411's UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson Report 2.21.09
Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 02.21.2009
Diego Sanchez made a successful debut at 155, outlasting Joe Stevenson in a hard fought decision. Also, Nate Marquardt knocked off Wilson Gouveia by TKO and Demain Maia pulled off a slick submission over Chael Sonnen. It was a night of knockouts in London. Click for the full report.
*UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson
*From the O2 Arena in London, England
*Tape Delay on SpikeTV
-Warrior opening video.
-Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan talk about Diego Sanchez and his move to 155 along with Joe Stevenson. They move on to talk about Markham vs. Hardy and Rogan mentions that he's trained with Hardy.
Welterweight Fight: Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago
Round One: Swing and miss with the right by Koscheck. Leg kick by Thiago. Big right by Koscheck. Getting growing restless. Kos loading up on the right but not connecting flush. Thiago drops Koscheck with an uppercut. The ref jumps in and stops it.
I'm not sure if Koscheck was out or not and he seemed upset with the stoppage but the uppercut dropped him and he looked like he went limp and the ref was in right away. On the replay, he was clearly out cold. Koscheck still feels it was stopped early.
Official Decision: Paulo Thiago by KO at 3:29 in Round One
Middleweight Fight: Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen
Round One: Sonnen pushes down Maia after catching a kick but lets him back up. Maia shoots, Sonnen sprawls, and Maia pulls guard. Sonnen gets to his feet and stands above Maia. Sonnen allows Maia to stand. They clinch and Maia with a throw takedown into a top triangle. Maia rolls and locks in a triangle choke. Sonnen taps.
Official Decision: Demian Maia by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 2:37 in Round One
-Maia thinks he deserves a title shot. "You can win a fight without hurting your opponent." Awesome line.
Heavyweight Fight (Preliminary Fight): Junior Dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve
Round One: Quick clinch and break to start. Body shots by Santos. Big right hand drops Struve. He gets up and another right drops him again. The ref stops it. Santos was teeing off with hooks when Struve was standing before he dropped him twice.
Official Decision: Junior Dos Santos by TKO at :54 in Round One
Middleweight Fight: Nate Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia
Round One: Slow start with a lot of swings and misses. Leg kicks by both. Body shot by Nate. Wilson pushes forward with punches and Nate retreats. Leg kicks by Nate. Middle kick, jab combo by Nate. Gouveia keeps pushing forward by Nate moves back. Nate goes for the takedown and Wilson grabs a guillotine. The arm is in and Nate gets out. Nate is in the guard of Wilson. Good elbows by Nate. The round ends. 10-9 Marquardt.
Round Two: Leg kick by Wilson. Crowd booing a bit. They trade right hands. Nate with another big right. Knees to the body by Nate. They clinch against the cage and quickly break. Right hand stumbles Nate. Wilson rushes in, Nate moves to the side and gets the back of Wilson. They go to the ground with Nate in the guard of Wilson. Good control by Wilson on the ground, limiting damage. Nate gets free and drops big elbows. Nate goes for a guillotine as Wilson stands up. Nate lands a knee as he releases. Back on the feet now. Nate scoring with the right hand. Leg kick by Nate followed by a big right. Knees by Nate. Another big right. Nate pours it on at the end of the round. 10-9 Marquardt.
Round Three: They trade right hands. Wilson pushes forward with punches but Nate retreats. Leg kick by Nate and then he gets Wilson's back while they're standing. Nate drops to a single by Wilson stays on his feet. They break. Flying knee by Nate followed by everyone punch in the book. Wilson wilts against the cage and the ref stops it. Wilson dropped from a right hand followed by a knee after Nate threw high kicks and spinning back fists. Really great ending.
Official Decision: Nate Marquardt by TKO at 3:10 in Round Three
-Nate wants another shot at Anderson Silva.
-Joe Rogan interviews Quinton Jackson. Jackson thinks Jardine will be a good test for him. "I'm just tryin to do my thang." Jackson says that he's not looking past Jardine.
