End of WEC
http://www.cagepotato.com/wec-53-aftermath-notes-video-showtime-kick-prelim-madness-bonuses-more

Fans won’t get to hand out bonuses anymore…
http://www.cagepotato.com/aided-their-dumb-ass-fans-ufc-hands-out-500000-bonuses-st-pierre-vs-koscheck

UFC TUF Finale:

Main card

• Featherweight bout: Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia

Garcia defeated Phan via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28).

• Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Kendall Grove

Maia defeated Grove via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

• Light Heavyweight bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Igor Pokrajac

Bonnar defeated Pokrajac via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26). Pokrajac was deducted one point at the end of round 2 for multiple knee strikes on a downed opponent. Bonnar was deducted one point at the end of round 3 for illegal strikes to the back of the head.

• Lightweight bout: Jonathan Brookins vs. Michael Johnson (fighter)

Brookins defeated Johnson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) to become the Season 12 Lightweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter.

UFC 124:

Main card

• Welterweight bout: Thiago Alves vs. John Howard

Alves defeated Howard via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Lightweight bout: Joe Stevenson vs. Mac Danzig

Danzig defeated Stevenson via KO (punch) at 1:54 of round 1.

• Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira

Miller defeated Oliveira via submission (kneebar) at 1:59 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout: Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle

Struve defeated McCorkle via TKO (punches) at 3:55 of round 1.

• Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre (c) vs. Josh Koscheck

St-Pierre defeated Koscheck via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) to retain the UFC Welterweight Championship.

Tale of the tape:

Main card

• Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Gray Maynard[1]
• Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann[1]
• Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Thiago Silva[1]
• Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim[1]
• Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi[1]

Download the episode here!

Download the Episode Here!

News:

We discuss the UFC – WEC merger, the excellence of recent TuF episodes, and Jake Ellenberger’s blind stumble into a bear cave.

Judges scorecard:

Fight night Marquart vs. Palhares

• Catchweight (159lbs) bout: Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira

Oliveira defeated Escudero via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:25 of round 3.

• Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares

Marquardt defeated Palhares via TKO (punches) at 3:28 of round 1.

UFC 119 – Mir vs Cro-Cop

• Welterweight bout: Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle

Lytle defeated Serra via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Light Heavyweight bout: Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader

Bader defeated Nogueria via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Filipović

Mir defeated Filipović via KO (knee) at 4:02 of round 3.

UFC 120 – Bisping vs Akyama

• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Travis Browne

Kongo and Browne fought to a unanimous draw (28-28, 28-28, 28-28). Kongo had one point deducted in round 3 for repeatedly grabbing Browne’s shorts and generally being a big douche.

• Welterweight bout: Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit

Condit defeated Hardy via KO (Punch) at 4:27 of round 1.

• Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Bisping defeated Akiyama via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

UFC 121 – Lesnar vs Velasquez

• Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Schaub defeated Gonzaga via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago

Sanchez defeated Thiago via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28).

• Welterweight bout: Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann

Shields defeated Kampmann via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).

• Heavyweight Championship bout: Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez

Velasquez defeated Lesnar via TKO (punches) at 4:12 of round 1 to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Tale of the tape:

UFC 122 – Marquardt vs Okami

• Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic

• Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami

UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida

• Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon

• Light Heavyweight bout: Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch

• Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcão

• Welterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn

• Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida

Download the Episode Here!

The Sprawl’s “Top 5 Shooting Stars”

"What's my career doing down there?"

Cecil’s Picks

5. Mike Swick – With 4 straight wins at his new welterweight size, Swick was in line for a title contention bout with Kampmann. Swick got injured, though, and they had to have Paul Daley step in. Kampmann didn’t do so well, but this isn’t his story. Swick and Dan Hardy met for the the title contention bout and Hardy came away with the victory. Swick then tried to rebound by fighting Paluo Thiago, where Swick lasted two rounds. He was just one fight away from a fight with the champ. Swick may rebound (like Kampman did), but only time will tell.

