UFC 118 PLAY BY PLAY REPORT BY RICH BERGERON

Posted on | August 28, 2010 | No Comments

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Preliminary Bouts:

Mike Pierce Defeated Amilcar Alves via Submission (Armlock) at 3:11 in the 3rdRound
Greg Soto Defeated Nick Osipczak via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dan Miller Defeated John Salter via Submission (Anaconda Choke) at 1:53 in the 2ndRound

Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz

ROUND ONE:

Winner makes first contact, Lentz grabs a knee, can’t get TD. Winner punching back, working against the fence. Lentz scrambling for position. Lentz gets TD but Winner gets back up, Lentz gets back briefly, gets TD again. Winner back up. Both grapple against cage on their feet again.

Lentz gets single leg, gets clocked, lets go. Winner kneeing his way back into things, gets separation. Lentz throws punch, goes back to single leg TD again, fighters end up back against cage, Lentz going after single leg TD again. Crowd boos lack of action.

Winner knees and elbows Lentz in the head, Lentz still working for takedown. Gets it by using his leg and arms to trip Winner. Winner wall walks back to his feet, tees off on Lentz for a few seconds.

ROUND TWO:

Body kicks traded to start round. Lentz throwing knees, leg kicks, uppercut early. Goes back to fence and single leg again. Muay Thai knees from both men do more to annoy each other than actual damage. Lentz hooks leg again, lets go. Winner lands some key punches off the fence including a stinging right Lentz walks through. Lentz gets TD once again with single leg. Keeps Winner in awkward position. Lentz winds up on Winner’s back. Knees him to head with glancing blow as Winner stands.

Winner throws elbow, rabbit punches in closing 30 seconds, big scramble ends with another against the cage stalemate at round’s end.

ROUND THREE:

Lentz lands first, Winner brawls back with strikes. Lentz throws couple counters and then goes back to grappling. Lentz gets another TD, only keeps Winner down momentarily. Lentz gets behind Winner on the feet against the cage, crowd starts to boo, but Lentz gets another TD in response. Winner stands again with Lentz on his back. Lentz gets him down yet again. Winner gets stuck there. Lentz gets legs in. Starts raining punches down. Winner looks drained. Winner turns to his back, then his side, can’t get up this time. Lentz gets back position again. Lentz punching winner in the back and shoulder, shot to the leg here and there. Gets back with a hook in toward the end of the round. Lentz almost gets a rear naked choke at the final foghorn.

30-27, 29-28, 30-27 DECISION FOR NIK LENTZ

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Reudiger

ROUND ONE:

Gabe gets leg kick in first, Joe gets the best of the punching exchanges, throws Gabe to ground. Gets side control, transitions to back. Gabe in big trouble. Joe rains down elbows as Gabe tries to figure out what to do. Joe lands some huge uppercuts from Gabe’s back, picks up and slams Gabe. More punches are followed by a huge arm bar that Joe sinks deep. Gabe taps. One of the most exciting and dominating fights of Joe’s career.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Last time I saw Joe win so easily in the first round was live in New Jersey at UFC 78 when Joe got a standing RNC against Jason Reinhardt at 1:14 of Round 1. Frankie Edgar was also on that card, dominating Spencer Fisher in front of his home crowd.

Main Bouts:

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

**Editor’s note: Mark Wahlbergh just filmed a movie where he stars as Micky Ward. Someday he’ll probably do one about Marcus Davis.**
**Nate’s mean mug is the best in the business**

ROUND ONE:

Davis takes boxing stnace, lands nice stiff left early. Diaz using leg kicks, taunting. Davis capitalizes on the cockiness. Davis gets cut in the exchanges, throwing the better and more accurate shots. Davis lands nice left to body, Diaz seems to only be winging him. Diaz tries to get some shots together but none of them ringing. Davis is losing a step, getting sloppy, but he’s still getting good shots in. Diaz has more of a complete game and is using his legs and knees. The blood and the leg kicks are taking a toll on Davis, but he’s a gamer. Every time Davis gets good range he can’t string enough good punches together to stop Diaz. Finally a leg kick from Davis. Back to slugging in the last minute. Davis keeps wiping the eye. Diaz gets flashy and Davis makes him pay. Diaz lands a smacking, stunning left hook late in the round. Marcus Davis has a pretty messy face going on.

