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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 82
FEBRUARY 6, 2016
LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
The UFC's annual Super Bowl weekend event got a downgrade last week, but they move forward tonight on Fox Sports 1 in lieu of pay-per-view. As always, we'll have live coverage of tonight's event, with quick results and thoughts on prelims before the round by round report on the televised event. The Fight Pass prelims begin at 7 PM ET before they switch to FS1 an hour later. Stick with us here at MMATorch throughout the night to follow along!
=====UFC Fight Pass Prelims Quick Results=====
- The prelims kick off with Ariel Helwani interviewing CM Punk. Punk talks about how he created job, without noting the irony of his own current job...
- Alex White beat Artem Lobov by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Mickey Gall beat Mike Jackson by submission at :45 of round one (rear naked choke)
Gall called out Punk after the fight. Punk entered the cage and they were very cordial with one another. Punk's suit cost more than Gall's Reebok money for the night.
-We've got 20 minutes until the next fight. Smoke em if you got em. Get your popcorn ready.
=====Fox Sports 1 Prelims=====
-Diego Rivas beat Noad Lahat by KO (flying knee) at :23 of round two
Lahat almost had a 10-8 first round, but got caught with the best KO of the year to date early in the 2nd. This sport man. This crazy sport.
-Justin Scoggins beat Ray Borg by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Scoggins beat Bog on the feet, but was surprisingly dominant on the mat as well. Scoggins had 4 takedowns and controlled every moment of the fight. A very good performance from Scoggins.
-Derrick Lewis beat Damian Grabowski by TKO at 2:17 of round one
The fight was totally non-competitive. Lewis got on top of Grabowski after a decent little scramble and patiently picked through Grabowski's defenses before smashing him with massive punches. The only other time I've seen more pieces of bloody skull splattered so literally was when Vincent Vega shot Marvin in the face.
This fight was just as boring and uneventful as everyone outside of Joe Silva thought it would be. Noons didn't land a strike until 20 seconds remained in the first round, despite the fact that it was all fought on the feet. Noons' entire body turned red from absolrbing kicks to his right side and his left thigh. Noons vs. Luis Palomino is going to happen soon...
=====Fox Sports 1 Main Card=====
MAIN CARD FIGHT ONE: MIKE PYLE VS. SEAN SPENCER (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Spencer wanted nothing to do with the touch of gloves, knowing that Pyle can be hurt early on in fights. Pyle has landed a couple of kicks early, but Spencer is pushing the pace so far trying to get inside. After the first minute the fight seems to have devolved into an extended feeling-out session. Other than Pyle's kicks, not much is finding a home so far. Spencer lands a jab and then drops Pyle with a right hand a couple seconds later. Spencer dives into Pyle's guard and then all action stopped. Pyle went for an armbar which forced Sepncer to get out of dodge. Back to standing. Pyle's jabs are getting through, although it's hard to know if they're stinging or not. Spencer looking sharp now, landing a sharp left. Spencer lands with a double left hook. Pyle and Spencer both opened up in the last five seconds of the round. 10-9 Spencer
ROUND TWO: Pyle opens the second with a lateral kick to the front of Spencer's knee. Spencer's left hand has been very effective after about the middle of round one. Pyle lands nice right. Spencer is firing the jab with impunity, and it's really moving Pyle's head back every time. Eventually Spencer's going to fire off a right hand off that left jab.Pyle just hurt Spencer with a right that really wobbled Spencer. Spencer's hurt, but he's staying on his feet and firing away at Pyle. Spinning backfist from Pyle, and a bog kick from Spencer. Both guys landed some hard shots, but they both seem fine now. Spencer did a good job once he was dazed to not only survive but to punish Pyle a little bit as well. Nice right from Spencer. Pyle responded with a couple right hands. Pyle got his head snapped back with another jab, but landed a big right in response. This is a fun fight. Nice left hook from Spencer. Pyle shoots for a takedown and gets it. That with dazing Spencer is enough to say 10-9 Pyle. 19-19
