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Related » UFC on Fox 15 Play-by-Play
10:15 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Rockhold called out Weidman for Madison Square Garden. What a dream.
A fantastic UFC card, top-to-bottom. The biggest and most interesting fights delivered in the most provocative of ways, and pushed Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza, Max Holloway, Paige VanZant, Beneil Dariush and Aljamain Sterling further along in their careers. It's got the dynamic of UFC cards of yesteryear, where immediately you want a little bit more, because you can so easily imagine a multitude of thrilling matchmaking ideas and potential futures.
10:12 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: The official time of Luke Rockhold putting Lyoto Machida down like a wounded animal is 2:31 of the second round. Not to completely discount Vitor Belfort without his potent chemical regimen, but four years ago, I envisioned Chris Weidman-Luke Rockhold as the post-Anderson Silva future of this division. I can only hope it turns into a trilogy for the ages.
10:07 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: In a night that brilliantly served as a showcase for up-and-coming or emergent talent, Luke Rockhold saved the best for last. The Californian absolutely destroyed a still-outstanding fighter in Lyoto Machida, knocking him down in the first, mounting him and threatening with heavy ground-and-pound and chokes. Machida just never recovered, as Rockhold mauled him in the second round, shoved him to the mat like a streetfight and locked in a rear-naked choke that was nothing more than a mercy kill. This is one of the biggest beatdowns of 2015 so far and over a fighter known for his defensive wizardry.
Even if “Jacare” got the chance to fight Romero tonight and prevailed in sterling fashion, it's hard to imagine he would have topped that performance. Luke Rockhold is unquestionably your middleweight contender in waiting.
9:40 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Main event time. Lyoto Machida, Luke Rockhold, middleweight awesome. Realistically, your winner of this bout is going to get your next crack at 185-pound gold after Chris Weidman-Vitor Belfort is resolved. Perhaps if Machida wins in a disputed fashion, they bless “Jacare” with the title shot, but given how good Weidman-Machida was last year, I wouldn't be shocked by them running it back.
But, I like it to be a good night for former Strikeforce middleweight champs here. Rockhold's 6-foot-3 frame, constant forward pressure and specifically, well-rounded kicking offense, should keep Machida on the back foot far more often than he wants. I think he'll struggle to land enough clean, hard punches per round, compared to Rockhold's pressure and output, to convince the judges. Plus, Rockhold has a legitimate chance to hurt Machida and finish him via submission, as we've seen the AKA product do many times in the past.
9:32 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And in less than three minutes, Souza beats Camozzi up on the feet, throws him on the ground, cuts through his guard despite Camozzi using all his physical might to close guard, overhook and stall, then hits a sick armbar, transitioning over the back and snatching Camozzi's right arm within a microsecond of taking full mount and Camozzi looking to roll. Simply extraordinary grappling. Get healthy, Yoel Romero.
9:26 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: At -1600, “Jacare” is also the second biggest favorite in UFC history to my knowledge, just surpassing Chad Mendes who was around -1650 and a little higher before his bout with Yaotzin Meza.
9:23 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Also, not to complain too vociferously given the cruddy circumstances that forced Camozzi into the bout, but man oh man, would it be incredible to be gearing up for Ronaldo Souza-Yoel Romero right now. This has been a fantastic main card so far. At least the former Strikeforce middleweight champ is sure to keep our evening rolling along.
9:21 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Official FightMetric count for VanZant-Herrig: 199 to 44 total strikes, a strawweight record. Couldn't Michael Carroll and his boffins find one extra strike there for VanZant? Come on, guys.
9:13 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's co-main event time! There's not much to say about ol' Mr. Camozzi's chances, given that he was mauled unconscious by “Jacare” less than two years ago. However, last time he had six days notice, this time he has 10! He could do 1.5 times as well this time, maybe make it to the second round.
Still, a miserable situation for Souza, who could've got himself a title shot with a win over Yoel Romero, will get next to nothing out of this other than a paycheck. Paychecks are nice, but Souza is sniffing a title shot and now will almost assuredly have to play second fiddle to the Rockhold-Machida winner.
9:09 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Speaking of big career wins, Max Holloway is out here. The 23-year-old Hawaiian put on a virtuoso offense performance, smashing Cub Swanson with a variety of eight-point striking early, piling it up with more and more exotic spinning techniques throughout the midpoint of the fight, nearly tapping him with an arm-triangle choke before ultimately hitting the same guillotine he used on Andre Fili. He might be a slow starter, but once Holloway finds his groove, he's positively gruesome.
The fourth third-round stoppage of the night (and another brilliant one, at that) comes at 3:58 of the third round.
