 Alves takes to the air, KO’s Hughes in two
Report by Brady Crytzer
Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges/UFC
The main event of Saturday’s UFC 85: Bedlam saw the up-and-coming welterweight Thiago “Pitbull” Alves achieve the biggest victory of his career by knocking out nine-time world champion Matt Hughes in the first round with a flying knee.
Held at the O2 Arena in London, England, UFC 85 had been an interesting card even before the fans arrived. Originally scheduled to host Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a light heavyweight superfight, injuries forced both men off of the card. In typical fashion, the legendary Hughes and the ultra hungry Alves came to the rescue to offer and intriguing and unexpected main event. At the prefight weigh in on Friday, the drama continued as Alves weighed in over the welterweight limit, forcing the main event to be held at a catch weight of 174 pounds.
The first round was fairly predictable as the incredibly talented wrestler Hughes attempted to take Alves to the ground immediately. Despite his reputation for outmuscling all challengers, Hughes could not take down his much larger and much younger opponent. In a veteran act of gamesmanship, Hughes took advantage of his charging opponent and fell to his back, effectively trapping Alves in his guard. Hughes attempted an armbar but came up short allowing Alves to get back to his feet.
 Midway through the first Hughes finally closed the distance and slammed his opponent to the mat. Showing great defense, “Pitbull” Alves stayed out of danger to close out round one.
The second round was short but sweet for the Brazilian as Alves opened a gash over the right eye of Hughes with a pinpoint accurate knee. With his opponent stunned, Alves took to the air and crashed a knee into the jaw of Hughes dropping him instantly. After a follow up right hand referee Herb Dean waved off the contest at 1:02. It was revealed after the proverbial smoke had cleared that Hughes landed directly on his severely twisted right knee.
“Where is Mr. Dana White?” Alves asked, overjoyed in broken English. “I have been a good boy! I want my title shot.”
The former champion Hughes was much more reserved.
“I fought this one for my boys watching at home,” Hughes explained. “I still have one more fight in me and if I was Matt Serra I would start working on a game plan real soon.”
With this win Alves advances his record to 15-3 while the former welterweight champion Matt Hughes falls to 42-7.
While Alves jumps to the front of the line to challenge for the welterweight championship, Hughes is expected to tangle with Serra later this year in what will be his 50th and final fight.
Bisping Scores Most Impressive Victory over Day
 In the co-main event of the evening, Manchester native Michael “The Count” Bisping proved that he is a force in the middleweight division stopping Jason “Dooms” Day in the first round.
Fighting in his home country of England, Michael Bisping looked to continue his success at 185 pounds after dropping down from light heavyweight in April. Though Bisping stopped Charles McCarthy at UFC 83 in his most impressive performance to date, his opponent Saturday night Jason “Dooms” Day was also victorious on that night.
From the beginning Bisping was the more energized fighter landing a number of hard straight punches. Day, who showed excellent grappling skills in his April UFC debut, attempted to go to the ground with no success as Bisping jumped all over the downed fighter. From the standing position Bisping lunged with haymakers that were smashing into the face of Day. It was only a matter of time until Day was overwhelmed and the fight was waved off with “The Count” unloading on his prone opponent. The official time was 3:42 of the first.
“I’ve always said the I haven’t fought to my fullest potential yet in the UFC,” Bisping said. “I feel that in my last fight and in this fight I am beginning to get there.”
Swick Sticks to the Plan, Decisions Davis
 One of the night’s biggest co-features saw welterweight Mike “Quick” Swick put on a very controlled and professional performance against the hard charging Marcus Davis scoring a three round unanimous decision.
After an eleven fight winstreak, Marcus Davis entered the biggest fight of his career against Mike Swick with a level of confidence unrivaled in the sport. At only his second appearance at the welterweight limit, Mike Swick appeared fresher and less drained than his February appearance. Davis, who is considered to have the best boxing in the 170 lb. division, could not find his mark as Swick used his superior reach to pepper his opponent with kicks. Surprisingly, Davis elected to close the distance and clinch with Swick against the fence. The taller much Swick quickly took Davis to the mat and opened a nasty cut with hard elbows.
