Joanna Jedrzejczyk devoured Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza and walked away the new UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion of the World. 

       Roy “Big Country” Nelson vs. Alistair Overeem

Now it should be said that I LOVE Roy Nelson. Big Country is a good fighter and a really entertaining character but this is a tough fight for him. He has an iron chin and doesn’t give up easily but sometimes it’s those same tools that leave him to take a beating. Alistair is a world class kickboxer and basically just a huge dude but he has been knocked out before and Roy is going to look to catch him with that big overhand right and put him to sleep.

Alistair is looking to use his kickboxing experience to keep the distance, and land some of those devastating kicks and knees. Also what’s up with people from the Netherlands and disco dancing? Bas Rutten is a notorious dancer and Alistair comes out to some of the same music. Seems to be working though so maybe I’ll hit up a discotek after this thing ends.

This is one of those toss-up fights where anything could happen.

Round 1

Alistair lands a Jon Jones style oblique kick to open the fight but Roy eats it and moves on. They feel each other out for a bit before Alistair lands a jumping knee to Roy's chest. They clinch for a bit and move away. Roy lands a signature big right over the top and the look in Overeem’s eyes says he knows he can’t stick around for too many of those. Overeem lands a hard right leg kick and spins Roy around with it. They’re both being careful to start. Roy throws a 1-2 jab cross over the top as Overeem backs away. Overeem lands another big jumping knee before Roy backs him to the cage. Alistair covers up really well and avoids taking damage from Roy and you can tell he worked a lot on that in camp. He circles off the cage and they exchange some more. Alistair lands a huge right kick to Roy’s knee as Roy moves forward and knocks his leg out from under him. As Roy stands, Alistair rushes in with a knee to the mid section. There’s now a huge welt on Roy’s left calf but it doesn’t seem to be bothering his movement too much right now or Roy is playing it off really well. Overeem is being selective with his shots and is landing more than he usually does. I think he learned a lot from his loss against Bigfoot.

The round ends with another left kick to Roy’s body. Alistair takes that one 10-9

Round 2

Roy has a welt on the right side of his body to start round 2 and he immediately starts to check those kicks to his left calf. They seem to have made an effect on him. He’s still moving forward looking to land that big right but Alistair is doing a good job of avoiding it so far. Alistair moves in close with what looks to have been a knee but Roy times it perfectly and lands a stiff right to the chin hurting Overeem. Alistair avoids the shots while clearing the cobwebs and recovers while throwing some more to the leg. Roy catches him in an odd angle and Alistair ducks and runs away while this Texas crowd boos in response. Alistair is mixing up his strikes well going from kicks to punches and high to low really well and is softening the body of Roy. Nelson catches Alistair against the cage again but Alistair covers up well avoiding any real damage. The last ten seconds of the fight show the same thing with Roy becoming frustrated and sinking down for a takedown as the bell rings.

Roy landed the biggest shot of the round but the accumulation from Alistair probably wins him that round 20-18.

Round 3

The third round starts with Alistair taking a few deep breaths. His conditioning has been a problem in the past but he’s also paced himself a lot better in this fight. He lands a jab as he moves back to avoid the left cross from Roy. They separate and Roy catches Alistair with a right jab again as Alistair drops his hands to throw a flying knee. This one doesn’t do the damage that the first one did but it’s gotta give Roy some confidence knowing he can land that bomb. Roy throws a kick as Alistair lands a knee right to the cup and picks Roy up off of the ground with it. Roy takes some time to recover from the unintentional low blow but Alistair got to recover as well. Alistair lands a few shots and Roy gets a good angle on him but once again Alistair ducks and runs this time trying a spinning elbow as he runs away. Dallas TX certainly doesn’t like this AT ALL. They go back to the center of the cage with Roy pressing constantly. Roy throws a jab uppercut combo that hurts Alistair and once again Alistair covers up well so Roy goes down low for a takedown. Alistair gets the underhooks and survives as they go back to the center. Roy lands another left as we pass the midway point of the third. Alistair lands a big high kick to the head and has Roy hurt but chooses to back off and go to the center of the cage. Roy is backing up now but goes for a single leg left hook combo that misses and Alistair takes off again. Roy is wincing in pain and looks to have caught a finger to the eye somewhere. Alistair resets again and lands more to the body while Roy stalks him for that right hand. Alistair gets caught again in no man’s land and takes off running to the center of the cage..this is a bit ridiculous now. The crowd is really letting him have it now. Roy lands a slow leg kick as he stalks Alistair once again. Last 30 seconds Roy throws a faint right to the body and comes over the top with a BIG left hook dropping Overeem to the canvas. He tries to finish but Alistair kicks him off and goes back to his feet covering up as Roy unloads trying to finish the fight. Alistair is covering up well and Roy drops down for a takedown with only a few seconds to go in the fight. Alistair hold on to stay on his feet and wastes the last 5 seconds before the ball rings signaling the end of the fight.

