2009
UFC 99 RESULTS
Franklin Edges Out Silva, Velasquez Dominates Kongo at UFC 99
By Dustin Lee DePue
Cologne, Germany—Thousands of German MMA fans packed into the Lanxess Arena to witness the UFC’s first foray into Germany. Despite not having a title fight, the German fans were given a card that was extremely strong on paper and solid in execution. It was a decision-heavy card but still had a nice mix of technical action, balls-out slugging and title-contender relevance. Certainly, the main event lived up to all expectations, no surprise given the two fighters involved.
At a catch weight of 195 pounds, former champions Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva gave the German audience a night’s worth of action in three exciting rounds. Franklin, coming down from 205 used his physical advantages to good effect, edging out the former Pride champion by decision. Early on, Franklin used his superior speed, reach and footwork to keep out of Silva’s range and score with crisp, straight punches. He scored with a kick to the midsection before Silva caught a kick and took Franklin to the mat. Franklin worked to his feet, avoiding damage and slipped out of Wanderlei’s guillotine attempt late in the round and landed punches from on top.
The fighters started the second round getting busier with the hands. Though clearly more tired, Silva seemed content to fight a faster paced round. Franklin scored first, knocking Silva down with a jab as he moved in on Franklin. Silva loaded up his punches but was missing wildly as Franklin’s speed and footwork continued to make him difficult to hit. That all changed though midway through the round when Silva was able to close the distance and land a big left-right combo that hurt Franklin. Silva pressed his attack, however, Franklin was able to keep moving and avoided any fight-ending punches. Moments later, Franklin fired back with punches of his own before tagging Silva with a head kick that staggered him and put ice on Silva’s fire, and perhaps on the judge’s decision on the round.
In the third round, Silva was able to land more of his punches, getting the better of some of the early exchanges and motioning to the crowd to pump them up, which in turn seemed to fuel him to further pursue Franklin. Franklin landed punches of his own, but Silva seemed to be getting the better of it. Perhaps sensing danger, Franklin took Silva to the mat. The fight ended with Franklin on Silva’s back with Silva throwing back elbows madly and Franklin throwing punches. It was a close fight, one that I expected to be a split decision; however, the judges were in agreement, awarding Franklin the unanimous decision. It would have been nice to see the scores but they were not announced.
Cain Velasquez proved that he is a top contender in the heavyweight division, taking out French striking machine Cheick Kongo in an outstanding display of ground control. Kongo put Velasquez in danger early, blasting him with a stiff right cross and following it with a second that rocked Velasquez. A third punch might have ended it, but Velasquez showed his durability as he quickly took Kongo down and recovered, spending the rest of the round dominating Kongo on the ground with brilliant movement and a constant barrage of punches.
The second round proved how dangerous Kongo’s standup game is as he again rocked Velasquez in the opening seconds. Here, Kongo made the mistake of going for knees to the body from the clinch, giving Velasquez the opportunity for a takedown, which he took full advantage of. From here, Velasquez was on Kongo like a decal on a NASCAR driver. The third round saw Kongo land with his right hand again and score a takedown but Velasquez outmaneuvered him and continued his ground assault en route to a unanimous decision victory (Scores were not announced). Credit goes to Kongo for not giving up despite the punishment he absorbed. Hopefully, he’ll take this experience and come back a more well-rounded fighter. Velasquez scores his biggest win to date and surely puts himself on the short list of title contenders.
Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic made his return to the UFC, hoping to restore his name as a top heavyweight competitor. He took a step in the right direction, stopping Mustapha Al Turk by TKO. Al Turk came out firing looping right hands and low kicks. Cro Cop patiently avoided the strikes, keeping his left hand cocked and ready to counter. He fired off a few left hands as he continued to size up his opponent before unleashing a one-two punch that hurt Al Turk and then followed with a left hook that put Al Turk on the mat. Cro Cop followed him to the mat but decided to stand-up instead. After an exchange on the feet, Al Turk bent over, holding his face in pain. Cro Cop took full advantage, ripping Al Turk with several big right hands that put him down. A quick follow-up led to the TKO stoppage. On instant replay, it was revealed through a better camera angle that Cro Cop had accidently eye-poked Al Turk and that was why he was doubled over in pain. Despite the poke, it appeared likely that Cro Cop was going to finish Al Turk anyway but we’ll never know for sure.
