UFC on Fox 2 took place on Saturday January 28th at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The preliminary fights aired on Fuel TV with the three-fight main card airing on Fox. MMA Recap was on hand and cageside for the event to capture all of the action.
Chris Camozzi and Dustin Jacoby opend up the night of fights. The first round was a great back and forth battle between the two fighters. Early in the round Camozzi had Jacoby guessing as he landing some massive shots. But Jacoby stayed the course and started to find his range, frustrating Camozzi. With ten seconds left in the round, Camozzi landed a big right that buckled Jacoby to earn him the round. Round two featured more striking by both fighters. Camozzi looked to try and counter Jacoby, but was a little off in his timing as Jacoby was landing more. Round three both fighters came out swinging with Camozzi taking the center of the octagon to start. Jacoby landed a beautiful combo led off with a body shot. Camozzi landed a leg kick that swept Jacoby’s feet out from under him. Camozzi rushed in and grabbed a standing guillotine.
Joey Beltran declined to touch gloves with Lavar Johnson which means one thing; he’s going to lose the fight. Johnson nearly finished the fight in the first fifteen seconds with a body shot that hurt Beltran but Beltran recovered from within the clinch. The two fighters jabbed at each other to set up a powerful shot and both connected with more than one. But Johnson landed a big right and then followed it up with several uppercuts and a left hook that sent Beltran to the canvas.
Shane Roller’s gameplan from the start was to take Michael Johnson down. Unfortunately he was unable to get Johnson down and ate a lot of punches through out the first two rounds. Even with all the punches he was eating, Roller continued to press forward. In the third round, Roller was able to take the back of Johnson and wanted to finish the fight with a rear naked choke. Unable to get the choke while holding a body triangle, Roller switched to punching Johnson. Some of his punches were to the back of the head and Herb Dean stopped the fight to warn Roller. After the restart, Johnson was able to escape the bad position and saved himself from losing the round by 10-8. Once on the feet, the two traded punches till bell’s end.
Charles Oliveira scored the first calf slicer submission on Eric Wisely. After a kick thrown by Wisely, Oliveira caught it to put Wisely on his back. Oliveira worked standing punches to Wisely till he was able to pass to side control. He quickly worked for a heel hook and Wisely tried to roll out of it. Oliveira continued attacking the leg, and put Wisely in a the submission forcing Wisely to tap. The crowd didn’t know what they saw, but they loved the crazy submission.
George Roop had a serious size advantage over Cub Swanson and he looked to use it early. Roop threw a variety of kicks to keep Swanson at bay, but Swanson stayed the course to try and get inside and land his punches. Roop stumbled Swanson but he quickly recovered and swarmed Roop rocking him in return. Roop attempted a takedown, but Swanson reversed and scored a big takedown. Swanson started to find his way under Roop’s punches and edged Roop out for the round. The second looked to be much of the same but Swanson landed a right hook over top of Roop’s jab that sent Roop to the floor. Swanson followed up with big bombs forcing Big John to step in and stop the action.
Heavyweights Mike Russow and John-Olav Einemo were up next. The crowd was heavily behind Russow the Chicago police officer. Russow took Einemo down immediately to start the fight, but couldn’t do much with it. The two fighters exchanged punches with Russow using his strikes to try and set up another takedown. The takedown came and he worked most of the round from within Einemo’s guard. With less than ten seconds left, Einemo swept Russow and was in the mount, but time expired and he couldn’t do much with it. The second round was much the same with Russow taking Einemo down and trying to pass his guard but unable too. Einemo threatened a little with setting up some submissions, but Russow defended well. Einemo started to land some heavy shots including two big knees that forced Russow to shoot for a takedown. Einemo worked for a triangle but Russow escaped and wound up on top. Russow worked elbows and was trying to pass guard when the fight got stood back up. Einemo landed another massive knee before Russow took the fight to the ground and finished the fight in that position.
