They’re back! After an prolonged absence, Dave O’Donnell and his band of merry man returned to British television screens as his mixed martial arts promotion, Ultimate Challenge UK, made their Sky Sports debut with Heat, held at The Troxy in London and broadcast on a three day delay. Dave himself acted as host, along with O.J. Borg, with Malcolm Martin and Rob Nutley handling commentary duties.

The first two fights were fought under K1 rules, beginning with Jake Bostwick challenging Alex Reid for the UCUK UK1 Middleweight title. This was the proverbial blink and you’ll miss it affair. Bostwick came out swinging, but none of these blows were actually landing. Halfway through the round, Reid connected with a right knee to the head in the clinch, and Bostwick went down, unable to answer the referee’s ten count, giving Reid the TKO win. The commentators described it as a loss, but for me it was a case of Bostwick going in like a bull in a china shop.

The next fight saw Richard Griffin facing Scott Jansen for the UCUK UK1 Welterweight title. A fight that went the three round distance, this proved to be a very entertaining contest. Both guys put in a good account for themselves, although in the third round Griffin seemed to take his foot off the pedal a little. Although he was moving forward, he wasn’t throwing much, with Jansen throwing a lot more, and it was because of this that Jansen took the judges decision. Good stuff.

Then it was on to the MMA action, beginning with Michael Brown taking on Dyson Roberts in the welterweight division. A fantastic fight saw both men go all out in the first round. It began when Roberts scored with a tremendous takedown, going for a guillotine. Brown soon escaped, and from there both men had their moments. The second round began with both men looking tired, and a missed kick from Brown caused him to fall to the ground, giving Roberts the opportunity he was looking for. It wasn’t long before Roberts was going all out with the ground and pound, and as the onslaught continued, I kept wondering why the referee didn’t step in. Eventually he did, giving Roberts the win in a great fight.

The welterweight action continued with Nigel Whitear and Jamaine Facey. The second blink and you’ll miss it affair. Both guys began to swing for the trees early on, and after Facey connected with a left knee to the ribs, Whitear went down, with Facey following with the ground and pound, and unlike the last fight, the referee quickly stepped in, giving Facey the win in a quick and exciting bout.

Then it was up to the light heavyweight division, with Earl Brown facing Rafik Benziada. Although this one began quite slowly, you could say that it was another one of those blink and you’ll miss it kind of matches. They began slowly, trading kicks as they felt each other out, before a slip saw Brown got down onto his back, and Rafik quickly pouncing with the ground and pound. Brown showed no defence, and the referee stepped in and stopped the action, literally plying Rafik away from Brown. Not bad, but you could tell that both of these guys were in the early stages of their careers, and it’s kind of weird saying that when you consider that Brown’s 42!

The final two fights were in the featherweight division, the first one with Max Henchy against Giorgio Andrews. A dominating performance saw Andrews take the fight to the ground early on, and although Henchy went for a guillotine, Andrews quickly escaped and took control, transitioning well and going for the ground and pound throughout, twice taking Henchy’s back and synching in a rear naked choke for the submission victory. An excellent performance from Andrews here.

Main event time, with Brad Wheeler taking on Dino Gambetesa. Wheeler did the old Wanderlei Silva hand thing before the fight, but sadly he showed none of the Axe Murderer’s skills. A right quickly sent him down, with Dino going for the ground and pound. The relentless right hand soon knocked Wheeler out. Wheeler stood absolutely no chance here in yet another blink and…..well, you know what I mean.

In conclusion - this was a more than welcome return to British screens for Dave O’Donnell and his team. Having morphed Cage Rage into Ultimate Challenge UK after the EliteXC fiasco, he’s now come back with a promotion that no longer relies on washed up foreign imports and freak shows for main events. Instead he’s now combining the K1 kickboxing format with mixed martial arts and putting on a hell of a show, once again proving that British MMA is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with, and with his old buddy Andy Geer and his BAMMA promotion also doing the business, MMA fans in Britain will certainly have some interesting viewing in the coming months.

It’s taken them sixteen years, and they’ve had to overcome many obstacles, but the Ultimate Fighting Championship has reached it’s hundredth major show with UFC 100: Making History, shown live here in Britain on Racing World (yep, a horse racing channel - well we Brits had to watch it somehow!) in the early hours of this past Sunday morning. As usual, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling the commentary duties for this one.

