Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Saturday November 12th 2011
Facebook Prelims
Aaron Rosa vs Matt Lucas (Light Heavyweight)
Round 1
An absolutely dominant round from Rosa, who has chances to finish the fight early on. Lucas is being shown up as not being in the same class.
Score: 10-9 Rosa
Round 2
Lucas comes back and scores a good takedown. Being caught in the clinch, though, Lucas spits out his mouthpiece for teh third time. Referee John McCarthy deducts a point from Lucas and costs him the round.
Score: 9-9
Round 3
Both men look tired very early in the round. Rosa makes good use of the plum clinch and should ahve done enough to win the fight.
Score: 10-9 Rosa
Final Score: 29-27 Rosa
Official Result: Rosa by Majority Decision (28–28, 30–26, 30–26)
Rating: ** Pretty lacklustre fight that Rosa should really have won easily. The score of 28-28 should see that judge never working again, and I think Lucas will be back on the regional circuit.
Mike Pierce vs Paul Bradley (Welterweight)
Round 1
Bradley comes out swinging but gets pushed up against the cage early on. Pierce lands some good strikes, but Bradley does more damage especially as the round comes to a close.
Score: 10-9 Bradley
Round 2
Good start to the round from Bradley, but Pierce comes back with some great clinch work. Both men trade failed takedown attempts and Pierce gets some good strikes in as the buzzer sounds.
Score: 10-9 Pierce
Round 3
They two trade strikes for the first half of the round. Bradley lands a takedown which Pierce manages to get straight back up from. A good flurry from Pierce late on should see him win the round and the fight, but it's a close one.
Score: 10-9 Pierce
Final Score: 29-28 Pierce
Offcial Result: Pierce by Split Decision (29–28, 30–27, 28–29)
Rating: ** 1/2 Decent fight from the two, with Bradley looking competitive in his UFC debut. Pierce can use this as a stepping stone up the division, though it will take him a while to reach the top.
Alex Caceres vs Cole Escovedo (Bantamweight)
Round 1
Brilliant start from Caceres with a front kick to the chest that catches Escovedo off guard. Caceres continues to pummel Escovedo with creative striking from all sorts of angles. Escovedo catches him late, but great round from Caceres.
Score: 10-9 Caceres
Round 2
Caceres starts the second as he started the first, well on the front foot. He pushes Escovedo up against the cage and continues to hit with strikes. Standing guillotine attempt is let go by Caceres, who finishes the round with more combinations. He's well ahead here.
Score: 10-9 Caceres
Round 3
Caceres starts out flying again. Strikes are landing until Escovedo lands a big takedown. Caceres transitions though, and attempts a triangle. He's now got an armbar in tight. Constant submission attempts from Caceres off his back. Back on the feet, Escovedo attempts a takedown and scores. Attempts a choke but Caceres escapes and thrashes Escovedo with a combo at the buzzer. Grteat performance from the young man.
Score: 10-9 Caceres
Final Score: 30-27 Caceres
Official Result: Caceres by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rating: *** 1/2 Great performance from Caceres, relentless from the start and looked good on the ground too. Escovedo was a shadow of his former self here though.
Macekns Semerzier vs Robbie Peralta (Featherweight)
Round 1
Low blow from Semerzier early. Not too serious and we're back fighting. Some really good striking both in and out of the clinch from Semerzier and has dominated Peralta in the first.
Score: 10-9 Semerzier
Round 2
Pretty much the opposite of round 1, as Peralta is getting the best of the striking exchanges. Semerzier working well in the clinch, but Peralta's strikes are doing more damage and should be a round apiece.
Score: 10-9 Peralta
Round 3
Some good early exchanges and Semerzier is rocked! He's on the ground now and is grabbing Peralta's leg. This isn't stopping Peralta from striking and John McCarthy stops the fight. The replay shows the shot that rocked Semerzier was an accidental clash of heads. A review may see this getting called a No Contest.
Official Result: Peralta by TKO at 1:54 of Round 3
Rating: *** 1/2 A really good fight with an unfortunate finish. Peralta gets the decision, but that may be changed when the CSAC next meets. Would love to see these two go again.
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs Darren Uyenoyama (Bantamweight)
Round 1
Kid starts with a few in and out shots and gets Uyenoyama onto the ground twice in quick succession. Uyenoyama pulls guard and goes for a triangle which Kid backs away from. Uyenoyama takes Kid down following an exchange and takes his back. Choke is locked in with 15 seconds left. Kid hears the klax and holds on to the end of the round. Wow.
Score: 10-9 Uyenoyama
Round 2
Uyenoyama eats a big left hand but transistions into a good position. Uyenoyama takes the back again and is in full control. They stand up and Uyenoyama lands some good strikes. Kid is nowhere in this fight.
Score: 10-9 Uyenoyama
Round 3
Uyenoyama pulls guard quickly and dominates the position with the rubber guard. Kid can't do anything from this position. They stand up with around 2 minutes to go, but Kid can't get in any significant offence and this will be a great win for Uyenoyama in his UFC debut.
