While we are approaching the end of March and it seems like it has been forever since an actual UFC event other than The Ultimate Fighter, it is time to recap what has transpired in the first quarter of 2012 with regards to the UFC.

From January 1st through March 31 the UFC held seven events. The first of which took place on January 14th and the span ended on March 3rd. That was seven events in seven weeks. No wonder the UFC decided to take some time off as the next event scheduled isn’t until April 14th.

Looking back at the events, there were several memorable moments. From fights to knockouts to submissions, the first quarter did not disappoint in the least. Let’s take a look at some of the best of the best through out this quarter.

Submissions
During the quarter there were a total of seventeen submissions. Some were obviously more memorable than others. But there was something special about our top five submissions. It could be because a fighter stuck to his bread and butter, it could have been a submission that hasn’t been seen before, or it could have been just from the sheer fact that the fighter got the submission. In all cases, just mentioning the fight and the submission it is likely to bring images of people tapping to the forefront of your brain.

5. Jim Miller defeated Melvin Guillard by rear naked choke at UFC on FX: Guillard vs Miller
4. Dustin Poirier defeated Max Holloway by mounted triangle armbar at UFC 143
3. Martin Kampmann defeated Thiago Alves by guillotine choke at UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
2. Rousimar Palhares defeated Mike Massenzio by heel hook at UFC 142
1. Charles Oliveira defeated Eric Wisely by calf slicer at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis

Knockouts
Nothing gets the crowd going more than a crazy knockout. Sometimes a ref is merciful and is able to stop the barrage of attacks and other times, a single shot sends a foe to the canvas stiff as a board. No matter how the knockout happened, fans will always place the fighter that delivered the finishing strike on a new pedestal wanting him to take on a step up in competition.

5a. Stephen Thompson defeated Dan Stittgen by head kick at UFC 143
5b. Anthony Pettis defeated Joe Lauzon by head kick at UFC 144
4. Tim Boetsch defeated Yushin Okami by TKO at UFC 144
3. Lavar Johnson defeated Joey Beltran by uppercuts at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis
2. Jose Aldo defeated Chad Mendes by knee at UFC 142
1. Edson Barboza defeated Terry Etim by spinning heel kick at UFC 142

Fights
While there were several memorable fights across all the cards, there is just something extra about the fights that received fight of the night honors from the UFC. Some fights were quick, others were one sided beatings, and others were great back and forth battles. With that said, here’s the top 5 fights from the first quarter.

5. Evan Dunham vs Nik Lentz at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis
4. Diego Sanchez vs Jake Ellenberger at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs Ellenberger
3. Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143
2. Demetrious Johnson vs Ian McCall at UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
1. Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson at UFC 144

Overall Card
Pay per views always tend to have a higher ranking as far as star power is concerned, and justifiably so; they require someone to purchase the event instead of watch it for free. But sometimes the free cards can out perform their pay per view counter parts on the fact that the fighters want to be on the main card of a pay per view instead of televised card. It was a difficult decision to rank the cards, but here’s the top 5.

5. UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs Ellenberger
4. UFC on FX: Guillard vs Miller
3. UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
2. UFC 142: Aldo vs Mendes
1. UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson

On the February 21st edition of RecapRadio hosts Brent Todd and John Petit had a variety of topics to discuss. We kicked off the show talking about the lack of mma that happened over the weekend on a national level. With two weekends in a row without a UFC event it was rather surprising that there wasn’t a national show to take stage.

Carson Beebe then joined the show to talk about his upcoming fight for Legacy Fighting Championship. It is his first fight back at 135 since auditioning for The Ultimate Fighter. He discussed his wrestling, managing his time, and trying to rep Chicago while down in Texas.

After Beebe we moved on to give our thoughts on the UFC on Fuel TV 1 card. Petit was the victor in the predictions for the week so hats off to him.

With time running out and some sidetracking curbed, we settled in to give our thoughts on UFC 144 and our predictions. There were some differences this week in the predictions and both of us made compelling arguments for our respective fighters. Here’s how the fight predictions broke down:

Brent Todd:
Joe Lauzon Sub Round 2
Bart Palaszewski KO Round 1
Yushin Okami UD
Jake Shields Sub Round 2
Cheick Kongo UD
Rampage Jackson TKO Round 2
Frankie Edgar UD

John Petit:
Anthony Pettis UD
Hatsu Hioki UD
Yushin Okami UD
Jake Shields TKO Round 2
Cheick Kongo TKO
Ryan Bader UD
Frankie Edgar UD

Use the player below to listen to the full show.

