UFC 123: Rampage Wins A Razer Thin Decision And Penn Lights Up Hughes In 21 Seconds

Added on Nov 21, 2010 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

UFC 123 took place last night in front of 16,400 people in Auburn Hills, Michigan. This was the first time they had returned to the Detroit area since UFC 19, and they received a live gate total of 2.1 million for their efforts. This is how the night played out for a pretty good UFC pay per view.

Knock Out of The Night: BJ Penn*

Submission of The Night: Phil Davis*

Fight of the Night: Joe Lauzon* Vs George Sotiropoulos*

*(each fighter received an $80k bonus)

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson def. Lyoto Machida via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

This was a close fight, and although it had a few slow moments to the bout, it turned out to be a pretty good fight. Rampage was coming forward the entire fight, but it was Machida who was getting the better of the exchanges. I am not going to use the word robbery, because it cheapens the word when you misuse it, but I had this scored the other way. I had the first and third round of the fight scored for Machida. The second round I was dangerously close to scoring it a 10-10 round, but I scored it for Jackson. So on my card I had it scored 29-28 for Machida, but I could see a 30-28 card. What I don’t see is how Rampage won the fight.

Dana White says there will be no rematch, because he had scored the fight for rampage, and thought he won the fight. Rampage was coming forward the whole time, and I understand the concept of Octagon control, but he was being beaten in exchanges and on the ground. I wouldn’t be for a rematch anyway, because I’m not a huge fan of them, but I am glad they are available and possible.

B.J. Penn def. Matt Hughes via KO (punches) – Round 1, 0:21

Focused like a laser, BJ Penn stood across from Matt Hughes before the bell starting the fight. BJ came out, and was wasting no time throwing hands with Matt Hughes. He connected early on Hughes, and you could tell how hard Matt got hit. Another right hand sent Hughes to his back, and BJ pounced to pound him out. As it happened I thought there was a chance it was an early stoppage, but in the fight replay Hughes clearly goes limp. Good stoppage by ref Dan Mirgliotta.

Maiquel Falcao def. Gerald Harris via unanimous decision (29-27. 29-28, 29-28)

The first round started really slow. For the first two minutes it looked as though Harris was angling to shoot, and Falcao kept his distance. Falcao finally started throw kicks, and eventually caught Harris with a knee that sent him to the mat. Falcao ended the round coming VERY close to finishing Harris with a rear naked choke, but the buzzer saved Harris. Falcao was warned for not letting go right away, but he said he didn’t hear the horn. I also need to say that, according to my watch, the round ended 4-6 seconds early. If thats the case, and I believe it is, Falcao would have finished the fight right there.

The second round was much of the same, besides a takedown from Harris, it was Falcao that was controlling the whole round. Falcao clearly knew he won the first two rounds, and proceeded to take the third round off. Besides a few leg kicks from Falcao, and a few weak takedowns from Harris, nothing really happened in the round. I scored the round 10-10, because neither fighter really did anything to win it. Dana White said after the fight “we need to tell Falcao, this is the Ultimate Fighting Championship not the Ultimate Staring Contest.” Falcao gets his Octagon Debut win, but he may have lost a few fans.

Phil Davis def. Tim Boetsch via submission (kimura) – Round 2, 2:55

The first round was all Phil Davis, and he was pushing around Boetsch. He finally clinched up with Boetsch, and his superior wrestling pulled Tim to the ground. He did some damage from side mount, and Tim scrambled up, but he ate some knees for his troubles before the horn sounded. Boetsch defended a takedown by Davis in the early part of the round, and then pulled guard on Davis with a guillotine choke, but Davis quickly pulled out. Davis trapped Boetsch’s arm behind his back, and wrenched it back underneath him. It was a pretty slick submission.

George Sotiropoulos def. Joe Lauzon via submission (kimura) – Round 2, 2:43

Lauzon came forward for the better half of the first round. He was pushing the pace, landing right hands on the face of Sotiropoulos, and defending the takedowns. The second part of the round was mostly Sotiropoulos trying to secure a rear naked choke. It had some interesting scrambles, and Sotiropoulos had full mount with ten seconds left. He dove for an arm bar, that J-Lau shook off, and reversed Sotiropoulos to end up in his guard landing elbows. Sotiropoulos controlled a very drained J Lau for the beginning of the second round. Sotiropoulos hunted for an arm of J Lau’s and eventually snagged one. He ended the fight with a nice kimura on Lauzon that even J Lau appreciated. Lauzon said via his twitter “He released the pressure on the kimura to avoid hurting my arm,” and he thanked him for a good fight.

Preliminary card Side Notes:

Dennis Hallman TKO’d Karo in the early part of the fight. Hallman best known for his 2 wins over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes in under 38 seconds combined. This was the fight no one thought Karo would get after he pulled out of a line of fights, and Dana said he would never fight in the Octagon again. The bad news for Karo is that he was released from the UFC just hours after his fight.

Nik Lentz defeated Tyson Griffin by split decision. However, many are calling the decision a total screw job. I have not seen the fight yet, but plenty of reporters are demanding explanations on how that fight was scored.

RELIMINARY CARD

Brian Foster def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:11

Mark Munoz def. Aaron Simpson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Dennis Hallman def. Karo Parisyan via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:47

Edson Barboza def. Mike Lullo via TKO (leg kicks) – Round 3, 0:26

Paul Kelly def. T.J. O’Brien via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:16

Nik Lentz def. Tyson Griffin via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)