In the second bout of the UFC 144 preliminary card, Chris Cariaso picked up a controversial unanimous decision victory over Takeya Mizugaki. All three judges gave the fight to Cariaso by 29-28 scores. Cariaso spent extended parts of all three rounds on his back, but the judges concluded that he was able to overcome the Mizugaki takedowns with effective striking and submission attempts from the bottom, and he had the edge when both fighters were on the feet. Many disagreed with the decision including UFC president Dana White, who gave Mizugaki his win bonus even though he lost.
Cariaso started well, landing some solid strikes standing and catching Mizugaki in an omoplata in the first round. He also threw many elbows from the bottom. The second and third saw more even action on the feet, and Cariaso doing less from the bottom after Mizugaki got a takedown with two minutes to go in each round. Still though, the judges thought Cariaso was able to do enough for the W. The bout was the first aired on the FX portion of the broadcast. Cariaso improved to 3-1 in the UFC with the win, while Mizugaki dropped to 2-2 in the octagon.
What was the high spot of this fight?
Cariaso used a modified neck crank in the second round to attempt a sweep from the bottom. It was so unique that Joe Rogan didn't really know how to describe it.
Where do these guys go from here?
Cariaso is one of the smallest bantamweights on the roster and despite winning 3 of 4 bouts at 135 in the UFC, he said after the bout that he'd definitely consider a drop to the new flyweight division. It would be a great move for Kamikaze, and he would instantly become a contender at 125. Perhaps he can meet one of the losers of next weekend's flyweight semi-final fights in his next bout?
Mizugaki maintained his maddening streak of following up a win with a loss. He's clearly still a tough fight for any bantamweight and his momentum probably won't be slowed much by such a controversial loss, but it's still tough to see what kind of fight they give him next since he did lose. Walel Watson might be an interesting matchup for him.
Watch it now, later or never?
Later. It was at least somewhat entertaining and might be worth a watch just to see if you scored it the same way the judges did.
More Bloody Elbow coverage of UFC 144 in the full entry.
- UFC 144 Results: Winners, Losers, And Other Thoughts - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Frankie Edgar Doesn't 'Need' To Drop To Featherweight - Brent Brookhouse
- UFC 144 Results: Rampage Jackson Goes Out Like A Lamb In Loss To Ryan Bader - Nate Wilcox
- UFC 144 Results: Ben Henderson And Anthony Pettis Ready For Rematch - Nate Wilcox
- UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Results And Post-Fight Analysis - Brent Brookhouse
- UFC 144 Results: Dana White Says Anthony Pettis Will 'Likely' Get Next UFC Lightweight Title Shot - Bloody Elbow
- UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
- UFC Japan Video: Georges St. Pierre Gets Attacked By A Mob Of Kids With Samurai Foam Swords - Bloody Elbow
- Bad Boy Presents Bloody Elbow Radio - Episode 139: UFC 144 Results Review
- UFC 144 Results: Ryan Bader Dominates Rampage Jackson To Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Mark Hunt Knocks Out Cheick Kongo In The First Round - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Jake Shields Wins Hard Fought Decision Over Yoshihiro Akiyama - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Tim Boetsch Upsets Yushin Okami In The Third Round - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
- UFC 144 Results: Hatsu Hioki Defeats Bart Palaszewski By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Anthony Pettis Knocks Out Joe Lauzon In The First Round - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Takanori Gomi Stops Eiji Mitsuoka In The Second - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Vaughan Lee Submits Kid Yamamoto With An Armbar - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Riki Fukuda Dominates Steve Cantwell To Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Chris Cariaso Defeats Takeya Mizugaki By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth
- UFC 144 Results: Issei Tamura Knocks Out Tiequan Zhang - Matthew Roth