Toronto, ON – UFC 165 comes to you live from the Air Canada Centre on September 21st, 2013.
Several Canadian fighters will be given the opportunity to win in front of the home town crowd during the preliminary bouts.
MMASucka.com brings you live results of every preliminary fight along with analysis and post-fight reactions.
UFC 165: Jones vs Gustafsson Preliminary Report
PRELIMINARY (FOX Sports 1 5pm PR/8pm ET)
Myles Jury def. Mike Ricci via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Both fighters clearly respect the others’ striking. given the lack of commitment in power shots. Both fighters gotten solid shots on their opponent but nobody really put themselves ahead. Going into the second, the crowd was clearly getting uneasy, booing for quite possibly the entire second round, and as the bell rang for the third. Obviously, the crowd was hoping for a bit more action, and given the lack of serious ground work in this fight, there should have a bit more action given the style of fight. Jury tried a couple spinning back fists, and Ricci threw some of his elastic-like kicks to the head, but both men failed to land any shots. The second half of the third was primarily spent on the ground, with both men gaining dominant positions but unable to accomplish anything. It truly has been a long time since this many boos have been heard during a fight, meaning a decision finish was pretty much guaranteed.
“I fight the best that I can, it would have been nice if I could have gone out and finished him. I thought he came forward a lot more than most of his fights. Aggression was a big thing and it was hard for me to go forward when he’s going forward too. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised it was a split decision, I was fighting someone in front of his home crowd, now I have a unanimous, a split, a KO and a submission in my UFC fights, so that’s four different ways to win, baby.”
Mike Ricci:
“I am disappointed.”
Wilson Reis def. Ivan Menjivar via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
If there was an award for least action in a fight, these two might have already taken home the gold. The first round opened up with some standing, but the fight transitioned to the ground pretty quickly. While Reis shows great power in his takedowns and ground work, Menjivar spent most of the time on his back but in a successful guard. In the second round and third rounds, much of the same was seen, with Reis really trying to utilize the ground and pound. It was a boring fight for the most part, but ground work is still part of the game and there seemed to be a standstill in terms of the upper edge. Going to the judges scorecards, the fight was called in favor of the fighter who was on the attack more.
“I thought I put on a great fight. I felt awesome and I’m really happy. I came from a long way and I think I deserved to be here. I just proved that I deserve to be in the top 10 and it couldn’t be more special.”
“I just didn’t get into it tonight. He controlled the bout, he was always more aggressive and was making all the right moves and he deserved it. No doubt about it.”
Stephen Thompson def. Chris Clements via KO (Punches) at 1:27 of Round 2
The first round started a bit slow, bit both fighters picking their shots very slowly. There was time spent just standing, as both fighters tried to catch the other off guard. However, the flight slowly picked up and within no time both men took turns flying across the octagon. There was a lot of action and both men were landing big during the first. In the next round, they took off right where they left off. This was a grueling stand up match, for the most part, and Thompson slowly got the best of it in the second. Clements was clearly taking some damage and it showed. After getting a few knock downs, Thompson went in for the kill and landed some crisp shots to finish off Clements.
“I’ve been working on my wrestling and my BJJ. I have the striking and everybody knows that, now I want them to know that ‘hey this guy can take me down’. That way, they won’t know which way I will go. I’m a fighter and I always think I can get better, even with my striking, but now I’m very comfortable with my ground moves and my wrestling. He’s a tough guy. I rocked him in the first round, and he got wobbly. Then I went in hard and he weathered the storm. If I get a knockout, so be it. If I don’t, well I’m in shape to go three rounds.”
“I don’t feel much right now. I hurt my knee backstage before the fight, which suck. I have so many friends and family here and really wanted to put on a show, but when I went out to the Octagon I couldn’t really move.”
Mitch Gagnon def. Dustin Kimura via Submission (guillotine choke) at 4:05 of Round 1
Gagnon is another fighter happy to be fighting in front of the hometown crowd, and he came out swinging. Within the first half of the first round, Kimura was bleeding heavily from the nose. Kimura did land a serious body shot but it failed to do significant damage. He then got one solid knee on Gagnon, but he was able to eat it and take Kimura down. Gagnon kept bringing the heat and Kimura was on the defensive from the start. As both fighters stood face to face, Kimura shot for a takedown which was blocked by Gagnon. He was then able to grab a hold of the head, drop to guard, and secure a guillotine choke to end the fight.
Mitch Gagnon:
“I was working on a few options with Dustin. I was waiting for the tap but it never came and he stopped moving, then I got pulled off. It’s the perfect way to come back. I felt even more relaxed in this fight. I feel like things are coming together and getting better and better.”
