BlurayMMA.com

It’s time to take our final look at the second season of Chuck Norris’ World Combat League. We’ve now reached the final four episodes, with only the third place play-off and the championship final remaining.

Third Place Play-Off: New Jersey Tigers v Oklahoma Destroyers

This was the best match-up of the season so far. The first half began with the teams exchanging victories, beginning with Shennen Maceo getting the points win for New Jersey over Thomas Longacre.

Once again the women stole the show in this half as the Tigers’ Munah Holland and the Destroyers’ Jeri Sitzes had a great fight, with Sitzes’ win complimented by that of team-mate Anthony Njokuani, until Uriah Hall gave New Jersey the half-ending win over Jesse Lawrence.

So as Oklahoma went into the second half leading 80-66 New Jersey knew they’d have to up their game, and even though David Gonzalez, Jarrell Miller and Lyman Good put on great winning performances their points wins meant that Oklahoma were still in with a chance.

The Destroyers took that chance in style as Jeri Sitzes absolutely demolished Melissa Bopp for the knockout win, taking them to a 114-115 score, and successive wins for Anthony Njokuani and Jesse Lawrence secured the win and gave them the third place in front of their home fans.

Championship Final: New York Clash v Los Angeles Stars

It was almost a Cinderella-like story. New York didn’t win a regular season match and came into the final looking for an upset.

Both teams started tentatively. An accidental clash of heads meant that the opener between Leo Valdivia and Jason Bourelly was declared a draw, and the stars eked out the next two wins courtesy of Brandon Hastings and Jack Felton.

The Clash came back into it when Pat Barry’s leg kicks demolished the squatty Matt Thomas and Jennifer Santiago defeated Jessica Covarrubias. However, Raymond Daniels took the lead back for L.A. when he overwhelmed Jaime Fletcher.

The second half began with an upset as New York’s Abraham Han made Jason look human. The teams traded the next two wins until Pat Barry’s legs demolished another fighter in the form of Chris Hawk, knocking him down four times.

Then came the turning point. L.A. coach Colin Van Deusen threw his own wife Tara into the mix, and she took a rather scrappy win over the normally dependable Jennifer Santiago.

This meant that the Stars needed a knockout to win the championship. Up stepped Raymond Daniels as he got the desired result, putting Brandon Banda to sleep with a spin kick. Los Angeles had won the title by just four points, defeating New York 137-133.

In conclusion – well, it was a long ride, but we finally got to the final two matches, and what matches they were. They definitely saved the best for last here.

So now I’ve watched over 200 fights and 22 hours of action, what’s my overall view of the World Combat League?

It took a while for me to get used to it, but this is a great concept, although it could do with a few tweaks, such as having only the top two teams from each conference in the play-offs. After all, as I’ve mentioned before, New York didn’t win a match during the regular season, and although they put in some great performances in the play-offs and the final I couldn’t help but think that they didn’t really deserve to be there.

As for the fighters there were quite a few who impressed the hell out of me. The entire women’s division were great, while the likes of Pat Barry, Raymond Daniels, Jason Bourelly, Anthony Njokuani, Armin Mrkanovic and many more put in great performances.

But I’m left to wonder what’s next for the World Combat League. This season took place back in 2008. The 2009 season was cancelled.

If you look at the WCL website you’ll see that the last news item was posted late in 2009. There’s also mention of teams from Canada and Great Britain entering the competition.

The merchandise page doesn’t work anymore either, although you can still get WCL DVDs from Amazon.

I really hope that Chuck Norris and his team bring back the WCL soon. He shouldn’t let his dream die. It’s a great concept, and if handled and promoted correctly it could become as big as that other form of hybrid kickboxing K-1, or, dare I say it, the UFC.

Hopefully we, the fans, can do our bit. Maybe my reviews will make you want to buy these DVDs so you can see for yourselves what the WCL is all about. Watching these has made me want to seek out the first season box set.

So to Chuck Norris and the rest of the powers-that-be at the WCL, thank you for sending me this box set and allowing me to review these fights. This fan hopes to see WCL Season 3 sometime in the future.

WCL Season 2 Episodes 21-24 form part of the WCL Season 2 box set, which is available to buy at the usual online outlets.

Two title fights, a controversial referee’s decision and the next step in the career of a former WWE superstar were the talking points as Strikeforce presented their latest show in Houston, shown this past Monday night on Bravo 2 here in Britain.

