Author: By Thomas Gerbasi

There was a time when Tito Ortiz was invincible. Back before Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar opened up the floodgates for the mixed martial arts explosion in 2005, it was “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” who ruled the UFC roost, becoming the organization’s first true superstar as he defeated the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Evan Tanner, Ken Shamrock, Vladimir Matyushenko, and Yuki Kondo.

He knew it too.

“Before I fought (Randy) Couture and lost to him (in 2003), I thought I was invincible,” said Ortiz. “I thought I was gonna walk through Couture and I should have given him a lot more respect. But he outwrestled me and beat me for my title.”

It was Ortiz’ first dose of reality in the harsh fight game. His early losses against Guy Mezger and Frank Shamrock could have been chalked up to inexperience and cardio issues, and he addressed both, going on a six fight winning streak after his 1999 defeat to Shamrock. In those days, Ortiz was mixed martial arts in the United States, and it was a wild ride for someone who didn’t get handed anything on the way up the ranks.

“I remember being a young kid who wasn’t sure what to expect and who was training as hard as possible,” he said. “But I set a task in front of me to achieve, and I was getting my hand raised. At first I thought it would just be a couple fights and I’d go back to coaching and become a high school teacher. But I guess the opponents I competed against brought the best out of me and made me one of the best champions in UFC history.”

To this day, he remains the longest reigning 205-pound champion ever, but after the Couture fight, he was lost, not knowing what would happen after his upset defeat to the future Hall of Famer.

“It was hard to swallow, being the champion for five consecutive defenses and holding it for almost four years, and then you’re at the bottom of the bucket again,” said Ortiz. “It was a heart-wrencher, especially for me because I had nothing to fall back on – I didn’t have rich parents or a family to fall back on. I have myself and just myself. When I lost the title, I thought my future was done. But I sucked it up and continued on and continued to fight.”

Following a TKO loss to Chuck Liddell in his next bout, Ortiz ran off five consecutive wins, defeating Ken Shamrock twice more and also turning back Patrick Cote, Vitor Belfort, and Forrest Griffin. The bad boy was back, but a UFC 66 loss to Liddell in their 2006 rematch began a slide that has seen him go winless in his last five bouts, with four defeats and one draw. He’s only lost to top level talents like Liddell, Griffin, Lyoto Machida, and Matt Hamill, while drawing with Evans, and he’s also dealt with multiple injuries and surgeries, but in the eyes of many fight fans, at 36, he’s passed his sell by date, and is merely a stepping stone for his opponent this Saturday in Las Vegas, Ryan Bader.

“Is it time for me to say goodbye?” he asks. “Let’s see if I get a win. Maybe I am done, maybe it is time for me to hang ‘em up.”

When Ortiz says those words, it’s as if he’s addressing the world, particularly the doubters. He knows that over 14 years in the fight game and all the injuries have taken their toll. He’s well aware that the other two members of the triumvirate that ruled the division for so many years (Liddell and Couture) have already retired, and he is more than cognizant of the fact that in Bader, he’s fighting a young, hungry lion looking to use him as a high-profile victim on his resume.

And that’s fine, but make sure you remember that for fighters like Ortiz, the last thing to go isn’t the punch, but the pride. And the man who used to own the 205-pound weight class isn’t about to lie down and let Bader walk all over him. If he’s got something left, he’s bringing it to the Octagon Saturday night.

“I’m healthy, my surgeries have been one hundred percent, no problems at all, I can wrestle again and do the things that I wasn’t able to do prior and it makes me more confident,” he said. Those are the stock answers you would expect from any fighter leading up to a bout. But then you ask Ortiz whether he believes the old fight game adage that every great fighter has one great fight left in him, and then you hear him perk up.

“I hope so,” he said with a smile. “I’m training like it. I’ve been putting in the time and the work, I’ve focused a lot on my striking and takedown defense. Against Hamill I didn’t have it that much because I just wanted to punch him in the face, and I’m not gonna make those same mistakes. I hope Bader thinks I’m a stepping stone, that I’m a nobody. He called me out thinking that, and he’s gonna be in a lot of trouble if he thinks that way. He’s gonna have a tough fight on his hands. I’m going in swinging, defending shots, punching and elbowing and doing as much as I possibly can, inflicting as much damage in the quickest amount of time. I’m swinging for the fences and not holding anything back.”

