Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

They go straight to the hype for Rampage and Jardine and it looks like an exciting fight on paper albeit a one sided one.

Jim Miller (13-1) vs. Gray Maynard (7-0) - Lightweight

Round One: Gray catches Miller with a jab to start the match. The fists fly but no one connects. Gray gets a jab and Gray gets a leg kick before Miller takes the fight to the clinch. Both guys throw some knees before the clinch is broken. Gray gets a one two combination to the gut. Gray dodges and then unloads with a fast flurry but Miller takes it and replies with a kick go the body. Miller goes for a single leg but Gray does an amazing job of staying on his feet and unloading. Gray tries to throw a knee but he's powered accross the ring. They get stuck against the cage but Miller just can't get Gray down and Miller's nose is bleeding heavily. Miller misses a combo but hits a kick, Miller gets a jab. Miller goes for a knee but Gray easily dodges. Gray dodges an uppercut and lands a jab. Gray catches Miller coming in with a big straight right hand. Solid round.

My Scorecard: 10-9 to Gray, he was much more precise with his punches, hits some big shots and did a superb job of takedown defence. Miller did get a nice kick to the gut.

Round Two: Gray looks more aggresive and snaps off a nice jab. Manyard is looking for the straight right hand but there's not alot going on and the crowd boo. Miller gets a leg kick and a straight right hand. Miller then gets a good inside leg kick. Gray gets another straight hand, Gray then hits a flurry of gut punches. Miller gets an inside leg kick but misses a high kick. Gray tags Miller with some big rights against the cage. Gray gets another straight right hand and Miller goes for a takedown but Gray turns guard and lets him up. Miller misses a big kick and hits a right hand. Not much action going on here. Gray suddenly unloads with a flurry and then follows up with a straigh right hand. Miller misses the superman punch and he tries to unload but Gray dodges all of his punches.

My Scorecard: 10-9 to much closer this round but Gray is hitting nicer combos and Miller's face is an utter mess. Miller gets some good leg kicks but can't really hurt Gray.

Round Three: Miller tees off with some jabs but Gray returns with a flurry. Miller gets a leg kick the crowd aren't happy about the standing around. Gray gets a straight right hand, they mix it up and Miller throws a body kick. Miller misses the superman punch. Gray avoids another takedown but Gray blocks and Manyard gets a big takedown but Miller gets the leg but Gray does an awesome job of wriggling out to his feet that was close. Miller lands a right hand before another failed takedown attempt. Gray completely controls Miller. Miller tries with everything he's got but can't get anywhere. Gray hits some big shots and is in total control. Miller comes at Gray but can't connect and walks into a straight right.

My Scorecard: 30-27 to Gray, Miller tried really hard but was out classed in virtually every department appart from leg kicks.

Judges Decision: Gray Manyard wins by Unamious Judges Decision 30-27.

This fight had some good moments but never quite clicked, too much standing around and from the first round it was very clear that Gray Maynard that was a vastly superior fighter. (D-)

Mark Munoz (5-0) vs. Matt Hamill (7-2) - Light Heavyweight

Round One: Hamill goes for a takedown but it doesn't come off and both men swing, Munoz gets a single leg but still can't get Hamill down. Hamill gets a leg kick but Munoz comes in with some over head rights and a gut punch. Munoz gets a uppercut and round house punch. Hamill tees off with a series of straight right hands. Hamill gets a leg kick and a pair of straight rights. Hamill covers up well but can't avoid the hooks. Hamill gets a good staight right. Munoz gets a wild right and Hamill avoids two takedown attempts. Hamill gets a SICK head kick out of fucking no where knocking Munoz out cold and the home town crowd erupt! Matt "The Hammer" Hamill wins by Knock Out.

What a finish! The fight looked to be warming up to be a good one when out of nowhere Hamill nailed the monster kick from hell, who on earth could have seen that coming. Hamill's post match enthusiasm is infectious. He cuts a nice promo after the match. That is the kind of knock out that you just don't get anywhere else. (C)

We then go to Mike Goldberg with Frank Mir, apparently his leg has popped up and broke. Mir is very clear and concise, he talks about how he doesn't want to have any excuses, so there pushing the fight back a couple of weeks. Mir is doing a great job of being a classy guy. We then go to Rashad Evans promo, his fight has been pushed up to this weekend, his next opponent will be dependent on tonights fight. We then see Brock and Sable in the crowd.