The show began with heavyweight action as Bobby Lashley faced Chad Griggs.

This is the fight that will end all of those Brock Lesnar comparisons. Lashley began extremely well with a series of take downs, but a knee in the clinch against the cage clearly hurt him, and moments later Griggs connected with a blow that opened up a nasty cut underneath Lashley’s left eye.

Although Lashley began the second round strongly Griggs began to work his way back into the fight as Lashley visibly tired. Griggs connected with an uppercut as Lashley went for the shoot, and it was all downhill from there. Griggs connected with more blows to the head as the round ended, with Lashley quitting seconds later, giving Griggs the win that nobody expected.

It was down to the lightweight division for the next fight as K.J. Noons took on Jorge Gurgel.

This was a fight full of incident. After some great exchanges in the first round Noons connected with a left that sent Gurgel crashing just as the round ended.

Noons kept up his attack into the second as another big left sent Gurgel down again. Noons then hesitated for a second, expecting the referee to stop the fight, before unleashing with a few more blows, including a knee while Gurgel was still grounded, a move that is illegal under MMA rules. However the referee, in his infinite wisdom, missed this blow completely as Noons was given the knockout win, despite the fact that he clearly should have been disqualified.

The first title fight of the show saw Tim Kennedy taking on Jacare Souza for the vacant Middleweight title.

An entertaining five round affair with very little ground work was an even looking striking contest, with both fighters giving a good account of themselves. Kennedy sustained a nasty cut above his left eye that worsened as the fight went on, although it didn’t stop him from getting the take down as the fight came to an end.

All three judges scored in favour of Souza. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two are matched up again in the future.

The main event saw King Mo Lawal defending the Light Heavyweight title against Rafael Feijao.

The proved to be a very good fight. Mo looked good early on with his massive slam, but Feijao showed some great defensive work as he popped straight back up.

That was how the fight played out for the first two rounds, until Feijao unloaded with a barrage of fists and knees. Mo grabbed hold of the Brazilian and held on for dear life, but it didn’t stop the elbows as the referee stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings, giving Feijao the highly impressive knockout win.

In conclusion – apart from the blind referee in the Noons/Gurgel fight this turned out to be a great night for Strikeforce, with the main event between Mo and Feijao the best of the bunch.

I do wish they’d sort out the refereeing decisions though!

It’s time for one of those strange occurrences again, a DVD review of a pay-per-view I’ve already reviewed, and this time it’s a battle of the legends in the two disc UFC 109: Relentless.

Disc 1 begins with the preliminary bouts, and an appearance from fighting’s first family as Rolles Gracie took on Joey Beltran in the heavyweight division.

When you see a Gracie in a fight you expect a certain standard, and sadly this Gracie couldn’t live up to that standard.

He did okay early on as he scored with a take down, but he visibly tired as the first round went on and as Beltran upped his game.

Gracie looked absolutely shattered as the second round began, and there was actually one moment where referee Herb Dean asked him if he wanted to fight, so it came as no surprise when Beltran got the TKO win after some ground and pound work.

The heavyweight action continued as Tim Hague faced Chris Tuchscherer.

This was one of those fight that had it’s good and bad moments.

A good first round was followed by a lacklustre second in which both fighters were left gasping for air at times.

Hague got his second wind in the third, and as Tuchscherer continued to flounder Hague looked for the win that just wouldn’t come, bringing the judges into the equation as they gave, for some strange reason, the majority decision to Tuchscherer, a decision that left me wondering if this fight had been judged by the three blind mice.

It was down to light heavyweight for the next fight as Brian Stann took on Phil Davis.

Now this was more like it, an exciting three rounder with the debuting Davis putting on an excellent display of ground work, taking Stann down at will and controlling every aspect of the fight.

Stann tried his best but it just wasn’t enough as all three judges scored in favour of Davis, and rightfully so after this tremendous performance.

Action from the lightweight division followed as Phillip Nover went up against Rob Emerson.

The great action continued with these former Ultimate Fighter contestants. Both guys put on good performances, with Nover looking like he was going to get the submission with a guillotine.

Emerson came back well with some good ground work in the second and the third, although Nover managed another guillotine attempt.

So with the fight going the distance the judges gave their unanimous decision to Emerson.

The lightweight action continued as Melvin Guillard faced Ronys Torres.

Another good three rounder which was also a great example of the striker against the grappler. Guillard’s striking display was top notch, but on the other hand Torres’ ground work was just as good, especially his take downs. It was a pretty even fight, with Guillard taking the close judges decision.

