UFC 95 Results & Recap
by Robert Sargent
The Ultimate Fighting Championship's televised broadcast of UFC 95 from London, England turned out to be one of the promotion's best events in quite some time, and culminated with Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez defeating Joe "Daddy" Stevenson.
Knockouts were the story of the rest of the night at UFC 95, as Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy, Nate "The Great" Marquardt and Paulo Thiago all scored impressive stoppages.
Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez vs Joe "Daddy" Stevenson
While Stevenson put forth a gritty effort in this fight, Sanchez dominated most of the bout and made his presence known in the land of the lightweights.Sanchez landed a quick trio of punches early on, then went for a takedown, but Stevenson defended and landed a quick flurry of his own. Sanchez scored with a knee and a right hook, but Stevenson continued to press forward. Stevenson landed a nice right cross, and Sanchez countered with a head kick. Sanchez got the better of a punching exchange, then drilled Stevenson with a right uppercut that put Stevenson on the defensive. Stevenson survived the follow-up barrage of strikes, but could not take Sanchez down. Sanchez began to string together combinations of hooks and uppercuts, while Stevenson struggled to land anything meaningful. Sanchez landed a solid left cross, then followed it up with another one-two. A head kick and uppercut landed for Sanchez before the bell. 10-9 Sanchez.
Sanchez rocked Stevenson with a right hook early in round two, then followed up with a flying knee that landed square on the jaw. Stevenson attempted a sloppy takedown, but Sanchez easily countered and looked for a guillotine choke, then took Stevenson's back. The fighters scrambled back to their feet and Sanchez landed another head kick. He followed with a quick combination and clinched, but Stevenson looked for his only real hope in the fight; a guillotine choke. Sanchez escaped, then tried briefly for a Kimura. Stevenson landed a right hook and a left jab, but Sanchez fired back with two hard punches. Another one-two landed for Sanchez, and he followed that with a looping right hook. Sanchez landed another combination, which led to a wild exchange where both fighters threw big punches. Sanchez landed more punches and two head kicks just before the bell. 10-9 Sanchez.
The fighters exchanged punches to begin round three, with Sanchez scoring with a nice right hook. The left hook, right uppercut combination continued to pay dividends for Sanchez, and Stevenson had no counter for it. Another combination landed for Sanchez, and he followed up with a head kick and two shots to the body. Stevenson's one-dimensional boxing seemed to be no match for the varied striking of Sanchez. Stevenson defended a takedown attempt and implored the crowd to cheer, then followed up by doing nothing. Stevenson finally began to land effective counterpunches, but Sanchez continued to fire back with hooks and uppercuts. Stevenson landed a left hook, but Sanchez scored a takedown. Stevenson reversed and stood up, and the fighters engaged in a wild exchange just before the bell rang to end the round. Closest round of the fight, but still 10-9 Sanchez.
The fight served its purpose, as Sanchez took the first step towards becoming a contender at 155, while Stevenson is now all but relegated to gatekeeper status if the UFC keeps him around.
Winner: Diego Sanchez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 20-2-0.
Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy vs Rory Markham
As expected, this fight did not go long, as Markham got overly aggressive with punches early in round one and was knocked out by a picture-perfect left hook counter from Hardy.Hardy landed a leg kick to begin the fight, and the fighters exchanged jabs. This continued for the better part of a minute, and Markham's nose began to bleed from one of the punches. As Markham came forward with two looping hooks, Hardy ducked under and landed a perfect left counter that dropped Markham. Hardy landed two more punches to the semi-conscious Markham before the referee dove in to stop the fight.
After his extremely impressive win, Hardy called out Marcus Davis, and the two will fight later in the year.
Winner: Dan Hardy by KO (Punch) at 1:09 of round one. He improves to 21-6-0, 1 NC.
Nate "The Great" Marquardt vs Wilson Gouveia
After controlling much of the middleweight bout, Marquardt rocked Gouveia with a jumping knee midway through round three and finished the fight with one of the most impressive combinations of strikes in UFC history.The fighters cautiously circled one another for much of the opening minute, with neither able to find their range until Marquardt landed a pair of solid leg kicks. Gouveia replied with weak punches, then dodged a pair of Superman Punch attempts from Marquardt. Gouveia scored with an overhand right, which forced Marquardt to circle back to escape further damage. Marquardt came back with kicks to the legs and body, then evaded counterpunches from Gouveia, but Gouveia caught him with a kick to the midsection seconds later. Marquardt replied with kicks of his own, then landed a quick punching combination and scored a takedown. Gouveia latched onto a guillotine choke, but Marquardt escaped and landed punches and elbows from a standing position until the bell. Close round. 10-9 Marquardt.
Round two began with an exchange of leg kicks, and Gouveia narrowly missed with a head kick. They traded punches, with neither landing cleanly, and Marquardt scored with a knee to the body as the fighters clinched against the cage. Gouveia escaped the clinch and rushed forward with a right cross that rocked Marquardt, but missed with a follow-up left hook. Marquardt quickly recovered and briefly took Gouveia's back as Gouveia left himself open for a takedown. Gouveia regained guard, but Marquardt punished him with elbows from the top. Gouveia got back to his feet, but Marquardt locked on a standing guillotine choke and then blasted Gouveia with knees. Gouveia managed to land a leaping right hook, but Marquardt drilled him with a leg kick and a right cross. Marquardt followed up with knees that sent Gouveia backpedalling, and he continued to punish Gouveia with more knees and punches until the bell. 10-9 Marquardt.