On tonight’s edition of RecapRadio hosts Brent Todd and John Petit will talk to Chicago fan favorite Carson Beebe. Beebe is scheduled to fight this Friday for Legacy Fighting Championship against Tim Snyder. His fight is scheduled to be apart of the live broadcast on HDNet.

In addition to talking to Beebe, we will be breaking down the action from last week’s UFC on Fuel TV featuring a three-round battle between Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez.

Finally we will close out the show with a run down and prediction on the massive UFC 144 card featuring seven fights for the pay-per-view broadcast.

The show airs live every Tuesday night from 8:00pm-9:30pm CST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmarecap

For the first event to air on Fuel TV, the fighters held nothing back and left it all on the line. The night of action featured three preliminary fights shown on Facebook and six fights airing live on Fuel TV. Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez headlined the event at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.

Ivan Menjivar submits John Albert - via Iron Forges Iron

While several fighters threatened their opponent with submission attempts, only Ivan Menjivar was able to secure one to force his opponent tap. In a very exciting first fight on the broadcast, Menjivar took on John Albert. The fight only lasted 3:45 but it seemed like the action was never ending. Albert hurt Menjivar multiple times in the fight and nearly finished him with submission of his own. Unfortunately when he couldn’t finish a submission, Menjivar used the opportunity to take the back of Albert and quickly worked to get a rear naked choke and the victory.

Three fights ended in either a technical knockout or actual knockout. Jonathan Brookins sent Vagnar Rocha to la-la land with heavy shots while Rocha was looking to secure a heel hook submission. Many fighters will try to roll out of the submission, but Brookins seized the opportunity to just land massive punches and earn the victory.

Many thought that regardless of the winner of Stefan Struve and Dave Herman, the outcome would happen by knockout. Herman found his range in the first round and stumbled Struve on more than one occasion. But Struve got his rhythm at the start of the second and it was all over for Herman. Struve took Herman down and quickly mounted him. Struve postured up and was able to land punch after punch until the ref was forced to halt the fight.

Stipe Miocic KO's Philip De Fries - via Iron Forges Iron

But the knockout of the night came from Stipe Miocic when he sent Philip De Fries to the canvas. De Fries, a submission expert, looked to stand and trade with Miocic and stumbled the striker. But Miocic returned fire and after a big right hand, De Fries was back peddling. Miocic continued his assault and De Fries was sent unconscious.

T.J. Dillashaw put a beating on Walel Watson like no one had predicted. Dillashaw used his wrestling to control his position on top of Watson. Through out the first two rounds Dillashaw nearly finished as he was looking for submissions and when they weren’t there landed heavy punches. Both rounds were so dominant that two judges scored them 10-8 for Dillashaw. The third round Watson was able to mount a little bit of offense, but Dilashaw went back to his wrestling and once the fight was on the ground, he was the fighter on offense.

Jake Ellenberger vs Diego Sanchez - via Iron Forges Iron

The main event was only a three-round fight, a mistake that was made after the UFC announced all main events would be five rounds. It would be interesting to see how this fight would have played out if there were two more rounds as it was by far the most exciting fight of the night. The first two rounds Jake Ellenberger dominated Diego Sanchez with his heavy punches and knees. Sanchez was a bloody mess just a few minutes into the fight. The third round Sanchez was still energized and seemed to have a bit more in his gas tank than Ellenberger and it showed as Sanchez was able to land his strikes. After five minutes Ellenberger was just as bloodied as Sanchez but it wasn’t enough for Sanchez as Ellenberger had won the first two rounds.

Ellenberger, Sanchez, Miocic, and Menjivar all earned an extra $50,000 for their performances.

Quick Results
Jake Ellenberger def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Stefan Struve def. Dave Herman via TKO (punches from mount) – Round 2, 3:52
Ronny Markes def. Aaron Simpson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Stipe Miocic def. Philip De Fries via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:43
T.J. Dillashaw def. Walel Watson via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)
Ivan Menjivar def. John Albert via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:45
Jonathan Brookins def. Vagner Rocha via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:32
Justin Salas def. Anton Kuivanen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Tim Means def. Bernado Magalhaes vis unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

On last night’s edition of RecapRadio hosts Brent Todd and John Petit talked to Bellator 60 debuting fighter Jake Nauracy, broke down and predicted the UFC on Fuel TV 1 card and talked about the fallout from Nick Diaz’s positive drug test.

At the start of the show we discussed several mma cards that were seen this weekend due to the lack of a UFC card on tv. John watched something like 40+ mma fights between all the different shows, at one point even watching a stream from an iPhone pointed at a tv in Brazil. Brent meanwhile discussed the Babes and Brawls atmosphere and how the venue was actually one of the better local venues for fights to be held in.

