Fighters Only

Issue 033

January 2008

November 17^th 2007,

Prudential Centre, Newark, New Jersey

You have to wonder if the Ultimate Fighting Championships’ (UFC) habit of naming their events is a wise one. Sometimes the results sound clichéd (UFC 65 – “Bad Intentions”), sometimes they are just poorly chosen (UFC 51 – “Super Saturday”), sometimes they are just too obvious (UFC 75 – “Champion vs. Champion”) and sometimes they are exceptionally inaccurate (UFC 76 – “Knockout”, where not one fight ended with a KO).

But once in a while the title of the event matches that of its main feature perfectly, as in the case of UFC 78 – “Validation”. The show would be a first for two reasons – it would see the first ever UFC main event featuring two winners of the UFC’s TV show The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and it would also feature a British fighter in the main event. Rashad Evans (TUF 2 winner, who was coming off an ‘interesting’ draw with Tito Ortiz) and Mike Bisping (TUF 3 winner, and a figure of hate for some American fans) both had plenty to prove.

This wasn’t just about personal rivalry, though there was plenty of that in the run-up to this fight, but this truly was about validating their positions within the UFC and the sport as a whole. When the fifteen minutes were up and a split decision in Evans’ favour was announced, he walked away with his undefeated record intact. While Bisping finally knew what it was like to lose, he gained plenty of credit and praise for his efforts and class in his post-fight actions, something some observers thought was lacking.

Michael Bisping was the UFC’s golden boy, the pride of England and tipped as one of the sport’s top rising stars, yet he lost massive amounts of fan support on both sides of the pond for his controversial win over Matt Hamill. Hardly to blame for the judges’ handiwork, Bisping sucked up the media backlash and angry reactions from American fans (who felt the hometown fighter had somehow cheated Hamill out of a rightful decision) and got his head down and went back to the gym.

Rashad Evans was living comfortably after taking Tito Ortiz to a draw earlier this year, and while he certainly impressed in that fight, he had come still under fire from critics, saying that he didn’t possess the true killer instinct (or gas tank) needed to make it in a cutthroat division like the 205lb class. If he could get a draw with a former champ, he could just have easily gotten a win, right?

Bisping’s motivations in this fight were many. He would have wanted to regain the support he had lost after UFC 75, silence the critics who decried his wrestling ability (or as some might say, lack of) and keep his undefeated record just so. On top of all that, the pressure of headlining a UFC (a first for a Brit) could have crushed lesser fighters, but not Bisping. He was over-psyched for his fight with Elvis Sinosic, reckless and hyped up beyond ‘safe’ levels. He was maybe a little too casual about his fight with Hamill, knowing he had schooled him in the gym on many occasions while they were on TUF 3, but for this fight the focus was just right. He entered the cage with the look of a man who was utterly intent on completing the task at hand. When Rashad took it to him, it was this composure that saw him through right to the end and even onto the scorecards of one of the judges.

Evans’ performance was uninspiring. He has always been a ‘spoiler’ fighter, preferring to take his opponent out of his comfort zone and try to impose his game, and he comfortably managed to do this to Bisping in the first round. His wrestling (which is of an extremely high calibre) was the key, though the Englishman showed great balance and use of the cage in regaining his feet.

The ground was a neutral point in many ways. Evans did not score anything of substance when striking from top, and if anything Bisping’s elbows from bottom were more effective. The few times Evans landed in side control, Bisping would regain guard and happily wait for the ref’s to stans them back up, the only place he really wanted to be.

Rashad is no slouch when it comes to trading blows, and Bisping’s strength has always been his very capable kickboxing, but here it was very much a case of Rashad winging in big shots and baiting Bisping to over-commit so he could take him down. As a result the normally quick-fisted Englishman struggled to let his hands go, and he threw only a handful of kicks all night.

Evans is good, there is no doubt of that whatsoever, but his cardio has always been his weakest area. If he really wants to go up against machines like Rampage, he is going to need to start working a lot harder, namely on finishing fights. Of all his encounters, he has only seen three inside the distance, not exactly the mark of a potential champion. As Evans did not decisively stamp his mark on the fight, Bisping got a nod from one of the judges, and though this gives us an idea of the Brit’s pluck and resilience, it also highlights Rashad’s glaring inability to convince people of his talent.

