Will Cooling is on site in Manchester for tomorrow night’s UFC 105 event featuring a main event between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera.
Because the show is tape delayed, we’ll put Will’s live blog behind the jump. If you want to see the results in real-time, simply click the “read more” link below. If you prefer to wait for the free Spike televised airing, we’d advise you to NOT click that link.
Apologies for the delay with the liveblog everybody – they were having some massive internet problems in the Manchester Evening News Arena. The liveblog is now updated with the results from all the fights.
Andre Winner vs Rolando Delgado
Round One
Big reaction for Andre Winner. A fun fight to kick things off. Both guys look in good shape and there’s nice exchanges to begin with. Delgado shoots for a big win, with a jumping knee but it doesn’t fully connect. Winner keeps the distance with nice leg kicks. Winner catches Delagdo with a big punch that knocks him down, but can’t get passed guard to finish the fight. Delagdo slowly gets back in the fight and manages to tie Winner up in the cage and get some hard knees to the body in. Winner escapes the clinch and after an even striking exchange, Winner lands a huge punch to get the KO at 3.22. Winner looked really good here, a far livelier performance than at the TUF Finals.
Jared Hamman vs Alexander Gustafsson
Round One
One of the few fights with no British connection, however Alexander is heavy crowd favourite due to the Swedish prescence.
Fun fight whilst it lasted. Just two guys just going at it with striking – real hell for leather stuff. Ref Stoppage for what I assume was an eye poke on Jared Hamman. Hamman waves it off after a nanosecond and promptly gets knocked down from a big right hand the second the fight restarts. Alexander quickly finishes it, and gets the win at 41 seconds.
Dennis Siver vs Paul Kelly
Round One
The arena is pretty full by this point – huge cheersfor Paul Kelly and a largely negative reaction for Dennis Siver (some cheers though). Siver gets after Kelly with good combinations of punches and kicks to the body. Kelly trying to get his shots in but is getting the worst of the striking exchanges. Kelly shoots for a takedown (first of the night) but Siver blocks it. Kelly instead ties him up in the cage and gets some good knees in to huge cheers from the partisan crowd. They fall into inactivity and are broken up. Siver back on the offensive with punches and kicks to the body, Kelly goes for another takedown and almost gets Siver down. Nothing striking exchanges and Kelly responds with FINALLY getting the big takedown at the very end of the first round.
That was pretty even in the striking exchanges. Siver got more of the striking exchanges but that last takedown may have been enough to give Kelly the round.
Round Two
An attempt at superman punch from Kelly is successfully blocked by Siver. An attempt at a flying knee from Kelly but the knee is grabbed by Siver who almost gets him down. Siver nails Kelly with a spinning back kick to the mid-section and knocks him down. Ineffective ground and pound from Siver, but Kelly is just out of it with a glassy look in his eye and not doing anything. The fighters are stood up but Kelly is having trouble getting up let alone continuing the fight. Siver knocks him down again and its all over at 2.53 in the Second Round. Fun fight but that was a terrible stoppage – way too late. Siver gets KO of the Night.
Matthew Riddle vs Nick Osipczak
Round One
Okay this is different – Matthew Riddle is coming out to Hulk Hogan’s Real American theme tune. Sadly he doesn’t go the full mile and do the Hulk poses. Big reaction for Nick Osipczak as he enters the cage. Tentative exchanges – both fights just throwing out leg kicks and jabs. Riddle goes for a takedown but doesn’t get it. Riddle gets the first combination of punches of the fight in and goes to takedown Osipczak but is blocked. Riddle ties them up in the cage and gets some knees to the body in and gets the takedown. Riddle is actually getting the worse of the exchange on the ground with Osipczak throwing some nice elbows from the bottom. Riddle gets penalised for a headbutt and they are stood up. Osipczak gets some nice punches in but Riddle gets a big takedown. Ineffective offence on top again from Riddle and he gets turned over by Osipczak just as the round comes to an end. Tough round to scoree as the stand-up was even and whilst Riddle was getting the takedowns he was doing NOTHING with them. Still Riddle probably sneaks it.
