UFC 7: Who is the King of the Streets?

Marco Ruas (Photo: flickr.com)

UFC 7 - The Brawl in Buffalo – Sept. 8, 1995

The Rock vs. The Russian Bear is touted as the main event, but it’s not Dwayne Johnson vs. Ivan Koloff. Instead, it’s Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov in the superfight main event.

Shamrock is coming off a win over Dan Severn in the UFC 6 superfight, while Taktarov won the UFC 6 tournament. That seems to be the new plan: make a new star in the tournament and then put him up against the superfight winner on the next show.

We’re at the Aud, aka the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, home of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team, and this show is taking place just seven weeks after UFC 6.

Bruce Beck is on play-by-play, with Jeff Blatnick on color. Sadly, Jim Brown, our last announcing holdover from UFC 1, is gone, so legendary kickboxer Don “The Dragon” Wilson takes his place. He worked on the Batman Forever movie.  Michael Buffer is the ring announcer.

UFC 6: Ken Shamrock Tames the Beast

Tank Abbott (Photo: mma-bulgaria.com)

Ken Shamrock got the big win he had been seeking since the Ultimate Fighting Championship began, and Tank Abbott emerged as a new star at UFC 6: Clash of the Titans on July 14, 1995, at the Casper (Wyoming) Center.

Bruce Beck, Jim Brown and Jeff Blatnick are calling the action and Michael Buffer is back as our ring announcer.

First, we take a peek at highlights from the two alternate fights. Joel Sutton beat Jack McLouglin at 1:58, and Anthony Macias defeated "He-Man" Ali Gipson in 3:06. Both fights ended when the loser tapped to strikes.

Sutton got hurt, so Guy Mezger is the second alternate. This poor guy won a fight at UFC 4 to earn a spot in UFC 5, and they keep sticking him in the alternate pool and never letting him fight. Mezger needs The Ultimate Lawyer.

IFC commissioner "The Black Dragon" Ron Van Clief is at ringside to award the title to the winner. John McCarthy is the referee for all the fights again. For the first time, he has the authority to stand the fighters up if the action slows to a crawl. As McCarthy would say, "Let's get it on!"

1. David "Tank" Abbott (pit fighting) vs. John Matua (kuialua)

Pit fighting is basically "whatever works in a fight," Beck tells us. Kuialua is "the ancient Hawaiian art of bone breaking. Nice! Abbott is 265 pounds, while Matua weighs 400.

EFP Caged Madness 22 results - Jan. 5, 2013

Jeff Gorman (left) announcing with Rob Wince

Caged Madness 22 from Explosive Fight Promotions on Jan. 5 results at Knights of Columbus:

1. Rocky Clark beat Dereck Hornback (205 pounds) via guillotine choke submission at 1:25 of Round 2
2. Ben White beat Paul Zimmerman (heavyweight) via keylock submission in 27 seconds
3. Jake “The Ripper” Schilling beat Karl Parks (160 pounds) via rear naked choke submission in 2:30
4. Kody Kidd beat Jonathan Davis (170 pounds) via TKO in Round 2
5. Cody Breckner beat Taylor Friend (145 pounds) via split decision
6. Ray “The Assassin” Payne beat Bobby Turnick (125 pounds) via triangle submission in 2:13
7. In a superheavyweight fight, Eric “Tiny” Christner (456 pounds) beat Steve “The Great White” Price (362 pounds) when Price couldn’t answer the Round 3 bell
8. Andrew Law defeated Dominic “Iron Man” McGhee (160 pounds) via TKO at 2:19 in Round 2
9. Bellator veteran Rocky “The Number” Edwards beat John “Mongoose” Myers (155 pounds) with a rear naked choke in 4:50
10.  D’Juan Owens beat Strikeforce veteran Ian “Redline” Rammel (160) by unanimous decision with scores of 29-28, 29-28, 30-27

Caged Madness 23 is set for Feb. 2 in Akron, Ohio at Pronio Sports Complex

UFC 5: Dan Severn Carries the Wrestling Banner

 UFC 5 was a big night for Dan Severn.

(Photo: caulifloweralleyclub.org)

UFC 5: Return of the Beast – Charlotte, N.C. – Independence Arena – April 7, 1995

UFC’s evolution continues here, as a “superfight” between Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock is added to the usual eight-man tournament.

Bruce Beck welcomes us and introduces us to the only announcer to call the first five UFC shows, Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown.

Also, we have Jeff Blatnick on color commentary as well. We’ll see if the 1984 Greco-Roman gold medalist gets into another scrape with Brown over the merits of wrestling as the “best fighting style.”

Time limits also make their debut here at UFC 5, with a 20-minute time limit for the opening rounds, and a 30-minute limit for the tournament final.

Before we get started, Beck talks about the alternate fights, in which Dave Beneteau crushed Asbel Cancio in 21 seconds, and Guy Mezger knocked off John Dowdy.

Now wait a minute! Didn’t Mezger win a fight at UFC 4 to earn a spot in tonight’s tournament? So now he wins AGAIN and he still has to wait for someone to get hurt to enter the tournament? I would get my lawyer on the phone if I were him.

UFC 152: What Have We Learned From Injury Woes?

Chael Sonnen is ready

to fight...somebody

(Photo: mmamania.com)

What Can UFC Learn From Its Recent Troubles?

The sky must be falling.

UFC 151 was cancelled, and the UFC 153 main event had to be changed to Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar, which set Twitter on fire for all the wrong reasons.

Don’t panic, UFC fans. The company’s growth is continuing on schedule, and the latest problems can teach four lessons to remember for the future.

1. Give the champion what he wants.

Jon Jones won the UFC  light heavyweight title and made a few successful defenses, so he should have some input on who his next challenger should be.

UFC 4: Can Royce Gracie Win His Third Tournament?

UFC 4:  Revenge of the Warriors – Tulsa, Okla. – Dec. 16, 1994

(Photo: Yahoo.com!)

Royce Grace’s quest to reclaim the undisputed top spot in mixed martial arts is the theme of UFC’s fourth show.

After winning the first two tournaments, Gracie suffered an injury in his first-round win over Kimo at UFC 3. This allowed alternate Steve Jennum to surprise everyone and win the tournament.

Bruce Beck and Jim Brown return on commentary, joined by Jeff Blatnick, who won a gold medal for the U.S. in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1984.

The announcers helpfully explain that the UFC has solved the problem from the last show by having alternates win a prelim fight so they won’t be totally fresh like Jennum if they are pressed into service.

UFC 3: Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Alternate Reality

 

UFC 3: The American Dream – Grady Cole Center – Charlotte, NC – Sept. 9, 1994

Royce Gracie entered the UFC 3 with the chance to continue his legacy as the Michael Jordan of the fledgling sport of mixed martial arts.

While the eight-man tournament was set up like the first two UFC events, as a battle to see which style of martial arts was superior, everyone knew that one athlete – Royce Gracie – had to be knocked off to keep everyone else from being irrelevant.

Big John McCarthy was the referee for all of the fights, and for the first time, he had the discretion to stop the fight, rather than waiting for the corner man to throw in the towel.

Bryan Kilmeade, Jim Brown and Ben Perry returned as the announce crew and they worked together very smoothly. Rich “G-Man” Goins continued his streak as ring announcer for all three UFC shows.

UFC 3: an eight-man tournament for $60,000. Let’s fight!

1. Emanuel Yarborough (Sumo) vs. Keith Hackney (kempo karate)

Hackney was facing a man more than three times his weight (200 pounds to 616). There’s something you don’t see these days.