As always we have one rule...NO SPOILERS! No talking about undercard bouts until either they are shown on the PPV broadcast or the PPV ends. I just don't want to ruin anything for anyone (read: people like me) who is waiting to watch the undercard bouts on the PPV (if any make the broadcast).
So check in once the show starts, and comment ya'll. We're a community site and I love to BS back and forth with you guys as the show is happening.
The PPV broadcast is starting. First fight up shortly. I'm going to try to power down some sushi before it starts so I don't get soy sauce all over my keyboard. I will say that Mike is rocking the worst attempt at a fauxhawk I've ever seen.
Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes - Good choice to open up the broadcast, it should be a pretty good "get the crowd going" scrap. Classic UFC featuring minor stars in the audience as we're treated to a shot of David Spade. Round 1 - Mendes is southpaw and flicks a few jabs out and then rocks Silva with a big high kick. Silva partially blocked it but she still dropped. A leg kick puts Silva back down and he still looks a little shaken. Mendes is smart and stands back up. He looks really crisp with his strikes and his hands are noticeably faster right now. Mendes goes for a throw out of a body lock and Silva turns it into a takedown of his own. Side control into full mount against the fence by Silva. Mendes is just covering up, he has no answer on the floor. Mendes gives up his back, Silva is dropping bombs and Antonio taps out. Wow...what'd I say about this being a good action fight? Mendes looks like he has a broken nose to top off the loss. Thiago Silva wins by submission - strikes 2:24 of Round 1. Wonderful turnaround by Silva as he was SERIOUSLY hurt but survived and was dominant less than a minute later.
Lyoto Machida vs. Tito Ortiz - I'm jacked about this fight and have been since it was announced. I'm one of the most outspoken Machida fans out there so this is a huge fight in my world. I'm very interested to see where Tito's mind is...is it on the fight at hand or on the whole situation with the UFC. It should be noted that Tito is being sent to the octagon first, which is a final little shot of disrespect. It'll be interesting to see if they let him have the mic after the fight ends. Round 1 - Tito doesn't come out and shoot right away as he says. A few low kicks from Lyoto to open up. Now Tito starts to back Machida up but Lyoto uses his footwork to get away from the cage. Tito with an attempted double and Machida avoids easily and then feints a left and throws a low kick. Tito tries to get a body lock but slips off and misses an attempted knee. Tito gets ahold of Machida fully this time and is just shrugged off. Leg kick lands again and this is going to affect the shot of Ortiz as the fight goes on. Body kick, right hand slick combo by Machida. Ortiz looks a bit frustrated. Head kick is blocked by Ortiz but Machida is starting to open up a bit. Machida's footwork is beautiful, Ortiz acts like Machida isn't fighting but he's busting him up. Machida with a great takedown and he blasts Tito with a bunch of shots. Ortiz looks pissed as the round ends and he was eating some big shots as Lyoto had side control. Round 2 - They showed Liddell between rounds and it looked like he was holding up an Affliction shirt to the camera. Counter left by Machida lands. Weak shot attempt by Ortiz and Machida blasts him with a sweet kick to the body. Rogan comments on what I was about to, Machida uses feints SO beautifully. Short uppercut lands and Tito is on his heels. The crowd is booing, but I think this is a beautiful fight to watch. Every time Tito works Lyoto's back to the cage he just slides away to safety. Tito throws (and misses) a few punches. Tito gets ahold of a leg with a double attempt and Machida just pushes him off. Tito pulls guard but ends up using the fence to stand up. Flying knee lands on the chest of Ortiz. Tito gets the crowd on his side by throwing his hands up in a "lets go" signal...so Machida hits him with a 1-2. Tito hits a body kick as the round ends. Round 3 - Tito says Machida is "running the whole time" in his corner as he has a cut below the eyebrow checked out. The cut came from somewhere buddy. Body lock and Ortiz couldn't do anything with it. Shot attempt is sidestepped. Knee attempt by Ortiz misses. Machida is a bit less active now. Ortiz lands a hook and grabs a Thai plum. He is scoring with some elbows and knees to the body and then drops for a shot. Machida fights it all off. Back to a standing clinch. Restart in the center and Machida circles. Knee to the body makes Tito collapse, I honestly think he may have broken a rib. Machida pounces and lands punches and elbows from the top. HOLY CRAP! Tito locks in a triangle and armbar combo! Machida escapes though. That was SO close to a sub win. The knockdown won the round for Machida in my book. I've got the score at 30-27 for Machida. Ortiz is bloodied and pacing around screaming...you know...the thing he does when he loses? Lyoto Machida wins by unanimous decision (30-27 all cards). The crowd boos Machida like crazy during the start of the post fight inverview...but um...why? He cut him up and dropped him. Tito says "I tried my hardest" to the camera. They do let Tito talk during the post fight. Pretty shocking in my book. But Ortiz is respectful enough. So that's good. He says he wants to fight for 3-4 more years, but the stuff between him and Dana is all bullshit and the Fertittas have always been good to him. He says he hasn't decided yet if he is leaving the UFC or not. So amazingly he changes his tune after the fight.
Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic - I'm still not thrilled with this getting main card over Soko/Naka. But that's where we're at. For the sake of liveblogging I much prefer fights between guys like Penn and Sherk...nice short names without too many vowels. No one cheers for either guy...exactly why this shouldn't be on the main card. Round 1 - Solid leg kick leads things off for Gouveia and another. Reljic isn't checking these kicks at all. High kick is blocked by Wilson. He throws three more BIG high kicks. These are going to hurt Gouveia's arm if nothing else. A few punches land for Goran and finally Gouveia scores with a hard punch. Counter body kick for Reljic is countered by Wilson with a straight punch. Two more head kick attempts. Wilson is coming forward and scoring now. Hard body shots are landing and some punches to the head and Reljic jump pulls guard to get out of trouble. Reljic throws hard high kicks but I don't like his one dimensional attacking with his hands. It's all left hands. Round ends and I'd give it to Gouveia just on the fact that while Reljic threw flashy shots it was Gouveia who scored with shots that landed and forced Goran to pull guard. Round 2 - High kick from Goran...of course, and that one almost landed. Wilson drops Goran with a left hand and he has to pull guard again and now Gouveia is unloading from the top. It was body shots standing that set up the left hand that dropped Reljic. He reacts very badly whenever Gouveia decides to go to the body so that's where Gouveia needs to go 100%. Goran pushes him away and gets back to standing. Reljic lands a punch and drops Gouveia. Reljic is flailing away and didn't land many shots from the top but Herb Dean stops the fight anyway. Gouveia wasn't really doing anything from the bottom but I'm surprised the fight was stopped right there. Left hand to the temple is what dropped Wilson. On the replay I only saw about 3 punches that landed once Wilson was on the ground, regardless...he isn't arguing...so whatever. Big win for Reljic but I don't see a big future in what I saw tonight. Goran Reljic wins by TKO (strikes on the ground) - Round 2 3:15.
Christian Wellisch vs. Shane Carwin - Hot prelim action! Round 1 - Carwin throws some straight punches as he comes forward to start the fight. Carwin eats a right from Wellisch. WOAH! Huge right hand for Carwin knocks Wellisch's mouthpiece out of his mouth and about 10 feet away and the fight is over. Shane Carwin wins by KO (punch) Round 1 0:44.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine - WHOO! Nothing excites me as much as a Wandy fight. He brings out the MMA fan in me that remembers how crazy fun things used to be. No matter how many losses he ends up taking I'm always excited to watch him fight. Damn...Jardine looks good...and HUGE. Wandy gets the lights out, fancy star treatment for his introduction. And the crowd is reacting very positively to him. Round 1 - Keith with an overhand right early. Silva hurts him with a big right...and another..Jardine is down. Wanderlei is POURING it on from on top and the fight...is...over. WANDY BABY! I'm not even remotely impartial right now. Jardine is out flat and stiff on his back as the doctors work on him. They just showed David Spade mouthing "holy shit" which is about perfectly right (even though I hate David Spade). Counter right hand over a kick is what hurt Jardine initially, then a left in the clinch as Jardine tried to get up. Then once it was on the ground there were some crazy hard shots to the jaw and you just saw Jardine's body stiffen suddenly. Wanderlei Silva wins by TKO (ref stoppage-punches) Round 1. The crowd is loving Wandy. Jardine walks out on his own power...very good to see.
Ivan Salaverry vs. Rousimar Palhares - More hot prelim action. Round 1 - Palhares with a quick, strong takedown. I picked Ivan in the staff picks but bet on Rousimar big time. Mount for Palhares, and Ivan gives up his back. Palhares is battling for the rear naked choke but Salaverry fights it off nicely. Slick transition to an armbar for Palhares and it's over as Salaverry taps. Rousimar Palhares wins by submission (armbar) Round 1.
BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the UFC Lightweight Championship - It's main event time and I'm pumped. Sherk is booed pretty heavily, but no surprise there. Round 1 - Penn with some punches and he defends against the first takedown attempt. Sherk with a nice hook that hurt BJ a bit. They're boxing right now and each guy is having his moments. Sherk looks a step quicker right now actually. He is so twitchy at times though. BJ's jab is starting to land a little and it's a nice weapon. Sherk is bleeding a bit under his eye..nothing serious and it's in a good spot. Penn is winning the round with his jab with 1 minute left. That jab is actually allowing BJ to slow the fight down. Sherk is doing the right thing and trying to counter with a left hook but it isn't landing so far. 10-9 round for Penn. Round 2 - Low kick from Sherk lands. Penn lands a few punches. Sherk lands some good combinations as the distance closes. Steroids chant goes up...classy as always fans. BJ isn't jabbing and that is allowing Sherk to push the pace again. Uppercut by Penn misses. Left hook, uppercut combo lands for Sherk. Sherk is throwing punches in bunches now which is a good plan. BJ is a one at a time striker right now...but he is landing cleaner and winning the round. Honestly this is good for Sherk. He's eating some shots but he isn't in trouble and BJ is having to work. Still..you can only eat so many shots. BJ is easilly winning the round so I hope I don't sound like Sherk is doing too well. Penn with a hook at the end of the round. His hands went to his hips for a second as he went to his corner....but it may just be a reflex thing. Round 3 - This is where Sherk needs to step it up...lets see if he can do it. More of the same for the first thirty seconds. Left hook lands for Sherk. Penn shoots for a takedown. Then lands a few crisp strikes. Less action over the next minute. Low kick lands hard for BJ. Sherk needs to change things up...like now. Sherk is shaking out his right hand...we may have a broken hand situation. Thirty seconds left in the round and this is a good time to try out a takedown. Penn with a huge knee that drops Sherk and several punches and Sherk was almost out but he is saved by the bell. ...actually no he isn't. It looks like they are stopping the fight. I'm not sure what happened, but it is all over. BJ Penn remains the UFC Lightweight Champion. BJ Penn wins by TKO Round 3. Penn hugs Sherk and says "come by anytime" and also says something to the effect of "I know you were mad but I was just trying to make it the biggest fight in lightweight history" (not a direct quote). They're starting to hype Penn/GSP...which is not something I want to see until each guy has cleaned out their division. Which is going to take a while for Penn to do.
Jon Koppenhaver vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida - Even MORE hot prelim action. Round 1 - Yoshida with a nice strike and a great judo throw...Jon had no business clinching with him. Choke attempt by Yoshida. Koppenhaver went to sleep...for...more than a few seconds before Herb Dean noticed. Boy...I really shouldn't have trusted Koppenhaver on this one. Yoshida is a great fighter, I just figured Jon's heart would carry him. I also figured he'd be smart enough to not clinch. Yoshiyuki Yoshida wins by Submission (anaconda choke) Round 1.
Rameau Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura - We're getting a lot of fights tonight. And that makes me happy. The Tito fight showed that Soko has no reason to feel bad for his last fight. Round 1 - They trade punches to start things out. Great leg kicks by Soko and a right hand lands. Soko is in heaven right now with a guy like Naka who is just going to plant his feet and be there for you to hit. Naka with a jump knee and a punch behind it. Right hand lands now and Nakamura is having a moment half way through the round. Soko has stopped throwing strikes for a good 45 seconds now. Rogan is questioning the heavily taped knee of Sokoudjou and the fact that after he slipped early in the fight he seems to have slowed down a bit. Body kick followed by a huge right hand drops Kazuhiro and the buzzer sounds before Soko could pour it on. Nakamura fell awkwardly when he got knocked down and he can barely walk. They're going to stop the fight. Rameau Sokoudjou wins by TKO - Round 1. I dunno, nice low kicks and the punch that landed was no joke. But there were moments where Nakamura was standing right in front of him and Sokoudjou wasn't pulling the trigger. Not totally impressive, but he needed the win badly. Soko says "one word, Shogun" after the fight. Trying to set up a huge fight.
A quick thank you to everyone that stopped by tonight. We had our highest traffic count in the past 30 days which is always a good thing. If you're new to the site we're glad to have you...stick around. If you're a veteran, thanks for sticking by us. So many more big things on the way for this sport and this site. Once again, thank you all.
Check out Luke Thomas with post show thoughts on the Any Given Saturday internet radio show starting at 1:00am Eastern.
Get the latest gear
