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APRIL 14, 2012
LIVE FROM STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
-An overseas UFC event is airing live in North America today, as the UFC comes to Fuel TV from Stockholm, Sweden at 3PM ET with a three hour card. We'll have results from the Facebook preliminary card up as they happen, and we'll be here with a live round by round report on the three-hour main card on Fuel TV, so stick with us right here today!
=====FACEBOOK PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS=====
* Jason Young def. Eric Wisely via unanimous decision (30-28, 29-28, 29-28)
* Simeon Thoresen def. Besam Yousef via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:36 of the second round
* Reza Madadi def. Yoislandy Izquierdo via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:28 of the second round
* Francis Carmont def. Magnus Cedenblad via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:42 of the second round
* Cyrille Diabate def. Tom DeBlass via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
* James Head def. Papy Abedi via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:33 of the first round
=====FUEL TV MAIN CARD=====
- The broadcast starts with Face the Pain (take that!), followed by Mike Goldberg and Kenny Florian introducing the show.
- For the record, the first fight won?t start until about quarter after the hour. I?ll never understand that.
FIGHT ONE: BRAD PICKETT VS. DAMACIO PAGE
- Pickett and Page are the same height, but Pickett has a 2 inch reach advantage. That?s 3 stone, for all you Europeans out there. At least, I think it is.
ROUND ONE: The referee for this fight is Marko Gylleland. He?s got a tight Mohawk, for what it?s worth. They come out firing immediately, Page is down, and Pickett gets on top in full guard. Pickett stands, eats an upkick, and dives back in. Back to their feet. Pickett drops Page with a wild punch, it was more of a slip. Nice body kick by Page. These guys are swinging like crazy. Page ducks under a hook and lands a double leg, and gets to side control. No damage, and Pickett gets back up. Pickett gets an underhook and lands his own double leg. Pickett?s in half-guard, near the fence. Bug right hand by Pickett on the ground. Page is trying to sweep, but can?t escape. Pickett?s landing some bombs here, but Page absorbs. Round is half over. Pickett is in full guard. Page is doing better now at controlling Pickett?s wrists. Pickett trying to stack Page up, but Page is still dodging well. Short elbow by Pickett. And another. 90 seconds left. Page is starting to throw elbows from the bottom, which forces Pickett to move. Back to standing. And they are throwing wildly again. Pickett misses a flying knee, but recovers and gets a takedown by the cage. Lands a huge right hand as Page tries to get back up. Page is slowing down as the round ends.
10-9 Pickett Fun Round.
ROUND TWO: Page comes out fast with a left hook and right head kick. Page firing off that jab, but Pickett walks through and shoots a double. Doesn?t get it, and eats a knee. Back to the middle of the cage, Pickett lands a left hook to the jaw and Page recoils and falls down. Pickett jumps in and lands big shots on the ground. Page manages to get guard, and he?s starting to regain his composure. Pickett has Page turtled against the cage and Page?s left arm is trapped against the cage. He?s bleeding from the nose. Pickett could go for a guillotine here, but is using the position to land shots. There it is, Pickett pulled guard to get the guillotine, but he lost is and now Page is on top in side control. I?m very surprised Pickett didn?t finish. Pickett sweeps and is on top now. Page is on his butt now, sitting against the fence. Page stands up, Pickett has his back, but lets him go with 1:45 left. Back to the middle. Big uppercut and left hook by Pickett. Page is down on hands and knees. Pickett jumps on top, looking for a rear naked choke. Pickett didn?t live up to his ?One Punch? moniker there. Those shots were huge. Page is flattening out, he taps. It?s over. Brad Pickett choked out Damacio Page.
WINNER: Brad Pickett by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:05 of round 2
STAR RATING: (***) Fun but sloppy, like the kids in the song Night Moves. Brad Pickett out classed Page from the get go, and once Page couldn?t finish the fight after 3-4 minutes, the fight was pretty well determined. Pickett rebounded nicely from the Barao fight, and will make noise in the division. As will MMA Torch UK Contributor Dan Moore when discussing Brad Pickett over the next few days?
FIGHT TWO: DAMARQUES JOHNSON VS. JOHN MAGUIRE
- Johnson is 4 inches taller, and has a whopping 6 inch reach advantage. Johnson was the runn up on season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter.
