On This Day in MMA History

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 18th)

WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez II (August 18th 2010)

This was the WEC’s first event in Las Vegas since WEC 45, an event which took place the previous December. WEC 50 would be headlined by Dominic Cruz defending the WEC Bantamweight Championship against Joseph Benavidez. These two men had previously fought at WEC 42, and on that occasion, Cruz won by unanimous decision.

Cruz’s rival, Urijah Faber, was set to make his bantamweight debut on this card, taking on Takeya Mizugaki. However, Faber was pulled from the fight due to injury and the decision was made to rebook the Faber vs. Mizugaki fight for a future date. Stephan Bonnar would be doing the colour commentator, with play-by-play being provided, as ever, by Todd Harris.

WEC 50

Zach Micklewright vs. Bart Plaszewski; this was a decent enough fight, though nothing too notable in the first round except for each fighter landing a groin shot on the other. Very early in the second round, Plaszewski stunned Micklewright with a left hook that had Micklewright backing up; Plaszewski smelt blood and went for the kill with punches and kicks before dropping Micklewright with a right hook. The referee, Steve Mazzagatti, was quick to rush in, and the replay showed that Micklewright was out, albeit only for a few seconds, from the right hand so it was a good call.

Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett;  this was a fine fight, although it slowed down a lot over the course of the second and third rounds. There was some good boxing, especially from Pickett, but the best action was at its best in the first round; the second and third rounds, whilst OK, weren’t at the level of the first. Jorgensen won all three rounds on all three scorecards, which is probably unfair to Pickett, who was making a real fight of things in that first round.

Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson;  was a real grinder of a fight, with Swanson having no real answer for the wrestling and top game of Mendes. Mendes was taking Swanson down almost at will, sometimes with no trouble at all. Mendes was content to control the top position rather than advance his own position or work for a finish, so the fight was lacking in action in that regard. But it was a fairly dominant performance from Mendes, who cruised to the unanimous decision victory.

Anthony Pettis vs. Shane Roller;  this was a real good fight, with plenty of striking and some wrestling and submission work thrown in. Roller is a wrestler but he showed a willingness to throw hands and he landed some good shots on Pettis, who, at this point, had a great chin. Pettis showed some great defensive wrestling as well. Two minutes into the third round, Pettis got a triangle choke on Roller but Roller managed to get free. But right near the end of the round, Pettis got the triangle choke on again and Roller couldn’t see out the round and he tapped at 4:51.

Dominic Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez for the WEC Bantamweight Championship;  the best way to describe this fight is that it had a lot of action but not much excitement. Cruz and Benavidez were constantly moving, constantly throwing punches and kicks, but few of them landed with any authority. Other than Benavidez landing a knee in the clinch late in the fourth that opened a gash on the bridge Cruz’s nose that bled profusely before it was taken care of between rounds, there was nothing that was landed that made you think either fighter was in danger. It went the distance and Cruz won by split-decision; the scores were 48–47, 49–46 and 47–48.

Usually, WEC shows are top-notch for action, but this one was fairly underwhelming.

Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman (August 18th 2012)

The first Strikeforce event featuring Ronda Rousey in the position of defending the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship would see Rousey defend the title against the very woman she leapfrogged, some would say shoved aside, to get the shot at the title in the first place.

Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman (the build)

Ronda Rousey had been a Judoka, achieving her greatest success with bronze medal win at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, becoming the first American woman to ever win a medal in Judo at the Olympics. Rousey then transitioned into MMA where she enjoyed immediate success on the amateur level; Rousey won her three amateur fights, all in a less a minute, and all by way of armbar. Rousey then turned professional in 2011 where she again enjoyed immediate success with Rousey winning her first four pro fights by armbar and all in less than a minute.

By the end of 2011, Rousey had fought seven times, twice under the Strikeforce banner, and the longest she’d gone was 57 seconds, and that was in her second amateur fight. Rousey was starting to generate buzz due to the combination of her Olympic success and her MMA fight all ending quickly and to the same hold. Rousey made full use of that attention as she began talking and talking and talking about Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate.

Rousey was intent on talking her way into a title shot, a title shot that many diehard fans felt she hadn’t earned, but as they were soon to learn, title shots don’t always go to those that earn them, at least through conventional means. They can also go to fighters who can generate enough fan interest in seeing them  get a title shot above all others.

As was to be the case when Rousey’s talking would see her bypass other contenders and get her the title fight she wanted, and on March 3rd 2012, Ronda Rousey challenged Miesha Tate for the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Tate lasted longer than anyone else had before her, even managing to escape Rousey’s first armbar attempt. But Tate couldn’t escape the armbar forever and after holding out longer than she should have, something Miesha admitted later on, Miesha tapped out to become the eighth first round armbar victim of Ronda Rousey.

In almost record time, Ronda Rousey had gone, not just from Olympic Judoka to MMA fighter, but from Olympic Judoka to MMA World Champion. Along the way, Rousey had upset a lot of the purists both because of the way she talked and that she had talked her way into a title fight that many felt she didn’t deserve. But those purists would get to see, in their minds, a deserving challenger get a championship opportunity, a fighter who they felt had a real chance at beating Rousey, whom they dismissed as a one-trick pony who wasn’t really any good at.

And in an ironic twist of fate, the first fighter to challenge Ronda would be the very fighter that Ronda had leapfrogged over to get the shot at Miesha Tate, and it was a fighter that the purists felt confident would defeat Rousey and ‘expose’ her.

Sarah Kaufman had a background in dance and had dreams of becoming a cardiovascular surgeon. That changed at the age of 17 when she developed an interest in MMA, with Kaufman initially taking classes in aerobic kickboxing before moving on to full MMA training. Kaufman would eventually make her MMA debut shortly before her 21st birthday. Kaufman won her first eight fights, competing in Canada’s regional circuits before signing with Strikeforce in 2009.

Kaufman won her first two fights in Strikeforce, unanimous decision victories over Miesha Tate and Shayna Baszler, before getting her first title opportunity as she would face Takayo Hashi for the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship, although at the time it was called the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Championship. Kaufman put in a strong performance to defeat Hashi by unanimous decision to claim the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Kaufman’s first defence was against Roxanne Modafferi, a fight Kaufman won in the third round after countering a triangle choke attempt with a powerbomb slam that knocked Modafferi out.

Kaufman lost the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship in her next title defence, a fight against Marloes Coenen, with Coenen winning by submission in the third round. Not one to be down for long, Kaufman came back from this defeat with wins over Megumi Yabushita and Liz Carmouche, and these wins had been enough to earn Kaufman a shot at the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship.

At the time, Marloes Coenen held the title and she was set to defend it against Miesha Tate. Kaufman was at ringside for that fight, even being interviewed between rounds, and it was stated on the broadcast that Kaufman would be challenging the winner of the Coenen/Tate fight. Tate surprised Coenen and everyone else with a fourth round submission win to claim the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship. And Tate’s first title defence was set; she would defend against Sarah Kaufman.

But then Ronda Rousey started talking, starting doing everything she could to generate enough interest, enough buzz to get that title shot instead, and it was to the consternation of many that it was subsequently announced that it would indeed be Ronda Rousey who would challenge Miesha Tate instead of Sarah Kaufman. Whether she was disappointed or not, Kaufman could at least be consoled by the fact that she would get her title shot; she just had to wait to get it. So, when Rousey submitted Tate to win the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship, Kaufman would not only get her long awaited title shot, but she would get the chance to gain a measure of revenge against the very woman who had taken that title shot from her.

The Rest of the Card

The rest of the main card would see TJ Cook vs. Ovince Saint Preux, Lumumba Sayers vs. Anthony Smith, Roger Bowling vs. Tarec Saffiedine, and in the pick of the other main card fights, Derek Brunson would take on Jacare Souza.

This would end up being the last Strikeforce card to feature female fighters. In addition, this would be the last Strikeforce card to have Mauro Ranallo on commentary, as he was absent from Strikeforce’s last show due to a family matter.

Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman (the preliminary fights)

The only preliminary fight worth talking about was between Miesha Tate and Julie Kedzie. This fight was great, just a real battle from beginning to end. It had strikes, submissions, clinch work; it featured just about every aspect of fighting, and it was never dull. It’s a shame that, unless you had Showtime Extreme or you’ve actively sought out this fight after the fact,, you’ve probably never seen it before. You really should, because it’s just tremendous fun to watch from beginning to end.

Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman (the main card)

TJ Cook vs. Ovince Saint Preux;  they had a great first round, a really good brawl, before things slowed down to a virtual crawl in the second with not a lot of action taking place. The third round didn’t have much time to develop before OSP knocked Cook out cold with a great left hand.

Lumumba Sayers vs. Anthony Smith;  it took a while to get going, but when it did, there was a great series of scrambles and reversals that made the wait worth it. The fight didn’t last much longer after that with Smith baiting Sayers into coming into his guard and then trapping him with a triangle choke to get the submission.

Roger Bowling vs. Tarec Saffiedine;  this had its moments but it didn’t have many of them, this being a fight that you’ll forget the second it’s over. Saffiedine won by unanimous decision.

Derek Brunson vs. Jacare Souza;  this was over in the blink of an eye, with Souza catching Brunson coming in with a jab, knocking him down. Brunson got back up, was knocked back down again, and then a pair of punches from the mount finished Brunson off in just 41 seconds.

Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman

This was a situation where the pre-fight video package, which was excellent, would take longer to watch than the fight it led up to. The atmosphere was great and the fans were super into the fight from the introductions to the end, and the brevity of the fight meant the fan reaction remained strong throughout. The fight itself was your typical Rousey fight, as she quickly took Kaufman down, got a hold of the arm, and refused to let go before getting the armbar locked on, with Kaufman tapping out in just 54 seconds.

If you don’t have Fight Pass, there’s a fancam of the main event here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaRz-wtedWI, and it’s worth a watch to see the Rousey phenomenon in its earlier stages.

Overall, this was a decent show, but its high moments were fairly infrequent, even if they were generally worth waiting for.

Ratings

The show drew an average of 529,000 viewers for the live and delayed broadcast. As a result, it became the most-watched Strikeforce card on Showtime in 2012 and the sixth most-watched of all-time. The broadcast peaked at 676,000 viewers for the main event. In total, the Rousey vs. Kaufman bout drew 908,000 viewers, including Sunday's replay of the fight.

There is nothing major to talk about for tomorrow, so we’ll be taking the day off, but there are two interesting titbits to mention that both took place on August 19th

In August 2001, Gladiator Challenge ran a show in Denver and one of the fights saw pro wrestler Kensuke Sasaki beat Dan Chase by submission in 36 seconds. It was a real fight and Chase was a real fighter, but he wasn’t much of one; Chase retired in 2004 with a record of 0-9, and those loses included one to Kazuyuki Fujita, who he faced in 2000.

In August 2006, Shooto ran a show called G-Shooto: Wrestle Expo 2006, and in the co-main event, Kia Stevens (aka. Awesome Kong) beat Rika Shimizu by TKO in the second round. It was the only recorded MMA fight for either woman.

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 20th)

UFC 54: Boiling Point (August 20th 2005)

UFC’s Boiling Point would be headlined by a rematch almost six years in the making, and it would also feature the breakout performance of the man who would go on to become one of the UFC’s biggest and most popular superstars. It would also feature two spectacular finishes, one of which still remains on the UFC highlight reel as one of the most spectacular of all time.

Chuck Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn II (the build)

Chuck Liddell’s first crack at UFC gold came at UFC 43 when he faced Randy Couture, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion, for the vacant interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. The official champion, Tito Ortiz, was in a contract dispute with the UFC, a dispute started over Ortiz’s refusal to fight Liddell; Ortiz claimed it was because they were friends, whilst everyone else figured Ortiz was simply ducking Liddell.

Liddell had gone into the fight against Couture as the heavy favourite, so it was a major upset when Couture defied the odds to beat Liddell with a TKO stoppage in the third round. With Couture the interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Tito Ortiz suddenly decided he wanted to fight in the UFC again, and subsequently got spanked by Couture, literally, at UFC 44, with Couture scoring a decisive unanimous decision win to become the official UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

As this was going on, Liddell sought redemption by entering PRIDE’s 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. Liddell won his first round fight against Alistair Overeem with a knockout in just 3:09, before losing to Quinton Jackson when his corner threw in the towel due to Liddell tearing a hamstring and being unable to properly defend himself. Whilst Liddell had fallen short in PRIDE, he was a renewed fighter in the UFC; he finally got the fight with Ortiz, which he won with little trouble, Liddell knocking Ortiz out in the second round in the main event of UFC 47. Liddell then faced Vernon White at UFC 49, a fight precipitated with a war of words, but a fight Liddell would win by knocking White out in 4:05.

Liddell had earned himself a rematch with Randy Couture at UFC 52, and this time, Liddell scored the decisive win, knocking Couture out in just 2:06. Liddell had avenged his earlier loss to Couture and finally won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. And for his first title defence, Liddell would get his chance to avenge another loss, his first loss in the UFC, one that occurred all the way back at UFC 19.

Jeremy Horn debuted in the UFC at UFC 17 in March of 1998. Horn’s first fight was a major one, as he would challenge Frank Shamrock for the UFC Middleweight Championship, a title which would later be renamed the Light Heavyweight Championship as the UFC adapted new weight classes. The fight was actually held before the UFC 17 PPV took place, as it would be aired as part of a PPV event later in the year. An interesting note about the fight is that John Peretti, the UFC booker at the time, undersold the threat of Horn to Shamrock when pitching him as an opponent, as Peretti was intending to set up Shamrock to lose due to a personal dislike of Shamrock.

Peretti’s plan almost worked as Horn, who was bigger than Shamrock at the time, dominated the champion and was on his way to a unanimous decision victory before being caught by a kneebar in 16:28. Horn won his next four fights, all away from the UFC, before returning to the UFC at UFC Brazil, where he was submitted by Ebenezer Fontes Braga in 3:27. The next seven months saw Horn compete outside the UFC, where he went 9-0-1, before being brought back at UFC 19, when he faced a newcomer to the UFC, former kickboxer called Chuck Liddell.

