cost him the UFC Heavyweight title last time he held it.

Rampage scores sweet knockout over bitter rival Wanderlei Silva
Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion made his comeback fight a successful one, avenging two previous knockout losses against Wanderlei Silva with a one punch left hook knockout at 3:21 of the first round. Silva had twice knocked Rampage out in fights for the PRIDE Middleweight (205lbs) title (one was the final of the 2003 Grand Prix) but lost his fourth fight in his last five appearances, his third by knockout. For Rampage, the win likely sets up another shot at the UFC crown he lost to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 earlier this year.
Both fighters came out striking with Rampage looking the quicker early on. After eating two shots from Silva, Rampage attempted to take the fight to the ground but ate a knee for his trouble. Silva appeared to be getting set, landing a few vicious leg kicks to Rampage’s left thigh. Rampage though kept his cool and after en exchange of punches near the fence, Rampage countered a Silva left hook with one of his own that landed flush on the jaw and put the former PRIDE Middleweight champion down and out cold. Three follow up shots from Rampage left Silva unconscious for around three minutes before he woke up.

Other Results
CB Dollaway TKO1 (strikes from back mount) Mike Massenzio
Cheick Kongo TKO1 (strikes) Mustafa Al Turk
Yushin Okami UD3 Dean Lister
Matt Hammill TKO2 (strikes) Reese Andy
Brad Blackburn UD3 Ryo Chonan
Patt Berry TKO1 (leg kicks) Dan Evenson

Bonjasky becomes three time K-1 Champion

In what turned out to be a bizarre final match, Remy Bonjasky equalled Peter Aerts and Semmy Schilt by winning his third K-1 World Grand Prix title after his opponent in the final Badr Hari was disqualified for stomping Bonjasky in the head while he was on the ground. After Bonjasky had him down in the first round courtesy of a left hook, Hari used a single leg takedown before landing two punches and a blatantly obvious stomp that noticeably hurt Bonjasky. Time was given to Bonjasky to recover while Hari was awarded a yellow card however about five minutes later the referee took the microphone following the doctors examining Bonjasky in the ring and ruled that ‘Hari’s actions are completely against what K-1 is all about’ and gave Hari a red card, disqualifying the Moroccan bad boy. This marked the first time that a fighter have been disqualified in a K-1 World Grand Prix Final event. With the win, Bonjasky is just one World Grand Prix title win away from equalling ‘Mr Perfect’ Ernesto Hoost’s record of four K-1 World Grand Prix events.

Quarter Finals
Badr Hari TKO2 Peter Aerts
Hari raced out of the blocks and Aerts was never in the race. Aerts was down 30 seconds into the fight via a left hook-right hook combination but he recovered well and landed some nice low kicks towards the end of the round. Hari started fast again in the second round and dropped Aerts with a spinning back kick to the head followed by a jumping front kick to the head. Aerts again beat the count but was clearly hurt and staggering all over the ring. After Hari landed a few more blows the referee stepped in and saved the former three time champion from further punishment. While the stoppage was premature, Aerts wasn’t going to win that fight on that night. He looked every bit of his age and didn’t seem to have the reflexes to handle Hari’s firepower. As much as people  have probably said it in the past and he’s bounced back from it, I think Aerts should retire. Hari on the other hand looked like no one would deny him on this night.

Errol Zimmerman MD3 Ewerton Teixera
Wow, did not expect that sort of a fight from Teixera. Zimmerman looked slow and disinterested sort of expecting Teixera to just walk into one of his punches but Teixera mixed his attacks up well, landing good leg and body kicks as well as right hands that seemingly couldn’t miss in the first round. Zimmerman attacked more in the 2nd round, landing some brutal body kicks but Teixera seemed to have an answer for everything. In the third round when it seemed that Teixera was going to pull away and win on points, a right uppercut dropped the Brazilian karate master and stole the fight for Zimmerman, earning him a spot in the semi finals with Hari.

Gokhan Saki UD3 Ruslan Karaev
In what was av evenly fought battle, a knockdown in the 3rd round via a Gokhan Saki spinning backfist scored him the decision. The first round was very close with Saki landing his trademark leg kicks and Karaev scoring with short inside punches when he caught the Turk on the ropes. Karaev seemed to win the 2nd round by a comfortable margin as he backed Saki onto the ropes and blasted away with left hooks and body rips. Saki opened the third round with the knockdown which caught Karaev flush but left him more stunned then seriously hurt. Karaev knowing he needed to knock Saki out at this point became desperate, opening himself up to counter shots from Saki and giving him the only clear round in the fight. Saki won the fight with a unanimous decision, earning himself a semi final birth in his first K-1 WGP.