The broadcast begins with action from the middleweight division, and the debuting Yoshihiro Akiyama taking on Alan Belcher. An event of this magnitude demanded a great fight to begin the broadcast with, and it got it with Akiyama and Belcher. Both fighters put in good performances here. Belcher knocked Akiyama down in the first with a big left, just a few moments after he caught him with an inadvertent low blow. From there both fighters worked well on the ground, but it was in the stand up game that Belcher really excelled, especially with his leg kicks. Akiyama was clearly limping by the time the third round started, and his left eye was starting to close as well. But despite these setbacks, Akiyama was still in the fight, although it seemed that, as time went on, Belcher was slowing getting the upper hand. Sadly, the judges didn’t see it that way, with Akiyama getting the split decision. One of the judges even gave every round to Akiyama, leaving this writer scratching his head. To be blunt, Belcher was robbed.

Up next, more action from the middleweights, and the fight I was really looking forward to, the battle of The Ultimate Fighter coaches, Dan Henderson against Michael Bisping. I think you can guess who I was rooting for in this one. Sadly, things didn’t go to plan. Henderson put in a great performance, out boxing Bisping completely in the first round, and even though the Brit came back a little in the second, it just wasn’t enough to stop Henderson, who connected with a big right that sent Bisping crashing to the mat. Bisping was out before he hit the ground. Henderson went down for a final right before the referee stepped in and stopped the fight. A tremendous performance from the legend in waiting, and kind of sad that Bisping couldn’t follow up Team UK’s dominance of The Ultimate Fighter with a victory here.

Main event time #1, with Thiago Alves challenging Georges St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight title. If you ever needed an example of just how good a fighter GSP is, then this is it. From the first minute of the first to the last minute of the fifth, St-Pierre dominated in almost every aspect. He was able to take Alves down at will, nine times in all, and along the way he cut Alves above the eye and bloodied his nose, and he accomplished this in the last two rounds with a groin injury. Credit to Alves though for hanging in with GSP, even though he was clearly out fought throughout. All three judges gave every round to St-Pierre, and rightfully so. A tremendous fight for the Canadian, but I’m left to wonder just what is there left for him in the welterweight division.

Main event time #2, with UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir and UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar looking to unify the titles. Once again Lesnar showed just how much he’s improved as a fighter over the past year or so. It was a dominating performance from the former WWE superstar, using his wrestling ability to take Mir down, and using his power to pound away on his face, opening him up in the first round. Although Mir got in some good shots in the second, it was pretty much the same story later on. Lesnar took him down, pounded away on his face with his right, and soon knocked him out. An excellent performance from Lesnar. As for the post fight interview, well, you can take the wrestler out of WWE, but you can’t take WWE out of the wrestler.

The final fight of the night saw Jon Fitch facing Paulo Thiago in the welterweight division. A technically sound battle fought mainly on the ground saw both fighters have their moments as they sought to end the fight with a submission, with variations of the choke the chosen move, and with the fight going the three round distance, it went down to the judges to render the decision, with all three giving the fight to Fitch. A good fight, but it suffered from it’s position on the card.

In conclusion - the UFC’s 100th show really needed to deliver, and it did. There were five great matches on this card, and they delivered the full gamut of emotions, from Akiyama’s controversial win in the opener, to Henderson’s knockout of Bisping, GSP’s continued dominance of the welterweight division, and Lesnar’s continuing heel performance, this show had it all. For me, mixed martial arts really is becoming a great alternative not just to boxing, but to professional wrestling as well. So in short - great show, and thanks to everyone who has ever worked for the UFC since the beginning.

With the UFC’s 100th show just a few hours away (at the time of writing), I thought I’d kill a little time by once again going back in time to look at their origins, following on from my review of their first ever show with a look at UFC 2: No Way Out. This time commentary is handled by Brian Kilmeade, Ben Perry and Jim Brown.

This tournament followed a different format. This time there were sixteen men instead of eight, and there were also no rounds.

The broadcast began with the final match of the first round, UFC 1 champion and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Royce Gracie facing karate fighter Minoki Ichihara. Interesting to note that this was the first televised appearance of referee “Big” John McCarthy. Gracie controlled this one from the beginning, taking the fight down early, and controlling Ichihara throughout, before transitioning into what the announcers called an armbar, but what was actually a collar choke. Not a spectacular fight, but a technically sound effort from Gracie.