I think Roy should’ve went harder on Alistair to try to finish that fight. Alistair was hurt really badly and Roy can definitely put you out with a shot. I think he was frustrated with not being able to land early in the fight when Alistair covered up and just decided to try to get him back down to do some damage and maybe put him out. Whatever the plan was it didn’t work as the second fight goes to the judges scorecards.

                                        Welcome to the Show

Now as we move on to the main card we get a LOAD of good fights! When former champion and KO artist Johny Hendricks fighting Matt Brown is the fourth draw on a card then that should tell you just how stacked it truly is! I have been a fan of Anthony Pettis for a long time now. He’s an incredible striker with the ability to make highlights at any second doing something no one has ever seen before (see Showtime Kick or Cartwheel Kick on YouTube) and Duke Roufous has said before that Anthony has “about 15 moves” off of the cage that he can do. He’s one of the most exciting fighters out there now, and he’s shown off his submission skills as of late with an armbar win over Benson to win the belt and a Guillotine win over Melendez to defend it.

With that said let’s get to it.

The Main Card

The Main Card starts off with #10 Flyweight Chris Cariaso coming back to the octagon for his first fight since losing to Champ Demetrious Johnson via  Kimura in the second round, now he draws the task of taking on “The Messenger” Henry Cejudo.

This will be Henry Cejudo’s second fight in the UFC and his first in the flyweight division but he’s no slouch. He showed off some great striking in his debut but it’s his Olympic Gold Medal in wrestling that sets him apart from all others. He’s looking to move up the ranks quickly and beating a top ten ranked Cariaso will do just that. He hasn’t used his wrestling much in the octagon because he’s so comfortable with just striking but he may bring it out for this one.

Cariaso is a Muay Thai style fighter which makes taking on Cejudo that much harder. It’s gonna be hard to clinch with a guy that’s clearly stronger and well versed in takedowns. He would have to stay away and strike from the outside.

Round 1

The southpaw Cariaso opens up with a quick kick to the body which surprised me as I didn’t expect him to throw many kicks and risk getting his leg caught and taken down by the wrestler. They get close during an exchange and clinch up, Cejudo throws a quick knee and then trips Cariaso for the first takedown. He lands shots from inside the guard of Cariaso before pinning him against the cage. Cariaso makes his way to his feet but eats a shot for doing it then goes back to the body with a kick to Cejudo. Cejudo is controlling the fight so far quickly bridging the gap and pinning Chris to the cage. Henry takes down Chris again late in the round for his second of the fight and beating him up. Henry is very strong in the clinch so far doing damage while holding him in position. Cariaso lands a strong kick to the body again but Henry answers with a high kick of his own as the round ends with Cejudo clearly ahead 10-9.

Round 2

Cejudo comes out fast again in the second but Cariaso is moving away good now. Unfortunately he can’t stay off the cage long as Cejudo pins him again taking him down quickly. He’s controlling Cariaso’s head really well after the takedown every time. Chris gets it standing after not taking too much damage on the ground and pins Cejudo against the cage but only for a second as the stronger wrestler quickly reverses it and regains control. They break apart and trade kicks but it’s not long before Cejudo grabs a single leg and takes him down with little resistance. Landing in half guard he lands a few shots before Cariaso draws him into his guard. Cejudo is landing well on the ground moving around in Cariaso’s guard before Chris gets active and starts looking for submissions. He’s got to know that he’s down one round and getting beaten in this one so he’s going into desperation mode now looking to finish. Switching to butterfly guard he gets Cejudo to stand and looks for a knee before Cejudo backs out and makes Chris stand for the last 30 seconds of the fight. Round 2 ends with some exchanges but Henry is up 20-18 now.

