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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
The UFC returns to London on Saturday with their seventh dedicated event for Fuel TV. For the first time in that network's history, they're also bringing along a title fight, as Interim Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao will take on 22-year-old challenger Michael McDonald in the night's main event.
As with every major event, we'll have live round by round coverage of the day's main card on Fuel TV right here, as well as quick results of the event's prelims as the card kicks off at 12:15 PM ET!
UFC ON FUEL TV: BARAO VS. MCDONALD
FEBRUARY 16, 2013
LIVE FROM LONDON, ENGLAND
We have two staff members in the arena on press row. Follow Chris Park and Dan Moore on Twitter (@MMATorchUK and @MMATorch respectively)
FACEBOOK QUICK RESULTS
1.) Ulysses Gomez vs. Phil Harris
Phil Harris by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
2.) Motonobu Tezuka vs. Vaughan Lee
Vaughan Lee by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
3.) Stanislav Nedkov vs. Tom Watson
Tom Watson by TKO at 4:42 of round 2
4.) Josh Grispi vs. Andy Ogle
Andy Ogle by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
5.) Danny Castillo vs. Paul Sass
Danny Castillo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
6.) Renee Forte vs. Terry Etim
Renee Forte by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
MAIN CARD ON FUEL TV
FIGHT ONE: MATTHEW RIDDLE VS. CHE MILLS (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Our referee is Kevin Mulhall. Well, he’s not my referee, he may be your referee, but he is in fact the referee for this fight. But I digress. Riddle grabs a single leg and presses Mills into the fence, although he ate a knee in the process. Riddle lets go of the single for double underhooks, and eats another knee. Mills tries to push Riddle off, but Riddle has a strong grasp here. Riddle goes back to the single and rives through for the takedown. Mills gets back up without eating any damage, but he’s still backed into the fence. Riddle fighting smart here (I know, I know. Shut up.) Riddle disengages, and we’re back to the middle. Riddle ducks under a jab and gets another takedown. Mills gets back up, but his back is still along the cage. Mills pushes Riddle off, and we’re back into the middle. Nice leg kick from Mills. Riddle clinches with a body lock and presses Mills into the fence. Mills stuffs a body lock takedown, but his back is still, wait for it, against the cage. Riddle takes him down, and gets half-guard. This is the first time Mills has been on his back for more than a couple seconds. The round ends. 10-9 Riddle This fight is already ineligible for Fight of the Night.
ROUND TWO: Riddle grabs a single leg. Mills lands an enziguri kick, but lands on his back with Riddle on top. Fun, but stupid. Kind of like that girl you dated in high school. Riddle is looking for a north south choke, but passes around to side control. Mount is there for him if he wants it. Riddle’s doing just enough to get stood up, and I say that whilst he’s in side control. And as I say that, half-guard. Riddle’s not doing a ton here, but he’s certainly doling out more than he’s receiving. He studied the Rory MacDonald fight against Che Millw. Back to side-control. And back to half-guard. The half-guard opened up, and Riddle has the mount. Mills gives up his back, and Riddle is hitting away. He’s looking for the choke. Riddle is seated against the fence, with a figure four, looking for the rear naked choke. Riddle spins and takes top mount to end the round. 10-9 Riddle
ROUND THREE: Mills stuff s a shot, and is trading wild hooks with Riddle in a fun little exchange. In a less fun exchange, Riddle grabs a single and puts Mills into the fence. Riddle is dropping down for a double, didn’t get it, and is body to body against the cage. Very effective; but not much fun. Make your own joke there, as my joke would get me fired. Riddle has a tight body lock against the cage with 2:30 left. He gets the takedown with a nice little slam. Full guard. Not much action, other than one nice forearm shot. Riddle passes to half-guard. Riddle’s reaching for Mills’ left arm, but Mills used that ambitious and Riddle-equely intelligent decision to reverse and get on top. Mills backs off allowing Riddle to stand, but he stood over Riddle for 30 seconds first. Stupid. Riddle with the takedown. The fight ends, Praise Allah.