Jake Nauracy called in and we discussed with him his thoughts on his opponent Cory Galloway and how it was difficult to actually get an opponent to fight him at the event. Nauracy went on to talk about his size, his weight cut, and his amateur record.

After Nauarcy it was time to break down the UFC on Fuel TV 1 card. Both of us picked T.J. Dillashaw to win a unanimous decision over Walel Watson; mainly due to the fact that there isn’t much tape we can watch on either opponent.

We were split on the Stipe Miocic versus Philip De Fries fight as Brent had De Fries winning by submission and John had Miocic winning by TKO.

Both of us expect Aaron Simpson to lose the first round of his three-round fight against Ronny Markes, but then we see Simpson winning rounds two and three to earn a unanimous decision. We agreed that Simpson has done this in the past and that he is a slower starter than other fighters.

The co-main event was a bit of a debate as Dave Herman came in the betting favorite over Stefan Struve. Brent picked Herman to win by TKO in the first round, while John said Struve would win by submission in the second. The best summation of the fight was that if it ended in the first round, Herman would likely be declared the winner, if it ended in the second or third Struve would, and if it went to a decision, it was going to be one marred in controversy.

The main event provided much less debate as both predicted Ellenberger to win by unanimous decision. It is hard to look past what Ellenberger did to Shields and Sanchez seems like an easier target than Shields did.

After the breakdown of UFC on Fuel the big topic that came about from last week was Nick Diaz’s failed drug test. He tested positive for marijuana and we both agreed on one thing. Regardless of your stance on the drug, it is against the rules to test positive for it and thus he broke the rule. It was argued a bit about how severe of a punishment Diaz will be given, being that this is his second infraction.

To listen to the show, use the player below.

UFC on Fuel TV 1 Poster

UFC on FUEL TV is set with an explosive main event as welterweights Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez are set to collide. A wrestler who has recently been showing off his hands, Ellenberger is a man on a mission, working for a UFC title shot. He is up against a tough, gritty veteran in Diego Sanchez, who is back to a healthy, party-less lifestyle leading up to the bout.

With a stunning first-round knockout of former top-contender Jake Shields, Ellenberger opened a spot for himself an the top of the welterweight division. It was his fifth straight win in the UFC, and the highest profile fight to date. At 26 years old, the sky is the limit for “The Juggernaut”. Known as a wrestler, Ellenberger has actually ended 22 of his 26 victories by way of knockout or submission. He is in for a tough fight against a durable Sanchez. If Ellenberger can impressively defeat Sanchez, he is sure to be on the cusp of a title shot.

Sanchez is a true UFC veteran. He bust onto the scene after The Ultimate Fighter Season 1, fighting in multiple divisions and racking up 12 UFC wins. Sanchez recently topped Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann by way of decision. He has admitted to being too involved with a party-first lifestyle, and for the past couple years has been fighting sub-par to his full potential. He believes that with a combination of dedicated months of training and an aggressive opponent, this will be his finest showing.

It seems that Sanchez will look to stand and turn this into a striking match. Sanchez’s grappling is at a high level, but he usually presses forward with a boxing approach. I could see Ellenberger standing and seeing what he can accomplish on the feet as well. Ellenberger is the better wrestler, and I believe that if he wants to grind out a decision with take-downs and submission defense, he can. Based on Sanchez’s last few showings, I can see him hanging tough with Ellenberger, but I’m not convinced that he will find a TKO victory. While I expect Sanchez to strike, his best chance to win this fight may be by submission.

With Ellenberger holding the choice of deciding where this fight takes place, I will predict the fight in his favor. I believe that Ellenberger will win via Unanimous Decision.

Dave Herman – photo by MMA Junkie

Heavyweights will collide in the co-main event for UFC on Fuel TV 1 as Dave Herman takes on Stefan Struve. The night of action takes place on Wednesday, February 15th at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska and will be headlined in a welterweight fight between Diego Sanchez and Jake Ellenberger.

Struve is the tallest UFC fighter on the roster standing at 6’11” and he has used his reach advantage in several of his fights. At just 23 years old, Struve is still very new to the sport, but has shown maturity and growth in his nine UFC fights.

Struve has had an up and down career inside the octagon starting his UFC career with a knockout loss to Junior Dos Santos. He rebounded with three straight victories; submitting Denis Stojnic and Chase Gormley while earning a unanimous decision against Paul Buentello.

He then suffered a first round knockout loss to Roy Nelson, before rebounding again with back-to-back victories over Christian Morecraft and Sean McCorkle. He finished both fighters, splitting the difference with a knockout over Morecraft and submitting McCorkle.

