R.I.P Gary Speed!

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Movember

Massive respect to all those growing a Mo for their Bro!

UFC 139 Results & Analysis

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua VS Dan "Hendo" Henderson - Two dogs staring at each other through the cage since the legendary Pride Fighting Championship days. One of the greatest battle's in UFC history concluded with a controversial Unanimous Decision (48-47,48-47,48-47) victory for Henderson; the judges scores were questionable as many had scored the bout as a draw, resulting in many fans demanding a more conclusive re-match between the two legends.
The UFC's motto - "Leave It All In The Octagon" was truly fulfilled, as the back and forth bout was fought for five epic rounds; the early rounds were in Hendo's favour, with multiple Shogun takedown attempts being stuffed by the Greco-Roman wrestler, resulting in a barrage of ruthless punches which bloodied up Shogun's face early on. Although both fighters landed over and over looking to finish, Hendo's attack seemed to be causing the most damage. However, the 'never say die' attitude of Shogun led to continuous pressing forward with straight left and right hands. An over-hand right by Hendo buckled Shogun in the 3rd round but the warrior spirit of Shogun would not be easily finished; these bursts of power punches became Hendo's downfall within the championship rounds, where Shogun managed to land multiple straight/uppercut punches and takedowns where his BJJ black belt helped him mount Hendo on several occasions and ground n' pound the gassed Hendo.
The "W" launched Hendo into title contention for either Anderson Silva's middleweight or Jon Jones light heavyweight crown.
The heart of both fighters earned $70,000 for the joint Fight of The Night bonus, shared with the Wanderlei Silva VS Cung Le brawl, ending in a TKO victory for "The Axe Murderer".

Main Card:

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Stephan Bonnar vs.  Kyle Kingsbury

Bonnar defeated Kingsbury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27).

• Welterweight bout:  Martin Kampmann vs.  Rick Story

Kampmann defeated Story via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

• Bantamweight bout:  Urijah Faber vs.  Brian Bowles

Faber defeated Bowles via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:27 of round 2.

• Middleweight bout:  Wanderlei Silva vs.  Cung Le

Silva defeated Le via TKO (knees and punches) at 4:49 of round 2.

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Maurício Rua vs.  Dan Henderson

Henderson defeated Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47).

Preliminary Card:

• Catchweight (158 lb) bout:  Shamar Bailey vs.  Danny Castillo

Castillo defeated Bailey via TKO (punches) at 4:52 of round 1.

• Welterweight bout:  Matt Brown vs.  Seth Baczynski

Baczynski defeated Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:42 of round 2.

• Catchweight (141 lb) bout:  Miguel Torres vs.  Nick Pace

Torres defeated Pace via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Lightweight bout:  Gleison Tibau vs.  Rafael dos Anjos

Tibau defeated dos Anjos via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).

• Middleweight bout:  Tom Lawlor vs.  Chris Weidman

Weidman defeated Lawlor via submission (D'arce choke) at 2:07 of round 1.

• Bantamweight bout:  Michael McDonald vs.  Alex Soto

McDonald defeated Soto via KO (punches) at 0:56 of round 1.

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Ryan Bader vs.  Jason Brilz

Bader defeated Brilz via KO (punch) at 1:17 of round 1.

Fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night:  Wanderlei Silva vs.  Cung Le &  Maurício Rua vs.  Dan Henderson
• Knockout of the Night:  Michael McDonald
• Submission of the Night:  Urijah Faber

UFC on FOX!

On the 18th August 2011, the UFC and FOX revealed a multi-million dollar seven year contract deal, the first event being live on the television network FOX, unfortunately the Main Event - Cain Velasquez VS Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos was unavailable in the UK. However the action packed nine fight Preliminary Card was available free via UFC's Facebook page. 

The most prized possession in all of MMA - The Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship was newly crowned to the Brazilian warrior "Cigano" extended his record to (14-1) after ending the fight in just 64seconds with a dynamite packed over-hand right which dropped the former champion Velasquez; "Cigano" smelt blood in the water and landed several ground n' pound punches which left referee Big John McCarthy with no choice but to step in.

"Cigano" handed former Heavyweight Champion Velasquez his first taste of defeat and ruining his perfect record to a current (9-1). 

Velasquez failed to utilise his greatest asset of wrestling, which choosing to stand and trade with the greatest stand-up fighter in the whole of the Heavyweight division proved to be the former Champions downfall. In the post-fight interview with Josh Rogan, Velasquez said "I will come back and I will get this belt back, for sure."

Main Event:

• Heavyweight Championship bout:  Cain Velasquez (c) vs.  Junior dos Santos

Dos Santos defeated Velasquez via KO (punches) at 1:04 of round 1 to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion

Preliminary Card:

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Aaron Rosa vs.  Matt Lucas

Rosa defeated Lucas via majority decision (28–28, 30–26, 30–26). Lucas was deducted one point in the second round for repeatedly dropping his mouthpiece.

• Welterweight bout:  Mike Pierce vs.  Paul Bradley

Pierce defeated Bradley via split decision (29–28, 30–27, 28–29).

• Bantamweight bout:  Alex Caceres vs.  Cole Escovedo

Caceres defeated Escovedo via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

• Featherweight bout:  Mackens Semerzier vs.  Robert Peralta

Peralta defeated Semerzier via TKO (punches) at 1:54 of round 3.

• Bantamweight bout:  Norifumi Yamamoto vs.  Darren Uyenoyama

Uyenoyama defeated Yamamoto via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–26, 30–27).

• Welterweight bout:  DaMarques Johnson vs.  Clay Harvison

Johnson defeated Harvison via TKO (punches) at 1:34 of round 1.

• Featherweight bout:  Cub Swanson vs.  Ricardo Lamas

Lamas defeated Swanson via submission (arm triangle choke) at 2:16 of round 2.

• Featherweight bout:  Dustin Poirier vs.  Pablo Garza

Poirier defeated Garza via submission (D'Arce choke) at 1:32 of round 2.

• Lightweight bout:  Ben Henderson vs.  Clay Guida

Henderson defeated Guida via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

Fighters were awarded $65,000 bonuses:

• Fight of the Night:  Ben Henderson vs.  Clay Guida
• Knockout of the Night:  Junior dos Santos
• Submission of the Night:  Ricardo Lamas