Watch this space for the live play by play for UFC 85: Bedlam. We will be covering the full event blow by blow right here. So keep refreshing this page for the updates as and when it happens!

ufc85bedlam

UFC85 - Live from the O2 arena in London!! Here we go. Let the fights begin!!

Main Card

Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves

Its time for the main event of the evening as a former champion tries to get back on his final run in the fight game against a young, hungry up-and-comer in ATT fighter Thiago Alvez. This fight is at a catch-weight, a compromise that Matt Hughes agreed to since Alvez couldn’t make the weight at 170 pounds and came in 4 pounds over.

First in to the cage is Thiago “Pitbull” Alvez. Alvez has amazing muay thai and really great leg kicks. He is good on the ground and is very well rounded. He trains with the American Top Team and is coming off a big victory knocking out Karo Parisyan who had never been knocked out before. Next in is former champion and future hall-of-famer Matt Hughes, who is hoping to get back in to the win column after a second loss to current champion Georges St. Pierre. Hughes will look to take Alvez down with his wrestling and ground and pound the young fighter to get his first win in what could be his last run in the fight game.

Alvez looks and is really big for the division. He looks confident and focused as I am sure he knows that a win in this fight can catapult him right to a title shot. Hughes is really big at welterweight as it is and looks in excellent condition and looks to ensure a big fight as he fights in the UK again after 6 long years.

The first round begins with Hughes in south paw position again. Hughes looking for a shoot immediately but Thiago avoids the takedown. Hughes with another attempt but Thiago again keeps away. Matt Hughes pulls guard to get Alvez down. Thiago with big punches from the guard. Both men are back on their feet. Alvez with a good knee and Hughes get Alvez down. Hughes in side mount. Hughes slowly trying to get a better controlling position. Thiago gets Hughes in full guard. Alvez trying to move away but Hughes doesn’t allow it. Not much action here so far as Alvez has a good ground game. Hughes unable to get any damage on Thiago so far. Herb Dean asks the fighters for more action. Hughes tries to pass but Alvez stands up. Hughes has a single leg but Thiago moves away. Hughes on his back now. Thiago with some shots from the guard. The first round is over.

The second round begins with Hughes trying to get a takedown only to eat a knee. Hughes back on his back as Alvez tries to get control. Alvez with some shoulder shots. Alvez with some shots from the guard. Hughes tries to get him down again. Alvez with a huge knee followed by some strikes and it is over! Hughes is really in pain and seems to have hurt his knee. Hughes has really hurt his knee as he falls on his knee as it twists backwards when he falls.

Winner: Thiago Alvez by KO round 2

Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day

Bisping, the hometown hero, after a dominant first fight in the middleweight division, looks to solidify his position in the division as he takes on Jason “Dooms” Day. Day coming off a huge victory against Alan Belcher in his debut looks to finish a very confident Michael Bisping and make waves in the middleweight division. “The Count” will look to impress with a knockout once again and more importantly in front of his home town.

First in to the cage is canadian Jason “Dooms” Day, is a late replacement for Chris Leben in this fight and has a really good all-round MMA game and has displayed a good guard and an aggressive fighting style. Day believes that this is a good fight for him stylistically. Next up is the fan favorite and exciting fighter, Michael Bisping who trains with Quinton Jackson and Juanito apart from his own camp in England. Bisping has a really good kickboxing background and loves to brawl. To add to that, he has a good ground game as well, but would rather keep it standing. Bisping has a 3 inch reach advantage.

The first round gets underway as a fired up Bisping comes out ready. Day with a leg kick. Jason gets another low kick in. Bisping looks for a right but gets a left from Jason. Bisping takes Day to the cage and both men wrestle for control. Bisping getting Day down and strikes from a postured position. Bisping with some big shots on Jason Day. Day tries to get up but Bisping gets some more huge shots on Day. Bisping in side control. Day tries to recover and both men are back on their feet. Bisping with a big takedown. Bisping with a full mount. Day gives up his back as Bisping gets some more strikes in on Day. Relentless strikes on Day from Bisping. Referee Dan Miragliotta stops the fight rightly this time as Michael Bisping wins a dominant and impressive fight against Jason Day.

Winner: Michael Bisping by TKO - Round 1

Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick

This is the first main card fight without a brazilian fighter. Maybe an american fighter will win this time … Lets see.

One of the most anticipated matches on the card, Marcus Davis vs Mike Swick is up next.

“The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis looks to keep his win streak going on as Swick, new to the welterweight division looks to continue on what he believes is his path to the title at 170.

First up is a focused and ready looking Mike “Quick” Swick. Swick trains at the American Top Team and has one of the fastest hands in the division. Swick will look to defend Davis’s power punches and try and unload some good strikes of his own and get the victory here. Next in is former pro-boxer and now mma fighter Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis. Davis is coming in on a huge confidence high with 11 straight wins against some really game opponents. Davis trains with Mark Delagrotte and team Sityodtong. Swick has a huge 7 inch reach advantage and a height advantage on Davis.

