...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief SPIKE TV BROADCAST
Mike Goldberg opens us up on Spike and let's us know we'll see two live fights and perhaps some of the prelims that happened earlier tonight. Joe Rogan is back on commentary and he breaks down Cole Miller and Efrain Escudero. And we go right to the fights!
FIGHT ONE: DREW MCFEDRIES VS. THOMASZ DRWAL (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Drwal says McFedries is a wall and he needs to get through him in this fight. McFedries said the most important thing tonight is to get two wins in a row to move towards being a top five middleweight.
ROUND ONE: Drwal throws a kick and the Spike broadcast is going all screwy. "They meet with the kicks early" keeps repeating for :40 seconds and when they get it back the fight is still going. McFedries pushes off Drwal as the action continues. McFedries has been opened up with a small cut over his right eye. McFedries presses the action and lands an uppercut and Drwal eats it. He clinches and takes McFedries down. McFedries works his way back up with Drwal on his back. Drwal unleashes knees to the thigh and body, and then McFedries gets away. They trade some hard shtos for a short moment. McFedries swings away with a number of shots. Drwal lands a couple of punches and pushes forward with a few more. They're just throwing bombs right now, as expected. McFedries got caught with a huge right hand and looked to be a bit rocked. Drwal lands it again. McFedries lands a left and slips. Drwal gets right on him and goes in for another takedown. He stands up and starts throwing a ton of shots and tries to get mount. He almost gets a choke in with time running out and we're getting to the second round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Drwal. He landed some punishing blows and had some good takedowns sprinkled in. McFedries looks dog tired already.
ROUND TWO: Drwal connects on a combo early and then drives McFedries to the cage. He picks him up and drops him, immediately into side control. Drwal moves to try to get mount and McFedries gives up his back. Drwal hooks on the choke and chokes out Drwal.
WINNER: Drwal via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:03 of the second round.
POST FIGHT: Drwal said he feels good after the fight. He said, "hey, look at my eyes" in response to a question on them throwing bombs in the first round. He said his gameplan was to get it to the ground if he was in danger in the stand up.
STAR RATING: (**+) Good showing from Drwal but McFedries was dead in that second round. Good brawl with a decisive finish to start off the televised night. Can't complain about that.
PRELIM FIGHT A- RICK STORY VS. BRIAN FOSTER
ROUND ONE: Foster comes out swinging and Story responds. They start trading a ridiculous number of shots. They're just teeing off on one another> Foster keeps throwing a right hand uppercut. He tosses Story aside and tries to grab a guillotine but Story gets out. He lands some hard elbows and then gets Foster's back. Foster moves back up to his feet and Story drags him back to the ground against the cage. Story is bleeding heavily from the nose right now. He gets to half guard and throws some elbows from the top. Foster is trying to cover up and Story moves over to side control. Foster gets him back to half guard. Story is gushing blood on top as Foster holds him in the half guard. Foster moved Story into his guard and pushed him off with some up kicks. Foster gets back to his feet but Story takes him right back down again. Foster transitions nicely and gets back up to his feet and they trade shots immediately. Foster sprawled on another takedown attempt and they clinch to the buzzer.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Story. It was a wash in the stand up with both landing some real hard shots, but Story's relentless takedowns and top control won the round for him.
ROUND TWO: Foster barely missed a high kick early. Story gets in a number of punches to push Foster back and then takes him down. Story lands some hard shots from the top and then tries to lock in the arm triangle. He's caught in half guard but he's putting Foster out. Foster taps to the hold hooked on in his guard.
WINNER: Story via submission (arm triangle) 1:09 of the second round
POST FIGHT: Story said a couple of the shots he didn't see coming. He said he heard Foster wheezing a bit and squeezed the hold on tighter.
STAR RATING: (***) Excellent brawl between the two with a great finish from Story. Very good back and forth there in that one.
-They go to a backstage interview with Rich Franklin from earlier tonight. Franklin said he hasn't had his prefight nap yet and he's tired. He said they've been watching Belfort's tapes on fast forward so it looked faster than he'll be.
FIGHT TWO: EFRAIN ESCUDERO VS. COLE MILLER (LIGHTWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Miller said he doesn't know how he's going to win it but he'll be better than Escudero everywhere. Escudero said he's just expecting a tough fight.
