UFC 113: Machida vs Shogun 2 review (DVD) ★★★

Preliminary Card

Middleweight Bout: Jason MacDonald vs. John Salter ?
Well, from the get-go this was shaping up to be a good fight, but just two minutes in, Salter got caught with a head kick before taking MacDonald to the mat, only MacDonald tried to hook in a Guillotine in midair and came crashing down awkwardly on his leg, breaking it. Not a pretty sight. This TKO victory for Salter marked his first UFC win, much to the live crowd's displeasure seeing as he's an American who broke a Canadian's leg, but what can you do? It's not like it could have been helped.

Welterweight Bout: Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Mike Guymon ???
This was a nice clash between two respectable fighters. Even though it went for the full three rounds, Guymon was dominant throughout, though Yoshida can far from be passed off as he should be commended for his survival and effort. He took a plethora of nasty knocks including a vicious series of back elbows when he was sandwiched against the walls of the Octagon with nowhere to go. The unanimous decision victory was Guymon's first UFC win and it was emotional to say the least. It took him ten years to prevail on the grandest stage in MMA and it was a dream come true for him at UFC 113. Countless hours of blood, sweat and tears culminated into the Joker breaking down in the middle of the Octagon at the result. It was pleasant indeed to see such passion from a fighter, as with some main event-level competitors, who will go nameless, they seem just to be doing it for the enormous paychecks.

Heavyweight Bout: Tim Hague vs. Joey Beltran ???
Canada's own Tim Hague entered the fight at the allowed one-pound weight overstep of 266 pounds for a heavyweight contest and was considerably heavier than his opponent Joey “The Mexecutioner” Beltran. In a fight that was essentially a boxing match for the first two rounds, the weight difference gave Beltran the advantage as he was lighter on his feet. Hague got gassed pretty quickly and by the third round looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion. It became a real slugfest in the final minutes, which rounded off an exciting pairing. Beltran seemed to have been awarded a score from the judges in his unanimous decision victory that I believe was a little too high and discrediting of Hague's offense, but his win was still deserved.

Welterweight Bout: TJ Grant vs. Johny Hendricks ???
Another Canadian fighter in action, TJ Grant came on the losing end of a bout against former national wrestling champion Johny Hendricks of the USA. Both opened the round fast and furious, tagging each other consistently with a variety of strikes, including a nice flurry of knees by Grant. As they wore each other down, the American took the advantage and landed a couple of huge takedowns on TJ, with a particularly thunderous one in the final round. Hendricks was declared the winner by the judges' majority decision with a score that had a point removed because of a second low blow delivered by TJ. Not without a warning himself, the referee had words with Hendricks for an overzealous punch to the face after the second round had ended.

Welterweight Bout: Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet ??
UFC 113's preliminary card should have had the subtitle Canada vs. The World. Yet another combatant from the land of the maple leaf entered the Octagon and came out with a loss at Machida vs. Shogun 2, this time in the form of Jonathan Goulet. Massive props to him for escaping a sickeningly tight Guillotine in the opening moments of the fight – I was sure he was going to tap out, but he didn't and showed that he's packing a hell of a lot of resilience. Props must also be given to Marcus for an incredible knockout with a perfect one-two.

Middleweight Bout: Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor ??
This bout, which would have been a battle of the bad moustaches had it not been for Doerksen shaving his off just before the fight, started with electric pace and the momentum was firmly in the hands of Lawlor, who was throwing bombs and not letting up whatsoever, but the quickness really did a number on his cardio and in the second round he was noticeably slower with a weaker defense, allowing the Canadian to tag him far more often. It was this exhaustion that cost Lawlor the victory after being dazed for just a split-second, enabling Doerksen to lock in a rear naked choke in a flash like a shark that smells blood. This was Joe's 33rd submission win in his MMA career.

Main Card

Middleweight Bout: Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher ??
Pretty explosive, back-and-forth action that saw the French-Canadian Cote at the receiving end of a beautiful, and I mean beautiful, rear naked choke. He complained post-fight that he got spiked on his head in a Piledriver-type maneuver just prior to the submission, but he got dropped face-first in a nice gutwrench takdown instead, so it was all legal. Tough luck, Patrick.

Heavyweight Bout: Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione ??
This bout was booked lower on the card than I expected seeing as it was one of the most highly anticipated fights of the night. Unfortunately it didn't live up to those expectations, but I wasn't too surprised. I've never been on the Kimbo train and always believed him to just be all hype and no substance. While he is a talented competitor, stepping into the Octagon in a real UFC event outside of The Ultimate Fighter was way out of his league, and certainly the same can be said for his opponent Matt Matrione, who totally dominated him, getting the TKO in the second round. The highlights for me were, firstly to Kimbo's credit, a huge Powerslam-type takedown in the opening seconds of the fight that planted Mitrione right on the back of his head, and a nicely executed Anaconda choke applied through an alligator roll. But by the end of it, Kimbo was on the mat almost motionless, broken down by a vicious series of leg kicks and a barrage of fists from Mitrione so the referee had to end it. And post-fight? Dana White said auf wiedersehen to Kimbo's UFC contract.

Lightweight Bout: Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens ???
These two men vowed before the bell to keep the action on their feet and, for the most part, they kept to their word, exchanging hard, hard shots for the whole three rounds. They wore each other down and put on an equal showing, that was up until Stephens' kicking offense took its toll on Stout and dazed him for a split-second, but it was time enough for the tenacious one to capitalise and press the advantage with a flurry that I thought was going to lead to a TKO victory, but no, it went the distance, concluding in a split-decision victory for Jeremy from the table of judges.