BenClarkMMA goes to fight night, gets surprised twice.

Well readers, it's been a good night of fights, and I, BenClark am here to write about them.

                                                        Time to blog, says I. Yo ho ho!


Patrick Cote vs. Tom Lawlor

I had high expectations for this fight. Cote being a former #1 contender for the middleweight title, and Tom Lawlor being a badass all around. I figured Cote would win, however, it wasn't to be so.

In the first round, Cote survived an onslaught of lay and pray as well as a submission attempt, an arm triangle choke. It was an impressive display of holding on for dear life. Whatever, he has ring rust I thought.

Round two was a similar story, Lawlor with a good take down with more lay and pray, and when Cote worked his way back up to the feet, Lawlor outstruck him there.

Round three, well. Lawlor outworked him again. Unanimous decision. The judges agreed and we move on.

Court McGee vs Ryan Jensen

This fight was exciting. Good trades on the stand up, and Jensen had some promising exchanges. In the end however, Court McGee after two and 1/5th rounds of pretty intense fighting secured an arm triangle choke for the win. Overcoming heroin addiction and all, I have to say my hat is off to this guy. Plus he's from Orem, Utah and one of my favorite bands, The Used, is from Orem. Nice nice nice.

Brendan Schaub vs Gabriel Gonzaga

Main card time! I was really excited to see Brendan Schaub come out to fight this evening. His opponent, Gonzaga was a worthy one. These two had a back and forth battle the entire fight, with Schaub outstriking Gonzaga in the first to a point where if it had been 10 seconds earlier, I think it woulda been stopped. Schaub took all three rounds convincingly and was awarded a well deserved unanimous decision.

Tito Ortiz vs Matt Hamill

Second fight of the Pay Per View was the teacher (Ortiz) vs his former student (Hamill) from The Ultimate Fighter season 3. Tito came out looking really sunburned, and early in the first round Hamill connected with a strike to his dome piece that left him cut and bleeding. The entire first round was good back and forth fighting, and at the end Hamill didn't quit, because he can't hear. Don't hate. I gave the first round to Hamill, barely.

The second round, was less balanced, as Hamill displayed superior wrestling and striking, schooling his former coach in the art of fist to face combat. I have to say, I am surprised; I expected more out of the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. This is a guy who consistently sleeps with Jenna Jameson. You gotta be a hard dog to nail the most famous pornstar in history out on a consistent basis.

In round three, Hamill again outworked Tito, and I was pretty sure that he took all three rounds. So were the judges. Hamill wins by Unanimous Decision.

Diego Sanchez vs Paulo Thiago
Okay. So to say that I didn't expect much from this bout is an understatement. I cannot stand Diego Sanchez, and I really didn't see much awesomeness coming from this fight. HOWEVER, being the humble writer/UFC fan/wannabe Fighter that I am, I must admit, I was caught unawares as these gents put on a spectacular fight, Thiago almost had Sanchez choked out numerous times, and Diego fought through everything and halfway through the second round became pissed. Bro, I mean pissed. He pretty much dominated the rest of the fight, holding the superior position, and ground-and-pounding his way to a unanimous decision victory. I looked at my esteemed colleague and Sergeant of Marines Eric Warren, and said "Cuz, I think this is the fight of the night." Dana White thought so too. Go me.

                                               "BenClarkMMA wants a cookie for calling Fight of the Night."

Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann

                                                           Jake and Martin in the heat of battle.

In the cosmic scheme of things, you will often find that your minds eye is dyslexic as Tom Cruise in a room full of mirrors. Whereas I thought that Diego Sanchez vs. Thiago was going to be akin to two old ladies fighting over the last Werthers Original, Jake Shields vs Martin Kampmann was pretty much it. Hugging it out for three rounds and pretending to kick at eachother is not what is expected of UFC fighters.

Son, I am disappointed.

However, in true badass fashion, I was correct again my call. Split decision for retard Jake Shields who needs to white out his signature on his UFC contract and go back to Strikeforce where they drink Rockstar and pretend to be a good organization.

<--Cain Velasquez vs Brock Lesnar -->

Dude. WTF.

So coming into this main event, I was sure I was a badass fight caller, going 3-1 on the Main Card so far, only because Tito is a washed up dog turd. No big deal, Brock Lesnar has this. 2 inches taller, 4 inches of reach and 20 pounds advantage DEHYRDATED?! NO PROBLEM! Right? ...right?

WRONG, BRO!

Brock came out, did a side step or two, and shot in for a tremendous take down. To thunderous applause in the bar I was sitting at. I won't lie, I was rooting for him too. Anyway. The fight continued, and Brock held Cain against the cage, not doing much, but still holding him to nothing. When they broke away, it was back and forth, and the strike game didn't look too bad on either of their parts. Until Brock did something like this..

Yes. Brock Lesnar, just like his last fight, got Rolled. However, this time, he did some kind of goofy break dance that can only be explained with the raw intensity of a Mexican freight train rolling somewhere between his left eye ball and the left side of his jaw.

                                                             Get it?   I know I'm a dick. Sue me.

The punches in bunches delivered by Cain were amazing. Though I cheered for Brock, I soon began to cheer in general. Soon, Cain had won by TKO. Yes. That was badass what happened. I admit. I was wrong in saying Cain was smoking crack. In fact, he made beating Brock look easy. I am now 0-2 on calling heavy weight title fights, because I was damn sure that Shane Carwin was going to stomp Brock at UFC 116. I suck again!

Also, my most cool and awesome coach Jose told me so, Brown Pride. Neener Neener Neener, Brock sucks on weiners.


Well kids, there you have it. The recap on UFC 121 brought to you by me, who else?

In other news, I became humbled last night as I was one step behind a guy I train with at Blackout in two grappling matches and a "Get underhooks" drill. Doesn't mean I'm terrible. In fact, I learned, which is what you should always do when you're on the mat. I was glad to work out a couple kinks in my game, because when I begin to compete, I won't be making the same mistakes. For any one who reads this who is also aspiring to become a (successful) MMA fighter, don't be discouraged by being outdone while practicing. Learn, learn, ask some questions and learn some more.

                                             This is me on the left and my coach, Curtis Washington.


Well....that was fun. Stay tuned for more MMA related writes and rants as I continue being more awesome than 3 Xenergy cans tied together sprinkled with money and topped off with sexiness.