UFC 121 REVIEW PART 6: THE PRELIMS

COURT MCGEE VS. RYAN JENSEN

I've been a huge fan of Court McGee ever since The Ultimate Fighter 11. This is his first fight after the finale, and you can be sure that I was rooting for him all the way. He faces longtime veteran Ryan Jensen, who has been fighting professionally since 1997.

Jensen's experience shows early when he dominates McGee both standing up and on the ground. He drops McGee with a left early in the first round and controls him easily on the ground afterward. McGee recovers and begins exchanging bravely against the experienced veteran, though. He finds his rhythm and begins mixing up his punches with successful leg kicks, and keeps Jensen off balance.

Jensen (left) vs. McGee (right)

The second round is just a complete stand up war. Both fighters have gotten completely into their grooves and just swing, throwing bombs and leg kicks one after another, without seeming to slow down. In other words, it was an awesome, action-packed round.

The fight goes to a third and it is painfully obvious that McGee is the fresher of the two warriors. He easily takes Jensen down, administers some brutal ground and pound, and finishes his opponent by Arm Triangle. Outstanding!

PATRICK COTE VS. TOM LAWLOR

Cote is best known for his stand up abilities, so Lawlor uses his wrestling abilities to quickly take him to the ground, and I do mean quickly. Lawlor takes Cote down and controls him there almost immediately after each bell rings. If he doesn't have Cote on the ground, he's got him pinned on the fence, in literally all three rounds.

Unfortunately, this is another of those fights that the fans like to complain about: a dominant wrestler just controlling another fighter for three whole rounds. Lawlor tried to stay active and finish, though. While his ground and pound wasn't all that effective, he tried to lock several submissions throughout the entire fight, but Cote just got out of all of them. "Filthy" Tom Lawlor wins the match via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) and Patrick Cote gets cut from the UFC.

JON MADSEN VS. GILBERT YVEL

Roberts submits Guymon

Yvel's known for his great knockout power, so Madsen plays it cautiously in the first round, circling his opponent for an entire minute. When that minute is up, though, BAM! He shoots in with all the force in the world, takes Yvel down, and pounds him out less than 2 minutes into the fight. Outstanding finish!

MIKE GUYMON VS. DANIEL ROBERTS

Roberts lands a clean punch to Guymon less than a minute into the fight and wildly charges into him with combinations. Guymon attempts to survive by taking Roberts down, but Roberts grabs hold of his neck and administers a tight guillotine. Roberts cranks on tight and finishes the fight by submission at 1:13 into the first round. Another great finish and one definitely worthy of the submission of the night award!