With so much happening in the domestic MMA market you could be forgiven for missing a few of the stories in the wider MMA world over the last few weeks, so with two shows over the weekend it would be remiss not to catch-up with the world’s largest promotion.
By Fergus Ryan
UFC on FX 4: Maynard v Guida
Of the two weekend shows, the UFC’s fourth offering on FX last Friday night was the less-hyped, but easier for the casual fan to get invested with more household names than the Brazilian-heavy UFC 147 card.
Cub Swanson showed some sharp striking to dispatch Ross Pearson with a counter left hook deep in the second. Pearson is 5-3 since winning TUF 9, but finds himself at a divisional crossroads. He told JOE at UFC 138 in Birmingham last November that the decision to drop to featherweight was not because he couldn’t cut it at lightweight, but that he felt there was an opportunity for a run at the featherweight title. Pearson was underwhelmed by his own first performance at featherweight and after the loss on Friday may consider a return to his natural home at 155lbs.
Brian Ebersole looked calm as ever to go 4-0 in the UFC, which takes his career ledger to an incredible 50-14-1. Ebersole played rubberman to Waldburger’s rubber-guard as he evaded a D’arce choke in the first, an omoplata and an armbar and a couple of triangle choke attempts in the second. Ebersole should get a crack at some big game in the welterweight division, though he mentioned in the post fight press conference he may drop to lightweight in the near future.
In keeping with their previous two encounters Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher served up three more rounds of non-stop action. Stout was victorious via split decision when the pair first met at UFC 58 in 2006. Fisher took the rematch in 2007 by unanimous decision setting up this rubber-match five years in the making. In a reversal of roles Stout, a kick boxer, out wrestled Spencer, a wrestler, who had been getting the better of the striking exchanges. In the end the series concluded with Stout getting his hand raised by unanimous decision.
The main event was memorable only for the lack of fighting that occurred during all of the scheduled twenty-five minutes. Try as he may, Gray Maynard could not coax Clay Guida away from his game-plan. If you were being kind you could say Guida was trying to emulate how team-mate Carlos Condit beat Nick Diaz at UFC 143. Dana White suggested it was worse than the infamous Kalib Starnes v Nate Quarry fight, where Starnes refused to engage for the entire three rounds resulting in a 30-26, 30-27 and 30-24 for Quarry on the judge’s scorecards. Guida faired a little better convincing one judge he’d done enough to win 3 of the 5 rounds. Maynard started slow but came on strong from the third round on, forcing Guida to back peddle faster.
In the end justice prevailed with Maynard getting his hand raised in a split decision win. Dana White, a Guida fan, laid the blame squarely at the feet of those who came up with the tactics. “These guys come up with game plans, whatever it is, but to make a guy like Clay Guida go out and fight like that – that was the game plan?” asked the UFC president.
Results:
- Gray Maynard def. Clay Guida Decision (split) (48–47, 47–48, 48–47)
- Sam Stout def. Spencer Fisher Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
- Brian Ebersole def. TJ Waldburger Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
- Cub Swanson def. Ross Pearson TKO (punches) 2nd round
- Ricardo Lamas def. Hatsu Hioki Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
- Ramsey Nijem def. C.J. Keith TKO (punches) 1st round
- Rick Story def. Brock Jardine Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
- Steven Siler def. Joey Gambino Submission (guillotine choke) 1st round
- Chris Camozzi def. Nick Catone TKO (doctor stoppage) 3rd round
- Matt Brown def. Luis Ramos TKO (knees and punches) 2nd round
- Dan Miller def. Ricardo Funch Submission (guillotine choke) 3rd round
- Ken Stone def. Dustin Pague Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)
UFC 147
For some UFC 147 might have been hard to get invested in because of the lack of household names. Of the twenty-two fighters involved only two weren’t Brazilian. In addition to being a PPV in the US, the event also served as the The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil Finale. It may have seemed strange to have a TUF Finale for a PPV, but when you consider that the first episode of TUF Brazil drew 12 million viewers on terrestrial TV you can see why the UFC would want a bigger stage than the normal ‘Fight Night’ type event.
What the event lacked in star billing it made up for with honest endeavour from the fighters. What was also noticeable, by its absence, was the lack of takedown shots. The standard UFC card normally contains half a dozen or more former US collegiate wrestlers, almost guaranteeing takedowns will be front and centre in most of the fights. The majority of Brazilian fighters seemed happy to stand and bang, even the highly decorated BJJ black belts.
