The Flog!

UFC 107 contained some very strong submissions, stunning knock-outs and so-so fighting:

Frank Mir versus Cheick Kongo – Mir struck Kongo, partially putting Kongo out and then, from his back, applied a front guillotine. Mir had to tell Herb Dean that Kongo was unconscious. Dean lifted one of Kongo’s arms and watched it fall.Hadaka Jime – Front Naked Choke

When Kenny Florian fought Clay Guida, Florian struck a left and right and Guida went down. Florian grapevined him and applied a rear naked choke. Hadaka Jime – Rear Naked Choke

Damarques Johnson almost lost his match against Edgar Garcia when Garcia applied what is commonly called a Peruvian Necktie, a variation of a front guillotine. In this case, Garcia had his head to the floor, face down, and his legs at Johnson’s upper chest. Johnson fought the choke amazingly and managed to escape it. Later in the round, Johnson applied his own choke, Sankaku Jime – Triangle Choke, from the guard. He first up-kicked Garcia’s head, rocking him, and grabbing an arm, did a figure-of-four with the legs and Garcia tapped out. Submission of the Night.

The Knock Out of the Night went to T. J. Grant in his bout against Kevin Burns. Burns came close to knocking Grant out early in the round, but just before the buzzer for the end of round 1, Grant kneed Burns several times and then struck him on the jaw to knock him to the ground. Grant jumped on Burns and struck him four more times.

The B. J. Penn match against Diego Sanchez had the potential for fantastic ground game. Penn almost ended the match seconds on as he rocked Sanchez with a heavy strike, just as Joe Rogan talked about Penn’s striking abilities. He rocked Sanchez again near the end of the round. Sanchez was determined to take Penn to the ground, but Penn stuffed every attempt, and there were many – so many that the audience booed eventually. The single-leg take down attempts were consistently unsuccessful, but Sanchez continued to try them.

By the fifth round, Sanchez had many facial wounds, one of which was a vertical cut on the bottom lip. As with all the other rounds, Sanchez tried the single leg take down. He also dropped, but Penn sprawled his way out of the take down. When standing, Penn threw a kick to Sanchez’s face, striking him on the left forehead. This opened a huge gash, causing blood to gush down his body. TKO referee stoppage.

The Fight of the Night was a slugfest between Alan Belcher and Wilson Gouveia who stood toe-to-toe trading heavy strikes until a right upper cut by Belcher knocked Gouveia out.

My Opinion: If I were awarding the Fight of the Night, I would have given it to Johnson and Garcia. The men showed a variety of skills, standing and ground, were evenly matched and had an exciting bout. After Garcia struck Johnson successfully several times, Johnson actually gave kudos to his opponent during the match. It was fun to watch.

ayjay

December 15, 2009