With two title fights on the card, UFC 111 was one of the most anticipated MMA events of 2010. All eyes were on Newark, New Jersey on Saturday night, because Georges St. Pierre was going to be defending his title against Dan Hardy, plus Frank Mir and Shane Carwin were going to fight for the interim heavyweight title. But before any of that went down, there was a bunch of great preliminary fights that you'll definitely want to read about, so here are those results.
Jim Miller defeated Mark Bocek by unanimous decision. Leading off was New Jersey native Dan Miller, who had the crowd behind him for obvious reasons. He had a tough assignment in Bocek, but I felt that Miller's combination of striking and wrestling would match up well against his submission skills. Bocek had a reach advantage, but Miller had the tasmanian devil advantage. Bocek got the fight down early in the first round, but also looked comfortable on his feet. Miller almost had a kimura from his back, but even though he didn't finish it, he was able to use it to sweep and get on top and into Bocek's guard. Miller found himself in defensive positions again in the second round. Bocek got his back and had one of his arms trapped and looked like he'd be able to choke him out, but Miller survived that position for almost two minutes and made it into the third round. I had Miller down two rounds going into the third, so I thought he needed to be desperate in the third. He was able to avoid getting taken down again and probably won the round with his striking, but the interesting thing was going to be how the judges scored the first round. Bocek had dominated it, but Miller ended it strongly. That must have been the difference, because all three judges had it 29-28 for Miller.
Jon Fitch defeated Ben Saunders by unanimous decision. You have to get credit to Saunders for stepping up and taking this fight on what was literally a few days notice. Fitch was supposed to have a re-match with Thiago Silva, but Silva had a CT Scan that showed "brain irregularities" and was scratched. Saunders had been training for a bout with Jake Ellenberger on the same card, so he accepted the chance to move up and take on one of the top contenders in the welterweight division. Fitch has an iron jaw and a habit of is known for just wearing his opponents out, but Saunders has really been elevating his game in his recent fights. They got clinched up against the cage early in the first round and Fitch used underhooks to take Saunders down. Saunders was active from the bottom, but Fitch maintained the dominant position and was able to use his ground-and-pound skills. Fitch had Saunders on his back within the first minute of the second round as well. He stayed active enough to keep from being stood back up and carried the round with his attack from the top. Fitch controlled round three in exactly the same manner and cruised to a very impressive decision victory.
Kurt Pellegrino submitted Fabricio Camoes by rear naked choke in the second round. This was an interesting match-up. Pellegrino is a grappler, but although Camoes hails from Brazil, he's known as a solid striker in addition to having good submission skills. Camoes used a cool throw to get Pellegrino down in the first round, threw a couple of strikes while he had him down there, then took his back. Pellegrino stood up and it looked like Camoes had the rear naked choke sunk, but Pellegrino dropped forward and slammed him on his head. Pellegrino may have stolen the round by finishing with top control. Pellegrino got on top early in the second round and eventually passed Camoes' guard. He got his back again and this time, was able to get a fight-ending rear naked choke before the end of the round.
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