UFC FIGHT NIGHT 69
JUNE 20, 2015
LIVE FROM BERLIN, GERMANY
The UFC returns to Germany today with an 11-fight card on UFC Fight Pass, topped off by the first ever title fight to air live on the digital streaming service. We’ll have round by round coverage on today’s main card, along with quick results and commentary on much of the preliminary card as well, so follow along with us right here today!
– I was planning on doing full play by play for the prelims, but UFC.tv and Chromecast are fighting with each other to see who can make me the most crazy. Since my (legal) streams are only lasting for 5 minutes apiece until either the stream stops casting or ufc.tv randomly logs me out, Quick results it is. June 20, 2015; the day I cancel Fight Pass.
=====UFC Fight Pass Prelims Quick Results=====
-Taylor Lapilus def. Ulka Sasaki by TKO at 1:26 of round two
Note: The first round was spent along the cage in the clinch, with Lapilus eventually finding elbow and uppercuts. Lapilus had Sasaki on his bike in the second. The end came with a straight left followed by several left hands on the canvas.
-Magomed Mustafaev def. Piotr Hallmann by TKO at 3:24 of round two (cut)
Note: Mustafaev is the bigger, stronger fighter, but he spent a lot of the latter half of round one on his back. He is very willing to fight from his back. Hallmann was moderately effective from the top in the first stanza. The fight was stopped by the cageside physician midway through round 2. Mustafaev opened up a brutal cut on Hallman’s left elbow. I didn’t catch the strike that did it, though. Thanks Chromecast! Thanks Fight Pass!
-Scott Askham def. Antonio dos Santos by TKO at 2:52 of round one.
Note: A decent scrap was developing until Askham ended a decent scrap with a fantastic finishing flurry. The smaller dos Santos was doing a good job of getting inside and closing the distance until Askham caught him coming in one too many times. The finishing sequence lasted a good thirty seconds, and it was fun to watch. A left uppercut was the beginning of the end.
-Noad Lahat dev. Nicklas Backstrom by majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Note: Tale of two fights through the first two rounds. Backstrom spent most of the first going for a rear naked choke after nearly finishing the fight with a gogoplata. Lahat won round two handily, seeing success with his dirty boxing. He managed to get Backstrom down and almost finished via armbar. The first half of round three saw Backstrom on top of Lahat. Lahat nailed a nice sweep and controlled the next couple minutes. Backstrom ended the round getting on top of Lahat and taking his back. Kind of a dull fight, but it benefited from the back and forth momentum changes. I have no idea why one card was 10-8. Bizarre.
-Arnold Allen vs. Alan Omer by submission at 1:41 of round three (guillotine)
Note: Coming in as a late replacement, Allen was very good tonight. A back and forth fight was finished in the final round when Allen sucked it up and slapped on a guillotine out of nowhere. Allen appeared to be out of gas, but he found something at the end. That was really inspiring stuff.
-Mairbek Taisumov def. Alan Patrick by TKO at 1:30 of round two.
Note: Taisumov took a thumb to the eye in roudn one, and after a seemingly interminable delay, the fight resumed. Taisumov came back strong throught the rest of round one. Taisumov knocked Patrick down and out in the second to break Patrick’s unbeaten record. Patrick wanted nothing to do with Taisumov by the end.
-Makwan Amirkhani def. Masio Fullen by submission at 1:41 of round one (rear naked choke)
Note: It wasn’t an 8 second finish like last time out, but Amirkhani got a 90 second submission this time out. He had the choke slapped on for more than a minute. He got em down in 5 seconds, got the back, worked for the choke, that was it.
-If you’re a Fight Pass subscriber and missed the prelim card, you should hunt it down. I just hope you have less trouble with Chromecast and ufc.tv than I had. I hooked up the Roku which always gives me a perfect stream, so we’ll have full coverage for the main card.
