UFC 110 Recap

The arena in Australia is packed full of hyped up UFC fans, as it well should be given this is their first ever live UFC PPV. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan join us from the commentary position to run down the card.

Rogan calls tonight's main event an incredibly exciting and competitive clash of styles and calls Nogueira one of the greatest heavyweights of all time (no argument) but reminds us not to count Velasquez out. Next Wanderlei's credentials as the long-reigning PRIDE Middleweight Champion are put over, a title he ultimately lost due to the punching power of Dan 'Hollywood' Henderson - and he's never been the same since.

This may be his last hurrah tonight - another loss would be really ugly, especially if he gets badly KO'd. Goldberg tells us the crowd is jacked up tonight and that we've got former TUF fighters Keith Jardine and Ryan Bader on the card, and then promotes the show Justified debuting on SpikeTV in March. The Rules of the Octagon are run down as always for the fans, then it's time for our first fight!

* Mirko Cro Cop v. Anthony 'The Hippo' Perosh (UFC Heavyweight Bout)

Perosh is a Sydney, Australia native so even going against the always popular Cro Cop he should have a lot of crowd support tonight. I have to give him MAN UP credit for taking this fight on short notice when 'Big' Ben Rothwell dropped out too. The graphic tells us Perosh is a jiu-jitsu black belt, but we'll see if that helps when Cro Cop throws his hands and head kicks. Cro Cop comes out to "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran. I've heard some of the experts say Cro Cop was heavy for this fight, but he looks to be in pretty good shape to me as he gets his final pre-fight prep at cageside. Tale of the tape Cro Cop to Perosh - 35 to 37, 6'2" to 6'3", 106 kg to 98 kg and 73" to 75" in reach. Here's Bruce Buffer and the fans are going nuts for his WE ARE LIIIIIIIIIVE. Perosh is 10-5 overall. Cro Cop is 25-7-2 with one KO and fighting out of Zagreb, Croatia. BUFFER IS SUPER PUMPED. I've heard him less excited for main events! HERB DEAN IS OUR MAN IN THE CAGE. Here we go!

Respectful tap of the gloves to start. Cro Cop is head hunting early and just misses with a big left kick to the skull. Perosh shoots in for a single leg and Cro Cop stuffs it and starts pounding on him. Perosh sticks with it but Cro Cop sprawls right on top of him. Good opening minute to the fight. Cro Cop is back on his feet and chasing down Perosh, who is firing shots as he backs away. Cro Cop catches him with a punch and then another with 3:20 left, then lets Perosh back up! Cro Cop stuffs another takedown attempt and fires knees as Perosh pushes him into the fence. They break apart again. R1 is halfway gone. Cro Cop is landing some nasty left hands when he gets in range. None are breaking Perosh but they're definitely rattling him. Each time Cro Cop lets him get back to his feet. Perosh shoots again at 90 seconds and is stuffed with relative ease this time. Perosh may think his only chance is the ground now, but it doesn't look like Cro Cop is going to let it go there. Hard left kick to the body by Cro Cop. Cro Cop lands a few big shots from sprawl and waits to let Perosh back up as time expires in R1. Total domination by Mirko. Goldberg reminds us to follow www.twitter.com/DanaWhite as we wait for R2. Replay shows us just how nasty those left hand punches were.

And R2 is underway! Perosh seems to have no answer. He shoots again and Cro Cop stuffs it without even a second thought, then tries to transition to Perosh's back. Perosh fights him off so Cro Cop lets him back up then nails him with a few more punches as the first minute of R2 goes by. Another nasty body kick. Another unsuccessful takedown attempt by The Hippo. Cro Cop tries to push his way into side control. The Hippo looks more like The Turtle. Cro Cop backs off and lets his opponent up again with 2:15 left. Perosh fails again. Perosh is epic failing hard. Rogan suggests he pull guard. Cro Cop is openly stalking him now. Perosh fails AGAIN with 90 seconds. The Aussie fans are turning on him. Perosh finally pulls guard and Cro Cop is content to blast him in the face from there and PEROSH IS A BLOODY MESS. Cro Cop sliced him badly with an elbow. The fight is stopped for the doctors to take a look. Herb Dean is asking him if he wants to continue. The doctors continue to look him over. Dean is making sure his vision is not impaired. THE FIGHT CONTINUES with 45 seconds left in the second round. Perosh eats more punches after another unsuccessful sprawl and he's hurt bad. PEROSH SAVED BY THE BELL.