ROUND ONE: Miller throws a front kick to the body early as they're feeling each other out. Tentative start here. Miller lands a couple of quick jabs. Escudero pops in with a three punch combo. Miller throws a body kick and gets dropped with a punch but Escudero lets him back up. Miller lands a good leg kick. Miller presses forward with the jabs again. They're not doing a whole lot here. Escudero picked him up and threw him back down. He then pushed forward and landed a couple of hard punches and dropped Miller with a big shot. He followed up with two more on the ground and Miller is out.
WINNER: Escudero via KO at 3:36 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Escudero thanked all the fans in Dallas. He said he was dreaming about the fight, knowing who he was fighting. He was trying to get in and he caught him.
STAR RATING: (**) Big knockout from Escudero after a bit of a tentative three minutes of action. Huge win for him though.
PRELIM B - JIM MILLER VS. STEVE LOPEZ
ROUND ONE: Miller lands an early left hook. Lopez comes in swinging and Miller responds. Miller rocks Lopez with a two punch combo. Lopez recovers. He lands a couple of good shots. Miller lands a good leg kick. Lopez pushes a stalking Miller back with a three punch combo. Miller finally shoots but Lopez sprawls nicely. Miller goes for the high kick. Lopez comes in and gets caught with a huge right hand. Miller rocks him with a flurry and takes him to the ground. Miller grabs a front choke and pushed Lopez to the cage with it. Lopez breaks free but Miller stays on him. Miller postures up and lands a couple of bombs and Lopez gets to his guard. Miller lands a really hard elbow. Lopez holds Miller in his guard and kicks him off and gets to his feet as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Miller. He rocked Lopez and nearly finished him.
ROUND TWO: Lopez comes out and lands a shot. Miller comes forward with a combo. Lopez lands a straight jab to Miller. Lopez dislocates his shoulder in an exchange and the fight is over. That looks so bad. Ouch. Nothing you can do about that, that's a freak accident.
WINNER: Miller via TKO (injury) :48 of the second round
STAR RATING: (**) It was a good back and forth fight but the injury ending was very unfortunate. There's nothing Lopez can do in that situation, though, and he knew it as soon as it happened.
-Rogan interviews Vitor Belfort in the back as well. Vitor talks about coming back to the UFC.
-Dana White talks to Joe Rogan in the back about the main event. He talked about how Rich battered up Dan Henderson in January in hyping the fight.
That brings an end to the prelims, and if we're in for at least five more fights tonight on the pay-per-view.
PAY-PER-VIEW CARD
-We've already had a ton of action on the card already and Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan introduce the pay-per-view card. They run down the fights on the card and the rules of the Octagon.
FIGHT THREE: TYSON GRIFFIN VS. HERMES FRANCA (159 lb. Catchweight)
PRE FIGHT: Griffin says Franca's going to get beat on his feet tonight. Franca said he'll submit Griffin tonight. Griffin said this fight has the potential to be fight of the night. Franca comes to the cage with purple hair for this one. Alright then.
ROUND ONE: Griffin starts off with a leg kick and then circles the outside. Franca tried to pull a spinning kick and Griffin tagged him with a leg kick. He goes for an inside leg kick and then a body punch. He lands another leg kick. He steps back and then lands another good punch to the gut. Back to the leg kick for Griffin. Griffin gets an overhand right in and pushes Franca back. He lands another body kick. He lands a good left to Franca. He's definitely much more active here. Griffin lands the overhand right and goes for a high kick that gets blocked. Griffin lands another good combo right after a portion of the crowd starts to boo. Griffin again back to the leg kicks. Franca catches a kick but Griffin gets it out. He comes forward with a nice double jab. The crowd is bored by the action and boos again. Griffin lands a good body punch and then pops an overhand right again. Griffin drops Franca to a knee with a straight punch but Franca's ok. Not much to the round here, really. Griffin with a few inside leg kicks near the end of the round and the crowd boos as it comes to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Griffin. He pushed the action and landed a bunch of strikes but there wasn't much to that round at all.
ROUND TWO: They trade leg kicks early here. Griffin comes in and lands a few shots. They trade shots with both guys landing hard shots and dropping the other. Franca gets a knee in that nearly drops Griffin. Franca catches a leg kick and Griffin throws right hands in succession until he lets go of the leg. Much better start to this round. Griffin with a nice leg kick and then an overhand right. He lands a three punch combo that doesn't even seem to phase Franca. Griffin stays active here as Franca's just kind of eating the punishment. Griffin lands a nice inside leg kick and follows with a good right. Griffin again with the leg kicks and then he drops Franca with a punch. He drops down and throws a ton of punches as Franca tries to recover. Franca tries to throw up for an armbar but Griffin kept on him with a relentless assault and put Franca out cold. Holy shit that just happened.
WINNER: Griffin via KO at 3:26 of the second round.
POST FIGHT: Griffin said that's the first guy he's ever been worried about getting knocked out against. Griffin said that's one of the toughest guys he ever fought and said the stand up was his Franca's weakness, but then said he beat him where he was best. Well that doesn't work.
STAR RATING: (***) Boring first round, but awesome second from Griffin and amazing finish to stop Franca. That was impressive.
RAMIFICATIONS: Griffin will get a bump back toward the top of lightweight division with that win. That might have been the most impressive fight Tyson Griffin's ever had to date.
FIGHT FOUR: JOSH KOSCHECK VS. FRANK TRIGG (WELTERWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Trigg said Koscheck is a stepping stone for him, and Koscheck said he's no one's stepping stone. Trigg said he's had to evolve since his time in the UFC. Koscheck said this is the big fight for him to tell Trigg "Your ride stops here."
ROUND ONE: Trigg walks down Koscheck off the bat and pushes his back toward the cage. Koscheck comes forward and tries to push Trigg back. Trigg lands a quick straight shot and pushes Koschek right back. Koscheck lands a good right to the body. Koscheck barely misses an uppercut. Koscheck lands a big right hand and drops Trigg. He patiently waits for an opening and lands three punches to the jaw and he wasn't defending himself and the ref had to step in. Big win for Koscheck.
WINNER: Koscheck via TKO at 1:25 of the first round
POST FIGHT: Koscheck said he's super motivated right now. He thanked Texas. He called out Matt Hughes after the fight and said he wants that fight. He said he doesn't care really, though, and if he can he'll fight every month.
STAR RATING: (***-) Hell of a finish from Koscheck there and a big win to get him back on track in the welterweight division.
RAMIFICATIONS: Koscheck moves back up the ladder and Trigg fails to win in his debut. He'll get another fight but that's a tough loss for him.
FIGHT FIVE: MARTIN KAMPMANN VS. PAUL DALEY (WELTERWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Kampmann says he's coming in to beat him up. Daley says Kampmann's in for a rude awakening. Daley said Kampmann's in with a whole different breed of animal now. Kampmann said he's been training hard, he said it doesn't matter who it is, he's coming in to win.
ROUND ONE: Kampmann lands a quick flurry early. He gets a jab in quickly as well. Daley pushes Kampmann forward and lands a couple of shots. Kampmann goes for a single leg and Daley connects on a couple of shots. Daley lands another good left hook. Daley again lands a couple of left hooks as Kampmann came in. Kampmann eats another left but then he lands a right of his own. He lands another good right hand. Good exchanges again. Kampmann clinches Daley on the cage and lands a knee. Daley rocks Kampmann and pushes him back. He continues throwing bombs on Kampmann against the cage. He looks out on his feet and he's taking a ton of shots on his feet and Yves Lavigne steps in and stops it. Daley was teeing off on him on the cage and Kampmann was just somehow staying on his feet. He should have been allowed to defend himself a bit more, and it may have been an early stoppage, but Kampmann wasn't defending any of the punches and was close to being knocked out cold.
WINNER: Daley via TKO at 2:31 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Daley said Kampmann's a great fighter and a tough fighter. He said he understands fans being a bit unhappy as Kampmann was more of a favorite and he hoped they'll come over to him. He said it was a just stoppage because he would have just hurt Kampmann more there.
STAR RATING: (***) Hell of a statement made by Daley in his debut there. Very good showing and a big victory, even if the finish was slightly sooner than it could have been.
RAMIFICATIONS: Well that takes Kampmann out of title contention. GSP may need to rematch someone here because he's got no clear #1 contender. Daley will get another top guy in his next fight. Great debut.
