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UFC on FUEL TV 9 Main Card Play-by-Play

By: MMA Editor Sensei Phillip Palmejar

Akira Corassani (11-3) vs Robbie Peralta (16-4)

Stockholm, Sweden (April 6th, 2013)– Round one begins with the traditional feeling out process.  The men circle each other around the octagon with Peralta being more of the aggressor keeping his back to center cage.  Peralta lands a nice uppercut although Corassani has great footwork.  A huge right hand lands from Akira but Robbie Peralta shrugs it right off.  Punching exchanges ensue in the center of the cage with both men finding homes for their power.  Peralta defends a Corassani takedown throwing a couple knees to the body for the effort.  The fighters hit the cage and clinch up.  In the clinch punches, knees and positional changes are back and forth.  They separate and exchange a couple last punches up to the final bell or round one.  Very close round that Corassani may have taken on the cards.

Akira starts circling on the outside until lunging forward with a quality right hand that lands.  Peralta starts to counter with leg kicks hopefully slowing Akira’s very quick footwork.  Peralta throws a right haymaker and drops for a double leg takedown.  Akira is able to resist and separates back into center cage.  Punches are going back and forth until Akira gets rocked by a left hook with half the round left.  Peralta follows up with aggression trying to finish.  Punches and knees end in the clinch against the cage as Akira uses the fence to stall and recover for that devastating punch.  Corassani is recovering quickly and starts to pressure Robbie against the cage for the takedown which he almost completes.  With less than a minute left, they separate and Akira lands a huge overhand right which rocks Peralta and he almost goes down.  He is able to maintain and stands in the pocket.  Robbie then eats a straight left but his legs stay stable.  The bell rings to end another closely contested round.

The final frame begins with both men throwing low kicks.  Peralta looks to be throwing some heavy leather but Akira doesn’t look intimidated.  Corassani is able to change levels in the middle of a punching frenzy and gets the double leg takedown.  Once on the mat, Peralta immediately looks to attack a Kimura but loses the position.  He tries to stand but gets taken right back down.  Rinse and repeat one more time.  Now Peralta is against the cage and Corassani is starting to really apply the top game pressure.  Robbie finally gets back to his feet and the fight ensues in the clinch.  He throws a couple of good knees as he pushes Akira against the fence.  Blood starts flowing from the head of Corassani who looks to have taken an accidental head butt in the clinch.  Corassani drops levels looking for a takedown but is unsuccessful.  Then in a melee, Peralta slips and Akira lands on top.  With simple pressure and control, the fight ends with Corassani in Peralta’s guard.

Akira Corassani wins by UD (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Diego Brandao (17-8) vs Pablo Garza (12-4)

The pace begins slowly with low kicks by Brandao followed by a blocked head kick by Garza.  Almost a minute in and there is very little action.  Then Brandao turns it on and closes distance aggressively with combinations before landing a huge takedown slam on Pablo.  Staying busy from the top, Diego works to pass Garza’s guard, attacking relentlessly as he gets the superior position.  His ground work is fascinating as he jumps from side to side on his opponent before locking in the perfect arm triangle choke and soliciting the tap from his advisory.

Diego Brandao wins by Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke at 3:27 of R1 )

Brad Pickett (23-7) vs Mike Easton (13-3)

Both men forgo the glove touch for a quick start in the middle of the octagon.  Punch and kick exchanges are back and forth until Pickett catches one of Easton’s body-kicks and forces the takedown.  Unable to maintain position, Easton scrambles to his feet and pushes the match against the cage.  He stays busy with knees and punches while simultaneously searching for the takedown.  Pickett is able to stay on his feet and throw several counter elbows before forcing the change of positions.  Two minutes remained and they separate to fight back at striking range.  Both men are showing great technique with excellent combinations and footwork.  Easton lands a head kick and Pickett counters with a three punch combination that lands.  Easton blasts through Brad with a beautiful double leg takedown.  Less than 30 seconds left and Pickett gets back to his feet and to counter, he rushes in with a great deal of effort and lands his own powerful double leg takedown slam.  Pickett remains in control with a body lock as the time runs out for round 1.  An excellent back and forth match through the first frame.

They show respect and touch gloves at the start of round two.  Toe to toe they throw heavy combinations with a multiplicity of techniques.  Easton begins to work an inside foot trip and Brad goes to the flying knee.  Easton goes for an axe kick but is unsuccessful.  Brad is trying to find a home for his huge right uppercut but instead lands a quick double leg.  Easton springs back to his feet just as fast as he went down and they continue in the clinch against the cage.  Again, Pickett forces the takedown and Easton jumps back to his feet in mere seconds.  Easton counters with a takedown of his own that lands in the center of the octagon.  He maintains top position and works to pass the guard.  He loses the position going for a Kimura and Brad gets back to his feet.  A heavy right hand to double leg is countered by Mike.  Easton pushes Pickett against the fence and starts to sway the momentum.  Then a huge knee by Easton is answered by an awesome spinning elbow.  They start destroying each other in the clinch, an extremely exciting round that ends with both men swinging.