Matt Brown (11-7) vs. Pete Sell (8-5)

Round One: Matt goes straight out missings some big kicks Brown lands a superman punch, a huge kick to the head and then unloads with a flurry putting Sell on his arse, the ref breaks it up but changes his mind and says go. Matt unloads with a flurry of straight right hands and knees Brown has him down but the referee won't stop it. Sell gets to his feet and Brown unloads on Sell a big elbow knocks the mouth guard, Sell is really struggling. Matt lands a straight right, looks at the referee, nothing, Matt hits a kick to the head, the ref still won't stop it, Sell falls over of his own accord, the referee still won't end and Brown throws two big grounded punches and the referee finally stops it. Matt Brown wins by TKO in 1:42.

That fight was mad fun, Brown just came out to kill Sell and never let up, the refereeing was awful this fight needed to be stopped much sooner than it was. Brown came across as a really classy guy. Exciting TKO. (C)

Pre Lim: Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day - Middleweight

Round One: Grove goes for a big kick but Day goes in tight but nothing comes of it, Kendall gets a kick to the gut but Day comes in again but doesn't land anything big. Grove gets a kick to the leg. Day comes in tight and swings for the fences and you can see that Grove doesn't like that. Grove shakes it off and hits a killer straight right hand that knocks Day clean out and Grove unloads until the referee calls for a stoppage. Kendall Grove wins with by TKO in 1:32.

Well it looked like Day knew the trick to defeating Grove but the ex ultimate fighter winner came out of nowhere with the dramatic knock out and as Grove put it he's "fucking back". He did a cool dance after the fight. Short but dramatic. (D+)

Keith Carwin (10-0) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) - Heavyweight

Round One: This should be good these are two of the heaviest hitters in MMA. Carwin swings away but Gonzage dodges easily. Gonzaga absolutely rocks Carwin with two big right hooks. Gonzaga gets the takedown and begins to pound and attempts to pass but Carwin gets to his feet. Gonzaga misses an overhand right and Carwin gets a jab an a short straight right hand knocking out Gonzaga on the spot and ending the fight. Keith Carwin wins by Knock Out in 1:09.

Wow that was short but insanely good, what made this fight so exciting was that Gonzaga looked to have the fight won before Carwin came back with the shock knock out. I'd be worried if I were Brock Lesnar this is the best the Heavweight Division has looked in a long time. Great fun. (C)

Pre Lim: Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan - Welterweight

Round One: McCory walks straight into a kick but gets a takedown immediately and geos to the ground and pound but Madigan has an impressive guard. McCory passes Ryan's guard and gets side control Tamdam hits two monsterous strikes to the head but Ryan takes them and regains full guard. Tamdan passes the guard into side control and gets the full mount and rains down some big blows. Tamdan goes for the triangle but Ryan escape Tamdan puts himself in a leg lock? But Ryan doesn't know what he's doing and lets Tamdan escape back into a full mount and he pounds the TKO out with elbow strikes busting Ryan wide open. Tamdan McCory wins by TKO in 3:35.

Tamdan is a major deuche bag, but he's pretty funny on promos, I'd love to see this guy get knocked out. Ryan wasn't in Tamdan's league, Tamdan talked about not having the music he wanted. (D)

Main Event
Rampage Jackson (29-7) vs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1) - Light Heavyweight

Round One: Jardine tweaks his nipple before the fight. Jardine swings but Rampage gets the clinch and lays in some knees to the inside leg. The crowd boo as they clinch against the cage and the referee seperates them. Jardine tries some big swings and Rampage has to cover up. Jardine gets a leg kick, Jardine gets a left hand right leg kick combo. Rampage gets a good jab but Jardine gets another leg kick this time to the inside of the leg. Jardine nails a couple or right hands. Jardine geos for the takedown btu both men get stuck against the cage and the crow aren't happy. The seperate, Rampage dodges a leg kick but eats an over hand right, Jardine gets another leg kick, Rampage goes for a jab combo and Jardine hits some jabs but he catches Jardine's boot but can't finish. Rampage hits an uppercut and unloads with a big flurry but Jardine manages to avoid most of it and Rampage even hits a kick. Jardine survives and hits some punches and a straight kick. Jardine hits a knee to the gut and Rampage comes after Jardine with a flurry.

