Archive for March, 2010

After an absolutely terrible season of "The Ultimate Fighter," with out-of-shape heavyweights and a coaches’ battle that took too long to happen, the UFC and Spike are cleansing our palate with middleweights and coaches who absolutely hate each other. Newsflash: Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz don’t like each other. Even the training center has been remodeled into a training palace. 

After the standard welcome and an expletive-filled inspirational speech from UFC president Dana White, a new wrinkle is introduced to the show. The fighters have to fight their way onto the show as usual, but they are leaving a spot open in the quarterfinals for a wildcard spot. Two fighters who lost in the elimination bouts but impressed Dana and the coaches will be given a second chance to fight their way onto the show. 

With that, we jump immediately into the fights…

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There isn’t an American lightweight who wouldn’t have traded places Wednesday night with Kenny Florian. UFC fighters have wanted a piece of Japanese/PRIDE legend Takanori Gomi forever, so when KenFlo got a shot to take him out, he took his time at Ultimate Fight Night 21. Florian fought to Gomi’s strength, his standup game, over the first two rounds and then took it to the floor almost immediately to start the final round. Gomi was no match off his back. After some ground and pound, Gomi spun and gave his back where Florian applied a nasty rear-naked choke and finished the fight at 2:52 of the third round.

"It’s weird. When I got the call to fight him, I was surprised," said Florian. "I was honored. I’ve been watching him for a long time. I don’t even know what to say. It was fun.

Gomi (31-6, 0-1 UFC) was the last lightweight champion for PRIDE and was rated No…

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UFC Fight Night 21: “Florian vs. Gomi” from the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., has officially wrapped, which means that it’s time for those select fighters who went above and beyond in their respective fights to get a little extra grease for their efforts.

To the tune of $30,000 each.

The promotion dished out its standard post-fight monetary bonuses to four fighters on the card. And it should not surprise you which combatants are leaving the “Tar Heel” with a little extra green.

In addition to their base salaries, the UFC awarded lightweight brawlers Ross Pearson and Dennis Siver with “Fight of the Night” for their action-packed, three-round war that set the tone for the televised main card.

Roy “Big Country” Nelson kept the momentum rolling with a huge finish, literally, of the 6′11″ Stefan Struve to earn “Knockout of the Night…

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There isn’t an American lightweight who wouldn’t have traded places Wednesday night with Kenny Florian. UFC fighters have wanted a piece of Japanese/PRIDE legend Takanori Gomi forever, so when KenFlo got a shot to take him out, he took his time at Ultimate Fight Night 21. Florian fought to Gomi’s strength, his standup game, over the first two rounds and then took it to the floor almost immediately to start the final round. Gomi was no match off his back. After some ground and pound, Gomi spun and gave his back where Florian applied a nasty rear-naked choke and finished the fight at 2:52 of the third round.

Gomi (31-6, 0-1 UFC) was the last lightweight champion for PRIDE and was rated No. 1 or 2 at lightweight for much of the early 2000s. At age 31, it’s hard to tell how much he has left but he was far from embarrassing in this fight. He competed with KenFlo for two-plus rounds…

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — He’s the every man but he brings a lot more to the cage beyond the slovenly appearance. Roy Nelson, has a huge gut and a terrible mullet, but the guy can fight. He surprised casual fans by storming to the title on Season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter" and tonight he put on a show by destroying Stefan Struve in 39 seconds in the co-main event of Ultimate Fight Night 21 at Bojangles Coliseum.

Give Nelson credit he wasn’t freaked out by a huge height disadvantage of 11 inches. Struve goes 6-feet-11 with ridiclous reach. Nelson said before the fight that he would look to get inside to throw his punches. He stalked Struve from the get-go and started throwing big overhand rights. After missing on the first few, Nelson landed one 25 seconds into the fight that backed up Struve…

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Jorge Rivera lived up to his reputation as a powerful striker at Ultimate Fight Night 21, TKOing Nate Quarry at 0:29 in the second round. 

Rivera dominated the entire bout. He knocked Quarry to the ground in the second round, and though Quarry recovered, it was the start of a barrage of punishment from Rivera.

At the end of the first round, Quarry barely survived an onslaught of strikes that started with Quarry on his feet and then moved to the ground. Rivera stuck to Quarry, throwing punch after punch.

Rivera finished the fight not long after the bell to start the second round. Though Quarry tried to start the round well, Rivera quickly knocked him to the ground and ended the bout there. 

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ross Pearson continues to show that his lackluster win over Andre Winner in the Season 9 finale of "The Ultimate Fighter" was a fluke. The young Brit again showed how well-rounded he is exhibiting a great chin and versatile striking game. Denis Siver gave Pearson, all he could handle, especially in the first round, but the Brit gave it back even stronger. Pearson wins the first fight on the televised portion of Ultimate Fight Night 21 via unanimous decision, 30-27 on all cards. 

Siver, who has been relegated to undercards on many UFC European cards, is a very underrated striker. His kicks are lethal, especially his spinning back kick. But Pearson, 25, did a good job of avoiding the kicks by controlling range. It had Siver (15-7, 4-4 UFC) whiffing badly with left hooks throughout the fight…

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It should be a short time before we find out what the heck is happening with the season 11 of "The Ultimate Fighter." There are plenty of stories in place, especially with what unfolds once the season finishes airing on Spike in early June. Will the coaches Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell actually make it to the cage? If it’s only Liddell, is he fighting in Vancouver or Cincinnati?

After a Tuesday report that the UFC was pulling UFC 115 from Vancouver over an insurance squabble, it looks like the promotion is close to working out the final details to keep it in British Columbia. UFC VP Mark Ratner told Cagewriter yesterday, "the event’s demise has been greatly exagerrated" and that he was in Canada (Montreal and Toronto) on Monday and Tuesday working on several Canadian issues.

Rumors exploded a few weeks ago that Rich Franklin was filling in for Ortiz at UFC 115…

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Andre Winner has some of the fastest hands in MMA he just didn’t let them go enough to score a resounding win in the final undercard fight at Ultimate Fight Night 21. Winner landed his most effective punches, an overhand right with just over a minute left and a left hook with under 25 seconds, but he couldn’t land the knockout blow. He was effective enough to score a unanimous decision win, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, over Rafaello Oliviera.

Volkmann gets first UFC win by outgrappling Torres

This is a great crowd here in North Carolina. Jacob Volkmann engaged in a grapple-fest with Ronny Torres they would’ve had the UFC 111 crowd back in New Jersey howling. Volkmann, a former college wrestler, scored takedowns throughout the fight and even when Torres got him down, he was able to reverse the position…

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Some may think North Carolina’s double weigh-in rule serves little purpose or is a waste of time. It’s hard to say what the conclusion is from the Gleison Tibau-Caol Uno fight. Tibau abided by state’s rules but still entered the Octagon looking like a big welterweight while Uno appeared to have added almost no weight. Uno was faster and landed some good shots but Tibau just walked right through them.

Uno wasn’t so lucky. When Tibau landing his thudding lefts, Uno was thrown across the cage or dropped. Tibau landed three big lefts with 1:47 left in the opening round to begin the path to the end. Once Tibau jumped on top, he landed a big right that forced Uno to his stomach where the Brazilian drilled him with five more shots to finish the fight at 4:13 of the first round…

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