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Instead of doing a write up of each fight after it happens for the major events, I decided to just do a live blog with round by round updates and make it an open thread. So join us for UFC 120 today. The show starts at 3 p.m. ET so make sure you're here for the results.
Because of the fact that the show is being aired via tape delay here in the U.S. I'll post everything after the jump. If you don't want to see anything until the fights air on Spike, DON'T CLICK INTO THIS POST. But if you can't help yourself or if you just want to follow along as the fights actually happen, please feel free to join us. We'll have the fights up as they happen on Spike though. The night's lineup looks like this:
Michael Bisping vs Yoshihiro Akiyama
Dan Hardy vs Carlos Condit
John Hathaway vs Mike Pyle
Cheick Kongo vs Travis Browne
James Wilks vs Claude Patrick
Well the UFC decided that the Wilks-Patrick fight wasn't good enough for the re-air on Spike. So I don't have a write up for the Diabate-Gustafsson fight. Needless to say, Gustafsson put in a dominant performance before choking him out with a rear naked choke. On to the fights that did make the air.
Round 1
Kongo gets a lot of love from the crowd in the intros. Out they come and it's Browne with a quick one two. He's throwing big power shots early. Kongo easily avoids. Browne's got his hands down and he's doing a lot of bouncing around. Kongo lands a big inside leg kick and then an outside leg kick. Browne pushes in again but again, Kongo easily gets away. He lands a body kick and goes for a head kick but misses big again. Browne is just throwing crazy and Kongo sees it coming every time. Kongo looking to counter as Browne comes in. He's being patient and staying away from Browne's power. Another leg kick from Kongo. Now it's Kongo as the aggressor but he gets cut with a big left. Browne comes in strong and hurts him again but they clinch and Kongo reverses him. They reset and Kongo looks a little off. Again they exchange and Browne has a Thai Plum. After a few knees they separate. Kongo's not moving nearly as well after those big shots. Browne lands a nice body shot. Browne's plan seems to be jump in with big overhand shots and hope to land one. He's not quite getting there but Kongo hasn't been able to make him pay for it. The round closes and it has to be a surprising one that goes to Travis. 10-9 Browne.
Round 2
They're both patient to start the second round. Exchanging kicks now. Kongo takes the center and lands a couple good punches. Browne looks slower in this round and Kongo looks like he has his legs back under him. Uh-oh. Kongo lands a knee straight to the jewels. Browne taking a minute to recover. Browne might have worn himself out in that first round. Kongo counters well this time with Browne rushing in. Looks like Cheick might have his timing down. Kongo pushes him against the cage and lands aknee and gets thrown down by Browne. Kongo lands a shot and starts pouring it on. Browne clinches up to avoid getting hit and they're back against the cage. Kongo repeatedly landing knees on Browne's legs. He's trying to escape but Kongo is holding him there. The ref steps in and they seperate. Browne goes to the body but misses. He's throwing wild shots again and missing badly. Another clinch from Browne but he gets reversed against the cage. Kongo going back to the knees. The ref resets them again and after a short exchange, they clinch again. Browne gets a takedown right before the round ends but it shouldn't matter. Fight should be even heading into the final frame. 10-9 Kongo.
Round 3
Kongo opens with another kick and Browne immediately grabs him up. Browne is complaining to the ref that Kongo is holding his shorts. The ref takes a point away from Kongo now for excessively grabbing the shorts. That's a huge point in a close fight like this. Goddard, the ref, warned him plenty. Kongo looks really aggressive now. He knows he needs to do something big here. He comes with punches but doesn't land anything and he's clinched back up with him. They separate and Kongo has about 3 minutes to win this fight. Kongo is pushing forward and Browne is tired. He's not even looking for the counter, he's just backing up. Yet another clinch and Kongo is holding the shorts again. I don't know why he's clinching here. He's not going to win the fight like this. He's winning the round but with the point deduction this could be a draw. They separate again by way of the ref. Kongo lands a shot and he has Browne trapped up against the cage. He starts pouring it on but doesn't land anything of significance. Browne tries to answer but can't do so. Both of these guys are gassed with under a minute to go in the fight. Browne comes in and lands a hard right hand. Once again they clinch and Browne gets a takedown and ends the fight on top. That should seal the deal for him. 10-8 Browne
Travis Browne and Cheick Kongo fight to a draw. All scores are 28-28.
