Fighters Only

Issue 023

March 2007

UFC 66: Liddell vs Ortiz II

December 30, 2006, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

Ortiz-Liddell – once more, with feeling. “I’m gonna hurt him. First round, second round, third round, fourth round, I’m gonna knock him out.” Chuck Liddell was painfully frank about how he saw his fight with Tito Ortiz going, and though Ortiz spouted his usual bluster, you had the feeling that Chuck just wasn’t buying it.

Chuck showed why he is the best kickboxer in the UFC (for now anyway, Anderson Silva and the recently acquired Cro Cop could both steal that crown in time) by angling off nicely, loose as ever and with his hands contemptuously low at times. Though he appears gangly and flat on his feet, Liddell has great footwork and amazing hand speed for such an unorthodox fighter. He didn’t press the action though, preferring to sit and wait and counter Tito’s spirited attempts.

Though he has been and always will be labelled a wrestler, Tito showed a rigid but improved stand up game, yet couldn’t make Liddell come on to him and was forced to shoot for the double from the outside. This wasn’t going to happen against someone like Liddell. With a 32-foot diameter Octagon to play with, he was more than able to evade Ortiz. Randy Couture showed us how to take Liddell down, and it involves chasing him down and catching up with him – a risky strategy against such an experienced counter-puncher, and Couture fell to him twice doing exactly that.

As the four-minute mark was coming, Chuck threw one of his trademark looping punches. A huge left hook on the end of a three-punch combo, he caught a glancing blow high on Tito’s skull. Ortiz backed off, but lost his balance and fell forward. Chuck pounced on and unleashed a massive salvo that had the referee Mario Yamasaki looking very closely. Many thought that was it, but 30 seconds later a bloody yet clear-looking Ortiz was back on his feet and ready for more. Liddell had eased his attack, maybe as way of prolonging the bout for the entertainment of those watching, or maybe to give Tito a fighting chance.

Though the first round was relatively even, it was clear that Chuck had been simply warming up, and this round began to show the gulf in striking ability between the two. Ortiz bravely kickboxed and moved around the ring but couldn’t find the takedown he was searching for, though he came close with a desperate ankle pick. He did manage to briefly gain Liddell’s back though, by way of a sublime double leg-to rear bodylock transition. Liddell showed real class by patiently looking for a way out and getting back to his feet, parting company from the clinch with a nasty overhand elbow that had Tito rubbing his eye.

It took just four minutes of the third round for Liddell to finish Ortiz. The mohican-sporting kickboxer hunted for and caught a couple of nice bodyshots but did his usual ‘come to me’ dance for much of the round, and once or twice Ortiz obliged him. Trading a flurry of strikes near the fence Liddell copped one from Ortiz that saw his face change as a result. The ever impassive Liddell suddenly looked piqued, angry even, that Ortiz should hit him in the face with a punch. Storming in with a combination, Liddell poured it on – Ortiz wilted under the pressure and looked for a desperate takedown. Trapping Ortiz near the fence and raining down unanswered blows to the head, the fight was stopped as the crowd went ballistic. The Iceman had defeated the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ once again.

This will only serve to strengthen pundit’s opinions that Liddell has Ortiz’s number for good. As good as Ortiz is, it seems that he will be destined to remain in the number two spot as long as Liddell rules the division.

Bisping blows away red menace

A rusty but efficient Michael Bisping made his UFC-debut proper by taking out ginger grappler Eric Schafer. At 7-2-2 Schafer is a submission specialist who had choked his last UFC opponent, Rob MacDonald, out cold with an arm triangle choke. As we all know Bisping won the third series of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) in style by annihilating his competition.

Far inferior a kickboxer to the light footed Bisping, Schafer lumbered along in the stand up and gave the Englishman plenty of opportunity to hit him, and was clearly out to grapple from the very start. Bisping showed good takedown defence and handled himself well on the mat. He was definitely in danger of being submitted a number of times – if anything, this was first time his jiu-jitsu skills have been tested, but he showed well roundedness and an ability to get out of trouble and came through fine.

