UFC 95 Recap - Huge Underdog Upset
by Robby Maddux
MMA Wagering Online - UFC 95 Betting Recap
UFC 95—SANCHEZ vs. STEVENSON on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London lived up to its expectations and then some, as the five-fight main card produced unprecedented online UFC betting excitement from start to finish. Including the venue's preliminary bouts, which made up a card consisting of ten events, six contests ended by way of KO or TKO. Only one fight on the main bill went the distance and three of the five were settled in the first round.
The main card's opening bout was a welterweight contest between Josh ''Kos'' Koscheck against newcomer Paulo Thiago. Kos embraced the Octagon as the priciest fighter on the entire slate, but the overwhelming chalk of -500 crumbled after getting dusted by four-ounces of fury at the hands of Thiago. The underdog owned stout online betting value of +350 and earned puppy players a big payday with an upper-cut followed by a fight ending left in 2009's biggest upset to date.
It was Thiago's Octagon debut and it didn't take the Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist long to show online UFC wagering fans why he's never been defeated, improving to 11-0 in his first career TKO victory coming via strikes at 3:29 of Round 1 in the shocker. Kos displayed little respect for Thiago's stand-up early in the fight, which led to the perennial Top-10 contender's head slamming against the mat after being dropped, as his record falls to 14-4 in a very strong 170-pound division.
With the UK crowd still buzzing over Thiago's “UFC 95 Knockout of the Night”, middleweights Demian Maia (-300) and Chael Sonnen (+220) made their way to the Octagon. The favored Maia was trying to build on his 10-0 MMA overall record in what was his fifth bout in the UFC. And he didn't have to try hard to improve to 11-0, as Maia made quick work of Sonnen, who was returning to MMA's top-series after a brief stint in the WEC. At 2:37 in the first round, Maia kept his record perfect by submitting the underdog with a triangle choke, as the “UFC 95 Submission of the Night” dropped Sonnen's overall mark to 23-10-1.
Middleweight heavy striker Nate "The Great" Marquardt (-300) and Wilson Gouveia (+220) were looking for a future title shot in the third bout on the main card. Marquardt was the all-around sharper fighter in this one, solidified by his win at 3:10 in Round 3 by way of TKO. Gouveia had been reborn as a middleweight since a 2008 drop from light heavyweight, but Marquardt was quicker and with relative ease picked his spots
to combine punches, kicks and knees en route to bettering his record to 31-8-2.
The favorite was hardly challenged through the first two rounds. Knowing he was down on the judge's score cards, Gouveia became desperate and sloppy as he started lunging forward in efforts to land the fight-changing shot in the final round. Marquardt waited for his chance, and when he got it, he rocked the lunging Gouveia with a perfectly timed flying right knee that opened a nasty cut over the left eye of the underdog. Following the knee landed by Marquardt, he finished the bout with a variety of strikes, including one final left knee that melted Gouveia who fell to 12-6-0.
Prior to the main event, England product Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy (-120) treated his native home crowd to a bloody good time in the welterweight co-main event with a KO of Rory Markham (-110) at 1:09 in the first round. Markham, former IFL fighter making his UFC debut, started the bout perhaps a bit too amped up. He came out throwing wildly in the opening minutes while Hardy showed patience and easily maneuvered away from his strikes. Markham had blood dripping from his nose 40 seconds into the fight.
Markham's over aggressiveness opened the door to a devastating Hardy left hook. The punch landed squarely on the temple of Markham and he went down immediately. Hardy delighted UK fans with one more right to Markham's jaw that forced the referee to rescue the slight underdog. The Brit improved to 21-6-1, meanwhile, the American dropped to 16-5-0.
The main event pitting Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez (-350) against Joe "Daddy" Stevenson (+250) was certainly deserving of the “UFC 95 Fight of the Night” honors, as the two mixed it up for three rounds in what was mostly an exchange of leather with a limited ground game included. The biggest question coming into this contest was how Sanchez would respond to cutting weight from 170 pounds to make his 155-pound lightweight debut. His hard-fought three-round unanimous decision (30-27 twice and 29-28) victory over Stevenson quickly provided the answer, though the underdog hung tough in a great brawl.
Stevenson was the first to score by catching southpaw Sanchez with two solid early jabs but it was the favorite who landed the more dominate blows in the first-round stand-up war with two uppercuts getting through the Stevenson defense. Despite Stevenson smiling throughout the round, Sanchez was scoring with hard shots. But it was clear, both men came to fight.
Near the start of Round 2, Sanchez landed a hard right hand to Stevenson's head, followed by a knee and a takedown that put Stevenson on the defensive. The two then stood and locked up against the fence, where Stevenson sunk in a guillotine that brought ''Daddy's'' supporters to their feet that bet on UFC, who were aware 50 percent of his wins came via guillotine choke submission. Though, the sports wagering favorite broke free then caught Stevenson with a knee and a right hook that scored heavily. That was proceeded by dazzling ground work from both men who shortly after took the fight back to their feet with the middle round ending with Sanchez catching Stevenson with two head-kicks.
As the final round began both fighters met in the center of the Octagon and exchanged punches, with Stevenson perhaps getting the best of it. But as the minutes wore on more effective striking continued from Sanchez, although he finally started to show signs of fatigue in the fight’s final two minutes. Stevenson began to score, however, Sanchez had just enough left in the tank to add points with punches and a kick to the head which bloodied Stevenson’s left eye. Both fighters landed heavy blows in a fantastic late flurry to end the fight. Sanchez's successful middleweight debut puts him at 22-2-0 overall, and Stevenson drops to 34-10-0 in a gritty performance.
UFC 95 Preliminary Results:
—Terry Etim wins by TKO at 0:10 in Round 2.
—Junior Dos Santos wins by TKO at 0:54 in Round 1.
—Mike Ciesnolevicz wins by submission (leg lock) at 1:03 in Round 1.
—Evan Dunham wins by TKO at 2:13 in Round 1.
—Paul Kelly wins by unanimous decision at 5:00 in Round 3.