He will live up to his words too, because now he’s seen his pride attacked. No one has given him the benefit of the doubt when it came to his injuries or his ability to still be in fights that he has lost. He’s just been pushed to the side as a guy sticking around too long.

“I think people have forgotten because I’ve battled against a lot of injuries but still fought top competition,” said Ortiz. He talks about wanting to get “build up” fights after returning from his injuries, but he knows that at the UFC level, there is no such thing. If you’ve been blessed to make it here, you’re also cursed in that there are no easy fights. There’s the possibility of a war every night, but that’s what he signed up for, and no matter what he may say, he still made that walk to the Octagon when they called his name.

Now it’s a new generation coming up though, and Ortiz has to deal with that reality. And even though he laid the blueprint for a lot of up and comers, he still believes that he’s got something they don’t.

“It really comes down to the heart,” he said. “How much more do they know than me? I don’t think it’s much. I’ve been in this game for a long, long time and it’s kinda like looking in the mirror a little bit. They’re a little bit younger, but do they have the same skillset or mindset as me, and are they as used to big fights as me? I don’t know, but I’ll push the tempo (against Bader) and test these boundaries.”

On Saturday night, Tito Ortiz walks into the Octagon he helped build, and if it’s going to be his last go round, he’s going to make sure Ryan Bader knows he’s been in a fight. And don’t count him out, because he’s got plenty of motivation to get back in the win column and resurrect his storied career.

“My boys are the biggest reason why I get up and train and do what I do,” said Ortiz of his three sons, Jacob, Jesse, and Journey. “I want to make sure they have a future and have nothing to worry about financially. I had problems coming up as a kid, and I don’t want my kids to have to worry about that. I really want to go on my own terms and I want to make sure that when I leave, I leave happy and proud, and I want my kids know that their father gave it his all. He did the best that he possibly could and he was one of the best champions the UFC ever had at light heavyweight.”

 

Sporting close-cropped, almost-clean shaven hairstyles, world-respected fight coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn aren’t making fashion statements or responding to the impending summer heat.

Let’s just say that after watching their charge, welterweight contender Carlos Condit, bite down on his mouthpiece, toss a well-thought out gameplan to the side and go to war, that it’s a pre-emptive strike against the inevitable hair being torn out of their heads in frustration.

“It’s definitely a tug of war,” laughs Condit. “I train with Greg and Mike, who are renowned for game planning and strategy, and I like to go in there and mix it up. But I think we found a nice balance and kinda met in the middle, and taking their approach and taking my approach we found a dangerous combination. Greg has known me since I was 15 years old, and he knows that’s just who I am and how I fight. He’s not going to try to change that, but he’s going to try to channel that into a direction that’s going to make me successful in the cage.”

It’s worked. After returning to his first trainer (Jackson) in 2009, following a long absence, Condit scored a come from behind TKO of Canadian phenom Rory MacDonald and then delivered a Knockout of the Night performance against Dan Hardy. All the while, he’s benefitted from the never-ending array of top-notch training partners, as well as Jackson and Winkeljohn’s strategic expertise. He hasn’t lost the fire that put him on the map in the first place though, and that will never burn out.

“Some guys feel like as long as they play it safe in the cage and have a conservative game plan, then they’re safe,” said Condit. “My philosophy is I’m not safe in that cage until my opponent is not moving anymore, until the ref says ‘no more.’ That’s when I’m safe. So I step in there and I try to finish the guy, and that’s when I feel like I’m out of danger.”

What was starting to wear on “The Natural Born Killer” before his move back home to Albuquerque was the grind that comes along with being a pro fighter for nearly a decade. What used to be exciting was now mundane, and even the simple task of going for his daily workouts became a chore.

“I have been at points in the past when I’ve been burned out, but at that point I switched training camps,” he said. “I had been doing the exact same thing with the exact same training partners for years and years and years, so sometimes just going down to the gym was so monotonous, it was ridiculous. Now I’m at a point in my career that I feel so fortunate doing what I’m doing. I still love to fight, I love getting up and going to the gym every single day, and I get to train all day for a living instead of punching a time card. So my perspective on things changed quite a bit, and I just really enjoy it again.”

Winning cures a lot of ills too, and since June of 2006, Condit has only lost once, a close split decision defeat in his UFC debut at the hands of Martin Kampmann in 2009. But as he points out, the setbacks he’s had over the years (just five in 31 pro MMA fights) have been just as important as the wins. But he points to a non-MMA bout, a Shootboxing contest with Dutch star Andy “The Destroyer” Souwer in 2003 as a true turning point.

