Fifty Greatest Fights in UFC History Part 4/5

20- Sam Stout split decision Spencer Fisher (UFC 58)
This fight saw the explosive return of the lightweight division in the UFC after a two year absence. Fisher took the fight on short notice, filling in for the injured Kenny Florian, but no one would have known from the effort he put in. The fight was a back and forth battle between two heavy hitters, but it was Stout’s crisper striking that saw him take a razor thin split decision. The two would headline a UFC Fight Night in 2007 with Fisher winning in another war.

19- Bas Rutten KO (14:43) Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (UFC 18)
The long awaited Octagon debut of ‘El Guapo’ Bas Rutten nearly didn’t go as planned as Tsuyoshi Kohsaka repeatedly took Bas down in the early goings of their fight. The feared kickboxer, who was hyped as having been able to knock opponents in Pancrase out with palm strikes (closed fist strikes were illegal in Pancrase) showed a hole in his game with his inability to stop the takedown. Bas played his guard well and took any punishment that was dealt out to him. After the 12 minute regular period, Kohsaka was ahead on points and it appeared that Rutten had three minutes to finish ‘TK’ in order for his Octagon debut to be a successful one. Rutten punished Kohsaka in the final three minutes, kicking his legs and body as well as landing heavy right hands before finishing TK with a barrage against the cage.

18- Jens Pulver majority decision BJ Penn (UFC 35)
The fight that really put the Lightweight division on the map. The first fight between rivals BJ Penn and Jens Pulver was a war. Penn was the new phenom having dominated Din Thomas and Caol Uno already in the UFC and few gave reigning champion Pulver a chance. It was all Penn in the opening two rounds as he took Pulver down and took him to school on the ground. At the end of the second round, Penn secured an armbar but Pulver was literally saved by the buzzer. After that it was all Pulver as he stuffed Penn’s takedowns and battered him standing up. The fight went the full five rounds, but Pulver retained his title. It would take Penn another six years to capture the Lightweight title (in the meantime he moved up and choked out Matt Hughes for the welterweight title).

17- Frankie Edgar unanimous decision Tyson Griffin (UFC 67)
Another Lightweight fight makes it into the top 20 and this one pitted two young prospects with excellent wrestling against one another. Edgar had the better wrestling, but Griffin had the more complete game. The cardio and pace each could set was dead even and it was at an electrifying level. Edgar controlled much of the fight with his superior wrestling, but Griffin was able to light him up when he could keep it on his feet and used some excellent escapes which created some of the best ground transitions ever seen in the UFC. Griffin sunk in a deep knee bar at the end of the 3rd round which he held for a good 30 seconds as Edgar gutted it out and took a close decision due to time spent on top.

16- Shonie Carter knockout (3rd) Matt Serra (UFC 31)
The spinning backfist fight and a night that Jiu Jitsu expert and future UFC Welterweight champion Matt Serra will never forget. After dominating Carter on the ground for the majority of the fight, Carter caught Serra with a spinning backfist that knocked him out in the final seconds of the fight. Serra had gone from submission attempt to submission attempt to submission attempt for the full three rounds and was clearly ahead on points at the time of the stoppage, but Carters experience, submission defence and unorthodox style saw him over the line with one of the most memorable finishes in UFC history.

15- Royce Gracie submission (0:57) Ken Shamrock (UFC 1)
The first high paced grappling match in the UFC. The first time two future UFC Hall of Famers fought each other in the UFC. Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock were head and shoulders ahead of everyone in the first UFC tournament, but drew one another in the semi finals after winning their opening two matches quickly earlier in the night. Gracie immediately shot in and a scramble ensued and went on for nearly a minute before Gracie sunk in a sleeve choke after taking Shamrocks back and forced a tap-out. These two would dominate the early parts of UFC history with Royce winning UFC 1, 2 and 4 and Ken becoming the first UFC Heavyweight champion after winning the vacant title against Dan Severn at UFC 6. Gracie and Shamrock fought again, going to a draw in a dull 35 minute fight at UFC 5 which was fought entirely in Gracie’s guard.

14- Matt Lindland majority decision Phil Baroni (UFC 34)
The other fight between these two  was even better then the UFC 41 rematch. This one was fought on the preliminaries of UFC 34 and was an all-out war that was fought at a higher tempo and was alco closer then their rematch. In this fight Lindland again repeatedly took Baroni to the mat and was able to improve his position and do damage, but his stand-up back then was awful and Baroni rocked and dropped him whenever they stood up only for Lindland to get a clinch and then a takedown. After splitting the first two rounds, Lindland was having his way with Baroni again in the final round until a foul cost him a point and the fighters were stood back up. Baroni then looked like he had stolen the fight by nearly knocking Lindland out in the final seconds, but the judges saw differently with two of them scoring every round to Lindland and the other judge scoring it a draw (2-1 Lindland before the point deduction).

