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By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist
UFC ON FUEL TV: FRANKLIN VS. LE
NOVEMBER 10, 2012
LIVE FROM MACAU, CHINA
FACEBOOK PRELIM RESULTS
Riki Fukuda defeated Tom DeBlass by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
John Lineker defeated Yasuhiro Urushitani by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Alex Caceres defeated Motonobu Tezuka by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
MAIN CARD ON FUEL TV
FIGHT ONE: TAKEYA MIZUGAKI VS. JEFF HOUGLAND
ROUND ONE: Mizugaki took an eye poke early, but Steve Perceval missed it and the fight continued on. Mizugaki lands a nice left hook that left Hougland retreating. Hougland shoots from the outside and didn’t even touch Mizugaki. Hougland shoots again and pushes Mizugaki into the cage. Mizugaki reverses and gets a body lock takedown against the cage. Mizugaki is in full guard. Hougland with an armbar attempt, but Mizugaki pulls out and rains down with a few big punches before diving back into guard. Perceval calling for action. The prelims were plagued with that as well. Mizugaki postures up and lands some heavy elbows. Huge right hand from his knees by Mizugaki. And Perceval threatens to stand them up 5 seconds later. More big rights from Mizugaki, and Hougland trying desperately to scramble out. He got to all fours, but winds up on his back again. Mizugaki finding his range, landing big left hands this time. Hougland is looking for a choke from the bottom now. Mizugaki pops his head out after about 30 seconds. Mizugaki continues to land big punches from the top. The fight might not be where he wants it to be, but he’s certainly winning it. 10-9 Mizugaki
ROUND TWO: Hougland grabs Mizugaki and puts him along the wall. Mizugaki with a nice short elbow as Hougland shoots a single. He loses it, and Mizugaki gets a bodylock takedown, just like the one in the first. Mizugaki not doing much here, but for some reason Perceval likes it. I spoke two soon, he’s now warned them twice in like five seconds. Literally. Hougland tries to scramble out, but Mizugaki has his back now. He had Mizugaki’s leg trapped, so Mizugaki allows Hougland to roll to his back, and we’re back to guard. Mizugaki is trying to get to half guard, but as Perceval tells him to work he goes back to full guard. Not much damage being done this round, but Perceval is insulting the fighters by saying they aren’t working. There was no resting. Mizugaki with a tough left hook which forces Hougland to shoot a weak double. Mizugaki stuffed it and gets on top into full guard. Mizugaki rides out the round. 10-9 Mizugaki. 20-18 Mizugaki
ROUND THREE: Hougland eats a right hand behind the ear and face plants, ala Ric Flair. Mizugaki dives on top, but Hougland got his bearings and Mizugaki winds up in full guard. Should I just write 10-9 Miugaki now? No? Ok, fair enough. Miz postures up and lands another elbow. Mizugaki pulls away and allows Hougland to stand. Body lock by Mizugaki, Hougland pulls guard and Mizugaki is on top again. Good luck with that guard-pull, Jeff. Ten seconds later, Perceval tells them to work. Because yeah, ten seconds, that’s fair. I might not hate Steve Perceval as much as I hate Aaron Rodgers, but it’s close. Perceval stood them up while I was typing that last sentence. Hougland ducks under a left hook, shoots a double, gets stuffed, and he’s on his back. Ten seconds later and Perceval is warning them again. Not a lot of action admittedly, but ten seconds isn’t enough time to be issuing warnings. Mizugaki lands four big punches, and Hougland is busted open big-time. It was a left elbow that split him open. There’s a ton of bloog on the canvas and on Hougland’s head. 10-9 Mizugaki. 30-27 Mizugaki
WINNER: Takeya Mizugaki by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (*+) Now don’t get me wrong. Just because I thought Perceval was being fast with the trigger finger doesn’t mean I liked even one minute of this fight. I didn’t. But Perceval should’ve given them time to work. As to the 30-25, um, what? I could think of a million rounds that were more worthy of a 10-8 than anything in this fight. Meh, moving on.
