UFC 95 Recap

Courtesy of AngryMarks.com:

UFC 95 is on the air! Even though this show is on tape delay, I've managed to avoid spoilers all day long, so everything happening on this results page is brand new for me... or for those of you reading who have done the same. It's quite a card tonight, with everything from Demain Maia v. Chael Sonnen to a main event with Diego Sanchez v. Joe Stevenson. I'm looking forward to the fights!

I'm going to call the action round by round instead of blow by blow this time. Josh Koscheck v. Paulo Thiago is up after this commercial break, but first a few words promoting Ultimate Fighter - United States vs. United Kingdom on Spike and a very strange Conan O'Brien commercial for Bud Light.

* Josh Koscheck v. Paulo Thiago

Koscheck says he didn't come all the way to London to lose. Through a translator Thiago says his jiu-jitsu will take him down and submit him. He's certainly got a chance - he's got a perfect 10-0 record heading into his UFC debut tonight. Tale of the tape Koscheck to Thiago - 31 to 28, 5'10" to 5'11", 170 to 159, and a reach of 73" versus 74.5". Thiago fights out of Brasilia, Brazil in the blue corner. Koscheck fights out of Fresno, CA in the red corner (and incidentally his record is 14-3). Our referee in charge is Marc Goddard. Results will be updated again after R1 ends... or if it ends early. Here we go!

PAULO THIAGO DEFEATS KOSCHECK BY TKO. Holy crap. They immediately cut to a commercial break when Goddard stops the fight so I'm going back on the DVR to see it again. With 1:34 left to go in the round, Thiago hit an uppercut right of death. Koscheck was already falling down as Thiago tried to fllow up with a left hook. While his eyes didn't roll back in his head, it was clear this was a good stoppage when Koscheck tried to get back up and had that classic "deer in the headlights" look of not knowing where he was. The official decision is coming shortly.

The audience is a little upset when we come back, and Koscheck is claiming it was too early to stop the fight. BRUCE BUFFER: MARC GODDARD STOPS THE FIGHT AT 3:29 OF R1 FOR THE WINNER BY TKO - PAULO THIAGO! Rogan himself notes they were criticizing Thiago's striking right before the finishing shot, particularly the fact he would drop his hands every time he threw a jab, but apparently it worked out just fine in the end! No post-fight interview with Thiago, which is fine by me, since it's pretty clear he doesn't speak english. We go to a promo for UFC 96: Jackson v. Jardine on Saturday, March 7th and footage of the two main eventers arriving backstage.

* Demian Maia v. Chael Sonnen

Maia is no joke, having four submission victories in the UFC and quickly coming up on a middleweight title shot. In fact I'll go out on a limb and say he's probably the best guy in the middleweight division NOT to get a shot yet, unbeaten and impressive. Speaking of impressive though, Sonnen did blow through Paulo Filho in a WEC rematch, a fighter who was himself once considered among the world's best middleweights. Can Sonnen live up to the promise he showed in that victory, or will he be outclassed by Maia? We'll find out after these commercials.

Another promo for Ultimate Fighter - United States v. United Kingdom debuting in April when we return. Tale of the tape Maia to Sonnen - 31 each, 6'0" to 6'1", 184 to 185 in weight, 72" to 74" in reach. Sonnen is in the blue corner, his record is 23-9-1, and he fights out of West Linn, Oregon. Maia is in the red corner, 10-0, and fights out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Our referee in charge for this fight is Dan Miragliotta. Next update after R1... or if it ends early!

DEMIAN MAIA TAPS OUT SONNEN WITH A TRIANGLE CHOKE IN R1. Again they immediately go to commercial so let's hit rewind on the DVR. Maia had been pulling guard the entire round, trying to set Sonnen up for a submission, but he had been very wary and backing away when possible to get back to stand-up. At 2:42 left in the round though Maia executed a picture perfect takedown, locking a triangle on at 2:32. Sonnen tried like hell to pop his head free but at 2:23 left on the clock he had nowhere to go and no choice but to tap. Official results after the break.

Rogan shows us the replay and refers to Maia as "top of the food chain" in his weight class and at Brazilian jiu-jitsu. No argument. The takedown was beautiful, the transition was flawless, Sonnen blew it by trying to roll over and rolling right into the triangle.

