On This Day in MMA History

[wandshogun09]

8 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

I guess Rousey takes the crown of those thinking they're suddenly elite strikers and fucking up, or maybe that doofus in her corner deserves the credit.

I definitely think she did fall into that trap. And it's one of the main problems with surrounding yourself with a training camp full of 'yes men'. Everyone was telling her she was becoming some killer striker and it obviously went to her head, that's where her team should've been real with her and kept her grounded as well. Instead of Edmond going on like she was 80s Tyson with a fanny. 

I don't think that's why she lost her last two fights though. She didn't choose to stand with Holm or Nunes. They didn't give her any choice. Holm figured her out. None of us saw it at the time but when you look back at Rousey's success, it was really basic. She'd bull forward and throw a few punches as soon as every fight started. But this was only to get close so she could clinch. They key to Ronda's success all hinged on her getting that clinch position. She had some problems getting the clinch at times in the second Tate fight, and that's why you saw her being forced to stand and strike more in that one. She got away with it that time simply because Tate isn't that good a striker and she lacks power. Holm figured out a way to stop the clinch with her distance management and footwork and, well we saw the results. Ronda went into panic mode when she couldn't get to that clinch and got picked apart and headkicked dead. By the time the Nunes fight rolled around I think Rousey was already damaged goods mentally. I don't for one second think she chose to stand with Nunes. Nunes just did a great job of cracking her with jabs within seconds of the fight starting and that was that. Ronda never got chance to do anything. Basically, Ronda had to punch her way into that clinch to be successful. Holm and Nunes were good enough and smart enough to figure out that if you could fuck up her entry to the clinch and tag her every time she got close, she'd be bollocksed. The Holm fight in particular was a masterful display of this. 

@Magnum Milano That's the one, it was the Heun fight I was thinking of.

Long time, no see Magnum. Hope everything's good. 

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 1st)

Pancrase: 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Opening Round (August 1st 1999)
Pancrase: 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round (August 1st 1999)

Pancrase’s annual tournament for new and younger fighters, the Neo-Blood tournament was held over afternoon and evening shows, with the quarterfinals taking place in the afternoon and the semi-finals and finals taking place in the evening. The names in this year’s tournament that people would recognize are Daisuke Takase (who triangle choked Anderson Silva), Ikuhisa Minowa, and Genki Sudo. Minowa was in the previous year’s tournament but was eliminated in the first round by eventual winner, Evan Tanner.

This show isn’t up on Fight Pass and footage of it isn’t easy to find, so I shall simply relay the pertinent results. Minowa eliminated Takase in the opening round, and Sudo beat Kosei Kubota to advance. Minowa then defeated Daisuke Wattanabe to make it to the finals, with Minoru Toyonaga eliminating Genki Sudo to take the other final spot. Minowa choked out Toyonaga in 2:57 to win the 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament.

UFC on Versus 2: Jones vs. Matyushenko (August 1st 2011)

Jon Jones was still rising up the ladder at this stage but he had now reached the point where the UFC were looking to give him fights to allow for showcase performances and victories. To that end, for their second show on the now-defunct Versus channel, they matched Jones against a veteran light heavyweight, a solid fighter who once headlined against the one of the best light heavyweights of the previous generation.

Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (the build)

Jon Jones was tabbed for superstar status almost from the moment he entered the UFC. After a unanimous decision win over André Gusmão at UFC 87, Jones was matched against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94. This was the fight that had people considering Jones as a future champion, as he showcased a variety of throws, a spinning elbow and even a German suplex to earn the unanimous decision victory. Jones then submitted Jake O'Brien on the undercard of UFC 100 before suffering the first and only loss of his career, a highly controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill, when Steve Mazzagatti ruled that Jones had rendered Hamill unable to continue due to illegal 6-to-12 elbows; the controversy was as much from the elbows being hard to ascertain as actually being 6-to-12 as it was from the fact that those kinds of elbows are illegal to begin with.

In any event, Jones’ unblemished record was gone.

Not one to give up on a fighter that was widely expected to claim gold one day, the UFC put Jones in the main event slot of the UFC’s first show on the Versus network, and he would take on Brandon Vera. The idea was to give Jones a showcase win against a fighter with something of a name and reputation, and that is exactly what happened with Jones TKO’ing Vera with elbows from the guard, the blows being so brutal that they broke Vera’s face in three places. The UFC wanted Jones to get a showcase win and that is precisely what happened.

Remaining patient and not one to rush things, the UFC again decided to put Jones against a veteran, in a fight that was designed to not only give Jones a showcase win, but give him a test, to see exactly where he was as a fighter. Jones would be pitted against a veteran who achieved his highest status a decade previously, when he took on the man who was the divisional standout of that era.

Vladimir Matyushenko had debuted with the UFC way back at UFC 32 with a unanimous decision win over Yuki Kondo. The talent pool being a lot shallower than it is now, the win was enough to get Matyushenko a title shot at UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz. It wasn’t a good night for the Russian in his title challenge as he was completely dominated by Ortiz, to the point that the scores were 50–43, 50–44 and 50–44. Matyushenko stuck around to get wins over Travis Wiuff and Pedro Rizzo, but a knockout loss to Andre Arlovski was enough to see Matyushenko looking for somewhere else to ply his trade.

After a stint in the ill-fated IFL, where Matyushenko enjoyed great success, and a knockout loss to Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Matyushenko defeated Jason Lambert, and with it, earned his way back into the UFC. Matyushenko scored a unanimous decision win over Igor Pokrajac before slipping past Eliot Marshall by split-decision. Matyushenko was clearly a step or two down from his best days, but he was still an experienced veteran who made for an excellent gatekeeper; if you couldn’t get past Matyushenko you probably weren’t heading for the top.

To that end, it was Matyushenko who the UFC selected to oppose Jon Jones in the UFC on Versus 2 headliner, and it would be down to Matyushenko to see just how good this young upstart really was.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event would see Mark Muñoz take on Yushin Okami. Muñoz had won three fights in a row and was swiftly rising up the middleweight ladder, whilst Okami was coming off a win; prior to that, he’d lost to Chael Sonnen to snap a three-fight winning streak, so this was an important fight for the middleweight division. The other fights on the main card would see a welterweight fight between Jake Ellenberger and John Howard; Ellenberger was 1-1 in his UFC run so far, whilst Howard was 4-0 in the UFC, with his last two victories being by knockout.

The scheduled opener was a lightweight between Takanori Gomi and Joe Stevenson. Gomi was looking to bounce back from a submission loss in his UFC debut against Kenny Florian, whilst Stevenson was coming off of a unanimous decision loss to George Sotiropoulos.

Card Changes

A fight between Jim Miller and Gleison Tibau was later moved a month to UFC Fight Night 22: Marquardt vs. Palhares. The fights between Paul Kelly and Jacob Volkmann and Darren Elkins vs. Charles Oliveira were moved to this card from UFC 116 and the TUF 11 finale respectively due to visa issues. Willamy Freire was pulled from his fight against Thiago Tavares due to injury and Tavares was subsequently removed from the card altogether. Joe Stevenson injured his knee during training and was removed from his fight against Takanori Gomi; taking his placed was Tyson Grffin.

At the weigh-ins, DaMarques Johnson missed weight for his welterweight clash with Matthew Riddle, so the fight went ahead as a catchweight contest, with Johnson forfeiting 20% of his purse

Almost as noteworthy as any fight was the appearance of John McCarthy as a referee in what would be his first time refereeing in the UFC for almost three years.

UFC on Versus 2

The pick of the undercard fights was the clash between Mike Massenzio and Brian Stann. Other results of interest in the preliminaries were Charles Oliveira submitting Darren Elkins in 41-seconds and Igor Pokrajac submitting James Irvin in 2:29.

The main card was kicked off in rousing fashion with Takanori Gomi knocking out Tyson Griffin 64-seconds. Both men were swinging haymakers but Gomi was faster and more accurate and a big right hand caused Griffin to faceplant into the mat and Griffin was too out of it to defend against the follow up punches, which were academic as the referee was already stopping the fight. Gomi celebrated by climbing on the cage and trying to get the attention of Dana White. It was a win Gomi needed coming off of a submission loss in his UFC debut against Kenny Florian.

The fight between Jake Ellenberger and John Howard had brief moments of excitement but they didn’t happen often enough to make this fight entertaining. Much of it was contested with Ellenberger clinched up with Howard, either against the fence or on the mat, but Ellenberger would only work to keep busy rather than go for the finish. But it was during one of these moments, late in the second, that Ellenberger landed a nasty elbow that had the bone around Howard’s left eye swelling up. Howard tried to get the finish in the third but with his eye swollen shut, the doctor was called in to check the eye and with Howard unable to see out of the eye, the doctor stopped the fight and Ellenberger got the TKO victory.

Mark Muñoz and Yushin Okami had a fight that was definitely one for the purist, with the more casual fans probably not finding a lot of enjoyment from this. There wasn’t a lot of action in the first round, Muñoz and Okami mostly circling each other, but Muñoz went for a takedown late on and eventually got it. Most of the fight involved takedown attempts, neither fighter going for much else until the third round, when Okami started to let his hands go, but Muñoz countered with, what else, but a takedown attempt. If you like strategical fighting, you’ll love this; otherwise, it’s pretty mundane. Okami won by split decision, which was the wrong call as Muñoz edged the first and second rounds, although it wasn’t by much as neither fighter was that aggressive in terms of going for the win.

Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

This was a total squash match; Jones ploughed right through Matyushenko, taking him down, quickly getting a mounted crucifix-type position, Jones then battering Matyushenko with elbows to get the TKO victory. This was everything the UFC wanted it to be; a completely dominant, almost scarily dominant win for the hot new superstar on the rise.

UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia (August 1st 2015)

The Ronda Rousey hype train was still in full effect and it showed no signs of slowing down. Her last two title fights had lasted a combined time of thirty seconds, and she’d only been out of the first round once. There seemed to be nobody in sight who could end Rousey’s run of dominance but one Brazilian used some of Rousey’s own tactics, a loud mouth and perpetual talking to muscle her way into a title shot as she looked to be the fighter who would achieve the seemingly impossible and end the undefeated streak of Ronda Rousey.

Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia (the build)

Ronda Rousey had taken the MMA world by storm; after three amateur fights and four pro fights that had all lasted under a minute and had all ended by armbar, Rousey talked and talked and talked her way into a shot Miesha Tate and the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship. There was so much hype and talk ahead of this fight, in part because of Rousey’s credentials, she was an Olympic bronze medallist in Judo and a world class judoka, but mainly because of the way Rousey had talked her way into the title shot. A lot of the MMA diehards hated the way Rousey had, in their eyes, stolen the title shot away from Sarah Kaufman, who was earmarked for the title shot before Rousey talked her way into it. They hated Rousey for that and they couldn’t wait for Rousey to lose, and most of them expected that to happen when she fought Tate, who was the more well-rounded fighter of the two.

Their hopes were dashed when Tate became the latest victim of the ‘Armbar Assassin’ and just like the rest, Tate tapped out in the very first round. Rousey then faced Kaufman, the woman she ‘stole’ the title shot from, and Rousey once again answered her critics with a first-round submission win, this one coming in just 54-seconds.

This would be Rousey’s last fight in Strikeforce as the company was absorbed by the UFC and Rousey had made it all the way to the big leagues, which was quite the feat considering that Dana White had once vowed there would never be female fighters in the UFC.

Rousey first UFC fight was against Liz Carmouche, who got the spot for the first women’s fight in UFC history after Miesha Tate and Cyborg had both declined the fight. Carmouche became part of history as the first female fighter to enter the octagon as a competitor, but that’s all the history she would make as she became the next victim of Rousey’s streak of first round armbar victories.

Rousey followed that with a rematch with Miesha Tate at UFC 168, and despite being the first fighter to take Rousey out of the first round, Tate once again fell to the armbar in the third round. Rousey dispatched the Olympic gold medallist Sara McMann in 66-seconds just eight weeks later, before recording sensational back-to-back sub-twenty second victories over Alexis Davis and Cat Zingano; Davis was TKO’d in 16-seconds and Zingano was submitted in just 14-seconds. Davis and Zingano were no slouches; they were solid fighters, very good, and realistically were more well-rounded than Rousey. But Rousey was just so good at her game that she walked right through them like they weren’t even there. It’s a cliché but it was true; Rousey had made it look scarily easy.

So, who would be the next challenger, the next woman to try and make history? It would be a fighter that, like Rousey, had something of a low profile before she started talking, as Rousey would find herself having some of her old self-promotional tricks used against her.

Bethe Correia had entered the UFC to little fanfare and she didn’t exactly impress when she eked out a split-decision win over current Invicta FC matchmaker, Julie Kedzie. Nevertheless, Correia made her intentions clear after her next fight, a unanimous decision win over Jessamyn Duke. Correia raised her four fingers and put one down, a clear allusion to the ‘Four Horsewomen’, a group of four female fighters than Duke was part of, and who was headed by the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey.

Correia’s next fight was against another member of the ‘Four Horsewomen’, Shayna Baszler, and Correia looked a lot more dangerous this time out as she brutalized Baszler on her way to a second round TKO victory. Once again, Correia made it clear what she wanted as she raised three fingers and put one down. And with the third ‘Horsewomen’ not in the UFC, that left only one member of the group for Correia to face, and on March 20th, the UFC announced that Correia would get her wish and that UFC 190 she would challenge Ronda Rousey for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Not only that, Correia would get her chance to make history on home soil, as UFC 190 would take place in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

As the fight approached, the tension was raised even more when Correia said she hoped Rousey wouldn’t kill herself when she beats her. This touched a nerve with Rousey, whose father committed suicide when she was young, and because of that, people felt the remarks had crossed a line. Correia would claim ignorance about knowing anything about this, but it was a claim that few people believed as a lot of Rousey’s life story was so well known and her autobiography had been released earlier in the year.

Ronda Rousey certainly believed Correia knew, and heading into the fight, a lot of people wondered whether Rousey would go for the win quickly as she normally did, or look to hand out a protracted beating. Regardless, the remarks of Correia had added an even more personal touch to an already deeply personal fight.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event was a rematch ten years in the making as Antônio Rogério Nogueira faced Mauricio Rua. The two had first fought in 2005 in the quarterfinals of that year’s PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix. Rua won by unanimous decision but it was a result that many felt should have gone to Nogueira. But it wasn’t just the close nature of the fight that had people wanting a rematch, because the fight itself was highly entertaining.

Also part of the main card would be the lightweight and bantamweight finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4. The finale of that season of TUF was originally set for June 27 in São Paulo, Brazil, before it was moved to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. However, as the time for the event got closer, several fighters encountered potential issues with their visas due to technical issue with the Bureau of Consular Affairs division of the U.S. State Department. As a result, the finals were moved once again, to UFC 190.

Capping off the main card was hometown favourite Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira against Stefan Struve, Soa Palelei against Antonio Silva, and a UFC Women's Strawweight Championship title eliminator between Cláudia Gadelha and Jessica Aguilar. Aguilar’s arrival in the UFC was greatly anticipated as she entered the UFC on a 10 fight winning streak which included a win over former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza and a run as the WSOF Women’s Strawweight Championship, a title Aguilar vacated when she joined the UFC.

UFC 190 (the preliminary fights)

The night opened up on a sour note for the Brazilians, as the Argentine, Guido Cannetti upset the favourite, in terms of both odds and crowd support, Hugo Viana. It was a competitive fight that went the distance, but Cannetti got the win with 29-28s across the board. Even though Cannetti won, he has yet to fight again; after his next fight was scheduled for October of 2016, he was pulled from the fight due a potential USADA violation, and there has been no news on him since. For Viana, this was his second loss in a row and he was subsequently released by the UFC.

Vitor Miranda got the crowd back into things with a second round TKO win over former TUF 17 competitor, Clint Hestor. A battle of the Brazilians saw Iuri Alcântara defeat Leandro Issa by unanimous decision. Warlley Alves kept up the popular results with a second round submission win over Nordine Taleb. Patrick Cummins took the wind out of the crowd’s sails with a mainly dull TKO win over Rafael Cavalcante. Cavalcante provided most of what little excitement this fight had, as his striking was on point and he managed to bust Cummins’ face up. However, Cummins was too good a wrestler and he’d constantly take Cavalcante down or hold him against the fence and, well, hold him there for extended periods.

Rounding out the prelims was Demian Maia’s technical dismantling of Neil Magny, Maia getting the submission in the second round with a rear naked choke.

UFC 190 (the main card)

Cláudia Gadelha went into the fight against Jessica Aguilar as the sizeable favourite and the fight reflected that, with Gadelha putting in a great performance to dominate Aguilar for all three rounds. Gadelha had heavy hands, was aggressive with them and bloodied Aguilar up, and whilst she slowed in the third round, Gadelha turned it on late to take the round with ease and get a very comfortable unanimous decision victory. It was a big win for Gadelha, as Aguilar’s much anticipated debut turned into a damp squib.

Antônio Silva gave the fans a finish to cheer about, with a second round TKO victory over. It was Silva’s first win in over two years, snapping a run of 0-3 and 1 no-contest. However, it would be Silva’s last victory in the UFC and in MMA in general as he’s lost all five of his subsequent fights. This loss would mark the final fight of Palelei’s career as he would retire in October in 2015.

Stefan Struve brought the mood of the Brazilian fans down with a unanimous decision victory over the legendary Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. The fight wasn’t much good; Struve chipped away at Nogueira in the stand up, whilst Nogueira held Struve against the fence and had only limited success on the ground. In fact, Struve even escaped from under Nogueira, who had had Struve’s back and then taken the mount. Struve got 30-27s on all three scorecards which was unfair and puzzling because Nogueira was more aggressive in the second round and actually had Struve in danger, whilst Struve at no point in the fight had Nogueira in danger.

It wasn’t a popular decision but it was what it was. The win would end a two-fight losing streak for Struve, and for Nogueira this would cap the end of his legendary career, with Dana White later announcing that he wouldn’t be offering Nogueira any more fights, effectively retiring the MMA legend.

The next fight was the TUF Brazil: 4 Bantamweight Final, between Dileno Lopes and Reginaldo Vieira. This had a hell of a first round, a real scrap with wild swings and submission attempts; it was really, really good. Things slowed down considerably in the second because both fighters were tired and the fight didn’t pick up again until late in the third. Lopes got a guillotine on Vieira and somewhere in making the attempt on the submission, Vieira was busted open and was bleeding all over the place. As a fight, it peaked in the first round before coming alive later on, but overall, was only OK. Vieira got the win by unanimous decision on scores of 29–28, 30–27 and 30–27 to become the TUF Brazil: 4 Bantamweight Champion.