Round 1
Both guys pawing. Pyle throws a leg kick and lands well. He ducks in and Hathaway makes him pay for it. Crowd is heavily in the corner of Hathaway. Pyle looks for the takedown and gets it but he lands against the fence. Hathaway tries to wall walk but Pyle is fighting to keep him down. Hathaway manages to get to his feet and now Pyle is on the bottom and holding on for dear life. Pyle gets back up and they reset. Nice back and forth battle in the first two minutes. Pyle shoots in again but nice takedown defense there from Hathaway. Hathaway lands a short jab and an uppercut right after it. Oh, Pyle lands on Hathaway with an overhand left but he seems to be okay. Hathaway is throwing a lot of short left hooks and Pyle is actually winning the exchanges so far. Into the final minute and Pyle is still landing just enough to be winning the round. He's doing a great job changing levels and gets another takedown with ten seconds left. He ends the round on top and he's up 1-0. 10-9 Pyle
Round 2
Hathaway opens the second with a combination that doesn't come anywhere close to landing. He's pushing the pace though and maintaining the center of the cage. Pyle ducks underneath and looks for a trip takedown but Hathaway uses great leverage to stay upright. Nice overhand right lands for Pyle after they reset. Clinched back up against the cage and Hathaway lands a short right elbow as they separate. Pyle still looking for the takedown ducking under a shot by Hathaway but can't get it. Lands a few knees and backs off. Once again he looks for it and Hathaway avoids until Pyle gets a big throw. He's in side control now and looking to step over. He's got him in a mounted triangle and Hathaway is trapped completely with a full two minutes left in the round. Pyle is landing shots that Hathaway can't defend. He's tightening the choke and Hathaway is trying to get out but can't do it. Both of his arms are trapped but he won't tap. Pyle has landed a ton of shots but the ref isn't acting at all like he's going to stop it. I don't understand this. Down under thirty seconds in the round and Pyle is still going. I don't know how that fight didn't get stopped but Hathaway survives to go to round three. Dominant round for Pyle though. 10-9 Pyle
Round 3
Five minutes for Hathaway to keep the hype train rolling. He throws a combination followed by a body kick and shoots in for a takedown. Pyle easily shrugs him off. Hathaway lands a nice overhand right and clinches up right after. After some reversing, Pyle grabs a single leg and gets another takedown. Hathaway wall walks back up but Pyle stays with it and gets another takedown. Hathaway is getting dominated in this fight. Pyle has sounded outwrestled him. He gets into Hathaway's closed guard and it's time for John to get busy or die trying. Pyle passes to half guard and with two minutes to go he's well on his way to victory. Pyle had an arm triangle but let it go. Hathaway doing his best to scoot his hips and get out from underneath but Pyle is too much of a veteran to let it happen. A minute to go and Pyle is landing punches and elbows clean to the face. They scramble on the ground to end the fight and it's a clean sweep and incredible performance by from the Xtreme Couture product. 10-9 Pyle
Mike Pyle def. John Hathaway via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Round 1
Out they come and the crowd is really pumped for this one. A Hardy chant breaks out immediately. Condit opens with a couple of kicks, one to the leg and one to the head. Hardy being patient in the early going here. Lands a nice left hook. He's answering with some leg kicks of his own. Also throws a head kick. Not even a hint of a takedown attempt from Condit so far. He's smiling as Condit throws a combination. So far so good for Carlos. He's landed the more meaningful shots and he's been a lot more busy. Front kick from Hardy just misses. Condit tags him with a short right and a hard left hook right after. Catches a kick and almost kicks the other leg out. Hardy lands a left hook. Hardy might be finding his range after landing a nice counter shot. Crowd chanting for Hardy again. He lands another left hook timed perfectly off the kick from Condit. OHHHH..Carlos Condit lands a HUGE SHOT and Hardy goes down. He was out for a second and woke up after hitting the ground. Condit came down with a couple shots and put him away. Out cold. WOW. They both threw a left hook at the same time and Condit's landed faster and harder. Huge win for the Natural Born Killer.
Carlos Condit def. Dan Hardy via KO at 4:27 of round 1.
