UFC 138: Marking the promotion’s return to Birmingham for the first time since 2008, UFC 138 on November 5th will go down in the record books as the first show to feature a non-title main event to be scheduled to go five five-minute rounds in UFC history, a move which was made due to the increasing number of draws and equally fought bouts in the promotion. However, fans would not get to see a full five round non-title main event, which pitted Mark Munoz against Chris Leben. During the second round, Munoz caught Leben in a ground and pound position, which opened a severe cut over Leben’s left eyebrow. As the round ended, Leben’s eye had swollen to the point where he could no longer see out of it, and Munoz was awarded the TKO victory by corner stoppage before the third round could start… On November 28th, almost three weeks after the fight, the UFC announced that Leben had tested positive for oxycodone and oxymorphone, two powerful pain killers which are on the promotion’s list of banned substances, and as a result suspended Leben from competing for a year… In the semi-main event slot, Thiago Alves beat Swedish fighter Papy Abedi at 3:32 of the first round via rear naked choke in the first submission victory of his career… The show drew 10,832 to the LG Arena inBirmingham, a little over half capacity for the arena.
UFC 139: While UFC 139’s official name was Shogun Vs. Henderson, UFC presents Strikeforce might have been a more apt title. Taking place from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on November 19th before 13,832 fans, the show featured a former Strikeforce champion making his return to the UFC in the main event, and a former Strikeforce mainstay in the semi-main event, while all taking place at what was the Strikeforce promotion’s home arena… Dealing with the main event first, the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson, who in his previous fight had downed the once unstoppable Fedor Emelianenko in the first round, made his return to the promotion to take on Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. The bout, scheduled to go five five-minute rounds, went the distance in one of the most spectacular bouts in UFC history. The two fighters shared points as the rounds passed, with two entering the final round at 39-37 in favour ofHenderson across the board. Rua came out of the blocks all guns blazing, and earned himself a 10-8 final round, though the judges, opting to avoid a draw with the last points of the night, went in at 10-9 each, ending the fight at 48-47 from all three judges, giving Henderson the unanimous decision victory… The semi-main event saw Strikeforce legend Cung Le return to MMA for the first time in 17 months to make his UFC debut against Wanderlei Silva, a fighter who has for some months before the fight been linked to possible retirement plans. The fight went into the second round, and with the seconds ticking towards zero on the clock, Silva rocked Le with a strong punch and numerous knees which floored the Vietnamese fighter, leading to the referee calling for the stoppage in favour of Silva at 4:49 on the clock… Both fights, spectacular in their own right, were awarded fight of the night honours, with each of the four fighters picking up a $70,000 bonus.
Other UFC News: The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finals took place on December 3rd at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The main event of the show, in a move different to other Ultimate Fighter finales, featured the battle of the season coaches, with Michael Bisping picking up the TKO victory over Jason Miller at 3:34 in the third round. Further down the card, Brazilian fighter Diego Brandao defeated Dennis Bermudez by armbar at 4:51 of the first round to win the season’s featherweight tournament, and John Dodson defeated T.J. Dillashaw by TKO at 1:54 of the first round to win the bantamweight tournament… The day the UFC on Fox ratings came out, Dana White went to the UFC offices, thanked his staff for doing the best job they could have, and gave them all the rest of the day off. The ratings indicated almost nine million people had watched the broadcast, the most watched MMA event in North American MMA history… The UFC has two big shows left for 2011, as UFC 140 takes place on December 10th from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and features Jon Jones looking to be the first Light Heavyweight Champion since Chuck Liddell in 2006 to defend the title more than once in a single reign when he takes on Lyoto Machida in the main event. Also on the show, Frank Mir takes on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Tito Ortiz takes on Big Nog’s brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira… The Toronto show is followed by UFC 141 on December 30th from Las Vegas with the huge main event of Brock Lesnar taking on Alistair Overeem in a five round battle for the number one contendership to the UFC Heavyweight Title. Most are expecting the fight to last no more than two rounds, and depending on if the bout stays standing or on the canvas will vary as to who the match will favour. My money’s on Brock.
