Scott Smith should add the "Comeback Kid" as a 2nd nickname as he did the impossible by getting throttled by undefeated Cung Le for 3 rounds before delivering that patented "Hands Of Steel" KO blast. Cung Le had a break in his schedule of making movies and got his nose broken which may put that Hollywood career on hold even longer. Le came in with no ring rust landing an amalgam of kicks, a spinning back fist, and some hammer fist G&P for 3 solid rounds of Smith bashing. Beating a guy for 3 rounds can take its toll and Le began to slow when Smith threw the bomb that dropped Cung who fought valiantly, but was overcome by Scott. A very impressive win for never say die Scott who adds Cung to the list of near death comebacks along with Pete Sell and Benji Radach. Smith puts himself right back into the Middleweight mix and isn't it funny that he called out Le so long ago wanting the title shot, and if Cung would have granted it an unlikely fighter would be the Champion. Cung will take this in stride knowing his stock is still high and only has 1 loss in 24 MMA fights (including San Shou). Frank Shamrock is really going to want that rematch now.
Gilbert Melendez had to recover from a bad 1st round in his rematch with Josh Tompson but then ran off 4 straight impressive round wins regaining that lost Lightweight title. Both men put on an entertaining "fight of the year" style bout but Gil found his rythm in the 2nd when he repeatedly dropped the "Punk" but could not put him away. The rubber match is a ways down the line with "El Nino" hoping to get Shinya Aoki and his "WAMMA" Lightweight title as well (the DREAM Lightweight title would not be on the line). Josh wants to fight early and often like his AKA brother Josh Koscheck so we may see him again in January.
Ronaldo Souza ran a clinic on Matt Lindland with new and improved striking following it up with his dizzying Jiu-Jitsu for an Arm-Triangle submission in the 1st round. The "Law" looks old as shit but sustained no damage and is already asking to be on the January card knowing 2 straight losses do not look good on a 28 fight career that had never seen that slide before. Expect "Jacare" to settle the score with Jason "Illegal Kick" Miller in the meantime.
"King" Mo Lawal made a flashy entrance and emphatic debut for Strikeforce putting away Mike Whitehead who came in at around a fluffy 260 lbs. Not a good recipe for facing the super-fast Lawal but lesson learned for the journeyman. Mo has made it clear to all who will listen that he wants to fight Fedor Emelianenko but join the long list. He will most likely drop back down to Light Heavyweight next.
Antwain Britt put a whoopin' on Chuck Liddell's boy Scott Lighty in a lopsided affair that saw Scott unable to answer the bell in the 2nd. Lighty isn't going away soon but his 1st MMA loss should help him gain some perspective on his rather inexperienced career. The "Juggernaut" is going to continue to be a sneak up and kill you type of opponent until he beats a big name fighter.
Justin Wilcox got a workman like Decision win over Daisuke Nakamura while Alex Crispim also got the judges nod over AJ Fonseca proving once again that I cannot pick Featherweight fights correctly. Anyone know what happened to the Stack/Douglas fight that never occured?
WEC 45 Results
Donald Cerrone finally tapped Ed Ratcliff with the RNC in the 3rd but not after a bevvy of low blows that taint the victory a bit.
Anthony Njokuani had zero trouble with Chris Horodecki who got damaged and turned away only to catch a chin to the face. Chris was then pounded out in cruel fashion as Njokuani just looks amazing at Lightweight. Watch out for this kid!
My man Brad Pickett pulled out the Peruvian Necktie out on Kyle Dietz getting the beautiful submission win. I love the rarely used submission when applied correctly.
Joseph Benavidez got a TKO on the 1-trick pony Rani Yahya and Scott Jorgenson found a Decision win over Takeya Mizugaki. Finally, Bart Palaszewski was awarded the Split-Decision nod over Anthony Pettis.
An unimpressive 8-6 all around on the picks.
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