Round Two
Osipczak comes out more aggressive in the second round getting some good shots in. Riddle shoots for the takedown but misses. Osipczak hunts after him but gets taken down again. More ineffective ground and pound from Riddle. They’re eventually stood up. They exchange with Riddle throwiong low kicks and Osipcxak punching and Riddle goes down. Osipczak tries to get his back but has to settle for fighting within Riddle’s guard. Osipczak ground and pound is better than Riddle’s but he never comes to close to finishing him. The fight is even going into the last round on my scorecard.
Round Three
Early exchanges of punches, pretty even but Osipczak probably got the better of it. Riddle goes for another takedown and oh boy yet more of his terrible offensive from the top. Just nothing happening. They are stood for the THIRD TIME. Oscipzak catches Riddle on the restart and Riddle goes down. Oscipzak gets the takedown but Riddle almost reverses it into a rear naked choke. Riddle on top but Oscipczak manages to turn him over again. Oscipzack elbows from the top are starting to register and the referee ends it at 3.50. Fight was let down by the terrible ground and pound of Matthew Riddle which got on the crowd’s nerves and made the exchanges on the ground infruiating. I thought the fight was possibly ended a tad early but I wouldn’t argue against it too strongly.
Shannon Gugerty vs Terry Etim
Round One
Nothing first round. Very cagey with neither fighter wanted to commit. Etim goes for a gullotine choke at the end of the first round but Gugerty powers his way out of it with a Matt Hughes style ‘powerbomb’ takedown. Wouldn’t like to score that round.
Round 2
Better exchanges and Etim get the best of them with some nice combinations and some firm high kicks. He goes again for the gullotine choke and gets the submission at 1.22. Impressive stuff from Terry Etim who showed superb strength to hold onto the gullotine for a good 30 seconds. And as the only submission of the night, Terry Etim gets Submission of the
Night.
John Hathaway vs Paul Taylor
Round One
This is the all-British affair that is being live-streamed on The Daily Telegraph’s website. Crowd doesn’t seem to know how to handle two British fighters although North-West native Paul Taylor is the crowd favourite. Round dominated by nothing exchanges on the ground, with Hathaway trying to land elbows from the top and Taylor trying to clinch in a gullotine. Hathaway gains the upperhand towards the end of the round with his elbows seemingly starting to register with Taylor.
Round Two
Better exchanges as both come out to trade. Hathaway knocks Taylor down with a big right hand and starts reigning in some good elbows from the top. The fight is close to being stopped but Taylor manages to pull guard and frustrate Hathaway. Hathaway is chipping away at Taylor. They’re briefingly off the ground and Hathaway almost gifts Taylor the armbar after controlling the round but manages to escape and get back on top. Hathaway starts reigning down punch after punch from the top but isn’t quite doing enough to finish the fight. Hathaway really picks up steam as the round comes to a close and Taylor is certainly saved by the bell. Hathaway was in control throughout the fight and you could certainly argue that he deserved a 10-8 for being so dominant throughout the round.
Round Three
Hathaway gets the takedown and eventually gets the room to stop laying in some big punches. Taylor is obviously struggling now, breathing heavily out of the mouth. Taylor is moving on the ground in a desperate attempt to escape but Hathaway remains in control. Taylor finally starts throwing something from the bottom but he’s obviously done. Hathaway is varying his offence to try and finish it, standing up to deliver a couple of standing punches to the ground but Taylor manages to hang on. The first round was nothing but the last two were all Hathaway with him repeatedly getting the takedown and relentlessly unloading on Taylor from the top. He certainly won over the crowd. Judges all give it to Hathaway, with one judges going 30-26.
The main card is now starting…
Aaron Riley vs Ross Pearson
Round One
Huge reaction for the start of the main card. There’s some boos for Aaron Riley but not much. Ross Pearson is given a huge reaction. Good first round for Pearson. Pearson got the better of the stand up as the round went on, putting together some good combinations and getting some hard head kicks and knees to the body. As the round went on, Riley attempted to take Pearson down a couple of times but Pearson was able to shake him off. Round to Pearson.
