UFC on FUEL TV 7 Main Card Recap
By Chris Leslie on February 16, 2013
MMAFrenzy’s coverage of UFC on FUEL TV 7 rolls along with our recap of tonight’s non-championship main card. Fighters Dustin Poirier and Cub Swanson battled it out in tonight’s co-main event with Swanson leaving victorious in a great fight.
In other action, fighters Jimi Manuwa, Gunnar Nelson, James Te Huna, and Matt Riddle came away from Wembley Arena with wins.
Swanson Impresses Against Poirier
Cub Swanson and Dustin Poirier assured people there would be fireworks when the two fighters met in London and they certainly did not disappoint. Swanson was just a little bit better in every aspect of tonight’s fight with the Louisiana-native. Swanson’s power and grappling prowess were enough to frustrate Poirier and secure a crucial victory in the featherweight division.
Manuwa Defeats Injured Diabate
Jimi Manuwa wanted to get a TKO or knockout victory tonight in London and he got just that, just not the way he wanted to. Manuwa showed good striking and grappling in the Octagon tonight’s opening round, though it is unclear when Diabate was injured. Diabate was barely able to get back to his stool following the opening frame, and after talking to the ringside physician the bout was called.
Nelson Defeats Santiago
Gunnar Nelson looked relaxed against the veteran Jorge Santiago. Nelson showed a great deal of his skills tonight, including his chin, by out-striking and out-grappling Santiago. The Blackzillians fighter would swing for the fences against Nelson, but was unable to put him away as the Icelandic fighter stayed perfect on the night.
Te Huna Comes From Behind to Defeat Jimmo
James Te Huna showed a ton of heart in his fight with Ryan Jimmo in London. Jimmo blasted the New Zealander with a brutal headkick early in round one and nearly finished the fighter on the ground before Te Huna rallied. Te Huna then took control as soon as the second round ended and did not relent for the rest of the fight. Te Huna would take Jimmo down in both the second and third rounds, landing some big shots in ground-and-pound as the fight progressed. Jimmo was simply unable to mount much offense in either round, and Te Huna would net the unanimous decision victory.
Riddle Grounds Mills
Matt Riddle usually has a propensity to brawl a bit before using his wrestling base to secure a win, but against talented striker Che Mills, he took few chances. Mills did his best to ward off Riddle’s wrestling attack but was unable to do so. While the bout was officially a split decision, it was a clearcut victory for the former TUF contestant.
Quick Results
- Cub Swanson def. Dustin Poirier by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jimi Manuwa def. Cyrille Diabate via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 1
- Gunnar Nelson def. Jorge Santiago via unanimous decision (29-28,29-28,30-27)
- James Te Huna def. Ryan Jimmo via unanimous decision (29-27,29-28,29-28)
- Matthew Riddle def. Che Mills via split decision (29-28,28-29,30-27)
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Very good fight night. Some fights hold me on the tips of my toes. The only thing that left me unhappy it’s some judges decisions, over all it didn’t make an impact on the main results, but come on judge gave 27 to Jimmo and 29 to Te Huna when the first round can arguably be 10 – 8 round in favor of Jimmo. Similar problem in Che Mills’s fight.
@vasya the Mills fight left me more than a bit stunned to say the least. I expected a majority draw or decision in the Jimmo-Te Huna fight. The thing I wondered, and I remember saying this to someone after that first round, that (depending what corner the judge was in) you may have thought Te Huna salvaged a 10-9 by recovering late in that first round like he did. I remembered scoring a 10-8 in the second for Te Huna, because of the dominant positions held, the big strikes he landed, and (this was the key) how little Jimmo did (he only landed 6 punches and only threw 8) in the round.
So if you thought Te Huna did enough to salvage a 10-9 in the first, and then thought he got dominated in either the second or third (and statistically it was a bloodbath in the second and third rounds) you could conceivably ended up with a 29-27. Not saying I completely agree, but it is certainly easier to understand than the Riddle-Mills score.
@ChrisL
Thanks for sharing your view. One more thing you probably know, I wanted badly for Jimmo to win, this might impacted my view a little, but I did watch this fight twice and I saw it same way.
In a Jimmo’s fight I thought about 10 – 8 in a second round, however in my opinion Te Huna didn’t do enough to get 10 – 8 in a second, but I have to agree (even though I was badly on Jimmo’s side) that overall, Te Huna won the fight, this why the final score didn’t upset me that much, I just didn’t like the score (27 – 29 because if judge gave second round 10 – 8 , he also should of give the same score for the first round that’s it).
My thoughts on the overall 10 – 8 rounds: If your opponent was badly knocked down and almost got finished no meter how good he recovered at the end of the fight it should be 10 – 8 , unless after recovery, knocked down fighter recovered and done some significant damage in a fight back . In case of Jimmo fight, Te Huna did recover in the middle, but “didn’t do anything significant” to get this one point back to make it 10 – 9 instead of 10 – 8.