Fight Report

Fight #1 – Jason MacDonald vs Demian Maia

Rd 1 – Quality grappling. Triangles, Rear Nakeds and Guillotines. Maia was cut by a right hand from MacDonald but still won the round.

Rd 2 – Maia spent most of the round mounted on MacDonald throwing arm punches. He nearly sunk an armbar late.

Rd 3 – More good stuff on the ground. MacDonald had a shot at a side choke but had to go the half mount. Once Maia reversed him and took his back it was over. MacDonald tapped to a rear naked at the 2:44 mark.

Winner: Damion Maia by tapout (rear naked choke) at 2:44 of rd 3

Fight #2 – Kenny Florian vs Roger Huerta

Rd 1 – After a quick feeling out process Kenny took Roger down, mounted him and began softening him up with blows. Roger gave his back and Kenny lost his balance. The remainder of the round was fought standing with Kenny getting the edge.

Rd 2 – Kenny had a very good round. He scored well standing and on the ground. At one point he had Huerta’s back and landed some crunching blows to the side of the head.

Rd 3 – More good standup from Florian. He continued to beat Huerta to the punch, landing good jabs and knees. He would get in and out and left Roger punching at air.

Winner: Kenny Florian by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Fight #3 – Manny Gamburyan vs Rob Emerson

Wow, Emerson trashed Gamburyan! Manny came out swinging and Rob countered with a colossal overhand right that stretched him. As Manny groggily lifted his head, Emerson re-flattened him with a punch directly to the face. Referee Yves Levigne jumped in to prevent further brain damage.

Winner: Rob Emerson by KO at :12 of rd 1

Fight #4 – Cheick Kongo vs Dan Evensen

Kongo controlled the entire fight. Standing, in the clinch and each time he found himself in top position on the ground. Toward the end of round one he landed a right jab that dropped Evensen, and then followed with a flurry of ground and pound until referee Yves Levigne stopped the bout.

Winner: Cheick Kongo by TKO at 4:55 of rd 1

Fight #5 – Heath Herring vs Brock Lesnar

Rd 1 – Lesnar mauled Herring. From the moment he landed the first right hand to the top control he enjoyed at the end of the round, Lesnar gave Herring a beating.

Rd 2 – The mauling continued. It was like big brother beating on little brother. Herring managed to escape to his feet and he was rewarded with painful knees to the mid-section for his trouble.

Rd 3 – Both guys tired and the pace slowed, but Lesnar was able to continue his excellent top control/ground and pound.

Winner: Brock Lesnar by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Fight #6 – Georges St. Pierre vs Jon Fitch

Rd 1 – Fitch got his ass whooped bad. Georges totally dominated him with strikes and grappling. By the end of the round Fitch’s face was battered and bloodied.

Rd 2 – Much better round for Fitch. He avoided the ground and began to score well on the feet toward the end of the stanza.

Rd 3 – St Pierre dropped Fitch with a huge right hand and then took his back. Fitch turned while Georges tried to work the choke and ended up in Guard. St. Pierre did a good job neutralizing Fitch’s attack. Georges swept and ended up on top briefly before the fight returned to the feet. He nearly knocked Fitch out with a series of strikes that included a right hand and a big knee. Fitch was rocked but somehow survived.

Rd 4 – This was a slower round that was highlighted by St. Pierre’s outstanding takedown defense. Fitch grabbed a single leg for what seemed like half a minute before failing. Georges ended up on top until the end of the round.

Rd 5 – Georges landed a spinning back fist followed by a right before taking Fitch down. He spent the next couple of minutes ground and pounding before Fitch escaped to his feet. Georges scored another takedown and resumed his ground and pound until the bout concluded.

Winner: Georges St. Pierre by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-44)

Everyone made weight.

Main Card
Georges St. Pierre (170) vs Jon Fitch (170)
Heath Herring (250) vs Brock Lesnar (265)
Kenny Florian (155) vs Roger Huerta (155)
Jason MacDonald (185) vs Demian Maia (185)
Rob Emerson (155) vs Manny Gamburyan (155)

Prelims
Luke Cummo (167) vs Tamdan McCrory (170)
Dan Evensen (244) vs Cheick Kongo (235)
Andre Gusmao (205) vs Jon Jones (205)
Steve Bruno (170) vs Chris Wilson (170)
Ben Saunders (170) vs Ryan Thomas (170)

Congrats to both Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto for putting on one hell of a show last night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV!

The two boxers traded furious blows for nearly forty minutes before WBA Champ Cotto succumbed to Challenger Margarito’s incredible will after being knocked down twice in the eleventh.

Early on in the fight, Cotto was in complete control. He used brilliant lateral movement and counter punching to inflict damage while avoiding it. Meanwhile Margarito continued to pressure Cotto to the body.