It was Liddell’s third MMA fight, whilst Horn had fought at least 30 times, so it wasn’t a shock when Liddell, by his own later admission, got caught whilst in Horn’s guard with an arm triangle late at the end of the round. With the round over, Horn let go of Liddell and got up...but Liddell was unconscious, and the fight was suddenly over. Horn would continue fighting both in the UFC and outside, before coming close to another title shot at UFC 30. Horn was match against Elvis Sinosic, with the idea that Horn would beat Sinosic and then challenge Tito Ortiz for the newly renamed UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Instead, Horn was the victim of a major upset when Sinosic caught him napping with a triangle armbar, and Horn’s title opportunity was out the window. Horn spent the next four years competing away from the UFC, and in that time he compiled a 31-3-1 to bring his official record to 76-13-5. In that time, Chuck Liddell had risen to the top of light heavyweight division and was now in need of a challenger. And who better to put against Liddell than the man who had handed him his first loss in the octagon, the only the person besides Randy Couture to defeat him in the UFC.

It was considered something of a tall order in regards to selling the PPV; Horn had not appeared in the UFC for four years, and his name was virtually unknown outside of the diehard fanbase. But with some strong television promotion and soundbites, the build to UFC 54 did a good job of both presenting Horn’s talents and presenting him as a threat to Liddell, who had looked unbeatable in the UFC since losing to Randy Couture.

The Rest of the Card

Tim Sylvia was back in the UFC for the first time since getting submitted by Andrei Arlovski at UFC 51, with Arlovski winning the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship as a result. Sylvia would face the one-pec striker, Tra Telligman. Telligman’s last appearance in the UFC was at UFC 43, when he lost by TKO (doctor stoppage) to Pedro Rizzo.

Randy Couture would fight for the first time since losing the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, and he would take on a fellow wrestler in Mike van Arsdale. Couture’s background was in Greco-Roman wrestling, whilst van Arsdale was an experienced Freestyle wrestler.

Frank Trigg would be coming back from his second loss to UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, as he took on a rising welterweight star who had himself also lost to Hughes in a title fight. Trigg would be taking on Georges St. Pierre. We’d also see Diego Sanchez make his PPV debut in his first fight since winning TUF 1 as a middleweight, with Sanchez moving down to welterweight to take on the veteran, Bryan Gassaway.

UFC 54 (the main card)

The opener is Georges St. Pierre against Frank Trigg. GSP is 9-1 here, which makes this fight seem so long ago. Which it was, but seeing the record of GSP really hammers that point home. Trigg was coming into this fight off of his second loss to Matt Hughes, but despite that loss, Trigg was the firm favourite here. GSP had won two since his loss to Hughes at UFC, but with his only win in the UFC being over Jason Miller, nobody was giving him much of a chance against Trigg, and most of the pre-fight talk was centred around what was considered the imminent third showdown between Trigg and Matt Hughes.

Instead, GSP put the welterweight division on notice with what was for that time a shockingly one-sided demolition of Trigg. Trigg tried to take GSP down early, but GSP stuffed the takedown and then muscled Trigg to the mat and GSP kept his positional dominance for the rest of the fight. GSP completely controlled and dominated Trigg, who was never in the fight at all, not even for a second, with GSP submitting Trigg in 4:09 with a rear naked choke.

Diego Sanchez had his first fight since winning the middleweight tournament on TUF 1, and he’d be moving back down to welterweight to take on Bryan Gassaway. Gassaway was an experienced veteran and at this point in time, he’d had 38 fights against the 12 of Sanchez, so he was in the role of seeing just how good Sanchez was. This wasn’t the one-sided mauling of GSP/Trigg, but it wasn’t far off as Sanchez dominated Gassaway for virtually the entire fight, with Gassaway offering only minimal resistance. Sanchez controlled Gassaway throughout, and he won in the second round when he mounted Gassaway, was punching away, and Gassaway tapped due to the strikes.

If nothing else, the performance of Sanchez against an experienced opponent, who was no slouch, showed that Sanchez was the real deal as a fighter.

Mike van Arsdale vs. Randy Couture was a battle of the amateur wresters, with Couture’s background in Greco- Roman, and van Arsdal a tremendous freestyle wrestler and a former NCAA Division I Champion. This was Couture’s first fight since losing the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship to Chuck Liddell at UFC 52, whilst van Arsdale had competed on the preliminary card of UFC 52.

This was almost entirely a wrestling match, and a pretty good one at that. Much of it was contested with Couture having a hold of van Arsdale, either having his back or in the clinch, forcing van Arsdale to play a lot of defence. This meant that part way into the second round, van Varsdale was tiring badly and he was completely gassed when he came out for the third round. Couture quickly went for the D’arce choke, something he’d gone for a number of times in the fight, and this time there was little van Arsdale could do to defend against it and he tapped out in 52 seconds of the third round.

Tim Sylvia went into his fight against Tra Telligman in need of a win. After being stripped of the UFC Heavyweight Championship due to failing a drug test, Sylvia’s next fight had seen Frank Mir break his arm, with their fight being for the vacant heavyweight title; quite why Sylvia deserved the fight after being stripped of the title in the first place, for failing a drug test, is one of those mysteries that was never resolved. Sylvia had then beaten Wes Sims outside of the UFC, before facing Andrei Arlovski for the vacant interim UFC Heavyweight Championship, a fight Sylvia lost in just 47 seconds. Sylvia then won again outside the UFC, but he needed a win in the UFC to put him back on course for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

The fight itself was OK; it was mainly a boxing match and Sylvia was peppering Telligman with lots of jabs, using his reach to keep Telligman at bay. The ending was one for the highlight reel as, at the very last second of the first round, Syliva landed a headkick that knocked Telligman out cold. It was easily the most exciting finish we’d seen out of Sylvia, and it would also be the last exciting finish we’d see out of Sylvia in the UFC.

It should be noted that after a brief shot of Telligman unconscious on the mat, Telligman was treated like he didn’t exist. The UFC did absolutely everything they could to avoid showing Telligman; they accidentally showed his still-unmoving feet on a somewhat wide shot of Sylvia, at which point they promptly zoomed in to a tight close-up shot on Sylvia and stayed like that until after the post-fight interview was over. After the interview was over, they finally pulled back into a wide shot and Tra Telligman was gone. But you had no idea whether he walked out under his own power, was helped out, or had to be stretchered out, because no mention was made as to his condition. As far as the UFC was concerned, Tra Telligman ceased to exist once he was knocked out.

Telligman would semi-retire after this loss before eventually announcing he was retired for good.

They aired a promo for UFC 55, with focus on the heavyweight title fight between Andrei Arlovski and Paul Buentello.

Chuck Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn II

The pre-fight build was really good, and they played up strongly, as they should have, Horn’s win over Liddell back at UFC 19. Although to be fair to Chuck, as he pointed himself it was only his third MMA fight, whilst it was Horn’s 31st fight. The talking from both Liddell and Horn was really good; it wasn’t overly showy or two guys trying to be loud when they’re not. It was two men being very confident in their assertion of their abilities, both of them feeling assured that they were going to win and that they knew exactly how they were going to do it.

Mike Goldberg notes that if Liddell wins, he becomes the ‘winningest’ fighter in UFC history as it would be his twelfth victory in the UFC. According to the UFC’s graphic, Horn is 85-13-5 going into this fight, but Wikipedia has his record at this time as 76-13-5. Either way, considering this was Liddell’s 20th fight Horn has a huge experience edge.

The fight wasn’t actually that good. It was pretty slow, with Liddell picking Horn apart in the first and second rounds with punches, but not really pushing the pace. The only time that changed is when he dropped Horn; Liddell would then kick things into gear and go for the finish, but once it was clear Horn wasn’t going to get finished, Liddell put on the brakes again and the pace slowed down to a crawl. The first two rounds were both 10-8 for Liddell because he was keeping up a constant barrage of punches. The third round actually went to Horn because Liddell took his foot completely off the gas and did almost nothing. In the fourth round, it was still slow, but late on Liddell finally tagged Horn with one punch too many; Horn was dropped and whilst he got back up, Horn promptly told the referee he couldn’t see so and the fight was waived off.

This was Horn’s 95th fight and the first time he had ever been stopped by strikes. For Liddell, victory made him the winningest fighter in UFC history. It needs to be noted that Liddell looked very small for a light heavyweight, especially compared to the light heavyweights of today. By today’s standards, Liddell looks more like a big middleweight, and he’d be somewhat undersized in today’s light heavyweight division.

UFC 54 (the preliminary fights)

They aired two preliminary fights after the main event ended. The first saw Joe Doerksen face Matt Lindland. It was a very grappling and wrestling heavy fight that, whilst not overly thrilling, had a few moments of excitement to make things interesting to watch. Lindland won by unanimous decision.

The other preliminary fight aired saw James Irvin face Terry Martin. The actual fight was unremarkable but nothing short of the fight of the century would have overshadowed the finish, which is one of the all-time greatest knockouts in MMA history. The second round starts and Martin immediately goes in for a takedown and Irvin counter with a well-timed flying knee that catches Martin right on the jaw and Martin falls backwards, hitting the mat with a resounding thud, stiff as a board, and he is out cold!

The place goes bananas and they should; even 12 years later, this remains one of the best and most spectacular knockouts in UFC history. Unlike with Tra Telligman, though, they show frequent shots of Martin getting tended to and getting oxygen, and Martin ends up being about as fine as you can be after getting knocked the hell out.

Overall, UFC 54 was a really good show, one of the better ones from this time period, so it’s worth checking out if you get the chance.

UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor II (August 20th 2016)

UFC 202 would be headlined by what was said to be the biggest rematch in UFC history, and when the numbers came in, those claims were proven to be right on the money.

Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor II (the build)

Conor McGregor had entered 2016 on the crest of a wave as the biggest superstar in the UFC. Since his debut in the UFC in 2013, McGregor had predicted great things for himself, with McGregor even claiming he would one day become the first fighter to hold a championship in two different weight classes at the same time. Many scoffed at the brash and confident Irishman, dismissing his talk as pure self-hype and considering him nothing more than a clown.

Even as Conor piled up the victories, his detractors would never give him full credit; they’d always find a way to explain why Conor’s latest victory really much of a victory at all. When Conor beat a top 20 opponent, they said that things would be different against a top 15 opponent. When Conor then beat a top 15 opponent, the goalposts were moved; now, it was that things would be different when he faced a top 10 opponent. It didn’t matter what Conor did; his detractors, and there were many and they were mainly the diehard fans who hate self-promotion with a passion, always found a way to knock Conor’s accomplishments.

One of the last criticisms they had to knock Conor with, that he had never faced a wrestler and would be exposed when he did, was knocked aside when Conor defeated Chad Mendes, a wrestler, at UFC 189 to claim the interim UFC Featherweight Championship. Much is made of the fact that Mendes was a late replacement for the UFC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo. The detractors claimed that Mendes gassed out because he hadn’t had time to fully train. But the truth is that whilst Mendes was a late replacement, he had actually been going through a full training camp. The UFC had wanted Mendes on stand-by in case either Aldo or McGregor were unable to fight, so they’d paid Mendes to go through the camp so that, if one fighter pulled out, a fresh and properly trained replacement could step in and take their place.

Not that it would have mattered to those who still refused to give Conor his due. And they had one last criticism to knock Conor with. They claimed that things would be different when he finally faced Jose Aldo, that Aldo would expose him, beat him handily, and send him on his way. So, when Aldo and McGregor finally faced off at UFC 194, the diehards who hated Conor, and those in general who hated his perceived demeanour of being cocky, were relishing the prospect of what they felt would be a certain Jose Aldo victory.

It took Conor just 14 seconds to send the diehards and detractors into virtual apoplexy at UFC 194 when he knocked Jose Aldo out with the first punch he threw and become the UFC Featherweight Champion. The message boards exploded with claims that the fight was fixed. They just could not conceive that Conor could not only beat Jose Aldo, but could do it in 14 seconds. To them, it was obviously a fixed fight. To the bitter end, some still refused to give Conor his due.

That was of no concern to Conor. His predictions of championship glory had come true and he ended 2015 as the UFC Featherweight Champion and as the biggest star in the promotion. But there was more that Conor wanted and he made it clear that his next fight would be to challenge for the UFC Lightweight Championship; Conor fully intended to achieve his goal of becoming the first two weight champion in UFC history. So the date was set; on March 5th at UFC 196, Conor would challenge Rafael Dos Anjos for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

But on February 23rd, news broke that Dos Anjos was out of the fight. He had broken his foot and had had to withdraw. With just 12 days notice, the UFC needed to find a replacement, someone willing to step up and face the biggest superstar in the UFC on short notice. Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar both turned down the fight, citing injuries as the reason. As the UFC scrambled around, there was mounting speculation as to who would face McGregor, and the answer came from an unlikely source.

As the younger brother of Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz was used to being around controversy. He even courted some his own volition, with a rather brash behaviour that included flipping the double bird toe the fans when finishing Kurt Pellegrino with a triangle choke. But Nate Diaz was double tough; going into 2016, he had only ever been submitted once in his career, by Hermes Franca back in 2006 in the WEC. And Nate was also a great fighter in his own right, winning the tournament on TUF 5 to secure his entry into the UFC.

Nate forged a strong career, usually competing as a lightweight, as he did on TUF, but also dabbling as a welterweight too. And whilst Nate achieved some success as a welterweight, his primary weight class was lightweight, and as 2011 came to close, Nate began a run towards the top of the lightweight ladder.

Wins over Takanori Gomi and Donald Cerrone led to what was, at the time, the highest profile fight of his career, a submission win over Jim Miller on the main card of a FOX network event. It was this victory that earned Nate his first title fight in the UFC and on December 8th, he challenged Benson Henderson for the UFC Lightweight Champion in the main event of a FOX network special. Yet, as good as Nate was, Benson was a step above and he scored a dominant unanimous decision victory.

