UFC 116 PLAY BY PLAY FOR LESNAR VS. CARWIN CARD (INCLUDING PRELIMS)

Posted on | July 2, 2010 | No Comments

UFC 116 Play By Play From The Prelims To The Main Event Written by FNU Editor Rich Bergeron

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PRELIMS:

1 Jon Madsen def. Karlos Vemola, Decision (Unanimous), 3rd round, 5:00
2 Daniel Roberts def. Forrest Petz, Decision (Split), 3rd round, 5:00
3 Gerald Harris def. Dave Branch, KO (Slam), 3rd Round, 2:35
4 Kendall Grove def. Goran Reljic, Decision (Split), 3rd Round, 5:00

SETH PETRUZELLI (14-5-0) Vs. RICARDO ROMERO (10-1)

ROUND 1:

Petruzelli lands first, stalking well. Landing kicks and right and left hands, stuffs Romero TD. Huge right lands , beginning of the end for Romero? Smacking fists keep connecting from Petruzelli. Romero is slowing down, high kick hurts Romero, but Seth falls down. Romero gets his best punch in, but it doesn’t stop Petruzelli. Seth is loading up both hands and landing his jab. A grappling contest begins and goes to a stalemate before Set gets top position and starts to ground and pound. Romero reverses and gets full mount. Petruzelli rolls. Romero goes for RNC. He’s too gassed out. Armbar transition allows Petruzelli to escape and land a crushing uppercut, but Romero still fights through and ends the round with another RNC attempt.

ROUND 2:

Romero gets caught with a huge knee, but it’s more glancing than flush. Romero stumbles and gets a few right hooks for his mistake. THe fight goes to the ground again where Petruzelli locks up an arm bar of his own. Romero escapes, but he is bloodied. Petruzelli fights back well with elbows and strikes from his back. He is breathing heavy but relaxed and composed. Petruzelli nearly secures a triangle as Romero bleeds and fights for top control. Romero digs in some elbows in a crucifix move. Romero switches to an arm submission and Petruzelli is forced to tap at 3:05 in the 2nd round. WHAT A COMEBACK!

Chris “The Crowbar” Tuchscherer (18-2-0, 1 NC) Vs. Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub (6-1-0)

ROUND 1:

Sizing each other up, afraid to throw. Chris misses a jab, goes for leg kick and gets clocked. The slugging ends quickly, and both back off. Schaub comes over the top with a looping right hand. Chris collapses and covers up as Schaub grounds and pounds his way to a stoppage. TKO

George Sotiropoulos (12-2-0) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (21-4-0)

Round 1

George lands good rights early. Kurt lands smacking kick to the side. George shows faster hands in the exchanges. Pellegrino is figuring out a better defense, timing next shot. George catches him napping and pounces. Pellegrino slips away somehow after getting into major trouble. Pellegrino can’t find any rhythm. George is in a tight, hands up defense. He’s coming up with excellent punches and changing levels nicely. George goes for a knee and Pellegrino turns the tide with a takedown. Both men wind up back on their feet. George is doing the old Mike Tyson peek-a-boo style. Kurt is catching him looking down, but George is still getting the better blows in. The left hook is George’s best weapon. Pellegrino gets the takedown, and George goes to mission control with elbows. Pelegrino slips out and gets clocked with an up-kick. George rides out the round in a strong guard. George wins the round with better striking and boxing.

Round 2

Pellegrino jabbing early, throwing more accurate punches. Leg kicks connecting from Kurt. George latches onto a leg. He works it to a takedown after getting a few shots to the head from Kurt. Pellegrino working jiu jitsu and elbows from his back. George almost gets full mount. George gets into side position and lands some nice elbows to the temple. Pellegrino scrambles and fights off his back. George goes back to the elbows. More grappling until Pellegrino gets his feet pulled out from under him while trying to stand up against the fence. Kurt seems to be in survival mode. He stands finally as George works for better position. George hangs all over Kurt, trying to prevent Kurt from turning out and facing him. Kurt can’t twist away. Pellegrino gets distance and breaks free. Kurt blocks a head kick and tries to slug through the last seconds of the round. He eats a few hard punches in the process. George wins another round.

