On This Day in MMA History

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (July 16th)

UFC 21: Return of the Champions (July 16th 1999)

There was plenty of news and controversy heading both into and out of this event. Two members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission were in attendance to observe how things were done ahead of approving the sport of NHB fighting for official sanctioning. Getting approval by the NSAC would go a long way to making the sport seem acceptable, plus it would assuredly lead to the UFC’s return to PPV on all the major cable carriers. PPV coverage of the UFC at this stage was so poor that neither DirecTV nor USSB had live operators on duty that day to take phone orders.

There were also some issues with the fighters. Maurice Smith had been TKO’d in a K-1 fight 41 days prior to tonight and he was in the main event. Coming back from a TKO finish so soon raised a lot of eyebrows. But the biggest issued concerned the fight between Daiju Takase and Jeremy Horn. The fight was in the under-200lbs division, and whilst Horn cut weight to make 199lbs, Takase weighed in at just 168lbs. According to Horn, the fight was signed when Takase really was 200lbs, but in the interim, Takase had fallen ill and lost a lot of weight heading into the fight. The Iowa commission reluctantly allowed the fight to go ahead after being told how Takase had previously beaten the 680lb Emmanuel Yarborough. The result was Takase taking a serious beating in fight that ended with something of a late stoppage

One of the NSAC reps in attendance was concerned about this situation but was generally favourable over how the show was handled.

Also in attendance was Ken Shamrock, who made the announcement that he was taking time off from the WWF to finish unfinished business in the UFC. At the time, Shamrock was 35, and it was considered to be a now-or-never situation in regard to making a comeback to fighting. As to whom Shamrock would fight, UFC officials brought up names like Pedro Rizzo and Mark Coleman, whilst Shamrock himself showed interest in facing Marco Ruas if he could get past Maurice Smith.

There was also a hint of pro wrestling, including the announcement of the Frank Shamrock defending the UFC Middleweight Championship against Tito Ortiz in a face-to-face segment that was classic pro wrestling. There was also a colourful interview later on from Mikey Burnett, who was supposed to challenge Pat Miletich to a rematch. Miletich was a local fighter, this event taking place in Iowa, and Burnett called the fans ‘nimrods’ and ‘ignorant’. Whilst the interview got tremendous heat live, it got an equally negative reaction from the diehard fans, who were all that remained watching the product at this point, who hated what they saw as pro wrestling-style hype invading their legitimate sport.

The genesis of Burnett’s challenge was a legit pre-show confrontation between Shamrock and the UFC matchmaker at the time, John Perretti. Shamrock wanted Burnett go get the shot at the winner of Pat Miletich vs. Andre Pedernairis UFC Lightweight Championship fight. Perretti wasn’t hot on the idea but Bob Meyrowitz, the CEO of SEG, who were still running things at this time, pushed for the fight. The fight would be, as mentioned, a rematch; Miletich had won that first fight somewhat controversially, as not only did Burnett lose a point due to an accidental foul, but much of Miletich’s strategy for the fight was to keep a tight grip on the shorts of Burnett.

This would also be the first UFC since the implementation of rounds, the use of the 10-point must system, as well as removing the power of the referee to stand up a fight in the case of a stalemate.

The PPV

The first fight of the PPV saw local favourite Royce Alger, a three-time All American and two-time NCAA Wrestling Champion, take on Eugene Jackson. This was a decent scrap; Alger was eventually able to take Jackson down late on in the first round and rain down some punches. Jackson was able to get to his feet, though, and as the round ended, it looked like Alger was gassing out. Alger was moving slowly in the second round, his hands down, and at 1:19, Jackson knocked him silly with a left hook. The referee pulled Jackson away, and Alger was so out of it that he was tapping out even though the fight was already over. This would be Alger’s last ever MMA fight and he would retire with a 3-2 record, with both of those losses coming in the UFC.

Tsuyoshi Kosaka vs. Tim Lajcik saw Kosaka dominated by a more powerful striker and actually have some real trouble before starting to stage a comeback in the second round. We never got to see how that would play it as Lajcik’s corner threw in the towel between rounds, and it sounded like Lajcik had suffered a concussion. Paul Jones choked out Flavio Luiz Moura, and Jeremy Horn massacred Daiju Takase, before Pat Miletich defended the UFC Lightweight Championship (now the Welterweight Championship) against Andre.

It wasn’t a particular good fight; Miletich was clearly looking to avoid clinching up with Pedernairis as much as possible due to Pedernairis jiu-jitsu background, so he kept things at a distance as best he could. Miletich landed a punch in the second round that opened up a cut around Pedernairis’s left eye, and after getting it checked out, the doctor stopped the fight.

The main event of Maurice Smith vs. Marco Ruas was another fight that wasn’t any good. Most of the first round saw Ruas holding Smith down and literally doing nothing until the round was nearly over and he went for a heel hook, which ended up with Smith on top of him. Somewhere in all there, Ruas apparently hurt his knee and, despite the urging of his corner to keep fighting, Ruas called it quits.

It was a disappointing end to a rather flat UFC event, with nothing being really that good, but perhaps the most important thing was the UFC seemed to impress the representatives from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, as their positive reaction to the night would be a go long way to securing that much needed approval, the first steps towards official sanctioning.

UFC Fight Night 45: Cowboy vs. Miller (July 16th 2014)

The main event to this iteration of Fight Night was a lightweight contest between two fighters who appeared to be hitting a good run of form. Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone had won three straight, with his last win being a submission victory over Edson Barboza on a high-profile FOX network event. Cerrone was a fixture of the lightweight division, one of its most popular and exciting fighters, and with a tendency to put together winning streaks, there was a real feeling that Cerrone was putting together another such streak and was working his way towards title contention.

