Before UFC 164: "Henderson vs. Pettis 2" main card kicked off on pay-per-view (PPV) tonight (Sat., Aug. 31, 2013) from BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisc., an entire seven-bout "Prelims" under card was broadcast on Facebook and FOX Sports 1, respectively.
This installment of the "Prelims" had its up and downs but still proved that sometimes there are fights that surely cannot be missed before the PPV broadcast.
Headlining the "Prelims" was a fight between two seasoned vets, as former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) Lightweight champion Jamie Varner was looking for his third Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) win against Gleison Tibau, who was in his 20th career-fight inside the Octagon.
It was the Brazilian who outlasted the former champion, getting the nod from the judges.
Varner looked sharp bouncing from side to side as the stocky Tibau tried to keep up with the pace. Varner leaped in with a right hand and clocked Tibau with a left hook. Varner was momentarily stunned by Gleison's power but the Brazilian could not capitalize as he hit him, missing a flying knee. Not too much action in the first round, as the crowd was getting a bit restless. Tibau was catching Varner every time he leaped in, which sort of made for a cautious approach by Varner. Tibau took Varner down with brute strength, moving him against the cage at will and doing some work against the fence.
Varner had a guillotine early in the second round but judging from Tibau's size, it was probably the reason Varner could not capitalize and secure the choke around the Brazilian's neck. Tibau ended up on top and was smothering Varner on the ground, moving him around the mat wherever he pleased. Tibau ended up on top of Varner and getting his back and eventually mounted him -- making it difficult for Varner to eat all the shots from the bottom for the majority of the round.
Varner started to go for it in the third round with nothing to lose but Tibau took him down again. Varner got up immediately and was the quicker fighter in the round, pushing Tibau backwards on several occasions. Varner looked to have hurt his right hand, as he shakes it off after every punch. Varner was looking for takedowns and eventually got one, with Varner dishing out elbows from the top position. Not enough for Varner though, as Tibau goes 28-9 and Varner goes 3-3 in his UFC career.
Tim Elliott put the flyweight division on watch, as he decisively beat Louis Gaudinot over the course of three rounds in the co-main event of the "Prelims."
An early eye poke in the opening seconds stalled the action a bit and shortly after, Elliott landed a huge punch and took down Gaudinot. After an unsuccessful guillotine attempt, Gaudinot shot back up and both flyweights traded fists in an action packed-round. Elliott took Gaudinot down again and unleashed some hammerfists but Gaudinot was doing his best to fight from the bottom and got back up once again. Elliott rocked Gaudinot with some knees and took him down once more, capping off an aggressive first round for Elliott.
A bloody Gaudinot came out in the second round guns blazing but Elliott was using kicks very effectively and was confusing Gaudinot with his switching of stances. Elliott proved to be the stronger competitor by outmuscling Gaudinot on the ground and dished out some hard body shots and elbows to the head.
Although Gaudinot tried to hit Elliott as much as he could in the third round and tried to attack from the bottom, he continued to take a beating -- as Elliott stuck to the gameplan by brutalizing his opponent on the ground. Elliott outworked Gaudinot for the entire duration of the round and although Gaudinot looked for a guillotine, he was too tired to do anything significant.
Elliott goes 2-1 in the UFC, improving his record to 10-3-1. The Ultimate Fighter alumni Gaudinot will should get another UFC shot, being 1-2 in the promotion as of now.
Hyun Gyu Lim got a devastating knockout over Pascal Krauss, getting his second straight stoppage in the same fashion over Pascal Krauss, who is now 2-2 in the promotion.
Both men stood in front each other and traded blows, with Lim throwing everything into his shots. After both men had some good moments, Lim rocked Krauss badly with right hands as Krauss was wobbly and started to fall down on his own. After he tried to take Lim down, "The Ace" kept standing on his feet and started to connect some more. As Krauss tried to avoid his opponent’s punches against the fence, Lim faked a punch and hit Krauss right in the face with a devastating left knee that had Krauss drop and left him unconscious.
Lim is now 2-0 in the UFC with seven-straight stoppages.
Opening up the Fox Sports 1 broadcast was an impressive performance by both Kyung Ho Kang and Chico Camus, even though both bantamweights have a few things to work on Monday morning. In a very close fight, Chico Camus may have won the fight because of his second round performance and his upkick very late in the third round, as Kang may have been victim of a hometown decision.
Kang looked pretty sharp with his kicks and the ability to use his reach in the first round, timing a takedown perfectly when Camus missed a punch. Ho Kang spent to the majority of the round on top, until a failed omoplata attempt nearly cost him as Camus jumped back to his feet and wildly started to rain down punches but the sound of the horn came too quickly for "King" Camus.
Kang was working well on the ground again in the second round, and was trying to transition into better positioning for the majority of the round. A reversal by Camus saw him take advantage of Kang who was not as good off of his back. Camus had Kang in a guillotine but it was not sunken in properly however Camus still finished the round strong by connecting with some punches and took his back once more before the horn sounded.