=====UFC Fight Pass Main Card=====
FIGHT ONE: NICK HEIN VS. LUKASZ SAJEWSKI (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Sajewski trips up Hein off of a kick and gets Hein onto the cage. Pretty much a stalemate here, with bursts of action. Sajewski lands a knee upon their disengagement. Three minutes in, and both fighters are more or less keeping their distance. Sajewski is more willing to push forward, though. Sajewski comes in wildly and overshoots Hein, who grabs Sajewski’s back. Sajewski has Hein on his back, and the cage on his face, and the referee in his ear telling him to let go of the fence. He lets go of the fence, and Hein lets go of him. One minute left in a tentative first round. Sajewski aught Hein coming in and hits him with a short left. Hein did well to avoid more damage there. Hein lands a couple of straight left hands, who is doing a good job tonight with his left hand. Hard round to score. 10-9 Hein He landed a few left hands at the end of the round. Could go either way, though.
ROUND TWO: Similar to round one, but this time as Sajewski comes forward with his chin up Hein stands his ground and there’s a bit of a firefight. The feeling out process is over, and both fighters are looking to score points now. Hein is throwing more leg kicks now. Straight left from Hein. Nice short uppercut from Sajewski. He caught Hein getting lazy with an overhand left. Hein lands a thudding left overhand about 45 seconds later, however. Good leg kick from Hein. Sajewski telegraphs a spinning back fist. Hein dodged it easily. Hard leg kick from Hein, who is starting to look like the superior fighter now. Another left hand from Hein. Sajewski doesn’t know what to do whenever ‘come forward’ doesn’t elicit results. One minute remains. Sajewski’s getting tired, his feet aren’t bouncing as lithely as they were in the first round. Nice right uppercut from Hein. Hein ends the round with a thudding body kick. 20-18 Hein Easy round to score
ROUND THREE: Hein is up to -725 in live betting. Nice right hand from Hein. Sajewski just doesn’t know how to move from side to side. Good inside leg kick by Hein. Sajewski gets inside and clinches. He takes something to the eye and the the fight is paused. Then restarted. Then paused. Then restarted. all in like 30 seconds. Whatever. We’re back. Hein cracks Sajewski yet again. He’s far more technical, and really understands movement, angles, and foot work. Sajewski’s holding his right hand way low, begging the southpaw Hein to land a straight left. Nice step-in 1-2 from Hein. Hein landed a right hook on Sajewski while Sajewski was rushing forward. That almost dropped Sajewski, but the fence kept him up. Sajewski ends the fight over-lunging for anything he can land, to no avail. This was easily 30-27 Hein
WINNER: Nick Hein by unanomous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (**) Hein was far superior, and was smart enough to take the simple decision. He might have had a chance here or there to finish, but that would have opened him up to unnecessary risk.
FIGHT TWO: PETER SOBOTTA VS. STEVE KENNEDY (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Sobotta opens up fast, staggering Kennedy with a few left hands in the first ten seconds. Then a high body kick. Kennedy looks very out of sorts. Hard keft keg to the ribs from Sobotta. Kennedy looks bored and laconic, keeping his hands down at his waist. Sobotta shoots and takes Kennedy down easily. Half-guard. Nice sweep from Kennedy who is in on a single now. He’s got Sobotta against the cage, transitioned to a double. Stale mate here. No longer, as Sobotta turned a single underhook into a reversal and takedown. He’s on the back of Kennedy now, looking for a rear naked choke. Kennedy has one arm trapped and a figure-four, but he gave up the neck to get the position. He has half the round to get the choke. He only needed 20 seconds. He got it and Kennedy tapped immediately. Total slaughter.
WINNER: Peter Sobotta by ritualistic destruction at 2:57 of the first round.
STAR RATING: (**+) Sobotta was phenomenal there. Nothing else to say, really.
FIGHT THREE: DENNIS SIVER VS. TATSUYA KAWAJIRI (FEATHERWEIGHT)
– Dennis Siver is the favorite fighter of my Torch colleague Alex Williams. You know every month in the rankings where Siver is always listed as “Others receiving votes” in the FW division? That’s Alex’ contribution every month. So… Go Crusher!