“It was a good fight, back and forth from start to finish. It was exactly how I thought it was going to be. I just made a mistake and he jumped on it and took me down. I wasn’t going to tap, it was kind of tight and I just went to sleep.”
PRELIMINARY (Facebook – 3pm PT/6pm ET)
John Makdessi def. Renee Forte via KO (Punches) at 2:01 of Round 1
Makdessi is a crowd favorite in Toronto and he did not disappoint. As the fight took off, Makdessi was riding the high of fighting at home and took full advantage. Forte was only able to last about two minutes in the octagon with Makdessi, getting knocked out in devastating fashion in just the first round. Makdessi’s reaction in front of the home town crowd probably summed up what this fight meant for him. He looked really good and should be getting a bump in opponent the next time out.
“I feel very blessed to be able to fight in Toronto. I am happy for the victory and I just want to thank everybody for the support.”
“UFC is my dream. It is the biggest dream that I am living right now. I knew that my opponent wasn’t a foolish guy. It was my second time fighting in the lightweight division and I am in still adapting. I did my best.”
Michel Prazeres defeats Jesse Ronson via Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
From the opening bell, both fighters were pushing forward, and pushing hard. There were several combos thrown both ways, but Ronson was getting the better shots. They were picking their spots well and throwing very tight combinations. As the first round concluded, it seemed it would be any man’s fight. In the second round, the fight started going in favor of Ronson. He was able to be the quicker striker and get some great shots in. Both of the rounds were very similar, but Ronson seemed to pull away. In the third, Ronson was slowly taking over. He landed great strikes, including ferocious body shots, and was looking very comfortable in the octagon. He was able to score a knock down about half way through the only, only leading to boos from the crowd as Prazeres laid in his guard. During the very last minute, it seemed Prazeres was getting the upper hand for a bit, only to be monstrously slammed to the mat. Ronson continued to pound away as the crowd chanted and the round came to an end. This was a very controversial decision, and judging by reactions, the crowd felt the same way.
“In my point of view I did a good job. Jesse is a very technical fighter. He’s a very talented fighter. He did great considering it was his debut. I think we put on a good show for the fans. I’m happy with my performance, especially considering the audience didn’t want me to win because it’s Jesse’s hometown.”
“First round, I had the UFC jitters and he took me down early, but I didn’t give up. You know that choke was pretty tight, but I know he was pretty tired after the first round. Second round, I tried to turn it around by tightening my body. In the last 10 seconds I thought there was a minute left so I went berserk. I thought I had more time, but I didn’t. I misjudged it. That sucks.”
It was evident from the start that both men were extremely quick and three a wide array of combinations. Caceres got knocked down early in the first but was able to recover pretty quickly. This fight really went back and forth for the first round. In the second, both fighters came out but it was becoming obvious that Delorme lost a step, giving Caceres the speed advantage for the rest of the fight. Caceres was moving in and out well, landing his own punches while avoiding his opponent’s. In the third, Caceres was looking like the better fighter simply out of octagon control and ability to defend. He was not getting hit and did enough to come away with the decision.
“In the first round he had a takedown but it was a mistake on my part. I made sure it didn’t happen again in the second or third. I landed a lot of shots with my hands and my legs too and a couple on his forehead. Just looking at the damage done and the activity during the fight, I felt that this had to be mine.”
Daniel Omielanczuk def. Nandor Guelmino via KO (Punches) at 3:18 of Round 3
Both fighters came out swinging, throwing heavy body kicks and attempting powerful combos. Omielanczuk threw a significant amount of head kicks, trying to score the highlight reel knockout. After tiring themselves out with ferocious kicks, the two were pit up against the cage fighting through the clinch for most of the round. Guelmino landed a solid body kick that sent Omielanczuk back, but he recovered quickly. Both fighters were clearly drained at the end of the first. During the second round, both men showed tremendous ground work. A lot of wrestling was used, but both men displayed great takedown defense as well. As the fight went on, conditioning was affecting both fighters. In the third, Omielanczuk went back to the head kicks but both men found themselves in the clinch once again. As the round came to a close, Omielanczuk picked his spots beautifully and was able to land a deadly left hook to lay Guelmino completely out.
Daniel Omielanczuk:
“I didn’t really feel his punches and kicks and I felt comfortable heading into the third round. I knew I could hurt him with my striking, and the support from the Polish fans helped. I haven’t thought of who I would like to fight in future, right now I just want to return to Poland, have a party and spend time with my girlfriend.”
