Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Vera looked awesome here. He dominated Soszynski every round with solid stand up plus a nice clinch game. Sosynski get props for taking the fight on short notice and this lose shouldn’t hurt him. Vera climbs the ladder with this win. His mixed fight should be vs. a top 5 guy in the 205lbs division.
Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia
Oh my god. Coming into the fight everyone know Marquardt wanted to stand with Maia but geez. Marquardt didn’t waste anytime knocking out Maia in 21 seconds of round one. This fight ended fast and Maia didn’t get a chance to get anything going. He’ll have to get back to training and work on the stand up enough to hold his own. Marquardt reallyputs himself next in line for a shot at Anderson Silva. Marquardt wins Knock out of the night with his first round KO.
Chris Leban vs. Jake Rosholt
This fight was a really good one. Leban got a huge ovation from the hometown crowd. This fight was pretty even with Leban showing good stand up and leg kicks. Rosholt also had some good exchanges throughout the fight. The fight was won on the ground though, whenever it was on the canvas Rosholt was in control. Leban landed some good shot in round one and two but wasn’t able to finish. Finally in round three Rosholt’s wrestling skills overpowered Leban for the takedown and he caught him in a deep choke. Rosholt get the third round submission over Leban to win Submission of the night.
Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
Coming in to this fight we all knew this was going to be a war. Both fights come out touch gloves and start throwing the leather. Someone is going to get knockout here for sure! Silva lands a huge left hook that drops Jardine and Silva pounces to finish the fight via ground and pound. Silva showed his knockout power in this fight and gets himself right back into the 205 title picture. Jardine will have to regroup from this knockout, he does well versus guys that don’t come forward. Every time he fights an aggressive fighter he get knocked out.
Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Wow fight of the night is right! Nogueira looked awesome which makes you believe he was hurt versus Frank Mir. Randy landed a few good shot but Nogueira dominated each and every round. Big Nog lands a big right 2 minutes into the first round. Fight goes to the ground and Nogueira sinks in a deep choke but Couture doesn’t tap. The first round ends with both fighter battling hard in the stand up game. Randy Couture getstop position early in round two but gets sweepedinto full mount. Couture got caught in a triangle but somehow was able to get out of it. he gets back to his feet and lands some solid shots to close out the round. Nogueira has to beup two rounds to none on the judges score cards. Round three starts out with Nogueira landing another huge shot to put Couture to the mat. Couture recovers but big nog is in side control and landing some good shots on couture. with 90 seconds left in the round Couture reverses and get top position. He lands some good elbows but it’s too little too late for Couture. The fight goes to the judges where Nogueira wins by Unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27 & 29-28. Big Nog looked great in this fight and should be right back in the title hunt. Couture even though he lost was still solid and showed he still has something left in the tank. Nogueira was very dominate in this fight and I’d love to see him rematch with Frank Mir.
Note: Randy Couture has signed a new 28 month and/or 6 fight contract before the Nogurira fight. This is reallty good news for UFC and Randy Couture fans.
Good night of fights. Can’t wait for September 16th and Ultimate fight night followed by the Ultimate fighter.
I went 7-4 with my pick bringing my overall record to 16-11.
