The Blog

 Introduction UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2. November 21, 2009. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Forrest Griffin defeated  Josh Koscheck submitted Anthony Johnson with a rear-naked choke in round two. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira stopped Luiz Cané by TKO in round one. Ben Saunders knocked out Marcus Davis with knees in round one. Caol Uno and Fabricio Camoes fought to a majority draw. Contents 1. Introduction2. Quick Stats3. The Build-Up4. Main Event5. Co-Main Event6. Full Results7. Bonuses & A

 Introduction UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera. November 14, 2009. Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England. The second UFC event in Manchester. Randy Couture defeated Brandon Vera by unanimous decision — 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 — in a light heavyweight main event. It was Couture’s last win in the UFC. Dan Hardy defeated Mike Swick by unanimous decision — 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 — in the co-main, earning a UFC Welterweight Championship fight against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 111. Alexander Gustafsson

 Introduction UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun. October 24, 2009. Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. Lyoto Machida retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua — 48-47, 48-47, 48-47. The decision was immediately and widely regarded as one of the most controversial in UFC history. Rua landed significantly more strikes: 80 significant strikes at 55% accuracy against Machida’s 35 at 32%. Dana White told the post-fight press conference he beli

 Introduction UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort. September 19, 2009. American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas. The first UFC event in Dallas. Vitor Belfort stopped Rich Franklin by TKO with punches at 3:02 of round one in a catchweight 195 lb main event — Belfort’s UFC return after four years away. Junior dos Santos stopped Mirko Cro Cop in round three (eye injury). Paul Daley made his UFC debut replacing the injured Mike Swick and stopped Martin Kampmann by TKO in round one. The event featured 13 fi

 Introduction UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira. August 29, 2009. Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon. The first UFC event in Oregon. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeated Randy Couture by unanimous decision — 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 — scoring two knockdowns across three rounds. Todd Duffee knocked out Tim Hague in 21 seconds — one of the fastest heavyweight KOs in UFC history. Nate Marquardt stopped Demian Maia. Jake Rosholt submitted Chris Leben with an arm triangle in round three. Thiago Silva defeated Keith J

 Introduction UFC 101: Declaration. August 8, 2009. Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first UFC event in Philadelphia. Anderson Silva, the UFC Middleweight Champion, moved up to Light Heavyweight for a non-title bout and knocked out  BJ Penn retained the Lightweight Championship against Kenny Florian with a rear-naked choke at 3:54 of round four in the main event.  Contents 1. Introduction2. Quick Stats3. The Build-Up4. Main Event5. Co-Main Event6. Full Results7. Bonuses & Awards8

 Introduction UFC 100. July 11, 2009. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. The UFC’s milestone 100th numbered event. 1,600,000 PPV buys — the all-time record. Gate: $5,128,490. Brock Lesnar unified the Heavyweight Championship by stopping Frank Mir by TKO at 1:48 of round two. After the fight, Lesnar gave the crowd the middle finger, insulted a sponsor, and made crude statements about his wife, generating a post-fight controversy that matched the in-cage performance in scale. Georges St-Pierre

 Introduction UFC 99: The Comeback. June 13, 2009. Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany. The first UFC event held in Germany and the first in mainland Europe. Rich Franklin defeated Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision over three rounds in a catchweight 195 lb main event — a fight that earned Fight of the Night honours and gave the German crowd exactly what it paid for. Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipović made his UFC comeback, stopping Mostapha Al-Turk by TKO in round one — his first UFC fight since the Chei

 Introduction UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida. May 23, 2009. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans at 3:57 of round two to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion — the first title of his career. Both fighters were undefeated: Rashad Evans at 14-0-1, Machida at 16-0. Machida’s karate-based counterstrike system had made him the most frustrating opponent in LHW history — nobody had found an answer. Evans was dropped in round one, recovered, then knocked out in r

 Introduction UFC 97: Redemption. April 18, 2009. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The second UFC in Montreal broke the attendance record set 364 days earlier at UFC 83 — by 61 people, reaching 21,451 fans. Anderson Silva retained the Middleweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Thales Leites — 49-46, 48-47, 50-46 — but was booed relentlessly for five rounds. The Montreal crowd chanted “G-S-P.” Dana White called the performance “embarrassing.” Rashad Evans’ recent KO of the per

 Introduction UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine. March 7, 2009. Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio. The third UFC event in Columbus. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson defeated Keith Jardine by unanimous decision — 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 — over three rounds in the light heavyweight main event. Shane Carwin defeated Gabriel Gonzaga to continue his rapid rise in the heavyweight division. After the main event, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans entered the cage and publicly challenged Jackson by name. The con

 Introduction UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson. February 21, 2009. The O2 Arena, London, England. The third UFC event at The O2. Diego Sanchez defeated Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision — 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 — in a three-round lightweight main event between two Ultimate Fighter winners. Paulo Thiago knocked out Josh Koscheck in round one in one of the event’s biggest upsets — Thiago’s first UFC fight on a one-event contract. Dan Hardy stopped Rory Markham in 1:09 of round one to announce himself