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| UFC 95 recap and final thoughts Posted: 21 Feb 2009 10:42 PM CST
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) traveled across the pond tonight (Saturday, Feb. 21), for its second overseas show of the 2009 fight season with a return to The The Spike TV special didn’t receive the gold treatment in terms of promotion, but as is often the case with shows like this, it didn’t stop it from being very exciting to watch. In fact, only two of the 10 fights went the distance. And the main event of the evening, which featured a a lightweight bout between Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson, was one of those two. The new-look “Nightmare” — a former welterweight contender — did not disappoint in his 155-pound debut, taking it to “Daddy” for three full rounds. It basically turned into a kickboxing match with very little ground work. Sanchez was clearly the more dynamic and hungry fighter, mixing up his strikes, kicks and knees, which appeared to keep Stevenson off balance. It was good enough to earn him a clear-cut unanimous decision, and, in the process, make him an instant contender in the deep division. The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) inaugural season winner will more than likely need another fight or to to earn a title berth, but in the meantime it will be exciting to watch him make the climb. He mentioned a rematch with Kenny Florian, as well as fights against BJ Penn and Sean Sherk, as future possibilities. Sounds good to me.
In the co-featured fight of the night, local favorite Dan Hardy went toe-to-toe with veteran Rory Markham. It was another stiff test for the Brit, but boy did he pass with flying colors. “The Outlaw” unleashed a hellish left hook early in round one that put Markham, for the most part, out for the count. Hardy pounced to finish off the wounded fighter and it was all academic after that with the referee stepping in to rescue Markham from further punishment. This was a very impressive win for Hardy — Markham is a very tough fighter who can trade punches with the best of them. Hardy, however, didn’t even give him the chance. What a statement. Middleweights Nate Marquardt and Wilson Gouveia tangled in an entertaining 185-pound scrap, which Marquardt appeared to get the better of for most of the three-round fight. Gouveia, however, was game and kept coming forward despite eating several hard punches. He even had a nice guillotine choke attempt early in round one, but couldn’t finish the deal. It was about as close as he would get to tasting victory tonight. He appeared to tire midway through the second frame and it was ultimately his undoing. Marquardt poured it on and had Gouveia nearly finished at the close of round two. “The Great,” however, would have to wait until the final stanza. And sometimes good things comes to those who wait. Marquardt began a beautiful finish with a stiff right to the face that Gouveia walked right through, but then followed it up with a flesh-shredding flying knee that knocked the American Top Team (ATT) product in reverse. Marquardt then went into a crazy combination that included a spinning backfist and hook, which he topped off with more knees and punches. It was a fantastic way to end a good fight. And with more highlight-reel performances like he has turned in recently, it will only be a matter of time before Marquardt earns another chance at championship glory. Fellow division member, Demian Maia, however, might have something to say about that. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom once again demonstrated just how good he really is, submitting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) veteran Chael Sonnen with an awesome triangle choke. Just watching the replays it is clear that Maia knew what he wanted to as soon as he took Sonnen to the mat. And he was about four steps ahead of the Team Quest fighter, setting up the maneuver from the top position and letting Sonnen reverse so he could pull the string and finish the fight. There’s really not much left to say about Maia — he is very, very special. Maia finally requested a title shot in the post-fight interview, and with five submission wins in five opportunities, it will be hard to deny him. The only thing working against him is the suddenly emerging crowd atop the division. Hopefully, he gets a front ditch. And last but certainly not least, Josh Koscheck and Paulo Thiago kicked off the Spike TV telecast in a welterweight tilt that most felt was over before it started — few gave the relatively unknown Brazilian much of a chance. Suckers. Thiago appeared to be outgunned early in the fight and nearly missed a fate similar to Yoshiyuki Yoshida on about three separate occasions. Koscheck nearly decapitated him with looping right hands and hurt him with at least on of them. But Thiago hung in there, waiting for his window of opportunity to open. And when it did, he crashed right through it with a thundering right uppercut followed by a clubbing left hand. Koscheck was clearly knocked silly, but Thiago was nonchalant about going in for the kill. Perhaps he was just as stunned as Koscheck, as well as the millions of fans watching around the world. It didn’t matter … the referee stepped in before it could get any uglier. Koscheck protested the stoppage almost immediately, feeling he should have been able to continue to the bitter end. Maybe he could have somehow