UFC 175 took place from the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas last night, and as promised we were definitely in for an action packed main event as Lyoto Machida challenged Chris Weidman for the UFC Middleweight Championship in what is to be remembered as a definite fight of the year candidate in our still unfolding 2014.
Weidman started out controlling the center and cutting off Machida's movement to very good success. From there he utilized mixed strikes to pick the challenger apart and almost finished him in the first with a huge kick. The second round saw Weidman complete a takedown where he proceeded to ground and pound The Dragon and used knees from the side control.
In the third round, Weidman cut off the distance between him and Machida and took the Brazilian down and opened a cut on the challenger, which after what ensured next must have been a huge wake up call - For in the fourth round is where Machida started to pick things up.
The fourth round saw Weidman's questionable cardio come into play, as Machida began to pick the champion apart and even return the favor by cutting him up! The crowd started to get on The Dragon's side heading into the fifth. But it was only for the moment that Machida would experience that success.
Although Machida hurt Weidman with a shot to the body, he still continued to press forward - effortlessly taking Machida down and securing the mount position until the Dragon gave up his back. The champion attempted to finish him from the back but the challenger got free with 30 seconds left and the two engaged in an epic exchange to close out the final seconds of the fight.
The judges scored the fight a 49-46, 48-47, and 49-46 for Weidman who admitted that he was just "in the moment" come the championship rounds.
Weidman now crawls to 8-0 in his UFC career and 12-0 overall having defeated yet another UFC champion. But that didn't stop the champion from giving The Dragon the tough credit which he rightfully deserved.
Machida now drops to 21-5 and 4-2 in his last 6 fights. But even he thought the same as the champion did.
The win was definitely something to sink in as it earned both competitors fight of the night honors, Weidman's first overall and Machida's second back to back and his third overall. Up next for Weidman is Vitor Belfort who was originally scheduled to fight the champion at UFC 173, before the TRT ban of course forced Belfort without a license in the state of Nevada.
Ronda Rousey cemented her name in the history books last night only needing 16 seconds to take out challenger Alexis Davis in the co main event of the evening. Not wasting anytime whatsoever, the baddest girl on the planet immediately threw and overhand right and followed it with a tremendous judo throw, where she proceeded to pound Davis forcing the stoppage at a jaw dropping 16 seconds into the first round.
The win gives Rousey the second fastest UFC title finish in the history of the promotion only 1 second behind Andrei Arlovski's blitz of Paul Buentello back in 2005 along with her second performance of the night bonus in a row. But even the champion says she still has more to evolve in the stand up game which she continues to showcase proving so in her last two fights.
Rousey has now defended her title for a consecutive fourth time and raises her professional record for 10-0. Where as Alexis Davis experiences her first octagon loss and drops to 16-6.
Unfortunately one of the bouts on the main card did not take place, as Stefan Struve fainted in the locker room while the first fight on the main card was in session. During the fight, Dana White tweeted that the fight would not take place and that Struve's health was more important.
Although Matt Mitrione was scheduled to fight Struve that night, he immediately understood the matter of fighter safety and handled the announcement in classy fashion.
With that being said, Dana White has let Matt Mitrione know that if anyone is to pull out of a fight in the near future, Mitrione will be the first one he calls.
Uriah Hall was criticized by UFC President Dana White for his lack of desire to actually fight after just his second UFC performance. But after last night, those questions were definitely answered - Prime Time weathered a broken toe from the first round and still came back to slug it out with Thiago Santos throughout the night.
The result - a toughed out unanimous decision win for the Ultimate Fighter runner up. And although he did so, Hall admits he had a tough time in doing so.
Hall now climbs to 9-4 overall in his career and 2-2 in his UFC career following a in between round TKO of the now retired Chris Leben. Where as Santos now falls to 1-2.
Rob Font impressed viewers everywhere in his UFC debut against George Roop. A winner of 8 straight of his last going into last night's fight. The Boston native came in and knocked out George Roop so hard that he stood straight up before he actually fell to the ground.
The win definitely set the tone for the televised prelims which included Urijah Faber, and earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. And although it was the biggest stage of his career. Font admits that he had no problem getting in there, unaffected by "octagon jitters" that plague most rookies.
The blow landed literally seconds before a left by Roop would have, toppling the 6' 1'' veteran. But Font admits that he was unphased by the distinct reach and height advantage that Roop would have coming into this fight.
On top of earning a performance of the night bonus in UFC debut, Font now climbs to 10-1 in his overall career with 4 knockouts and 3 submissions. As for Roop, he drops to 15-11-1 with his UFC record standing at 4-5
Final results
Chris Weidman def. Lyoto Machida via Unanimous Decision to defend the UFC Middleweight Championship [Fight of the Night]
Ronda Rousey def. Alexis Davis via KO (Punches) at 0:16 of Rd. 1 to defend the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship [Performance of the Night]
Uriah Hall def. Thiago Santos via Unanimous Decision
Russell Doane def. Marcus Brimage via Split Decision
Urijah Faber def. Alex Caceres via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:09 of Rd. 3
Kenny Robertson def. Ildemar Alcantara via Unanimous Decision
Bruno Santos def. Chris Camozzi via Split Decision
Rob Font def. George Roop via KO (Punch) at 2:19 of Rd. 1 [Performance of the Night]
Luke Zachrich def. Guilherme Vasconcelos via Unanimous Decision
Kevin Casey def. Bubba Bush via TKO (Elbows) at 1:01 of Rd. 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, this was a good fucking night. As much as I want somebody to knock that big mouth off of Ronda, she definitely rocked Davis' world.
And as for the main event. Damn... what a fight.