Nate would alternate losses and wins in his next four fights, including his first loss via strikes to Josh Thomson and a one-sided unanimous decision loss to Rafael Dos Anjos where Nate also missed weight for the fight by 6lbs. It seemed like Nate was settling into the position of a name fighter who would win some and loss some, but never really make a run for the top again.

It therefore came as something of a surprise when Nate was announced as being the new opponent for Conor McGregor at UFC 196. To accommodate Nate’s late entry and allow him to avoid having to make a drastic weight cut, it was agreed that the fight with Conor would be competed at welterweight. It was a weight Nate had fought at before, but Conor had never fought as big as 170lbs before. And it showed as Conor gassed out after a strong first round, allowing Nate Diaz to stun the MMA world by submitting Conor in the second round, with Conor tapping out to a rear naked choke.

It was a result that, whilst always a possibility, not many expected to happen. Even before the dust had settled, though, the talk was of an immediate rematch. It was initially set as the main event to UFC 200, but a series of incidents resulted in Conor getting pulled from UFC 200, with Conor even subsequently announcing his retirement. Conor would then claim the fight was back on for UFC 200, but it was a bluff, one that the UFC called, and the Nate/Conor rematch was officially scrapped for UFC 200 and Conor was left with egg on his face.

But you cannot keep Conor down and during UFC 199, it was formally announced that the biggest rematch in UFC history was on and that Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor would fight again at UFC 202. There was no surprise that the rematch had been made; there was too much money to be made by all involved for it not to happen. But the big surprise was that the rematch would be fought at welterweight. This was felt to be a huge mistake for Conor, with people pointing to his gassing out in the first fight as evidence that welterweight was not the ideal weight class for him to fight at. Competing at 170lbs, Conor was considered to be at a considerable disadvantage.

Why Conor wanted the rematch at welterweight was the cause of much speculation, with most people feeling that Conor’s pride had led him to insist on competing at welterweight again, that his machismo demanded he avenge his loss at welterweight with a win at welterweight. Regardless of his reasons, Conor was fighting again at welterweight and the opinion of most was that Conor had an uphill battle on his hands.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event would be a top light heavyweight clash between Anthony Johnson and Glover Teixeira. This fight had originally been set to take place as the co-main event on the UFC on Fox 20: Holm vs. Shevchenko show. However, Johnson pulled out of the fight a month before it was to take place, for personal reasons. The UFC pulled Teixeira from the card and opted to rebook the fight at a later date, the later date being this show.

Anthony Johnson had fallen short at UFC 187 when facing Daniel Cormier for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, the title having been stripped from Jon Jones when over Jones involvement in a felony hit-and-run. Prior to that fight, Johnson had been in devastating form, including a shocking and brutal destruction of Alexander Gustafsson in Gustafsson’s home country of Sweden. After the lost to Cormier, Johnson resumed his path of destruction with a knockout win over Jimi Manuwa and an 86 second battering of Ryan Bader.

These back-to-back wins had put Johnson right on track for another crack at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, but before he could get that second chance, Johnson would have to make it past an opponent who, like Johnson, was working his way back to a title shot.

Glover Teixeira had gone 5-0 in his UFC career, reaching 22-2 overall, before challenging Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 172. Teixeira fell to Jones by unanimous decision but had put in a good showing, far better than the scorecards indicated. Teixeira’s next fight was against Phil Davis at UFC 179, and it wasn’t a good night or showing for Teixeira as Davis grappled his way to a one-sided and uninspiring unanimous decision victory.

Teixeira needed to arrest his slide and fast. One more loss could see him out of consideration for top fights and put him far enough away from the title scene that he may never be near it again. To that end, Teixeira put together a string of impressive victories; he choked out Ovince Saint PReux, TKO’d Patrick Cummins, and in perhaps the biggest victory of his entire UFC tenure, Teixeira knocked out Rashad Evans in just 1:48 in the main event of a FOX network event.

Teixeira was now within reach of another shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, but to get that shot he would have to make it past the incredibly dangerous Anthony Johnson, who, like Teixeira, wanted another chance at the gold. But at UFC 202, only one man would get that second chance at glory.

Elsewhere on the main card, Donald Cerrone would continue his run in the welterweight division by taking on Rick Story. Cerrone had been a top lightweight, but after having his eight-fight win streak ended in an unsuccessful challenge of Rafael Dos Anjos and the UFC Lightweight Championship, Cerrone had opted to make the move up to the welterweight division. Cerrone made short work of his first welterweight opponent, with Cerrone submitting Alex Oliveira in just 2:33. Cerrone followed up on that with a TKO win over Patrick Côté. Cerrone was fast making the welterweight division his new home, and his next opponent would be a good test for Cerrone in this weight class.

Rick Story had been 5-1 in the UFC, and had won five in a row, before putting his name on the map with a unanimous decision win over former title challenger Thiago Alves at UFC 130. It was a victory that put the welterweight division on notice and seemed to announce a new star in the 170lbs weight class. But his next fight saw him replace Anthony Johnson on short notice, with Story originally to take on Nate Marquardt before Marquardt was removed and replace by Charlie Brenneman. Story lost the fight by unanimous decision and it was a loss that seemed to take the confidence out of Story and his form faltered.

Story would alternate losses and wins in his next eight fights, before finally scoring his second win in a row for the first time in three years when he upset Gunner Nelson. Story continued his resurgence with a unanimous decision win over Tarec Saffiedine. It seemed like Story was finally back on track with three wins in a row, but his next fight would be his toughest test to date, a fight against the dangerous striker Donald Cerrone.

Other fights on the main card would see Sultan Aliev face Hyun Gyu Lim face Mike Perry, and Tim Means face Sean Strickland.

Card Changes

The biggest card change saw a top welterweight fight between former WEC Welterweight Champion and former interim UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit and Demian Maia moved from this show, the fight being put back a week to headlined a FOX network event.

Lorenz Larkin replaced an injured Dong Hyun Kim against Neil Magny at the event. A fight between Al Iaquinta and Thiago Alves was floated as taking place at this show, but it was decided to push the fight back to UFC 205 later in the year. Mike Perry would make his UFC debut, replacing Sultan Aliev against Hyun Gyu Lim. And also making his UFC debut as a replacement was Sabah Homasi, as he replaced Sean Strickland against Tim Means.

A fight between TUF: China winner Ning Guangyou and Marlon Vera was postponed when Guangyou failed an out-of-competition drug test, Guangyou testing positive for clenbuterol. However, USADA later ruled that Guangyou had taken the drug unintentionally, determining the probably source of the drug as tainted meat. Countries like China, and Mexico, have a high risk for meats being contaminated by clenbuterol. As a result, Guangyou was not suspended and the fight with Means ended up taking place one week later at UFC on FOX 21: Maia vs. Condit

This show would also be the first one under full control of WME-IMG, the new owners of the UFC.

UFC 202 (the preliminary fights)

Alberto Uda vs. Marvin Vettori;  a decent clinching and grappling battle, this ended with Vettori submitting Uda at 4:30 of the first round with head and arm guillotine. Vettori actually spun into guillotine as he had the back of Uda, which made for a cool looking transition. Colby Covington vs. Max Griffin; Covington dominated Griffin for most of the fight, showing great grappling and positional control. Covington got the win by TKO at 2:18 of the third round, although it appeared Griffin was unable to defend himself more through exhaustion than anything else.

Lorenz Larkin vs. Neil Magny;  the main Fight Pass preliminary fight, this saw Larkin really open some eyes with a pretty comprehensive win over the normally durable Magny. Larking set the tone almost right away with a nasty oblique kick that clearly took the wind out of Magny, with Larkin following up on that with some equally nasty leg kicks that were destroying the leg of Magny. Larkin got the finish when Magny went for a takedown, pressing Larkin against the fence, and Larkin responded with some vicious elbows to the side of Magny’s head to knock him senseless.

This was quite the statement from Larkin as Magny is usually hard to put away, but Larkin just dominated him. It’s a shame that Larkin never stayed in the UFC, Larkin making the move to Bellator, as it would have been nice to see how he fared against higher level competition.

The FS1 prelims opened up with Randa Markos vs. Cortney Casey;  Cortney looked good, with the turning point of the fight being Markos going for a headlock throw. Markos got Casey over, but Casey managed to hook Markos with her leg, putting Markos in danger of having her back taken and after a lengthy struggle, that’s exactly what happened. Casey transitioned into an armbar, and whilst Markos escaped to get in the guard of Casey, Casey threw her legs up to catch Markos in another armbar and Markos ended up having to verbally submit.

Chris Avila vs. Artem Lobov;  this wasn’t much of a fight, with Lobov content to casually deliver leg kicks to Avilla, leaving Avila’s left leg looking bright red, and occasionally forcing a clinch. Other than that, there was little else to say about this fight. Raquel Pennington vs. Elizabeth Phillips;  this wasn’t the most exciting of fights due to Phillips frequently pressing Pennington against the fence and holding her there. But it was her only real chance to win or at least survive, as Pennington dominated the fight whenever there was any space. Phillips was able to survive a third round where Pennington took her back and then had her mounted, but surviving is all she could do, with Pennington getting the unanimous decision victory.

Cody Garbrandt vs. Takeya Mizugaki;  Garbrandt tagged, rocked and dropped Mizugaki, finishing him in just 48 seconds.

UFC 202 (the main card)

Sabah Homasi vs. Tim Means;  Homasi had some decent success when they were clinched up. Unfortunately for Homasi, he and Means were rarely clinched up and Means just picked him apart with precision punches and kicks over the course of a round and change. Means bloodied up Homasi in the first round and Homasi’s face was the proverbial crimson mask by the time Means had battered him enough for Herb Dean to step in and stop the fight at 2:56 of the second round.

Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Mike Perry;  the first thing to note was the huge weight difference between Lim and Perry. They’re both supposed to be welterweights but Kim looks a good 20lbs bigger, maybe even more. He also had a five inch height advantage, which only made the disparity between the two look even stronger. It didn’t matter, though, because Perry kept finding a home for his punches, dropping Lim a number of teams before getting the TKO win.

One of Perry’s cornermen, Alex Nicholson, threw out this delightful remark towards Kim before the fight; "He can't even open his motherf--king eyes."

Nicholson later claimed he respected fighters and that his comments were simply meant to hype Perry and that there was no hate behind them. Perry defended Nicholson’s words, first claiming that they referred to Kim’s eyes post-fight, the idea being that none of Perry’s opponents can open their eyes properly after they fight him. Then, when it was pointed out the remarks were said before the fight, Perry then claimed people were overreacting to what Nicholson said.

The UFC didn’t cover themselves in glory when reacting to this incident. The story was first put out there by a reporter tweeting a video clip of the incident; the UFC’s immediate response was to make a copyright claim to get the video taken down, and then stay completely silent about what Nicholson had said.

Donald Cerrone vs. Rick Story;  this wasn’t an overly exciting fight before the finish. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t outstanding in any way, although Cerrone looked good and he in fact earned his third straight performance of the night bonus. The finish came about two minutes into the second round, with Cerrone hitting a couple of punches and then finishing off with a head kick that had Story turning around on wobbly legs. Cerrone pressed the advantage, dropping Story with a knee; Cerrone then delivered a series of punches to Story before Herb Dean stepped in, and he stepped in a good few punches too late.

Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira;  the pre-fight video package had Joe Rogan stressing the guts of Teixeira to call out one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC, with Rogan calling Johnson one of the scariest men in the division. It was a great package and it was almost a shame that the fight it led up to climaxed faster than a nervous virgin on his weding night. Teixeira moved forward, they threw speculative punches to gauge distance and whatnot, and then Johnson cracked Teixeira with a thunderous uppercut and Teixeira was out cold in just 11 seconds.

“Good Lord, that is a terrifying man”. (or one of the most underrated, and well delivered classic lines in MMA)

Glover Teixeira is so completely out of it that he spends several seconds trying to grapple with referee Dan Miragliotta. Even when they finally get Teixeira to stop, he’s still completely dazed, and he should be after getting hit with that sledgehammer fist of Johnson’s. They show the knockout from a number of different angles and Goldberg and Rogan are in awe of the knockout power of Johnson; Rogan says it’s on a level that nobody else is at, a “I touch you; you go to sleep” level. It really is awesome, Johnson’s knockout power, and it’s a shame, I think, we never got to see Johnson take on Jon Jones, because despite the disparity in pure skill, Johnson’s knockout power would have made him a constant danger because you’re not taking many of those uppercuts before you wonder where all the pretty stars swirling around your head came from.

Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor II

The atmosphere for this fight is off the hook, totally electric. It’s one of those rare fights that has an aura about it that makes you feel like you’re watching something special, something, or someone that doesn’t come around very often.

The first round was a virtual domination from McGregor, and he did a great job of working over Nate’s lead leg with kicks. It was how Rafael Dos Anjos beat Nate, and it’s almost surprising in a way that Nate not only hasn’t closed up that hole in the game, but that he makes very little effort to check the leg kicks. Nate is happy to take them, even though they quickly started to take a toll on his leg. Under the new rules, this would easily be a 10-8 round for Conor. Under the old rules, it’s a lot closer, but I’m still giving it to Conor 10-8; Nate offered virtually nothing on offense, his defence of the leg kicks was virtually nonexistent, and he was rocked a couple of time and was also dropped as well, which was only the fifth time Nate had ever been dropped in the UFC.

The second round was a lot more competitive, but it seemed like Conor was starting to slow down, although he had managed to drop Nate again, which marked the first time Nate had been knocked down twice in a fight. But as the round went on, Nate was really starting to tag Conor. Nate’s face was bloodied up but it was Nate who was landing the bigger blows, rocking Conor a little and having him backing up. It was Nate’s round and I’m giving it to him 10-9.