BUFFER: REFEREE STOPS IT AT 2:47 OF THE FIRST ROUND DUE TO TAPOUT VIA TRIANGLE CHOKE FOR THE WINNER - DEMIAN MAIA! Rogan joins Maia for an interview. Maia says he's surprised he put him down on the ground because he's such a good wrestler. "Now I think I deserve a title shot. I want to show to the people that you can win the fight without hurting your opponent, I'm very happy to be here in Europe, thank you London!" His mentor and training partner Wanderlei Silva smiles and gives him a hug afterwards.

* Junior Dos Santos v. Stefan Struve

Undercard bonus fight! 25 to 21, 6'3" to 6'11", 239 to 240 pounds and 77" to 83" reach going from Dos Santos to Struve. No pre-right interview tape but we do get full introductions from Buffer, including the fact Struve is 20-2 and fights out of The Netherlands - plus his nickname is 'Skyscraper'. Meanwhile Dos Santos is 7-1 and fights out of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Two heavyweights, only one winner! Dan M. is our referee in charge. Here we go!

DOS SANTOS WIPES OUT STRUVE WITH A FLURRY OF STRIKES JUST 53 SECONDS INTO ROUND ONE. There's no need for me to even rewind this one and look at it again - Dos Santos just hit him hard and caught him off guard. Struve started wobbling, Dos Santos poured it on, and the ref had no choice but to stop it for Struve's safety. We'll have the official result after these commercial messages.

A left hook started it, a big right dropped Struve down to his knees, he caught a second right that put him on Dream Street as he was trying to stand back up. The crowd may not like it but this was the right call. BUFFER: REFEREE STOPS THIS CONTEST AT 54 SECONDS OF ROUND ONE DECLARING THE WINNER BY TKO - JUNIOR DOS SANTOS! No post-fight interview, although I think the hard-hitting punches of Dos Santos speak for themselves.

* Nate Marquardt v. Wilson Gouveia

A middleweight fight with a potential shot at Anderson Silva on the line. Marquardt even says at much - he wants this fight so he can get back to Silva again. Gouveia for his part promises to knock out Marquardt in the first round. He says he'll be in the best condition of his life, and that Marquardt may be "good" at a lot of things but he's not "great" at anything. Well we'll see if Gouveia is right once they fight! First these commercial messages, but before that HOLY CRAP it's only been an hour and we've seen three fights already - almost four! Things are flying fast and furious tonight!

Nate to Wilson - 29 to 39, 6'0" to 6'1", 185 each, 74" to 76" in reach. Gouveia is in the blue corner, 12-5, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Florida. Marquardt is in the red corner, his record is 30-8-2, and he fights out of Denver, Colorado. We'll check back in after round one... or if like the other fights, this one ends early too. Leon Roberts is the ref in charge. Here we go!

Gouveia nearly catches Marquardt in a guillotine choke in round one, but Marquardt is a wily veteran and manages to pop his head out to survive to R2. I'd say 10-9 Gouveia.

Surprising round two that's mostly in Marquardt's favor. Even when Gouveia tries to tie him up on the ground, Marquardt blasts him in the face with shoulders, and when he lets go Marquardt tags him with elbows and hooks. When they stand up Marquardt nearly gets him in a guillotine choke. Gouveia seems a little dazed from the offense as R2 comes to an end. I've got this fight even at one round apiece.

GSP is shown in the crowd between rounds smiling, giving a thumbs up and eating an orange slice. This is actually much cooler than words do justice. You can see bruises and hematomas on the left side of Gouveia's face as R3 gets underway!

MARQUARDT EXPLODES GOUVEIA'S FACE WITH HEAD KICKS AND MUAY THAI KNEES TO FORCE A REFEREE STOPPAGE. The onslaught started at 1:59 left as Marquardt had been backing away, but by 1:51 Gouveia was slumped in a fetal position with blood POURING out of the left side of his face. We'll get the official time and result after commercial break but HOLY SHIT, NATE +IS+ GREAT.