ROUND THREE: Spencer needs to be more aggressive to reverse Pyle's 2d round momentum. Spencer doubles up on a left hand and follows behind with a right hand. Ugly, but all three landed. Pyle's nose is pretty red now. Spencer landed a couple shots and Pyle appears to be hurt. Brian Stann on commentary saw through and figures Pyle's playing possum. Spencer slipped to the canvas and Pyle got on top. Looking for a choke. It's not there yet, but Pyle stays on top after a nice scramble. They're close to the cage now with Pyle looking for a guillotine. Spencer has little room in which to maneuver because he's got him pinned against the cage. He lets go of the head and lands a nice knee to the jaw as they separate. Good left hand from Spencer. Spencer looks very tired now. 90 seconds remain in the fight. Pyle's landing his own jab now. Spencer throws wildly, but walked in to a knee. Spinning back elbow from Pyle lands. Pyle grabs a clinch and is landing knees. He lets go of the plumb and lands some big elbows. Pyle looks in to Yves Lavigne who isn't ready to stop the fight. Pyle follows Lavigne's will by crushing the side of Spencer's face with a standing knee and Lavigne finally stops the fight. It was a spinning back elbow to the top of the skull that started the finishing sequence for Pyle.
WINNER: Mike Pyle by TKO at 4:25 of round three.
STAR RATING: (***-) It had a couple of slow moments, namely in the middle of the first and the second half of round two. But this was a really competitive back and forth fight where both fighters had stretches where they weren't just in control, but were able to hurt their opponent. Can't ask much more that that from the bottom of the card.
MAIN CARD FIGHT TWO: MISHA CIRKUNOV VS. ALEX NICHOLSON (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Cirkunov lands a left hook early. He's got a massive size advantage on Nicholson, who weighed in at 201. Nicholson missed badly with a spinning backfist. He looks for that, so it might not be the last one we see. He's finished fights with that strike before. Missed with another one after eating a left hook, and wound up eating an uppercut as well. Cirkunov has Nicholson wrapped up and is unloading on the undersized Nicholson, eating several punches and knees before Cirkunov pulled away. Cirkunov lands a high kick and follows up several seconds later with a takedown. Nicholson gets back up, but eats a ton of fists while doing so. Herb Dean pauses the fight as soon as they separate, warning Nicholson that he will lose a point if he lands another kick to Cirkunov's nether regions. I missed it, but clearly Dean didn't. Cirkunov has outlanded Nicholson 35-8 so far. Cirkunov's in charge so far, and is content to do a little damage and back away. Cirkunov with a super-easy takedown in the middle of the cage. Easily to side control. He lands a huge elbow that led Nicholson to turtle up. The horn blows. 10-8 Cirkunov Would be 10-9 based on the amount of offense, but combine in the fact that Nicholson did nothing, and that's a 10-8 to me.
ROUND TWO: Cirkunov gets inside quickly on Nicholson and takes Cirkunov down. He's looking for a choke. I think he broke Nicholson's jaw with a jaw crank. That was brutal, brutal stuff from Cirkunov.
WINNER: Misha Cirkunov by submission (officially rear naked choke) at 1:28 of round two.
STAR RATING: (**) That wasn't exciting, but there's always something fun about watching a seemingly indestructible, methodical, slow-footed, sadistic terminator going out there and eviscerating an overmatched, undersized, recently engaged victim. Nicholson apparently broke his jaw in his last fight and removed the wiring himself to take this fight. IF that's the case, people in his camp, and people at Zuffa, need to answer to the commission. Yeah, I know. That ain't happening.