The predicted firefight continued to elude fans as the men clinched again in round two. The fight soon went to the mat with Swick in control after a slick takedown. Davis had little answer for the longer Swick as the San Jose native continued to land hard punches from the top position. Firmly in control, “Quick” Swick finished the round with a thunderous slam on the overmatched Davis.
The final round saw Swick stick to his plan of landing hard kicks and keeping his distance. During a clinch, Swick was penalized a point for grabbing the fence. Now down one point, Swick fought like a man possessed slamming Davis to the mat and landing dozens of ferocious punches until the final bell sounded.
All three judges saw the fight the same tallying scores of 29-27 in favor of Mike “Quick” Swick.
Marquardt Batters Leitas, Loses on Point Deductions
 Middleweight Thales Leitas was awarded a three round split decision over Nate Marquardt after a controversial yet entertaining and battle.
The opening round appeared to fall in favor of Leitas as the Brazilian connected with an overhand right off of his back foot that floored Marquardt. Showing strong recovery skills, Marquardt escaped the disadvantageous position and regained his footing to land heavy blows of his own. As the period came to an end, Marquardt sent Leitas reeling with a hard uppercut.
Round two saw its share of controversy as Marquardt blasted Leitas with a hard knee to face. Though it was unintentional, Leitas knees where clearly touching the mat making it an illegal blow. After taking his optional five minute break to recover, Leitas was taken down immediately. From the top position Marquardt landed a variety of hard punches that appeared to break his opponent’s nose.
Round three was the most competitive of the fight as the bloodied Leitas showed no sign of surrendering. After successfully stuffing a takedown, the fresher Marquardt landed a blow to the side of the head but was penalized one point when referee Herb Dean thought it was to the back of the head. The final round came to a close with the incredibly powerful Marquardt delivering a soon to be famous piledriver dropping Leitas directly onto his head.
Judges scorecards’ would tell the tale of the fight as a split decision was awarded to Thales Leitas. Due to the two point deductions, scores read 28-27 on all three cards, twice in favor of Thales Leitas.
Werdum Emerges as Contender Stopping Vera
 In an unofficial number one contender’s bout for the UFC heavyweight title, Fabricio “Vai Cavulo” Werdum scored a controversial first round TKO over Brandon “The Truth” Vera.
Werdum, who earned the biggest win of his career in January against Gabriel Gonzaga, was eager to trade with Vera. After some brief exchanges, Werdum achieved the first takedown of the night and began to land punches from his opponent’s guard. Vera showed his athleticism by quickly jumping back to his feet but was taken down again. With only thirty seconds remaining in the round, the world champion grappler Werdum mounted Vera and began to land a large volume of hard punches and elbows. Though Vera was still intelligently defending himself, referee Dan Miragliotta waved off the contest at 4:40.
Undercard Results
In a light heavyweight bout, Luis Cane wasted no time stopping the veteran Jason Lambert in the opening round of their scheduled three round contest. As the hard hitting Lambert pressed forward, Cane placed a perfect counter left on his chin that stopped him in his tracks. With referee Herb Dean looking closely, Lambert popped up and continued to throw punches only to be dropped again by a hard combination. Following a third knockdown the fight was waved off at 2:07 of the first giving Luis Cane his biggest victory yet.
Lightweight “Handsome” Matt Wiman scored a second round knockout over the heavily favored Thiago Tavares at 1:57 of the second round. Tavares controlled much of the first round from the top position, but could not recover from a hard left hook delivered by Wiman midway through round two.
Middleweight Martin Kampmann did not appear to lose a step after more than a year away from the sport submitting Jorge Rivera at 2:44 of the first round with a tight guillotine choke.
In a battle of 170 pounders Paul Taylor scored a split decision over Jess Liaudin. Scores all read 29-28.
Middleweight Kevin Burns scored what could be the upset of the night submitting jiu jitsu world champion Roan Carneiro in the second round with a triangle choke. The official time was 2:53.
Despite being badly hurt in the first round, heavyweight Antoni Hardonk held on to score a second round knockout of Eddie Sanchez at 4:15 with a well timed left hook.
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