Hello folks and welcome to the beginning of Inside Fights’ LIVE UFC 159 coverage! I’m Jon Kirschner and I am live, here at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ ready to bring you up-to-the-minute coverage on every fight. Stay with us all night as we bring you coverage live from bell to bell!
If you missed the three Facebook fights you can find our coverage right here and the FX portion here.
On Right Now, LIVE: Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones (c) vs. Chael Sonnen
Round 1: Jones lands a takedown immediately. Sonnen gets back to his feet and connects with a couple dirty boxing punches. Jones has Sonnen pressed against the fence. Sonnen is on his back and Jones is throwing dangerous elbows. Sonnen is back to his feet but Jones isn’t letting go. Jones is wearing down Sonnen. Jones throws a spinning back elbow but Sonnen doesn’t react. Jones SLAMS Sonnen to the ground. Bones is postured above Sonnen and connects with a shot. Jones goes for more elbows. Sonnen almost positions himself with an armbar but loses it quick, and his back is to the champion. Not good. Jones rushes him and knees his body, and follows up with a bunch of other punches. Referee stops the fight. The deed is done. Jones retains, fight over.
Jon Jones defeated Chael Sonnen by way of TKO (punches and elobows) 4:33 into Round 1.
Middleweight: Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher
Round 1: Long feeling out process where not much connects besides a shot to the balls. Belcher gets inspired by the USA chants and connects with an overhand right. Oblique kick to Bisping. Those always looks painful. Anther minute passes without any solid shots and the crowd starts to boo. Bisping is cornering Belcher a lot. He pops Belcher with a straight. Belcher accidentally pokes Bisping in the eye. Fight is resumed after a brief pause. Bisping pops Belcher after Belcher throws a kick and he stumbles back, but nothing comes of it. Horn sounds. 10-9 Bisping.
Round 2: Once again, both men are quick to get to the center of the octagon. Belcher gives Bisping a nice body kick. Belcher connects with a body shot and Bisping answers with a punch of his own. Belcher’s leg receives a decent kick. Belcher went for a big overhand right but overshot Bisping, and got popped with a nice 1-2. Bisping throws his nicest combination of the bout, but nothing really connected; all he hit was hand. Bisping nails Belcher with a right and a left, which temporarily stops the crowd from booing. Belcher shoots, but gets stuffed. A lot of punches thrown in the last ten seconds, and Bisping connected with a majority of them. 10-9 Bisping.
Round 3: The opening seconds of this round is a bit more active than the last two, which is a good thing. It’s bringing this crowd back to life. Just as I type that, things slow down. Bisping’s overhand right is doing work. It’s not that the action is slow, because it’s not. Both men are doing work, but they’re just not connecting much. Bisping catches Belcher twice in a row. Painful sounding right from Bisping. Bisping locks up Belcher and pushes him against the fence, but within seconds they asre separated. Bisping throws a hook and looks like he caught Belcher’s eye bad. Belcher is on the ground, writhing in pain. He’s bloodied. Referee calls it. Fight over. Three doctor stoppages in one night? FUN!
Michael Bisping defeated Alan Belcher by way of technical unanimous decision. (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Heavyweight: Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo
Round 1: Cheick Kongo may be one of the scariest human beings I’ve met. He is built like a monster, but is very polite. Fight starts and Kongo’s back is already against the fence. Nelson isn’t even working for anything here. Now he’s looking for a trip takedown but doesn’t have any success with it. Referee breaks them up and the action is back in the middle. Nelson CRAKCS Kongo with an overhand right! Fight OVER.
Roy Nelson defeated Cheick Kongo by way of KO (punch) 2:03 into Round 1.
