MMA Forum

I'll post my play by play here with views on each fight round by round.

Please don't read further if you don't want to know what's happened!

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Yoshihiro Akiyama v Alan Belcher

Round 1

Belcher starts by throwing a series of low kicks which Akiyama easily avoids, before receiving a kick to the groin which clearly hurts and leaves Akiyama needing to take a minute or two to recover.

It's all stand up with neither fighter being too aggressive, but then at the 2 minute mark Belcher floors Akiyama with a left, Akiyama recovers as Belcher fails to capitalize and as the round enters the final minute Akiyama responds with a couple of telling punches of his own.

Hard round to call, could be given either way.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Yoshihiro Akiyama: 9 Alan Belcher: 10

Round 2

Akiyama gets the takedown immediately into the second round. Belcher scrambles on top momentarily but Akiyama regains the dominant position which he holds for almost 3 minutes without causing too much damage before they return to stand up.

The stand up is fairly even but Akiyama appears to tire towards the end of the round and is caught by some stiff jabs and leg kicks which appear to have an affect.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Yoshihiro Akiyama: 9 Alan Belcher: 10

Round 3

The pace slows in the final round, Belcher appears to be picking Akiyama apart with jabs and low kicks. Akiyama's left eye is swollen shut Belcher goes for a right high kick which just misses. Belcher continues to dominate the stand up but then Akiyama floors him with a good right. Belcher recovers well and comes back with a solid superman punch.

Akiyama get's a takedown but Belcher scrambles well without taking significant punishment.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Yoshihiro Akiyama: 9 Alan Belcher: 10

Cobra Kai Overall Scoring: Yoshihiro Akiyama: 27 Alan Belcher: 30

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Dan Henderson v Michael Bisping

Round 1

Tenative start, Bisping works the angles avoiding the big right that Henderson is looking to throw. He catches Bisping with a couple that seem to shake him. Bisping recovers and continues to show good footwork but Henderson get's the better when they clinch and fails with a half-hearted takedown attempt.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Dan Henderson: 10 Michael Bisping: 9

Round 2

Another tentative start, but then Henderson again catches Bisping with a big right. Bisping jabs well and seems to be scoring well, but then Henderson catches him the huge right he was looking for knocking him out cold, before leaping on him with another huge bomb to confirm it.

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Georges St-Pierre v Thiago Alves

Round 1

GSP gets the early takedown, Alves gets straight back up but is immediately taken down again. Alves recovers but GSP takes his back. Alves does well to defend the choke and scrambles to his feet.

Thiago produces a good flurry of punches and kicks but is again taken down. He recovers without receiving any damage.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Georges St-Pierre: 10 Thiago Alves: 9

Round 2

GSP connects with a good leg kick before once again taking down Alves a minute into the second round. GSP's ground and pound busts Thiago's nose and continues to cause damage as the round progresses. Alves eventually manages to get the fight back standing with less than a minute to go but he's visibily the worse off of the two fighters so far.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Georges St-Pierre: 10 Thiago Alves: 8

Round 3

Alves has a decent spell in the stand up before GSP once again shoots in to take him down a minute and a half in, little damage is caused before Alves gets to his feet with two minutes of the round to go.

Alves is getting in the odd leg kick but is losing the stand up battle to the superior reach of GSP who floors him with 30 secs to go in the round. Alves clinches on his back and manage to survive the round.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Georges St-Pierre: 10 Thiago Alves: 9

Round 4

Another takedown early into the round sees GSP gain dominant position, he patiently works for a submission but as he goes for a rear naked choke and then an arm bar he ends up on the bottom for the first time in the fight. Alves is unable to cause any real damage however and the fight goes back to the feet before GSP once again shoots in for a successful takedown which results into him taking Alves' back. GSP goes for the rear naked choke once again but Alves manages to last the 30 or so seconds to the end of the round.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Georges St-Pierre: 10 Thiago Alves: 9

Round 5

Having the judges scorecards in the bag, GSP starts the final round patiently but gets another successful takedown a minute in, Alves again gets to his feet, but is taken down once again a minute or so later. As has been the pattern for the fight Alves finds his way back to his feet but it's only a matter of time before he is taken down again and that's pretty much how it ends.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Georges St-Pierre: 10 Thiago Alves: 9

Cobra Kai Scoring: Georges St-Pierre: 50 Thiago Alves: 44

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Brock Lesnar v Frank Mir

Round 1

Lesnar declines Mir's offer to touch gloves. Slower start than their first fight. As the action goes to the ground Mir attempts to go for the leg and for a second it looks like there is going to be a repeat of the end to their first fight. Lesnar remains composed and closes the gap and clinches on the ground. He piles on the punches causing heavy damage whilst risking little by keeping minimal distance.

Cobra Kai Scoring: Brock Lesnar: 10 Frank Mir: 8

Round 2

Mir swings and Brock takes him down only to let him immediately get back up. Mir then puts in a few punches and then goes for a flying knee. Brock takes it down to the ground again, gets dominant position and then inflicts some brutal ground and pound, Mir unable defend himself and Herb Dean steps in to end the punishment.

No doubt about the decision, Mir struggles to his feet and there's a heated exchange afterwards but Frank Mir's face tells the story, he was well and truly beaten.

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What a night it was, the Brock/Mir fight was brutal!! My Mrs stayed up to watch it with me she was winging at the state of his face

Id say I most enjoyed the Akiyama/Belcher fight and the Henderson/Bisping fight.

I thoght gsp vs alves was a good fight gsps takedowns were exceptional
what did u guys think of brock lesnar i hated it the fight and conduct afterwards.

why bisping was circling out to the right hand i dont know i thought he couldve won aswell what do u think is next for bisping iam unsure perphaps wandy silva or the loser of maia vs marqaurdt.

I was surprised with how easy GSP took Alves down as he'd shown great takedown defense against Josh Kosheck and Matt Hughes. We also didn't see his trademark leg kicks to any great effect. I really though he might cause a shock upset.

That said he stuck in there for the full five rounds and proved that he was a worthy challenger, with so little real competition for GSP in the welter-weight division I don't think it will be took before he earns a rematch.

I had a feeling Bisping would struggle with Henderson and felt Franklin would've been the better match up for him. Despite the instructions from his corner Bisping continued to give Henderson the opportunity to catch him with the big right and unfortunately got no less than he deserved.

I could see him countering Marquardt to a decision and provided he keeps the fight standing (like Anderson Silva did against Thales Leites) he would have the best of it against Maia. Either fight would see him return to the top of the rankings but after such a devastating KO, I'd like to see him build his confidence against weaker opposition first. Wanderlei wouldn't necessarily fall into that category but I'd see that fight being similar to the Chris Leben one, with cut in weight having an additional negative effect on Silva if Bisping could finish him it would be a huge boost.

I actually didn't mind Lesnar's actions to much. Mir had been so arrogant and talked so much trash in the build up that he deserved to have it thrown back in his face after. Found his comments about the sponsors funny, guess he was just telling it like it is and I don't think Bud Light would mind too much as the got more exposure as a result. Giving the middle fingers to the crowd might have been a little out of order but it's not something I would take too seriously, if he'd assualted someone that would've been a different matter.

The fight itself I enjoyed, went exactly how I expected.

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