In his last two fights, Struve lost to Travis Browne by TKO in the first round, while submitting Pat Barry in the second round. If there’s one thing that his record shows, Struve is susceptible to heavy handed fighters.

Herman meanwhile is only fighting his second UFC fight of his career, though he has nearly as many fights as Struve. Herman has fought in several big promotions prior to his UFC debut with fights in Sengoku and Bellator.

In his UFC debut Herman had a back-and-forth battle with John Olav-Einemo that was one of the most fun fights to watch at UFC 131. The fight started out with a frantic pace, almost one of a lightweight, but both fighters quickly slowed. When the gas tanks were spent, it was all either fighter could do to compile more than one punch.

Herman kept at it however and in the second round he was able to best Olav-Einemo earning him the TKO victory and the fight of the night bonus.

The fight has some intriguing details to consider when predicting a winner. Herman has won over 70% of his fights by TKO, while Struve has won the majority of his fights by submission. But this stat is a little misleading as Struve has long limbs that excel at wrapping up an opponent into submission after he has been hurt by a punch and his opponent gets sloppy.

The big issue however is Struve’s chin. Of his five losses, four have come by (technical) knockout. Herman has shown his knockout power in not only his UFC fight, but fights outside the organization.

For Struve, he needs to be able to weather the storm that Herman will likely bring as Herman has shown his gas tank can empty quickly. A likely scenario is that if the fight ends in the first half of the fight Herman’s hand is being raised, and if it ends later than that, Struve will likely be the victor.

Being that this is the first fight for Fuel TV and fighters are always wanting to make statements for new shows, I am expecting fireworks in this heavyweight clash. For that reason, I am predicting Herman to win by TKO late in the first round.

An intriguing middleweight fight is set for the debut offering of UFC on Fuel TV. Aaron Simpson will take on Ronny Markes at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska. The event takes place on Wednesday, February 15th.

Markes made his UFC debut at UFC on Versus 5 against Karlos Vemola when he stepped in for an injured Stephan Bonnar. Markes applied constant pressure to Vemola through out the fight, seemingly taking him down at will.

The only downside was that Markes didn’t have much of answer for what to do next. Vemola tried to escape and did at times, forcing Markes to clinch and take the fight to the ground time after time. The fight was a unanimous decision for for Markes, but not an impressive one.

After the fight, Markes stated that he would be dropping down to the middleweight division for the duration of his UFC career.

Simpson is riding a three-fight win streak into the fight with victories over Eric Schafer, Brad Tavares, and Mario Miranda. Prior to the win streak, Simpson suffered back-to-back losses to Mark Munoz and Chris Leben.

Simpson entered the UFC in early 2009 and showed that his wrestling ability is extremely dangerous and to look out for it. He used it to earn a come-from-behind victory over Tom Lawlor to earn the Fight of the Night bonus.

What makes this fight so intriguing is that Markes has shown he likes to take people down and hold them there, but Simpson posses the wrestling knowledge and skills to avoid the takedowns. The adage of wrestlers dictate where the fight ends up, likely will apply here, but will most likely mean that the two stand and throw leather instead of take the other down. Much like Tyson Griffin versus Sean Sherk, this could become an exciting slug-fest for that reason.

While I don’t think all the action will take place standing, I am expecting one fighter to be successful with his takedowns. I am looking for Simpson to generate enough damage on the feet to be able to take Markes down and grind out a decision.

Philip De Fries – photo by Josh Hedges/UFC/Zuffa

Two heavyweights who are looking to earn their second UFC victory will do battle at UFC on Fuel TV 1. Philip De Fries and Stipe Miocic is set to be part of the televised portion of the event that takes place on Wednesday, February 15 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.

Miocic has been dubbed a “Little Cro Cop” due to the style of fight shorts he wears. It also helps that of his seven victories, five have come by way of knockout and his one submission was due to leg kicks he delivered.

In his UFC debut Miocic took on Joey Beltran at UFC 136 in a back-and-forth striking battle. The three-round fight was close to call round by round, but Miocic was able to do enough to earn the victory.

De Fries made his debut at UFC 138 against Rob Broughton. Like Miocic, De Fries earned a unanimous decision in his debut. However unlike Miocic, the rest of his victories have come by way of submission.

De Fries trains out of Alliance with the likes of Dominick Cruz, Phil Davis, and Brandon Vera.

Both fighters are undefeated heading into the fight, and one will likely walk away with a loss on their hands. The question that needs to be answered is can De Fries take Miocic down before Miocic lands a heavy strike?

I think that he can and will. In what I am expecting to be a surprise, I am expecting De Fries to almost bullrush Miocic and score a quick takedown. When Miocic is trying to escape, I think he will leave an opening and De Fries will earn the submission victory in the first round.