BlurayMMA.com

So could B.J. Penn continue to cut it in the welterweight division? That was what I was hoping to find out by watching UFC 127, their second foray into Australia, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began with the preliminaries as Nick Ring faced Riki Fukuda in the middleweight division.

A good three rounder to open the show. The debuting Japanese star made a great first impression with some nice take downs, particularly in the third round, and some good work on the ground.

Ring, although he showed some good defensive skills just had the look of a beaten man as the fight went on.

But the judges were the only ones who didn’t see it that way as all three gave the fight to Ring. It makes you wonder if they were actually watching what was happening.

It was up to light heavyweight for the next fight as James Te Huna faced Alexander Gustafsson.

An exciting one round affair saw Te Huna take control early on with some excellent ground work, and although he dominated it wasn’t long before Gustafsson escaped.

Moments later the Swede scored with an impressive take down, transitioning well until he took the Aussie’s back, locking in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

The first Brit fighter of the evening, Ross Pearson, then faced Spencer Fisher in the lightweight division.

This proved to be a highly entertaining and even looking fight. A mainly striking battle, both men rolled off a series of great combinations and kicks.

The main forays to the ground came at the end of the third round when Pearson scored with a couple of take downs.

The judges came into play again here as all three gave the fight to Pearson.

The main show began with middleweight action as Kyle Noke took on Chris Camozzi.

This one began with a nice exchange of blows, but when Noke scored with the take down it was the beginning of the end. Noke quickly took Camozzi’s back and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

It was down to welterweight for the next fight as Chris Lytle went up against Bryan Ebersole.

A highly entertaining three rounder saw Ebersole attempt a cartwheel kick as soon as the fight started. It was a sign of things to come as Ebersole put on a slightly eccentric performance.

But all of that changed when a knee to the jaw in the second round saw Lytle slump against the cage.

The great action continued into the third as both fighters looked for various submission attempts, and showing great submission defensive work.

Once again it went down to the judges, with all three scoring in favour of Ebersole.

ESPN then continued their tradition of missing the beginning of a fight when coming back from a commercial break. If they’d come back any later we’d have missed Tiequan Zhang taking out Jason Reinhardt with a quick submission win. When will they learn?

So after that technical cock-up it was back to the action as George Sotiropoulos went up against Dennis Siver in the lightweight division.

Another great striking battle. Siver put in an excellent performance, rocking Sotiropoulos before knocking him down twice with left hooks in the first round.

Although the Aussie seemed to take a step behind he upped his game in the second and third rounds. The only problem was that Siver upped his game even more.

With the fight going the distance the judges were put to work again, all three giving the fight to Siver.

The co-main event saw Michael Bisping taking on Jorge Rivera in the middleweight division.

This certainly was a highly charged affair. Bisping looked great early on, scoring with a couple of take downs, but he earned himself a point deduction after connecting with a knee to the head while Rivera was still grounded.

Rivera recovered enough to continue, but Bisping’s striking was top notch in the second. A flurry of blows had Rivera in trouble up against the cage, a big right knocking him down. It wasn’t long before the referee stopped the fight, giving Bisping the TKO win. Afterwards the two of them still wanted to go at it.

The main event saw Jon Fitch going up against B.J. Penn in the welterweight division.

A really enjoyable fight saw Penn going for a take down straight away, making it obvious we weren’t in for a stand-up striking battle.

The fighters exchanged clinch positions before going to the ground, where they each enjoyed a measure of success.

But while the first two rounds looked close the third round belong to Fitch. After getting the take down he worked throughout with the ground and pound, and although Penn didn’t have an answer to this Fitch couldn’t finish him off.

So it was left in the hands of the judges, and while one scored in favour of Fitch the other two couldn’t separate them. The decision, a majority draw.

The show rounded out with more filler material, beginning with the heavyweight clash between Mark Hunt and Chris Tuchscherer.

A great slugfest saw both men unloading with the big stuff early on, but when Hunt’s onslaught opened up a nasty cut above Tuchscherer’s left eye the doctors almost called the fight.

Tuchscherer changed tactics and took the fight to the ground, almost getting the win with a kimura.

But when the second round began it was back to the slugfest, and when Hunt connected with an uppercut that dropped Tuchscherer it was all over as Hunt took the knockout win in what could be described as an ugly but highly effective way.

A second showing of the Te Huna/Gustafsson fight completed the action.

In conclusion – apart from a couple of potty decisions the UFC delivered once again. Every fight shown had it’s strong points, and it’s hard to decided on my fight of the night because they were all as good as each other.

