‘Napao’ Stuns Cro Cop, Earns Shot at Couture

Silver Star GSP Premium Tee - White Related Products UFC Deluxe Action Figure - Anderson Silva Silver Star GSP Premium T-shirt - Black TapouT Viva Las Vegas T-shirt Silver Star GSP Premium Tee - Grey Related News Official UFC 106 Weigh-In Results Tito Ortiz’ New Beginning Forrest Griffin – The Quest to Get That Winning Feeling Back Parisyan is out of UFC 106; Bout with Hazelett Off ‘Kos’ and Effect Headlines Official UFC 106 Weigh-In Results Tito Ortiz’ New Beginning Forrest Griffin – The Quest to Get That Winning Feeling Back UFC 106: Fantasy Preview Parisyan is out of UFC 106; Bout with Hazelett Off

By Thomas Gerbasi

MANCHESTER – For years, Mirko Cro Cop had knocked opponents out in devastating fashion with fearsome kicks to the head.  Tonight, before a packed house at the MEN Arena, Gabriel Gonzaga gave the Croatian bomber a taste of his own medicine, sending him crashing to defeat with a single right kick to the head in the UFC 70 main event, earning himself a shot at UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture in the process.

“I trained very hard, mentally and physically, for this fight and I was aiming for the knockout,” said Gonzaga, now 8-1.  “I had the opportunity and I took it.”

“I’m disappointed,” said Cro Cop, 22-5-2.  “I will have to look at the fight and see the mistakes I made.”

Gonzaga came out of his corner determined to fight, and he immediately started tossing out rangefinding punches as he stood in the pocket with the feared striker.  Cro Cop took his time while looking for an opening, but when he threw his first big kick to the body, Gonzaga was able to grab his opponent’s leg and take him to the canvas.  On the mat, Cro Cop tried to keep his cool in an attempt to force a standup, but Gonzaga would have none of it as he fired away with forearms to the head, one of which opened a cut on the Croatian’s forehead.  With 35 seconds left, apparently Cro Cop got a reprieve, but instead, he was sent crashing to the mat with a single right kick to the head at the 4:51 mark, throwing the arena into shock as the next challenger for the heavyweight crown was determined.

“I’m going to do my best to prepare for this fight and I’m going to try and do the same thing again,” said Gonzaga of his future opponent, the legendary Couture.

This time, no one will count ‘Napao’ out.

Who dared lost in the heavyweight bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and Octagon newcomer Fabricio Werdum, as Arlovski won a unanimous decision in unspectacular fashion, while the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt opted to stand and make a fight of it, but to no avail on the judges’ scorecards.

Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 for Arlovski.

Arlovski stalked his foe from the opening bell, but Werdum didn’t shy away from engagement as he swung wild right hands and the occasional elbow at the Belarusian.  Arlovski’s edge in power was evident, as he dropped Werdum at the midway point of the round and rocked the Brazilian later in the frame.  The Pride veteran wouldn’t go away though, and a quick flurry stunned ‘The Pitbull’ and opened a small nick over his left eye.

Werdum opened the second looking for a takedown, but he was quickly and rudely rebuffed.  Regardless, the Porto Alegre native kept trying to make things happen in creative ways, while Arlovski calmly stuck to a steady but unspectacular pressure with not enough activity to pull away from his opponent.

With the fight apparently close, the third round was key for both fighters.  Werdum started off with a flying front kick that missed, and Arlovski looked to counter the Brazilian’s wild swings with compact bombs to the chin.  Unfortunately for Arlovski, those bombs never landed and he was content to land point scoring leg kicks while Werdum put together the best flurry of the round with under a minute left.  

With the win, Arlovski – who has won two in a row since back-to-back losses to Tim Sylvia – moves to 13-5.  Werdum falls to 9-3-1

The Great UK Hope, Liverpool’s Michael Bisping, lived up to expectations in his light heavyweight bout against UFC gatekeeper Elvis Sinosic, bookending some rocky moments in the second round with a dominating performance that earned him a second round TKO win.

As promised, Sinosic came out swinging, and Bisping eagerly obliged, firing back before throwing the Australian to the mat.  Bisping followed his foe to the canvas and ferociously attacked with both hands, much to the delight of his roaring and chanting hometown fans, and within the next couple of minutes, ‘The Count’ kept the pressure on, knocking Sinosic’s mouthpiece out and opening up a cut on his forehead.

Gamely, Sinosic came out for the second round, and he nearly hit pay dirt, knocking Bisping down with a knee to the head and then almost securing a kimura lock.  But just when it appeared Sinosic was on the verge of the upset, Bisping turned the tables, got in his opponent’s guard and pounded away with both hands until referee Steve Mazzagatti halted the bout at the 1:40 mark.

“He took a lot of punishment, he’s a tough kid,” said Bisping, The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner, of Sinosic. Who falls to 8-10-2 with the defeat.  Bisping improves to 14-0

Light heavyweight contender Lyoto Machida kept his unbeaten (10-0) record intact by outpointing David Heath (9-1), but the fans were less than thrilled with the bout, which was serenaded with boos for the majority of its 15 minutes due to a lack of action.