A high work rate coupled with some excellent ground and pound (something he cheekily insisted we don’t see enough of, and that he is actually quite good at) had the referee pulling him off towards the end of the first round. In a 12 fight career, Bisping has only gone past the first round a total of three times, and though he came close to going into the second in this fight it is doubtful Schafer would have lasted long, as he couldn’t match Bisping’s pace. Small for 205, Mike suffered a visible height and overall size disadvantage, which begs the question of whether he could drop to 185lbs. Who is next for Bisping? If the rumours are true he could be entertaining British fans in the UFC’s first visit to the UK since UFC 38. He definitely needs more time to build experience before taking on any of the big guns, so potentially expect an ex-TUF fighter or similar.

Griffin goes down to Jardine

What is it about Forrest Griffin that everyone loves? Is it his cheeky grin? Is it his self deprecating humour? Or is it just that he fights with the kind of abandonment that gets fans jumping up and down on their chairs screaming their lungs out? Whatever the reason, its hard not to enjoy watching him fight, and as ever, Griffin brought his all in this encounter with Keith Jardine.

Jardine – with a face like that you’d think he’d stick out a bit, but try and remember his fights, go on, try. Struggling? Well he was in TUF 2 as a heavyweight, and has fought a few times in the Ultimate Fight Night shows, notably taking Stephan Bonnar to a decision.

This was never going to be a technical grappling match. They threw down in short, energetic flurries, with neither fighter getting an advantage until a particularly spirited exchange. They stood, they traded, Forrest got caught with an uppercut followed by a hook and was staggered. Jardine jumped on him with a vicious flurry and down Griffin went. Those 4oz gloves don’t offer much in the way of padding and the way both men were swinging, it was only a matter of time before someone got tagged. A few more shots from the guard had Forrest’s head bouncing off the canvas and the referee waving the contest off.

Jardine floats around the top ten LHWs in the UFC, and hopefully this win will get him better fights. He humbly said in his post fight interview that he hoped this might mark him out for bigger and better things. Where this leaves Forrest is anyone’s guess. Visibly emotional after the contest, he cut short his post fight interview and walked away teary and upset. You have to ask whether his propensity for putting on a show cost him the fight.

Arlovski pounds out Pe De Pano

In a classic striker / grappler match-up former heavyweight champ Andrei ‘The Pitbull’ Arlovski dismantled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Marcio ‘Pe De Pano’ Cruz. The lanky grappler was desperate to take it to the floor, but Arlovski showed a mean sprawl and only went to the ground when Pe De Pano flopped to his back looking for a leglock. Cruz found out the hard way that this isn’t sport jiu-jitsu, even though he tried his best to get his grappling style to work. Arlovski, a former Sambo champion back in his native Belarus, was savvy to the attack and dealt with it with ease and brutality.

Arlovski showed an area of his game we’ve not seen really before – his ground and pound. Upon the restart (referee Herb Dean had warned him for an illegal kick to the face) he pounded away with vicious abandonment, leaving Pe De Pano in a woozy mess. With much improved English skills in his post fight interview, Arlovski is looking good on his road to once again working among the top HWs in the UFC.

MacDonald makes Leben tap

In a middleweight encounter the relatively-unknown fighter Jason Macdonald defeated the most annoying man in MMA, Chris Leben, by guillotine.

Leben is an ugly fighter, and I’m not (just) talking about his looks. Is it just me, or does he fight like he’s drunk? An uncontrollable flapping of arms and legs in the general direction of his opponent coupled with facial expressions reminiscent of a monkey taking a shit have surprisingly won him a fair few matches.

He was bullying MacDonald around the cage and generally having his way with the startled-looking Canadian, until he stuck his neck out and got guillotined for his trouble. MacDonald hated getting hit – and believe it or not, he’s now been thrown in against Franklin (for Franklin’s comeback fight in March), who the UFC are smart enough to realise needs a really easy fight to make his way back into the Octagon. Unfortunately, MacDonald seems to believe his own hype. After the fight he whole-heartedly said that he felt he was “a contender”.

