UFC 148: Silva Vs. Sonnen

Anderson Silva cemented his name as the 'Pound for Pound King' with a second round TKO stoppage against Chael Sonnen to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship.

The build-up to the fight saw the war of the words, with the nature of the fight turning personal, as remarks ranged from insulting a nation to threats of breaking bones. Sonnen had made it clear that his game-plan was to mirror the first fight at UFC 117, to utilise his wrestling and reign down ground and pound until his opponent broke.
In the opening round Sonnen immediately pushed forward for the takedown but failed to land any significant strikes whilst in dominant positions.
The contrast in round two saw Silva's improved takedown defence resulting in a stand-up fight, arguable favouring Silva. The end came when Sonnen slipped after missing a spinning back-fist, which Silva immediately capitalised with a knee to the sternum, swiftly followed by ground and pound; Sonnen managed to return to his feet but was greeted by several strikes forcing him back to the canvas, resulting in referee Yves Lavigne stopping the fight at 1minute 55seconds in round 2.

Silva extends his UFC record's for the 'most consecutive victories' at 15 victories and 'most consecutive title defences' at 10 and was awarded the 'Fight of The Night' bonus of $70,000 in addition to his purse.

The Co-Main Event saw Forrest Griffin edging ahead of the score-cards to win by a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). Concluding the epic trilogy between recently inducted Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz and Forest Griffin; UFC 56 in 2006 saw Ortiz winning by a split decision and UFC 106 in 2009 saw Griffin winning by a split decision.
UFC 148 is to be the final fight in the legendary career of "The People's Champ" Tito Ortiz, the former "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" is to retire but will always be remembered as being one of the pioneers of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

UFC 146

Junior Dos Santos (JDS) left the MGM Grand with the Heavyweight belt fixed around his waist. The dominant champion headlined the UFC's first all-Heavyweight main card against two-time UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir.
Both fighters made their game plans clear within the Primetime videos; JDS wanted to utilise his boxing in search of his 11th career KO. Where as, Mir wanted to add to his 9 career submissions.

JDS defended an early takedown, foreshadowing the belt returning to Bahia, Brazil, as the bout favoured the stand-up style of JDS and left Mir with little chance of dethroning the champion.
Mir got rocked late in round one and barely made it through to the second round, a late flurry of punches was one of many signs a clear boxing advantage honed at the Academia de Champion by trainer Luiz Dorea. Mir admitted in the post-fight press conference, "his foot-work was awesome, that was the thing I had the hardest time with." 
Ironically, JDS correctly predicted a second-round KO and extended his UFC record to (15-1). A straight right sent Mir crashing to the canvas and left referee Herb Dean with no choice but to intervene.

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez made a huge statement to the rest of the division with the demolition of former Strikeforce contender Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and potentially opens the door for a re-match against JDS who took the title away from the first Mexican Heavyweight champion last November.

In the preliminary card, Nottingham born Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy broke his four-fight losing streak with a KO against talented kick boxer Duane Ludwig and secured a joint 'Knock-Out of The Night' award for an additional $70,000.

Main Card:

• Heavyweight bout: Junior Dos Santos def. Frank Mir - TKO (punches) 3.04 minutes in Round 2.
• Heavyweight bout: Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Silva - TKO (punches) 3.36 minutes in Round 1.
• Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson def. Dave Herman - KO (punch) 51 seconds in Round 1.
• Heavyweight bout: Stipe Miocic def. Shane del Rosario - TKO (elbows) 3.14 minutes in Round 2.
• Heavyweight bout: Stefan Struve def. Lavar Johnson - Submission (armbar) 1.05 minutes in Round 1.

Preliminary Card:

• Featherweight bout: Darren Elkins def. Diego Brandao - Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
• Lightweight bout: Jamie Varner def. Edson Barboza - TKO (punches) 3.23 minutes in Round 1
• Middleweight bout: C.B Dollway def. Jason Miller - Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-26, 29-28).
• Welterweight bout: Dan Hardy def. Duane Ludwig - KO (punch and elbows) 3.51 minutes in Round 1.
• Lightweight bout: Paul Sass def. Jacob Volkmann - Submission (triangle choke) 1.54 minutes in Round 1.
• Light heavyweight bout: Glover Teixeira def. Kyle Kingsbury - Submission (triangle choke) 1.53 minutes in Round 1.
• Featherweight bout: Mike Brown def. Daniel Pineda - Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs UK

The latest season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is set for Team Australia taking on Team UK, dubbed ‘The Smashes’ - originating from the cricket rivalry between the two nations which is known as ‘The Ashes’.

