The UFC made its Seattle debut and did not disappoint. With a full 12 fights on the card, Seattle fight fans were so vocal and energetic that it was almost impossible to hear the action in the cage. The crowd didn't need to wait until the main event to get excited, the first fight of the night was all it took to get the crowd to stand up and cheer. The event main event also provided fans with a look at a top contender to Jon Jone's title.
The action started with Nik Lentz vs Waylon Lowe. While Lentz appeared to be more aggressive, Walon's counters seemed to get the best of the exchanges. Ground action was often slow but calculated. After 2 rounds of being beaten, Letnz grabbed the choke by jumping guard and stole victory from the hands of defeat. By all accounts, Walon Lowe was on his way to an easy win, but let one mistake costs him the win.
“Yeah, that’s my move." Said Lentz. "Since I got into the UFC, these guys know every single trick and cheat to get out of that thing so it took me a little while to learn all the tricks.”
Next up was Seattle local Mario Miranda vs Aaron Simpson. Both men needed a win as the UFC makes more and more cuts in all weight divisions. The fight immediately went to the clinch where Mario held Aaron to the cage. With little action, the ref separated them and restarted the fighters. After another clinch, Aaron got a front headlock which Mario eventually got out of the position but ended up on his back with Simpson on top.
Very little action in the second round, but Simpson dominated with his wrestling takedowns and clinch work. Round 3 started much the same with clinch work, but this time Mario turned the intial charge into his advantage. Simpson did not panic and ended up reversing and taking Mario down again. By the middle of the third round, Mario looked very tired and Simpson looked like he just got started. Several more devastating slams from Simpson locked in a convincing win.
Johny Hendricks took on TJ Waldburger in the third fight of the night. The fight was fast and furious as Johny exchanged with TJ and caught him with two consecutive left hooks to TKO TJ in the first round at 1:35.
“I practice that a lot whenever I’m boxing against my guys. I’ll use my hand to post their hand away to get a clear shot at their chin" Said Hendricks.
The next fight (as the next 3) were streamed on Facebook. Christian Morecraft vs. Sean McCorkle almost looked as though they would fall thru the cage as they clinched up almost immediately. McCorkle reversed the clinch and landed in full guard. This invigorated Morecraft as he took control of the rest of the round with vicious ground and pound.
More of the same in the second round as Morecraft took advantage of Sean's lack of explosive power. A low blow caused the action to stop briefly but it did not affect the outcome as McCorkle went for a takedown and was choked unconscious by a guillotine choke. Morecraft by submission
Edwin Figueroa fought the highly touted Michael McDonald in the only Bantamweight fight of the evening. They wasted no time exchanging heavy blows and had the crowd on it's feet in the first minute of the fight. The pace eventually slowed but never lacked action as kicks and punches were exchanged. Thew 2nd and 3rd rounds contained exciting ground work with multiple submission attempts and escapes. In the end, the crowd stood and cheered both fighters even as McDonald was scored the winner. This was easily the fight of the night.
Former Ultimate Fighter reality show participant Kris McCray took on John Hathaway. The fight can only be described as a dog fight as these two competitors put it all out there for the judges to decide. Not a terribly exciting scrap, but both showed heart after a very tough first round. After 3 rounds, a split decision was awarded to John Hathaway.
Mackens Sermerzier faced off against Alex 'Bruce Leroy' Caceres. Alex had not fought since his run on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter so many MMA fans were interested in what he had to offer. Alex could not hide the smile on his face as he entered the octagon for the first time. But that smile would get him no love from the Seattle crowd and no love from Mackens as he was submitted by Rear Naked Choke at 3:18 in the first round.
Mike Russow then took on John Madson in the final prelim fight on the card. Russow was coming off of a KO of Todd Duffee and Madson with a TKO over Gilbert Yvel. The two huge heavyweights plodded across the cage
and did not impress the crowd of 14,000. At the end of the second round, the doctor stopped the fight due to injury, awarding the win to Mike Russow.
The televised card started with a rematch of the "Fight of the Decade" Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung vs Leonard Garcia. Most times a rematch of a spectacular fight don't live up to the original, and while the action wasn't as furious, the ending was more exciting. The Korean Zombie put on a submission known as the twister which has never been successfully performed in the UFC and won in spectacular fashion. The fan favorite just made some new fans.
“I’ve been watching Eddie Bravo’s videos on YouTube for a long time and I kept saying to my teammates in practice that I’m going to get the twister in the UFC someday and hopefully I’ll get Submission of the Night with that one.” said the Zombie.
In the fight of former TUF alum, DaMarques Johnson faced off against Amir Sadollah. In a high paced fight, the two traded blows and grappling holds until Amir grounded and pounded a tap out victory at 3:27 of the second round.
"I’m ecstatic. I just want to give a huge, huge thank you to DaMarques Johnson. For a lot of you that don’t know, DaMarques took this fight on two week’s notice, not a lot of guys would’ve done that and I have all the respect in the world for him" said the victorious Amir.
In the co-main event, Dan Hardy made his return against Anthony Johnson. The question coming in was if the larger than life Johnson could make weight. Both fighters are known for KO's and exciting fights. It didn't take long for the first blow to land as Rumble knocked down Hardy early with a head kick.The fight went to the ground for the rest of the round while Hardy tried to get a Kimura submission but was not successful. Rumble's game plan for the second round was all about taking Hardy down and controlling him. There was not a lot of action on the ground and the crowd grew restless mid way through the round. Johnson would not be swayed and finished the round in top position.
The third round, Hardy went for the take down but it was reversed by Johnson. At one point Hardy made it back to his feet, but Rumble went for another takedown and regained Hardy's back before transitioning to an Arm Triangle attempt. He was not successful and eventually tried for a neck crank but Hardy was able to hang on until the end of the 3rd round. Anthony Johnson returns to the UFC after a long lay off with a win over former number 1 contender Dan Hardy.
In the main event Phil Davis faced off against Rogerio Nogueira who is also known as Little Nog as both tried to position themselves for a shot at the 205 pound title held by Jon Jones. While both are well known for their grappling skills the first round was mostly striking as Phil tried out some kicks and Nog kept to he excellent boxing but Phil took the first round based on aggression. The second round was the tale of 2 halves. The first half, Nog took control of the cage by out boxing and controlling the cage area. The second half found Phil Davis on top and controlling the fight and ending the round with knees to Nog's side.
The third round saw Phil start with a high kick before securing the takedown. Phil transitioned to half guard before losing control of the position. Nog attempted to stand up but ended up with Phil on his back. Nog rolled into guard and eventually made his way back to the feet. Phil once again was able to get the fight to the ground where he was able to ride out the 3 round decision.
When asked if he was ready to fight Jon Jones, Phil Davis only could remark "If the boss wants me to, I'll do it."
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