Issue 165
March 2018
From The Archives: UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields – April 30th, 2011
Toronto’s first MMA event makes history as the biggest fight night in North American history.
Ever since the UFC first went to Montreal in 2008 and set an attendance record at the Bell Centre, Canada has become notorious for having some of the most rabid MMA fans in the world. That made an event in Ontario a priority for Dana White and co.
So, as soon as the sport was legalised in the province, they headed straight for Toronto to pack 55,724 people into the massive Rogers Centre. Anything less than an event for the ages would have been a massive let-down. Luckily, it well and truly delivered...
CLEANING UP
Huge groans met the announcement of Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz on the main card. After all, these were hardly two of the UFC's most dynamic light heavyweights. However, ‘The Janitor’ looked sprightly for a 40-year-old and swept Brilz aside with a 20-second KO.
ELEPHANT MAN
The Fight of the Night for the 145lb title should be remembered for its back-and-forth action. Jose? Aldo had a sensational first four rounds before he gassed and had to hang on to stop Mark Hominick from stealing a late KO. The defining image from this encounter, however, will be ‘The Machine’s' grotesque head swelling, that made him look like a relative of Joseph Merrick.
SIZE MATTERS
For all the Conor McGregor fanboys who argued Nate Diaz is a natural welterweight, look at this for evidence that the man is not best suited to 170lb. Rory MacDonald, then 21 and known as ‘The Waterboy’, threw him around the cage to earn two 30-26 scorecards in an era where 10-8 rounds were rarely recorded. Diaz was back down to 155lb for his next match.
THE LAST STAND
“Randy, we’ve had this conversation at least three times in the past...” Joe Rogan might have been skeptical at first, but this was indeed the end of Randy Couture’s career. Shortly after having a tooth removed by a knockout Lyoto Machida crane kick, ‘The Natural’ left his gloves in the Octagon and finally retired for good.
A WHISKER AWAY
There could have been a surprise new welterweight champion in the main event. A number of Jake Shields’ punches and pokes meant Georges St-Pierre told Greg Jackson he couldn’t see out of his left eye at the end of round two.
If the commission heard, that would have been the end of his night. Luckily for GSP, his coach assured him: “It doesn’t matter. You’ve got one eye, it’s fine.” It was. Despite vision troubles, ‘Rush’ won a clear decision.
Also . . .
> It was a great event for Pablo Garza, whose first-round triangle choke of Yves Jabouin earned him the Submission of the Night award.
> Canadian veteran Jason MacDonald earned the final win of his MMA career with a 1:37 triangle of his own against Ryan Jensen.
> Had Machida not channeled the Karate Kid, John Makdessi’s spinning back-fist of Kyle Watson would have earned him a bonus.
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