ROUND TWO:

Davis fighting better to start. Both fighters boxing well. Diaz getting cocky again. Speed kills for Nate. Head butts are the difference in this one. Davis lands a nice knee to the body. Nice stiff left from Davis. Diaz is bleeding now, too. Davis gets tooled on with some rabbit shots. Davis getting sloppy but brave. Davis looking at the ground, starting to stumble. Diaz is boxing like a champ until Davis clips him with another left. Davis is pretty tenderized. The doctor is going to stop the fight between rounds. Davis goes back to leg kicking, but he’s getting clobbered. Every punch he lands he has to take about 10 to get in range for. Diaz goes for takedown and almost gets it. Davis actually gets the takedown, but he gets reversed.

ROUND THREE:

The doc must have been shackled. They let Marcus go but the ref tells him to protect the eye. Both guys look sloppy early. Davis lands a great leg kick. Makes you think he should have been throwing a lot more of those through the whole fight. Trying to box with Diaz is turning out to be a bad idea. Nate hits Davis on the button with a hard left. Diaz slapping hooks home left and right. The ref might stop it if Davis gets hit in the face again. Diaz lands a nice knee to the head, gets takedown. Nate rains down a nice elbow, punches, gets an arm-in guillotine, Nate puts him to sleep. That third round should have never happened.

Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian

ROUND ONE:

No real contact in first minute. Florian is finding his range. Goes for a big head kick, knee, glancing at best. Maynard is playing into Florian’s boxing strategy. Florian lands a couple leg kicks. Florian takes a knee going for takedown. Maynard blocks lhead kick with his forearm. Florian is winning the boxing match. Mixing in kicks well. Maynard shoots for takedown, Florian stuffs it. Maynard picks him up and slams him. That’s an equalizer. Maynard’s spreading his legs in a “Saturday night Ride” wrestling posture. Florian showing some good defense. Takes a late hit at the buzzer.

ROUND TWO:

Both guys look fresh. Maynard is bouncy all of a sudden. Florian has a Rocky Marciano low stance. He’s doing better with his kicks, though. The same type of blocked head kicks broke Randy Couture’s arm and Frank Shamrock’s arm in past fights I’ve watched. Maynard’s shaking them off. He can’t get any odf his own attack going, until he lands an uppercut. Maynard jumps in and goes for the takedown. Florian won’t let him at first, but then he gets thrown on his back with a sweep. Florian’s cut on the forehead. Florian getting tossed around a bit, taking some tough shots. He gets to a sitting position against the cage. Maynard takes him to his back again and lays the punishment on thick up to the bell.

ROUND THREE:

Kenny needs to win this round convincingly to get the win. Kenny starts out with good boxing again. He’s landing to the body and the head. Superman punch just misses. Florian pciking away, scoring points with everything. Maynard had enough, gets TD. Kenny lands some up-kicks from the ground, Maynard can’t get good top position. Half the round left, Kenny needs to get up again. Maynard starts throwing bombs to keep ref from standing them up. Kenny does it. He stands. Maynard throws him down again. Kenny goes BJJ with some fancy submission moves, gets back to his feet for the closing seconds. Could be a draw. That’s KenFlo’s best hope.

DECISION: 30-27 x2, 29-28 TO GRAY MAYNARD

Mario Miranda vs. Demian Maia

ROUND ONE:

Miranda is tall, using his reach and legs. Demian gets takedown, works knees. Miranda gets back up. Goes back down. Maia goes to town with head shots, good grappling and ground game. Maia goes praying mantis on Miranda, gets the back, working for RNC. All MIranda can do is hold one of his arms. Maia gets out of position, Miuranda scrambles out to his feet. Some nice exchanges. Punches kicks and knees. Miranda looks much smaller but is fighting like he’s the bigger badass. He’s got Miranda backing away, afraid to wade in close. Few traded strikes toward the end, nothing lands. Miranda got shocked and rocked in that round.

ROUND TWO:

Miranda tries a looping overhand right. Maia latches onto a leg. He doesn’t want to strike anymore, he wants to get his BJJ on. He secures the takedown and enters his domain. Maia is mounted and pounding Miranda out. He has all day, and he’s maneuvering for a submission and punching where he has to. Miranda can’t get up or away from the punishment. Maia is smothering this guy. Full mount and this guy’s gonna tap out by strikes or by submission. Inside a minute. Maia is going to town. Arm bar attempt proves me wrong, Miranda gets up. Too little too late.

ROUND THREE:

Miranda is told to “let it go” between rounds, and Maia proves the best BJJ practitioner doesn’t let anything go when he gets to a dominant position, unless he gets over-committed or over confident. He gets Miranda’s back early and stays there. Miranda squeaks out inside three minutes. He stands back up and gets distance. He won’t let Demian take him down. Herb lets him up. Miranda has no urgency or energy to bang out Maia. Maia’s catching his breath and catches the winded Miranda being sloppy with both strikes, wrestling and jiu jitsu. A minute left and Maia gets the win. If anything, Miranda wins the award for best arm bar defense of the year.