Max Holloway made my All-Violence team last year, and I find it hard to believe he's not going to make it this year. He is already 2-0 on the year, and is now riding a six-fight winning streak inside the Octagon. Holloway is realistically two fights away from any kind of legitimate title fight talk, but it doesn't matter. The potential is obvious and he is probably one of the 10 most consistently thrilling fighters in the UFC. Mahalo.
8:41 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Up next, at 145 pounds, a fantastic fight between two offensive-minded fighters, as Cub Swanson tries to rebound from his demoralizing defeat to Frankie Edgar last November against Hawaiian dynamo Max Holloway, one of the highest volume strikers in the UFC. Swanson may have to hang on late, as Holloway can really get rolling when he finds a striking rhythm, and Swanson has been exploited similarly in the past. Regardless of the outcome, expect fireworks.
8:39 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: 30-27 VanZant on my card, and she earns a wonderful unanimous decision verdict, with scores of 30-30-26, 30-26 and 30-27. The unofficial FightMetric tally on total strikes? 228 to 39 in favor of the hyperactive VanZant. As mentioned, she's still green as hell, but what she's got, you can't teach. Her knack for staying fluid and heavy on top while unleashing ferocious barrages of strikes is incredible. A real prospect and while she's not top 10 material or anything yet, she's got all the signs of a potential future star in the best weight class in women's MMA.
8:30 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Through 10 minutes, Paige VanZant has showed how damn green she is... and also her dynamic potential. Herrig is coming with all kinds of nice submission attempts, but VanZant powers out and rips her with major punches from the clinch and top position. What she lacks in technique and finesse at this point, she makes up with wild offense and athleticism. I've got VanZant up 20-18 in a fight that is showing its worth to kick off the “main card.”
8:01 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And it's main card time, even though that's a distinction without a difference on this particular evening.
Up first, strawweight postergirl Paige VanZant, the fresh-faced promotional hopeful, takes on colorful gatekeeper Felice Herrig. It's a major moment for the 21-year-old VanZant to prove she's more than a product of pure hype, taking on a rock-solid-if-unspectacular veteran like Herrig. We'll get an immediate dose of the realness in short order.
7:56 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: I had it a much more lopsided 30-26, with a 10-8 second round, but nonetheless, your winner by unanimous decision is Beneil Dariush in a sensational bout of outstanding grappling. Unfortunately for Jim Miller, outside of an early kimura that he used to sweep to full mount, almost none of the offense was his. Dariush flexed his Romul o Barral black belt to the maximum, showing off suffocating top pressure and immaculate guard passing. Miller was in constant peril and nearly choked out multiple times over the final 10 minutes.
Going forward, we obviously need to consider Ramsey Nijem's clobbering of Dariush, reflect on it when Dariush seems unbeatable. He is still human and we know his chin can be tapped. Nonetheless, few lightweight prospects have done more for their stock in the last 12-18 months. Dariush is an absolute offensive monster in a division where you need an elite set of skills to stand out. Welcome to the upper echelon.
7:28 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Now, it's time for our midcard main event or whatever you might wish to call it. In this case, a rose by any other name is just as sweet, as we're treated to another acid test for a hot prospect. This time, Rafael Cordeiro pupil Beneil Dariush looks to move his UFC mark to 5-1 with his fourth straight win. Surprisingly, the 25-year-old is a -160 to perennial lightweight scrapper Jim Miller, who has a powerful left hand, solid wrestling and cutthroat grappling. This is a great style matchup that could offer a raucous 15 minutes, or a quick, brutal ending.
7:20 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: I thought Cummins, because of his wrestling pedigree and ability to match physical tools with St. Preux, deserved to be a favorite. In practice? Not quite. OSP rocked Cummins with the first punch he threw and made “Mr. Durkin” look awkward once again on the feet.
St. Preux's striking technique still slips from time to time, but damn, he's got power. The punch he dropped Cummins with was a weird, whipping left uppercut while backpedaling, which might not say much for Cummins chin, either. Regardless, St. Preux followed up in fantastic fashion, taking a moment to look for a good punching opportunity, fighting Cummins' hands, then unloading with hammerfists. The end comes at 4:54 of the first frame.
St. Preux may never morph into a perfect model of technique, but his offense is unorthodox and damn potent. A man who can roll for leglocks, throw spinning hook kicks and do beaucoup damage while backpedalling with weird uppercuts is a dangerous man, regardless of polish. St. Preux is now 6-1 in the UFC, too, with his lone loss coming to Ryan Bader in his punishing 25-minute wrestling lesson.
