MILWAUKEE – This is the UFC on Versus 5 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC card.
UFC on Versus 5 is the promotion’s debut in Wisconsin and takes place at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee, the state’s largest city.
The preliminary card features eight fights, including a middleweight bout between C.B. Dollaway and Jared Hamman and a bantamweight contest between former WEC champion Eddie Wineland and former title challenger Joseph Benavidez.
No glove touch, but we start anyway. Figueroa takes the center and Reinhardt circles to the right on the outside, then back left. Reinhardt is on his horse, not engaging, and grinning at Figueroa, now talking to him and clapping at him. The crowd is booing wildly. Figueroa finally catches him to throw a partially blocked kick. This has Kalib Starnes written all over it. Figueroa lands a right and drops Reinhardt, then locks in a standing guillotine. Reinhardt is trying to power out of it, and he eventually gets a little slam out of it and winds up on top. He transitions to Figueroa’s back and starts to work for a rear naked choke with a body triangle locked on. Figueroa gets out, though, and lands a shot from up top. They stand up, and when Figueroa engages, Reinhardt immediately drops to his back. They stand up again, and Reinhardt lands a decent right of his own. Back on the feet, Figueroa again lands a couple good shots and gets Reinhardt back on the ground, where he proceeds to land some pretty stiff shots from standing. Reinhardt does a somersault and rolls over. He has basically given up and is just laying there as the ref looks at him when the horn sounds. It’s a 10-8 round for Figueroa on our card thanks to Reinhardt’s running.
Round 2: We’re going to do a second round of this thing, and this time they touch gloves. Reinhardt again is on his horse, then shoots when Figueroa engages. There’s a scramble, and Figueroa ends up on top in full mount. Reinhardt rolls over and covers up and he’s not long for this fight. Pretty quickly, the ref steps in and it’s done. So, too, likely, is Reinhardt’s UFC career after the running in the first round.
Round 1: The legendary Mario Yamasaki gets things going. No glove touch. Volkmann shoots in early and they have a scramble in the clinch, but not much comes from it. They break apart and dance. Decent body kick from Castillo, who shortly thereafter misses a nice high kick. Then he lands an outside leg kick, followed by one on the inside. Volkmann shoots again and gets a soft takedown and looks to pass from half guard. He ties up Castillo’s right arm, then works for a side choke. But trying to hold on to that position costs him, as Castillo works his way out and gets top position. Volkmann settles back into guard, then nicely wall walks back to his feet as they clinch up. They separate around 1:50 and move back to the middle. After trading rights, Castillo lands one of the loudest body kicks in recorded history (we think) to Volkmann’s left ribcage. But Volkmann survives it and the two wind up in a scramble on the ground. It’s a tough first round to score, with each guy looking pretty effective. But MMA Fighting will give it, highly unofficially, to Castillo 10-9.
Round 2: After a few seconds of dancing, we clinch up along the fence. A few traded shots lead to Volkmann on his butt looking for a choke, and Castillo trying to work ground and pound. Yamasaki warns Castillo for holding Volkmann’s shorts and says he’ll take a point if he does it again. Volkmann wall walks back up, and then Castillo is warned for grabbing the fence, though it looked mild. A weird scramble leads to Volkmann on his back briefly, then on his knees, and he wrestles Castillo to his back and is in half guard. Then work for position, and Volkmann briefly has a choke that he can’t lock up as Castillo tries to reverse position. He works for it again, and it’s an arm-in modified guillotine. But Castillo will survive the round. Round 2 goes to Volkmann on our card, 10-9.
