Simply MMA: UFC - Ultimate Fight Night

Posted by Jamie Meikle on 05.25.2010

The very first Ultimate Fight Night...

BACK!!! Well my exams are over (thank Christ) which means I can get back to reviewing for the site. Over the next few months I plan to review the UFC Ultimate Fight Night shows while sneaking in other events from UFC, PRIDE and many others. So let’s start off with the very first Ultimate Fight Night Broadcast. After the success of the first season of the Ultimate fighter and the Finale show you can’t blame Spike TV for wanting more UFC. So this is the first, of many, Ultimate Fight Night shows featuring Ultimate Fighter alumni, Chris Leben, Josh Koscheck, Nate Quarry etc.

We are LIVE from the Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas Nevada. Your hosts are Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.


Welterweight Bout –Josh Koscheck vs. Pete Spratt
Kos is coming off a win off Chris Sanford at the Ultimate Fighter Finale while Spratt returns to the Octagon for the first time since his win against Robbie Lawler at UFC 42.

Kos comes forward and lands a leg kick. He manages to get the takedown right into half guard. Spratt’s guard is wide open, he rolls and gives up his back. Kos immediately gets double underhooks as Spratt gets to his feet. Spratt defends but Koscheck gets the arm around the neck and sinks in the choke. Spratt falls and taps out.

Highlight reel finish here. Hell the image the image of Kos choking the standing Spratt made it on the front cover of the Best of Ultimate Fight Night DVD. Awesome submission finish for Kos.


Middleweight Bout-Nate Quarry vs. Pete Sell
Quarry, who was the favorite to win TUF 1, returns after his knockout win of Shonnie Carter at UFC 53. Sell returns after his submission victory over Phil Baroni at UFC 51.

Sell throws some jabs to start us off. He catches Quarry with a nice left jab and right hand. Quarry answers with a leg kick. Sell starts to circle but is dropped with a left hand. Quarry follows with a right and referee Cecil Peoples calls the fight despite Sell being clearly conscious. I smell an early stoppage here.

Replays show Sell was still conscious after the second punch and was looking for guard as Peoples stopped the fight. Dammit Peoples!!! Even as a ref he can’t get anything right. Nice win for Quarry thought despite the controversial finish.


Light Heavyweight Bout - Sam Hoger vs. Stephan Bonner
‘The Alaskan Assassin ‘ returns after a win over Bobby Southworth while Bonner looks for his first official win inside the octagon. I predict an easy win for Bonner and a lot of Griffin/Bonner 1 references from Goldie and Rogan.

Bonner gets the takedown early. He presses Hoger up against the fence and transitions to half guard. Bonner lands some elbows to the head. Hoger brings Bonner back into full guard, Bonner continues to throw punches and elbows. Bonner looks to pass the guard but is unable to do so. Hoger manages to sink in an arm triangle but Bonner guts it out and continues to ground and pound Hoger up against the cage. Bonner gets back to half guard and throws more elbows. Both get back to their feet, Bonner connects with a knee and starts swinging punches. More punches to the head of Hoger and the round ends.

Here we go Round 2. Bonner just misses a right, he connects with a leg kick, Hoger comes forward and just misses the high kick. Nice spinning back kick by Bonner, he gets the clinch and lands more knees to the head of Hoger. Hoger backs off and Bonner swings for the finish again. Bonner looks for the takedown but Hoger ends up on top. Bonner quickly gets back to his feet and they clinch. Bonner gets the leg trip and mounts Hoger. Bonner starts to throw punches but Hoger sweeps him and ends up in Bonner’s guard. Hoger pushes Bonner up against the cage. Bit of lay and pray by Hoger, which leads to McCarthy to stand them up. They both throw punches with Hoger landing the better. Leg kick is caught by Hoger and Bonner ends up on his back with Hoger in his guard. Kimura attempt by Bonner, Hoger rolls out of it but is mounted in the process. Elbows and punches by Bonner as Hoger looks to sweep again as the round ends.

Final round, leg kick by Hoger to start us off. They start to throw punches again. They clinch up with Hoger avoiding the leg trip. Bonner is gassed at this point, he is trying desperately to get the takedown. He eventually brings Hoger down and gets half guard. Mount now for Bonner. Hoger almost sweeps him again and gets a butterfly guard. Bonner throws punches from the top. Bonner looks to pass the guard but eats some leg kicks. Punches from the guard by Bonner, both are gassed. Bonner steps out of guard and goes for a foot stomp. Hoger almost gets a knee bar but the horn saves Bonner.
All three judges call it 30-27 to Bonner. Decent fight, the second round was particularly fun. It wasn’t the best performance of Bonner’s career but he did look dominating throughout the majority of the fight.


Middleweight Bout-Chris Leben vs. Patrick Cote
Now this should be good. Cote is coming off loses to Ortiz and Doerksen. The ever-controversial Leben comes off a win at the TUF finale.

