UFC 75 results
What a screwy night of fights. Houston Alexander looked like I expected him to, coming out strong and making quick work of Alessio Sakara. But Michael Bisping spent much of the time running from Matt Hamill, and while I though Hamill would be an improved standup fighter, I never thought he would be able to neutralize Bisping so well in the standup. Hamill is really turning into a serious force. Bisping pulled out a split decision victory, but I actually think Hamill should have won this one.
Along the same lines, what's happened to Mirko Cro Cop?! For a guy often referred to as one of the most dangerous strikers in the world, he sure didn't show much of that vaunted left leg. And fighting Cheick Kongo was one time he could have done it with little fear of opening himself up for a takedown. As Gerald said, this wasn't a fight expected to be on the ground long, and while Cro Cop was still the better fighter there, Kongo showed an improved ability to handle himself and better shift his opponent once it did hit the mat. How this fight ended in a decision is beyond me, but Kongo has shown that he's got room to grow in this heavyweight division. Cro Cop is going to have to do some soul searching. If he continues to allow himself to be backed up and lose his composure, it's going to be easy for less skilled fighters to make him play into their game plan.
I was impressed with Marcus Davis. I didn't pick him to win this one, partly because i thought there was a good chance he was going to bleed like a faucet against a guy who could swing like Paul Taylor. But Davis showed that he's got the goods to keep doing this. His armbar came out of nowhere, and his standup looked good as always. Let's see who the UFC gives him next.
And finally, the main event. It should come as little surprise that Dan Henderson and Quinton Jackson took this fight five exciting rounds. They both showed good striking, with quick combinations that stunned the other man, and they both showed a championship-level ground game. The fight went back and forth, with lots of exchanges on the feet -- and lots of dangerous close calls for both men -- and plenty of jockeying for position and ground-control wrestling. While Henderson looked early on to be the more overwhelming force, landing some solid hits and controlling Rampage with wrestling from the top, Jackson slowly shifted things to his game. From the third round on, he was able to keep Dan Henderson working off his back and eating some elbows and knees to the body, and Rampage scored points by not allowing Henderson to regain a dominant ground position to use his wrestling. That didn't stop Dan from posturing for several kimura and armbar attempts, which were a little too close for Quinton, I'd say. But Rampage survived to pull out a decision and become the unified light heavyweight champion.
In the unaired undercard fights, which unfortunately aren't on UFC On Demand as I'm writing this, Gleison Tibau took a unanimous decision against Terry Etim. Thiago Silva knocked out Tomasz Drwal in the second round, ruining my hopes of hearing Bruce Buffer say "Travolta" at the end of the fight. Dennis Siver knocked out Naoyuki Kotani in the second and Jess Liaudin knocked out Anthony Torres in the first.
So in a night where confident strikers often looked timid and most unaired fights ended in knockouts while most aired fights ended in decisions, Gerald and I did pretty awful with our picks.
Dan Henderson vs. Quinton Jackson: Winner - neither
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Cheick Kongo: Winner - neither
Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill: Winner - Scott
Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis: Winner - Gerald
Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara: Winner - Scott
Terry Etim vs. Gleison Thibault: Winner - neither
Tomasz Drwal vs. Thiago Silva: Winner - Gerald
Naoyuki Kotani vs. Dennis Siver: Winner - neither
Jess Liaudin vs. Anthony Torres: Winner - Scott
Total: Scott, 3-6; Gerald 2-7
Overall total: Scott, 9-9; Gerald 8-10
Which just goes to show, fights don't happen on paper.
Along the same lines, what's happened to Mirko Cro Cop?! For a guy often referred to as one of the most dangerous strikers in the world, he sure didn't show much of that vaunted left leg. And fighting Cheick Kongo was one time he could have done it with little fear of opening himself up for a takedown. As Gerald said, this wasn't a fight expected to be on the ground long, and while Cro Cop was still the better fighter there, Kongo showed an improved ability to handle himself and better shift his opponent once it did hit the mat. How this fight ended in a decision is beyond me, but Kongo has shown that he's got room to grow in this heavyweight division. Cro Cop is going to have to do some soul searching. If he continues to allow himself to be backed up and lose his composure, it's going to be easy for less skilled fighters to make him play into their game plan.
I was impressed with Marcus Davis. I didn't pick him to win this one, partly because i thought there was a good chance he was going to bleed like a faucet against a guy who could swing like Paul Taylor. But Davis showed that he's got the goods to keep doing this. His armbar came out of nowhere, and his standup looked good as always. Let's see who the UFC gives him next.
And finally, the main event. It should come as little surprise that Dan Henderson and Quinton Jackson took this fight five exciting rounds. They both showed good striking, with quick combinations that stunned the other man, and they both showed a championship-level ground game. The fight went back and forth, with lots of exchanges on the feet -- and lots of dangerous close calls for both men -- and plenty of jockeying for position and ground-control wrestling. While Henderson looked early on to be the more overwhelming force, landing some solid hits and controlling Rampage with wrestling from the top, Jackson slowly shifted things to his game. From the third round on, he was able to keep Dan Henderson working off his back and eating some elbows and knees to the body, and Rampage scored points by not allowing Henderson to regain a dominant ground position to use his wrestling. That didn't stop Dan from posturing for several kimura and armbar attempts, which were a little too close for Quinton, I'd say. But Rampage survived to pull out a decision and become the unified light heavyweight champion.
In the unaired undercard fights, which unfortunately aren't on UFC On Demand as I'm writing this, Gleison Tibau took a unanimous decision against Terry Etim. Thiago Silva knocked out Tomasz Drwal in the second round, ruining my hopes of hearing Bruce Buffer say "Travolta" at the end of the fight. Dennis Siver knocked out Naoyuki Kotani in the second and Jess Liaudin knocked out Anthony Torres in the first.
So in a night where confident strikers often looked timid and most unaired fights ended in knockouts while most aired fights ended in decisions, Gerald and I did pretty awful with our picks.
Dan Henderson vs. Quinton Jackson: Winner - neither
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Cheick Kongo: Winner - neither
Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill: Winner - Scott
Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis: Winner - Gerald
Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara: Winner - Scott
Terry Etim vs. Gleison Thibault: Winner - neither
Tomasz Drwal vs. Thiago Silva: Winner - Gerald
Naoyuki Kotani vs. Dennis Siver: Winner - neither
Jess Liaudin vs. Anthony Torres: Winner - Scott
Total: Scott, 3-6; Gerald 2-7
Overall total: Scott, 9-9; Gerald 8-10
Which just goes to show, fights don't happen on paper.
3:06 AM
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