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By Wade Keller, MMATorch supervising editor
KELLER'S UFC 110 BLOG
FEBRUARY 20, 2010
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW
-After the video intro, Mike Goldbeg and Joe Rogan introduced and previewed the event.
1 -- ANTHONY PEROSH vs. MIRKO CRO COP
Mike Goldberg said Perosh had been training "just in case" someone got injured and there was an opening. He said when Cro Cop's opponent went down, Perosh "thought about it for a second" and accepted a chance of a lifetime. Rogan said he has a solid submission game... Cro Cop still comes out to Duran Duran's "Wild Boys." I still say it's an underrated entrance song, although Rogan loves to ridicule it. He didn't today... Cro Cop looks to be in great shape from a pure physique standpoint, better than I remember in his past UFC fights. Boy, Bruce Buffer has gotten a lot better compared to his early UFC ring announcing days. He does a great job. Herb Dean is the referee... Friendly fist bumps before the start...
ROUND ONE: Cro Cop threw an early high kick. Perosh attempts to take Cro Cop down about 35 seconds in. Cro Cop largely avoided the takedown and went for a guillotine. He released it a few seconds later to go back to stand-up. Cro Cop seemed very focused on ending this impressively early with stalking and waiting for a moment. At 1:30 Perosh went reeling backward from a Cro Cop punch. He took another punch on the ground. Cro Cop let him get up, and he did. He went for another takedown and pushed Cro Cop against the fence. He might be thinking it's a moral victory at this point lasting a half round with the legendary Cro Cop on short notice... Perosh's was bleeding at this point... It's clear eaerly Cro Cop is the superior stand-up fighter, not that there was any doubt. He entertained some ground and pound, but then backed off at 3:20 and Perosh again stood up, but looked leery of being KO'd... Cro Cop has to be careful of getting overconfident, yet that said, Perosh doesn't look threatening at all on his feet. Rogan notes that Cro Cop hasn't thrown a kick since the opening minute. Just then he threw a roundkick to the ribs. Cro Cop landed a straight left. Perosh went for a takedown, but Cro Cop stayed in control and landed a couple punches from above. Perosh took his time getting to his feet this time. He ate an uppercut after the horn sounded, but Cro Cop immediately apologized. Not enough to do great damage, as Cro Cop may have even let up as he heard the horn...
Late in the second round, Cro Cop elbowed the bridge of Cro Cop's nose, opening a big cut. The medic and ref checked on Perosh and gave him every chance to quit. Perosh wanted to fight. Cro Cop was even surprised. Perosh had an out and didn't take it. He scores points with MMA fans and White there. Cro Cop took him down and scored with solid punches. Dean had to begin thinking of stopping it, but it didn't get to that point as Perosh showed enough defense to survive the final 20 second onslaught. However, in the corner, the doctors stopped the fight because of the severity of the cut...
So, what did we learn? Not much, other than Cro Cop isn't so washed up that he lost to a virtual no-name who had little notice for the fight. He looked good, but will it be held against Cro Cop that he didn't finish him sooner? Or will people assume he held back a bit given the circumstances? The cut, though, was a result of Cro Cop dominating in every aspects... Cro Cop congratulated Perosh's effort afterward... It's a letdown in a way for Cro Cop because he trained for a fight where a win would have launched him back into the title opportunity discussion, but now he won a fight that doesn't mean that much... In the post-fight interview, Cro Crop said he showed "Croatian courage." Rogan asked if he was shocked that Perosh decided to continue late in the second round. "Yes, I was shocked," Cro Cop said. The fans laughed... My star rating for the fight's entertainment value and significance: (**-)
-They showed Randy Couture in the front row, smiling of course.
2 -- RYAN BADER vs. KEITH JARDINE
ROUND ONE: Good opening minute with some wild swings by both, but no damage done. Two minutes in Bader shot in and took Jardine down. He held him down, but didn't do much damage. The ref stood them up late in the round and the crowd cheered. Jardine suffered a minor cut on the top of his head early in the ground, but it wasn't a big issue... Bader's corner told him "perfect, perfect." Greg Jackson told Jardine the stuffs they've been working on will work for him, so stick to the gameplan...
ROUND TWO: Not much. Crowd booed late in the round as it just never got out of first gear for long...