The TUF Brazil 4: Lightweight Final was next, with Fernando Bruno facing Reginaldo Vieira. This was not a good fight; it mostly involved clinching and holding against the fence and it wasn’t until late in the second round that any serious submission attempt was made. Vieira submitted Bruno in 4:46 of the third round and was the TUF Brazil: 4 Lightweight Champion. It was Vieira’s first and only UFC win; he would lose his next two fights and get released. Bruno lost his next fight as well, and has yet to fight again.

Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua

The rematch of one of the best fights of 2005 was highly anticipated, even though everyone, deep down, knew it was never quite going to live up to that first fight. Not that the two fighters didn’t try to replicate the action of their first contest; late in the first round when Nogueira wobbled Rua, he pressed the advantage and the two were swinging wildly. But the pace couldn’t last and it slowed down, never really picking up again. The second round was almost all on the ground, Rua taking Nogueira down and controlling him from half guard. In the third round, Rua started landing some heavy kicks to the body, the biggest blows of either the second or third round, and whilst Nogueira had a guillotine late on, he couldn’t get the finish before the round ended.

I had the fight a pretty clear 29-28 for Rua, with Nogueira winning the first round and Rua winning the second and third rounds. All three judges agreed and Rua gets the victory, although the fans didn’t like the result and booed quite loudly.

Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia

There was an incredible atmosphere for this fight. Heading into it, there had been an intense staredown at the weigh-ins, but it was Correia who was doing all the talking, very animatedly telling Rousey not to cry when she beats her. Correia looked like she was ready to explode. Conversely, Rousey was silent, the champion looking very intense, like she couldn’t wait to get her hands on Correia. The pre-fight interview package really added a lot as well, both women very driven and determined, but it was Correia who seemed the more emotional, whilst Rousey displayed more of a quiet seething, someone waiting for the right time to explode.

Bethe Correia looked ultra-determined making her walk to the octagon, very intense and focused. Correia was obviously very popular. When Ronda Rousey came out, she was in a zone where no one has gone before; the lights were on but nobody was home. Naturally, Rousey was rather hated and the fans were chanting something, which I’m sure wasn’t very pleasant.

The fight started with a few wild swings; Correia avoided Rousey’s initial clinch attempts. They clinched up again and Correia ended up falling backwards, but she rolled through with it and ended up on her feet, but she was backed up against the fence. They began trading punches wildly and Rousey was landing her punches whilst Correia  was missing hers; they clinched up and exchanged punches again before Correia broke free, only for Rousey to drill her in the temple with a big right hand and Correia face-planted into the canvas and this fight was over in just 34-seconds.

“Don’t Cry”

The fight was over and Rousey started to celebrate before catching herself, turning to Correia, who was barely with it, and dismissively telling her not to cry; Correia was hoist with her own petard.

Obviously, the win is not a popular result with the fans. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan don’t say much; by their own admission, they’re speechless over the performance of Rousey. Correia is OK, sat on her stool, but she looks completely shellshocked. In the replays, you can see the women jumping up and down when Rousey wins, so the result was popular with some of the fans. The announcement of the result gets more cheers than boos, so the initial negative reaction had worn off by then. By the time Rousey was interviewed, any negativity towards her had dissipated and she got a nice round of applause after thanking the fans for showing up.

WSOF 22: Palhares vs. Shields (August 1st 2015)

In their infinite wisdom, the WSOF decided to go head-to-head with the PPV monster that was Ronda Rousey, and their choice of main event was former UFC fighters doing battle over the WSOF Welterweight Championship, as notorious hothead Rousimar Palhares defended the WSOF Welterweight Championship against former UFC title challenger, Jakes Shields.

Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields (the build)

Rousimar Palhares is a tremendous submission fighter with a strong top game, and based on talent alone, there is a good chance that he would still be in the UFC today if it wasn’t for one small problem; the guy is out of his fucking mind. Palhares earned reputation for being a dirty fighter in that he would keep hold of submissions, cranking on them on hard despite his opponent having tapped out or the referee ordering him to let go. He first did this in the UFC at UFC 111 against Tomasz Drwal and was suspended for 90-days by the state athletic commission, which was essentially meaningless given the time between fights is usually a lot longer, but it was a still an on-the-record punishment. After getting knocked out by Hector Lombard and getting popped on the post-fight drug test, Palhares returned after suspension with a win over Mike Pierce, but Palhares showed that he was still the same old nutcase when he again refused to let go of the fight winning heel hook; Palhares cranked down on that hold even harder, despite the referee trying to pull him off, and the resultant injuries to Pierce would sideline him for an extended period.

The UFC responded by firing Palhares and the WSOF swooped in to sign him right up. Immediately getting put into a title fight, Palhares become the new WSOF Welterweight Champion with a submission win over Steve Carl, and whilst not holding on to the submission for an overly long time, it was felt that Palhares didn’t exactly rush to let go of it, either. His first title defence, against Jon Fitch, ended the same way, with a submission win that saw Palhares hold on a little longer than was necessary, but he’d let go in time to avoid getting punished. Quite frankly it was absurd that Palhares kept getting the benefit of the doubt given his history, and the commissions should have been holding Palhares’ feet to the flame regarding his conduct, but these things tend to happen when commissions don’t seem willing to bring the hammer down unless absolutely forced to do so.

Palhares second title defence would be against a fighter who was primarily a wrestler but who also had a strong submission game of his own, having won bronze in the 2005 ADCC tournament and also competed in the Pan-American Championships.

Jake Shields was a high-level wrestlers and one of the top welterweights in the world. In his prime run, Shields amassed a fifteen fight unbeaten streak that included wins over Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami in the same night, as well as submission victories over Paul Daley and Robbie Lawler, and a unanimous decision win over Dan Henderson that saw Shields survive Henderson’s famed overhand right. This streak earned Shields a shot at UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, and whilst Shields lost the fight, he became the first fighter in four years to win rounds on the judges’ scorecards against the normally dominant GSP.

Shields run in the UFC faltered a little, as he went 3-2 and 1 no-contest in his next six fights. The no-contest was a result of a victory being overturned after Shields failed a post-fight drug test; Shield claimed he failed for a banned diuretic. Regardless of what he failed for, combine that test failure with being an aging fighter with a style that didn’t lend itself to exciting fights, it was felt that Shields was likely on his way out of the UFC, as they were now becoming notorious for getting rid of older but talented fights in order to let the new blood rise to the top. And when Shields lost by unanimous decision to Hector Lombard at UFC 171, it wasn’t a surprise that the UFC subsequently released Shields and that his UFC run had come to an end.

But despite his age, Shields still had plenty to offer, so the WSOF wasted no time in signing Shields, and it was felt that Shields could be a standout in the WSOF’s welterweight division. Shields won his first two fights in the WSOF, and they were both first round submission wins, with Shields beating Ryan Ford and Brian Foster. Those victories, along with his reputation, put Shields in line for a title fight and so it was that Shields was tabbed to challenge Rousimar Palhares for the WSOF Welterweight Championship at WSOF 22. It was considered to be a serious test for both men, who, despite being their mid-30s, were still very dangerous fighters, and especially because of Palhares’ reputation, their title fight was eagerly anticipated.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event would see Marlon Moraes defend the WSOF Bantamweight Championship against his namesake, Sheymon Moraes, who was undefeated ay 9-0. Tyrone Spong was originally set to face Mike Kyle, but Spong pulled out of the fight due to injury. His replacement was going to be Thiago Silva, but Silva was deemed ineligible to receive a license by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, so Clifford Starks took the fight on short notice. Rounding out the main card would be Jorge Moreno against Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Islam Mamedov taking on Jimmy Spicuzza.

WSOF 32

Islam Mamedov beat Jimmy Spicuzza in 4:47 by TKO. It wasn’t much of a fight, with most of it seeing Mamedov in top position and content to keep busy enough to avoid being stood up without actually advancing his position. Mamedov went for it late in the round, working for a rear naked choke before settling for pounding Spicuzza out for the TKO. Abubakar Nurmagomedov comprehensively dominated Jorge Moreno for the unanimous decision victory. Nurmagomedov had a smothering clinch game and top game, and his pressure attack was just too much for Moreno to deal with. Clifford Starks beat Mike Kyle by unanimous decision in a fight that wasn’t any good and the decision probably went the wrong way as well, but Mike Kyle lost, so it was all good in the end. Marlon Moraes retained his WSOF Bantamweight Championship against Sheymon Moraes in a decent if unspectacular fight, Marlon getting the win with a rear naked choke submission in third round

Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields

The fight between Palhares and Shields was actually pretty good in the first round, a good grappling battle, and it was mostly Shields in the top position working for submissions with Palhares both defending and looking for submissions of his own. It was during this round that Palhares first stretched the rules, grabbing the cage to try and prevent himself from being taken down. It didn’t work, though.

The second round started with Shields quickly taking Palhares down, with Palhares grabbing for the cage but not getting a hold in time. At this point, a point should have been taken away as it was his second offence, but the referee, who happened to be Steve Mazzagatti, neither deducted points nor even gave him a warning.

