Issue 044
December 2008
The UK’s biggest MMA star, Michael Bisping, put in a gutsy and technically refined performance against tough opponent Chris Leben in front of nearly ten thousand fans on his way to becoming the country’s first TUF team coach.
Saturday 18 October 2008,
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England
Photos: Robert Swann
Moving one more rung up the middleweight ladder, Bisping controlled the range in the three-round fight, sensibly refraining from getting drawn into a brawl with the hard-hitting American, and peppering him with straight punches for almost the full 15 minutes. The English fighter used a lightning-fast jab to severely damage Leben’s face, opening up a big cut and almost closing his right eye. With footwork that would make Lyoto Machida envious, Bisping stayed away from Leben’s flailing punches and employed a smart stick-and-move strategy that left the American frustrated.
“The whole gameplan was to circle to the left, stay away from the big bomb and out-box him,” Bisping said after the fight. “He was trying to get me to break the gameplan, but it’s what I needed to do to win.”
The UFC’s success in the UK is intrinsically linked to Bisping’s status as a player in the middleweight division, and putting him in with a wily and unpredictable opponent such as Leben was a risky move, especially when the ninth series of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) was about to start casting and his own position as a coach had been confirmed.
A new and improved Leben, matured somewhat from his days as a reckless party animal, sounded philosophical in defeat and shrugged off his attempts to goad Bisping into a brawl. “I said to myself, ‘man, I got to draw him in somehow’. I was playing every card I had. I thought ‘screw it, lets trade’. It was Bisping’s night tonight.”
Dana White, never one to mince his words, was more than impressed with Bisping’s performance. “Bisping came in tonight, took his time and picked his shots. I’ve never seen Chris ripped up like that.” Indeed, though the 29-year-old Englishman’s strategy did not win over fans in the USA, who rallied against his refusal to engage in a slugfest. Those who were displeased with Bisping’s gameplan seemed to be comprised mostly of Leben supporters, and should be reminded that MMA is a contest of skill and guile as much as fortitude and ability to withstand punishment.
Bisping’s next opponent is set – Dana White let slip he will face the winner of Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin, who face off in Dublin in January, meaning Bisping can look forward to a layoff of some months after a busy year in which he packed in three fights in the space of six months.
Beauty and the Beast
Brandon Vera and Keith Jardine fought for the full 15 minutes in a light heavyweight co-main event that held major implications for the entire division. Gatekeeper Jardine billed the fight as “Beauty and the Beast” due to the clash of their kickboxing styles. The fighter based in New Mexico described Vera’s Muay Thai as the best in the UFC, rating his striking higher than both Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, both fighters Jardine holds wins over.
It was definitely Jardine’s awkward style that made the difference in this fight. Putting in a steady workmanlike performance, he took Vera’s timing away from him and neutralised much of his offence.
Winning via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28), Jardine exorcised the demons from his shocking loss to Wanderlei Silva and dropped a huge spanner in the works for Vera. Vera has been talking big for the last couple of years but has yet to back it up with a solid performance in the Octagon. Dropping from heavyweight and looking trim and refined at a shade under 205lb, Vera promised much but delivered little, while Jardine cemented his position as both light heavyweight gatekeeper and potential title contender.
The UFC’s top brass were baffled at Vera’s performance, with matchmaker Joe Silva perplexed at Vera’s shaky outing in the cage, and Dana White remarking, “It’s like he lost something. He doesn’t have that killer instinct, he used to be cocky – at one point he wanted to fight Chuck Liddell. He took a year off with all that contract stuff, but I just don’t know what happened to him.”
Of course, Jardine’s position in the rankings is made all the more difficult by Rashad Evans’ next fight, a title shot against common opponent Forrest Griffin. Teammates at Jackson’s MMA, Jardine was instrumental in helping Evans remain undefeated and knock out former champ Chuck Liddell, and will work with him for his December 27th clash with titleholder Griffin.
Best of the rest
In other action on the main card, Remy Thierry Sokoudjou started out well against Brazilian Luiz Cane, hammering in heavy kicks and mixing up his strikes with flying attacks, but for an unknown reason came out in the second round a different fighter and had to be rescued by the referee following a barrage of shots against the fence. The African’s status as a light heavyweight enforcer is starting to crumble – after high profile wins in Pride, he has struggled to maintain the same level of success in the Octagon and will no doubt slip down the ranks as a result.
Welterweights Chris Lytle and Paul Taylor fought a hard three rounds, hitting each other with punches, knees and kicks, and were awarded Fight of the Night as a result, picking up a $40,000 cash bonus each. This is the third time that Englishman Taylor has been in a ‘fight of the night’, but it is notable he was the losing party in each contest. Who said winning was everything?
Veteran fighter Marcus Davis relied on his major experience advantage to avoid Paul Kelly’s attacks, biding his time to take a guillotine choke in the second round. Citing the vast experience and age difference as a major factor in their fight, Davis handed the young Englishman his first loss. “I have over a hundred fights, I already told him, you’re a young kid, you got a long future in this. He hugged me and said thanks.”
Dan Hardy made a triumphant UFC debut against the Japanese veteran Akihiro Gono, battling through low blows and illegal knees in a dramatic contest that ended in a close split decision. Fellow British kickboxer Terry Etim clinically out-struck much-vaunted Canadian Sam Stout for a solid decision win. The three French fighters on the card - Liaudin, Baron and Schiavo - all suffered poor fortune, with Schiavo and Baron both succumbing to rear naked chokes to Jim Miller and Per Eklund respectively, and Liaudin gritting his teeth and fighting through a rib injury only to drop a decision to Swede David Bielkheden.
