UFC 123: RAMPAGE VS MACHIDA was held Saturday November 20, 2010 at The Palace of Auburn Hills near Detroit, Michigan. The main card aired live on PPV.
In the main event, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson won a split decision over Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida in a fight where no one was giving Rampage a chance. After a close couple of rounds, Machida put a whoopin' on Rampage in the third round. This proved to be too little, too late, however, as Rampage had already won the first 2 rounds on 2 judges' scorecards. To Rampage's surprise, he was announced the winner.
Afterward, Rampage said that although he did not want to fight Lyoto Machida again, he felt it was only fair to offer Machida a rematch after the close fight. In a post-fight
interview with Ariel Helwani, however, UFC President Dana White disagreed, saying he felt Rampage won the fight and a rematch was not necessary.
In the co-main event, B.J. "The Prodigy" Penn returned to welterweight after losing back-to-back title fights at lightweight to Frankie Edgar. Penn faced his longtime archrival and idol Matt Hughes in a rubber match. Penn needed just 21 seconds to up his series lead to 2-1 over Hughes with a stone cold knockout. Penn is moving on to fight top welterweight contender Jon Fitch in the main event of
UFC 127 in Australia, which could very well serve as a 170-pound number one contender fight, while Hughes will do some soul searching during the upcoming deer hunting season.
Maiquel "Big Rig" Falcao scored an upset victory over Gerald "Hurricane" Harris in a fight that likely didn't earn him many fans in his UFC debut. Falcao took it to Harris for the first 2 rounds, but completely shut things down in the last round, choosing to cruise to a decision victory instead of continuing to fight. Harris' middleweight momentum has come to a halt, while the Brazilian Chute Boxe phenom Falcao will likely be moved to the undercard for his next fight and will need to up the aggression level to earn back the respect of UFC officials.
Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis continued his ascent up the light heavyweight ranks with a highly impressive submission victory over Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch, who seemed out of his league against the former Penn State Division I wrestling stand-out. Boetsch wrestled at Lock Haven, also a Division I wrestling college in Pennsylvania, but had very little to offer against Davis in the Octagon.
In the opening PPV fight, and the
official UFC Fight of the Night, George Sotiropoulos, sans his controversial pants, used a kimura to tap out Joe Lauzon in the second round. Sotiropoulos had been accused of using his lengthy shorts and kneepads to improve his grip for submissions, but proved he didn't need any advantage to get past Lauzon. Sotiropoulos will next fight in his home country at UFC 127 in Australia against fellow top lightweight contender Dennis Siver.
Two fights aired live on Spike TV in the hour preceding the PPV. Brian Foster proved Matt "The Immortal" Brown is in reality, actually quite mortal. Foster likely put the final nail in the coffin of Brown's UFC career, eliciting a tapout from Brown for his third straight submission loss.
Two of the best wrestlers in MMA, Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz and Aaron "A-Train" Simpson, met in the opening fight on Spike TV. The two former Division I wrestlers are good friends in real life, but put aside their friendship for fifteen minutes to decide who would move up the middleweight ladder. Munoz won by unanimous decision and Simpson has now lost back-to-back fights, after having been previously undefeated.
In preliminary card action, Dennis "Superman" Hallman put down Karo "The Heat" Parisyan with punches in the first round to end the UFC comeback of Parisyan, who has now been released from the UFC again.
In an undercard fight between two debuting fighters, Edson Barboza brutalized Mike Lullo with leg kicks until finally, and mercifully, Lullo was done 26 seconds into the third round. Lullo continued to stand long after many a men would've wilted from the intense pain inflicted upon his legs by Barboza. Lullo lost, but he proved why he got the UFC call in the first place with an incredibly gutsy performance.
Paul "Tellys" Kelly welcomed T.J. "The Spider" O'Brien to the UFC with a TKO loss. Kelly wrapped O'Brien up in a crucifix position in the second round and rained down punches and elbows until the fight was stopped.