Round Two
Better round for Riley but Pearson is again getting the better of the stand up exchanges. Riley again goes for the takedown and almost gets it but Pearson manages to get up. Pearson ties Riley up in the cage a couple of times and gets some hard knees to the body and head. Fight ends when Pearson ties him up in the cage and starts reigning in some hard knees to the head. Riley is busted wide open and referee stops the fight to check the cut and then ends the fight on TKO. Good performance from Pearson who was in control for all of the fight and entered a high-energy, up-tempo performance.
Matt Brown vs James Wilks
Round One
Just as with the weigh-ins, the reaction to James Wilks is a lot less than the other name British fighters (including some of those who fought on the undercard). Perhaps his long residency in America is stopping the British fans fully taking to him. Brown probably edged the first round, hitting hard throughout and causing Wilks some really problems with his strikes. Wilks responded by repeatedly clinching up or going for a takedown. Wilks best moment of the round came when he got Brown’s back standing up and tried for a standing rear naked choke. The choke certainly weakened Brown but he was able to power
out of it. Other than that Wilks was pretty ineffective with his grappling and twice his clinches were broken up due to inactivity.
Round Two
The second round almost ended spectactularly with Brown hitting a beautiful flying knee that knocked Wilks down and almost out. Brown went to finish it off but gave Wilks his leg and Wilks almost got a leglock applied. Brown knocked Wilks down again with a big punch but couldn’t finish him off. Towards the end of the round, Wilks was able to get top position and put some offence together only for Brown to get a traingle choke at the very death. Wilks was very much saved by the bell and is now down two rounds.
Round Three
Third round was dominated by the attempt of Wilks to get an armbar on Matt Brown. After Brown tied him up in the cage, Wilks manage to gain control of Brown’s arm and take him down. Wilks was peristant in tring to lock the armbar in but in the end Brown was able to escape. Straight after that he was able to knockdown a tired James Wilks and finally finish him at 2.27. Good performance from Brown who was edging the fight throughout but really took control after a beautifully executed flying knee. The loss is obviously a setback for James Wilks but he showed flashes of the grappling that helped him win The Ultimate Fighter.
Dennis Kang vs Michael Bisping
Round One
Crowd is STRONGLY behind the hometown fighter. Bisping almost grabs the leg of Kang and almost gets a good punch in. Kang knocks Bisping down with a punch and starts working from inside Bisping’s guard. Bisping is doing a good job of frustrating Kang and stopping too mnay shots being rained down. Kang struggling to do anything and almost gets caught in a traingle choke and a an armbar. This is really good defensive work from Bisping. Round goes to Kang due to damage caused and Octagon control but Bisping showed tremendous resolve to fight for almost an entire round off his back and still be competitive.
Round Two
Even stand up change with both fighters getting their shots in. Bisping gets the takedown and comes very close to finishing Kang with a flurry of punches. Kang gets up only to be takendown by Bisping again and again Bisping almost finishes him with some nice ground and pound. Kang gets up again, only for Bisping to take him down for a third time. Again Bisping starts hitting hard but almost makes it up only for Bisping to knock him down and gets the TKO at 4.24 of the second round. Really impressive performance stuff from Bisping who showed tremendous resolve and grappling skill to hang with Kang on the ground during the first round and then showed some tremendous wrestling to repeatedly take Kang down and finally finish him. This gets Fight of the Night honours.
