| MMA: Mike Bisping dances around Chris Leben for decision win at UFC 89 |
BIRMINGHAM, England (Ticker) — Great Britain’s Michael Bisping continued his quest for a middleweight title shot with a unanimous decision win over a gutsy Chris Leben at UFC 89.
Nicknamed "The Count," Bisping (18-1) produced an intelligent display in front of his countrymen in Birmingham to capitalize on Leben’s (18-5) aggressive approach, counter-punching his way to a comfortable victory - and a step closer to 185 kingpin Anderson Silva.
"It was a tough fight. It went down as I thought it would be," Bisping said. "That was my gameplan."
Both men had promised a war, and they delivered in the opening round but, while Leben’s wild looping style failed to find its target more often than not, Bisping’s accurate punches led to the American’s nose bleeding.
Leben continued to look for the big shot as the round progressed and "The Count" proved elusive as he continued to mark up his opponent’s face with crisp combinations.
Leben continued to charge forward in the second round and, having found little success looking for a trademark punch, turned to leg kicks to soften up the Brit. Bisping continued to find his mark with counter-punches and opened up a cut on the Hawaii native’s right cheek, while he himself began to bleed from the ear.
Getting desperate as the time elapsed in the third round, Leben went for the takedown but Bisping, as he did against Rashad Evans in his final light-heavyweight contest, was quickly back to his feet.
He continued to work off the back foot, regularly landing punches on Leben’s face, which was now swolen under the left eye. The fight came to a close with Leben dropping his hands and daring Bisping to rush in - but he did not an took a popular decision win.
"I just wanted to put on a great show. His style won this fight," said Leben, who declared the fight the best of his career.
In the evening’s other co-main event, Brandon Vera’s (9-3) second fight at light-heavyweight ended in defeat to Keith Jardine (14-5-1) in what proved to be a lackluster contest.
Vera, fighting out of San Diego, stepped down to 205 from the heavyweight division after a controversial defeat to Fabricio Werdum in London earlier this year. He got off to a winning start against Reese Andy, but another trip to the UK ended in another defeat for "The Truth."
Jardine, who owns a win over future Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, came out on the attack and quickly took Vera down to the floor, where he had little success with punches from inside guard, while Vera reacted with several elbows.
Vera stunned his New Mexico-based foe in the final minute only for the "Dean of Mean" to immediately unsettle him with a shot of his own, and the round came to a close as Jardine failed to connect with a flurry of shots against the fence.
A cautious second round followed as neither man landed anything damaging apart from Vera momentarily wobbling Jardine with a kick to the knee. The fight remained standing in the final round as both men traded kicks and jabs, but neither appeared willing to take any risks to stop the contest before the 15-minute time limit. Jardine took a split decision victory back to the US.
Brazilian light-heavyweight Luis Cane (10-1) notched his second win on UK soil by securing a technical knockout stoppage of Sokoudjou (5-3).
Sokoudjou had Cane on the backfoot throughout the majority of the first round and much of his success came in the form of kicks to the body, while several shots slipped through but failed to trouble the 27-year-old, fighting out of Sao Paulo.
Cane found his range in the second, connecting with knees and punches to keep his rival from Cameroon fighter against the fence, and it was from there that ‘Bana’ finished the contest, dropping Sokoudjou with a thunderous left hand and following up with a series of unanswered shots before the referee stopped the contest with 45 seconds remaining in the round.
Chris "Lights Out" Lytle (36-16-4) scored a unanimous decision win over "Relentless" Paul Taylor (9-4-1) in a welterweight war.
The pair went toe-to-toe for the opening moments, with Lytle swinging widely in response to Taylor’s crisp combinations. The American tried to take the fight to the mat, but Taylor immediately brought them back to their feet and, working out of the clinch, the pair traded shots against the fence for much of the round.
More fireworks kicked off the second round before Lytle took the fight to the ground, only for Taylor to return it to a stand-up contest. The Walsall, England native failed to capitalize on a nice sweep as Lytle escaped and forced Taylor back onto the fence where - except for a brief pause after an accidental low blow by the Brit - the round came to a close with neither man slowing.
Lytle was quick off the mark at the start of the final stanza, throwing several shots to back Taylor up against the fence. It his consistent ability to do this that could have earned him the victory.
Taylor might have snatched victory in the final seconds, rocking Lytle in the closing seconds but - as a partisan crowd roared on in approval - he could not finish the contest and suffered disappointment on the judges’ scorecards.
Bangor, Maine welterweight Marcus Davis (20-5) got back to winning ways in his adopted home, hooking in a guillotine hold to force Britain’s Paul Kelly (8-1) to tap out 2:16 into the second round.
Davis - who suffered a disappointing defeat by Mike Swick in his last outing - was the aggressor in the opening round, working behind the jab and attempting to string together combinations, but failed to land a telling shot until he took the fight to the ground where, having assumed side control, the 35-year-old dropped several short elbows before Kelly escaped and the two ended the round standing.
Liverpudlian Kelly came out swinging at the start of the second and took Davis down, only for the "Irish Hand Grenade" to hook in a choke and moments later it was over.
Debuting welterweight Dan Hardy (20-6-1) scored a split decision victory over Akihiro Gono (28-13-7), to the delight of his home crowd, and heavyweight Shane Carwin (10-1) made quick work of British newcomer Neil Wain (5-1), claiming a TKO success courtesy of "ground n’ pound" after 91 seconds of the opening round.
Finally, in lightweight action, Terry Etim (11-2) and David Bielkheden (13-6) scored unanimous decision wins over Sam Stout (14-5-1) and Jess Liaudin (12-11), respectively, while there were Baron (16-3) and Per Eklund (15-3-1) against Samy Schiavo (10-6) - both via rear naked choke.