4. Wilson Gouveia - This Brazilian was supposed to be the next big thing at Middleweight. He lost his UFC debut to Keith Jardine, but then went on to win his next 4 fights. His loss to Goran Reljic helped him make the decision to drop to middleweight, and he won his next two fights by stoppage. Then he met Nate Marquart. After a subsequent loss to Alan Belcher, he was cut from the UFC and moved on to losing in the MFC production.

3. Luis Cane - His UFC debut was against James Irvin, where he was DQ’d for kneeing a downed opponent. After that fight, he won his next 3, with 2 of them by TKO. His star was on the rise, but he was defeated in his bout with Little Nog in the first round. This might have been a moment where he got it together and worked harder to win, but his next fight went pretty much the same way, as he lost to UFC newcomer  Cyrille Diabate.

2. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou - After beating Little Nog and Ricardo Arona in pride via KO, Sokoudjou made his way to the UFC. He wasn’t given a chump in his debut either, and Lyoto Machida won the fight against him easily. After his next fight, he looked like he was on the rise again, making his opponent submit due to leg strikes, but the UFC never threw him a softball after that. He pulled 2 straight losses to Cain and Babalou, and out the door he went. His career after the UFC has been a bit lackluster, but he is able to score a win about 50% of the time now.

1. Houston Alexander - His UFC debut had everyone cheering. Coming back against Jardine and scoring the knockout, many people were convinced that Alexander was the next big thing. His next fight against Sakara bolstered people’s opinions, and Joe Rogan said right after that fight, “HOUSTON ALEXANDER IS THE REAL

"But, Joe, you said I was the real deal!?!"

DEAL.” Next up, Houston had a problem with Thiago Silva, which led Joe to point out that Alexander’s ground game was weak. After a mounted ground and pound loss, Alexander came in ready to redeem himself against James Irvin. 8 seconds later, Houston had his second loss in the octagon. He lost one more fight and then left the UFC. He returned as a hand picked loser to Kimbo Slice, which he fulfilled, but not before losing any fans he still had left by retreating from Kimbo for the whole fight.

Circle’s Picks

5. Elvis Sinosic - I’m putting this one at number five since I don’t know that it was really Elvis’s fault. He entered his bout against Jeremy Horn at UFC 30 with a 3-3-1 record. After that victory, the UFC brass decided to toss him into the title picture with a shot against then belt holder, Tito Ortiz. His consecutive losses to Tito by first round TKO, Evan Tanner by first round TKO, and Babalu via decision put him out of the UFC. Unfortunately for him, he reloaded and shot himself back into the fray on two more occasions: losing to Griffin and Sakara, and later Bisping. I guess he turned out to be less of a shooting star and more of a weeble.

4. Roger Huerta - This one hurts quite a bit. Huerta entered the UFC at 15-1-1 and cranked his record up to 20-1-1 en route to a fateful meeting with K-Flo. Had he won that bout, it might have meant a shot at B.J. Penn and the Lightweight belt. Alas, he dropped a decision to Florian, and he followed that up with a close split decision loss to Gray Maynard, another top lightweight. Despite these losses, his career was still on track… until he abandoned it to take up acting. Dana White was pissed, and Huerta has since moved on to losing in Bellator. Damn. I used to love watching this guy.

3. Thales Leites - Thales was 14-1 going into his title bout with Anderson Silva, which was a bout no one would look down upon him for losing. That is until the fight got under way and Leites became the man voted “most likely to impersonate a trout on a sidewalk.” As bad as Silva looked, Thales looked worse. His next bout was an unimpressive decision loss to Sakara, and out the door he went with his 14-3 record. I doubt anyone is upset at his exit, if they even noticed that it happened.

2. Houston Alexander - Previously, in our picks for the top 5 falls from grace, we gave Houston special mention with the Shooting Star Award. He single handedly taught the UFC to be wary of their over-promotion of a fighter, lest they fall underneath the tracks of their own hype-tank. His meteoric rise to the top of the light heavyweight conversation and subsequent plummeting into the hole of the not-so-real deals would have earned him the top spot on my list, were it not for the next jackass.