Lightweight Fight (Preliminary Fight): Terry Etim vs. Brian Cobb
Round One: Leg kicks by Etim. Cobb catches a kick and drags Etim to the ground. Cobb in the guard of Etim. The ref stands them up. More leg kicks by Etim. Etim picking him apart on the feet. Cobb gets the takedown and ends up in guard. Cobb doing nothing but landing ineffective body shots on the ground. The ref stands them up. Etim destroying the lead leg of Cobb with kicks. They clinch and Etim trips him to mount. Cobb gets to butterfly guard. They stand as the round ends. 10-9 Etim.
Round Two: Head kick knocks down Cobb. Etim pounces on him and finishes him.
Cobb isn't happy with the stoppage but he was getting dominated on the feet either way.
Official Decision: Terry Etim by TKO at :10 in Round Two
-Etim is taking it one fight at a time.
Lightweight Fight (Preliminary Fight): Per Eklund vs. Evan Dunham
Round One: Big left drops Eklund. Dunham looks for a guillotine. Eklund gets out and is in guard. Dunham is able to stand up but Eklund pulls guard. Dunham is in the guard of Eklund now. Eklund goes for an armbar but Dunham pulls out. They stand up. Dunham scoring with the jab. Big left drops Eklund again and Dunham pounds him out as the ref stops it.
Official Decision: Evan Dunham by KO at 2:14 in Round One
-Dunham says he's been working on his boxing with Sean Thompkins.
Heavyweight Fight (Preliminary Fight): Neil Grove vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz
Round One: Mike shoots, Grove stuffs, and Mike pulls half guard. Grove tries to stand and Mike goes for a heel hook. Mike locks it in and Grove taps out.
Official Decision: Mike Ciesnolevicz by Submission (Heel Hook) at 1:03 in Round One
-Mike usually fights at Light Heavyweight but took this fight just to fight in the UFC.
Welterweight Fight: Dan Hardy vs. Rory Markham
Round One: Markham bleeding from the nose after a jab. Left hook drops Markham and he's out.
Official Decision: Dan Hardy by KO at 1:09 in Round One
-Hardy says that he has punching power, despite pre-fight comments by Markham
-Rogan talks about the cut that Sanchez had to make and if it will affect him. Rogan says that this is the perfect time for Stevenson to take advantage of Sanchez. Sanchez only lands 29% of his takedowns and 56% of his ground strikes. Stevenson has won 50% of his UFC fights by guillotine choke and 62% of his ground strikes.
Lightweight Fight (Main Event): Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson
Round One: Stevenson connecting with straight punches. Uppercut by Sanchez. Good combo by Joe. Straight right by Joe. Body shot, uppercut combo by Sanchez. Sanchez finding a home for the uppercut. Sanchez landing the better shots and scoring with body shots as well. Stevenson scoring with the straight right. The round ends. 10-9 Sanchez.
Round Two: Big right stumbles Joe. He follows with a knee. Joe goes for a takedown but Sanchez sprawls and goes for a guillotine. He switches to the back. Joe scrambles out and they're both up. They clinch and Joe goes for a guillotine. Sanchez picks him up and slams him down. Sanchez creates a scramble and tries to get a standing kimura. Joe spins out. Sanchez continues to get the better of the stand up battle. Big uppercuts by Sanchez. The round ends. 10-9 Sanchez.
Round Three: They come out swinging and Sanchez getting the better of the exchanges. Sanchez continuing to get the better of the exchanges but Joe is hanging in there. Sanchez shoots and Joe sprawls. Joe starting to score with the jab. Joe starting to win some of the exchanges. Sanchez shoots but Joe sprawls and gets the back on the feet. Sanchez gets out. Body shot by Joe. Joe pressing forward. Big exchange as the round ends. 10-9 Stevenson.
Official Decision: Diego Sanchez by Unanimous Decision
-Sanchez says the move to Lightweight is permanent for now. Sanchez says he'll fight whoever UFC wants him to.
This was a really entertaining card ruined by an obnoxious crowd. Most of the fights didn't leave the first round and still these British morons booed. It didn't actually ruin the event for me but still, show some respect for the fighters. UFC 94 was crap next to this (shit undercard) and the people in attendance got their moneys worth I think. The main event was all on the feet, Maia is the man to watch in 2009, a lot of surprises, overall some of the best free tv I've seen and probably will see all year.
