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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 26
AUGUST 17, 2013
LIVE FROM BOSTON, MASS.
=====Facebook Prelims Quick Results=====
* James Vick def. Ramsey Nijem via submission (guillotine choke) at :58 of the first round
* Ovince St-Preux def. Cody Donovan via KO at 2:07 of the first round
* Manny Gamburyan def. Cole Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
====Fox Sports 1 Prelims=====
-After an entertaining pre-fight show on Fox Sports 1, the live show is now under way, and Jon Anik welcomes everyone to Fox Sports 1 for tonight's five hours of live fights. They kicked off with "Shipping Up To Boston," which is always an excellent choice.
-We get Anik and Joe Rogan tonight on the call, and they break down the fights coming the rest of the night. There isn't a bad fight on the rest of this card, so we should be in for a really fun night tonight.
FIGHT ONE: DIEGO BRANDAO VS. DANIEL PINEDA (FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Brandao threw a kick and Pineda threw a few punches. Brandao landed a hard leg kick. Pineda rushed in and got shrugged off a takedown attempt. Brando threw a side kick after a right was blocked. He landed a hard body kick. He rocked Pineda with a left. He ran at him and landed a flying knee. Pineda stayed in the fight and landed a couple hard strikes himself while still rocked. Brandao landed a nice two punch combo to the body and head. Pineda got himself back and landed a kick. Brandao landed a left to the body. He slowed down a bit after the early flurries. They traded strikes. Brandao landed a couple more hard shots, but Pineda took them. Brandao blasted Pineda with a huge flurry and threw him to the ground. He landed a punch on the ground but let him up. Brandao then scored a takedown by the cage. He tried to pass but Pineda got out. He ate a knee to the body before standing. Pineda tried to pop in with a strike. Pineda landed a nice elbow, but ate a couple of kicks in response. Brandao threw a couple of kicks. They traded kicks and punches in one final exchange as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Brandao. Pineda had enough offense to avoid the 10-8, but that was all Brandao's round.
ROUND TWO: Pineda came out swinging and landed a few strikes early. Brandao ducked under and scored a takedown 30 seconds into the round. Pineda tried to set up a triangle, but Brandao stepped out and let him stand. Brandao landed a strike and Pineda feigned being hurt before firing an elbow. Brandao shot in again and scored another takedown. Pineda tried to lock him up. Brandao postured up and landed a nice elbow. Pineda tried to attack Brandao's arm, and then easily swept to mount. Brandao just exhausted himself in that first round. Pineda started unleashing elbows and punches in the mount. He postured up and continued landing strikes. Brandao wasn't doing much except putting his hands up. Brandao escaped the mount and attacked an ankle. Pineda got out but Brandao held him in closed guard. Pineda landed a few strikes. Woah, they cut to a really interesting cage floor camera angle. Nice. Pineda ended the round on top.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Pineda. He turned the tide in a big way as Brandao is clearly exhausted. He gassed himself trying to finish in the first.
ROUND THREE: Brandao landed a couple of strikes early. He then shot in and scored a nice takedown. He landed a bunch of strikes on the ground, then backed off and let Pineda stand. Brandao scored another easy takedown against the cage. Pineda gave up his back but got to his feet. He spun out and separated. Brandao landed a nice right and avoided a takedown. Brandao looked to shoot but was stopped, then halted an attempt from Pineda. Brandao landed a right and scored another takedown as Pineda came in. Brandao landed some strikes, but Pineda got back to his feet. He landed a couple elbows. Pineda grabbed an arm and tried to sweep, but Brandao got to his feet in the process. Pineda landed punch. Brandao scored another takedown right into half guard. They were stood up quickly as Brandao wasn't doing anything. Pineda threw a couple wheel kicks in a row, then ate a left from Brandao. Both guys were just completely drained. Pineda backed him to the cage and shot in, but Brandao stuffed it. Pineda landed a big right, then Brandao threw a couple punches and a head kick to end the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Brandao. They slowed down to an awfully slow pace in that third round, but Brandao's takedowns were the edge. First two rounds were really good, but they were way too tired to keep that going in the third.
WINNER: Brandao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**+) The first round was frantic and exciting, but Brandao nearly finishing Pineda in that first round drained him, leading to him nearly losing in the second because of flat out exhaustion, and the third round was kind of brutal from a pacing standpoint. Still, there was a lot of good early on in that fight.