Full UFC 89 results
Michael Bisping def Chris Leben via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Keith Jardine def Brandon Vera via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Luiz Cane def Remy Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO (RSF) 4.15 Rd2
Chris Lytle def Paul Taylor via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Marcus Davis def Paul Kelly via Submission (Guillotine) 2.16 Rd2
Dan Hardy def Akihiro Gono via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Shane Carwin def Neil Wain via TKO (GnP) 1.31 Rd1
David Bielkheden def Jess Liaudin via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Terry Etim def Sam Stout via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jim Miller def David Baron via Submission (Rear naked choke) 3.19 Rd3
Per Eklund def Samy Schiavo via Submission (Rear naked choke) 1.47 Rd3
INTERNATIONAL FIGHT REPORTS
Strikeforce: Payback, 3 October 2008, Broomfield, Colorado
The sport’s most successful regional promotion, Strikeforce do a great job of filling their shows with young local talent and ‘name fighters’, drawing good crowds and not throwing away millions of dollars in a futile effort to compete with the UFC. Heading inland from their base on the West Coast to the Broomfield Event Center (just north of Denver) they pulled 3,286 fans for an event headlined by maddeningly inconsistent but hugely talented local boy, Duane Ludwig. ‘Bang’ didn’t disappoint, avenging 2005’s shocking 52-second loss to Sam Morgan with a great performance and a first-round victory. Hurting Morgan with a body shot, following with a thunderous right hand to the face and some clinical punches on the ground, Ludwig hasn’t looked this good in a couple of years while Morgan lost his fourth in a row.
In the night’s most explosive fight, the striking (in more ways than one) Michelle ‘Karate Hottie’ Waterson needed just 80 seconds to finish a game but painfully raw Tyra Parker after throwing some fast punches, sharp knees, and literally dragging her opponent to the mat for the decisive rear naked choke.
EliteXC: Heat, October 4th 2008, Sunrise, Florida
As usual, the face of women’s MMA, Gina Carano, struggled to make weight then entered the cage and put on one of the night’s most exciting fights, clearly out-pointing the very tough Kelly Kobald in a fight that yet again emphasised women should be fighting five-minute rounds, just like the men. Carano was in charge throughout but her next prospective opponent, Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, was even more dominant in her fight, torturously battering the stubbornly resistant Yoko Takahashi to a very clear unanimous decision in a match so entertaining both women earned standing ovations after each round. If Carano and Santos had met, as EliteXC had planned in early 2009 it would have been the biggest women’s fight in the sport’s history.
In a fight financed by T-shirt company and MMA promotion Affliction, Andrei Arlovski (with a little help from the referee) beat blubbery brawler Roy Nelson by second-round KO. As most expected, Arlovski was simply too fast for Nelson and ended the fight after rocking Nelson with a series of knees, kicks, punches and one, final, huge right hand. It was hardly an easy night for Arlovski though, as Nelson took him down in the first round and easily moved into side control. Working for submissions, the referee ordered him to “improve his position” and stood the fight up the instant Arlovski slipped free of a kimura attempt, with Nelson still in side control. Nelson later said he felt he was fighting both men and that appalling restart may well have played a role in the fight’s outcome, cutting off Nelson’s momentum and forcing him to abandon his likely gameplan of controlling and beating Arlovski on the ground.
In the night’s only title match, Jake Shields retained the EliteXC welterweight belt, armbarring Britain’s Paul Daley in the second round. The heavy favourite with the odds makers, Shields struggled to take Daley down, and early in the second looked tired and ragged, taking some fast punches and knees. But Shields’ real strength is on the ground, and there, he dominated the action. Maintaining position, peppering Daley with punches and elbows designed to loosen him up for a submission, Shields looked masterful at times. He finally ended it with his fourth armbar attempt. Daley may have lost but he exposed some real weaknesses in Shields, notably his total reliance on his ground skills, his suspect cardio and, even after years of steady improvement, his still-poor striking.
In March 2004 Japanese kickboxing promotion K-1 hired an unknown young white guy as fodder for their cash cow, Bob Sapp. Much faster and more skilled than his monstrous cartoon character of an opponent, Seth Petruzelli floored Sapp in 12 seconds and might have won if he hadn’t suffered a freak elbow injury. Four and a half years later, another cartoon character, Kimbo Slice, had no such luck as Petruzelli needed just 14 seconds to prove EliteXC’s biggest star is little more than hype and a big, bushy beard.
Set to fight on the undercard, Petruzelli stepped into the main event after original headliner Ken Shamrock suffered a cut over his left eye in a ridiculously last-minute training session. Upset with the change of opponent, Slice refused to compete unless EliteXC paid him an ‘undisclosed’ figure on top of his whopping $500,000 guarantee. He then rewarded his exasperated bosses with a display of ineptitude, falling from a jab delivered even while Petruzelli was precariously off-balance. Left open for a barrage of follow-up punches on the ground, Slice was rescued by the referee and was so dazed he tried taking the official down. Commentator Gus Johnson ranted and raved about this being the biggest upset in MMA history. It was nothing of the sort, though it was a real disaster for EliteXC as was clear from matchmaker Jared Shaw’s most unprofessional temper tantrum at cageside.