WINNER: Matt Riddle by split decision (?) (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (*) This fight had no redeeming qualities other than showing that Riddle can stick to a game plan. The post fight call-out might be fun, too. Nope, no callout, as he didn’t get an interview. By the way, Mills won exactly 0 seconds of that fight. Hoe town scorecards are in effect tonight.
FIGHT TWO: RYAN JIMMO VS. JAMES TE-HUNA (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Leon Roberts is the third man in the cage for this fight. Te Huna grabs double unders and pushes Jimmo into the cage so as to avoid the 7 second KO. Good for him. 45 seconds on the cage and Roberts is trying to make himself part of the fight by separating them. Jimmo responds by landing a lightning fast left head kick that crumpled Te Huna. Jimmo is on top pounding away. How in the hell is Te Huna still conscious, much lest intelligently defending. 30 seconds of pounding later, and Te Huna has survived. Jimmo is on top, in full guard. Te Huna’s right eye is leaking blood. Te Huna uses the cage to get back up, grabs a front face lock, and pulls guard. Um… ok. Jimmo back in guard. Te Huna looks ofr an arm, and Jimmo uses that opportunity to pass to side control. Te Huna rolls, and is trying ot use the cage to get back up. Jimmo’s keeping Te Huna down still. Full guard, but it’s an open guard. Jimmo’s pace has slowed considerably, but how couldn’t it, the way he was unleashing earlier? Te Huna is getting active from the bottom with elbow. 30 seconds left. 10-9 Jimmo
ROUND TWO: The elbows from the bottom saved Te Huna from a 10-8. Jimmo’s circling on the outside, changing stances, looking for another kill shot. Te Huna grabs Jimmo and puts him against the wall. Jimmo countered the takedown with a bodylock, and turns Te Huna into the fence. Now THIS is the fight we expected. Oh well. Both guys are looking for inside trips. Neither worked, but Te Huna got off the fence. Te Huna with the suplex, into side control. Jimmo’s on his back, a few feet from the cage. Te Huna has one of Jimmo’s arms pinned, and is landing decent shots from the top. Looking for a crucifix, but no, he sneaks into guard. Well done. Te Huna lost mount just that fast and is stuck in half-guard. Te Huna is doing a good job pressing chest to chest and landing shots when the opportunities avail. Big shots to the head from Te Huna. He’s really unloading. Not close to a stoppage, but the shots he’s landing are big, and Jimmo is slowing down from the bottom. Te Huna stands up and lands a bomb as the round ends. 10-9 Te Huna. 19-19 either round could be 10-8
ROUND THREE: Jimmo is clearly not as mobile as this round begins. He avoided a takedown attempt, and has Te Huna up against the fence. No action for 9 seconds, which pisses off British Dan Miragliota. Jimmo drops for a single, but gives it up. Te Huna turns Jimmo into the fence. He pushes away and lands a few big punches and elbows before Jimmo can circle out. Te Huna comes in straight and grabs a body lock. Jimmo reverses and has Te Huna along the fence. Te Huna manages to get a nice leverage body lock takedown, and has Jimmo on his back. Short elbows from Te Huna, and it looks like one of them cut Jimmo. Nope, Te Huna is just bleeding on top of Jimmo. I could have edited out the whole blood thing, but I have a word count to meet, and nothing’s happening here. Te huna is grounding and pounding from inside a butterfly guard, there’s some blood, blah blah blah. 10-9 Te Huna. 29-28 Te Huna Te Huna won more minutes, but nothing he did could touch the impact of the head kick. We could get some interesting cards here.