The third round was again competitive, until Conor started to gas out, at which point Nate started taking over control of the fight. Nate was stalking Conor, putting pressure on him, and late on, Nate was tagging Conor at will and really beating him up. The round ended with Conor backed up against the fence and Nate doing a really good of lighting him up. Whilst some have said the fight should have been stopped, Conor wasn’t at that stage yet; he was still putting up some measure of resistance, albeit a small one, in trying to avoid the blows. That said, the bell saved Conor because he looked to be moments away from being completely gassed out, at which point  Nate would have finished him off. I scored this round a 10-8 for Nate.

The fourth round was the closest of the fight so far, as both Conor and Nate were landing some decent shots. It looked like Conor had gotten a second wind because he was moving forward a little more and not breathing so heavily. Conversely, it looked like Nate was starting to slow down; his movement wasn’t so sharp and his hands kept going low. Although a close round, I gave it 10-9 to Conor as he was slightly more aggressive and was landing a little more a well, and doing a more damage.

The fifth round was even closer than the fourth and there was very little separate them. Conor and Nate both landed punches, but unlike in earlier rounds, Conor was landing with more volume and Nate’s face was still a bloody mess. Most of the final minute or so saw Nate pressing Conor up against the fence although not doing anything with it; he tried to take Conor down, twice, but Conor stuffed both attempts. Conor then tripped Nate up but Nate was soon back on his feet and he finally managed to take Conor down at the end of the round.

The fifth round was incredibly close and difficult to score, but I thought Conor just about edged it 10-9. Whilst everything was fairly equal, I thought Conor was a little more aggressive in the first half of the round, more pressing the action and Conor was damaging Nate more than Nate was damaging Conor.

I scored the fight 47-46 for Conor. I thought rounds one, two and three were clear cut. Round four was close but not close enough that I didn’t think it shouldn’t have gone to Conor. Round five, whilst I wouldn’t agree with it, I can see why people would give it Nate over Conor.

The Judge’s Decision

It goes to the judges and Conor gets the win by majority decision, with scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 47-47.

In his post-fight interview, Conor says that the king is back. He says he’s up for a third fight, but only at lightweight because he’s already come up to welterweight twice, so now it’s going to be on his terms and his terms alone. Nate is upset over the result and after claiming he didn’t fight well because of a bad camp, he basically calls the judging fixed as ‘they’ don’t want him winning because he’s ‘too real for this sport’. It’s the usual Diaz bitching over a result not going their way; they traditionally never accept things not going the way they want them to. You can argue Nate could have gotten the decision, but you can’t argue that he should have gotten the decision, and there is a difference, because the fight was so close that either Conor or Nate could have won.

Jeff Mullen and Derek Cleary both had it 48-47 for Conor, whilst Glenn Trowbridge.

All three judges gave rounds one, two and four to Conor and rounds three and five to Nate, but only Glenn Trowbridge gave the third round to Nate as a 10-8; had he also given it to Nate 10-9, it would have been a unanimous decision win for Conor.

I don’t see how Conor won the second round; whilst Nate visibly looked to be the more damaged, he delivered far more damage himself, rocking Conor, and it was so close to being a 10-8 for Nate. I also don’t see how Nate didn’t get a 10-8 for that third round from the two judges, especially when Conor was out on his feet at the end of the round and was also saved by the bell. How does that not get you a 10-8, even under the old system?

I also don’t see any other score for the fight but 47-46, for either fighter. I thought the first four rounds had clear winners and scores, even if the fourth round was close. But whether Conor or Nate gets the 47-46 depends on who you gave that fifth and final round to, and that one really could have gone either way.

The fight was close enough that whether you’re judging under the 10-point must system or the PRIDE system, which was really the UFC system first, of judging the fight as a whole and picking a winner, then either Conor or Nate could feasibly have won and it wouldn’t have been a bad call. Whatever judging system you use, this was a very close fight that could have gone either way.

The Numbers

Not only was the fight fantastic, so were the numbers; UFC 202 drew what was, at the time, the fifth highest gate in company history, $7,692,010. It would also draw what remains the company record for PPV buys, 1,650,000.

With numbers like that, you would almost guarantee that we’ll get Conor vs. Nate III, because it would do huge business. But you’ve got Conor insisting that the third fight is at lightweight, and I can see Nate being stubborn enough, especially as he believes he should have won the fight and was robbed, that he’ll say it’s at welterweight or not at all, and you’ll end up with a stalemate where both parties refuse to budge.

Other Notes on August 20th

Shooto: Alive Road (August 20th 2006)

The main event would see Gilbert Melendez score a quick win over Rumino Sato, with the ending coming at 1:32 after Sato suffered a deep cut. The co-main event saw one of the early fights of Shinya Aoki, as he lost by unanimous decision to Hayato Sakurai. It was actually a good showing Aoki, was this was only seventh pro fight, whilst Sakurai was far more experienced; this Sakurai’s 33rd fight.

Cage Rage Contenders 2 (August 20th 2006)

Of minor interest, one of the undercard fights saw Che Mills knock out Marius Zaromskis in 4:49 with a knee.

Bellator 48 (August 20th 2011)

The man who turned the Kimbo carriage back into a pumpkin, Seth Petruzelli, knocked out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez in 4:21. The main event was the final of Bellator’s Featherweight Tournament, with Pat Curran knocking out Marlon Sandro at 4:00 of the second round. It’s a knockout worth watching if you can find it.

Tomorrow, there are two events to talk about in-depth; UFC 49: Unfinished Business, and Strikeforce: Houston.

[wandshogun09]

Tate vs Kedzie was indeed tremendous. To this day, I still don't know how Miesha survived that one headkick from Kedzie. It landed flush in her face and not only did she eat it and stay in the fight, she somehow came back and won the thing. 

When you look back at fights like that, it's no wonder Tate retired so young. She had a few scraps. Kedzie too, for that matter. 

Edit - here's that headkick I was on about;

I mean...how?

[jimufctna24]

1 hour ago, Noah Southworth said:

GSP had won two since his loss to Hughes at UFC, but with his only win in the UFC being over Jason Miller, nobody was giving him much of a chance against Trigg, and most of the pre-fight talk was centred around what was considered the imminent third showdown between Trigg and Matt Hughes.

Are you sure?

The oddsmakers had GSP as a slight favourite. I remember Trigg called GSP a "B-Level" fighter in the build-up, but most people had twigged that GSP was something a bit special by this stage. He just needed a bit more seasoning. 

 

 

[Noah Southworth]

12 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Tate vs Kedzie was indeed tremendous. To this day, I still don't know how Miesha survived that one headkick from Kedzie. It landed flush in her face and not only did she eat it and stay in the fight, she somehow came back and won the thing. 

Julie Kedzie is a fighter who never quite gets her due and it’s a shame that she never had the run in the UFC she deserved; Kedzie was really unlucky to lose both of her UFC fights by split-decision. I don’t remember a lot about the GDR fight, but I’m pretty sure I had her winning the Bethe Correia fight.

12 hours ago, jimufctna24 said:

Are you sure?

The oddsmakers had GSP as a slight favourite. I remember Trigg called GSP a "B-Level" fighter in the build-up, but most people had twigged that GSP was something a bit special by this stage. He just needed a bit more seasoning. 

I wouldn’t have said so otherwise.

Despite losing to Hughes in both of their fights, each fight saw Trigg come as close to beating Hughes as anyone not named BJ Penn ever had. That positioned Trigg as a major threat in the welterweight division, especially as he’d only lost one other time, and that was back at the end of 2000. And whilst people felt that GSP could be something special, Trigg was coming off of pushing Hughes to the limit for a second time; people might have known what GSP could be capable of, but the momentum of the moment was with Trigg and it was felt that a third fight between Frank Trigg and Matt Hughes was an inevitability.

[jimufctna24]

Don't forget that Trigg only had Hughes in trouble in the 2nd fight due to a low blow, and the referee not intervening. In contrast, GSP was giving Hughes a lot of issues in their first fight, before making a rookie mistake which led to him being arm-barred. From what I remember GSP was considered just as big a threat at the time, perhaps even more so. 

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 21st)

UFC 49: Unfinished Business (August 21st 2004)

This show would be headlined by a trilogy fight, and it would be a fight that would conclude a series between two UFC legends that had begun all the way back at UFC 15 in 1997.

Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture III (the build)

Vitor Belfort entered the UFC in early 1997 with tremendous anticipation, much of it built on the speed and power of his punches. Belfort’s first MMA fight, his only one prior to entering the UFC, had been a 12 second destruction of the notorious Jon Hess, a fighter with a lousy a lousy reputation who competed at UFC 5. Buoyed by this showing, those behind Belfort touted him as a future champion, even debating the idea of putting Belfort into boxing before the UFC came calling.

Belfort’s UFC debut came at UFC 12 on February 7th 1997. Belfort was in the heavyweight tournament and he blitzed through the competition, beating Tra Telligman by doctor stoppage in 1:13 and then TKO’ing Scott Ferrozzo in 47 seconds. Belfort had announced his arrival in style, and his name and reputation was further enhanced at UFC 13 when he needed just 52 seconds to TKO the UFC’s resident bad boy, Tank Abbott. Vitor Belfort was a star on the rise and that star was put on the path to UFC glory when he was matched against a Greco Roman wrestler, with the winner of their fight getting a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship. The expectation going in was that Belfort would walk through the wrestler with little trouble and be one fight away from standing atop the UFC’s heavyweight division and being the new poster child for the UFC.

The only problem with that plan is that nobody told the wrestler that he was set up to be cannon fodder. That wrestler was Randy Couture.

Randy Couture had been a three-time NCAA Division I All American and a three-time Olympic team alternate in Greco-Roman wrestling. Randy’s wrestling credentials were top level and they put him in good stead for when he made his debut at UFC 13, as a late notice replacement in the four-man heavyweight tournament. Couture’s first opponent was former pro wrestler Tony Halme. Halme, who competed as Ludvig Borga in the WWF, was little match for Couture and was submitted in 1:00. Couture needed a little longer, 3:13, to put away his second opponent, Steven Graham to win the heavyweight tournament.

Randy Couture had arrived in the UFC with a tournament win but nobody took him to be a genuine tough guy, as someone who would be a serious threat to the heavy hitters that littered the UFC heavyweight division. So when the UFC wanted to give ‘The Phenom’, as he had been christened, Vitor Belfort a big win over a credentialed opponent to give him credibility, they put him against Randy Couture at UFC 15. Vitor Belfort was going to blow through Couture en route to the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

But in one of the first big upsets in UFC history, and it was considered a major upset at the time, Randy Couture defied the odds and expectations by grinding and tiring out Vitor Belfort before taking him down and pounding him out for the TKO victory in 8:16. Couture had shocked the UFC by derailing the hype train that was Vitor Belfort.

From there, the careers of Belfort and Couture took very divergent paths before they would meet again. Belfort would become the classic underachiever, a fighter who could never seem to really put it all together and reach the levels of success that had been predicted for him earlier in his career.

Couture, on the other hand, would achieve the kind of success that had been expected of Belfort. Couture won the UFC Heavyweight Championship from Maurice Smith, in what was another upset, before vacating the title when he left the UFC due to a contract dispute. Couture returned at UFC 28 to challenge Kevin Randleman for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. As had been the case when he was matched against Vitor Belfort, Couture was to be the credentialed opponent for Randleman to beat to establish himself as a superstar. And as was the case the first time around, Couture derailed those plans with another upset victory when he TKO’d Randleman to wrest away the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Couture fought Pedro Rizzo twice over the heavyweight title before losing it to Josh Barnett and then losing to Ricco Rodriguez in a fight for the vacant heavyweight title, with Barnett having been stripped of it due to failing a drug test. Couture was then asked to move down to light heavyweight to face Chuck Liddell for the interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 43. Tito Ortiz was the official champion but he was refusing to fight Liddell, who was the number one contender, and despite his claims that it was because of friendship, everyone else saw it as Ortiz ducking Liddell.

As before, Couture was the intended ‘star maker’, a name opponent for Liddell to beat so he would have credibility as interim champion, and as before, Couture upset the odds with a one-sided mauling of Liddell on his way to a third-round TKO victory. With Liddell now out of the picture, Tito Ortiz suddenly came to terms with the UFC, and he would face Couture in a unification fight at UFC 44. Again, Couture was the underdog; you’d think by now people would stop putting him in that spot. And again, Couture upset the odds as he literally spanked Ortiz in a one-sided domination so bad that Ortiz was left in tears  as Couture’s unanimous decision victory was announced.

By this time, Vitor Belfort had returned to the UFC and at UFC 43, he destroyed Marvin Eastman and in the process left Eastman with the nastiest scar in UFC history. It was quite the statement and it put Belfort in line for a title shot and at UFC 46, Belfort would challenge Randy Couture for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

The fight was hotly anticipated, especially as Vitor been looing like ‘the old Vitor’, a smashing machine. But the fight ended in the most disappointing fashion possible, when, less than a minute in, Belfort threw a punch that saw the edge of his glove graze the right eyelid of Couture and slice it open. It was a nasty looking cut and with it being on the eyelid, the ringside doctor had no choice but to stop the fight at just 49 seconds of the first round. The fans were not happy, Randy was not happy; even Vitor’s celebration seemed to lack any real fire. Everyone knew it was a fluke ending and nobody was happy nor taking it seriously.

The way the fight ended, there was an obvious and immediate call for a rematch, and seven months later, at the appropriately titled Unfinished Business, Vitor Belfort would defend the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Randy Couture. For Belfort, it wasn’t about retaining his title. It was about proving he was a real champion by soundly defeating the former champion; however unfair it may have been, few people took Belfort seriously as champion because of the nature of how he won the title. And for Couture, it was about regaining the title that had slipped through his fingers in the most unfortunate of circumstances and taking back what many felt was still rightfully his.

The Rest of the Card

The biggest fight on the undercard was a fight involving Chuck Liddell, as he would be taking on Lion’s Den fighter Vernon White. Liddell was the intended kingpin of the light heavyweight division, and after destroying Tito Ortiz when they finally met, at UFC 47, Liddell would be taking an opponent who he couldn’t wait to get his hands due to some long-standing bad blood between the two.