“Australia and the UK have a fierce, long-standing rivalry, and where better to settle the score than in the UFC’s OctagonTM,” said Marshall Zelaznik - UFC’s Managing Director of International Development.
“The popularity of MMA has exploded in Australia and the UK, with gyms opening all over the respective countries. There is an athlete in one of those gyms who hasn’t had the chance to show the world what he can do - The Ultimate Fighter is going give to him that opportunity. We’re going to discover the UFC’s future stars, you can bet on it.”

The series will be filmed in Sydney, Australia and will see MMA fighters live together in The Ultimate Fighter House and compete against each other for the prized UFC six-figure contract.

The two coaches are yet to be announced, but rumours of Australia’s coach include George Sotiropoulos, Kyle Noke and Hector Lombard. Also possible UK coaches include the likes of Michael Bisping, Brad Pickett and Dan Hardy.

The Ultimate Fighter has a habit of producing UFC Champions and icons such as, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Matt Serra, Nate Diaz, the UK's own Michael Bisping and Ross Pearson. 

Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping, one of the UFC’s Middleweight contenders and most recognised fighters, won Season 3 in 2006 under the training of UFC legend Tito Ortiz.
Similary, Ross ‘The Real Deal’ Pearson then followed suit by winning Season 9 in 2009, in the The Ultimate Fighter: UK vs USA season, coached by fellow countryman, Michael Bisping.

The live tryouts are scheduled for June 15 in London and will be open to Batamweight (135lbs or 61kg) and Welterweight (170lbs or 77kg) fighters. 

Registration is now open to all aspiring UFC fighters from the UK - http://uk.ufc.com/TUFForm

UFC 145

Champion Jon "Bones" Jones secured his fourth consecutive title defence against his former sparring partner in "Sugar" Rashad Evans with a Unanimous Decision victory (49-46, 49-46, 50-45).
The bout somewhat failed to live up to the pre-fight 'grudge match' label, however, various moments within the five-round bout made the sold-out Atlanta crowd 's hearts race; after a brief feeling out process, Evans landed a head kick late in the opening round, which was the first sign of the dangerous power in which Evans possessed. The following round saw Jones successfully asserting his unorthodox style of utilising his enormous 84.5inch reach and unpredictable offensive skills, which on occasions resulted in multiple elbows rocking Evans.
The confidence of the champion was briefly halted as Evans landed an over-hand right which caused Jones to momentarily retreat in the third, sadly this was the beginning of Evans's slump in momentum and fatigue, in turn allowing Jones to dictate the pace, control the centre of the octagon and pick off Evans with varied strikes. It became clear that any fighter seeking the Light-Heavyweight Belt would have to overcome the sheer reach disadvantage and find a way of closing the distance; this was something that Evans failed to achieve, the constant pressure resulted in Evans's switch into defensive mode and the lack in offence effectively cost him a chance at personal retribution.
Evans said at the post-fight press conference, “I had a great camp, but sometimes you don’t feel it. There were times in the fight when I felt like I could have done something, but I didn’t pull the trigger when I needed to. I’ll have to go back and see what I did wrong.”

In the co-main event, Welterweight prospect Rory MacDonald steam-rolled through British challenger Che Mills, with a TKO coming mid-way in the second round; the protege of Georges Saint Pierre demonstrated his well-rounded ability and extends his MMA record to 13-1.


Main Card:

• Lightweight bout:  Mark Bocek vs.  John Alessio

Bocek defeated Alessio via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27).

• Featherweight bout:  Mark Hominick vs.  Eddie Yagin

Yagin defeated Hominick via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

• Bantamweight bout:  Miguel Torres vs.  Michael McDonald

McDonald defeated Torres via KO (punches) at 3:18 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout:  Brendan Schaub vs.  Ben Rothwell

Rothwell defeated Schaub via KO (punches) at 1:10 of round 1.

• Welterweight bout:  Rory MacDonald vs.  Che Mills

MacDonald defeated Mills via TKO (punches) at 2:20 of round 2.