In the second, with Shields in top position, Palhares tried to thumb the eyes of Shields, and this actually did get a warning from Mazzagatti, but not much of one. Palhares again tried to rake the eyes of Shields, and that did get a stern warning from Mazzagatti, but we were far beyond the stage of giving a warning; Palhares should have at least had points taken away, if not been disqualified outright for constantly breaking the rules. Near the end of the round, Palhares raked Shields eye again and Shields was loudly swearing in response, but Mazzagatti, even though he was looking right at Palhares when he did this, did absolutely nothing. At the end of the round, Shields complains to Mazzagatti about what Palhares is doing, but Mazzagatti pretty much blows him off.

If you want to know why Mazzagatti is considered to be the worst referee in MMA, then watch his performance in this fight.

It should be said that Shields has dominated Palhares so far and has easily won both rounds, which has undoubtedly frustrated Palhares, a man who has been shown to have minimal restraint and even less emotional stability.

Jake Shields is tired coming into the third round and his takedowns don’t have the same pep to them. About two minutes in, he goes for a weary takedown and gets it, but in the process he leaves his right arm open; Palhares grabs the arm and leverages Shields over into a kimura. Shields taps, Mazzagatti immediately rushes in to break it up but Palhares refuses to let go, cranking on the hold for another second or two before finally letting go.

Shields punches at Palhares, who gets up and shrugs, as he seems genuinely oblivious as to why Shields is unhappy. At this point, you can see officials blocking the cage door and they are trying their damnedest to stop people from hitting the cage, presumably Shields corner and crew. In the post-fight interview, Shields notes his repeated complaints to the referee about Palahres raking his eyes and Shields rips into Mazzagatti, and justifiably so, for not doing anything about Palhares’ constant rulebreaking.

The Aftermath of ‘Kimuragate’

The Nevada State Athletic Commission investigated what happened and at a hearing on October 22nd, the NSAC suspended Rousimar Palhares for two years and fined him $40,000 from his purse for the fight. Palhares history of rulebreaking was discussed, and neither Palhares nor his manager disputed what the NSAC said. Palhares defended his not letting go of the kimura, claiming that he couldn’t see the referee, which was true, but also claiming that he thought Shields taps where in fact Shields kneeing him in the back. That one is so beyond laughable it’s almost insulting that they would try and claim that.s

The deputy attorney general of Nevada; not the Nevada Commission but the state of Nevada itself wanted Palahres to face a stiff punishment, but Pat Lundvall, the head of the commission, declined, citing a lack of precedence in this kind of issue.

Palhares was obviously stripped of the WSOF Welterweight Championship and he continued to fight overseas whilst under suspension, although the suspension itself runs out today. Sadly, there will be a promotion willing to give Palhares a payday, as shown by promotions overseas willing to pay him, when the guy has no place in any kind of sport given his consistent refusal to play by the rules and his complete unwillingness to change his behaviour.

The Diaz Boys throw down with Khabib Nurmagomedov

I’m not even going to try and detail this one; just watch and marvel;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyLYpMOO6Do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbkrNxd4Oh0

Khabib would later attribute the fight to the Diaz’s constant goading of him, which wouldn’t exactly be out of character from the two.

There will no entry tomorrow. There would have been had UFC 176 actually taken place, but it didn’t; it was cancelled when the intended main event, Jose Aldo defending the UFC Featherweight Championship against Chad Mendes, was cancelled. The next entry is on Thursday, and will detail WEC 35: Condit vs. Miura and UFC 163: Aldo vs. Zombie.

[Egg Shen]

23 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

You'd never think watching him now that he was a really good technical grappler but if you go back to watch the Nick Diaz fight, for example, it's as good as any MMA grappling fight you'll see. 

Its a double-edged sword because if he'd stuck with that style we'd never have seen those classics with Clay Guida, Martin Kampmann etc. But it's a shame he never found that healthy balance where his brawling, aggressiveness and insane toughness could compliment his strong grappling rather than replace it. 

Diego's a great shout. His bread and butter was taking guys down, getting into mount and just smashing people, he all but abandoned that style once he got into the UFC.

[Magnum Milano]

18 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

@MagnumMilano That's the one, it was the Heun fight I was thinking of.

Long time, no see Magnum. Hope everything's good. 

Cheers mate.

Yeah all is good, I just kinda fell out with current MMA (I think it was the increase in UFC shows and the fact that I was struggling to keep up with everything that was the final straw) so haven't been posting much at all.  I still enjoy the old shows so this is right up my street talking about old Strikeforce, Pride and WEC stuff.

[Noah Southworth]

2 hours ago, Magnum Milano said:

Yeah all is good, I just kinda fell out with current MMA (I think it was the increase in UFC shows and the fact that I was struggling to keep up with everything that was the final straw) so haven't been posting much at all.  I still enjoy the old shows so this is right up my street talking about old Strikeforce, Pride and WEC stuff.

I hear you on this part. I'm watching so much MMA for this that I'm struggling to keep up with the newer stuff. I'm only part way through EBI 12, and that's something I was really looking forward to. Likewise with Dana White's Contender Series.

[jimufctna24]

5 hours ago, Magnum Milano said:

Cheers mate.

Yeah all is good, I just kinda fell out with current MMA (I think it was the increase in UFC shows and the fact that I was struggling to keep up with everything that was the final straw) so haven't been posting much at all.  I still enjoy the old shows so this is right up my street talking about old Strikeforce, Pride and WEC stuff.

I pick and choose what I watch. If someone is really worth watching, this place will often point me in their direction. I do the same with Boxing. 

I agree though. Back in mid/late 00's, it was much easier to keep tabs on what was going on. There was a period where I was familiar with almost everyone on the roster. 

[ColinBollocks]

I've found myself only skipping a couple of shows, this year. That's mainly because the UFC has filled the wrestling void, as I find myself watching less and less WWE/TNA/Whatevs.

As an aside (and because I can't give rep points), I'll just add that this thread is always a good read from Noah.

[wandshogun09]

It's a great read and it's reminded me of so many fights I forgot about. 

Are you actually watching all this stuff Noah, or just bits and pieces and filling in the blanks on the rest? I thought I watched a lot of MMA but your commitment to this puts me to shame. For example, that Pride reviews thread has slowed to a crawl. I want to get back on that soon but things keep cropping up. 

[Noah Southworth]

3 hours ago, ColinBollocks said:

As an aside (and because I can't give rep points), I'll just add that this thread is always a good read from Noah.

 

3 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

It's a great read and it's reminded me of so many fights I forgot about. 

Thanks to both of you.

3 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Are you actually watching all this stuff Noah, or just bits and pieces and filling in the blanks on the rest? I thought I watched a lot of MMA but your commitment to this puts me to shame.

I watch the vast majority of the fights that I have ability to watch. Some fights I don’t watch, though, simply because I don’t have time to watch everything. The fights I skip are the ones where the fighters or the results are, to be blunt, irrelevant. It feels like I’m cheating but I have to draw the line somewhere. Even so, I’ll try and watch all the finishes in case there is something worth commenting on.

[jimufctna24]

On 01/08/2017 at 9:45 PM, Noah Southworth said:

Jon Jones was tabbed for superstar status almost from the moment he entered the UFC. After a unanimous decision win over André Gusmão at UFC 87, Jones was matched against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94. This was the fight that had people considering Jones as a future champion, as he showcased a variety of throws, a spinning elbow and even a German suplex to earn the unanimous decision victory.

It's forgotten now, but Jones debuted in the UFC to little fanfare. He wasn't even considered to be a serious prospect. He was viewed as an unknown. who would likely turn out to be nothing special. I have a vague memory of Gusmao being favoured to beat Jones. After checking the odds going into the fight, Gusmao was indeed a slight favourite with the bookies.

It was after the Bonnar fight that people started taking him seriously. By the time he cut Hamill and Vera to ribbons, he was being touted as a future great. 

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 3rd)

WEC 35: Condit vs. Miura (August 3rd 2008)

The WEC was known for two things; showcasing the lighter weight classes and putting on exciting shows. WEC 35 fulfilled both those criteria, with a four fight main card that included three title fights. The main event would see future UFC star Carlos Condit defend the WEC Welterweight Championship against Hiromitsu Miura. In the co-main event, future UFC fighter and colour commentator Brian Stann defended the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship against Steve Cantwell. And the third title fight would see Jamie Varner defend the WEC Lightweight Championship against Marcus Hicks. The lone non-title fight of the main card saw Brian Bowles taking on Damacio Page.

Card Changes

A fight between Cub Swanson and Hiroyuki Takaya was scrapped when Swanson pulled out due to injury. LC Davis agreed to replace Swanson but Takaya refused the new fight. The fight between Swanson and Takaya was rescheduled for WEC 37 in December.

WEC 35

The announcers are Todd Harris and Frank Mir.

The opener between Brian Bowles and Damacio Page was a tidy little scrap with a lot of action. This was only the sixth fight for Bowles and he looks pretty good for someone with so little fight time. Page was a lot more experienced, going into this fight with a 13-3 record and coming off of a unanimous decision win over Scott Jorgensen. The finish saw Page catch the right leg of Bowles off of a kick and lift him up for a takedown, but Page left his neck open and Bowles grabbed a guillotine choke and got the tap in 3:30 of the first round.

