Filed under: UFCAnthony Perosh survived an early barrage on his feet and then looked tremendous on the ground, beating Cyrille Diabate with a second-round submission on Saturday at UFC 138.
The victory was the second in a row for Perosh, who has been …
Anthony Perosh survived an early barrage on his feet and then looked tremendous on the ground, beating Cyrille Diabate with a second-round submission on Saturday at UFC 138.
The victory was the second in a row for Perosh, who has been surprisingly successful since coming to the UFC in 2010 as a late replacement to fight Mirko Cro Cop. Perosh lost that fight, but he’s now won both of his UFC fights since then.
“The first win was a big relief, and the second one in a row was even better for me because I didn’t want the first one to be a fluke,” he said. “I’m here to stay at light heavyweight.”
Diabate landed a good combination very early in the first round to open a cut on Perosh’s face, and he also landed a body kick that turned Perosh’s ribs red. In the early going it looked like it was going to be all Diabate, but Perosh did a nice job of catching a body kick and taking Diabate down into side control. However, while Perosh stayed on top for the rest of the round, Diabate did a nice job of neutralizing Perosh and not taking much damage. It was a first round that Diabate deserved to win.
In the second round, however, it was a different story: Perosh took control early, getting full mount on the ground and attempting to get into position for an arm-triangle choke a couple of times. When that didn’t work, Perosh stayed in the mount until Diabate tried to buck him off, then took Diabate’s back, battered him with ground and pound, sunk in a rear-naked choke and forced Diabate to tap.
This is the UFC 138 live blog for Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh, a light heavyweight bout on the main card of the UFC 138 fight card in Birmingham, England.
Diabate (17-7-1) has won two of his three UFC fights, including a decision win over Steve Cantwell at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann. Perosh (11-6) is 1-1 since he returned to the UFC.
Round 1: The lanky Diabate is repeatedly feigning with his knee, threatening the grappler Perosh and trying to dissuade him from moving in for a takedown. Perosh bides his time circling on the outside. Diabate lands a left hand as Perosh attempts to close the distance. Perosh summons his courage to dive low, but his single leg takedown attempt is easily stopped. Perosh tries to pull guard, but Diabate postures up and scores with left hands. Diabate then gets back to his feet. Perosh moves in and takes Diabate down with 90 seconds remaining. Perosh thought about an arm-triangle but didn’t get close. It’s not enough for Perosh as Diabate takes the round 10-9.
Round 2: Diabate looks confident and moves forward with strikes. Perosh takes advantage and ducks low for a takedown. He quickly advances to full mount, then takes Diabate’s back with 3:30 left. Diabate turned into the choke to relieve pressure and Perosh let it go. Perosh went for an arm triangle but released it because Diabate had his defense set with his hand on his ear. Diabate gave up his back and Perosh fired off hard strikes from the top. Perosh then sunk in the choke and got the tapout for his second straight win.
Winner: Anthony Perosh via rear naked choke submission, Rd. 2, (3:09)
This is the UFC 138 live blog for Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh, a light heavyweight bout on the main card of the UFC 138 fight card in Birmingham, England.
Diabate (17-7-1) has won two of his three UFC fights, including a decision win over Steve Cantwell at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann. Perosh (11-6) is 1-1 since he returned to the UFC.
Round 1: The lanky Diabate is repeatedly feigning with his knee, threatening the grappler Perosh and trying to dissuade him from moving in for a takedown. Perosh bides his time circling on the outside. Diabate lands a left hand as Perosh attempts to close the distance. Perosh summons his courage to dive low, but his single leg takedown attempt is easily stopped. Perosh tries to pull guard, but Diabate postures up and scores with left hands. Diabate then gets back to his feet. Perosh moves in and takes Diabate down with 90 seconds remaining. Perosh thought about an arm-triangle but didn’t get close. It’s not enough for Perosh as Diabate takes the round 10-9.
Round 2: Diabate looks confident and moves forward with strikes. Perosh takes advantage and ducks low for a takedown. He quickly advances to full mount, then takes Diabate’s back with 3:30 left. Diabate turned into the choke to relieve pressure and Perosh let it go. Perosh went for an arm triangle but released it because Diabate had his defense set with his hand on his ear. Diabate gave up his back and Perosh fired off hard strikes from the top. Perosh then sunk in the choke and got the tapout for his second straight win.
Winner: Anthony Perosh via rear naked choke submission, Rd. 2, (3:09)
Filed under: UFCUFC 138 comes to us on tape delay from across the pond this weekend, and like many UFC events in the U.K. it features no shortage of fights that, at least on paper, seem a little bit lopsided.
UFC 138 comes to us on tape delay from across the pond this weekend, and like many UFC events in the U.K. it features no shortage of fights that, at least on paper, seem a little bit lopsided.