Round-up

Tony DeSouza had a rough night against the ferocious Thiago Alves. The Peruvian-American tried his best to get Alves down to the ground but just couldn’t manage it and ate a huge knee to the face midway through the second round. Gabriel Gonzaga went one up against Carmelo Marrero by armbarring him in the first round, Yushin Okami had

Rory Singer tapping to strikes in the third round of their fight while up and comer Christian Wellisch decisioned Aussie fighter Anthony Perosh.

Full results

Christian Wellisch def Anthony Perosh via Decision (Unanimous)

Yushin Okami def Rory Singer via Submission (Punches) 4:03 Rd3

Gabriel Gonzaga def Carmelo Marrero via Submission (Armbar) 3:22 Rd1

Thiago Alves def Tony DeSouza via KO (Knee) 1:10 Rd2

Michael Bisping def Eric Schafer via TKO (Strikes) 4:24 Rd1

Andrei Arlovski def Marcio Cruz via KO (Punches) 3:15 Rd1

Jason MacDonald def Chris Leben via Submission (Guillotine Choke) 4:03 Rd2

Keith Jardine def Forrest Griffin via TKO (Punches) 4:41 Rd1

Chuck Liddell def Tito Ortiz via TKO (Punches) 3:59 Rd3

PRIDE Shockwave (Otoko Matsuri) 2006

December 31.Saitama Super Arena Japan

The crowd were treated to some fast knockouts, another great scrap between Josh Barnett and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a massive upset involving a certain massive Englishman and the extremely rare sight of the peerless Fedor Emelianenko looking very, very human.

PRIDE heavyweight title: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mark Hunt

Weighing in at a whopping 290lbs, the fleshy New Zealander outweighed defending champion Emelianenko by 57 pounds. Despite his size and near-legendary chin, very few gave Hunt a chance of surviving the first five minutes, let alone actually winning. He didn’t win, but he did give Emelianenko one of the toughest fights of his entire career. Hunt looked for bombs early but Emelianenko charged, clinched and scored a very straightforward takedown. Switching rapidly to a full mount, Emelianenko quickly went for an armbar. This one looked like just a matter of time. But the seemingly flawless champion didn’t execute it perfectly, failing to swing one leg over Hunt’s face. He patiently corrected this and seemed to have the submission fully extended but despite his reputation for having a weak submission defence, Hunt broke free by spinning, stepping over Fedor and taking side control. That was a real shocker. Unfortunately, Hunt had little idea what to do from there beyond just laying his extra weight on the champion. Impassive as ever, Emelianenko did escape but took a meaty (and illegal) punch to the back of the skull that seemed to daze him a little.

Starting again on their feet, Hunt landed a couple of punches. Emelianenko went for a very ragged looking takedown and once again, Hunt took side control and even went for a keylock, and then another before letting go in the face of Emelianenko’s stubborn resistance. From there, Hunt briefly passed into the full mount but Emelianenko turned and backed his way out of trouble. Normally so calm and measured, even while destroying people, Emelianenko looked both angry and somewhat embarrassed and tried a wild kick to the body. Again, he went for a takedown and Hunt blocked it. Then the Russian stepped up the pace, punching with urgency he got one of his favourite leg trip takedowns before going for a Kimura from Hunt’s half-guard. Now there really was no escape for Hunt and he tapped out 8:16 into a shockingly exciting match. A lot of nonsense has been written and spoken about Emelianenko being “unbeatable”, something no fighter has ever been and likely never will be. Even with his impressive finish, this fight more than proved Emelianenko really is human, albeit a human who is currently a much better heavyweight than anyone in the sport.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Josh Barnett

