Cruz makes UFC bantamweight history with victory at WEC 53

Dominick Cruz made MMA history, defending the WEC bantamweight title and earning the first-ever UFC bantamweight title with a dominating win over Scott Jorgensen at WEC 53 in Glendale, Ariz. on Thursday night. On all three judges cards, Cruz won 50-45.

Cruz started the fight just as expected. He did not stop moving, throwing combinations and leg kicks, then dancing away from Jorgensen. When Jorgensen could get a hand on Cruz, he tried to take him down but had to settle for a clinch. He could only hold the clinch for a few seconds, as Cruz broke away and returned to the constantly moving stand-up. As the round ended, Jorgensen took Cruz down, but couldn't stay on his back. Cruz rolled out and ended up on top of Jorgensen.

Even with Cruz continuing his stick-and-move game, Jorgensen was able to land a few more punches early in the second round, opening a cut on the bridge of Cruz's nose. Cruz took Jorgensen down halfway through the round and followed that up with damaging elbows. They returned to their feet near the end of the round, but Jorgensen couldn't capitalize on the opportunity.

With Jorgensen's eyes swelling up, Cruz turned up the pressure in the third round. He wobbled Jorgensen with a right hand early. Jorgensen returned to his feet, but Cruz didn't slow. He followed up with kicks to the head and body, all the while dodging and moving between strikes. With a minute left in the round, Cruz hit a beautiful takedown. After that, Jorgensen came close to being able to generate offense, reversing Cruz and taking his back, but Cruz slipped out and returned to his feet.

By the fourth round, Jorgensen needed a home run as he was clearly behind in points. Jorgensen came out strong early, but every time he seemed to get going, Cruz took him down and followed with nasty strikes. Jorgensen, a Division I collegiate wrestler, had no answer for Cruz's kneetap takedown.

Somehow, Cruz did not slow in the fifth and final round. Jorgensen continued to move forward and even got a takedown, but couldn't do anything with it. Cruz answered Jorgensen's takedown with a blast double leg of his own, taking Jorgensen straight down to the canvas.

When the final horn sounded, Cruz walked to the side of the cage where former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber was sitting, and glared at him. Faber is the only man who has beaten Cruz, and he recently dropped to bantamweight. Cruz didn't hesitate to ask for a bout with Faber after the fight. Faber made comments on the WEC pre-show that made it obvious that he would welcome this fight.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Cruz-makes-UFC-bantamweight-history-with-victory?urn=mma-297126

Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans

Bocek shreds Hazelett on the ground for first round win at UFC 124

The first fight on UFC.com’s televised prelims figured to be a grapple-fest with Mark Bocek and Dustin Hazelett trading takedowns and submissions attempts. It was a grapple-fest, but it was completely one-sided.

Bocek smoked Hazelett, a fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, as he pulled off a beautiful triangle choke at 2:33 of the first round in Montreal.

Update - Bocek split Submission of the Night honors with Jim Miller and received a $50,000 bonus. 

The usually reserved Bocek (9-3, 5-3 UFC) was boisterous after the win, calling out fellow jiu-jitsu master George Sotiropoulos. Bocek, a Canadian wants to face Sotiropoulos in Toronto at the end of April.

"I've been quiet for a long time. I have the best jiu-jitsu in the lightweight division," Bocek told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "I'll prove it to everybody."

Sotiropoulos is regarded as a top seven fighter in the UFC’s lightweight division, so it was pretty bold for Bocek to call him out. He earned the right tonight with the submission he pulled off.

Hazelett, coming down from welterweight, figured to be the stronger fighter but he never got a shot to take advantage of strength or his 6-foot-1 frame. Just seven seconds into the fight, Bocek shot for a single-leg takedown. Hazelett went down quickly and was on his back just 15 seconds into the fight.

Hazelett tried to stay busy from the bottom but Bocek made it impossible. He quickly worked to improve his position. Bocek got to side control with 3:56 left in the round. He eventually moved to mount where he jumped on the opportunity to lock on a triangle choke. Bocek quickly spun to his back where he softened Hazelett with some elbows and then put his right arm across his face. Hazelett had to tap at 2:33 of the first.

Miller beats up Doerksen in bloody fight

Dan Miller and Joe Doerksen are both excellent ground fighters and that's where they waged war for 15 minutes. Doerksen appeared to be in the bad position on the bottom, but he did solid damage. Miller did just a little bit more while maintaining top control for over 12 minutes. Miller took a split decision, 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28 in fight No. 2 on UFC.com's broadcast. 

UFC 124 undercard (Courtesy MMAjunkie): 

John Makdessi def. Pat Audinwood via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
Ricardo Almeida def. T.J. Grant via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Sean Pierson def. Matt Riddle via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Rafael Natal and Jesse Bongfeldt fight to a majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 29-28 Natal).

