This is the UFC 193 undercard blog for the UFC 193 event at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night.
There will be eight fights on the UFC 193 undercard. Jake Matthews vs. Akbarh Arreola, Kyle Noke vs. Peter Sobotta,Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante, Richie Vaculik vs. Danny Martinez, Dan Kelly vs. Steve Montgomery, Richard Walsh vs. Steve Kennedy, James Moontasri vs. Anton Zafir, and Ben Nguyen vs. Ryan Benoit will be featured.
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Ben Nguyen vs. Ryan Benoit
Round 1: Here we go, y'all. UFC 193 is off and running. Flyweights up first. Greg Kleynjans is the referee for this UFC Fight Pass opener. They come out slugging, and Nguyen rocks Benoit with a flurry of looping punches. Left-right-left and Benoit is down! Nguyen pounces and advances straight into mount. Benoit gives up his back and Nguyen flattens him out. Wow, incredibly bad spot already for Benoit. Nguyen stays patient and works a few short shots past Benoit's guard. And just like that, it's over. Nguyen slithers an arm around Benoit's neck and taps him with a nasty rear-naked. Well done, Ben Nguyen. Hell of a way to get us going tonight.
Ben Nguyen def. Ryan Benoit via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:35 of round one
James Moontasri vs. Anton Zafir
Round 1: Welterweights up next. Referee Steve Perceval is our third man in the cage. They touch 'em up and we're off. Moontasri smacks a nice kick into Zafir's midsection early. Moontasri lunges inside with a right hand, but Zafir ties up then takes the fight to the fence. Zafir scores a trip on Moontasri, landing in half guard. Sharp elbow to the body by Zafir and Moontasri regains full guard. Moontasri struggles to his feet but Zafir keeps him pinned against the fence. Moontasri fends off a double leg attempt then circles out to the center of the cage. Zafir blocks a high kick. Moontasri catches Zafir in the guts with a spinning back kick, then downs him with a spinning backfist! It's over! Zafir is hurt bad. Looks like his ribs.
James Moontasri def. Anton Zafir via TKO (spinning back kick and spinning backfist) at 4:36 of round one
Richard Walsh vs. Steve Kennedy
Round 1: Two fights, two first-round finishes. Let's see if we can keep this pace up. Referee John Sharp takes the helm for this Aussie vs. Aussie welterweight tilt. Walsh comes out pumping his jab and firing low kicks. Walsh is just pounding on that lead leg and it's starting to affect Kennedy. Big salvo of rights and lefts from Walsh staggers Kennedy! Kennedy recovers but Walsh continues to stalk. Kennedy needs to figure something out because he's getting tagged badly with right hands. Walsh closes the distance and Kennedy traps him against the fence. Oh man, Kennedy's lead leg is all sorts of blue and purple right now. Kennedy works for a single leg, nearly gets it, then completes the follow-up. Kennedy immediately takes Walsh's back in a scramble and sinks in both hooks. Walsh spins into him but Kennedy maintains mount. Interesting round to score there. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Walsh.
Round 2: Walsh goes back to what was working, connecting on a few low kicks. Kennedy ducks under a punch and shoots for a double, but Walsh sprawls then stands. Kennedy closes the distance again but can't secure a takedown. He gets blasted by a big shot as he flounders on the canvas. Walsh lets him up. Another flurry from Walsh causes Kennedy to roll to his back. Walsh goes to work with punches from top position, then lets him up once more. Kennedy is fading hard. Just as I write that, Kennedy traps Walsh against the fence then dumps him to the mat, settling inside Walsh's closed guard. Kennedy stacks Walsh then dives back inside with a right hand. Kennedy unloads a few short shots while Walsh throws elbows from the bottom. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Walsh. (20-18 Walsh.)
Round 3: Kennedy opens with a nice kick to the midsection. One-two from Walsh. Walsh continues to pile up the points with light shots. Big right hand sends Kennedy to the floor! Walsh lunges atop Kennedy and methodically works to take his back. Kennedy grabs the fence to prevent it and Sharp totally missed it. They escape, but Kennedy quickly returns to the floor, trying to invite Walsh to jump inside his guard. Sharp stands them up. Walsh finds a home for a left then defends a lazy single leg attempt. Kennedy is completely unable to sustain offense on his feet. He's just laying on his back trying to convince Walsh to play his game. Sharp stands him up again. One minute left and Walsh starts peppering Kennedy with strikes. Kennedy circles out then flops to his back for another lazy single. Walsh stands over him and picks his shots. What a weird fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Walsh. (30-27 Walsh.)
Richard Walsh def. Steve Kennedy via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Dan Kelly vs. Steve Montgomery
Round 1: Middleweights up next. Veteran ref Herb Dean makes his first appearance of the night. This is the last fight of the Fight Pass undercard. Kelly wades inside and finds a home for a left hand. Montgomery answers with a hard kick to the midsection. Montgomery eats another stiff left hand, then gets tripped to the floor by the judoka. Kelly swarms with elbows from half guard. Montgomery regains his full guard, then stands with his back against the fence. Kelly trips him back to the mat and he's all over Montgomery. Kelly takes Montgomery's back then transitions to full mount. Montgomery immediately shrimps to get half guard. Nasty elbow to the dome from Kelly. Montgomery stands, but it's short lived. Kelly works inside Montgomery's full guard, then passes and hunts for a d'arce. He can't get it, but that round was an easy one to call. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Kelly.