THE DOCTOR HAS STOPPED THE FIGHT AND IT IS ALL OVER - Mirko Cro Cop wins! Buffer: HERB DEAN CALLS A STOP TO THIS CONTEST AT THE END OF THE SECOND ROUND, DECLARING THE WINNER BY TKO, MIRKO CRO COP! Cro Cop praises the heart and guts of his opponent in the post-fight interview. Cro Cop was shocked he decided to keep fighting after the cut. Rogan says he looks forward to seeing him again and Cro Cop simply says "thank you."

Randy Couture and a smoking hot girl in a very open chest exposing outfit are in the crowd enjoying the fights! We see Velasquez and Big Nog from earlier today arriving backstage before Goldberg promotes UFC 113 in Montrae and a main event of Machida v. Rua 2, along with a battle between Koscheck and Daley, plus Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione. We go to shots of Keith Jardine and Darth Bader warming up backstage.

* Keith 'Dean of Mean' Jardine v. Ryan 'Darth' Bader (UFC Light Heavyweight Bout)

TUF winner Ryan Bader is the first to arrive hailing from Reno, NV. On screen graphic reminds us he's a Division 1 All American. Jardine arrives high-fiving the fans, hailing from Butte, MT. It looks like Jardine has trimmed the goatee a little - not a lot but a little. Jardine exchanges hugs with all of Greg Jackson's guys before Stitch gives him the onceover. Tale of the Tape from Jardine to Bader - 34 to 26, 6'2" each, 205 (93 kg) each, 76" to 74" in reach. Bader fights out of Tempe and he's 11-0 overall. Jardine is 14-7-1 and fights out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our referee in charge for this contest is JOSH ROSENTHAL. Here we go!

Bader is in the white trunks, Jardine the black. Bader is coming forward early and pushes Jardine up against the fence. Jardine tries to reverse the position unsuccessfully and the two break apart. Jardine throws a right that backs Bader off. Bader misses with a big looping right of his own. Jardine comes forward with a flurry. Both guys seem content to strike it out on the feet right now. 90 seconds gone. BADER WITH THE TAKEDOWN. Two minutes gone. Let's see what he can do from here. Jardine gets cut by an elbow near the top of his head and blood is trickling down the backside. Bader is caught in guard looking to move to side control on Jardine's left. Jardine is keeping him at bay but that's pretty much all he can do. 70 seconds left in R1. Jardine tries to pop back up unsuccessfully. Rosenthal finally stands them up with 35 seconds to go. Jardine gets in a couple more shots and one leg kick before the horn.

R2 underway! Jardine is jabbing and countering anything Bader throws. Another leg kick lands. Bader shoots for the takedown and they stall against the fence as we pass the one minute mark. Jardine lands a knee to the body and Bader breaks apart. Goldberg reminds us UFC will be on Versus on March 21st. THANKS COMCAST. THANKS DIRECTV. THANKS A F'N LOT. Jardine stuffs another Bader takedown. R2 halfway done. Bader is starting to connect more with the hands but is still wary of Jardine's big right. Jardine's sprawl is getting better the longer this fight goes. When you train with GSP and Rashad Evans that really shouldn't be a surprise. 60 seconds. Jardine jabs effectively. Jardine falls down on a leg kick, but it hurt Bader enough he couldn't capitalize. The two break apart. Jardine stuffs another takedown that almost gets him to the ground before R2's horn sounds. I'm calling this an even fight at one round apiece, 10-9 for each man.

R3 starts with Bader coming forward and Jardine circling. Jardine's left jab hangs out there like a big bear paw swatting at salmon in a stream. Bader gets stuffed again. Bader needs to turn it up quick if he wants to win this fight. Jardine lands a knee ALMOST flush to the chin, Bader gets a takedown due to the change in balance, but Jardine quickly pops right back up and is throwing hands. Two minutes gone. DARTH BADER KTFO JARDINE!! A right and a knee drop him and Rosenthal stops the fight.

Buffer: ROSENTHAL STOPS THE FIGHT AT 2:10 OF R3 DECLARING THE WINNER BY KNOCKOUT: RYAN 'DARTH' BADER! That was literally his last chance to win and he took it. Bader improves to 12-0. Joe Rogan goes to interview the winner. Replay shows us the flying right knee that rocked Jardine and the left hook that dropped him to the canvas. Congratulations to Ryan Bader on a big win for him in the light heavyweight division. Sad that Jardine looked good in the loss, because it's still a loss and moves him further down an already crowded division.