Round 3

“We probably have to finish him…we have to finish him in this 3rd round…you have to take him out…” are the wise words of Kenny Florian to Kurt Pellegrino between rounds.

Pellegrino tries to find a jab. George bulls forward with a nice boxing stance. He’s mixing it up now. Kurt lands some wild hooks, but George is not hurt. He is bobbing and weaving. Pellegrino is being cautious. 1-2-1 lands from Kurt, but George is not phased. Pelelgrino gets the takedown and pays for it with elbows to the head. Kurt finds a way to land a few blows of his own with his head in George’s chest. George maintains a decent guard. Pellegrino is landing the better shots now, but George is still scrambling. Pellegrino has no leverage as George wraps his legs around Kurt’s head. Pellegrino shakes him off with a minute left. One last toe to toe slugfest ends with George bulling Pellegrino up against the fence. Pellegrino makes it theatrical in the end with a huge right knee to the head landing before the bell that knocks George down, but it’s too little, too late. 30-27 twice and 29-28 UD for George.

Krzysztof Soszynski (20-10-1) vs. Stephan Bonnar (14-7-0)

Round 1

Bonnar lands a high kick early and Soszynksi unloads with crisp slugging. Landing some good leg and body kicks, Soszynksi gets taken down. Soszynski reverses, escapes. Unloads again with Bonnar up against the fence. Bonnar grapples out of danger. His face is already smashed up good. Bonnar turns Soszynski around, goes ballistic with elbows and a huge knee. Soszynski separates and tries to go to work with his boxing. Keeps his distance, working the reach. Bonnar misses a high kick by a whisker. Spinning back kick timing is off. Soszynski pours it on again as Bonnar covers up. Both fighters go back against the fence again. Bonnar trying to pull out all the stops, lands some nice shots but Soszynski answers with a few of his own. Body kick from Bonnar smacks home as Soszynski gets distance again. Bonnar gets second wind and Soszynski turns it on again inside a minute with crisp striking, and loaded punches. Bonnar rkeeps responding with heart and wild power. Kicks keep landing right to the buzzer. Bonnar is crying blood but had a nice round he can build on. Soszynski gets the edge on the scorecards, though.

Round 2

Bonnar lands first, but Soszynski bulls in again with his head down and takes everything Bonnar can give. Soszynski seems to also be landing the more accurate and harder punches. Both men go into wild slugfest mode against the cage. Bonnar lands some good shots, but Soszynski has more torque and thudding power behind his blows. Bonnar is slugging himself out. All his kicks are helping but Soszynski still stalks him all over the cage. Bonnar takes Soszynski down. Both men grapple for a while, and Soszynski stands. Bonnar comes out of nowhere with a nice knee that puts Soszynski down. He turtles up and won’t fight back. Bonnar lives up to his “American Psycho” nickname, posing for the camera with a smashed up and bloodied face as the victor yet again. True heart and depth of experience paid off.

Chris Lytle (38-17-4) vs. Matt Brown (13-8-0)

We’re rooting for Lytle here since he is a former guest of the Fight News Unlimited Combat Sports Show.

Round 1

Brown kicks first, gets slugged by a wild right to the jaw from Lytle. Lytle is fighting better on the inside, but Brown gets distance and lands some good punches of his own. Lytle is fighting well in close but feeding into Brown’s Muay Thai strengths. Brown landing some weird kicks and nice knees. Brown gets into choke position and uses the cage fence to wind it in. Lytle scrambles to get out. Lytle works his way back to his feet. Huge right hook lands from Lytle. Brown comes back with his legs and knees. Lytle loads up on an uppercut and barely misses. Haymaker from Lytle looks vicious but gets nothing but air. Brown keeps coming. Lytle lands some nice shots but gets knocked down by a leg kick late. Close round.

Round 2

Right hand lands early from Brown. Using his kicks and low hands, he’s baiting Lytle in. Lytle has huge hands, though. He starts peppering Brown with a few real jawbreakers. Lytle gets into deep guillotine position but lets it go. Gets a mounted triangle. Brown is in position to survive, but not comfortably. Lytle cranks and twists the free arm, and “It’s all over!” At 2:02 in the round, Lytle wins by arm bar.