WINNER: James Te Huna by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) It was okay, nothing special other than the shocking head kick after the weird restart in round 1. The third round was dull. Te Huna is an interesting fighter, and could pose some challenge for a top 8-12 fighter. Oh, if only the UFC ranked beyond top 10…
FIGHT THREE: JORGE SANTIAGO VS. GUNNAR NELSON (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Marc Goddard is the referee for this fight. Santiago charges in and lands a big knee. Nelson unfazed. Nelson’s switching stances from his karate base here. Nelson’s landed a couple of kicks so far, but nothing with any real impact. Santiago grazes a head kick and grabs a thai plumb. Shourt elbow from Santiago, then disengages. Nelson shoots out of nowhere and gets a double leg in the middle of the cage. No damage, and Santiago gets to his feet. IT cost Santiago getting hit by a left, but that could have been worse. Santiago’s punching a lot of air so far this round. He’s most effective when Nelson is backpedalling. This fight has slowed to a crawl. Lots of circling, nothing else. 30 seconds left. Santiago charges in and lands a straight punch as Nelson backpedals. That was a nothing round. 10-9 Santiago
ROUND TWO: Nelson’s continuing to switch stances, but he’s doing a much better job of circling now. Nice left by Nelson who presses Santiago into the fence briefly. Santiago circles out. Nelson is much more aggressive in the second round. Big right hand by Nelson, and he has Santiago into the cage now. Nelson lands a double, and manages to get Santiago away from the cage as well. Nelson is in half-guard, keeping his posture high. Nelson’s being either very patient or very tentative, depending on your rooting interests here. Nice left elbow by Nelson as he gives into full guard, chest to chest. Clearly he wants to take Santiago into the third to test Santiago’s cardio. Nelson’s doing next to nothing from the top, just the occasional short elbow. Nelson stands, and passes into half guard with a big left hand. Nelson passed to side mount. Nelson just flew into mount. That was very smoooooooooth. Santiago has a body lock from the bottom, so no damage so far. Nelson gets free, lands a few elbows. This was all Nelson. 10-9 Nelson, 19-19
ROUND THREE: Santiago charges in with a nice combination of punches landing. Nice head kick by Nelson found a home. Nelson is pressing forward more now, and landed a leaping right hand. Santiago seems tentative here, despite your rooting interest. Santiago grabs Nelson and pushes him into the fence. 3 knees and an elbow, then Santiago disengages. Straight left from Nelson. And a right leg kick. Santiago lands a couple of bombs while Florian and Anik were busy talking about Nelson’s fantasti offense. Uppercut from Nelson, and he has Santiago along the wall. They disengage, and he lands another uppercut. Nelson presses Santiago back into the cage, but nothing comes of it. Santiago just missed on a kill shot left hook. Nice right and left hands from Nelson against a rapidly gassing Santiago. As I say that, Santiago lands about 10 huge punches at the end of the round! Nelson was one punch away from dropping. Crazy. 10-9 Santiago. 29-28 Santiago I guarantee you Nelson gets the win, though.
WINNER: Gunnar Nelson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (**) Not a good fight. If you watch the fight again, mute the audio. Florian and Anik were too busy reading from the “Gunnar Nelson is a star” script to bother to call the offense from, you know, BOTH fighters. It’s really annoying when announcers come in with an agenda. Florian has never been worse than he has been tonight, including the prelims, and unfortunately no one is going ot look into replacing him because he’s a legacy. His awfulness is rubbing off on his partner, slow but sure.
- There have been 8 decisions so far. No UFC card has ever had more than 8 decisions.
FIGHT FOUR: CYRILE DIABATE VS. JIMI MANUWA (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Leon Roberts is the referee. Manuwa presses the taller Diabate into the cage, but Diabate turns Manuwa easily. Manuwa explodes and gets a takedown. He’s on top with side-mount. Manuwa is unable to do anything as Diabate’s turning into Manuwa. Half-guard. This is brutal, low-level stuff. They should make a gentleman’s agreement to stand before Roberts tells them to do so. Pretty much that just happened, although Manuwa has pressed Diabate into the cage. Big knee from Manuwa as the disengage. Manuwa lands a high kick. Manuwa with a leg kick and then a hook to the head of Diabate. Manuwa is staying busy, not allowing diabate to find his range. Diabate lands a knee, but was unable to capitalize. Nice hook again from Manuwa. Manuwa grabs a clinch, but that just allowed Diabate to land a big knee from the Thai clinch. Takedown by Manuwa. 10-9 Manuwa
- Coming back from commercial, the cageside physician is examining Diabate's left leg. This fight is over.