The first title fight of the evening was Jamie Varner defending the WEC Lightweight Championship against Marcus Hicks. There was a little ill-feeling in this one; certainly, there appeared to be zero personal respect between the two. Hicks, with a boxing background, actually grappled with Varner and had some mild success early on, even getting a standing guillotine choke. It was soon back standing and when Varner landed a pair of knees in the clinch, it turned the tide of the fight and Varner was dishing out a battering. Hicks was knocked down but kept coming, going for the leg of Varner but continuing to take punishment. Hicks was once again back up but again taking punishment and series of punches finally dropped Hicks and the referee called a halt to the fight at 2:08 of the first round. It didn’t last long but every one of the 128 seconds this fight lasted was filled with action and excitement. If you want a one-round war, give this fight a watch.

With two quick fights, we had time for a preliminary contest, a welterweight clash with Brock Larson facing Carlo Prater. You might remember Prater as the guy who got a highly controversial win over Erik Silva at UFC 142, when Silva was disqualified for punching Prater in the back of the head. The call of the referee, Mario Yamasaki, was hotly contested by some and Dana White outright called Prater an actor for the way he behaved after getting hit. Anyway, Prater didn’t need to act here because, after thirty seconds of nothing happening, Larson hit a lunging punch that dropped Prater, Larson then pounding Prater into unconsciousness in just 37-seconds. Brock Larson is a fighter that I wish had been able to put together a serious run in the UFC because he was criminally underrated.

The second title fight of the night was the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship fight between Brian Stann and Steve Cantwell. These two had previously fought at WEC 26; on that occasion, Stann knocked Cantwell out in just 41-seconds. This was a good brawl, the kind of fight you’d expect from Stann. Cantwell, a fighter you never hear much about due to a relatively short career by most standards, just thirteen fights, was just an all-round better striker than the ‘All American’. Stann could take some punishment and keep going but Canwell poured it on late in the second round to get the TKO finish.

This would be Cantwell’s last fight in the WEC, and he’d be final WEC Light Heavyweight Champion, as the division was absorbed by the UFC on December 8th of 2013.

We had another preliminary fight getting shown next, with Josh Grispi taking on Micah Miller. They even showed a pre-fight video package to promote it. This was probably because the package lasted longer than the fight; Grispi dropped and stopped Miller in 50-seconds. You might remember Grispi as the asshole who beat the shit out of his wife, was arrested, posted bail, and then beat the shit out of his wife again and then set the family dog on her. And what did Grispi get for all this, something that one officer described as "the worst case of domestic abuse I've ever seen”; five-and-a-half years in the slammer. Isn’t ‘justice’ grand?

The main event between Carlos Condit and Hiromitsu Miura over the WEC Welterweight Championship was one of the best fights you will ever see. This fight was absolutely fantastic, a complete and total war with neither Condit nor Miura holding anything back. This had stand-up action, throws, submissions; it just about every aspect of MMA, and it was incredible. I’m not going to say much more, but I will say that you need to watch this fight as soon as you can because it was awesome.

WEC had a reputation for delivering great, action packed cards and WEC 35 more than lived up to that reputation.

UFC 163: Aldo vs. Zombie (August 3rd 2013)

The UFC would return to Brazil for this PPV. The main event was originally going to see Jose Aldo defend the UFC Featherweight Championship against Anthony Pettis. However, Pettis was pulled from the fight in mid-June citing a knee injury. Taking his place would be an exciting and charismatic fighter with a very enthusiastic fanbase.

Jose Aldo vs. The Korean Zombie (the build)

Jose Aldo came into the UFC on a tremendous run of form. Aldo had been undefeated for five years, winning eleven fights in a row. That run included an eight-second destruction of Cub Swanson, a win which led Aldo challenging Mike Brown for the WEC Featherweight Championship, a title which Aldo won with second round TKO. Aldo would defend his title against WEC poster boy Uriah Faber, a fight which Aldo own in fairly one-sided fashion, and Manvel Gamburyan before the WEC was absorbed by the UFC and Aldo was declared the UFC Featherweight Champion.

Aldo’s next four title defences saw him defeat Mark Hominick, with Hominick suffering one of the nastiest looking haematomas in MMA history, Kenny Florian, deliver a highlight reel knockout finish to Chad Mends in Brazil, and outlast former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar. Aldo had looked dominant throughout these fights, with his opponents rarely if ever having him in any serious trouble. Aldo had the appearance of a fighter who was going to reign as champion for a long time to come.

The newest challenge for Aldo was set to come from former WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis. Pettis had claimed the WEC title in the very last fight in the promotion’s existence, defeating Benson Henderson. Despite stumbling in his UFC debut against Clay Guida, Pettis won his next three fights, a run which included back-to-back highlight reel knockout wins over Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone. These victories had secured Pettis a shot at UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson, Pettis’ former foe in the WEC. However, Pettis declined to wait for that fight and instead opted to move down to featherweight to challenge Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship.

The fight was set and it was one that a lot of fans were looking forward to. But just over three weeks out, Pettis withdrew from the fight citing a knee injury. The UFC needed a replacement, but there wouldn’t be many takers for a fight against Jose Aldo at such short notice. One fighter stepped up to the plate, however, and accepted the challenge of facing a dangerous and dominant champion on short notice, and it would be a fighter who was known for having exciting and thrilling fights.

Chan Sung Jung, aka. The Korean Zombie had gained a reputation for having exciting fights and being hard to finish. His nickname was earned through his ability to take tremendous punishment and still keep going. Jung debuted in America in the WEC, with a split-decision loss to Leonard Garcia. It was a highly controversial loss as virtually everyone watching had Jung winning the fight, and questions about the judges and judging in general were raised after Garcia was giving the nod.

The popularity of Jung remained unabated, even when, in his next fight, Jung was knocked out for the first time by George Roop, a fighter who would be knocked out several times himself before eventually being released by the UFC. Jung made his UFC debut in a rematch against Leonard Garcia, and Jung would gain definitive revenge for his controversial loss by securing a second round submission victory. It was a fight with a memorable finish as Jung would gain the submission with the twister, an ultra-rare submission that we’d previously never seen in the UFC.

Jung followed up on that with one of the fasted knockouts in UFC history as he knocked out Mark Hominick in just seven seconds. Hominick was tough to put away and he’d gone the distance with Jose Aldo. But Jung had put him down with ease. Jung’s next fight was another cracker, and this time Jung would show his submission game again, with Jung choking out Dustin Poirier with a D’arce choke. In his post-fight interview, Jung called out Jose Aldo, saying that’s the fight he wanted.

There was debate over whether Jung would get the fight but that debate was rendered moot when Pettis fell out of the UFC 163 main event and Jung stepped up to take his place. It was the fight Jung wanted, a fight the fans wanted, and at UFC 163, Jung and the fans would get their wish.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event of the evening would see another Brazilian fighter in a top position, as Lyoto Machida took on Phil Davis.

When Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, he was expected to reign as champion for a long time. Joe Rogan even welcomed us to the ‘Machida Era’. But a controversial unanimous decision win over Mauricio Rua in his first title defence was followed by an immediate rematch, and it was a rematch which saw Machida get knocked out in just 3:35. Machida then lost a controversial split-decision to Quinton Jackson, but Machida bounced back with a spectacular knockout win over aging legend Randy Couture, and it was a win that enough to secure Machida a shot the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones,

Machida’s effort to reclaim his title were in vain as he was choked out in rather humiliating fashion, being left to crash facedown into the canvas in the second round. Machida rebounded with a knockout win over Ryan Bader, in a fight was actually pretty dull until Bader ran into Machida’s fists. Machida’s next fight was equally poor, an excruciating split-decision win over Dan Henderson. Looking to make it three wins in a row and perhaps angle for one more championship opportunity, Machida’s next obstacle would be a rangy wrestler who was himself something of a puzzle to solve.

Phil Davis had come into the UFC with some impressive wrestling credentials with his amateur wrestling success included being an All American and the NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion at 197lbs. Davis’ long limbs and reach gave him a big advantage, and they allowed him to amass a perfect 9-0 record before suffering his first loss, to Rashad Evans, in a championship eliminator. Davis followed that with two fights against Wagner Prado; the first ended in a no-contest when an accidental eye poke from Davis rendered Prado unable to continue. The rematch saw Davis win, by submission in the second round, with Davis then gaining a unanimous decision win over Vinny Magalhães.

Davis was putting together a nice run of form, even if the results were not always eye pleasing. Davis was starting to be considered to be put in the mix as a possible championship contender but to do that, he needed a signature win, and crowd pleasing win at that. And to do that, he would have to find a way past the former divisional champion, a man who, like Davis, was considered something of a puzzle to solve.

The rest of the main card would see Cezar Ferreira face Clint Hester; Thales Leites make his UFC return against England’s Tom Watson, and a flyweight clash between Phil Harris and John Linekar. In the preliminaries, fights of note included Amanda Nunes against Sheila Gaff, Neil Magny against Sérgio Moraes, with the main preliminary fight pitting Vinny Magalhães against Anthony Perosh.

Card Changes

Josh Koscheck was set to face Demian Maia but was forced out of the fight due to injury, with Maia subsequently removed from the card entirely. Robert Drysdale was to make his debut against Ednaldo Oliveira but withdrew from the fight claiming a lingering staph infection. Another newcomer, Francimar Barroso, replaced him in the fight. José Maria Tomé made his debut as a replacement for Phil Harris against John Lineker. Thiago Santos replaced Clint Hester against Cezar Ferreira.
    
