UFC 93

O2 Arena in Dublin was host to its first UFC event. The Irish crowd really showed what big fans of the sport!

Thomas Egan vs. John Hathaway

Round 1

With the crowd acting like this was the main event John Hathaway must have felt a lot of pressure going up against the hometown guy, however this didn’t stop him from displaying an excellent well-rounded ground game, which completely dominated Egan. To the credit of Egan he tried everything to get away and back to his feet but was never there for more than a few seconds. Eventually Hathaway secured the mount and landed huge elbows for a ground and pound referee stoppage.

Winner - John Hathaway

Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle

Round 1

After another great reception from the crowd the Irish crowd the Davis and Lytle both came out firing. Lytle was swinging wild and landed a couple of good shots inside the first 30 seconds, hurting Davis. Lytle pushed forward adding leg kicks. After a brief clinch they separated and Davis landed a good body kick. Lytle again pressed forward with Davis dancing out of the way preferring to counter and catch Lytle on the way in. Davis caught a body kick of Lytle and put him on the floor but didn’t follow up, allowing his man back up. A few more exchanges with both men landed decent shots before Lytle is again on his back throwing a up kick which had it landed would have had Davis’s head somewhere in the third row! The round finished with more exchanges from both men. Good first round.

Round 2

Lytle was pressing forward again he landed a good combination that had Davis on the fence until Davis pretty much has to run away. Davis landed a body kick that dropped Lytle! He then followed it up with another body kick then tied up a Thai clinch and put in a couple of knees. Davis now seemed to be landing with everything he through at Lytle and is also doing a good job of getting out of the way of anything coming back his way. He is now clocking up points on the score cards, flying knees, jabs, elbow combinations, this is a heavy fight for both men and both are showing the signs of it on their faces!

Another good round!

Round 3

Both men hug before the action begins, showing each other respect. Lytle is now showing damage on his ribs from the many kicks that Davis has landed. Davis again was looking to move laterally and counter strike. He was keeping Lytle guessing with body kicks and knees mixed in. Lytle was more stalking than pressing in this third round. Davis seems more relaxed now and was still landing good combinations. This was the story right up to the bell.

Winner - Davis via split decision

Great fight. Davis showed that he is still growing with each fight and becoming a very well rounded MMA fighter. Lytle was tough as always, a true warrior.

Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua

This fight was a rematch from the days of Pride when Coleman beat Rua, injuring Rua’s arm with one of his takedowns. Some bad blood between the camps needed to be cleared up and tonight was the night to do it.

Coleman the old guard of the early days of UFC was back and ready to go. Rua the new Youngblood of the sport wanting to make his name in the US. This was all set to be an interesting fight.

Round 1

Shogun landed a big leg kick within the first 7 seconds, but it was not enough to stop Coleman’s driving momentum as he ended up down and against the fence with Coleman working his trademark ground and pound with some success. After neatly rolling out of danger and getting back up to his feet, Shogun found himself straight back down again this time looking for a kneebar to counter Coleman controlling his back, all inside the first minute! Back standing Shogun was looking to land knees in the clinch but Coleman used the closeness to take his man down again! A little guard work showed Shogun looking for triangles and leg locks as Coleman escaped. Shogun got a takedown of his own and quickly took side control working his own ground and pound. Shogun went for knee on belly control, but Coleman spun and got back to his feet only for shogun to land a huge body kick followed by a couple of leg buckling leg kicks. Coleman landed a decent left hook of his own in return.
Shogun looked for knees in the clinch once more as Coleman tried another takedown which Shogun nicely side sprawled to land on top, after a scramble they where both back on their feet. Shogun landed a solid right that looked like a finisher but Coleman managed to keep hold onto a leg and keep in the fight. Another clinch from Shogun this time he landed leg kick right on the bell

What a crazy first round. Both fighters looked gassed from the non-stop pressure. But it did seem like Rua was not the explosive fighter he once was. Rather he seemed to be working to Coleman’s pace.

