Issue 167
May 2018
A breakout night for some Octagon legends while others begin a long fall from grace.
Hot on the heels of what is still considered by some to be the worst event in company history (UFC 33), the Octagon’s return to Las Vegas was less financially successful, the PPV buy rate for UFC 34 was 65,000 – down by 10,000 from the last event. However it was a much better show.
In total contrast to the decision-heavy action vacuum of the previous event, this was a finish-fest, highlighted by three future Hall-of-Famers…
THE MAN TO BEAT THE MAN
Pegged as ‘the man’ since beating Mark Coleman and destroying ‘Tank’ Abbott, Pedro Rizzo was signed to a massive UFC contract but never became the star the bosses wanted him to be.
He didn’t speak English well or have a big personality, so had to rely on his skills. Unfortunately, they couldn’t pay the bills as Randy Couture mauled him in their heavyweight title rematch.
BEFORE THE FALL
Ricco Rodriguez was one of the hot young things in heavyweight MMA. He followed up a TKO of Andrei Arlovski from earlier in 2001 with a domination of Lions Den fighter Pete Williams on this night.
Three fights later and he’d maul Randy Couture to become champion, but it was all downhill after that: issues with his weight, substance abuse and a stint on Celebrity Rehab.
DOUBLE KO?
If Matt Hughes hadn’t gone on to become an MMA icon, there’s a good chance the controversy of this fight wouldn’t be as overlooked as it is today.
Caught in a triangle, Hughes seemed to lose consciousness as he slammed Carlos Newton to the mat and knocked him out cold. Hughes came to first and had his arm raised. Newton was aghast.
I FOUGHT 'THE LAW'...
…but ‘The Law’ won. The only fight to go the distance of the evening was Matt Lindland vs. Phil Baroni, but it was still a great scrap. ‘The New York Bad Ass’ scored a knockdown in the first and had more success with striking in the third, but Lindland did enough with his wrestling to win a close decision. Their rivalry was renewed with another great fight at UFC 41.
IN AND OUT
It was over in 11 seconds. B.J. Penn looked like he meant business when he faced off across the Octagon from Caol Uno. The Japanese Shooto champion looked pretty serious too as he sprinted across the cage to try a flying kick, but he was quickly put on his butt and obliterated with a pneumatic punching combo from ‘The Prodigy’ who ran straight out of the cage.
ALSO ELECTRIFYING AT UFC 34
- A 22-year-old Frank Mir made his UFC debut and made short work of Roberto Traven. An armbar meant he was gone in 65 seconds.
- The late Evan Tanner rebounded from being knocked out in the first round by Tito Ortiz with a submission of Homer Moore.
- A month shy of his 24th birthday, Josh Barnett booked the next shot at Couture’s heavyweight title with a win against Bobby Hoffman.
