john lawrence chokes some punks out …
UFC on Fuel TV 9 was a great opportunity for some great up and coming fighters to showcase their talents and move up the ranks in the UFC. Some capitalized on this opportunity and some fell very flat.
The main fight card in Sweden opened up with Ultimate Fighter alumni, and native Swede, Akira Corassani against Robbie Peralta. This fight showed a lot of promise and delivered on it. Peralta and Corassani are both very tough guys with heavy hands. The first round opened up great, as the duo exchanged blows for a majority of the round with Peralta (by my count), shelling out a little more of the damage. The second round started out at snail’s pace. Finally, at about two minutes in, Peralta landed a huge left hand that rocked Corassani. As he went down, Peralta pounced on him and tried to capitalize. Corassani was able to weather the storm and get back to his feet. Corassani finished the round strong with a big left of his own and clinching Peralta up. For most of the third round, the fighters seemed tired, but Carossani had enough steam to land a takedown. Peralta worked his way back to his feet, only to have Corassani score a trip on him. Akira steals the round with another takedown, and it goes to the judges table.
Winner via unanimous decision: Akira Corassani
The next bout of the evening brought together featherweights Diego Brandao and Pablo Garza. Brandao, also the winner of season 14 of the Ultimate Fighter, seems to have matured greatly in the short time he’s been in the UFC. Normally, the bell rings and he charges out like a maniac. This was a very different, but equally dangerous, Diego Brandao. He was very calm and calculated as he maintained his distance and found his range. Once he sized up his opponent though, all bets were off. He took Garza down with a huge slam and easily imposed his will on him. He easily transitioned from half guard to side control, where he sunk in a very deep arm triangle choke.
Winner via submission (arm triangle): Diego Brandao
Next up was a Bantamweight war between Brad Pickett and Mike Easton. From beginning to end, these guys brawled. This fight had everything going for it. Pickett scored a great takedown and trip in the first round. Easton showed great clinch work and solid striking. The second round showed more of the same at an even faster pace. Easton showing a little more of a sense of urgency in the second round, throwing everything at Pickett as Pickett was scoring numerous takedowns and strikes of his own. It went into the third and these two gladiators were still going at it at a breakneck pace. Easton is pushing the pace even more now and starting to change levels on Pickett. Easton scores a takedown of his own, but is unable to capitalize on it. Back to their feet for some more awesome striking action. These two were brawling until the very last second. It was a truly awesome fight and a definite candidate at that point for fight of the night.
Winner via split decision: Brad Pickett
Next up was a classic grappler against brawler in the heavyweight division between Matt Mitrione and Phil De Fries. The word around the campfire on this matchup is that the loser will be looking for a job. I really wish there was more to say about this fight, as I really like Matt Mitrione, but in its entirety, the fight was only 19 seconds. De Fries shot in on Mitrione, got taken down, then proceeded to get pummeled.
Winner via KO: Matt Mitrione
Next we finally got to see the UFC debut of Ryan Couture (son of UFC legend Randy Couture) as he took on Ultimate Fighter season 9 winner Ross Pearson. Couture had a sound strategy in keeping the fight on his terms, but it’s like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Couture employed his strategy perfectly at first, neutralizing Pearson’s powerful striking by pressing him against the cage and not letting him find his range. In the second round, however, Pearson had had enough. Couture threw a kick only to have it caught, and Pearson dumped him on the ground. Pearson landed some solid punches on his downed opponent, but Couture was able to get his feet back under him. Just as quickly as Couture got to his feet, Pearson crushed him with a battering ram of a left hook, followed by a few more punches that sent Couture back to the mat. Pearson again swarmed Couture with a barrage of puches, but this time it was too much. The referee stepped in and put a stop to it.
Winner via TKO (punches): Ross Pearson
Now onto the main event of the evening which was supposed to see Gegard Mousasi against Alexander Gustafsson, but due to injury Gustafsson had to be replaced with his training partner Ilir Latifi. This fight can easily be summed up by saying that Mousasi picked apart the newcomer Latifi. Mousasi, even with an injured leg that required surgery, and was still cleared to fight pending that he would get the surgery after the fight, imposed his will on Latifi and never allowed him to fight on his own terms for the entire fight. Any time Latifi mounted any type of offensive, he was neutralized immediately. When he pushed the pace, Mousasi pushed harder. In the end, it went to the judges scored card.
Winner via Unanimous decision: Gegard Mousasi
Preliminary Fight Card Results:
Reza Madadi def. Michael Johnson via submission (d’arce choke)
Tor Troeng def. Adam Cella via submission (rear naked choke)
Adlan Amagov def. Chris Spang via unanimous decision
Conor McGregor def. Marcus Brimage via TKO (punches)
Ryan Laflare def. Ben Alloway via unanimous decision
Tom Lawlor def. Michael Kuiper via submission (guillotine choke)
Papy Abedi def. Besam Yousef via plsit decision
Post fight honors:
Fight of the Night: Brad Picket vs. Mike Easton
Submission of the Night: Reza Madadi
KO of the Night: Conor McGregor
