UFC Fight for the Troops 2 January 22, 2011 from Fort Hood Texas
Before I start getting into what happened in the fights I just want to blog a little bit about why the UFC does the fight for the troops. If you have ever watched a season of TUF or a pay per view UFC event I’m sure you have seen all the commercials run for the marines. I’m not sure if it is only training camps that are held with the two organizations or what other events take place but I do know they are involved throughout the year. Not just so the military men and women can meet some fighters, but also so that they can teach one another. I don’t know for certain because I have not asked anyone personally in the military but I believe that in more recent training the military has adopted Modern Army Combative or MAC training which include judo, wrestling, boxing, and muay thai. Fighters like Brian Stann and Randy Couture served in the military and many other fighters have family members that have or currently do serve in the military so this night holds special meaning to everyone.
This live event was free on spike and only asked that viewers submit a donation, any amount they can afford to the INTREPID FALLEN HEROES FUND (follow the link to see the IFHF homepage and make a donation at any time). This fund is for the families of fallen soldiers or for those that return with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Throughout the event they also featured soldiers and their families that have been affected by TBI. It’s incredible to see some of their recoveries. Being shot in the head with 20% of your brain being declared dead to go on and be able to speak and walk. One spouse mentioned that sometimes it is like having a child. You have to follow behind them and make sure things they do are done properly and ensure they are safe. It’s really amazing to see that even through the struggle the spouses have chosen to stay with their suffering partner. The help and support these families give each other is truly touching. When it would be so easy to say no I can’t handle this and walk away they chose to fight for a cure and an answer together, an answer that is not easily found. The more that is learnt about brain injury it is clear that there is still way more to be researched. There is no explanation for some of the miraculous recoveries that were featured on January 22nd but the IFHF is doing amazing things to help. Overall this is a really amazing cause and even though I am not an American citizen, the work done by the American armed forces does impact Canada as well and I definitely appreciate what all those men and women do, putting their lives on the line every day.
So now on to the fighting… This card did not disappoint! Yeah not all my picks won but overall it was so awesome to watch. You could say that maybe the fighters fight a little bit harder because they are in front of such an amazing crowd of American soldiers, like how it may mean more to someone to fight in their hometown. But whether that was the cause of action or not, it was a fantastic night.
I did get to see the two undercards free on facebook (I didn’t like this, they should have been free on UFC.com, I don’t like facebook that much). But in any case, I got to see both of them!
Mike “The Joker” Guymon vs. DeMarques Johnson – welterweight
To my disappointment, this fight was pretty one-sided from the beginning. Johnson took control and despite a good takedown defense effort from Guymon, he was able to get him on the mat. After laying down some ground and pound Johnson took Guymon’s back and held on with a body triangle hold. Guymon wasn’t able to spin around and face Johnson with this hold so he was only able to try to defend. Still on Guymon’s back, Johnson flipped him on his stomach and put so much pressure on Guymon’s back that he tapped him out. This is the first time I have seen a submission like that, and one of the few times I have seen a verbal tap. I definitely have to give respect to Johnson, he heard Guymon shouting “my back my back” and even though he has prime position and was postured up to swing he didn’t, he told the ref he’s tapping and jumped off. This is a risky move in some cases because if the ref doesn’t hear that or doesn’t see the tap, the fights not over. But Guymon was definitely in pain so in this case it was the right thing to do. Johnson won by verbal submission via body triangle. When Joe Rogan interviewed Johnson after the fight he was disappointed in himself. He said “my bad” to the crowd. I don’t get that though, he did finish he fight. Maybe its not how he wanted to finish it but it’s not like when a fight is called because of a cut causing blood to run into a fighters eyes, this was a legitimate tap and a fair win. In any case, I do like Johnson, he’s a goofy guy and I’ll be rooting for him in his next fight. Even after the fight Guymon was saying he couldn’t even sit down. I’m not sure if he suffered broke or bruised ribs but something was definitely tweaked. He also hinted at retirement. Tearing up as he was saying it’s been such a long road and he’s proud of how far he is come. He hasn’t had many fights in the UFC and has actually lost most of them but he’s been fighting mma for a long time and he’s such an awesome guy, I don’t want to see him go away just yet.
