Middleweight Semifinal #2 - Recap

The fighters look back at Chris/Kenny fight. Leben can’t believe he lost again. Everybody though sees that Chris really fought well and if it wasn’t for the cut would have advanced. Now we move to the fight with Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez. Sanchez says that Koscheck is actually a better wrestler than him.

Forrest Griffin revisits the eye doctor to see if his stitches healed, so he can fight again. We see Bobby training again. Bobby says is caught between cheering for Forrest’s exit so he can get another shot in the UFC. Dana says that the fight Josh and Diego will be interesting because Josh is a great wrestler and Diego can use submissions to win a fight.

He then meets up with the head of marketing at Hard Rock hotel to see if they can meet the requirements for the attendance of fans for the finale. We see clips of fighters in the weigh-ins at the hotel from Ken Shamrock to Tito Ortiz to Chuck Liddell.

We hear from Diego and Josh. Koscheck states the fact that Diego’s fight have been quick and under weaker opponents. He feels that this fight will be a bigger test for Diego than other fights.

Dana said that Josh will stand up and fight Diego while Diego will go takedowns. Diego says the contrary that he will stand up and fight Josh and avoid his takedowns.

In Round 1 of the last semi-final middleweight starts with both fighters cautious. Josh tries a couple of kicks while Diego throws a couple of right hands. They both connect but don’t have much behind them. Josh tries to go for a take down but Diego blocks it. Later at two minutes mark, Josh successfully takes Diego down, but Diego powers back to his feet.

Josh goes for the throw down but Diego catches him in a guillotine choke. However, Josh shows his strength by slamming Diego hard on the mat. Diego powers out. On the next exchange, Diego again tries the choke when Josh goes for the take down. This time Josh is able to power his way out of the predicament. Josh now has Diego on the mat trying to defend himself. Diego grapples with Josh and catches him a couple of knees. Josh grapples with Diego and gives him a couple of uppercuts.

Josh gets taking again by Diego choke with fifteen seconds left, Josh is able to hang on as the horn sounds.

In Round 2 the fighters assume the strategy as before. They both don’t seem to want let their guard down. Diego at one point catches Josh with the choke, but Josh powers out. Josh again has Diego on the mat at guard bu can never follow through . Diego at one point is kicking away at Josh down on the mat. Josh has numerous opportunities but can’t take advantage. With nearly fifteen seconds left, the referee tells the guys to stand up. Josh catches Diego with a hard right hand. A couple of fighters complain about it being illegal but as Dana White clearly states it was a legal hit as the referee was not in the middle of the fighters.

Both rounds are hard to call so we go to a final round.

In Round 3, we see the same pattern as before, but we see instances where Josh is more aggressive. Again he has Diego on the mat but can never follow through. Diego is wide open for blows but Josh can’t deliver them. Diego tries a couple of submissions but Josh is able to block them. Josh tries a leg submission but can’t finish. The two stand up and Josh lands a couple of more hard rights. Both fighters seem too tired to finish the fight.

The horn sounds with no apparent winner. Dana says Josh did a great job of going to toe to toe with Diego and avoiding his submissions. However, he says that Josh couldn’t follow through when Diego was on the mat.


Although it appears that Koscheck might have been slightly ahead on points, Diego wins by split decision.

Diego has the audacity to proclaim the unanimous winner if the fight was based on grappling which remains to be seen. Koscheck and Bobby call it BS.


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