Special mention must be made of the Australian fans. They were up for everything, and also proved just how much they knew about the sport, which, sadly, is something I can’t say about some British fans, especially those at the BAMMA show who complained when a clinch against the cage lasted more than five seconds!

So in all UFC 127 gets the big thumbs up this time around. Well done to all.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to British shores this past Saturday night for UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama, shown live on ESPN.

The broadcast began with action from the welterweight division as James Wilks squared off against Claude Patrick.

From the opening moments it became obvious how this fight was going to play out. Patrick did an excellent job on the ground, neutralising the transplanted Brit so he was unable to get in an y meaningful offence. It may not have been pretty but it was certainly effective.

There was no surprise with the decision as all three judges gave every round to Patrick.

Then it was on to the big boys as Cheick Kongo faced Travis Browne in the heavyweight division.

After a three round ground battle we were given a three round striking battle with only one trip to the ground and numerous clinches against the cage.

Browne rocked Kongo in the first round with a left hook, and rocked him again moments later.

But as the fight went on things slowed down a little, although Kongo had some success with knees to Browne’s right leg in the clinch.

The big moment came in the third when the referee took a point off Kongo for grabbing Browne’s shorts. It was a rule that the Frenchman would continue to break throughout the round, and in the end it would cost him dearly as all three judges scored the fight as a draw. Some good action, but ultimately this fight was uneventful and uninspiring.

It was back down to the welterweight division for the next fight as John Hathaway faced Mike Pyle.

This was a much better fight. Pyle put in a great display with his crisp striking and his excellent ground work, especially in the second round when he tied Hathaway up like a pretzel, locking in a mounted leg triangle and raining down a barrage of blows that raised a knot on Hathaway’s forehead.

Once again the judges were called in action as all three gave the fight to Pyle, and rightfully so.

The welterweight action continued as Dan Hardy faced Carlos Condit.

The first fight of the broadcast that didn’t make it out of the first round saw both fighters connecting with some good shots.

Then, in the final minute of the round, Condit sent Hardy crashing to the ground with a left hook to the chin. Hardy looked out of it before he hit the deck, and the referee quickly stepped in, giving Condit the impressive knockout win.

The main event saw middleweight action as Michael Bisping faced Yoshihiro Akiyama.

This was a lot better than the main event on the last show, mainly because both of these men looked like they actually wanted to fight.

Akiyama tagged Bisping early on, but it wasn’t long before the Englishman got into his stride, asserting his authority with some crisp striking.

And this was how things played out for the remainder of the fight. There was a slight disruption in the third when Bisping caught Akiyama with an inadvertent low kick. The Japanese fighter took full advantage of his rest period, but it didn’t help him as the Count took control again.

Once again there wasn’t a surprise with the judges decision as all three scored in favour of Bisping, rewarding him for another great performance in front of his home fans.

Filler material rounded out the show as Paul Sass faced Mark Holst in the lightweight division.

Although he looked somewhat awkward in the stand-up department Sass looked extremely capable on the ground, pulling guard a number of times and almost getting the win with a heel hook, before finally securing the victory towards the end of the first with a leg triangle.

In conclusion – a largely disappointing evening for the British and European fighters on the main card, although Michael Bisping saved the day at the end.

Overall this was a mixed bag, with two disappointing opening fights followed by three good fights and some entertaining filler material at the end.

So for the second time in a row a UFC show sort of gets the thumbs up, with only four of the six fights featured really delivering. Let’s hope things get better next weekend.

Match-maker extraordinaire: Dave O'Donnell

Ahead of UCMMA 15: Showdown, taking place at London’s Troxy, this Saturday – September 18, we were fortunate to grab a few words with match-maker extraordinaire and ever popular face of Ultimate Challenge Dave O’Donnell.

The interview works well as an introduction to those less familiar with UCMMA, plus in an incite into the world of the larger than life cage-fighting promoter.

What’s your current favourite song?

WE NO SPEAK AMERICANO

YOLANDA BE COOL VS D CUP

How do you relax in your spare time?

- As always I spent the whole weekend in my magical garden, watering plants and working out new ideas – it just really chills me out.

For MMA fans new to Ultimate Challenge, can you tell us who are your current champions and which upcoming competitors to look out for?

Current champions are:

Neil Grove – HW

Jimi Manuwa – LH

Mark Weir – MW

WW – (Maguire V Santana – to be decided this Sat at UCMMA 15)

LW – Michael Pastou

FW – Dave Lee

Look out for Nick ‘Head Hunter’ Chapman, who’s a great ambassador for the sport plus Djo Lema.