“When I was 19 years old I fought Andy Souwer in a standup match, went five rounds with him, and just got my ass kicked all over the mat,” he said. “But I stayed in there and I learned something about myself that you’re not going to break me mentally. As long as my body can keep going, my mind is definitely still in it.”

In other words, you need a little humbling before you can truly move forward.

“I think so,” said Condit, whose only pro defeats have come to Kampmann, Carlo Prater (later avenged), Satoru Kitaoka, Jake Shields, and Pat Healy. “I have greatly benefitted from my losses, probably more so than a lot of my wins. It builds you as a fighter. You have to be forged in the fire before you’re hard enough to stand with the big boys.”

He’s in there now, standing and swinging with the welterweight division’s best. And despite being the WEC’s last welterweight champion, with a reign of 17 months and three title defenses, he didn’t feel like he was hitting on all cylinders when he made the move to the UFC.

“When I started (in the UFC), my first couple fights I don’t feel like I was fighting up to my ability and I’d been trying to find a home as far as a training camp,” he said. “And my last couple fights, I finally got that figured out and I started to show glimpses of what I’m capable of.”

In the MacDonald fight, he showed off resilience, a veteran’s guile, and frighteningly effective finishing skills. Against Hardy, his standup and power was on display as he finished “The Outlaw” in the first round, and this Saturday, he has another interesting assignment in unbeaten Korean contender Dong Hyun Kim.

“It is a tough fight in that Kim is less well-known, but he’s a very, very tough fighter,” said Condit. “I’m gonna do what I do either way.”

So even with a fighter like Hardy holding a bigger name in the sport than Kim, Condit’s plan of attack is unchanged.

“I’m gonna make him famous,” he smiles, “but it’s gonna be on my highlight reel.”

Confident, but not cocky, the 27-year old Condit already has the WEC title belt in his possession. The next step is the UFC championship, but he’s not allowing himself to look that far ahead. That’s what losses, setbacks, and graduation from the fight game’s school of hard knocks will teach you.

“I’ve never been handed anything in my life, I’ve had to work hard for everything, and that’s what I intend to continue to do,” he said. “Getting the UFC belt around my waist is my goal, but I realize that to achieve that goal, I need to focus on each step between now and then, instead of focusing on a title fight or something in the future. I really try to focus on my next training session and putting as much intensity as I can here and now into the present so that I can make that a reality in the future.”

Following the dominance of Royce Gracie and his family’s brand of jiu-jitsu in the early days of the UFC, a strange phenomenon overtook the Octagon, as standout amateur wrestlers began to enter the world of mixed martial arts at a breakneck pace.

Don Frye, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Mark Schultz, Mark Kerr, Royce Alger, Randy Couture, the list went on and on. But it was when Aaron Simpson’s coach and training partner, 1992 United States Olympic Gold medalist Kevin Jackson, decided to move into the world of professional fighting that the college standout from Arizona State University decided to pay closer attention to this budding sport.

“He (Jackson) came in and said ‘I’m gonna fight in the UFC,’ and he brought in some gloves one time and we were slapping each other around because we had no idea what we were doing,” recalled Simpson. “I can remember having a huge party at my house with the whole ASU wrestling team over to watch KJ fight over in Japan. It was a really cool thing for us.”

Jackson lost that bout in Japan, his fourth as a pro (and third in the UFC), to Frank Shamrock in 1997, but it really didn’t matter to wrestlers like Simpson. To him and the rest of his peers on the mat, seeing wrestlers show their wares in a different combat sport and still be successful justified what they had been saying throughout their lives, that wrestlers were more than able to hold their own in a fight.

“It was a huge sense of pride for us,” said Simpson. “As a kid growing up, you’re just like ‘we’re the toughest athletes on the face of the planet,’ and you always had that pride. So when we were able to have guys that came up the same way we were coming up go out there and apply those skills in a legal environment, it was really cool for us and it gave our sport a big push.”

Yet while Simpson was intrigued by MMA and happy for his fellow wrestlers who were successful at it, he assumed his path in sports would lead him into coaching, not to a sport where the opportunities to make a decent living at the time were few and far between.