ROUND ONE: Kawajiri throws a couple of flashy kicks from a mile away, just to show he knows how to do them. Not contact made from either fighter through the first 30 seconds. Kawajiri lands a lunging body kick at that point. Kawajiri gets in low on a single, but Siver is hopping around well on his right foot and landing some short shots. Kawajiri lifts him up, but still can’t get him down. Siver hammers him and Kawajiri releases Siver. Hard leg kick from Siver. That’s his bread and butter. Siver lands a hard left hook to the ear of Kawajiri. Kawajiri responds by grabbing another single, but there’s nothing there and he lets it go. Siver with a back kick, but Kawajiri doesn’t feel pain like we mortals. Kawajiri is looking for yet another single, but Siver won’t go down. Siver is letting Kawajiri know that he can get Kawajiri’s neck during this exchange, and Kawajiri lets go of it. He’s got to rethink things here. He gets in deep on another single. He’s got the whole leg, but Siver’s unwilling to succumb. Kawajiri eeds to be careful about the guillotine, because his head is in deep under the left arm of Siver. Kawajiri gets Siver down. It looks like Siver tripped while circling away. Doesn’t matter, as the round is now over. 10-9 Siver Kawajiri didn’t do anything successfully. Siver landed a few more strikes.
ROUND TWO: Siver lands a back kick to the arm of Kawajiri as Kawajiri was rushing in. Siver throws a front kick over Kawajiri’s head, but Crusher catches it and works a single leg.Kawajiri gets him down, and has both of Siver’s legs tied up underneath his crotch. Now to half-guard. Now full guard, but it’s wide open. Half-guard again. Kawajiri is smothering Siver, and landing left hands here and there. Siver’s doing well to keep Kawajiri in a chest to chest position. Kawajiri looking hard for mount, but the cage is constantly in his way. Kawajiri got the mount with 30 seconds left in the round. Siver has to work extra hard now to control posture. Better than that, he exploded with his hips and bucked Kawajiri right off of him. Kawajiri gets back on top, but can’t do anything before the horn sounds. 10-9 Crusher. 19-19
ROUND THREE: Spinning back fist from Kawajiri finds the top of Siver’s head. Kawajiri pushes forward on a single and drops Siver. Siver has a guillotine, but it’s not going to finish him. The crowd is buying, though. His hands aren’t connected at all. Impossible to finish like that from half-guard. Kawajiri’s head pops out, but Siver escapes and gets to his feet. Switch kick from Crusher. Kawajiri dives in for another takedown on the cage, but Siver’s defending it well. Two minutes remain now. Kawajiri picked Siver up and dumped him, but his head is in guillotine position again, so he can’t do much until he gets his head free. There it goes. Kawajiri is trying to stack Siver up against the cage. Based on the bad camera angle it’s hard to see what’s going on at the moment. Nice elbows from Kawajiri from the top. And another. this is vintage Kawajiri to end the fight. Should be an easy 29-28. 29-28 Kawajiri
WINNER: Tatsuya Kawajiri by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**-) Tedious and repetitive. The only offense Siver managed was when he was trying to keep Kawajiri from doing what Kawajiri likes to do. Both fighters at this points in their careers are limited, and this level of competition is representative of both fighters’ level.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK VS. JESSICA PENNE (WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
