UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez – The Ultimate Fighting Championship head to Memphis, Tennessee Saturday evening (December 12).

BJ “The Prodigy” Penn took on Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez for the UFC lightweight title, with Penn favored to win. Penn didn’t disappoint, winning via TKO (cut) in round 5 to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship

Frank Mir destroyed Cheick Kongo in under two minutes with a left hook that knocked him off his feet

 

 

The UFC 107 Penn vs. Sanchez Results

UFC 107 Main Card Results

   – Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve

Struve defeated Buentello via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28).

   – Lightweight bout: Kenny “KenFlo” Florian vs. Clay “The Carpenter” Guida

Florian defeated Guida via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:19 of round 2.

   – Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce

Fitch defeated Pierce via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

   – Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo

Mir defeated Kongo via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 1:12 of round 1.

   – Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez

Penn defeated Sanchez via TKO (cut) at 2:37 of round 5 to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship

MORE:

   -  UFC 107 Preliminary Card Results

   – UFC 107 Video Preview

   – UFC 107 Fights Comments

UFC 107 Preliminary Card Results

Welterweight bout: Kevin Burns vs. TJ Grant

   – Grant defeated Burns via TKO (strikes) at 4:57 of round 1.

Welterweight bout: DaMarques Johnson vs. Edgar Garcia

   – Johnson defeated Garcia via submission (triangle choke) at 4:03 of round 1.

Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs. Lucio Linhares

   – Palhares defeated Linhares via submission (heel hook) at 3:21 of round 2.

Welterweight bout: Johny Hendricks vs. Ricardo Funch

   – Hendricks defeated Funch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25).

Lightweight bout: Matt Wiman vs. Shane Nelson

   – Wiman defeated Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Catchweight bout (195 lbs): Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia

   – Belcher defeated Gouveia via TKO (strikes) at 3:03 of round 1.

 

UFC 107 Video Preview

 

UFC 107 Fights Comments

BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez — Lightweight title fight

Penn opened with a furious assault in the first minute of the fight, dropping Sanchez and badly hurting him with punch after punch in one of the most dominant first minutes of a title fight you’ll ever see. It was amazing that Sanchez even managed to make it out of the first minute, and referee Herb Dean was watching closely and looked like he considered stopping the fight. Sanchez came back later in the round and maintained his composure,  ut the difference between Penn and Sanchez in the stand-up game was enormous: Penn was landing crisp, effective punches, while Sanchez was swinging wildly and not hurting Penn at all. The pace slowed down considerably in the second round, but Penn was still in complete control, always faster and more agile than Sanchez, able to avoid Sanchez’s striking and takedown attempts and land effective counter-strikes whenever he wanted. By the third round Penn had peppered Sanchez’s face enough that a trickle of blood was flowing down from his mouth onto his chest. The third was a fairly uneventful round, but Penn easily won it again, and  Sanchez began to display the body language of a man who didn’t think he could win. Penn methodically controlled the fourth round, and in the fifth Penn finally finished it by opening a nasty cut on Sanchez’s forehead with a  huge kick to the head, a cut that had blood pouring out of it and that the ringside doctor said was too big to allow the fight to go on. The official result was a fifth-round TKO victory for Penn, the best lightweight in the world by far.

Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo

Frank Mir had an absolutely dominant performance against Cheick Kongo Saturday night at UFC 107, dropping Kongo with a hard punch early in the first round and then choking him into unconsciousness with a brilliant guillotine. Mir, the former UFC heavyweight champion who returned to the Octagon for the first time since losing to Brock Lesnar at UFC 100, looked absolutely awesome: Bigger, stronger and more powerful than ever  before. Mir used a hard left hook to knock Kongo to the ground and then quickly got hold of Kongo’s neck. Kongo refused to tap, and eventually Mir had choked him out, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight and rescue Kongo. Mir improved his record to 13-4. Kongo falls to 14-6-1.

Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce

Jon Fitch defeated Mike Pierce by unanimous decision at UFC 107. Fitch got the better of the early going, taking Pierce down by catching a kick, quickly taking Pierce’s back and coming close to sinking in a rear-naked choke. But Pierce did nice work getting out of the bad position, picking Fitch up and dropping him back down onto the canvas and bloodying Fitch’s left eye with a punch. It was a close first round that I gave to Fitch, 10-9. In the second round Fitch again took Pierce down by catching a kick and again took Pierce’s back, but was again unable to get the rear-naked choke. Fitch controlled the round, but he didn’t dominate, and he didn’t do anything all that exciting. By the third round the fans started to boo as the pace slowed down and both fighters got tired. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Fitch. Fitch improved his professional MMA record to 21-3, including 11-1 in the UFC.

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida

In the first round Guida opened up a small cut over Florian’s right eye in the early going, and then in the middle of the round Florian opened an enormous cut on Guida’s forehead with a slashing elbow. Guida’s face was a bloody mess after that, to the point where the referee halted the action and asked the ringside doctor to check him out. But the doctor said Guida could fight on. In the second round it was all Florian. On their feet Florian got the better of the punching exchanged and used a hard right hand to knock Guida down, and once he had Guida on the ground he quickly pounced and sunk in a rear-naked choke. It was a very impressive showing for Florian, who improved his record to 12-4. Guida falls 25-11.

Stephen Struve vs. Paul Buentello

Struve, who at 6-foot-11 is the tallest fighter in the UFC, leveled Buentello with an uppercut early in the first round and then dominated him on the ground throughout, controlling Buentello on the ground and trying — but failing — to sink in a rear-naked choke. Buentello did next to nothing throughout the first, but he did survive what was a fairly slow and boring round. In the second Buentello did a nice job of bouncing back, using his  superior punching power to knock Struve down and hurt him standing up. The second was a much more entertaining round, as they stood and traded punches most of the way, and it was a round that played to Buentello’s strengths. In the third Struve unleashed some early leg kicks and began to use his reach advantage more effectively, and Buentello wasn’t able to connect any of the hard punches he was going for. Two judges gave the fight to Struve by a score of 29-28, while another scored it a draw. Many fans booed the decision. Struve improves his record to 19-3. Buentello falls to 27-11.