Remy Bonjasky TKO3 Jerome Le Banner
In what was a disappointing way to go out for the unlucky Frenchman, Le Banner had his right arm reinjured (Ernesto Hoost broke his arm in the 2002 Final to defeat Le Banner) by two Bonjasky roundhouse kicks to the body and the doctor ruled him unable to continue. While Bonjasky seemed to be taking over before the unfortunate injury, it would have been good to see Le Banner go out in a fight rather then on another injury. The first two rounds were slow with Bonjasky having as slight edge due to more activity. Bonjasky opened the third round strongly with kicks to Le Banners legs and midsection and after Le Banner turned away in pain from a body kick and a referee standing count, the doctor was called in to examine Le Banner. Despite Jerome’s protests, the fight was stopped because of the arm and Le Banner’s World Grand Prix again ends in disappointment.

Alternate Bouts
Ray Sefo UD3 Hong Man Choi
Sefo fought a brilliant fight, thats all that needs to be said really. He kept moving and didn’t let Choi get off with his punches and he mixed up his strikes very well which kept the big man guessing. There wasn’t one point in the fight when Hong Man looked like winning. I expect both guys will likely get voted into next years Final 16 so they won’t have to worry about going through any qualifiers.

Melvin Manhoef KO1 Paul Slowinski
Wow! I didn’t expect Manhoef to be able to bully a big heavyweight like Slowinski like that. He repeatedly backed him into the corners and landed with big punches. The first knockdown was via a right hand over the jab and the knock out came from a monster left hook. Whatever Manhoef decides to fight in next year it’ll be worth watching as the guy is pure entertainment.

Semi Finals
Badr Hari KO3 Errol Zimmerman
Fight of the night! Zimmerman knew he had to come out firing and he did and while Hari outscored him in the first round, ‘The Bonecrusher’ landed his fair share of solid blows back. With Hari outscoring Zimmerman early in the 2nd round, Zimmerman landed an absolute monster of a right hand that floored Hari heavily. Hari took the 8 count and went on the attack, backing Zimmerman up with jabs, low kicks and body shots. With about ten seconds remaining in the round, Hari beat Zimmerman to the punch and dropped him heavily with a right hand. Zimmerman beat the count but looked hurt and tired. Hari opened the third round with head snapping jabs before opening up with kicks to the body and legs. A right hand then dropped Zimmerman violently and he couldn’t beat the count. Hari headed to the Final to meet the winner of Gokhan Saki and Re,y Bonjasky.

Remy Bonjasky KO2 Gokhan Saki
Both guys were cautious in the first round and the round was fairly uneventful. Then out of nowhere in the 2nd round, Bonjasky lept in with a flying roundhouse kick to the body that caught Saki halfway up the ribcage. Saki was down in obvious pain and had no chance of beating the count. ‘The Flying Gentleman’ scored with one of his famous flying strikes to earn himself his third apperance in a K-1 WGP Final, having won his previous two.

The Final- Badr Hari vs Remy Bonjasky
Both guys fought in the quarter finals last year and went to war with Bonjasky taking a razor thin decision over Hari. However, the energy he used up in the fight left him unable to offer much resistance to Peter Aerts in the semi finals. Having both gone through their previous opponents inside the distance, the Final match seemed to be an even one with only Hari having been in any sort of trouble when he fought Zimmerman.
In complete contrast to last years match, both fighters opened slowly and circled. Both guys seemed to be finding their range in the first minute. Halfway through the round, Bonjasky caught Hari with a left hook on the ropes that stunned the K-1 Heavyweight Champion, a follow-up high kick was ducked and Hari fell to the deck from the effects of the hook. Hari beat the count with ease but the knockdown was a big edge for Bonjasky on the cards and he knew it, refusing to take any chances for the rest of the round. Hari came out firing in the 2nd round and was getting the better of the exchanges. Bonjasky landed a solid body kick but was countered with a right hand that forced him to give ground. Hari caught a kick in an exchange and took Bonjasky down where he punched and stomped Bonjasky earning his disqualification.
It’s hard to know what was going through Hari’s mind. I’m sure it was a spur of the moment thing and not a premeditated action. He had a lot of adrenaline flowing knowing he needed to hurt Bonjasky and probably just got carried away. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as when Tyson bit Holyfield in  the infamous 1997 rematch. Still, Hari was rightfully disqualified and the fact that he didn’t really seem to care about what he did isn’t a good sign. I’m sure both guys will meet again in the future at some stage.

Final Thoughts
Overall I greatly enjoyed the event despite the bizarre ending. I’ve followed fight sports long enough to know that these sort of things happen. I can definately say I’ll be a K-1 fan for a long time to come. I’m already looking forward to next years K-1 series. With the Final 8 already guaranteed their spots in the Final 16 next year, the make-up of the other eight will be interesting. I doubt Semmy Schilt can get a fan voted spot because everyone hates him so he’ll likely have to qualify in one of the qualifying events. Then again, if he defeats Bonjasky or Aerts (the two guys I think are most likely to face him in the Super Heavyweight title fight) then who knows.