“We talked about it, but we never knew how it would grow and where the opportunities would lie,” he said. “I knew that I wanted to wrestle and compete and try to make a living doing stuff like that, but I never really had an opportunity to fight. But when it did, it all seemed to happen at the right time.”

And for Simpson, the right time came after being asked about fighting by friends like Josh Koscheck, Cain Velasquez, Ryan Bader, and CB Dollaway, and by 2007, the 33-year old was making his pro debut with a first round TKO of Tim Coulson. A year later, he was in the WEC, and after a single fight in the organization, he migrated to the UFC, where he has compiled a 4-2 record heading into his UFC 132 bout against Brad Tavares this Saturday.

In a sport where fighters can often see an accelerated trip from small halls to packed arenas, Simpson, now 36, has certainly been on the fast track, and it’s a plan he has embraced.

“For me, it’s kinda how I live my life,” he said. “I’m always looking for some type of excitement and looking for that new opportunity, and I have an ability to do something that not many 36 year olds or 37 year olds would not even think about doing. And I’m young in the sport and learning all the time. There are things that I’ll do in this fight that I haven’t done in my fights previous, and they’re things that young guys get to do on the smaller circuit, and I’m gonna try them out in the big one, and I’ve got to make it work. So it is exciting and it’s actually really cool for me to do that, and I get to do it with some great friends, and we have a phenomenal facility to do it in, which makes my life pretty cool right now.”

Adding to the cool factor is that he enters Saturday’s bout with a win, which is certainly better than walking into battle with the two fight losing streak he carried into his fight with Mario Miranda in March. In that fight, Simpson stopped his skid by going old school on the Brazilian, dominating the action with takedowns and ground control en route to a unanimous decision win. It was a far cry from his exciting knockouts of David Avellan (in the WEC) and Tim McKenzie, his three round war with Tom Lawlor, or even his two losses to Mark Munoz and Chris Leben, but hey, a win’s a win, and after two defeats in a row, he needed a W.

“We had a gameplan that we went through and I had to make sure that I stuck to it,” said Simpson, now 8-2. “There were times when I wanted to stand up and try to knock him out, but I knew that I had to, in a way, go the safe route, make sure nothing crazy happened, and get the victory. I couldn’t take any huge risks that I had taken in the past, and I will do in the future, but it was one of those things. When you’re kept in the UFC after two losses, your next fight has to be a win. I needed to get that victory. Now I feel better about myself, feel better about fighting, and I finally got to train out of a good camp. In my two losses prior to that, I was going from place to place, with no real continuity. So being able to train out of Power MMA and Fitness here (in Arizona) now that we’ve got our gym opened up has been a blessing. And in this camp I feel even better than my last camp, so I’m excited to go out there and showcase some things I’ve been working on.”

Simpson’s take on the Miranda fight is brutally and refreshingly honest, and while it won’t show up on any end of year award lists, he got the win he needed, he kept his job, and he also learned a lot about himself as a fighter, and those lessons will go along with him into Saturday’s bout with Tavares.

“It (the Miranda bout) helped me mature as a fighter,” he said. “I’m relatively young in this sport and I really had to grow up fast, fighting in the UFC after my fourth fight. Knowing that I could do that (go back to his wrestling to get the win), and knowing that I could have fought smarter in my two losses and I still think I was capable of beating both Mark Munoz and Chris Leben, who are studs in their own right, that gave me a little more confidence, and having the ability to fight smarter at times is always a good thing.”

And to be fair, Simpson is not the first fighter to fall victim to the wrestler’s disease, which is a unique trait that sees lifelong wrestlers become obsessed with striking once the chains come off and they can do in the Octagon what they could never do on the mat. And in Simpson’s case, he can really crack, making the idea of highlight reel finishes and Knockout of the Night bonus checks even more appealing.

“Definitely,” he said when asked if had started to fall in love with his power and striking too much. “And I was, in a way, coached to go out there and do that, and I kinda got away from the skills I’ve had my entire life, since age four, which was being able to take someone down and control them on the ground a little bit more. I’m not saying that’s what I’m doing this fight, because I do want to go back and showcase my hands a little bit more because I have been working hard on my standup with Dan Brandt, our Muay Thai coach. But it’s a work in progress, and I do feel I got a little ahead of myself sitting there and trying to bang with those guys. With Munoz, I think I should have controlled him more when I got those takedowns. I took him down five times to maybe one, and usually when you take someone down five times to one, you win those fights. And because he was getting right back to his feet, he was landing more punches and I lost the fight.”