Replay shows a straight right hand started it, a flying right knee dazed the shit out of Gouveia, more headkicks, spinning fist, more kicks, more knees up the pipe, and the doctors are still trying to stitch Gouveia back together again. BUFFER - LEON ROBERTS STOPS THE CONTEST AT 3:10 OF THE THIRD ROUND FOR THE WINNER BY TKO: NATE 'THE GREAT' MARQUARDT. Wow! Marquardt is with Rogan. "God's blessed me with a lot of things, my family, my wife, my teammates my coaches, and the chance to fight here tonight. Thank you UFC, thank you all. The Nate you saw tonight is not the Nate you saw fight for the title before. Next time will be the first time." If this is the Marquardt who faces Silva in a rematch, he may have a chance! UFC 96 preview follows.

Rampage interview! He's wearing a solid red color shirt that looks like a jumpsuit. "I'm feelin' good baby, how you doin! I think my next fight is a good test for me. I'm not technical, but I like when people are technical. I'm just tryin' to do my thang baby! You already know, I worked so hard, my speed got better since the last time I fought (Silva) so this was my chance to knock his ass out. There's always danger in looking past a guy like Keith Jardine, so I take it one guy at a time, and we'll go from there." Rogan and Jackson both tell us not to miss UFC 96!

* Terry Etim v. Brian Cobb

They're not even giving us tale of the tape for this prelim fight or anything - we're going straight into the action. Etim ends up on the ground a couple of minutes in and looks very poised and tanned. Ref stands them up. Cobb fires off a few headkicks after they get back on their feet. Etim jabs away and defends with leg kicks. Etim winds up on the bottom and once again looks comfortable there. Another stand-up. If they're bonusing this fight I'll be shocked if it gets out of R1 but we've only got one minute left. Well shit, R2 it is! I suppose technically Cobb won the first round but Etim doesn't seem phased at having spent so much time on his back.

THE FIGHT IS OVER JUST SECONDS INTO ROUND TWO! Etim exploded with a series of strikes that sent Cobb reeling. The inside leg kick set it up, and a left head kick put Cobb right on his butt. Foot, meet jaw. Ass, meet canvas. BRUCE BUFFER: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN REFEREE STOPS THIS FIGHT AT 10 SECONDS OF R2 DECLARING THE WINNER BY TKO: TERRY ETIM! Etim: "It's always going to be a tough fight but ehh, I trained hard. Every single fan here thanks. UK fans are always the best! At the moment I'm just gonna take each fight as it comes to ensure my future." Rogan thanks him and we move on!

* Per Eklund v. Evan Dunham

We're actually getting pre-fight interviews this time. Per Eklund has won 5 of his last 6 fights, including submitting Sammy Schiavo at UFC 89 in his Octagon debut. He hopes to make Evan Dunham his next victim. "I'm gonna destroy him!" Commercial break.

Tale of the tape - 28 to 27, 5'10" each, 155 to 154, 72" to 70" from Per Eklund to Evan Dunham. Dunham is 7-0 and fights out of Las Vegas, Nevada. His opponent in the red corner is 15-3-1 and fights out of Stockholm, Sweden. Our referee in charge is Marc Goddard. See you after the end of R1... or sooner, who knows?

EVAN DUNHAM WINS BY KNOCKOUT. Eklund nearly got caught by a big punch and a guillotine attempt early in the round but escaped. Eklund in turn nearly caught Dunham in an armbar while on the ground in the second minute. Goddard gave a warning for low kicks. Shortly afterwards it was all over. The replay shows a straight left crumbling Eklund, and Dunham jumped on him to ground and pound it out for the stoppage. Official decision coming momentarily.

BUFFER - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FIGHT STOPPED AT 2:14 OF THE FIRST ROUND FOR THE WINNER BY KNOCKOUT: EVAN DUNHAM! Rogan interviews the winner. "Shawn Tompkins and Ben Baxter have been helping me a lot." Rogan congratulates him on the victory and says they'll look forward to seeing him again. The interview was a little longer than that but not much.

* Neil Grove v. Mike Ciesnolevicz

Two UFC newcomers in this fight! I'm familiar with Ciesnolevicz (says-no-levich) from the International Fight League though. Grove says he's sure he'll win for his hometown UK fans. Ciesnolevicz has 17 wins in 21 fights and has faced everyone from Reese Andy to Andre Gusmao. "My fight with Neil will be the first time I've fought a guy a lot bigger than myself, but I'm ready to get in there and kick his ass." Commercial!