Scoring of the Bongfeldt-Natal fight was initially announced as 30-30 on all three cards. Copies of the official cards were distributed and showed the actual score with judges Sal D'amoto and Tony Weeks calling the fight a 28-28 draw, while judge John Woodburn gave the fight to Natal, 29-28. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Bocek-shreds-Hazelett-on-the-ground-for-first-ro?urn=mma-294702

Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito  Rob Broughton  Mike Brown 

Aerts pulls upset and Overeem breaks Saki to reach K-1 WGP Final

Peter Aerts has won three K-1 titles (1994, 1995 and 1998) and now he's got a chance at another at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Japan. The veteran of 17 straight K-1 WGP's pulled the big upset on 6-foot-11 Semmy Schilt.

Aerts' face got torn apart in the first two rounds, but the judges scored it 20-20, 20-20 and 20-19 going to the third.

Even with his right eye cut and swelling badly, Aerts turned it on in the final round. Schilt gassed and ate dozens of big punches.

Aerts, 40, will meet Alistair Overeem in the final. Overeem's power striking was amazing against Gohkan Saki. The hulking Dutchman landed two unbelievable body kicks that changed the fight.

The first stopped Saki in his tracks and essentially turned off his offense. The second one, a left kick to the body, left Saki doubled over. The kick landed on both his right elbow and side. It almost appeared that the arm was broken. When the referee finished his 10 count, Saki said he couldn't go any longer giving the first round win to Overeem.

Saki, the much smaller fighter at just 218 pounds, was flashing excellent speed early. His combinations were dynamite but the 261-pound Overeem walked through most of them.

Saki did get Overeem to the ground when he nailed the 6-foot-5 monster with a spinning kick just 16 seconds into the fight.

Unfortunately for Saki, he had the toughest fight in the quarterfinals. He battled another giant in Daniel Ghita. That fight went the full three rounds and then they needed an extra round to determine a winner.

Ghita's body and leg kicks were nasty throughout. Saki may have been a little softened up by the time he faced Overeem.

Update - HDNet's Michael Schiavello reported that Saki suffered a broken right elbow and broken right hand.  

Quarterfinal results: 
Aerts def. Mighty Mo via KO 1st round
Saki def. Ghita via split decision
Schilt def. Kyotara via unanimous decision
Overeem def. Tyrone Spong via unanimous decision

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Aerts-pulls-upset-and-Overeem-breaks-Saki-to-rea?urn=mma-294575

Mark Weir Fabricio Werdum Vernon White Mike Whitehead

MMA look-alikes: Jim Miller and Yukon Cornelius

Jim Miller's red beard powered his win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 124. Yukon Cornelius' red beard powered him through a snowy winter as he helped guide Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Hermey the Elf Dentist through the snow. Both found success in the cold and snow and will likely have a very nice holiday because of those winnings. For Miller, it's $50,000 for a Submission of the Night bonus. Yukon Cornelius is all about the silver and gold. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/MMA-look-alikes-Jim-Miller-and-Yukon-Cornelius?urn=mma-294994

Kevin Knabjian John Kolosci Cheick Kongo Josh Koscheck

Rick Story calls out Thiago Alves to climb up the welterweight ladder

Rick Story is a grinder. He’s a finisher, he’s a prospect, and he knows becoming a legitimate threat in the welterweight division. “The Horror” Story was most recently in action on December 4 for “The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale” when he defeated fellow budding star Johnny Hendricks, extending his win streak to now five-in-a-row and [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/24/rick-story-calls-out-thiago-alves-to-climb-up-the-welterweight-ladder

Travis Lutter Stevie Lynch Adam Lynn Chris Lytle

Bellator champion Joe Warren now wants Olympic gold in 2012

Since winning the Bellator featherweight title this past year, Joe Warren has asserted himself as one of the best featherweight’s in the world, and the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” isn’t looking to stop at just a mixed martial arts title. He’s still seeking Olympic infamy. Before his foray into the world of MMA in [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/18/bellator-champion-joe-warren-now-wants-olympic-gold-in-2012

Roberto Traven Frank Trigg Mostapha Al Turk Ryuki Ueyama

Nick Diaz vs. Evangelista Santos Announced, Strikeforce's January 29 Event Officially Becomes "Diaz vs. Cyborg"

strikeforce?s upcoming January 29 event was already looking like a great start for Strikeforce in 2011, but it just got even better. There will be two championship defenses on January 29, not just one. It was previously announced that Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza would defend his belt against Robbie Lawler. But recently, it?s also [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/22/nick-diaz-vs-evangelista-santos-announced-strikeforces-january-29-event-officially-becomes-diaz-vs-cyborg

Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga

Top 5 Opponents for Josh Koscheck

We?re now over a week removed from UFC 124: ?St. Pierre vs. Koscheck 2?, the event that saw long-reigning UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre once again demolish a top-ranked Welterweight. GSP?s latest victim was Josh Koscheck, who lost to GSP for the second time and in front of an incredibly partisan crowd. It?s recently [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/19/top-5-opponents-for-josh-koscheck

Mo Lawal Ruthless Robbie Lawler Eric Lawson Cung Le