• Light Heavyweight Championship bout:  Jon Jones (c) vs.  Rashad Evans

      Jones defeated Evans via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)

Preliminary Card:

• Featherweight bout:  Marcus Brimage vs.  Maximo Blanco

Brimage defeated Blanco via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28).

• Welterweight bout:  Keith Wisniewski vs.  Chris Clements

Clements defeated Wisniewski via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).

• Lightweight bout:  Mac Danzig vs.  Efrain Escudero

Danzig defeated Escudero via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

• Catchweight (158 lb) bout:  John Makdessi vs.  Anthony Njokuani

Njokuani defeated Makdessi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Welterweight bout:  Matt Brown vs.  Stephen Thompson

Brown defeated Thompson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 30-27).

• Heavyweight bout:  Travis Browne vs.  Chad Griggs

Browne defeated Griggs via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:29 of round 1.

UFC 144 Results & Analysis

The UFC's made it's return to Japan in the Saitama Super Arena, which saw Benson "Smooth" Henderson crowned the new UFC Lightweight Champion, after earning a unanimous decision victory (49-46, 48-47, 49-46) over former champ Frankie Edgar.
During the early rounds, it was clear to say Edgar employed a similar game plan as used in past title defences such as, Maynard and B.J Penn. Where by, his skilled footwork, constant movement and change of angles would earn him the victory, however, Henderson's pure size and strength advantage simply proved too much for the much smaller ex-champ.
Edgar's training with Muay Thai master Phil Nurse allowed him to catch the majority of Henderson's kicks but were ineffective in preventing damage being caused; the thrilling five-round bout saw wild techniques being displayed, including a scizzor kick, jumping knee and a front side kick, all from the Taekwondo black belt Henderson.
The highlight of round two came in the final seconds of the round, as a Edgar takedown led to Henderson rocking Edgar with a up-kick, using the full force of the heel and causing great damage, which became a influential factor in the judges decision, as the greater volume of punches were landed by Edgar, however, the majority of damage was inflicted by Henderson, which was evident during and after the fight, as Edgar had a badly swollen eye, damaged nose and multiple cuts under his left eye.
The bout was not as one sided as the scorecards may show, as large parts of the action was back and forth with both fighters achieving takedowns but were unable to remain control of the other. In addition, each fighter landed significant strikes during the bout with the full arsenal of their striking being demonstrated but in the end, the bout was judged on the octagon control and damage caused to the opponent.

In the Co-Main Event, Ryan Bader spoilt Rampage Jackson's return to Japan, as the TUF winner managed to earn a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Although Rampage did showcase his former glory at Pride with a trademark slam.

Main card

• Lightweight bout:  Anthony Pettis vs.  Joe Lauzon

Pettis defeated Lauzon via KO (head kick & punches) at 1:21 of round 1.

• Featherweight bout:  Hatsu Hioki vs.  Bart Palaszewski

Hioki defeated Palazewski via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).

• Middleweight bout:  Yushin Okami vs.  Tim Boetsch

Boetsch defeated Okami via TKO (punches) at 0:54 of round 3.

• Welterweight bout:  Yoshihiro Akiyama vs.  Jake Shields

Shields defeated Akiyama via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Heavyweight bout:  Mark Hunt vs.  Cheick Kongo

Hunt defeated Kongo via TKO (punches) at 2:11 of round 1.

• Catchweight (211 lb) bout:  Quinton Jackson vs.  Ryan Bader

Bader defeated Jackson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Lightweight Championship bout:  Frankie Edgar (c) vs.  Ben Henderson

Henderson defeated Edgar via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46).

Preliminary card 

• Featherweight bout:  Zhang Tiequan vs.  Issei Tamura

Tamura defeated Zhang via KO (punch) at 0:32 of round 2.

• Bantamweight bout:  Takeya Mizugaki vs.  Chris Cariaso

Cariaso defeated Mizugaki via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

• Middleweight bout:  Riki Fukuda vs.  Steve Cantwell

Fukuda defeated Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

• Bantamweight bout:  Norifumi Yamamoto vs.  Vaughan Lee

Lee defeated Yamamoto via submission (armbar) at 4:29 of round 1.

• Lightweight bout:  Takanori Gomi vs.  Eiji Mitsuoka

Gomi defeated Mitsuoka via TKO (punches) at 2:21 of round 2.