38 to 29, 6'6" to 6'1", 263 to 235 pounds, 80" to 74" reach from Grove to Ciesnolevicz. Officially Ciesnolevicz is 17-3, 1 NC, and fights out of Bettendorf, Iowa. His opponent Grove in the red corner is 7-1 and fights out of Essex, England. Our referee in charge is Leon Roberts. See you after R1 or sooner!

CIESNOLEVICZ WINS BY SUBMISSION IN ONE MINUTE. Neil Grove is in agony because Ciesnolevicz popped his knee out. The inside heel hook torqued the body until the choice was tap or snap... and it may have snapped before Grove could even tap. Grove can barely sit up after they are the replay and he's limping heavily as we go to the official announcement.

BUFFER - ROBERTS STOPS THIS CONTEST AT 1:03 DUE TO TAPOUT BY HEEL HOOK FOR THE WINNER: MIKE CIESNOLEVICZ! Rogan simply calls him MIKE C. Mike moved up from light heavyweight to take this fight. "I was waiting for Joe Silva to call. I would have fought anybody on a day's notice. I'm just happy to get that shot." Rogan shows the replay of the inverted heel hook. "Something tore pretty bad. I wasn't trying to hurt him but I wanted to win. Pat Miletich schooled me on the leg game, he's among the best in the business. Ideally I should be fighting at light heavyweight, but I'll fight anybody they give me. Just being here is a dream come true!"

* Dan Hardy v. Rory Markham

Holy crap - we're on the eighth fight of the night and we're only two hours into the show. Anybody who said that UFC 95 wasn't going to be fun to watch was in the words of Edge WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONNNNNG! In other words THIS IS A KICK BUTT GREAT FREE UFC. Commercial break after the promos and before the fight.

They're playing "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes for Rory Markham as he makes his way out to the Octagon, adorned in a Fairtext hat and Tapout t-shirt. Rogan says that Markham was personally introduced to him by Miletich with a note to "look out for this kid." Markham is another IFL vet and he's never seen a third round in a fight - 16 wins so far with 10 by KO.

His fight banner says RoryMarkham.tv if you're interested. Dan Hardy is on his way to the cage now with his frosted red mohawk haircut and a bandana over his mouth. The Nottingham native will definitely be the crowd favorite in this one! Hardy gets greased up as we see that his strengths are "majority of wins by KO, good chin, aggressive." In other words he's a striker... and that's about it.

Tale of the tape Hardy to Markham - 26 each, 6'0" to 5'11", 170 each, 74" to 71" in reach advantage. Time for three rounds in UFC's welterweight division! Markham is 16-4 and fights out of Bettendorf, Iowa in the blue corner. (Boos for the yank.) Hardy in the red corner is 20-6 with 1 NC and as noted fights out of Nottingham. (RAUCOUS CHEERS FOR THE BRIT.) Our referee in charge is Kevin Mulhall. See you after R1 or sooner!

DAN HARDY KNOCKS OUT RORY MARKHAM. We immediately go to commercial so once again it's back to the DVR! The fight got past the first minute but not much further. Markham's nose had already been bloodied before Hardy hit him with a big left hand counterpunch at 3:52 that forced the ref to stop the fight. We'll get the official time after this break.

Spectacular slow-mo' replay when we come back. Here's Bruce Buffer with the results! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN REF STOPS THIS CONTEST AT 1:09 OF THE VERY FIRST ROUND FOR THE WINNER BY KNOCKOUT: DAN 'THE OUTLAW' HARDY! Rogan's voice squeaks like a little girl introducing Hardy. "My punching power, what do you think of that? It was time to represent FOR THE UK!! He's a very aggressive fighter, and as he steps in for that punch I knew he'd be wide open, and POOOOM! Thank you to all the fans, no matter where I am in the world, England's in my heart. Thank you for the support!" Commercial.

* Main Event: Diego 'Nightmare' Sanchez v. Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson

Cageside preview from Goldberg and Rogan. The latter seems concerned that Sanchez dropping all the way down to lightweight could effect his cardio, and that Stevenson wants to rebound from his loss to Kenny Florian and make a big statement tonight. 50% of Stevenson's wins have been by guillotine choke, and he lands 62% of his strikes on the ground. On the other hand, Sanchez hits a little over 1 out of 4 takedown attempts and lands 56% of his ground strikes. This is going to be a war.

