(“Oh f*ck it, I don’t have to talk either, man. See how you like it. Just total f*ckin’ silence. Two can play at that game, smart guy. We’ll just see how you like it. Total silence.” / Photo via Getty)
UFC Fight Night 53: Nelson vs. Story is underway at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, featuring emotionless submission ace Gunnar Nelson, the big homey Ilir Latifi, and a bunch of prelim fighters with near-unpronounceable names. We haven’t exactly given this event a lot of coverage on CagePotato, but our Fight Pass correspondent Bear Siragusa (AKA, boy of destiny) is here to give you live results from the main card, which kicks off at noon PT / 3 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. local time. Follow us after the jump for round-by-round updates, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.
Preliminary card results
- Magnus Cedenblad vs. Scott Askham via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
- Nico Musoke def. Alexander Yakovlev via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
- Dennis Siver def. Charles Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
- Cathal Pendred def. Gasan Umalatov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Krzysztof Jotko def. Tor Troeng via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
- Mairbek Taisumov def. Marcin Bandel via TKO (punches) at 1:01 of round 1
- Zubaira Tukhugov def. Ernest Chavez via TKO (punches) at 4:21 of round 1.
Well, that was fun. God dagen alle sammen!
Charles Rosa wins the prize for best walkout song with Shipping up to Boston by Drop Kick Murphy’s. You just can’t go wrong with Drop Kick. I knocked out a guy in a kilt at a Drop Kick Murphy’s concert once… But, I digress. Let’s get rolling right away.
First up:
Niklas Backstrom vs. Mike Wilkinson
Round 1:
Leg kick and a spinning back kick from Wilkinson. Wilkinson tries for a takedown but misses. Backstrom tries for a spinning back kick. There are a lots of kicks being thrown. Low kick from Backstrom. Nice front kick and knee from Backstrom. WOW! Backstrom connects with a NASTY front kick and Wilkinson shrugs it off and knocks out Backstrom with a single punch!
Mike Wilkinson def. Niklas Backstrom via KO (punch) at 1:19 of round 1
Next up:
Illir Latifi vs. Jan Blachowicz
Round one:
Leg kick from Jan to start us off. Another nasty low kick from Jan. He has a 5.5 inch reach advantage. Both men showing a lot of respect for each other. Jan with a head kick attempt. Ilir has still not thrown anything. Neither man is willing to commit. Ilir explodes and connects with a lopping right. Jan spins away and avoids the swarm. Leg kick and a nasty body shot from Jan. Jan is all over Ilir. I think that body shot hurt Ilir. Jan follows Ilir to the cage and starts raining down bombs. Damn, it’s all over.
Jan Blachowitcz def. Ilir Latifi via TKO (body kick) at 1:58 or round one.
Next up:
Akira Corassani vs. Max Holloway
Round one:
Corassani with a leg kick attempt. Follows it up with a stiff left hand jab. Holloway with a nice combo. Corassani nails Holloway with a right hook. You could hear that one. They dance around a bit. Corassani connects with a overhand right too. Corassani keeps connecting. Holloway responds from the clinch with some nice jabs. They are just winging at each other. Corassani has some nice leg kick jab combos he is throwing. Holloway is throwing just the left jab right now. They start standing and swinging. Nothing serious is connecting. Holloway connects with another jab and Corassani goes down. Holloway follows him and swarms but Corassani managaes to get up. Holloway connects again and Corassani goes down and eats a bunch of unanswered punches before the ref responds.