Jim Miller had a little lower profile but was no less exciting. After suffering a submission loss to Pat Healy that was later overturned due to Healy’s failure of a post-fight drug test, Miller had scored back-to-back submission wins over Fabrício Camões and Yancy Medeiros. Miller was putting together his own win streak and victory over Cerrone could be the signature win he needed to properly announce himself as a potential championship contender

Elsewhere

The co-main event was a little unusual for a fight in that spot on the card, in that it pitted two fighters against each other who were both coming off a loss to the same opponent, and ironically enough that opponent was Donald Cerrone, who would be competing in the main event. Edson Barboza was another fighter prone to having exiting fights, and after looking certain to hit the title scene, Barboza had stumbled a little, and after losing to Cerrone, Barboza was hoping to ensure his stumble didn’t turn into a losing streak. His opponent, Evan Dunham, was on a losing streak, having lost two-in-a-row for only the second time in his career. Dunham would be hoping to not make history and lose three-in-a-row for the first time in his career, and instead re-establish himself as a fighter to be reckoned with in the lightweight division.

Other fights on the main card would see former TUF Brazil 2 fighter Leonardo Mafra taking on Rick Story, Joe Proctoer would face Justin Salas, John Lineker take on Alptekin Özkılıç, and Lucas Martins would face the undefeated Alex White. Among the fights on the undercard included a fight between Cláudia Gadelha and Tina Lähdemäki that would be the first women's strawweight fight in UFC history, and would also see both women making their UFC debut.

Card Changes

A fight between Zak Cummings and Kenny Robertson was shelved in favour of putting Cummings against Gunnar Nelson at UFC Fight Night 46 three days later. Leonardo Mafra replaced John Howard against Rick Story. Alex White replaced Jim Alers against Lucas Martins. Jerrod Sanders replaced Leo Kuntz against Yosdenis Cedeno.

UFC Fight Night 45

The debut of the strawweight division saw Cláudia Gadelha mix up ground work and strikes to outclass Tina Lähdemäki over all three rounds. The fight would be the last one for Lähdemäki for a while, as she has yet to return to action. Yosdenis Cedeno kicked Jerrod Sanders in the left knee with the first strike of their fight, and by the end of the round, Sanders knee was completely gone and the doctor called the fight between rounds. The bantamweight battle between Aljamain Sterling and Hugo Viana lasted until 3:50 of the third round when Sterling literally pounded out Viana for the TKO victory. Leslie Smith didn’t need nearly as long to get the same ending with her fight against Jessamyn Duke, Smith finishing Duke in 2:24 after a barrage of body blows. And rounding out the preliminary fights was Gleison Tibau beating Pat Healy by unanimous decision; Tibau started off strong but Healy came back in the third round, but he needed a finish to win the fight and couldn’t get it.    

On the main card, Lucas Martins bounced Alex White out of the ranks of the undefeated with a third round knockout, the winning punching having a delayed reaction from White, who swayed a little before finally falling to the canvas. Alptekin Özkılıç and John Lineker had a heck of scrap that looked set to go the distance before Lineker finished Özkılıç at the 4:51 mark of the third round. Joe Proctor and Rick Story both scored second round wins over Justin Salas (TKO; 3:27) and Leonardo Mafra (Sub; 2:12) respectively.

Edson Barboza and Evan Dunham was rather uneventful until Barboza landed, just about, a kick to the liver of Dunham that had him slumping to the mat, grabbing his side; a few more punches and the fight was over. It took a while to get going, and when it did, it didn’t last long but Barboza certainly came back well, after the loss to Donald Cerrone.

Donald Cerrone vs. Jim Miller

Donald Cerrone and Jim Miller had a good fight. Cerrone was showing some very good takedown defence and scrambling. There was a minor incident in the second round when the referee, Dan Miragliotta, called time after Cerrone delivered a front kick that appeared to catch Miller low, who slumped to the mat clutching his stomach. However, a replay showed that the kick landed above the belt line and was perfectly legal. The fight resumed but not for too much longer; Miller had a bull’s-eye target on his chest and it left him open a headkick that dropped him against the cage and had Miragliotta rushing in to stop the fight at 3:31 of the third round.

The win put Cerrone on a four-fight winning streak and he earned his second straight Performance of the Night bonus as well, adding an extra $50,000 to his payday for the evening. Cerrone would be fighting against just over two months later, which is almost the standard turnaround time for Cerrone. Miller, however, wouldn’t fight again for nine months.

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (July 17th)

PRIDE: Bushido 8 (July 17th 2005)

PRIDE’s Bushido events tended to focus on the lighter weight divisions, usually lightweight and welterweight, and they were where Takanori Gomi came to prominence, with his most high-profile and spectacular victories coming at Bushido events. Gomi is in the main event of Bushido 8 as he takes on Jean Silva. Silva is a Chute Box fighter and is going for revenge for Chute Box; in Gomi’s previous fight, he knocked out Chute Box’s Luiz Azeredo with what may be the greatest one-two punch combination in MMA history. Gomi then kept trying to punch the unconscious Azeredo which sparked a mass brawl between Chute Box and Kiguchi Dojo (Gomi’s team).

As is usual for PRIDE events, the fighters were brought out before the fighting started, in an introduction ceremony that would really be great to see in the UFC or Bellator. Our commentators for this evening are Mauro Ranallo and Bas Rutten.

Josh Thomson made his PRIDE debut against Daisuke Sugie. It was a short fight and Sugie was having some success against Thomson before getting caught with a kneebar. Denis Kang and Andrei Semenov had a decent fight but nothing worth going out of your way to see; Kang got the unanimous decision victory. Marcus Aurelio vs. Jutaro Nakao was OK but nothing really happened, with Aurelio controlling most of the fight, although Nakao neutralized most of his offensive efforts. Mauro and Bas were constantly talking like Nakao had easily won the fight, as if he had it in the bag; I don’t know what fight they were watching. Ryuichi Murata and Kazuki Ookubo were both making their PRIDE debut in a battle of Yoshida Dojo (Hidehiko Yoshida) vs. the U-File Camp. This wasn’t that bad overall; it was mostly Murata clinching up with Ookubo and occasionally being able to throw him. Murata dominated most of the fight; Ookubo came back and almost finished Murata, who retook control of the fight only to be caught with an armbar from the bottom and he was forced tap.