Round 3

Cejudo has doubled the output of Cariaso 69-35 in strikes starting this round and Cariaso has to know that he needs a KO or Sub to win this one. He throws a straight kick to Cejudo but Cejudo catches it, pulls him in and takes him down for the 5th time in the fight. Apart from landing a few shots, Cejudo is really eating a lot of time off the clock. Cejudo lets him stand up as we go back to the feet. Cariaso is still throwing big shots but Cejudo closes the distance so well and is still so strong in this third round that he controls Cariaso everytime they clinch. They change positions against the cage a few times before Cejudo takes him down again. Cejudo puts him in a crazy neck crank from the top position with 30 seconds to go and uses that to mount. A submission attempt fails for Cariaso as the round ends. Cejudo takes this round and the fight rather easily. The first fight on the card to go to a decision but it’s an easy one to call.

Welcome to the Show!

March 14th saw the UFC return to Dallas, TX with a rather impressive card! Two titles were defended and even more fights had title implications.

The big draw on the card was going to be “Showtime” Pettis defending his belt for the second time against a very tough Raphael Dos Anjos. “Cookie Monster” Carla Esparza would be defending her Strawweight Championship Belt for the first time against the “Spellcheck Monster” Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

The Prelims

The Early Prelims had a Pettis on the card as well with Sergio Pettis (little brother to Anthony) making his debut in the Flyweight Division facing off against Ryan Benoit. Ryan had to take a long time off due to injury having had his last fight being a loss way back in Nov of 2013 when he made his UFC debut fighting on short notice against Josh Sampo. Sergio came into this fight a heavy favorite at -600 and he quickly showed why controlling the center of the octagon throwing those trademarked Pettis kicks and then stumbling Benoit with a clean right hand just one minute into the fight. He showed good shots to the body throwing kicks and punches to the hometown boy and Benoit’s body showed signs of that immediately. Ryan demonstrated his wrestling taking Pettis to the ground but Sergio almost immediately reversed it with a slick transition winding up in half-guard landing short shots on the ground. They go to the feet in the last minute of the fight with Pettis landing clean combinations including some flashy “Showtime-esque” wheel kicks and front kicks and shocking me with a takedown on the wrestler to end the round clearly ahead 10-9.

Pettis’ footwork in the second round was fantastic moving away from Benoit and landing jabs at will but Benoit started landing counter shots and leg kicks to answer Pettis. He stuffs a deep takedown attempt from Pettis and as they go back to their feet started trading shots again. At this point I should mention Ryan is a southpaw and both fighters throw the same jab/hook combination with Benoit’s putting Pettis down. Pettis turned and rolled but was getting eaten up with shots before the ref jumps in and stops it. A big upset for Benoit fighting in his hometown for his first win inside the octagon! Now here’s where things get weird. Benoit after getting pulled off of a turtled up Pettis, stands up and kicks him in the butt! He apologized immediately to the ref and Pettis’ corner but his home crowd was already booing leaving him to explain it to Joe in the interview saying his nerves got the best of him. Weird.

Germaine de Randamie defeated Larissa Pacheco by TKO in the second round with some impressive striking. And Joe Duffy KO’s Jake Lindsey with a punch to the body in the first round winning his UFC debut. Prelims over..no judges necessary.

Fox Sports 1 Prelims

Now we move on to the Fox Sports Prelims with Ultimate Fighter Nations winner Elias Theodorou taking on a newcomer to the Middleweight division Roger Narvaez. Roger came in with a two inch height and a four inch reach advantage over Elias but with Elias’ wide stance he looked much longer than that. Elias started early with the right high kick and pressed Roger to the cage closing in the distance well. Theodorou was throwing right hooks over the top like Couture did against Sylvia but, unlike Sylvia, Roger quickly adjusted and countered with some nice kicks of his own. Elias throws kicks in bunches but with Roger’s height and timing he moves away from a lot and checks most high kicks. The first round ends with no runaway winner but I'd give the round slightly to Elias.

Elias takes down Narvaez midway in the second round but Narvaez attacks from his back the entire time threatening with submissions leaving Elias only to survive doing no real damage. Narvaez slows down a bit as they get back to their feet but Theodorou plows on with the kicks and odd leaping jabs. 2 minutes left in the round Elias attacks with a beautiful low/high kick combo and forces Roger's back to the cage. He throws one more high kick which was checked and actually broke Narvaez’s forearm. Elias swarms at this point and Narvaez is unable to really push off Elias. Roger crumples to the ground favoring that left arm and gives up his back easily. Elias hovers over and finished the fight with some ground and pound giving “The Spartan” the TKO win in round number 2. It wasn’t until the post fight interview where we realized he broke his arm with a kick but Elias won me over in that interview talking to Joe and dropping this gem “Let’s just say Fear was not a Factor today.” Ha well done kid.