FIGHT TWO: MIKE BROWN VS. STEVEN SILER (FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Brown held the center of the cage early on. Siler landed a nice outside leg kick. Brown missed a big right. Silver dropped Brown with a deceptive uppercut, then started attacking on the ground. He got through with a huge strike that put Brown out and landed a couple more that woke him back up. Wow. Huge, huge win over a longtime vet.
WINNER: Siler via KO at :50 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**+) Shocking finish, but Brown got way reckless rushing in there and got clipped by the uppercut. Those punches on the ground were on point once he stopped trying to land hammerfists. That's a fantastic win for Siler, who's now 5-1 in the UFC's featherweight division.
FIGHT THREE: CONOR MCGREGOR VS. MAX HOLLOWAY (FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: McGregor threw a straight kick to the front leg early. He landed another one, then threw a jump kick. He continued throwing kicks from different angles as he walked Holloway down. He landed a straight left and rushed with a short combo. He rocked Holloway again with another combination. He continued to keep the pressure on, using his kicks to keep the range. Holloway landed a kick. McGregor tossed out a great uppercut. He landed a body kick and another switch kick. He blocked a kick. He came forward with another strong combination. Holloway blocked a kick. McGregor landed to the body. Holloway got in a right. McGregor landed a nice kick to the body. He got a little annoyed by Holloway on the outside, practically begging him to engage. He threw the front kick again, landed a jumping kick. Holloway landed a nice superman punch with the assistance of the cage. McGregor landed a high kick, then a few punches in combination. Holloway landed a punch, but McGregor continued walking forward with his hands down. Holloway landed a left. He got in a solid leg kick. McGregor somersaulted forward and ended the round in a clinch.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 McGregor. He's clearly the superior striker, and Holloway isn't quite sure what to do at this stage.
ROUND TWO: McGregor rushed in quickly and landed a series of strikes. He landed a hard side kick to the body. McGregor continued pressing in and throwing kicks and punches sporadically. He landed a left. He got in again with the straight left. Holloway landed a right. They traded punches. McGregor connected on another nice combination. McGregor landed a really nice uppercut with a left behind it. Holloway landed a good left as McGregor tried to jump in with a knee. McGregor landed a straight left. He caught a kick and dropped Holloway with a right. Holloway held him in guard. McGregor stood and dropped a punch down, but Holloway regained guard. Holloway tried to kick him off, but McGregor passed to side control, where he remained as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 McGregor. He's just the better fighter, and he's in control of every aspect of the fight right now. Holloway's a tough guy, though, and he's not going away easily.
ROUND THREE: McGregor pressed forward, then scored a takedown at the cage. He passed to side control. Holloway blocked the attempted pass to mount. McGregor tried to pass to mount, but as he did Holloway exploded out to his feet. McGregor quickly took him back down, though. McGregor this time passed to mount without an issue. Holloway tried to buck out, but McGregor smothered him and held position. He landed some strikes to the side of the head. Holloway turned to his side and McGregor landed some big strikes. He landed some huge elbows from the top as Holloway rolled back around. Holloway escaped as McGregor got too high and ate a knee on the way up. Holloway threw a high kick that briefly caught McGregor off balance. McGregor then took him right back down, finishing the round on top.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 McGregor. One-sided performance, and McGregor showed a lot of good things in the fight, but Holloway just wasn't on his level.
WINNER: McGregor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
STAR RATING: (**) Fine performance from McGregor. I think he's certainly worthy of some level of hype; he's quite talented, but looking great against Marcus Brimage and Max Holloway doesn't necessarily mean he'll be getting into title contention immediately. Dustin Poirier tooled Holloway very recently, and he's dropped down the ranks since as well. We need to see more from him, but he was clearly on another level tonight.
FIGHT FOUR: BRAD PICKETT VS. MICHAEL MCDONALD (BANTAMWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Pickett pressed in early and threw some strikes. McDaonld landed a right. He swung hard with a left and nearly fell. He tagged Pickett with a big strike. He continued the assault as Pickett tried to fight back. McDonald dropped him and continued the flurries. Pickett somehow survived the assault and ate another big knee. McDonald slowed down as Pickett regained his composure, not wanting to gas himself out. He landed a standing knee. McDonald grabbed a body lock and scored a takedown, but Pickett rolled through and they stood again. McDonald landed a left hook, then a right. McDonald landed a hard kick and dropped Pickett with a right. He dropped into Pickett's guard briefly, but stood up and made him get up. McDonald landed an excellent knee with a right behind it. He cracked Pickett again. Pickett landed a right. McDonald connected on a couple more short strikes. McDonald landed a nice body kick. McDonald connected on a short two punch combo. He landed another flurry. McDonald then got in with an excellent uppercut and blocked a strike as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 McDonald. I really don't know how Pickett's still standing, but McDonald looked absolutely fantastic in that round.
