by: Jack Bratcher
Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio – Lightweight
Round 1: Feeling out. Griffin’s ankles are taped heavily. Crowd already restless. Exchanging punches. Tyson throws Marcus down and goes in for some ground and pound while standing. Big shots by Griffin. Marcus looking for a triangle. Griffin in full gaurd of Marcus. Aurelio looking for an armbar. Griffin still posturing up, standing and throwing down punches….he backs up and lets Marcus up. Big overhand right by Griffin that misses but would have ended the fight. Leg kick by Tyson. Tyson with a great body shot then an uppercut. Big leg kick by Griffin. Another one. Marcus shoots in but gets stuffed. Good round for Griffin.
Round 2: Tyson coming in strong with punches then leg kicks. Nice variety of punches from Griffin. Left hook by Griffin and big leg kick. Big leg kick Griffin. Aurelio moves in lands a shot then clinches. Against the cage clinched. Knees by Griffin. Foot stomps by Griffin. Knee by Aurelio. Griffin grabs a single leg. Picks up Aurelio and puts him down. Aurelio gets a takedown but Griffin jumps up and Aurelio looking for his back. Tyson gets side control and now back in the gaurd of Aurelio. Aurelio has a great active gaurd. You can tell Aurelio is very skilled off his back. Elbow by Griffin. Griffin doesn’t seem worried much about being submitted because he’s putting himself right in there deep in Aurelio’s gaurd without consequence. Another round for Tyson.
Round 3: Jab by Griffin. Leg kick by Griffin. Knee by Aurelio. Another leg kick by Griffin. Tyson’s stand up looks great. 3 jabs from Griffin. Another leg kick. Aurelio shoots from way back. Tyson lands a big combo. Aurelio looking tired. Griffin landing a number of combos and then a leg kick. Tyson rushes in for a takedown and puts Aurelio on his back. This is the only place Aurelio has really looked decent is off his back but Tyson isn’t worried at all. He’s in Aurelio’s full gaurd and Aurelio keeps looking for submissions but Tyson is too skilled for him. One more round for Tyson. Tyson’s fifth fight in a row that goes the distance but he’s won them all but one. This has to be the best Tyson Griffin we’ve ever seen. Lots of tools in this guy’s toolbox. 24 years old.
They just showed the results of the fan’s voting on the Griffin vs. Jackson fight and Griffin is the slight favorite to win according to the votes.
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle – welterweight
Round 1: This should be good. Head kick by Koscheck folowed by a strike by Lytle. Lytle with a combo. Lytle being a bit more aggressive right now. Lytle threw a huge overhand right that missed. Koscheck gets a takedown and is in Lytle’s half gaurd. Kos with some g n’ p. Elbows by Kos. Big elbow by Kos. Big punch. Kos moves Lytle against the fence. Lytle with butterfly gaurd. Big hammerfist by Koscheck. Kos probably won that round.
Round 2: Combos by Lytle. Leg kick by Kos. Kos looking for a takedown and gets it. Elbows by Kos. Big punches by Kos that cuts Lytle. More elbows by Kos. One thing is Lytle will not let Kos pass his gaurd but Kos is still pounding him from half gaurd. Kos grinding elbows and big punches now. Blood on the UFC camera looks nice. LOL. Blood on TV screen and you see someone come wipe it off. Side control by Kos. Lytle is a bloody mess. He’s laying in a pool of blood. Goldberg just said Lytle is still intelligently defending himself and I almost spit out my drink. He’s getting murdered! Bell sounds finally. Lytle’s corner is telling him he’s fine but he is not fine. He has a nasty nasty cut and he can barely walk or even open his eyes.
Joe Rogan is comparing Lytle’s cut to the enormous cut that Marvin Eastman received one time and he says, “Man that thing looked like a goat’s vagina.” Ahahaha holy crap Rogan is a nut. Man that was funny.
Round 3: But he’s coming back out. Damn. Kos has to feel sorry for him almost. Lytle lands an uppercut as Kos shoots in. Lytle looking for a kimora then looks for a guillatine. Kos gets out and is back in Lytle’s half gaurd where he almost killed him last round. Here comes the elbows. Rogan is grimmacing. This may be the bloodiest match ever. It’s getting close to that. Lytle can’t see; I’m sure of it. Yve Levine stood the fight up from inactivity. That’ ridiculous on the stand up but probably safe for Lytle. Lytle swinging. Props to the ref I guess for lettting the fight go. Kos backs up from Lytle as he’s swinging at him. Lytle lands some good shots as Kos is retreating and the bell sounds. The crowd boos Kos for retreating but damn man he probably felt sorry for the guy. Can you imagine if this fight was on CBS with all that blood? It would have been stopped in Round 1 probably. Unanimous Decision for Koscheck. Great perfomance by Koscheck. Kos’s cottontop hair is now pink from Lytle’s blood. That was some freakin awesome ground and pound from Kos. Kos has a new clothing company….marclothing.com….check it out he says!.
The voting is exactly 50 / 50 now for Jackson vs. Griffin.
Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau – lightweight
Round 1: I wonder if Joe will use the “karate shout” (prounounced “kee-eye”) again this fight? Left hand from Joe. Left body kick by Tibau. Joe lands a right hand that puts Tibau down then Joe gets a guillatine but Tibau escapes. Clinched against the cage. Big elbow by Stevenson. No “karate shouts” yet. Elbow by Joe. Still clinched. Another elbow. Combo by Joe then gets a takedown. Tibau has Joe in an omoplata shoulder lock and it is in deep. Joe’s arm looks terrible. It is locked in tight. Tibau was hitting Joe in the head and Joe was laughing at him. Joe is looking bored and relaxed telling ref to stand him up. They both sat in this position for about a minute and a half. It was so tight that Joe could not get out but also Tibau could not finish it. One time I wish there was no time limit to see how that would have played out. That was a smooth omoplata for sure.
Round 2: Joe comes out swinging. Pushing forward looking for a takedown. Underhooks by Tibau. Clinched against the cage. Tibau gets Joe down but Joe gets up. Joe swings, Tibau ducks and takes Joe down then immediately gets side control. Tibau is beating Joe Stevenson and just full mounted him. Both back to their feet. Joe better do something. Joe dancing around. Exact same thing. Joe swings then Tibaou ducks and takes him down and Joe catches his head in a guillatine with a beautiful submission. WOW!!! That was an amazing submission for Joe and such a great comeback. Congratulations Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. Joe thanks Robert Drysdale for helping him with his jits.
Now the voting has 53% for Griffin – 47% for Jackson
Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida – middleweight
Round 1: This is supposed to be a fight to decide the number one contender for the middleweight division according to what the UFC promos have been saying. Cote has a low stance to help him stuff the takedowns which he immediately did. Ricardo jumps up to gaurd and looks for a guillatine. They go to ground. Cote in Almeida’s gaurd. Cote stands up. Almeida up. Jumping kick by Almeida with nothing on it. Clinched against the cage. Almeida looking for takedown. Striker vs. Grappler in this match. Cote sprawling the offense of Almeida. Almeida still trying and finally gets the takedown. Almeida in Cote’s half gaurd. Almeida standing in Cote’s gaurd and throws some strikes that land on Cote’s face. Cote holding on tight to Almeida. Big punch by Almeida. Scramble by Cote. Elbow from bottom by Cote. Big body shots by Almeida. Ricardo Almeida dominated that round. Cote maybe landed two or three small shots at most that round. Great round for Almeida.
Round 2: There’s a problem with Almeida’s glove and it’s taking awhile until they fix it. Almeida pulls gaurd and has mission control. Crackhead control by Almeida. Cote gets out and stands up. Cote is tentative to get in too close. He gets in slowly and they clinch. Elbow by Cote. Leg kick by Cote. Almeida has some good head movement. Clinched against the cage. Ref calls for work. Almeida pulls gaurd for a guillatine but slips out. Cote lands a big right that drops Almeida at the end of the round. Bell rings. Renzon Gracie is in Almeida’s ear.
Round 3: Clinched against the cage. Cote backs up. Big leg kick by Cote. Cote is staying back and now throws a leg kick. Nice. Cote needs to turn it on. Another leg kick by Cote. Two leg kicks this whole round is the only strikes of importance and now a right hand by Almeida. Another leg kick by Cote. Left hook by Cote. Looking like a sparring match. Takedown by Almeida. Thirty seconds left. Side control by Almeida. Cote on top and the bell sounds. Close fight but I’m gonna say Cote by split decision. Goldberg says, “Cote with just enough ground game not to get submitted and Almeida with just enough stand up not to get knocked out.” That’s a really good way to sum that up. And I got it right; official call is Cote by split decision.
I’m sorry but if this is the number one contender match for middleweight, Anderson Silva will have a field day with either of these guys. Cote is by no means ready for Anderson Silva and I don’t even think he deservers a shot. I would much rather see Yushin Okami against Sivla. I mean who has Cote beat to deserve Anderson Silva? I know the middleweight division of the UFC has some slim pickings these days because Silva has cleaned them out but come on. No one wants to see Cote vs. Silva; especially after seeing him fight like that. I know two middleweights right now in the top ten who really deserve a title shot but they aren’t in the UFC. If Dana REALLY wants to own the claim that they have all the best fighters in the world then Matt Lindland and Frank Trigg both should be in the UFC fighting Anderson Silva for that title. As far as I know, the only reason those two aren’t in the UFC is because of Dana.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin – Light Heavyweight Title Fight
One thing I like about Forrest is that he doesn’t shave his chest hair. That’s a real man.