Against Munoz, Simpson was in the fight the entire time in one of the better action bouts of 2010, and he started strong against Leben before getting clipped and stopped in round two. So the talent’s there, the work ethic’s there, and the power and wrestling are there. Now he just has to put it all together against a tough opponent in Hawaii native Tavares, who stepped in to face Simpson after an originally scheduled bout with returning Jason “Mayhem” Miller was scrapped when Miller was inserted into the Ultimate Fighter season 13 coaching slot alongside middleweight contender Michael Bisping.

“I was definitely gunning for “Mayhem,” but he had a better deal,” said Simpson. “The UFC gave him an awesome opportunity with the TUF show and a great name in Michael Bisping, and I think he will definitely beat him verbally and physically. It’s gonna be a great show. And it was a smart move on their part and I don’t have any qualms with that. I just had to keep training hard. We had about five weeks notice and that’s plenty of time to change the game plan a little bit for Tavares and move forward.”

As for Tavares, Simpson is definitely on his toes, especially after the 23-year old’s January win over Phil Baroni.

“He (Tavares) is someone who throws pretty heavy hands and will come at you,” said Simpson of his foe. “He’s definitely a hard-nosed fighter with some good wins. He fought my teammate, Seth Baczynski, on the show and at the Ultimate Fighter finale, and Seth is no joke. So I’m excited about the fight. It’s another time to get back in the Octagon, which is always a good thing.”

Absolutely. And this time, Simpson isn’t bringing just knockout striking power or dominant wrestling. He’s bringing everything a mixed martial artist has in his arsenal. Who would have thought it back when he was watching those UFC bouts back in 1997?

“This (becoming a pro fighter) was way out of left field,” said Simpson, “but I’m glad it happened, and I’m glad I’m here.”

Life isn’t easy for a fighter at 155 pounds. Take Shane Roller for example. Not only do his opponents have to worry about the wrestling of the three-time Oklahoma State University All-American and an ever-developing submission game that has ended six of his 10 mixed martial arts victories, but in March he showed off some dynamite in his right hand when he starched Thiago Tavares in the second round of their bout.

Yeah, there are no gimmes in the lightweight division. And that goes for Roller as well. So just one fight removed from his Octagon debut against Tavares, the former WEC standout will get a big step-up bout against streaking contender Melvin Guillard this Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“I’m definitely ready,” said Roller. “I think I’m ready to fight anyone in our weight class and that’s why I got into fighting, because I thought I could be the best. That’s my goal. I’ve evolved as a fighter, I’m getting better and better, and I definitely think that I should be put in that category (of contenders) if I beat Melvin. He’s one of the top guys in the weight class, and I’m ready for the challenge.”

A year ago, you might have questioned whether he was. Still a raw talent and a work in progress, Roller showed off his ground game in impressive fashion with WEC wins over Todd Moore, Mike Budnik, Danny Castillo, and Anthony Njokuani, but when he was submitted in a title elimination bout by eventual WEC champ Anthony Pettis, it dropped him a notch or two.

Since that fight, the Tulsa native has relocated his training camp from Las Vegas to Dallas, giving him the same top-notch training that he got in Nevada (his team remains the same) while allowing him to be closer to his family.

“I’m so much more happier here in Texas,” said Roller. “It’s four hours away to my family and my wife’s family, so any weekend we can hop in the car and see them and not have to spend a thousand dollars on plane tickets to get back to see them. It’s great and our families are happier, and anytime you’re happy, it makes the training and everything easier.”

In the cage, Roller earned a Submission of the Night award in his final WEC bout against former champ Jamie Varner last December, and then added a Knockout of the Night award against Tavares. So if the pattern continues, his UFC 132 bout with “The Young Assassin” should be Fight of the Night, right?

“I hope not – that means it’s gonna be a battle,” he laughs. “But that’s what I trained for. He’s a tough guy and I think it’s gonna have some fireworks in it. I just hope to come out on top and get my hand raised.”

He’s done the work to get there, and by adding new wrinkles to his attack with each bout, he becomes more dangerous to defend and to formulate a game plan for. Guillard has almost taken a similar route in his UFC career, changing from a one-dimensional knockout artist to a fighter whose underrated wrestling is now a key part of his ability to keep the fight wherever he wants it. So does Roller think Guillard will want to test his wrestling against the former All-American?