MAIN CARD FIGHT THREE: JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ VS. ZACK MAKOVSKY (FLYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Benavidez hits a good leg kick and immediately gets out or range before Funsize can take him down. Benavidez is active early with combinations. I think he's changed stances four or five times as well. Makovsky explodes in on a double leg and gets Benavidez down. He's back up, but Makovsky sent a message with that. Nice combo from Benavidez, with a leg kick in the middle of it to boot. Benavidez is working to the body. Benavidez has stuffed two takedowns since that initial takedown. Nice left from Makovsky. Benavide hits a sharp elbow from inside. Double right hand to the chin from Benavidez. Benavidez throws a high kick that Makovsky kicks at it's apex. No takedown off of it though. Makovsky continues to shoot inside off of nothing. Benavidez with a big uppercut to the body. That was pretty sweet. Makovsky eats a hook to the body but gets on Benavidez' back in a standing scramble. The round ends in that position. 10-9 Benavidez
ROUND TWO: Makovsky has a major speed disadvantage, and his strong suits play right into the game of Benavidez. Front kick to the body from Benavidez. Makovsky has nothing tonight that can get through and harm Benavidez. Nice knee on the cage from Benavidez. Makovsky telegraphed a spinning back fist. It wasn't Chael bad, but it was not very good. Makovsky recovers 30 seconds later with a couple of takedowns, but Benavidez got back to his feet after a couple seconds each time. Nice chain wrestling there. Officially it was one takedown tehre because Benavidez got up so quickly on the first one. Makovsky gets him back down again, but nothing happened in the three seconds he was down. Makovsky's getting lit up in the stand-up. Benavidez walks inside and puts Makovsky on to the fence. Nothing comes of it and they disengage. Makovsky shoots a single off of a leg kick. He got Benavidez down for a coupel second, and when Benavidez popped back up Makovsky climnbed on his back. Benavidez shook him off and separated. Close round, but 10-9 Benvidez Makovsky had success getting takedowns, and no success doing anything offensive off of them.
ROUND THREE: Makovsky has to be frustrated. He can only win this fight by finishing his takedowns with damage, and he can't damage Benavidez. He's doing ok with the counter left, but Benavidez is absorbing them well. Makovsky shoots and got stuffed badly. Benavidez lands a counter right uppercut to the ribs of Makovsky. Big elbows on the cage from Benavidez. Makovsky just took a hook to the ribs and a head kick as he retreated on the fence. Benavidez is doing whatever he wants now. Big right hand stunned Makovsky. Right hook. Makovsky continually shoots and gets stuffed. Benavidez has landed more strikes than Makovsky has even attempted. And he's thrown more than 100 more strikes than has Makovsky. Benavidez keeps coming forward in aggressive fashion. 10-9 Benavidez. 30-27 Benavidez
WINNER: Joseph Benavidez by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**-) Apparently two blind mice gave round two to Makovsky. Benavidez called out Demetrious Johnson in his post-fight interview, and then called out Cejudo if he's not getting the title fight. Um. Yeah. Moving on.