* Chris Lytle v. Brian Foster (UFC Lightweight Bonus Fight)

Lytle is in the white trunks and Foster the red. The fight starts right away with no preamble, introductions, tale of the tape or anything. Foster is all over his opponent early. Hands are flying. Spinning kicks are narrowly missing. Lytle lands a solid left that stuns Foster for a split second. The fight goes to the ground and Lytle quickly hooks him. IT IS ALL OVER - LYTLE WINS VIA SUBMISSION. Foster may have been trying to take him down but wound up in a picture perfect kneebar in the process and his leg literally POPS on camera. It's fairly gruesome - people in the bar are going ooh and ahh.

Buffer: REF STOPS THIS CONTEST AT 1:41 OF R1 DUE TO TAPOUT FROM A KNEEBAR FOR THE WINNER: CHRIS 'LIGHTS OUT' LYTLE! Rogan and Lytle discuss how underrated his submission game is. We see Foster again trying to take his back and Lytle countering it into the tapout with ease. That's a strong candidate for Sub of the Night unless one of the PPV main events has something better. Silva and Bisping are warming up backstage.

* Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson v. George Sotiropoulos (UFC Lightweight Bout)

Sotiropoulos is coming out to "Iron Man" and the only bad thing about that is this will probably be cut out of the PPV when it's released on DVD. The Torrance, California native Stevenson is all smiles as he makes his way to the cage with a red hat on turned backwards. Tale of the Tape from Joe to George - 27 to 32, 5'7" to 5'10", 154 each (70 kg) and 70" to 71" in reach. George's record is 11-2 and he fights out of Vancouver, Washington even though he hails from Australia originally. Stevenson is 36-10 and fights out of the Al-BBQ in New Me-hee-coe. Our referee in charge is HERB DEAN. Here we go!

Joe is in the white trunks, George the black. Both guys are bobbing and weaving like boxers on their feet, Joe looking the better of the two by a hair. Joe goes for a single leg but he's unable to sink it in and they wind up on the fence. Joe pushes him back to the center of the Octagon but that just allows George to fall on top of him. George starts looking to pass while Joe tries to control the left leg. Dean calls for more work as we near the halfway point. Joe is not letting go of that leg no matter what! Joe tries to sweep and finally George stands up and fires hammerfists at Joe's chest. Joe catches him with an upkick! George passes but Joe nearly sinks in an arm triangle. George escapes. One minute to go and we have a chess game on the ground! George rolls to take his back but Joe keeps his chin tucked so he can't sink anything in. George is looking for a kimura!! 10 seconds left, can he get it? NO! Joe Daddy survives although he was fully mounted and eating shots as R1 ends. The crowd is chanting George's name!

R2 is underway!! Joe is bobbing and weaving again. George is not bouncing around anywhere near as much as the start of R1. He clips Joe with a punch! Joe throws an uppercut that misses and a leg kick that connects. George counters with combos. Joe is eating lefts and rights and looking outclassed on the feet, which I did not in any way expect. Two minutes gone. George is throwing combos at will. Joe shoots for a big takedown and gets it! He has George pushed up against the cage and he's looking for the omoplata. George holds the wrist and gets an AWESOME sweep to side control. Joe gets partway up, goes for the single leg and takes George back down. Joe has him stacked up on the fence. George tries to counter into an armbar but Joe winds up in the guard with 30 seconds left. Rolling leglock! Both men scramble as the last ten seconds wind down with George looking for a darce choke but unable to pull it off as the horn sounds.

The crowd is thunderously loud as the third round gets underway! Joe has a bit of a shiner on his left eye. Joe is definitely just trying to hang in there at this point - he's looking outclassed in almost every way. George catches a kick and takes Joe to the ground! Joe is quickly back to his feet but George is over the top holding on with Joe's head in the fence. George is briefly in the guard, Joe gets back up, and George tags him a couple of times in the process. George has three minutes to close out strong and take a unanimous decision. Joe shoots for the single leg and misses. Much like Cro Cop did to Perosh earlier, George is stuffing a lot of takedown attempts now. Joe keeps pushing on the fence but George is in good shape until Joe rotates and twists and manages to wind up in the guard on the ground. Joe will need a submission to seal the deal though otherwise he's still losing at least 2 rounds to 1. Joe stands up and that gives George just enough space to escape. Joe gets another takedown with 30 seconds left. Sorry Joe, two takedowns aren't going to do it. Time expires and we go to the judges!

Bruce Buffer: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER 3 ROUNDS OF ACTION WE GO TO THE JUDGES' SCORECARDS FOR A DECISION. ALL THREE JUDGES SCORE THIS 30-27 DECLARING THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION - GEORGE SOTIROPOULOS! George tells Joe Rogan it was much closer than the scores would indicate. George gives out props to the fans, his fight team and several websites. The hometown crowd is definitely pleased with this win! We see a shot of Royce Gracie in the crowd before we go to a preview of the next WEC event, airing March 6th on Versus (THANKS COMCAST, THANKS DIRECTV, F'N MORONS) and UFC 111 featuring GSP vs. Dan Hardy.