Round 3: Castillo lands a nice right hand 10 seconds in. Forty seconds later, the next action is a nice inside leg kick from him. They hit the ground briefly, but Volkmann has the edge there before Castillo scrambles quickly out and back to his feet. The crowd cheers the cat-and-mouse game. A short exchange in the middle leads to Volkmann again taking top position on the ground, controlling Castillo’s head and neck from half guard. He looks for some short elbows, but mainly this is a control game with Castillo’s right arm locked up. Volkmann isn’t doing much with the position, and it doesn’t look like it’s a choke he can lock down from where he’s at. Castillo wiggles out, but Volkmann gets to side control and looks for more elbows and again traps an arm and controls Castillo’s head. Castillo throws right knees from the ground, but that’s all he can do. The crowd is booing what it deems a stalling game by Volkmann. Castillo rolls over, and Volkmann works for his back. But nothing will happen. It’s a 10-9 third for Volkmann, and MMA Fighting scores the fight for him 29-28. No doubt some judges will have it 30-27 for him.
Result: Jacob Volkmann def. Danny Castillo, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Round 1: They touch gloves, surprising given yesterday’s heated moment at the weigh-ins. These guys are both tall. Not Stefan Struve tall, but tall. We dance for 30 seconds, looking for position. Both throw a few kicks and rights that miss. Miller blocks a high kick and pushes forward, but O’Brien just misses a big uppercut right that has the crowd making one giant “Ooooooh!” sound. O’Brien lands a nice body shot that has Miller thinking that wasn’t very nice. And O’Brien then comes forward with a nice combination. He blocks some of Miller’s combos a short time later, then checks an outside leg kick. With 90 seconds left, Miller lands a big right, then just misses another but follows it with an outside leg kick. He lands a pair of stiff left jabs, then a third. O’Brien blocks a high Miller kick, then comes forward with a body shot. It’s a pretty close first round, but we’ll go 10-9 Miller – though it could go either way.
Round 2: We trade leg kicks and look for openings to start the first minute of Round 2. Miller then backpedals to re-set. O’Brien comes forward and has Miller backing up just for a second, but Miller drops him with a left and starts to work kicks from up top while O’Brien lays on his back. But a really nice scramble by O’Brien has him to his feet – but just for a second. Miller dives back in and cranks on a guillotine, and he’s got it good. Though O’Brien is trying to get out, he can’t and he has to tap.
Result: Cole Miller def. T.J. O’Brien, submission (guillotine), 2:38 Round 2
MILWAUKEE – This is the UFC on Versus 5 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC card.
UFC on Versus 5 is the promotion’s debut in Wisconsin and takes place at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee, the state’s largest city.
The preliminary card features eight fights, including a middleweight bout between C.B. Dollaway and Jared Hamman and a bantamweight contest between former WEC champion Eddie Wineland and former title challenger Joseph Benavidez.
No glove touch, but we start anyway. Figueroa takes the center and Reinhardt circles to the right on the outside, then back left. Reinhardt is on his horse, not engaging, and grinning at Figueroa, now talking to him and clapping at him. The crowd is booing wildly. Figueroa finally catches him to throw a partially blocked kick. This has Kalib Starnes written all over it. Figueroa lands a right and drops Reinhardt, then locks in a standing guillotine. Reinhardt is trying to power out of it, and he eventually gets a little slam out of it and winds up on top. He transitions to Figueroa’s back and starts to work for a rear naked choke with a body triangle locked on. Figueroa gets out, though, and lands a shot from up top. They stand up, and when Figueroa engages, Reinhardt immediately drops to his back. They stand up again, and Reinhardt lands a decent right of his own. Back on the feet, Figueroa again lands a couple good shots and gets Reinhardt back on the ground, where he proceeds to land some pretty stiff shots from standing. Reinhardt does a somersault and rolls over. He has basically given up and is just laying there as the ref looks at him when the horn sounds. It’s a 10-8 round for Figueroa on our card thanks to Reinhardt’s running.
Round 2: We’re going to do a second round of this thing, and this time they touch gloves. Reinhardt again is on his horse, then shoots when Figueroa engages. There’s a scramble, and Figueroa ends up on top in full mount. Reinhardt rolls over and covers up and he’s not long for this fight. Pretty quickly, the ref steps in and it’s done. So, too, likely, is Reinhardt’s UFC career after the running in the first round.