The third round starts with both men landing counter left hooks.  Easton throws a spinning back kick that lands then Pickett throws a flying knee to try to show he’s not hurt.  They are again very busy with punches, knees and kicks in the pocket.  Easton is able to use angles to get behind Pickett and take him down but immediately, Pickett reverses the takedown and gets on top showing great wrestling awareness.  Grinding away in the guard, Brad works to pass through the half guard for some time.  Mike turtles up and is able to stand and gets suplexed for his troubles.  Brad goes for a Guillotine but Easton rolls out and defends it beautifully.  Back on the feet after a brief stint in a front head lock the warriors stand right in front of each other and trash each other again and again.  Florian says he’s tired just watching these two great combatants.  In the last 10 seconds they throw haymakers up to the bell with what seems like Pickett getting the better of the exchanges.

Brad Pickett wins by Split Decision (29-28 Easton, 30-27 Pickett, 30-27 Pickett)

Matt Mitrione (6-2) vs Philip De Fries (9-3)

De Fries starts with a lead hook and a takedown attempt that is defended by Mitrione.  Again he looks for another takedown but Mitrione is quick to defend.  De Fries fall back into what looks like a guard pull attempt as Mitrione throws punches.  Philip is not defending and Matt keeps punching until the fight is stopped by TKO in well under one minute.  That was a very impressive finish by Matt Mitrione.

Matt Mitrione wins by KO (KO at :19 of Rd 1)

Ross Pearson (14-6) vs Ryan Couture (6-1)

Couture starts by circling on the outside looking for the takedown.  He shoots in and pushes Pearson up against the cage.  Couture is active in his control, throwing knees and mixing in level changes in high volume.  With great pressure, Couture is able to get the takedown off of the cage but Pearson gets back to his feet quickly.  They separate and again, Couture stays on the outside, circling quickly back and forth.  Pearson lands a nasty knee that Couture eats in the chest and uses to get to the clinch.  A few seconds against the fence and they split with a big left hand from Pearson.  Couture continues to circle until the sound of the bell.

Pearson begins the second frame working to close the distance on the taller Ryan.  His left hook is finding a home on Couture who keeps his hands dangerously low.  Couture forces the clinch and pushes Pearson’s back against the cage.  A minute later he pushes away with a good punch and kick combination.  Back on his bicycle, Couture throws a punch which Ross slips and counters with a body punch of his own.  Pearson is lunging forward with his punches to try to close the distance on the lanky Couture.  A missed spinning back kick is countered by the left hook of Ross again.  Ross catches a kick and is able to fell his foe, hard punches follow and Couture is hurt.  Back to his feet, Ryan catches a hard kick to the body.  Ross follows up with a huge array of punches that put Ryan back to the canvas.  The fight is stopped as Couture turtles up, no longer intelligently defending himself.

Ross Pearson wins by TKO (TKO at 3:45 of Rd 2)

Gegard Mousasi (33-3-2) vs Ilir Latifi (7-2)

Gegard comes out with his head low and throws a right low kick.  Latifi has his back against the cage and is circling away from the taller Mousasi.  Another low kick lands from Gegard.  His is clearly the aggressor, walking forward with his hands down.  Ilir shoots in for a takedown but it is easily stuffed by Mousasi.  An overhand right for Ilir misses as they separate.  Mousasi is mixing in quick straight punches with his left leg low kick and he is being quite successful.  Ilir lands a huge left hook from now where, but Gegard still works with his hands low.  Mousasi’s jab is lightning fast and it is beginning to show on the face of the shorter wrestler.  Latifi starts taunting Mousasi and the crowd shows their support.  Although he is getting really energized, Ilir is not mounting any kind of offense and Mousasi finishes the round landing his straight jab over and over.

Mousasi starts with his hands up and open for the second round.  He stands in center octagon as Ilir moves along the outside of the cage.  Single punch exchanges begin but Ilir’s looping punches are unable to connect with the same proficiency as Mousasi’s quick straight punches.  Latifi then lands a big right hook but it hits Gegard in the chest.  Mousasi lands an inside left hook which forces Latifi to show visible pain.  Mousasi is ranging perfectly on his shorter opponent.  Latifi shoots for a double and Mousasi easily defends with a perfect sprawl.  Gegard tries to move to Ilir’s back but with a quick movement, Latifi defends and is back to his feet.  Latifi’s face is showing some serious wear as blood runs down his cheeks.  Mousasi seems content picking away at his opponent with no real inclinations to go for the finish.

At the start of the third round, Ilir’s right eye looks wrecked.  Latifi shows a little more confidence as he begins the round standing toe to toe and landing a huge right low kick.  The kick ignited a sense of urgency in Mousasi who begins to move forward with punches and low kicks.  Latifi throw a huge spinning heel kick that misses but is impressive to see from a man of his dimensions.  Another low kick from Latifi lands but Mousasi responds in a close to 4 to 1 ratio.  Latifi then lands another right hook to the body of Mousasi but is unable to follow up with any kind of combination.  Gegard back to work, weaving in and out of range with fast straight combinations.  Mousasi is really starting to pressure and Ilir is circling away quickly.  Punch after punch land and Latifi is bloodied up.  With less than a minute remaining, Latifi catches a kick from Gegard and is able to put him on his back.  Latifi throws some vicious ground and pound and ends the fight in an exciting fashion for the hometown fans.

Gegard Mousasi wins by UD (30-27 by all judges)
POST PRESS CONFERENCE

MAIN CARD

Gegard Mousasi def. Ilir Latifi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD

 

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