The Tap-Out 08.28.06
Posted by Caleb Newby on 08.28.2006
All the results and quick hitting thoughts from this weekend's Bushido 12 and UFC 62 events! Gomi wins, Henderson is upset, Forrest is hilarious, and Liddell dominates!
Welcome to a special edition of The Tap-Out. Bushido and UFC 62 results and thoughts below. And the standard thanks to MMAweekly.com for the results
Pride Bushido 12 Results
Daisuke Nakamura def. Seichi Ikemoto by submission (armbar) at 3:12 of Round 1
Hiroyuki Abe and Naoki Matsushita fought to a draw
Hatsu Hioki def. Jeff Curran by unanimous decision
Shinya Aoki def. Jason Black by submission (triangle choke) at 1:58 of Round 1
Gilbert Melendez def. Nobuhiro Obiya by unanimous decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Chris Brennan by KO at 0:29 of Round 1
Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Cristiano Marcello by unanimous decision
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai def. Luciano Azevedo by TKO (doctor stoppage due to cut) at
6:35 of Round 1
Ikuhisa Minowa def. Eric "Butterbean" Esch by submission (armbar) at 4:25 of Round 1
Bushido Grand Prix Quarter-Final #1: Denis Kang def. Amar Suloev by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:09 of Round 1
Bushido Grand Prix Quarter-Final #2: Paulo Filho def. Ryo Chonan by submission (armbar) at 2:30 of Round 1
Bushido Grand Prix Quarter-Final #3: Akihiro Gono def. Gegard Mousasi by submission (armbar) at 4:17 of Round 2
Bushido Grand Prix Quarter-Final #4: Kazuo Misaki def. Dan Henderson by unanimous decision
Takanori Gomi def. David Baron by rear naked choke at 7:10 of Round 1
Butterbean lost! I wanted him to win and I don't know why. But I did. Kang looked very strong in his match, as did Filho. I picked Mousasi but wasn't shocked by Gono's victory. Best news regarding that is we get another great entrance.
In big news, the master of decisions himself, Dan Henderson lost to Misaki. I felt it could have gone either way but was leaning Misaki myself slightly. Does it make anyone else feel a bit weird to see various Pride champions lose and still stay champ? Just wondering.
And speaking of, Gomi took down Baron with a rear naked choke after peppering him with combinations standing. For some reason I was kind of "eh" while watching much of this show. I got really into it a few times but couldn't keep my attention riveted to it. I suspect it had to do with not being live while watching.
UFC 62
Yushin Okami def. Alan Belcher by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
David Heath def. Cory Walmsley by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:32 of Round 1
Wilson Gouveia def. Wes Combs by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:23 of Round 1
Eric Schafer def. Rob MacDonald by submission (arm triangle choke) at 2:26 of Round 1
Hermes Franca def. Jamie Varner by submission (armbar) at 3:31 of Round 3
Cheick Kongo def. Christian Wellisch by KO at 2:51 of Round 1
Nick Diaz def. Josh Neer by submission (Kimura) at 1:42 of Round 3
Forrest Griffin def. Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Chuck Liddell def. Renato "Babalu" Sobral by KO at 1:35 of Round 1
I went to Buffalo Wild Wings and might have to make that a habit of that for the PPVs. The more people yelling at the TVs the better I say.
MacDonald let me down by being the only fight I picked wrong, but Schafer did look very solid and confident in the octagon.
Hermes had me worried that he wouldn't be able to pull it out but he was able to snag an arm in the end.
Kongo sure impressed everyone at the bar with his physique. I think some people were already penciling him in to take down Sylvia. A nice knee won him this fight and will keep his stock rising in the weak heavyweight division of the UFC. Maybe that Sylvia fight won't be as far off as I implied.
WAR DIAZ! This was the fight of the night in my opinion. Amazing, amazing fight. Two cocky fighters laying it out for a long battle that didn't end up in the judges hands. Diaz came in on a few days notice to take on Neer, the favorite. After losing to three in a row most people thought that Diaz, while talented was going to drop another one. And honestly, I was leaning that way too. Diaz came out motivated peppering Neer with hooks and jabs. While few looked like they had much power they were taking their toll on Neer and was obviously affecting the score cards, while Neer's main offense was wild haymakers that missed their target. By the 3rd round Diaz was able to sink in a kimura and finish the very satisfying bout.
Griffin/Bonnar 2 showed how much the fighters had improved. I was surprised that Bonnar was so tentative out there but I suppose you could attribute it to not wanting to being on the biggest stage of his life in the biggest fight of his life. Forrest won this close fight, but not close enough to make it any sort of question as to the winner. While this battle was good I was still on a high from the Neer/Diaz bout. Highlight for me was Forrest's post fight interview. I honestly don't know how some people don't like him.
In the main event Chuck thinned out his competition by thwatling (is that a word?) Sobral. For all the build up and talk from the hardcore fans of how Babalu could be the man to take down Liddell it sure didn't seem to be much of a chore for the champ. Beats me what when through Sobral's head as he decided his best tactic would be to rush Liddell with strikes. Not surprisingly, that proved to be foolish as he was promptly KOed in a short but decisive fight. The two previous fights helped sooth the pain of such a short main event and at least there was a clear winner.
That's it for my wrap up of the shows. Sorry that it was a little sloppy but I wanted to get this in before deadline. Let's hope I accomplished that. Next week I'll be back with a more traditional column. Check out the Throwdown later this week for what is sure to be another excellent column and who knows, MSD might pop in with his thoughts as well. Thanks for stopping by.
