Beginning at 8 pm ET, live on the UFC Facebook page, we'll be treated to two, live streaming fights from UFC 128. Kurt Pellegrino will take on Gleison Tibau, and Ricardo Almeida will square off with Mike Pyle. Join us for live discussion and results as the fights begin.
Results after the jump!
Ricardo Almeida vs. Mike Pyle - Pyle def. Almeida by Unanimous Decision
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Gleison Tibau - Tibau def. Pellegrino by Split Decision
Doing something a little bit different tonight with the results post. Rather than my typical play-by-play, I'll be giving immediate thoughts as each round reaches it's end. My wife keeps telling me that trying "different things" out is a good thing. I'm not sure if this is what she meant...but guess we'll find out.
Tibau vs. Pellegrino:
In the opening frame of the fight, both men proved content to strike, but it wasn't long until Tibau clinched up and made Pellegrino carry his weight against the cage. At striking distance, neither man was landing anything significant, but the power advantage obviously belonged to Tibau, who looked much more crisp in his stand up than he did in previous outings. Pellegrino looked to fluster Tibau with flurries as he rushed in, as Tibau didn't look prepared to use lateral movement to avoid eating punches, and backed up straight. One take down was scored during the first round, with Tibau landing a big double leg, but Pellegrino shot right back up to his feet. I'd give the round to Tibau for controlling what was mostly an even first round.
Pellegrino stalked throughout the first minute of the first round, just about the time I realized that this was just me doing play by play again. Neither man has scored anything significant on the feet, nor has there been a lick of grappling two minutes into the round. Pellegrino rocked Tibau right at the three minute mark, dropping him momentarily. Pellegrino went for a take down, and began working ground and pound from the top position. With two minute left in the round, Tibau looked to have recovered, but wasn't defending punches well, nor was he close to escaping from bottom. With just under a minute left, Tibau got to his feet and looked to end the round on his feet. He looked completely recovered, but accomplished nothing once he was standing. Easily Pellegrino's round.
After a third round composed of nothing much more than sloppy kick boxing, Tibau landed a take down and passed to side control. I'd give an edge to Tibau in the stand up, having landed multiple hard left straights. Once they returned to the feet, Pellegrino looked for a take down of his own, but couldn't get it. Tibau answered with a take down of his own with less than a minute left, and began throwing shots to score points. Pellegrino stood and rolled for a kneebar with seconds left, but no luck. It looked like a solid victory for Tibau.
Ricardo Almeida vs. Mike Pyle:
Of course, my computer/internet hates me, so the facebook stream crashed. The fight was a close, technical affair, with Pyle edging rounds throughout. We'll see if there's a shit storm about judging after this, but I'm pleased that I picked Pyle to win by decision.