UFC 74: Respect Results
by Tim Ngo
UFC 74: Respect Earned
What a great night of fights in what was one of the most exciting UFC cards from top to bottom, ever. The crowd was going nuts from the first fight, all the way until Randy Couture walked back down the entrance way after being victorious in his first Heavyweight title defense since defeating Tim Sylvia. The results for UFC 74: Respect is below:
Under card Bouts
Clay Guida def. Marcus Aurelio by split decision
Guida was impressive again after losing a split decision in his last fight against Tyson Griffin. Guida was able to push the pace for all 3 rounds, and the fight basically went wherever he wanted it to go. When it was on the ground, he was able to get some nice ground and pound in with some solid elbows as well and was keep Aurelio backing up on their feet with some nice combinations. We had Guida winning all 3 rounds with a 30-27 decision, but I guess one of the judges didn't agree with us.
Frank Mir def. Antoni Hardonk in Round 1 of 3 by Kimura
This was the one fight I thought would be the upset of the night after seeing Frank Mir in his last couple of fights, but boy did he prove me wrong. Right off the bat, Mir was able to get Hardonk onto the mat and start working on the arm. Hardonk the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter was able to nearly roll out of the submission, but Mir as he said "bulldogged" it and never let go and get the tap out at 1:17 of the first round.
Renato Sobral def. David Heath in Round 2 of 3 by Anaconda Choke
Round 1 was extremely exciting as it looked like "Babalu" was going to pound out with win when he was in Heath's full guard dropping fists and elbows, but Heath was able to roll out of it and reverse their positions as he was able to land some nice blows from the top in the final two minutes of Round 1. As the second round started, it looked like Sobral turned up the heat and got the fight to the ground again and just started pounding on Heath, it looked like the fight was close to be stopped on two or three separate occasions, but as soon as the ref was about to step in he started to defend himself. Finally in the end, Sobral's attack was too much as he beautifully got an Anaconda Choke on Heath and got the tap out at 3:30 of the second round. Funny note to this fight though, Renato Sobral held the choke and put Heath to sleep and started to get booed as soon as the crowd saw the video of what happened on the big screen. He claimed that he held the choke to show Heath some "respect" because he called him a "motherfucker" at the weigh-ins. Sobral then threw his hat to the crowd as he was leaving and the fan threw the hat back to a chorus of cheers as the crowd then started a chant of asshole. I wonder how Dana is going to handle this one.
Thales Leites def. Ryan Jensen in Round 1 of 3 by Arm Bar
At the start of the fight, Jensen was able to land some solid shots on his feet against Leites as Leites who is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert decided to stand and trade. As soon as Leites had enough of that, he took Jensen down to the ground and easily got an Arm Bar on Jensen to win by tap out at 3:47 of the first round.
Main Card
Patrick Cote def. Kendall Grove in Round 1 of 3 by Knock Out
In what was probably the upset of the night, the previously undefeated fighter in the UFC, Kendall Grove, stood up and started trading with Patrick Cote. Although Grove is the better overall fighter, that doesn't always win you fights as 5thRound.com favorite Grove was kept backpedaling during the first round and as he was going to throw a knee, Cote hit him with a perfect counter right hand over-hook that hit Grove right in the temple and stunned him. Cote proceeded to get the full mount and ground and pound Grove for the Knock Out. After the fight, Grove was seen walking around the Mandalay Bay Events Center meeting and greeting with friends and fans so thankfully he's going to be okay.
Joe Stevenson def. Kurt Pellegrino by unanimous decision
What was billed as a fight of fighters who mirrored each other, it looked like Pellegrino was the one that won the Ultimate Fighter TV show, not Stevenson. As round 1 went on, it looked like Pellegrino got the better of the standup exchanges as he kept Stevenson moving forward into his accurate jabs. Round 2 and 3 is where thing started to get cluttered because either one of the fights could've won those rounds. Both were on top, both were on their backs, both had nice ground and pound but we honestly thought that Pellegrino had the fight won. Joe "Daddy" Stevenson pulled out the unanimous decision though and has moved one step closer to the Lightweight title that may be vacated if Sean Sherk's appeal gets denied by the athletic commission.
Roger Huerta def. Alberto Crane by Technical Knock Out in Round 3 of 3
The heaviest underdog of the night Alberto Crane looked very impressive at the outset as he walked towards the better striker and actually got the fight onto the mat where he wanted it, and was able to attempt various different submissions. They went back and forth on the ground as both fights got the top position, but while Crane was attempting his submissions, he was taking some punishment from Huerta. Round 2 was clearly all Huerta as Crane continued to attempt submissions, but looked like he completely gassed out as when Huerta stood, he crawled towards Huerta and couldn't stand up. Round 3 was more of the same, until Huerta was able to pound out the TKO at 1:50 of the third round.
Georges St. Pierre def. Josh Koscheck by unanimous decision
Last night we all saw the evolution of Georges "Rush" St. Pierre as he kept Koscheck on the mat for most of the fight. In the first round as the bell rang and the heavy Canadian contingent was going crazy for St. Pierre, he exchanged with Koscheck for the beginning part of the round but then simply "Rushed" at Koscheck and was easily able to get the double leg takedown and start some ground and pound that made the crowd very happy. But with about two minutes left of the first round, Koscheck was able to reverse St. Pierre and get in St. Pierre's half guard as he started landing a couple of elbows. Round 2 was more of what we saw in the early part of Round 1 as St. Pierre was able to take Koscheck down again and go for a Kimura for the bulk of the second round, but Koscheck's brute strength was able to prevent the submission. Round 3 saw both fighters stand up and exchange. St. Pierre had the clear advantage there as Koscheck kept throwing his Andy Wang-like over hand right that St. Pierre was easily able to avoid. In what was one of loudest fights of the night, St. Pierre took the unanimous decision and he admitted to Joe Rogan after the fight that this was the "new" Georges St. Pierre, the one with an overall MMA game. If it was, the Welterweight division better be on notice.
Randy Couture def. Gabriel Gonzaga in Round 3 of 5 by Technical Knock Out
In the main event with the UFC Heavyweight Title on the line, Randy "The Natural" Couture and Gabriel Gonzaga were up for the fight. Early on both landed nice shots on their feet, as Couture felt that he was losing the stand up fight, the more experienced fighter was able to go this his strength first as Couture pushed the fight to the cage and proceeded to show his dirty boxing. Couture able to get a big takedown on Gonzaga, but as they landed their heads "cracked" as Couture said after the fight and Gonzaga got a nice cut on the bridge of his nose, he may have broken his nose. Round 2 was all Couture was he again stood with Gonzaga and pushed the fight to the clinch against the cage and landed elbow after elbow as the gassed Gonzaga couldn't stop it. When they were off the cage, Gonzaga did hurt Couture a couple of times, but "The Natural" was able to maintain his championship composure and clinch again. The fight was nearly stopped in Round 2, but made it to the third where Couture got Gonzaga down at won by Technical Knock Out to retain his Heavyweight Championship at 1:37 of the third round.