November 14, 2011 – Welcome to another week in the Texas MMA world everyone! Hopefully you guys aren’t suffering too bad of a hangover after another busy weekend in the combat sports world if you were knee-deep in it or not feeling too left out if you missed out. Either way, here’s a cliff notes recap of everything that happened this weekend for our readers.
UFC on FOX 1 Ratings Deliver; Solid Future Ahead
Competing against an NCAA telecast featuring Andrew Luck and his Stanford team taking on the powerful Oregon Ducks, UFC on FOX still managed to key in on the much coveted Men 18-34 demographic, out-rating every college football broadcast this season with the exception of the No. 1 vs. No. 2 LSU-Alabama match-up.
What does this all mean?
It’s simple. It means that despite what ended up being only 64-seconds of action, the UFC’s debut can be considered a success in the long-run. Those ratings factor in the entire hour broadcast but a key yet-to-be-released number to watch out for would be the peak number for the hour, which of course would be the fight itself. That rating could easily come out to over 7 million viewers, making this the most watched MMA fight ever. With this being simply a trial run, or “teaser” as many have called it, except UFC on FOX to iron out many of the kinks from this initial event and deliver an even better one of future broadcasts starting on January 28th 2012. No word yet on matchups for that one but expect UFC on FOX 2 and all future events to feature two fights until further notice.
Junior dos Santos is Your New UFC Heavyweight Champion
Take away all the TV talk and focus strictly on the heavyweight title fight itself and what we had on Saturday night was quite simply a dominant performance turned in by the now-reigning heavyweight kingpin, Junior dos Santos. All it took was a mere 64 seconds for “Cigano” to capitalize on his power and pugilistic prowess and put Cain down with a huge right hand to take the title. Just like that. The GNP finish was elementary from that point and what many predicted to be a 25-minute war ended in a flash.
Now Junior will lie in wait as he awaits the winner of the upcoming heavyweight superfight between former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar and incoming Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem. Without getting too far into it, that one promises to be a main event of colossal proportions between the “Frate Trane” and the ‘Reem for the right to take on dos Santos for his heavyweight title.
Expect the next UFC heavyweight title match to crown the undisputed #1 heavyweight in the MMA world until the winner of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier have something to say about it in mid-2012.
Benson Henderson Shines on the Undercard
Speaking of exciting matchups, the UFC on FOX co-main event between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson is the fight many hardcore MMA fans would have really liked to represent the sport to this new generation of fight fans across the globe. Simply put, this fight showcased everything that is exciting in the world of MMA – with two men closely contesting every punch, takedown, and submission attempt for 15 straight minutes in a fight that really mattered. In the end, it was the formidable Arizonan with angel wings that took the unanimous decision and earned an upcoming shot at the UFC lightweight title against reigning champ Frankie Edgar on February 25th when the UFC makes its’ return to Saitama, Japan.
Speaking of Japan, here’s a respectful sayonara to Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto who lost handedly to Darren Uyenoyama further down on the undercard. Yamamoto was once one of the most feared and revered fighters in all of MMA once upon a time. With tougher times for him in recent years both personally and professionally, age and life caught up with him. What a shame that the majority of American fans will have never seen him fight at his best but hey, that’s sports sometimes.
Elsewhere on the undercard, Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier continued his ascent at 145 with a D’arce choke win over Pablo Garza while Ricardo Lamas, DeMarques Johnson, Rob Peralta, Alex Caceres, Mike Pierce, and Texas’ own Aaron Rosa all came out as winners.
Pacquiao vs. Marquez 3 Recap; Mayweather Fight Finally Next?
Elsewhere in the world of combat sports on Saturday night, consensus #1 most popular boxer in the word Manny Pacquiao stepped into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena against Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time. Many thought that the result of this one would be vastly different than the closely-fought battles they’ve had in the past, with Pacquiao expected to capitalize on a size and speed advantage at welterweight to take this one going away. What resulted was far from a drubbing as the bout was close throughout, resulting in a majority decision win for the Filipino slugger.
Too close for comfort if you ask me.
Certainly nothing can be taken away from the 38 year old Mexican fighter, who showed heart, resiliency, and expert counter-punching ability in a fight where he seemingly had his opponent hesitant to display the type of punching output and closing ability that’s made him one of the world’s best. Suffice it to say, Manny looked human on Saturday night.