ROUND ONE: Kristian Hacklou is the referee. He?s from Uganda, clearly. Had leg kick by Johnson to start the fight. And another. That?s been it for the first 45 seconds, but they were loud. Maguire charges in with a couple of punches and gets a takedown as Johnson retreated. Johnson briefly grabbed Maguire?s head, but couldn?t do anything with it. Maguire?s in a loose guard, Johnson is throwing his legs up, and he?s got an omaplata. Maguire?s trying hard to escape, almost gave up a straight armbar, but escaped and winds up in guard. Nice offense from the bottom by Johnson, that will temper Maguire?s aggressiveness from the top. 2:30 in. Full guard still. Maguire?s trying to throw elbows, but they?re not landing flush. Maguire trying to pass, and he gets to half guard. Maguire?s more worried about position than damage so far. Johnson is controlling Maguire?s back arm well, and considering how wide open his legs are, that?s the only thing keeping Maguire in half guard. Johnson lost the arm, and bam, side control. 50 seconds left. Johnson explodes out, but Maguire got his back. He?s looking for the choke, but won?t get it before the horn sounds.
10-9 Maguire Despite being on his back for most of the round, I would have given it to Johnson had Maguire not gotten back control for the last 45 seconds or so.
ROUND TWO: Maguire lands a left hook and follows up with a single leg for the takedown. Johnson reverses immediately and is on top now, in full guard. That hook might have missed, but it served its purpose. 1 minute in. Maguire on the bottom has full head and wrist control here. Johnson explodes out of mount when Maguire threw his legs up, and Johnson won that scrum, getting side control position. Maguire spins, pushes Johnson off, and we?re back to standing. This is fun grappling. Another inside leg kick by Johnson. They?re close to the groin, and are hurting Maguire. Maguire with a body lock against the fence, looking for a lateral drop takedown. He got it, and Maguire spins Johnson away from the fence with about 2 minutes left. Johnson is landing elbows from the bottom, with a wide open guard. Maguire?s staying very tight to Johnson?s body, not doing anything from top control. Johnson?s trying to roll, looking for a kimura from the bottom. This is a real stalemate; it?ll be interesting to see who gives in, unless the ref gets all Herb Dean and stands then up. As I was typing that, Maguire got his arm free, stood over, got a straight armbar and Johnson tapped. Wow, that was fast! Fantastic! In a night of submissions, Maguire just wrapped up submission of the night!
WINNER: John Maguire by submission (armbar) at 4:40 of round 2.
STAR RATING: (***) Another really fun fight, and right up my alley as a fan of grappling. I am so glad that the referee didn?t see 30 seconds of seeming inactivity and broke it up. When they?re on the ground struggling for position, let them fight, Herb! Jamie Penick pointed out to me that the finish was very similar to Hughes vs. GSP 1, and he?s right. In the post-fight interview, Maguire stated that the kimura (like Johnson was going for from the bottom) was his own favorite move, so he knew how to counter it. That was great stuff.
- Not that I blame them, but the UFC is going for the hard sell on Jones vs. Evans. This is now the 500th promo for their fight next week. I was going to say it was like the 42nd promo as an exaggeration, but after I thought about it for a moment, this might literally be the 42nd promo. And we?ve got two hours to go. I?m tempted to not watch UFC 145, out of spite.
- No I?m not.
FIGHT THREE: DENNIS SIVER VS. DIEGO NUNES
- Siver struggled to make weight, in this his featherweight debut. He weighed in at 147 on his first attempt, but got down to 145 within the two hours he was allotted. It?ll be interesting to see how he handles the weight cut. Siver enters the UFC cage as the taller fighter for the first time in his career, with a one inch height advantage. He also has a 3 inch reach advantage.
ROUND ONE: This fight could be really great. Marc Goddard is the referee for this fight. Nunes trained outside of Nova Uniao for the first time, and Siver is at a new weight class. Two big variables here. Siver is landing the left head kick early. Nunes charges in and gets taken down in the middle of the cage, but springs back up. Siver checks a Nunes leg kick. 2 minutes in, and so far we?ve seen lots of circling and single shots, mainly missed, so far. A spinning round kick just missed by Nunes. Nunes has a good one, Siver has a great one. Siver?s been in the middle of the cage with Nunes circling. Lunging left hook my Siver, but Nunes avoided it. 1 minute left. Nunes has been switching stances frequently, and neither fighter has their range down yet. Siver just went body and head, and landed both. Wheel kick by Nunes. Big lick kick by Siver there. Clinch in the middle, knees by Nunes, punches by Siver.