WINNER: Jimi Manuwa by TKO (doctor stoppage) at the end of round one.
STAR RATING: (**-) Diabate is limping heavily. They're saying on air it might be a torn calf muscle. As a fellow 39 year old man, I can relate. :)
FIGHT FIVE: DUSTIN POIRIER VS. CUB SWANSON (FEATHERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Kevin Mulhall is the referee for this fight. Swanson is very aggressive early. Right hand to the temple, then a left. Poirier shoots a single, but failed to get the takedown. He came in way too high. Swanson with a couple left hooks. He’s telegraphing those punches. Poirier shoots a double jab, and a nice right low kick. Poirier dodges an uppercut. Swanson charges in with punches, but missed on all and ate a counter from Poirier. Leg kick from Poirier again. And another, this time after a couple punches. Poirier checks a high kick and goes for a double leg. Swanson against the cage with Poirier still on him. Knee to the ribs from Poirier. Poirier hits a long elbow as they break. Swanson charges in and lands an uppercut that staggered Poirier. Head kick by Swanson. Poirier gets Swanson down. This was Poirier’s round until Swanson’s outburst.Poirier in full guard, posturing up and working the ribs of Swanson. Swanson grabs Poirier’s head and uses it ot get up. Big knee from Swanson. 10-9 Swanson
ROUND TWO: Swanson come out with a stiff body shot. Poirier mixes it up with a nice shot to the body. Swanson felt that. Swanson working the body as well, and then going upstairs. Poirier lans a leg kick as Swanson lands a left hook while going backwards. Swanson with a looping right hook. Poirier shoots and has Swanson into the cage, trying to get him down with a high crotch against the fence. Poirier all the way to his knees trying to complete the takedown, but Swanson stepped out and we’re back to the middle. Poirier lands a rear leg front kick. Big right hand by Swanson. Poirier ducks under a kick and plants Swanson in the middle with a double leg. Swanson looking for a shoulder lock from the bottom. Swanson stands up with the omaplata; that was nice. Swanson let is go, then lands a nice kick to the ribs. That has to be disheartening for Poirier. Poirier gets Swanson into the fence again. Poirier is working hard for the double, but Swanson has a kimura position which can only check Poirier’s commitment to the takedown. They disengage. 10-9 Swanson. 20-18 Swanson
ROUND THREE: Swanson starts out with a right hook. Poirier in on a double against the cage, but he can’t get his hands together. Poirier’s pressing heavily against Swanson, but eventually gives it up. Poirier’s landing a lot of heavy punches, and Swanson is wobbly. Poirier with a big knee and a left hand. Poirier rocked Swanson with a right jab. Swanson with a takedown, which tells you what Poirier was doing with his strikes. Big elbow from guard by Swanson. And another. There’s a hammerfist. Poirier tries to escape, and Swanson gets his back. Swanson has like 1.5 hooks in here. Now he’s got 2 hooks. Poirier tries to stand up, but can’t get up. Poirier is on all fours with Swanson on top of him. Poirier is on his feet in a four point stance, using gravity to get Swanson off of him. Swanson rolls, Poirier falls, and Swanson lands in mount. Swanson stands and unloads huge punches before Poirier is allowed to stand. Poirier is gassed. Nice head and arm throw by Swanson. That was sweet! Poirier is on top of Poirier who is on all fours. One of Poirier’s arms is trapped. Swanson is looking for an armbar with 15 seconds left. Nope. 10-9 Swanson. 30-27 Swanson
WINNER: Ceb Swanson by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (***) That was a really good fight. Now let’s make Swanson vs. Siver, and the winner can be like 3 years away from a title shot in the newest backed up division from hell.