James ‘The Colossus’ Thompson faced Sentoryu, with both fighters listed at 266lbs but Thompson towered over Sentoryu, as it was 6’6 vs. 5’8. This was short and ugly brawl with Thompson knocking out Sentoryu with a series of punches. Masakazu Imanari took on the debuting Joachim Hansen. Imanari kept shooting in for leglock and it backfired when Hansen caught him in the jaw with a knee and knocked him silly. It was quite the debut for Hansen, who was one of those fighters who, for whatever reason, never made it to the UFC. Daniel Acacio beat Kazuo Misaki by unanimous decision in a fine if unremarkable fight. Tatsuya Kawajiri and Luis Buscape had a very grappling-heavy fight that was more about positional control than attempts to go for the finish. Kawajiri did become aggressive later on and Buscape tried to keep pace, but it was Kawajiri who got the nod from all three judges.

Up next was Ikuhisa Minowa facing UFC notable, Kimo. Kimo took Minowa down early and avoid a guillotine to keep top position. Minowa eventually reversed positions on Kimo and then grabbed a leg and turned Kimo over into an achilles lock and got the tap in 3:11. Minowa’s victory and post-match celebration got over huge. Another former UFC name, Phil Baroni, was making his second appearance as he faced Ryo Chonan. Nothing much happened until Baroni landed a one-two combination that dropped Chonan and the referee leaped in to stop the fight. The stoppage seemed a little quick, it has to be said.

The main event between Takanori Gomi and Jean Silva was a good if fairly one-sided fight, with Gomi dominating Silva for most of its fifteen-minute duration. Gomi landed some good punches and even dropped Silva when he caught him with a short punch as Silva came in fast. Right at the end, Gomi managed catch Silva in an armbar; Silva blocked the move until Gomi was able to pull back and extend his arm, but Gomi couldn’t get the positioning on the hold right and time ran out.

Gomi got the unanimous decision victory to cap off what was a decent show overall. Things do pick up, and in a big way, for PRIDE’s next Bushido event, as Bushido 9 was one of the best shows of all time.

[jimufctna24]

Baroni's Pride run exceeded expectations. After successive losses in the UFC, many thought he would be easy meat in Pride. Instead, he posted a respectable 4-2 record, with respectable wins over Chonan and Minowa. Both of his losses came via decision as well.

I specifically recall his final fight in Pride. It came against Nishijima in Las Vegas. Nishijima was a former pro boxer, who had zero ground game. Despite his boxing credentials, he was knocked out by Hunt (I've never seen that fight). and he was also clipped by Cyborg, before been taken down and subbed.

Still, Nishijima would presumably be dangerous in a stand-up war. Baroni was also not really known as a ground specialist. He had a wrestling background, but was more of a sprawl and brawler. Therefore, on paper, it seemed like it would be a fireworks display between the two. However, Baroni went against script. He submitted Nishijima easily with a kimura. Afterwards, he claimed that he had only learnt how to do a kimura in the days leading up to the fight. He made it sound easy. 

[Egg Shen]

Nishijima/Hunt is a cracker from what i remember. Nishijima is hugely outweighed but had a real go. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Hunt vs Nishijima is one of the last great Pride fights. Hunt vs Kohsaka from the 2006 GP isn't far behind it either. Hunt's had so many great fights. 

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (July 18th)

UFC Fight Night 72: Bisping vs. Leites (July 18th 2015)

This would be the UFC’s first ever event in Scotland and it would take place at The SSE Hydro. The main event would be a middleweight clash between one fighter who had been surging up the rankings since his return to the UFC and seemed primed to earn himself another championship opportunity, and an opponent who most people felt had seen his window for a title shot close long ago.

Michael Bisping vs. Thales Leites (the build)

Thales Leites had made his mark on the UFC during his first stint with the promotion, but not in the manner he intended. Leites had challenged Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 97 in a fight widely considered to be one of the worst title fights in UFC history. Silva was usually an exciting fighter and the first round or two had been not that bad. But for whatever reason, Silva then chose to completely shut down the fight and there was nothing Leites could do about it. It was a fight so bad that it hurt the fans feelings, and it did considerable damage to Silva’s reputation as both an exciting fighter and a champion.

Leites lost his next fight by split-decision and was subsequently released by the UFC. Leites would go 3-1 before winning three fights in a row, and in 2013, Leites returned to the UFC. Primarily thought of as a submission fighter, Leites surprised people with an improved stand-up game and rattled off five straight victories to increase his winning streak to eight fights. Leites was thought to be on the verge of once more challenging for the UFC Middleweight Championship. All he needed was that signature win, a victory to put him over the top, and that’s what most people excepted to see happen at this iteration of UFC Fight Night.

Michael Bisping was the biggest UK star in the UFC; after winning the third reason of TUF as a light heavyweight, Bisping had carved himself a successful career in the middleweight division, albeit a career that had always lacked that one crucial fight; a championship showdown. Bisping had often come close to earning a title fight, but he had always slipped up in that crucial final fight, always coming up short when victory would have secured him that elusive title shot.

Bisping was seen as a fighter who was good but not quite good enough to be in the title picture, and after alternating wins and losses in eight straight fights, including a one-sided submission loss to Luke Rockhold, it was felt that Bisping’s window of opportunity to a title shot was closed for good. Even a win over CB Dollaway did nothing to change that opinion. And when it was announced that Bisping would face Thales Leites in the main event of this Fight Night card, it was widely expected to be the fight that would give Leites that high-profile victory he needed to get over that hump and gain that second chance at the UFC Middleweight Championship.

The Rest of the Card

In the co-main event would be another British fighter who had entered a patchy run of form; Ross Pearson had alternated losses and wins in his last four fights, and he had never quite lived to his TUF 9 tournament win, where had been coached, ironically enough, by Michael Bisping. Despite having heavy hands and some impressive knockout wins, Pearson was never able to make that leap from rising name to championship contender, and he seemed destined to be mired in the midcard.