UCMMA 15: Showdown is loaded with 4 title fights, can you tell us a little about each one, so the readers know what to expect?

Smith V Sabet: This Superfight Title is a question of honour rematch. Kiane is seeking revenge, as last time he fought injured but this time he’s 100 per cent animal and ready for what Ben has to throw at him. Ben has said it’s just another day in the office for him and that the only reason he took the rematch is to set the record straight – Ben’s saying injury or no injury, it’s going be the same outcome. These are two big guys with honour at stake and only one of them is going to leave that cage with their head held high.

Pastou V Olivier – Olivier has been around since the beginning of time, he first fought on Cage Rage 1 and was the former undisputed FW champ at Cage Rage. He is now stepping up a weight to prove that he’s back bigger and stronger – the only thing that will be the deciding factor is that Pastou (who walks around at 84 kilos and cuts to an amazing 70) will be far too big and strong for the likes of poor little Robbie.

Maguire V Santana – Alberto Mina, our former WW champ has relinquished his title, as another one of our champs has moved to Bellator in the US (it seems that all our UCMMA champs do well – is it luck or is it the fact that we can pick a winner?) This will be a battle of BJJ and stamina – they are so evenly matched the one with the biggest heart will take this title.

Djo Lema V Elijah Grinell – these guys have sick striking and magical skills – but let’s see if they can pull it out of the bag on the night because Djo Lema is the real deal and you’ll need more than magic to beat him.

UCMMA cards feature UK1 kick-boxing bouts, I’m a big fan of these fast-paced exciting fights, it offers variety. Do you feel this makes UCMMA unique?

It’s not just the UK-1 fights that make UCMMA unique – it’s the whole show. It’s the production values, the atmosphere, the fighters – the entire experience which makes it a night to remember. We continue to have sell out shows that start on time and run smoothly – for pure fan entertainment. With dancing girls, fighter promos, entertainment and celebrities – not forgetting the amazing fights – UCMMA is unstoppable.

Something else unique about UCMMA 15 is for the first time ever fellow journalist – Mark Amor-Carling is to compete inside the cage. From what I hear Mark is a very brave man entering into MMA combat with just 12 weeks training. How has he got on in that time?

Mark has done extremely well – his attitude to pain and hard training is ‘the more the merrier’ – I’ve never known a guy to be more dedicated and make more MMA friends in such a short time. Will he win – who knows – but one things’ for sure – it’ll be the fight of his life.

Can you tell us the charity the fight is aid of ?

Carling’s raising money for the Kiyan Prince foundation - http://www.kiyan.org/ which was set up by former boxing champ Mark Prince.

Which match-up are you predicting to steal the show on September 18?

A really hard question – as every fight we put on has a lot of meaning. I don’t think one fight will steal the show but at least 4 will. If you’re unlucky enough not to get a ticket – tune into Sky Sports on Wednesday 22nd September to watch the drama unfold.

Former UCMMA fighters Alex Reid and Tom ‘Kong’ Watson are fighting this month for a different promotion, who do you predict winning?

A lot of people write off Alex but I’ve known him for years and have put him up against the toughest fighters the world has seen – everyone close to him knows that he’s been training for this fight – but it’s the first time that Alex will have gone 5 x 5 mins so that could be the deciding factor. I never like to sit on the fence, but this time I’m perched very high.

Do you see either fighter returning to compete for Ultimate Challenge in the near future?

I’ve spoken to both camps but who knows – this is the fight game. I’ve learnt one thing in my time, fighters come and go but the promotion will stay strong.

A-Team or The Expendables?

I’m proper old school so I liked The Expendables – but for entertainment value the A-Team just nicked it. But I will say one thing – it’s fantastic to see MMA fighters headline in both films- you couldn’t ask for more, MMA is mainstream!

Bisping or Akiyama?

Bisping – you’ve always got to go with your home boys.

Lesnar or Velasquez?

Lesnar – I like his style.

Where can our site visitors find out more about UCMMA?

www.ucmma.com

Interview by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com

Here’s what British UFC representatives Mike Bisping and Ross Pearson thought of the kick-ass action flick:

Michael Bisping said afterwards -- “I thought the movie was great. I thought the fight scenes were fantastic and everyone involved did such a great job on such a low budget… All in all a fantastic movie. I’m looking forward to the sequel… 13!”

Ross Pearson said -- “Great fight scenes, a lot of action. It was a great film. The final fight [in the film] was the best!”