By the end of the sixth, Margarito teed off with three consecutive uppercuts on Cotto that appeared to stun the Puerto Rican. Seeing how effective that punch was, Margarito used it liberally in the seventh and enjoyed his best round of the fight.

After another big round in the eighth, Margarito returned to his corner and told them he will soon knock Cotto out. His body work was paying dividends and Cotto began to slow, however he was not quite finished.

Cotto moved well and fought off the ropes nicely in the ninth and tenth but his punch output was dropping. HBO Announcer Max Kellerman said Miguel wished the fight was over now. Damn straight.

Finally in the eleventh, Margarito trapped Cotto against the ropes and landed a huge left uppercut that sagged the Champion. Antonio followed with a few more blows including an illegal shot when Cotto was down. After Miguel beat the count, Margarito stalked him into another corner before a bloodied Miguel took a knee. Before he could rise his corner threw in the towel. There was no complaint from Cotto. Official time was 2:05 of round eleven.

It was the first loss of Cotto’s career who drops to 32-1 with 26 KOs. Margarito improves to 37-5 with 27 KOs.

Both guys came in on the mark. I still can’t believe Margarito is a 2-1 dog in this one, at those odds I had to put $150 down on him. Hopefully he’ll take care of business tomorrow night.

Fight #1 – Daisuke Nakamura vs Andy Ologun

Nak ended this one in quick fashion. In just a couple of minutes, he jumped up, pulled guard and dragged Ologun to the ground. The moment Nak’s back hit the ground he transitioned into a sweet armbar and forced Ologun to tap.

Winner: Nakamura by tapout (armbar) at 3:41 of rd 1

Fight #2 - Shinya Aoki vs Caol Uno (Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-final #1)

Rd 1 – After a feeling out process Aoki closed distance, forced a clinch and took Uno down. Uno quickly reversed him and began working from within Aoki’s guard. The crowd cheered briefly for Aoki and he was quite busy from his back, harassing Uno’s right leg. Uno had to play defense and announcer Bas Rutten said it was a mistake for him to wear shoes as it gave Aoki a better grip. Aoki eventually gave up the leg and took Uno’s back at around the halfway point of the round. Aoki contained Uno with a body triangle but Uno did a good job defending the rear naked choke. With about three minutes left in the round Uno quickly spun to face Aoki but Aoki was even faster and slapped on a tight Triangle. Uno hung tough and survived the choke attempt. Big round for Aoki

Rd 2 – Uno jumped in to punch and Aoki went low and took him down. Aoki worked from the top and once again Uno was forced to go on defense. Aoki eventually moved to Uno’s back and controlled him with the body triangle. Aoki smothered Uno with his grappling and the announcers accurately compared him to a Python. Finally in the last minute Uno made it to Aoki’s guard but he only got a few punches off before Aoki slapped a Gogo on him. The Gogo was not tight and Uno survived the round. This was a very decisive win for Aoki although he blew a lot of energy for someone who has to fight again later tonight.

Winner: Aoki by unanimous decision

Fight #3 - Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Eddie Alvarez (Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-final #2)

Alvarez has fast hands, but after a few combos he went low to shoot. Kawajiri stuffed it and they fell into a clinch. Against the ropes they traded knees until a referee break. Kawajiri scored with a good right hand that got Eddie’s attention. Eddie moved in and they exchanged against the ropes before falling into another clinch. They broke themselves and traded in the middle of the ring. Eddie began mixing in some low kicks. They exchanged in the corner and Eddie rocked Kawajiri with punches. Kawajiri went down briefly then made it back to his feet. Alvarez threw some hard knees and Kawajiri began to slow. They clinched against the ropes and the referee broke the action to check a cut on Alvarez’ face. The action resumed and as Eddie moved in Kawajiri dropped him with a powerful uppercut. The crowd erupted as Kawajiri jumped on top and tried to end it. Eddie avoided further damage and made it to guard. Kawajiri passed and Eddie held him tight to his body to prevent him from punching. With three and a half minutes left Eddie escaped to his feet and both guys began brawling in earnest. They tagged each other with punches and knees to the face. Eddie finally connected with a huge right hook-right uppercut combo and Kawajiri crumbled to the canvas. Eddie walked away thinking the fight is over but it wasn’t. Eddie pounced on Kawajiri whose face looked like hamburger and began pounding away. Finally the ref stopped it with less than a minute left in the round. This was an outstanding fight!

Although he fought for less time, Alvarez took more punishment than Aoki and will have less time to recover.

Winner: Eddie Alvarez by TKO at 7:35 of rd 1

Fight #4 – Joachim Hansen vs Black Mamba (Lightweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout)
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