‘Dirty’ Mike Kyle faced his friend and former training partner Justin Eilers. Joe Silva didn’t know these two were friends when he booked the fight and had to be talked into keeping the fight on the books by both Kyle and Eilers. Matt Lindland, Olympic silver medallist in Greco-Roman Wrestling welcomed the highly touted jiu-jitsu competitor Dave Terrell into the UFC. Terrell was a black belt under Cesar Gracie and his entry into the UFC was greatly anticipated.

UFC 49

Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan do a really good open for show, talking about the main event as well as the fight between Chuck Liddell and Vernon White, which Rogan stresses is a real, genuine grudge match. They also talk with oddsmaker Danny Sheridan, who picked Randy Couture to win the main event. As this show is in Las Vegas, they show the Vegas odds; Randy Couture is -165 to Vitor Belfort’s +135, Chuck Liddell is -280 to Vernon White’s +230, Matt Lindland is -130 whilst Dave Terrell is EVENS, and Justin Eilers is -160 to Mike Kyle’s +130.

Justin Eilers vs. Mike Kyle; Kyle doesn’t help his reputation when, barely a minute in, he clinches up with Eilers and delivers two quick knees to the groin. John McCarthy stops the fight to give Eilers time to recover and he also deducts a point from Kyle, and it’s probably because Kyle kneed Eilers twice in rapid succession that he lost a point. It didn’t affect the outcome of the fight, though, as less than a minute later, Eilers clipped Kyle with a left hook and knocks him out. Kyle recovers quickly and is equally quick to bitch and moan about the stoppage, complaining long and loud, but he was out cold so it was the right call and Justin Eilers makes a great impression in his UFC debut.

They run a video package on Frank Mir, explaining that he can’t defend the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Andrei Arlovski on the October PPV as Mir will be on his honeymoon. They also talk with Tim Sylvia and detail what happened, and the aftermath, when Mir broke his arm at UFC 48. Dana White and Mike Goldberg also talk about the upcoming Ultimate Fighter reality show.

Matt Lindland vs. Dave Terrell: this fight has a lot of attention because Terrell is a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu student who is a black belt, so his UFC debut has a lot of interest. This isn’t Terrell’s MMA debut, as he’s 4-1 so far; he lost his first fight, to Vernon White, before winning four-in-a-row. Lindland is a former Olympic silver medallist in Greco-Roman wrestling, and his only losses in the UFC so far are to Murilo Bustamante and Falaniko Vitale, although the Vitale loss was a fluke as Lindland knocked himself out when trying to slam Vitale to the mat. Reading that background will take about as long as the fight itself lasted; Terrell clipped and dropped Lindland almost right away, and the jiu-jitsu student showed us his ground-and-pound to knock Lindland out in just 24 seconds. This was a quite the entry into the UFC, with Terrell announcing his arrival in a big way and making a name for himself right out of the gate.

With two quick fights, we’ve got time to show Yves Edwards vs. Josh Thomson. The quality of this fight is immaterial as all anybody remembers is the highlight reel finish. Edwards has a waistlock on Thomson from behind; Thomson moves forward to try and escape and he goes to throw a spinning backfist as Edwards lets go, but Edwards throws an enzuigiri, a head kick that drops Thomson, and Edwards lands a number of punches on the ground before the referee realizes that Thomson is out of it and stops the fight. Admittedly, the finish doesn’t look as spectacular today as it did at the time, but it remains one of the most famous finishes in UFC history.

And on a historical note, this would be the last lightweight fight to take place in the UFC until UFC 58.

They do a video feature that demonstrates and explains several different submission holds, which would be a good feature to bring back today.

Chuck Liddell vs. Vernon White: as previously mentioned, this was something of a grudge match. Chuck even says that you couldn’t have picked a better opponent for him to fight because he does not like Vernon White. As explained by both parties in their pre-fight comments, the bad blood seems to stem from the suggestion that Chuck was ducking Vernon. Chuck says that he offered, twice, to face Vernon in a ‘winner takes all’ match, but both times the offer was turned down. Vernon also says they were supposed to fight before but that Chuck’s people pulled him out of the fight. Vernon then says he’s not scared of getting hit by Chuck, and he equates the punching power of Chuck to that of Ken Shamrock, Vernon’s trainer.

This was the kind of video package we don’t see enough of these days; two guys explaining why they want to fight rather than promoters or announcers trying to hype the fight up, and there is a difference

The fight itself was entirely one-sided, with Liddell using White for target practice throughout. White got in no meaningful offense at all. Liddell rocked and dropped White a number of times before putting him down for good at 4:05 of the first round when he caught Vernon coming in with a simple straight jab. Joe Rogan called it a war but it’s not really a war if only one side is dishing out the punishment

They air a promo for UFC 50: The War of 04 and the main event of Tito Ortiz vs. Guy Mezger III.

We have another fight before the main event, Joe Doerksen vs. Joe Riggs. This was pretty good, mostly grappling and ground positioning. It was very competitive, despite Riggs suffering two kicks to the groin. Riggs got final revenge, though, pounding out Doerksen with some vicious ground-and-pound, Riggs opening up a nasty cut above the right eye of Doerksen, who submitted due to strikes.

And yet another fight before the main event, this one Ron Jhun vs. Chris Lytle. It was a good showing from Lytle who submitted Jhun early in the second round with a guillotine choke.

Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture III

The main event was up next, the trilogy making fight between Vitor Belfort and Randy Couture for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. They interview fighters and ‘celebrities’ and the fighter are the only ones who sound remotely coherent and who have anything of relevance to say.

The first round consisted almost entirely of Randy smothering Vitor against the fence for extended periods, before taking him down late in the round. In between the first and second rounds, they show a clip from when Randy was pressing Vitor against the fence and Vitor clearly jams his finger into the eye of Randy. Early in the second round, an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut above the right eye of Vitor. As in the first round, Randy smothered Vitor against the fence before taking him down; Vitor is sat back against the fence as Randy continued working him over, which is classic Randy. Vitor’s only respite came when the referee paused the fight to get Vitor’s cut checked, but Randy and Vitor were put back in the same position when the fight restarted. Vitor momentarily causes a scare by catching Randy in an armbar, and he’d do something similar against Jon Jones in their fight, but Randy breaks free.

In between rounds, Vitor remained sat on the floor, not even bothering to get up, and it certainly looked like he was defeated and deflated. By this stage, Randy’s white shorts are now a light shade of pink, having been splattered with the blood of Vitor.

In the third round, it took Randy no time at all to take Vitor back down; Randy easily evaded another armbar attempt as he spent the round keeping Vitor grounded, working him over with punches and elbows, and Vitor was taking a real beating in a completely one-sided round. By now, Randy’s shorts are completely pink from being covered in Vitor’s blood. And they don’t get a chance to reach a deeper shade as the doctor halts the fight between rounds due to Vitor’s cut.

This was about as one-sided fight as you’ll get. Outside of the armbar attempts, which went nowhere, Vitor Belfort was completely shut down by Randy Couture. Post-fight, Randy calls out Wanderlei Silva, the PRIDE Middleweight Champion (the equivalent of the light heavyweight weight class in the UFC), who happens to be at ringside with his title belt. The idea was to set up a fight between the two, but wouldn’t you know who won the pony; it never happened and all that came out of this was some free publicity for PRIDE on a UFC PPV. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?

After the main event, they two rounds of the fight between Nick Diaz and Karo Parisyan, before skipping to the result being announced, which is Parisyan winning by split-decision.

Strikeforce: Houston (August 21st 2010)

This show would see Mo Lawal defend the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship against Rafael Cavalcante, Lawal defending the title for the first time since winning it from Gegard Mousasi. Another championship fight would see the vacant the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship up for grabs as Tim Kennedy faced Ronaldo Souza. The previous champion was Jake Shields, but he’d vacated the title when he made the move to the UFC.

Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley would take on solid journeyman fighter Chad Griggs. And former EliteXC Lightweight Champion KJ Noons, who defeated Nick Diaz to win the title, would face BJJ specialist, Jorge Gurgel.

This card was under Strikeforce rules that prohibited any kind of strikes to the head of a downed opponent, including elbows or forearms. Kicks I can understand, and agree with, but elbows and forearms? This would also be the last Strikeforce event branded with their original logo. The promotion debuted their new, and final logo at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II in October 2010.

Strikeforce: Houston

Chad Griggs vs. Bobby Lashley; this was a decent fight, which was almost entirely Lashley taking Griggs down and either keeping him down or keeping him pressed against the fence. It wasn’t overly exciting but the purist would like it a lot. The story, though, was how Lashley slowly tired over the course of the first two rounds, which was a situation not helped by Lashley sustained a pretty nasty gash beside his left eye during the first round. By the end of the second round Lashley was completely gassed out, and Griggs spent the last few seconds delivering hammer fists to the side of Lashley’s head, having stuffed a takedown attempt, which was the first serious offence Griggs had delivered so far.

And that was as far as the fight went, because Lashley couldn’t stand up; he was too exhausted, and when the referee asked him if he could keep going, Lashley said no and the fight was over. Don’t make any mistake here; Lashley lost the fight, Griggs didn’t win it. Until Lashley gassed out, Griggs did virtually nothing on offence and had no answer to the power and takedowns of Lashley. This was a fight that Griggs was never in until Lashley tired out.

It’s a shame that Lashley never went into MMA instead of professional wrestling, because I think he could have done well based purely on his athletic ability. Throw in a couple of years of high-level training, and I firmly believe that Bobby Lashley had the potential to go very far in MMA. I always felt Lashley was more suited to MMA than pro wrestling, where his dry personality and average charisma were always going to hold him back.

Jorge Gurgel vs. KJ Noons; saw Gurgel, the ground specialist, decide to keep it standing against the former pro boxer. Noons dominated the first round but didn’t really land anything of note until right after the bell to signify the end of the round when he dropped Gurgel with a left hook. It wasn’t intentional, but it left Gurgel complete dazed and barely knowing which way was up. Noons dropped Gurgel with a combination almost immediately in the second round; Noon paused, asking the referee to step in, but the referee did nothing so he kept punching Gurgel. Gurgel was knocked back down and as he tried to get up, Noons walloped Gurgel again and the referee stepped in, but as he did so, Noons threw an illegal knee. It was a moment of controversy, and Gurgel protested the stoppage as well, but he was out of it and the fight should have been over no matter what.

Tim Kennedy vs. Ronaldo Souza – for the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight Championship; was mostly a boxing match and a mediocre one at that. There were a few clinches and a takedown attempt here and there, but the majority of this one was pure boxing and it really wasn’t anything to write home about. It went the distance and Souza got the unanimous decision victory and is the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.

Mo Lawal vs. Rafael Cavalcante – for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship; was a decent enough fight but there nothing particularly gripping about it outside of the 74 seconds the third round lasted. 15 seconds in, Cavalcante drilled Lawal with a big right hand that had Lawal backing up, but the champion started to come back strong. Then, Cavalcante nailed Lawal with a pair of knees from the Thai clinch and dropped Lawal again with a big punch. Lawal was somehow still in it and end up pressing Cavalcante up against the fence in an attempt to take him down; Cavalcante then began elbowing Lawal in the head and kept going until Mo finally went limp and the referee moved in to stop the fight.

Cavalcante defeats Mo Lawal and becomes the new Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. This win would be Cavalcante’s third in a row and would also continue the streak of, Bobby Southworth aside, no Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion being able to successfully defending his title. For Lawal, it was his first loss in MMA and was something of a blow to Strikeforce who had hoped to build the light heavyweight division around Lawal, who was a solid fighter but an even better personality, although his ‘King Mo’ gimmick seemed really hokey.

Numbers

The event drew an estimated 367,000 viewers on Showtime, with a peak of 470,000 during the main event.

Other Notes on August 21st

Extreme Challenge 27 (August 21st 1999)

The main event here saw Pat Miletich beat Shonie Carter by unanimous decision, in a fight with one 20:00 round. Other names of note on the card were Travis Fulton, Bobby Hoffman and Jeremy Horn, all of whom won their respective fights.

With noting major to talk about tomorrow, we’ll talk about the few notes for August 22nd now and then take tomorrow off.

Other Notes on August 22nd

Extreme Challenge (August 22nd 1998)

In the main event, Dan Severn and Pat Miletich went to a 20:00 draw. The co-main event saw Shonie Carter and Dave Menne also draw over 20:00, with other fighters of note on the undercard including Jeremy Horn, Laverne Clark and Dennis Hallman.

Sengoku 14 (August 22nd 2010)

The main event of this show saw Jorge Santiago defend the Sengoku Middleweight Championship against Kazuo Misaki. This fight started slow but it picked up and turned into a real cracker, an incredibly dramatic contest with lots of twists and turns that is absolutely worth checking out; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML6aemEO60c

We’re back on the 23rd to talk about three events; UFC Fight Night 48: Bisping vs. Lee, UFC Fight Night 49: Henderson vs. Dos Anjos, and UFC Fight Night 74: Holloway vs. Oliveira.

1 hour ago, jimufctna24 said:

From what I remember GSP was considered just as big a threat at the time, perhaps even more so. 

St-Pierre was considered a future threat to Hughes but not an immediate threat. St-Pierre’s sole UFC fight after that loss to Hughes was actually on the same PPV as the second fight between Trigg and Hughes, and it saw GSP go the distance with Jason Miller. GSP had obviously improved since the fight with Hughes, but not to the degree that people saw him as the next big threat to Hughes. They felt GSP could be threat if he kept improving, but nobody was considering him to be close to the threat that Trigg was perceived as being.

[jimufctna24]

57 minutes ago, Noah Southworth said:

St-Pierre was considered a future threat to Hughes but not an immediate threat. St-Pierre’s sole UFC fight after that loss to Hughes was actually on the same PPV as the second fight between Trigg and Hughes, and it saw GSP go the distance with Jason Miller. GSP had obviously improved since the fight with Hughes, but not to the degree that people saw him as the next big threat to Hughes. They felt GSP could be threat if he kept improving, but nobody was considering him to be close to the threat that Trigg was perceived as being.