Pearson’s opponent would be Evan Dunham, a dangerous and talented grappler who was better than his recent run of three straight losses would suggest; those losses had come at the hands, and feet, of Rafael Dos Anjos, Donald Cerrone and Edson Barboza, a trio of dangerous fighters who could beat any fighter on their day. Since that last loss, to Barboza, Dunham had beaten Rodrigo Damm, and for two fighters who needed to keep that run of success going, putting them against each other meant that only one of them would achieve that aim.

Elsewhere on the main card, Ireland’s Joe Duffy would face Ivan Jorge, Scotland’s own Joanna Calderwood was scheduled to fight Bec Rawlings, and another Scottish fighter would open up the main card as Stevie Ray fought Leonardo Mafra. The preliminary card would see a host of European fighters compete, including another Scot, Robert Whiteford, who would be taking on Paul Redmond.

Card Changes

There were four card changes and all four replacement fighters were making their UFC debut. Jimmie Rivera made his UFC debut as a replacement for Ian Entwistle against Marcus Brimmage; Entwistle was pulled from the fight for undisclosed reasons. Chris De La Rocha replaced an injured Konstantin Erokhin against Daniel Omielańczuk. Teemu Packalen faced Mickael Lebout as a replacement for Jake Matthews, who was pulled out due to injury. And Cortney Casey replaced Bec Rawlings against Joanne Calderwood.

UFC Fight Night 72 (Fight Pass Prelims)

Things got off to an exciting start; Daniel Omielańczuk clipped Chris De La Rocha early, had him wobbled, and finished him off in 48-seconds. The second Fight Pass Prelim didn’t go much longer, as debutant Jimmie Rivera knocked out Marcus Brimmage in 1:29. It was a great start to his UFC run for Rivera, who is currently 4-0 in the UFC. For Brimmage, it was his second straight loss, making it four losses in five fights. After this loss, Brimmage was released by the UFC, and as of the time of writing, he has lost his last four fights and has not fought in over a year.

UFC Fight Night 72 (FS1 Prelims)

Robert Whiteford got a monster reaction as expected, especially after coming out to pipes and drums as his walk-in music. And when he knocked out Paul Redmond, the place went completely nuts. Whiteford scrambled over the cage and dove into the crowd in what was a wild scene. Unfortunately, this was as good as it got for Whiteford in the UFC; he would lose his next two fights and be released, although he has won both of his post-UFC fights. This was the swansong for Redmond in the UFC as he was released after this loss.

Mickael Lebout defeated Teemu Packalen by unanimous decision before Ilir Latifi brought the crowd to life again with a 53-second knockout of Hans Stringer. Rounding out the prelims was Paddy Holohan scoring a decisive unanimous decision victory over Vaughan Lee.

UFC Fight Night 72 (FS1 Main Card)

The main card saw the crowd getting back to its natural raucous state as Stevie Ray faced Leonardo Mafra. Ray wobbled Mafra with a right hook two-minutes in, and few more punches and another silly dance later, Mafra was down and out in just 2:30. Leon Edwards beat Pawel Pawlak by unanimous decision in a fight with few highlights outside of a great looking head kick that dropped Pawal a minute into the final round.

Joanne Calderwood got a monster reaction for her fight against Courtney Casey. I swear Bruce Buffer affected a Scottish accent when announcing her hometown. JoJo took some heavy shots in the first twenty second and had to hold on to Casey to stop the barrage. Most of the first round saw JoJo in top position on Courtney but there was no threat of a finish. The second round saw action in the clinch and on the ground, and it was more exciting when they were exchanging strikes in the clinch. JoJo landed a spin kick to the chest of Casey about a minute into the third round that put Casey on her butt; the crowd were going completely mental at the prospect of a finish. JoJo dominated for the rest of the round and when the fight ended, the fans were still going crazy.

JoJo won by unanimous decision, the announcement of which got a monster reaction and the crowd remained loud throughout her post-fight interview. JoJo was, by far, the most over fighter of the evening. She got the loudest and most sustained reactions of the night.

‘Irish’ Joe Duffy got a big reaction despite not being Scottish; all Europeans were the babyface against non-Europeans. He took on Ivan Jorge in a decent fight with a great looking ending; Duffy countered an attempted takedown into a triangle choke, Duffy getting the tap out. It extended Duffy’s winning streak to four fights. After this loss, Jorge was released by the UFC.

Evan Dunham was the natural villain in the eyes of the fans, against Ross Pearson, and Dunham didn’t give the fans a lot to cheer about in what was a fairly comprehensive domination of Pearson. Outside of Pearson escaping a deep armbar attempt late in the first round, which got a huge reaction, Pearson was not in this fight at all. Dunham exposed and exploited Pearson’s weaknesses when it comes to the ground game, and he almost made Pearson look like he doesn’t belong in the UFC.

Michael Bisping vs. Thales Leites

This was a fine enough fight; it wasn’t bad, there just wasn’t necessarily anything memorable about it. It was very competitive. The first round was incredibly close, to the point that it could have gone either way. The second round was a little more decisive, going the way of Bisping. The third round was another close one, but Leites was moving forward more and being more aggressive, with Bisping backing up for most of it. The fourth and fifth rounds played out in a similar manner, with Leites even appearing to rock Bisping with some punches, as well as being more aggressive and even bloodying Bisping a little.

It was a close and competitive fight, but outside of that first round, I thought the all the rounds had pretty clear winners even if they weren’t decisive. The fight went to the judges who scored it 49-46, 48-47 and 47-48 to give Bisping the win via split-decision. The crowd loved it, obviously, but I believe the wrong man won. I had the fight 48-47 for Leites, and you could argue 49-46 for Leites if you gave him the first round, which I didn’t. And while the fight was close, I just don’t see Bisping winning. The 49-46 score in his favour seems especially hard to justify
    
The win gave Bisping back-to-back victories for the first time in over four years. The loss curtailed the momentum of Leites, and he’s been a very different fighter ever since, bereft of the confidence and self-belief that had propelled him to eight straight wins.