These two put on a clinic of MMA technique in their first fight back in September. Barnett scored a split decision that time, mostly by virtue of dropping the iron-chinned Brazilian in the first and trapping him in a vicious kneebar in the dying seconds. The semi-finals of the Open weight Grand Prix, that fight was over 15 minutes (10 + 5). This was scheduled for the full 20 (10 + 5 + 5) and many wondered whether this, Barnett’s 8th fight in 14 months, would just be too much for him. He certainly didn’t look in the same kind of shape as he did last time. But these two seem fated to entertain the audience in extremely close fights. This time Nogueira took the unanimous decision in a fight spent almost entirely on their feet exchanging crisp, neat punches. Nogueira just did a little more over the course of the fight, particularly with his knees and some very good punches in the last two rounds.

Barnett opened with some neat boxing, landing some good jabs and straight rights. Nogueira continually fired back but had noticeable damage to the left eye. Aside from some Nogueira knees they essentially boxed at a fast pace for the first five minutes. That was until Barnett scored a huge slam and blasted Nogueira with knees to the face on the ground. Nogueira landed a few punches and Barnett hit a glancing stomp but Nogueira reversed position with ease and dropped a few more punches to the American’s face. Barnett held on in half-guard but had to take a few solid shots from a very active Nogueira before working out how to block the majority of them with his arms. A close, enjoyable first round ended with Barnett looking slightly ahead.

His nose bloody, Barnett took a couple of quick punches and a knee at the start of the second and seemed to be tiring more, despite still landing some good shots. Once Nogueira took him down, Barnett reversed position immediately but the Brazilian used his guard well. From there, Nogueira seemed to be taking over behind a slick left jab and some eye-catching, sharp knees. With the fight evenly poised they again looked to box and Nogueira snapped the American’s head back with a perfect two-punch combo. Despite their obvious fatigue, both men still landed neat, crisp punches but as Nogueira went for a takedown Barnett grabbed his head and tried a guillotine choke. Wrenching back in his own guard, Barnett seemed to have Nogueira in trouble but the ever-patient former Pride Heavyweight champion calmly worked his way out. With just a minute left they were back on their feet with Nogueira looking for a takedown and Barnett going for a hopeful Kimura and the bell rang with both men working hard for a positional advantage. There just has to be a rubber match between these two.

Hidehiko Yoshida vs. James Thompson

Thompson, the perennial British underdog, stunned the MMA world with a first round upset in what ended up a wild, brawling test of endurance. Both men took the fight on around 10 days notice and surprisingly, it was the much larger Thompson who outlasted his opponent. Fighting without his judo gi for the first time, Yoshida was giving up over five inches in height and more than 40 pounds to Bristol’s slightly trimmed-down ‘Megapunk’. But Yoshida has impeccable judo credentials and had done far better against top-level opponents. Still, Yoshida was last seen being picked apart by Mirko Cro Cop but Thompson was coming off 3 straight defeats, two of them in fights where his cardio was lacking. That he outlasted someone like Yoshida is a testament to Thompson’s improvement and also a warning sign about Yoshida’s future. Japanese promotions have a terrible track record of letting their faded heroes take disgraceful beatings.

Indeed, on the same night in Osaka, Kazushi Sakuraba took a vicious pasting from Yoshihiro Akiyama, partly due to the referee’s refusal to stop the fight when any sane official would. Yoshida left the ring on a stretcher, though it seemed as much through sheer exhaustion as anything else, but the Olympic judo gold medallist really should think hard about his future.

Thompson started with his typical Japanese ‘Gong and Dash’ charge but despite his size, strength and fury, Yoshida took the Englishman down. A quick flurry of submission attempts saw Yoshida go for an armbar, a kneebar and an ankle lock. At first Thompson defended well but was in obvious pain, as Yoshida really sunk the submission in. Seemingly on the verge of tapping out, Thompson slid his leg free and got to his feet. Yoshida followed him to the ropes and started swinging. Thompson’s defence seemed non-existent, just as it was in the latter stages of his KO loss to Kazuyuki Fujita in May. A bewildered Thompson took some hefty punches until Yoshida seemed to tire and looked to clinch. A Thompson takedown failed and soon they were back throwing haymakers. Again, the smaller man landed the better shots while Thompson stood flat-footed, throwing arm punches. A second Yoshida takedown saw him land in side control and he worked for a Kimura on Thompson’s enormous right arm. Thompson, displaying some quality submission defence, kept Yoshida at bay.