FIGHT TWO: ZHANG TIE QUAN VS. JON TUCK
ROUND ONE: Zhang with a nice suplex from a body clinch, and moves straight to side control. Tuck has Zhang’s arm and is going to use it to stand up. Or he’s going to turn it into a straight armbar and roll to mount. Wow, this is good stuff. He has Zhang in an awful position, but he can’t quite get the elbow locked, so he lets it go. Tuck is caught in an inverted triangle now, but he loses it and Tuck has Zhang’s abck. Rear naked choke attempt here. This is nuts! Tuck his on his back, and has Zhang’s back. Both hooks are in, but he doesn’t have the choke. Tuck rolls both guys through and gets full mount, to side control, back to mount, and rolls to take his back again! Crazy stuff here. He’s got the choke. Well, it’s a neck crank right now, but it’s coming. Well, maybe not, but Zhang can’t do anything with his hands or he’ll get choked out. Tuck has the body scissors, lets it go, Zhang rolls, and we’re back to standing as the horn sounds. Fantastic round! 10-9 Tuck
ROUND TWO: Tuck eats a huge left from Zhang. That got the crowd fired up, but Tuck ate it well. Tuck with a flying knee, but Zhang takes him down off of it. Zhang is in Tuck’s closed guard. Expect a standup in 3 seconds. Tuck is trying to get to a high guard. Nice scramble, and Tuck is on top in a really awkward position. Arms and legs everywhere. Tuck is now more or less in half-guard with a crossface. OK, standard half-guard, with Tick looking to pass. Tuck is looking for a kimura on Zhang’s right arm. Zhange gets his arm out, but allows Tuck to mount him with 2:15 left in the round. Tuck looking to pin Zhang’s right arm with his left knee. He’s going for a mounted triangle, Zhang rolls away, but now Tuck has Zhang’s back. Heel strikes from Tuck to the gut and thigh of Zhang. He’s got the full body lock now, but it’s not tight, so Zhang has the ability to roll into guard here if Tuck gets lazy. Tuck is trying to trap Zhang’s arm, ala the finishing sequence of Penn vs. Pulver 2. Nope. The round is over. 10-9 Tuck. 20-18 Tuck
ROUND THREE: Zhang and Tuck trading punches throughout the first minute-plus of the final stanza. Tuck is dropping his hands low, and is eating more than he did in the first two rounds combined. The pace is slowing before our eyes. Zhang lands a big left that Tuck did not like one bit. Despite that, he followed up with a flying knee of his own. Zhang is bleeding from the nose, but that might have been from earlier. Zhang with another overhand lunch. Tuck’s exhausted. His hands are down by his waist. Zhang’s tired too, his mouthguard is hanging out of his mouth. Tuck and Zhang landed simultaneous right hands. Not exactly Condit-Hardy quality there. Zhang going ot the body. Nice left hook straight right combo from Zhang. Zhang is methodically stalking down Tuck as if this were the third round of an eleven round fight. 30 seconds left. As much defense here as the Packers had against the Giants in the playoffs last year. The round ends. 10-9 Zhang. 29-28 Tuck
WINNER: Jon Tuck by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**+) Lots of decent grappling in the first two rounds, but not exactly world-class, high-speed stuff, either. It was a nice change from the sloppy kickboxing that this could have been, and was in the third round.
FIGHT THREE: TAKANORI GOMI VS. MAC DANZIG
ROUND ONE: Gomi pawing the jab early and often to measure distance. Gomi lands to the body off of a Danzig front kick. Gomi’s starting to go body head, and seems to have his range now. Danzig lands with a jab. Danzing comes in behind a jab, lands a Thai clinch, and hits half a dozen knees. Danzig comes back in again, and Gomi lands a straight forward double leg takedown. Gomi in open guard with 2:30 left to work. Twenty seconds later Perceval tells him to work. Danzig has gomi’s head, and uses that to get back to standing. Perceval is pissed he wasn’t allowed to stand them up on his own. Gomi with a hard leg kick, and follows with a left hook to Danzig’s ear. Gomi looks comfortable. Gomi goes head-body as Danzig comes straight in again. The outside of Danzig’s left knee is bright red. Danzig shoots a single to a double, and gets a takedown. Danzig is unloading, but slows down as gomi goes for a heel hook to end the round. 10-9 Gomi
ROUND TWO: Danzig looks mechanical still, doesn’t have his range at all. Gomi is fighting from an orthodox stance this round. Danzig shoots a double, gets stuffed like he was running into a brick wall. Gomi didn’t recoil an inch there. Danzig is doing a better job of circling this round, it was all straight ahead in the first. Gomi is landing his left at will right now, but not as many combos this round. Another stiff jab by Gomi. Danzig lands a straight kick. Danzig shoots, grabs for a clinch, gets air. Danzig is starting to find a home for his jab, but it’s not as powerful as Gomi’s has been. Gomi lands a nice combination of punches and charges in with a successful double leg. Danzig is in half-guard, looking to mount. Gomi scrables, and gets caught in a guillotine choke. Danzig uses it to get back to top position. Gomi rolls to top, and he ends the round stuck in the guillotine. 10-10 Cop-out on my part.