Then it was on to the quarter-finals, beginning with ninja fighter Scott Morris taking on kick boxer and UFC 1 veteran Patrick Smith. Morris took the fight to the ground early, but Smith quickly countered with what would become known as ground and pound, and just thirty seconds into the fight Smith connected with an elbow that knocked Morris out. Quick and explosive from the man who wanted to make a point after his loss to Ken Shamrock in UFC 1.

Next, a battle of karate fighters, with Johnny Rhodes facing Fred Ettish, a last minute substitute, replacing Frank Hamaker. Ettish came into this one fresh, while Rhodes had undergone a gruelling first round fight, although you wouldn’t have been able to tell that by looking at this fight. Rhodes knocked him down early, following him down and opening up a cut with a series of blows. He then backed off for a few moments, before going back downstairs and choking Ettish out. Ettish refused to tap, with the referee stopping the fight after he passed out. An impressive showing from Rhodes, with poor Ettish looking like he didn’t know what he’d let himself in for.

The third quarter final saw kick boxer Orlando Weit taking on jiu-jitsu and judo fighter Remco Pardoel in an all European battle. The bigger Pardoel took Weit down with a judo throw early on, using his superior weight to good advantage. Holding Weit’s right arm while leaning on him, Pardoel connected with a series of elbows, the second of which knocked Weit out. Weit’s corner quickly, and wisely, threw the towel in. Afterwards Pardoel said he didn’t expect to win, but he did with a very good performance.

The final quarter final saw Royce Gracie and kung fu man Jason DeLucia. These two had actually fought before, with Gracie getting the win in under five minutes. Once again Gracie took the fight to the ground early one, and after escaping from DeLucia’s guard, Gracie locked in an armbar, with DeLucia tapping out from a standing position. Another good performance from Gracie here, once again totally overwhelming his opponent.

On to the semi-finals, beginning with Patrick Smith and Johnny Rhodes. Smith showed that, in between tournaments, he’d learned a thing or two. Although this began as a normal kickboxing match, Smith soon locked in a standing guillotine, with Rhodes tapping out with his foot, giving Smith the submission victory. The second good performance in a row from Smith here.

The second semi-final saw Royce Gracie and Remco Pardoel. Another good performance from Gracie saw him feel out his Pardoel before showing that the Dutchman’s eighty pound weight advantage meant nothing when he took him down. He soon took his opponent’s back, and with the help of Pardoel’s gi, Gracie got the submission win with a collar choke. Three good performances in a row from the master here.

On to the final, Patrick Smith facing Royce Gracie. Smith’s extra training didn’t do him much good here. Once again Gracie took the fight to the ground quickly, but instead of going for a submission he unleashed with a series of blows to Smith’s head. The referee quickly stepped in as Smith’s corner threw in the towel, giving Gracie his second tournament victory in a row.

In conclusion - you can tell that the powers-that-be learned a few lessons after their first show. UFC 1 seemed very rough and ready. UFC 2 was a more polished affair, and once again it was the perfect stage to showcase the skills of Royce Gracie, as he proved just what a great fighter he was, beating four men in a combined total of just over nine minutes. It made for tremendous viewing.

The other fighters as well were also of a much higher standard, as was the refereeing of John McCarthy, and it was easy to see why he became the best referee in MMA. Production wise the standards were the same, but the commentary team was a whole lot better here. Jim Brown was his usual self, while Brian Kilmeade was far more capable as the lead announcer, with Ben Perry providing some great insights into the fights, often predicting what moves the fighters would make before they even made them. So in all, a vast improvement on the first show, and still a good way of seeing how the sport of mixed martial arts evolved over the years.

As the Ultimate Fighting Championship prepares to hold it’s 100th major show, I thought that it would be a good idea to take a trip back in time to 1993, to see where it all began. That’s right folks, it’s time to review UFC 1: The Beginning. Handling commentary duties are Bill Wallace, former kickboxing champ Kathy Long, and NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown.

It’s an eight man, single elimination tournament, so naturally we’ll start with round one. The first fight saw Teila Tuli, representing sumo, facing Gerard Gordeau, representing savate. After a quick feeling out process, the big Hawaiian came rushing forward, and tried to take Gordeau down. Tuli failed, and after he slipped, Gordeau connected with a right kick to the face that knocked out a couple of teeth and opened up a cut under his right eye. The referee called an immediate time-out, and after a little confusion the fight was stopped, with Gordeau being declared the winner. A blink and you’ll miss it affair, so it was kind of difficult to gauge how good the fighters were.