Round 2: Montgomery retreats back to his jab, using his length to pop-shot Kelly. Kelly rushes inside and eats a flurry of straight punches! Kelly just grins and bears it though, trapping Montgomery against the fence. Montgomery defends a single leg trip then escapes to the center of the cage. Montgomery is really starting to find his range. Kelly senses it and ties the American up against the fence, then scores with a trip. Kelly grabs a front headlock and looks for a d'arce. He can't get it. The fight retakes the feet. Both fighters look like they're moving in slow motion now. Montgomery unloads with a combination that lands flush to Kelly's face. Montgomery continues to connect, then defends a reckless throw attempt.MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Montgomery. (19-19 overall.)
Round 3: Barring some judging silliness, the winner of this round wins the fight. Montgomery leads behind his jab then cracks a knee into Kelly's jaw. We take a momentary break for an accidental low blow, and we're back, with Montgomery throwing hands. Kelly clinches and fails on a throw attempt. Montgomery answers by crushing a kick into Kelly's body. Montgomery eats a left. Kelly doubles up with his cross, then smacks Montgomery with a stiff jab. Right-left from Montgomery. They're both standing the pocket and trading. Kelly wades forward with a hard left, then traps Montgomery against the fence. Montgomery circles out but gets tripped on the escape. Kelly dives into his half guard and this could be the fight. Montgomery gives up his back. Kelly hunts for a rear-naked choke, can't get it, so instead transitions to an armbar. Montgomery defends but Kelly maintains side control, then hops into mount. Thirty seconds to go and Kelly begins working for an arm triangle. Nothing doing, but that last rush probably won him the fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Kelly. (29-28 Kelly.)
Dan Kelly def. Steve Montgomery via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Richie Vaculik vs. Danny Martinez
Round 1: Martinez is southpaw while Vaculik is orthodox. Vaculik is working behind the jab and cutting angles, but is taken down when an outside leg kick is caught. Vaculik stands from half guard, but eats a left hook and knee for his efforts. A double without the cage is scored by Martinez and Vaculik is working from full guard. Decent elbow from Martinez over the top finds the mark. Vaculik stands and scores a nice inside leg kick. Vaculik times a double of his own when Martinez overreaches on a punch. Martinez attempts a reversal and can't get it, so he stands and scores a single leg takedown.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Martinez
Round 2: The fighters exchange leg kicks, but land nothing of significance so far. Martinez scores another double and is nearly thrown off in the process, but holds on and moves to half guard, on top. Vaculik stands and the tow exchange punches before Martinez attempts another double, but this time can't get it. Right hand from Martinez stumbles Vaculik and tries a flurry of strikes to put him away, but can't. Left hand from Martinez partially rocks Vaculik again. Vaculik, though, is fighting back and scores a double, but is reversed and put on his back. Vaculik stands without taking too much damage, but is taken down again with a single leg.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Martinez
Round 3: Martinez's takedown is stuffed to start the frame. Martinez times a kick and finally secures a double. Martinez scrambles as Vaculik finally works his way to the cage, but Martinez drags him to the canvas. Vaculik is trying to stand, but Martinez is doing everything possible from sprawling to wrist control to keep him flat. Vaculik gets one more scramble going, but can't get anything from it.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Martinez and the fight 30-27 Marinez
Danny Martinez def. Richie Vaculik via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante
Round 1: Both fighters are orthodox. A right hand over the top stumbles Perosh a bit, but he's hanging on for now. Villante's lands on the side of Perosh's head with a kick, but it slides off. Right over the top with two uppercuts from Villance clearly hurt Perosh. Perosh is constantly being backed up and eats a right cross coming in that drops Perosh to the canvas immediately. That's it. Fight's over.
Gian Villante def. Anthony Perosh via KO (punch) at 2:56 of round 1
Kyle Noke vs. Peter Sobotta
Round 1: Sobotta is southpaw while Noke is orthodox. Noke executes a series of low and middle push kicks. Two hard outside leg kicks back Sobotta up, but he returns the favor. Out of nowhere, Noke lands a push kick to the ribs/liver of Sobotta and he not only collapses, but screams in the process. Sobotta covers up, but tries to make some kind of an effort to hang on, but can't under the barrage of punches. That's it. The referee intervenes.
Kyle Noke def. Peter Sobotta via TKO (kick/punches) at 2:01 of round 1
Jake Matthews vs. Akbarh Arreola
Round 1: Arreola is southpaw while Matthews is orthodox. Decent left hand partially lands for Arreola, but Matthews continues to engage. Both fighters exchange right hands, Matthews getting the better of it. Matthews clinches with him and presses him into the fence and Matthews score two elbows over the top on the clinch break. Arreola stumbles Matthews with a low kick as the Aussie raised his leg and caught him with a punch on the recovery. Matthews seems ok. Just as I type that, Matthews eats a head kick against the fence and Matthews crumbles. Arreola takes the back in a scramble and is pounding on Matthews while trying to land a choke. Arreola falls off from being too high and Matthews unloads on him from the Mexican's guard.
MMA Fighting score this round 10-9 Arreola
Round 2: Matthews is on top and absolutely pounding on Arreola. The Mexican is shifting his hips underneath trying to create space with his hips, but he's taking a beating. Arreola makes it out of the round, but Arreola is getting torched with elbows and punches over and over.
MMA Fighting score this round 10-9 Arreola
Arreola isn't cleared to return by the doctor. That's it.
Jake Matthews def. Akbarh Arreola via TKO (doctor's stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2.