ROUND TWO: McDonald landed an early left after missing an uppercut. He landed a couple more as Pickett tried to engage. McDonald continued landing strikes and blocking Pickett's advances. His timing has been excellent in this fight. Pickett shot in and grabbed a hold of McDonald's leg, dragging him to the ground. He tried to work in McDonald's guard. He landed a hard elbow. Pickett landed several strikes to the body. He got in an elbow as McDonald was trying to control him. Pickett continued to stay busy with short strikes and elbows. McDonald then found an opening for the triangle and secured it in lighting fast fashion. Pickett desperately tried to get out, but McDonald rolled it over and locked it up even tighter, forcing the tap. Beautiful. That was just fantastic stuff from Michael McDonald.
WINNER: McDonald via submission (triangle choke) at 3:43 of the second round
STAR RATING: (***+) If there was more of a back and forth feel, and more offense from Pickett in general, that could have been an all time classic. Instead, it was just Michael McDonald looking incredible both on the feet and then with that submission. This is still one worth multiple viewings.
=====Fox Sports 1 Main Card=====
-Ving Rhames narrates an awesome show-opening video to kick things off for the main card tonight.
FIGHT FIVE: JOE LAUZON VS. MICHAEL JOHNSON (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Johnson landed a couple of straight lefts early. Johnson connected with a punch to the body. Lauzon was really tentative early as he walked forward, blocking more punches than he threw. Johnson shrugged off a clinch attempt and landed a couple of body punches. Lauzon landed a right and tried to chase Johnson down. Johnson dropped Lauzon with a straight left, but Lauzon quickly got back to his feet. Johnson landed several hard strikes and had Lauzon a little wobbly. Lauzon fired back with a right that connected, and Johnson backed off. Johnson landed a body punch. Johnson threw a nice flurry in the center of the cage. Johnson threw another big series of strikes, though Lauzon blocked many of them. He then rocked Lauzon again. He made him stand back up after Lauzon tried to roll to his back. Johnson sent Lauzon reeling late before the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Johnson. Close to a 10-8. Lauzon needs to bring the fight to the ground.
ROUND TWO: Lauzon closed the distance early on in the round and pressed him to the cage. Johnson fought off the takedown attempt and broke free. Lauzon landed a couple jabs as he tried to close the distance. Johnson seemed to have tired. Lauzon landed a couple of nice strikes and got a reactionary few uppercuts from Johnson. Lauzon landed a few strikes, then blocked a couple from Johnson. He landed a nice knee and ate a right. They clinched, and Johnson pressed Lauzon's back to the cage. They separated and Lauzon moved forward. Johnson landed a couple of body strikes. Lauzon landed a couple of strikes as Johnson missed a couple of them. Johnson shot in and scored a takedown with seconds left in the round and landed a punch from the top before the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Johnson. Lauzon had a lot more success than the first, but I think he barely lost that one.
ROUND THREE: Johnson landed some strikes early. He landed a hard right, then unleashed a huge combination with knees and kicks. He landed a hard straight left and Lauzon tried to shoot in to no avail. Lauzon's face was just battered. Johnson again put together a few punches in combination. Johnson landed an ice body kick. He landed a nice combination again and stuffed a takedown. Johnson continued attacking. Lauzon landed a right. Johnson kept the pressure on and scored a takedown just before the horn. Should be a clear decision here.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Johnson. He regained a little energy in that round and kept the pressure on Lauzon for another five minutes. It's possible the second round will go to Lauzon, but the first and third were clearly Johnson's.
WINNER: Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
STAR RATING: (**) Best we've seen Michael Johnson look, probably the worst we've seen Joe Lauzon look. He was just never in that fight, and though Johnson had a slow second round, he still came back strong in the third.
