UFC Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops – results & play by play

UFC Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops took place tonight in Fayetteville, North Carolina and was broadcast live on SPIKE TV.

There were some great fights for a great cause. A few highlights were Steve Cantwell’s arm breaking submission, Dale Hartt’s leg-breaking kick, and Josh Koscheck’s complete wrecking of Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

It’s always entertaining when there’s a terrible referee and Joe Rogan starts going off on them on air.

In between the fights, viewers got to learn about TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and hear the stories of surviving veterans. The main purpose of the show was so UFC fans can help raise funds for the National Intrepid Center for Excellence at http://fallenheroesfund.ufc.com.

Here’s how the fights went down:

Jim Miller vs. Matt Wiman (LW)
Rd.1 – Miller catches Wiman in a guillotine and comes very close to submitting Wiman. Wiman escapes but is eating ground and pound from Miller. Miller looks good in Wiman’s guard landing elbows that cut Wiman. Wiman reverses and stands up. Upkick from Miller catches Wiman, but Wiman is ok and Miller stands and lands a punch on Wiman. Body kick by Miller stuns Wiman. Miller rushes in with some strikes.
Rd.2 – Miller with a takedown but Wiman pops back up. Leg kick by Miller. Wiman moves in with his head leaning forward and eats some hard punches. Miller landing some big shots over and over. Wiman looks is all but done. Miller takes Wiman down. Miller with the ground and pound, stands up does a pirouette and dives in with a punch that lands. Miller continues his ground assault. Punches in bunches are making the “handsome one” ugly.
Rd.3 – Wiman comes in quickly with punches landing only to meet Miller’s double leg takedown. Wiman is back up and eats a big shot. Miller takes him back down. Miller back to the ground attack. Miller gets side control. Miller stands and takes a knee from Wiman but decides to take Wiman right back down. Upkick by Wiman. Wiman is up and takes Miller down but falls with his back to Miller. Now Miller on his back with Wiman on top with his back to Miller. Miller gets out and stands. Wiman stands only to be taken right back down. Bell sounds. Three decisive rounds for Miller.
Jim Miller defeats Matt Wiman by unanimous decision.

Tim Credeur vs. Nate Laughran
Rd.1 – Credeur lands a nice combo. And again Credeur lands two nice punches. Laughran shoots but gets stuffed. Laughran is 9-0 coming into this fight. Credeur landing some nice shots over and over. Another big one. One by Laughran lands. Credeur landing multiple shots and then a leg kick. Right hand by Laughran on the chin. Big overhand right by Credeur followed by a combo. Credeur takes Laughran to the mat as the bell sounds.
Rd.2 – Laughran shoots and pulls guard, uses rubber guard loosely but lets it go. Credeur trying to pass Laughran’s guard. Ref stands them up for not working on the ground. Credeur rubs his eye from a poke and Laughran moves forward and attacks while he’s distracted but nothing comes of it. Big right hand and then a left hook from Credeur. Big right and another and another by Credeur. Somehow Laughran survived.
Rd.3 – Laughran is unable to answer the bell for round three due to injury.
Tim Credeur defeats Nate Laughran by submission (verbal tap out – refuses to answer bell for round 3) No reason is given for Laughran’s refusal to answer the bell. He does not appear physically injured and offers no explanation. Very strange.

Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hussan
Rd.1 – Cantwell lands some shots right off but just eats them. Razak moving forward pushing the action. They clinch. Uppercut by Cantwell followed by an overhand right. Nice right by Razak. Body shot by Cantwell. Cantwell eats one. Big left from Cantwell rocks Razak’s head followed by a head kick that does the same. Cantwell shoots in and gets the takedown and moves to side control. Cantwell fully mounts Razak. Cantwell goes for an armbar. Razak will not tap and gets his arm broke. Cantwell snaps an imaginary stick for the cameras.  Wow. Razak Al-Hussan is tough! The black Tim Sylvia!
Steve Cantwell defeats Razak Al-Husan by TKO (referee stoppage – broken arm via armbar) in round 1. The replay showed the nastiest hyperextended elbow EVER!

Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet
Rd.1 – Swick comes out looking aggressive. He drops Goulet quickly. Goulet grabs a leg to try and recover but Swick keeps pounding away with roughly twenty-five hard shots to Goulet’s face. Swick’s hammerfists and punches to the side of the face chopped down the willpower of Goulet. The ref has to step in as Goulet’s eyes are looking out of the top of his head.
Mike Swick defeats Jonathan Goulet by KO (strikes) at :33 in round 1.

Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolff
Rd.1 – Saunders lands a low blow and we get a time out. Saunders with a plum and tons of knees to the head. Sounders lands a big kick to the body and then reverts back to the knees, now it’s knees to the body. Now it’s knees to the face. Wolff covers up, eats a few more knees and goes down. All in all he probably ate over 50 significant knees.
Ben Saunders defeats Brandon Wolff by TKO (knee strikes) in round 1.

MAIN EVENT:  Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Rd.1 – Koscheck being patient. Yoshida with some leg kicks. Koscheck lands a right but is partially blocked. Big right connects by Koscheck. Koscheck lands another right that stuns Yoshida, bounces him off the cage, he straightens up and is wobbling like a bowling pin waiting to topple, kaboom…one final huge shot from Koscheck drops Yoshida in spectacular yet brutal fashion. The most devastating KO of Kos’s career without a doubt.
Josh Koscheck defeats Yoshiyuki Yoshida by KO (strikes) in round 1.

Steve Bruno vs. Johnny Rees
Rd.1 – Rees with the plum and knees. Rees gets a double-leg takedown but Bruno gets up. Bruno catches a kick and puts Rees down. Bruno has side control, then north/south. Bruno has his back briefly. Rees stands but is quickly taken down only to get right up. Ref seperates them and restarts. Rogan complains about the Ref restarting them. The Ref says, “Come on and do something man.” Rogan say, “I don’t understand this ‘come on do something man’, they’re fighting, leave them alone.” Get em’ Rogan.
Rd.2 – Bruno has Ress from around the back. They are clinched in the front now. Ref seperates them again. The Ref says, “Come on men.” Big knee from Rees. Bruno shoots and gets the takedown. Bruno gets his back and is sinking in the choke. Rees is forced to tap.
Stever Bruno defeats Johnny Rees by submission (rear naked choke) in round 1.

(Editor’s Note: At the beginning of round 2 of the Corey Hill vs. Dale Hartt fight, Hill receives a leg kick from Hartt just as Hill plants his leg to throw a punch. Reports say there was a loud “crack” that resounded throughout the building and Hill crumbled to the mat. Hartt showed a lot of class by staying by Hill’s side as he had to be carried out on a stretcher.  Hill won round one.)

Unaired preliminary fights:
Luigi Fioravanti def. Brodie Farber by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Dale Hartt def. Corey Hill by TKO at :20 seconds, R2
Justin McCully def. Eddie Sanchez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)