VANCOUVER, British Columbia — UFC 115 is set for tonight, June 12, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The evening’s card features a light heavyweight match up between former middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. The co-main event of the evening is a match up of top level strikers in Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Pat “HD” Barry.
Heavy.com is live on the scene bringing you up to the minute updates from Vancouver. Check below for the preliminary results of the evening’s card for those who don’t mind a good spoiler. The preliminary action begins at 7 p.m. ET.
Mike Pyle vs. Jesse Lennox
The first fight of the evening did not exactly have the fans on their feet. The fight featured two prospects in search of a win and some job security, and neither seemed willing to risk anything throughout the majority of the fight. Pyle managed to edge out Lennox both on the feet and on the ground for the entire first and second rounds. In the third, it was more of the same until Mr. Lennox landed a hard superman punch that staggered his opponent. Pyle recovered and locked on a nice triangle choke to earn him the submission victory. We were wondering where his allegedly sick ground game was this whole time, but Pyle made sure to sneak it in during the waning moments of the fight. Pyle def. Lennox via submission (triangle choke) at 4:44 of Round 3.
Ricardo Funch vs. Claude Patrick
The first notable action of the fight came after Patrick scored a takedown on Funch. The referee asked for a time out and granted himself the timeout. No real explanation as to why time was called, but the fighters resume action in the same position prior to the pause, and the Canadian Patrick worked his ground and pound, dominating Funch from the guard. The round ended with a last second submission, but Funch survived to see another round. Unfortunately for him, the Canadian native picked up the second round where the first ended, forcing Funch to tap to a guillotine choke within the first two minutes of the second. Patrick def. Funch via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:48 of Round 2.
Peter Sobotta vs. James Wilks
The first fight of the night to go to the judges’ scorecards, Wilks vs. Sobotta featured countless submissions and solid action throughout. Wilks looked sharp in the first round, attempting several submissions, including a nearly successful armbar. Fortunately for him, his cardio concerns based off his last fight seemed resolved, as he continued on his submission rampage, even attempting the rare gogoplata submission when he was on his back. Wilks looked good through two rounds, but Sobotta pushed made an attempt to steal the fight in the third, doing well on the ground and nearly locking on a rear naked choke after torturing Wilks with a body triangle for a decent portion of the round. Unfortunately for Sobotta, Wilks reversed the positions and went on to take a unanimous decision on the judges’ cards. Wilks def. Sobotta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 30-27).
David Loiseau vs. Mario Miranda
David “The Crow” Loiseau returned to the Octagon yet again with his match up against Miranda, but, even with the Canadian crowd behind him, he was outclassed by his opponent for the majority of the fight. Loiseau was dominated early, but managed to survive an early threat, which ushered cheers from the crowd. Loiseau managed to survive the first and realized changes needed to be made. He came out in the second guns blazing, but, after taking a few good shots from “The Crow”, Miranda thought the ground to be a much more comfortable environment. Miranda quickly went to work on Loiseau, who had a great deal of time to recover. Unfortunately for him, Miranda never let him recover, bloodying him up until a stoppage that should have come much sooner than the referee saw fit. Unfortunate outcome for Loiseau, who will likely receive his papers from the promotion yet again. Miranda def. Loiseau via technical knockout at 4:07 of Round 2.
Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman
Danzig and Wiman fought on the first preliminary card broadcast live on Spike TV this evening, and the lightweight match up certainly went nothing like anybody could have expected. The two went to the ground early with Danzig on top of Wiman. However, Wiman locked on a nice guillotine choke and rolled on top of Danzig. The choke appeared to be fairly deep, and referee Yves Lavigne grabbed the arm of Danzig to initiate a sign of consciousness. Danzig did not make it clear as to whether or not he was out cold, and Lavigne stopped the fight. Danzig, wide awake and completely conscious, immediately stood up to argue the stoppage. The call was a bad one by Lavigne, but both Danzig and Wiman managed to make the unfortunate situation a positive one, with each fighter explaining their respect for one another and defending the difficult job of Lavigne. Regardless, the fight ended with Wiman’s hand raised, and Danzig calling for a rematch. Wiman def. Danzig via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 1:45 of Round 1.
Tyson Griffin vs. Evan Dunham
Dunham and Griffin matched off in the final preliminary bout tonight, and Dunham certainly brought his jiu-jitsu with him. Dunham managed to utilize his superior reach to piece together fluid combination on the feet, along with throwing in some nice kicks throughout the fight. But the most notable action from Dunham came from his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He took Griffin’s back in every single round, and Griffin failed to ever do anything to get out of the unfortunate spot. However, Griffin did ward off the rear naked choke attempts to prevent a stoppage loss. After three rounds with Dunham taking the advantage in nearly every aspect of the fight, the two went to the judges’ scorecards. Surprisingly, two judges saw it different from the third, but that didn’t stop Dunham from getting the win via split decision. Dunham def. Griffin via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28).
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