“I don’t think so,” he said. “In all his fights he likes to stand up. That’s his thing. He has some decent wrestling and I think he’ll try to use that to try to stay standing. You know me, I like standing up sometimes, but my go to thing is the ground, and at some point in the fight, that’s what I’m gonna be looking for.”

It’s nice to have a little something extra on your fastball though, and when Roller unleashed his right on Tavares, it sent quite the jolt around the MMA world and through Texas’ Team Takedown.

“I’ve been doing well, sparring at the gym, but I’ve never actually landed a really good knockout punch in a fight, so it was huge and it did a lot for my confidence,” said Roller of the KO, which did get put in heavy rotation in the days following the bout.

“My coach, (Marc) Laimon, is a big computer guy, so we watched it a lot, even at the airport,” laughed Roller. “We kept rewinding it and watching it. I always watch all my tapes, win or lose, but I definitely rewound the last 10 seconds of that fight quite a bit.”

Not these days though. He’s had to put Tavares in the past and focus strictly on Guillard, whose current four fight winning streak includes a KO of the Night of his own against Evan Dunham in January. Roller has no illusions about the task he’s facing this weekend.

“First off, he’s an explosive athlete,” he said of Guillard. “I think he’s one of the best strikers in the lightweight division in the UFC, so it’s definitely gonna test my standup, but I’m excited for it. He’s gotten more well-rounded, he’s defending shots better, and is just putting it all together. And that’s why he’s on a four fight win streak, so I’m excited to fight someone like that.”

Roller means it too. Last August, he had seen his dream of a title deferred by Anthony Pettis, but now, he’s in the UFC and one win away from announcing himself as a contender in the organization’s most crowded division. That’s an accomplishment in itself, but he’s just getting started.

“I’ve developed as a fighter and evolved,” said Roller. “It’s been a year since I lost to Pettis, and that was one of the lower ends because I was so pumped and ready to get my title shot in the WEC, and then I lost and went from a huge high to a low. And now I’m getting back on the horse, staying at it, and having some success, so it’s getting good again.”

PITTSBURGH, June 26 – Shaking off his November loss to George Sotiropoulos, rising lightweight star Joe Lauzon impressively used his improving striking game to set up a first round submission win over England’s Curt Warburton in UFC Live prelim action at Consol Energy Center Sunday.

LAUZON VS. WARBURTON
Warburton was the busier of the two early on, but as if a switch was flipped, Lauzon started pouring it on, and a right-left sent the Brit sprawling to the canvas. Lauzon moved in for the finish and got it, securing a beautiful kimura that forced Warburton to tap out at the 1:58 mark. See post-fight interview

Lauzon ups his record to 19-6 with the win and took home an extra $50K for Submission of the Week; Warburton falls to 7-3.

GRIFFIN VS. GAMBURYAN

Tyson Griffin scored a much needed win against former WEC title challenger Manny Gamburyan, breaking a three fight losing skid with a close unanimous decision. See post-fight interview

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Griffin, who improves to 15-5 in his featherweight debut.

Gamburyan’s takedowns and control on the mat and against the fence allowed him to take the opening round. Griffin switched gears in the second round, and he fed Gamburyan (13-7) a steady diet of kicks that bruised the leg of “The Anvil.”

The action heated up in the final round, with Gamburyan desperately looking to take the fight to the mat while Griffin continued to drill him with leg kicks and hard shots as the two grappled against the fence.

STEVENSON VS. VAZQUEZ

It was difficult watching longtime lightweight contender and new featherweight Joe Stevenson drop his fourth fight in a row, but kudos go to the man who scored the three round unanimous decision win over the popular “Joe Daddy,” Javier Vazquez, who was in a similar position when he defeated Jens Pulver in the final WEC bout of “Lil’ Evil” in March of 2010. See post-fight interview

Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 for Vazquez, who improves to 16-5; Stevenson falls to 36-14.

Vazquez controlled much of the first round on the mat, not exactly pleasing the crowd, but doing enough to stay busy and pile on points. In the second “Showtime” began landing more and more strikes while standing, prompting Stevenson to look for a takedown, which only resulted in a guillotine choke attempt from Vazquez. Finally, the bout strayed to the mat, and Vazquez briefly took Stevenson’s back until the two rose.