Silva ends the Houston hype

Chute Boxe-trained fighter Thiago Silva proved his worth in a clever and clinical fight with hard-hitting Houston Alexander. The hype train had been at full speed for Alexander, a remarkable individual, and much was expected of the explosive Nebraskan. Silva showed he has guts aplenty in his bruising encounter with Polish phenom Tomasz Drwal, stopping him in style at UFC 75 in London. Alexander had an even more impressive finish on the same show when he took out the Italian Alessio Sakara, and you can be sure Silva will have studied it thoroughly prior to this fight.

Using excellent lateral footwork to avoid Alexander’s thunderous punches, Silva stayed off the fence as much as possible and out of danger. Houston’s dirty boxing was shown to be more than effective when he destroyed Keith Jardine earlier this year, and Silva (a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt) showed impressive stand-up ability in simply avoiding this part of Alexander’s game. When the American did get hold of his foe, he quite literally slung him to the mat with his raw strength. A slick grappler, Thiago regained his feet and reversed Alexander with relative ease, eventually passing through to full mount where he picked his shots and battered Alexander with brutal punches. Though Alexander gamely hung on for an inordinate amount of time, he made no true efforts to escape and soaked up too many shots. Eventually they took their toll and the referee had no choice but to step in. As Thiago moodily motioned to the camera Alexander (evidently dazed) protested the stoppage, though no argument could be made for letting the fight go any longer. Though Thiago looked somewhat sloppy in his fight with Drwal, his handling of Alexander marks him out as a true talent and a dangerous competitor in the light heavyweight division.

Parisyan puts it on Chonan in lacklustre fight

Ryo Chonan was the latest fighter to suffer from the curse of Pride. The Japanese athlete fought numerous times in the famous ring of Pride, and was making his UFC debut in this fight with perpetual welterweight contender Karo Parisyan. Chonan had trained with Dan Henderson and Team Quest for a prolonged period of time before this fight, and it showed as Judo-prodigy Parisyan struggled to take him down. Karo relied on catching kicks to put Chonan down (which he did numerous times) and though Chonan couldn’t mount much of his own offence save for a few kicks and a bludgeoning right hook in the second round, it was a clear unanimous decision for the American-Armenian. His future now is unclear – he was scheduled to face former welterweight champ Matt Hughes two and a half years ago, but withdrew with injury. Since then he has dropped fights to opponents such as Diego Sanchez but holds a solid win over current champ Matt Serra. UFC 79 will see Hughes and Serra go at it, and it will be Parisyan waiting in the wings for his shot in 2008.

Herman handles Doerkson, but not without a scare

Submission specialist Ed Herman popped his KO cherry by taking out veteran contender Joe Doerkson in the third round. The first two rounds saw a determined Herman work Doerkson over. Scoring takedowns on the strong wrestler, Herman employed his excellent ground game and was always one step ahead, save for the terrifying triangle he found himself in right at the end of the second round. Working over Doerkson from in the guard, he missed with a big elbow and paid for it by almost having it popped by an extremely tight triangle-armbar. He was saved by the bell though, and dropped the battered Doerkson with a sloppy yet weighty left hook shortly into the third.

Undercard fights

Local favourite Frankie Edgar gave the Jersey crowd a thrill by dismantling the very capable Spencer Fisher. Fisher was being looked at as a potential challenger for the lightweight title, having gone through some excellent fights this year and showing true class in every range. Whether it was a case of burnout (the aforementioned fights Fisher had been in were all real wars) or if Edgar fed off the crowd’s energy, Fisher got tooled in every area of the fight. Edgar’s excellent wrestling put him in top position for the entire fight, and he used this control to punish Fisher with blows for a full fifteen minutes and nab the decision.

TUF alumni and now-BJ Penn trained fighter Joe Lauzon did the business on a scrappy and energetic Jason Reinhardt, slickly taking his back and choking his way to victory. A move from Massachusetts to Hawaii hasn’t just done wonders for Lauzon’s tan, his already impressive ground game has also gone up a level.

In other fights of interest veteran Japanese fighter Akihiro Gono took a win in his 47^th career fight by armbarring the local hot prospect and previously undefeated Tamden McCrory.

Marcus Aurelio bounced back from his decision loss to Clay Guida by stopping Luka Caudillo in the first, while Thiago Alves won over the durable Chris Lytle when the doctor decided his cuts prevented him from continuing.