GSP impressed in the Miller fight. He shutdown Miller over 3 rounds. I recall Rogan being very impressed on commentary. 

I remember having a chat with a friend around that time, who put forward that GSP would likely beat Hughes in a rematch. I agreed with him. I remember this because he chickened out just before the actual rematch in late 2006, and decided to pick Hughes. I never read much speculation about a third fight between Hughes vs Trigg. Although, this was 12 years ago, so my memory could be playing tricks. For me, it was clear that Hughes had his number. 

[jimufctna24]

UFC 47 was great. One of the first UFC events I watched in full. 

Sadly, I had watched UFC 51 and 52, and then worked backwards. I say this because it explains why Dave Terrell's arrival didn't have much of an affect on me. I had already seen him be taken apart by Tanner at UFC 51 before watching him knock out Lindland; so I didn't view him in the same way as others did who watched in real time. 

Here's an excellent article about him. He took the Tanner loss very hard - http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/1/The-Man-Who-Might-Have-Been-King-37643

[Egg Shen]

yeh Terrell is one of MMA's great wasted talents. He was expected to come in and Maia everyone before Maia was a thing.

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 23rd)

UFC Fight Night 48: Bisping vs. Le (August 23rd 2014)

This would the UFC’s third event at the CotaiArena, with UFC on Fuel TV 6: Franklin vs. Le,and The Ultimate Fighter China Finale: Kim vs. Hathaway previously being held there. The main event would be a battle between veteran middleweights, two men both considered to be in the twilight of their careers.

Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le (the build)

Michael Bisping had been the face of the UK MMA scene since arriving in the UFC in 2006, when he won season three of TUF. Bisping had achieved great success in the UFC and had become one of its most popular stars; Bisping was the biggest UFC superstar in the UK and was invariably in the main event of UK shows or in one of the top fights. However, a championship fight had always eluded him. Bisping would work his way up the ladder but at that final hurdle, that one last fight he had to win in order to get that championship opportunity, Bisping would always fall short.

Going into the Le fight, Bisping had alternated wins and losses in his last six fights, and two of those losses had been where a title fight was in the offing had he been victorious. It was that last loss, a shockingly one-sided unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Tim Kennedy that had people feeling that Bisping’s time at the top was over and that he was now, if he hadn’t been already, slowly moving down the card and slipping away from relevancy.

For Cung Le, his best days in MMA had been not in the UFC but with the Strikeforce promotion. Le had come to MMA after a successful career in Sanshou kickboxing. In fact, Le’s first fights in Strikeforce were designed to allow Le to showcase his kickboxing, so he could look spectacular and become a star, which is what he did. Le scored the biggest win of his career in March 2008 when upset Frank Shamrock to become Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Le winning the fight after breaking Shamrock’s arm with a kick.

Le would vacate the title, ostensibly due to movie commitments, but the truth was that Le had come into MMA late in the game and it was felt that the best way to maintain his popularity was to keep him away from the top level fighters, something he couldn’t do as champion. This strategy backfired when he was matched against Scott Smith, a tough but not top level fighter, an opponent who it was felt would make for a good fight but one that Le could win. Smith upset the odds when he knocked Le out in the third round to give Le his first ever loss in MMA.

Whilst Le avenged the defeat in a rematch, the nature of the loss had taken much of the shine off of Le; he’d gassed out badly after his flashy kicks and strikes failed to put Smith away, and it shone a spotlight on his limitations. Le still had something of a name, though, and he eventually migrated over to the UFC. His debut was against Wanderlei Silva, in what was a calculated risk; Silva had been a dangerous striker, and whilst still something of a threat, his best days were far behind him, and it was felt this was a winnable fight for Le against someone with a name.

It was a risk that didn’t pan out as Silva TKO’d Le in the second round. Le was kept around as he still had a modicum of name value, and at UFC 148, he scored the first win of his UFC career with a unanimous decision victory over Patrick Côté. The win had bolstered Le’s profile and stopped his slide. The UFC decided to make use of Le’s name value in China when they ran their first show in Macau, putting Le in the main event against former UFC Middleweight Champion, Rich Franklin.

Le was a major underdog but it was Le’s turn to pull off the upset as he delivered one of the knockouts of the year, and in doing so he became the first fighter to ever knock out Rich Franklin. It was a major victory and it firmly established Le as the local star, a fighter you could put in the main event. So when the UFC returned to Macau for a third time, it was Le they opted to put in the main event.

Putting Le against Bisping was a risky proposition as Bisping, despite being seen as past his best, was still the better overall fighter and was still tough. But it was the safest option of the name fighters who could headline in Macau against Le and still give Le a fighting chance at victory.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event was set to pit Dong Hyun Kim against Hector Lombard. Kim was on a four fight win streak, and his last fight, which had also taken place at the CotaiArena, saw him deliver one of the most spectacular and brutal knockouts in UFC history when he knocked John Hathaway out with a spinning elbow. Lombard, meanwhile, had won two straight fights and was looking to put together a run that would see him move closer to a title fight. The main card would also feature the featherweight final from The Ultimate Fighter: China, which would see Ning Guangyou take on Yang Jianping. The fight had been removed the TUF: China finale when Yang was injured. There would also be a lightweight fight between Zhang Lipeng and Brendan O’Reilly.

Card Changes

Tyron Woodley replaced Hector Lombard against Dong Hyun Kim. Shinsho Anzai was a late notice replacement for Sheldon Westcott against Alberto Mina.

UFC Fight Night 48 (the preliminary fights)

Elizabeth Phillips vs. Milana Dudieva; was a fight where nothing happened for extend periods, mostly because Phillips did a lot of backing up once she got a taste of Dudieva’s punching power. Dudieva won a split-decision and despite the protestations of Kenny Florian, it was the right result. Yao Zhikui vs. Royston Wee; saw Wee steal a split-decision win in a fight that he was dominated in, a fight involving two people who never should have been in the octagon in the first place. Wang Anying vs. Colby Covington; saw Covington make an impressive UFC debut with a one-side shellacking of his opponent, Covington submitting Anying with strikes at 4:50 of the first round. Roland Delorme vs. Yuta Sasaki; was another lopsided contest with Sasaki mowing through Delorm and choking him out in just 66 seconds.

It should be noted that the ring announcer, Andy Friedlander, managed to make a mess of several announcements, and is just really bad at his job.

Shinsho Anzai vs. Alberto Mina; this was a great fight. A balls-to-the-wall brawl that saw Anzai and Mina throw everything they had at each other, whether it was punches, kicks, knees or takedowns; these guys were relentless and always going forward. You have to watch this fight because it’s one of the best fights you’ve probably never heard of.

Danny Mitchell vs. Wang Sai; was a very competitive fight, both fighters really working hard and sometimes it felt like they were going for having an exciting fight rather than necessarily trying to win and it was fairly wild at times. Although it wasn’t quite as wild as the previous fight, it was still very entertaining and worth a watch.

UFC Fight Night 48 (the main card)

Ning Guangyou vs. Yang Jianping; this was the TUF: China featherweight final. This fight was ungodly dull for long stretches as both fighters consistently refused to initiate the action. This was so boring that we all lost by watching it. Zhang Lipeng vs. Brendan O’Reilly; this a decent enough fight, though not outstanding. Lipeng looked decent and showed a lot of promise. Dong Hyun Kim vs. Tyron Woodley; was disappointing on all levels for me, as I’m a big fan of Kim and he went for a spinning elbow too early and got caught in the back of the head with a punch and was quickly finished after that.

Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le

The first thing you notice is that Le comes into this fight with a new physique. It’s tighter, more muscular, and is more veiny than ever before. I guess it’s the excess of work out time Le has whilst making movies that enabled a 42 year old to look so well.

This was a really good fight that was a pure kickboxing battle; I don’t think there was a single clinch or takedown attempt the whole fight. The first round was pretty even, real back-and-forth, but early in the second round, Bisping nailed Le with a punch to the right eye that messed up the vision of Le and turned the tide of the match firmly in the favour of Bisping. Le had his moments but Bisping really dominated, mixing up punches and kicks and showing some good combinations to go with his constant pressure. Le ended the fight with a face  that qas badly bloodied up, that had taken a real beating. It would be the body work of Bisping that set up the finish, with shots to the body, both punches and kicks that finally dropped Le, with a few more punches forcing the referee to step in.
 
UFC Fight Night 48 was a pretty good card overall. It had a couple of stinkers, and a pair of fighters who should never have been in the UFC in the first place, but it enough strong fight, including a real cracker, to make it worthy of being given a thumbs up.

UFC Fight Night 49: Henderson vs. Dos Anjos (August 23rd 2014)

This would the UFC’s first visit to Tulsa since UFC 4 back in 1994 and it would be headlined by a very big lightweight clash that would influence the future of the lightweight division.

Benson Henderson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (the build)

Benson Henderson had arrived in the UFC off of the back of the last ever fight in the WEC; it was a great fight that saw Henderson lose the WEC Lightweight Championship to Anthony Pettis, with the highlight of the fight being the ‘Showtime Kick’ from Pettis when he literally ran up the cage and launched himself off to floor Henderson with a head kick. It floored Henderson and whilst it didn’t knock Henderson out, it was enough to win the round for Pettis who took the unanimous decision victory to win the WEC Lightweight Championship.

This fight and Henderson’s rep as being one of the best lightweights in the world saw his arrival in the UFC being much anticipated. Henderson debuted with unanimous decisions win over Mark Bocek and Jim Miller before a third unanimous decision win, over Clay Guida, saw Henderson earn himself a shot at the UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar, at UFC 144. It was a great fight, hard fought, and whilst Henderson took the unanimous decision victory to add UFC gold to his trophy case, the fight was close enough that an immediate rematch was made for UFC 150.

The rematch between Henderson and Edgar at UFC 150 was another great fight and this one was even closer, with Henderson winning again but by split-decision. It was a result that divided opinion although most felt Edgar should have gotten the decision and a lot of people considered that the result was a robbery. The reality was it was a very close fight and that either fighter could have gotten the nod. Henderson moved on, following this fight with a unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at FOX network event before another title defence on FOX, this time against former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez. As with the Edgar fight, this one was keenly fought by both men, it went the distance, and it went to a split-decision, with Henderson once more edging out an opponent to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship.

By this point, Henderson’s personality was rubbing people the wrong way, and because he was eking out wins over fighters who were more popular or more likeable, Henderson was starting to come across like the heel champion in wrestling who survives tons of near falls and submissions to slip over on the babyface, leaving the fans desperately wanting someone, anyone to beat him. It therefore came as a major shocker at UFC 164 when Anthony Pettis stunned Henderson with a first round armbar submission to claim the UFC Lightweight Championship and become the first fighter to ever make Henderson tap out. Henderson had survived tons of near-certain submissions over the course of his WEC/UFC career, to the point that he was considered almost impossible to submit.

Henderson’s first fight after losing the title saw him take on Josh Thomson, and Henderson scored another close and controversial split-decision win. Even without a title, it seemed like Benson Henderson was always cutting it close. But for his next fight, Henderson scored his first decisive finish in four years with a submission win over Rustam Khabilov in the main event of a Fight Night card on Fox Sports 1. Henderson was starting to rebuild his momentum and put himself back on track for another title fight. However, in his way in his next fight would be an opponent who was himself starting to rebuild the momentum that had put together over the course of a five-fight winning streak.

Rafael Dos Anjos’ UFC career didn’t get off to the best start as he was victim to a highlight reel knockout at the hands of Jeremy Stephens. Dos Anjos then lost to Tyson Griffin by unanimous decision before he scored his first UFC victory with a unanimous decision win over Rob Emerson. Two more victories followed before Dos Anjos lost to Clay Guida by submission, when Dos Anjos somehow suffered a jaw broken. Dos Anjos came back from injury with a knockout win over George Sotiropoulos, and whilst he then lost a close split-decision to Gleison Tibau, Dos Anjos then put together a five-fight winning streak, culminating with a unanimous decision win over Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 47.

Dos Anjos was shooting up the lightweight ladder and was getting closer to title contendership, but his momentum was halted by a unanimous decision loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. It was a setback but one Dos Anjos recovered from with a knockout win over Jason High. Dos Anjos was putting himself back in the frame for a possible title shot but his next opponent would be a former champion who was likewise putting themselves back in the frame for a title fight, but at UFC’s 49th Fight Night card, only one of them would get the victory they needed to get their name put in the mix for a possible title shot.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event would be a welterweight fight that was guaranteed to produce fireworks as Jordan Mein faced Thiago Alves. Francis Carmont would try and stop a two-fight losing streak when he took on Thales Leites. Leites had won three in a row since returning to the UFC and another victory would continue a rapid rise up the middleweight ladder. A lightweight clash would see Mirsad Bektic face Ernest Chavez, and the main card would be filled out by Valmir Lazaro vs. James Vick and Tom Niinimaki vs. Chas Skelly.

Card Changes

Jordan Mein was set to face Thiago Alves. However, Alves pulled out of the fight due to injury and was replaced by Brandon Thatch. But Thatch then pulled, citing an injury. Mein would end up facing Mike Pyle as Pyle's scheduled opponent, Demian Maia, pulled out of their bout with a staph infection.

Due to the cancellation of UFC 176, Beneil Dariush vs. Tony Martin, James Vick vs. Valmir Lazaro and Matt Dwyer vs. Alex Garcia were rescheduled for this event. However, Dwyer was removed from his fight with Garcia and replaced by Neil Magny. Ernest Chavez was to face Mirsad Bektic, but Chavez was forced out of the fight due to injury and was replaced by Max Holloway. Then, Bektic pulled out of the bout in the week leading up to the fight and was himself replaced by UFC newcomer Clay Collard. Tim Elliott was to face Wilson Reis at the event. However, Elliott pulled out of the bout in the days leading up to the show, and Reis faced UFC debutant Joby Sanchez.

