411’s UFC Wired Report 09.29.08
Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 09.29.2008
Brock Lesnar challenges Frank Mir, Diego Sanchez fight's a Swiss and a pair of Paul's look to bash each other's face in. All that and more on this episode of UFC Wired.
411's UFC Wired Report 09.29.08
UFC Wired is a syndicated, one-hour show airing past fights on local MyNetworkTV affiliates and the host is our favorite color commentator, Joe Rogan. Check your local TV listings for your affiliate and exact air dates/times. Enough with the formalities, to the action!
We open with a fight between fellow Brits as Paul Taylor fights Paul Kelly. This is the opening prelim fight from UFC 80, the first show of the year. Taylor came off a loss to Marcus Davis four months earlier. Kelly made his UFC debut after putting together an undefeated record in which he finished all of his opponents.
Welterweight Fight Paul Taylor (8-2-1) vs. Paul Kelly (7-0) UFC 80: Rapid Fire
Newcastle, England on 01.19.08
Herb Dean is the referee. Immediately both men engage in a swinging slugfest. Hand speed is a premium here with both men although Taylor may be landing more. Kelly holds his hands out to show he's cool and eats a body kick. Taylor continues his onslaught as Kelly tries to go for a takedown and clinch. Taylor uses knees to the legs to soften Kelly up. They separate and more strikes are thrown. Taylor keeps his hands up, unlike a lot of fighters. Taylor lands a pair of nice kicks, although Kelly catches one but Taylor jumps up and hooks on a guillotine choke. Kelly drops to the mat and gets out but is in Taylor's guard. Kelly lands elbows in the guard and Taylor's nose is bloodied. Taylor nearly hooks in a triangle but Kelly lands some bombs. The round ends as Kelly throws more strikes. A tough round to score but I would give the 10-9 to Paul Kelly as he controlled the fight once it went to the ground.
The second round kicks off with both men swinging again. Taylor gets the takedown and is on top, in half guard. Taylor lands some strikes but Kelly rolls out and ends up on top of Taylor. They try for better positioning but neither man does much damage. Taylor has some sort of an arm-submission hold on until Kelly breaks free. Kelly lands bombs and a big elbow which opens a cut on Taylor's forehead. The cut is bleeding big time as the round ends. 10-9 for Kelly as he did more in terms of striking and damage throughout the round.
At the start of the round, the two fighters embrace and hug. Back to action, they once again engage in a boxing slugfest. Kelly hits Taylor hard who stumbles a bit. Kelly clinches with him and lands a knee before tripping him for a takedown. From side control, Kelly is landing some nice strikes. Taylor cannot defend the elbows to his bloodied face. Kelly switches to half-guard, then the ref stands them up for inaction. Taylor fires away with a high kick and showcases his nice boxing talent. Kelly can't block but clinches, then trips Taylor again for the takedown. Two minutes remain as Taylor is in bad shape if he wants to finish this fight. Taylor is doing all he can from the bottom but Kelly is throwing punches and elbows . This continues until the end of the fight. The takedowns and dominance on the ground are enough for the 10-9 to Kelly. A nice fight and it should be a 30-27 victory for Paul Kelly.
Judges score it...30-27.
Your winner is Paul Kelly via unanimous decision.
Now on to UFC 81, this fight was a preliminary contest between David Heath and UFC rookie Tim Boetsch. Boetsch accepted this fight on 10-days notice. Before this fight, Boetsch was 6-1 with his only loss coming at the hands of Vladimir Matyushenko in the IFL. Heath was 7-0 entering 2007, then lost to both Lyoto Machida and Babalu Sobral in 2007. Needing a win here, he was the favorite against the newcomer.
