Fighters Only

Issue 031

November 2007

September 22^nd 2007

Honda Centre, Anaheim, California

When you look at what happened on UFC 76, you get the feeling that either Dana White has used up his karmic allowance or one of his rivals (such as Gary Shaw) was sat at home, watching the event on TV with a $9.99 Home Voodoo Kit in his hands and a giant smirk on his face. Titled ‘Knockout’, six of the nine fights went to a decision while the remaining three were all finished with submissions. Oops. Not only that but the three much vaunted Pride-imports were all sent home with losses. Oh dear.

And then there was the judging monster. The debate that was started in London only two weeks prior was raging still, with Joe Rogan saying at what seemed like every available moment that the judging criteria and system used by the UFC was ‘flawed’ and needing to be changed. When two fights that were left in the judges’ hands were rendered split decisions, heads were scratched across the globe. Why were two undeniably one-sided decisions so lopsided?

Whatever the answer, the show was eventful and entertaining. The lightweights Tyson Griffin and Thiago Tavares put on a thrilling match that balanced out the boredom of watching Lyoto Machida fight,

Jardine chops at Chucks

“I honestly think I’m a better complete MMA fighter, and this is an opportunity for me to prove that against the best fighter in the history of the UFC.” Confidant he may have been, but it seemed to me that Keith Jardine went into his fight with Chuck Liddell suffering from a serious case of hero-worship. The jittery former-heavyweight overcame this obstacle and turned out a career-best performance to decision the most dominant fighter in UFC history.

Chuck Liddell – the once-feared king of the Octagon. A man who had stopped Randy Couture twice, Tito Ortiz twice, Babalu twice, and left a trail of broken fighter in his wake. The Mohicaned light heavyweight was approaching legend status. A total of 15 UFC wins under his belt, the ‘Iceman’ was said to be livid about his poor performance against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, and would be looking to mark his mark in a fight with an opponent not thought to be much of a threat.

But maybe looking too far forward and at his proposed fight with Wanderlei Silva in December (Dana White had been talking of little else these last weeks, even though it hinged on Chuck winning and a contract being signed) Chuck forgot that there was a hungry fighter opposite him in the Octagon. “I’m going to knock him out,” Chuck said. In fact, in the pre-fight interviews he made all the right noises, but once in the cage he looked no different to the ‘normal’ Chuck. Well, as they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Fighting out of New Mexico and trained by Greg Jackson (responsible for coaching Diego Sanchez until recently and also credited with getting Georges St Pierre back on track against Josh Koscheck) Jardine showed a good strategy in the first round of not trading with Chuck, instead using a sort of stick and move attack that didn’t play into Chuck’s favoured counter punching style.

Mixing up high punches and low kicks, Jardine landed leg and body kicks under Chuck’s looping left hook, and his awkward stuttering style meant Liddell struggled to get into his rhythm in the earlier minutes of the fight. He kept Liddell guessing what would come next, and consistently tricked him into eating a hefty leg kick or chopping right hand to the jaw. Liddell still controlled the Octagon, but Jardine was an elusive target.

Looking comfortable going into the second, Jardine got bloodied up due to Chuck’s rangy left hook, but he managed to land his right kick over and over, mixing it up with his right cross to frustrate and pick off Liddell. A flash knockdown off a right hand even dropped Liddell, and though he managed to chase him down a number of times in the round Jardine evaded the power of Liddell’s swinging arms and kept him out of trouble. With blood running down either side of his face, Jardine had definitely taken the third round.

Jardine beat Chuck to the punch in almost every single exchange in the final round. A bamboozled Liddell had finally met his match in an equally unorthodox and awkward striker. Known as the guy who loves to swing, Chuck swung again and again, but simply couldn’t land that shot he was looking for.

A questionable slit decision (what exactly is happening with the judges in the UFC at the moment?) justifiably went in Jardine’s favour. This was the first fight Liddell had seen go to a decision in five years, and it was taken there by the simplest of strategies. Low kick, low kick, punch, low kick. That an elite fighter like Liddell couldn’t adapt and come up with a counter-strategy beggars belief.

