Archive for August, 2007

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson looked tough in his first title defense against Dan Henderson. Dan took control early on with his wrestling but Quinton was too strong to push around all five rounds. Jackson also got the striking edge being more technical then Henderson. When all five rounds had passed it was clear that Quinton was going to pull a unanimous decision. When the decision came I was worried Judge Cecil was going to throw a wrench in the plans but this one ended with the right victor.

Matt Hamill however did get the screw job from the refs. After out wrestling Michael Bisping and showing improved standup Matt dropped a decision that even the London fans booed.

Other notes of the night was an uninspired performance by Mirko “Cro Crop” Filipovic, dropping a decision to Cheick Kongo. Mirko still seems rattled from his last fight where he got knocked out by Gabe Gonzaga. Some fighters just never come back the same after getting knocked out like he did. Marcus Davis put his 5th UFC win in a row together after his armbar defeat of Paul Taylor. Houston Alexander represented for Nebraska again, showed that his first UFC win was not a fluke, and proved he was a force to deal with at LightHeavy. He obtained this status by busting Alessio Sakara with a Muay Thai knee then polishing him off with some ground and pound.

In the “fight of the night” Randy Couture fought Gabe Gonzaga for the UFC Heavyweight Title. The fight seemed pretty even right up until Randy distributed some frequent flyer miles and dumped Gabe Gonzaga in amazing fashion. The impact of the slam left broke Gonzaga’s nose and it was down hill from there. Gabe did amount a small comeback in the 3rd and cracked Randy with a kick that broke the Champions arm. Randy however just added to his legend and finished Gabe off with ground and pound. It looks as if Pride’s old Heavyweight champion Big Nog is in line for the next title shot.

A highly anticipated match up between George St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck left us knowing just how sick George’s wrestling is. Not only did he defend the take down but he out wrestled Koscheck and pulled a unanimous decision.

Other notes of the night are Roger Huerta out classing Alberto Crane’s stand up and scoring a third round tko. Joe Stevenson keeps making noise in the Welterweight division and defeated Kurt Pellegrino by Decision. Patrick Cote continued his UFC winning streak and caught Kendall Grove with a solid right that set up the TKO after he pounded him out on the ground. Renato Sobral defeated David Heath with an Anaconda Choke in the second and decided to send a message to Heath. This was by not letting the choke go right away when the ref tried to pull him away. Well Dana White happened to want to send Sobral a message and tore up his UFC contract. Frank Mir defeated Antoni Hardonk by Armbar in the first round. Thales Leites caught Ryan Jensen with an armbar in the first. Clay Guida also showed he belongs in the UFC with a decision win over Marcus Aurelio.

The fights will take place in London, England on September 8, 2007. They will air in the United States via tape delay on Spike TV that night.
Featured Fights

-Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson-For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

-Mirko Cro Cop vs. Cheick Kongo-Alot of talk about how Mirko is training like a mad man, we will see if it pays off.

-Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill-Grudge match from Ultimate Fighter Series

-Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara-We will see if Houston Alexander can duplicate an impressive performance.

Preliminary Fights

-Thiago Silva vs. Tomasz Drwal
-Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor
-Naoyuki Kotani vs. Dennis Siver
-Anthony Torres vs. Jess Liaudin
-Gleison Tibau vs. Terry Etim

Paulo Filho made his debut on American soil with his Middleweight WEC title fight against Joe Doerksen. At first it looked like Paulo was having problems grappling with Joe and getting him to the ground. Paulo went to plan b at the end of the first round and ended up putting heavy combos together. Joe did not have the time he needed to recover because Paulo was looking to end him. The ref eventually stepped in at the 4:07 mark of the first round and crowned Paulo Filho WEC’s first Middleweight Champion.

The other title fight on the card was Carlos Condit vs. Brock Larson for the Welterweight title. Carlos made quick work of Brock when he locked on a tight armbar from guard. Brock did not tap but the ref saw him in a vulnerable spot and stopped the fight via submission. Carlos is now climbing the MMA ranks and is looking to hold on to his title for long time.

UFC 74 will take place August 25, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Main Card Bouts:
-Randy Couture (UFC Heavyweight Champion) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
-Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck
-Joe Stevenson vs. Kurt Pellegrino
-Kendall Grove vs. Patrick Cote
-Roger Huerta vs. Alberto Gonzales Crane

Preliminary Bouts: (Some or all may not air depending on the length of the Main Card bouts)
-Marcus Aurelio vs. Clay Guida
-Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. David Heath
-Antoni Hardonk vs. Frank Mir
-Thales Leites vs. Ryan Jensen

On Sunday August 5th the cable channel Versus is going to be airing WEC fights. The main fights of this card are going to see top Middleweight Paulo Filho face off against Canadian Joe Doerksen. Carlos Condit looks to keep up his winning ways as he faces one of his toughest challenges in Brock Larson.

The Fights take place at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas from 9:00 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET Live on Versus.