MAIN CARD FIGHT FOUR: OVINCE ST. PREUX VS. RAFAEL CAVALCANTE (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: OSP is absolutely massive looking next to Feijao. OSP lands a front kick to the chest from like 25 feet away. I don't know what Feijao is going to do to get inside. Another kick to the body from OSP. Feijao missed with a wild left. OSP lands a kick and it sure looks like he broke his foot or his leg. He's limping badly. Feijao lands a kick to that leg and OSP winces. He's hobbling. Feijao with a kick to the damaged leg of OSP. The doctor is going to look at the leg if it gets to the end of the round and stop the fight. OSP checks a leg kick from Feijao. Feijao is being way too patient. OSP is throwing repeated straight left kicks. Feijao is being patient because he knows that this fight will be over at the end of round one. Feijao throws a heavy wild punch, and almost falls down. Feijao lands a big right. OSP hurts Feijao with a straight left. OSP knocks him down along the fenace and he's in top. Feijao pulls him in to guard, and has to stay alive for 30 seconds to get to the end of the round. Strong wrist control from Feijao and the horn sounds. 10-9 OSP
ROUND TWO: The kick that hurt OSP's foot was to the back of Feijao's thigh. The doctor irresponsibly didn't even look at OSP. Amazing incompetence there, NAC! OSP iced his foot between rounds. He's moving better now, but there's no way the physician should't have at least looked at that foot. Neither guy has landed anything in the first minute of this round. OSP tried orthodox briefly, but quickly went back to southpaw. And now back to orthodox. Both guys are scared to engage and the crowd is letting them hear it. And a lot of gamblers are getting all sorts of pissed off as this fight slows to a crawl. Feijao isn't doing a damn thing. Left front kick from OSP. It might have missed, but there's so little to write about that even the misses deserve mention. OSP dropped Feijao with a light right hand as Feijao was off balance off of a kick. Full guard. OSP is landing enough on from guard to keep the referee from warning him off. Feijao's guard is wide open. OSP postures up and lands several hammerfists. Feijao is essentially quitting. OSP is back to guard. Feijao should retire, as he doesn't want to do this any more. 10-8 OSP Osp didn't do a ton, but Feijao did literally nothing.
ROUND THREE: So far, we've got a contender for worst fight of the year. OSP opens up wildly with knees and big hooks. Feijao finally wakes up and comes back with a couple of his own. That was a fun thirty seconds. Finally. Feijao's landed 13 strikes so far. In the entire fight. OSP ducked under an evil-looking right hook. OSP is opening up with hooks that back Feijao into the cage. Easy double leg takedown with 3:45 left. Half-guard. Feijao is controlling OSP's posture, but that's not going to get Feijao's offense going. OSP is landing occasional hammerfists to the head of Feijao. Not much going on here because Feijao doesn't want to fight. Joe Silva can be seen sadly shaking his head ever so slightly. Full guard with 90 seconds left. Feijao's not trying to finish from the bottom. Not trying to get off of his back. I can't imagine why the fight has been allowed to stay down so long. Neither fighter is doing a thing. 30 seconds left. OSP stands up and dives in with a huge left. Back to guard. OSP opens up late with a bunch of hammerfists. The horn sounds. 30-25 OSP That fight would have been finished had there been 10 more seconds.
WINNER: Ovince St. Preux by decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (0) The fight was ruined by OSP's early fight injury, and then by Feijao's refusal to fight. He needs to retire, and I hope the commission takes his license from him. Those scorecards were unreal. And OSP told his corner that he's hurt his ankle, not his foot.
MAIN CARD FIGHT FIVE: ROY NELSON VS. JARED ROSHOLT (HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: 60 seconds without even a feint being thrown. Nelson doesn't want to open up, Rosholt doesn't want to shoot into an uppercut.Nelson misses with an upeprcut and a hook as Rosholt sprints away as fast as he can. Nelson's making sure that Rosholt is going to have to earn his takedowns. Two minutes, not one strike has landed. Nelson is missing everything so far. Nice left hook from Rosholt may have landed under Nelson's armpit. Uppercut to the arm from Nelson. Rosholt gets on his motorcycle. Nelson comes in, misses, and gets plastered by Rosholt. Looks like Rosholt might have the speed advantage. Twilight Zone. 90 seconds remain. This is the fight Nelson wants, on the feet, but Rosholt's winning it. This is what I get for saying that the Feijao fight was the worst thing I've ever seen. Every time Nelson even thinks about throwing a punch Rosholt gets on his motorcycle. Not stoopid or anything, just, well, bad to watch. Nelson landed almost nothing, so 10-9 Rosholt
