UFC 96 was headlined by a matchup between Keith Jardine and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson – a bout that would determine the future top contender in the light heavyweight division.  Beyond the main event, the lineup was not very impressive, lacking in big names and matchups with title implications.  Though this event received very little hype, the less anticipated events often exceed all expectations, and UFC 96 was no exception.

Jim Miller vs. Gray Maynard (155 lbs)

Round 1: After Maynard got the best of the initial striking exchange, Miller clinched and attempted a takedown.  Maynard had no intention of going to the ground with Miller and defended the takedown, pummeling Miller who held on to the single-leg attempt.  When the fighters disengaged Miller had a bloody nose and a swollen eye, and Maynard finished the round strong, hurting Miller with a combination.  Round 10-9 Maynard

Round 2: Miller worked leg and body kicks; two of the kicks glanced off Maynard’s groin protector, causing referee Dan Miragliotta to warn Miller.  Maynard answered with punch combinations, some of which found their target. Miller attempted another takedown; Maynard defended and Miller pulled guard but Maynard stood right back up.  Neither fighter landed much in this round; Maynard gets the nod for keeping the fight on the feet.     Round 10-9 Maynard

Round 3: Both fighters slowed down a bit, and Miller was once again scoring with leg kicks.  Miller attempted another takedown; Maynard defended again and responded with a huge slam.  Miller went for a leg lock and used the submission attempt to get back to his feet.  Miller shot a single but ended up on the bottom, and was not able to do anything off his back.  Maynard landed punches from the top, easily winning the round.    Round 10-9 Maynard

All three judges scored the fight 30-27 Gray Maynard.

Fight Grade: 3/5

Aftermath: Great performance from Maynard, who picked up his fifth UFC win and positioned himself as one of the top contenders to the winner of the upcoming title bout between champion BJ Penn and Kenny Florian.  Jim Miller is dealt his first UFC loss, knocking him out of the Top 10 for the time being.

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WEC 39 took place in Corpus Christi, TX and was headlined by a featherweight title bout between the reigning champion Mike Thomas Brown, who was set to make his first title defense against Leonard Garcia.  The card was rounded out by a handful of lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight fights.  Notably, Frank Mir was absent from his usual position in the commentator’s booth, replaced for the night by Jens Pulver.  The televised broadcast began with a matchup between the former lightweight champion ‘Razor’ Rob McCullough and former title contender Marcus Hicks.

Rob McCullough vs. Marcus Hicks (155 lbs)

The lightweight bout started out very tentatively, with the opponents circling and clinching for the majority of the first round and no significant offense from either fighter.  Hicks threw jabs and an occasional overhand left; McCullough responded mainly with leg and body kicks.  Early in the second, Hicks landed a left hand that knocks McCullough down;  Marcus latched on to one of his patented guillotines but was not able to finish, and ended up on his back when McCullough escaped.  Hicks got back to his feet and received a barrage of strikes from McCullough to finish out the round; Marcus was reeling on his feet by the end of the second.

The third round had even less action than the first, causing the referee to warn both fighters that he will call the bout a no-contest if they do not engage.  The pace picked up a bit after the warning, but both were still tentative, making for a very tedious fight.   One of the ringside judges called the fight a draw, while the other two saw McCullough as the winner, giving ‘Razor’ Rob a majority victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-29).  A disappointing start to the event.

Fight Grade: 2/5

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In another installment of UK-based UFC events, UFC 95 was broadcast on Spike TV with several hours of tape delay.  The event featured a mixed bag of fights spanning across all of UFC’s weight classes.  In the main event, Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner Diego Sanchez made his debut at 155 lbs, facing a fellow ‘TUF’ champion Joe Stevenson.  UFC 95 also featured two bouts with title shot implications in the middleweight division as Chael Sonnen took on Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt faced off against Wilson Gouveia.  There were also a number of fresh faces on the card as several fighters received an opportunity to impress the fans in their Octagon debut.  Let’s see how it all turned out:

Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago (170 lbs)

The fighters circled and exchanged ineffective combinations for most of the first round.  Koscheck was the aggressor until he walked into an uppercut-hook combination from Thiago that dropped Josh to his back.  Koscheck appeared to have recovered instantly but the referee jumped on him and halted the bout before Josh had a chance to get up or Thiago had a chance to follow him to the ground.  Awful, completely unjustified stoppage.

Fight Grade: 3 1/5 2 points deduction for the stoppage

Aftermath: With a little help from the ref, Paulo Thiago is launched right to the top with a first round TKO victory over a perennial UFC contender.  A bad loss for Koscheck in a fight that he really should never have taken will drop him from title contention for the foreseable future.  A rematch would be the most logical next fight in my opinion, to see if Thiago can repeat the feat without ref help involved.

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