13- Forrest Griffin unanimous decision Rampage Jackson (UFC 86)
The controversial decision in MMA history. This fight is like the Sugar Ray Leonard vs Marvin Hagler Middleweight title fight for MMA. The Ultimate Fighter 7 coaches fought out a five round war for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and the decision still gets argued about to this day. Griffin pushed the pace in round one only for Rampage to drop him and come close to finishing him at the end of the round. Griffin dominated round two, hurting Rampage with a leg kick and then getting on top and mounting him. Round three was very close as again Forrest worked at an enormous pace, but Rampage scored with the heavier blows. Round four saw Rampage get a takedown and land some shots from on top, only for Forrest to come close with a triangle before the champion slammed his way out of it. The final round was again very close as Forrest continued to push the pace and Rampage picked the cleaner shots. I personally scored the fight a draw (10-9, 8-10, 10-9, 10-9, 9-10) but all three judges scored it for Griffin who became the first Ultimate Fighter Winner (excluding Matt Serra) to win a world championship.

12- Matt Hughes knockout (3rd) BJ Penn (UFC 63)
After being choked out in less then a round in their UFC 45 meeting, Hughes had revenge on his mind. The only trouble was BJ Penn is an absolute freak and even though he was filling in for an injured Georges St Pierre on five weeks notice, he came prepared to take his title back. Penn outboxed Hughes in the first round while showing cat like balance to avoid being taken down. In the 2nd round Hughes finally got Penn on his back, only to be caught in a triangle choke and an armbar that he barely made it out of. Penn seemingly blew his gas tank trying to finish Hughes in the 2nd round and Hughes began to land heavily standing up in the 3rd. Hughes took the weakened Penn to the ground and held him in a crucifix while landing clean shots on Penns head which forced the referee to stop the fight. It was an incredible comeback from Hughes and is probably his career defining victory. I would still like to see this rivalry become a trilogy and I’m sure there’s plenty of others who’d like to see these two fight again.

11- Diego Sanchez split decision Clay Guida (TUF9 Finale)
The last fight to take place in the Octagon makes it nearly into the top ten. After a staredown that almost put the Rampage-Wanderlei fights to shame (almost), both men exploded as the opening round started exchanging wild blows. Sanchez began scoring with heavy combinations before Guida took him to the mat. Sanchez escaped and dropped Guida moments later with a head kick that looked to have finished the fight. Guida showed the heart and determination that has made him a fan favourite and saw out the round. Rounds two and three saw Guida completing takedowns, but spending all his time defending submissions or trying to keep Diego on his back. The fight went the full three rounds at a pace that the Lightweights seemed to produce time and again and Sanchez’s work from the bottom gave him the split decision.

See Also:

Part 3 (30-21)

Part 2 (40-31)

Part 1 (50-41)

Sanchez edges Guida in war at TUF9 Finale

In what has to be the fight of the year in MMA so far for 2009, TUF1 Middleweight champion Diego ‘Nightmare’ Sanchez scored a split decision over Clay Guida in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. Both guys seemed eager to start the fight, with Sanchez staring Guida down during his walk to the Octagon and the fighters engaging in one of the most intense staredowns during the referee’s final instructions. That eagerness boilt over as both men opened with a huge flurry that lasted a good 20 seconds with Sanchez rocking Guida against the cage. The two traded heavy strikes for the opening minute of the first round with Sanchez’s ever improving stand-up skills allowing him to tattoo Guida with a variety of clean shots, one of which knocked Guida’s mouthpiece out. Guida then scored a takedown and began working his top game that has earnt him victories over Mac Danzig and Nate Diaz in his recent outings. Sanchez worked his way back to his feet and after a brief respite to replace Guida’s mouthguard, Sanchez again took the upper hand dropping Guida heavily with a head kick. Somehow Guida wasn’t unconscious when he hit the ground, and he rises before Sanchez can finish him. Sanchez went to work with his hands landing more hard shots that appeared to have broken Guida’s nose before getting a takedown of his own and landing several shots from on top before the buzzer sounded.

And that was just the first round…..

