Fight Five: Felipe Arantes defeated Godofredo Pepey by TKO at 3:32 of round one
Fight Six: Raphael Assunção defeated Vaughan Lee by submission (armbar) at 1:51 of round two
=====Fuel TV Main Card=====
-Jon Anik and Kenny Florian welcome fans in to the broadcast breaking down tonight's main event and discussing the other fights on tonight's main card. Apparently the arena lacks air conditioning, and it is near 90 degrees in the building. Fun!
FIGHT ONE: RONY JASON VS. MIKE WILKINSON (FEATHERWEIGHTS)
- Jason is an inch shorter, but possesses a seven inch reach advantage.
ROUND ONE: Marc Goddard is the referee. Wilkinson refuses the touch of gloves. Jason takes the center as Wilkinson circles on the outside, going in both directions. Jason lands a looping overhand punch 30 seconds in and immediately gets planted in the middle of the cage by a Wilkinson double leg. Full-guard. Jason goes for a triangle. Twenty seconds later he throws some elbows to the head, and this fight is over. Wilkinson is unconscious.
WINNER: Rony Jason by technical submission (triangle choke) at 1:24 of round one.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) There's nothing to be said. One takedown, one triangle, the end.
FIGHT TWO: DANIEL SARAFIAN VS. EDDIE MENDEZ (MIDDLEWEIGHTS)
- The American Mendez is making his UFC debut. Sarafian is trying to rebound from a January loss to CB Dollaway. Mendez is an inch taller, and has a three inch reach advantage.
ROUND ONE: Dan Miragliotta is the referee. After he gets someone killed tonight, I hope he can pass the border. Sarafian has that overly thick build going like Hector Lombard, minus the world-class muscle definition. Mendez gets Sarafian up against the fence, but gets tripped down as he's trying to back away. Sarafian is on top in the middle of the cage. Sarafian's in half-guard and looking to pass. Sarafian is in positoin to get an arm-triangle choke if he can pass to side control. Sarafian gets mount and Mendes taps to the arm-triangle. Anaconda strength is fun, Wheeeeeeee!
WINNER: Saniel Sarafian by submission at 2:20 of round one.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) One takedown, one choke. I smell a theme. Sarafian went had the arm-triangle ready to go from half-guard, and as soon as he got to mount it was locked in Grand Canyon deep (the whole, not the movie. The movie wasn't deep at all.).
- Fuel TV aired the preliminary fight between Felipe Arantes and Godofredo Pepey. The finish came when a mounted Arantes swept to top position and landed murder elbows from full guard top position. That was freaking sweeeeeet.
FIGHT THREE: ERICK SILVA VS. JASON HIGH (WELTERWEIGHTS)
ROUND ONE: Mario Yamasaki is the referee for this fight. Silva looks to be a full weight class bigger than High. Silva catches a body kick from High, which leads to a sprawl. Silva ties up high's left arm and takes High's back. Silva is riding High's back too high (haha) and almost slides off. Before losing control, Silva grabs high's left arm and it's all over! Wha, wha happened? That was an inverted back mounted triangle armbar!
WINNER: Erick Silva by lightning fast submission of some sort another.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (***) OK, here's what happened. Silva took High's back in a sprawl and almost slid off the top because he was so high on the back. He latched on to an arm and that was what led to the sub. But it sure looked like an inverted reverse mounted spinning triangle armbar. Silva's making some bonus money tonight. Making this even more unique is the fact that High had never been submitted in his career.
- Fuel TV is going to air the preliminary fight between Raphael Assunção and Vaughan Lee. This was a two-round fight, so we'll back in 15 minutes or so.
- No UFC card has ever had seven more submissions. We're at six so far.
- And now we get to see Antonio Braga Neto with the fantastic kneebar submission over Anthony Smith.
- More Ultimate Fighter filler now. You know, despite three fast finishes on this card, they're going to run long if the last three fights go to decision. Weird pacing. And this last hour must suck for those in the building. It's 90 degrees in there, and they've gone an hour without a fight. I hope the plumbing holds up...
FIGHT FOUR: THIAGO SILVA VS. RAFAEL "FEIJAO" CAVALCANTE (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS)
- This is Feijao's UFC debut. He is a former Strikeforce LHW champion. His last fight was overturned to a no contest after testing positive for steroids. Silva hasn't won a fight since UFC 102, having had not one but TWO wins overturned due to failing post-fight urine tests.
ROUND ONE: No touch of gloves, much to Big Dan's joy. Feijao's landing the right hand early. Feijao lands a right to the body, and follows up with a 2 punch combo. Feijao appears to be the far leaner athlete here. Feijao ducks under a looping hook. Feijao to the body again. Silva lands a straight right and a left hook. Both were a counter to a wild punch by Feijao. Overhand right from Feijao. Feijao fakes a shot and hits a spinning elbow. That was sweet! Silva constantly walking straight forward. These guys are going to gas out hard in the third round. Feijao's volume is already dropping. chopping leg kick from Silva. Feijao's keeping his hands down by his navel. silva pressing forward, landing jabs and leg kicks. Feijao has cement feet. Silva lands a flurry of punches and a big uppercut drops Feijao. One strike to the crimpled Feijao and it's over. Feijao has the cardio of a dead moose at altitude.