The second fight had Kevin Rosier, representing kickboxing, against Zane Frazier, representing karate. Now this was a lot better. The bigger Rosier came out quickly, but it wasn’t long before Frazier was countering well. They clinched up against the cage for a few minutes, and by then they were visibly tiring. After they broke up and returned to the middle of the cage, Rosier began to unload with the heavy artillery, with some blows to the back of the head, knocking Frazier down, punching and kicking until Frazier’s men threw in the towel. Not really a good performance from either man, considering they both tired pretty quickly.

The third fight saw Royce Gracie, representing jiu-jitsu, taking on Art Jimmerson, representing boxing. Jimmerson came into this one wearing just one boxing glove, while Gracie wore his full gi. After a long feeling out process, Gracie eventually scored with the take down, and took the full mount. After moving into position and locking Jimmerson down, the boxer tapped, not because he was injured or submitting, but because he just couldn’t do anything. Although this didn’t sit well with the crowd, it was a well thought out game plan from Gracie. Jimmerson was also hampered by his decision to wear just one boxing glove, when none would have been better.

The final first round match saw Ken Shamrock, representing shoot fighting, against Patrick Smith, representing tae kwon do. This was more like the MMA of today. It went to the ground early, with Smith controlling Shamrock in the guard. Shamrock then worked himself into position, and it wasn’t long until Shamrock synched in an ankle lock, while Smith tried to apply a hold of his own. In the end Shamrock won out as Smith tapped out. Good stuff, really enjoyable.

Then it was on to the semi-finals, beginning with Gerard Gordeau against Kevin Rosier. Gordeau came into this one with a broken right hand, but he insisted on going through with the fight. Gordeau had this one from the start. Gordeau began with a few well placed kicks to the legs, and, despite his broken hand, he followed up with a few blows, knocking Rosier down. Gordeau went in for the kill, connecting with a few elbows and forearms, before stomping Rosier’s ribs. The pain was evident on Rosier’s face, and his corner threw the towel in seconds later. A good performance from Gordeau as he booked his place in the final.

The second semi-final saw Royce Gracie face Ken Shamrock. The announcers were touting this as the fight of the night. It was certainly a quick encounter. It wasn’t long before they went to the ground, grappling for position, with Gracie soon taking the dominant position. Shamrock tried to work his way out, but Gracie managed to take his back and applied a rear naked choke. Shamrock tapped out, but the referee didn’t see it at first, stopping the fight a few seconds later. The announcers were right. It may have been short, but it lived up to the hype.

After Rorian and the rest of the Gracie family pay tribute to their father Helio, with Rorian giving him a commemorative plaque, it’s on to the final, with Gerard Gordeau facing Royce Gracie. As well as his broken hand, Gordeau came into this one with his right foot heavily taped, having had one of Teila Tuli’s teeth removed from it. This was the first fight where Gordeau had no control at all. Gracie went into the clinch early, soon taking it to the ground. The Dutchman looked defenceless as Gracie went to work, soon taking Gordeau’s back and locking in a rear naked choke. Gordeau tapped seconds later, giving Gracie the win and the well deserved tournament victory.

In conclusion - my, MMA has certainly changed over the past sixteen years. As a hole this tournament was a little rough and ready. It certainly looked like some of the fighters went into the tournament with no idea what they were getting themselves in to, especially Art Jimmerson and his one boxing glove. For me the only fighters who really knew what they were doing were Gordeau, Gracie and Shamrock.

Production wise, it certainly can’t be criticised, although the commentary of Bill Wallace did leave a bit to be desired. Most of the time it seemed that he, like the majority of the fighters, didn’t know what he was letting himself in for. Luckily for him he had Jim Brown alongside him to save his bacon a few times.

Overall though, it was a very enjoyable show, and I’m glad I got the chance to see how it all began. If you’ve only seen the UFC and other promotions since MMA became popular, cool and trendy, I’d suggest trying to get a hold of this show.

MMA action returned to Bravo’s screens here in Britain this past Sunday night with the debut of a new promotion, the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA). Nicknamed “The Fighting Premiership”, the promotion held semi-final bouts in tournaments to crown lightweight, welterweight and middleweight champions. Hosted by Cage Rage veteran O.J. Borg and radio DJ Christian O’Connell, with two other Cage Rage veterans handling commentary, Malcolm Martin and Rob Nutley, along with O’Connell.

The lightweight semi-finals were first, beginning with Zack Jones taking on Francis Heagney. This one was all Heagney. As soon as the fight went to the ground, Heagney went to work, setting up with punches and elbows before really going to work with the ground and pound. Jones could offer no defence, so it came as no surprise that the referee stepped in. Impressive stuff from the Irishman here as he progressed to the final.