The final preliminary saw further lightweight action between Mac Danzig and Justin Bucholz.

Yet another three rounder that proved to be a nice all round affair saw good performances from both men, both in the stand-up game and on the ground.

It was a very even fight, with Danzig closest to getting the stoppage when he took Bucholz’s back and went for a rear naked choke in the final few seconds of the fight.

Yet again the judges were called upon to render a decision, with all three scoring in favour of Danzig.

Then it was on to the main show, beginning with Matt Serra against Frank Trigg in the welterweight division.

This didn’t last long. After the obligatory feeling out period Serra caught Trigg with a big right. Trigg’s legs gave out on him, and after a brief period of ground and pound the referee wisely stepped in to give Serra the TKO win.

It was up to the middleweight division for the next fight as Demian Maia faced Dan Miller.

An interesting three round battle saw both men kind of cancel each other out for the first two rounds. There wasn’t really any ground work to speak of until the third when Maia was able to take Miller to the ground. His offence was effective, although the fans weren’t too happy. The Brazilian came out on top here as he earned the unanimous decision.

Then it was back down to welterweight as Mike Swick took on Paulo Thiago.

Thiago put on a great performance here, beginning his onslaught with the first blow of the fight, a head kick, signalling his intent. Swick was able to keep up with him in the first, but a right/left combination was the beginning of the end. A d’arce choke sent Swick into la-la land, giving Thiago the highly impressive submission win.

The co-main event featured middleweight action as Nate Marquardt went up against Chael Sonnen.

For many this was the fight that put Sonnen on the map. From the moment he scored with his first take down he dominated the majority of the action.

Marquardt had a few good moments of offence, a hard elbow to the forehead that opened Sonnen up, a couple of guillotine attempts, and some ground and pound just as the third round came to an end.

However, it just wasn’t enough, and it was Sonnen who took the unanimous decision and a title shot against Anderson Silva, and we all know how that one played out.

The main event featured the battle of the legends as Randy Couture faced Mark Coleman in the light heavyweight division, the first time that two UFC Hall of Famers had faced each other.

This was vintage stuff from the Natural. Couture imposed his will on the fight from the second it started, and while Couture looked tremendous Coleman looked sluggish and unable to compete.

The ending came in the second round. Couture took the fight to the ground, took Coleman’s back, unleashed with the ground and pound before putting his lights out with a rear naked choke. Another awesome performance from Couture, while Coleman looked like someone in need of retirement.

Disc two is where you’ll find all the usual pre and post-fight stuff.

In conclusion – another good DVD release here, and although I’m still a bit miffed that they still cut out a lot of the non-fight stuff, including the majority of Bruce Buffer’s excellent introductions, it was great to see those remarkable performances from Sonnen and Couture again, and it’s for this reason that this release gets my recommendation.

With thanks to Duane Farr at bluraymma.com for supplying a copy of this release. UFC 119: Relentless is available to buy online at www.fightdvd.co.uk.

This edition of The Two Sheds Review sees us taking our fifth look at the world of hybrid kickboxing, season two of Chuck Norris’ World Combat League. The regular season is now over, and now it’s time to look at the divisional play-offs.

Eastern Conference Final – New York Clash v New Jersey Tigers

A very exciting match with a comeback performance that almost got the job done.

New York began strongly when the debuting Abraham Han knocked out Tom Grimmer. The Clash followed up with two more knockouts from Leo Valdivia and Remi Ibrahim, before future UFC star Pat Barry took a judges decision over John James.

New Jersey’s only win in the first half came when Uriah Hall defeated Jaime Fletcher. However, Jennifer Santiago saw that the Clash ended the half with a victory over old rival Munah Holland, although she re-injured her hand in the process.

New York began the second half well, as Abraham Han impressed again with a KO win over Thad Campbell. But then the Tigers began to claw their way back.

Wins from Lyman Good, David Gonzalez and Jarrell Miller upsetting Pat Barry saw them gradually lessen the Clash’s lead. The only problem was though that they weren’t getting the knockout wins they so desperately needed.

So even though Uriah Hall knocked out Brandon Banna and Melissa Bopp out-fought Virginia Baker it wasn’t enough. New York’s first half dominance gave them the 133-124 win.

Western Conference Final – Oklahoma Destroyers v Los Angeles Stars

This was the most dramatic match of the season so far.

