This is the UFC on FUEL 4 undercard live blog for the Munoz vs. Weidman event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
There will be five fights on the undercard. Damacio Page vs. Alex Caceres, Chris Cariaso vs. Josh Ferguson, Rafael Natal vs. Andrew Craig, Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Dan Stittgen, and Raphael Assuncao vs. Issei Tamura will be featured on the prelims.
Check out the UFC on FUEL 4 undercard live blog below.
Raphael Assuncao vs. Issei Tamura
Round 1: Both fighters open orthodox. Not a lot of action through the first minute until Assuncao eats a hard right hand from Tamura. Leg kicks from Assuncao are working until he Superman punches his way into the clinch. The two break. Spinning front kick lands for Assuncao and then stuffs a takedown attempt from Tamura. He cradles the Japanese fighter and attempted an Anaconda choke, but Tamura puts his back on the fence, stands and the two break.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Assuncao
Round 2: Tamura lands a right hand, but Assuncao comes firing back and lands a left. Tamura is dropped and that’s it, Assuncao follows up with punches until he ultimately wins by TKO at :25 of the second frame.
Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Dan Stittgen
Round 1: Josh Rosenthal is the referee. Both fighters open orthodox and the two exchange leg kicks. Guimaraes attempts a double and drives Stittgen into the fence. Guimaraes switches between a single and a double and only gets Stittgen down for a moment before he pops back up. Three minutes in and Guimaraes is still fighting Stittegen for the takedown along the fence. Stittgen screams in frustration along the fence as he can’t break free from these relentless attempts. The round ends there.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Guimaraes
Round 2: In the first minute of the round, Guimaraes gets rocked by Stittgen, but recovers and resumes his attack. They briefly break apart before Guimaraes goes back to chasing down the takedown. Stittegen keeps his back off of the fence and they break apart. Now Stittgen landing punches, although not with much follow up. Now Guimaraes trying to press Stittgen into the fence again, but is being stuffed at every turn. Josh Rosenthal separates them and they’re back to the center.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Stittgen
Round 3: Stittgen is back to kicking high and low, but he’s only landing on the legs. The striking on display is sloppy without much follow-up from either fighter. Stittgen continues to land to the legs, but eats a right from Guimaraes. The Brazilian clinches and backs Stittgen into the fence, strangely screaming while he lands rather insignificant shots. The round ends there.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-10 and the fight 29-29, a draw. The judges score it 29-28 Stittgen, 29-28 Guimaraes, 29-28 Guimaraes, awarding the Brazilian the split decision victory.
Round 1: Craig opens orthodox and takes center of the cage. The two exchange outside leg kicks. Natal switching stances, although not striking much in the process. The two continue to exchange leg kicks while Natal sits on the outside, even egging Craig on to follow up. Natal continues to pot shot on the outside and stay out of trouble. Craig in full counter-fighting form.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Natal
Round 2: In the first minute Natal rocks Craig very badly with a left hand and continues to follow up as Craig flails, but Craig manages to hang to get double underhooks from behind. As Craig stands Natal lands a knee-tap takedown and then moves to mount on the ground. Craig manages to move out of mount and Natal briefly tries to cradle, but Craig reverses him and Natal’s on his back. Natal attempts a knee bar and in an eventual scramble stands. And out of nowhere Craig comes back with a head kick that rocks Natal badly! Craig follows up with punches and that’s a wrap! Referee stops the fight and Craig wins! The official time is 4:52 by way of knockout.
Chris Cariaso vs. Josh Ferguson
Round 1: The two come out strong and Cariaso stuffs a takedown attempt. Cariaso is a southpaw, Ferguson is orthodox. A left and a right stun Ferguson and now Cariaso is on top, but Ferguson still scrambling. Ferguson now on top after the two stand and he’s working for a guillotine from half guard on top. Cariaso escapes. Using a nearside underhook, Cariaso stands and lands a hard right left hand. Ferguson whiffs on a head kick, but continues to spin and lands a spinning wheel kick of sorts, but Cariaso eats it. The two jockey for position along the fence and Cariaso is feeding Ferguson elbows standing until he lands an outside trip to move to top position.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Cariaso
Round 2: Ferguson attempts a double, but is stuffed and Cariaso holds the head to stuff them and unloads a bit, but Ferguson recovers. The two continue to exchange with Cariaso getting the better of them, but Ferguson holding his own. Towards the end of the round, Cariaso lands a beautiful outside trip along the fence. From top position he nails Ferguson with short elbows to end the round with an exclamation point.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Cariaso.
Round 3: Ferguson attempted a single, but converts to an attempted half guard sweep, but couldn’t get it because Cariaso whizzered hard. The two scramble and stand. Again a trip from Cariaso plants Ferguson on the mat, but Ferguson scrambles enough to get back to his feet. The two clinch again and Ferguson attempts a kimura, but it’s only a trick to get to Cariaso’s back after an arm drag! Two hooks in and Ferguson is firmly planted on Cariaso’s back. Cariaso uses two-on-one wrist control to prevent the submission.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Ferguson and the fight 29-28 Cariaso. The judges score this bout 30-27, 20-27, 30-27 for Chris Cariaso.
Round 1: Page comes storming out with a right and misses. Cacaeres early looking to use kicks to establish range, but gets sent to the floor from an outside trip. Page dives into Caceres’ guard and is fending off semi-submission attempts coming from the bottom. Page going in and out of Caceres’ guard and landing the occasional punch, but not much else. After blocking a punch, Cacares transitions to the triangle. He goes to mounted triangle and in a scramble, Page escapes.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Page
Round 2: Jumping knee from Cacares find the mark, but Page catches Caceres mid-air and dumps him on the mat. And just like that Cacares finds another triangle off a time punch recoil and this time he pulls Page’s head down to finish the choke at 1:27 of the second round.