As would become something of a pattern, John Lineker missed weight for his fight, coming in 3lbs over the flyweight weight limit allowance of 126lbs. As a result, Lineker forfeited 20% of his purse to his opponent, José Maria Tomé.

Brian Stann would be the colour commentator for this event, with Joe Rogan unavailable due to a prior commitment.

UFC 163 (the preliminary fights)

The Facebook prelims started with Viscardi Andrade TKO’ing Bristol Marunde in brutal fashion in just 1:36. This loss would end Marunde’s two fight stint in the UFC. Marunde now co-hosts the show Flip or Flop Vegas on HGTV with his wife, Aubrey. This was followed by unanimous decision wins for Francimar Barroso over Ednaldo Oliveira, and Rani Yahya over Josh Clopton.

The FX prelims opened up with Ian McCall scoring a unanimous decision win over Iliarde Santos. It was quite the feat for McCall as Santos is a huge flyweight; the guy looks to be near that 150lbs mark come fight time, and he could even be over it. We then had a string of first round finishes. The first was Sérgio Moraes submitting Neil Magny with a triangle choke. Moraes looked really good on the ground and there wasn’t anything Magny could do once Moraes was in top position. Next, Amanda Nunes pretty well ran over Sheila Gaff. Even though Gaff quickly took Nunes down, she couldn’t keep her there and Nunes soon took top position and pounded Gaff out for the TKO. Gaff didn’t even both trying to avoid the blows; she just covered her face and waited for the referee to intervene.

The prelims ended on a bit of a sour note for the Brazilians when Anthony Perosh knocked out Vinny Magalhães in just 19-seconds. Magalhães was actually knocked out in 14-seconds but he woke up after a second punch before the referee could step in and was then knocked out for a second time. Magalhães isn’t a bad fighter; he just can’t take a punch.

UFC 163 (the main card)

John Lineker and José Maria Tomé had a fairly entertaining fight; the first round saw Lineker get rocked and have to fight back from that. Lineker dropped Tomé early in the second round and followed up with some ground and pound for the TKO win. The referee let Tomé take a few more shots than was necessary before stepping in. It was a good win for Lineker but like a lot of his wins, it has to have an asterisk against it because he missed weight.

Thales Leites made a successful return to the UFC with a dominant performance against Tom Watson. Watson had no answer at all for the pressure and superior grappling of Leites, with Leites bloodying Watson up late on in the fight as well as he cruised to a unanimous decision victory. Cezar Ferreira needed just 46-seconds to submit Thiago Santos with a guillotine choke.

The co-main event between Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida was a pretty uneventful fight as far as action goes, because you had a counterfighter facing an opponent who wasn’t going to take the bait and rush in. This was a fight that was mostly fought at distance, with lots of leg kicks from both men; Davis would go for takedowns, and he’d only get a couple, late in the second and third rounds. Machida tried pressing the action in the second half of the third round and achieved some minor success but he didn’t do any real damage.

The fight went the distance and in a very controversial result, Phil Davis got a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in his favour. It wasn’t a popular result with the fans; in his post-fight interview, Machida’s translated comments expressed disbelief over the judging. The reality was that neither fighter did much if any damage to the other, but Davis was the more aggressive, although we’re grading on a scale here as neither fighter pressed the action that much. Davis did get more success but he didn’t exactly do much with that success. It was a poor fight because neither Davis nor Machida pushed the action and as much as that may be considered as good strategy, it meant that the judges could go either way when deciding who won each round because there was almost nothing for them to take into consideration. Such is the one major flaw in fighting a strategical fight that ensures the action is kept to a minimum; you could all too easily lose the fight if it goes the distance.

Jose Aldo vs. The Korean Zombie

The main event was really disappointing, not even coming close to the standards you’d expect from a fight involving either Aldo or Jung. It was pretty slow paced for the most part, and the only real highlight was a spot in the third round where Jung went for a flying knee and Aldo caught him in mid-air and pretty much gave Jung the Arn Anderson spinebuster. That was the only high point of a fight that failed to generate any excitement, and was capped off with a disappointing ending, as Jung dislocated his right shoulder in the fourth round and was easy prey for the TKO finish.

There is only one event to talk about tomorrow, UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera.

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 4th)

UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera (August 4th 2012)

The UFC’s fourth show on FOX was intended to be headlined by a fighter making his long awaited UFC debut. Hector Lombard had achieved great success outside of the UFC, and he was considered to be one of the best fighters not with MMA’s premier organisation. Lombard was on a six-year undefeated streak, the lone blemish on his record during that time being a draw. Lombard had also become Bellator’s first Middleweight Champion. Lombard’s potential arrival in the UFC had been something that fans had looked forward to, so when it was announced that Lombard had signed with the UFC and that he would be making his debut in the main event of a FOX network event, there was tremendous anticipation.

That anticipation was only heightened when it was revealed that Lombard’s opponent would be Brian Stann, a fighter known for getting into exciting brawls. But all that excitement would be for nought when it was announced that Stann was forced out of the fight due to injury, and Lombard was removed from the card altogether. Needing a new main event, the UFC put together a headline attraction between two fighters needing to reassert themselves in the UFC; one of them had previously achieved great things in the sport, whilst the other had been a fighter who was expected to achieve great things, but neither of them had lived up what was expected of them in recent years and they were both in need of something to kickstart their faltering careers.

Mauricio Rua vs. Brandon Vera (the build)

Mauricio Rua had entered the UFC in the second half of 2007, widely considered to be one of the best light heavyweights in the world. His only defeat in the previous four years had been the result of a fluke injury; Rua had broken his arm when he braced his fall after being taken down by Mark Coleman. Other than that one incident, Rua’s record from 2003 to 2007 was unblemished; it included wins over Antônio Rogério Nogueira, two wins over Alistair Overeem, and a one-sided hammering of Quinton Jackson.

But Rua’s highly anticipated UFC debut ended with perhaps the biggest non-title upset of the year in the UFC, when Rua was submitted by Forrest Griffin late in the third round. It was a loss that shocked the MMA world and curtailed plans for Rua to challenge for the Light Heavyweight Championship, a title that was held at the time by former victim, Quinton Jackson.

Rua would bounce back with a revenge win over Mark Coleman and a knockout of UFC legend Chuck Liddell. These wins gave Rua his chance at gold and he faced Lyoto Machida for the Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 104. Rua lost the fight by a very controversial unanimous decision; it was a result virtually nobody agreed with, and it certainly seemed like the only people who thought Machida had won fight were the three people officially judging it. The controversy led to an immediate rematch and this time, Rua didn’t leave it in the hands of the judges as he needed just 3:35 to knock Machida out cold, not only taking the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship but handing Machida his first ever career loss.

Mauricio Rua was on top of the world but his reign would never get out of the starting blocks as he would lose his title on the very first defence, and this time it was Rua who was the victim of a one-sided hammering as he was taken apart over three rounds by Jon Jones. Rua would redeem himself with another revenge victory, this time over Forrest Griffin, with Rua knocking Griffin out in just 1:53. Rua’s next fight was against another legend of PRIDE, Dan Henderson, but in one of the most dramatic fights of the year, it was Rua who came on out on the losing end, with Henderson getting the unanimous decision victory.

Rua had gone from being considered the cream of the crop to alternating between wins and losses in his last six fights. It was a pattern that Rua desperately needed to break free from if he was to have any chance of reclaiming his former glory, and to do so, he would have to defeat a fighter who was expected to achieve the same kind of success Rua had, but who had never quite been able to reach the heights expected of him.

Brandon Vera was considered one of the hottest young fighters in the sport in 2007. In 2006, he had fought three times and all three fights had ended inside of a round. A spectacular knockout of former heavyweight title challenger Justin Eliers was followed up a submission win over Assuerio Silva, before Vera scored the biggest victory of his career, a TKO win over Frank Mir in just 69-seconds. Vera was red hot, a heavyweight star on the rise, and he had even expressed his desire to win and hold both the UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles. Vera was hot property and appeared to have such potential that his goal was considered to be achievable.

And Vera appeared set to try and achieve one of those aims as his win over Mir had secured Vera a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia. But a contract dispute occurred between Vera and his management and the UFC. It was over money and the resultant dispute saw Vera sidelined for almost a year, and Vera’s title shot ended up going to Randy Couture, who would do the unthinkable and take the heavyweight title from Sylvia.

Vera eventually returned to the UFC and he would face Tim Sylvia at UFC 77, albeit with the title obviously no longer on the line. And a win for Vera would have surely earned him that elusive title opportunity. That was not to be, however, as Sylvia’s approach of pawing away at Vera and holding him against the cage, where Sylvia would do the bare minimum, combined with Vera breaking his hand in the first round, ensured not only a Sylvia victory but a fight that would be universally despised.

Vera followed this disastrous fight with a first round TKO loss to future heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, and whilst there was some contention about the loss, Vera made the move down to light heavyweight, which was probably his ideal weight class to begin with. Things did not get off to a good start as whilst Vera won his debut at light heavyweight, a unanimous decision victory over Reese Andy, the fight was so ungodly dull that it killed off virtually any interested in Vera as a fighter. Vera went 3-3 with 1 no contest in his next six fights and Vera, once hailed as a future champion, seemed destined for a career in midcard mediocrity.

