Issue 043
November 2009
It was a shocking night for Chuck Liddell, as the infamous knockout artist was himself laid out cold by undefeated Rashad Evans. The once-dominant light heavyweight champ chased Evans around the Octagon for the first round, landing glancing blows and becoming visibly frustrated, but his eagerness to take it to Evans left him face down on the canvas.
The stunning nature of the second round KO was made even more intriguing when you consider the events of the opening round. Evans looked awful, using his fast footwork to scurry out of Chuck’s way and avoid the numerous looping punches that skimmed by his face. On the surface, Evans looked nervous (if not scared) and plainly allowed Chuck to bully him.
But this wasn’t the case at all. Evans had let Chuck dictate the pace of the first round as part of the feeling-out process. In a crafty strategic move, Evans allowed Chuck’s confidence to grow to the point Liddell thought he had the Michigan-based fighter on the back foot. It was this flaw in Liddell’s psychology that allowed Evans to draw Liddell into trading punches with him in the pocket instead of ‘point scoring’ from range. The taller Californian had a distinct reach advantage, but Evans took this away by baiting him in and sending a crunching overhand right straight to Liddell’s jaw just shy of two minutes into the second of what would have been three rounds.
Rashad Evan’s coach, Greg Jackson (who also trains fighters such as GSP, Keith Jardine and more) was told by a post-fight interviewer that Evans had clearly lost the first round. Educating them to their game plan, he told them “you’re looking at it round by round, you’ve got to think about the bigger picture”. It was this forethought that allowed Rashad to get his timing and unleash the finishing blow.
Where this leaves Liddell’s career is anyone’s guess. His hopes at regaining light heavyweight gold are long-gone, as Rashad has now advanced to number one contender status. Rampage and Wanderlei Silva both sit ahead of him in the queue, and picking up fights with fellow hopefuls such as Shogun Rua isn’t exactly befitting someone of his age and status. If Chuck is to continue fighting, he has to accept he is merely one of many eyeing up the strap around Griffin’s waist.
Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin both made successful returns to the Octagon. Franklin looked good taking out tough wrestler Matt Hamill with a kick to the body, stopping the deaf fighter in the third round of an affair that was played out almost entirely on the feet. Henderson looked a class above the game (yet limited) Rousimar Palhares. The Brazilian dived in at Henderson’s legs over and over, scoring a few notable takedowns but unable to submit the gnarly wrestler. Henderson looked a lot more like his old self, the one who ran through fighters such as Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort.
Nate Marquardt pulled off something of a shocker by taking out Martin Kampmann inside one round. The former King of Pancrase looked extremely sharp, clipping Kampmann with a high kick and then pouring massive pressure on the Dane until the referee stepped in. With fellow middleweight Henderson picking up a win, it is wholly possible the two could square off for a shot at Anderson Silva’s title.
In other action, Korean standout Dong Hyun Kim looked fantastic in his opening round against Matt Brown of TUF fame, but failed to capitalise on his dominant positions and tired in the second and third rounds. Some scrappy takedowns and a nasty elbow to the face late in the third just about gave him the edge on the scorecards, although Brown impressed with his resilience more than Kim did in this contest.
Full results
Ryo Chonan def Roan Carneiro via Split Decision
Jason MacDonald def Jason Lambert via Submission
(Rear-Naked choke) 1.20 Rd2
Tim Boetsch def Michael Patt via TKO (Punches) 2.03 Rd1
Kurt Pellegrino def Thiago Tavares via Unanimous Decision
Dong Hyun Kim def Matt Brown via Split Decision
Nathan Marquardt def Martin Kampmann via TKO (Punches)
1.22 Rd1
Dan Henderson def Rousimar Palhares via Unanimous Decision
Rich Franklin def Matt Hamill via TKO 0.39 Rd3
Rashad Evans def Chuck Liddell via KO 1.51 Rd2
UFC Fight Night: Omaha, Nebraska, 17 September 2008
The increasingly regular ‘Fight Night’ specials often feature plenty of TUF veterans and this one was no different, though the TUF stars had a rough night, with only one of them picking up a win in a night of judge’s decisions.
In the main event, prodigiously talented TUF5 winner Nate Diaz took a well-earned split decision over the experienced and underrated ‘Dentist’ Josh Neer. The Iowa fighter dominated early, even threatening with a couple of choke attempts, but as the fight wore on the creative, slick Diaz showed off his skills with some brilliant movement on the ground.