The first round starts with Swick throwing some fakes. Davis moves in and gets a couple of shots in. Davis with an inside leg kick. Swick with a leg kick. Marcus rushes Mike in onto the cage and tries to get Swick down but couldn’t finish it. Swick is now in half guard. Davis has his back to the cage, not a good place to be. Swick trying to pass. Swick is not able to get too much damage so far though. Swick passes to side but Davis gets Swick back to full guard. Davis with nice elbows from the bottom. Swick is unable to get anything on Davis. Swick trying to use the cage to get some advantage. Swick has controlled the position so far. Davis is not able to get away from this so far. Swick with a few strikes that don’t do too much damage. Swick with a few short elbows. The first round is almost over. Davis tries to sweep Swick over but is unable to do so. End of the first round and Davis is bleeding thanks to the scar tissue on his face.

Round 2 starts as Davis looks for a low kick again. Swick tries for a high kick but Davis gets a left hand in. Swick gets a nice knee on Davis and they are on the ground again. Davis needs to get this back on the feet. Yamasaki asks for action. Swick tries to pass but Davis has a good guard. Swick passes to side control. Davis gets back into side mount. Davis looks for a kimura. Davis is using a lot of energy to look for the kimura as Swick gets a few elbows down. Both men are back as Davis gets a left in on Swick. Davis with Swick on the cage and peppers in with some body shots. Good combination from Davis. Swick warned for grabbing the fence. Davis with some upper cuts. Good right hand from Davis as Swick gets some nice knees in on Marcus. Davis with a trip and Marcus looks to get a triangle on Davis. Davis looks for a right kick as Swick intelligently gets a takedown. Nice knees to Davis’ body as the second round stops.

Final round starts as both men seem more tentative in comparison. Nice knee from Swick. Swick tries to draw Marcus in the clinch but he moves away. Marcus with a few nice shots. Swick with a nice knee to the body. Marcus looks for the big punch. Back to the clinch and they break away. Marcus is not able to get his range it looks like. Swick with a nice knee. Davis with some body shots. Swick gets Davis to the cage and gets some knees in. Davis needs to come up with something extraordinary or this is Swick’s fight to lose. Under two minutes remaining as Yamasaki stops the fight to deduct one point from Mike Swick for holding the fence. Swick with a takedown and some nice elbows on Davis. Both men with elbows on the ground. One minute remaining as Davis looks like a bloody mess. The crowd don’t seem to like the fight as they do the wave and sing! The final round is over.

Marcus Davis has a big gash on his left cheek. Delagrotte thinks Davis has got the fight, but it seems highly unlikely.

Winner: Mike Swick by Unanimous Decision (29-27)

Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites

Leites comes in to the fight with a 6 fight win streak and a great BJJ pedigree. Leites will definitely try to get the fight down to the ground although it remains to be seen how good that will be with his opponent. Nate “The Great” Marquardt is one of the UFCs best middleweights and has a great standup game that is accentuated by his amazing ground game. One of the very few fighters to submit Jeremy Horn and backed by the Jackson submission fighting camp, Marquardt will look to keep the fight standing and continue down his road to another title shot. Marquardt looks a little slimmer than he did the last time. Leites has a 4 inch reach advantage.

The fight begins and thankfully Herb Dean is the referee. Leites takes the centre and looks like he is going to try and push the pace. Leites with a superman punch. Marquardt rushes in with punches. Leites gets a few good combinations on Nate. Marquardt trying to get body punches in on Leites. Leites continues to push. Marquardt is dropped with a right. Leites has full mount and reins down punches. Marquardt trying to control the fight by getting Leites into half guard. Marquardt does and excellent job by keeping Leites in his guard. Leites gets into side control but Marquardt escapes and now both fighters are back on their feet. Marquardt is looking fine now. Leites gets a few good punches on Marquardt as Nate tries to get some body punches in. Marquardt takes Leites to the cage but cannot get any damage on Leites. Thales with a spinning back kick. Marquardt with a few nice punches and a beautiful uppercut. Leites is on wobbly legs. Nate gets another good shot in. The first round is over.

The second round starts and both men start off where they left off. Leites pushing the action and is now trying to get Marquardt down. Marquardt also trying to get Leites down from the fence. Both men trying to get control from the clinch. Marquardt has the take down but gets an illegal knee on Leites’s face when he was down. Leites taking the time to recover wisely. Herb Dean calling for the doctor to make sure the fighter is ok. This is exactly why Herb Dean is the best referee in the fight game today. Dean takes a point away from Marquardt. Marqaurdt takes Leites down immediately. The fight is stood back up but Marquardt tries to get another takedown but insted Leites takes control and goes for a choke and some punches on Nate as the second round comes to a close.