LA began well, although Oklahoma’s Anthony Njokuani was able to hold Jason Bourelly to a single point victory.

Oklahoma took four of the five remaining fights in the first half, with impressive wins for Jesse Lawrence, Alicia Ashley, Thomas Longacre and UFC 1 finalist Patrick Smith. Only the ever-reliable Raymond Daniels kept the Stars in the match as he outclassed Chidi Njokuani.

Oklahoma changed their tactics in the second half, using alternates for all of the fights. It proved to be their undoing.

Randy Blake was their only second half success, and slowly but surely LA began to work they way back into the match, and when Travis McRoberts out-pointed Douglas Edwards the scores were tied going into the final fight.

Raymond Daniels stepped up to the mark again, this time out-classing Scott Clark as LA defeated Oklahoma 144-137 to progress to the final.

In conclusion – these episodes have been by far the best of season two. Splitting the matches so each half took up one episode made for great viewing, although I imagine that some fans would have be waiting for baited breath when they were originally broadcast as a weekly series on television. I would have been, because I hate cliff-hanger endings.

So now it’s on to the third place play-off and the final, and what looks to be a cracking encounter.

With thanks to the powers-that-be at the World Combat League for supplying a copy of this release.

WCL Season 2 Episodes 17-20 form part of the WCL Season 2 box set, and is available to buy wherever DVDs are sold.

A catchweight bout, a four-woman tournament and the debut of the son of a legend were the talking points of Strikeforce’s latest Challengers show, shown this past Monday night on Bravo 2 here in Britain.

The show began with the semi-finals of the tournament to find the number one contender to the Women’s Welterweight title, beginning with Miesha Tate against Maiju Kujala.

Fought over two three minute rounds, this fight featured  a controversial moment towards the end of the first when the referee stood the fighters up when Kujala had a guillotine choke applied.

Apart from that we saw a pretty good performance from Tate as she took home the unanimous decision. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the referee hadn’t intervened in that first round.

The second semi-final saw Hitomi Akano taking on Carina Damm.

An excellent back and forth grappling battle saw both girls putting on great performances, especially in the first round, a round which was again marred by a questionable stand-up.

Akano took the win in the second after some more impressive ground work and a modified triangle.

Then it was on to action from the lightweight division as Mr. Couture’s baby boy Ryan squared off against Lucas Stark.

A quick fight saw Couture get the take down after a brief feeling out period. Stark soon got to his feet and got a take down of his own, only to quickly find himself in a Couture triangle choke with no means of escape. An impressive performance from debutant.

The women’s welterweight tournament final followed as Miesha Tate faced Hitomi Akano.

This was one of the best ground fights I’ve seen in ages. Fought over three three minute rounds this featured tremendous performances from both girls.

Tate certainly lived up to her nickname with some impressive take downs, with some great defensive work from Akano frustrating her all the way.

But despite Akano’s defensive work it was Tate’s attacks that earned her the unanimous decision, and a possible re-match with Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman.

The main even saw Joe Riggs taking on Louis Taylor in a catchweight bout made at 182 pounds.

A fight that didn’t exactly set the world alight to begin with saw two tentative performances in the first two rounds. It was almost as if both fighters were looking for counter moves, with neither man willing to make that first move.

But the fight suddenly came to life in the third when a big right from Riggs rocked Taylor, who tried to recover by going for a clinch against the cage.

This only resulted in a Riggs take down, with Taylor tapping out as Riggs went to work with the ground and pound.

In conclusion – despite the somewhat lacklustre main event, Strikeforce Challengers proved to be a very entertaining show.

The highlight for me was the women’s welterweight tournament, and the performances of Tate and Akano. It was a shame that their fight only lasted nine minutes. Just imagine what those two could have done with three five minute rounds.

So in all a good show, with another one just a few days away.

As many of you will know, The Two Sheds Review has been in circulation on the world wide web since it’s debut in 2000. Since then it has appeared on over fifty websites and newsletters over the year.

Early on a fellow writer by the name of SamJerry told me that I should get my work out to as many sites as possible, so it can be seen by a wider audience. Back in the day that was really easy, because all I had to do was to e-mail it a bunch of people at the same time.

But over the years most of the sites I write for have taken advantage of the various posting systems that are now available, meaning that writers could by-pass the website editors and post the content themselves, and while this is a good system when you currently do this for twenty websites it can be somewhat time consuming.