Light Heavyweight: Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Round 1: Both men are throwing heavy hands. Magalhaes hits a leg kick. Magalhaes’ back is against the cage and Davis hits body shots. Magalhaes nails another leg kick. Davis connects with a shot that sends Magalhaes back a bit, but he bounces off the cage and recovers. Magalhaes blocks a hook. Magalhaes catches Davis’ leg and drags him down and has his back! Davis is in a bad place. Not for long, however, as he escapes and stands back up. Referee brings them back to their feet. Davis is dictating where this fight is going; Magalhaes constantly has his back against the fence. The crowd is offering very good advice, like “touch that body”. Davis connects with a straight kick to Magalhaes’ body. Magalhaes says he got poked in the eye but the referee didn’t see it; the fight goes on without a pause. The round ends with Magalhaes backing up. Davis 10-9
Round 2: Davis really wants to land the overhand right. Davis is looking to take down Magalhaes, which is an interesting move. He lands the takedown and lets him back up. Davis finally connects with a straight right. Magalhaes hits a leg kick, but gets popped with a counter jab that makes him rethink his distance. Magalhaes softly pats Davis on the head with a hook— not much damage done with that one. Davis punching from a lot of different angles that is catching Magalhaes off guard and it’s rather impressive. In a scramble, Magalhaes tried to grab Davis but the sweat makes it slippery and nothing comes of it. Horn sounds, crowd half cheers and half groans. 10-9 Davis.
Round 3: Davis is very confident at the opening of this round, as he is throwing combinations freely. Nothing major happens for a good minute until Davis threw Magalhaes to the ground. About three minutes into the round, Davis finally bobbled Magalhaes’ head with a hard hook. Then a straight right. Magalhaes has a good chin, so I don’t think these punches are going to do much to him. Davis is going to have to catch him off guard with a good shot. Magalhaes goes for another takedown, Davis runs away, Magalhaes invites Davis to the ground and Davis declines the invitation. Back to their feet. Not much happens after that. Horn sounds. Phil Davis, all night. 10-9 Davis.
Phil Davis defeated Vinny Magalhaes by way of unanimous decision. (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Lightweight: Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy
Round 1: Miller connects the first shot of the fight with a right straight. Miller sweeps Healy’s leg out from under him with a kick, but he recovers. Miller connects with a right hook. Healy gets taken down and Miller jumps on top of him, and is now in Healy’s open guard. Healy works on locking in an armbar, but Miller escapes. Good scramble and Miller is on top of Healy’s back, working some kind of armbar or kimura. He’s in good position for an armbar. Miller doesn’t has it, so he lets it go and they are back to their feet. Healy hits a decent uppercut after ignoring a leg kick, then lands a takedown. Healy has Miller’s back, however he has no hooks in. Miller makes it back to his feet only to get slammed down hard! Healy now has Miller’s back, but Miller turns around and ends up on top! Miller clobbers Healy at the end of the round, almost thought that one was over. 10-9 Miller.
Round 2: From the first few seconds their strategies are clear: Miller is looking for headshots and Healy is looking to take the fight to the ground. Healy nails an elbow after separating from a clinch. Miller is looking to repeat the success of his leg kick/hook combination he had early on in the first round, but he hasn’t been successful since. Healy throws Miller down to the ground. Miller had an arm locked up for a bit which caused a lull in action. Both are struggling to lock in anything serious. Healy looks like he has a choke synched in but Miller escapes and is now on top of Healy in a north-south position. Miller is tenderizing Healy’s sides with body shots. Horn sounds with Miller’s back against the cage. 10-9 Healy.
Round 3: The crowd is on their feet, ready for the round to start. Miller stuffs a takedown. A bit of a scramble takes place, but nothing comes of it and they’re back on their feet. Just as Healy lands a hook, Miller finally succeeds with the leg-kick/hook combo he’s been looking for. Healy lands a takedown. He is 4 for 5 tonight. Healy eventually passes into full mount. Miller tries to twist out of there, but Healy has him where he wants him. Miller is trying to wall-walk up but he’s leaving his head susceptible to shots. Healy has Miller’s back and it looks like he has a rear naked choke locked in. He wrenches, blood is pouring out of Miller’s face and the referee puts a stop to the fight. Healy wins the bout by submission in Round 3.
Pat Healy defeated Jim Miller by way of submission (RNC) 4:02 into Round 3.
