Ufc 105 recap

MMA News

Posted by Marcos Villegas on the 16 November 2009 | View Comments

couture/vera Manchester, England -- Randy “The Natural” Couture grinded out a three round decision over Brandon Vera this Saturday in the main event of UFC 105 in Manchester, England. Though Couture seems ageless, his best days seem few and far between as he barely got by the younger and at times better Vera on this night. The contrast of styles was made apparent from the onset of the bell, with Vera attempting to strike and mix up his muay thai strikes while Randy Couture, fighting at light heavyweight for the first time since 2006, was looking to clinch up and take it to the ground. That’s exactly what Randy did in the first round as Vera landed the better shots, including a left/right combination kick at the start of the round but was nullified from opening up until the second, as the older Couture imposed his game plan of clinching up and backing Vera into the cage and attempting take downs. Vera would come back in a big way, almost finishing the fight in the second round. While in the pocket, Vera landed a huge knee to the kidney of Couture that sent him immediately to the canvas. Vera rushed in to close it out but in typically Randy Couture fashion, the former champ was able to ride out Vera into the third round. With what looked liked a round going to each fighter, the third would be the clincher for who would take the fight, or so you would think. Two out of three judges gave Randy Couture all three rounds (30-27,30-27,29-28) and Randy just did enough to sway that judge in the third. With landing small shots in the clinch, and being the aggressor in terms of initiating offense, Randy Couture, beats the younger Vera to bounce back from a two loss streak. With the announcement of the decision, Vera stormed off, clearly frustrated as those in attendance booed the controversial decision.

Hardy decisions Mike Swick, title shot next

ufc post 105 It was announced before the start of the Dan Hardy/Mike Swick bout that the winner would be next in line to face welterweight title holder Georges St. Pierre. This is news I personally would not be to excited for but both fighters put it all on the line for a crack at the champ. Hardy though would come out with the opportunity to fight for the title as he won a unanimous decision on all judges score cards (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Swick’s game plan was to force the fight to the ground and he attempted to do so. Hardy had other plans however stuffing all attempts, as both fighters did not give any ground on each other, occasionally landing strikes. The fight would start going Hardy’s way in the second as a powerful left hook sent his opponent backpedaling to recover. Hardy rushed in with more shots but Swick grabbed a death clinch on his opponent to hold on. Swick would be in danger again as an uppercut landed flush on his chin midway thru the second. From then on out it was all Hardy as he put on a dominating third round to clinch the win. After the bout St. Pierre was invited into the cage to congratulate Hardy on his win. “Dan Hardy, he proved that he deserved the title shot, I look forward to the challenge,” said St. Pierre. With the biggest win of his career up to this point, Hardy improves to a record of 23-6.

Bisping bounces back from Henderson loss to beat Kang

England’s own Michael Bisping showed that he is back in the mix with a come back win over Denis Kang in the second round via TKO. Bisping was completely dominated in the first round by the Pride and Dream veteran. A straight right hand from Kang in the first knocked Bisping down, and the entire first round had Bisping working from his back. Bisping though, would ufc 105 1 have a second wind of sorts as Kang looked somewhat gassed in the second after a successful take down from Bisping. He would work solid shots from the top but Kang would fight his way back to his feet. He soon would be back on the ground as Bisping was able to take him down two more times. An assault of knees to the ribs and punches to the head forced referee Dan Miragilotta to halt the bout and give Bisping the TKO win. Bisping apologized for his knockout loss to Henderson in the post fight interview and said he was going “back to the old Michael Bisping.”

Brown TKO’s Wilks

ufc 105 2 English native and current Orange County resident James Wilks suffered a heart breaking third round TKO loss to Matt Brown in 2:27 of the third round. The Laguna Beach based fighter put on a gutsy performance, but Brown was able to get the better of him. The Erik Paulson pupil put Brown on the defensive in the first, advancing forward with repeated take down attempts. A flying knee in the second put Wilks in serious trouble as he crumpled to the floor. He was able to get his composure back but showing fatigue at the end of the round, got caught with a one-two combination and fell into a triangle before the bell rang. With the start of the third Wilks was the more fatigued of the two fighters, but managed to get a game closing kimura locked on his fresher opponent. Brown struggled and finally wiggled his way out of the bad spot. He soon would get the mount position and went to work as Wilks could not improve his position or defend with hard shot coming from the top. The bout was stopped at 2:27 of the third marking Brown’s eleventh career win.