Fighters Only

Issue 026

June 2007

Manchester, April 21^st 2007

By Daniel Fletcher, Images © Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC.

The Ultimate Fighting Championships made their long awaited return to the United Kingdom on April 21^st, setting up shop in one of the country’s most well-known boxing venues. The cavernous Manchester Evening News Arena played host to a stellar card that, while not seeing any titles disputed, was one of the strongest line ups the UFC have had for a while.

They needed to make a splash on their return, and they drew on their top European fighters to provide it. Headlining was Mirko Cro Cop of Croatia, and the undercard had Belorussian striker Andrei Arlovski, French kickboxer Cheick Kongo and of course, England’s ‘Ultimate Fighter’ Michael Bisping.

It was a rollercoaster of an evening. Emotional and shocking in many different ways, the ramifications of this event were felt from one side of the Atlantic to another, courtesy of a hefty high kick in the main event, but it didn’t come from who you were expecting.

“Anything can happen in the next fifteen minutes”

The old Brazilian-Portuguese term for what we now know as mixed martial arts was Vale Tudo. Coined by a reporter way back in the 1930’s, it is quite literally translated as ‘anything goes’, referring to the limited set of rules combatants fought under. Nowadays the term has fallen out of use, as athletic commissions, safety measures and regulation take away the original meaning of the phrase.

However MMA still and always will have that element of ‘anything goes’, but not in the literal sense. When we would once say anything goes, now we mean anything can happen. Brazilian fighter Gabriel ‘Napao’ Gonzaga proved that by dismantling and then knocking out one of the most feared heavyweight fighters in MMA; Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic.

Cro Cop is the man highlight reel editors watch like a hawk, for his trademark left high kick has taken many a scalp. A knockout artist supreme, you might say. But in the case of this encounter, you might be reminded of the old adage: “Live by the sword, die by the sword”. The Brazilian fighter pundits expected to lose almost took Mirko’s head off with a high kick. The irony could be felt all the way back to Croatia.

Gonzaga, a Brazilian fighting out of the US, is a bulky 240lb grappler with more than one stoppage on his resume. His promo gave no clue as to his striking ability, or any ability to speak of for that matter. He showed middling promise as a B-class brawler in his previous UFC matches, but came into the fight with Mirko looking like a champion ready to be crowned.

In contrast, Mirko looked podgy and you have to ask if he took this fight lightly. Even if he did train properly for the fight, he still seemed out of sorts in the day leading up to the contest. In the pre-fight press conference he indicated the heavyweight title was on his mind, and it could well be that he was looking past Gonzaga.

The Brazilian was certainly focussed though, and it showed. Starting with some aggressive stand up skills and always circling away from that lethal left high kick of the Croatian, he used his long arms to tag Mirko with headshots. When the moment that everyone was waiting for and Mirko threw his first kick (to the midsection) Gonzaga scooped it up and ran him to the canvas.

Settling into the closed guard, Gonzaga begun a sustained attack of punches and elbows that not only cut the Croatian but also had him dazed. Relentlessly working, he landed over 20 clean shots to the head and face, although bizarrely referee Herb Dean stood the fighters up with around 30 seconds left in the first round. It could be speculated that this was to give Cro Cop an advantage, even if he was on the losing end of a 10-9 round, but Gonzaga did the unthinkable and landed a beefy right high kick to the skull with close to 10 seconds remaining.

Cro Cop fell, his leg twisting under him in a sickening manner, and Gonzaga pounced. Herb Dean may have made the wrong call in standing them back up, but he was flawless in not only his stoppage but in righting Mirko’s misshapen leg. Gonzaga roared with approval and the crowd collectively mouthed “what the fuck?” Dana White looked like a child who had just been told that Santa Claus didn’t exist, such was the look of disbelief on his face.

This amazing finish to what was in effect a fight with only one ending (i.e. Mirko not losing) makes Gonzaga the number one challenger to Randy Couture’s heavyweight crown. Couture may be the most popular heavyweight champion in the history of the UFC, but if Cro Cop’s fearsome reputation couldn’t subdue Gonzaga, expect Randy’s to have little effect either.

The Count vs. The King

Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping has been elevated to true-celebrity status in the UK, thanks in part due to his winning performance on the UFC’s reality TV show ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and partly due to his natural charisma, charm and likeable personality.

The media love him. Hell, Dana White loves him! Over and over White has said “the guy is a superstar” and in the MEN Arena, only an hour’s drive from his hometown, Bisping was indeed a superstar for the evening. It seemed like every single one of the 14,000-plus fans was cheering just for him, and as he bounded to the Octagon it was clear he was feeding off the energy.

His opponent, the durable, tricky (yet limited) Australian fighter Elvis ‘The King of Rock and Rumble’ Sinosic was in good cheer in the build-up to this fight. Elvis is the kind of guy who doesn’t posture or bull things up, opting to relax before a fight and get to business in the cage. Bisping had plenty to contend with in his preparations, not only in training (which was harder than ever according to those from within his camp) but the constant media attention.

Bisping featured on every poster, flyer, newspaper piece and magazine article in the run up to this event, and with good reason. Selling the crowd out would still have been possible but there is no doubt that Bisping’s presence made it that little easier. He is the most talked-about, most-admired and most-recognisable British fighter of the moment.