Cody McKenzie vs. Yves Edwards – lightweight
As I said before I didn’t want either of these guys to win. I find McKenzie to be awkward and a bit goofy (not in the good way). He is a character for sure. I don’t hate him like I do other fighters that are considered “characters”, I just find him annoying. He did have Jonathan Brookins (the winner of TUF season 12) in his corner, which gave him a couple cool points, but with absolutely zero sponsors he got a couple sad points too. He fights just like his personality. He’s all over the place, which I think is the only thing that makes him a dangerous fighter. He throws random spinning elbows and tries to land head kicks and even Joe Rogan says he almost looks drunk! With that messy technique and ridiculous hair I definitely agree. McKenzie comes into the fight aggressive, throwing a lot of punches and going for a few takedowns. He even tried a weird body triangle hold on Edwards but in a really weird position, he was like an upside down backpack, but that’s McKenzie for you. Edwards wasn’t throwing nearly as many punches but when he did they would connect, he was a lot more precise and powerful with his quick movements. The second round showed Edwards being a little more aggressive. Understanding the crazy style of McKenzie a little bit more he was able to sneak in some leg kicks, big combos and shots to the body. This round McKenzie was also able to finally get the takedown. Each time Edwards tried to get up McKenzie was able to pull him back down again too. Edwards experience I can imagine is what helped him out here, he was able to turn it around and get a full mount on McKenzie. He took his back and grabbed the Guillotine. With less than a minute left in the round McKenzie was pushing the ref away telling him not to stop the fight. He was so darn stubborn that he was actually put to sleep, he would not tap. Some people think that’s pretty bad*ss, I think it’s a little dumb but either was, Edwards wins by submission via guillotine choke. This was his 40th professional win, that’s pretty incredible. Ironic also as that’s McKenzie’s signature move. (haha)
Cole Miller vs. Matt Wiman – lightweight
I wasn’t too excited to this fight because I didn’t really know the fighters. But after watching Wiman perform I am definitely a fan. There are still a few lightweights I like more than him but he is definitely a talented dude and unlike Sean “Big Sexy” McCorkle, this guy actually does fit his Matt “Handsome” Wiman nickname. These guys were both on season 5 of TUF and were talking some major trash while they were being announced. I almost wish they could get “mic’d up” like some NFL players get so we could hear what they’re actually saying. But I have a feeling that would only be allowed on the pay per view event, I can’t imagine they are using polite language. The first round started off pretty even, Wiman was throwing some great combos while Miller landed some big knees to Wiman’s head while in the muay thai clinch. Once Miller was on his back though it was a totally different story. For the end of round 1 and I’d say about 90% of rounds 2 and 3 Wiman had complete control. He was landing brutal ground and pound on Miller. Huge elbows, big punches and even a few sakuraba double chops (pretty much slapping a guy on both sides of their head at once but with closed fists and a whole lot harder). Kudos to Miller for holding on that long, he wasn’t really countering much but was doing enough to keep the ref from calling it. After the fight Wiman was a really nice guy too, he won by unanimous decision and I’m pretty impressed with his whole performance.
Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran vs. Pat Barry - heavyweight
Beltran was going into this fight with the gameplan to brawl. Most of Barry’s career was spent in kickboxing and as the saying goes “Box the Brawler and Brawl the Boxer”. He pulled off this gameplan really well in the first round I think. He got Barry against the cage a few times and landed some pretty hard knees to Barry’s leg (an accidental low knee too) and some body shots. This is definitely the plan he should have stuck with though because as soon as the ref separated them again Barry was able to land his famous kicks. They started in the first round but I still think Beltran easily took the 10. In the second round Barry landed 5 or 6 hard kicks to Beltran’s left thigh and a couple to his head. Beltran was a beast, playing it off like he wasn’t hurt but you could see a little bit of favoring towards his left leg. He was still able to land some good combinations and did some damage to Barry’s face. I felt that round was pretty close but more in Barry’s favor. The third round was awesome. Beltran started off strong but after an accidental poke to his eye it all went downhill. The crowd started chanting “suck it up” as he was taking his time recovering from the poke. Beltran wasn’t able to hide the pain anymore and with every kick Barry landed he clearly was getting weaker and weaker. The last 30 seconds were all Barry and I feel that’s where he won the fight. Beltran barely held on to the end of the round and the decision went to the judges. Barry got the unanimous decision and frankly after the last minute of the 3rd round I’m not surprised but I was a little shocked with the 30-27 from one of the judges, I certainly though Beltran had the first round. But either way, well fought fight by both men, most people can’t survive one leg kick form a monster like Barry, Beltran stood up to nearly 15! When Rogan was doing the post fight interview Barry got really emotional, holding up a dog tag that belonged to his father he lost in combat 25 years ago. That was the only thing he had left from his father so it meant a lot to him to be able to fight at that event. I still feel like Barry can be a little obnoxious and very cocky but I liked seeing this side of him too. But unless he’s taking on big country I probably wont be cheering for him in his next fight.
