Urijah Faber vs Yuri Alcantara
by Dr. Octagon, J.D.
Yuri Alcantara is a warrior. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of challenge he poses to the favorite, Urijah Faber. It looks like FS1 is posting the Vegas odds before the fight. That’s good thing for fans, who might not be familiar with all these guys. Live updates after the jump:[[MORE]]
Round 1: Faber comes in for a takedown. Yuri throws him, has a full mount, and goes for an armbar. Urijah grabs a leg and is going for a leg lock. Yuri is oh Urijah’s back and hitting Faber in the ears as he turtles up. Yuri has Urijah’s arm and is looking for the armbar.
Urijah is looking in the jumbotron so that he can punch Yuri behind him. Yuri gave up on the rear naked, then Urijah stood up and slammed him. Wow! Nice reversal by Urijah who is on top now.
Urijah traps an arm under his knee and throws a massive punch that just misses. Urijah is working his animalistic ground and pound from the top position, as the Bostonians engage in a “USA” chant. Amazing reversal for Faber, who looked like he was about to lose the fight, then ended up winning the round, at least on my card.
10-9 for the California Kid.
Round 2: Urijah throws a head kick. Yuri lands a left, but Urijah got a takedown. More USA chants. The fighters are sort of crammed against the cage, so Urijah hasn’t gotten in the same elbows he was able to land mid-octagon.
Urijah just put on a brutal knee to the body, reminiscent of Anderson Silva’s finishing blow in his second fight against Sonnen. Faber is on top and working the elbows. Faber’s busting Yuri up. Alcantara has a large hematoma and now there’s a cut opening up over Yuri’s right eye. Urijah looks for a guillotine, but then goes back for more elbows to the ear. Now he’s back to the guillotine, but he lets it go and lands another bunch of punches to the ear.
Yuri trying to stand up with one minute left. Yuri is up, but Urijah is still holding onto him pretty tightly. Urijah puts Yuri back down and is posturing up nicely. Faber able to get some real zip on those elbows. Yowzers. Another great round. I’ll bet the suits at Fox Sports 1 are pleased with this card so far.
Round 3: Leg kick from Urijah. Urijah fakes the shot. Nice right by Urijah. Yuri kicks the body. The fighters exchange, neither lands cleanly. Head kick by Alcantara is blocked. Faber eats a punch and shoots, but Yuri stuffs it. Faber is on him again and drags Yuri to the ground.
Three minutes left and Urijah is on top against the cage. Yuri needs to get to his feet if he wants to beat Urijah. Urijah dropping elbows as Yuri tries to sweep. Faber is standing and is now back in the guard. Faber’s landed more than a hundred twenty ground strikes at this point. The ref warns Faber to work, during the fourth punch of a ten-punch combination to the face.
More big elbows, Faber is trying to end this. Yuri goes for an armbar with a minute left, but Faber defends. The ref tells them to work, as Faber tries to get his arm out of danger. Faber is on Yuri’s back as the round ends.
Great fight. I’ve got it 30-27 Faber. The judges have it 30-26 (twice) and a 30-27 for Faber.
I don’t disagree with a 10-8 mixed in there. I was thinking about giving one to Faber in the second. Urijah says he thinks his jaw may have broken in the first round, but he seems to be speaking alright.
Next up the big guys. Back when Overeem was bigger (he’s only 255 lbs. now) he weighed about as much as the previous two fighters combined.