What does that mean for you? Well, if you know how to pick ’em you could profit handsomely off an outsized betting line here or there. If you don’t, you could end up crying into a pint of the dark stuff along with all the Brits who made ill-advised bets on Premier League games. Hey, at least you won’t be drinking alone.
Now let’s take a look at the odds on UFC 138’s main card bouts, and see if we can’t find a bargain.
Remember when Leben was a hefty dog against Aaron Simpson, who also seemed like a sure bet to out-wrestle him thoroughly and completely? All it took was a couple patented Leben bombs to turn that one into the kind of street fight he was looking for, so why couldn’t history repeat itself? Before we get carried away in that comparison we should note some differences between Munoz and Simpson. For starters, Munoz owns a victory over the A-Train, which has to count for something. But more importantly, Munoz has improved his all-around game greatly in the past couple years, so if he has to he can hold his own on the feet with Leben, at least for a little while. That’s not to say he’ll necessarily want to try for the knockout, of course. The smart play would be putting Leben on his back and keeping him there, but Munoz can swat when he wants to. Just ask CB Dollaway. By the same token, Leben can take it and keep coming back with more. Just ask Akiyama. My pick: Leben. Any time you throw your money down on the Catsmasher, be prepared to lose it. That said, I just can’t turn my back on odds like these, especially when they’re attached to a guy who is never more than one left hand from victory.
It’s still hard to tell just how good Barao really is. He won both his WEC fights and then edged out Cole Escovedo at UFC 130, but he hasn’t stepped up to take on that next level of competition yet — at least, not until now. Granted, Pickett wouldn’t be this high on any UFC card outside the U.K., but this is still a man with wins over both “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Ivan Menjivar in the past year and a half, so it’s not as if he’s just some bloke who’s been plucked from the local pub and thrown into the cage. Like many British fighters, he could stand to improve his wrestling. That might be more of a concern if he was going up against an All-American from some Big Ten school, but against a Brazilian like Barao it might be less of an issue. You know Pickett will have the crowd on his side, which could help swing it if the fight goes the distance. Barao’s winning streak is impressive on paper, but it’s one thing to beat local dudes in Brazil and quite another to take on an experienced opponent like Pickett in his home country. My pick: Pickett. He’s only a slight underdog, but I’d take him here if the odds on it were even.
These UK cards are usually great opportunities for lesser-known European fighters to get beat up by UFC mainstays, which is exactly what oddsmakers think is going on here. Abedi is a Swedish fighter who’s undefeated against a handful of Europeans you’ve probably never heard of, and here he is making his UFC debut against human buzzsaw Thiago Alves, who is sorely in need of a victory to lift him out of the rough spot he’s in. In one way, it’s a tough fight for Alves. After going 1-3 in his last four, he can’t afford to lose to some guy from Sweden who’s making his UFC debut. If Abedi gets knocked out by Alves, hey, what did anyone expect? But if Alves does anything but dominate Abedi, it looks bad. That’s a lot of pressure to perform, and at a critical time in his career. My pick: Alves. Debuting against a guy like Alves is asking a lot of Abedi. If he turns out to be up to the task, he’ll surprise a lot of people, me included. But I’m not willing to bet on it.
Etim’s an exciting young fighter who’s been out of action since the UFC’s trip to Abu Dhabi in April of 2010. Now he makes a comeback in front of his countrymen, and it seems like he might be getting a bit of a softball. Faaloloto is very inexperienced, and he has yet to win a fight under the Zuffa banner. He didn’t even make it out of the first round in his only UFC fight, so it seems as if just maybe the brass is feeding him to Etim with the expectation that the British crowd will enjoy seeing an American get pummeled by one of their own. That’s not bad logic, but it is bad news for Faaloloto unless he’s a lot better than he’s shown so far. My pick: Etim. With odds like those, it’s almost not worth including in the parlay. Almost.
At first glance, it seems like sort of a miracle that Perosh is still in the UFC. He got back in the organization as a late replacement against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who brutalized him something awful until the doctors finally stopped it. He got the requisite make-up fight back in a weight class more to his liking last February, and he made the most of it with a submission win over Tom Blackledge. Now he has to leave the friendly confines of Australia and take on the French kickboxer Diabate in an old school striker-versus-grappler match. As you can see, oddsmakers like the striker’s chances, and with good reason. Diabate is not only dangerous on the feet, he’s also learned to use his lanky frame on the mat in recent years. In fact, he’s only lost to two people in the last five years, and one was “Shogun” Rua. The other was Alexander Gustafsson, which is still not too shabby for a guy in his late 30s. Perosh, who is also pushing 40, seems like he can’t be long for the UFC with his up-and-down performances. Then again, I never would have guessed he’d hang on this long. My pick: Diabate. Another one for the parlay. Sadly, I can’t bring myself to take the long odds on “The Hippo.”
