Fighters Only

Issue 025

May 2007

March 3, 2007, Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio

Written by Daniel Fletcher, Images © Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC.

“Tonight was the most incredible night of my career. I couldn't say enough good things about tonight, I couldn't be more excited.” So said a jubilant Dana White after UFC 68 had become North America’s biggest MMA event to date. Over 18,000 spectators went to Ohio to see a remarkable man perform a remarkable feat. Just when you thought he couldn’t surprise you any more, Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture came out of retirement and kicked Tim Sylvia’s ass to once again become the heavyweight champion of the UFC. No wonder White was blown away.

Randy takes apart Sylvia, naturally…

He is ‘The Natural’. Some call him ‘Captain America’. Others simply revere him with the kind of respect reserved for living legends, and in many respects Couture is just that; a living legend. He took the heavyweight title by beating Maurice Smith back in the pre-Zuffa days but left the UFC amid contractual issues. He returned to claim back his belt (which he did in style when he defeated Kevin Randleman) and when he eventually lost it he went down to the extremely competitive light heavyweight division to wreak havoc. He stole Chuck’s number one contender spot (and bagged an interim ‘title’) before quite literally spanking Tito Ortiz to become champion outright. Not bad for a guy who didn’t even get into MMA until his thirties.

The ‘old man’ of the UFC has had his ups and downs, but he still manages to inspire and excite fans across the world. Two crunching losses to Chuck Liddell saw him retire to the commentary booth, but never one to rest on his laurels, a heartfelt belief that he could still compete with the young guns saw him return, although he chose the heavyweight division for his return.

Why would a former light heavyweight go back up to heavyweight? One reason: Tim Sylvia. The Miletich-trained giant has been sitting atop the heavyweight pile for some time now, thanks to a killer right hand and a lack of real challengers. He certainly earned his title, having twice defeated Andrei Arlovski, but a real dearth of talent in the UFC heavyweight division left him holding the belt with little danger of losing it anytime soon. But then a few developments came about all at once that threatened Sylvia’s position as prima-heavyweight.

The arrival of Cro Cop shook the UFC with the force of a left roundhouse kick, but the Croatian kicker wouldn’t have been thrown in with the champ right off the bat. He has got business with the lower rung guys first, as he needs to cut his teeth in the Octagon (and build up his reputation) before he is let loose at the big guns.

Randy saw this as a prime opportunity to tussle with Sylvia and maybe even line himself up for a crack at Cro Cop somewhere down the line. The worry was that Couture, a small man by heavyweight standards, would struggle against the 6’ 8” Sylvia, who actually cuts weight to get under the heavyweight limit of 265lbs.

It took a grand total of seven seconds for Randy to put those worries to bed, as he sent Sylvia to the canvas with a crunching overhand right. As if the crowd weren’t excited enough, they went absolutely mental when Sylvia went down – and as Couture pounced on him and pounded away against the fence chants of “Randy, Randy” echoed around the arena. Couture rode out the entire first round from the back of Sylvia, clearly setting his stall out; he was here to win.

Round two was a little more sedate, although it was the wrestler Couture who was the one who pressed the action in the stand up. The overhand right landed again and again, though Sylvia’s notoriously weak chin held out this time. Mid way through the round Couture took him down with a single leg, and held him there until the final thirty seconds. When stood up, Couture again hooked in shots on the feet and swept out Sylvia’s legs right on the bell.

The third round was a brilliant display of how Couture can still learn even at the age of 43. His head movement and lateral footwork (coupled with counter punches that frustrated and flustered Sylvia) surprised all observers, and he controlled the round in a measured and confident style, spending the entire five minutes on his feet.

As the third round was spent on the feet, the fourth was on the mat. An early takedown showcased Randy’s world class wrestling skills, and a second with two minutes left put the fight firmly in his control as he slipped into mount. Sylvia couldn’t make the most of the brief time on his feet, taken out of his rhythm by Randy’s style and simple unable to let his hands go. The final round saw Couture completely dominate Sylvia. He took the larger man down (who was by now at a complete loss) and worked him over from almost every position possible, continually pounding on his larger foe.

If you ever doubted Sylvia as a bone-fide champion, you would have been spitting feathers after watching his performance in this fight. Woeful at best, his footwork was non-existent, he couldn’t let his hands go and his defence was so bad that he was continually out-boxed by a wrestler. Let’s just put that into perspective; a former wrestling champion outboxed a man known as a striker. Sylvia made some excuses that he was unable to prepare properly for the fight, but it seemed more a case that he couldn’t rise to the occasion. The man who famously lives in his title belt has finally had to hand it over to a deserving victor.

Though the fight was one of the most entertaining of the year, the aftermath of this contest is where it really gets interesting. If Mirko Cro Cop makes hi way through the fodder placed in front of him over the next few months, we could well see a showdown between him and Randy. Given Couture’s track record of fighting kickboxer’s (Liddell took him out twice once he worked out Randy’s game) it doesn’t bode well for the new champ, but if this fight reminded us of just one thing, it was that you can never write off Randy Couture.