RIOUND THREE: Bader scored with a straight right, sending Jardine backward. Bader flew in with a knee, then caught Jardine as he was moving right with a left hook/uppercut to his chin. Jardine went down and the ref stepped in. Rogan said Bader has one punch power. Jardine looked upset afterward. Don't fighters learn that they don't remember being knocked out, so listen to your corner instead of your memory before complaining about the ref's stoppage. Jardine fell with his right leg buckled. No damage was done, but it looked potentially nasty... Winner: Bader at 2:10... My star rating: (**) Not an exciting fight, but a good knockout finish...
So what did we learn? That Bader is for real and deserves a step up in competition now. At 12-0, fans are now going to want to see him against a top level opponent next... Jardine's chin is officially a major weakness now, although Bader is known for his power. Jardine is also officially a gate keeper and not someone even one win away from title shot conversation at this point...
A -- CHRIS LYTLE vs. BRIAN FOSTER
Ouch. Lytle wins early in the first with a kneebar. Foster was in pain and didn't get up. A close-up of his right knee a minute later showed it red and swollen. He flinched when a trainer touched the outside... Lytle graceful in the post-fight interview, acknowledges that with his swing-for-the-fences style, his submission skill have been overlooked and underrated. He looks quite happy...
3 -- JOE STEVENSON vs. GEORGE SOTIROPOLOUS
Sotiropolous walks out to "Iron Man," one of the greatest pro wrestling entrance songs back in the 1980s, used by The Road Warriors. This, Kevin Von Erich's "Stranglehold," and Kerry Von Erich's "Tom Sawyer" have to be among the best entrance songs of the 1980s... Rogan goes "wow" for the reception Sotiropolous gets walking out. It doesn't translate on PPV... If prematch enthusiasm won fights, Stevenson would be undefeated...
ROUND ONE: Sotiropolous ended up on top of Stevenson early in the first round. Stevenson held on tight and tried to avoid giving Sotiropolous the room to work. Rogan talked up Sotiropolous's submission arsenal. Sotiropolous stood and hammer fisted Stevenson in the abs. Stevenson landed an upkick. Sotiropolous then passed Stevenson's guard. Stevenson applied an arm triangle from the bottom, but Sotiropolous slipped out. Sotiropolous went into full mount. Stevenson squirmed like a cat trying to avoid getting a bath. He kept Sotiropolous honest with his submission attempts from underneath. Sotiropolous went for a late kimura. Stevenson held on with ten seconds left. Sotiropolous went back to full mount as the round ended. Stevenson got up with a smile on his face, knowing he was a fun first round... A very, very loud chant between rounds. I have no idea what they said... They replayed the nasty up kick from Stevenson... Round goes to Sotiropolous, but a lot of fun with Stevenson showing heart and skill in surviving without much damage done...
ROUND TWO: Stevenson moved in with a punch. Sotiropolous countered and landed, briefly dropping Stevenson to one knee. Both were swinging away early in this round. Great energy by both, but Sotiropolous landed a lot more. Stevenson shot in for a takedown. Sotiropolous went right into rubber guard, locking Stevenson in place on top of him with is leg. He went for an arm submission from underneath. Sotiropolous slipped out from underneath and went right into a side mount. Very impressive jiu jitsu. Stevenson is getting outclassed, but neither hurt nor defeated. The sweat late in round two should begin working to Stevenson's favor since being slipperly would presumably affect Sotiropolous more... Stevenson ended up on top again in the final minute. He went for a straight anklelock late i the round, but Sotiropolous scrambled and escaped. He put Stevenson in an anaconda choke in the final seconds... Huge ovation for Sotiropolous. Stevenson may have been saved by the horn. Hard to tell... Sotiropolous's corner told him it was a close round. I think Sotiropolous won that round, but his corner kept him inspired to fight hard in the third...
ROUND THREE: Stevenson had more energy to start the third round than most fighters do before their first. The crowd loudly chanted for Sotiropolous during this round... Sotiropolous looked better again this round by a notch or two. Stevenson ended up on top with 90 seconds left. As Goldberg said, Sotiropolous had a counter for anything Stevenson attempted, even though this may be the best Stevenson has looked as a well-rounded conditioned fighter. Sotiropolous was just a notch better start to finish at everything, even neutralizing Stevenson's takedowns with his on-the-back ground defense and offense... Stevenson jumped up at the horn and celebrated, perhaps a play to judges to get rounds two and three in his favor, but it seems pretty clear that Sotiropolous won all three, even though a couple were close enough not to be a complete outrage if one judge saw different. It'd be an outrage if all three did, though. I have that 30-27... Huge crowd pop for the announced winner - all three judges go 30-27... My star rating (***+). I liked the showcase of jiu jisu, lot of submission attempts from both, some good energized stand-up, too... Gracious post-fight interview from Sotiropolous...
