Gouveia Scratched from UFC 76:
After suffering a broken nose in training, American Top Team standout, Wilson Gouveia, will have to withdraw from his UFC 76 bout with Jason Lambert according to a report on UFC.tv. Gouveia, who lost his UFC debut back in June of 2006 to Keith Jardine, had won three straight fights, stopping all of his opponents on the way. Lambert, who had won nine out of his last ten fights, is coming off the biggest win in his career with a TKO victory over Renato “Babalu” Sobral in March earlier this year. No replacement will be named for Lambert as there will now only be eight fights at UFC 76. Here is a look at the upcoming card:
Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Lyoto Machida
Tyson Griffin vs. Thiago Tavares
Justin McCully vs. Christian Wellisch
Diego Saraiva vs. Jeremy Stephens
Matt Wiman vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Judge Who Scored Bisping vs. Hamill Talks Decision:
In a statement posted on www.MMA.tv, veteran Official, Jeff Mullen defends his scoring of the Matt Hamill vs. Michael Bisping fight:
“Hello to everyone on the Underground. I have been reading the underground for years. I used to post quite a bit. Then I decided it would be better for me to stay out of all the arguments. I want to thank all of you guys for being so nice to me through the years. I have seen almost no negative posts about me here until now.
I first started judging the UFC in 1996. I have been judging UFC almost twice as long as any other active judge. I am a former kick boxer and have been training grappling for 13 years. I am not here to argue with any of you or tell you that your opinion is wrong. I am only going to tell you why I judged the fight the way I did. Watch the fight again and turn off the sound. Commentary can color what you see.
No doubt Hamill dominated the 1st. He hurt Bisping with a right hand right off the bat and again near the end of the round. He out scored Bisping and busted him up. It was a very impressive round for Hamill but still a 10-9 round. Not dominate enough for a 10-8.
Watch the beginning of the second round closely. When Hamill throws the jab, Bisping slips the punch and hits him with his own counter jab. It is hard to see on camera because Hamill’s back is to the camera. His back was also to Goldie who was talking like the beginning of this round was like a continuation of the 1st. If you look you will see that Hamill is facing me giving me a clear view of what is landing.
Bisping was landing the jab again and again and not getting hit. Hamill got 2 takedowns in rounds 2 and 3 but did very little with them. Bisping is using an active guard trying to turn for armbars and sweeps, Hamill is doing very little on top. Bisping is keeping him from scoring or improving his position. In the 3rd round Bisping actually lands more punches from the bottom than Hamill does from the top.
In both the 2nd and 3rd rounds Bisping does more scoring. Striking. Under pride style scoring Hamill would have won. He did more damage, but it was all in the 1st round. By 10 point must system Bisping won the fight 2 rounds to 1. 29-28 Bisping. Sometime the angle you see the fight effects your decision. That is why they put the judges on 3 different sides.
BY THE WAY MARIO YAMASAKI THOUGHT BISPING WON ROUNDS 2 AND 3 ALSO. MARIO WAS THE REF AND HAD A BETTER VIEW THAN ANY OF US.
I have never taken a payoff as some of you have suggested and never will.
You may not agree with my decision but please don’t question my honesty.
Thank you,
Jeff Mullen
