UFC 14:
Showdown – July 27, 1997 – Boutwell Auditorium – Birmingham, Ala.
Maurice
Smith challenged Mark Coleman for the UFC title in a classic “striker vs.
grappler” main event.
Despite
the political forces that took UFC off of many pay-per-view carriers, the show
drew a sellout crowd of 4,800 fans.
UFC
renamed the under-200 pound weight division from light heavyweight to
middleweight. Also, new rules included mandatory gloves and no kicking on the
ground.
Before
the pay-per-view, Alex Hunter beat Sam Fulton by TKO at 2:30 in the
heavyweight alternate fight.
Bruce
Beck and Jeff Blatnick are our commentators, with Joe Rogan handling the
interviews. Bruce Buffer is our ring
announcer. Here we go!
1 - Middleweight tournament semifinal: Yuri
“The Mauler” Vaulin (Boxing) vs. Joe “The Gorilla” Moreira (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)
Vaulin
is from “the hardscrabble streets of Rega, Latvia.” Remind me not to walk
around town there at night. Blatnick said Vaulin has no ground skill but
has been in 273 fights in the last 17 years. Moreira lost to Paul Varelans at UFC 8.
Moreira
takes Vaulin to the mat and throws some elbows. The crowd is booing despite the fact that both
men are working. Vaulin can’t land the
big punch and time expires.
In overtime,
Vaulin hits a punch, but Moreira takes him down again. More boos. Tough crowd!
Time runs out again, and the judges award the decision to Moreira.
2 – Middleweight
tournament semifinal : Todd Butler (Karate) vs. Kevin Jackson (Wrestling)
Both
men beat the weight limit by checking in at 199 pounds. Jackson is an Olympic
gold medalist. He takes Butler down at 1:00, takes his back and wallops him in
the head. Jackson gets the tapout to strikes at 1:28.
Here’s
a video on kickboxing champion Maurice Smith, who has more than 50 wins. He is also
the current Extreme Fighting heavyweight champ. Despite these credentials,
Smith is a heavy underdog against Coleman.
We
also get some hype for Vitor Belfort’s return to the Octagon at UFC 15 in
October.
3 – Heavyweight
tournament semifinal: Mark Kerr (Wrestling) vs. Moti Horenstein (Karate)
Kerr
was a NCAA Division I wrestling champion at Syracuse University. Horenstein is
from Israel, and he lost to Coleman at UFC 10.
Kerr
hits a double-leg takedown and gains side control. Kerr lands some knees and lot of
punches, so the ref stops the fight at 2:22.
Rogan
tells us that Moreira can’t continue, so Fryklund will step into the
middleweight tournament.
4 – Dan “The Bull” Bobish (Wrestling) vs. Brian
Johnston (Freestyle Fighting)
Bobish
is a 310-pounder from Cleveland, and he is a Division III national wrestling champion.
Johnston is 2-3, but his losses were to Don Frye, Mark Coleman and Ken Shamrock.
Great
brawling by both men, and the crowd loves it! Bobish takes Johnston down and mauls
him against the cage. Bobish uses a forearm choke to get the tap out at 2:11.
Now
it’s time for a Mark Coleman highlight video. We see him beat Frye at UFC 10,
Johnston at UFC 11 and Dan Severn at UFC 12.
Rogan
tells us that Moreira is disappointed that doctors won’t let him fight due to a concussion.
Before
Fryklund appears in the middleweight final, we get to see his alternate fight.
5 – Middleweight alternate bout: Donnie Chappell
(Kickboxing) vs. Anthony Fryklund (Jiu-Jitsu)
Chappell
is the hometown boy, as he was the Alabama jr heavyweight kickboxing champ.
Fryklund is a karate black belt from Boston. Fryklund gets the tapout win with a choke at
1:31.
Here’s
a video on the top-ranked middleweights in the UFC: Guy Mezger, who won the UFC 13
tournament; Jerry Bohlander; Mark
Schultz, who retired to concentrate on wrestling; Enson Inoue; and Yoshihiki Takahashi, a Pancrase
competitor who will compete in the UFC “when his schedule permits,” according
to Beck.
6 –
Middleweight tournament final: Anthony Fryklund (Jiu-Jitsu) vs. Kevin Jackson
(Wrestling)
Before
the fight, Jackson says wrestlers have more stamina, and that other fighters
submit because they’re tired . Jackson
takes Fryklund down, takes his back, lands some punches and wins the fight with
a rear naked choke in 45 seconds.
UFC co-founder Art
Davie gives a gold medal to Jackson, who says he wants to fight the best.
Another
hype video focuses on wrestlers who have excelled in the UFC: Severn, Coleman, Frye and
Randy Couture.
7 –
Heavyweight tournament final - Mark Kerr (Wrestling) vs. Dan Bobish (Wrestling)
Kerr
trained with Coleman for this show. Buffer introduces some guy from
Kazakhstan and says UFC hopes to visit there someday (not yet).
Kerr hits some leg kicks, takes down Bobish.
Kerr buries his chin in Bobish’s eye to force the tap out at 1:38.
Kerr
flexes gleefully and gets his medal and kudos from Davie
and UFC co-founder Bob Meyrowitz.
Beck
and Blatnick thank the cable systems that have stuck with UFC. They ask fans to
watch UFC on satellite or at a friend’s house.
Here's yet
another video. This one highlights the top heavyweights in UFC: Coleman, Smith, Frye, Belfort,
Severn and "The King of the Streets" Marco Ruas.
8 - Main event
superfight for the UFC heavyweight title – Maurice Smith (Kickboxing) vs.
champion Mark Coleman (Wrestling)
Smith
is 48-5-2 in kickboxing and has never
lost a title fight. He says Coleman punches like a girl. Beck says Coleman took
those comments personally.
Coleman
tests Smith’s theory with a takedown, headbutts and punches as the crowd
chants his name. Smith pulls guard and lands some elbows from the bottom. Smith
finally escapes Coleman at 9:09 and kicks Coleman while he’s on all fours.
FOUL!
Coleman
is tiring and the fans are chanting for Smith. Coleman tries a head-and-arm
choke, but Smith slips out and lands a couple of strikes. Time expires, so we
go to overtime.
Sucking
wind and looking at the clock, Coleman is in trouble. He eats a combination
from Smith. Three minutes are up, and we go to double overtime.
Smith
hits some leg kicks, and Coleman’s lights are dimming. Time is up, and the
judges award the unanimous decision to the NEW UFC champion, Maurice Smith!
“The
era of takedown-centered MMA swung irrevocably toward the sprawl-and-brawl
style later popularized by Chuck Liddell and other well-rounded stylists,”
Jason Probst wrote.
The champ
signs off by telling his students to be in class on Monday.
“I’ll
be late!”