* Wanderlei Silva v. Michael Bisping (UFC Middleweight Co-Main Event)

Bisping comes out first to Blur's "Number 2" - you know, the WOO HOO song. Wanderlei is rolling to a techno beat as he makes his approach to the Octagon. Tale of the Tape! From Silva to Bisping 33 to 30, 5'11" to 6'2", 84 kg each and 74" to 75.5" in reach. Tapout and Xynergy are our sponsors for this first bout. Bisping is 19-2, 185 pounds, and fights out of Manchester, England. Silva is 32-10-1, 1 NC, 185 pounds and fighting out of Las Vegas, NV by way of Curitiba, Brazil. It's still funny to hear Buffer scream THE AXXXXE MURDERRRRAHHHHHH. Josh Rosenthal will ref this fight. Here we go!

And round one HAS BEGUN. Bisping is in the ref trunks and Silva is in the white. Bisping teases a head kick. Silva is being very cautious early. He snaps off a couple of leg kicks that connect. Bisping shoots for a double leg and gets it with ease. Silva pops up, Bisping takes him right back down. Bisping almost catches him with a knee. The two go back to Octagon center. Bisping with a front leg kick. Two minutes gone by quick. Silva lands a punch as we pass the halfway point. Silva is chasing more now. Two minutes left. Bisping with another low leg kick. Silva's biceps look really jacked. More leg kicks by Bisping. Silva with a couple of his own. Silva unleahses a flurry but Bsping avoids and backs away. Bisping nearly gets a muay thai clinch. 10 seconds. Silva lands one really good left and right each as the round ends and nearly gets another punch after the horn. We get a slow mo replay of the left that caught Bisping.

On to R2! Silva with a leg kick early. Not much happens for the first 50 seconds until Silva ends up on top in Bisping's guard. Silva wants to drop bombs but Bisping is getting out of the way of most of it. He catches a hard kick to the gut from Silva as he gets up and out. Two minutes gone. Silva is throwing huge rights that could end the fight if they landed flush. Bisping shoots for a big double leg and takes it. Silva is quickly out and back up. 1:40 left in the round. Silva with inside leg kicks and one to the body as we near 30 seconds left. Bisping is momentarily backed into the fence. Bisping shoots for the double and gets caught in a guillotine - Silva cranks on it for all that he's worth but BISPING IS SAVED BY THE HORN.

Rampage tells Bisping in their corner that he'd better knock Silva's ass out if he wants to win. Round three begins! Silva with leg kicks that are unchecked and head kicks that are. Bisping with a body kick that's checked. 3:40 left. Silva and Bisping land simultaneous jaw taps. Left kick by Bisping catches the crotch and we get a timeout. Silva shakes it off quickly and the fight resumes with 3:10 left. Bisping shoots, Vandy sprawls. 2:20. Wanderlei leg kick. He's still looking for the right. Body kick by Bisping. Takedown stuffed. Body kick by Wanderlei. Vandy claims an eyepoke by Bisping and we get another stoppage. Slow mo replay shows it. 1:35 left when we resume. Bisping knocked down for a split second with under a minute to go. Silva chases with punches for the last ten seconds and ROCKS Bisping and the fight is ALMOST waved off with two seconds left! Bisping saved by the horn. Overhand right to the ear dropped Bisping and we see it on the replay rocking Bisping's world. The two exchange a hug afterwards.

Bruce Buffer to make it official. SCORECARDS - ALL THREE JUDGES SCORE THIS 29-28 FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION: THE AXE MURDERER - WANDERLEI SILVA! Joe Rogan congratulates Silva on his improved timing and striking and his first win ever fighting at 185. Bisping credits Silva as being an awesome fighter and taking the decision with his knockdown at the end, apologizes to his fans, apologizes to England, and congratulates Silva again. Rogan tells him it's not a setback, just another fight, and he'll come back strong in his next bout!

* Cain Velasquez v. Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira (UFC Heavyweight Main Event)

Velasquez comes out to his mariachi style music at 11:20 PM CST. Nog comes out to "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones. Tale of the Tape! Nog to Cain 33 to 27, 6'3" to 6'1", 234 to 243 and 77" reach each. Buffer tells us that two heavyweight warriors are about to go toe to toe in the MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING. Herb Dean will ref our main event, live from Sydney, Australia. IT'SSSSSSSSSSSS TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME! Velasquez is 7-0 and fighting out of San Jose, CA. Nog is 32-5-1 with 1 NC and fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Let's go Rodrigo!