Guida came out for the 2nd round like nothing had happened and put Sanchez on his back early and began to control him from on top. Sanchez was just as aggressive from his back, throwing hard elbows that landed frequently as Guida appeared more interested in controlling Diego then doing damage. Sanchez was also busy with submission attempts, looking for the kimura on more then one occasion although Guida’s defence was tight. The fighters exchange strikes on the ground at the end of the round with Sanchez landing a series of elbows that cut Guida’s forehead open before the buzzer. Sanchez scored early in the third with strikes as Guida attempted to land punches to set up a takedown. Midway through the round Guida shoots in for a takedown which fails an Sanchez tries to capitilise by taking his back. Guida defends and Sanchez ends up on bottom but with a rear (?) naked choke locked in as he is still half around Guida’s back. Guida escapes again and looks to capitilise but Sanchez keeps him busy defending submission attempts as the fight ends and the debate about who won begins.

While Sanchez did the most damage by far, Guida was successful in controlling where the fight went for most of it. I scored a 10-8 round for Sanchez in the first and thought the 2nd and 3rd could go either way (I wouldn’t argue with a 10-9 in the first either) giving Guida the 2nd and Sanchez the 3rd. The judges were split with 29-28 Guida and 29-28/29-27 for Sanchez giving him the split decision and likely a shot at the winner of Florian-Penn at UFC 101. It truly was one of the best fights I’ve seen in MMA and both fighters stock rose significantly from the fight.

In the Ultimate Fighter Finals it was a UK clean sweep with Ross Pearson edging Andre Winner in the Lightweight Final and James Wilks choking out DeMarques Johnson in the opening round of the Welterweight final. Also on the card, Chris Lytle survived a scary first round in which he was dropped to score a unanimous decision over Kevin Burns and TUF2 Welterweight Joe Stevenson showed an improved overall game decisioning TUF5 Lightweight champion Nate Diaz.

TUF9 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter 9 “US vs UK” concludes tomorrow with the usual final card featuring the final bouts as part of the main card. There was a lot of hype around this season being the best yet, I don’t quite agree with it to be honest. While some of the tension between the two teams was good, the rivalry with the coaches wasn’t up there with some of the other seasons and the antics in the house were pretty tame I thought. I was sort of waiting for someone big to happen in the house for the entire show and nothing happened.

The finals pit DeMarques Johnson (US) against James Wilkes (UK) in the Welterweight division and in the Lightweight division Andre Winner and Ross Pearson of team UK do battle. I think Johnson will have too much experience for Wilks, who seems a little green at this stage. As much as I didn’t like Johnson (or anyone from team US), he probably had the most well rounded game in the house and Wilks showed some weaknesses in his game in his two fights against Lester. The all UK Lightweight final should be a cracker and I’m really not sure who to pick. I’m going with Winner to win on points in what could be fight of the night (if the main event doesn’t live up to expectations).

The main card has some interesting non-TUF fights with a pivotal battle in the lightweight division between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida headlining the card. This fight provides us with the clear next contender behind Florian and Penn in my opinion. Maybe Gray Maynard is up there, but I think with Sanchez’s success at welterweight and Guida’s resume as well as the performance he showed in losing to Huerta that the winner of this fight should get the next crack. I think Sanchez has the better finishing skills out of the two, but Guida’s wrestling, pace and cardio could make the fight very interesting. Sanchez has dealt with fighters like Guida before and seeing how he doesn’t have to deal with the strength of a 170lber in this fight, I think he won’t be as troubled by the wrestling skills of Guida. Plus Sanchez is known to set a pretty high pace himself and also has great cardio. The x-factor here is the weight cut for Sanchez, if it effects him Guida will just outwork him. I think it won’t, especially since this is the second time he’s cut this far now and I think Sanchez will prevail by unanimous decision or late stoppage.

The other interesting fight on the card sees the two men who most recently lost to Guida and Sanchez doing battle. Nate Diaz fights Joe Stevenson in a battle of former TUF champions and one both men can’t really afford to lose. Diaz had a strong run of victories post TUF but stumbled in his chance to join the elite against Clay Guida at UFC 94. Stevenson struggled a bit post TUF before winning enough straight fights to earn himself a shot at BJ Penn’s title. Penn made light work of Stevenson which has started a run of bad results for ‘Daddy’ as he is going into this fight with back to back losses against Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. Both guys have great grappling skills, but Diaz’s stand-up is much crisper and provided Stevenson can’t take him down at will I think Diaz will batter him on their feet and maybe even score a stoppage late in the fight.