NEW ORLEANS – This is the UFC Fight Night 25 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC fights from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
The prelims, which will stream live on the UFC’s Facebook page, include a pair of lightweight bouts between TUF 12 competitor Cody McKenzie and Vagner Rocha and TUF 12 fighter Shamar Bailey and Evan Dunham.
Wanderlei Silva protege Lopez is making his UFC debut and is a pretty sizable favorite in this one. He’s got “The Axe Murderer” in his corner, naturally. Bruce Buffer runs the intros, and we’re ready to roll with Kevin Mulhall the third man in the Octagon. They trade in tight early, and Edwards looks for a throw, but settles for a clinch against the cage. But Lopez lifts him for a nice slam – right into a guillotine. Edwards cranks on it, but Lopez rolls out and eventually pops back to his feet. He throws a nice right kick that Edwards counters with some more clinch work. In tight, Edwards lands a couple nice hooks, then a soft slam. But again Lopez pops up. And again Edwards softly takes him down. He looks for a guillotine again, but settles for keeping position on the mat, trying to work ground and pound. The fight moves back to the feet halfway through the round. Jabs are traded, with each fighter landing a nice one in close. A nice knee from Lopez briefly has Edwards on the canvas with Lopez looking for some quick short strikes. But back on the feet, Edwards ties things up again with his back on the fence. Another nice knee from Lopez lands, but Edwards chases him down with a flurry and they trade position along the fence. Lopez landed some decent shots in the round, but MMA Fighting will score the round 10-9 for Edwards.
Round 2: Edwards opens with a left jab, then eats a high right kick. But he comes back with a spinning back kick right to Lopez’s gut. Back along the fence, Edwards again lands a little takedown and has good position in side control. He works to sink in a guillotine and gets it. It looks tight, but Lopez barely pops out and briefly has top position until they go back to their feet. After several Edwards near-chokes so far, Lopez might believe he needs to keep this standing. Edwards again works for a little takedown and works to take Lopez’s back. Lopez looks absolutely exhausted as Edwards starts laying on the ground and pound. It’s getting close as Mulhall looks in, but Lopez gives one burst of energy and reverses to pop out. After a short stall in the clinch, Mulhall splits them up with 30 seconds left in the round. Edwards lands a couple nice kicks as we get to the end. We’ll give another 10-9 round to Edwards heading to the last.
Round 3: They touch gloves for the last. Lopez has probably been told he’ll need to finish, and he lands a nice right hand early. Lopez ties Edwards up, and Edwards throws knees. Then Lopez lifts him for a nice slam. Edwards is looking for an armbar from his side. But Lopez finally gets out of it, gets mount, then takes Edwards’ back and starts looking for ground and pound. Edwards is squirming to try and get out, and Lopez gives up the back. He keeps dominant position on the ground, moving from side control to north-south briefly, then back to side control. He lands some short right elbows as Edwards looks for a way out. And finally, Edwards gets back to his feet. With 1:20 left, Lopez again gets a short takedown, but Edwards falls into guard. Edwards gets an armbar with 20 seconds left, but he can’t hold it. We’ll give the third to Lopez, 10-9, but the fight should go to Edwards 29-28 in a fairly major upset.
Result: Justin Edwards def. Jorge Lopez, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Mike Lullo vs. Robert Peralta
Round 1:
High kick from Lullo to open. Then he eats one to the outside. They trade a few kicks, then Peralta ties up and lands some knees. He uses them to get a soft taekdown before letting Lullo back up. They trade jabs. Then several kicks each. After his UFC debut loss against Edson Barboza last November, you’d think Lullo would be pretty fed up with eating kicks by now. But he’s throwing plenty himself. Peralta checks a kick, then comes with a nice combo. Then again. Lullo’s left thigh is blistering red from kicks already. Nice right hand from Peralta lands, and he comes back with two more huge kicks to Lullo’s lead leg. Peralta then again lands some big kicks that take Lullo off his feet – it’s literally like watching a replay of the Lullo-Barboza fight. It’s a 10-9 round for Peralta.
Round 2: More kicks from Peralta. And Lullo has a large hematoma on the left side of his head. Peralta goes right after it. More kicks from Peralta force Lullo to shoot, and he ties things up along the fence. Things stall out for a minute as Lullo keeps Peralta tied up – at least he’s not eating kicks. They break at 1:30 and trade leg kicks. Again Lullo shoots, but it’s not there. A nice kick from Lullo closes the round. It’s definitely a closer round, but we’re going to give it to Peralta again, 10-9.
Round 3: Mike Stumpf vs. T.J. Waldburger
NEW ORLEANS – This is the UFC Fight Night 25 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC fights from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
The prelims, which will stream live on the UFC’s Facebook page, include a pair of lightweight bouts between TUF 12 competitor Cody McKenzie and Vagner Rocha and TUF 12 fighter Shamar Bailey and Evan Dunham.
