Bisping Decisions Hamill, Kongo Upsets Cro Cop on UFC 75 Undercard

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By Thomas Gerbasi

LONDON, September 8 – England’s own Michael Bisping kept his unbeaten record intact in the main undercard bout of the UFC 75 card at the O2 Arena, eking out a close three round split decision over Matt Hamill in a light heavyweight contest that finally pitted the two unbeaten stars of The Ultimate Fighter’s third season.

“Who’s the real winner of The Ultimate Fighter?” said Bisping (15-0), who was on course to face Hamill (5-1) on the reality series before ‘The Hammer’ was forced from the show due to injury.  Bisping went on to win the final of the show by stopping Josh Haynes.

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

Surprisingly, Hamill came out looking to bang, immediately putting Bisping on the defensive.  ‘The Hammer’ even gave up a chance to work Bisping over on the ground after a missed knee turned into a takedown.  And the strategy was apparently working as Bisping was soon cut under the left eye and sporting a mouse under the right eye.  In the final minute, Bisping started to open up with lefts and rights to the head, but a left punch seemed to stun the local hero just before the bell.

Hamill switched things up in the second, quickly getting a takedown in an attempt to pound Bisping out.  ‘The Count’ worked his way back to his feet though, knowing that his best chance for victory was in the standup game.  Hamill would score another brief takedown with under two minutes left, but Bisping rose immediately, scoring with quick counterpunches as the New York resident stalked.

Bisping’s stick and move strategy finally looked to be gaining some speed in the final round, as he kept Hamill off balance while scoring with quick jabs, but ‘The Hammer’s forward match was relentless and he finally scored the takedown with under three minutes left.  Bisping struggled to rise, but with just over two minutes to go, he got up and just missed with a knee to the head.  Hamill used that opportunity to put Bisping on his back again, and while the American wasn’t scoring with anything of significance while the two were grounded, Bisping’s offense was just as nullified on the mat.

All three judges gave the first round to Hamill, with Bisping rebounding to win the next two on the cards of Jeff Mullen and Cecil Peoples.  Judge Chris Watts was the lone Hamill voter, awarding all three rounds to the American.

What was expected to be Armageddon turned out to be more of a chess match, but in the end, Paris, France’s Cheick Kongo was Garry Kasparov as he scored a three round unanimous decision win over Mirko Cro Cop in a heavyweight upset that saw the former PRIDE star lose two fights in a row for the first time in his mixed martial arts career.

All three judges scored the bout 29-28 for Kongo, whose record now stands at 21-3-1.  Cro Cop, who was knocked out in the first round by Gabriel Gonzaga in April, falls to 22-6-2 and 1-2 in the Octagon.

Cro Cop didn’t show any ill effects from the Gonzaga fight early, as he stalked forward confidently. But though Kongo let his foe lead, he wasn’t shy about letting his own strikes go, landing the occasional leg kick.  The two briefly locked up against the fence in the bout’s third minute, but were re-started by referee John McCarthy.  Moments later, Cro Cop put Kongo on the canvas and showed his new knowledge of the Octagon landscape, pushing the Frenchman against the fence and working his strikes from the mat, eventually getting into the mount position.  For his part, Kongo held Cro Cop close, looking to force a standup, but to no avail, as Cro Cop stayed active and even attempted a triangle choke when the two scrambled just before the bell.

Kongo took the role of aggressor in round two, keeping Cro Cop from getting too close with his strikes.  With under four minutes left, the two clinched, and Kongo scored a takedown, quickly moving into side control.  Cro Cop escaped serious danger quickly, but Kongo didn’t let his opponent get up, instead opting to fire kicks from a standing position on the prone Cro Cop before jumping back into the guard.  With just over a minute left, Cro Cop fired up with both legs, giving himself enough room to stand, but Kongo kept him pinned against the fence, and after a brief break by McCarthy, he finished the round by scoring with knees at close range.

With the fight apparently deadlocked, Kongo again pushed the pace in the final round in an attempt to score the upset.  But Kongo’s good early work was interrupted when the bout was halted briefly for Cro Cop to recover from low knees. When the bout resumed, Kongo kept the heat on, scoring with kicks and then pushing the Croatian to the fence.  After another re-start by McCarthy, Cro Cop tried to fire off his deadly left kick, but it had little effect on Kongo, who continued his forward march.  As the bout entered it’s final 1:30, Cro Cop, now sporting a mouse under his right eye, tried to pull the fight out, but Kongo was not to be denied.  And while his victory was not the most scintillating of wins, his rock solid gameplan worked like a charm in the final two rounds, in the process leaving Cro Cop’s future open to debate.

Houston Alexander is slowing down.  Following his 48 second UFC debut win over Keith Jardine in May, the light heavyweight pride of Nebraska was actually forced to fight 13 more seconds against Italy’s Alessio Sakara, but he was just as devastating, as he stopped the Italian in one minute and one second in the main card opener.

Perhaps presuming his chances were better on the ground, Sakara looked for an early takedown and briefly got one before Alexander jumped up and resumed his intention of repeating his star-making May win over Jardine.  Moments later he did, knocking Sakara down with a right knee to the head.  A finishing barrage on the mat followed, and referee Yves Lavigne stopped the bout.

“That’s good coaching, a lot of determination and a lot of time in the gym,” said Alexander, who improves to 8-1.  Sakara falls to 15-6 with 1 no contest.

Welterweight contender Marcus Davis continued on his hot streak against Walsall’s Paul Taylor, but not before “The Irish Hand Grenade” was put through a gut check from his British foe, who gave a spirited effort before being submitted late in the opening round.

Taylor, living up to his nickname of ‘Relentless’, aggressively stood in the pocket against Davis, dropping him with a huge right kick to the head.

“I could have been stopped real quick,” said Davis.  “He’s a strong guy.  You don’t see me getting hurt like that.”

The end appeared to be near when Taylor pushed Davis to the fence while on the mat and opened up with both hands, but Davis weathered the storm and fought his way back, taking Taylor to the mat with a single leg takedown.  

From there, Davis took over, getting into side control and eventually a full mount, where he fired away with punches.  Taylor wouldn’t give in, but as he tried to escape from the mount, he was caught by a Davis armbar, and tapped out at the 4:14 mark.

Davis, who won his tenth fight in a row (five in the UFC), improves to 18-4.  Taylor drops to 8-2.

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