On the heels of two highly successfull Pay-Per-View events in UFC 115 and 116, UFC delivered another stacked card for 117. A middleweight title bout between the champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen was backed up by two potential contender matchups: Junior dos Santos taking on Roy Nelson for a crack at the heavyweight title, and a rematch between top welterweights Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves.

Junior dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson (HW)

Round 1: Nelson takes the center of the Octagon, holding his hands high.  Nelson’s advances while covering up; Dos Santos lands a body shot and Nelson shoots in for a takedown.  Dos Santos sprawls and they clinch agains the cage.  Dos Santos breaks up the clinch, landing a knee as they separate.  Dos Santos rocks Nelson with an uppercut.  Nelson goes down to his knees and looks for a single-leg takedown.  Junior backs off then blasts Nelson with another uppercut.  Nelson falls down but survives and keeps trying for takedowns.  Dos Santos patiently landing punches.  Nelson recovers and starts throwing back, landing several hooks and overhand rights towards the end of the round.  Round 10-9 dos Santos

Round 2: Dos Santos leads with a jumping knee to the body.  Nelson responds with an overhand punch that lands, then rushes in for a takedown but dos Santos blocks it.  Dos Santos keeps firing off shots; Nelson covering up and swinging back.  Nelson lands several punches that open up a cut underneath Junior’s eye.  Both fighters slowing down.  Dos Santos tries a half-hearted takedown attempt of his own but does not succeed.  Nelson keeps alternating strikes with double-leg and single-leg shots but Junior’s takedown defence is flawless.  Much closer than first round but dos Santos still outstriking Nelson by a large margin.  Round 10-9 dos Santos

Round 3: The fighters go right back to trading, though neither has much snap to their punches in the final round. Nelson’s defense blocks most of Junior’s punches but an occasional uppercut and body shots come through.  Dos Santos lands a slapping front kick to the head.  Nelson finds his target with a few big punches but Santos appears unfazed.  Dos Santos shoots for a takedown and scores; Nelson right back up.  Nelson is hanging in there, he looks very tired but is still looking for a knockout punch.  The time runs out and the fighters embrace.  Good fight and a clear-cut victory for dos Santos.  Round 10-9 dos Santos

Junior dos Santos wins a unanimous decision with the scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-26

Aftermath: Both fighters looked good in an enterntaining fight.  Dos Santos showed great takedown defense and solid as usual striking, improving his UFC record to 6-0 and earning a title shot in process.  He will now face the winner of the upcoming title bout between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.

Roy Nelson’s striking and takedowns both fell short of the mark, but he demonstrated that his chin – and his heart – match the size of his belly.  He may never be in the title picture but at the very least will make a great gatekeeper. His next fight should be against Mike Russow, or a rematch with his former IFL rival Ben Rothwell.

Ranking Impact: Junior dos Santos remains #5 HW.  Roy Nelson remains #26 HW.

Fight Grade: 4/5

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There’s been a famine of UFC events in the month of July.  After nearly a month-long hiatus, UFC returned with a fight card headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between Jon Jones and Vladimir Matyushenko, and broadcast on Versus network live from San Diego, California.  With a mediocre fight line-up, the most notable thing about this card was the UFC return of iconic MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy, taking his place as the third man in the Octagon for this first time since 2007.

Takanori Gomi vs. Tyson Griffin (155 lbs)

Round 1: Both fighters circle, feint and jab.  Not much landing early.  They continue trading punches and Gomi catches Griffin with a left, then follows up with a right hook that drops Tyson face-first onto the canvas.  Gomi jumps on his fallen opponent and the referee quickly steps in to stop the bout.  Griffin not happy with the stoppage but it was justified.

Aftermath: After being submitted by Ken Florian in his UFC debut, former Pride FC champion Gomi showed a return to the old form, stopping Tyson Griffin for the first time in his career.  Gomi earned the Knockout of the Night bonus for his performance, and claimed in the post-fight interview that he “learned to fight like an American”.  The victory earns Gomi a return to the Top 10; however it is too soon for any talk of title contention.  For now Gomi can either fight another contender such as George Sotiropoulos, or Joe Stevenson, who was supposed to be Gomi’s original opponent for this event but was forced to withdraw with an injury.

Tyson Griffin was eager to get back into the Octagon after losing a decision to Evan Dunham at UFC 115.  Unfortunately stepping up as a short-notice replacement did not work out for him this time, and Griffin finds himself on a losing streak for the first time in his MMA career.  His next fight will be a must-win to remain in the UFC.  Sam Stout or Denis Siver would make for good ‘rebound’ opponents.

Ranking Impact: Takanori Gomi rises 7 spots to #10 LW.  Tyson Griffin falls 12 spots to #32 LW.

Fight Grade: 3/5

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I’ve been slacking on reviewing the slew of MMA events in the past month, but we’re back with a vengeance for what was one of the most anticipated shows of the year this far.  A huge (in every sense of the word) heavyweight title unification bout between champion Brock Lesnar and interim champ Shane Carwin was backed by a superstar of Japanese MMA Yoshihiro Akiyama taking on Chris Leben (a last-minute substitution for the legendary Wanderlei Silva who was hurt while training for the fight).  A lightweight matchup between two streaking prospects Kurt Pellegrino and George Sotiropoulos capped off the undercard of UFC 116.  And here’s how it all went down:

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricardo Romero (205 lbs)

Round 1: They quickly engage and exchange kicks.  Romero looks for a takedown.  Petruzelli defends and hurts Romero with punches.  Romero clinches to recover.  Petruzelli backs up then lands another combination but slips while throwing a kick.  Romero gets Petruzelli’s back in a scramble.  Petruzelli sweeps and pounds away from guard.  Romero with a reversal of his own and mounts Petruzelli.  Romero looking for a submission; Seth rolls out of it and stands, dropping Romero with an uppercut.  Romero holds on to Petruzelli’s leg as Seth lands some odd and sloppy ‘double axe-handle’ strikes.  Round 10-9 Petruzelli

Round 2: Romero looks for a takedown early and eats a knee on the way in.  He staggers but keeps trying for the takedown.  Petruzelli takes his back in a scramble and transitions to an armbar; Romero reverses and ends up in top guard.  Romero’s nose is leaking blood.  Petruzelli attempts a triangle and Romero uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.  Romero secures the crucifix position and looks for a kimura then turns it into a straight armbar.  Petruzelli taps out, in obvious pain.

Aftermath: Romero’s UFC debut was unspectacular but a win is a win, and he will have a chance to do better in his next Octagon outing – maybe against Krzysztof Soszynski or Jared Hamman.  Seth Petruzelli should take on Steve Cantwell or Kyle Kingsbury next.

Ranking Impact: Ricardo Romero, previously ranked at #77 HW, makes his LHW debut at #49.  Seth Petruzelli falls 38 spots to #111 LHW.

Fight Grade: 3/5

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