© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
March 7, 2009
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges
UFC 96 was a power-packed night of MMA action from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and was a big night for the Greg Jackson camp. This UFC proved to be an easy event for the judges, with many bouts ending via exciting KOs and TKOs.
In earlier matches:
Jason Britz def. Tim Boetsch by unanimous decision.
Tamdan McCrory def. Ryan Madigan by TKO – 3.35, Round One.
Shane Nelson def. Aaron Riley by TKO – 0.44, Round One.
The Battles
Gray Maynard (5’ 8” 155) vs. Jim Miller (5’8” 154.5 lb)
– Lightweight
Referee: Dan Miragliotta
Round One
Lefty Jim came after Gray; they exchanged fists and Jim leg-kicked before the pair tied up. 4.26: Gray got double underhooks in place and knees were swapped.
3.52: Gray broke free.
3.09: They banged it out, with Gray targeting Jim’s body and head with punches.
2.56: Jim body-kicked.
2.46: He seized Gray’s left leg, wanting to take the battle to the canvas, but Gray hopped on his right leg and avoided the takedown.
2.12: Miller latched onto Maynard’s right leg; again Maynard resisted going horizontal.
1.39: They were clinched against the cage.
1.32: Maynard broke free.
1.03: Maynard was attacking with punches to the head and body; Miller returned fire with fists to the head and kicks to the body.
0.30: Jim attempted a leaping knee.
0.10: He threw a superman punch, but Gray’s counter-right was perfectly timed.
Round Two
Gray appeared to have a reflex advantage over Jim as he danced around his flat-footed opponent.
4.01: Jim leg-kicked Gray, who continued attacking Jim’s midsection and jaw.
2.39: Miller launched a high kick and used leg kicks to counter Maynard’s superior handwork.
1.48: Miller shot for Maynard’s left leg and dragged him down; however Maynard was again standing at 1.38.
1.21: Miller fired off a left kick and a right hand; Maynard answered with a right cross. Jim was now sporting claret around his nose and mouth.
0.34: Gray let fly with a salvo of fists.
0.15: He threw a right and Jim counterpunched.
Round Three
Gray kept out-gunning Jim with his reach and lightning strikes.
4.04: Jim body-kicked as Gray picked his shots.
3.17: Miller attempted a superman punch that was avoided by his opponent.
3.07: Miller shot in; Maynard clinched, delivered a knee, and broke free.
2.58: Maynard shot in on Miller before slamming him to the mats.
2.34: They were back standing.
2.04: Miller caught Maynard with a right hand, then shot for his left leg. Maynard hung onto Miller’s back and nullified his ground game.
1.01: Gray attacked from half guard.
0.25: He stood and Jim followed him up. They banged it out.
Result: Gray Maynard by unanimous decision.
Matt Hamill (6’1” 205 lb) vs. Mark Munoz (6’0” 204.5 lb)
– Light Heavyweight
Referee: Dan Miragliotta
Punches flew from the word go.
4.53: Matt sprawled to defend against Mark’s shoot.
4.47: They broke free. Matt had sledgehammers in his mitts and Mark was slinging bombs.
4.25: Mark shot for Matt’s left leg.
4.08: Hamill lay across Munoz’s back in the 6 o’clock position.
4.02: They stood.
3.51: Hamill leg-kicked and jabbed; Munoz replied with right hooks. He punched to the body and head whilst Hamill pursued his headhunting campaign as the pair slugged it out.
2.03: Mark switched stances. Both men were putting on a great battle.
1.11: Out of the blue, Matt brought up a right kick to Mark’s head and floored him. Matt moved in to seal the deal before Dan Miragliotta intervened.
Result: Mark Hamill by KO – 3.53, Round One.
Matt Brown (6’0” 170.5 lb) vs. Pete Sell (5’11” 170 lb)
– Welterweight
Referee: Yves Lavigne
4.57: Matt high-kicked, then leg-kicked.
4.51: He connected with a right hand.
4.48: He connected with a high left kick, then a high right kick.
4.44: Matt caught Pete with left and right hooks that put Pete down. Yves Lavigne stopped the action briefly before deciding to let the show go on in case the stoppage was premature. Matt latched on with a Thai clinch and delivered knees to the body. Pete went back down. Brown g’n’ped before they stood with Sell hanging on in an attempt to take Brown to the floor.
The clock was still off after the earlier short stoppage.
Brown slammed elbows into Sell’s head and hammered knees into his body.
Eventually Pete went down and could not answer Matt’s g’n’p.
Result: Matt Brown by TKO – 1.32, Round One.
Kendall Grove (6’6” 185 lb) vs. Jason Day (6’1” 185 lb)
– Middleweight
Referee: Rick White
4.53: Kendall whizzed a kick past Jason’s head. Kendall jabbed and Jason looked to close the distance.
4.40: Jason backed Kendall up with blazing knuckles. They exchanged kicks and Jason thumped out fists.
3.33: Grove activated a crushing right cross that put Day away, then full-stopped him with g’n’p.
Result: Kendall Grove by KO – 1.32, Round One.
Brandon Vera (6’2” 205 lb) vs. Mike Patt (6’0” 205 lb)
– Light Heavyweight
Referee: Yves Lavigne
Round One
Brandon started unloading punches and leg kicks.
4.46: Mike hopped on his right foot after copping another Vera leg kick. Mike danced and tried to be elusive, but Brandon’s strikes landed with smart-bomb accuracy.
4.12: Mike closed in and wore a kick to his right thigh from Brandon’s lead leg.
4.08: Vera front-kicked to the body.