Neer troubled Diaz at times but the 23-year-old from Stockton, California boasts superb submission defence and has more than enough stamina to maintain a fast pace for the full three rounds. The fight was fairly close but even Neer seemed surprised to have got the nod from one of the judges. Afterwards, Diaz paid tribute to his tough opponent while simultaneously disrespecting practically every other fighter in the lightweight division, and being a Diaz, he even managed to swear on live television. Even after the bell, Diaz is just compulsively watchable.
TUF6 winner Mac Danzig simply couldn’t cope with Clay Guida’s sheer pace, ferocity and conditioning for anything but short stretches of their entertaining lightweight fight, dropping a very clear, unanimous decision. Danzig did an excellent job of subduing the energetic Guida early on, landing precise punches before Guida scored one of his trademark slams and followed up with some typically relentless ground ‘n pound. Guida seems genetically incapable of dullness and displayed that yet again in the second and third rounds he constantly pressured, attacked, wrestled and outpaced his opponent. Guida’s style is far from pretty and he rarely finishes fights but he’s easily one of the 155lb division’s most consistently entertaining, popular fighters.
Looking loose, relaxed and almost contemptuously confident, 24-year-old middleweight rising star Alan Belcher used some precise jabs, the odd meaty right or left hand and some powerful leg kicks as he picked apart TUF3 finalist Ed Herman on their feet. ‘Short Fuse’ is a better grappler than Belcher and he finished the first and third rounds very strongly, but the fight went Belcher’s way by an unpopular split decision. Herman looked appalled at the verdict but considering the amount of time he spent plodding sleepily after the more active, eye-catching Belcher, he has only himself to blame for dropping to his second defeat in a row.
Sengoku, Fourth Battle: Tokyo, Japan, 24 August 2008
Heavy-handed, aggressive and skilled, it is little wonder Takanori Gomi is one of Japan’s most popular fighters. Sadly, ‘the Fireball Kid’ has a tendency to undertrain and take things easy when he doesn’t feel threatened by his opponent. Once again, this was the case in front of a sparsely-peopled Saitama Super Arena in the evening’s lacklustre main event. Content to stalk inexperienced South Korean Seung Hwan Bang and throw the occasional powershot, Gomi just never seemed to make much of an effort against his outclassed but spirited opponent. Nonetheless, the Japanese star picked up the unanimous decision while the South Korean did well at times in by far the biggest fight of his short career. Bang has plenty of potential, and hopefully more of a work ethic than the far more talented (though sometimes infuriating) Gomi.
Like promotional rivals DREAM did earlier this year, Sengoku treated its fans to a multi-show lightweight tournament, with the eventual prize a fight with the mercurial Gomi. The first round went swimmingly, with all four Japanese fighters defeating their foreign opponents, some of them in real style. A regular training partner of Japanese submission supremos Shinya Aoki and Masakazu Imanari, the diminutive Satoru Kitaoka made short work of American Clay French. Kitaoka snapped French’s eight-fight winning streak with a lovely ankle lock in a mere 31 seconds. A criminally underrated fighter, the 27-year-old Kitaoka owns submission wins over UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino, WEC Lightweight champion Carlos Condit and British star Paul Daley.
Another underrated fighter, Eiji Mitsuoka pulled off a shocker, submitting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Rodrigo Damm 3:13 in a fun, energetic scrap. Inconsistent but undoubtedly talented, Mitsuoka handed Damm his first defeat in almost four years. Mitsuoka looked ragged early but a beautifully-timed right hand counter floored Damm and the Japanese journeyman pounced, clamping on a textbook rear naked choke for the submission win.
In easily the best fight of the night, 27-year-old rising star Mizuto Hirota KO’ed standout Team Quest wrestler and IFL Lightweight champion Ryan Schultz 4:25 into the second round. After the IFL’s implosion, Ryan ‘the Lion’ chose Sengoku over the UFC and was the pre-tournament favourite for many. He fought like one for most of this fight, controlling the action with his workrate, wrestling and tidy punching. But Hirota (another product of the impeccable talent system of the Shooto promotion) is a busy, intelligent, and most importantly, explosive fighter. He finished the comparatively huge Jesus-bearded Schultz with a monstrous right hook. Finally, Kazunori Yokota made the semi-finals with a unanimous decision win over Slovenia’s Bojan Kosednar in a fight so mind-crushingly dull it should never be viewed by anyone ever again.
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