Ian Freeman won a unanimous decision over Tedd Williams after 3 rounds. Williams got off to a good start with a takedown and knees and elbows from the side mount. Freeman couldn't do anything from this position, nor could he escape it. Williams didn't do a ton of damage, but he was the only one doing any damage.

The second round was really dull, with Freeman holding Williams in a front facelock for several minutes, but not doing anything with the position (he could have easily used elbow after elbow) other than keeping Williams head down. Still, Williams blew up then Freeman took over when he got on top by stopping a lazy Williams shoot. This lead to Freeman doing a lot of scoring and some good damage with strikes in the 2nd half of the round, winning it easily.

Freeman was somewhat gassed in the third round, but compared to his opponent he still had a lot of energy. When they were down, Freeman used some knees from the side ala Severn, and also threw some good punches when he was in Williams guard. Freeman really dominated the round, although neither the round nor the fight were particularly interesting. I can't really say this was a good win for Freeman because Williams pretty much burned out on his own.

15:00

Yuki Kondo vs. Alexandre Dantas

Yuki Kondo beat Alexandre Dantas when the ref stopped the match due to punches at 2:28 of round 3. This was one of those fights where both men did a lot of good things, and it could have gone either way. This was my first look at Dantas, and he definitely impressed me. Dantas seems to be one of those guys that does the same things all the time, but is good enough to do them even though you know they are coming. That said, when you fight an opponent this good, it can and did come down to the guy who has more varying skills.

Kondo spun during Dantas takedown so he wound up on top, but Dantas immediately got a reversal. Dantas mounted and threw punches. Kondo still needs work on his defense in this situation, as this tactic hasn't been legal in most of his fights. That said, Kondo was able to get a reversal before Dantas did much damage.

Kondo threw some good left hands while in Dantas guard, but eventually just let Dantas up because Dantas is no match for him in standup. Dantas wouldn't think of trying to strike with Kondo, but this became a bad thing after a while simply because Kondo knew that his only move was to try to shoot. Kondo got a good knee lift in right before the end of the round. This round was really close and could have gone either way.

Dantas backed Kondo into the cage, lifted and dropped him, and mounted. Kondo did basically the same reversal as before, but this time Dantas nearly arm barred him. Kondo really tagged Dantas with a right then got on top and threw some punches before letting Dantas up. Kondo quickly caught Dantas with another right hand. Dantas tried going down, but Kondo would have no part of it and you aren't allowed to just lie on your butt here. Kondo landed a big knee and got on top, but McCarthy stopped it before Kondo flurried on Dantas.

Although he got a little goofy trying to put on a show at one point, overall Kondo's striking was extremely impressive. Excellent fight. It looks like Kondo will challenge for Ortiz's Middleweight Title on the December show in Japan, which makes about 4,000 tickets more sense than having this in America.

Round 3 2:28

Fabiana Iha avenged his controversial UFC XX loss to Laverne Clark when the referee stopped the bout at 1:09 of round 1 because Clark was trapped in a cross armbreaker. Clark was caught early on, but fought his hardest, slamming Iha and crunching his body, to escape. Clark wasn't getting anywhere, yet he refused to tap so the ref stepped in before he wound up hurt.

Round 1 1:09

Jeremy Horn vs. Eugene Jackson

Jeremy Horn beat Eugene Jackson with a cross armbreaker at 4:33 of round 1. Jackson is one of the best boxers in MMA, and can wrestle, but he's no match for Horn on the ground. There was no question Horn would know what he had to do to win, and he was able to do business. Takedown, some strikes, and then the submission.

Round 1 4:33

Maurice Smith vs. Bobby Hoffman

Maurice Smith beat Bobby Hoffman by a split decision after three rounds. This was very similar to Smith's legendary win over Mark Coleman, both stylistically and for match quality. Hoffman is the opposite of a technician, but he had 40 plus pounds on Smith and a big strength advantage. Also, Smith is a notorious slow starter, partially because he wins on superior conditioning, and Hoffman is a guy that comes at you with everything he has in the early minutes hoping for the quick win.

Smith could not stop a fresh Hoffman from taking him down, and it did not look good for him when Hoffman had passed his guard less than 1 minute into the round. Smith is as good as anyone at dodging punches from his back, and this is really what saved him because even when Hoffman had dominant position, he wasn't able to hurt Smith with his ground and pound. He did win the first round easily, but Smith made Hoffman burn a ton of energy in the process.

Smith's unique ability to stand up against the fence played a big part here. Hoffman would be on top, but Smith would squirm against the fence, which is normally where the guy on top wants you because the lack of room to move negates most ground defense, get into a sitting position and then stand right up. In the second minute of the round, Smith took over with blows to the body, but Hoffman eventually spit his mouth piece so he could get a breather. Smith then totally lost his advantage as he had nothing to stop Hoffman's swinging bull rush, so Hoffman wound up getting him against the fence and planting him with a double leg takedown. Due to almost all of Hoffman's offense during the round coming in the last two minutes, this round could have gone to Hoffman even though Smith edged him, IMO.

Round 3 was all Smith. He worked from the inside, landing repeatedly to the stomach and the thighs. Smith's hardest punches were uppercuts, which bloodied Hoffman's cheek and knocked his mouthpiece out. Smith was picking Hoffman apart in Ernesto Hoost like fashion, but unlike Hoost, these days Smith lacks to power to get the knockout. Hoffman was totally gassed, lacking the energy to do anything that would put some fear back into Smith or slow him down in any way. On the other hand, although Smith was totally dominant, Smith didn't have the burst or explosiveness to put a flurry on Hoffman that could lead to the much needed KO or ref stop.

If the match was five rounds, Smith would have won easily because Hoffman would have collapsed by then. However, by not being able to finish Hoffman, Smith would have lost had the more of the judges given Hoffman the 2nd round. I definitely enjoyed this fight the most on the show, and consider it better than Kondo's fight.

15:00

Pedro Rizzo vs. Dan Severn

Pedro Rizzo defeated Dan Severn by ref stop at 1:32 of round 1. This was the worst Severn has ever looked. He was unable to take Rizzo down, and couldn't make Rizzo respect him so Rizzo felt comfortable striking him at full force every time. Severn tried a bull charge early, but Rizzo did a matador like move, sidestepping and actually using Severn's momentum to take him over. Rizzo would have nothing to do with the mat though. Severn never really committed to the shoot. He tried several times to come in with fakes and feints, but Rizzo just backed up until Severn stopped then started moving toward Severn to regain his ring positioning.

Rizzo's offense was basically three kicks. The first was a high kick that only grazed Severn, which was lucky for him or it would have been a repeat of Yvel vs. Goodridge. The next was a low kick to the inside of the right knee that put Severn down. Finally, Rizzo did a second low kick to the same spot, injuring Severn (his knee seemed to pop or go out in some way). Severn went down because he couldn't put any weight on the knee anymore then McCarthy stopped the fight. It wasn't boring, but it was more sad than enjoyable.

Round 1 1:32