UFC 127 Aftermath

The second trip to Australia was a success with one of the fastest sell outs & a super enthusiastic crowd that absolutely loves the sport of MMA. The event did not go without controversy with a questionable decision, an illegal strike during an emotionally hyped bout, upsets, and even a draw that nobody expected in predictions.
Results:
Warburton receives Unanimous Decision Win over Jewtuszko
Hunt receives Rnd2 KO Win & Knock Out of the Night over Tuchscherer
Tie Quan receives Rnd1 Submission Win over Reinhardt
Perosh receives Rnd1 Submission Win over Blackledge
Ring receives Unanimous Decision Win over Fukuda
Gustafsson receives Rnd1 Submission Win over Te-Huna
Pearson receives Unanimous Decision Win over Fisher
Noke receives Rnd1 Submission Win & Submission of the Night over Camozzi
Ebersole receives Unanimous Decision Win over Lytle & both received Fight of the Night
Siver receives Unanimous Decision Win over Sotiropoulos
Bisping receives Rnd2 TKO Win over Rivera
Penn & Fitch go to a Majority Draw



Honorable mentions of the preliminary bouts must include the Knock Out of the Night performance from underdog Mark Hunt as he would land heavy well rounded fists that rocked Tuchscherer hard & tore his eye-lid almost stopping the bout, but was allowed to continue as the wrestler took down the former kickboxing champion & nearly submitted him. Rnd2 saw Tuchscherer trying to take it back to the ground as Hunt landed more powerful blows that ended with one uppercut that sent the wrestler immediately crippling down & twitching while still conscious. Hunt immediately knew it connected perfectly & walked away with no follow up. This Rnd2 KO gave Hunt his first promotional win, his first win since 2006, a $75k bonus, and breathing room as everybody expected this to be his last chance in the promotion.
A controversial decision from the prelims was also dealt as undefeated TUF11 standout Nick Ring met DEEP Middleweight champ Riki Fukuda. Ring looked to use leg kicks and minimal strikes in the bout, while Fukuda looked to land powerful fists & takedowns that looked to earn him the fight. Fukuda was the more dominant fighter on the feet in Rnd2 & Rnd3 as well as landing the only takedowns. Ring was given the Unanimous Decision win with all three judges scoring 29-28/29-28/29-28 in his favor. Fans in the stadium sounded off with boos as fans through twitter, including Dana White himself, all sounded off agreeing that Fukuda clearly deserved the win.

The first bout on the main card featured homeland icon Kyle Noke earn a Rnd1 Rear Naked Choke over Chris Camozzi less than two minutes into the bout as both started with tentative striking that soon turned into a brawl which led to Noke getting a take down and getting the win. The Submission win also earned him Submission of the Night honors which came with a $75k bonus.

The second bout saw UFC veteran Chris Lytle take on late replacement & new addition Brian Ebersole in what turned into an action packed three round battle between seasoned veterans. Rnd1 started with Ebersole demonstrating his unorthodox striking style and take some tough shots from Lytle. While going for a takedown Ebersole would be caught in an in-arm-guillotine which he bounced & twisted around repeatedly to escape to end up on top and land some brutal G&P that included slams from his shoulders. Rnd2 started similar with Lytle pushing hard with strikes until Ebersole would push him towards the cage to land a swinging high knee that nearly KOd Lytle as Ebersole looked to control the rest of the round. Rnd3 saw Lytle trying to push the pace strong, but was followed by more domination from Ebersole controlling the fight on the ground & leading to the end with a slamming elbow that opened a cut above his eye that bled quite a bit before the bell. The Unanimous Decision win came with all three judges giving in Ebersole's favor with 30-27/29-28/29-28 that helped earn both fighters Fight of the Night honors which also came with a $75k bonus for each of the two participants.

