Ultimate Fight Night 17 marked the UFC’s first event in Tampa, FL.   The card was plagued by injuries and had a late substitution in the main event after Hermes Franca pulled out with an ACL injury, leaving his training partner Jeremy Stephens to take on Joe Lauzon in the featured bout.

Luigi Fioravanti vs. Anthony Johnson (170 lbs)

In the opening matchup, Johnson successfully utilized his reach advantage to keep Fioravanti at bay with kicks and jabs.  Fioravanti attempted to even things out by bringing the fight to the ground but Johnson defended the takedown.  Fioravanti landed a knee to Johnson’s groin in the clinch;  the action was restarted after a brief break then Johnson staggered Fioravanti with a glancing right hand.  Johnson followed up with a series of hammerfists to his opponent and Luigi was not able to recover, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Fight Grade: 3/5

Aftermath: Another impressive win for Johnson shows that he is ready for a step up in competition; he should be matched with another rising star like Ben Saunders or Mike Swick.  Fioravanti will remain a gatekeeper and will most likely fight a UFC newcomer in his next bout.

Keep Reading

In the past, UFC has usually lined up a star-studded event for the Superbowl weekend.  This year was no exception, with a mega-matchup between the welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and the lightweight champion BJ Penn in the main event, and the undefeated lightheavyweight contenders Thiago Silva and Lyoto Machida meeting in the co-main.

The remainder of the card was so evenly matched that all eight undercard bouts went to a decision;  five of them a split decision.  It turned out that the close matchups for most part did not make for exciting fights.

Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida  (155 lbs)

In the opening bout of the broadcast, Guida’s wrestling made all the difference as he was able to control Diaz and maintain dominant position through most of the bout.  Guida had Nate’s back very quickly in the first round, and alternated between back control and top guard for much of the fight, staying out of Diaz’s submissions though not inflicting much damage on his opponent.  Diaz did a better job of keeping the fight on his feet in the third round, but outboxing Guida was not enough to win the fight for Nate.  Guida took home the split decision victory.

Fight Grade: 2/5

Aftermath: The first loss on the record of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner Nate Diaz shows that he needs to improve his wrestling to advance in the very deep decision.  Guida earns a win but will not earn many fans with a grinding methodical style – a big change from Guida’s earlier UFC bouts where he was the exciting fan favorite who often walked away on the losing end of close decisions.

Keep Reading