The events covered tomorrow are;

UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin
Affliction: Banned
UFC Fight Night 46: McGregor vs. Brandão

[Noah Southworth]

On This Day in MMA History (July 19th)

UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin (July 19th 2008)

The conception and creation of this Fight Night would have little to do with physical fighting, and more to do with fighting of another kind, against competition away from the cage.

UFC Fight Night 14 (the build)

The UFC are obviously the biggest promotion in the world. So, when Affliction Clothing announced that they were forming their own MMA promotion, UFC took notice and took immediate action. Their initial action was to ban its fighters from wearing Affliction clothing, which had become one of the most prominent clothing lines in MMA. Then, when Affliction announced they would be running a PPV on July 19th, the UFC took counterprogramming measures, and without much lead time, it was announced that the UFC would be running a live Fight Night event on Spike to go head-to-head with the Affliction PPV. It was a not-so subtle attempt to hurt the buy rate for the fledgling company’s first PPV.

Obviously, the UFC needed a main event that would draw serious fan interest if they wanted to achieve their primary goal of hurting the Affliction PPV; they couldn’t put just any main event out there. There was speculation that the UFC might put a title fight in that spot, a move which, whilst hurting the Affliction PPV, would also hurt the UFC’s PPV business as it would take a title out of PPV circulation for several months. In the end, the UFC’s choice to headline the Fight Night was the best move they could have made outside of putting a mega draw like Brock Lesnar or GSP in that spot, a move which was never going to happen for all the obvious reasons.

The UFC’s choice for the main event was the fighter consider to be one of their most exciting, and the man who many people considered to be the pound-for-pound best in the world; for the first time since his debut in the UFC, Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silver, the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion, would be fighting on Spike TV.

If that wasn’t enough, to add a little more sizzle to steak, Silva would be moving up a weight class, and the middleweight champion would be fighting as a light heavyweight for the first time in his career. Just who Silva’s opponent would be was obviously the cause of great interest, and there weren’t too many light heavyweights willing to step up and take on Silva at such relatively short notice; the Fight Night had been announced just over a month out, which was hardly any kind of time for a good training camp.

In the end, on June 17th, just 32 days before the Fight Night, it was announced that Anderson Silva’s opponent would be ‘The Sandman’ James Irvin. In an online interview ahead of fight, Irvin revealed that four other fighters had turned down the chance to face Silva, but it was a fight that Irvin had no hesitation in accepting. Irvin was a tough fighter, heavy-hitting, and he had one of the most spectacular knockouts in UFC history on his résumé, the flying knee knockout of Terry Martin at UFC 54.

With the main event set, the rest of the fights were rapidly put together; Brandon Vera was apparently set to face Wanderlei Silva, but Silva declined to take the short-noticed fight. The UFC even pulled one fight (Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca) from an upcoming PPV to fill the main card out, but with little notice, the UFC had put together a solid TV card and it was capped off with one of their most exciting fighters, a man who people considered as one of the best in the world.

UFC Fight Night 14 (Prelims)

The preliminary card was fast and furious with four of the five fights ending inside the first round; the opener, the only fight not to end in the first round, ended in the second. The highlight of the preliminary fighs was undoubtedly Rory Markham knocking out Brodie Farber with a head kick in 1:37. Farber had Markham in trouble with punches and knees from the clinch, and he went headhunting for the finish but left himself wide open and was on the receiving end of one of the best knockouts of the year, one that will remain on the highlight reel for years to come.

UFC Fight Night 14 (Main Card)

The main card started off with Jesse Taylor against CB Dollaway, and Taylor would be looking for his chance at redemption after getting kicked off of TUF earlier in the year and subsequently being removed from the tournament final. Taylor’s attempt at redemption didn’t last long, with Dollway submitting Taylor with the Peruvian necktie in 3:38. Taylor wouldn’t return to the UFC for nine years, until the Redemption season of TUF.

Kevin Burns TKO’d Anthony Johnson in a fight that was probably the nadir for Steve Mazzagatti in his run as the worst referee in MMA history. Burns repeatedly poked Johnson in the eye throughout the fight. Mazzagatti wouldn’t do anything more than warn Burns against doing it, no matter how often Burns kept doing it. Then, in the third round, Burns hit his final eye poke and Johnson was unable to continue. And Mazzagatti, in his infinite wisdom, ruled it a TKO win for Burns. Even though it was after an illegal move, one that Burns had repeatedly been warned about, one that everyone had seen him do. Johnson appealed the loss but it naturally went nowhere because commissions hate overruling a referee, even when they do a terrible job. Johnson eventually avenged the loss but it would take many more years and fighters would suffer through many more terrible decisions before we finally saw Mazzagatti vanish from high-profile MMA fights.

Future UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez mowed down Jake O’Brien in just 2:02. Frankie Edgar rebounded from the first loss his career, a unanimous decision loss to Gray Maynard, with a unanimous decision win of his own, a decisive win over former lightweight title challenger Hermes Franca. Former heavyweight standout Brandon Vera made his light heavyweight debut against Reese Andy. There was excitement about Vera’s move but there was no excitement about this fight with the commentators openly admitting the fight wasn’t any good. Vera won the fight by unanimous decision but he lost more than he gained because it was a performance that killed future interest in his fights.

Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin

Anderson Silva’s much anticipated debut in the light heavyweight division would have been disappointing if not for the way it ended. For 53-seconds, there was little action, Silva and Irvin content to circle each other and throw some tentative strikes. Then, Irvin threw a strong leg kick; Silva caught the leg of Irvin and countered with a pinpoint and precise counterpunch that floored Irvin and had him turtling up and grabbing his face. Silva pounced with punches and Irvin took more than were necessary before the referee, Mario Yamasaki, finally stepped in to stop the fight.

