411's UFC 135 Preliminary Card Report 9.24.11
Posted by Robert Winfree on 09.24.2011
James TeHuna defeated Ricardo Romero via RD1 KO, Takeya Mizugaki defeated Cole Escovedo via RD2 TKO and more! Check out 411's complete UFC 135 Preliminary Card report for all the details!
-On tap for today…
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Ricardo Romero vs. James Te Huna
Cole Escovedo vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Junior Assuncao vs. Eddie Yagin
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
Aaron Riley vs. Tony Ferguson
Tim Boetsch vs. Nick Ring
-Welcome readers to my first LIVE coverage of a UFC event. Given it's my first time you might have to bear with me a little bit, but I'll do my best to keep you informed. This should be a great card and I thank you all for joining me for the coverage. I've only got the Prelims, so if I'm completely awful never fear, the boss Csonka will have the main card covered for you guys.
Preliminary Card(Facebook)
A few technical difficulties to begin with, though I suppose it's best to get those out of the way early. And here we are. You'd think more people would be there given it's the first time in many years that the UFC is in Denver. Might just be the camera angles though, there's some good noise.
James Tehuna(14-5) vs. Ricardo Romero (11-2)
ROUND ONE: Ricardo is looking for takedowns, but they're really telegraphed and not explosive at all. On about the third attempt Tehuna catches him with a short uppercut and Romero goes down. A few more punches and this one's all over.
OFFICIAL RESULT: James TeHuna, KO, :47 Round 1
Rogan interviews TeHuna, probably because this fight will get replayed at some point given how fast it was. We get a look inside the locker room of Tim Boetsch to fill time, and he looks pretty good. Plus a quick commercial for the Spike portion of the prelims, which I'll also be covering.
Cole Escovedo (17-7) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (14-6-2)
ROUND ONE: Mizugaki is pressing the action, nice combos. They clinch, good knee from Cole to the body. Still trading, Mizugaki clinches against the cage goo combo from Mizugaki, then he takes him down. Mizugaki steps back and Cole trips him, then they clinch again. Cole jumps to guard, tries for a triangle but Mizugaki shakes him off and winds up in Cole's guard. Mizugaki stands up and they clinch again. Both fighters working knees to the body here, Escovedo seems to be getting the better of them. Big body shot by Cole as the round ends. Close round.
SCORECARD: 10-9 Mizugaki
ROUND TWO: Mizugaki catches a kick but doesn't want to go into Cole's guard. Mizugaki is closing the distance well and landing two punch combinations. Head kick lands for Cole. Nice uppercut from Mizugaki. Mizugaki working the left to the body effectively in this fight. Mizugaki knocks Cole down, but again doesn't want to go to the ground. Mizugaki tees off on Cole in a clinch against the cage. Mizugaki senses the end and starts swarming, Cole goes down but struggles up, another flurry ends with a big left hook that puts Escovedo down and the ref steps in.
OFFICIAL RESULT:Takeya Mizugaki, TKO, 4:30 Round 2
Rogan Interviews Mizugaki and his translator. Says sharp boxing was the key to his victory, as well as attacking when Cole wouldn't release the thai clinch.
Look into the locker rooms of Nick Ring, Tim Boetsch, Aaron Riley, and Tony Ferguson. I'm assuming another promo for the Spike TV card will be up in a moment. Yep I was right. The place is definitely filling up, should be a good crowd tonight.
Junior Assuncao(13-4) vs. Eddie Yagin(15-4-1)
Assuncao comes out to "Burning Heart" from Rocky IV, pretty cool.
ROUND ONE:Lots of nothing through the first minute. Junior with a takedown with 2:50 left in the round. Nice scrambling on the ground, Yagin has him in kind of a guard. Junior lands some good shots with his left, then Yagin kicks him off and we're standing again. They circle, Junior doing an Anderson Silva impersonation, badly. Junior takes him down, Yagin with full guard. Yagin with elbows from the back as the round ends. Not a whole lot going on here so far.
SCORECARD:10-9 Assuncao
ROUND TWO:Junior now doing a Wanderlei impression with his stance. Let me assure you, either Silva he is not. More circling. Junior with a takedown, scrambles has his back for a moment then loses it and we're against the cage. They separate and we're back to circling with a few kicks. Joe Rogan calls it "tentative" which is a very kind description for my money. Junior does another Anderson Silva dancing impression. Crowd is not impressed. Junior shoots, gets caught in a guillotine by Yagin but escapes. Now Junior on top in half guard. Yagin scrambles, Junior with a front headlock, Yagin escapes and we circle till the end of the round. Still not a whole lot going.
