July 3, 2011 – With Dana White speaking of forced retirement and every so-called expert out there already giving his career a pre-fight eulogy, Tito Ortiz decided to rage against the dying of the light and not go gently into the good night against Ryan “Darth” Bader.
Instead, Tito went out there with his back against the wall at UFC 132 and stood toe-to-toe with Bader from the opening bell, rocking him early with a huge right hand before leaping on his felled opponent. The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” then jumped all over his fallen opponent and showed the world an old dog can in fact use new tricks as he pulled off the fight-ending guillotine choke for the ‘submission of the night’ victory and the second BJJ-based finish of his career.
Dominick Cruz Defends Against Urijah Faber
Taking back the lone loss of his career against Faber in 2007, Dominick Cruz danced and boxed his way to victory against a very game Urijah Faber to defend the UFC Bantamweight Championship. Featuring a sharp contrast in styles, the fight was a close one in the eyes of the judges and all the viewers watching on pay-per-view. In the end, it came down to the Dominator’s elusiveness and closing-ability as he pursued the challenger aggressively in the fifth round with takedown attempts to close out the victory in what would be named ‘Fight of the Night’ by the UFC brass. The UFC’s two best bantamweights are now even at 1-1 with fans already calling for the UFC to make this one a trilogy and settle that score once and more all.
Chris Leben Knocks Out “The Axe Murderer”
The much-hyped bout featuring two of the most aggressive strikers in MMA history ended in anti-climactic though expected knockout fashion at UFC 132 as Chris “The Crippler” Leben took out “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva in the opening moments of round one. Fighting his first fight in over a year, Silva wasted no time in charging the red-haired Leben, hitting the Oregon native square in the nose with one of his trademark looping hooks. That would prove to be his undoing as Leben went into “automatic mode,” connecting with a missile shot left hand that put the PRIDE Legend to sleep for the biggest win of his career.
Carlos Condit Stuns the “Stun Gun”
Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit scored a vicious knockout of his own in the fourth finish of the main card against Korean “Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim. All in all, the surging welterweight showed his all-around skills by refusing to stay on the ground with Kim, sweeping him to his back instead before taking the action back on the feet where he applied a devastating flying knee that put Kim down against the fence. From there, Condit attacked with a flurry reminiscent of BJ Penn on Caol Uno to give Kim the first loss of his career. With this win, Condit catapults himself towards the top echelon of the welterweight division and perhaps a title shot in the near future if things go his way.
Undercard Highlights – “The Young Assassin” and Rafael dos Anjos Shine on Spike
Speaking of potential title shots, “The Young Assassin” Melvin Guillard sure is making his case by scoring his fifth win in as many fights on the SPIKE-televised undercard. Taking on Team Takedown’s Shane Roller, the former Metro Fight Club member once again proved “Speed kills” as he floored his opponent with a vicious left hook before leaping on him like Dan Hendo on Bisping to finish things in round one. After the fight, Guillard spoke in humble terms regarding title contention but did call out the UFC on another matter as he asked to fight on the October UFC card set for Houston, TX. That’d be one welcome homecoming for the former Houstonian!
Rounding off the finishes of the evening was Rafael dos Anjos scoring his own devastating knockout to stop what momentum George Sotiropoulos had left in the first round of their fight. The Brazilian entered this fight looking to erase the memory of his own jaw-breaking defeat against Clay Guida back at UFC 117 and he able to do just that against the BJJ-ace for the rebound and his fourth win in his last five fights.
Overall, great card by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 132 to cap-off six weeks straight of UFC action with the best card of the bunch!
Full results below.
UFC 132
MGM Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
July 2, 2011PPV Main Card
- Dominick Cruz over Urijah Faber by unanimous decision;
- Chris Leben knocked out Wanderlei Silva at 0.29 minutes of R1;
- Tito Ortiz submitted Ryan Bader via guillotine at 1:56 min of R1;
- Carlos Condit knocked out Dong Kim with a flying knee and strikes at 2:58 min of R1;
- Dennis Siver over Matt Wiman by unanimous decision.
Preliminary Bouts
- Melvin Guillard knocked out Shane Roller at 2:12 min (strikes);
- Rafael dos Anjos knocked out George Sotiropoulos at 0.59 seconds (strike);
- Brian Bowles over Takeya Mizugaki by unanimous decision;
- Aaron Simpson over Brad Tavares by unanimous decision;
- Anthony Njokuani over Andre Winner by unanimous decision;
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