PRELIM FIGHT C - ROB EMERSON VS. RAFAEL DOS ANJOS
ROUND ONE: Dos Anjos lands a good straight left early here. He lands a good inside leg kick as Emerson circles the outside. Dos Anjos lands a right and Emerson responds. Dos Anjos shot in and Emerson sprawled nicely on the cage. Emerson landed a good left and pushed forward, chasing Dos Anjos down with a few punches. He backed off. Emerson lands a good right on Dos Anjos. Dos Anjos keeps Emerson's back on the cage here, stalking him down. Emerson then pushes forward and lands a good straight right. Dos Anjos with another good inside leg kick. Another big one and Emerson responds with the inside leg kick. Emerson goes high with a kick. Dos Anjos with the outside leg kick now. Dos Anjos lands a body shot. Dos Anjos shoots again and Emerson sprawls and gets away. Another big inside leg kick from Dos Anjos. Dos Anjos continues to have success landing that inside leg kick. Dos Anjos pushes forward and tries to clinch and Emerson shrugs him off. Dos Anjos again shoots in and Emerson holds him off on the cage. He switches to a single leg and takes him down. He throws some shots from the top until the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Dos Anjos. He controlled the striking and got the late takedown there.
ROUND TWO: Dos Anjos goes back to the leg kick at the outset here. Emerson lands an inside leg kick of his own and eats a left. Emerson eats another inside leg kick. He keeps going back to that and he's landing. Emerson lands a straight right. He lands another one. Inside leg kick from Dos Anjos again. He shoots in and Emerson sprawls. Emerson lands a couple of punches going forward. He lands another good punch. Inside leg kick again from Dos Anjos. He shoots in again and Emerson once more sprawls and holds off the takedown for a bit on the cage. Dos Anjos got him down but Emerson popped back up. Emerson lands the right. Dos Anjos with the shot again and Emerson sprawls. Emerson lands a couple shots and Dos Anjos slips throwing a punch. Another big inside leg kick. He keeps throwing that and he keeps landing it. Emerson lands an inside kick of his own. Emerson lands a few punches and Dos Anjos lands the inside leg kick again. Dos Anjos nearly drops Emerson with the inside leg kick. Emerson throws one and eats another> Dos Anjos clinches with ten seconds left on the cage and Emerson lands a couple of punches as the round closes.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Dos Anjos. Those leg kicks are hurting Emerson and they're scoring points. Emerson's going to need something dramatic in the third round to pull this out.
ROUND THREE: Dos Anjos goes right back to that leg kick. He shoots in and Emerson holds it off for a short time but gets taken down this time. Dos Anjos tries to take Emerson's back but Emerson flips over and puts Dos Anjos into his half guard, and then he gets to full guard. Dos Anjos postures up and lands a few elbows. He throws some good hammerfists and then some more elbows as well. Emerson tries to push him off and Dos Anjos pushes in to keep him down. He gets back to half guard and then moves to side control Emerson transitiions and gets back to his feet. He clinches Dos Anjos against the cage but Dos Anjos reverses it. They finally separate with just over a minute left. Emerson comes in with a punch and an inside leg kick and Dos Anjos goes back to the inside leg kick. Again with the inside leg kick from Dos Anjos and Emerson's barely standing. Dos Anjos lands a good punch but eats the inside leg kick again. They end the fight with Emerson landing a few shots on the cage.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Dos Anjos. Emerson hung in there but that was a clean sweep for Dos Anjos. Emerson could barely walk by the end after those leg kicks.
WINNER: Dos Anjos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (**-) It was just an ok fight there. Dos Anjos punished Emerson with the leg kicks throughout but Emerson showed a ton of heart in surviving the kicks and continuing to come forward throughout. He just did not have any answer for what Emerson brought tonight.
FIGHT SIX: MIRKO CRO COP VS. JUNIOR DOS SANTOS (HEAVYWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Cro Cop says he doesn't know if he'll take the UFC Heavyweight Title but he'll die trying.