SCORECARD:10-9 Assuncao
ROUND THREE:Finally they look like they're fighting. Yagin reverses a takedown and gets on top. Junior uses butterfly guard to stand up. Yagin pushing forward, Junior shoots a double and Yagin goes for another guillotine. Yagin jumps to guard to try and finish it but can't. Junior on top in full guard now. Weak hammerfists from Junior who passes to half-guard. Junior locks down one arm and continues with punches. Junior finally starting to put some effort into his ground and pound. Solid shots, but nothing seems to really hurt Yagin. He might get stoppage just due to volume though. Nope, not gonna happen.
SCORECARD 10-9 Assuncao
OFFICIAL RESULT: Junior Assuncao, Unanimous decision (30-26x2 30-27)
I defy Csonka to find more at fault with the Rothwell vs. Hunt fight than this one. Alright, that's it for facebook, onto Spike.
Spike TV
Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg welcome us and pimp the PPV for later tonight.
Tim Boetsch(13-4) vs. Nick Ring(12-0)
ROUND ONE:Circling and kicks to start. Ring moving around the outside, clearly wary of the takedown. Ring catches a kick and gets a front headlock on Tim. Ring with knees to the shoulder. Tim stands up and Ring goes back on his bicycle. Ring again catches a front kick but can't get the takedown. Ring trying to use his reach, but only marginally effective. Tim shoots, stuffed, but lands a knee. Leg kick from Ring. Not much happens before the end of the round.
SCORECARD: 10-9 Ring
ROUND TWO: Ring's gameplan seems to be gassing out Boetsch. More circling, Boetsch stalking Ring, but Ring keeps evading. Good right hand from Tim. Ring shoots, stuffed by Tim. Boetsch is using angles much better this round, and catching Ring as Ring slips out to a side. Big right from Boetsch, Ring reverses the grappling position and stands. Clinch against the cage, Boetsch with the takedown. Ring back up, Tim with a guillotine and drops down to guard and holds Ring. Ring pulls his head out and is on top of Boetsch. Tim kicks him off, goes for a takedown and Ring on top with a front headlock. Tim stands, they clinch and Tim lands a good right hand. Boetsch is using good dirty boxing here. Boetsch with a trip takedown at the end of the round and a close kimura.
SCORECARD: 10-9 Boetsch
ROUND THREE:Boetsch is pushing forward and using close punches. They clinch against the cage. They break, Boetsch hits a good hook, then a knee from the clinch. Clinch against the cage again, knees to the thigh by Boetsch before the ref breaks them. Boetsch again closes the distance and lands a few close punches. They clinch and Boetsch gets the takedown, into Ring's guard. The ref stands them up for inactivity on the ground. Boetsch clinches then hits a HUGE judo throw into side control. Boetsch looking for the mounted crucifix. Now on top in the sprawl position and looks for a choke. Tim mounts Ring, then into side control. Boetsch lays in ground and pound to end the round.
: 10-9 Boetsch
OFFICIAL RESULT:Tim Boetsch, Unanimous Decision (29-28x2 30-27)
Boetsch admits the first round was rough for him, he was just looking to land one big punch. He likes the replay of the throw. That was an awesome throw.
Aaron Riley(29-12-1) vs. Tony Ferguson(12-2)
ROUND ONE:Ferguson has 7 inches of reach on Riley, but looks pretty thin in the arms from the weight cut. Riley pushing forward, just dodges a murderous uppercut from Tony. They're trading shots, nothing landing cleanly so far. Riley is throwing more diversity in his strikes. Riley with kicks to the body and legs. Big uppercut from Ferguson. Ferguson swarms, but Riley escapes. Ferguson lands a good shot and is looking for the finish. Good body shots by Ferguson. Riley's nose is bleeding, Rogan notes that Riley may have a broken jaw which would be grounds for a stoppage.
SCORECARD:10-9 Ferguson.
Riley says to his corner that his jaw is broken and the doctor calls it off.
OFFICIAL RESULT:Tony Ferguson, TKO, Doctor Stoppage, Round 1 5:00
They replay James TeHuna vs. Ricardo Romero from earlier.
James Tehuna(14-5) vs. Ricardo Romero(11-2)
ROUND ONE: Ricardo is looking for takedowns, but they're really telegraphed and not explosive at all. On about the third attempt Tehuna catches him with a short uppercut and Romero goes down. A few more punches and this one's all over.
OFFICIAL RESULT: James TeHuna, KO, :47 Round 1
Rogan and Goldberg run some numbers for the Hughes and Koscheck fight. This will be Koscheck's first fight back after his eye surgery. We next get numbers and video pertaining to Jones and Rampage. Jones has never been taken down int he UFC, impressive stat for him. If tradition holds we'll get Dana White and Joe Rogan screaming at us in a minute or two. Yep, here they are.
Alright, that does it for me guys, somehow we've both survived this experience. The boss Larry Csonka will have the main card coverage so I'll toss it to him.