10-9 Siver Hard to score
ROUND TWO: Another wheel kick by Nunes, but Siver ducked most of the impact of it. Lots of feinting in the second round so far. Spinning low kick by Nunes, who?s starting to throw more. Siver ducks under a spinning backfist, briefly gets a takedown, but Nunes is back up immediately. Front kick by Nunes, which leads to Siver throwing 2 wild hooks. Front kick by Siver, missed. Leg kick by Nunes. Short leg kick by Nunes, who heats a counter hook. Nunes ate a kick to the groin, but the fight was only stopped for about 5 seconds. 90 seconds left now. Nunes is starting to drop his hands, begging Siver to throw something. Siver doesn?t immediately respond. Body kick by Siver. And a spinning kick to the body by Siver. Front kick to the face by Siver, glancing. Another spinning high kick by Siver, misses. Left hook by Siver. Everytime they clinch, he looks for that. Siver finished the wrong very well, but?
10-9 Nunes. 19-19 Very difficult fight to score. Neither fighter has been hurt or even knocked down.
ROUND THREE: Nunes lands a leg kick, Siver lands a counter hook. Then a leg kick. Nunes lands a leg kick, eats a couple punches as he follows in. Nunes dropped Siver with a big right hook. As Siver pops back up, Nunes clinched and landed a couple knees. Siver throws a left hook as they disengaged. Siver lands a straight right and legt leg kick. Both fighters have landed 54 strikes, based on UFC stats. Siver with an outside leg kick. Siver with a jab and clinch. No takedown. Clinch in the middle initiated by Nunes. Landed a couple knees, one of them to the arm. Siver pushes off. 2 minutes left. Another clinch initiated by Nunes off of a missed jab by Siver, but hasn?t been able ot land flush. Siver?s bleeding from his left eye, hard to say what cut him. Might have been a head butt in the clinch. 1 minute left. Nunes with a spinning kick, Siver ducked under and pushed Nunes into the cage. Siver?s looking for a takedown with 440 seconds left. Siver?s throwing body shots, and knocks Nunes down for a moment with a big punch to the head. Nunes recivers, gets back up, and lands a spinning back kick. Good fight. No robbery here, no matter what the cards say. Mine says?
10-9 Siver. 29-28 Siver I think Nunes looked slightly better, but I gave 1 and 3 to Siver. Any socre card would be fair here.
WINNER: Dennis Siver by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**+) Very technical, lots of feinting. It seemed like everything both guys threw was designed to set up something that just never came. I?ve never seem a fighter throw fewer punches than Nunes.. Kicks and elbows galore, but punches count to, sir. Both guys held something back, but what they offered was enjoyable. A fight like that is hard to watch while writing, so I?m really looking forward to the rewatch tonight.
FIGHT FOUR: PAULO THIAGO VS. SIYAR BAHADURZADA
- If you think I?m typing ?Bahadurzada? 100 times, you?re nuts.
ROUND ONE: Paulo Thiago has a 2 inch reach advantage on Siyar. Leon Roberts is the third man in the cage for this fight. 30 seconds in, and there's only been one missed jab by Thiago. Siyar has the middle of the cage. Thiago charges in, Siyar lands his one punch of the fight, and this fight is over.
WINNER: Siyar Bahadurzada by knockout at 0:42 of round 1
STAR RATING: (**+) I told you I wasn?t going to type ?Bahadurzada? 100 times.
- To give a little more description, Siyarthe short right that knocked Thiago unconscious. He may have landed a left to the ear as Thiago was coming in, but it was the right to the jaw.
- Paulo Thiago made his name in the UFC by knocking out Josh Koscheck when Koscheck charged in with his head down. Paulo Thiago is looking at a UFC release now, after ducking his head and charging in. See, children? The devil always collects his debts.
FIGHT FIVE: BRIAN STANN VS. ALESSIO SAKARA
ROUND ONE: Marc Goddard is the referee. Don?t blink. I think Siyar?s bonus might be in jeopardy with this one. Leg kick by Stann. Lots of feints. Sakara is flat footed early, and Stann is circling. Sakara with a nice counter to a Stann leg kick. Stann charges in, big flurry, lots of punches landed, knees by Stann, Sakara is down, Stann jumps in and is pounding away. Stann dives into guard. I understated how violent that flurry was from both guys. Stann?s been in guard for a solid minute, so Sakara likeluy has hits wits about him again. The guard is loosening. Stann just knocked Sakara unconscious with a short left in guard. Just like Scott Jorgensen did to Ken Stone last year. Sakara went unconscious from a very short left to the jaw. Sakara woke up instantly, but as he did, Goddard was CORRECTLY stopping the fight. As Sakara was coming to, trying to defend himself, Stann was waving Sakara off, because he knew Sakara was unconscious.
