(Live coverage I provided on gerweck.net)

UFC 137 Penn vs. Diaz live coverage 10/29/11

Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada

The first fight of the night will be in the Featherweight division

George Roop vs. Hatsu Hioki – Josh Rosenthal is the referee

Round 1: Roop comes out of the gate throwing high kicks and tagged Hioki with a right hand. Roop throws an inside leg kick and hits Hioki below the belt. Hioki tells the ref he is ok. Roop throws a couple of teep kicks and Hioki rushes in and pins him against the fence. Both are fighting in the clinch while trying to push each other off. Roop is blocking Hioki’s take down attempts. Hioki almost had his back but Roop was able to stand straight against the fence. Hioki switches position and takes Roop down.   He works in Roop’s guard with some punches and Roop scrambles back up as they fight against the fence until the close of the round.

Round 2: Roop is using his reach and landing with leg kicks and high kicks until Hioki takes him down and moves into side control. Hioki goes for a americana but Roop got his arm out. Hioki transitions to full mount but can’t do any real damage. Roop position defense from the bottom is preventing Hioki from doing anything at all. Roop lands an up kick which gives him the opening to get up with ten seconds left seconds left. Charges after Hioki with punches and kicks to end the round.

Round 3: Hioki takes him down at the start of the round but Roop gets right up. Hioki goes for another takedown but Roop sprawls to avoid it. They engage in the clinch and are fighting against the cage with Roop pinning Hioki against the cage. Roop lands several foot stomps while Hioki is holding Roops left arm but the ref restarts the fight with two mins left. Roop shoots in for the takedown is in Hioki’s guard. Hioki attempts a triangle choke but Roop gets out before its locked in. Hioki has underhooked both of Roop’s arms while Roop slams Hioki while in his guard to end the round.

Winner by split decision for Hatsu Hioki 29-28 across the board.

Bad decision for sure and the fans are booing Hioki. Joe Rogan asked him in the post-fight interview if he was surprised he won and Hioki replied “Japanese MMA is not dead. Please, check out our fights” 

Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen – Kim Winslow  is the referee

 Round 1: Curran opens the round with some inside leg kicks and throws some right-left combination but Jorgensen lands a stiff left hand but Curran keeps fighting. Jorgensen lands another punch that spins Curran around and Jorgensen follows up with a single leg takedown. Jorgensen is in the guard and throwing lots of short punches to the body. Curran sweeps but Jorgensen’s base and balance prevented Curran from getting back up and Jorgensen is back in Curran’s guard. The ref stands them both up with 30 seconds left and Curran lands an overhand right and follows with a knee but Jorgensen takes him down to end the round.

Round 2: They meet in the center right away and Curran throws a couple of haymakers until Jorgensen hits him with a stiff jab . Curran tries to take him down but Jorgensen blocks and wraps him up in the clinch and pins him against the fence. Curran takes down Jorgensen and lands a guillotine choke but Jorgensen spins out of it and wraps Curran in the clinch again and lands some knees to the head but Curran puts his hand on the mat do Jorgensen can’t throw any knees. Jorgensen takes him down but Curran sweeps and prevents Jorgensen from getting back up for the last 30 seconds of the round.

Round 3: Curran lands a stiff jab and Jorgensen follows up with one of his own. Jorgensen is not opening up as much because Curran is landing first. Curran lands a good body kick to Jorgensen. Curran missed a hail mary uppercut and Jorgensen finds his opening to rush in and pin Curran against the fence. There is blood coming out of the nose of Curran and he is getting hit with knees to the body. Curran pushes off and they are both fighting in the center again. Jorgensen lands an inside leg kick and Curran follows up with one of his own and Curran shoots in for the takedown but Jorgensen sprawls and gains side control and holds Curran in position to end the round.

Winner: Scott Jorgensen: unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 30-27

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Roy Nelson- Steve Mazzagatti is the referee

Round 1: Nelson is in the best shape of his career as his belly is a lot smaller. Nelson takes him down and Cro Cop gets his guard. Nelson lands a couple of punches in top position while pressing his weight on Cro Cop. Nelson throws a few more punches that do not land and Cro Cop kicks him off and gets back to his feet and lands a left hand under the eye of Nelson. Cro Cop lands a body kick and a straight left and Nelson lands an overhand right that rocks Cro Cop for a moment and Cro Cop lands a left uppercut that backs off Nelson. Nelson is constantly closing the distance but Mirko throws a left hand as he is looking for that one punch to end the fight.

Round 2: Nelson lands a looping right hand and rushes in but Cro Cop lands another uppercut and Roy turns around but Cro Cop follows and lands a flurry of uppercuts and left hands to the body. Nelson gets away from the fence and his face is bloodied up. Cro Cop lands a high kick to the head but Nelson shakes it off. They engage in the clinch and Nelson takes him down and moves to side control. Nelson is trying to pin down Cro Cop’s left arm. He is using his weight on Mirko’s chest to pin him down. Nelson traps Cro Cop’s left arm in the crucifix position and lands a barrage of punches to the face with Cro Cop unable to defend but he survives the round.