Round 1: The legendary Mario Yamasaki gets things going. No glove touch. Volkmann shoots in early and they have a scramble in the clinch, but not much comes from it. They break apart and dance. Decent body kick from Castillo, who shortly thereafter misses a nice high kick. Then he lands an outside leg kick, followed by one on the inside. Volkmann shoots again and gets a soft takedown and looks to pass from half guard. He ties up Castillo’s right arm, then works for a side choke. But trying to hold on to that position costs him, as Castillo works his way out and gets top position. Volkmann settles back into guard, then nicely wall walks back to his feet as they clinch up. They separate around 1:50 and move back to the middle. After trading rights, Castillo lands one of the loudest body kicks in recorded history (we think) to Volkmann’s left ribcage. But Volkmann survives it and the two wind up in a scramble on the ground. It’s a tough first round to score, with each guy looking pretty effective. But MMA Fighting will give it, highly unofficially, to Castillo 10-9.
Round 2: After a few seconds of dancing, we clinch up along the fence. A few traded shots lead to Volkmann on his butt looking for a choke, and Castillo trying to work ground and pound. Yamasaki warns Castillo for holding Volkmann’s shorts and says he’ll take a point if he does it again. Volkmann wall walks back up, and then Castillo is warned for grabbing the fence, though it looked mild. A weird scramble leads to Volkmann on his back briefly, then on his knees, and he wrestles Castillo to his back and is in half guard. Then work for position, and Volkmann briefly has a choke that he can’t lock up as Castillo tries to reverse position. He works for it again, and it’s an arm-in modified guillotine. But Castillo will survive the round. Round 2 goes to Volkmann on our card, 10-9.
Round 3: Castillo lands a nice right hand 10 seconds in. Forty seconds later, the next action is a nice inside leg kick from him. They hit the ground briefly, but Volkmann has the edge there before Castillo scrambles quickly out and back to his feet. The crowd cheers the cat-and-mouse game. A short exchange in the middle leads to Volkmann again taking top position on the ground, controlling Castillo’s head and neck from half guard. He looks for some short elbows, but mainly this is a control game with Castillo’s right arm locked up. Volkmann isn’t doing much with the position, and it doesn’t look like it’s a choke he can lock down from where he’s at. Castillo wiggles out, but Volkmann gets to side control and looks for more elbows and again traps an arm and controls Castillo’s head. Castillo throws right knees from the ground, but that’s all he can do. The crowd is booing what it deems a stalling game by Volkmann. Castillo rolls over, and Volkmann works for his back. But nothing will happen. It’s a 10-9 third for Volkmann, and MMA Fighting scores the fight for him 29-28. No doubt some judges will have it 30-27 for him.
Result: Jacob Volkmann def. Danny Castillo, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Round 1: They touch gloves, surprising given yesterday’s heated moment at the weigh-ins. These guys are both tall. Not Stefan Struve tall, but tall. We dance for 30 seconds, looking for position. Both throw a few kicks and rights that miss. Miller blocks a high kick and pushes forward, but O’Brien just misses a big uppercut right that has the crowd making one giant “Ooooooh!” sound. O’Brien lands a nice body shot that has Miller thinking that wasn’t very nice. And O’Brien then comes forward with a nice combination. He blocks some of Miller’s combos a short time later, then checks an outside leg kick. With 90 seconds left, Miller lands a big right, then just misses another but follows it with an outside leg kick. He lands a pair of stiff left jabs, then a third. O’Brien blocks a high Miller kick, then comes forward with a body shot. It’s a pretty close first round, but we’ll go 10-9 Miller – though it could go either way.
Round 2: We trade leg kicks and look for openings to start the first minute of Round 2. Miller then backpedals to re-set. O’Brien comes forward and has Miller backing up just for a second, but Miller drops him with a left and starts to work kicks from up top while O’Brien lays on his back. But a really nice scramble by O’Brien has him to his feet – but just for a second. Miller dives back in and cranks on a guillotine, and he’s got it good. Though O’Brien is trying to get out, he can’t and he has to tap.
Result: Cole Miller def. T.J. O’Brien, submission (guillotine), 2:38 Round 2
MILWAUKEE – This is the UFC on Versus 5 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC card.