UFC 119 Round-Up

With no title belts on the line Joe Silva the matchmaker for the UFC put together a great card for fight fans. The UFC gives you a taste of the pay per view by airing the prelims on SPIKE TV, and after watching the prelims you are almost forced into ordering the pay per view.

Heavyweight: Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran

Matt Mitrione did what he does best, he keeps the legs moving and the punches come in bunches. Joey Beltran took all Mitrione had to offer put up a great fight, but in the end the judges saw it the same way I did. Mitrione couldn’t knock out Beltran but he dominated the fight. I look for Mitrione to move up and contend with some of the more well known heavyweights now.

Mitrione wins via unanimous decision

Middleweight: C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksan

Not much action thanks to the wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu game that Dollaway has on his side. C.B. sunk in a guillotine choke hold and did a few alligator rolls until Doerksan had to tap less than 3 minutes into the 1^st round. It was such an impressive modified choke that it won submission of the night. C.B. is not yet ready to make that jump to fight against the top tier fighters in the Middleweight Division, but with in a year and two more solid fights he could find himself there.

Dollaway wins by tap out in the 1^st round

Lightweight: Marvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens

This was not a fight that caught my eye; I was not overly impressed with either fighter. Marvin did look to be the better overall, Stephens had flashes, but I expected to see little more action, he seemed to run out of gas, and I think that’s what lost the fight for him.

Guillard wins by split decision

Lightweight: Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham

This was a war! Sherk used his strength to bust out of choke hold after choke hold. Dunham used his reach and kicks to pound Sherk. Sherk was able to put a NASTY cut over Dunham’s eye, but it didn’t cause any vision problems. 3 rounds of nonstop action, every type of MMA was used, boxing, kickboxing, karate, wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, and everything in between. Dunham was impressive and after the cut in the 1^st round I had him winning the 2^nd and 3^rd round. Dunham was the aggressor, tossing out kick after kick to the body and head of Sean Sherk.  Not to mention Dunham wrestled a much stronger Sherk to the ground and had him in at least 8 choke holds, that he ultimately broke free of. I’m actually very disappointed with the judges in this fight. Evan Dunham will continue to grow as a fighter and he showed what he is made of. He never gave up and never gave in; he pressed the fight from start to finish.

Sean Sherk wins by Split decision… Dunham was truly robbed.

Welterweight: Matt Sera vs. Chris Lytle

Matt Sera is a world class Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, yet he only tried to shoot in once and take Lytle down. Lytle is an ex-boxer with heavy hands. Lytle lit up Sera’s face, over and over again. I give big props to Sera in the fact he never went down form any of the punches that caught him in the face, chin, head and ears. These two fighters have a lot of respect for each other and it showed. I was never a huge fan of Sera but I saw a side of him as a competitor that really impressed me. I would have loved to see what kind of fight it could have been had Sera attempted some take downs.

Chris Lytle wins by unanimous decision

Light Heavyweight: Ryan Bader vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Ryan Bader had a lot to lose and a lot to gain from this fight. A loss and he could slip out of the rankings and be on the outside looking in. A win and he will be in the top tier of fighters in an already stacked weight class. Bader wasn’t able to knock out or tap out Nogueira but he stuck to his game plan and won a convincing fight over a guy that many had pegged to be in a title fight in the coming months. Bader will probably have to face Jon Jones or even Forrest Griffith next. I say he is 2 more wins away from a title fight.

Ryan Bader wins by unanimous decision

Heavyweight: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Crocop

Two living legends in the MMA World faced off for what I thought would be an interesting match-up.  Crocop has some of the most vicious kicks in all of MMA and Mir is a world class Jiu- Jitsu fighter, so I was interested in seeing how this fight would pan out. Would Crocop be able to connect with Mir? Would Mir be able to get Crocop to the ground? Well neither happened and was actually turning into a boring fight. Mir stated he had been working his wrestling skills but we never had a chance to see.  The fighters stood and hugged most of the fight up until the last minute. Crocop was caught in a Muay Thai clinch by Mir, introduced to his knee and was finished up with a solid punch to the chin before the official could stop the fight. I think this may be Crocop’s last fight in the UFC, he just doesn’t seem to have that killer instinct he showed in the past. He hardly threw any of his devastating kicks and had no answer to Mir’s movement in the ring. Mir on the other hand has revitalized his career. It’s no secret that Frank Mir wants to be the Champion again, but he has to wait in line. Brock Lesner holds the heavyweight belt and it may be one of the most sought after belts in the UFC. I think Frank will have to fight rising star Junior Dos Santos to get another title shot with Brock that is if Brock can hold the belt that long.

Frank Mir wins by KO in the 3^rd round.