Weidman started out controlling the center and cutting off Machida's movement to very good success. From there he utilized mixed strikes to pick the challenger apart and almost finished him in the first with a huge kick. The second round saw Weidman complete a takedown where he proceeded to ground and pound The Dragon and used knees from the side control.
In the third round, Weidman cut off the distance between him and Machida and took the Brazilian down and opened a cut on the challenger, which after what ensured next must have been a huge wake up call - For in the fourth round is where Machida started to pick things up.
The fourth round saw Weidman's questionable cardio come into play, as Machida began to pick the champion apart and even return the favor by cutting him up! The crowd started to get on The Dragon's side heading into the fifth. But it was only for the moment that Machida would experience that success.
Although Machida hurt Weidman with a shot to the body, he still continued to press forward - effortlessly taking Machida down and securing the mount position until the Dragon gave up his back. The champion attempted to finish him from the back but the challenger got free with 30 seconds left and the two engaged in an epic exchange to close out the final seconds of the fight.
The judges scored the fight a 49-46, 48-47, and 49-46 for Weidman who admitted that he was just "in the moment" come the championship rounds.
Chris Weidman said:
Weidman now crawls to 8-0 in his UFC career and 12-0 overall having defeated yet another UFC champion. But that didn't stop the champion from giving The Dragon the tough credit which he rightfully deserved.
Chris Weidman said:
Machida now drops to 21-5 and 4-2 in his last 6 fights. But even he thought the same as the champion did.
Lyoto Machida said:
The win was definitely something to sink in as it earned both competitors fight of the night honors, Weidman's first overall and Machida's second back to back and his third overall. Up next for Weidman is Vitor Belfort who was originally scheduled to fight the champion at UFC 173, before the TRT ban of course forced Belfort without a license in the state of Nevada.
Chris Weidman said:
Ronda Rousey cemented her name in the history books last night only needing 16 seconds to take out challenger Alexis Davis in the co main event of the evening. Not wasting anytime whatsoever, the baddest girl on the planet immediately threw and overhand right and followed it with a tremendous judo throw, where she proceeded to pound Davis forcing the stoppage at a jaw dropping 16 seconds into the first round.
The win gives Rousey the second fastest UFC title finish in the history of the promotion only 1 second behind Andrei Arlovski's blitz of Paul Buentello back in 2005 along with her second performance of the night bonus in a row. But even the champion says she still has more to evolve in the stand up game which she continues to showcase proving so in her last two fights.
Ronda Rousey said:
Rousey has now defended her title for a consecutive fourth time and raises her professional record for 10-0. Where as Alexis Davis experiences her first octagon loss and drops to 16-6.
Unfortunately one of the bouts on the main card did not take place, as Stefan Struve fainted in the locker room while the first fight on the main card was in session. During the fight, Dana White tweeted that the fight would not take place and that Struve's health was more important.
Although Matt Mitrione was scheduled to fight Struve that night, he immediately understood the matter of fighter safety and handled the announcement in classy fashion.
Matt Mitrione said:
With that being said, Dana White has let Matt Mitrione know that if anyone is to pull out of a fight in the near future, Mitrione will be the first one he calls.
Matt Mitrione said:
Uriah Hall was criticized by UFC President Dana White for his lack of desire to actually fight after just his second UFC performance. But after last night, those questions were definitely answered - Prime Time weathered a broken toe from the first round and still came back to slug it out with Thiago Santos throughout the night.
The result - a toughed out unanimous decision win for the Ultimate Fighter runner up. And although he did so, Hall admits he had a tough time in doing so.
Uriah Hall said:
Hall now climbs to 9-4 overall in his career and 2-2 in his UFC career following a in between round TKO of the now retired Chris Leben. Where as Santos now falls to 1-2.
Rob Font impressed viewers everywhere in his UFC debut against George Roop. A winner of 8 straight of his last going into last night's fight. The Boston native came in and knocked out George Roop so hard that he stood straight up before he actually fell to the ground.
The win definitely set the tone for the televised prelims which included Urijah Faber, and earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. And although it was the biggest stage of his career. Font admits that he had no problem getting in there, unaffected by "octagon jitters" that plague most rookies.
Rob Font said:
The blow landed literally seconds before a left by Roop would have, toppling the 6' 1'' veteran. But Font admits that he was unphased by the distinct reach and height advantage that Roop would have coming into this fight.
Rob Font said:
On top of earning a performance of the night bonus in UFC debut, Font now climbs to 10-1 in his overall career with 4 knockouts and 3 submissions. As for Roop, he drops to 15-11-1 with his UFC record standing at 4-5
Final results
Chris Weidman def. Lyoto Machida via Unanimous Decision to defend the UFC Middleweight Championship [Fight of the Night]
Ronda Rousey def. Alexis Davis via KO (Punches) at 0:16 of Rd. 1 to defend the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship [Performance of the Night]
Uriah Hall def. Thiago Santos via Unanimous Decision
Russell Doane def. Marcus Brimage via Split Decision
Urijah Faber def. Alex Caceres via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:09 of Rd. 3
Kenny Robertson def. Ildemar Alcantara via Unanimous Decision
Bruno Santos def. Chris Camozzi via Split Decision
Rob Font def. George Roop via KO (Punch) at 2:19 of Rd. 1 [Performance of the Night]
Luke Zachrich def. Guilherme Vasconcelos via Unanimous Decision
Kevin Casey def. Bubba Bush via TKO (Elbows) at 1:01 of Rd. 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, this was a good fucking night. As much as I want somebody to knock that big mouth off of Ronda, she definitely rocked Davis' world.
And as for the main event. Damn... what a fight.
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