-They showed Royce Gracie in the crowd. Nice ovation for him.
-Goldberg plugged WEC's PPV debut and other upcoming UFC events.
4 -- WANDERLEI SILVA vs. MICHAEL BISPING
Bisping soaked up the boos from the Australian fans as he came out to Blur... Silva does look like a different person from some angles (a little bit like Matt Serra, actually), but like the old Wanderlei from other angles. Goldberg and Rogan talked about his nose reconstructive surgery and noted how his old nose was useless for breathing and a disadvantage in fights due to all of the damage it absorbed. Rogan said that's why he used to always fight with his mouth open... Silva got a big crowd ovation... Ref is Josh Rosehthal... Friendly staredown before the fight... Rogan said Silva looks incredibly relaxed. Goldberg responded: "Like he has a secret"...
ROUND ONE: At exactly 1:00 Bisping took Silva down. Silva got right back up and they squared off center-ring again. Bisping was rotating to the right, for those wondering... Another takedown for Bisping, but Silva got right back up and threw a punch toward Bisping as he stood just to keep him from moving in as he was still getting his footing... By 3:30 Silva seemed to pushing the action a little more, nor earing Bisping's power... Silva moved in aggressively with a flurry at 4:00. Bisping smiled, nodded, and a seconds later fired back with some shots and again played up some body langauge... Bisping tried to secure the round with another takedown. Silva rocked Bisping at the end to make the judges thing hard about who deserved that round. Very close. Probably edge goes to Bisping, but it'd be nice to have a half point system here to go 10-9.5...
ROUND TWO: Silva caught a Bisping legkick at 1:00 and swept him to the mat. He went aggressively after Bisping with punches, but Bisping settled into a full guard. He went for an armbar from underneath, but Silva yanked that arm out quickly... At 1:45 they ended up back on their feet... At 3:00 Bisping got a takedown and got side control. Silva slipped easily right out and it was back to stand up. Silva mixed in some lead kicks. He ate a Bisping right jab. Silva made a big swing, but didn't connect... Bisping got another takedown, but Silva stole the round perhaps with a late guillotine. He wasn't getting out of that, and he had to absorb it for 12 seconds until that horn sounded. A very long 12 seconds for him. He would have probably tapped if it weren't the end of the round. He needed every second of recovery time between rounds...
ROUND THREE: Bisping looked fine at the start of the third, but he'll be thinking twice about another takedown attempt... The fight stopped briefly after a low kick by Bisping... Goldberg and Rogan said Silva looks like a completely different fighter than previously in UFC, much more technical... Mid-third round I'm wishing there was a title at stake so we could see two more rounds settle this close stalemate... Silva stuffed both attempts by Bisping to score a point with a takedown. Bisping caught Silva in the eye. Bisping didn't like it and threw a small fit of protest when Silva turned and walked away. The doc checked Silva, who said he could see... Down to less than two minutes, both men with a little bit of a rest giving them a little extra fire power, perhaps. They came out swinging. Silva went aggressive with big right swings, but Bisping successful kept his distance. Silva again caught a Bisping kick and swept him to the mat. Bisping got back up quickly. Silva went on a very late flury with just ten seconds left and KO'd Bisping. Again had it not been late in the round, the ref would have stepped in. Bisping wasn't coming back from that. But the horn sounded, and as Silva celebrated (deservedly, since that sealed the fight for him), Bisping recovered enough to stand up and try to figure out where he was. It was a huge right swing that dropped him, but it was so late in the fight, the clock had been removed from the screen by that point...