Chuck was slated to fight Wanderlei Silva in December had he won this fight, and after the fight Silva, pictured sat at ringside, looked visibly pissed off that Liddell had lost. “Who am I supposed to fight now?” he has publicly asked. That’s a good question, Wanderlei. What about Forrest Griffin?

Forrest finishes sluggish Shogun

Griffin is a big buy, and a guy that big must have giant balls, because believe it or not, he actually asked to fight Shogun. Yes, that Shogun – the 205lb Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua of Chute Boxe, the one who kicked the shit out of Rampage Jackson, the one who is considered among the best in the world at that weight.

Forrest is a good fighter, but is always thought of as the brawler from the first series of The Ultimate Fighter. Since winning that competition in 2005, the 28-year-old fighter has matured into one of the UFC’s top talents. He was on a nice run until losing by slipping on the banana skin that is Keith Jardine (he hasn’t been the only person to do so – see above).

Coming back strong against an opponent of Shogun’s calibre was a defining moment for Forrest. As expected, the Brazilian came right at him, but this is the kind of fight Griffin loves – a deep, in the trenches affair. Rua started brightly but seemed slower and more sluggish than usual. Forrest’s improved Muay Thai made him more than able to stand with the Brazilian, happily exchanging kicks and punches. On the feet the reach advantage of Griffin really helped him avoid the deadly punches and kicks, and his improved footwork kept him out of danger.

The fight went up and down throughout all three rounds, with both fighters scoring takedowns yet Forrest looking the steadier on the ground. Rua gave his back a number of times, which Forrest welcomed. Both fighters worked from top an bottom, Shogun opening a nasty cut on Griffin’s forehead with an elbow (no question of whether he would be comfortable with the UFC rules then).

Desperately tired by the midway point of the second round, Shogun still gamely hung in as much as possible, but the American kept him busy and forced the Brazilian to try and keep up. The third round was decisive in that Forrest out-grappled Shogun, who by now looked like he was moving underwater. He relentless pounded and broke Rua down before taking his back and sinking in the fight-finishing choke with only 15 seconds left in the contest.

If anything, this fight proved that Forrest has improved to the point where he has entered the top light heavyweights in the world. Shogun has always been considered among the elite, and whether there were outside factors that made him turn in a sub-par performance or not (he reportedly got married only two weeks prior to the fight) Griffin’s game has improved to the degree where he’s no longer that entertaining brawler from a reality TV show. As he said, “I ain’t that great but I’ll fight anybody.” Well he may have his wish, as this win will mark him out as fair game for any of the sports top light heavyweights.

Fitch beats Diego

In an awesome, energetic, technical and dynamic grappling match John Fitch just nipped a close decision win over Diego Sanchez. It was a very close fight with back and fore action. Fitch was certainly the better wrestler while Diego was the more dangerous with some close submission attempts in the third round.

Fitch countered well with a strong positional game and some very effective strikes on the ground. The level of technicality was highly impressive and highlighted exactly how skilled Fitch is even if few fans know his name (he has flown under the radar racking up wins for some time).

The judging criteria debate came into play once again, even though Diego came closer to finishing fight with his submissions, it is Fitch who landed the more damaging strikes and was the better wrestler and it was he who picked up the split decision. Fitch now ranks as one of the division’s top fighters, and we can count on him facing the top fighters soon.

Round Up

The crafty Brazilian fighter Lyoto Machida finally made a slightly exciting fight instead of his usual boring counter punching by taking Pride import Kazuhiro Nakamura the distance. Lyoto looked a lot more aggressive than we’ve seen him in the past, and a tubby Nakamura seemed out of place against him. Usually entertaining, it would be worth Nakamura dropping to 185lbs.

Tyson Griffin was in a Fight of the Night (again), this time against Brazilian Top Team fighter Thiago Tavares. Fighting out of Xtreme Couture, Griffin nipped the decision much like in his fight with Clay Guida with sick transitions, clever grappling and sharp striking.

In other action Rich Clementi survived a rough time against Anthony Johnson but managed to submit him with a rear naked choke, while TUF 5 competitor Matt Wiman had his hands full against former Japanese Olympic judo team member Michihiro Omigawa.