But with a dearth of potential challengers for Jon Jones, who Vera had lost to in one-sided fashion prior to Jones winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, the UFC were in dire need of finding people to put up against Jones. This resulted in the UFC rearranging some fights and the decision was made to put Mauricio Rua against Brandon Vera, with the winner to get a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship; Jones was scheduled to defend against Dan Henderson at UFC 151, but nobody was giving any thought to the idea that Jones would lose.

For Rua, he was fighting for the chance for revenge, to regain a title he had once fought so hard to obtain. And for Vera, he was fighting for the chance to, at last, live up the potential that so many had seen him all those years ago.

The Rest of the Card

The co-main event would be a fight between two men who, like Rua, had been a victim of Jon Jones. Lyoto Machida had lost the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship to Mauricio Rua. Machida had followed that with a controversial split-decision loss to Quinton Jackson, before sending Randy Couture into retirement with a crane kick knockout. Machida was then granted a title shot at Jones, and despite some initial success, Machida ended up getting choked into unconscious and dropping face down to the mat. Machida was now 1-3 in his last four fights and badly needed a win to avoid slipping further into irrelevancy.

For Bader, the situation was almost as bad. After losing to Jon Jones in the fight that would set up Jones’ title shot at Mauricio Rua, Bader was matched up against Tito Ortiz, the former poster boy of the UFC and the light heavyweight division. The idea was to give Bader a signature win against a fighter with a name, to rebuild the TUF 8 winner. Instead, Ortiz stunned Bader with an uppercut before submitting him in just 1:56 with a guillotine choke.

Learning from their mistake, the UFC gave Bader a much easier fight the next time out, and Bader returned to winning ways with a 77-second knockout of Jason Brilz. Bader was then put up against another aging veteran with a name, Quinton Jackson, and whilst it wasn’t the standout performance everyone wanted, Bader at least got the win as he would defeat Jackson by unanimous decision. Bader had now won two in a row and it was time to give him a higher level of opposition. So Bader would be matched up against Machida, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

There followed debate over whether a strong performance from either Machida or Bader would see them leapfrog the winner of the main event when it came to deciding who should next challenge for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. In the end, it was decided that whoever put in the better performance in the top two fights would be the one who next faced the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, putting a lot of pressure on four fighters who were already under a lot of pressure.

The fights scheduled to fill out the main card would see Terry Etim would take on Joe Lauzon, and Travis Browne take on Ben Rothwell. And in the pick of the preliminary fights, Mike Swick would return to action after more than two years on the sidelines, and he would be facing TUF 9 finalist DaMarques Johnson.

Card Changes

Wagner Prado made his UFC debut as a replacement for Chad Griggs against Phil Davis. Pablo Garza withdrew from his fight against Josh Grispi, and was replaced by Rani Yahya. Terry Etim was forced out of his fight against Joe Lauzon, and was replaced by Jamie Varner. Varner would be coming into this fight off of the upset of the year, a stunning first round knockout of Edson Barboza. The fight between Rob Broughton and Matt Mitrione was cancelled after Brought pulled out due to a personal matter.

Ben Rothwell was pulled from his fight against Travis Browne due to injury. Browne was removed from the card entirely and the fight between DaMarques Johnson and Mike Swick took its place on the main card.

UFC on FOX 4 (the preliminary fights)

The prelims opened up with John Moraga TKO’ing Ulysses Gomez in 3:46. The finish was set up by a short elbow off a Muay-Thai clinch, with Moraga following with some rapid fire punches to finish the job. This was the debut of both men in the UFC, and it would be the first time Gomez had been finished in his career. Manvel Gamburyan defeated Michihiro Omigawa by unanimous decision. This win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Gamburyan, whilst the loss was Omigawa’s second in a row; Omigawa’s record in this stint in the UFC was now 1-4 and he was subsequently released.

In a rather unexciting fight, Phil De Fries submitted Oli Thompson in the second round. Up until the finish, virtually the entire fight consisted of De Fries pressing Thompson up against the fence and doing nothing with it. Thompson had now lost both of his UFC fights, both in the second round, and he was released. A pair of first round endings saw Rani Yahya submit Josh Grispi and the fight between Phil Davis and Wagner Prado ended in a no-contest when an accidental eye poke from Davis rendered Prado unable to continue.

The main fight of the prelims was a featherweight contest between Cole Miller and Nam Phan. This was a good, real competitive affair, and Phan really shined here. He had good movement and footwork, stringed together his offense nicely, and he probably looked as good here as he ever has. Quite how he only won this on a split-decision and quite why he didn’t get all three rounds on all three scorecards is something of a mystery. It wasn’t that he necessarily beat Cole up but he did more damage, landed more, moved better; he did just about everything better than Cole and was never in any danger or otherwise wobbled, whereas Miller was rocked somewhat a few times and was taking a lot of punches. I don’t see where Cole Miller won even one round, let alone two.

UFC on FOX 4 (the main card)

Mike Swick looked none too shabby in his first fight in over two years, Swick returning to the octagon with a second round knockout win over DaMarques Johnson. It was a good fight overall, both fighters really bringing it, and Swick showed little signs of ring rust. Swick is a guy who probably falls under the radar in terms of being recognized for how good he really was. It wasn’t that Swick was a world beater; he was just a really good fighter who, I felt, never quite got his due, although he did come within one fight of challenging GSP for the UFC Welterweight Championship, and I would have loved to have seen that fight

Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner produced an excellent fight in one of the better contests of 2012. Varner, who was a short-notice replacement for Terry Etim, started out strong, really working over the body of Lauzon. But that short-notice replacement status was detrimental to Varner as he started to fade early in the second round, and whilst he gutted his way through it, Varner couldn’t keep up with Lauzon’s pace. It was still a very competitive fight, but Varner couldn’t really pull the trigger and it allowed Lauzon to dominate more, with Lauzon getting the submission in the third round with a well executed triangle choke. This was a fight definitely worth checking out.

Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida followed that cracker with a fight that can charitably be described as underwhelming. As always, Machida played counterfighter and was content to let Bader come to him. That didn’t happen too often and the cautious approach of Bader, who was the one having to initiate any action, meant this was pretty dull until the finish, which came in the second round as Bader moved in quick and was caught flush with a jab from Machida and knocked out. It was the win Machida wanted but the nature of it meant that a strong showing from the winner in the main event could easily result in the potential title shot slipping through Machida’s fingers.

Mauricio Rua vs. Brandon Vera

The main event was a hell of a fight overall. The first two rounds were something of a war, Shogun and Vera both pressing forward with punches and kicks, with a little ground work thrown in. The pace slowed down towards the end of the second round and it was clear that both men were tiring. To that end, the fight quality dipped in the third and fourth rounds as there were extended periods where Rua and Vera, but generally more Vera, would hold on to the other, either pressed against the fence or on the ground, and do nothing to advance their position. However, in between those periods, Shogun and Rua pressed forwards as best they could and kept going for it, even though they were gassing out badly. Eventually, Rua dropped Vera and managed to finish him with strikes in the fourth round, but Vera’s collapse was more fuelled by exhaustion than the strikes. Rua got the win in what I thought was a far more exciting fight than the more highly touted Lauzon/Varner contest from earlier in the evening.

The shot at the Light Heavyweight Championship, however, was set to go the fighter who put in the best performance, and that was deemed to be Lyoto Machida. But it was a title shot that Machida would never receive.

Tomorrow, there is one fight and one event to talk about. The event is WEC 29: Condit vs. Larson. And the fight is one I don’t want to watch again, but I can’t ignore a fight where a legend of the sport who shouldn’t have been fighting to begin with, is forced to endure sickening punishment in some disturbed and twisted game of nationalistic pride.

[wandshogun09]

Condit vs Miura is indeed a must watch for anyone who hasn't seen it. That was one of the first WEC fights I ever saw and I think it was the first time I'd seen Condit fight. Instantly became a fan. 

And I remember loving that Shogun vs Vera show. That main card was incredible. All 4 fights. Two FOTY contenders in Shogun vs Vera and Lauzon vs Varner. And two highlight reel KOs from Machida and Swick. To this day it might be the best Big FOX show they've done for pure fight quality IMO. 

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (August 5th)

K-1 HERO’s 6 (August 5th 2006)

I was going to skip over this show but it has a main event that, whilst I’d like to skip it over as well, I probably should talk about, even though it features one of the most repugnant, disgusting and quite frankly psychotic displays of refereeing in the history of MMA. It’s one of those fights that’s a genuine stomach turner and makes you wonder why you’re watching a sport that allows for things like this to happen. It also makes you realise that some of the people involved have some of the most warped and distorted set of priorities and values you’ve ever encountered in your life.

The main event would see Kazushi Sakuraba take on the Lithuanian fighter, Kestutis Smirnovas.

In 2006, Sakuraba was 37, long past his athletic peak, well past his physical prime; realistically, he should have retired long before this night. But in Japan, fighters, and wrestlers as well as people in the culture in general, are imbued with an excessive sense of responsibility to the company they work for, which sees people push themselves for far too long when any measure of common sense says they should take time off. In wrestling, examples of this include Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, and, for a more recent example, Hiroshi Tanahashi. All three, and those like them, having not taken time off when they should have and who ended up paying the physical price.

Sakuraba’s opponent, Smirnovas, was 30, still at his athletic peak and in his physical prime, and had every business fighting. He just had no business fighting Kazushi Sakuraba.

