Ben Saunders

UFC 99 Results

Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva - Unanimous Decision
Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo - Unanimous Decision
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Mustapha Al-Turk - TKO Round 1 3:08
Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders - TKO Round 2 2:47
Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno - Unanimous Decision
Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis - Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Terry Etim def. Justin Buchholz - Submission (D’Arce Choke) Round 2
Dennis Siver def. Dale Hartt - Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1
Paul Taylor def. Peter Sobotta - Unanimous Decision
Paul Kelly def. Roli Delgado - Unanimous Decision
Stefan Struve def. Denis Stojnic - Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 2
John Hathaway def. Rick Story - Unanimous Decision

Thanks to Sherdog, MMA Weekly and Yahoo! for filling in the results and some details of the earlier bouts.

Quick Hits: Four Bouts Added to UFC 99, Goulet Returns & More

Here are your news and notes for the morning of March 12, 2009.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship yesterday announced four additional bouts for its inaugural trek to Germany for UFC 99 on June 13. A pair of welterweights matchups will now grace the televised portion of the card: Mike Swick vs. Ben Saunders and Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy. Also revealed was a lightweight fight between Dennis Siver and Dale Hartt and a heavyweight clash involving Stefan Struve and Denis Stojnic. [UFC.com]

A 155 lb matchup between rising British lightweight prospect Paul Kelly and “Ultimate Fighter 8” alumnus Roli Delgado will reportedly also be added to UFC 99 in the coming days. The fight will be the first at lightweight for Kelly, who spent his previous nine career fights competing at welterweight, where he last defeated Troy Mandaloniz via unanimous decision in February. [MMA Weekly]

Canadian veteran Jonathan Goulet will reportedly return to action at UFC 100 in July against Dong-Hyun Kim. Goulet has not fought since suffering a quick TKO loss to Mike Swick at the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” event last December because of a lingering knee injury. Kim suffered his first professional loss at UFC 94 in January, dropping a split decision to Karo Parisyan. [MFight News]

In a fight in which the loser may find himself on his way out of the UFC, former standout amateur wrestler Matt Grice will apparently take on Shannon Gugerty at UFC 100 in July as well. Both fighters are coming off recent losses. Grice fell to Matt Veach at February’s UFC Fight Night 17 in his first fight in over a year while Gugerty was last submitted by Spencer Fisher at UFC 90 last October. [MMA Weekly]

Fight Announcements: Aldo Added to WEC 39, Saunders Injured & More

Fresh off of his first-round stoppage of Rolando Perez at WEC 38 on January 25, fast-rising featherweight contender will reportedly take on WEC newcomer Chris Mickle in a bout that will likely be added to WEC 39, which takes place on March 1 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

According to MMA Junkie, the fight will partially take the place of the canceled WEC welterweight title fight between Carlos Condit and Brock Larson, who are both now headed to the UFC due to the rumored demise of the WEC’s 170 lb. division.

Aldo has won his first three fights in the WEC and another win under his belt could vault him to the top half of the featherweight division. Mickle, who has spent the majority of his career fighting in small shows in the midwest, will come into the bout with a two-fight winning streak.

 

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Report: Hazelett vs. Saunders Nearly Set for UFC 96

Skilled grappler Dustin Hazelett, winner of five out of his first six fights, will reportedly meet fellow rising welterweight contender Ben Saunders at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio on March 7.

According to Sherdog.com, both fighters have agreed to the fight and bout agreements have been distributed, with both fighters expected to sign the paperwork in the coming days.

Despite remaining a relatively unknown fighter except to hardcore fans, Hazelett has been impresssive since joining the ranks of the UFC in October 2006, winning all but two of his fights and beating the likes of Josh Burkman, Jonathan Goulet, and highly-touted prospect Tamdan McCrory.

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Koscheck Blasts Yoshida at “Fight for the Troops”

Josh Koscheck bounced back from a disappointing decision loss to Thiago Alves in October by knocking out Japanese welterweight sensation Yoshiyuki Yoshida in the featured attraction of the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” card in Fayetteville, North Carolina last night.

The evening was focused on the UFC’s attempts to raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which will go towards building a state-of-the-art facility that will help soldiers that have suffered tramuatic brain injuries. Following his stoppage of Yoshida, Koscheck asked those watching around the world what else it would take for them to make a small donation towards the cause.

“If that wasn’t worth $5 bucks from every UFC fan, I don’t know what else I can do,” Koscheck said.