The second saw Tim Radcliffe face Abdul Mohammed. Mohammed came into this one with a big reputation, but found himself outfought in almost every aspect. It was an astonishing performance from Radcliffe. He out-kicked and out-kicked him. When the fight went to the ground Radcliffe worked his guard so well that he was able to just kick him off, and in the third round when Mohammed went for a take down Radcliffe just pushed him away. With the fight going the three round distance, it came as no surprise that the judges gave Radcliffe the unanimous decision. An awesome performance from Radcliffe here.

Then it was on to the welterweight semi-finals, beginning with Eugene Fadiora going up against Nathan Champ. In this battle of youth against age, youth firmly came out on top. From the opening bell of the first round to the final bell of the third, it was all Fadiora. He controlled everything, using his vastly superior kick boxing skills to out fight Champ out every point. By the end of the second round Champ’s face was a bloody mess, with a nasty cut having opened under his right eye. The cut opened up again in the third, and it was only in the final minute or so of the final round that Champ finally sprang to life, getting off a few good shots. The judges decision - unanimous in favour of Fadiora. An excellent performance from Eugene here, but in the end the sixteen year age difference just proved too much for Champ.

Next up was Edgelson Lua taking on Ch’e Mills. This was the kind of fight that makes it great to be an MMA fan, a back and forth encounter with reversal after reversal, smooth transitions, and tremendous ground fighting. While Mills clearly took the first round, Lua worked his way back well in the second, on top for most of the round and out moving Mills whenever he could, only for Mills to come back strongly on the offence himself. By the time the third round started both fighters looked exhausted, and it came as no surprise that they fought at a slightly slower pace, but as the round went on Mills got the upper hand, taking Lua down with a jumping knee and unleashing with the ground and pound. As the fight went into it’s final ten seconds all Lua could do was hang on, and it looked like the referee was going to step in and stop things right up until the final bell. So after three hard fought rounds, the unanimous decision went in favour of Mills, and rightfully so. A tremendous performance.

The final two fights were the middleweight semi-finals, beginning with John Phillips going up against Denniston Sutherland. An interesting fight between two evenly matched opponents had an unfortunate ending. Technically sound early on, when Sutherland took Phillips down with a judo throw, Phillips went limp. Sutherland went in for the kill with the ground and pound, Phillips was unable to respond, and soon tapped out, revealing that he’d injured his shoulder. Needless to say that Phillips was disappointed, but in all it was a good performance from Sutherland.

The second semi-final saw John Maguire facing the Tom “Kong” Watson, a fight Maguire had been looking for for two years. A definite example of a good striker against a good ground fighter. Early on Watson looked great, rolling off the combinations and scoring with a couple of head kicks. Maguire, on the other hand, showed excellent control on the ground, seemingly able to take Watson down at will. But by the time the third round started, Maguire looked exhausted, and Watson began to take control with some excellent striking. Whenever he knocked Maguire down, he refused to follow his man down to the mat, not wanting to go back into his territory. So each time the referee stood Maguire up, Watson would just knock him down again, until it got to the point where Maguire could take no more, and the referee stepped in, giving Watson the TKO win in a tremendous fight for both men.


In conclusion - with Cage Rage having bitten the dust, it’s successor Ultimate Challenge UK losing it’s television slot when Nuts TV went off the air, and Cage Gladiators having disappeared from ITV4 schedules, BAMMA’s debut on Bravo saw a welcome return to British television for British mixed martial arts with a great show. Of the six fights featured, everyone delivered, making this a thrilling debut show. The match-making of former Cage Rage supremo Dave O’Donnell must be highly commended here.

Production-wise, it just can’t be faulted. Great production standards coupled with good presenting and excellent commentary from other former Cage Rage alumni added to the show, but I must make mention of Christian O’Connell’s efforts here. All I knew about the guy before hand was that he was a radio disc jockey for Absolute Radio here in Britain, and that he’d appeared on a few television panel shows as well. But his presenting, commentating and interview style fit in perfectly with this show. He came across as extremely knowledgeable about all things MMA, and in effect, he became BAMMA’s answer to Joe Rogan. I really hope that they hang on to this guy, because he definitely adds to the show.

So in all, this was an excellent advertisement for British mixed martial arts, and I’m really looking forward to seeing their next show in August, when the light heavies and heavyweights will get their chance. Well done all round.