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.

It’s been a long twelve weeks. We had a case herpes, fainting incidents, guys failing to make weight, egg throwing, a guy hitting himself with a sledgehammer,  and a fighter gagging on his gum shield. Oh, and there were a few fights as well as mixed martial artists from America and Britain fought it out to make it to the lightweight and welterweight finals of The Ultimate Fighter at UFC’s The Ultimate Finale, shown live here in Britain on Setanta in the early hours of Sunday morning, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling commentary duties.

The broadcast begins with action from the lightweight division, a battle between former Ultimate Fighter winners, with Nate Diaz facing Joe Stevenson. A great fight to start the show, with both guys putting in great performances. Diaz looked like he’d get the win early on with a guillotine, but Stevenson managed to work his way before tying Diaz up in knots. The back and forth action continued like this throughout the fight, with several more guillotine attempts from Diaz, and Stevenson always countering with some good work on his own. So with the fight going distance, it went down to the judges, who gave the unanimous decision to Stevenson. Good fight here, and the right decision.

Then it was time for the first final, with British team-mates Ross Pearson and Andre Winner going at it in the lightweight final. This was a very interesting, if not overly spectacular fight. The majority of this one was fought up against the cage, with both fighters seeming to prefer using the clinch while delivering knees and trying for takedowns. When they did move to the centre, Pearson showed some good boxing skills, but perhaps the problem with this fight was the fact that because they had trained together they knew each other so well, so they actually cancelled each other out most of the time. The fight went the distance, with all three judges giving the decision to Pearson. Another good decision from the judges, who just about edged it in my opinion.

Welterweight action followed, with Chris Lytle taking on Kevin Burns. A very interesting fight between two men with a vast experience gap between them. While the first round clearly belonged to Burns, who out boxed Lytle and rocked him a couple of times, the rest of the fight belonged to Lytle. Lytle really upped his boxing game in the second and third rounds, and by the second half of the second round Burns was beginning to breath heavily. A hard Lytle right in the third opened up a cut near Burns left eye, which saw the blood just flowing down his face and chest. Lytle rocked him several more times as the final round went on. Lytle went on to win the unanimous judges decision, with Burns’ three inadvertent low blows costing him dear in the eyes of the judges.

Then it was time for the welterweight final, with American Damarques Johnson taking on Brit James Wilkes. Having had three fights go the distance, it was nice to see an early finish. This was a very exciting fight, with Johnson beginning strongly, but Wilkes quickly getting into his stride and out moving Johnson at every turn, and as the first round entered it’s final ten seconds Wilkes synched in a rear naked choke, with Johnson tapping out seconds later. An outstanding fight, one of the best I’ve seen this year.

Main event time, with Diego Sanchez taking on Clay Guida in the lightweight division. This was definitely worth it’s main event status. Round one began with both fighters swinging like crazy, and continued in the same vein throughout, with a left head kick from Sanchez sending Guida crashing down to the mat. Round two was fought mainly on the ground, and although Guida was able to control things early on, towards the end of the round Sanchez connected with a torrent of elbows to the top of Guida’s head. Round three saw them fight in the upright and on the ground. They both rolled off some good combinations, and both went for submissions on the ground. This was one of those fights that you just didn’t want to end, but sadly it did, with Sanchez getting the split decision. A tremendous fight.

In conclusion - as you may have guessed from my introduction, this was the first Ultimate Fighter season, aside from DVD releases, that I’ve watched from the beginning. It was great to see how the fighters progressed through the various rounds and into the finals, and with three Brits representing Michael Bisping’s team, they showed that mixed martial arts in this country is not just alive and well, but thriving, and that was evident by the fact that we had three fighters in the finals, so congratulations to Ross Pearson and James Wilkes for winning their respective tournaments.

As for the rest of the fights, not a bad one among them folks, with the main event pitting Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida clearly fight of the night. Although this particular fight would have been a perfect addition to any pay-per-view card, in a way I’m glad that it was aired on free TV, because it as the perfect advertisement for what mixed martial arts is all about. So who knows, if someone watching UFC on Spike TV in America for the first saw this show, they might go ahead and buy a pay-per-view in the future, and what better place to start than with UFC 100!

It was a night of returns and great anticipation, with Caol Uno and Mirko Cro Cop making their Octagon returns, and Rich Franklin going up against Wanderlei Silva as the Ultimate Fighting Championship made their German debut at UFC 99: The Comeback, shown live on Setanta Sports here in Britain this past Saturday night, with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan handling the commentary duties.