Which is why I’ve made the following decision. From now The Two Sheds Review will only be seen on a select number of websites. This is simply because it’s now taking too much time to post it on numerous websites.

The sites where my reviews and columns will be seen are:

The Bleacher Report – http://www.bleacherreport.com
BluRay MMA – http://www.bluraymma.com
MMA Universe – http://www.mmauniverse.com
TBL Wrestling – http://www.tblwrestling.com
Wrestling Edge – http://www.wrestling-edge.com

The reason I have chosen these particular sites is based on the time I have posted my columns there and the number of hits my work gets. Obviously my own website, http://www.twoshedsreview.com will remain unaffected.

So to those websites who have taken a chance on me over the years I would like to say a big thank you for your support. The Two Sheds Review would never have been as popular without you.

And to those who continue to read my work, thank you for your continued and future support.

A new player entered the MMA arena this past weekend as Powerhouse World Promotions presented their first pay-per-view, War On The Mainland, shown live on Primetime here in Britain, and featuring Tim Sylva and Paul Buentello battling it out for the vacant Heavyweight title.

The show began with lightweight action as Jens Pulver faced Diego Garijo.

This one lasted just over a minute, and began at a frantic pace with both guys swinging for the fences until Garijo dropped Pulver with a big left. Garijo quickly followed him down and locked in a guillotine for the impressive submission win.

The lightweight action continued as Erin Beech faced Joel Silva.

This wasn’t exactly the most exciting fight I’ve ever seen. Silva’s attack was completely one dimensional. His only tactic seemed to be take down attempts. The only problem was that Beech’s take down defence was very sound.

It was also obvious that Silva couldn’t take any form of pain. Whenever Beech connected Silva visibly recoiled. But credit to Beech for imposing his will on the fight with some good striking.

All three judges scored in favour of Beech, a decision that wasn’t entirely surprising.

Then it was on to Thales Leites taking on Matt Horwich for the vacant Middleweight title.

Given the credentials of these two it was obvious how it was going to play out. It was a solid ground battle with both men putting on good performances.

The first submission attempt of note came in the third round when Leites synched in a side choke, which lasted for ages until Horwich was able to escape.

The end came early on in the fourth when Horwich took Leites’ back and locked in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

The championship action continued as Jason Lambert faced Tony Lopez, a late replacement for Alan Goes, for the vacant Light Heavyweight title.

A somewhat scrappy affair with neither man able to gain any sort of advantage until early in the second round when Lambert got the better of a body lock in the corner.

But then things turned in an instant after Lambert slipped and a Lopez left knee dropped him. One shot later and the referee stepped in, giving Lambert the knockout win. Quite impressive, considering that Lopez had to lose twenty-six pounds in a week so he could make the weight.

Then it was on to Jorge Ortiz against Terry Martin in the welterweight division.

A mainly stand-up battle saw Martin put in a solid performance, with Ortiz visibly tiring as he entered the second round.

Things changed in the third after Ortiz connected with an inadvertent low kick. The rest period seemed to galvanise Ortiz while it had the opposite effect on Martin.

The judges were split in their decision as Martin took home the victory.

The main event saw Tim Sylvia facing Paul Buentello for the vacant Heavyweight title.

Sylvia put in a very effective performance here, doing a good job of neutralising Buentello’s striking game with a series of clinches in the corners, all of which ultimate led to referee separations.

The end came in the dying seconds of the second round. Having softened his man with a series of knees and kicks Sylvia dropped Buentello in the corner, with the referee stopping the fight seconds later, giving Sylvia the knockout win.

In conclusion – Primetime’s third foray into the world of mixed martial arts was a solid and enjoyable event, even if the action was a little unspectacular at times.

Production-wise it was okay, although definitely not up to the standards of the UFC or Strikeforce, especially early on as the picture broke up a number of times.

As for the commentary, play-by-play man Benny Ricardo, a guy with one of worst haircuts I’ve seen this side of 1978 seemed a bit flustered at times, and there were moments when his performance dragged down the normally reliable Bas Rutten.

So in all a good show, but as teachers all around the world would say, could do better.

British mixed martial arts is on the agenda again as Dave O’Donnell’s Ultimate Challenge presented their latest show Invincible, shown on a four day delay on Sky Sports here in Britain this past Wednesday night.

The show began with heavyweight action as Ian Hawkins went up against Mark Potter.

A controversial fight saw Potter cut his taller and heavier opponent down to size with some great body shots. But Potter went too far and kicked Hawkins in the head as he slumped to the ground.