3.52: Patt took a high kick on the gloves; however Vera kept systematically dismantling Patt with thigh-pulverizing kicks and switched his stance to cast confusion on Patt’s game strategy.
2.52: Mike leg-kicked Brandon.
2.44: Brandon slammed another crowbar-kick into the left leg.
2.13: Brandon kicked Mike’s lead leg, then collapsed him with a follow-up kick to the right leg which foiled Mike’s attempted takedown. Bravely, Mike batted on.
1.51: Mike leg-kicked.
1.33: Mike kicked to the head.
Round Two
4.34: Vera narrowly avoided an incoming high kick from Patt.
4.01: Vera banged another leg kick into Patt’s lead thigh.
3.56: He ended Patt’s campaign with consecutive tenderizing leg-kicks.
Result: Brandon Vera by TKO – 1.27, Round Two.
Shane Carwin (6’3” 259.5 lb) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (6’2” 257.5 lb)
– Heavyweight
Referee: Dan Miragliotta
Both combatants are hyped up for this showdown, with few punters expecting it to go the distance. They touch gloves and face off in orthodox stance.
4.47: Shane attacks with a right hook that sails over Gabriel’s skull. Gabriel backs up and throws a right hook that comes up short. Shane lets fly with the kitchen sink.
4.40: They briefly pause to regroup.
4.36: Carwin hurls a left and a right as Gonzaga counters with a looping right.
4.34: Gonzaga chalks up another right hook and they clinch. Carwin locks onto Gonzaga’s neck and Gonzaga clings to Carwin’s left leg.
4.23: Gabriel wins the challenge and tugs Shane to the floor before winding up in half guard. He roughs Shane up with fists and forearm blows.
4.03: Shane works his way back up in the clinch with his back to the cage.
3.56: Gonzaga lets a right hook fly and misses with a left. Carwin lines Gonzaga up with a left, then slams a right hook into his jaw.
Result: Shane Carwin by KO – 1.09, Round One.
Quinton Rampage Jackson (6’1” 205 lb) vs. Keith Jardine (6’2” 204 lb)
– Light Heavyweight
Referee: Yves Lavigne
Round One
Keith shapes up and Rampage strolls towards him with his fists by his sides. Keith jabs and Rampage ducks under a right whilst attempting to tie things up. They become entangled before Rampage knees to the body and Keith returns the favor.
4.54: Keith’s back is against the wires.
4.16: Yves Lavigne breaks them up.
4.11: Jardine unloads a combo.
4.03: And again.
3.55: He leg-kicks and is frustrating Jackson by adopting a ‘hit-’n’-run policy’.
3.49: Jardine throws a distracting left and the pair clash mid-air with leg kicks.
3.43: Keith inside leg-kicks. He continues to pick Quinton off with sniper fists and leg kicks.
3.15: They become entangled and Keith looks to take Rampage down after snapping up his left leg, but Rampage uses the opportunity to pepper Keith’s face with right hooks.
2.29: They separate. The clinching seems to sap Jardine’s energy and slows down his ‘hit-’n’-run assaults’, enabling Jackson to counter Jardine’s strikes.
1.12: Jardine sends out a slower kick which Jackson catches, then releases it after a skirmish. Jackson is now blocking or dodging many of Jardine’s shots.
0.30: Jardine front-kicks, but the ghost of frustration appears to have crossed from Jackson’s corner to Jardine’s as the round closes.
Round Two
4.56: Rampage avoids Keith’s leg kick.
4.48: They exchange and Rampage lands a right cross.
4.44: He avoids Keith’s leg kick, then kicks the offending leg.
4.30: Keith body-kicks and inside leg-kicks as Rampage counters with a left hook.
3.43: Keith delivers a right kick and a left hand. There’s more cat and mouse going on here than at a Disneyland reunion.
3.13: They swap and things heat up.
3.08: Jardine backs away from a left and a right before being dropped with a left hook. Jackson follows up with g’n’p.
2.55: Jardine claws his way back up and they clinch.
2.39: They part.
2.21: Jackson shoots in and takes Jardine back down, then gets side control before the pair goes back to a standing clinch.
2.00: They separate: Keith now has his hands by his sides.
1.30: Rampage jabs and Keith counters with a kick to the billiard basket. Yves Lavigne calls time out.
Play resumes and Keith gets the better of a trade-off before Rampage begins to turn the tide leading up to the bell.
Round Three
The broadside continues – as expected, this is not a BJJ expo.
3.45: Jackson slips under Jardine’s hands and takes him down, and at 3.24, Jardine works his way back up in the clinch.
3.12: They release. Jardine leg-kicks and Jackson counters with gloves.
1.24: Keith shoots; however Rampage resists the takedown and forces Keith’s back into the fence.
0.56: Yves restarts the game. Rampage comes home more strongly, and in the dying moments puts Keith down with a crisp right and a left.
The victory qualifies Quinton to challenge Rashad Evans for his UFC Light Heavyweight Title.
Result: Quinton Rampage Jackson by unanimous decision.
Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans
Coming Up
UFC 97: Redemption
April18, 2009, at the Centre Bell, Montreal, Canada.
Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites (Middleweight Title)
Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua (Light Heavyweight)
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann (Light Heavyweight)
Cheick Kongo vs. Antonio Hardonk (Heavyweight)
Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Cane (?Light Heavyweight)
Eliot Marshall vs. Vinicius Magalhaes (Light Heavyweight)
Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupapokam (Middleweight)
Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry (Middleweight)
David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman (Middleweight)
Marc Bocek vs. David Bielkheden (Lightweight)
Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant (Welterweight)
Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman (Lightweight)
For more info: www.ufc.tv.