FIGHT ONE: RENAN BARAO VS. MICHAEL MCDONALD (FOR UFC INTERIM BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
ROUND ONE: Marc Goddard will referee this interim title fight. First strike was a spinning back kick by Barao 25 seconds into the fight. Barao shoots and gets a takedown into side control. That was too easy. McDonald to his credit manages to get Barao to guard. McDonald is being active with his legs from the bottom. McDonald has overhooks, which is keeping Barao’s hands unavailable. McDonald explodes and gets to his feet. Great performance on the ground by the challenger. Mc Donald charges in behing a hard left hand. Barao felt that. Barao fakes a shot and eats a left hook. Leg kick from Barao. Barao shoots again with the same shot as the first shot, but this one was stuffed. McDonald and Barao are trading shots against the cage. Barao drops to his knees and grabs a body lock. Barao lands a bomb of his own. Barao and McDonald are both a little loopy here. Barao finishes the takedown with about 50 seconds left in the round. Full guard. No offense from the top for Barao. 10-9 Barao Great round
ROUND TWO: I’m not sure if Barao was knocked dow, or if he was hit while changing levels for the takedown. Either way, hell of a round. Prolonged feeling out period ends with Mcdonald landing a left hand. McDonald with a right uppercut, and Barao got on his bike to avoid the second punch in that combination. Very slow opening 2 minutes of this round. Barao shoots from the outside, but gets stuffed. Check that, he held on and got the single leg takedown. McDonald lands an upkick which forces Barao off. Back to standing. Mcdonald is not intimidated by the moment, or by Barao. Nice hook by Barao, but McDonald escapes te follow up punches. McDonald got poked in the eye. Barao stopped the fight before the referee stopped the fight. Very sporting of him. We’re back to action with under two minutes to go. Leg kick by Barao. Front kick to the head by Barao. McDonald avoided the worst of that. Barao with a leg kick, but McDonald almost knocked him down with a counter right hook. Neither guy is able to find their full arsenal yet. Barao appears to be bleeding over the right eye. 10-9 McDonald. 19-19
ROUND THREE: McDonald comes forward and lands a right hand. Barao grabs a thai plumb and really landed hard before McDonald could escape. He’s been more aggressive in the first minute of this round than at all in the first two rounds. Barao’s moving much better this round. Barao charges in with a couple punches and has a bldy lock on Mcdonald against the cage. He muscles McDonald down twice, and gets side control. He briefly got mount but overcommitted and McDonald pushed him off. Back to standing. McDonald missed a 1-2 combination badly. High front kick again by Barao, but this time missed. Barao ducks under an uppercut from McDonald. McDonald with a nice right, but Barao countered with a hook and uppercut of his own. High kick from Barao, mostly blocked by McDonald’s forearm. McDonald isn’t landing well this round. His offense almost seems predictable to Barao. Barao’s offense is more diverse. Spinning kick by Barao lands to the chest of McDonald. That was flush. And sweet. 10-9, 29-28 Barao
ROUND FOUR: McDonald has a bloody nose as we enter round 4. Barao lands a leaping left hook. Looked neat, but probably wasn’t too powerful. Barao shoots, gets stuffed. McDonald hasn’t done anything but circle here. Barao misses a flying knee, but Mcdonald got on his bike, which didn’t look good. He sprinted away to avoid the follow ups. Barao ducks under a wild hook and pressed McDonald into the cage. No takedown, and Barao backs off right away. I can’t figure what McDonald is doing here. He’s done nothing this round. Another spinning kick attempt from Barao. McDonald right a nice counter right cross. I don’t think it landed full, but at least he moved an arm in a forward motion. Barao with a body lock and gets a takedown. He’s got the back. Barao slides off and has an arm triangle choke in here. Where did that come from? This is tight. He’s had it on for about 30 seconds, and McDonald submits! It’s over. Renan Barao with the best win of his career!
WINNER: Renan Barao by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:57 of round 4.
STAR RATING: (***) Renan Barao is the best (active) bantamweight in the world, and McDonald is clearly the second best one. I wouldn’t mind a rematch, although I have no reason to believe it goes any differently. There is no (active) bantamweight in the UFC who can touch Barao. Eduardo Dantas, though…
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_PPVs_6/article_15948.shtml
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