ROUND ONE: Cro Cop comes out to the center. Dos Santos pushes him back quickly. Cro Cop throws a good kick to the body. Dos Santos lands a good left and pushes forward. Cro Cop backs away. Dos Santos lands a good body punch. Cro Cop goes for the high left kick but it gets blocked. Dos Santos continues to press the action here. Cro Cop with a body kick. Dos Santos with the body shot and Dos Santos clips him. They clinch and Dos Santos lands a good combo against the cage. Dos Santos chases him down and thy clinch on the cage. They trade knees in the clinch and separate. Dos Santos pushes forward again and Cro Cop clinches. Cro Cop pushes Dos Santos against the cage and they trade knees again. Cro Cop went for a takedown but it didn't work and Dos Santos landed on top of him. He pushed him off and got right back to his feet. Cro Cop gets a good left in. He lands another good straight left that slightly rocked Dos Santos. Dos Santos ducks in and eats another straight left. He pushes forward again but Cro Cop covers up nicely. Dos Santos clinches him again against the cage. Dos Santos lands a couple of knees and then they separate. Cro Cop lands one more straight left before the round comes to a close.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Dos Santos. The aggressor in a round that didn't have a whole lot going on, Dos Santos landed some good shots and had Cro Cop on the run a couple of times as well.
ROUND TWO: Dos Santos again is the aggressor here to start the round. He pushes forward and lands a good punch and has Cro Cop on the ropes but Cro Cop lands another good straight left. Dos Santos lands a good body punch. Dos Santos lands a body shot and Cro Cop lands a right hand. Dos Santos pushes forward again and lands a couple of punches again but Cro Cop recovers. Cro Cop went for the left high kick again but whiffed. Dos Santos lands a couple of good body punches. He pushes forward with the body punch again and then lands a few more. Cro Cop pushes forward and they clinch again. Dos Santos pushes Cro Cop back to the cage but then they separate. Dos Santos grabs the Thai clinch and lands a knee. The crowd starts to boo as the action has slowed down a bit. Cro Cop lands a kick low, straight on the cup below the belt. Good ball shot. Dos Santos was given time to recover and he finally restarts. Dos Santos starts landing shots again. He cuts Cro Cop above the eye. He lands a body kick and backs off as the round comes to a close.
Penick's Analysis: 10-9 Dos Santos. Again the aggressor and he landed more shots and kept Cro Cop on his toes throughout the round. Cro Cop needs a knockout here in the third.
ROUND THREE: Cro Cop comes forward here in the third. He lands a good left hand and Dos Santos responds. Cro Cop with a good straight left. Dos Santos lands a good uppercut to the body. Dos Santos counters nicely. Dos Santos lands a good knee to the body and comes in with another and eats a couple of shots. Cro Cop looks to be in trouble here. Dos Santos lands a good knee in the Thai clinch and Cro Cop is hurt here. They clinch and Dos Santos lands some more knees to the body and head. He backs off and Cro Cop grabs at his eyes saying he can't see. Dos Santos celebrates before anything is waved off here and he walks away and it appears the fight is over. Bizarre ending, but Cro Cop looked like he couldn't continue.
WINNER: Dos Santos via verbal submission at 2:00 of the third round.
POST FIGHT: Cro Cop congratulated Dos Santos and then walked to the back. At least he acknowledged Dos Santos before leaving. Dos Santos said he felt very good. Dos Santos said he hoped everyone enjoyed his fight after saying something unintelligible. He must be taking English lessons from Minotauro Nogueira. Dos Santos says something about the UFC being the boss and "whatever they want," that must be on his next fight.
STAR RATING: (**) Anti-climactic fight here. Big win for Dos Santos but it wasn't the fight that everyone was hoping to see. He looked great, but Cro Cop definitely did not.
RAMIFICATIONS: Cro Cop will most certainly not be getting back toward a title shot here. Dos Santos takes another step up in the heavyweight division and needs a couple more fights to get up to fighting the top four or five of the division.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT SEVEN: RICH FRANKLIN VS. VITOR BELFORT
PRE FIGHT: Franklin said he's going to let his fists do his talking and he'll say what he needs to say after the fight. He said he strives to take the fight from his opponent every time.
ROUND ONE: Franklin takes the center of the Octagon off the bat as Vitor circles. Vitor throws the first leg kick of the fight. Inside leg kick from Franklin lands and he keeps the center. He pops in for a punch and eats an outside leg kick from Belfort. They're definitely feeling each other out here. Rich throws a body kick but Vitor catches it and throws a punch. Rich tries to come in and they both trade shots briefly. Inside leg kick from Franklin. The crowd starts to get a bit restless here. Straight kick from Franklin lands to the body and he backs away. Rich is looking for a big shot. Belfort catches him with a shot and then goes on with a flurry of punches. He lands a few on a downed Franklin and that's all she wrote. Wow that was quick once Belfort engaged. He landed a looping left behind the ear that dropped Rich and then it was a punch to the back of the head that put Franklin out, and then he followed with two more legal shots before the ref stepped in.
