UFC 130 Results And Recap

Added on May 29, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

UFC 130 took place tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. For a card that was supposed to have a title fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the card turned out to be pretty good. The card had a few questionable decisions, even though this was the first night the Judges were allowed to have cage side monitors. Below is the recap for the main card, and the quick results for the preliminary fights.

Light Heavyweight bout:

Quinton Jackson vs. Matt Hamill

This was a bizarre fight that ended in a strange stalemate. We had the Knock Out artist in Quinton Jackson teeing off on Matt Hamill, who obviously can’t be knocked out. The strangest part was Hamill’s game plan going into the fight. You have to assume that you have a back up plan if the first one doesn’t go your way. It really seemed like the possibility of Hamill not being able to take down Rampage was an after thought. Thats what happened in the fight.

Hamill wasn’t setting up his takedowns with his punches, and when you are fighting a guy who knows how to time and keep track of your strikes, you become very predictable. Basically, Rampage saw every punch that Hamill through at him, and at no point was he in danger of losing the fight. Not once were any of the takedowns close. Rampage hit Hamill with every he had, and although I wish he had thrown a few more strikes in the second round, you can’t harp on him for that win. He dominated Hamill from bell to bell.

Jackson defeated Hamill via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Heavyweight bout:

Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson

These types of fights have become habit for Frank Mir. In his snoozer at UFC 119 versus Mirco Crocop, the only reason he said it was a good fight was because of the KO at the end of the third round. This was a similar fight to that fight, but without the knock out at the end. Roy Nelson showed that he had a lot of heart, and he again proved that he has a cast iron beard for a chin. Frank Mir was teeing off on Nelson, who outclassed the whole fight, but Nelson wouldn’t drop. Thats when Mir turned to the same knees that KO’d Crocop, but those didn’t work either. When Frank wanted this fight to go to the ground, he went to the ground. When he wanted to get up, they got up.

It really seems like that in order to become aggressive in a fight, he needs to get roughed a bit. I thought he was going to take Lesnar’s leg off in his win against him, and I thought he was a dead man seconds before he snapped Tim Sylvia’s arm in half like a twig. Maybe he knows he can fight safe against a guy like Nelson, but I was hoping for more violence.

Mir defeated Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Heavyweight bout:

Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne

This really seemed like a fight that Struve should have won, and he was being aggressive and dominating Browne. Struve was taken down via trip, but it was 20 seconds later that Browne was gator rolling trying to free himself from Darce and Anaconda choke attempts. Browne was having a difficult time with the reach of Struve, and the kicks from Stefan looked like they were piling up. Almost out of no where Brown threw a superman punch that landed straight on the chin of Struve, and he dropped to the canvas like a hammer in a lake. Nice Knock Out win for Browne, who also earned KO of the night.

Browne defeated Struve via KO (superman punch) at 4:11 of round 1

Welterweight bout:

Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story

In a fight that I thought Should have been all Thiago Alves, Story came up huge by frustrating Alves in the first two rounds. By the time Thiago got aggressive in the third round, it was too late. Both guys had no problem standing toe to toe and wanning with punches, and of course the crowd loved those moments as well, but there was no doubt who was controlling the fight with the take downs. When Story wanted Thiago on the mat, Thiago ended up on his back. Alves started stopping the takedowns in the third round, but it was obvious he was looking for a KO punch that never came. Story took a big step up in competition at UFC 130, and from here on out he is going to be fighting some top shelf welterweights.

Story defeated Alves via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Middleweight bout:

Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago

Usually fighters like Santiago who do well in Japan have problems in the UFC, and 130 was no different. Stann is quickly becoming a better fighter, and in the past he has looked like a cookie fighter. He was a fighter who was ok at some things, nothing really stood out, but he was winning fights. He even picked up the middleweight title in the WEC. He has really started to hit his stride, and is now starting to separate himself from other fighters. He battered the almost non threatening Jorge Santiago in the first round, and Jorge had little answer. On my card I gave the round 10-8 to Stann as at times it didn’t seem like Santiago was in the fight. Jorge looked better in the second round, but at the end of the round Stann was becoming brutal with his leg and body kicks. One last body kick set up a over hand right that landed right behind the ear of Santiago, and Stann finished him off with strikes from a standing position. Herb Dean rescued Santiago at with 31 seconds in the second round.

Both fighters pick up a bonus check for Fight Of The Night.

Stann defeated Santiago via TKO (punches) at 4:29 of round 2

Under Card Quick results:

Bantamweight bout:

Barão vs. Cole Escovedo

Barão defeated Escovedo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Bantamweight bout:

Michael McDonald vs. Chris Cariaso

McDonald defeated Cariaso via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

Lightweight bout:

Gleison Tibau vs Rafaello Oliveira

Tibau defeated Oliveira via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:28 of round 2.

Middleweight bout:

Kendall Grove vs. Tim Boetsch

Boetsch defeated Grove via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Bantamweight bout:

Miguel Torres vs. Demetrious Johnson

Johnson defeated Torres via Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)