UFC 127 Penn Vs Fitch Recap And Results

Added on Feb 27, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

UFC 127 took place yesterday in front of 18000 plus Australians yesterday in Sidney. The event was an overall success for Zuffa, and the event has left us with a lot of unanswered questions. BJ Penn and Jon Fitch fought to a majority draw, and it left for a weird ending to the night for the fans in attendance.

Fighters were awarded $75,000 bonuses:

Fight of the Night: Brian Ebersole vs. Chris Lytle

Knockout of the Night: Mark Hunt

Submission of the Night: Kyle Noke

MAIN CARD (pay-per-view)

Main Event Welterweight:

Jon Fitch (77.2 kg/169.8 lbs.)

B.J. Penn (76 kg/167.2 lbs.)

The first round BJ ran across the cage, and faked two right hands, and immediately clinched up with Fitch. Fitch later said this surprised him, because everyone thought BJ was going to stand and trade with Jon. BJ was able to get Jon to the floor a few times in the round, and at one point had his back while working for a rear naked choke. Fitch was able to role over into BJ’s guard, and BJ immediately scrambled to his feet. I would say and easy 10-9 for BJ.

The second round is so hard to score, because it was so close. Again BJ was using offensive wrestling to work on Fitch, and it was BJ who was stopping Fitch’s takedowns most of the time in the fight. It was BJ who took Jon down, and again had his back and was working on the choke. Same result as last time Jon spun into it, and ended up in guard. BJ took some shots this time, and Jon was controlling him. Eventually BJ got up, and landed a few times before the horn. I scored this a 10/10 round.

The third round was all Jon Fitch. Fitch did what he does best, he took BJ down, and beat him up for five minutes. Some are arguing this was a 10-8 round because of the amount of offensive from Jon, and they have a point. The numbers are staggering, but they weren’t fight ending punches and that is why I didn’t go that way. For the round I think Fitch out landed BJ 30-1. This was a 10-9 for Fitch on my card.

Penn and Fitch fought to a majority draw (29–28 Fitch, 28–28, 28–28)

Judge Barry Foley has it 29-28 in favor of Jon Fitch. Judges Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee see it 28-28.

Co-Main Event Middleweight

Michael Bisping (84.2 kg/185.2 lbs.)

Jorge Rivera (84 kg/184.8 lbs.)

Bisping and Rivera came out swinging, and Rivera was able to land a few nice right hands. Bisping took Rivera down, but Jorge was able to get back up almost instantly. Rivera landed a few more hands and Bisping took him down again, but as Jorge was getting up, Bisping connected on a knee to Jorge’s face. The ref jumped in and stopped the fight, as it was an obvious illegal knee. Rivera said he was ok to fight, but he was obviously out of it. However, he came back, and was able to land a few shots and stop some of Bisping’s takedowns and survive the round. Early in the second round, Bisping finally landed a few right hands that had Rivera dazed, and was able to put him away with punches. Bisping immediately ran over to Rivera’s corner and spit on them. After boos and jeers from the crowd, Bisping apologized, but he is doing that a lot these days.

Bisping defeated Rivera via TKO (strikes) at 1:54 of round 2.

Lightweight Bout

Dennis Siver (70.9 kg/156 lbs.)

George Sotiropoulos (70.8 kg/155.8 lbs.)

The story of this fight was Sotiropoulos’ inability to take Denis Siver to the floor. Everyone in the arena knew that he could be submitted IF he was able to get Denis down. What turned out was a striking clinic by Siver. In the first round alone, Siver was able to drop Sotiropoulos almost 3 times, and simply stalked him around the ring while punching him. George would shoot for a leg, but what be immediately throw off when he got anywhere near them. This is how the whole fight went, and Siver looked great against the Australian standout. This was a one sided fight, and Denis Siver exposed a glaring hole in the game of Sotiropoulos. Siver slowed down as the fight wore down, but it was a clear decision win for Denis.

Siver defeated Sotiropoulos via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–28, 30–27)

Welterweight Bout

Chris Lytle (77.2 kg/169.8 lbs.)

Brian Ebersole (77.2 kg/169.8 lbs.)

Everyone had a lot of bad things to say about this fight since Carlos Condit was forced out of the fight, and Brian Ebersole was announced as his replacement. Many thought Ebersole was being brought in as an easy win for Lytle as many people wrote off Ebersole’s experience. A weird thing kept happening through out the whole fight, Chris Lytle kept pulling guard, and trying to guillotine choke Ebersole. This happened at least five times during the fight, and I can only assume Lytle is regretting trying that. Another key moment in the fight was when Ebersole landed a HUGE knee on the chin of Chris, and it sent Lytle to the canvas. Brian came close to securing a brabo choke, but couldn’t get the finish. For a fight that was supposed to be a “cake walk” for Lytle, it turned into a nightmare fast. When the judges made the decision, it was an easy decision for Ebersole.

Ebersole defeated Lytle via unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 29–28).

Middleweight Bout

Chris Camozzi (84.2 kg/185.2 lbs.)

Kyle Noke (83.6 kg/183.9 lbs.)

Both fighters didn’t waste any time to start exchanging. Camozzi landed a few solid leg kicks, and a decent punch exchange, and Noke came forward with a punch or two of his own. Camozzi clinched up with Noke, and Kyle used an inside leg trip to take Chris down. Noke landed right in mount, and started landing from the top. Chris turned to buck Noke off the top, and Kyle sunk in the rear naked choke at 1:35 of round 1.

Noke defeated Camozzi via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:35 of round 1

PRELIMINARY CARD (ION Television)

Lightweight Bout

Spencer Fisher (70.2 kg/154.4 lbs.)

Ross Pearson (70.6 kg/155.3 lbs.)

Pearson defeated Fisher via unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)

Light-heavyweight Bout

Alexander Gustafsson (93.2 kg/205 lbs.)

James Te Huna (93 kg/204.6 lbs.)

Gustafsson defeated Te-Huna via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:27 of round 1

Middleweight Bout

Riki Fukuda (84 kg/184.8 lbs.)