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Spike Announces Full Card for “Fight for the Troops”

JOSH KOSCHECK AND YOSHIYUKI YOSHIDA HEADLINE “UFC FIGHT FOR THE TROOPS” EVENT ON SPIKE TV

NEW YORK, NY -  Fighting with a truly meaningful purpose in front of some real American heroes, “The Ultimate Fighter” alums Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Matt Wiman will be featured on Spike TV’s telecast of “UFC Fight For The Troops” live from the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Wednesday, December 10 at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT.

The special live UFC fight card will raise funds to build a hospital for traumatic brain injuries for the brave men and women in the United States Armed Forces.  Thousands of soldiers from nearby Fort Bragg, the proud home of the U.S. Airborne and Special Operations Forces, will be in attendance.  More information about the facility, including ways to donate, can be found online at http://www.fallenheroesfund.org or by calling 1-800-340 HERO

The fight card also showcases five current UFC fighters who are all U.S. military veterans including Luigi Fioravanti, Tim Credeur, Dale Hartt, Brandon Wolff, and Steve Bruno.  An additional fight will be added to the main event and announced at a later date.

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MacDonald Falls on UFC 87 Undercard

Despite his best efforts to hang with the touted grappling skills of Demian Maia, Canadian veteran Jason MacDonald eventually succumbed to the Brazilian, tapping out to a rear naked choke late in the third round of what was arguably UFC 87’s most technical undercard bout Saturday night.

With dozens of grappling championships under his belt, Maia was expected to make quick work of MacDonald if he opted to hit the ground with him. However MacDonald surprised many, continually escaping various attempts throughout the first two rounds, even putting Maia in his own predicaments at certain points.

It only took Maia a minute or so to lock in an extremely deep triangle but MacDonald was able to keep his composure and fight his way out of the hold. Multiple rear naked choke attempts followed but MacDonald persevered, even catching Maia in a guillotine before the end of the first round.

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UFC 87: Seek and Destroy Live Results

We will be going live at 8:00 PM ET tonight with live results of UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, which will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The show’s televised main card will air on pay-per-view and Yahoo! Sports starting at 10 PM ET.

The event will be headlined by Georges St. Pierre defending his UFC welterweight title against gritty top contender Jon Fitch, who will be challenging Royce Gracie’s age-old record for consecutive wins. Additional featured fights include Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring and Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta.

Be sure to leave comments throughout the night. Detailed live results are after the jump. 

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Previewing UFC 87: Seek and Destroy

Just two weekends after Anderson Silva destroyed James Irvin on cable television, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns with it’s latest offering: UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, which is headlined by Georges St. Pierre defending his UFC welterweight title against gritty top contender Jon Fitch, who will be challenging Royce Gracie’s age-old record for consecutive wins.

The UFC didn’t come alone on it’s first trip to the state of Minnesota - hometown products Roger Huerta and Brock Lesnar have come to participate in the biggest fights of their respective careers. Huerta will challenge Kenny Florian for the assumed right to take on UFC lightweight champ B.J. Penn while Lesnar will look to bounce back from an embarrassing first defeat against experienced veteran Heath Herring.

Here’s a little breakdown of what you can expect and what you should watch for during tonight’s event. The televised main card will air on pay-per-view and Yahoo! Sports starting at 10 PM ET. MMA on Tap will have complete play-by-play coverage of the event starting at 8 PM ET, so be sure to check back here throughout the night.

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UFC 87: Seek and Destroy Weigh-In Results

The official weigh-in results for tomorrow night’s UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, which will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are below. The show’s televised main card will air on pay-per-view starting at 10 PM ET. All fighters successfully made weight.

Main Card:

Georges St. Pierre (170 lbs) vs. Jon Fitch (170 lbs lbs)
Heath Herring (250 lbs) vs. Brock Lesnar (265 lbs)
Kenny Florian (155 lbs) vs. Roger Huerta (155 lbs)
Jason MacDonald (185 lbs) vs. Demian Maia (185 lbs)
Rob Emerson (155 lbs) vs. Manny Gamburyan (155 lbs)

Preliminary Fights:
Cheick Kongo (235 lbs) vs. Dan Evensen (244 lbs)
Luke Cummo (167 lbs) vs. Tamdan McCrory (170 lbs)
Andre Gusmao (205 lbs) vs. Jon Jones (205 lbs)
Chris Wilson (170 lbs) vs. Steve Bruno (170 lbs)
Ben Saunders (170 lbs) vs. Ryan Thomas (170 lbs)