FIGHT SIX: URIAH HALL VS. JOHN HOWARD (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Hall shot in early and scored a quick takedown. Howard tried to control his posture and the crowd got a little restless. Hall stood and landed a couple kicks to Howard's legs. He then let Howard up. Howard landed a leg kick. Hall landed a nice jab. Hall landed a knee and a few jabs. Hall missed the spinning heel kick. He landed a right and a jab. Hall backed off and landed a jab as Howard moved in. Howard landed a hard left hook to Hall's face. Hall clinched and went for a takedown. Howard landed some punches from under Hall's arm. Howard separated from the clinch with an elbow. Howard landed a hard leg kick. Hall landed a big knee. He shot in for a single leg, but Howard stuffed it. Howard then shot in. Hall went for the spinning heel kick again but missed as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecared: 10-9 Hall. Howard had a little offensive success, but not as much as Hall in that opening frame.
ROUND TWO: Hall landed a front kick to the body early. Howard landed a leg kick and Hall returned the favor. Hall went high to the body with a kick. He landed a couple more. Howard backed him up but Hall avoided the attack. Hall shot for a takedown and Howard went for a guillotine to back him off. Hall landed a couple of strikes as he backed out. Howard closed the distance and went for a single leg of his own. Hall landed a couple of elbows. He got in a nice knee. Howard landed some body shots as Hall landed a few knees. Hall turned him around. They were separated from the clinch for inactivity. Hall threw a knee but Howard caught it and went for the single leg. Hall went for a kimura to reverse position, then spun and took Howard's back standing in a nice sequence. He landed some knees to the thigh. Howard used the same move to get Hall off of him. He landed a leg kick and few punches, then scored a takedown with 45 seconds left in the round. Howard tried to pass while landing strikes. Hall connected on some strikes from the bottom but ended the round on his back.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Howard. He had more overall offense and scored that late takedown to secure things.
ROUND THREE: Hall shot in quickly but was stuffed. He threw a spinning kick but Howard was out of range. Howard missed on a left hook. Hall landed a nice knee, with a leg kick behind it. Hall shot in again but got stuffed. They traded blows in the clinch, Hall with knees and Howard with short punches. They were broken up again. Hall landed another knee, but Howard used it to take him down. Hall mostly held it off, though. Howard got his back standing in the process, landing some hard knees. Hall tried to get a hold of an arm, but then got himself turned around and scored his own takedown. Howard got to a knee. Hall landed a few knees to the legs. They separated with 30 seconds left. They wasted seconds touching gloves. Hall threw a spinning capoeira kick and Howard tried to jump down with a strike and ended the round in full mount.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Hall. I guess. Could be 10-10. Could be 10-9 Howard. Not a good round, and there wasn't a lot to score, making it harder to say what's coming from the judges here.
WINNER: Howard via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (*) Dull fight, just never kicked into another gear, and Uriah Hall's officially a bust out of TUF.
-We get a preview of UFC 164, featuring the fantastic Lightweight Championship main event between Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis.
FIGHT SEVEN: MATT BROWN VS. MIKE PYLE (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Brown backed Pyle up quickly and landed a leg kick. Pyle circled out to reset. Brown knocked Pyle down with a knee and a strike, then knocked him out cold with a few punches from the top. Wow. Six straight wins for Brown. That's a huge win.
WINNER: Brown via KO at :29 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**+) Just damned impressive. Pyle stood with Brown, and that was quite simply a mistake. Brown landed that big right and the knee behind it, and just destroyed him with strikes while standing over him. Huge.
FIGHT EIGHT: URIJAH FABER VS. IURI ALCANTARA (BANTAMWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Alcantara rushed in, Faber went for a takedown but Alcantara used his momentum to get him down and got right into mount. Impressive. He lost the position going for an armbar, but he transitioned to Faber's back and tried to attack. Faber worked well defensively, but he was in a very bad spot early. Alcantara landed some hammerfists. Faber threw some punches behind him that connected. Faber used the TV screens to see where Alcantara was behind him to continue landing strikes. Alcantara tried to transition, but Faber tried to turn around and into his guard. Faber then got out, picked Alcantara up and slammed him. He trapped an arm and almost lost his position with a big punch. He landed some big elbows from half guard. He landed more big strikes from the top and Alcantara kicked him back to regain guard. Faber continued landing big elbows from the guard. He continued throwing this elbows, some of which were getting blocked. He continued landing strikes to the horn.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Faber. He stole that round back after he was in some really bad spots almost immediately in that round. Impressive.
