Submissions rule the night in Sweden (UFC on Fuel TV 2)
The UFC made more travel plans this past weekend as the biggest show in MMA ended a 4 week layoff by going to Stockholm, Sweden. It was yet another country for the UFC to try to take in the MMA world and they did just that. The atmosphere was amazing in the Ercsson Globe Arena with plenty of Swedes on the card and ready to impress in front of the hometown crowd. The Swedish fans are a very educated fan and they have a tendency to love the stand up like many of the UFC fans. With so much kickboxing around Sweden the fans love to see a war with some great striking from all angles. If the fans were going to the fight hoping for plenty of these fights they were very disappointed as they were treated to a showcase of the another art of the UFC. Submissions were king in Sweden with 6 fights ending in Submission, only two ended in TKO/KO. Although many were hoping for the knockouts they still appreciated the art of wrestling as they were treated so some amazing fights on the mat. The submissions did not last the entire fight card though as the last four fights of the night saw two TKO/KOs and two Unanimous Decisions. This included the main event that saw the face of Swedish MMA take on a once great fighter who was looking to make a comeback. Alexander Gustafsson is a young Light Heavyweight fighter who has made some major waves in the UFC so far and is on the cusp of entering the elite of the division. Meanwhile his opponent Thiago Silva was in the same position until a failed drug test and injuries kept him out of the UFC for a year. This fight was Silva’s attempt to come back into the UFC and become a factor in the Light heavyweight division while Gustafsson was looking to continue his climb up the ladder to the top of the division. Gustafsson had all of the pressure coming into the fight in front of his home town as the fans went crazy when he entered the octagon with everyone supporting him. He did his best to meet expectations for the fans as he came out a little cautious against the much more aggressive Silva. Silva came running out to start the fight as Gustafsson backed up to make sure he wouldn’t get caught with a big punch early in the fight. Then the Swede showed his strength punching and getting out of the way until he caught Silva in the middle of round 1. Silva went down quickly and Gustafsson jumped on him to try to finish but he could not get it done and instead saved his energy for the rest of the fight. The second round saw much of the same as Gustafsson continued to stick and move throughout the round throwing everything he had. Silva finally broke through in the round rocking the hometown favorite and immediately jumping on him to try to finish the fight. It couldn’t be done as Gustafsson survived to fight another round. The third round was much the same with Gustafsson continuing to dominate the standing battle throwing punches and kicks and then getting out of the way of Silva’s power. With the fight over it seemed obvious that Gustafsson had won the fight as he did more throughout the entire fight and that is what the judges though too. The face of Swedish MMA won the fight in front of his home crowd by Unanimous Decision giving all the Swedish fans some great memories of the first UFC in the country with their hero taking home the win. Gustafsson will now continue to climb up the ladder in the Light Heavyweight division as he will be only a few fights away from a title shot. Silva will enter the rest of the division and will need to try to climb back up after his return fell short.
Before the hometown hero entered the ring two fights excited the crowd and showed a change of pace to the submission heavy night. First the UFC debut of Siyar Bahadurzada was a great one as he took on Paulo Thiago and had a vicious KO. A brief feeling out period started the fight for these two welterweights but it was just that, brief. Thiago charged forward to try and push the pace but it was a big mistake as Bahadurzada unleashed a short powerful right hand that knocked out Thiago cold sending him to the mat immediately. The fight was over in 42 seconds giving Bahadurzada a memorable debut in the UFC. Brian Stann then made it a streak of KOs when he took on Alessio Sakara in his attempt to get back on track after losing to Chael Sonnen in his last fight. Stann came out strong dominating the fight against Sakara and landing some vicious knees. The fight was almost done at the beginning of the first round after Stann landed some big knees but Sakara was able to survive and ended up on his back. While in Sakara’s guard Stann began showcasing his ground and pound reigingin down some vicious punches. Eventually they took their toll with Stann landing a big hammer fist that put Sakara to sleep. Stann stopped punching after Sakra was KO’d and it forced the referee to stop the fight. Sakara had come back to defend himself but was out making the stoppage a good one and giving Stann the win. Both of these fights got the Swedish fans up and gave them a taste of the power of the UFC along with a change from the many submissions on the fight card.
For UFC’s first fight in Sweden fighters received $50,000 for their bonuses as many fighters put on a great show. The “Knockout of the Night” went to UFC rookie Bahadurzada for his great KO of Paulo Thiago 42 seconds into the first round. There was a lot to choose from fro the “Submission of the Night” with so many fights ending that way but John Maguire took home the bonus with his great armbar win against DeMarques Johnson. The “Fight of the night” went to Brad Pickett and Damacio Page for their back and forth war that ended with Pickett taking the submission victory with a rear naked choke in round 2.
Full Results:
Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson def. Thiago Silva
(Unanimous Decision)
Brian “All-American” Stann def. Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara
(TKO; Rd. 1)
Siyar “The Great” Bahadurzada def. Paulo Thiago
(KO; Rd. 1)
Dennis Siver def. Diego “The Gun” Nunes
(Unanimous Decision)
John Maguire def. DeMarques “The Darkness” Johnson
(Submission; Armbar, Rd. 2)
Brad “One Punch” Pickett def. “The Angel of Death” Damacio Page
(Submission; Rear Naked Choke, Rd. 2)
James Head def. Papy “Makambo” Abedi
(Submission; Rear Naked Choke, Rd. 1)
Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate def. Tom Deblass
(Majority Decision)
Francis “Limitless” Carmont def. Magnus “Jycken” Cedenblad
(Submission; Rear Naked Choke, Rd. 2)
Reza “Mad Dog” Madadi def. Yoislandy “Cuba” Izquierdo
(Submission; Guillotine Choke, Rd. 2)
Simeon “The Grin” Thoresen def. Besam Yousef
(Submission; Rear Naked Choke, Rd. 2)
Jason “Shotgun” Young def. Eric “Little Lee” Wisely
(Unanimous Decision)
Upcoming Events:
UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans (Saturday April 21st; 10:00 pm)
– Atlanta, Georgia (Philips Arena)
– Main Event: Jon “Bones” Jones vs. “Suga” Rashad Evans [Light Heavyweight Title]
– Notable: Rory “Ares” MacDonald vs. “Beautiful” Che Mills
– Notable: Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell
UFC on Fox 3: Diaz vs. Miller (Saturday May 5th; 8:00 pm)
– Free Live on Fox/Sportsnet
– East Rutherford, New Jersey (IZOD Center)
– Main Event: Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller
– Notable: Josh “Kos” Koshcheck vs. Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks
UFC on Fuel TV 3: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier (Tuesday May 15th; 8:00 pm)
– Free Live on Fuel TV/Sportsnet
– Fairfax, Virginia (Patriot Center)
– Main Event: Chan Sung Jung “The Korean Zombie” vs. Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier
– Notable: Amir Sadollah vs. Jorge Lopez
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