Chris Leben (20-6-0) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1-0, 2 NC)

Leben is coming into this fight off only 2-weeks rest after whipping Aaron Simpson on the TUF Finale card on June 19th.

Round 1

Akiyama grabs Leben’s first leg kick and tosses him to the ground. Leben recovers nicely and gets right back to his feet. Leben keeps kicking and swinging both hands. Both fighters trade leg kicks until Leben lands some heavy hands and a nice kick. Akiyama can’t find his range. Leben keeps up the leg kicks. Akiyama connects with a low blow. Akiyama lands a straight right, but Leben keeps coming. Spinning back fist turns into an elbow for Akiyama, soon gets the TD to follow up. Leben working BJJ from his back. Leben gets arm bar variation and almost escapes. Akiyama has mounted triangle if he wants it. Leben slips out. Akiyama gets top control. Leben’s throwing rib shots that aren’t doing much. Finally Leben stands back up. Akiyama keeps it close to the fence with good clinching, breaks away near the round’s end. Both fighters get into a quick slugging contest, and Akiyama executes a beautiful trip and throw for a closing takedown.

Round 2

Leben lands a glancing head kick, connects a few moments later with a smacking right hand to the head. Leben is finding his range, but he gets clipped with a spinning backfist from Akiyama. Superman punch from Leben lands. Akiyama battling and hanging in there. Right and left lands from Akiyama. Leben gets mad and hurts Akiyama. Leben gets his bell rung but works through it. Both guys look like they might knock each other out at the same time. Leben is in a fog but still landing shots until Akiyama takes it to the ground again. Akiyama leans on Leben against the funds and lands some tight hammer fists and short-armed shots. Leben stands yet again. There is an ugly welt now under one of Leben’s eyes. A choke attempt from Leben fails. Akiyama backs up. Both men go toe to toe with striking. Kicks and punches galore. Both guys pepper each other silly until a clinch at :15. Sluggish punching exchanges finish the round. Leben might be landing the better shots, but he’s just as tired as Akiyama.

Round 3

Both men go at it on their feet. Akiyama is waiting for the fight to come to him and countering. Leben is mixing up his strikes much better than Akiyama. Realizing he needs to win the round, Akiyama gets the takedown. Leben is throwing double punches and fighting off his back very well. Working the arm bar, both men get wrapped in a pretzel. Akiyama works out of danger. Akiyama tries an arm triangle that goes nowhere. Instead he winds up in full mount where Leben keeps him from doing much. Leben goes back to boxing the ears of Akiyama, and he keeps on pounding from the ground. He’s landing some wild and crazy shots from his back. Akiyama is content to right the fight out on top. He lands a few punches, but Leben is busier. Leben locks in the triangle choke. Akiyama tries to stand up and twist out but Leben grabs the back of his head and tucks it in tighter. Akiyama taps out!

Brock Lesnar (4-1) vs. Shane Carwin (12-0)

Round 1

Feeling each other out, loading up early. Lesnar lands first, tries takedown, gets stuffed. Carwin unloads some sinister punches. Lesnar is rocked, on his back and covering up. Carwin is relentless. Lesnar is cut, barely fighting back. Carwin is intent on finishing, grounding and pounding away like a madman. Carwin sneaks an elbow in, but Lesnar is still conscious. Lesnar has no answer for this. He’s getting pulverized with Carwin’s hammer fists and inside punches from the top. Brock is bloody and swollen, but he stands somehow. He leans against Carwin on the fence, slips in a knee of his own, and sinks back down to a clinch around Carwin’s waist. The round ends with Lesnar trying for a single leg takedown and not getting it. It’s a miracle Lesnar made it out of that round.

Round 2

Lesnar’s eyes are puffy, but he’s smiling at Carwin to start the round. Brock loses balance throwing a right hand that might have been the money punch. Lesnar gets the takedown, as Carwin might be gassed. Lesnar is working his wrestling and smothering Carwin. Lesnar sinks an arm triangle. Carwin taps out. Lesnar retains the title in dominant fashion after a rough first round.

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