Mike Swick continues his climb up the ranks of the welterweight division, adding Ben Saunders to his highlight reel with a thrilling TKO stoppage. After a forgettable first round, Swick found his range, tagging Saunders with a right-left combination as Saunders kicked. Seeing that his opponent was hurt, Swick exploded with a flurry of right hands, sending Saunders reeling along the cage. Swick pursued, placing a right hook on Saunders temple and sending him crashing to the mat. Swick followed up with left hands from on top for the referee stoppage at 3:47 of the second round. After the fight, Swick expressed a desire to fight the elite fighters of the division, naming Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre specifically.
Spencer Fisher bested Caol Uno in a technical match-up that saw the fighters neutralizing each other’s strengths for much of the fight. Fisher used his superior strength and striking to keep the fight on his feet, sprawling out on most of Uno’s single leg attempts and landing knees to the body and an uppercut in the first round. Undaunted, Uno continued to pursue the single leg, eventually getting the fight to the mat, however, Fisher popped back up to his feet before Uno could get anything going. Uno landed a few hard low kicks in the second but didn’t follow up with much else on the feet.
Although it lacked the more obvious fireworks of a furious punch-out, there was some exciting movement on the mat, particularly in the third round when Uno was finally able to get and hold a dominant position, mounting Fisher with a minute left. From here, Uno was able to land his best strikes of the fight, landing several hard elbows while looking to set up an arm or neck for a submission. If he could have added another minute to the fight, he might have found it but when the bell rang, the judges hadn’t felt he’d done enough, awarding Fisher a unanimous decision (scores were not announced).
The bad blood between Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis came to a boil as they battled back and forth in a close fight that ended with a split decision. Davis wanted the fight on the ground, clinching with Hardy and eventually getting him down with a trip takedown and quickly getting to mount. Hardy fought his way back to guard, working for a triangle as Davis attacked with punches. Near the end of the round, Hardy made his way back to his feet, landing a pair of solid knees to the midsection.
In the second round, the fighters opened up more on the feet, Davis landing a nice left straight, Hardy landing low kicks and looking to counter with his right hand. With Davis pressing forward, Hardy grabbed the plum and dropped him with a knee to the chin. Hardy pounced into Davis’s guard but Davis was able to tie him up enough to recover without taking any significant damage. Near the end of the round, Davis took Hardy to the mat and stayed active with punches from on top.
In the final round, Davis countered a kick by Hardy with a left hook that but Hardy on his back. Davis dropped into Hardy’s guard and landed an elbow before dropping back for a toe hold. Hardy defended and set off a series of submission transitions as Davis went from the toe hold to a knee bar to a heel hook in a matter of seconds with Hardy defending them all. Hardy worked back to his feet and quickly took Davis down, landing a stiff elbow that opened a cut near Davis’s left eye. With blood spilling from the cut and Hardy pressing on the feet, Davis saw the round, and the fight, possibly slipping through his fingers. Indeed, two of the three judges saw the same thing, scoring the fight 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 in favor of Dan Hardy, who remains undefeated in the UFC.
Full results
Rich Franklin def Wanderlei Silva by Unanimous Decision
Cain Velasquez def Cheick Kongo by Unanimous Decision
Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic def Mostapha Al Turk by TKO (Strikes) 3:06 Rd 1
Mike Swick def Ben Saunders by TKO (Strikes) 3:47 rd 2
Spencer Fisher def Caol Uno by Unanimous Decision
Dan Hardy def Marcus Davis by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Terry Etim def Justin Buchholz by D’Arce Choke rd 2
Dennis Siver def Dale Hart by Rear Naked Choke rd 1
Paul Taylor def Peter Sobatta by Unanimous Decision
Paul Kelly def Rolando Delgado by Unanimous Decision
Stefan Struve def Denis Stojnic by Rear Naked Choke 2:37 Rd 2
John Hathaway def Rick Story by Unanimous Decision