The broadcast began with action from the welterweight division, with Marcus Davis facing Dan Hardy. Hardy had made the classic mistake in the build-up of questioning Davis’ Irish credentials, something you just don’t do, no matter how many generations removed they are from their homeland. This was one of the fights I was really looking forward to, given Davis’ recent displays, and it didn’t disappoint. We got a see-saw battle, with both men putting in a great effort in all departments and looking good in the process. Davis did his best work on the ground, while Hardy, with an explosive elbow and a big knee that sent Davis down looking tremendous in the stand-up game. Another elbow, this time from the guard, bloodied Davis on the ground in the third round, and by that time the Irish Hand Grenade had a nasty swelling around his left eye as well. In the end Hardy’s extra work earned him the split decision, and although I was kind of rooting for Davis, Hardy was a worth winner. A great fight to start the show with.

The first big return of the evening followed, with Caol Uno taking on Spencer Fisher in the lightweight division. Although this won’t go down as one of the most explosive fights in mixed martial arts history, technically it was excellent. As the majority of the fans in attendance voiced their displeasure, Fisher and Uno put on tremendous example of mixed martial arts, and even though they more or less cancelled each other out for three rounds, it was still great to watch. Uno looked like he’d sealed the win in the final few seconds, but the unanimous decision went to Fisher. As good as this was, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a re-match in the future.

Then it was back up to welterweight, with Mike Swick and Ben Saunders. This one left me scratching my head a little, given Saunders’ tactics. For the majority of the fight Saunders seemed happy just to hold Swick in his guard, and the quick one’s words early on really said it all. Saunders had some good moments, but Swick was the aggressor throughout, and a right to the temple in the second round dropped Saunders. Swick followed up with a series of lefts on the ground, and with Saunders failing to respond the referee stepped in and gave Swick the TKO win. Not the best fight I’ve seen, but Swick did make the most of a bad situation.

Then it was time for the second big return of the evening, this time in the heavyweight division, with Mirko Cro Cop taking on Mustapha Al-Turk. This was the second fight of the night in which I wasn’t rooting for my fellow Brit. I’ve been a big Cro Cop fan ever since I saw him knock out Bob Sapp in K-1 about six years ago. Unlike many before him, Al-Turk didn’t look afraid when the fight began, but it didn’t take long for the Croatian to assert his control, using his punching power to good effect. However, an inadvertent poke to the eye, missed by the referee, was the beginning of the end for Al-Turk, as he turned his back on Cro Cop, who went in for the kill. Al-Turk had no answer to Cro Cop’s onslaught, and the referee soon stepped in to stop the assault, giving Cro Cop the TKO win. Welcome back Mirko.

The heavyweight action continued with Cain Velasquez facing Cheick Kongo. Both of these men went into this one with a lot of hype and a lot to prove. Although Kongo had impressed in his last few fights, this was another example of how, as far as his ground game goes, he has massive holes in his overall game. Kongo was able to rock Velasquez a few times while on his feet, but as soon as it went to the ground Velasquez dominated in almost every aspect. His ground and pound was relentless at times, although he just couldn’t finish Kongo off. So with the fight going the distance, it came as no surprise that Velasquez got the unanimous decision. As Joe Rogan said, the heavyweight division now has a new contender. I wouldn’t mind seeing Velasquez going up against Cro Cop in the future.

Main event time, with Rich “Ace” Franklin taking on “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva. This one was fought at catch weight, with both guys weighing in at 194. Out of all the fights on this card, this was the one I was looking forward to the most. This fight was everything it promised to be. With very little work on the ground, this was mainly fought upright, a back-and-forth encounter with both men rocking the other with kicks and combinations. Both men looked exhausted by the end of the second round, but that didn’t stop them in the third round. The fight was as compelling as it had been in the previous rounds, and it was getting hard to predict just who would win. The end was great, with Franklin delivering punches from the back while Silva delivered elbows from the front. The judge’s unanimous decision went in favour of Franklin. I won’t argue with that. Perhaps Silva’s weight cut, rumoured to be twelve pounds in the last day, went against him, but in the end it’s this kind of fight that makes you feel good about being an MMA fan.

In conclusion - the UFC’s German debut can only be termed a success. All six fights on the main card provided great entertainment, with the main event definitely worthy of it’s status. It was a great way to lead in to the big one next month. UFC 100 certainly has a lot to live up to.