Sanchez says Stevenson has never evolved in any of his fights. Stevenson says it'll be up to him and him alone whether he wins or loses - Sanchez has NO CHOICE about it. Stevenson is already winning points with me for coming out to the Octagon to "Amazing" by Kanye West. Joe looks ripped and ready, and is so full of energy he runs around the ring pumping up the crowd. Sanchez comes out to "We Will Rock You" by Queen - can't argue with EITHER song choice for either man. Sanchez keeps screaming YES over and over again on his way to the cage. Rogan: "He's a very bizarre dude."

He notes that Sanchez does everything from yoga to putting himself in a sensory deprivation tank to prepare for fights, training his mind as much as his body if not more. Sanchez sprints across the cage and Rogan notes he's bulked up considerably since the weigh-in yesterday. NO SHIT ROGAN, REALLY?

Tale of the tape - 27 to 26, 5'11" to 5'7", 156 to 155 and 72" to 70" in reach going from Sanchez to Stevenson. Bruce Buffer - two warriors, ultimate proving ground, MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING, yadda yadda. Dan Miragliotta is our referee in charge and the sponsor is Bud Light. IT'SSSSSSS, TIIIIIIIIME~! Three rounds, in the UFC, lightweight division. Blue corner - 34-9 - Victorville, California, USA - Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson! Red corner - 21-2 - San Diego, California, USA - Diego 'Nightmare' Sanchez! If I didn't know better I would have said Sanchez was hitting a Randy Orton pose during his introduction. Dan sends the fighters to their corners. Here we go!

Stevenson was smiling at Sanchez throughout round one. I'm not so sure that was a good idea, because everytime he smirked Sanchez would come at him with a body shot and follow with a good uppercut. Stevenson was doing pretty good at getting strikes in though, dancing around a lot, constantly forcing Sanchez to change angles. The winner of the round depends either on where you were sitting at cageside or who you like better - it was a virtual tossup.

If I was scoring on takedowns, submission attempts and Octagon control I might score the second round for Sanchez. If I was scoring for the second round on reversals, striking, aggression and submission avoidance I'd go for Stevenson. In fact by the end of round two Stevenson seems to have the timing of Sanchez down, avoiding his strikes and hitting uppercuts in response. The slam Sanchez hit when Stevenson was going for a choke though WAS impressive. The third round is definitely going to decide this fight!

Rogan feels that Stevenson is behind on the scorecards as R3 gets going. There may have been an unintentional low blow at about the two minute mark, but Stevenson shakes it off and the two tap gloves. Stevenson pumps up the crowd and connects with a strike, but if Sanchez IS ahead on points that's not nearly enough. Rogan is talking about how improved the striking of Sanchez is, but he seems to be missing a lot of wild looping shots in this round.

Stevenson is connecting fairly regularly. Stevenson takes his back with 40 seconds btu the two break apart when Sanchez puts his hands down on the ground (i.e. no knees). Final 15 seconds Stevenson comes forward, Sanchez tries a flying knee that misses, and the two swing for the fences as the horn sounds. Decision after this break.

BRUCE BUFFER: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER THREE ROUNDS WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION. LEE SCORES 29-28, HUGHES SCORES 30-27, THE THIRD JUDGE SCORES 30-27 FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION - DIEGO 'NIGHTMARE' SANCHEZ! I'm surprised the crowd boos this - there's really no way to complain about a fight this close. Sanchez puts over Joe as a warrior in the post-fight interview.

Sanchez: "I give all the glory to God. Thank you Jesus. I'm saying at lightweight, it's permanent for now, when I'm in my 30's maybe I'll go up. You know, I'm here to do whatever UFC wants me to do. Kenny Florian, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Koscheck or Fitch I'll go up and avenge those fights. Whatever they want." Rogan congratultes him again and another round of boos from the crowd. I guess they just don't like 'Nightmare' at the O2. That's it for UFC 95 tonight! Incidentally in the only unaired fight UK fighter Paul Kelly beat Troy Mandaloniz in a unanimous decision. Good fights, good night!

Share |