Nog is in the grey trunks, Cain is in the black. Cain is firing leg kicks but eats punches in the process. Cain lands a left body kick. 45 seconds gone. Nog wins a flurry but takes one on the chin. Cain fires a left head kick and a low leg kick. Nog lands a left on the jaw that doesn't faze Cain. Cain keeps throwing kicks. We're nearing the halfway point! CAIN ROCKS HIM! CAIN STOPS HIM! IT IS ALL OVER!!!! Slow mo shows Cain timing a perfect left, grazing him with a right, and blowing up all over him on the ground. Herb Dean made the right call to stop it.

Buffer: HERB DEAN STOPS THE FIGHT AT 2:20 OF THE VERY FIRST ROUND FOR THE WINNER BY KNOCKOUT - CAIN VELASQUEZ! Cain says he was planning to stay outside and get a takedown when they were available. Rogan credits him for getting off first in every exchange and shows us the replay where Cain's connected first. Cain just laughs watching the double rights and has nothing to say about it, so Joe congratulates him and thanks him for a great performance. Nog is clearly disappointed in his post-fight interview but credits Cain as among the best in the heavyweight division and says he wasn't surprised by how good his standup was, and thanks all the fans in Sydney for coming and says it was a pleasure to fight for them here.

* Stephan Bonnar v. The Polish Experiment (Light Heavyweight Bonus Fight)

Soz immediately charges him to start the fight, gets poked in the eye, the fight stops it momentarily and then it's right back to the action. Soz charges ahead again with punches and we're only 30 seconds in. Bonnar drops down for a single leg but Soz fights it off. Soz with a leg kick when he gets free and another flurry. Soz might want to be a little more careful than that - he could get caught by charging repeatedly. Soz lands another flurry but Bonnar backs him away with a thrust kick. R1 halfway gone. Bonnar completes a takedown but Soz is immediately back up. Bonnar takes him down again and gets side control. Soz scrambles and gets out. 90 seconds. Bonnar pushes to the fence looking for a clinch and Soz again gets away. Leg kick by Bonnar. Soz with one in return. Soz swings away then grabs a muay thai clinch. 40 seconds. Bonnar breaks free and lands a jab. Soz may have caught a nutshot at round's end but he shakes it off.

Soz is all smiles as we start R2. Leg kick connects early. Bonnar shows a good jab. He's doing much better in this fight than I expected him to. Soz has a mouse under his eye from those jabs. Bonnar lands a combo against the fence. Soz wraps an arm around in a body lock but Bonnar gets out and the two slug it out when he does. Soz tries to change levels but Bonnar is one step ahead of him and comes out firing knees. Bonnar even fires a few elbows but Soz covers up effectively. 2:10 left. Bonnar is looking a little bruised himself but I'd say he's winning the exchanges this round. Rogan: "Soz has the harder shots but Bonnar is landing more." Bonnar pushes him to the fence and throws knees in the clinch. Bonnar tries a spinning backwards kick with 20 seconds left that misses. Round ends with both throwing kicks but Soz landing on the ground. Bonnar has no time to capitalize before the horn.

Soz is still smiling as we start R3. Dude, what do you have to smile about at this point? Either win the fight or don't - stop smiling 'til you do something. The two touch up gloves for our final five minutes. Bonnar shoots hard for a single leg and is unable to secure it, but he gets knees in the clinch. He got cut in the process though and bloor is pouring down his face, and it's getting all over Soz to the point his trunks are turning pink. The ref stops things to check the cut. Replay shows us an acidental headbutt was the cause of it. THE FIGHT HAS BEEN STOPPED. Soz hugs Bonnar and picks him up in an embrace. Rogan takes us through the replay and says that a followup punch hit in the same spot as the headbutt, and that was what opened the gash deep.

Bruce Buffer: THE REFEREE STOPS THE CONTEST AT 1:04 OF ROUND #3 ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DOCTOR FOR THE WINNER BY TO: KRZYSZTOF 'THE POLISH EXPERIMENT' SOZYNSKI. Lytle gets Submission of the Night as expected. That's it for UFC 110!

Unaired prelim results:

* James Te-Huna d. Igor Pokrajac via TKO (strikes) at 3:26 of R3.

* CB Dollaway d. Goran Reljic via unanimous decision 29-28 on all scorecards.

Unannounced bonus results:

* Joe Stevenson and George Sotiropoulos get Fight of the Night

* Cain Velasquez gets Knockout of the Night

All bonuses were worth $50,000.

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