The last of the preliminary fights to air on FuelTV featured lightweights Nik Lentz and Evan Dunham. The two fighters quickly stepped to the center to throw massive shots. Lentz nearly had a D’Arce but he couldn’t get the position right and Dunham escaped. Lentz shot for a takedown, and Dunham worked a guillotine to counter it. Lentz escaped, and battled for position over Dunham. The fighters stood and worked a short game inside the clinch before separating. Dunham worked for a takedown of his own and got it, but Lentz controlled well from the bottom. Dunham worked punches and elbows to end the round. Dunham came out on a mission to start the second round and immediately got a takedown. Dunham tried to pass to side control, but Lentz wouldn’t give up. The two fighters stood and Lentz scored with some uppercuts before separating. Dunham working for a guillotine and can’t get it, and the two fighters start throwing punch after punch that were landing to the crowd’s delight. Dunham with another takedown and he worked several punches before working a modified choke. The choke wasn’t working so he opted for elbows instead. Lentz started to sit up and Dunham with a straight right. Lentz is badly bloodied up, but still coming forard as the round ends. Reply showed his eye is badly swollen and the doctor is called in to look at it. The doctor waved off the fight as Lentz’s eye was shut.
Kicking off the main card on Fox, Chris Weidman stepped in on eleven day’s notice to fight Demian Maia. Maia looked to use his improved boxing against Weidman, and Weidman was happy to oblige. Weidman landed more strikes through out and at the end of the round secured it with a takedown. The second round was a close round to call as Maia started to find his range and did more damage in the first half. Near the end of the round Weidman scored a takedown and if there was enough time he probably would have finished his guillotine he had locked in. By the third round both fighters were visibly gassed. Weidman continued to land punches and when Maia did attempt a takedown, Weidman easily defended. Maia ate a couple of knees but the action was not enough to satisfy the Chicago crowd as they booed at the conclusion of the fight. What looked to be a clear cut unanimous decision for Weidman either 30-27 or 29-28 was not as one judge scored it for Maia giving Weidman the split decision victory.
It was more difficult to tell if the crowd was pro Chael Sonnen or anti Michael Bisping based on their entrances, but once inside the cage fighting, it became very clear they were for Sonnen. The first round Sonnen immediately took the fight to the ground but Bisping was quick to get back up. The two traded punches with Bisping throwing crisper strikes, but Sonnen landing the more damaging ones. The second round Sonnen seemed to have slowed down a bit as he couldn’t find a home for his punches. Bisping used the opportunity to land his punches and attempted some fancy spinning kicks. Most of the round however was spent against the cage and surprisingly the Chicago crowd didn’t object to it. The third round Sonnen took Bisping down and the crowd went crazy. As he was able to get Bisping’s back the noise level erupted even more. The loudest ovation however came when Sonnen mounted Bisping as it was next to impossible to hear anything. Bisping was able to escape, but it wasn’t enough as the round ended. The judges were all in agreement with who won giving the fight to Sonnen.
In the pre-fight build up for Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, Evans stated that it would be Davis that would shoot first for the takedown. And while that was true, it was Evans who actually scored the first takedown. The five round battle was not much to the crowd’s delight as it consisted mostly of Evans throwing combos and avoiding Davis’s takedown attempts. When Evans would take the fight to the ground, he was impressive in securing a crucifix not once, but three times through out the fight. All three times he nearly finished with punches and elbows, but Davis was somehow able to escape. Both fighters were extremely exhausted at the end of the twenty-five minute battle and Evans solidified his status as the number one contender for the light heavyweight title to challenge Jon Jones.
Quick Results
Chris Camozzi defeated Dustin Jacoby by guillotine at 1:08 of round 3
Lavar Johnson defeated Joey Beltran by TKO at 4:24 of round 1
Michael Johnson defeated Shane Roller by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Charles Oliveira defeated Eric Wisely by calf slicer at 1:43 of round 1
Cub Swanson defeated George Roop by TKO at 2:22 of round 2
Mike Russow defeated John-Olav Einemo by unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Evan Dunham defeated Nik Lentz by TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2
Chris Weidman defeated Demian Maia by split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28
Chael Sonnen defeated Michael Bisping by unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Rashad Evans defeated Phil Davis by unanimous decision 50-45, 50-45, 50-45