UFC Fight Night 49 (the preliminary fights)

Wilson Reis vs. Joby Sanchez; saw Reis have to work hard for his unanimous decision over Sanchez, who impressed considering he took the fight on short notice.

Ben Saunders vs. Chris Heatherly; saw Ben Saunders make a welcome return to the UFC, and it was a successful one as he showed a great ground game to tie up Heatherly in knots and then submit him with the first omoplata finish in UFC history. Aaron Phillips vs. Matt Hobar; had a great, dominant showing from Hobar, who won by unanimous decision. Yet Hobar was never to reach the potential he showed here as he’d fight one more time before retiring due to neck injuries. Beneil Daruish vs. Tony Martin; was a good fight with Martin looking really good with his striking in the first round, but coming out for the second round it was obvious Martin had tired himself out and when the fight hit the ground, he couldn’t prevent Dariush submitting from him with an arm triangle. Neil Magny vs. Alex Garcia; wasn’t much of a fight, things not helped by Garcia injuring his knee at some point in the second round nor by Magny playing it safe and doing only enough to win and no more.

UFC Fight Night 49 (the main card)

Tom Niinimaki vs. Chas Skelly; was a tidy little grappling battle with Skelly showing some of his ever improving ground game, although Niinimaki was no slouch in that department, either. The fight only went 2:35 but was good whilst it lasted, although you’d probably have to really like grappling, which I do, to find this entertaining. Skelly got the submission with a rear naked choke, although he himself had to escape a guillotine choke earlier in the fight.

Valmir Lazaro vs. James Vick; was a sloppy brawl; it was pretty exciting for the first round-and-a-half, but the pace started to slow in the second round. The second round did have the fights most exciting moment when a right hook from Vick had Lazaro wobbling all over the place, but he somehow managed to hang on and see the round out. The third round wasn’t particular good because the acrtion had slowed down to a crawl. Vick would get the unanimous decision victory.

Clay Collard vs. Max Holloway; saw Collard put in a great performance for someone who was filling in at short notice. This was a very technical brawl, but like in the previous fight, it was fun to watch for the first round-and-a-half before the pace slowed down, considerably. By the third round, Collard was spent and was just hanging in there, but he couldn’t quite see the round and fight out, with Holloway slowly pounding him out for the TKO at 3:47.

Francis Carmont vs. Thales Leites; was pretty uneventful in the first round, with the only real interest coming from Leites showing more of an improved striking game that he didn’t have in his previous run in the UFC. That game was really evident in the second round with an overhand right cracking Carmont and setting up a barrage of strikes that eventually dropped Carmont for good.

Jordan Mein vs. Mike Pyle; last just over a minute, with not much happening before Mein landed a one-two combination that dropped Pyle, with a few more punches finishing the job. It was a great looking finish.

Benson Henderson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

Going into the fight, much was made of RDA’s improved striking, which complemented his ground game and had turned RDA into a more dangerous all-round fighter. Offsetting that was Henderson’s all-action, taekwondo-based striking, and his strong submission defence, which made this a tough fight to call with confidence ahead of time. However, most people seemed to favour Henderson because of his established track record of success at the top level.

The fight was developing nicely with some strong kicks from Dos Anjos starting to find a home. Then, just prior to the half-way mark of the first round, Dos Anjos landed a jumping knee that Henderson immediately responded to by going for a takedown; Henderson had a hold of Dos Anjos but couldn’t get him down, and as the two grappled, Dos Anjos pulled away and then he dropped Henderson with a big left hand. Dos Anjos landed one more punch as John McCarthy rushes in to stop the fight and Dos Anjos has scored a big victory with an upset finish, becoming the first fighter to stop Benson Henderson with strikes.

Henderson is promptly up to his feet and doesn’t understand why the fight is over. The fans are booing, thinking it was early, and Henderson’s corner complain that he wasn’t out. John McCarthy tells them, very forcefully, that Henderson was indeed out. Henderson does his usual post-loss routine of jogging around the cage so he can take away some of the shine from the win of Dos Anjos by showing that he isn’t really hurt. On the replays, you can see that when Henderson drops, his arms are limp by his side and whilst not unconscious, his eyes give the appearance that Henderson, albeit momentarily, is out of it. Given that, I can see why John McCarthy stepped in, because it certainly looks like a flash knockout.

It’s a big win for Dos Anjos because he is the first person to ever stop Henderson with strikes, and despite the disputed nature of the finish, it was a good stoppage. It wasn’t just a great win for Dos Anjos, but a win that really propelled him up the ladder in the most loaded division in the UFC.

Curiously, no fight was given the Fight of the Night award. Of other interest is the fact that, on paper, Mike Pyle contractually made more than Benson Henderson, $51,000 vs. $48,000.

UFC Fight Night 74: Holloway vs. Oliveira (August 23rd 2015)

This would be a Fight Night show main evented by two featherweights who were climbing up the ladder and fast approaching the point of potential contendership status.

Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira (the build)

Max Holloway was making his featherweight debut when he made his UFC debut, taking on Dustin Poirier. Whether it was Octagon jitters, the new weight class, or the fact that Poirier was on a roll, Holloway’s debut was an unsuccessful one as he was submitted in the first round. But Holloway would soon find his feet in the featherweight division, winning three straight before dropping back-to-back fights to Dennis Bermudez and Conor McGregor.

Holloway came back revitalized after the loss to McGregor, racking up six victories in a row, culminating in an very one-sided victory over Cub Swanson, with Holloway submitting Swanson in the third round. It was Holloway’s fifth finish in his last six fights, and he was now racing up the featherweight ladder. It was natural to put a fighter on that kind of form and who could produce exciting fights in the main event, and Holloway would get his first chance to headline a show at UFC Fight Night 74. For his opponent, Holloway would be facing a fighter who was also rising up the rankings of what was becoming one of the hottest division’s in the UFC.

Charles Oliveira, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, entered the UFC with a 10-0 record. Oliveira gained submission wins over Darren Elkins and Efrain Escudero before suffering his first MMA loss when he was shockingly submitted by Jim Miller. A fight with Nik Lentz followed, a fight which Oliveira won by submission, but with the result subsequently overturned due to Oliveira landing an illegal knee to Lentz right before the submission took place. Oliveira was then knocked out by Donald Cerrone before going 2-2 in his next four fights; Oliveira would submit Eric Wisely and Jonathan Brookins before falling to Cub Swanson (by knockout) and Frankie Edgar (unanimous decision).

Oliveira was a good fighter, sometimes great, but he was having the unfortunate luck to be matched against some of the very best in the division. Oliveira put that aside to record four wins in his next four fights, albeit with an asterisk beside one of them as he missed weight for that particular contest. Nevertheless, Oliveira was putting together the kind of run that gets you noticed and he was getting noticed, and it was decided to match Oliveira against another fighter starting to get noticed as he rose up the ladder, and at UFC Fight Night 74, Oliveira would take on the equally red hot Max Holloway.

Holloway and Oliveira were both making rapid ascents up the featherweight ladder and fast reaching the point where they would start to get consideration for either a major opponent or a title contendership fight, but only one of them would come out of UFC Fight Night 74 one step closer to that opportunity.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event was set to be Rick Story vs. Erick Silva. It was a fight that was originally scheduled to take place at UFC Fight Night 70: Machida vs. Romero, but like several other fights scheduled for that show, it had to be postponed due to technical issues within the Bureau of Consular Affairs division of the U.S. State Department, which produces travel visas.

Other fights scheduled for the main card would see a clash between veteran welterweights as Patrick Côté faced Josh Burkman, the undefeated Chad Laprise take on Francisco Trinaldo, a lightweight fight between Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Chris Wade, a women’s strawweight battle between Valierie Letourneau and Maryna Moroz.

Card Changes

On August 11th, Story was forced to pull out due to injury and he was replaced by Neil Magny, who had fought just weeks before at UFC 190. Chris Wade was to face Olivier Aubin-Mercier, but Wade pulled out of the bout in late July after sustaining an injury and was replaced by Tony Sims. Sean O'Connell was to fight UFC newcomer Misha Cirkunov at the event. However, O'Connell pulled out of the bout and was replaced by another UFC newcomer, Daniel Jolly.

UFC Fight Night 74 (the preliminary card)

Misha Cirkunov vs. Daniel Jolly; saw Cirkunov have little trouble in controlling Jolly on the ground en route to a TKO victory in 4:45. Shane Campbell vs. Elias Silverio; was a decent fight, with mostly grappling. Silverio showed great control of Campbell in the first round and looked good with his groundwork. Campbell came back strong in the second round and it looked like Silverio was tiring. But Silverio fought through that to rally in the third, but his grappling didn’t have the zip it used to and the fight was very even in the third, with Campbell delivering some nice strikes. It went the distance and it was Campbell who got the unanimous decision victory.

Nikita Krylov vs. Marcus Rogerio de Lima;  saw Krylov extend his winning streak to three-in-a-row. Krylov, primarily a striker, showed his submission game with a rear naked choke finish in 2:29. Felipe Arantes vs. Yves Jabouin; was short and strong grappling battle, with a nice finish; Arantes had Jabouin in his guard, caught him with an armbar that he used to sweep Jabouin, whilst keeping a hold of the armbar. Jabouin tried to escape, and got off his back, but couldn’t shift Arantes and he was forced to tap at 4:21. Frankie Perez vs. Sam Stout; didn’t last long, Perez dropping Stout with a short right hook and then pounding him out for the TKO win in just 54 seconds. This would be the last fight of Stout’s career as he would announce his retirement in September of 2015.

UFC Fight Night 74 (the main card)

Valierie Letourneau vs. Maryna Moroz; was a pretty good fight, almost entirely a boxing match. And whilst that should have favoured Moroz due to her boxing experience, Letourneau more than held her own in the battle of striking and she actually dropped Moroz in the first round. That seemed to take much, but not all of the fight out of Moroz and she never showed the kind boxing that you’d expect from someone who is a coach for her country’s female Olympic boxing team. The fight went the distance and it was Letourneau who won by unanimous decision, handing Moroz the first loss of her MMA career.

Olivier Aubin-Mercer vs. Tony Sims; saw Aubin-Mercer employ a gameplan of pressuring Sims constantly, with takedown attempts and grappling. Sims had very little success until part way into the third round, but it didn’t last long and Aubin-Mercer was soon back in control and he eased to a unanimous decision victory.

Chad Laprise vs. Francisco Trinaldo; had Laprise getting bounced from the ranks of the unbeaten with Trinaldo dropping him with a great punch about two-minutes in; Laprise was able to get right back to his feet, but he then pulled guard on Trinaldo which allowed Trinaldo to control Laprise’s body, and this eventually lead to Trinaldo pounding Laprise until the referee stepped in at 2:43 of the first round.

Josh Burkman vs. Patrick Côté; was a good fight, with both Burkman and Côté really putting in a shift and going for the win, yet avoiding being overly reckless. It was mostly a stand-up battle with some grappling thrown in. Both fighters landed some good shots that rocked the other, although it was only Burkman who got wobbled. Côté ended up dropping and finishing Burkman in the third round, capping off the fight of the night, and this would be the first time Burkman was ever finished with strikes.

Neil Magny vs. Erik Silva; was a very even fight but it lacked any moments of real excitement, with lots of grappling and positional control and what little offensive grappling we had was provided by Magny. The fight went the distance with Magny winning by split-decision.

Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira

This was a fight where the anticipation was more surrounding what kind of performance we would get from the fighters rather than the fight itself, especially as this was the first time in the main event spotlight for either Holloway or Oliveira.

It was therefore a great shame when, just as the fans were starting to get into it, the fight ended in a strange and disappointing fashion in just 1:39, with Oliveira suffering a fight ending injury off of a takedown attempt. Oliveira was clutching at his shoulder so it was initially speculated on commentary that it was a separated shoulder, but the injury was subsequently diagnosed as a micro-tear in the oesophagus. Fortunately, it wasn’t too serious and didn’t require surgery.

However, it did mean that the main event of the evening ended in a very unsatisfying manner. For Oliveira, it brought his winning streak to something of a cruel end, but for Holloway, it now meant that he had won seven in a row and he was getting ever closer to a possible championship fight.

Other Notes for August 23rd

IVC 6: The Challenge (August 23rd 1998)

The main event saw Wanderlei Silva knock out Mike van Arsdale in 4:00, with the co-main event involving Chuck Liddell. Liddell beat José Landi-Jons by unanimous decision in a one-round fight that went 30:00.

With nothing worth talking about tomorrow, we’ll be taking tomorrow off, but we return on the 25th to talk about one of the better shows of 2007, UFC 74: Respect.

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 25th)

UFC 74: Respect (August 25th 2007)

The main event to UFC 74 would see the UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line, as the champion, a sentimental favourite of the fans, would defend his title against a young and hungry challenger who had earned his title shot with one of the most shocking finishes in UFC history. And it was a finish that had people genuinely worried about the physical safety of the heavyweight champion, as there was great concern over the possibility of what may happen if the challenger repeated his shocking feat.

Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (the build)

Randy Couture had made a career out of upsetting the odds. Couture had first upset the odds back at UFC 15, when he derailed the Vitor Belfort hype train with a TKO victory in 8:17. That victory gave Couture a shot at UFC Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith, at UFC Japan, where Couture again defied expectations to take the UFC Heavyweight Championship by unanimous decision. Contractual issues saw Couture leave the UFC, before he returned at UFC 28 to challenge Kevin Randleman for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Couture was expected to be the credentialed victim of Randleman to give him credibility as champion; instead, Couture upset the odds again to regain the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

A pair of wars followed, both against Pedro Rizzo, before Couture lost the UFC Heavyweight Championship to Josh Barnett. Couture’s next fight would be against Ricco Rodriguez, and it would give him a chance to regain the heavyweight title as Barnett had been stripped of it due to failing a post-fight drug test. Yet Couture would fall again to a bigger and stronger opponent.