That’s got to make a certain loud-mouthed Las Vegas resident lick his chops in anticipation.
For his past, Pacquiao is ready.
“Let’s get it on,” Pacquiao said when asked about finally making the fight with Floyd Mayweather. “Let’s make the fight happen and give the people a good fight.”
Elite MMA and Frost Murphy Raise Money for Heartsgift.Org
While mega-events were going on nationally with UFC on FOX 1 and Pacquiao vs. Marquez 3, there was an even bigger event going on in the hearts of many with Elite MMA holding a charity fundraiser in Houston, TX in concert with Frost Murphy and his commitment to raise $22,000 for HeartGift.org so that one child in the third-world will be able to have life-saving heart surgery.
Except an official press release later on in the week but initial projections have the amount raised from this Saturday alone to go a long way towards this goal thanks to the over 300 individuals that came out for the event. Over $17,000 in one day! “One team, one family, one goal.”
By the looks of things, this event looked to be one big example for the rest of the community as well. Way to go Frost Murphy and Elite for trying to make a real difference and save one kid’s life.
Here’s some snapshots we took at the event.
Best of the Rest – Shark Fights 21, Bellator 57 Highlights
Elsewhere in the world of MMA this past weekend, former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley defeated Karl Knothe in West Texas to win the Shark Fights heavyweight title. Other notable winners from the event include top Texas prospects like Cody Pfister, Rashad Coulter, and Matt Hobar.
Meanwhile at Bellator 57, Douglas Lima defeated UFC-veteran Ben Saunders by TKO to win the Bellator welterweight tournament at welterweight while Russian striker Alexander Shlemenko defeated Brazilian Vitor Vianna to win this season in the middleweight class. Aside from those two, another significant bout took place on this card as Chris Horodecki fought for the first time since the tragic death of longtime trainer Shawn Tompkins. Horodecki ended up battling to a majority draw against Mike Corey this time around.
Weekend Quick Results
UFC on FOX 1
• Junior dos Santos over Cain Velasquez by KO at 1:04, R1
• Benson Henderson over Clay Guida by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Dustin Poirier over Pablo Garza by submission (d’arce choke) at 1:32, R2
• Ricardo Lamas over Cub Swanson by submission (arm triangle choke) at 2:16, R2
• DaMarques Johnson over Clay Harvison by TKO at 1:34, R1
• Darren Uyenoyama over Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
• Robert Peralta over Mackens Semerzier by TKO at 1:54, R3
• Alex Caceres over Cole Escovedo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mike Pierce over Paul Bradley by split decision (28-29, 30-37, 29-28)
• Aaron Rosa over Matt Lucas by majority decision (28-28, 30-26, 30-26)
Bellator 57
• Douglas Lima over Ben Saunders by TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:21 – wins welterweight tournament
• Alexander Shlemenko over Vitor Bynna by unanimous decision – wins middleweight tournament
• Roger Hollett over John Hawk by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Alexandre Bezerra over Doug Evans by submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 4:04
• Matt Van Buren over Shawn Levesque by submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:38
• Chris Horodecki vs. Mike Corey declared majority draw (29-28 Horodecki, 28-28, 28-28)
• Dave Jansen over Ashkar Morvari by submission (rear-naked choke) Round 2, 2:47
• Denis Puric over Chuck Mady by TKO (injury) – Round 2, 5:00
• Eric Moon over Josh Shockley by submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:35
• Taylor Solomon over Mike Sledzion by TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:10
Shark Fights 21
• Bobby Lashley over Karl Knothe by submission (americana) at 3:44 round one
• Cody East over Adenelson Clementino by TKO at 1:15 round one
• Cody Pfister over Isias Martinez by TKO at 4:09 round two
• Warren Stewart over Gabe Vasquez by submission (RNC) at 3:46 round one
• John King def Daniel De Almeida by split decision
• Rashad Coulter drf. Chase Watson by TKO at 2:39 round three
• Jon Voth over Jeremiah Castillo by submission (arm bar) at 2:27 round 1
• Matt Hobar over Marcus Baldiby by submission (north-south choke) at :53 round one
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