7:05 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Not a whole lot changes in our next fight: 205 pounds, football players, wrestlers. Former Penn State wrestling standout Patrick Cummins looks to finally break into the top 10, taking out former University of Tennessee linebacker Ovince St. Preux, who demolished the last little bit of magic Mauricio Rua had in him in front of a stunned Brazilian crowd last November.
This fight is also topical. As university Greek culture becomes a more and more hotly debated topic, we've got Ovince St. Preux, a man from historic black fraternity Omega Psi Phi, up against Cummins, who did time in jail for helping former wrestling teammate Eric Bradley rob a frat house. Buckle up, frat boys.
6:59 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And we're on the board with a legitimate upset. With the fight on the line for +350 underdog Gian Villante and with time ticking down, he landed a chopping overhand that had Anderson out on his feet. The TUF winner careened into the fence, gently resting his body against it, unconscious, as Villante tore into him. Referee Liam Kerrigan got in quickly for the righteous rescue, as Anderson was the literal definition of being out on one's feet.
Probably the biggest win of Villante's career, especially given the odds. Looks like he caught Anderson in a rare moment he wasn't beastin'.
Seriously, though, Anderson put himself in a position to lose by not checking the early leg kicks. Villante wisely rode that advantage all the way to bank. Even though it was a right hand that made it happen, Anderson's awkward punching courtesy of having no legs was a major component of it. The third third-round stoppage of the night comes at 4:18 of the final frame.
6:52 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: I've got it one round apiece after two. Anderson is getting a lesson on the job here, as he's the far better boxer and smashing Villante with his hands, but likely lost the opening round due to heavy, unabated leg kicks from Villante. Villante is still landing them, but less so in the second round as Anderson pours on the volume. This tends to the be territory where Villante's hittability catches up to him. Regardless, huge third and final round here.
6:29 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Up next, we head up to 205 pounds, where another TUF 19 winner, Corey Anderson, will look to stay undefeated and definitely have a better night than fellow season winner Eddie Gordon, as he takes on Gian Villante. Villante is a fantastic athlete, a former Hofstra wrestler and football player and has a striking arsenal. Unfortunately, he has negligible defense and the physically potent Anderson could really overwhelm him in this one. Curious to see Anderson's continued development from a hyper-green prospect to potential physical force in a division that sorely needs young, up-and-coming talent.
6:25 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Mizugaki gave seven minutes of rugged defense, but once Sterling finally got to the back, it was on. Not unlike Tim Means, albeit via different method, Sterling wore down Mizugaki brilliantly and locked up an arm-triangle choke in a transition in the third, as Mizugaki shook him off of his back. Despite ending up on bottom a la Jeremy Horn on Chuck Liddell, “Funkmaster Aljo” nailed it.
The official time is 2:11 of the third round for Aljamain Sterling's biggest career win. Welcome to the top 10, dude.
6:02 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: We now flip over to the big network, Fox, for eight fights. First up, the four-fight midcard, jumpstarted by a bantamweight pairing of unbeaten prospect Aljamain Sterling and divisional gatekeeper-to-the-stars Takeya Mizugaki.
We know what Mizugaki's role in the great chain of MMA being is: he is here to separate the wheat from the chaff, contenders from pretenders and all the rest of the cliches. Sterling is the real deal and I expect him to win, but Mizugaki is a +350 underdog, which I think is out-of-touch with the style matchup here. Sterling is incredible at scrambling and finding dominant positions, but Mizugaki is a stout wrestler with more proven boxing. Even if Sterling takes all three rounds, Mizugaki figures to make him work his ass off and earn it.
5:52 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: And Tim Means called out Bleacher Report in his postfight interview. I'm always happy when it isn't us, you know?
5:47 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Means-Sullivan might have been competitive, but the judges weren't necessary: “The Dirty Bird” put his stamp on the second half of the fight, piling up strikes before dropping Sullivan with a tight elbow late in the second and more 'bows from top position. In the third, Means shoved Sullivan to the ground and busted him up from side control, then swiftly grabbed an arm-triangle choke in the transition. The official time is 3:41 of the third round for Means' fabulous finish.
Means showed the whole package. He's not an A-level welterweight, but he's a unique scrapper with a deep offensive toolbox. There's tons of fun matchmaking to be had with him at 170 pounds. If he ever fights Matt Brown, I'll cry tears of blood.
5:37 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: As we get halfway through a close, tightly contested Means-Sullivan fight, here's an update on judging garbage earlier: judges Michelle Agustin and Cardo Urso had it 29-28 for Dempsey, while Michael DePasquale Jr. had it 29-28 for Gordon. However, DePasquale gave Gordon round three somehow. And Urso is having an awful judging year that includes Cheick Kongo 29-28 over Mo Lawal. Help us.
