UFC 120, a card that many criticized for lacking star power, turned out to be a cracking show in front of a sold out O2 Arena in London, England. Mississauga, Ontario’s Claude Patrick opened the night with a dominating performance over James Wilks to win a unanimous decision. Patrick out struck, out wrestled and out grappled the former TUF champ for 15 minutes. Patrick is now 2-0 in the UFC and has looked tremendous in both of his fights.
The main event began with Akiyama entering the octagon to one of the more unique songs a fighter has come out to in the UFC. He came out to “Time To Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli and looked rather emotional while making his entrance. The fight itself was a crowd-pleasing, standup battle. For lack of a better term, Akiyama and Bisping beat the snot out of one another for three rounds, with Bisping getting the better of far more exchanges. Bisping won a unanimous decision in which Akiyama nearly dropped Bisping early in the first round, but faded later in the fight. Bisping used his smooth footwork and crisp kickboxing to outpoint the Japanese superstar, landing strong, straight right hands almost at will. ‘Sexyama’ earned the crowd’s respect with his determination and durability in what was one of the more entertaining main events of the year so far.
The highly anticipated co-main event between Carlos Condit and Dan Hardy ended in spectacular fashion in the first round. The two exchanged vicious kicks and punches in which their malice for one another was palpable. At one point, both fighters landed simultaneous hooks, however Condit was fine and Hardy was unconscious. Not known for the power he displayed in his hands, Condit has now cemented himself as a top threat in the welterweight division.
And, in a fight that surprised most (but not this writer), Mike Pyle upset John Hathaway with a one-sided beating that earned him a unanimous decision. It was Hathaway’s first career loss and it shoots Pyle skyrocketing up the welterweight rankings.
Also on the main card, a bizarre fight between Cheick Kongo and Travis Browne ended in a draw. Kongo would have won a unanimous 29-28 decision had it not been for a deducted point for continually holding Browne’s shorts in the third round. Even after he was deducted the point, he continued to grab his opponents shorts illegally.
On the undercard, Ottawa, Ontario’s Mark Holst put forth a valiant effort, but came up short against the now 11-0 Paul Sass. The two put on a display of grappling, with Holst showing some excellent defensive techniques. Sass, however, eventually locked in a triangle choke, the eighth victory via triangle in his 11-fight career.
For complete results visit ufc.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment