Issue 086
March 2012
In an ideal world, fighters would have plenty of notice and time for a full training camp before stepping into the cage or ring. But sometimes things just don’t work out. This month we salute five fighters who claimed victory despite stepping up late
1 Chris Leben vs Yoshihiro Akiyama
(UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin, July 3rd 2010)
On Saturday 19th June 2010, Leben finished Aaron Simpson late in the second round of a tough fight. Not long after, Wanderlei Silva’s broken ribs forced him to pull out of his UFC 116 fight with Akiyama. In stepped Leben, fighting twice in two weeks, an unprecedented move in the modern UFC. And Leben didn’t just fight Akiyama, he beat him late in the third of an all-out thriller, one of the very best fights of the year and, in coming back from a tough first round to batter and eventually submit his exhausted opponent with a triangle choke, Leben entered the best performance of his entire career. Even more impressively, the fight took him to 3-0 in 2010 after a torrid couple of years that had seen him go 1-2 in the Octagon, jailed for drink driving and banned by the UFC for nine months after failing a drug test.
2 Chan Sung Jung vs Leonard Garcia
(UFC Fight Night, March 26th 2011)
After their epic brawl in April 2010 where Garcia took a split decision, it was inevitable he and the ‘Korean Zombie’ would meet again. The timing was surprising though. Garcia was booked to fight Nam Phan but a broken foot forced Phan out and, with 10 days’ notice, Jung stepped in. Zombie-Garcia II was more controlled but the ending was a treat as Garcia tapped to the first successful twister submission in UFC history one second before the end of the first round.
3 Charlie Brenneman vs Rick Story
(UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry, June 26th 2011)
Brenneman was handed a great opportunity thanks to a cock-up with headliner Nate Marquardt’s testosterone replacement therapy that saw the former middleweight title challenger unceremoniously fired by a furious Dana White. Brenneman’s own fight had been canceled six days before the show due to opponent TJ Grant’s illness but he’d been put on standby in case he was needed. Facing Story, a relentless wrestler on a six-fight winning streak and probably a win or two away from a title shot, on short notice (Marquardt was officially ruled out thanks to his elevated testosterone levels a few hours before the weigh-in) was a daunting task. But Brenneman was up to it, not only winning a clear decision victory, but shockingly outwrestling Story in order to do so.
4 Daniel Cormier vs Antonio Silva
(Strikeforce Grand Prix, September 10th 2011)
In just his second outing on the main card of a major Strikeforce show, unbeaten heavyweight prospect and 2004 Olympic wrestler Cormier obliterated Silva in a real breakthrough performance. A semi-final in the promotion’s much-hyped heavyweight tournament, Silva had earned his spot by mugging faded legend Fedor Emelianenko while Cormier had outclassed Jeff Monson in a reserve fight. Silva should have then faced Alistair Overeem but contractual issues saw the big Dutchman canned by Zuffa, only to be signed up again as a UFC fighter. Stepping in with a few weeks notice, Cormier showed off his vastly improved striking and booked himself a place in the final against Josh Barnett.
5 Seth Petruzelli vs Kimbo Slice
(EliteXC: Heat, October 4th 2008)
After a total fiasco prompted by headliner Ken Shamrock sustaining a cut eye while warming up during the afternoon of the show, Petruzelli, coming off a long absence and slated for an un-televised preliminary fight, was only confirmed as Slice’s opponent after the show had already begun. Petruzelli needed just 14 seconds to beat EliteXC’s big TV ratings draw, dropping him with a jab and finishing him with punches on the ground. Two days later, Petruzelli said “they gave me the money to stand and trade with him”, an alarming statement he later backpedaled from. With EliteXC already $60m in the hole and utterly dependent on TV paymasters CBS, the whiff of corruption helped sink them by the end of the year.