The referee quickly stepped in and disqualified Potter straight away. Potter would surely have won but for that moment of madness.

It was down to the middleweight division for the next fight as Earl Brown faced Jake Bostwick.

Sadly we only got highlights from the first round, and there wasn’t much from the second because Bostwick connected with a big right that knocked Brown out cold, giving Bostwick the KO win. You have to wonder if the near twenty year age difference was too much for Brown to overcome.

After a highlights package from some of the other fights it was on to featherweight action as Tom Dixon took on John Kelly.

A fast paced fight saw both men going all out from the start. Kelly looked like he was going to overwhelm his teenage opponent early on, especially after a big slam, but Dixon came back well, opening up a cut on the bridge of Kelly’s nose.

Round two didn’t last long. A big left from Kelly sent Dixon crashing out before he hit the ground, taking home the knockout win.

Then it was up to lightweight as Brad Wheeler faced Francis Heagney.

A nice technical ground battle saw Heagney get the early take down after a four shot combination, and from there he all but dominated. Wheeler went for a couple of submission attempts but Heagney escaped easily, and with his ground and pound going unanswered towards the end of the round the referee wisely stepped in and gave Heagney the TKO win.

Welterweight action followed as Edgelson Lua took on Jamaine Facey.

This proved to be another great ground battle. Lua put in some good work in the first round, but the extraordinary moment when he took Facey’s back and synched in a rear naked choke, keeping the choke on for what seemed like an eternity. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Facey managed to escape.

They continued with the ground work in the second round with more transitions and reversals before Facey took Lua’s back and unleashed with the ground and pound. Lua failed to respond and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in and saved him from further punishment, giving Facey the impressive TKO win.

The main event saw Valentino Petrescu challenge Jimi Manuwa for the Light Heavyweight title.

A great striking battle began with both fighters testing the waters early on, but as the fight progressed Manuwa had great success with some knees from the clinch, which set him up for the quick combinations that sent Petrescu crashing to the ground, giving the Poster Boy the title retaining KO win.

In conclusion – on the same night that a certain middleweight fight was happening Dave O’Donnell and his crew once again proved something that we’ve known for some time – that Ultimate Challenge is the best MMA promotion in Britain right now.

All the fights here were highly enjoyable, and I was pleased that we didn’t see any of the UK1 kickboxing fights that drag the show down a little.

So in all another good show, and here’s looking forward to their next outing in September.

ESPN Classic continued their journey through the UFC’s archives this past weekend as they reached the final of the sixth series of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes v Team Serra, featuring Mac Danzig against Tommy Spear in the final and Clay Guida against Roger Huerta in the main event.

It was welterweight action for the majority of the show, beginning with Dan Barrera against Ben Saunders.

This was a good three round ground battle. Barrera tried to seize the initiative by going for the take down, but each time he took the guard Saunders nullified his attack.

The third round saw Saunders on the attack throughout as he took Barrera’s back and went for a rear naked choke. He also scored with a couple of powerful kicks, but in the end he couldn’t put his man away.

The judges gave Saunders the unanimous decision, proving that you don’t have to be on top to attack effectively.

George Sotiropoulos against Billy Miles was next.

Miles began this one with all guns blazing, but it wasn’t long before the Aussie established control, taking Miles’ back, flattening him out and locking in the rear naked choke for the very impressive submission win.

Richie Hightower against Troy Mandaloniz followed.

These two were meant to be best buddies, but that didn’t show in this one. Hightower looked on top for the majority of the fight, but Mandaloniz stayed in contention with some good blows, and he ending up taking the win after one of the simplest of punches – a left jab – dropped Hightower. The referee soon stepped in, giving Mandaloniz the TKO win.

Then it was on to Jon Koppenhaver against Jared Rollins.

From a battle of best friends we went on to a fight between two guys who apparently didn’t like each other very much.

It was an outstanding balls to the wall battle, with neither man holding anything back. Both men were bloodied up at the end of the first, but that didn’t stop them, and even though both were exhausted in the third Rollins dropped Koppenhaver with a big knee. However, War Machine was able to reverse the positions, and soon he took home the win with a relentless ground and pound attack, giving him the TKO win.

The TUF welterweight final saw Mac Danzig taking on Tommy Speer.

The all-Team Hughes battle saw Speer going for the take down early on, only Danzig to take control seconds later, moving from the guard to take Speer’s back so he could synch in a rear naked choke for the great submission win.

