UFC Lightweight Grand Prix

16 Lightweights duke it out in round one

May 7, 2007 Andrew Nostvick

This is the first ever UFC Lightweight Grand Prix. There are 16 Lightweights battling it out for supremacy. Here's some of the first round results.

In light of the UFC’s purchase of Pride Fighting Championship, it only makes sense to create a Grand Prix-like tournament for the UFC.

Granted, Dana White and the UFC have no interest in creating a tournament. The Athletic Commissions probably wouldn't go for it either. But let’s give it a go, first up is a showcase of the 16 fighters in the Lightweight division.

The bracket is simple, the fighters fight twice on the first night and will fight two more times, three months later.

The bracket consists of 15 fighters who are in the UFC and one fighter from Pride. Fighters from season five of The Ultimate Fighter are included in this Grand Prix.

Let’s take a look at the first round of the first ever UFC Lightweight Grand Prix.

#1 Sean Sherk vs. Melvin Guillard

Sherk comes into this LWGP as the top seeded fighter. His opponent is Guillard, who currently is suspended for failing a drug test. The fight will occur sometime after the Guillard suspension.

Unfortunately for Guillard, Sherk is coming into this bout as the UFC Lightweight champion. Sherk easily breezes past Guillard, via submission in the second round.

#8 Sam Stout vs. #9 Roger Huerta

Huerta is off to a good start in his UFC career. He has a 3-0 record, including a decision victory over Leonard Garcia at UFC 69, last month.

Stout will be fighting Spencer Fisher at an upcoming Ultimate Fighting event in June before his showdown with Roger Huerta.

Huerta wins this match by unanimous decision.

#4 Joe Stevenson vs. #13 Kurt Pellegrino

Reports suggest that these two fighters will face each other at UFC 74 in August. Pellegrino has a 16-2 record and a victory over Nate Mohr at an Ultimate Fight Night event in April.

Stevenson, 24, has 32 victories in his Mixed Martial Arts career and defeated Guillard, last month.

Stevenson pulls out a victory, via knockout in the first round.

#5 Spencer Fisher vs. #12 Din Thomas

Fisher is coming off a loss to Hermes Franca, while Din Thomas will fight Jeremy Stephens at UFC 71.

Fisher picks up the win via decision and puts all of his focus onto a big second round match with Stevenson.

#2 Hermes Franca vs. #15 Dokojonosuke Mishima

Franca has his day in the Octagon with champion Sherk at UFC 73, in July. Franca is one of the more popular fighters in the UFC.

Mishima has two straight losses, last losing to Kenny Florian last month. Franca gets the knockout in the first round.

#7 Jens Pulver vs. #10 Joe Lauzon

This is a rematch of the UFC 63 match last fall that saw Lauzon upset Pulver. The two met again, as Lauzon was coached by BJ Penn in TUF season five, Pulver’s an opposing coach.

Pulver gets the last laugh and the victory and looks for a match against Franca.

#3 Kenny Florian vs. #14 Tyson Griffin

It’s not even close, Florian defeats Griffin in the third round, via submission.

#6 Takanori Gomi vs. #11 BJ Penn

Unfortunately for Penn, he gets stuck in the no.-11 seed. To make matters worse, he’s facing the Pride Lightweight champion.

Their last encounter saw a back and forth battle, with Penn coming out on top.

Gomi, is one of the best Lightweights in all MMA. “The Prodigy” Penn fails to repeat and loses via a split decision.

Now there are eight fighters left in the first ever UFC LWGP, stay tuned for the quarterfinals

The copyright of the article UFC Lightweight Grand Prix in Martial Arts is owned by Andrew Nostvick. Permission to republish UFC Lightweight Grand Prix in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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