Big Dan separates Daley from his: contract, aspirations, self-respect, oxygen...

1. Paul Daley - Semtex took out Kampmann and provided a KO of the Night to Dustin Hazelett while catching the express elevator to contendership in the talent packed welterweight division. His third and final UFC bout was against the always tough Josh Koscheck, who bested him in a unanimous decision victory. While the loss was a set back, he would have still been considered a top contender. That is, if he didn’t launch a cheap shot at Kos after the fight and earn himself the quickest star-snuffing of all time. White was ready to kick to him to the curb the moment that punch was thrown, but, ultimately, it could be worse for him: Strike “are you going to eat that” Force has decided to pick him up.

Feel free to weigh in with a comment. We’d love to disagree!

Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to give Episode 19 of The Sprawl podcast to get up to speed on this weekend’s UFC 117!

News:

• “Big” John McCarthy will be a referee at UFC Live, the first time he has refereed at a UFC event in almost 3 years.

• Danny Green wants to challenge Brock Lesnar to a boxing fight… in a cage… bare knuckle if necessary.
  • Watch this for extra hilarity.

• Pat Barry got a boo-boo in his fight against Cro-Cop.

• Jake Shields makes the sensible choice and officially signs with the UFC. The drop to welterweight may not be as solid of a choice…

• North Vancouver kills their athletic commission, but regular Vancouver still has their head on straight.

• Coker not so excited about a Fedor vs Werdum rematch; listens to our show.

Judges Scorecard:

• Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Sotiropoulos defeated Pellegrino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Cecil and Circle both picked Sotiropoulos.

• Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar

Bonnar defeated Soszynski via TKO (strikes) at 3:08 of round 2.

Cecil and Circle both picked Soszynski.

• Welterweight bout: Chris Lytle vs. Matt Brown

Lytle defeated Brown via submission (triangle arm bar) at 2:02 of round 2.

Cecil picked Brown, Circle picked Lytle by submission.

• Middleweight bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben

Leben defeated Akiyama via submission (triangle choke) at 4:40 of round 3.

Cecil and Circle both picked Akiyama by decision.

• Heavyweight Championship bout: Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin

Lesnar defeated Carwin via submission (arm triangle choke) at 2:19 of round 2 to become the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Cecil and Circle both picked Carwin, and wept.

Tale of the Tape:

UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko

• Welterweight bout: John Howard vs. Jake Ellenberger

• Lightweight bout: Tyson Griffin vs. Takanori Gomi

• Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Mark Muñoz

• Light Heavyweight bout: Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

• Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

• Welterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida

• Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves

• Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs. Junior Dos Santos
  • The victor will receive a title shot.

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
  • The winner will defend the middleweight belt against Vitor Belfort.

News:

• Leben fights on 2 weeks rest.

• Fedor loses, immediate rematches abound.

• Frank Shamrock is done.

• Varner vs. Shalorus – lotsa groin shots.

Judges Scorecard:

UFC 113 Machida vs. Shogun 2

• Heavyweight bout:  Kimbo Slice vs.  Matt Mitrione

Mitrione defeated Slice via TKO (punches) at 4:24 of round 2.

• Welterweight bout:  Josh Koscheck vs.  Paul Daley

Koscheck defeated Daley via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)

• Light Heavyweight Championship bout:  Lyoto Machida (c) vs.  Mauricio Rua

Rua defeated Machida via KO (punches) at 3:35 of round 1 to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

UFC 114 Rampage vs. Evans

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs.  Jason Brilz

Nogueira defeated Brilz via split decision (28–29, 29–28, 29–28).

• Middleweight bout:  Michael Bisping vs.  Dan Miller

Bisping defeated Miller via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–27).

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Quinton Jackson vs.  Rashad Evans

Evans defeated Jackson via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27).

