UFC 107 Play by Play live from Memphis for the first time as BJ Penn takes on Diego Sanchez for the lightweight belt.
Lightweight championship bout
BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
Rd 1
Diego has a permanent grimace on his face. Joe Rogan calls it real Crazy.
Penn is stalking Sanchez early, Penn Rocked him with a right hand and Penn threw dozens of pucnehs to the side of his face from the back but Sanchez monkey rolled and got back to his feet. The fight could have been stopped but Sanchez survives and throws a high kick. Penn is patient. Sanchez rushes him against the fence and works for a takedown against the fence but no dice. Sanchez appears to have recovered but is extremely tentative. Sanchez dives for a takedown but Penn evades it easily and Sanchez's face no longer has the same look of intensity. Penn evades a punch and drops Sanchez with another right hand. 10-8 Penn
Rd 2
Sanchez's face is very different no crazed intensity, he loks a little scared. Penn stalks again and Sanchez dives for another single leg but it is not even close. Penn is totally outclassing Sanchez and has no answer for the boxing of Penn although he does land an uppercut on the forehead of Penn. Penn lands a counter left and lands a one-two combination. Penn is in control 10-9 Penn
Rd 3
Penn stalks again, blocks a left body kick but lands a left hook. Sanchez again drives for the fence but has no success with any takedown attempts and eats a couple of uppercuts for his efforts. Penn looks like his is in complete control and is not breathing hard at all. Questions about his conditioning have been answered. Penn lands a few shots every time Sanchez works for a takedown. Sanchez's face is bleeding and looks defeated. 10-9 Penn
Rd 4
Sanchez's face looks worse every round. Penn looks very focused here and looks like he wants to finish here. Penn lands a left hand and just misses with an uppercut. Penn lands a nice right hand, and Sanchez's same predictable left kick is all he seems to offer. Penn and Sanchez dance the same dance as round's 2 and 3. 10-9 Penn
Rd 5
Penn starts with a nice body shot and Sanchez drives against the fence again to no avail, and eventually just drops to the ground himself but Penn sprawls and gets it back to the feet. Penn throws a right kick that stunned Sanchez and followed up with a flurry of punches but Sanchez again drives for a takedown. Penn gets a nice kick and a flurry of punches that has Sanchez in trouble. After a separation there is a huge cut on the left forehead Sanchez. Doctor stops the fight at 2:37 rd 5.
Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo
Rd 1
Nice staredown and no touching of gloves to start the fight.
Kongo is a little jittery and is using alot more foot movement but Mir rocks Kongo with a left hook that drops Kongo to the mat, and follows him to the ground and althought Kong was able to get back on top Mir finished with a guillotine that put Kongo out cold. Frank Mir devastates Cheik Kongo without breaking a sweat. Guillotine Choke 1:20 Round 1, very impressive victory.
Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce
Both fighters look very spry in the early goings, Fitch has Pierce down on the ground and takes his back. Pierce props up on his legs but he still cannot get Fitch off his back. Fitch is trying to flatten Pierce out but Piece won't have it. Pierce shows incredible patience slowly worked his way down and gets a double leg takedown of his own. Fitch is able to stand back up and the referee eventually separates them. Piece and Fitch begin to exchange and it looks like Fitches left eye is bleeding. 10-9 Fitch
Rd 2
Fitch lands a leg kic, and Piece goes for a superman punch before driving Fitch against the cage, working in knee's to the thigh and working for a takedown. Fitch lands a couple of nice jabs, and eventually works for the takedown where he takes the back wher he tries to work from the back like he did in round 1. Pierce escapes and goes to work on the standup and both fighters seemed fairly well matched but it looks like Fitch is just a little bit better than Pierce in avery facet of the game.10-9 Fitch
Rd 3
Fitch drives for a takedown but Piece stuffs him completely, and drives him against the fence and tries to go to work against the cage. Fitch lands a series of knees to the body but both fighters are pretty evenly matched and even though Fitch is the better of the two fighters, Pierce is staying in the pocket and isn't giving and inch. Fitch drives between a couple of punches and takes the fight to the ground. Pierce throws a leg kick behind a punch and rocks him with a left hook and follows up with a flurry of uppercuts but can't put Fitch away. 10- 9 Pierce
Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
Rd 1
Both fighters take the center of the ring and both fighters are very aggressive darting in and out of range. Both fighters look jumpy, almost jittery, and after a failed headkick by Florian Guida pounces on top of him. Guida lands a nice elbow on him and there is blood trickling from the right eye of Florian. Florian scrambles back to the feet both fighters keep up a very jittery pace and it is apparent that Florian far superior in the stand up exchanges as Guida looks for an opening to take the fight to the ground. Florian snags a single leg and takes it to the ground but Guida pounces back to the feet. Florian lands a standing elbow and Guida is bleeding extremely badly. Doctor checks the cut and lets it continue. Florians right elbo is absolutely smothered in blood. Guida looks like he was in a horror flick.
Rd 2
Florian looks very confident staying low to defend the takedown and picking at Gida with his right jab. Guida dove for a single but Florian absolutely stuffed him. The cut on the left side of Gida's face is bleeding again and it loooks absolutely horrible. Florian drops Guida with a left - right punch that drops Guida, follows up with a few more shots on the ground. Florian goes right to the ground and finishes with a rear-naked choke at 2:19 Rd 2
Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Stuve
Rd 1
Buentello is trying to go to work on the feet but is having trouble landing on the much taller fighter. Struve stings Buentello with an upeercut, drags him to the ground, takes his back applied a body triangle and is working on the back of Buentello who looks like he is in trouble. Struve is dropping punches to the side of the head and trying to work on a rear naked choke but Buentello is having none of it, and with about 30 seconds left in the round Buentello turns into Struve and but isn't able to land any effective strikes. 10-9 Struve
Rd 2
Buentello is being a little more careful on the feet but is still having trouble landing on the extremely tall Struve. Struve fallss to his back but Buentello lets him back up to the feet and and goes to work tied up against the fence. Struve drops for a footlock but Buentello gets out and goes back to the feet. Struve goes for some sort of jumping knee and Buentello picks him out of the air with a big right hand that dropped him but he doesn't follow him to the ground. Instead he lets him stand back up and Struve is able to recover. Buentello lands another right hand as Struve tries for the knee. Both fighters are teeing off against each other against the fence with Buentello landing a beautiful body shot and both are looking tired but both are winging it. 10-9 Buentello. It looks like they had to work out a piece of tooth out of Struve's mouthpiece before the start of round 3.
Rd 3
Both fighters are looking somewhat tentative but Struve lenads a couple of nice leg kicks. Both fighters are looking very tired, but Struve looks like the fresher of the two fighters. Buentello fires off a nice flurry that misses but is now the aggressor midway through the third. Struve lands another leg kick but Buentello continues to ignore them. Two more kicks land for Struve and Buentello limps a little bit. Buentello lands a shot that catches Struve off balance and he falls back but Buenetllo lets him stand up again. Buenetello swings for the fences again, closer round because of the late flurry but Struve looked like he squeeked it out. 10-9 Struve.
29-28, 29-28, 28-28 Struve wins the decision.
Preliminary Bouts
Alan Belcher over Wilson Gouveia TKO 3:03 Rd 1
Matt Wiman over Shane Nelson Decision Rd 3
Johny Hendricks over Ricardo Funch Decision rd 3
Rousimar Palhares over Lucio Linhares Heel hook 3:21 Rd 2
Damarques Johnson over Edgar Garcia Triangle Choke 4:03 Rd 1
TJ Grant over Kevin Burns TKO 4:37 rd 1