Less than five minutes in, Yoshida was looking very tired and Thompson landed a couple of big punches before dropping him with a massive right. Thompson followed with a stomp but Yoshida, clearly hurt, clutched at his leg and desperately looked for a submission. Thompson went for a kneebar of his own before they regained their feet and he just bundled Yoshida through the ropes and landed a meaty left hand to the face of his helpless, unsighted opponent. The officials then dragged the exhausted and by now reluctant-looking Japanese star back into the ring to restart the action. Constantly throwing knees and punches, Thompson just didn’t seem to have the energy to stop the durable Yoshida, despite connecting with multiple shots to the face. That was until they hit the ground and he whacked an utterly spent Yoshida with a couple of punches from the mount and gained a stunning TKO victory after seven minutes and 50 rousing seconds.

After an up and down Pride run so far, this raw, dramatic brawl was by far the biggest and most exciting win of Thompson’s career. Indeed, his and Hunt’s performances so impressed Pride that just two days later they announced plans for a Super Heavyweight division in 2007 and an eventual ‘Monster Grand Prix’.

Takanori Gomi vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

A contemptuous Gomi destroyed Ishida in a stunning 74 seconds. The lightweight tournament champion waited for an opening then drilled Ishida with an overhand left to the jaw and a sneaky right hand. Ishida is a phenomenal ground n’ pounder and many picked him to score an upset, but he had no chance as Gomi just laid waste to him with some ferocious pounding of his own. This was a fantastic performance from the fan favourite Gomi to end an inconsistent 2006.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Gilbert Melendez

The undefeated ‘El Nino’ Melendez picked up a unanimous decision in a furious fight with some great punching exchanges. Starting out like men possessed, both landed big right hands early on but Melendez was the first to drop and survived some heavy knees to the face. Later in the first Melendez rocked Kawajiri with some nice left jabs and straight rights. Yet more frenetic swinging kicked off the second round with Kawajiri often the more accurate puncher. Throughout they traded big shots, both displaying increasing fatigue and great chins. Both seemed to stagger the other man several times but Melendez’ constant aggression likely earned him a very impressive split decision win. This fight took place on December 31st, and you could easily believe that these two were out to nab the ‘fight of the year’ title. Without doubt they weren’t far off.

Undercard round-up

Ikuhisa Minowa and Kiyoshi Tamura had a cracking back-and-forth battle in 2002 with Tamura winning a decision. He was more decisive this time, flooring Minowa with a knee and booting him in the head for the 78-second KO win.

Wearing a horrifying pair of long, rainbow-striped tights Shinya Aoki proved why he’s one of the sport’s most exciting submission fighters. The highly talented 23-year-old rising star finished the favourite Joachim Hansen with a rare and beautiful Gogoplata submission in just 124 seconds.

Many joke it’s an unwritten rule in Pride that if Yuki Kondo goes the distance he’ll drop a close, much-debated decision. Kondo probably isn’t laughing after again coming out on the losing end of a split decision in a hesitant, boring fight with Akihiro Gono.

Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua scored a deserved, but dull, unanimous decision over the outclassed Kazuhiro Nakamura. With ‘Shogun’ frequently looking to clinch it was an oddly subdued contest. Aside from the odd stomp, the Brazilian kept going for takedowns and submissions rather than his more familiar sheer violence. Nakamura was reasonably competitive with his punches but Rua was in control of the fight all the way.