DECISION: With that finish, Silva will have at the very least a moral victory since he would have won both of the previous rounds without the horn. He should win on the scorecards, though... The judges gave the fight to Silva 29-28 unanimously. That was the right call, although Bisping yanked his arm away dejectedly at the announcement. Not sure how he can argue with that, although maybe he was just bummed out that the final 20 seconds of rounds two and three cost him... No argument here. The judges got that right. Bisping and Silva hugged afterward. Great fight... My star rating: (****)
The crowd booed as Rogan interviewed Bisping afterward. Bisping said he felt honored to be in the ring with him. He said the flurry at the end probably got him the decision and he's bummed out. He apologized to England. He said he has a baby on the way and he's coming home to him. That's about the best way for Bisping to lose. Silva looked very good, and it was probably experience and that Silva explosiveness that secured the decision, so Bisping loses nothing here reputation-wise and probably gains something for lasting three rounds (although one could argue he only actually survived two rounds, plus four minutes and 58 seconds of a third round. That fight was over if Silva attacked ten seconds earlier...
5 -- CAIN VELASQUEZ vs. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA
Rogan really talks up Velasquez's ability to break down the will of fighters with his relentless style. They also note he's never been taken down. Never ever... Nog's Rolling Stone's ring entrance is right up there, too, with the great MMA entrance songs... What a great heavyweight fight with such great back story, and the perfect type of fight for me - an all-time great who can still fight against an undefeated up-and-comer who's upside is unknown...
ROUND ONE: Velasquez look good early with some strong stand-up against Nogueira. Nogueira stood his ground, though. Velasquez then suddenly moved into the "I can't wait to see him fight Brock Lesnar" territory with a 1-2-3 punch combo, and then the ref let him erase all doubt with a barrage of five more punches with Nog on his back. Well, disappointing in that it wasn't competitive and didn't last long, but it was historical, a passing of the torch. If people didn't know Velasquez's name before, they do now. Finish came officially at 2:20... Velasquez
POST-FIGHT: Rogan said that's a huge, huge career moment for him. Velasquez thanked his trainers. Very humble post-fight interview, also paying respect to Nogueiro... Rogan also interviewed Nog. He said he is disappointed. "He had the best hands tonight and he deserved to win," he said. "He was an upcoming guy. He's one of the best fighters in the heavyweight division; he's a good guy." He thanked the fans. He said he loves Australia and was proud to fight for them... Okay, that's the type of performance that will draw big money if his next fight is against Brock Lesnar. Now it's up to Frank Mir or Shane Carwin to be even more impressive...
B -- KRZYSZTOF SOSZYNSKI vs. STEPHAN BONNAR
ROUND ONE: Soszynski went after Bonnar in the opening seconds like Silva did at Bisping at the end of the third round. It was a throwback to early Vitor Belfort. Bonnar survived with a clinch and then poked Soszynski in the eye. The ref didn't give Soszynski any time to recover, apparently not believing he got punched. Bonnar held his own as Soszynski went after him again with a barrage of swings... Bonnar went for a single-leg takedown. Soszynski blocked it and ate a couple uppercuts... Bonnar bled from his nose in the first two minutes. He also didn't seem to be worried about Soszynski's power as he was willing to eat his punches and swing with him while moving backward. Soszynski was the more aggressive. Goldberg said Bonnar believes he's the more technical striker. Bonnar took Soszynski down with side control at 3:00. Soszynski landed the best punch of the round late.
ROUND TWO: Good back-and-froth battle, with Bonner showing the fighting spirit that helped blast off the sport against Forrest Griffin. Soszynski landed a nice high roundkick to the side of his head... Bonnar event went for a spinning back kick. He took Soszynski late and went for a punch at the horn sounded, but held up. Soszynski again had the best punch of the round, although Bonnar showed right fight. Bonnar's corner told him to "keep your f---in' hands up and he can't hit you" and "you're losing this fight right now."
ROUND THREE: Soszynski raised his arm in an attempt to show sportsmanship before the start of the round, but Bonnar wouldn't reciprocate. He gave him a reluctant fist tap when they moved to center Octagon. Soszynski suffered a bad cut under his eye and he tried to tell the ref. Ironically seconds later Bonner was the one with a nasty cut. The doc stopped it. It was the result of an unintentional headbutt... They hugged afterward....
QUOTEBOOK
Keith Jardine: "If you're undefeated in this sport, that just means you haven't fought the right guys yet."
Wanderlei Silva on his face after nose surgery: "I look more pretty now, ha ha!"
Joe Rogan to Cain Velasquez: "To become a legend, you have to beat a legend, you did tonight in outstanding fashion."
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