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UFC 129 Recap: Randy Retires, Machida is Reborn, GSP Wins But Disappoints

Published

10 years ago

May 1, 2011

GSP_fans_outside_the_Rogers_Center_were_not_impressed_by_his_performance TORONTO – Georges St-Pierre got a taste of bad luck when his left eye was badly injured during his welterweight title defense against American Jake Shields last night at UFC 129.

“When you have one eye, your depth perception is off,” Greg Jackson, GSP’s trainer, told Sherdog.com in a post-fight video. “He is a timing-based fighter. Depth perception plays a part in it,” continued Jackson.

St-Pierre wanted no part of Jake Shields’ jiu-jitsu game, and only completed two takedowns during the entire contest; he utilized a similar approach to how he out-pointed previous opponent Josh Koscheck on the feet at UFC 124 last December.

The end result was a close judges’ decision that both disappointed the audience, and gave more evidence to the critics who say that GSP fights to not lose rather than fighting to win. On the other hand, if his eye injury is severe—like a detached retina—his career could be in serious danger far greater than looking unimpressive in the fight.

Scores announced in favor of GSP were: 50-45, 48-47 and 48-47.

Making a title defense of his own was Brazilian featherweight Jose Aldo. Jose was bemused in the lead-up to the fight that Canadian Mark Hominick believed he could overcome underdog status to take the 145 lb title. In fact, Aldo was reduced to utilizing a lay-and-pray strategy popular with wrestlers to secure the victory, rather than allowing Hominick to get set in a rhythm on the feet.

Hominick was stunned in round 3, and dropped in round 4—both moments where Aldo could have potentially ended the fight, had his opponent’s will to continue not been so strong. A monstrous hemotoma reminiscent of the bump Hasim Rahman got against Evander Holyfied in 2002 developed on the challenger’s head in round 4; possibly due to vicious elbow strikes. Hominick had high praise for the referee for allowing the fight to continue, and spent the majority of the 5th round raining down ground-and-pound from Aldo’s guard to take the final frame in dominant fashion. Hominick’s resolve wasn’t enough to overcome the gaps in his takedown defense and inability to scramble up from the ground.

Scores announced for Jose Aldo, the winner, were 48-45, 48-46 and 49-46.

Randy Couture received a louder standing ovation than any other performer at UFC 129 during his ring walk-in to Tom Cochrane’s ‘Lunatic Fringe.’ After an uneventful first round where Machida was his usual tentative self, in the second round Lyoto stunned the crowed with an incredible jumping front-kick knockout of Couture at the 1:05 mark.

Machida was quick to embrace his opponent after the fight, calling Randy a “Hero” to the awed crowed. Lyoto also gave credit to washed-up action star Steven Seagal, whom he was spotted accompanying after the fight back at his hotel.

Overall—a smooth, well-run event with Zuffa as the biggest winner thanks to a record 12.1 million dollar gate and record attendance of 55,724 people.

Full results were as follows:

Pablo Garza defeated Yves Jabouin via Triangle Choke in round one at 4:31
John Makdessi defeated Kyle Watson via KO in round three at 1:27
Jason MacDonald beat Ryan Jensen via Triangle Choke in round one at 1:37
Ivan Menjivar beat Charlie Valencia via TKO in round one at 1:30
Claude Patrick won a unanimous decision Daniel Roberts over three rounds
Jake Ellenberger knocked Sean Pierson out at 2:42 of the first round
Rory MacDonald won a UD over Nate Diaz over three rounds
Benson Henderson won a UD over Mark Bocek over three rounds
Vladimir Matyushenko knocked out Jason Brilz in 20 seconds of the first round
Lyoto Machida knocked out Randy Couture at 1:05 of the second round
Jose Aldo won a UD over Mark Hominick over five rounds
Georges St. Pierre won via UD over Jake Shields over five rounds

Brian J. D’Souza is a Canadian writer who has covered Mixed Martial Arts for ESPN.com, FoxSports.com and FIGHT! magazine.

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The Sweet Science

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

5 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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