UFC 107 Penn vs Sanchez All Results

UFC 107

Tennessee, Estados Unidos

Sábado, 12 de diciembre de 2009

Card principal:

- BJ Penn venció a Diego Sanchez por TKO (Doctor Stop) a 2min37s del R5;

- Frank Mir venció a Cheick Kongo por sumisión (guillotina) a 1min13s del R1;

- Jon Fitch venció a Mike Pierce por decisión unânime;

- Kenny "Ken Flo" Florian venció a Clay Guida por sumisión (Mata león) a 2min19s del R2;

- Stefan Struve venció a Paul Buentello por decisión dividida;

Peleas preliminares:

- Alan Belcher venció a Wilson Gouveia por knockout técnico a 3min03s del R1;

- Matt Wiman venció a Shane Nelson por decisión unânime;

- Johny Hendricks venció a Ricardo Funch por decisión unânime;

- Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares venció a Lúcio Linhares por sumisión (llave de talón) a 3min21s del R2;

- DaMarques Johnson venció a Edgar Garcia por sumisión (triângulo) a 4min03s del R1;

- TJ Grant venció a Kevin Burns por knockout técnico a 4min57s del R1

It took less than one minute for Ultimate Fighting Championship legend BJ Penn to send a message to Diego Sanchez in Saturday night’s main event at UFC 107: you haven’t seen anyone like me.

Penn (15-5-1), the reigning UFC lightweight champion, floored Sanchez in the first 30 seconds of the match, setting the tone for what was to come for the remaining 22 minutes. Penn — considered by many to be the best lightweight in history and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world — completely, totally and without question outclassed Sanchez (23-3), earning a TKO title defence at 2:37 of the fifth round in front of a capacity crowd at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.

Penn has been fighting with a renewed passion this year, determined to create a legacy as one of the greatest mixed-martial-artists of all-time. This was another impressive victory to add to his resume.

“I was keeping my mouth shut, but I always wanted to fight Diego Sanchez,” Penn said following his victory.

“I knew he wanted to fight me.”

Sanchez, who earned his first title shot with wins over Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida, was clearly disappointed following the loss but gave full credit to Penn.

“BJ’s a great champion,” said Sanchez.

“(That’s) the best BJ to ever step in the ring.”

Penn rocked Sanchez just 30 seconds into the match, and though he was unable to finish him, Penn dominated the first round.

The reigning champ continued to pick apart Sanchez in the second round, landing solid shots in stand-up exchanges and continually snuffing any takedown attempts by Sanchez.

Penn kept fighting at a different level in the third round, busting open the lip of Sanchez and making his eyes swell more and more with every punch landed. The end came midway through the fourth round, when Penn opened up a deep cut over the left eye of Sanchez. The moment the ringside doctor looked at the cut, he insisted the match be stopped.

In perhaps the most telling moment of the match, Penn was standing and bouncing around before the fourth round, urging Sanchez to get off his stool in the corner. Sanchez boasted before the match that his superior conditioning would be the difference, but Penn looked in tremendous shape and barely broke a sweat.

With the win, Penn (who turned 31 the moment the clock struck midnight following the event) continues to build on his legacy. He’s one of only two men to hold UFC titles in two different weight classes, he’s headlined one of the biggest pay-per-views in company history (UFC 94) and the reigning lightweight champ hasn’t lost a match in his natural 155-pound weight class in nearly eight years.

“My motivation, at first, it was about the belt,” said Penn this week in Memphis.

“Every champion, after holding the belt for so long, they start to look for other goals, other belts. You really want to go down (in history).

“It’s about me and myself, pushing myself, proving to myself where I can get, how good can I possibly be.”

In other pay-per-view matches at UFC 107:

- Frank Mir (13-4) talked the talk. On Saturday night against Cheick Kongo (24-6-1), he walked the walk.

Leading up to UFC 107, Mir told anyone who would listen that he was going to make Kongo submit the first chance he got. Sure enough, the former heavyweight champ floored Kongo barely one minute into the match and locked in a guillotine choke for the victory at just 1:12 of the first round.

It was a spectacular performance by Mir, who desperately wanted an impressive win to vault him back towards another title shot against UFC heavyweight kingpin Brock Lesnar.