Light Heavyweight Fight David Heath (7-2) vs. Tim Boetsch (6-1) UFC 81: Breaking Point
Las Vegas, Nevada on 02.02.08
Herb Dean is the referee. Both men walk around the cage for the first forty-seconds until Heath lands a pair of punches although none landed perfectly. Boetsch lands a leg kick and a front kick. Boetsch shoots but Heath defends well although he eats a punch. A second front kick from Boetsch who lands a right overhand. Boetsch lands a nice body kick followed by a knee as Heath tries to throw a punch but misses. Boetsch is a wrestler but his stand-up game is nice, throwing knees, kicks and punches. Heath begins landing some big shots but Boetsch answers with another front kick. Boetsch clinches Heath and lands five knee's in a row. Boetsch mixes it up again with knee's and punches. He continues his onslaught, throws Heath on the floor and begins pounding away. The referee shouts for Heath to fight back (he doesn't) and the fight is stopped. WOW.
Your winner is Tim Boetsch via TKO at 4:52 of the first round..
We turn to UFC 82 this past March and Diego Sanchez in his first fight in nearly six months. Sanchez had lost to both Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch to go winless in 2007 and a win was very important. His opponent was UFC newcomer, David Bielkheden, the first Swiss fighter in the promotion's history. A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, Bielkheden was 12-5 elsewhere including a loss to Mitsuhiro Ishida in PRIDE.
Welterweight Fight Diego Sanchez (19-2) vs. David Bielkheden (12-5) UFC 82: Pride of a Champion
Columbus, Ohio on 03.01.08
Jerry Krysz is the referee. Diego throws a punch, then shoots for the takedown and gets it. Diego land nice punches and slams David who pulls guard. Diego is fierce in working to pass guard. Bielkheden works punches from the bottom but Sanchez does a great job of passing to side control. The elbows from "The Nightmare" begin to rain down. Sanchez tries for a kimura but instead works to mount Bielkheden. Sanchez begins his ground and pound as Bielkheden tries to hold Diego close enough to stop the strikes. Sanchez's elbows and punches are nasty and Bielkheden is taking a ton of punishment. Bielkheden taps out from the ground and pound and the fight is over.
Your winner is Diego Sanchez via TKO at 4:43 of the first round.
Finally, we check out the (real) main event of UFC 81 that took place on Superbowl Weekend in 2008. Here, former NCAA Wrestling Champion and pro wrestling champion Brock Lesnar made his UFC debut fighting a former UFC Heavyweight Champion in Frank Mir. Lesnar entered this fight with a 1-0 record after dominating Min Soo Kim on a K-1 show in 2007. His first real challenge was a stout one in Mir. Since returning from his motorcycle accident in 2006, Mir was 2-2 with losses to Marcio Cruz and Brandon Vera. This fight was highly anticipated for obvious reasons but Mir's submission skills were seen as a strongpoint against a newcomer to the sport.
Heavyweight Match Brock Lesnar (1-0) vs. Frank Mir (10-3) UFC 81: Breaking Point
Las Vegas, Nevada - 02.02.08
Steve Mazzagatti is the referee. Mir throws a kick but Brock shoots and gets the takedown. From half-guard, Brock lands elbows and hammerfists. Brock pounds away as Frank Mir tries to avoid the shots. The referee intervenes and pauses the action, calling a timeout. He takes a point away from Brock for punching Mir in the back of the head.
The replay shows one errant blow struck Mir in the back of the head, unintentionally. The fight resumes and Brock slaps a Mir high kick away. Mir throws a body kick but Brock punches Mir and he falls down. Brock smells blood and drops tons of hammerfists and punches. Lesnar spins around to side control and continues his onslaught. Mir goes for an armbar but Brock pulls his arm free. In Mir's guard, Lesnar continues throwing big punches. Lesnar stands up to get free of Mir's guard. Mir reaches for Lesnar's leg and sweeps him to the mat, slapping on a footlock in the process. Lesnar is trapped! Lesnar taps out! Wow. A bloody Frank Mir celebrates the big upset.
Your winner is Frank Mir via submission at 1:30 of the first round.