WINNER: Thiago Silva by KO at 4:29 of round one
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**) Feijao humiliated himself tonight. It's inexcusable to gas out so drastically in the first round of a fight. He was the better fighter, but gassed like Gilbert Yvel fighting in a sauna on Mount Everest.
- Now they are going to air the preliminary fight between Caio Magalhaes and Karlos Vemola. This is another two-round affair. Man, if the last two fights go to decision, this card is running way long, despite the first four fights only going a combined 9:24.
FIGHT FIVE: WILLIAM "PATOLINO" MACARIO VS. LEONARDO SANTOS (FEATHERWEIGHTS)
- Patolino is 6-0 in his career, with 6 KO's. He's currently the third-youngest fighter on the UFC roster. Santos is a 7-time world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He is the brother of Wagnney Fabiano.
ROUND ONE: Patolino starts with his hands below waist level. Santos clinches behind a jab, but Patolino turns Santos into the cage. They're grappling for position here. Patolino has the underhooks and uses them to push away. Patolino didn't do much damage, but he's clearly the stronger fighter. Body lock takedown for Patolino, near the fence. He's in closed guard, pressing Santos's skull into the cage. Patolino stands up then dives back down with an elbow on the inside. Half-guard now. Santos is trying to sit up, but gets shoved back down and takes a few elbows to the face. Nice right hands from Patolino. Patolino continually lands, stands, and dives back in. Full guard, near the cage, 1:30 remaining. Santos spins back to his feet, looking for a trip before Patolino puts him against the cage. Swing and a miss. They disengage, and we're back to the middle. Clinch. WE'RE GOING TO GET A SECOND ROUND HERE! 10-9 Patolino
ROUND TWO: Fox Sports 1 promo cuts off the first 5 seconds of the round. Santos shoots, but gets stuffed and eats a knee. Santos keeps coming forward, and keeps shooting for a double. Both fighters are looking to clinch. Santos to get a takedown, Patolino to work the muay thai. Patolino grabs a double and takes Santos down in the middle of the cage. Patolino in a wide open guard, trying to inch Santos towards the fence. This is really boring, and the size disparity is the whole story of the fight. Half-guard against the cage now. Patolino loses position and we're back to standing. Patolino walks into a standing knee to the liver, but he shrugged it off. Patolino and Santos clinch, and Patolino grabe the fence to avoid a takedown. Patolino landed on top, so Marc Goddard stopped the fight since he cheated to get top position. No point taken, and Goddard restarts the fight. Should have had a point taken. Upon the restart, they clinch on the cage again, and Santos gets that takedown. He's got full mount, and he's working for an arm-triangle. Patolino defends it, and Santos has to look for something else now with less than a minute to go. Now he's got the arm-triangle again. Santos gets to half-guard. Patolino's fighting it, but he eventually taps. Patolino fought for thirty seconds, but against Leo Santos... No.
WINNER: Leonardo Santos by submission (arm-triangle choke) in round two.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (**-) Nice moment after Santos won the fight. Santos leaped out of the cage to embrace his teammate Jose Aldo, but he couldn't find Aldo because Aldo sprinted into the cage himself for the same reason. They finally met up outside of the cage and broke down into tears. Oh, and nice finish, dull fight.
FIGHT SIX: ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA VS. FABRICIO WERDUM (HEAVYWEIGHTS)
ROUND ONE: Mario Yamasaki is the referee for the main event. Nogueira takes the middle, and eats a couple of inside leg kicks from Werdum. Werdum gets Nogueira down and gets to mount. Nogueira defends, and gets Werdum to half-guard. Nogueira eats a big foreamr to the forehead. Fast pace on the canvas so far. Werdum looking to get to side control. Werdum standing, Nogueira gets up and eats a knee. Nice exchange. Werdum ducks under a Nogueira straight right. Werdum staggers Nogueira with a hard jab. Nogueira presses Werdum into the fence, he's been very aggressive on the feet. Werdum spins out, and they disengage. Nogueira gets Werdum back into the fence, and has an underhook. Nice short uppercut from Nogueira. Werdum reverses and grabs a Thai plumb. He lets it go in lieu of a single leg. He lets it go. Werdum looks tired. Nogueira lands an elbow and presses Werdum into the cage yet again. Werdum has looked at the clock about four times now. 10-9 Werdum
ROUND TWO: Werdum starts out with another leg kick. And two more in the next 15 seconds. Werdum lands a big right. Nogueira continues to press forward. His camp thinks Werdum can't fight effectively when backpedaling. Nogueira has Werdum's back pressed into the fence again. They go to the ground, and Nogueira almost grabbed a guillotine before landing on his back. Werdum in half-guard, looking for a kimura maybe. Nope. Wrdum stood, but Nogueira held on to his leg and we're back to half0guard. Werdum passes to north-south, and he takes Nogueira's back. He's looking for a belly down armbar. He's got it. Werdum just submitted Nogueira with a Russian armbar. Despite winning in is home country, the crowd is dead-silent. Werdum bowed at the feet of Nogueira.
WINNER: Fabricio Werdum by verbal submission at 2:41 of round two.
STAR RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS: (***-) Of course, this is just huge for Fabricio Werdum. Not too many people have submitted Nogueira (Frank Mir, Fabricio Werdum, and that's it). Werdum vs. the winner of Mir vs. Josh Barnett for a title shot makes all the sense in the world to me. Also, Nogueira was in a ton of pain, he might have some damage there.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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