Returning to the O2 Arena in London, UFC 120 was broadcast with taped delay on Spike TV in the US, and featured Michael Bisping taking on Yoshihiro Akiyama in a middleweight bout for the main event.  The fight card lacked title matches or star power, and featured mainly the British and European competitors in most bouts.

Cyrille Diabate vs. Alexander Gustafsson (205 lbs)

Round 1: The fighters exchange leg kicks and circle.  Eventually Gustafsson comes forward with a flurry and drops Diabate.  Gustafsson follows to the ground, landing in side control.  Gustafsson keeps Diabate down and lands punches.  Diabate eventually gets back to the feet.  They clinch and trade, and Gustafsson drops Diabate again with an uppercut.  Gustafsson looking to follow up on the ground but Diabate is up quickly and returns fire.  Diabate landing solid body and leg kicks.  Gustafsson closes the distance and puts Diabate on his back with a trip.  Gustafsson punches away from side control as the round ends.   Round 10-9 Gustaffson

Round 2: Diabate opens up with his hands; Gustafsson clinches and slams Diabate to the ground.  Gustafsson in side control again, passing into north-south then mount.  Diabate gives up his back and Gustafsson is looking for a choke.  It’s not there and so he opens up with punches from the back.  Another choke attempt then more punches, another adjustment and this time the choke is locked in and Diabate taps quickly.

Aftermath: After being stifled and submitted by Phil Davis in his previous fight, the Swedish striker Gustafsson rebounds with an impressive win, dominating Diabate in every aspect.  Brandon Vera would be the perfect test for Gustafsson’s next bout.

The veteran kickboxer Diabate looked every bit of his 37 years against Gustafsson.  The loss ends a six-win streak for the Frenchman, who knocked out Luis Arthur Cane in his Octagon debut.  After being matched up with other strikers in his first two UFC bouts, he should face a wrestler such as Jason Brilz or Vladimir Matyushenko to measure his viability in the division.

Ranking Impact: Gustafsson rises 36 spots to #27 LHW.  Diabate falls 13 spots to #36 LHW.

Fight Grade: 4/5

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Taking place in Broomfield, Colorado, WEC 51 featured a very strong line-up.  The event was headlined by the featherweight champion Jose Aldo defending his title against a former UFC lightweight and ‘Ultimate Fighter’ finalist Manvel Gamburyan.  On the undercard, former WEC champions Miguel Torres (bantamweight) and Jamie Varner (lightweight) were taking on Charlie Valencia and Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone respectively.  The preliminary bouts featured another former champion, featherweight Mike Thomas Brown (whose bout with Cole Province didn’t make the televised broadcast), along with a highly hyped debut of WEC’s first Chinese fighter Tie Quan Zhang.

Leonard Garcia vs. Mark Hominick (145 lbs)

Round 1: As expected, Garcia is swinging big from the opening bell.  Hominick is more patient, stalking Garcia, countering Leonard’s wild strikes with clean jabs.  The fighters are mainly even in exchanges, neither doing significant damage.  A big leg kick by Garcia makes both fighters stumble from the impact. Garcia eats punches but only smiles and continues attacking.  Tough round to score.  Round 10-10 draw

Round 2: Similar to the first round, Garcia is looking for the knockout punch while Hominick evades and uses his jab to set up combinations.  Garcia is having some success in early striking, but as the time wears on he slows down, and his wild punches miss by a wide margin, leaving him wide open to Mark’s counters.  Both fighters are bleeding by the end of the round, but Hominick is now in firm control of most exchanges.   Round 10-9 Hominick

Round 3: Garcia starts out as the aggressor once again but Hominick evades or blocks most of Leonard’s attacks, and counters successfully.  Garcia is very tired, and his strikes don’t have much pop to them any more.  Hominick is picking Garcia apart, momentarily drops him with a hook but Garcia is game and continues fighting till the end.    Round 10-9 Hominick

Mark Hominick wins a split decision with the scores of 29-28, 29-28, 28-29

Ranking Impact: Mark Hominick rises 1 spot to #16 FW.  Leonard Garcia remains #26 FW.

Hominick asks for a title shot in the post-fight interview.  He is one of WEC’s top featherweight contenders, along with Josh Grispi and Chad Mendes.

Fight Grade: 3/5

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Taking place in Indianapolis, UFC 119 presented a rather pedestrian card, with Frank Mir taking on Mirko ‘Cro-Cop’ Filipovic in the main event after Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira withdrew from a scheduled rematch with Mir due to an injury.  In the co-main, Minotauro’s brother Antonio Rogerio Noguiera took on undefeated lightheavyweight prospect Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader.  The card was rounded out by a number of random matchups of little divisional significance.

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)

Joey Beltran vs. Matt Mitrione (HW)

Round 1: Mitrione is the aggressor, going after Beltran with combinations of punches.  Mitrione mixes in a high kick and leg kicks.  Beltran looking to counter and finally finds an opening, rocking Matt with a punch, pushing him against the fence and punching while holding his head.  Beltran changes levels and scores a takedown.  Beltran works from the top.  Mitrione looking for a triangle, but Beltran evades and passes into half-guard, north-south, then side control all while landing punches from the top.  Beltran got cut somewhere along the way, bleeding on Mitrione from his brow.  Round 10-9 Beltran

Round 2: Mitrione is again leading with punch and kick combinations.  Beltran charges with a flurry, backing up Mitrione against the cage and looking for a takedown.  Mitrione manages to remain on his feet.  They trade wildly, Mitrione rocks Beltran and looks for the finish but Joey hangs in there and lands a big shot of his own.  Beltran slows the pace down by clinching and attempting a takedown but can’t complete.  The action is stopped to cut off some tape that’s hanging off Beltran’s glove.  Fight resumes and they go back to trading windmill punches, and Mitrione finishes the round with a big flurry of punches and kicks.  Round 10-9 Mitrione

Round 3: Mitrione begins the final round in the same manner as the first two.  Beltran is tired, covering up and absorbing a lot of punishment.  The pace slows down and Mitrione is landing on Beltran at will; Joey’s face is bloodied but he keeps coming forward and forcing Mitrione into sloppy exchanges.  Clear victory for Mitrione but Beltran is making a fight of it until the final second.  Round 10-9 Mitrione

Aftermath: An unlikely 3-0 in UFC (and his professional MMA career), Mitrione climbs the ranks with a hard fought victory.  He should next take on Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, or the winner of an upcoming matchup between Brendan Schaub and Gabriel Gonzaga.   Joey Beltran should fight Patrick Barry or Sean McCorkle.  Better yet, get in shape and cut down to 205 lbs.

Both fighters earned a ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for the sloppy but enterntaining bout.

Ranking Impact: Matt Mitrione rises 49 spots to #39 HW.  Joey Beltran falls 9 spots to #43 HW.

Fight Grade: 4/5

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