ROUND THREE: Gomi lands a right hands while Danzig was throwing a knee, and Danzig stumbles and falls. Gomi jumps into guard. And switches to half-guard, with double underhooks. Danzig trying feverishly to get to his feet, but Gomi is using those underhooks to control Danzig. Gomi went for a mounted guillotine, lost it, and gave up his leg. Danzig does for a heel hook to a knee bar, so Gomi goes for a leg lock standing over Danzig. Danzig counters with one of his own and we’ve got a stalemate. Both guys let go, and back to Gomi in guard. Danzig gets to his feet, pressed against the wall. Gomi has underhooks. Gomi lands a couple knees, but gets taken down. Gomi on all fours, Danzig on his back. Gomi powers up before Danzig can work a submission. Danzig is more active now, Gomi is gassed. Gomi taunting Danzig, and Danzig lands a jab. Danzig shoots for a takedown, but winds up with his back against the cage. Nice dirty boxing for Danzig as he escapes. Both guys firing as the fight ends. Nice round. This could go either way. 10-9 Danzig. 29-29 Draw
WINNER: Takanori Gomi by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (***-) That was a good fight, and very close. I never give 10-10 rounds. Last time was more than a year ago. The Gomi of 2004 murders Danzig of course, but today’s Gomi can still compete in the middle of the card.
FIGHT FOUR: DONG HYUN KIM VS. PAULO THIAGO
ROUND ONE: Kim is just a monstrous welterweight. Kim grabs a leg right away, looking for a takedown. Grappling for position against the fence. Kim spins an gets the takedown away form the cage. Thiago is holding onto Kim’s neck from the bottom. Kim gets his back as Thiago spins to all fours. Kim has both hooks in as well. Kim postures up, looking to land strikes, but Thiago is covered up well, exposing only the back of the head. Kim has very tight back control, but he’s too high and might let Thiago out the back door. Thiago’s working the arm in an attempt to escape, but Kim’s massive frame is stifling Thiago’s efforts. Kim gets his arm out and lands a shot to Thiago’s ear. Kim lands two left hands. When Thiago goes to defend, Kim slips one arm under Thiago’s chin. Nothing there, and Kim gives it up. Kim still working the ground and pound when the opportunity arises. Thiago is trying to get to his feet, but with Kim on his back, that’s not going to happen. Thiago gives up the neck again, and Kim works for a neck crank. He has it close, but the horn sounds. 10-9 Kim Thiago had zero offense, so you could go 10-8 on those grounds
ROUND TWO: Thiago lands a nice leg kick, and follows up with a right hand a couple seconds later. Kim shoots, gets stuffed, but presses Thiago into the fence. Kim throws Thiago, but Thiago gets back up. Kim gets him back down, but Thiago has a kimura from the bottom. Kim plants his knee on Thiago’s jaw in an attempt to work his arm free. He’s still in trouble, but it’s more of a stalemate now. Kim is trying to take his back, but his arm is still in jeopardy. Knees to the body by Kim. Thiago had better not let go of that arm. Ah, he let it go, and Kim has Thiago in his control now. Kim has Thiago’s back in a north south position. Kim picks him up and puts thiago back down in a slightly better position. Kim has Thiago all twisted up here, trying ot get his back. Thiago is sliding out the back door, and just like that they are both standing. Thiago has Kim against the cage, but Kim muscles out of it and pushes Thiago down to the mat again. Kim has a D’Arce choke, he might get it if there’s enough time. Nope. The horn sounds. 20-18 Kim
ROUND THREE: Kim almost falls to his butt with a spinning back fist. Literally, he was saved by the cage. Thiago was five feet away. Funny. Thiago has landed a couple of glancing right body kicks, but no damage has been done. Kim shoots a single form the outside and gets Thiago down in the middle of the cage. Kim has his back, but is too high. Thiago down to all fours, and Kim slides back down. This is right in the middle, unlike the first two rounds. Thiago is standing, bent over from the weight of Kim on his back. The crowd is booing. It’s not exciting, but it is really, really high level stuff by Kim to keep Thiago neutralized. Thiago down on all fours, turtled, and getting pounded on by Kim. Kim rolls Thiago down, and is looking to get the full body lock with his legs. He’s got it. Kim landed nine left hands in a row, some under and some over the armpit. Thiago’s shown nothing in this fight. Thiago is holding on to Kim’s right arm, but he has no hope. Kim is unloading with left hands. Thiago postures up and is raining down double punches! Awesome! Kim’s just ragdolling his opponent as the fight ends. That was a mauling. 10-8 Kim. 30-26 Kim The first round could have been 10-8, too.