Posted By: MMA comment (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 01:16 AM
Down goes Koscheck! Down goes Koscheck!
Posted By: Ooooh yeahhh (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 01:36 AM
Diego Sanchez looked weak against Joe Daddy. He wasnt even hurting Joe daddy and was very close to being knocked out. Joe Daddy took all Diego had and then some. Joe is clearly the tougher opponent
Posted By: Guest#9947 (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 01:44 AM
Londons crowds are nothing on any of the other locations in the UK they've done.
Diego looked out of his mind in the pre-PPV talky bit. Absolute fruitloop.
Posted By: Brett (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 07:56 AM
continue to work on your reviews, the nate marquardt fight was pretty intense. and im a lazy dude but damn what was the actually judges scores of the diego and joe "daddy" fight
Posted By: DJ (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 08:59 AM
I feel that the Kos fight was stopped a tad too early. If you look at it, after he is knocked down, Kos looks like he intends to get up, but then realizes that Thiago is coming in to try and finish him. He appropriately goes back on his back, brings his legs up in anticipation of having to be in guard. He also brings his hands up to help deflect any punches to the face. Totally early stoppage and I think Kos has the right to be pissed. If he wasn't "intelligently" defending himself, then yes, stop the fight. But the fans got robbed cause it looked like it was going to be a hell of a fight.
Posted By: Guest#1513 (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Joe Daddy took all Diego had and then some. Joe is clearly the tougher opponent
Posted By: Guest#9947 (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 01:44 AM
But who won the fight? Toughness is great and all but compaired to Diego's skills Stevenson looked like the "Average" Joe. Demian Maia looked as did Marquardt how about a number #1 contender's match between them?
Posted By: Paul (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 11:16 AM
This was, by far, the best card of the year (and maybe even better than any in 2008). Yes, the crowd was selfish, but that took a backseat to all the knockouts (koscheck) and upsets (koscheck). Unfortunately, I fear that the next event (which we have to pay for) will be a letdown....as they have been lately.
Posted By: GeeSpotter (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Two judges had it 30-27, and one judge had it 29-28 all for sanchez. This show was very exciting and has made the middleweight, lightweight, and heavyweight divisions more exciting. I'd like to see Marquardt vs Maia for #1 contendership at 185. Plus we saw the solidification of Dos Santos as a legit heavyweight KO artist and he must be talked about as a real threat to the upper echelon now. With Sanchez winning an impressive decision over Stevenson, he's automatically 2 wins from a title shot I'd say. Maybe we could see Sanchez against another upper midlevel guy like Guida or Maynard, then against a top contender should he win that one.
Posted By: guest guest (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Diego Sanchez looked weak against Joe Daddy. He wasnt even hurting Joe daddy and was very close to being knocked out. Joe Daddy took all Diego had and then some. Joe is clearly the tougher opponent
Posted By: Guest#9947 (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 01:44 AM
The commentators talked about this a bit, because Diego had cut so much weight for this fight. He was 190, then dropped to 155 for the weigh-in, then went back up to 170. They said it might have drained him.
Joe was very tough, and took a lot of hits through the match and kept coming, but Diego was a much more polished and versatile fighter. Joe had the chin to take it, but he wasn't really dishing out a lot of pain. As much as you want to say Joe took everything Diego threw, remember that Diego was still standing at the end, too.
Posted By: Sly Reference (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 12:42 PM
The best part of the night (other than Buffer with his card-whip which is worth the price of admission alone for any ppv) was Sanchez screaming YES! YES! YES! It's all we've been saying for hours now. I love it.
Posted By: The Jerk (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 05:45 PM
Guest# 1513.... my thoughts exactly...
Posted By: Guest#1026 (Guest) on February 22, 2009 at 06:22 PM
All I can say is, what happened to the Nightmare? That fight/boxing match was boring as hell outside of a couple scrambles on the mat. Sanchez looked gassed by the third round and had no power behind his punches. I expected him to push the pace and dominate Joe, but it was Joe that had to push in on Sanches to get him to engage. Pretty dissapointing end to the night.
Posted By: Wyku (Guest) on February 23, 2009 at 11:52 AM