Here we go! Leben presses the action, he shoots and presses Cote up against the cage. He lands a couple of foot stomps, Cote switches and now he pushes Leben up against the fence. They stay clinched up both throwing punches and knees. The separate, Cote connects with a right and Leben answers with a left. Cote comes forward with punches and again they clinch up against the cage. Leben turns the tables and presses Cote up against the Octagon. They split again. Cote again comes forward, connecting with a left and missing a right. Now they start to exchange punches, Cote backs off Leben charges forward. Both connect with punches before clinching again. They separate and throw some punches as the round ends.

Leben gets caught with a right and he replies with a left. Wild exchange of punches, they clinch up again. Cote manages to get the takedown. Leben tries to get back to his feet while Cote throws punches. Once again they end up clinched against the cage. They split, Cote then lands a good right hand. Leg kick by Leben followed by a nice left that catches Cote. Another left by Leben and they clinch AGAIN! They stay up against the fence before Leben lands a takedown and starts to land shots to the body. Herb Dean brings them back to their feet with 25 seconds remaining. Leben goes for high kick but ends up on his back, I can’t tell if he slipped or if Cote dropped him. Cote fails to capitalize and the round ends.

Leg kicks by Leben to start round 3 Cote answers with one of his own. Ugh they clinch again. Leben tries to get a takedown but has no luck. Finally they break free and Cote lands a good right. Leben misses some punches and guess what? They clinch again. Nothing much happens until Cote botches and takedown resulting with Leben on top. Elbows by Leben and a few body shots. Leben steps out of guard and jumps into side control but the round ends before he can do any damage.
I really don’t know how to score this one. Judges give the split decision to Leben. Disappointing fight, aside from the odd exchange and takedown they spent the majority clinched up against the cage and that doesn’t make for an exciting fight.


Middleweight Bout-Mike Swick vs. Gideon Ray
Prelim time, Ray makes his return to the Octagon after his UFC 51 loss to David Loiseau. Swick returns after his 20 second KO of Alex Schoenauer at the TUF finale.
Leg kick by Swick to start. They circle before Swick unleashes a flurry of punches that drops Ray, Swick continues to throw punches before the ref stops the fight at 21 seconds!

Damn! Awesome finish by ‘Quick’ Swick The speed he threw those punches was insane.


Middleweight Bout-Nate Marquardt vs. Ivan Salaverry
Main Event time and it’s an odd one to say the least. Marquardt makes his UFC against Salaverry who is coming in with a 3 fight-winning streak. You would think that Zuffa would put something like Cote/Leben or Bonner/Hoger in the main event but hey I suppose the purpose of UFN is too highlight new, upcoming talent. Plus the announcer talk of this being a potential contender match for the title.

Wow really slow start with both men circling and throwing some leg kicks with Marquardt landing the better of them. Marquardt is pressing forward but nothing else is happening. Salaverry misses the axe kick and a spinning back kick. Not much happens until Nate gets the takedown but they’re soon back to their feet. More circling, yeah not much happens after that.

Round 2 begins, Salaverry throws a few body kicks. He throws another one but Marquardt telegraphs it and gets the takedown. Nate can’t do much in the closed guard so Big John stands them up. More leg kicks by both men. Nate is pressing forward but Ivan keeps backing off. Nate connects with a jab. Ugh this fight is horrible. Ivan shoots but Nate ends up on top but again little to nothing happens as the round ends.

Third and final round. More circling by both men. Oy Vey! More leg kicks as the crowd gets increasingly restless. Marquardt again telegraphs the kick and trips Salaverry. Nate chooses to stand and kick the legs of his grounded opponent. Back to the feet, Ivan shoots right into a guillotine attempt by Marquardt. Ivan escapes and rolls to his back with Nate in his guard. Marquardt rolls Salaverry and gets the back. Ivan manages to get back to his feet and Nate lets go of his back. Again Ivan shoots straight into a guillotine position, Nate lands some knees to the head, Salaverry drops to the floor, rolls and they stand again. More circling, Ivan shoots one more time but he can’t get it. Horn sounds soon after.

We go to the judges and they give the unanimous decision to Nate ‘The Great’ Terrible fight and a horrible way to end the show. It also ending up meaning nothing in terms of title contention as Marquardt tested positive for steroids and Salaverry got released. This was, at the time, the biggest fight of their careers. Headlining on national T.V in one of the biggest MMA promotions in the world and they blew it. Nate of course would recover from this travesty of a fight and become a legit title contender and fan favorite. Sadly for Ivan he never got another big opportunity and retired three fights later.

The 411: The Kos and Swick highlight reel finishes save it from being a horrible show but there is really nothing to see elsewhere. Bonner/Hoger is decent at best, Quarry/Sell ends WAY too early and the less send about Cote/Leben and Nate/Ivan the better. Not a good show.

Final Score:  5.0   [ Not So Good ]