LE DESTROYS FRANKLIN IN 1ST ROUND AT UFC MACAO

Self admittedly Cung Le stated that his main even fight against former UFC Middleweight Champion, Rich “Ace” Franklin for UFC on Fuel TV 6 was the most important fight of his entire career. However, the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion couldn’t have imagined the outcome any better than the counter-right hand shot that laid his opponent out a little over 2 minutes of the 1st frame. Both Rich and Cung opted to keep it standing in the middle of the cage from the opening bell. Barely missing hard shots as they picked their spots in search of an opening, it was clear both men wanted to put on a show for the 1st ever UFC event in China. That opening came as Franklin kicked then jabbed at Le who stood in the pocket and threw a perfectly timed counter right hand punch that landed flush on Franklin’s chin sending the Ohio native crashing face first to the canvas.

The Vietnamese fighter quickly stepped forward to follow up on his fallen foe but there was no need as it was lights out for Rich. An elated Cung Le hopped on top of the cage celebrating his highlight reel finish in front of an adoring Macao crowd. Now the owner of a 2-fight win streak, Cung Le (9-2) closes out 2012 prepped to move up the ladder in 2013 with sights set on continuing his triumphant ways and ultimately challenging 185-pound king, Anderson Silva. As for “Ace” Franklin (29-7) it might be time to fold ’em or at least closely look at retirement seeing as how his drop back down to the middleweight division was his proclaimed “last title run” and the loss really puts things into perspective for the aging 38-year old warrior in this, a young man’s game.

Thiago Submits Nedkov In Final Round

In the co-main event, Thiago Silva and Stanislav Nedkov tangled in a light heavyweight match. The Bulgarian had the better of the battle for the first 2 rounds until appearing to slow down in the 3rd giving Thiago the opportunity needed to turn things around. The previously unbeaten Nedkov was mounted by Silva who locked in an arm triangle choke getting the tap at (1:45) of the third round.

Kim Gets Easy Victory Over Thiago

South Korean phenom Don Hyun Kim (16-2-1) made easy work of Paulo Thiago (14-5) during their welterweight fight at UFC Macao. Securing takedowns in every round and controlling his outmatched opponent from bell to bell, Kim took home a unanimous verdict with scores of (30-27) twice and (30-26).
Gomi Knocks Off TUF 6 Winner

In a bout that featured former PrideFC 155-pound king, Takanori Gomi (34-8) one thing was for certain, the China crowd would be in favor of the Japanese all-star. But, what many didn’t expect was that Gomi could survive a 2nd round guillotine scare from Mac Danzing (21-10-1) to earn a split decision win. Gomi put on one of his best performances in the Octagon since arriving pushing through with lots of heart and skill to triumph over The Ultimate Fighter Season 6 winner, Danzing.

Caceres Spoils Tezuka’s UFC debut

Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres (8-5) kept focused and composed in a quality outing against Montonobu Tezuka (19-5-4) for their bantamweight bout. Caceres alertly kept his range using his height and reach to his advantage, used leg kicks and stuffed his foe’s takedowns. The TUF Season 12 alumni earned a split decision from the judges keeping the debuting Tezuka from getting that much desired Octagon win.

Tuck Remains Perfect In UFC Debut

Unbeaten fighter Jon Tuck (7-0) kept his “0” intact by beating the hometown guy, Tiequan Zhang (15-4). Behind a better strategy and gameplan he took his Chinese opponent the distance in order to pick up the unanimous decision win and continue working his way into the upper echelon of a very crowded lightweight division.