WINNER: Brian Stann by knockout at 2:26 of round 1.
STAR RATING: (**+) So yeah, Brian Stann has some serious punching power. The KO itself looked so routine, but that?s what makes it so awe-inspiring, since you see a KO like that maybe once a year.
FIGHT SIX: ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON VS. THIAGO SILVA
- Gustafsson is 4 inches taller, and possesses a 2.5 inch reach advantage.
ROUND ONE: Leon Roberts will be refereeing the main event. Nice staredown. Silva charges to the middle. Gustafsson is circling from distance. Right uppercut by Gustafsson knocks Silva down. Gustafsson dives on top, no damage, and they?re back to their feet. Silva checks his head for blood, and Gustafsson takes advantage and unloads against the cage. Silva spins away. Silva is in fact bleeding. Silva throws, but Gustafsson is long gone before Silva?s punches get there. This crowd is nuts right now. Leg kick from the Swede, which is much easier to type fast. Silva is Way too slow, he keeps missing by 2 feet with everything he throws. Silva bull rushes in order to land a right hand. Nice uppercut by Gustafsson. 2:30 left. Silva looks like he has a 12 inch reach disadvantage. Gustafsson is circling, landing, and circling out before silva can do anything. Nice uppercut by Gustafsson. Gustafsson is starting to work in kicks. Big leg kick by Thiago Silva there, to the left quad. Silva?s starting to get through by coming straight ahead. 30 seconds left. Head kick by Gustafsson, didn?t land flush. Lots of action by Gustafsson, and Silva looks confused.
10-9 Gustafsson
ROUND TWO: Gustafsson tosses Silva to the mat and stands over him. Kick to the leg of his prone opponent, and then he backs off. Back to standing. Lots of feints by Gustafsson, and then he slide a straight right in there. Both fighters trade kicks in the middle of the cage. If Goldberg and Florian compare him to Jon Jones once more, though, I?ll have to mute the television. They?re tall, they kick, that?s it. 2 minutes in. Silva needs to figure out how to get inside without eating that uppercut. Front kick by The Mauler. Silva landed a big right hook, and Gustafsson backed up fast, he?s hurt. Silva comes forward, but the Swede circled away, and he?s got his head on straight again. His bell was rung, though. Gustafsson keeps dancing, sliding forward, landing a shot or two, and then gone like Keyser Soze. Gustafsson just missed with a front kick with a couple seconds left in the round.
10-9 Gustafsson Silva looked better, but he?s not winning this fight without a hail mary. Or steroids.
ROUND THREE: More of the same as we start the final round of the night. Silva doesn?t know where the next strike is going to come from, since Gustafsson has a full bag of tricks going tonight. Double jab uppercut combo by Gustafsson. And another uppercut by Gustafsson. Silva with an overhand right that Gustafsson shrugs off. Leg kick followed by a front kick by Gustafsson. And a big knee. Gustafsson stalks silva into the cage and just missed with a deadly knee. Silva has a hematoma forming over his right eye. 2:30 left. Gustafsson has landed 78 strikes tonight, to Silva?s 38. Leg kick by silva, and another. Silva can?t find his range still. He just can?t get to his comfort zone consistently. Nice jab by the Swede. Silva charges in, throws three hooks, missed with all three due to Gustafsson?s head movement. It?s not just his footwork tonight. 1 minute left. Body kick from Gustafsson. Big right hand by gustafsson. Another short uppercut. And I?m muting the tv now because now he has the same arm movement as Jones. Silva is finally turning it up with 10 seconds left, but too little too late.
10-9 Gustafsson. 30-27 It is not conceivable to score this fight in any manner other than 30-27.
WINNER: Alexander Gustafsson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) Meh. Silva was outclassed. Too small, too short, too slow, too not on steroids. Short of a flash KO, Silva did not have a path to victory tonight.
Follow Rich Hansen on Twitter @MATorchRich
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