I’m looking forward to watching this myself, keep checking back for a review right here.

Add Twelve to your fight flick collection, available to buy now, online and from all good retailers.

duane@bluraymma.com

It was time for the Brits to shine again this past Saturday night as the Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the MEN Arena in Manchester for their latest offering, with Randy Couture and Brandon Vera going at it in the main event of UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera, shown live here in Britain on ESPN, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The broadcast began with Ultimate Fighter 9 lightweight winner Ross Pearson making his UFC debut proper against Aaron Riley. This was a hell of a debut for Pearson, as he put in a dominating performance, controlling the flow of the fight from the beginning, with Riley looking very tentative. Pearson looked great in all aspects, and he probably would have finished the fight himself if the doctors hadn’t stopped it, with Riley having sustained a nasty cut, courtesy of a Pearson flying knee. Good stuff from Pearson here, giving us Brits another fighter to keep an eye on.

Then it was on to James Wilks taking on Matt Brown at welterweight. Wilks looked good to begin with, but as the fight progressed Brown really got into his game, controlling the fight and putting in some nice work. He may well have got the submission win with a triangle in the second round, but the clock was against him. Wilks looked exhausted as the third round started, and it looked like he was about to stage something of a comeback until a sustained ground and pound attack from Brown earned him the TKO win. Another very good fight, with Brown in particular looking great.

Fight three was the proverbial blink and you’ll miss it affair, with Andre Winner facing Rolando Delgado in a lightweight encounter. Delgado went for a few knees and kicks early on, but a big right from Winner sent him crashing to the mat. It wasn’t long before Winner unloaded with the big right hand again, and this one completely knocked Delgado out as he fell to the ground like a sack of spuds, ending a very impressive performance from Winner here.

Britain’s most popular mixed martial artist, Michael Bisping, was up next, looking to get his career back on track as we went up against Denis Kang in a middleweight bout. Kang came into this one with a big reputation, and many people thought that this would be a cake walk for the former Pride star, and he put on a good display in the first round with his ground game. However, Bisping proved to be his equal, quickly shaking off the right hand that had knocked him down to put on a tremendous defensive display. So having been on the defensive in the first round, Bisping went on the offensive in the second, scoring with numerous take downs. When Bisping went for the ground and pound after the second take down, Kang got busted open, and from there you could tell it was only a matter of time, with the referee calling a halt to proceedings when Kang failed to respond to Bisping’s final ground and pound onslaught, earning him the TKO win in what was possibly the best performance of his career.

The second blink and you’ll miss it affair came next, with Alexander Gustafsson facing Jared Hamman in a light heavyweight fight. This one began as a slugfest, but soon saw Hamman down on the mat after a Gustafsson right. Brief ground and pound followed, but Hamman was out of it by the time the referee stepped in. A short but impressive display from Gustafsson here as he earned the TKO win.

The big welterweight fight followed, with Mike Swick facing Dan Hardy for a possible shot at Georges St-Pierre’s title. This may have been the best fight on the night, a great encounter between two fighters looking to get that big fight. Both men put on a good display in an even looking first two rounds, with Hardy really upping his game in the third, showing some good stand-up and ground work. All in all it was a very good fight, with Hardy getting the unanimous decision after three hard fought rounds, and rightfully so. This writer hopes that he gets that well deserved title shot.

The main event saw Randy Couture returning to the light heavyweight division to face a man who had recently gone down there himself, Brandon Vera. To say that the Natural got a great reception would be an understatement. This fight proved to be a little controversial to say the least. Couture’s game plan was to use his wrestling skills against Vera, and this involved controlling his opponent up against the cage. If truth be told, Couture did a good job here, but it was in the third round that many thought Vera had won it, rocking Couture with his punches and causing damage to his ribs with several great kicks. But this just didn’t seem to be enough in the eyes of the judges, with all three giving the fight to Couture, which didn’t sit too well with Vera. Many thought that even though Couture had controlled the majority of the fight, the damage Vera caused in the third was enough to get him the win. And I have to admit, I thought Vera had edged it.

In conclusion – the UFC’s latest foray to this side of the pond proved to be a very good show, and a very good advertisement for how far mixed martial arts has come in this country over the past few years, with Ross Pearson, Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy all putting in great performances. As for the main event decision, well, we’ve had two dodgy main event decisions in a row now. Let’s hope we don’t get another one next weekend.

Review courtesy of Julian Radbourne @ www.twoshedsreview.com

UFC & MMA blog by Duane Farr

duane@bluraymma.com