Stevenson made a gallant last stand in the third round, but his punches were off again and again, allowing Vazquez to counter him like he had throughout the bout and sail to a big victory in his UFC debut.

ATTONITO VS. ROBERTS

Ultimate Fighter season 11 alum Rich Attonito made a successful drop to the welterweight division, scoring a clear-cut three round unanimous decision win over late replacement Daniel “Ninja” Roberts. See post-fight interview

“I feel great,” said Attonito of the drop to 170 pounds. “This is the weight class I belong in.”

Scores were 29-27, 30-27, and 29-28.

Attonito fought a good first round, holding the edge in the standup game and doing solid work on the ground as well, as he kept Roberts from scoring his own takedowns.

Roberts, who stepped in on short notice when Matt Brown was elevated to a main card bout, went all-out for the takedown as round two began, and he got it, dragging Attonito to the mat and almost securing a rear naked choke. Attonito broke free though, scoring his own takedown seconds later, and he was able to keep Roberts on the mat for the remainder of the frame, ground and pounding his way to even more points.

More confident than ever, “The Raging Bull” stalked Roberts in round three, using low kicks to stagger his opponent, punches to distract him, and a kick to the head to drop him. A follow-up series of punches looked to spell the end, but Roberts survived and got back to his feet, gamely trying to get back in the fight. Attonito wasn’t having it though, and he staggered him a couple more times while standing before closing out the round and the fight with a takedown and ground strikes.

With the win, Attonito ups his record to 10-4; Roberts falls to 12-3.

OLIVEIRA VS. LENTZ

What was an exciting lightweight bout between Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz was marred by an unfortunate ending, as an illegal knee to the head of the downed Lentz allowed the Brazilian to score a second round submission victory. See Charles Oliveira post-fight interview

The first round was one of the best of the year thus far, with constant switches in momentum throughout the five minute period. But when a short right hand dropped Lentz, it looked like the end was near as Oliveira locked in a tight guillotine choke. Lentz escaped though and quickly went for his own guillotine, which Oliveira eventually escaped from. See Nik Lentz post-fight interview with MMA DieHards

Round two began just like the first, but when an illegal knee to the head by Oliveira while Lentz (23-4-2) was down wasn’t caught by referee Chip Snider, it was the beginning of the end for the Minnesotan, who took another knee, this one legal, before being finished with a rear naked choke at 1:48 of the round.

The crowd erupted in boos at the finish, but color commentator Joe Rogan announced that the commission will review the bout and the missed call.

“I’m sorry Nik Lentz, you’re a very tough fighter,” said Oliveira, now 15-1. “I didn’t have the intention to do this.” Lentz and Oliveira netted Fight of the Night bonuses of $50,000 each for their performances.

LAMAS VS. GRICE

In a clash of newcomers to the featherweight division, former WEC standout Ricardo Lamas played the role of “Bully” to the hilt, impressively finishing off Matt Grice in the opening round. See post-fight interview

Effectively nullifying the aggressive attack of Grice with accurate and varied strikes, Lamas never appeared to be bothered by anything his opponent had for him, and late in the round, he staggered Grice with a left kick to the head. A series of follow-up punches were next, and after Lamas dropped Grice with a shot to the head, referee Keith Peterson stepped in seconds later, ending the bout at 4:41 of the first.

With the win, Lamas improves to 10-2; Grice falls to 14-4.

JOHNSON VS. FAALOLOTO

In his first bout since his decision loss to Jonathan Brookins in the Ultimate Fighter season 12 finale last December, lightweight prospect Michael Johnson scored a punishing first round TKO win over Edward Faaloloto. See post-fight interview

“I had six months off, why not get in the gym every day and get stronger,” said Johnson, now 10-5.

On target with his strikes and takedowns from the opening bell, Johnson tagged Faaloloto repeatedly with hard shots, but the Hawaiian shook off everything, even opening a cut over his opponent’s left eye with an elbow. Eventually though, Faaloloto (5-2) was hurt with a left hand in the closing minute of the opening stanza, and Johnson pounced, dropping “Falo” and unleashing a series of strikes that prompted referee Marc Matheny to halt the bout at the 4:42 mark.

PITTSBURGH, June 26 – The question leading up to Sunday’s heavyweight showdown between Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry was ‘who was the best pure striker?’ And for a while it looked like Barry, but it was Kongo who had the last word in the UFC Live main event with a crushing first round knockout victory that sent the crowd at the Consol Energy Center into a frenzy. See post-fight interview

“I had to win this fight,” said Kongo.