The fans were cheering, though, because despite the slow start, the fight had ended in sudden and decisive fashion. Anderson Silva was moving up a weight class and facing an opponent who, whilst not at the top level, was still a tough customer. And Silva had dispatched him like it was nothing. It was Silva’s first foray into the light heavyweight division, but it would not be his last.

Aftermath

Things didn’t get any better for James Irvin, as he failed a post-fight drug test for methadone and oxymorphone. Methadone is a synthetic opioid and whilst usually used in the treatment of opioid addiction, it can be used as a painkiller. Oxymorphone is also used as a painkiller and is a semi-synthetic opioid analgesic. Irvin would admit to taking the drugs, saying that he initially began taking them as a treatment for injuries, but that he had wound up becoming addicted to them.

Affliction: Banned (July 19th 2008)

Affliction: Banned (the build)

Affliction Clothing was one of the most recognized brands of clothing associated with fighting and MMA. Their line of apparel was frequently worn by both fans and fighters alike, and they became closely associated with the UFC. That all changed towards in early 2008 when Affliction Clothing announced the formation of Affliction Entertainment, their very own MMA promotion. Affliction Clothing had gone from being an ally of the UFC to direct competition.

The UFC’s immediate response was to ban all of its fighters from wearing Affliction Clothing apparel. Of course, everyone waited to see when Afflictions first MMA event would take place and what form it would take. And so it was announced that on July 19th, Affliction would dive straight into the deep end and that their debut event would be live on PPV.

It was a bold move but seen as foolhardy by most. Going into a PPV without any kind of television to build it up and promote it was seen as business suicide. This seemingly impossible task was made harder when the UFC announced it would be running a live Fight Night on Spike to go head-to-head with the PPV.

A strictly PPV-only business model had never been proven to work before, and it was expected to be no different this time out. The promotion side of things appeared to get a shot in the arm when, of all people, future US President Donald Trump announced his association with Affliction Entertainment; Trump would own significant equity in the company.

Affliction needed something big to headline its PPV, which was considered a hard task as virtually all the marketable talent was signed with the UFC. Affliction’s choice for headliner was the fighter considered to be the best in the world at that time, the single biggeset piece of top talent that was outside of the UFC, and always would be; Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor had long been considered the best fighter of all time and the best current heavyweight fighter, even though it had been three years since he’d faced an opponent who was a genuine top-level fighter. Despite that, and despite the fact that Fedor had only previous fought in the US once before, in October of 2006, and had no real name outside of the diehard MMA fans, it was considered a big coup to sign Fedor.

His opponent would be a fighter that was someone who, whilst not considered a top-level fighter in terms of ability, or excitement, had reached the top levels of MMA. Fedor’s opponent would be former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia.

The other fights on the Banned main card involved plenty of familiar names. Andrei Arlovksi faced Ben Rothwell. Josh Barnett would be taking on Pedro Rizzo in a rematch seven years in the making. The notorious Renato Sobral was on the main card as well, as was Matt Lindland. On the preliminary card, Paul Buentello and Gary Goodridge were fighting each other, and Vitor Belfort was facing Terry Martin.

Affliction: Banned

Action-wise, there was actually little of note, nothing really worth seeing, outside of the main event, which saw Fedor go through Sylvia like the proverbial hot knife through butter; Fedor dropped Tim early and choke him out in just 36-seconds. It was a victory that went both ways on the ‘Is Fedor really the greatest?’ debate; to his supporters, it proved Fedor was great because he’d beaten a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, but to his detractors, it proved nothing, as they’d correctly point out that Sylva was both past his prime and not really that good of a fighter to begin with. However you sliced it, it was the only high point of a PPV that otherwise failed to impress.

Affliction (the numbers)

Banned ended up drawing 14,832 fans with 11,242 paid, for a gate of $2,085,510. Given the level of hype, even without television promotion, failing to sell out was a disappointment, especially with the payroll, which we’ll get to shortly. The number of buys was around 100,000. For a PPV from a new company that no regular televise to promote it, the number was not that bad.

However, it was the aforementioned payroll where Affliction really took a hit, especially taking into account what went into the promotional side of things; the total payroll for the event was $3.3 million dollars, with some fighters being grossly overpaid for what they were worth. Case in point was Tim Sylvia, the highest paid fighter on the card, getting $800,000, in what was intended to be a three fight contract. Whether you’re talking about talent or drawing power, Tim Sylvia is not, and never has been worth $800,000 a fight. Even just a quarter of that would be overpaying Sylvia.

Andrei Arlovski was paid $750,000, a third of which was a win bonus. I like Arlovski, but he’s not worth a half-a-million dollars per fight. Arlovski is currently getting $250,000 per fight with the UFC and I think even that is a bit of a stretch. Then you had Josh Barnett getting $300,000, and Matt Lindland getting $300,000 as well($225,000 + $75,000 win bonus). Even Ben Rothwell got $250,000.

I’m all for paying fighters what they are worth, but you need to be realistic, and realism was not at the forefront of Affliction’s mind when forking out these sums of money. Affliction paid that money not because they thought that’s what those fighters were worth; they paid that money because that’s what they felt it was worth to take or keep them away from the UFC. I don’t think it’s a newsflash to say the UFC got the better end of the deal, and they didn’t have to shell out any money to make it.

And the payroll managed to got even sillier for Afflictions’ next PPV

UFC Fight Night 46: McGregor vs. Brandão (July 19th 2014)

The UFC returned to Ireland for the first time since UFC 93 and it would be headlined by a fighter who was rapidly achieving superstar status, and doing so in almost record time.

Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandão (the build)

Conor McGregor made an immediate impact on his UFC debut in April of 2013, knocking out Marcus Brimmage in just 1:07. McGregor’s post-fight interview was fun, his charisma seemed infectious, and it gave an indication of the kind of Conor interview that was still to come. Fast forward to August of that year and the UFC debuted on Fox Sports 1 with their first Fight Night card in almost two years. Whilst the main event of Chael Sonnen vs. Mauricio Rua got all the headlines, a lot of the attention was also on the undercard, for a fight between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway. And it wasn’t because of Max Holloway; his time would come later.

Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a city in America with a large Irish population, it was obvious that Conor was going to get a great reception. To take advantage of that and make McGregor seem like something special, the UFC did something they rarely if ever do for undercard fighters; they showed his entire entrance on television. Usually on undercard fights, you cut back in from commercial when the fight is about to start. Not on this occasion. McGregor’s walk-in was shown in full, and for a fighter who was only having his second fight in the UFC, he was getting an incredible reaction.

It was more than just Bostonians reacting to an Irishman; Conor’s presence and charisma were becoming unmistakable. And when McGregor dominated Holloway for a decisive unanimous decision, the crowd were as boisterous as they would ever be, and McGregor’s performance was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he had torn his ACL in the first round and would be out of action for almost a year.

Looking to make the most of McGregor’s eagerly awaited return, the UFC booked a show at The 02 in Dublin, Ireland, a 9,500 capacity building, and put McGregor in the main event. The show promptly sold out in three-minutes.

McGregor’s opponent would be Cole Miller, a fighter with talent but also with a fairly patchy record, Miller being 10-6 in the UFC heading into this fight. Tickets sold quickly and there was obviously a lot of buzz heading into it. That buzz never abated, even when Miller pulled out of the fight, citing a thumb injury. Miller teammate and future McGregor opponent Dustin Poirier had been challenging McGregor on Twitter but never took the chance to face McGregor, which McGregor was outspoken about in the press. Miller’s replacement would be by Diego Brandão, the TUF 14 winner, a fighter with a more aggressive style than Miller, and who may have been more dangerous opponent.

Diego Brandão was confident heading the fight, despite being a late replacement. And he had every right to be, because his style and aggression did make him a potential threat to McGregor. But confidence alone does not win fights, and it remained to be seen if Brandão to the fast moving juggernaut that was Conor McGregor.

UFC Fight Night 46 (Prelims)

The fans were rabid right from the beginning. Paddy Holohan got a huge reaction when he came out for the first fight of the night. Holohan, who was making his UFC debut, had the crowd going crazy when he escaped from an armbar attempt and transitioned into a rear naked choke to get the first round submission victory. Holohan’s post-fight interview was a riot and the fans ate it up. Cody Gibson was something of a fan favourite against Nikita Krylov due to his Irish heritage, so the fans were a tad disappointed when Krylov TKO’d Gibson in the first round. This would be Gibson’s last fight as he retired after what was his third straight KO/TKO loss.

Trevor Smith gained a unanimous decision victory over Tor Troéng before Cathal Pendred had the crowd going crazy again in his fight against Mike King, with both his entrance (getting the ‘Ole, Ole’ chant) and the finish, with Pendred having to come from behind to choke King out cold with a rear naked choke. There was another Irish fighter next, Neil Seery, and he’d be taking on England’s Phil Harris. This was a rematch as they’d first faced off back in 2010 with Harris getting the unanimous decision victory. This time, it was Seery getting the unanimous decision victory, with Harris having no real answer to Seery’s boxing and takedown defence. This would be Harris’ last fight as he’d retire in December of 2014. And Ilir Latifi capped off the prelims with a 2:07 knockout of Chris Dempsey

UFC Fight Night 46 (Main Card)

There was a lot of talking and a lot of video packages, building up Conor and building up the entire event, on the BT Sport version of the broadcast; so many that the first fight didn’t take place until over 35-minutes into the show, and it saw Northern Ireland’s Norman Parke take on Japan’s Naoyuki Kotani. Parke dominated Kotani on his way to a very popular TKO victory in the second round.

Despite being from America, Ian McCall was the crowd favourite in his fight against England’s Brad Pickett, so there was a big cheer when he was announced as having won the unanimous decision victory. The scores were 30–27, 30–27, 29–28, but the fight was far more competitive than those scores suggest, with the 30-27s doing Brad a real disservice. In the co-main event, Gunner Nelson took on Zak Cummings. Nelson, being a training partner of Conor McGregor, got a huge reaction. The fans were very loud throughout this one; Nelson was on the defensive for much of the first round. In the second round, Cummings was again coming forward and putting Nelson on the backfoot. Late on in the round, however, Nelson used a guillotine choke attempt to transition into taking Cummings’ back, and Nelson worked for, and secured, a rear naked choke and when Cummings tapped, the fans went wild.

Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandão

It goes without saying that the atmosphere for this fight was electric. It was like few UFC fights ever, the kind of reaction this fight was getting, even before it started. McGregor’s entrance got a huge reaction and he felt like a major league superstar. For just his third fight in the UFC, even with McGregor being Irish, it was remarkable to see the fans having taken to him so quickly as a superstar. The fans remained boisterous and ridiculously loud throughout the entire fight; every advantage McGregor got was responded to with loud cheers. Just four minutes in, Brandão wilted and fell after a series of punches that weren’t all that powerful; it was as if Brandão was broken long before he got dropped. McGregor delivered more punches on the ground and the referee stepped in to stop the fight, and the boisterous fans were going crazy.

It wasn’t even close and the fight had no drama to speak of. But the fans were reacting as if McGregor had made the most dramatic of comebacks. McGregor’s charisma was something else and it was only going to get bigger.

“We’re not here just to take part; we’re here to take over”.

McGregor’s post-fight interview put over the other Irish fighters on the card and it had the fans rapturous and going crazy. McGregor talked about sitting down with Lorenzo Fertita, toasting some ‘fine ass whiskey’ and talk about football stadiums and world title’s. McGregor finished off by reiterating the classic line of ‘we’re not here (just) to take part…’, and the fans were still going bananas. McGregor could have stood there and read from the phone book and the people would have gone crazy.

It needn’t be said that Conor McGregor is a superstar. But it’s amazing how quickly he reached that status. It took just two fights for McGregor to get the kind of long and sustained reaction it can take some fighter’s years to obtain. And it was more than McGregor being Irish; anyone putting all or most of Conor’s reaction to his nationality is completely failing to understand that kind of connection that Conor generated, and it was in such a short time. Whatever you think of him, Conor McGregor is one of those once-in-a-lifetime personalities and characters.