Elvis as an opponent drew some derision from watchers of the game, stating that the UFC were feeding Bisping an easy fight for his big show. Elvis may be a journeyman, but his record belies his abilities and he is always a challenge, as Bisping was to find out. Charging into action, Bisping couldn’t assert his usual level of dominance in the stand-up (Elvis’s height and reach make him an awkward opponent on the feet) but the British fighter caught the Australian’s leg and ran him to the canvas.

Anyone who has seen Sinosic fight knows he is a great jiu-jitsu guy, with exceptional ability in fighting from his back. Bisping would have known this, yet he opted to remain in the guard and work a ground and pound attack. He has always said no-one has seen his true ground and pound ability, and the crowd were treated to display of exactly what he can do. Elvis was worked over with punches, forearms and elbow and only had a fleeting glance of an armbar attempt the entire time he was down. Bisping rode out the round in utter control, pushing the pace with a work-rate that hinted at his hard work in the gym.

Elvis didn’t even get up on the bell, opting to remain where he was on the canvas instead of making his way back to his stool. His corner worked on him as best they could, and it looked questionable as to whether he would even make it out for the second round. Literally seconds before the round was to begin though, Elvis steadily and purposefully rose to his feet and took his position, ready to go. I told you he was durable.

The second round was, for a few heart-stopping minutes, very, very different. An exchange in the centre of the cage saw Elvis bring a sharp knee up under Bisping’s chin, which the English fighter admits he didn’t even see coming. As he tumbled to his rear the partisan crowd held a collective gasp of shock, and the Aussie pounced on him to follow him, diving into side control and wrenching on a sickening kimura.

Bisping later admitted his arm popped three times, but also added “there was no way I was going to tap to that.” Struggling his way out, Bisping ended up with the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt on his back, but managed to defend himself until he spun around and was in guard. With Elvis’s head on the cage, Bisping rained down punches until referee Steve Mazzagatti jumped in at 1.40.

Elated and tired (but never speechless) Bisping roused plenty of support from the crowd in his post-fight interview. “I had complete control of round one but he managed to put me in a submission in round two and I didn’t see the shot coming. He took a lot of punishment.”

This isn’t Sparta

Spartan warrior look-alike Andrei Arlovski was once the most feared heavyweight in the UFC. He has lost some of his aura in recent showings, with many pointing to his two losses to Tim Sylvia as muting his once-legendary killer instinct, but he is still a 6’4” machine capable of taking out pretty much any fighter in front of him.

Fabricio Werdum, the man who once taught Cro Cop jiu-jitsu, is no stranger to having kicks and punches thrown at him thanks to his time in Croatia, but he is no striker. A submission specialist and jiu-jitsu champion, he matched Arlovski for physical assets (he is also 6’4”) but couldn’t outsmart the Belorussian’s sprawl and brawl game plan.

Believe it or not, Andrei has some of the best takedown defence in the business. Just think back for a moment… How many times have you seen Andrei on his back thanks to a takedown? Not since Ricco Rodriguez pounded him out to a TKO has he been in an inferior position on the mat, although his chin has been tested more than once.

For a jiu-jitsu guy, Werdum certainly managed to test out Arlovski’s chin, tagging the superior striker on more than a few occasions, however the fight was an often slow-paced calculated affair that drew plenty of booing from the crowd. Arlovski knocked down Werdum with a lovely uppercut but wouldn’t risk following it up, and after cruising to a decision apologised for the lack of action, stating “I followed my trainer’s instructions.” It is a shame he didn’t listen to UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, who had said the previous day that he should push-kick Werdum and scream, “This is Sparta!” If only…

Main Card

Brazilian counter-fighter Lyoto Machida has flashes of brilliance and is a competent fighter, but my god he is boring. Literally performing around 90 seconds worth of work in 900 seconds of fighting time, his 10% of action hardly earned him his purse, but his win was convincing and he walked away with a unanimous decision over David Heath.

Commentator Joe Rogan said it best when he suggested that French heavyweight Cheick Kongo should be kidnapped and taken to a wrestling academy. That Kongo fights at this level and seems not to have a rudimentary understanding of how to defend a takedown is ludicrous. His opponent, the Brazilian Asseurio Silva took him down repeatedly with a high-crotch slam, and once on his back Kongo seemed lost. His striking is very, very good, although much of his prowess comes down to his sheer size. What is more difficult to believe than Kongo not knowing how to wrestle us that he scored a majority decision over Silva.

Undercard

The main card may have had one or two snoozers on it, but the undercard was all action. Undefeated Liverpool lad Terry Etim seemingly choked out American wrestler / brawler Matt Grice twice in the same fight. The second time was indeed the charm as he cranked on a guillotine to put his opponent to sleep and pick up his 10^th career victory.

Frenchman Jess Liaudin is based out of the UK and has been waiting for his chance in the UFC for almost ten years. He wasted no time in showing people why he thought he deserved to be there by cranking a picture perfect armbar on opponent Denis Siver in only 1.21 of the first.

English fighters Paul Taylor was successful in taking out Edilberto Crocota with a vicious high kick (followed by punches) in the third round of the opening fight of the night, while Dave Lee suffered miserably at the hands of middling Brazilian Junior Assuncao.