KONGO VS. BARRY
Both fighters traded thudding leg kicks in the early going in a painful game of ‘can you top this?’ Kongo used his reach advantage well, but when Barry got close, he dropped Kongo with a flush right hand. With Kongo appearing to be out, referee Dan Miragliotta looked closely, but Kongo got his bearings back and rose, only to get sent down a second time.

Again, Kongo rose to his feet, but just when it looked like Barry was about to score the knockout, the Frenchman fired back with two rights. The first one stood Barry up, and the second one sent him down and out, with Miragliotta having no choice but to call the bout off at the 2:39 mark.

With the win, Kongo improves to 26-6-2; Barry falls to 6-3. Kongo scored Knockout of the Night for the performance, which Joe Rogan called in-broadcast “the most amazing comeback I have ever seen.”

BRENNEMAN VS. STORY

Saturday morning, Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania’s Charlie Brenneman expected to be just another spectator for Sunday’s UFC Live show, but within hours, after Nate Marquardt wasn’t medically cleared for his main event bout against Rick Story, Brenneman was called into duty and he made the most of it in front of his home state fans, winning a clear cut three round unanimous decision over the rising welterweight star. See post-fight interview

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Brenneman, who improves to 14-2; Story, who was coming off a win over Thiago Alves at UFC 130 on May 28th, falls to 13-4.

Brenneman, who was originally brought in to face TJ Grant before Grant withdrew from their bout due to illness, kept the home crowd happy in the opening round, smothering Story and not allowing him to get untracked. And that was before “The Spaniard” got the takedown and fired off strikes as he held Story at bay for the rest of the opening five minutes.

Not straying from the gameplan, Brenneman kicked off round two with another takedown, but Story was able to reverse position and briefly catch his foe in a guillotine choke before the two broke and stood up. Brenneman made sure he didn’t stay there long, as he took Story down again, and controlled the pace and location of the fight. Story tried to catch Brenneman in a guillotine again, but the Pennsylvanian was never in trouble, and he moved into side control briefly before the bell sounded.

Story came out swinging in the final round, trying to turn things around, but he wound up on the mat in the opening 30 seconds. After a standup and a return trip to the canvas, Story worked for a submission, but to no avail.  Changing gears, Story got into the mount position, but Brenneman held on, leaving Story little room to operate in order to pull off the miracle comeback.

BROWN VS. HOWARD

It wasn’t pretty, but welterweight Matt Brown salvaged his UFC career, breaking a three fight losing streak with a three round unanimous decision win over John “Doomsday” Howard. See post-fight interview

All three judges saw the bout 29-28.

The first round was a tough one to score, with Howard’s leg kicks and takedowns being countered by Brown’s more accurate and punishing striking to the head. The pace slowed in round two, with Brown (14-10) controlling most of the action on the mat, but he was unable to put Howard (14-7) in any significant danger. The same could be said for the final round, but with Howard getting more offensive light than in the previous frame. That didn’t appease the fans though, as they booed the lack of action in what was expected to be a Fight of the Night candidate.

MITRIONE VS. MORECRAFT

The Matt Mitrione Experience continues to captivate the MMA world, as the former NFL lineman moved to 5-0 in the main card opener with a second round knockout of fellow heavyweight prospect Christian Morecraft. See post-fight interview

After some sloppy striking from both men to start the bout, Mitrione drew first blood with a straight left that produced a flash knockdown. Morecraft rose quickly and rushed his opponent, but Mitrione calmly parried the attack and bloodied his foe’s mouth. With under two minutes left, Morecraft scored with his first good combination of the fight, yet Mitrione’s answering shot put the ball back in his court. Moments later, Mitrione dropped the Ithaca product, but as he moved in, he didn’t land the finishing blow flush. Morecraft was able to smother Mitrione on the mat to make it out of the round, yet it took him a few moments to get to his corner.

Mitrione continued to pepper his tired foe early in round two, but two minutes in, Morecraft (7-2) was able to score his first takedown of the bout. After a brief stall, Mitrione got to his feet, only to get taken to the mat again. After a restart, Morecraft looked spent, and Mitrione, sensing it, closed the show with a three punch combination to the head. Morecraft dropped to the mat hard, and Mitrione simply walked away as referee Marc Matheny waved off the bout at 4:28.