Adopting a fighting stance that suggested he trained by watching UFC 2 on DVD, Georgian wrestling star Eldari Kurtanidze really had no chance of winning his MMA debut, despite being a far more accomplished amateur wrestler than opponent Kazuyuki Fujita. The first decent punch by Fujita sent Kurtanidze to the mat. Fujita followed with a couple of punches that prompted the tapout 2:08 into a mismatch whose only purpose was to give the very popular Fujita an easy fight.

Full results

Kiyoshi Tamura def Ikuhisa Minowa via KO (Soccer Kicks) 1:18 Rd1

Shinya Aoki def Joachim Hansen via Submission (Gogoplata) 2:24 Rd1

Akihiro Gono def Yuki Kondo via

Decision (Split)

Mauricio Rua def Kazuhiro Nakamura via Decision (Unanimous)

Gilbert Melendez def Tatsuya Kawajiri via Decision (Unanimous)

Kazuyuki Fujita def Eldari Kurtanidze via Submission (Strikes) 2:09 Rd1

Takanori Gomi def Mitsuhiro Ishida via TKO (Strikes) 1:14 Rd1

James Thompson def Hidehiko Yoshida via TKO (Strikes) 7:50 Rd1

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def Josh Barnett via Decision (Unanimous)

Fedor Emelianenko def Mark Hunt via Submission (Kimura).8:16 Rd1

IFL Championship Final 2006

December 29, 2006, Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut

Before the Silverbacks even entered the ring for competition, two of its team members (Rory Markham and Ben Rothwell) had already been recognised for delivering some of the top knockouts of 2006, and after Bart Palaszewski laid out Ryan Shultz in the third round of their championship fight, he may have made room for one more Silverback on that illustrious list.

Coach Matt Lindland won the coin toss for Portland prior to the fights, but that was about all the Wolfpack was able to win at the first-ever International Fighting League Championship. “I would have let [Lindland] choose all five [matches]. That’s how much confidence I had in these guys,” Iowa coach Pat Miletich said.

Mike Ciesnolevicz started things off right for the Silverbacks, winning a tough battle with the Wolfpack’s Aaron Stark by way of a guillotine choke in the third round, a submission Ciesnolevicz later referred to as the ‘C-o-tine’. Lindland got to choose the Stark/Ciesnolevicz matchup for the first fight, thanks to winning the coin toss, and the Silverbacks’ leadoff hitter was less than honoured to have been chosen first. “I definitely took it as a slap in the face, because if I were picking, I would definitely pick the weakest link and try to gain momentum,” Ciesnolevicz said.

Miletich’s first pick paid off big as heavyweight Ben Rothwell levelled Devin Cole with a standing kick that he planted eye-level on the left side of Cole’s face. The two giants kept things standing the entire fight and Rothwell’s quick jabs and ferocious uppercuts beat away at Cole for three rounds, but in round three Rothwell shocked Cole by punishing him, not with his hands, but his leg. Backed into a corner, Cole made the mistake of dropping his hands for an instant, and that’s all it took. Rothwell said he knew that Cole would be expecting an uppercut, so instead he side-swiped him with the tree trunk he calls a leg and knocked Cole into the next world. After the fight, Rothwell said, “I don’t care if the whole world saw it coming, the one guy who didn’t got hit with it.” The sound of Rothwell’s leg connecting with Cole’s head was every bit as thunderous as the straight-right hand he used to send the Pitbulls’ Bryan Vetell to the floor during the IFL’s Quarterfinals just three months earlier. “The Miletich Camp has known about my legs for awhile,” Rothwell said. “I guess now, the secret is out, and I got to say, I’m pretty happy about it.”

After securing victories in the first two fights, the Silverbacks clearly looked like a team made up of guys who knew how to take things up a notch when winning was on the line. Miletich said, “[I tell our guys all the time] the guys in our gym have a target on their backs, and I always tell them no matter who you’re fighting, they’re going to give you their best.”