Round 3: Straight left from Cro Cop and Nelson follows up with a looping overhand right and a straight hand that rocks Cro Cop as he backs up against the fence. Nelson lands a straight left that hurt Mirko as he falls to the ground and Nelson jumps on his back and lands punch after punch to Cro Cop’s face until the ref jumps in to stop the fight.

Winner: Roy Nelson by TKO at 1:30 of the 2nd round.

In the post-fight interview Cro Cop said this was his farewell fight and wanted to go out on a win. Says he was treated like a king by the “UFC Headquarters”  and he apologized to the fans for not winning his final fight. The live crowd applauded him as he left the ring.

Matt Mitrione vs. Cheick Kongo – Herb Dean is the referee

Round 1: Both fighters are circling each other and with neither one throwing any punches with the fans starting to boo. Mitrione rushes in with an overhand right and Kongo wraps him up and pins him against the fence. Mitrione underhooks both of Kongo’s arms so he can’t do anything. The breaks them up and they restart in the center. Mitrione’s hands are really low and but he is the aggressor. Kongo throws a body kick but Mitrione catches it and kicks his legs from out underneath him but Kongo gets back up as the round closes and the fans boo.

Round 2: Mitrione connects with a left hand to open the round. Kongo lands three inside leg kicks and follows up with a straight right that Mitrione slips and avoids it. Mitrione is fainting a lot before he throws a punch as he is backing up Kongo throughout this round but no one has connected with a big shot. Mitrione lands an uppercut and Kongo moves out of the way to relax for a moment and Mitrione doesn’t follow up. Mitrione lands two leg kicks and leaping straight hand followed with an uppercut to close the round.

Round 3: Mitrione rushes in but Kongo lands an uppercut and pins him against seconds until he lands a big takedown with ease. They get to their feet but Kongo is control Mitrione by his waist and is landing knees to the back of the thigh and takes him down again. Kongo has side control and mixing elbows to the body and punches to the face. The ref is telling them to work as Kongo is having more difficulty landing anything of significance. Mitrione attempts to explode to get back up but Kongo uses his weight and hits him with shots to the body to end the round. By far the most action and most damage of the fight. Kongo won this round for sure by out wrestling Mitrione.

Winner: Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28

BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz – Josh Rosenthal is the referee

Round 1: Diaz pushes Penn against the fence and lands some shots with no real power behind them. He keeps his weight on him until BJ gets away and lands a stiff left hand to the jaw. BJ takes Diaz down and Diaz rolls out of it and BJ follows and it looks like they are wrapped in a small package.  They get back up and Diaz lands some straight punches and BJ follows up with a left uppercut to the eye that hurts Diaz. Diaz’s hands are wide and low and connects a nicely timed right hand and BJ follows up with one of his own to end the round and Diaz shoulder checks BJ as he walks back to his corner.

Round 2: Diaz is talking trash to start the round and BJ answers with a right hand. Diaz pins BJ against the fence as they are both trading punches to the body as the crowd chants for BJ. Diaz has some damage on his right eye. Diaz tries to take him down and BJ sprawls and Diaz follows up with a knee to the body. Diaz landing a lot of short punches and follows up with a left hook to the body that hurt BJ. Diaz attempts a double leg takedown but BJ blocks and Diaz follows it up with a three-punch combo and Penn is hurt and backing away. Diaz is stalking Penn while landing at will. Diaz puts his hands up saying“What” as he continues to land at will to the body and head. BJ Penn’s face is busted up and he is tired. Diaz looks like he can go all day.

Round 3: Diaz starts the round with three straight left hands that land flush on BJ. Straight jab, right hook is the story of this round for Nick Diaz. BJ is trying to throw but Diaz keeps landing first. BJ lands a right hook to Diaz’s jaw but Diaz continues to stalk him and holds him against the fence. BJ keeps looking at the clock. BJ attempts a takedown but changes his mind and tries to land that one right-hand punch to end the fight. Both fighters and trading lefts and rights in the center of the cage and BJ lands a right hand but Diaz follows up with a straight left and head kick and Diaz grabs his BJ’s head with both arms in a clinch and lands knees to the body to end the round.

Winner: Nick Diaz by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-27, 29-28

Diaz was yelling in the camera, “I won that shit” repeatedly and during the post-fight interview, he called out Georges St. Pierre and said he doesn’t believe he is hurt. BJ Penn said this was probably the last time you will see him fight because he wants to perform at the top level and he has a daughter at home and another one on the way and he can’t go home to them “Looking like this”  referring to the condition his face is in and his right eye being black and blue and closed shut.

Preliminary results:

• Clifford Starks defeated Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision

– Francis Carmont defeated Chris Camozzi via unanimous decision

• Ramsey Nijem defeated Danny Downs via unanimous decision

• Brandon Vera defeated Elliot Marshall via unanimous decision 29-29 across the board

• Bart Palaszewski knockouts Tyson Griffin at 2:44 in the 1st round

• Donald Cerrone submits Dennis Siver with a rear-naked choke at 2:22 of the 1st round