john lawrence gets in the octagon …
The word of the night for UFC on Fuel TV 10 was submissions with six of the twelve matches not even making it out of the first round and only two making it the full three. This card was an epic showcase of grappling at its finest, and the fans in Brazil definitely got their money’s worth. From the very first Facebook fight, to the main event, this fight card did not disappoint. We saw armbars, arm triangles, kneebars, triangles, even a triangle armbar. If you are a fan of submission grappling and missed this fight card, you really missed something special. It broke the previous record of six submissions in one evening by two submissions.
The night started out with featherweights Rony Jason against Mike Wilkinson. Jason came out quickly and had the momentum on his side with the striking, until Wilkinson took him down to the ground. Maybe in hindsight, this was a bad idea, as Jason was able to pull Wilkinson into his guard and began softening his opponent with strikes while working on the submission. In less than a minute and a half it was all over as Wilkinson was rendered unconscious from a triangle choke.
Winner via submission (triangle choke) Rony Jason
Next we moved up to the middleweight division to watch as BJJ black belt Daniel Sarafian took on UFC newcomer Eddie Mendez. In virtually no time at all, Sarafian took Mendez to the ground and began working from the top. Inevitably he was able to secure the arm triangle choke and finish the match in a whopping two minutes and twenty seconds.
Winner via submission (arm triangle) Daniel Sarafian
At this point in the evening we have already had two full fights that didn’t equal one full round combined. So we moved on to the welterweight division to see if we could keep the ball rolling. Not to see the welterweight division be outdone, Erik Silva decided to dispatch his opponent Jason High in the quickest fight of the evening. Lasting only one minute and eleven seconds, Silva started out with a few kicks until High exposed his back. Silva lept at the opportunity like a spider monkey andto the ground they went. After a little bit of ground work, Silva was able to sink in a triangle/armbar, because apparently just one submission wasn’t enough. It was absolutely impressive and was my pick for submission of the night.
Winner via double submission (triangle/armbar) Erik Silva
So now we jumped up a few weight classes to the light heavyweight division. So we are all already wondering, at this point, what submission we will see next as BJJ black belt Thiago Silva takes on fellow BJJ black belt and former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Rafael Cavalcante. From the word “Go”, Cavalcante let the charge, throwing every strike he could think of. Silva kept his composure and weathered the storm blocking and deflecting almost everything that was thrown at him. At about the halfway point in the first round, we saw Cavalcante start slowing down and Silva step up. Silva started throwing some heavy leather of his own, opening up Cavalcante’s defenses and finally sending him crashing down to the ground. Wait a minute?? No submission? Apparently Silva didn’t get the memo that it was submission night, but it was equally effective.
Winner via KO (punches) Thiago Silva
After shaking off the shock of not seeing a submission, we moved back down to the welterweight division as Leonardo Santos stepped into the cage against William Macario. Early in the first these two clinched up and began exchanging shots. After a little more back and forth, Macario took Santos down and begins some ground and pound. From here, the rest of the round gets a little all over the place as it goes from the ground to their feet and back, while scrambling for position. And finally a fight on the main card makes it out of the first round! After an early knee to the face by Santos in the second, they go to the ground and it gets a little boring as the crowd starts booing. They get back up and Macario gets caught holding the cage to prevent a takedown. He receives a warning and we are back to the fight. Santos, showing a greater sense of urgency, takes down his opponent and begins softening him up with some ground and pound. As soon as Macario opens up, Santos is able to sink in an arm triangle choke and put this fight to bed.
Winner via submission (arm triangle) Leonardo Santos
And now we move on to the main event as heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum try and move up the rankings in the division. It started out with a little feeling out as Werdum threw leg kicks to Nogueira’s lead leg. Inevitably, the two clinched up and we were off to the ground. Werdum was able to take full mount temporarily and secure some ground and pound before Nogueira slipped out back to half guard. Nogueira was able to break free and scramble back to his feet, where his boxing clinic began. He was able to out strike Werdum for the remainder of the round, tentatively securing winning the round.
Round two began again with Werdum’s leg kicks followed by a brutal overhand right to Nogueira. Nogueira was able to push forward unfazed by the shot and tried to corral his opponent to the cage to resume his dirty boxing. This plan backfired as Werdum took Nogueira down to the ground. Werdum showed exactly why he is considered one of the best heavyweight grapplers in the game as he stayed perfectly calm and secured his position on the top and locked in an armbar on Nogueira. About halfway through the second round Nogueira gave a verbal cue to the ref and the fight was over.
Winner via submission (armbar) Fabricio Werdum
The Preliminary fights finished as follows:
Raphael Assuncao def. Vaughan Lee via submission (armbar)
Felipe Arantes def. Godofredo Pepey via TKO (elbows)
Ildemar Alcantara def. Leandro Silva via unanimous decision
Rodrigo Damm def. Mizuto Hirota via split decision
Post Fight Honors:
Thiago Silva scored KO of the Night and Fight of the Night honors
Erick Silva won submission of the Night