My Scorecard: 10-9 Jardine, Rampage had a couple of big flurries but Jardine controlled more of the round with good kicks, slow start to the round that picked up consistantly as it went along.

Round Two: Jardine gets a leg kick, but Rampage gets a couple of jabs and Rampage hits a leg kick but Jardine replies with two of his own. Rampage comes swinging but doesn't connect, Jardine swings wildly but he doesn't connect either. Jardine has a big kick but Jardine scores with another leg kick. Jardine hits another nice leg kick but walks into a pair of hooks. Rampage comes out swinging wilding and the third hook catches Jardine hard and knocks the hell out of him. Rampage unloads and pounds Jardine hard again and again against the cage but he manages to recover and gets to his feet. Rampage gets a takedown out of nowhere and they seperate. Jardine looks sloppy throwing hands and hits a low blow a brutal one. Rampage is caught with an uppercut and Rampage is shaken and Jardine unloads with some big shots but Rampage comes back with some big hooks of his own, wow. Rampage hits a left hook and Jardine hits a kick to the gut. Both men swing for the fences and Rampage connects with at least three strong strikes as the buzzer goes.

My Scorecard: That round goes 10-9 Rampage very close round with both men rocking each other but Rampage was more aggresive and landed bigger shots including a knock down and a takedown.

Round Three: Jardine comes out with a font kick and Rampage comes out swinging. The crowd chant for Rampage as both men trade blows. Jardine looks loses but Rampage gets a leg kick. Jardine gets a straight right and Rampage gets a takedown but Jardine works to his feet and they go to the clinch. Jardine dodges an uppercut and they seperate. Jardine gets a pair of leg kicks, and eats a jab to connect with a third. Jardine gets another leg kick and Jardine gets a big uppercut, Jardine gets a kick to the chest. Jackson unloads but nothing is sticking. Rampage hits a hook but eats a leg kick. Rampage unloads with a hook and they trade strikes. Jardine goes for a takedown but Rampage stuffed it and gets Jardine against the cage. They seperate. Rampage swings with the heavy hooks and lands three of them. Rampage lands four big hooks and dodges everything Jardine has. Great stuff. Jardine throws a straight right, Jackson dodges two big kicks and then unloads with two huge hooks taking Jardine down but there isn't enough time for Rampage to finish the buzzer sounds.

My Scorecard: 10-9 Rampage it was so close, Jardine had more control but Rampage got a takedown, a knockdown and came with some big hooks in the final half of the round. Jardine hit big leg kicks, this was very hard to call.

The Judges Scorecard: (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) Unanimous decision for Rampage Jackson.

Great fight, it had some lulls but this was two guys throwing big strikes, taking them and getting back up. What made this fight was so good was how back and forth it was and how it was so hard to call. The judge that had this fight 30-27 is a complete moron. (B)

Rampage and Evans then show down on the mic with Evans saying "you gonna get knocked the fuck out" and Rampage saying "I want my belt back", "sup nigger", Rampage then says he's gonna get knocked out, Evans then says "I'll give you the first shot mother fucker" and Rampage takes the mic and says "There's gonna be some more Black on Black crime motherfucker!!!!". The fight ended up being Machida so I take it and injury must have come up to change the fight. Can't wait till sunday and till we get to see Jackson-Evans.


Overall Thoughts: Really good show tonight with some dramatic knockouts and TKO's and the card was finished off with a dramatic three rounds of non stop striking and brawling. The post match trash talk was insane fun too. Considering there was no big title match this was a hell of a fun show. Good stuff all round. (8/10)