Score: 10-9 Uyenoyama
Final Score: 30-27 Uyenoyama
Official Result: Uyenoyama by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
Rating: *** Really impressive victory for Uyenoyama, but Kid looks finished. So often the Japanese superstars fail to travel to the States, and it's happened again.
DaMarques Johnson vs Clay Harvison (Welterweight)
Round 1
A wild exchange to start the fight off, both men are swinging. Massive uppercut from Johnson and Harvison is done. Johnson hits one follow up shot and it's over. Great finish from Johnson.
Official Result: Johnson by KO at 1:34 of Round 1
Rating: *** 1/2 Johnson looked really impressive here with a really great stoppage victory.
Cub Swanson vs Ricardo Lamas (Featherweight)
Round 1
Some decent striking from Swanson early on, and a good sweep as well. Lamas lands a takedown, but Swanson transitions it into a guillotine. They stand again, and Swanson lands a good shot and falls into side control. He goes for a choke but is foiled and the round ends with a brief flurry from Lamas.
Score: 10-9 Swanson
Round 2
Good exchange at the start of the round and a great takedown from Lamas. Swanson attempts an omoplata, but is met by some strong punches from Lamas. Lamas takes Swanson's back and locks in a tight arm triangle. Swanson can't get out and taps out to finish the fight. Superb submission.
Official Result: Lamas by submission (arm triangle) at 2:16 of Round 2
Rating: **** Excellent back and forth fight that ended with a brilliant submission. Maasive win for Lamas, who has looked excellent in his two UFC fights.
Dustin Poirier vs Pablo Garza (Featherweight)
Round 1
Slow start to the round as the two feel each other out. Some good striking exchanges and Poirier throws a kick that is caught by Garza. Garza turns the kick into a knee bar, and is wrenching hard, but Poirier wriggles out. Garza pulls half guard but eats some shots from Poirier. He transitions to full guard and throws some good elbows before teh round ends
Score: 10-9 Garza
Round 2
Garza goes for some clinch offence but is taken into half guard by Poirier. Poirier throws a right and suddenly locks in a D'Arce choke. This is over.
Official Result: Poirier by submission (D'Arce choke) at 1:32 of Round 2
Rating: *** 1/2 Very impressive submission from Poirier after a good back and forth fight.
Benson Henderson vs Glay Guida (Lightweight)
Round 1
Both fighters come out swinging as there are strikes flying all over the place. Bang, Guida is on the canvas after a shot from henderson, but he's scrambling and seems to have recovered. You can't keep this guy down. Guida goes for a takedown but Henderson blocks it. The two continue to throw strikes at each other, they're really going for it here. It's neck and neck until Henderson hits a good flurry to take the round. Fantastic. opening.
Score: 10-9 Henderson
Round 2
The pace hasn't relented as these two continue to go at each other. Henderson lands some good early shots, but nothing that rocks Guida this time around. Good takedown from Henderson, but Guida scrambles up to his knees. The two land some hard shots on each other for the remainder of the round, as well as trading takedowns and submission attempts. Incredible fight, and absolute murder to score, but I shade the round to Clay.
Score: 10-9 Guida
Round 3
This utterly insane fight continues at a frantic pace as Clay and Ben simply beat each other up. The volume of strikes that are still landing at this stage is incredible. They trade strikes and takedown attempts, and Guida has a go at a guillotine, which Henderson shrugs off. As the buzzer sounds, both men embrace, and my heart is saying call it a draw so we can see this again! The head however, gives Henderson the round and the fight.
Score: 10-9 Henderson
Final Score: 29-28 Henderson
Official Result: Henderson by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Rating: ***** Spectacular. Up there with Edgar v Maynard II for fight of the year. Henderson will give Frankie Edgar a great run in the title fight, and Clay Guida can hold his head high in defeat. Incredible fight.
UFC on Fox
We in the UK are getting the international feed, hosted by Jon Anik. So, rather than video packages and chat with Dana White and Brock Lesnar, we get a re-run of Guida vs Henderson. No complaints here, but now it's main event time. And this is never finishing within the hour if it goes the distance.
Cain Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos (UFC Heavyweight Championship)
Round 1
Tentative start from both men as they seek to find the range. The two trade some tame strikes and Junior hits Cain with a massive right hand that drops the champion. Dos Santos follows up and twelve shots later, John McCarthy stops the fight. We have a new champion. Wow!
Official Result: Junior Dos Santos by KO at 1:04 of Round 1
Rating: **** I did not see that coming! I didn't expect it to go five rounds, but absolutely stunned how quickly Dos Santos finished things off. Absolutely a star making performance from the new champion - who was fighting with a torn meniscus!
Final Thoughts: A slow start from the prelims, but the show got steadily better as it progressed. Some very good performances on the undercard, and a true fight of the year contender in Henderson vs Guida. The main event was explosive, and has to be seen as a positive thing for the UFC on their network debut. Yes, it was short, but it was a decisive finish, and will do wonders for Junior Dos Santos' stock. And if Brock Lesnar can beat Alistair Overeem at New Year, they have a ready made superfight for late spring. A very solid debut for UFC on Fox.
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