UFC 115 Liddell vs. Franklin

• Welterweight bout:  Carlos Condit vs.  Rory MacDonald

Condit defeated MacDonald via TKO (strikes) at 4:53 of round 3.

• Welterweight bout:  Paulo Thiago vs.  Martin Kampmann

Kampmann defeated Thiago via unanimous decision. (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)

• Heavyweight bout:  Mirko Filipović vs.  Pat Barry

Filipović defeated Barry via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:30 of round 3.

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Chuck Liddell vs.  Rich Franklin

Franklin defeated Liddell via KO (punch) at 4:55 of round 1.

UFC TUF Finale

• Lightweight bout:  Spencer Fisher vs.  Dennis Siver

Siver defeated Fisher via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

• Middleweight bout:  Chris Leben vs.  Aaron Simpson

Leben defeated Simpson via TKO (punches) at 4:17 of round 2.

• Light Heavyweight bout:  Matt Hamill vs.  Keith Jardine

Hamill defeated Jardine via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28). Jardine had one point deducted for an eye poke.

• Middleweight bout:  Court McGee vs.  Kris McCray

McGee defeated McCray via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:41 of round 2 to become the Season 11 Middleweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter.

Tale of the Tape:

UFC 116

• Heavyweight Championship bout:  Brock Lesnar (c) vs  Shane Carwin (ic)^{[1]
  Cecil and Circle pick Carwin}
• Middleweight bout:  Yoshihiro Akiyama vs.  Chris Leben^{[1]
  Cecil and Circle pick Akiyama}
• Welterweight bout:  Chris Lytle vs.  Matt Brown^{[1]
  Cecil picks Lytle, Circle picks Brown}
• Light Heavyweight bout:  Krzysztof Soszynski vs.  Stephan Bonnar^{[1]
  Cecil and Circle pick Sosynski}
• Lightweight bout:  George Sotiropoulos vs.  Kurt Pellegrino^{[1]
  Cecil and Circle pick Sotiropoulos}

News:

• Thiago Alvez’s brain boo-boo has been repaired, and he is possibly on for UFC 117.

• WEC Weckage PPV does pretty well, which puts its future free-ness in jeopardy.

• Titio Ortiz vs Jenna Jameson looks to go to the judges’ scorecards.

• The Diaz brothers proved how much pole they smoke in the Strikeforce Brawl .

Judges Scorecard:

UFC Live on Versus

• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello

Kongo defeated Buentello via submission (strikes) at 1:16 of round 3.

• Heavyweight bout: Junior dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

dos Santos defeated Gonzaga via KO (punches) at 3:53 of round 1.

• Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones

Jones defeated Vera via TKO (elbow and punches) at 3:19 of round 1.

UFC 111

• Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Ben Saunders

Fitch defeated Saunders via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

• Lightweight bout: Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes

Pellegrino defeated Camoes via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:20 of round 2.

• Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin

Carwin defeated Mir via KO (punches) at 3:48 of round 1 to become the UFC Interim Heavyweight champion.

• Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy

St. Pierre defeated Hardy via unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-45).

UFC 112

• Welterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie

Hughes defeated Gracie via TKO (strikes) at 4:40 of round 3.

• Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar

Edgar defeated Penn via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 49-46) to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion.

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia

Silva defeated Maia via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship.

Tale of the Tape:

UFC 113

• Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens

Cecil and Circle both pick Stout.

• Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté vs. Alan Belcher

Cecil and Circle both pick Côté.

• Heavyweight bout: Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione

Cecil and Circle both pick Mitrione.

• Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley

Cecil and Circle both pick Koscheck.

• Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua

Cecil and Circle both pick Machida.

Sure, this picture isn't relevant to the Fight Night, but remember: Boobies.

Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs.  Lucio Linhares

Cecil : Okami – My hope is that Okami did reinvent himself after the Sonnen fight. He said that he was “embarrassed” during it, so I hope he comes back rededicated and ready to go. I’ll be pulling for him because I want there to be more depth in Middleweight. The guy he is fighting looks like someone they want him to beat.

