COMMENTARY | Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice set the bar high during the UFC 157 preliminary bouts, and Ronda Rousey closed out the show in emphatic fashion.
Here are the results of the UFC 157 fight card held on Feb. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif:
Ronda Rousey def. Liz Carmouche
"Rowdy" went right after Carmouche, putting her on the canvas less than a minute into their fight. Carmouche managed to work her way to Rousey's back, and she threatened with a rear-naked choke. Ronda managed to shake her off, and she worked her way past Carmouche's legs. Rousey softened Liz up with some shots from side control, eventually transitioning to mount. The armbar came shortly after, bringing an end to their UFC 157 encounter at the 4:49 mark.Lyoto Machida def. Dan Henderson
Henderson looked for his trademark right hand at UFC 157, but Machida proved to be too elusive. Lyoto landed the cleaner punches throughout their encounter, and he even scored the first takedown of the fight, tripping Henderson at the end of the first round.When Henderson finally scored a takedown in the third round, Machida skillfully made his way back to his feet. He stalked Henderson for the remainder of the bout, landing some colorful strikes.
A judge scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Henderson while the other two scored it 29-28 for Machida.
Urijah Faber def. Ivan Menjivar
Ivan scored a takedown early in their UFC 157 encounter, but Faber pulled off a sweep and ended up on top. "The California Kid" brutalized Menjivar with some mean shots on the ground, and he jumped all over Ivan's back during a scramble. Faber locked up a rear-naked choke shortly after, forcing the tap at the 4:34 mark of the first round.Court McGee def. Josh Neer
McGee looked good during his welterweight debut, quickly establishing himself as the better striker at UFC 157. Curt sent Neer to the canvas towards the end of the first round with a devastating body shot, threatening with a few submissions until the round came to an end.Neer put up more resistance during the second round, landing the cleaner punches. However, McGee made the necessary adjustments in the final round, and he went back to dominating the fight with his striking and takedowns.
All three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of McGee.
Robbie Lawler def. Josh Koscheck
Koscheck went right after Lawler at UFC 157, putting the former EliteXC middleweight champion on his back less than a minute into their fight. Robbie quickly made his way back to his feet, and he eventually created some space. He hurt "Kos" with his famous left hook shortly after, following up with a vicious barrage of punches, prompting referee Herb Dean to call an end to the contest at the 3:57 mark of the first round.Undercard:
Brendan Schaub def. Lavar Johnson (unanimous decision)
Mike Chiesa def. Anton Kuivanen (rear-naked choke, round two)
Dennis Bermudez def. Matt Grice (split decision)
Sam Stout def. Caros Fodor (split decision)
Kenny Robertson def. Brock Jardine (kneebar, round one)
Neil Magny def. Jon Manley (unanimous decision)
Nah-Shon Burrell def. Yuri Villefort (unanimous decision)
David is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and boxing practitioner who has watched and studied MMA for the past 8 years. Send him your questions @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.
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