There is very little to comment on tomorrow, so in addition to the usual update, I’ll be posting the entry that covers UFC 100.

[Egg Shen]

i had a facebook memory pop up of a poster of the McGregor/Brandao fight, i'd forgotten that had even happened.

Imagine if Fedor had retired after that Sylvia fight. He's have achieved Rickson Gracie-esque mythical status. From now im gonna pretend that's where it all ended.

[jimufctna24]

3 hours ago, Noah Southworth said:

It was a victory that went both ways on the ‘Is Fedor really the greatest?’ debate; to his supporters, it proved Fedor was great because he’d beaten a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, but to his detractors, it proved nothing, as they’d correctly point out that Sylva was both past his prime and not really that good of a fighter to begin with.

I believe that Fedor's peak was 2002-2005. He remained one of the best Heavies in the world after that, and probably the best; but the Cro Cop win in 2005 was where his career peaked. I don't think he had a performance like that again. 

You couldn't really say much about Fedor from 2006-2008. His victories during that period weren't much to shout about. Coleman, Lindland, and Hong-man were not elite-level heavyweights, even for the standard of the time. Hunt was a decent scalp, but his aura had taken a knock in the months leading up to his bout with Fedor. Barnett had subbed him pretty easily in the open weight tournament; in a fight that Hunt was expected to win.

As for the Sylvia bout in 2008; well it went to script in a way. Sylvia had been calling Fedor out for years, to howls of laughter. There is always a tendency to overstate things on forums. People would often say that Fedor would walk through Sylvia in 30 seconds, which he ended up doing. They were right insofar that Fedor would have always won quite easily. However, I did expect Sylvia to last at least a few minutes. Still, even if Fedor was in the decline at this stage, and he happened to clip Sylvia earlier than he normally would have done; it was still a nice moment. Perhaps the last time that Fedor had an air of invincibility. 

 

 

[wandshogun09]

I still think the Arlovski win was his last great moment. People point to him losing up until the KO as if it's a negative but I thought the fact he was losing and then pulled that KO punch out of the bag, knocking Andrei literally out of the sky, made it even better and more dramatic. People forget he was in even worse shit against Fujita years before and pulled out the submission. And there was the head spiking German suplex he took of Randleman, only to come back from the dead and pull a kimura out of his arse. Fedor had form for that kind of thing. And I'd argue doing it to Arlovski was more impressive than doing it to Fujita and Randleman. Arlovski was actually in good form going into that Fedor fight. He was on one of the better runs of his career with stoppage wins over Roy Nelson and Ben Rothwell in there. That was a good win for Fedor. In hindsight, the fact that Arlovski went on to lose a bunch of times right after the Fedor loss takes some of the shine off what Fedor did to him but Arlovski was looking good going into that one. 

Oh and that Rory Markham vs Brodie Farber headkick knockout! I forgot all about that but me and my brother lost our shit watching that live. That was a crazy finish. 

[jimufctna24]

I agree that the Arlovski win was his last great moment. It was a decent scalp as well. In addition to the wins over Nelson and Rothwell, Arlovski had ended his UFC run on a 3 fight win streak. Yes, the fight with Werdum wasn't much to shout about, but he at least got the win. He dealt with Cruz and O'Brein as you would expect a decent Heavyweight to do. 

However, Fedor didn't look invincible that night. I remember it was the first time as a fan that I felt he could be beaten in the near-future. I had seen the Fujita and Randleman fights beforehand, but for some reason, they didn't really dent his aura in my eyes. I just saw the Fujita fight as a rare off-moment. Similar to how I perceived Randleman clocking Cro Cop in 2004. Ironically, when Fedor was eventually beaten, I didn't expect it beforehand. As I stated on a previous page, I gave Werdum little chance of beating him. 

[Egg Shen]

i remember Arlovski was beating Fedor soundly before leaping in for that knee. Fedor was pretty much the master of finding a way to win when things went pear shaped, it's only in recent years that he hasn't been able to find that way. If it were 10 years ago i'd wager Fedor would have first up and finishing Mitrione in the case of the that double knockdown.

I don't agree on Jim's views that Tim Sylvia was a bit of a laughing stock going into the Fedor fight, i don't remember that being the case. Sylvia's troubles really started after the Fedor fight, that was his last big pay day and he seemed to go through stages of lacking motivation after that...though looking at his record, Big Timmeh's record post-Fedor isn't as bad as you might expect (outside of the Mercer loss). Sylvia went into the Fedor fight coming off a loss to a title loss to Nogueira only 5 months prior, a fight in which Big Tim gave Nogueira all he could handle before getting caught in a guillotine. 

[jimufctna24]

24 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

I don't agree on Jim's views that Tim Sylvia was a bit of a laughing stock going into the Fedor fight, i don't remember that being the case.

He wasn't a laughing stock in general by that stage. 

However, over the years, he was never considered to be a legitimate threat to Fedor. I am sure you read forums between 2005-2006, and probably before then. Few gave Sylvia a snowball's chance in hell against Fedor. Hence why Sylvia was mocked for talking about fighting him during that period. In that context, he was a bit of a laughing stock. 

Before the actual fight, he wasn't given much of a chance either. However, due to the Nogueria fight, where he probably exceeded expectations a bit; there were a few who gave him a shot. Frank Trigg thought he was a serious threat to Fedor. 

 

[Egg Shen]

If no one gave Sylvia a snowballs chance in hell, it was because Fedor was seen as invincible at that time. I don't care what anybody says, an in-shape, motivated Sylvia was a quality MMA fighter, i still think he'd be in the mix today.

[jimufctna24]

I think it was combination of both. Fedor was indeed seen as invincible, but UFC's Heavyweight division was seen as a joke from 2003-2006. Few took it seriously. 

I agree that a prime Sylvia would be competitive in today's division.