UFC 172 rocked the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland with an evening of bombastic MMA. The preliminary bouts were televised on Fox Sports 1 network while the main card was on Pay-Per-View. The results were as follows:
The PPV opened with a featherweight bout between young guns Max Holloway (8-3) and Andre “Touchy” Fili (13-1) scheduled for three rounds. Holloway, hailing from Hawaii, came out looking to counter as Fili, out of Sacramento, was ultra-aggressive. Both men had their moments in the opening round. The Sacramento native’s striking seemed better as Fili effectively landed punches in bunches. Holloway was patient and landed some counters but “Touchy” had the advantage. Holloway came out in the second looking to up his aggression. The Hawaiian began to land legs and knee strikes with ferocious intentions. Fili appeared to be hurt and began to back off. Holloway continued to be the bully: he pressed forward, keeping a lot of pressure on the young man from Sacramento. Fili was able to take Holloway down with less than 90 seconds in the round but the fighters were brought to their feet after slow action on the mat. The fight seemed to be on the line as the final round opened. Both combatants landed some shots and Fili managed to get a takedown but was not able to hold the Hawaiian down. With less than 90 seconds left, Holloway landed a great combination and was able to secure a guillotine on the ground, leading to Fili to tap out.
Lightweights Jim Miller (23-4-1), from New Jersey, and Yancy Medeiros (9-1-1), from Hawaii, met next in a three round fight. Miller, a southpaw, was seeking the inside while Medeiros used his reached and struck with his legs from the outside. The Hawaiian was in control until Miller landed a hard shot to the body which hurt Medeiros. Miller grabbed his opponent by the neck and took Medeiros hard to the ground putting him in a guillotine. The hard Hawaiian refused to tap out but was fading fast which prompted the referee to stop the bout awarding Miller a submission win. It was a good win for the veteran.
Luke Rockhold (11-2) and Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch (17-6) met in a three round middleweight bout. Rockhold, the former Strike Force middleweight champion, came out measuring Boetsch. "The Barbarian" shot in, looking to take Rockhold down but Rockhold managed to turn things to his favor, and locked Boetsch up in a triangle which led to a submission via a Kamura. Thus, Rockhold continues his climb towards a title fight.
The night continued with the co-main event of the night as light heavyweight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson (16-4) looked to take out Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis (12-1-1) in three prizefight. Davis, a skilled wrestler, circled away from Johnson’s lethal right bomb, early. Rumble kept his fists locked and loaded, looking to land something big. Johnson found a home for his right uppercut early but Davis was able to take the shot. Davis kept moving but "Rumble" caught "Mr. Wonderful" with another upper cut which hurt Davis. Johnson landed several more shots and opened up a cut over Davis's left eye. "Mr. Wonderful" kept moving away but Johnson was relentless. Davis managed to get out of the round but it was clearly a Johnson round. "Rumble" kept stalking Davis in the second looking to end it with a big shot. Davis had no choice but to trade in spots but he looked tentative. With less than two minutes left in the second, Davis began to engage Johnson and managed to land kicks and punches but Johnson countered with hard shots. Davis went for a takedown but Johnson defended well. Johnson continued to successfully strike at Davis and was in control. "Rumble" also defended every takedown attempt from Davis. Johnson's counter shots were accurate and kept Davis tentative. Davis was finally able to take Johnson to the mat with less than 15 seconds left but it was too late. All three judges scored the bout 30-27 awarding Anthony Johnson a unanimous decision.
The final PPV televised bout of the night was the light heavyweight title tilt between defending champion Jon "Bones" Jones (19-1, 13-1 UFC) and Brazilian challenger Glover Teixeira (22-2, 5-0 UFC). The match was scheduled for five rounds. Jones started the contest by landing kicks to the body while Teixeira swung punches to the head. Teixeira initially had issues with distance but he was able to land some hard punch on Jones's face. "Bones" moved around and was able to land his own shots, including stiff jabs to the face of the title challenger and seemed to eek out the first heat. Jones established his distance in the second and continually switched his guard between orthodox and southpaw. "Bones" also kept landing jabs, kicks and elbows. Jones was working exclusively with his left hand, making one wonder if his right appendage was injured. Still, "Bones" was in control at the end of the second stanza. Jones kept landing his shots in the third but was not able to establish his takedown game as he wanted. "Bone's" right-hand shots were still suspiciously missing in the first half of the round. Jones's elbows really started to damage the Brazilian’s face as blood ran down Teixeira’s face out of a large cut over the right eye. "Bones's" striking took over in the final 20 seconds of the round. The forth continued the pattern of the bout: Jones struck at will and Teixeira was trying to land the one punch that will change the fight in his favor. "Bones" controlled the distance gracefully and picked his spots to land perfectly placed strikes. He closed the round strong by landing hard shots. The fifth was a microcosm of the match: Jones controlled the distance, landed strikes at will and punished the Brazilian. Teixeira landed some bombs but Jones never relinquished control. "Bones" recorded the seven defense of his title via a unanimous decision. It will be interesting to see if Jones will give Alexander Gustafsson a rematch soon.
Sergio L. Martinez
www.convictedartist.com