Wanderlei Silva protege Lopez is making his UFC debut and is a pretty sizable favorite in this one. He’s got “The Axe Murderer” in his corner, naturally. Bruce Buffer runs the intros, and we’re ready to roll with Kevin Mulhall the third man in the Octagon. They trade in tight early, and Edwards looks for a throw, but settles for a clinch against the cage. But Lopez lifts him for a nice slam – right into a guillotine. Edwards cranks on it, but Lopez rolls out and eventually pops back to his feet. He throws a nice right kick that Edwards counters with some more clinch work. In tight, Edwards lands a couple nice hooks, then a soft slam. But again Lopez pops up. And again Edwards softly takes him down. He looks for a guillotine again, but settles for keeping position on the mat, trying to work ground and pound. The fight moves back to the feet halfway through the round. Jabs are traded, with each fighter landing a nice one in close. A nice knee from Lopez briefly has Edwards on the canvas with Lopez looking for some quick short strikes. But back on the feet, Edwards ties things up again with his back on the fence. Another nice knee from Lopez lands, but Edwards chases him down with a flurry and they trade position along the fence. Lopez landed some decent shots in the round, but MMA Fighting will score the round 10-9 for Edwards.
Round 2: Edwards opens with a left jab, then eats a high right kick. But he comes back with a spinning back kick right to Lopez’s gut. Back along the fence, Edwards again lands a little takedown and has good position in side control. He works to sink in a guillotine and gets it. It looks tight, but Lopez barely pops out and briefly has top position until they go back to their feet. After several Edwards near-chokes so far, Lopez might believe he needs to keep this standing. Edwards again works for a little takedown and works to take Lopez’s back. Lopez looks absolutely exhausted as Edwards starts laying on the ground and pound. It’s getting close as Mulhall looks in, but Lopez gives one burst of energy and reverses to pop out. After a short stall in the clinch, Mulhall splits them up with 30 seconds left in the round. Edwards lands a couple nice kicks as we get to the end. We’ll give another 10-9 round to Edwards heading to the last.
Round 3: They touch gloves for the last. Lopez has probably been told he’ll need to finish, and he lands a nice right hand early. Lopez ties Edwards up, and Edwards throws knees. Then Lopez lifts him for a nice slam. Edwards is looking for an armbar from his side. But Lopez finally gets out of it, gets mount, then takes Edwards’ back and starts looking for ground and pound. Edwards is squirming to try and get out, and Lopez gives up the back. He keeps dominant position on the ground, moving from side control to north-south briefly, then back to side control. He lands some short right elbows as Edwards looks for a way out. And finally, Edwards gets back to his feet. With 1:20 left, Lopez again gets a short takedown, but Edwards falls into guard. Edwards gets an armbar with 20 seconds left, but he can’t hold it. We’ll give the third to Lopez, 10-9, but the fight should go to Edwards 29-28 in a fairly major upset.
Result: Justin Edwards def. Jorge Lopez, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Mike Lullo vs. Robert Peralta
Round 1:
High kick from Lullo to open. Then he eats one to the outside. They trade a few kicks, then Peralta ties up and lands some knees. He uses them to get a soft taekdown before letting Lullo back up. They trade jabs. Then several kicks each. After his UFC debut loss against Edson Barboza last November, you’d think Lullo would be pretty fed up with eating kicks by now. But he’s throwing plenty himself. Peralta checks a kick, then comes with a nice combo. Then again. Lullo’s left thigh is blistering red from kicks already. Nice right hand from Peralta lands, and he comes back with two more huge kicks to Lullo’s lead leg. Peralta then again lands some big kicks that take Lullo off his feet – it’s literally like watching a replay of the Lullo-Barboza fight. It’s a 10-9 round for Peralta.
Round 2: More kicks from Peralta. And Lullo has a large hematoma on the left side of his head. Peralta goes right after it. More kicks from Peralta force Lullo to shoot, and he ties things up along the fence. Things stall out for a minute as Lullo keeps Peralta tied up – at least he’s not eating kicks. They break at 1:30 and trade leg kicks. Again Lullo shoots, but it’s not there. A nice kick from Lullo closes the round. It’s definitely a closer round, but we’re going to give it to Peralta again, 10-9.
Round 3: Mike Stumpf vs. T.J. Waldburger
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC newcomer Edson Barboza following his UFC 123 win over Mike Lullo about winning his first UFC fight, the comparisons to Jose Aldo and how not to let the hype surrounding him go to his head.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC newcomer Edson Barboza following his UFC 123 win over Mike Lullo about winning his first UFC fight, the comparisons to Jose Aldo and how not to let the hype surrounding him go to his head.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — This is the UFC 123 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s card at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The four unaired bouts are Dennis Hallman vs. Karo Parisyan, Edson Barboza vs. Mike Lullo, Paul Kelly vs. T.J. O’Brien
and Nik Lentz vs. Tyson Griffin.
NEW ORLEANS – This is the UFC Fight Night 25 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC fights from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — This is the