The UFC 144 preliminary fights undoubtedly served as enticing appetizers for the sizzling main events, with three tiffs resulting in resoundingly strong finishes.
All fight cards featured Japanese fighters facing opponents from three continents. Asia was represented—aside from the host fighters—by China’s Zhang Tiequan, America offered Chris Cariaso and Steve Cantwell, and Europe saw action courtesy of England’s Vaughan Lee.
The last two fights featured the two “kid” legends of Japanese MMA, with Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto facing Lee and Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi confronting compatriot Eiji Mitsuoka.
First to light up the fireworks, UFC debuting fighter Issei Tamura put his Chinese challenger Zhang to sleep via KO with a punch at 0:32 of the second round.
Next up was a close scrap between Japan’s Takeya Mizugaki and the United States’ Chris Cariaso, with the American eking out a close unanimous-decision win.
The third fight of the night reached another decision after three rounds, but this time it was far from close. Riki Fukuda was utterly dominant in convincing the judges, handing Steve Cantwell a severe beatdown and his fifth consecutive loss.
The penultimate preliminary fight saw MMA legend Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto suffer an upset loss in the grip of comparatively less-known Vaughan Lee of England.
After a strong start landing heavy strikes, Yamamoto got rocked by a knee to the head and eventually succumbed to an armbar with only 31 seconds left in the first round.
Yamamoto dangerously slumped on the brink of his UFC career, with his third straight loss starting with his debut in the world’s premier MMA organization. This is also his fifth loss in his last six fights.
Finally, for the main event of the appetizers, Takanori Gomi survived a scare late in the first round and finished game opponent Eiji Mitsuoka by TKO in the second.
In the first stanza, both fighters traded strikes, but the second half saw Mitsuoka pressure Gomi against the cage, hitting the established star with short but powerful punches.
Then, Mitsuoka fired a counter-right hand that buckled Gomi’s legs, giving the challenger the chance to secure the back of “The Fireball Kid” with 30 seconds left.
Mitsuoka squeezed high on Gomi’s back and positioned for a reverse triangle choke. Gomi gutsily defended from deep trouble and managed to surface and survive the round.
In the second round, with Mitsuoka noticeably spent after getting frustrated in forcing a finish in the first, Gomi’s corner goaded The Fireball Kid to bring on the heat. Gomi did just that and fired away with powerful punches and knees.
Gomi battered Mitsuoka until the latter wilted and turned turtle against the cage, leaving the right side of his head vulnerable to the PRIDE FC legend’s right-fist bombardment. Finally, referee Leon Roberts was mercifully compelled to halt the punishment, awarding Gomi the TKO victory.
The prelims ended with contrasting results for the two Japanese MMA legends, with Yamamoto walking away dejected while afterwards, Gomi proudly and ecstatically announced that he’s back on track.
Excluding the last preliminary fight for its Japan vs. Japan affair, the previous fights saw Team Japan tie Team International with two wins and two losses each.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com