Round three began slowly, as Gouveia began to tire and Marquardt fired sparse strikes from the outside. They traded jabs until Gouveia rushed in with wild punches. As in the previous round, Marquardt used the opportunity to reverse and take Gouveia's back against the cage, but he could not take Gouveia down. Gouveia pressed forward with more wild punches, but was countered by a flying knee from Marquardt. A series of head kicks from Marquardt forced Gouveia to retreat, and Marquardt followed up with an extremely quick and impressive combination of kicks, spinning back fist, right hook and a knee that dropped Gouveia. Marquardt unleashed a barrage of punches until the referee saved a bloodied Gouveia from further punishment. Very impressive win for Marquardt.
Winner: Nate Marquardt by TKO (Strikes) at 3:10 of round three. He improves to 28-8-2.
Demian Maia vs Chael Sonnen
After controlling the fight on the ground in the opening minutes, Maia scored a picture-perfect takedown on Sonnen midway through round one and quickly finished the fight with a very impressive transition to a triangle choke.Maia attempted a kick to the body early on, but was thrown to the mat for his efforts. He got back up and looked to set up a takedown, but could not. Sonnen landed two quick punches, but Maia pulled butterfly guard. Sonnen cautiously looked to stand up, but Maia blasted him with a punch from the bottom. Sonnen stood up and the fighters traded looping punches. They clinched against the cage, where neither held an advantage until Maia scored an impressive trip takedown on Sonnen, who is one of the best wrestlers in the division. Maia moved to full mount, then instantly locked on a triangle choke as Sonnen attempted to roll over to escape. Sonnen had no choice but to submit, and Maia could very well be the next challenger for the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Winner: Demian Maia by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 2:37 of round one. He improves to 10-0-0.
Paulo Thiago vs Josh Koscheck
In a fight that was fought entirely on the feet, Koscheck's underestimation of his opponent proved to be his downfall, as Thiago flash KOed him with a quick one-two midway through round one.The fighters circled each other in the early stages of round one, with Koscheck missing with wild punches. Thiago landed a leg kick, but Koscheck replied seconds later with a huge overhand right. Thiago's chin held strong, and he fired back with more kicks. Koscheck landed another wild right hook, and Thiago was forced to backpedal. Koscheck landed a head kick and a quick flurry of punches, but Thiago once again maintained his composure. Just as the announcers suggested that Thiago needed to work on his striking, he drilled Koscheck with a perfect uppercut counter to the jaw, and landed another left hook as an unconscious Koscheck crashed to the mat. Koscheck's eyes rolled back in his head, and the referee jumped in to stop the fight.
Koscheck protested the stoppage, but it was completely legitimate and he was unconscious for at least two seconds. His overlooking of Thiago was costly, to say the least.
Winner: Paulo Thiago by KO (Punches) at 3:28 of round one. He improves to 11-0-0.
Undercard Fights:
Terry Etim defeated Brian "The Bandit" Cobb by TKO (Head Kick & Punches) at 0:10 of round two. Round one was very competitive, as Etim dominated the striking exchanges with a variety of kicks, while Cobb scored a number of takedowns. Just seconds into round two, however, Etim caught Cobb with a head kick and finished the fight with follow-up punches on the ground. Etim is clearly improving with every fight. Etim improves to 12-2-0 with the win.Junior "Cigano" dos Santos defeated Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve by TKO (Punches) at 0:54 of round one. Dos Santos immediately closed the distance and rocked Struve with big punches, then dropped him a second time with more powerful hooks. Struve protested the stoppage, but he was clearly hurt and vastly overmatched in the fight. Dos Santos improves to 8-1-0 with the win.
Evan Dunham defeated Per Eklund by KO (Punches) at 2:12 of round one. Eklund dropped Dunham with a right hook early on, but could not finish the fight and found himself escaping guillotine choke attempts. When the fight returned to the feet, Dunham sent Eklund crashing to the mat with a looping left hook, and he followed up with more strikes until the referee stopped the fight. Dunham improves to 8-0-0 with the win.
Mike Ciesnolevicz defeated Neil "Goliath" Grove by Submission (Inverted Heel Hook) at 1:02 of round one. Despite giving up a massive amount of weight to Grove, Ciesnolevicz, who normally competes as a light heavyweight, managed to get the fight to the ground. From there, he switched from a standard heel hook to an inverted variant, and Grove was forced to submit while in great pain. Ciesnolevicz improves to 17-3-0, 1 NC with the win.
Paul "Tellys" Kelly defeated Troy "Rude Boy" Mandaloniz by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-28) after three rounds. This fight was rather lopsided, with Kelly opening numerous cuts on the face and forehead of Mandaloniz with vicious elbow strikes, but Mandaloniz attempted a number of submissions and held strong until the final bell. Kelly improves to 8-1-0 with the win.
Despite not having the fanfare of other recent events, UFC 95's night of exciting fights and entertaining stoppages made it one of the best cards of 2009 so far.