DECISION: 30-27 all three judges: MAIA

BRING ON THE BIG BOYS!

James Toney vs. Randy Couture

**EDITOR’S NOTES: RAY MERCER KNOCKED OUT TIM SYLVIA WITH ONE PUNCH. THAT FIGHT DIDN’T SETTLE ANY DEBATES, BUT THIS ONE MIGHT**

**TONEY’S ONLY BEEN DROPPED TO THE CANVAS 3 TIMES AS A BOXER SAYS GOLDIE. SEE FREETHECHAMP.COM TO WATCH ONE OF THOSE KNOCKDOWNS**

ROUND ONE:

The crowd is definitely on Captain America’s side, but Toney’s ready to battle. They have a combined 89 years of life experience.

This is like watching the prelude to the best battle scene in Braveheart.

It’s about to be on like Donkey Kong. Toney gets taken down right away. He’s a whale out of water on his back. Randy is punishing him. Randy looks to get the arm triangle. They exchange some harsh words, Toney taps out after the next triangle gets tightened.

Once again I was wrong about a new guy being able to hang with a veteran.

BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar (UFC Lightweight Champion) 2

ROUND ONE:

NO love between these guys. This is war. Edgar lands early and gets the early takedown. BJ’s BJJ can’t overcome Edgar’s wrestling. Frankie’s treating Penn like a rag doll. Frankie knees him to the chest just for standing up. BJ looks shocked and out of touch with the world right now. Frankie’s keeping his distance, teeing off with leg kicks. Landing with spectacular boxing style. He’s outstriking Penn and outfighting him in every aspect.

ROUND TWO:

BJ throws a high head kick, a nice leg kick, looks back in the fight momentarily. Starts boxing better, caught Edgar with some good shots to the jaw. Edgar isn’t hurt and responds with quickness. Edgar has the better body movement, but his bouncy step might tire him out. BJ is stalking and maintaining his breath. BJ is working his jab like a pro. Like Maynard, Edgar is showing he can win this with his dominant wrestling. BJ gets back up, Edgar is confident enough to box with him. Frankie lands a nice leg kick. Catches BJ with some punches, body kick. Combo lands late. Ten seconds left and Edgar dominates all of them.

ROUND THREE:

Edgar is full of energy. BJ is looking spent. Edgar goes takedown and comes back up with a hard knee to the chest. BJ boxes him back a bit, catches him trying too hard on a head kick. Edgar lands a nice combo to the head. BJ never saw it coming. BJ is flustered. Edgar is tenderizing him with kicks and punches. Huge right hook lands. BJ is out of it again. Vicious uppercut connects. Edgar is in the zone. Huge leg kick lands from Edgar. BJ is done. He needs a miracle. His will is leaking out of him. He’s getting kneed, punched, and clubbed down. Body shots, head shots, Frankie is connecting all the dots. Edgar even throws in some Muay Thai in the last minute. This guy looks like he could beat GSP right now. BJ gets hit in the closing seconds with a stiff jab and looks hopeless.

ROUND FOUR:

Edgar goes back to boxing well, BJ catches him with a takedown. Frankie is guarding well, holding his own. BJ has no strength to lock anything up. Edgar escapes and pays BJ back with boxing again. Edgar drops BJ with a leg sweep. “Be unpredictable son” was his advice between rounds. That was Cung Le stuff. Edgar is dominating on top. BJ has no “answer.” Huge sweeping right hand connects flush from Edgar. Elbows dropping, BJ gets up, Edgar punishes him with a knee. Huge left hook clips BJ. Double left hook lands. BJ’s face is going to hurt after this one. Leg kick lands twice for Edgar. Uppercut connects from Edgar. Head kick barely blocked twice by BJ.

ROUND FIVE:

Edgar still has a spring in his step. It’s all over but the crying unless BJ pulls out a miracle. Edgar gets taken down early. What can BJ do with it? NOTHING. Edgar reverses it in a fantastic scramble for leverage. This guy is for real. There ain’t gonna be a trilogy. Edgar is simply smothering him in every phase of the fight game right now. The elbows are doing the most damage. The punches are making BJ wish he’d never signed for this fight. Two minutes left. BJ somehow gets up inside 90 seconds. Frankie likes it. He takes it to Penn again on the feet. Penn is in straight survival mode. 30 seconds. Edgar won’t stop laying the smack down, right to the final bell. They show each other respect, but it’s fleeting.

DECISION: 50-45 on all cards FOR THE WINNER AND STILL UFC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION: FRANKIE “THE ANSWER” EDGAR

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