WINNER: Belfort via KO at 3:02 of the first
POST FIGHT: Belfort spreads the love to a whole bunch of names after thanking Jesus for his win. He said he was away from his family for three months, and he said god gave him the speed and power to finish like that. He said Anderson Silva is his friend but he's an employee and if Dana wants them to fight he'll take that. Franklin says he's a little scrambled and he didn't even know what put him down. He said once you get clipped everything just goes blank, and he's sure things will start coming back once he gets to the locker room.
STAR RATING: (***) Big KO victory for Belfort in his return and he can move back to the middleweight division as a force to be reckoned with.
RAMIFICATIONS: I think Rich will be matched up with Forrest Griffin next, and Belfort is set to head to the middleweight division to stake his claim there.
PRELIM D - NIK LENTZ vs. RAFAELLO OLIVEIRA
ROUND ONE: Oliveira lands a kick and Lentz brings a good leg kick of his own. They trade some shots with Oliveira getting the better of it. Oliveira shot in and Lentz tries to grab the guillotine. Oliveira popped his head out and Lentz worked his way back up. Oliveira landed a big right hand and rocked Lentz. Lentz shot in and Oliveira sprawled. Lentz grabs a guillotine and jumps up to lock it in and drops down, nearly holding on to it. Oliveira gets out and they stand again. They trade shots standing and then Oliveira picks Lentz up and slams him down. Lentz holds guard on the bottom as Oliveira tries to do some damage from the top. Lentz got the omoplata but Oliveira rolled through. Lentz finally got back to his feet. Lentz lands a good combo and keeps landing some shots on Oliveira, looking to rock him even more. Lentz lands and then Oliveira responds. Lentz pushes forward and lands a left. Lentz shot in and took Oliveira down. He landed a couple of shots and then Oliveira landed an upkick as the round came to a close.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Oliveira. Tough round to score there but he was the aggressor and won more of the round than Lentz did.
ROUND TWO: Lentz lands a good body kick early. Rafaello responds with a punch. Lentz lands a flurry of shots. He shot in and got Oliveira to the ground but they didn't stay there. Lentz is landing some good shots here and Oliveira is noticeably slower in this round. Lentz lands another good right hand. Oliveira landed a good punch. Oliveira came in and Lentz tried to grab the guillotine again as he got to the ground.. He let it go, tried for it again, and then let it go again. Lentz is trying to stay active from the bottom as Oliveira is slowing down. Lentz tried to drop down on him and Oliveira reverses it. Lentz finally moves his way back up after and they trade some short shots as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Lentz. He landed more shots and went for submission attempts there. Close fight here with both getting tired.
ROUND THREE: Lentz lands some early leg kicks and then a couple of good shots. He landed some more good flurries but then Oliveira shot in. Lentz tried to hold off the takedown but Oliveira pulled him down. Oliveira postured up for a bit of ground and pound but Lentz moved back to his feet again. He popped in with a couple of punches. He lands a good leg kick. He then gets a takedown of his own. He moves to half guard. He stepped up and started throwing right hands. He tried to pass and Oliveira tried to hold him off with the up kick. He throws a ton of shots to the body and then he moves to half guard. Lentz lands some really hard right hands and a ton of damage to Oliveira from the top here. He lands some big right hands from this position. He continues the assault from top position. He stands up and eats an up kick but drops down for a couple more shots before the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Lentz. He negated Oliveira's takedown with one of his own and a ton of damage from top position.
WINNER: Lentz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (**) Both guys had a ton of heart here in this one but not a whole lot of gas. I don't see how the one judge gave the first round to Lentz but the kid from Minnesota deserved the victory.
Well, we got eleven of the thirteen fights on the card here broadcast tonight. They're re-airing the Rick Story vs. Brian Foster fight here at the end of the broadcast, but the other results on the show were Vladimir Matyushenko winning a decision over Igor Pakrajac, and Eliot Marshall winning a split decision over Jason Brilz.
We'll have plenty of fallout coverage throughout tomorrow and the week ahead, and then it will be time to focus on another Strikeforce Challengers event next weekend and WEC action and UFC 104 next month. Thanks for sticking with us here tonight for our round by round coverage of this UFC 103 event!
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