The mid way point of the card presented the homeland icon George Sotiropoulos face off against Russian-German former kickboxing champion Denis Siver. This bout saw action and had great reception from the Australian crowd as Siver was greeted with boos & Sotiropoulos was met with deafening chants & cheers. Rnd1 saw Sotiropoulos obliging Siver on the stand up while trying to get a takedown that was never achieved throughout the entire bout. About half way through Rnd1 Siver connected with one powerful punch that rocked Sotiropoulos so much that his feet just swept out from underneath him, and it was repeated again which drove fans to cheer as to motivate the Australian to survive as the round ended. Rnd2 was a little even with exchange, though Sotiropoulos decided to focus more on his own kickboxing that clipped Siver multiple times, while still searching for a takedown that still didn't come which could have given the round a Draw. Rnd3 was more Siver as he was more offensive with his strikes landing two of his perfect signature spinning-back kicks to the body and still avoiding the Australian's takedown. Siver would earn a Unanimous Decision being rewarded by all judges with scores of 29-28/30-28/30-27. Siver earns greater recognition derailing the momentum that Sotiropoulos came in with, as Sotiropoulos was handed his first defeat in the octagon which snapped a eaight fight win streak.

The co-main event of this event presented a hyped bout as British MMA star Michael Bisping took on hard hitting slugger Jorge Rivera. The bout was hyped after Rivera not only asked for this match up, but began a campaign of insulting web videos that poked fun at the Brit ranging from small humor making fun of Bisping's accent, comparing him to not so popular historical figures, & even making a cheap music video that really was for laughs. Rnd1 began with no touching of gloves as the two stood toe-to-toe as Rivera showed his goal was to land a solid right hand, until Bisping went for an easy takedown. Rivera quickly worked back up and taunted his opponent. Bisping obliged & met a right hand that soon prompted him to score another takedown. Rivera worked to get on both knees when Bisping then landed what clearly appeared to be an intentional "illegal" knee to the head as he was a "downed opponent" under the rules which immediately prompted the ref to jump in ordering Bisping away as doctors checked Rivera. Bisping in the mean time flipped off somebody through the cage. The doctors advised stopping the bout as Rivera was clearly dazed & the ref agreed, until Rivera made it to his feet & said he could continue, this also demanded that Bisping be deducted a point. The round continued with exchanges and another takedown from Bisping. The next round saw a strong start from Rivera, but then turned to Bisping backing the still rocked Rivera to the cage to finish the bout with strong shots that prompted the ref to call it. Bisping celebrated by yelling "apologize" & accusing Rivera of insulting his family, and then moved to taunt Rivera's team. Bisping won with a Rnd2 TKO.

The final bout serving as the main event was the eliminator bout between 2x champion B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch that would decide who would be the #1 contender to fight the possible winner of GSP vs Shields. This seems to have changed due to the result of the match. Rnd1 started with Penn pushing immediately to force Fitch to the cage as both would land strikes from there switching places until Penn secured a tremendous takedown and took the back. Fitch would reverse and then be forced off as the round ended on the feet. Rnd2 would be repeated the same way but going more evenly with action between the two as I saw it. Rnd3 was complete domination by Fitch as Penn's cardio would fail him after taking a strong right hand that set up Fitch to take him down and allow him to grind with no real attempt to finish the bout as usual to the end. While Penn surprised many with his offense in this bout, Fitch surprised nobody. The bout ended in a Unanimous Draw with a 29-28 in favor of Fitch, and two of the judges scoring 28-28/28-28 to make it a majority. When interviewed by Joe Rogan immediately after, Fitch was visibly disappointed and knew that this added to fan frustration in his style of never really looking to end a fight. When asked if he felt he deserved the title shot or a rematch with Penn, Fitch said it was up to the guys in the suits & the fans for that, as it was clearly visible that he was getting fed up with the promotion & the top brass continually turning him down from a title shot because of the way he fights. When Penn was interviewed, he admitted that he felt he had lost & was even planning on retiring if it had been had been so, but felt that since it was a draw, that he would gladly fight again in the UFC.

Though the event had its share of questions and controversy, overall it was a good event to present to the Australian crowd. An honorable mention must be made that the UFC held a charity auction to support victims of the recent floods in Australia, as well as James Te-Huna as he forfeited his whole fight purse to help victims of the recent earthquake in his home country of New Zealand as the UFC matched his donation.