UFC 68: The Uprising Results

It’s been awhile since I last made a post. I’ve been busy with a few things, but plan on getting things back on track here. Last night’s UFC 68: The Uprising from The Nationwide Arena in Colombus, OH was an amazing event with an even more amazing finish with Randy “The Natural” Couture capturing the UFC Heavyweight Title for the 3rd time in a 50-45 unanimous decision over Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia.

Jason Lambert beat Renato Babalu Sobral

In the opening bout of the PPV telecast, Jason “The Punisher” Lambert beat Renato “Babalu” Sobral by TKO at 3:36 in the 2nd round. Sobral started the fight strong and clearly won the opening round with a good early take down, and at one point getting Lambert’s back and a near choke. However in the remaining 30 seconds, the fight returned to the feet and Lambert blasted Sobral. Sobral survived the first round, however Lambert’s strike clearly changed the course of this match.

Round two was all Lambert. Lambert got a take down, and punished Sobral in the guard. Referee John McCarthy stood both men up, and Lambert nailed Sobral with left as Sobral was charging in.

Matt Hughes beat Chris Lytle

Next up was Matt Hughes defeating Chris Lytle via a 30-27 unanimous decision. This was probably the sleeper fight of the night (and when I say sleeper, I mean, falling asleeper) unless you’re a true mat wrestling fan. Hughes clearly dominated the entire fight with Lytle getting a few nice reversals. The end saw Hughes going for an armbar, however Lytle was able to twist his body out of it. Crowd booed heavily at the ending. This clearly wasn’t a strong performance for Hughes, however it is a confidence builder on his way back to contention for the Welterweight belt.

Post fight saw the crowd booing Anderson Silva as Franklin vs. MacDonald was up next.

Rich Franklin beat Jason MacDonald

The second bout of the telecast was Rich “Ace” Franklin defeating Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald by corner stoppage at 5:00 in the 2nd round via TKO. Rich Franklin, a Cincinnati, OH native was clearly the crowd favorite here (as the event was from Colombus). The opening round saw good strikes and take down defense by Franklin. His training clearly showed an improved Rich Franklin.

Round two was dominated late by Franklin. Franklin was on top in the closing moments and MacDonald was clearly done. As MacDonald went back to his corner, the corner called it off and Franklin was determined the winner. Post fight saw Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin pose in the ring. Dana White announced their rematch will be in Cincinnati (which didn’t go over that well with the Colombus natives).

Martin Kampmann beat Drew McFedries

The next bout saw Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann defeat Drew McFedries via submision at 4:06 in the first round via head and arm triangle choke. For about 3:30 McFedries was landing blow after blow to Kampmann’s face. It was all but a matter of time before Kampmann was to be knocked out. Kampmann took the fight to the mat, got side control, spun around the top to the other side and secured a quick head and arm triangle. McFedries was out. In my mind, a huge upset.

Randy Couture beat Tim Sylvia to capture the UFC Heavyweight Title

Randy “The Natural” Couture defeated Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia by unanimous decision and capture the UFC Heavyweight Title for the 3rd time. From a fight standpoint, this wasn’t the greatest fight in the world. However, from an emotional standpoint, this was clearly the MMA’s “Rocky moment”, or something similar to the USA beating Russia in Olympic Hockey.

In the opening seconds, Couture landed a nasty right to the jaw of Sylvia that dropped Sylvia to the mat. Couture pounced, took the back of Sylvia, however Sylvia defended a rear choke attempt. The next few rounds were very similar in that Couture’s gameplan was to duck and weave the strike attempts by Sylvia to get in close and get the take down. Sylvia’s takedown defense was very weak, especially with a 60 pound weight difference Couture was easily able to take the fight to the mat in all five rounds. Round three saw both men on their feet the entire time, however Couture outstruck Sylvia.

Couture’s next challenge is likely Mirko Cro Cop, a man above and beyond Tim Sylvia in all aspects. It’s hard to bet against Randy Couture, however this fight with Sylvia had a LOT of people nay-saying the ability of Randy Couture at 43 years old. I was under the impression this would be similar to the Jeff Monson title defense, and more or less it was, however Tim Sylvia seemed a lot more prepared for that fight than this one.

Did you happen to see the PPV, what were your thoughts?