ROUND TWO: Faber threw a high kick early that was blocked. Faber tripped up a bit, but then clinched. Alcantara again tried to counter the takedown attempt, but Faber put him on his back anyway. Alcantara tried to kick him off. Faber landed a nice knee to the body and passed to half guard. Alcantara regained guard. Faber tried to posture up and he landed a few strikes. Faber continued working strikes in the guard, utilizing the elbows and short forearms effectively. Faber continued piling on the elbows in the corner. Alcantara tried to kick him off, and Faber landed a few strikes before driving Alcantara back down. He landed more elbows to the side of the head. Faber looked to set up a guillotine, but let it go to keep attacking. Alcantara tried to get to his feet, and he worked up. He tried to sneak behind Faber standing, but Faber drove him back down again. He landed some more elbows from the top to close the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Faber. Close to a 10-8 for Faber there, just absolute domination from top position.
ROUND THREE: The round ended a bit tentatively. Faber tried to engage in the grappling but Alcantara held him off. Faber then scored another takedown into guard. He went back to the ground and pound, as Alcantara hadn't threatened him with anything there. Alcantara tried to pop up, but Faber kept him on his back. Faber continued working from the top with brutal elbows, but Alcantara was able to absorb the punishment. Alcantara tried to attack for an arm, then an omoplata, but intelligently worked out of the spot and got Alcantara's back to end the round and the fight.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Faber. Alcantara just couldn't deal with Faber's strength, his card, and his top game. Great performance from Faber.
WINNER: Faber via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (***) Faber remains among the elite of the elite at bantamweight, and though he's got UFC losses to Champs Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao, he's better than the rest of the field right now. Well, except for maybe Michael McDonald, but thankfully for all of us, we'll probably see that fight next.
FIGHT NINE: ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. TRAVIS BROWNE (HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Overeem pressed in early and landed a knee to the body ate a couple of punches were blocked. Browne got separation. Overeem landed a hard body punch. Browne got in a knee. He threw a flying knee but tripped himself up. Overeem dragged him to the ground. He hurt him with the knee and started unleashing punches on the cage. Browne got back to his knees and Overeem landed a hard knee while he was down that Mario Yamasaki missed. Awful. Browne got back to his feet and fired back, but that flurry had him hurting. He clinched up and tried to rest a bit. Overeem dropped for a takedown but Browne popped back to his feet. He landed a couple of front kicks. He continued throwing kicks to the body and head. Overeem was noticeably slowed, but he closed the distance and clinched. Browne went back to the kicks. Browne landed a knee to the body. They traded punches. Browne went for a Thai clinch but got shrugged off. Browne dropped him with a straight kick to the face! He then dropped down with a couple of strikes on the ground and Mario Yamasaki called it! WOW!
WINNER: Browne via KO at 4:08 of the first round
STAR RATING: (***) That's just an absolutely incredible comeback. Overeem had Browne done, just about finished, yet he somehow found his bearings, took his licks, fought back, and found his range. Overeem gassed out after that stretch, left himself open to those front kicks, and one finally caught him on the jaw. Just crazy stuff.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT TEN: MAURICIO "SHOGUN" RUA VS. CHAEL SONNEN (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Sonnen immediately rushed in and scored a takedown into half guard. Shogun got to a knee and back to his feet quickly, turning Sonnen around. Shogun then tripped Sonnen up and took him down into guard. Sonnen tried to attack for a guillotine, and used it to get to his feet. They clinched at the cage. Shogun went for a takedown and Sonnen reversed him, landing in half guard. Sonnen tried to stay busy from half guard, and Shogun tried to sit up. Sonnen postured up and landed a couple of strikes. Shogun threw an upkick and Sonnen wound up back in half guard after a scramble. Sonnen continued staying busy with strikes. He postured up and landed a couple of nice punches. They traded punches. Shogun scrambled to his feet. Sonnen locked on a guillotine and dropped to guard. He locked it on tight and Shogun couldn't get out. He forced Shogun to tap! Wow. Just, wow.
WINNER: Sonnen via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:47 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**+) No way did I see that coming. Not a chance. That's a death blow for Shogun's career, but one hell of an impressive way for Sonnen to keep himself relevant in the UFC.
-Sonnen cut a straight promo on Wanderlei Silva and wants that fight in three months.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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