UFC 75: Champion vs Champion - Alexander, Liaudin, Davis, Etim, Siver & Silva Victorious!

Its official, Houston Alexander is a bad man. A surprise to many who thought he would be a stepping stone for Keith Jardine, before breaking Jardine in less than a minute in May, there were still some people who had doubts to the credibility of the youngster from Nebraska, USA.

He silenced all doubters by destroying the Italian Alessio Sakara in just over a minute with a vicious knee to the head followed by a murderous ground and pound. Alexander is a danger man for everyone at light heavyweight, and whilst perhaps not yet ready for a title bout against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, he is quickly carving a path to that matchup. He seems like a great character too, and was quick to point to his work ethic and thank his coaches for the work they put in, saying “That’s good coaching, a lot of determination and a lot of time in the gym.”

Jess Liaudin has fought in both of the recent UFC promotions in the UK and has looked impressive in both, showing his excellent submission skills at UFC 70: Nations Collide by finishing Dennis Siver in the first round, and now scoring an excellent TKO by out-striking Anthony Torres.

Liaudin knocked his man down twice before the stoppage, then thanked the crowd, “Having lived here for 12 years, it was amazing to fight in front of such a huge crowd in my own backyard,” and said he was glad that Torres tried to keep the fight standing, allowing him to showcase his style, “It shows the world that I can bang as well.”

”Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis submitted Paul Taylor in the opening round of a welterweight battle. Taylor hurt Davis early in the round with a massive kick to the head, but Davis managed to work his way into a ground and pound, waiting until Taylor tried an escape before sinking in the armbar that ended the match. I thought it was a great fight, Taylor was a little unlucky not to have the bout stopped in his favour after the kick and follow up barrage that he delivered, but all respect to Davis, he coped well under pressure and it took a lot of heart and skill to come back and finish the fight.

Previously unbeaten Terry Etim was dominated as he lost a unanimous decision to Brazilian Gleison Tibau. Much of the fight was spent on the ground, as Tibau took Etim to ground several times, and despite several daring escapes from submissions by Etim he was outfought by a more experienced opponent throughout. The judges were unanimous scoring the bout 30-27 across all three score cards.

Dennis Siver returned to the Octagon with a second round knockout of Naoyuki Kotani, avoiding several submission attempts before scoring a second round knockdown and ground and pounding away, forcing a referee’s intervention to save Kotani.

Thiago Silva stopped Tomasz Drwal in the second round of a light heavyweight fight that saw a couple of takedowns and lots of big shots being thrown. It wasn’t until the last minute that Silva caught Drwal with a right left combination that sent him crashing to the canvas.