The Belem, Brazil native’s unanimous decision read 30-27 (twice) and 30-26.

The first round could be politely described as tactical, as both fighters circled each other with only sporadic action coming from Machida and Heath, with Machida holding an edge due to his more frequent and accurate leg kicks.

Round two was a near carbon copy of the first with the exception of the booing getting louder and Heath attempting a couple of unorthodox maneuvers in an effort to either catch Machida napping or force him into a mistake.  Neither scenario played out.

Finally, midway through the third round, Machida erupted with a series of unanswered knees to the head that eventually sent Heath to the mat.  By that time though, the Oklahoman’s head had cleared and he was able to ride out the follow up barrage and a rear naked choke attempt from Machida and make it to the final bell.

Heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo rebounded from his lone UFC loss to Carmelo Marrero last year by winning a razor-thin majority decision over Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Assuerio Silva.

Scores were 29-28 twice and 28-28 for Kongo, who improves to 20-3-1. Silva falls to 32-5.

The opening round was a tough one to score, as the 6 foot 4 Kongo’s advantages while the two were standing were nullified by two slams from the 5 foot 10 Silva, who was also the more effective of the two on the ground.

There was more of the same early on in round two, but after surviving a series of flurries from Kongo, Silva dumped him to the mat and dominated the fight from there for the rest of the period.

Kongo blazed out of his corner to begin the final round, but again, Silva’s takedowns were too much for the Frenchman to handle and he found himself on his back again.  A standup from referee Mario Yamasaki gave Kongo new life on his feet, but as soon as the burly Brazilian got close, he would push his foe into the fence in preparation for the takedown.  Kongo was able to get the more dominant position on his final trip to the canvas though, and he threw strikes from inside Silva’s guard until the bell sounded.

In undercard action…

Liverpool’s Terry Etim upped his unbeaten record to 10-0 with a first round submission victory over Harrah, Oklahoma’s Matt Grice in a lightweight bout.

After an opening flurry that rocked Grice (9-1), Etim jumped in with a flying knee that was stuffed and caused him to get dumped to the canvas.  From there, Grice was in control as he worked his ground and pound attack, but once the fight was stood up, Etim turned the tables and locked in a standing guillotine that appeared to put Grice out.  As he fell to the canvas though, it allowed him to escape the hold and he got his bearings back, albeit briefly, as Etim slapped on another guillotine choke, and this time Grice did go out, with referee Steve Mazzagatti halting the bout at 4:48 of the opening stanza.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Etim.  “I dreamed of fighting in the UFC.”

Brazil native Junior Assuncao earned his first UFC victory, submitting London’s David Lee in the second round of their lightweight bout.

Assuncao (6-2) dominated the first round, setting Lee (5-3) up with strikes and then taking him to the mat as he grounded and pounded the Londoner before trying to choke him out in the waning seconds of the frame.  And though time ran out on Assuncao in the first round, in the second he had plenty of time to get it right and he did, getting Lee’s back and sinking in a rear naked choke that ended the bout at the 1:55 mark.

“I thought I had him at the end of the first round,” said Assuncao, “but I got him in the second.”

Italian light heavyweight Alessio Sakara broke a two-fight losing streak with an impressive first round stoppage of Edmonton’s Victor Valimaki.

After a few moments of evenly matched action, Sakara (15-5, 1 NC) hurt Valimaki (9-4) badly and sent his mouthpiece flying.  As referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in to halt the action to replace Valimaki’s lost gumshield, Sakara jumped on top of the Octagon to celebrate what he thought was a victory.  It wasn’t, and it appeared that Valimaki had been given sufficient time to recover, but it wasn’t nearly long enough, and once the action resumed, Sakara completed his flurry of punches and Yamasaki rescued Valimaki at 1:44 of the first round.

It took 13 years for him to get here, but London-based Frenchman Jess Liaudin proved that he was no ‘Joker’ as he made the most of his UFC debut by submitting Germany’s Dennis Siver in just 81 seconds.

Liaudin (11-8) mixed up his kicking attacks well in the opening minute before Siver (10-4) opted to take his chances on the mat.  That proved to be a mistake though, as Liaudin effortlessly slipped an armbar on Siver and forced a tapout just 1:21 into the fight.

Walsall, England’s ‘Relentless’ Paul Taylor got the crowd into UFC 70 immediately with a third round TKO of previously unbeaten Edilberto Crocota in their welterweight opener.

Crocota (10-1-1) and Taylor (8-1-1) wasted no time getting acquainted with each other, trading punches and kicks with varying degrees of success, but all of which were greeted with raucous cheers from the MEN crowd.  After a fairly close first round though, Taylor started to pull ahead in the second with a more disciplined standup attack that nullified Crocota’s looping strikes and takedown attempts, and early in the third, Taylor struck with a right kick to the chin that put the Brazilian on the mat.  A follow-up barrage ended matters seconds later, with referee Herb Dean calling a halt to the action at the 37 second mark

“If anyone thinks they’re coming here and beating me in my own backyard,” said Taylor, “they’ve got another thing coming.”

Share |