Circle : Okami – via Decision. Linhares wasn’t impressive enough in his debut for me to think he’ll win, but Okami isn’t powerful enough to actually finish the fight, either.

Lightweight bout: Caol Uno vs.  Gleison Tibau

Cecil : Tibau – via Submission. Uno is boring. I want Tibau to choke him out. Uno could keep him away, but I hope Tibau finishes early to spare us from a 15 minute borefest.

Circle : Tibau – via Decision. These are two Going-to-Decision machines. I believe the crowd will be the real loser in this one.

Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs.  Dennis Siver

Cecil : Pearson – via Decision. Siver is tough, tko’s in his history galore. I have been impressed by Pearson though. His last two fights he looked very good. I think with a dominant win either could be sent to fight a big named lightweight. Not sure how it will end though. Possibly decision.

Circle : Siver – via TKO, 2nd round. Siver finishes fights and has a couple of KO of the Night wins over his last handful of fights.

Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs.  Jorge Rivera

Cecil : Who Cares? – via apathy. Why is this on the main card again? I guess if I have to pick, I’ll pick snack, beer and bathroom break instead of watching this. Let me know who wins… on second thought – don’t.

Circle : Quarry – via KO, 1st round. Quarry has a much more robust series of wins, and (win or lose) his fights normally end early. Plus, I’m anti-Team Sityodtong, which Rivera calls home. Any camp which can’t manage to remove high profile fighters who have left (K-Flo) or joined (Mir) earns my eternal derision.

Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs  Stefan Struve

Cecil : Nelson – via Submission, 1st round. Roy Nelson works well against the inexperienced. He also does well against guys that can be taken down. Sorry Struve – you are guilty on both counts. I am not sure this will get out of the first round. TKO punches or Sub by Nelson.

Circle : Nelson – via TKO. Is he a big fat dude? Ayup. Is he a big fat dude who can fight? Ayup. Lets face it, Big Country has experience, a black belt in BJJ, and a solid ground and pound game. He can also take a punch pretty well, as evidenced by his fight with Arlovski. Struve may land some shots with his lanky arms, but I seriously doubt he has the power to put Nelson down. Once the fight goes to ground, it’s going to end for Struve.

Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs  Takanori Gomi

Cecil : Florian – via Decision. Gomi does have a pretty good wrestling base and Florian can sometimes struggle against that. My suspicion is that the UFC brass is hoping the same, and they can drop Gomi against Penn if he beats Florian. I am not sure he will. I am actually picking Florian to win this out. If Florian does win he will probably have to fight one more guy (Maynard) before the winner of that fight takes on Penn. I say the big loser of the night will be Gomi’s eyebrows. Which he obviously shaves prior to fighting, either that or he was caught in a tragic meth lab explosion.

Circle : Florian – via Submission. I’m not going to sit here and say that fighters in Pride F.C. had weak ground games. I’m going to sit here and say that fighters in Pride F.C. had fuck all for ground games. Unless you were BJ Penn, Sakuraba, Fedor, or Rampage, you didn’t get shit done on the ground in Pride. Florian has a knack for transitioning to rear naked chokes, and I doubt that Gomi is going to take control of the fight with his wrestling game. Florian has shown to be wily on his back, no doubt a product of his BJJ training, and I think Gomi will be able to do little on the ground before the fight returns to standing, where K-Flo will run the show.

—————–

Nate Diaz unfortunately won his fight against Rory Markham,a fighter so undisciplined he couldn’t even come close to making weight. The problem with something like this is that it gives Nate Diaz interview time.

Also, Nate, I think you lost the fight with Grey Manard. So does fight metric, and more importantly, the judges.

——————-

Sherdog interviewed Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy after his loss to GSP. During the interview he talks about the unanimous decision loss to St. Pierre, a fight that the judges scored 50-43, 50-44, 50-45, and says he wasn’t overwhelmed. Ummm…What? Cage Potato asked a question in January “What exactly does a 10 -8 round look like?” My reply is, watch this fight to see five of them.