Palaszewski isn’t the biggest of the Silverbacks, in fact he’s the smallest, but when the chance arose for him to win it all for Iowa and his teammates in fight number three, he seized the moment. “It got me pumped up for sure. It was a big moment for me, probably one of the biggest moments of my career,” Palaszewski said. Ahead two matches to none, over 6,000 sets of eyes were glued to the ring in the Mohegan Sun Casino as fight fans waited to see if Pat Miletich’s team could secure a title without losing a single match.

Ryan Shultz of the Wolfpack was called into action to keep his team alive in a lightweight battle that saw plenty of punches. Shultz started things off with a kick that was blocked and Palaszewski landed the first punch of any consequence before letting loose a high kick of his own. Both fighters traded blows for a moment and then Palaszewski used a knee to the midsection to try and soften up Shultz for a takedown. When the two men hit the mat it was Shultz who landed on top. Palaszewski remained active from his back though, and kept his hands in Shultz’ face, avoiding any serious damage while on the ground. Shultz stood up and ducked a punch from Palaszewski. He then tried to throw a right of his own, but was cut off by Palaszewski’s knee. When the knee came down, so did Palaszewski. Shultz landed a hard-right hand, and while his opponent was off-balance, lifted his right leg to send him falling to the floor. Palaszewski quickly returned to his feet, only to be rushed into a corner by a barrage of punches. Round one ended in the corner, with Shultz struggling to trip Palaszewski with an inside-outside leg sweep.

The second round went much like the first as both fighters rushed out from their respective corners swinging for the fences, but not forgetting to mix in a few kicks as well. Palaszewski won the round on his feet, cutting off many of Shultz’s punches and even opening a cut over his left eye. By the third there was plenty of pressure on Shultz and the hopes of many riding on Palaszewski’s shoulders. Shultz’s body continued to take on punishment through most of the final round. He was hit with two more knees and had a black eye on his right side to go with the cut on his left. At 2:16 Rd 3, the two fighters crossed arms, throwing nearly identical hooks. Shultz right hand just missed Palaszewski’s right cheek, while Palaszewski’s right hand connected like a tuning fork to Shultz’s chin. Shultz dropped to the mat instantly and the referee quickly rushed over to step between the fighters and end the match. Palaszewski began jumping for joy and pointing to his ring finger. He knew that with one punch, he’d secured his team’s place in the record books.

IFL co-owner Kurt Otto entered the ring before the next fight to remind those in attendance that while the Silverbacks had already secured a championship win, that both teams’ fighters still had plenty to compete for including cash bonuses and team pride. Middleweight Ryan McGivern extended the Silverbacks’ win streak to 4-0 with a decision over Matt Horwich and welterweight Rory Markham lost in a stunning upset to the Wolfpack’s Chris Wilson. “I expected us to go 5-0, but obviously that’s not how it happened,” Miletich said.

After Iowa’s champions cleared the ring, two jiu-jitsu masters took centre stage for the superfight of the night. Fresh off his win over Miletich, Pitbulls coach Renzo Gracie entered the ring once again to meet with Dragons coach Carlos Newton. The two men were very closely matched, but Newton had the edge executing many more takedowns throughout the fight. Most of the “action” took place on the ground, but the fight fans in attendance that night wanted to see a slugfest. So, after almost three rounds of solid jiu-jitsu, Newton and Gracie were more than happy to comply.

As the third round neared its end, Newton levelled Gracie with a powerful uppercut that sent him flying to the mat, but more shocking was what followed. Gracie held out his hand, while lying flat on his back, and motioned for Newton to come over and help him up. Newton then lifted his opponent up off the ground and the two fighters began to throw punches like there was no tomorrow into the final 30 seconds of the match!

Afterwards, as the two fighters stood side-by-side, the referee called the fight a split decision. Gracie however, shook his head in disbelief, pointing to Newton as the better man that night. He was quick to point out that their last fight in 2003 was also called a split decision, but in Newton’s favour, even though Gracie felt that he had won that fight.