John Kolosei against Matt Arroyo followed.

This fight between two Team Serra members proved to be a very entertaining affair, Arroyo went for a couple of arm bar attempts, but Kolosei was able to escape.

However, it was third time lucky for Arroyo as he finally managed to lock in the arm bar for the submission in the final seconds of the third round.

The main event was the only bout fought outside the welterweight division as Roger Huerta took on Clay Guida.

This was an outstanding fight with two different stories. For the first two rounds Guida was able to take Huerta down at will, and he did a great job controlling the fight on the ground and with the striking.

But things changed dramatically at the beginning of the third when Huerta rocked Guida with a knee. Moments later he took Guida’s back and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

In conclusion – while I’m not really a fan of the reality show part of The Ultimate Fighter the finales always deliver, and this was the case with the sixth instalment, and the two main events, especially the Guida/Huerta battle were outstanding contests.

So overall this gets the thumbs up for me. But don’t expect any more TUF Finale retro-type reviews. I’ve already done them all from season seven onwards and it will probably be a while before ESPN Classic get back to seasons one through four again!

It was one of the most hyped fights of the year, the most controversial fighter in mixed martial arts against the brash, trash-talking challenger in the main event of UFC 117: Silva v Sonnen, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The big boys began the show as Roy Nelson faced Junior Dos Santos in the heavyweight division.

There was a part of me that wanted Nelson to win, but deep down I knew that Dos Santos would be too much for him. The Brazilian had a tremendous first round, rocking Big Country a number of times. But as the fight progressed and as Dos Santos continued to tee off he just couldn’t put Nelson away. Nelson had his moments, but they were few and far between.

No surprise with the decision here, Dos Santos all the way with a dominating performance.

It was down to the welterweight division for the next fight as Matt Hughes took on Ricardo Almeida.

The latest inductee into the Hall of Fame put on a vintage performance. After both men tested the waters Hughes sent Almeida down with a big left hook. Hughes followed him to the ground and immediately went for a guillotine. Almeida was out of it seconds later, giving Hughes and outstanding submission win, and also giving his doubters a lesson. Write him off at your peril.

The lightweights were up next as Clay Guida faced Rafael Dos Anjos.

This proved to be another enjoyable encounter. There were some nice exchanges early in the first, with both guys getting in some good shots. From there we had some good ground work in round two.

The ending came in the third round. After Guida scored with a big take down he took control of Dos Anjos’ head and arms. That was enough for the Brazilian. His jaw broken, he just couldn’t take any more and tapped out. Another great encounter, and a good performance from Guida.

The only filler material of the evening saw Stefan Struve going up against Christian Morecraft.

The proverbial back and forth affair saw Morecraft dominating in the first round with his ground and pound, to the point where the doctor considered pulling Struve out because of his cut and badly swollen bottom lip.

This just seemed to fire up the big guy as both men began the second round swinging, with a big right from Struve knocking Morecraft down, with the referee stopping the fight after a few seconds of ground and pound. A remarkable comeback from the big guy.

It was back to the welterweight division for the next fight as Jon Fitch took on Thiago Alves.

A bit of controversy before this fight even began saw Alves failing to make the weight limit by just half a pound, forfeiting twenty per cent of his purse.

A re-match four years in the making saw some good ground and pound work from Fitch as he dominated the grappling side of things. It was as if he was able to take Alves down at will. Alves managed to get in a couple of good shots in the striking game, but in the end the weight cut seemed to take too much out of him.

In the end all three judges scored in favour of Fitch, the only decision there could be really.

The main event saw Chael Sonnen challenging Anderson Silva for the Middleweight title.

Now this is what a championship fight should be about. For over four rounds Sonnen took it to Silva, and did something that nobody else has managed to do in the UFC – he made Silva look human.

But then, with just two minutes of the fight left, and with Sonnen looking like he was going to win, it turned. Silva synched in a triangle choke, and seconds later Sonnen tapped. It was all over. The greatest fight I’ve seen this year was done, and Silva was still the UFC Middleweight Champion.

In conclusion – I know I say this almost every time, but this was a great show. The five undercard fights delivered big time, while the main event, well, what more can I say?

It was an outstanding fight, with the sort of drama you only get to see in Hollywood blockbusters, and if Chael Sonnen doesn’t get a re-match with Anderson Silva after that performance then there really is no justice in this world.