Joe Rogan interviews Brock Lesnar. He says he had a great camp and was happy with everyone he brought in and he's looking forward to next Saturday. Says Cain is very well rounded but he's trained to nullify him everywhere. Rogan asks about the Carwin fight and Lesnar says he thinks it showed that he can take an ass whooping and still come back to win the fight. It was an exciting fight for him. Rogan asks him how much improvement he sees on a daily basis. Lesnar says he grows quite a bit every day and each and every fight he keeps getting better and better and they haven't even scratched the surface yet. That's how the interview ends and that's a scary thought if he still hasn't even scratched the surface.
Michael Bisping vs Yoshihiro Akiyama
Round 1
Touch of the gloves and here we go. They both come out flat footed and Akiyama lands a big right hook with the first punch of the fight. Akiyama doesn't pour it on much and Bisping looks to be okay. Rogan makes note of the fact that Bisping is making the same mistakes he made in the Henderson fight. He's circling into the power hand of Sexyama. Bisping shoots for a takedown and lands a nice shot after. He works for another takedown and lands it but Akiyama is right back up. Bisping looks to have hit Akiyama in the nuts but the ref screams for them to continue. Bisping tried to take advantage but can't. Akiyama just misses with a right hook. Bisping misses a head kick. He lands a right hand now and he's pumping the jab. Yoshihiro has his hands down and eats a left straight. Bisping changes levels and shoots in but can't get the takedown. Akiyama tries a spinning backfist and misses. Bisping smiles and shakes his hand. Since the initial shot that rocked Bisping, he's been winning this fight. He hits a flying knee and a short punch to end it. Close but I'll go with the Brit. 10-9 Bisping
Round 2
Akiyama starts round two by pawing with the jab. Throws another big right and lands but not as strong as the first round. Bisping kicks and gets it caught but gets away. They are exchanging big and Akiyama is getting the better of it. Bisping gets poked in the eye and they stop for a few seconds but they quickly get right back to it. Akiyama lands a body shot now. Easily shakes off a head kick but eats a combination right after. Bisping using high volume to control this fight. Akiyama knows the right hand is there, he's just looking for the right opening to throw it. He ducks under for a takedown and gets stuffed by comes in with punches immediately after. There's another right hand from Akiyama. Nice little trip attempt from Akiyama but Bisping gets away. Now it's Bisping landing a right hand. Akiyama isn't moving much. He's standing right in the pocket and letting Bisping get his punches off. Oh, now Bisping tries a spinning back fist of his own. Of course, he missed horribly. Looked good, though. Bisping is doing exactly what he needed to do to win. He's outpointing him. Boom, just as I say that, Akiyama lands a big right. He thinks he can head hunt and knock him out. Bisping is going non-stop with his kicks and punches though. Akiyama lands another big right near the end of the round and yet another. A couple of big shots as the round ends but I still think it goes the other way. 10-9 Bisping
Round 3
Bisping egging the crowd on to start the third. Akiyama needs to really put the pressure on here. He opens with a really big right hand and it's clear what he's trying to do. If Bisping can't see it then he's blind. All he has to do is jab-jab-avoid. Oh, Bisping rocks him with a head kick. Akiyama stays in and eats another one. A big right hand from Bisping and holy shit, Akiyama has a hell of a chin. He's eating these shots and somehow staying upright. He's clearly wobbled though. Three and a half minutes left and it's all Bisping in this round. Inside leg kick lands clean to the nuts and that sounded horrible. That thud was NASTY. Akiyama is going to take as much time as they will let him. He looks hurt badly and the doctor comes out to check on him. Akiyama is acting like he can't even get up from it. The crowd is booing and I don't understand why. Akiyama went over and hugged Bisping after he got up but he's still taking as much time as they will let him. Remember, he was rocked before the nutshot. He's good to go and we're back underway. Bisping jabs and Akiyama head hunts again. He throws a body kick and almost falls but stays up. Catches a leg and tries to kick Bisping down but can't do it. Akiyama is really putting the pressure on now. He lands a nice jab and has Bisping heavily backing up. Akiyama is very tired. He jumped in with a jab and almost fell down. Bisping is fresh and looking to pour it on. Another nice right hand from Bisping and if he gets to the scorecards, he should take a decision. One minute to go and Bisping is still just bringing the heat here. Akiyama was never quite able to get off with his timing. Probably didn't come in with the best gameplan just looking to land that big overhand right. They brawl up to the end but it should be a clean sweep for the Brit and finally the crowd can be happy. 10-9 Bisping
Michael Bisping def. Yoshihiro Akiyama via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)