Franklin shakes off ring rust but doesn’t impress

Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin is an Ohio native who would be looking to really put on a show for the home crowd. Fed lanky but limited grappler Jason MacDonald, he was supposed to put on one of those performances we loved him for, namely a dismantling akin to his two fights against Evan Tanner, his battering of poor Edwin Dewees or his ownage of David Loiseau and Jorge Rivera.

Unfortunately Anderson Silva put a stop to his reign as middleweight champ and Franklin was left the challenge of overcoming a difficult return. Not only did he lose his title but he would have lost a lot of confidence after his hammering, and MacDonald was the kind of opponent who may appear to be challenging but in reality was an easy-ish ‘welcome back’ kind of match.

Franklin did what expected, but looked uneasy at times and hesitant. If MacDonald weren’t quite so fearful of his stand up we may have seen Ace tested a little better, but all Franklin had to do was defend the repeated takedown attempts and capitalise where he could. MacDonald really doesn’t like getting hit (see his fight with Leben for evidence) and while Ace is known as a banger, he didn’t let his hands go like he did against Tanner.

Whether it was rustiness or some inner hesitancy that hints at a dented ego, either way Franklin wasn’t quite himself. He still did enough for MacDonald’s corner to pull him out at the end of the second round, but those expecting great things from Franklin would have been very disappointed. He will have gained a boost from this win though, and given the right opponents, Franklin could soon become a danger to the entire division in no time.

Hughes cruises to victory, Lytle doesn’t get out of starting blocks

Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes lives off his reputation as the most dominant welterweight in the UFC. Without it, he is often looked on as ‘just another wrestler’. The thing with Hughes is that he had been champ for so long he had almost forgotten how not to be the champ. When BJ Penn snatched his title away in a shock victory back in 2004, Hughes was distraught. He picked himself up, dusted himself off and went back to work, winning his next six fights and picking his title back up along the way.

When Georges St Pierre took the belt away just last November, there were rumours that Hughes was done, as life in MMA without his belt just wouldn’t have been worth living. Somehow he has been persuaded to stick around, although he’s been relegated to one of the many fighters eyeing up GSP’s shiny new belt.

Chris Lytle was one such fighter, runner up to Matt Serra in the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter and now in the wasteland of fighters the UFC keep around ‘just in case’. Lytle is an enigma; he is a very competent fighter with an amazing skill set who seems to choke every time he steps into the UFC Octagon. He has two wins out of seven appearances with them, yet routinely fights equally dangerous opponents elsewhere with little or no hassle.

Hughes didn’t quite steamroller his way over Lytle, but he pretty much had his way with him. Lytle couldn’t stop the takedown and was unable to hunt for any submissions. Hughes contentedly worked from top, managing to pass guard on a few occasions but never threatening to finish. It was simply a bit of a damp squib compared to Randy’s barnburner.

Babalu gets battered

Poor old Babalu. Ten straight victories in three years and then he loses in back-to-back fights. It is unlikely anyone expected Jason Lambert to take him out in such fashion though, stopping him with a vicious barrage of strikes midway through the second period. Babalu seems stuck in second gear at present. He is such an intimidating person and has such energy about his persona that if he takes a loss (like the one from Liddell) he seems to lose his touch. Lambert rode out Babalu’s succession of attacks in the first round until the right opening came, whereupon he smashed a series of punches into the Brazilian’s head that dropped Babalu to the canvas. Hurt and dazed, Babalu managed to hang on until the end of the round, but looked weak and shaky in the second. Three and a half minutes in, Lambert took advantage of a restart to quickly land a devastating left hook that put Babalu out. With 29 fights in six years Lambert is a competent fighter on the up, whereas the 34-fight veteran Babalu seems tired and broken down. Only two years in age separate them, but as far as future prospects go, they are worlds apart.

Kampmann shows off submission, TUF’s Hamill makes a splash

Danish fighter Martin Kampmann is known as a kickboxer but he had his hands full with dangerous Miletich-trained Drew McFedries. The southpaw McFedries continually landed on Kampmann until the European was forced to take the fight to the floor. Locking in a tight arm-triangle choke, Kampmann put McFedries to sleep in just over four minutes.

Matt Hamill, noted as the first deaf fighter to ever enter the UFC, went up against fellow Ohio native Rex Holman and used his wrestling to good effect. Hamill may only have three fights to his name, but with his wrestling skills and his training with Tito Ortiz, he is a force to be reckoned with. He still hates getting hit, but if he can overcome this he will be a danger to anyone in the light heavyweight division.

In other action welterweight Jon Fitch won his fifth UFC fight in a row with a submission over American Top Team fighter Luigi Fioravanti, Brazilian fighter Gleison Tibau defeated Jason Dent via decision and up-and-coming lightweight Jamie Varner took out Jason Gilliam with a first round submission.