5:26 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Bearing Means' past legal indiscretions in mind, I'm sure the penal system would rather see him be reformed rather than turning into an even worse criminal offender.
5:20 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Really excited to see Tim Means back in the cage, as he seems to be turning into a brutal killer. That's what everyone really wants to see, right?
5:20 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Time for our last pre-Fox prelim here and the card really picks up from here. At 170 pounds, two big, brutish, rugged hard cases square off with Tim Means and George Sullivan doing battle. Means is a little more versatile in his striking arsenal, and is surprisingly effective in the clinch, but Sullivan has the power and general well-roundedness to potentially negate that. Really nice pairing of styles from Joe Silva.
5:15 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: New Jersey's medical conservatism strikes again: this is no Leslie Smith-type ear explosion, just a little gnarly exploded cauliflour. Disappointing stuff after an entertaining opening round. Cut it out with the disappointment! At least this one was over quickly and didn't involve judge screwbaggery.
5:12 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Hettes wasn't without some leglock attempts, sweeps and other moments of offense, but it was Brandao setting the pace with his potent offense. More importantly than Brandao taking the back, nearly hitting a side choke and landing hard elbows: Hettes' left ear has exploded. Bloody cauliflour is on the menu.
5:07 p.m. ET Jeff Sherwood: Joe Rogan referred to Chris Dempsey as a stiff if I heard him right, knowing he did not mean it that way. Both Dempsey and Gordon seemed stiff. That was a strange fight: Gordon fought like he was too worried about getting slept again. So much for the push of another TUF winner ...
5:06 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: No time to dwell on the sadness of questionable judging, because featherweights are already in the cage. After being scheduled to square off at UFC 183, Jimy Hettes and Diego Brandao finally do the damn thang. The first time they attempted this bout, Hettes fell ill on fight day and canceled the bout at the 11th hour.
Brandao is known for being a defensive liability and front-running flake, but he doesn't typically get tapped out after gassing. Hettes is gonna have to find a way to do damage if and when he gets on top, otherwise, Brandao is gonna barnstorm him on the feet, where Hettes is flimsy to say the least.
5:01 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It is clear Eddie Gordon isn't any kind of high-level prospect in the game and is a vivid reminder of how little it means to win a season of TUF now. But, he still won rounds one and two and deserved that fight. Being out-of-shape and disappointing doesn't mean you should automatically lose.
5:00 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Eddie Gordon slowed down considerably late and showed some real gas issues, but despite Dempsey swarming with his wrestling and punching flurries, I've got this 29-28 Gordon. But you know what? It doesn't matter.
Why doesn't it matter? Because the judges come back with a pair of 29-28 scorecards for your winner by split decision, Chris Dempsey. I suppose two of those judges think Dempsey won the second round, too? Confusing scorecards to start our evening, and an unfortunate break for Eddie Gordon, who got a 29-28 on the dissenting judge's scorecard.
4:36 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Up first on our lovely Fox card this evening, “Ultimate Fighter” Season 19 winner Eddie Gordon tries to recover from his brutal head-kick knockout loss to Josh Samman at UFC 181 in December, taking on Chris Dempsey, who ate it in his Octagon debut against Ilir Latifi in July.
4:30 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It is a damn competitive sports night, though. The NHL playoffs are in full swing, NBA playoffs kicked off this afternoon, there's two major boxing cards, and hell, there's even an MLS game. I'm very curious to see the peaks and valleys for interest in this card, whether or not there is a noticeable benefit to them running eight quality fights on Fox, if something like Paige VanZant-Felice Herrig reaches its intended viwership goal and so on. Traditionally, this time of the year hasn't been great for the UFC on Fox, without the benefit of the NFL season to push and promote the event.
4:27 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: Also, it is a unique setup for the UFC and Fox tonight, as instead of the typical four-fight main card over a three-hour block of programming, we've got eight fights over five hours, between the four-fight undercard and four-fight main card.
4:25 p.m. ET Jordan Breen: It's fight time, again, heads, as the UFC descends upon the Prudential Center for their 15th effort on Fox in primetime. Most importantly, apart from a few glib jokes about the unfortunate Ronaldo Souza-Chris Camozzi, you won't hear too much griping about this card quality: frankly, UFC on Fox 15 is a superb MMA card.
Our main event is a de facto middleweight title eliminator, as former UFC light heavyweight challenger Lyoto Machida tries to get another crack at 185-pound goal, taking on former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Two great, well-rounded, uniquely dynamic middleweights scheduled for 25 minutes. Could we get a “Fight of the Year” contender? I'm not saying, but I'm just saying.