The third round is begun and at 3:36 Herb Dean deducts another point form Naruardt for a supposed illegal strike to the head. Leites trying to get some shots in on an aggressive Marquardt. The point deductions might cost Marquardt a lot. Marquardt has Leites on the ground and in the corner. Nate looking for a kimura and also gets some nice shots in on Leites. Marquardt has such a dominant ground game. A minute and a half left and Leites seems the worst for wear so far. Leites looking for a kimura now. Leites looks absolutely tired. Leites looking to get some sort of leverage on Nate and get back up. Leites gets Nate back on the ground but just as the round is about to get over, Nate explodes with what Rogan can only describe as a pile driver! The third round is over. Let’s see if the points cost Nate Marquardt what was otherwise a hard fought victory.

Winner: Thales Leites by split decision

The loss for Marquardt is definitely due to the points deducted.

Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera

Brandon “The Truth” Vera looks to come back from a decision loss to former champion Tim Sylvia. Vera also is looking to come back from a broken hand and will try to use his standup skills to stop Fabricio Verdum. Verdum on the other hand, is coming off a victory over Napao, Gabriel Gonzaga and should look at using his chute box style of muay-thai to defend and take Vera down on the ground where he is a wizard (Abu Dhabi and Mundial Champion).

First in to the cage is Fabricio Verdum with Chute Box behind him. This is an intense looking Verdum who seems to be ready to take this home. Next up is Brandon Vera who looks calm and focused as he enters the cage. Vera has an extra chip on his shoulder as he hates having lost badly in his last match. Vera has been training with Rob Kaman in Muay Thai and is a BJJ black belt so he can hold his own on the ground. Verdum has a distinct weight advantage coming in to this fight.

The first round starts with both men in the centre of the ring. Vera with a clinch and they separate. Vera takes Verdum to the cage after a low kick. Verdum reverses and throws a few knees of his own. Vera takes a left, Verdum coming in with some punches that miss. Vera with knees from the clinch. Verdum with a couple of his own. Verdum with a really sweet takedown and is now on top of Vera. Vera scrambles to keep Verdum in full guard. Verdum throws a few punches and elbows from the top. Vera escapes and gets a couple of knees on Verdum. Verdum tries to pull guard but Vera is able to get a few blows on him. Both men back on their feet. Vera with a nice elbow. They are back on the cage and the referee breaks it up. Verdum with a high kick but Vera gets back in the clinch. Verdum gets Vera down but Vera gets a few elbows in. Verdum trying to pass and gets to half guard. Verdum mounts Vera and is reining blows on Vera and referee Dan Miragliotta stops the fight!! WTF??!! Vera is really upset and justifiably so! Vera was taking some shots but Vera was covering and defending. Premature stoppage for sure out here.

Winner: Fabricio Verdum by TKO - Round1 - Referee’s stoppage

Fabricio thinks that Vera was asking for a stoppage. Vera is really upset and says that he did not ask for the match to stop and was saying that he was ok.
The undercard fights went as follows:

Heavyweight: Antoni Hardonk def. Eddie Sanchez - R2 TKO (4:15)

Welterweight: Paul Taylor def. Jess Liaudin - R3 split decision

Light Heavyweight: Luis Cane def. Jason Lambert - R1 TKO (2:07)

Luiz Cane with some huge lefts and rights gets Lambert on the defense and then unloads on a wide open Lambert as Lambert goes down. Dean stops the fight as a wobbly Lambert tries to get Herb Dean down. Huge first victory for Luiz Cane.

Welterweight: Kevin Burns def. Roan Carneiro - R2 submission (triangle choke) (3:56)

Lightweight: Matt Wiman def. Thiago Tavares - R2 KO (1:57)

Matt Wiman shows some good ground defense and frustrates Tavares in the first round. Wiman has a really impressive guard and has shown a lot of improvement in his game overall.

Round 2 was basically blows by both men on the feet barring one huge right from Tavares. Wiman finishes Tavares with some good ground and sumission defense followed by a huge right hand to finish Tavares after they stand up. Huge Victory!! and an amazing performance by Matt “Handsome” Wiman.

Middleweight: Martin Kampmann def. Jorge Rivera - R1 submission (guillotine choke) (2:34)

The fight started as Rivera gets Kampmann with kicks to the body. Both fighters clinch as Kampmann gets Rivera down to the mat. Kampmann with elbows from the full guard. Kampmann with a slam on Rivera. Kampmann passes and gets Rivera’s back. Kampmann has a left hook and a right underhook in. Kampmann improves to mount and gets an arm triangle on. Rivera survives but falls into a guillotine choke. Rivera taps and Martin Kampmann remains undefeated in the UFC.

Submission of the Night: Kevin Burns - triangle choke against Roan Carneiro
Burns is a blue belt in BJJ and displayed amazing technique to submit BJJ black belt and world champion Roan Carneiro

That’s a wrap! Thanks for tuning in and do leave comments if u liked the coverage and even if u didn’t.