ROUND ONE: Jędrzejczyk and Penne have a reluctant touch of gloves whilst Marc Goddard gave instructions, and we’re ready to go. Jędrzejczyk to the body early with a jab. She’s got such fast hands. Penne shoots and gets Jędrzejczyk’s back againt teh fence. v is defending well. Penne is working hard for the takedown, but she eats a hard elbow from Jędrzejczyk and retreats fast. Jab to the gut from Jędrzejczyk. Penne ducks under a jab and shoots. Jędrzejczyk is defending well, but Penne isn’t giving her an inch to make a mistake. Penne has been working the cage-clinch game for a full minute before Jędrzejczyk got free with a nice elbow strikes. Two minutes remain. Penne lands a kick to the thigh of Jędrzejczyk. Jędrzejczyk misses a wild hook and Penne ducks under for a clinch takedown attempt. Jędrzejczyk sweeps Penne down, kicks her, and walks twenty feet away. Funny. Jędrzejczyk knocks PEnne down with a short uppercut and she follows Penne to the canvas. Penne turtles up and Jędrzejczyk stands up. A few kicks to the thigh from the champion, but she’s not walking away this time. Referee gets in between the fighters, finally. Penne charges in for a takedown right at the buzzer. She landed on top as the horn was blowing.10-9 Jędrzejczyk
ROUND TWO: Jędrzejczyk takes the cneter of the cage and throws a couple jabs to the body. Good flurry of punches from Jędrzejczyk. Hard outside leg kick from Jędrzejczyk. Penne charges in for a takedown but Jędrzejczyk moves in for a body lock and hits a head kick as she separates. Penne blocked it well. Fornt kick from Penne made a little contact. Penne ducks down for a weak takedown and eats about 5 fast punches. Leg kick from the champion. High kick from Jędrzejczyk. Took it on the arm, but they still hurt. Tough elbow from the champion. Penneis busted upen. Jędrzejczyk is firing away with lightning speed. Penne desperately grabs in for a takedown against the cage. Before this clinch, Penne was being battered. Jędrzejczyk gets free, and Penne is in mortal (figuratively) danger. Jędrzejczyk is feeling it. Thai plumb and two knees, several elbows. They separate. Penne is a bloody mess. She has no path to victory. None. At. All. Jędrzejczyk is taunting her, stalking in with her hands at her knees. Left jab almost drops Penne. Penne eating a ton of short hooks. Body kick. Back to the middle. This is target practice. Leg kick. Penne’s corner needs to stop this between rounds. Jędrzejczyk with a huge step knee and yet another flurry. Penne grabs Jędrzejczyk’s head in order to stop the onslaught. 10-7 Jędrzejczyk. 20-16 Yes. 10-7. Penne had literally nothing, other than a massive cut on her nose.
ROUND THREE: Leon Roberts told Penne between rounds that she had better “protect yourself at all times.” He’ll stop this fight the first chance he can. Penne looks like a bloody freakshow, and that’s at the beginning of the round. Jędrzejczyk with a stiff left hand. Penne misses a punch and eats three counter punches. Low kick from Jędrzejczyk. Penne comes in and eats punches and a kick on the retreat. This is unfair. Jędrzejczyk lands a snap kick to the jaw. Penne is bleeding again. Three strike combo from the champion. There’s a left hook. Penne shoots from a mile out and doesn’t get a finger on Jędrzejczyk. Jędrzejczyk turns her back and SLOWLY saunters away. Penne’s corner must hate Penne to let her take this. Penne presses Jędrzejczyk into the cage, but there’s no takedown here. Jędrzejczyk has a lot of Penen’s blood on her cheek. Jędrzejczyk gets free and jabs the body again. Penne misses a weak high kick attempt and almost falls over. Jędrzejczyk with three more strikes. and a low kick. And another low kick. Jab jab jab from Jędrzejczyk. Two short elbows. Four punches to the face all land cleanly. Penne is voering up, but Jędrzejczyk is taking her time. Leon roberts has had enough (good for him) and stopped the fight. That’s a fantastic stoppage, but should have happened a full round earlier. There was no specific flurry that ended the fight, but the last punch or two was enough straw to finally break his back.
WINNER: Joanna Jędrzejczyk by TKO at 4:22 of the third round.
STAR RATING: (***-) Look. Jędrzejczyk was minus-4500 when the fight ended. She was never in danger. She could have finished it any time she liked. Clearly she’s a sadistic pawing at a dying mouse, and she took enjoyment in it. She’s a bad bad woman. Cocky as hell, fun, and violent. She’s must-watch TV.
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