In the third round, after Camus hurt Kang with a body shot, he tried to capitalize as his opponent crouched down but Kang rolled over to get the reversal as Camus found himself beneath him and stayed there for a moment until he landed a huge upkick on Kang and swarmed him. Yves Lavigne was maybe a split-second away from calling the fight but the horn sounded for the final time.
A really close fight to call but a 30-27 scorecard for Camus was just laughable. A bit of a questionable decision, as Kang should not have lost all three scorecards.
Headlining the Facebook "Prelims" was a fight made out of the movies, as "The Hulk" took on "Al Capone."
Nikita Krylov, who had never seen the second round in his 14-fight career made his promotional debut against another the returning, Sao Palelei. Although this was a fight to forget, Palelei stopped Krylov in the third round.
Palelei caught Krylov's first kick of the bout and was picked up for a big takedown from Palelei and got some harsh warnings for holding onto the fence. Krylov bounced back though, with a combination that had Palelei in trouble before " The Hulk" brought him down again. Palelei tried to get his opponent in a neck-crank but Krylov was countering with a cradle, something Joe Rogan says he has not seen in a while but it looked all looked a little sloppy to be considered legit in the big leagues.
The fight was a little uneventful until there was two minutes left in the round, as Krylov was trying to finish Palelei but "The Hulk" was counter-attacking with some shots that showed he was still in the fight -- no matter how sloppy it was becoming. Krylov was unable to put significant combinations together to put away his exhausted counterpart.
Palelei came out in the third round still pretty tired but was able to put away Krylov after connecting with a big right hand followed by some ground and pound. After complaining about his ribs to his corner in between rounds, he mentions to Rogan that he broke them last week. Definitely tough to want to see these guys in the UFC again.
Ryan Couture was in need of a win to solidify his status in the UFC but despite his toughness, he could not find a way to trouble the fast and powerful Al Iaquinta.
Both athletes came out looking for the money shot, as Iaquinta was changing his striking stances often and got the better of Couture early in the fight. Couture was looking for the clinch after he was clocked by a solid right hand, and was taken down after a powerful legkick but he looked a little distraught with Iaquinta's speed. After Couture hit Iaquinta with a flying knee, he started to find his range with a beautiful combination but Iaquinta took him down to end the round and delivered some big shots in the ground and pound for good measure.
In the second round, Couture took a play out of his father's book by clinching Iaquinta against the cage and giving him no space to breathe after he took his back for a few seconds on the ground. Iaquinta kept on landing his familiar right hand throughout the fight, and pushed Couture back with a big one halfway through the second round. Iaquinta finished the round with another takedown.
Couture starting to pick up the pace with a beautiful spinning back-kick, and worked the takedown for a minute but Iaquinta shot back up powerfully once he was down momentarily. Couture's most significant moment is when he hit the Serra-Longo fight team product with a flying knee that rocked him back. While Couture was doing well with his striking and more specifically his kicks, Iaquinta tried to go for the finish with some devastating body shots and solid shots to the dome but Couture showed he could definitely take a punch. After Couture went down at the end of the third round, Iaquinta was putting it on him again but could not finish his bloodied but intensely durable opponent.
The Ultimate Fighter 15 finalist potentially saves his job with his first UFC win and Couture's future is somewhat unpredictable at the moment.
The first fight of the night that kicked off the action was broadcasted on Facebook, where Magnus Cedenblad won his promotional debut in less than a minute by submitting Jared Hamman.
Hamman was keeping Cedenblad at bay with some kicks early and went for the takedown on a few occasions. Cedenblad was striking well but did not trouble Hamman until "The Messenger" shot for a takedown and was caught in a nasty guillotine choke, courtesy of Cedenblad. The Swede secures his first UFC victory with his eighth first-round stoppage. Hamman has been stopped his last three fights, going 2-5 in the UFC and is probably on his way out.
Here are the complete results from UFC 164: "Prelims" Card:
Gleison Tibau vs. Jamie Varner -- Tibau wins by split decision (29-28x2, 28-29)
Tim Elliott vs. Louis Gaudinot -- Elliott wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26x2)
Pascal Krauss vs. Hyun Gyu Lim -- Lim wins by TKO (knee and strikes) at 3:58 of round one.
Chico Camus vs. Kyung Ho Kang -- Camus wins by unanimous decision (29-28x2, 30-27)
Nikita Krylov vs. Soa Palelei -- Palelei wins by TKO (strikes) at 1:34 of round 3.
Ryan Couture vs. Al Iaquinta -- Iaquinta wins by unanimous decision (30-27x3)
Jared Hamman vs. Magnus Cedenblad -- Cedenblad wins by submission (guillotine) at 0:57 of the first round.
That's it for the "Prelims" portion of UFC 164 fight card.
Be sure to hit up MMAmania.com for the up-to-the minute results and blow-by-blow coverage for the rest of the night's UFC 164 main card action by clicking here.