“I really am trying to put in the hard work,” Mir said in the ring following his win.

“(Kongo is) a big powerful guy. I didn’t want to let that choke go . . . I figured I’d put him to sleep.”

Mir said on a personal level, he wishes no ill will against Lesnar and hopes he recovers from the intestinal condition that has him sidelined. But if he faces him again the Octagon, business will be business. The two have split a pair of meetings over the past two years, with Lesnar most recently beating Mir in July at UFC 100.

“Get healthy so I can redeem myself and face you,” said Mir. “I will hurt you.”

- Jon Fitch (24-3, 1 NC) gutted out a unanimous-decision victory over Mike Pierce (9-3) in a welterweight bout.

Fitch slowly but surely controlled most of the first two rounds, never really coming close to finishing Pierce but doing enough for the judges. In the final 30 seconds of the match, Pierce rocked Fitch and had his legs wobbling but he was unable to post the knockout before time expired.

All three judges scored the match 29-28 in favour of Fitch.

- Kenny Florian (14-4) took his first step back up the ladder, forcing Clay Guida (25-8) to tap out to a rear naked choke at 2:19 of the second round of their lightweight showdown.

Florian opened a deep cut over Guida’s left eye that threatened to end the match in the first round. It didn’t last much longer, though, as midway through the second round, Florian caught Guida with a right hand that knocked Guida off both feet and face down on the mat. Florian pounced, locking in a choke and getting the submission.

“Tonight was my night,” said Florian, who lost a championship match versus Penn in August.

“I want another shot at the title.”

- Stefan Struve (23-3) opened the PPV broadcast with a unanimous decision over former title challenger Paul Buentello (25-11). Two judges scored the heavyweight match 29-28, while the third had it 28-28.

Struve used every inch of his 6-foot-11 frame to nearly submit Buentello in the first round. The second round featured several slugfests that had the Memphis crowd roaring (and left one of Struve’s teeth implanted in his mouthguard, resulting in a brief delay before the third round). Both men looked tired in the third round, with Struve controlling the stand-up game with repeated leg kicks.

In preliminary matches:

- Canadian TJ Grant (15-3) scored a TKO victory over Kevin Burns (8-4) in a welterweight match. Grant floored Burns with a combination of knees and fists, and finished him on the mat with just three seconds left in the first round;

- In a fast-paced, highly-entertaining match, DaMarques Johnson (15-7) earned a submission win with a triangle choke at 4:03 of the first round in a welterweight bout against Edgar Garcia (7-2);

- In a middleweight bout, Rousimar Palhares (19-2) submitted Lucio Linhares (13-5) with a heel hook at 3:21 of the second round;

- Johny Hendricks (8-0) remained undefeated, earning a dominant unanimous decision over Ricardo Funch (7-1) in a welterweight match. Two judges scored the match 30-27, while the third scored it 30-25;

- Matt Wiman (11-5) was awarded a unanimous decision over Shane Nelson (13-5) in a lightweight bout. All three judges scored the match 30-27.

- With the hot crowd firmly behind him, Alan Belcher (14-5) won a short but spectacular slugfest over Wilson Gouveia (12-7) in a match set at a catchweight of 195 pounds. Belcher was on the receiving end of some hard shots by Gouveia but survived to come back and land a right uppercut before finishing him on the mat at 3:03 of the first round.

FIGHT NOTES: Canadian superstar and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will return to action versus Dan Hardy at UFC 111 on March 27 in Newark, New Jersey. GSP hasn’t fought since injuring his groin during his successful title defence at UFC 100 in July over Thiago Alves. Hardy earned the shot with win over Mike Swick at UFC 105 in November . . . Following a solid debut event in Memphis, UFC has already sold out its premiere event in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 21. Upwards of 10,000 tickets were sold for UFC 110 during the four-day pre-sale for UFC Fight Club members and UFC.com newsletter subscribers. All remaining tickets were snapped up on the first day they were available to the public. The expected co-main events are Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira versus Cain Velasquez to determine the No. 1 contender to the heavyweight title, and Wanderlei Silva versus Michael Bisping in a welterweight bout.