I’m just going to go straight the fight so that I can get it over and done with and then a take a nice long shower to wash off the stench. The fight was part of HERO’s Light Heavyweight Grand Prix; in HERO’s, the light heavyweight weight limit was 198.4lbs. Smirnovas was probably nearer to that weight than Sakuraba, and he was a good 15lbs or more heavier than Sakuraba as well.

The fight itself doesn’t go for too long before the horseshit starts coming; Smirnovas clips Sakuraba coming and drops him. Sakuraba is on his hands and knees, stunned, and Smirnovas begins to lay into him with big punches. Sakuraba is taking heavy shots, not defending himself at all, but the referee does not stop the fight. Instead, because they are in the ropes, the referee halts the fight merely to reposition them inside the ring and the ‘fight’ resumes. Smirnovas lays into Sakuraba again, with fists and hammerfists, and whilst Sakuraba is moving, he’s making no actual attempt to defend himself. By any reasonable standards, this fight should have been called off several times over.

But the massacre continues and Smirnovas is allowed to keep punching an opponent who is making no attempt to block the punches and is very clearly out on his feet. I know the referees like to give the Japanese and their heroes every benefit of the doubt, but this is so far beyond the pale that’s become inhumane.

Smirnovas goes for a choke but can’t get it so he resumes battering Sakuraba, who is turtled up and not intelligently defending himself in any way. And again, the referee stands there with his thumb lodged firmly in his colon and just watches the brutality like he hasn’t got a care in the world.

After two minutes of wailing away on a defenceless opponent, Smirnovas finally gasses out, and Sakuraba has somehow managed to clear the cobwebs and starts laying into Smirnovas with some decent punches. Smirnovas is too tired to defend himself for long before getting knocked down, at which point Sakuraba goes to the mat with him and soon secures an armbar to get the submission victory.

The fans go wild because it’s an incredible comeback from such sustained abuse. But it’s a comeback that never should have been allowed to happen, not in this or any civilized society. I know the big thing in Japan is to give their heroes the chance to make the comeback, but is that obsession so strong that they throw their humanity out the window? Sakuraba’s career had frequently seen him face bigger and stronger opponents, where he took some major beatings. He didn’t need to take another beating, especially one that was allowed to go on for so long.

This fight should have been called off way before Sakuraba had the chance to make his comeback. And just because Sakuraba was able to make that comeback that in no way mitigates the fact that he was allowed to take a level of abuse that crossed the line into being inhumane. Sakuraba was already likely to pay the physical and mental price from his lifestyle and his career in MMA. There was absolutely no need to add to that toll.

WEC 29: Condit vs. Larson (August 6th 2007)

I’m watching the Fight Pass version of this show, and when Todd Harris and Frank Mir are doing their intro talk at the start, Mir’s words have very obviously been the subject of ADR (Automated dialogue replacement); they’ve had Mir repeat what he said, word-for-word, and dubbed the retake over his original performance.

Sherron Leggett vs. Jamie Varner was precipitated by some bad blood, Varner referring to Leggett as a ‘B-level fighter’ and a rather contentious weigh-in. It was a scrappy fight, including a moment where Varner had Leggett across his shoulders fireman’s carry-style and threw him to the mat, almost head first. About a minute or so in, Varner accidentally hit Leggett in the back of the head, so the referee, Steve Mazzagatti, immediately called for a break and deducted a point from Varner. This would not be the last time Mazzagatti would find himself in this situation, where he’d forgo the usual warning and go straight to taking tapoints

Leggett had nothing for Varner when he got taken down and Varner got the back of Leggett, who turned on his stomach and Varner simply elbowed his way to a TKO victory. Jeff Curran vs. Stephen Ledbetter was just a fight; nothing bad, nothing good, just a fight that you’re going to forget about as soon as it’s over. Curran won by unanimous decision. Joe Doerksen clashed with Paulo Filho for the vacant the WEC Middleweight Championship. Filho, known for his submissions, actually dominated in the stand-up, and he surged with a barrage of punches late in the first round to get the TKO victory and claim the vacant title.

Carlos Condit’s defence of the WEC Welterweight Championship against Brock Larson didn’t last too long; Larson quickly took Condit down and was doing a great job of controlling him on the ground, and he almost had Condit an head and arm triangle. Condit began going for submissions off of his back and Larson defended against them well until Condit caught him in an armbar and Larson, after trying to escape was forced to tap out in 2:21.

WEC are known for their action packed cards, and whilst this card had his moments, it didn’t really live up to the usual WEC standards.

[wandshogun09]

Oh fuck, that Sakuraba vs Smirnovas fight was mental. Horrible refereeing. Easily the worst I've seen in an MMA fight. 

I reviewed that fight a while back when I was on a Sakuraba binge. 

On 29 August 2015 at 8:48 PM, wandshogun09 said:

His HERO'S debut would be against Kestutis Smirnovas...

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS KESTUTIS SMIRNOVAS 

August 5th 2006 - K-1 HERO'S 6 

A relative unknown compared to someone of Sakuraba's status in the sport. Smirnovas was a judoka from Lithuania. He had a solid 18-5 MMA record at the time of this fight and had fought in RINGS and Shooto, but he didn't really have any notable wins.

The commentators here are Howard Hughes and Pierre Guillet. What an audio treat!

Sakuraba this time goes for an entrance in tribute to his idol, Tiger Mask...

"For all the fans, just to let you know what this means for HERO'S. He is the Japanese version of a David Beckham. Other than him not having blonde hair, playing football or being married to Posh Spice, he is EXACTLY like David Beckham" - Pierre Guillet

HA!

Fuck me, why did the UFC never pick this guy up as an announcer. I wonder.

Smirnovas is walking out to that 'Training Montage' music from Rocky IV and all decked out in a splendid white robe. I like him already. Bit weird that he's coming out after Sakuraba though. Like he's the main attraction here.

Bell rings for round one and we're off!

Saku very aggressive right off the bat. Too aggressive, as he gets countered and floored with punches from the Lithuanian. Smirnovas is fucking MURDERING Saku with punches on the ground now. It's over! Except it's not because the referee isn't stopping the fight...despite Sakuraba being limp and offering absolutely no defence. He's fucking toast about 60 seconds into the fight. He's completely fucked.

"Sakuraba may even be...out" - Pierre Guillet

I bet Guillet was top of his fucking class. Sharp as fuck, our Pierre.

At this point the ref steps in, presumably to stop the fight. But no. He's saying they're tangled in the ropes and he's just dragging them back into the centre of the ring so the annihilation can continue! Seriously? Fucking hell, man! And the ref actually has to physically drag Saku away from the ropes because Saku can't do it on his own power.

Disgusting refereeing.

The mauling continues. And it's vicious and disturbing to watch. Not Smirnovas fault. He's trying to win the fight, but this ref is fucking awful. Saku's holding onto Smirnovas' ankles, clearly on autopilot, just desperately trying to take him down. And eating more and more shots to the head in the process.

More pearls of wisdom from our genius on commentary...

"He needs to take him down" - Pierre Guillet

Saku's all over the place. He's falling about and all sorts. He still keeps trying to fight. His heart's still in it but his head is fucked, his balance is all to cock and he's lost control of his legs. All the while, Smirnovas is just hammering him into oblivion with ground and pound.

Now Smirnovas is in full mount and dropping bombs on Saku. Again, why the ref didn't stop the fight here, I don't know. Don't have a clue what the twat was playing at.

"The referee could actually stop the bout here if he wanted to" - Pierre Guillet

No shit! Shame he doesn't want to then.

Sakuraba somehow escapes the mount and is back on his feet, barely.

"Sakuraba looks like he is...still actually feeling the result of the first punch combination" - Pierre Guillet

Just stop, Pierre. Please.

Smirnovas now looks like he's gassing a bit. I'm not surprised and I don't blame him one bit for blowing his wad early here. He's had Sakuraba finished for about three or four minutes straight now but this ref is away with the bastard fairies.

He's still tagging Sakuraba up though as the two engage in a slugfest on the feet. Saku seems to sense Smirnovas is fading and he somehow finds a burst of energy to land some sloppy punches. Sakuraba is somehow...BACK IN THE FIGHT! Unbelievable. He's landing shots and getting the better of the striking now, as Smirnovas is gassing horribly. Big uppercut by Sakuraba! More uppercuts and Smirnovas is fucked. Saku has him well and truly on the ropes.

"You wouldn't believe this was the same fighter from one minute ago" - Howard Hughes

Smirnovas drops to the ground and is dazed. Sakuraba appears to be working for a kimura but then switched for an armbar. Smirnovas fights it and fights it as long as he can...

But once Sakuraba has it fully extended, Smirnovas has to tap!

SAKURABA WINS...FUCKING SOMEHOW.

Just a mental fight. I'm quite conflicted about this. It really, really, really should've been stopped. The officiating in this fight is diabolical. Maybe the worst I've ever seen. It's way worse than bad judging because while judges being shit is obviously bad, the most it's going to cost you is some money and maybe career advancement. This ref put Sakuraba's brain and life in jeopardy. Saku could easily have been badly hurt or worse because of the referee's negligence here. It's shocking.

On the flipside though, this is a great fight. For the story of it, the drama, the comeback. It's fucking amazing to watch unfold. The whole fight lasts 6:41. That's it. And I'd say a good four minutes of that is just Sakuraba getting obliterated. It's ridiculous. On a par with Nogueira's comeback over Sapp for most unbelievable comeback ever. I think this was more incredible to me, to be honest.