Round 1: Rampage is looking SERIOUS AS HELL. I don’t see Randy in Forrest’s corner. Not sure if they aren’t showing him or what. Rampage is looking SERIOUS. OH SHIT HERE WE GO. Forrest looks calm. Forrest sticking and moving and lands a leg kick. Uppercut by Rampage that misses. Head kick by Forrest. Right hand by Forrest. Forrest with a leg kick. Left hook by Rampage. Forrest is looking lighter on his feet. Forrest is outscoring Rampage but there’s some big strikes by Rampage that wobbled Forrest. Rampage has some good head movement. Forrest buckled Rapage’s leg with a kick. Rampage has some pwoerful strikes. Big uppercut by Rampage that knocks Forrest to the ground. One punch knocked him down. Forrest has Quinton in his full closed gaurd. Forrest gets up. Bell sounds and that was a hell of a round. That uppercut by Rampage was nasty that dropped Forrest as he rushed in. But Forrest recovered nicely. My hands are shaking as I type this I’m so nervous for this fight.
Round 2: Big leg kick by Forrest. Quinton is limping. Big knees by Forrest. He’s on top of Quinton now. Rampage is in trouble. He’s in Quinton’s half-gaurd. Elbows by Forrest. Forrest using his elbow to lean on Rampage’s throat and head. This is where Forrest training with Randy Couture should pay dividends and it is. He’s in side control now looking for an Americana but lets it go. Ground and pound by Forrest. Elbows by Forrest still looking for submission. Rampage is offering no defense. Full mount on Rampage. Elbows by Forrest. Forrest still pounding. Those leg kicks by Forrest is what mayy be the deciding factor in this fight. Rampage has doen nothing. At last Rampage makes one attempt to roll Forrest off but can’t get it. Forrest won that round easily. He made Rampage look like an amatuer. Juanito asks Rampage if he’s ok and he says yes. Juanito tells Rampage he has to make Forrest fight him which means brawl with him. Rampge’s leg is jacked…probably his knee.
Round 3: Rampage has thrown nothing. Rampage throws a telegraphed punch. Big punches by Rampage lands a couple. Leg kick by Forrest. Big left by Rampge lands. Forrest has to stay away from those punches of Rampage. They exhange a flurry. Leg kick check by Rampage. Big body shot by Rampage. Superman punch by Forrest misses. Left hand by Rampage. Head movement by Rampage looks like he’s getting in a groove a bit. Here comes Rampage moving forward swinging.. Bell sounds.
Round 4: Kicks by Forrest. Rampage is bouncing now. Comes in close now. Forrest tries to trip him but lands on his back with Rampage on top. Forrest has a cut over his right eye. Forrest has a triangle deep. Uh oh….Rampage picks him up for the patented Rampage pwer bomb but Forrest is able to slip out and falls back to the ground with Rampage back on top. Forrest is defending hiimself very well. Forrest stands up but Rampage hits him in the face on his way up. They exchange shots that land. Head kick by Forrest that is blocked. Combo by Forrest. Big left hand from Rampage. Three big rights by Rampage as the bell sounds. Rampage probably won that round. I can’t believe this is going to the fifth round. Big ugly cut over Forrest’s right eye.
Round 5: Everytime Rampage lands a good shot it wobbles Forrest. Leg kick by Forrest. I don’t know why Forrest’s corner didn’t tell him to keep with those leg kicks. Rampage lands a left. Forrest lands a right. Big leg kick by Forrest. Big right by Rampage and right back by Forrest. Body shot by Rampage. Rampage is backing up. Forrest trying to stick and move but not sticking alot right now. Rampage doing a good job of blocking. One minute left. Big right hand by Forrest. Leg kick by Forrest. Body shot by Rampage. Uppercut by Rampage. Round ends with Forrest throwing knees while holding Rampage n a muay thai plum.
There was Randy Couture I saw him! I saw him! I know you didn’t want us to see him UFC but I saw him!!
Well Jaunito Ibarra, Rampage’s trainer, said he would retire if Forrest wins so let’s see what happens.
Alot of times you have to really beat a champ to take his belt and I’m just not sure if they will give it to him although I think he deserves it.
HOLY SHIT FORREST DID IT!!! FORREST DID IT!! FIVE ROUND UNANIMOUS DECISION!!
I was scared because the way Bruce Buffer announced the winner it sounded like he was going to say “Still the Light Heavyweight Champion” but he didn’t. He said, “THE NEW LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD FORREST GRIFFIN!”
Rampage was very classy and very humble in his loss. He said “He just whooped my ass. That’s all there is to it.”
Forrest said that they will have to fight again in a rematch and he admitted that everytime Rampage hit him that it hurt; and it looked like it hurt too.
Awesome Fight….Awesome Night. Best sport in the world.
Jorge Gurgel vs. Cole Miller, one of the preliminary fights from the night, is free to watch on UFC.COM.
Joe Rogan said it perfect; “You can’t say the Shogun Rua win for Forrest was a fluke anymore.” This really opens up the door for so many new match ups. And I really feel sorry for all the websites out there who try to put together UFC/MMA rankings. Good luck on trying to figure out the UFC LHW rankings now after this main event. LOL
UNDERCARD
Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Justin McCully via Submission (Kimura) Round 1
Cole Miller defeats Jorge Gurgel via submission (triangle choke) in round three
Melvin Guillard defeats Dennis Siver via TKO (Strikes) Round 1
Justin Buchholz defeats Corey Hill via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 2