WINNER: Dong Hyun Kim by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) Sometimes brilliance is dull.
FIGHT FIVE: THIAGO SILVA VS. STANISLAV NEDKOV
ROUND ONE: Nedkov charges in with punches that miss, but Silva backed into the cage, and Nedkov has a clinch with Silva against the cage. Silva throws a knee as they disengage, but he slipped. As he pops back up both guys are swinging wild hooks, going for the kill. Nedkov re0establishes the same clinch as before. Silva spins out, and we’re back to the middle. Big right leg kick from Silva that buckled Nedkov’s lead leg. Silva shoots a double, and gets Silva’s back to the fence yet again. Couple of short knees from each fighter. Silva grabbed a Thai clinch, but didn’t land anything before they separated. Nedkov charges in with a hook and a straight right, and Silva’s back is in the fence again. This is weird from Silva, constantly running straight backwards whenever Nedkov does anything. Silva lands a knee from the Thai clinch and they disengage. Nedkov charges in again, and we’re back to the same position as the round ends. 10-9 Nedkov
ROUND TWO: The round starts with Nedkov taking a kick to the crotch. No point will be taken here. Good idea to throw a leg kick when Nedkov bull rushes, but he has to be more accurate. Nedkov took about two minutes, and we’re back. Silva throws a high kick on the restart. Nedkoc lands a nice left hook. Jab by Silva. Nedkov bulls in and Silva is on the fence again. Silva grabs the Tahi clinch every time, and why not, he’s a much bigger man. Silva lets it go. Short knees form Silva off the fence. The ref separates the. Back to the middle now. And back to the fence now. This is very dull. Nedkov’s coming straight forward, Silva retreats until the fence forces him to stop retreating, and Nedkov clinches. No dmanage is being donw by either fighter, and silva prefers to throw knees than to try and reverse. Nedkoc lets go and we’re back to the middle. Silva lands another kick to the groin, but the ref tells Nedkov to fight through it. Um… OK. Nedkov grabs another clinch, presumably to get some rest to recover from the kick to the groin. Nedkov pulls a single, tries to get a takedown, but loses it and disengages. Silva kicks to the gut, Nedkov lands a straight punch. Silva’s landing leg kicks in each 15 second spell between fence sessions. Nedkov countered a silva kick by landing an overhand right that dropped Silva like a ton of brocks. Nedkov jumps on top but can’t do anything before the horn sounds. 20-18 Nedkov
ROUND THREE: Silva comes out looking for the KO, and Nedkov is throwing the jab, trying to set up another overhand right. Nedkov ate a big right hook, and he’s still coming forward. Silva is picking Nedkov apart here. Silva with a takedown against the fence, and straight to mount. Silva is pounding away. Nedkov rolls to his side, but Silva throws him back. Nedkov was gasses coming off the stook. Silva looking for an arm triangle, and he’s got it. It’s over. Silva with the comeback victory!
WINNER: Thiago Silva by submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:45 of round three
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**-) Would have been lower if not for the come from behind submission. Nedkov was totally gassed, and had zero to offer Silva at the end. The funny thing is that Silva was about as fresh as my daughter’s diaper genie. Bad fight. Bad strategies. Just bad.
FIGHT SIX: RICH FRANKLIN VS. CUNG LE
ROUND ONE: Franklin comes in with a 6 inch reach advantage. Cung Le looks as intense as I’ve ever seen him. Not much lands in the first minute. Franklin working to keep le outside of his range by working the jab. Le hasn’t landed anything yet, other than one leg kick. Franklin lands a nice left hand. He’s using his kicks well so far. Le lands a right hand and Franklin is unconscious. Not just down, unconscious.
WINNER: Cung Le by massive unbelievable out of nowhere KO (punch) in round one
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (***+) That’s an unreal finish. Franklin landed a left leg kick to the waist of Le. And Franklin was bringing his leg back, Le threw a right hook that landed to the side of Franklin’s face. Franklin was unconscious before he hit the mat, and he landed face first. That was so, so, so sick. This isn’t how Le wins fights. Is Rich done, or has Le just shown us another new wrinkle to his game? Pretty sure Rich is done, though.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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