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SHAWN ENNIS
JASON BENT
MATT PELKEY
ALEX WILLIAMS
JED GOODMAN
FRANK HYDEN
JASON BENT
JOHN TAYLOR
MAYNARD SWEENEY
MARC PATCHING
MIKE JARSULIC
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Hello again ladies and gentlemen, it's time for another UFC Fight Night on SpikeTV. I'll be giving my thoughts here live throughout the show, and I'll have thoughts on this show as well as the season premiere of the Ultimate Fighter in tonight's Daily Audio Update. Let's get on to the show.
Nice in memory of Evan Tanner to start the show.
-They've got the same graphics they had at Fight Night 14, and they are as awesome tonight as they were that night. Just really slick and in tone with a big time production.
-Lots of TUF alum tonight, here's hoping for some impressive performances from these guys. Should be a good night of action.
FIGHT ONE: HOUSTON ALEXANDER VS. ERIC SCHAFER
-This is going to be a good crowd tonight. Great reaction for Alexander, complete opposite for Schafer.
-Awesome knees from Houston early here. He almost got a bit overzealous and almost got caught in a submission, he's got to be careful with that. Houston's showing some nice takedown defense in this round.
Schafer is absolutely dominant once he gets that takedown. Houston's taking a ton of damage, and Schafer is just laying on the punishment. Great move to the arm triangle by Schafer, and Houston just could not hold on. He only had about 7 seconds left in the round before he tapped. Good fight.
-They're having some technical difficulties left and right here tonight. The crowd didn't like that result, but Schafer is a very gracious victor here. He said that victory was for Tanner, his hero. The replay of the finish gave a nice look on that awesome arm triangle.
-Good preview video for UFC 89. That should be another good free show next month.
FIGHT TWO: ED HERMAN VS. ALAN BELCHER
-Nice fast pace to this fight early on. Belcher's landing some good kicks and punches. Herman landed some good punches himself. Belcher ate a hard shot but he was able to hold off on Herman's take down attempt. Herman worked really well on the cage their to get the takedown. Belcher got back to his feet but got taken down almost immediately. Belcher survived the round and then Spike immediately went to commercial. Their timing is way off tonight. Good first round. This is another lopsided affair in terms of ground game, just like Schafer vs. Alexander. Herman's clearly got the advantage, but Belcher did well on the stand up.
-Belcher is just tagging Herman with that left jab early in this second round. Herman's responding with a couple of decent flurries himself before Belcher responded with really good overhand right.
Belcher got himself caught with that leg kick and Herman took quick advantage of that, taking him down. Belcher did a much better job than in the first round of defending and then getting back to his feet. Another quick cut to commercial as the buzzer goes off. Belcher took that round in my estimation, I'd say we're all tied up going into this third round. This has been a good fight so far.
-Third round now. Belcher is again working the jab nicely. Herman is doing a good job pressing the action, but he's getting tagged with shots as he does. Belcher lands a nice spinning elbow.
Herman got Belcher down again, this time with 2:00 left. Belcher again gets himself back up. He lands a head kick near the cage. Herman got another takedown, and Belcher's in danger of losing this round after dominating most of the stand up. Great finish by Herman here, and that's going to be a really tough round to score. Belcher landed a ton of shots standing up, and did the majority of the damage, but Herman took him down twice and finished it in the mount throwing shots down. This really could go either way and I wouldn't fault the judges.
-The takedowns weren't enough for two of the judges, and Belcher takes the split decision. The crowd boos him in the post fight interview, but he did enough to win, and it really could have gone either way. That was about as close of a third and deciding round as you can get, with both men making their case for it in different capacities. Belcher won back the crowd a bit by inviting the entire city to his after party. That was a good fight, though.
-Well, this could certainly be quite the quote worthy season of the Ultimate Fighter if we get more from Junie Browning and Jose Aguilar. Aguilar comparing himself to Hitler and Browning saying Aguilar had a better chance of getting him pregnant were particularly funny.
FIGHT THREE: MAC DANZIG VS. CLAY GUIDA
-This should be an explosive, fast paced contest.
-Danzig is throwing some flurries early, but Guida is covering up very well and avoiding any real damage. The crowd is very much behind Guida here. Danzig is getting the best of the eschanges in the middle part of the round. Danzig runs in with a flurry, and Guida covers up and explodes with a takedown.