Max Holloway def. Akira Corassani via TKO (punches) at 3:11 of round one
Next up our main event:
Gunnar Nelson vs. Rick Story
Round one:
They touch gloves. Story starts us out with some leg kicks. Both men feeling each other out. Gunnar Nelson connects with several back to back right jabs. Story eats them and takes the center of the octagon again. Story with another inisde leg kick. They clinch. Story pounds Nelsons midsection. Nelson connects with and knee to the midsection and trips Story and takes him down. Story gains his feet again while Nelson works for the guard. They clinch again. Nelson attempts a few trips but Story is wize to them now. They break apart. Nelson takes the center of the octagon. Story connects with an inside leg kick which causes Nelson to go down. Nelson regains his feet before Story reacts. Another inside leg kick from Story. Nelson tries for the clinch but misses. Story dodges a front kick, connects with another inside leg kick. Story throws a jab which misses. Story ends the round with a solid shot to Nelsons nose.
Round two:
Story opens with the inside leg kicks. Those are going to start hurting. Nelson doesn’t seem to have an answer for those leg kick. Nelson attempts a spinning back kick to the head and Story catches it and throws Nelson down. Story lets him up and Nelson connects with a jab. Neither man has control of the pace. Both men are pushing hard. They are both connecting with jabs. Nelson connects with an overhead right. Story keeps throwing bombs that Nelson is able to dodge so far. They trade jabs. Nelson is now pushing Story backwards. He may be getting the slight edge as far as Octagon control. Story connects with a nasty body kick. They trade punches. Story eat a punch on the way in and misses with an overhand right. They clinch briefly. Both men are extremely light on their feet. Story eats another punch on the way in. Nelson is having some luck dodging the leg kicks now. Story connects with a few right hands, but he misses more than he connects. There is the buzzer.
Round Three:
Gunnar goes immediately for the takedown. He gets it but Story is right back up. Nelson eats a right jab for his trouble. Nelson clinches and nails Story with a knee in the thai clinch while story unloads on Nelsons body. They break apart. Story is starting to look tired. Nelson is looking fresher. They stalk each other . Nelson connects with an overhand right. Story answers with some elbows. Nelson connects with a body kick. Nelson goes for the thai clinch again. They trade straight jabs. Story is still winging some big pucnhes that are missing. Those are either going to connect or he is going to be loosing some steam. Those cost something. Story connects with a solid left overhand. Story with a jab to Nelsons body. Nelson attempts the thai clinch again. Story swings away and connects with an outside leg kick. Nelson attmept a big over hand right and eats a body shot for his trouble. Now it is Nelson who is backing up. The octagon control is ging back and forth. They both connect with some weak punches in a quick flurry just as the buzzer goes.
Round four:
They touch gloves. Story connects with two solid low kicks on the outside of Nelsons left leg. Story connect with some nasty overhands. Nelson connects with some jabs. Both men are taking a lot of damage now. Story connects with a huge right hand and Nelson goes down. Story follows him down and flurries. Nelson defends from his back. He defends well. Story stands up and lets nelson get up. Nelson goes for a takedown. He almost gets it. Nelson connects with a solid lead left jab. Nelson clicnhes and works for a takedown. He needs to move quickly before Story damages his body with punches. Story connects with an uppercut and the break. Nelson with a overhand left. Now they are both exhausted. Nelson eats a straight right. Hits Story with a front kick. Story still throwing the big punches. Both men are hurt. Story connects with a jab to the body. Story connect with some nasty jabs. There is the buzzer.
Round 5:
Story opens up the fifth round in a row with a leg kick. Story storms Nelson. Nelson weathers it. Nelson connects with a solid elbow. Story’s eye is swelled up and may be starting to affect his vision. Story connects with a solid body shot. Story again with the body shots. Gunnar connects with a front kick. Story answers with a jab to the body. Story connects with two solid jabs to Nelsons face. Story with the leg kick. Nelson with a solid straight right. Nelson tries to clinch and Story hits him with some nasty body punches. Nelson attempts the clinch again, eats some body punches again. Story with a solid knee to Nelsons body. Nelson has no answer. Story can’t finish him but the body shots are not being defended. They are TIRED. Starting to move slow. They trade some jabs. Story swarms but there is no time left.
Rick Story def. Gunnar Nelson via split decision (48-47 49-46 50-44)
I will take a page from Gunnar’s book and leave it at that.
Good night.
