Paul Bradley can't doing anything about his fireplug build, but 5-foot-9 middleweights have a tough time against certain fighters at 185 pounds. Rafael Natal used a five-inch reach advantage to land a boatload of leg kicks and avoid the wrestler's takedowns on his way to unanimous decision victory, 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 on all three cards, in the opener of UFC 133 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
Bradley usually fights down at 170 pounds, but he took this fight at 185 on just 12 days notice when Costa Philippou was moved up the card. The height difference was too much to overcome against the 6-foot Natal.
Natal's gameplan of staying at a distance and using an array of inside and outside leg kicks stymied Bradley's wrestling. The former wrestling All-American at Iowa had his lead leg (left) bruised inside and outside his thigh by the end of the fight.
Bradley (18-3, 0-1 UFC) was only good on 3-of-11 takedowns and did minimal damage on the ground. Give credit to Natal (13-3-1, 1-1-1 UFC) as he picks up his first UFC win. He did so with a broken left hand, that he suffered some time during the fight.
Brown survives tough boxing game from Phan
Mike Brown needed a win in the worst way and he set the tone early by scoring a key takedown and pounding away at Nam Phan in the first round. Phan fought even the rest of the way, but it wasn't enough to avoid losing a unanimous decision, 29-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Back in 2008, Brown (25-8, 1-2 UFC) looked like an unbeatable force as the featherweight champ with the WEC. The division caught up to him and looked like it was passing the 35-year-old. Brown entered this one a loser of two straight and 3-of-4.
His takedown in the first with 3:58 left in the round, turned into a beatdown the rest of the way. Phan got flattened out and Brown pinned his right arm on the mat. Over the next 3:38, Brown got off 50-plus punches and landed most of them with a thud on Phan's face. In the final minute of the round, Brown unloaded with some back elbows as well. It very easily could've been a 10-8 on all three scorecards. Only one judge gave the 10-8 to Brown.
The second and third rounds were much more even. Phan (16-9, 0-2 UFC) did a phenomenal job avoiding the takedown. Brown was just 1-of-8 as he tried to get the fight to the mat. Phan landed some excellent combos in the second, but couldn't pushed the pace as much in the final round.
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