UFC 91: Lesnar defeats Couture, Florian whips Stevenson

I’ve put this off a bit, First of all I was busy and it was hard to get on here and write this up (mainly because Main Event are cocksuckers and put the fight on a working day so I only saw it yesterday and since then I’ve worked 16 of the last 36 hours and out of the other 20 I’ve slept eight, driven to and from work for about two, trained four which leaves six hours that doesn’t include eating, showering and jacking off (about a 1-1-4 ratio there)) and secondly I wasn’t exactly eager to get on here and write about how one of my most unfavourite fighters of all-time knocked out my favourite fighter who is still alive.

Brock Lesnar 2nd round knockout Randy Couture
Basically Lesnar proved what Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga should have but couldn’t do after Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez did a few years back, and that is that Randy Couture doesn’t belong at heavyweight. Couture’s a freak and a legendary fighter and like all legendary fighters weight doesn’t play as much of an impact as it should with guys like this, but there’s only so much you can give away before it becomes a factor. When you’ve got a 60lb weight disadvantage against a guy who comes from the same background as you, all of a sudden those mistakess you make with your stand-up and submission games need to not be there and that’s where Couture lost this fight. If Couture was better at jiu jitsu he would have taken Lesnar’s back in the scramble in the first round and likely choked him out and if his stand-up was better he would have taken a few more of the many many many openings Lesnar leaves in his stand-up and likely knocked him out. I thought Couture had those parts of his game up to the level where he could take advantage of those, but with 60lbs of weight against him it made those advantages he had over Brock that bit more even.
Despite the win, I’m not sold on Lesnar that much. He has a good one two and throws good knees (it was a knee that hurt Couture about 5 seconds before the right hand that dropped him) and is a big strong guy who will take people down who don’t have good wrestling, but he reminds me of Tito Ortiz at Light Heavyweight when he was dominating. As soon as someone has a good enough skill set with the style matchup to take some of Brocks physical advantages away they’ll beat him. If Nogueira isn’t too shopworn to beat Mir then I can’t see what Brock can do with him. I’d pick Gonzaga to tear Lesnar apart within five minutes if he shows the form he did in that fight. Don’t even get me started on what the Affliction trio (Fedor, Barnett and Arlovski) would do to that guy. Lesnar has way too many weaknesses to deal with a big man with good skills. That was the first time we’d seen him try and outwrestle someone who can wrestle and even with the extra weight, his takedowns were easily stuffed (except for one) by Couture and if Couture had the extra lbs on his frame, the fight wouldn’t have been a contest. Brock to be beaten within a year; within one defence if Nogueira isn’t upset by Mir.

Now onto the rest of the card, which quite frankly was top notch.

Kenny Florian 1st round submission (Rear Naked Choke) Joe Stevenson
And what a rear naked choke it was! Florian totally dominated the fight and proved beyond all doubts that first of all he is a better fighter then he was when Sean Sherk manhandled him two years ago, and secondly that he is the top contender to BJ Penns crown should Penn stay at 155lbs. I don’t think Florian will hang with Penn, but he could make a competitive fight out of it. Who knows as well, we haven’t seen Penn in a hard fight at 155lbs since the rematch with Caol Uno at UFC 39 so we’re still not sure how good Penn’s cardio is; if Florian doesnt get blown away early he could make it interesting.

Dustin Hazelett 1st round submission (Crazy Armbar/Omoplata thing) Tamdan McCrory
That was just sick in both the figurative and literal translations. If anyone just watched the main event or for what ever reason hasn’t seen this, go and see it. The only other thing that needs to be said about this fight is that Hazelett has the best bumfluff beard I’ve ever seen.

Gabriel Gonzaga 1st round knockout Josh Hendricks
Time for Gonzaga to have his competition stepped up I think. Cheick Kongo would be the perfect opponent for Gonzaga to put himself right back into the mix against, either him or Junior dos Santos. Hendricks should be fighting the likes of Eddie Sanchez and they should be fighting in a small venue in Redneckville for a $50 winner takes all purse.

Demian Maia 1st round submission (Rear Naked Choke) Nate Quarry
Glad I was wrong here. Maia is a beast on the ground, that half guard sweep was beautiful and Quarry didn’t have an answer for him once he got on top. Actually, I don’t think there’s a middleweight out there who would have an answer for this guy on top of him. He’s one of those rare talents in MMA who can make anyone’s guard seem non existant. Put this guy in with Okami or Bisping or anyone else near the top of the middleweight picture because he’s ready.

Other Results
Jeremy Stephens 3rd round knockout Rafael dos Anjos
Aaron Riley UD3 Jorge Gurgel
Mark Bocek 3rd round submission Alvin Robinson
Matt Brown 2nd round submission Ryan Thomas