The ‘For Entertainment Purposes Only’ Parlay: Pickett + Alves + Etim + Diabate
(At least there will always be this to tide us over.)
Bad news for any of you Brits out there planning on attending UFC 138 (because, let’s be honest, you will be the only ones doing so.) Word has it that Paul Taylor has suffered minor whiplash as a result of a recent rear-end collision he was involved in and will not be competing in his main card lightweight clash with Anthony Njokuani.
As you may or may not remember, this is not the first time Taylor has been forced to pull out of a fight at the last minute. Back at UFC 112, he was deemed medically unfit to compete just days before his bout with John Gunderson after suffering a severe migraine as a result of his weight cut. This marks the third total fight in Taylor’s UFC career that he has withdrawn from as a result of injury. One more, and he will be entering James Irvin territory, which is second only to Cabrini-Green in terms of places no one ever wants to find themself.
(At least there will always be this to tide us over.)
Bad news for any of you Brits out there planning on attending UFC 138 (because, let’s be honest, you will be the only ones doing so.) Word has it that Paul Taylor has suffered minor whiplash as a result of a recent rear-end collision he was involved in and will not be competing in his main card lightweight clash with Anthony Njokuani.
As you may or may not remember, this is not the first time Taylor has been forced to pull out of a fight at the last minute. Back at UFC 112, he was deemed medically unfit to compete just days before his bout with John Gunderson after suffering a severe migraine as a result of his weight cut. This marks the third total fight in Taylor’s UFC career that he has withdrawn from as a result of injury. One more, and he will be entering James Irvin territory, which is second only to Cabrini-Green in terms of places no one ever wants to find themself.
Taylor, who most recently shellacked UFC punching bag/Paris Hilton trainer Gabe Rudiger back at UFC 126, has gone 3-3 in his last 6 bouts, with all of those victories coming over now released fighters. Njokuani on the other hand, is coming off an impressive decision victory over TUF 9 finalist Andre Winner, but will now be forced to withdraw from the card due to a lack of a replaceable opponent.
Moving up to the main card as a result will be the light heavyweight bout between Australian submission specialist Anthony “Hippo” Perosh and French stiker Cyrille Diabate. After going 0-2 in his first UFC tour of duty, Perosh was called back to the big leagues at UFC 110, where he suffered a second round doctor stoppage loss to Mirko Cro Cop. Perosh was able to bounce back and earn his first UFC win at UFC 127 however, scoring a first round rear-naked choke over Tom Blackledge.
He is facing a tough test in Diabate, a lethal striker and PRIDE veteran who has gone 2-1 in his octagon career, scoring perhaps his most notable victory in his debut, where he knocked out Luis Cane in just over 2 minutes. After suffering a second round submission in his sophomore match to Alexander Gustafsson, “The Snake” will be looking to build on his most recent victory, a somewhat lackluster decision over Steve Cantwell at UFC on Versus 3.
UFC 138 is set to transpire on November 5th and will be broadcast live in the US on Spike.
Filed under: UFCThere are those who would argue that you can tell who won a fight by looking at each participant’s face when it’s over. They’re usually the same people who think takedowns are worthless and jiu-jitsu is some vague form of cheating, so d…
There are those who would argue that you can tell who won a fight by looking at each participant’s face when it’s over. They’re usually the same people who think takedowns are worthless and jiu-jitsu is some vague form of cheating, so don’t listen to them.
Except just this once they seem to have a point. Both Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann took some damage in the main event of UFC on Versus 3, but it was Sanchez whose face looked like a Picasso that had been left out in the rain by the time it was all over. And you’re telling me this guy won?
He did on the judges’ scorecards, anyway, even if he might have had a hard time convincing the nurses in the hospital of that fact. Since the enduring images from that fight are likely to be ones of a deformed and bloodied Sanchez, it’s hard not to wonder if MMA fans will be any less skeptical.
Now on to Thursday night’s biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.
Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosLONDON — MMA Fighting spoke to Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson following his submission win over Cyrille Diabate at UFC 120 about rebounding from his tough loss to Phil Davis at UF…
LONDON — MMA Fighting spoke to Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson following his submission win over Cyrille Diabate at UFC 120 about rebounding from his tough loss to Phil Davis at UFC 112, the finish and what he needs to improve on.
Anthony Perosh survived an early barrage on his feet and then looked tremendous on the ground, beating Cyrille Diabate with a second-round submission on Saturday at UFC 138.
This is the 
There are those who would argue that you can tell who won a fight by looking at each participant’s face when it’s over. They’re usually the same people who think takedowns are worthless and jiu-jitsu is some vague form of cheating, so don’t listen to them.