ROUND TWO: Both corners told their respective fighters that they need to win the next two rounds. Rosholt shoots. No takedown, but he landed a knee on the way out. Nelson lands a counter-left hand. Congratulations, Roy. Nelson is starting to feint a lot more, but Rosholt's not willing to commit to anything, feint or not. Every time Nelson feints, Rosholt screams like a 5 year old and runs away fast. Nelson throws a leg kick that really hurt Rosholt. He knows Rosholt's scared to shoot, so the threat of Rosholt's single leg isn't as strong. Rosholt hobbld for a full minute off of that hard leg kick. Right now, I hope they cut both these guys after this fight. Heavyweight is thin, sure, but letting go of these guys will not hurt in the least. Addition by subtraction. Nelson lands a short left hook. There's an overhand right from Nelson, then a left hand as well. Double jab from Rosholt. Nice hook from Rosholt, who then dodged a Nelson hook. Rosholt isn't even trying to make Nelson think that a takedown is coming. 10-9 Nelson. 19-19
ROUND THREE: This fight makes me long for baseball season. This fight makes Dan Moore long for baseball season. Huge leg kick from Nelson on a retreating Rosholt. Nelson feints a double leg, and lets it go right away. Nelson misses with an overhand right which leads to Rosholt channeling Kalib Starnes in his desire to sprint out of the cage. The only guy I've seen run faster than that was Ben Johnson. Rosholt's starting to land the jab. Left hook from Nelson. The crowd is really letting them have it, but nearly as heavily as they could. Come on crowd, LET THEM HAVE IT! Rosholt's ignoring his corner, which is begging him to get a takedown. Nice entry from Rosholt, finally, but Nelson fights him off and we're still standing with 75 seconds left in the fight. Nelson's landed less this round than he did in the second, and Rosholt's jab has been landing, but despite that, it's still Nelson's round based on octagon control, the worst of all scoring criteria. Horrible fight. 10-9 Nelson. 29-28 Nelson
WINNER: Roy Nelson (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (0) That's the worst back to back fights in UFC history. I won't ever watch either of these guys fight again.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT SIX: JOHNY HENDRICKS VS. STEPHEN THOMPSON (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Thompson comes out in an exaggerated southpaw karate stance. Hendricks closes distance and clinches up with Thompson. He powers through for a takedown, but Thompson uses the cage to get back up. knees to the thighs from Hendricks before he pushes away. Thompson's in the orthodox stance now. Lateral side kick and another from Thompson. Hendricks can't let that continue. Head kick Thompson!. And a nice combo from Thompson. Hendricks' chin is really being tested. High kick from Thompson. Hendricks eats a straight left while throwing a body kick. Hendricks is fast learning that he is not in fact the superior striker tonight. Hendricks is trying to walk Thompson down, but then lets Thopmson circle away. Nice 1-2 and high kick from Thompson. Thompson crushes him with a big right hand. Spinning SHIT@ Hendricks crumples! Two more on the cage and the fight is over! SPINNING SHIT FOR THE WIN!
WINNER: Stephen Thompson by KO at 3:31 of round one
STAR RATING: (***+) And somewhere Tyron Woodley is crying, because Thompson just passed him up on the UFC's list of guys they want to get a title fight. Thompson was perfect. After he popped back up, Hendricks lost all confidence, realizing there was no point in going for takedowns. Thompson landed high and low with kicks and fists from every imaginable angle. That was as beautiful a display of striking as I've seen in a long time.
-So that was one hell of a way to make up for the OSP and Nelson fights. Stephen Thompson is either getting Bob Lawler next, or if Condit gets his rematch Wonderboy's getting Woodley in a number one contender fight. That was a big night for the UFC's Welterweight division.
He's what gets my goat - If Thompson can do that against Hendricks, why can't Anthony Pettis do that against Eddie Alvarez? Or Giblert Melendez. Or Clay Guida. Or Rafael dos Anjos. Or Benson Henderson? Sure he beat Henderson and Melendez, but he was constantly on the fence and out of his comfort zone against both of them. Anthony Pettis could be the lightweight Stephen Thompson if only he'd apply himself to be so. Can't believe I wrote that...
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