Round 2

Out they came for round 2 with Shogun landing heavy kicks and punches. Coleman managed to get a takedown but they got back up straight away. Coleman looked too tired to continue with his hands by his side but Shogun seemed to be off target slightly. They go down again but Coleman can’t keep his man down. Shogun clinched looking for knees but they end up down again against the fence. With a minute left on the clock Shogun looked for a shoulder lock. While Coleman was pinned in the position he looked like he was having a nice rest and taking asleep! They stay for a full minute with neither man moving. I’m not a fan of standing the fighters back up but this was one instance where it would have made sense as Shogun was not trying to finish the shoulder lock, rather using it to just hold Coleman who was struck and just resting.

Coleman was tried in this round, but he did pressure Shogun who again seemed off form.

Round 3

Shogun came out trying his best but seemed very tired after a clinch and they went down with Coleman on top. If it’s going to happen for Coleman it needed to be now, however Shoguns BJJ skills kept him away from danger rolling out. But Coleman stayed on top hammering away until Shogun finally spun out and clinches a still down Coleman landing a knee to the body that the Ref sees as an illegal headshot. Warning Shogun but the bad news for Coleman is the restart on back on the feet. With 55 seconds on the clock Shogun presses forward again landing a heavy right Coleman answered with an uppercut. Then Shogun landed a right, uppercut, left combination that dropped Coleman who immediately went for the single leg however the bad news is it’s the Refs leg as he has already stopped the fight in what will always be seen as a terrible descion. Refereeing isn’t easy and if you have a bad night everyone remembers. However on this night all 3 men in the cage would probably agree it wasn’t their best night!

Coleman showed he is still a tough SOB. But it did seem that it was Shogun’s ‘lack of’ that was the problem with this fight. The Rua Shogun in the days of Pride was a non-stop pressure fighter. His UFC fights have not show him to be the fighter. His next fight will have to be back to form or he will run into trouble.

After at the press conference Dana named Shogun’s next opponent would be Chuck Liddell, looks like trouble just turned up!

Winner - Mauricio Rua

Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson

Round 1

After a feeling out process Franklin landed a couple of leg kicks. Hendo tried a head kick but slipped. On the ground Hendo managed to get top position, but couldn’t past the very good half guard from Franklin. But with his man pressed against the fence hendo started clubbing away, again good defence from Franklin who got back to his feet and landed a nice body kick again. As Henderson landed a big uppercut blood can be seen coming from Franklins head from an earlier accidental head butt. As the round plays out Franklin landed the body kick again. A great first round!

Round 2

They came out for round two stalking and feeling out each other out again. Both men too experienced to make a mistake and showing respect for each other’s power. Franklin avoided the deadly clinches of hendo and again landed nice body kicks. Hendo finally took his man down but Franklin showed an active guard looking for triangles and sweeps. However Hendo’s base was too much and Franklin couldn’t get his hips out.

Round 3

With the first 2 rounds seemingly going Hendos way Franklin comes out looking to do damage throwing everything he has which seems fine by Hendo who stood his ground, throwing back and finally getting the takedown. Franklin again with a busy guard managed to get on top landing a few shots before they worked themselves back to the feet. Franklin was pressing hard landing the body kick again using his legendary cardio to press Hendo against the fence. As they moved around Franklin caught an accidental finger in the eye with 37 seconds left. Once he recovered they started again, with a brief exchange right on the bell. Hendo takes the split decision

Good solid fight from both guys.

Winner - Dan Henderson

All in all a great night however the best performance came from the crowd who cheered from the prelims to the main event. There was talk from the UFC brass about trying to stage an event every St Patrick’s day which to coin a phrase would truly be awesome!

Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system. Teacher of Tui Na Chinese Massage Therapy

He is also the UK representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling.

Web:
www.alanorr.com
www.thechinesemedicineacademy.co.uk
www.warriorfunctionaltraining.com

For further information Tel: 07958 908 196 or email: info@alanorr.co.uk