Dan Hardy vs Mike Swick
Round One
Mike Swick tests Hardy’s wrestling from the off with a takedown defence that hardy does well to block. Tied up in the catch exchanging shots – Hardy is holding his own in the clinch. Hardy in control throwing some good knnes to the body. Swick lands the low blow and there is a stoppage. Swick again tests Hardy with a takedown attempt that Hardy again blocks. Swick has him tied up in the cage and is throwing some hard shots to the body and again goes for the takedown but again Hardy stay on his feet. They’re tied up in the cage throwing shots to the body.Swick goes for another takedown but again Hardy manges to block it. Hardy has Swick in the cage and goes for a takedown of his own which is blocked. Swick is throwing some good knees to the body. They break with some hard right hands. Hardy showed tremendous takedown defence and could well have taken that round in many people’s eyes although I’d have given it to Swick due to him being the more aggressive.
Round Two
At the start of the second round, Hardy tags Swick and Swick visibly wobbles – Hardy hunts down Swick and ties him up against the cage throwing some hard knees and uppercuts to the body. Hardy goes for the takedown but its blocked. More knees to the body form Hardy. Tied up in the clinch again and Hardy is landing the harder shots until Swick gets a hard knee that visibly rattles Hardy. Clinch is broken up. Swick goes for the head kick but falls over. Hardy tags Swick again. Big overhand punch misses from Hardy. Hardy throws some big punches but Swick is able to tie him up in the cage. That was certainly Hardy’s round and he could well be two rounds up.
Round Three
Swick throws some big punches but Hardy is out of reach and tags him with a leg kick. Furious exchanges as both are letting their fists go. Swick gets some good knees to the head in but Hardy regains his balance. They’re tied up in the cage and after shaking off a gullotine attempt, Hardy gets a big takedown. Hardy is fighting from within Swick’s guard and they are eventually stood up. Cagey stand up with Hardy getting some hard shots in and Swick getting some nice combinations. Swick is finishing the fight stronger but isn’t doing much. Round ends with them both tied up in the cage. Dan Hardy wins by unanimous decision and once again he has managed to go up a level when it mattered.
They got GSP in the cage and all of sudden the once popular GSP is getting booed by the Manchester crowd (any cheers you hear on TV are for Hardy playing the crowd). This is a big win for Dan Hardy and his title fight will take the UFC to the next level in the UK.
Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera
Round One
Classic Randy Couture as he spends most of the round pressing Vera up against the cage and wearing him down. Not many shots landed by either fighter (indeed they were twice broken up in the clinch due to inactivity) but Randy’s Octagon control and the takedown he got early on is enough to give him the round.
Round Two
Second round is disrupted due to an accidentally eye-poke by Vera. After the restart Vera gets some shots in before Couture again ties him up against the cage and starts working for a takedown. Vera manages to block the takedown and start throwing some knees whilst in the clinch. Couture reverses and starts throwing his own knees. Crowd starts to loose patience with the grappling and they’re broken up. Vera manages to knock Couture down with a knee to the head but can’t finish him. Eventually they’re stood up as nothing is happening on the crowd. Randy again ties Vera up in the cage and tries to get a takedown is blocked and settles for some dirty boxing. Close round, Randy was in control for much of it but Vera did some damage this time.
Round Three
Randy is on the offence with some nice boxing combinations at the start of the round and then presses Vera up against the cage whilst working for the takedown. Couture is landing more shots while in the clinch than in previous rounds but Vera is still frustrating him. Crowd again looses patience with the grappling and they’re broken up. Vera lands a couple of high kicks and opens up a cut above Randy’s eye. Randy responds with some knees to the head and a nice combination of punches. They end up back in the clinch and Vera manages to takedown Randy Couture although again Couture is effective at frustrating Vera from the bottom. Couture gets back to his feet and ends the fight on the offensive throwing some nice punches.
Randy Couture is announced the winner of the fight by unanimous decision with all three judges giving him the fight 29-28. I don’t agree with that call at all; Couture certainly did enough to win the first round but Vera had Couture seriously hurt in the second round and it was Vera who got the telling takedown in the third round. A very bad call truth be told.
And that was UFC 105. A really good show, with some excellent fights and the sight of UK MMA moving up a level with the British fighters going six for two in their eight fights against foriegn competition. Stay tuned to Insidefights for more coverage of UFC 105.