weathered the storm, but if Thiago was allowed to go for the coup de grace, Koscheck could have went out like “Zenko.” Not worth it. Koscheck took a very risky fight against a guy virtually no one knows anything about and he paid the price. Perhaps the silver lining is that Koscheck wants to stay busy, and if he is allowed to do that, he may be able to get back in the hunt with a few more wins sooner rather than later. Time will tell. All in all, UFC 95 was fun to watch for several reasons. Two legit middleweight contenders, Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia, emerged as serious threats to the reigning champion. And the lightweight division is now on notice that a “Nightmare” could loom around the corner. It also doesn’t hurt that nine of the 10 fights made the Spike TV telecast. More, please. For complete UFC 95 results and main card commentary click here. |
| UFC Quick Quote: Demian Maia deserves a title shot Posted: 21 Feb 2009 10:42 PM CST
– Undefeated Brazlian jiu-jitsu wizard Demian Maia feels that he is now ready for a shot at the 185-pound crown after making quick work of Chael Sonnen at UFC 95: “Sanchez vs. Stevenson” tonight at The O2 Arena in London, England. It was his fifth submission win inside the Octagon and fourth “Submission of the Night” performance. He just appears to be playing chess while everyone else is trying to figure out checkers. He’s an absolute treat to watch and would undoubtedly give whoever is holding the belt a very tough time. Current middleweight champion Anderson Silva will first defend his belt against Thales Leites at UFC 97 in April. Then, the winner of the fight between Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson has also been promised a title shot. It appears that there may be a long line forming, but Maia is certainly deserving. |
| UFC 95 bonuses and awards for ‘Sanchez vs Stevenson’ Posted: 21 Feb 2009 10:42 PM CST
UFC 95: "Sanchez vs. Stevenson" from The O2 Arena in London, England, has come to a close. The highly anticipated lightweight debut of Diego Sanchez against Joe Stevenson in the main event of the evening was perhaps the biggest story line heading into the three-hour Spike TV special. And, according to UFC officials, the pair delivered, winning “Fight of the Night” honors for their three-round scrap. It wasn’t an instant classic, but it was good enough to be singled out among the other nine bouts on the card. It’s safe to say that virtually no one expected Paulo Thiago to take home “Knockout of the Night,” including himself. But that’s just what the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt did against perennial welterweight contender, Josh Koscheck. Thiago connected with a right uppercut and followed it up with a clubbing left hand that had the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) stand out seeing stars. Koscheck claimed after the fight that the stoppage was too early; however, replays showed that he was clearly in trouble. On the flip side, Demian Maia was an early favorite to take home “Submission of the Night” because he has done it three times prior in just four fights. He delivered, outclassing Chael Sonnen with a masterfully planned triangle choke. Overall, the fans in The O2 Arena had to be pleased with 80 percent of the fights ending early. There were several great performances and exciting finishes all night long. Here are the special fight bonuses for UFC 95:
Each fighter received $40,000 for their efforts in addition to their respective base salaries, which will more than likely not be revealed because the show took place overseas. For complete UFC 95 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here. |
| UFC 95 results, coverage and winners LIVE tonight! Posted: 21 Feb 2009 04:15 PM CST
Click the banner above or right here for LIVE blow-by-blow coverage of the tape-delayed UFC 95: "Sanchez vs. Stevenson" main card action, which will start at 9 p.m. ET with the Spike TV telecast. Quick results of the show have already been recorded. Scroll down to check them out. If you do want to discuss the action before it airs on Spike TV please do it here. For those who do not want to know complete show results before they air on television here in the United States please be careful and think twice about going any further. SPOILERS COULD BE CONTAINED IN THE JUMP. If you're going to leave comments and discuss the fights as they happen on Spike TV with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main UFC 95 results post and not this one. |
| UFC 95 quick results LIVE today! Posted: 21 Feb 2009 09:01 AM CST
MMAmania.com is providing LIVE quick results of UFC 95: “Sanchez vs. Stevenson” RIGHT NOW after the jump. Remember that we will also deliver live blow-by-blow coverage of the tape delayed Spike TV broadcast beginning at 9pm ET. If you want to discuss the fights as they happen please do so in this post. For those who do not want spoilers we will create a new thread later on this evening. Please don’t ruin it for the other readers — we have created two posts so that two different conversations can take place. Please respect it. Here are the LIVE UFC 95 quick results:
UFC 95 QUICK RESULTS: Main event: Diego Sanchez defeats Joe Stevenson via unanimous decision Main card: Dan Hardy defeats Rory Markham via knockout in round one Under card: Terry Etim defeats Brian Cobb via technical knockout (strikes) in round two |
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