In the opening fight of the night, Nik "The Carny" Lentz won a split decision over Tyson Griffin. Lentz remains undefeated in the UFC, while Griffin has now lost 3 straight fights. Griffin is a 5-time UFC Fight of the Night winner, so it's possible now that the UFC has added a featherweight division, that Griffin might be given one last chance to save his UFC career in a fight at 145-pounds.
UFC 123: RAMPAGE VS MACHIDA
Quinton Jackson (31-8) won by SD over Lyoto Machida (16-2)
[15:00] - 3 Rounds - (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
BJ Penn (16-7) won by KO over Matt Hughes (45-8)
[0:21] - Round 1 - punches
Maiquel Falcao (26-3) won by UD over Gerald Harris (17-3)
[15:00] - 3 Rounds - (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Phil Davis (8-0) won by SUB over Tim Boetsch (12-4)
[7:55] - 2:55 Round 2 - kimura
George Sotiropoulos (14-2) won by SUB over Joe Lauzon (19-6)
[7:43] - 2:43 Round 2 - kimura
Brian Foster (15-5) won by SUB over Matt Brown (11-10)
[7:11] - 2:11 Round 2 - guillotine choke
Mark Munoz (9-2) won by UD over Aaron Simpson (7-2)
[15:00] - 3 Rounds - (29-28 all)
Dennis Hallman (46-13) won by TKO over Karo Parisyan (19-6)
[1:47] - Round 1 - punches
Edson Barboza (7-0) won by TKO over Mike Lullo (8-3)
[10:26] - 0:26 Round 3 - leg kicks
Paul Kelly (11-3) won by TKO over TJ O'Brien (16-4)
[8:16] - 3:16 Round 2 - elbows
Nik Lentz (20-3) won by SD over Tyson Griffin (14-5)
[15:00] - 3 Rounds - (29-28, 29-28, 27-30)
Updated MMA win-loss records with total fight time in brackets.
UD = Unanimous | SD = Split Decision | SUB = Submission
MADMAN AWARDS
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT:
Quinton Jackson vs.
Lyoto Machida
KO OF THE NIGHT:
BJ Penn over Matt Hughes
SUB OF THE NIGHT:
Phil Davis (kimura) over Tim Boetsch
QUICKEST WIN:
BJ Penn over Matt Hughes in 21 seconds
BIGGEST UPSET:
Maiquel Falcao (+248) over Gerald Harris
BIGGEST WINNER:)
BJ Penn
BIGGEST LOSER:(
Matt Hughes
UFC 123
Insane Preview Prediction Results:
1 - MICHAEL ALMEIDA: 7-4
2 - MAT PARÉ: 6-5 (7.5 pts)
3 - RANDY ROWLES: 6-5 (3 pts)
4 - JOSH KING: 5-6 (1 pt)
4 - ERIC VAN DEN HAAS: 5-6 (1 pt)
Michael Almeida won his first Madman Roundtable in just his second Roundtable appearance.
UPDATED UFC RECORDS
UFC fights ONLY. Rankings according to
Madman Top 25 Fighter Rankings.
Matt Hughes (18-6) #11 Ranked Welterweight
BJ Penn (12-6) #6 Ranked Welterweight
Karo Parisyan (9-4-1) *FATALITY*
Lyoto Machida (8-2) #4 Ranked Light Heavyweight
George Sotiropoulos (7-0) #7 Ranked Lightweight
Tyson Griffin (7-5) #25 Ranked Lightweight *DANGER*
Quinton Jackson (6-2) #3 Ranked Light Heavyweight
Joe Lauzon (6-3)
Paul Kelly (5-3)
Phil Davis (4-0) #20 Ranked Light Heavyweight
Nik Lentz (4-0-1) #24 Ranked Lightweight
Mark Munoz (4-2)
Matt Brown (4-4) *DANGER*
Gerald Harris (3-1)
Brian Foster (3-2)
Aaron Simpson (3-2) *DANGER*
Tim Boetsch (3-3)
Dennis Hallman (3-4)
Maiquel Falcao (1-0)
Edson Barboza (1-0)
Mike Lullo (0-1)
TJ O'Brien (0-1)
*DANGER* of being released by the UFC due to loss.
*FATALITY* = already released by the UFC due to loss.