In the Middleweight final Cezar Ferreira beat Sergio Moraes by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) and an extremely emotional Rony ‘Jason’ Mariano Bezerra beat Godofredo Pepey by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in the featherweight final.
Fresh off his Muay Thai inspired victory against Roy Nelson, Fabricio Werdum again looked sharp dispatching Mike Russow in the round. Werdum was booted out of the UFC in 2008 after a devastating KO loss to current champ Jumior Dos Santos. His life’s mission has been to get back to the UFC and a rematch Dos Santos. While Dos Santos will face Cain Velasquez later in 2012, Werdum may need to win one more fight to put himself in the title mix.
In the main event, Rich Franklin battled back from the brink to edge Wanderlai Silva by unanimous decision. Silva dropped Franklin towards the end of the second round and pounced to hit him but was beaten by the bell. Silva looked tired in the third and fourth and only rallied in the fifth when he realised he’d let Franklin back in the contest. Franklin admitted during the in-ring interview afterwards that he had no recollection of the third and fourth rounds but looked sharp in both taking momentum into the fifth. Similar to their ‘fight of the night’ performance in 2009 at UFC 99, the rematch was a compelling encounter even though it came about as a result of an injury to Silva’s original opponent, Vitor Belfort.
Results:
- (190 lb) Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva Unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
- Cezar Ferreira def. Sergio Moraes Unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rony Mariano Bezerra def. Godofredo Pepey Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Fabricio Werdum def. Mike Russow TKO (Punches) 1st round
- Hacran Dias def. Yuri Alcantara Unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rodrigo Damm def. Anistavio Medeiros Submission (rear naked choke) 1st round
- Francisco Drinaldo def. Delson Heleno TKO (punches) 1st round
- (150 lb) Hugo Viana def. John Teixeira Split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Thiago Perpétuo def. Leonardo Mafra TKO (punches) 3rd round
- Marcos Vinicius def. Wagner Campos TKO (punches) 3rd round
- Felipe Arantes and Milton Vieira Draw (28-29, 29-28, 28-28)
TUF: ‘The Smashes’
The UFC has confirmed that The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs. UK will feature lightweight and welterweight fighters.
Fighters from bantamweight through to welterweight were invited to apply to try out for the series, with the application period concluding on June 1. The UFC has now narrowed the field to two weight classes and all applicants will be contacted to advise whether or not their application has been successful. Those who are going through to the next stage will receive details for the tryouts via email.
Following on from the success of TUF: Brazil, ‘The Smashes’ – a play on the 130 year-old cricket rivalry between Australia and England, is the first ever series of TUF to be filmed in Australia. Fighters in the show will be coached by a star UFC fighter from their country of origin. The coaches for the series have yet to be announced. Brad Pickett, Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos have all been linked with the coaching role. You can join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag: #TUFSmashes.
UFC on Fuel TV 5 – UFC: Nottingham
The UFC also announced that it will make return to the UK on Saturday 29th September at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England.
The event will be a first for the UFC in Nottingham and will feature Newcastle’s Andy Ogle, a semi-finalist on the most recent season of TUF. Ogle petitioned UFC President, Dana White for a shot to fight in his native country and was given the chance to meet fellow TUF alum Akira Corassani of Sweden in a featherweight bout. While English bantamweight contender and two-time UFC Fight of the Night winner, Brad Pickett, will square off against Canadian Yves Jabouin. Other matches announced include Stefan Struve vs. Stipe Mio?i?, Dan Hardy vs. Amir Sadollah, Paul Sass vs. Matt Wiman, Duane Ludwig vs. Che Mills, Jason Young vs. Robert Peralta
“We are very excited to be going to Nottingham for the first time,” commented UFC Managing Director of International Business, Marshall Zelaznik. “Some of the biggest names in British mixed martial arts are from Nottingham and the fans have been campaigning for us to bring a fight here for years. The UK fans are among the most passionate UFC supporters on Earth and this is going to be a special night.”
Tickets for UFC: Nottingham are priced at £75, £100, £150, £185, £225 and are available at The Capital FM Arena box office and online at www.capitalfmarena.co.uk and www.ufc.com.
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