Hello ladies and gentlemen, I've got a viewing party over this evening, so I'll be blogging my way through the show with my thoughts on the fights. Check out Shawn Ennis' Blow-By-Blow coverage for more tonight, only on MMATorch.com!
FIGHT ONE: Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio
-Tyson's showing some great strength as he rains down those punches from the top. Great job avoiding and holding off the arm bars as well. Nice body shots standing by Tyson. Good round for Griffin, and I'd give that one to him 10-9.
-Nice quick exchanges to start the second round. Tyson's landing a bunch of good body shots and leg kicks here. Good work in the clinch by Griffin with the knees. Nice takedown for Griffin. Great ground work for Griffin to get back to the top position. Good up kick for Aurelio before he got another punch to the face on the bottom. This fight is just all Griffin right now, another 10-9 round for him.
-Griffin with more shots to start the final round. There's a lot of posturing and stalling in this round. Aurelio just looks tired right now. Another good takedown for Griffin, but he almost got himself caught in a submission again. Decent third round, pretty boring, but this is a clear victory for Tyson Griffin. A third 10-9 round for him.
FIGHT TWO: Josh Koschek vs. Chris Lytle
-Good job by both defending against punches and kicks. Very slow first round so far. After the takedown Koschek is getting some decent shots while trying to pass. Couple of decent shots to finish the round. Slow round one, but that one goes to Koschek 10-9.
-Good job by Lytle to get back to his feet after almost being taken down. Koschek got the takedown finally, but Lytle almost got the guillotine in. Koschek opens up a cut on Lytle here, and he's doing a really good job landing punches from the top. That cut is disgusting on Lytle here. All Koschek, and this one could be stopped depending on the severity of that cut.
-Koschek with a great spin out from the guillotine attempt and he gets on top again. Cuts open again. This is hard to look at. I can't believe he just stood them up there. Lytle looks like he just got out of a horror movie scene. Nice push in the last minute by Lytle. Great final flurry by Lytle, but it was too little too late. 10-9 again for Koschek.
-I love the boos for Koschek. No matter what he does, he's just a completely unlikeable fighter. Good show of respect by Koschek in his interview though.
FIGHT THREE: Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
-Nice drop by Stevenson and he almost held onto that guillotine. Nice pass by Tibau and they get back to their feet. Takedown for Tibau again. Good takedown drop from Stevenson. Tibau with the nasty shoulder lock here. Stevenson fighting it off well for a bit. Stevenson is content sitting here get a finish to the round. Joe's going to survive the round, but the round for sure goes to Tibau 10-9.
-Takedown again for Tibau and then a great pass to side control. Great mount by Tibau but he lost it going for that submission and they're back to their feet. Great guillotine by Stevenson with the takedown and he gets the tap! Great finish. Wow. Tibau was winning that fight and got caught as he went for that takedown.
FIGHT FOUR: Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
-Good rubber guard from Almeida and Cote lets him get up. Good sprawl from Cote to clinch. Almeida working nicely from the top. Good shots from the top by Almeida. Almeida definitely takes that round. 10-9 Almeida.
-Great ground control from the bottom by Almeida until he let it go. Cote pressures but he's not landing anything. Both fighters are trying to do opposite things here and they're just posturing and stalling a bit until one makes a mistake. The crowd is turning on this semi main event right now. Slow round here. Cote wants nothing to do with Almeida's ground game. Good final shot from Cote, but I think Almeida may have slightly edged out the 10-9 round.
-Cote is really going to need to end it to win this fight. Almeida is ready and willing to dance around and hold off on this round and take a decision. They're just dancing a bit here, but Cote is pressing it late. Big takedown by Almeida with not much time left. Cote may have taken this round simply for the fact that there wasn't much going on. 10-9 Cote for me, but this was not a really good fight.
-Wow. I'm legit surprised by that decision. I didn't think he did that much in the second round, but I can see that it could have gone either way. Tough loss for Almeida and I'm not sure that I wholly agree with it.
FIGHT FIVE (Main Event): Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin
-God damn I'm excited for this one.
-Interesting crowd dynamic here, scattered cheers for Rampage but everyone is in Griffin's corner here.
-Good exchanges here. The crowd is hot. Forrest is not afraid to press the action here. Good leg kicks from Forrest as well. Rampage with a big flurry though himself. Rampage rocked Griffin, but Forrest pulled guard nicely to recover. Forrest gets himself back up. What a first round. I think Rampage may have eked that one out for himself with that knockdown. Rampage 10-9.
-Great leg kick to start off by Griffin and then he followed greatly with knees to the head and a guillotine attempt for the takedown. Forrest to side control. He goes for the arm and continues elbows to the face and head of Jackson. Great control by Griffin on the ground. Forrest mounts! Rampage is defending alright and avoiding damage. This is all Griffin in this round. That's close to a 10-8 round, and I would almost have to score it that way for Griffin.
-Another leg kick inside and a decent exchange to start the third. Forrest holding Rampage off with those kicks for now. Great flurry from Jackson that Griffin fended off nicely. More leg kicks from Griffin. Rampage's hands are so heavy. Forrest connects with a good left hook. Great exchange at the end of the round. Great fight so far. Tough round to score, but I think Rampage may have done more damage to grab that round 10-9. Could go to either fighter though.
-Rampage lands some good shots to start the fourth. Griffin pulls guard but he's been cut. Forrest with the triangle. Rampage picks him up but Forrest drops out before getting slammed. Forrest is really doing a good job from the bottom and he got himself back up. Forrest is really pushing the action, but Rampage is picking some spots and throwing punches. Another good round, and I think Forrest may have taken that one with the near submission. I think Forrest really may be winning this fight heading to the last round here.
-Forrest back to the leg kicks. Jackson is landing some decent punches, but Forrest keeps landing the leg kicks as well. Forrest lands a couple of shots himself. Forrest with a couple of nice connecting jabs. Another jab connects. They finish with some great exchanges, and Forrest ends with the knees in the clinch. Forrest may have just won the title. That round was his 10-9. This is a tough fight to call, and it really could go either way, but I think we have a new Light Heavyweight Champion.
-And for the decision: HELL YES!!! Forrest Griffin is your NEW Light Heavyweight Champion. What a great fight, and he totally deserved that win. That was awesome, and I was not at all disappointed.
-Prelim fight, Melvin Guillard just dominates Seaver from the opening and that was all she wrote after about :20.