Randy’s next fight was, like the Kevin Randleman fight, set up with the intention of giving someone, in this case Chuck Liddell, a victory over a credentialed opponent to give them credibility. In this case, the fight would be for the interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship; the official champion, Tito Ortiz, was refusing to fight Liddell, who was the top contender, so the idea was that Liddell would beat the two-time heavyweight champion to be seen as a real champion even though he only had an interim title.

But at UFC 43, Randy Couture once again defied the odds to not only beat Chuck Liddell, but manhandle him en route to a third round TKO victory. With Liddell out of the top contender spot, Tito Ortiz was suddenly willing to come back to the UFC, and he faced Couture at UFC 44 in a title unification fight. Ortiz had been a dominant champion and he was expected to solidify his status as light heavyweight king. Instead, Ortiz was the one dominated, and he was dominated so badly that when the unanimous decision victory for Couture was announced, Ortiz was in tears.

Couture would lose and regain the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from Vitor Belfort before losing it to Liddell at UFC 52, with Couture then losing their trilogy fight at UFC 57.  It was after this fight that Couture announced his retirement, symbolically leaving his gloves in the ring as he said farewell to the fans and sailed into retirement.

And that was where Couture’s story might have ended had Brandon Vera not entered into a contract dispute with the UFC right at the time he was set to challenge Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. With no challenger for Sylvia and a PPV needing a main event, the UFC went to Randy and the deal was made for Randy Couture to come out of retirement and challenge Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 68. Tim Sylvia was 6’8, right at the heavyweight limit of 265lbs, and he had knockout power in his hands and feeet. When the fight was announced, the very real possibility of a knockout had people in serious fear for the physical well being of Randy Couture. People didn’t want to see Couture get knocked out, especially by Tim Sylvia, whose grating personality and propensity for boring fights had made him one of the most unpopular fighters in the company.

Randy’s walk-in music for the Sylvia fight was Aerosmith’s ‘Back in the Saddle’, and it was appropriate music in so many ways. In one of the most dramatic and emotional fights in UFC history, with a crowd that went completely insane when Couture dropped Sylvia with the first punch of the fight and never quietened down, Couture completely dominated Sylvia. As the finals seconds of the fifth and final round ticked away, the fans were counting down those final seconds like they were in Times Square welcoming in the new year, and when the round and fight ended, the fans blew the roof off the Nationwide Arena.

Randy Couture had pulled off the incredible and dramatic upset, staving off Father Time once again to reclaim the UFC Heavyweight Championship. “Not bad for an old man”, Randy quipped in the post-fight interview. Randy Couture had done the seemingly impossible and he was once more the UFC Heavyweight Champion. But winning the heavyweight title was one thing, even it was for the third time; holding onto it was something else, and Randy’s first challenger would come into their fight off of one of the most incredible finishes in UFC history.

Gabriel Gonzaga’s debut in the UFC wasn’t exactly auspicious as his fight with Kevin Jordan was one of the worst fights in UFC history. It was a fight so bad that the fans started chanting “go home” at both fighters. Eventually, Gonzaga delivered a superman punch at 4:39 of the third round to get the win, but the damage had been done and the finish didn’t get the kind of reaction you’d expect. Gonzaga’s performance, however, was understandable, as, unbeknownst to people at the time, Gonzaga’s wife was having complications with her pregnancy and had tragically lost one of the twins she was carrying.

Gonzaga pulled himself through that tragedy and continued his MMA career, earning a TKO win over Fabiano Scherner at UFC 60 and a submission victory over Carmelo Marrero at UFC 66. It was a run of form that put Gonzaga in the position of facing Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70, in what was officially a title eliminator, but was unofficially regarded as a fight designed to give Cro Cop a highlight reel finish and build him up for one of MMA’s dream fights, a showdown with the UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture.

In one of the most stunning upsets and incredible finishes of all time, Gabriel Gonzaga shocked the MMA world when he Cro Cop’d Cro Cop, delivering the most famous high kick in UFC history to knock Cro Cop out cold, laying him to waste and leaving the Croatian sprawled on the mat at a painful looking angle. As the fans at Manchester Evening News Arena were going wild, though, the UFC brass could only look on in horror as millions of PPV dollars went sailing into the wind along with Mirko Cro Cop’s consciousness. Cro Cop vs. Couture was a dream fight, one that the UFC actually had the ability to pull off, and one they were going to deliver. But one kick had put paid to all that and the dream fight between Cro Cop and Couture would never take place.

One could argue that beating a star makes you a star, and in theory, that should be the case and Gonzaga’s fight with Couture should be a big money fight. But as we’ve seen in many examples, whether it’s in MMA or its cousin, professional wrestling, beating a star is only half the battle. The other is having star qualities, some kind of connection, a presence that draws the fans in, and Gabriel Gonzaga had none of that. So whilst Randy Couture defending the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Gabriel Gonzaga was a big fight, it wasn’t a big money fight, and the UFC was left with a title fight that had only a fraction of the business potential of the fight it erased from history.

To their credit, the UFC did about as good a job as they could have in pushing Gonzaga as a threat, and Gonzaga was a threat. But no matter how good a job they did, everyone was left rueing the fact that the UFC didn’t simply put Cro Cop into a title fight straight out of the gate.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event was a big welterweight fight as Georges St. Pierre, coming off perhaps the upset of the year in 2007, when he lost the UFC Welterweight Championship to Matt Serra at UFC 69, would be facing TUF 1 competitor Josh Koscheck. GSP was expected to reign as welterweight champion for a long time when he dethroned Matt Hughes at UFC 65, so his loss to Matt Serra was a complete and utter shock. It was such a shock that people wondered whether GSP could even come back from it, especially given the fact that was the overwhelming favourite going into the fight. If GSP was going to have trouble recovering from such a stunning loss, he couldn’t have picked a tougher opponent to face in his comeback fight.

Josh Koscheck was a former NCAA All-American and a former NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion, but he had added an ever improving striking game to his wrestling credentials. Koscheck was a real threat wherever the fight would take place, and he was intent on brushing St. Pierre aside and taking his place when it came to deciding who would get a shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship.

Also in action would be the UFC’s hope to become their big star for the Hispanic market. Roger Huerta. Huerta had survived the kind of tragic upbringing that you could make a Lifetime movie about to enter MMA, where had the looks, personality and a reasonably exciting fighting style that had him pegged as being a future superstar. Huerta had even recently made history by becoming the first MMA fighter to ever be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Huerta would be taking on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Alberto Crane.

The other main card fights would see Kurt Pellegrino face Joe Stevenson and Patrick Côté take on TUF 3 Middleweight tournament winner, Kendal Grove.

UFC 74 (the preliminary fights)

After a close fight saw Clay Guida edge Marcus Aurélio by split-decision, Thales Leites submitted Ryan Jensen in 3:47 with an armbar, and Frank Mir needed just 1:17 to submit Antoni Hardonk with a kimura.

The main preliminary fight, between David Heath and Rentao Sobral ended in one of the most controversial moments in UFC history. There was bad blood between the two, at least from Sobral’s side, based on what happened at the weigh-ins; Heath had mocked Sobral’s recent legal problems by wearing a t-shirt that had a picture of Sobral’s mugshot, which had the two exchanging words, with Heath calling Sobral a ‘motherfucker’.

The fight itself was immaterial compared to what happened in the finish, with Sobral trapping Heath with a D’arce Choke; Heath tapped out but Sobral refused to let go of the hold. The referee, Steve Mazzagatti, tried to break the grip of Sobral but Sobral still refused to let go, only doing so after Heath had passed out. The fans went crazy with booing and Heath even played into it at the urging of one of his cornermen, Josh Barnett; Barnett told Heath to throw his hat into the crowd, which naturally got tossed right back and only inflamed the booing even more.

Sobral was unapologetic in his post-fight interview, claiming Heath needed to learn respect and that he deserved it for his actions at the weigh-ins. The UFC were not amused and promptly fired Sobral for his actions; Sobral would never fight in the UFC again. The Nevada State Athletic Commission also took issue with what happened and they fined Sobral half of his $50,000 payday for the fight.

UFC 74 (the main card)

Patrick Côté vs. Kendall Grove; was a decent fight and Grove, who is 6’6, which is tall for a middleweight, was using his reach and range fairly well until Côté, when breaking from a clinch that he had initiated to to try and take Grove down, clipped Grove with a right hook that dropped him. Côté pounced, initially going for the TKO from the mount and then going for a rear naked choke, before pounding away at Grove to finally get the TKO victory in 4:45. The result was considered something of an upset, as Grove had won three straight, including winning the middleweight tournament on TUF 3, whilst Côté was 1-3 in the UFC since moving down to middleweight, a run which included losing to Travis Lutter in the middleweight tournament final of TUF 4: The Comeback.

After showing Randy Couture and Gabriel Gonzaga arriving at the arena, they touted the signing of Wanderlei Silva, showing footage of Silva signing his UFC contract, with Dana White with him.

Kurt Pellegrino vs. Joe Stevenson; was a really strong fight, a great contest as both fighters were constantly working for a better position or moving forward in some form or fashion. It was a very close for the first round and a bit, but in the second round, Stevenson started to come on a lot stronger than Pellegrino, who appeared to tire out as the fight developed. This is a fight I would put on the second tier when it comes to watching it; it’s not quite a fight you have to see, but it is well worth seeing if you have the chance.

Alberto Crane vs. Roger Huerta; saw Huerta put in a great performance, as he dismantled the BJJ black belt, Alberto Crane. Crane may have had better jiu-jitsu, but pure jiu-jitsu doesn’t cut it against a complete MMA attack, which is what Huerta utilized here. Huerta looked like the star the UFC wanted him to as he took Crane apart over two rounds and change. In the third round, Crane did manage to get the back of Huerta, which resulted in Huerta looking up at the big screen to see where Crane’s head was so he could elbow it. It was a first in the UFC and I don’t know that’s it been done since. Crane was completely shattered by this time and it didn’t take long after for Huerta to start pounding on Crane and for the referee to step in. Huerta looked so good here that when you add that to his recent Sports Illustrated cover, you’d think this was the next superstar in the making.

Josh Koscheck vs. Georges St. Pierre; it only took GSP thirty seconds to take down the NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion. GSP controlled Koscheck for a minute or two before Koscheck reversed position and controlled GSP for most of the rest of the round. And that was about as good as it got for Koscheck, with GSP using positioning, submissions attempts, and a good jab to control both Koscheck and the pace of the fight. It wasn’t the kind of domination you saw from a prime GSP, but it was pretty close to that, with GSP easily getting the unanimous decision victory.

Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

In their pre-fight talk, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan position this as the new guard ready to take over from the gold guard, and they really push the threat of Gonzaga, emphasizing his physical strengths and putting Couture in the role of the underdog.

The first round quickly saw Randy look for the clinch, with Gabriel getting in very few strikes; Gabriel did land a nice head kick but it didn’t seem to hurt Randy at all. Randy does a lot of clinch work, smothering Gabriel against the cage to sap his energy. Randy took Gabriel down with a big slam, and in the process, smacks his head into Gabriel’s nose, and pretty soon, Gabriel’s nose is bleeding badly and Gabriel has to breathe through his mouth because the nose appears to be broken. Randy dominated the round with his clinch work and with Gabriel getting in very little offense, it’s a clear 10-9 round for Randy.

Early in the second round, Herb Dean calls a timeout when Gabriel says he can’t see. Herb then asks Gabriel if he wants to fight and the doctor comes in to check on Gabriel who appears to say he’s OK to keep going because the fight resumes. Herb’s actions go completely against the rules; if a fighter says he can’t see, you stop the fight. You don’t give the guy a timeout to get him checked by a doctor. It’s a rule that some fighters have manipulated in the past so they can get out of a fight whilst saving face. It’s a practice that Randy has actually mentioned on commentary in the past, when Frank Mir was taking a beating and wanted out. Randy noted that that’s how you get out of a fight without actually quitting; you claim you can’t see because you know that means the doctor will stop the fight for you. Although on that occasion, the doctor didn’t seem to know the code and Mir was sent back into the fight in question.

Back to this fight, and Randy clinched up with Gabriel, who grabbed the fence to stop from being taken down, which resulted in Herb Dean taking a point off of the challenger. The majority of the round saw Randy smothering Gabriel against the fence and throwing in a few punches from time to time, with Gabriel getting in virtually no offense of his own. Gabriel looks very tired and almost dispirited as the round ended.

The third round opens up with about a minute of striking, including Gabriel landing a big head kick that also caught Randy’s left arm, and we’d later find out that that kick actually broke Randy’s forearm. Randy doesn’t miss a beat and is soon clinching Gabriel against the fence, smothering him there before taking him back down. Randy then lays into Gabriel with punches and keeps going and going until Herb Dean finally steps in and stops the fight. The crowd go wild as Randy Couture once again staves off the challenge of a younger, bigger, and stronger opponent.

This was a big win for Randy because Gonzaga was considered a real threat, and he was, with Gonzaga being considered especially dangerous because of how he knocked out Mirko Cro Cop. It ended a strong show on the best possible note, with the sentimental favourite once again defying age and expectation to remain the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Tomorrow, there is just one show to talk about in-depth, UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral II. There will be three other shows to pass minor comment on; Shooto: To The Top 7, Extreme Challenge 70, and Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull.

[ColinBollocks]

Nuts that Gonzaga was considered the future, at one point. Outside of an off prime Cro Cop, did he beat anyone of note?

[Noah Southworth]

3 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

Outside of an off prime Cro Cop, did he beat anyone of note?

Does Ben Rothwell count?

[wandshogun09]

I think the way he beat Cro Cop just blew everyone's mind. People still believed Cro Cop was in his prime then as well, he was only a few months removed from winning the Pride GP, knocking out Wanderlei etc. To this day, Gonzaga KOing Cro Cop, especially by headkick, is something that still retains some of its shock factor when I watch it back. Even though I know it's coming and the fight is 10 years old, it's surreal seeing Mirko laid out like that with his leg folded under him. 

The rematch is actually underrated as well, I think. That was a great fight and Cro Cop avenging the loss in brutal fashion, in front of a European crowd, was a great moment.