Guida pushes Danzig to the cage. Danzig tries to get back to his feet, but Guida picks him up and slams him down hard. The same exact thing happens a second time. Guida throws in some nice shots in Danzig's guard. Those slams probably won the round for Guida, as despite Danzig's flurries, he didn't land anything solid.
-Time for round two. Guida presses the action early here, landing a couple of nice kicks to the body. Danzig gets in a kick to the head after eating a shot, but then Guida chases him to the cage and takes him down. They get it back to the feet.
Danzig is doing a really good job in keeping this fight standing right now, as he almost got caught in a take down a couple of times. Danzig is landing some nice shots in the last minute here. Danzig again doing a good job of holding off on the takedown, but then Guida gets his back, gives him a suplex, and takes control on the ground as the round closes. That's another tough round to score, but again I don't think Danzig did much damage despite landing probably more shots, and he got taken down and slammed again. Close second round that I'd give to Guida.
-Danzig's back to trying to hold off the relentless take down attempts bu Guida. Danzig breaks loose though, and lands some good shots before getting a takedown of his own. He goes for an armbar, and then a kimura, but he gives up his back. Guida does a great job of pulling Danzig down again. Guida takes Danzig's back again, and Danzig is again able to get out of that spot, but Guida is just relentless and pulls him back to the ground again. This has slowed considerably here, and Guida's going to run away with this decision. Danzig again goes for a kimura, but Guida drops him down again and finishes with a short flurry of punches to cement that victory. I can't see him not getting the win there. He was relentlessly dominating in the third round in terms of keeping Danzig under control.
-Good win for Guida. Guida gives Danzig his props. That was a really good performance for Guida, and he comes off as a really good guy as well in his post fight interview.
-Dana announced a three hour show on December 10th that will be a benefit for fallenheroesfund.org, an organization providing help to veterans who have suffered brain trauma in combat. That will be UFC's Fight for the Troops in December.
-Awesome, awesome preview video for Couture vs. Lesnar. Is it November yet?
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: NATE DIAZ VS. JOSH NEER
-Diaz is ready to go as they're announced here! Neer with a nice opening leg kick. He gets a nice slam take down and goes to work trying to lock in a couple of submissions. Diaz gets up, but Neer slams him down again. Diaz tries to lock on a kimura with Neer on his back. He finally gets turned around and scores a takedown of his own after a little effort. The finally stand back up and exchange shots. Diaz pushes it to the cage and lands a bunch of shots in a really nice body to face to body to face flurry.
Diaz backs up and as Neer closes in, Diaz pulls off a beautiful judo throw. Diaz lands some really nice hard shots from the top. Awesome ground work from Diaz in transitioning from one position to another. Diaz took that round back after a good start from Neer. They're going to run past the 9:00 mark unless this one ends quick.
-Neer gets a takedown early in this second round, but Diaz transitions so well and gets back up and takes Neer down. They get back up after some up kicks from Neer, and Neer then takes Diaz down again. Neer almost had a rear naked choke locked in, but Diaz slipped out and almost locked in a triangle. The transitioning is so fast paced and so back and forth right now. This is awesome to watch. Neer drops down with some nice shots from the top. They get it back to the feet with a minute left in the round, and Diaz lands another flurry. He throws a knee in for good measure. Diaz lands a hook as the round closes. Tough to call on that, as it was very much a back and forth round, and both men looked good there. Neer may have stolen it with the really close submission attempt and a couple of takedowns and a few nicely landed shots. Tough to call.
-Round three starts at the top of the hour, and Diaz pushes the action off the bat. Diaz gets another takedown. Neer does a nice job in getting out of it. Both of these guys are really slippery and their both looking really good in this fight. Diaz gets Neer's back with a couple minutes left and rolls around into the mount. Neer pushes out of it though. Nice up kicks from Neer. Diaz drops down with a few shots. Neer keeps going for an omoplata, and Diaz keeps stepping over and getting out of it. Another judo throw from Diaz near the end of the round and he throws down a bunch of shots to finish the round. Diaz should take this one with a unanimous decision. He won that third round for sure, as well the first, and he may have taken the second. Another good fight tonight.
-Neer looked really surprised that one of the judges gave him the fight. But Diaz took the other two scorecards and won a split decision. Diaz showed a ton of respect to Neer and at the same time showed he's his brother's brother by saying "somebody better fight my brother for the title and quit being weak ass punks," calling out Noons. Good show tonight, but I would have liked to have seen more in terms of finishes on the card. Ah, well, what can you do. Thanks for joining my coverage tonight, and check back later for my Daily Audio Update, only here on MMATorch.com.