Mark Hominik vs. George Roop – featherweight
OH CANADA! Hominik pulls off the win and gets his title shot! Since Josh Grispi was supposed to be the first to challenge Jose Aldo for his featherweight belt but lost his most recent fight, Hominik has moved up to first in line. He definitely earned that title shot after this fight winning by TKO in the first round. He totally rocked Roop with a big punch and then followed up with a few big punches and he was out cold. Roop tried to protest when the ref stopped it but it was clearly over. When Roop got up and tried to walk he looked like someone who just spun around in circles for 5 minutes, he ran right in the direction of Hominik. Lucky Hominik noticed and was able to catch him. Rogan wasn’t too impressed that the ref just left Roop when he was in that sort of shape but personally I thought it was a little funny. When Rogan was interviewing him afterwards he was pretty pumped for his title shot. He’s definitely confident but not cocky. He believes he is the best featherweight fighter but knows he has to prove it in the cage, just like he did tonight. His fight against Jose Aldo is one I am looking forward to. That fight will be in TORONTO! Title shot on a home country card alongside GSP, that’s going to be fantastic.
Matt "Meathead" Mitrione vs. Tim Hague – heavyweight
This was another awesome fight! To start off Mitrione has an 82” reach?! What the heck, he’s only 6’3”! That gave him a 6” reach advantage over Hague who is one inch taller, nuts I tell you! Hague starts off with a couple takedown attempts but all three were stuffed by meathead. Meathead was able to land some big inside leg kicks against Hague and some big combinations too. He doesn’t move like a heavyweight, maybe its his NFL background but he is really light on his feet and moves around like a much smaller guy. After the fight he said Dominik Cruz is one of the guys he tried to emulate, Cruz fights at 135 so you can imagine he moves around the cage quite swiftly. Meathead really took it to him with a big left that knocked Hague down! Hague was down on the mat and Meathead just went in for the finish, winning by TKO in the first round. He finished the fight with his right hand (he is a south paw, meaning his strength is his left hand) explaining after that he was pretty sure he broke his left. As he said in the interviews before the fight, nobody id going to knock the smile off his face and he certainly was not lying. He’s still a bit of a goofball but he’s a cool guy and I’m thoroughly impressed with the win!
Melvin Guillard vs. Evan Dunham - lightweight
First off Guillard has 44 wins going into this fight. He is 27 years old… Yeah, WHAT, that’s what I said too, this guy is a machine! This fight was no exception, earning him the knockout of the night award. He showed crazy balance being able to not only defend against the takedown more than once when Dunham had one of his legs but while on one leg he was able to land some big punches on him! This fight was over just as fast as Meathead’s was. Guillard landed some big hits and defeated Dunham by TKO. He wants his title shot. He’s got a bit of work to do, Maynard has the rematch then Pettis gets his shot but I feel like in 1 or 2 more fights Guillard could be up in that mix too. In the post fight press conference he said he felt like he should be next in line. He understands that Pettis is before him but whether he gets a shot right away or not he does not want to wait on the belt. Meaning he doesn’t want to wait the 6-9 months it may take for him to get his chance at the title, he wants to keep fighting until that opportunity comes. If he could he would fight on the next card 2 weeks from now.
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