UFN 8: Rashad Evans vs. Sean Salmon Review

by: DarthMolen 1 year, 7 months, 1 week, 5 days, 4 minutes ago

 

The first fight of the night was a total surprise. Although Fisher is technical with his hands, he revealed a fatal flaw that led to his downfall.

Round 1 starts out with both trading punches in flurries. Spencer seems tentative because of the takedown threat from Hermes. They trade shots with Franca ducking and throwing wild haymakers. Spencer keeps dropping his hands slightly after each exchange. Hermes scores takedown after takedown at will but Fisher is defending them well using his feet to keep his opponent off and putting both hands on his ears to protect his head from the over-the-top hits from Franca. They eventually stand and the round ends.

Round 2 has Fisher coming out stronger and crisper. Hermes takes the flurry of blows and scores the takedown with a good outside leg trip. There is a good scramble with Spencer finally getting back up. Fisher looks gassed and keeps slightly dropping his hands after every hit. Hermes at this point appears tired too and can't score a takedown so he resorts to looping hooks aimed at Spencers head. One such punch that originated from his waist actually lands and rocks Fisher's world. Hermes jumps in and finishes him off with a flurry of nasty hits that forces the referee to jump in because Spencer is out on his feet.

Hermes Franca wins in the 2nd round by TKO. It must have been the purple hair he had because Franca looked unstoppable out there. I didn't see Pat Miletich in his corner tonight. His coach was probably in Houston prepping the rest of the Miletich team for their IFL Houston date.

The next fight really isn't worth writing much about.

Herring pretty much spends most of the next fight on his back. He seems bewildered by the size of the octagon that allows Jake to dodge his flurry of hits at will. Jake immediately rushes in after the flurry of punches are finished and scores takedown after takedown. Pretty much repeat ad nauseaum through 3 rounds. By the third round, Heath is totally disgusted by the wrestlers moves and shows it with finger wagging, etc.

Jake O'Brien scores the upset and wins by unanimous decision.

next match shown was Ed Herman vs. Chris Price. Chris is an ex-marine and my respect goes out to him but he was outclassed on this battleground.

Round 1 started out with a scrum. Ed Herman gets the first takedown but Chris tries for a Kimura multiple times from his back that kind of transitions into a straight armbar. Ed successfully defends and answers with some awesome elbows from up top. He forces Chris to roll, takes the back, and then tries to force his hooks in. Ed grabs Chris' right arm in the process and then Chris tries to come out the backdoor. Ed transitions lightning fast to the left arm then rolls Chris over with a cross-face leg and slaps on the armbar forcing Price to tap immediately.

Ed Herman returns to fighting form by defeating Chris Price handily. He didn't even appear cocky and had even changed his hairstyle. Maybe this is the start of his redemption in the UFC.

The last fight of the night is the main event, Rashad Evans vs. Sean Salmon and there were no surprises here other than Rashad's kicking game.

Round one starts with Sean Salmon throwing some half-hearted jumping switch kicks. They look absolutely raunchy and can probably be attributed to nerves. Salmon then starts to throw some wild shots and a couple land on Rashad, suprising the heavily favored fighter. Rashad answers back with lightning hands and sends Sean on the defensive. You can tell that Sean's adrenaline is pumping because he is real skittish and breathing hard threw his mouth halfway through the first round. Sean does score the first takedown though and quickly transitions from half-guard to side control. There is a good left right from Sean as Rashad gets up. Rashad throws a couple body kicks but Sean grabs one of them and throws Rashad to the ground. Rashad does get back up and lands a good right as the bell rings for round one.

Round 2 starts with a great takedown by Rashad Evans. Sean Salmon is leaning slightly forward Rashad launches a nasty head kick that knocks Sean out cold. Rashad then drops a bomb onto the already unconscious fighters head before the referee can jump in and pull off Evans.

Rashad wins by KO by kicks in the second round.

Overall, it was a great night for fights. The quality of talent was top notch. Hopefully Heath Herring can get used to the space of the octagon and become a force in the Heavyweight division. Thank you Zuffa for the free night entertainment.