Tito Ortiz (photo:defymag.com)
UFC 13: The Ultimate
Force - May 30, 1997 - Augusta (Ga.) Civic Center
However, the debuts of Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture set the stage for a bright future.
UFC 13 featured
four-man heavyweight and light heavyweight tournaments, along with a superfight
between Brazilian phenom Vitor Belfort and brawling anti-hero Tank Abbott.
Ortiz opened the show by smashing Wes
Albritton for a successful UFC debut in just 31 seconds. This was the alternate
bout for the light heavyweight tournament.
After the fight, Ortiz
told Joe Rogan that he knew he would “blow through” Albritton. Here’s the interview.
In the heavyweight
alternate fight, hometown boy Jack “The Ripper” Nilson beat Saeed Hosseini by TKO
in 1:23.
Bruce Beck and Jeff
Blatnick are on commentary, with Bruce Buffer as ring announcer. Big John
McCarthy is our referee. Here we go!
1.
Light heavyweight semifinal: Christophe Leninger (Kodokan Judo)
vs. Guy “The Sandman” Mezger (Submission fighting)
Mezger finally gets
his chance in the main UFC tournament, which he earned way back at UFC 5 but
never received. Since his last UFC appearance two years
earlier, Mezger went to Japan's Pancrase promotion to slug it out with guys
like Yuki Kondo, Bas Rutten and Semmy Schilt, posting a 9-5-2 record.
Leninger lost his only
previous fight in the Octagon to Ken Shamrock three years earlier at UFC 3.
Leninger is wearing a
gi, so Mezger grabs it while punching him. Leninger responds by yanking on the
front of Guy’s shorts. Nothing is happening on the ground, as Leninger doesn’t
seem to have a way to win the fight. McCarthy stands them up.
Mezger lands a kick
that earns a compliment from his opponent. Back to the mat and the 12-minute
time limit expires. The fans boo. In overtime, Mezger lands some good punches and wins the unanimous decision. After the fight, Mezger said that nothing
Leninger did hurt him.
2. Light heavyweight semifinal: Enson Inoue (Shooto) vs. Royce
Alger (Wrestling)
Blatnick explains that
Shooto is a hybrid of grappling, striking and submission fighting. UFC champ
Mark Coleman is in the corner of Alger, an All-American wrestler from Iowa
City.
Alger grapples his way
on top of Inoue, who stays cool and grabs an armbar from the bottom to win by
tapout at 1:36.
3.
Heavyweight semifinal: Dmitri Stepanov (Muay
Thai and Sambo) vs. Steven Graham (Extension Fighting)
Stepanov is from Minsk, Belarus. Graham wants
to play pro football. Beck says that extension fighting consists of “whatever
works.” Graham outweighs Stepanov 290-217.
Graham scoops up Stepanov for a big takedown
and starts yanking on his arm. Stepanov taps out to a keylock at 1:28.
4. Heavyweight semifinal: Randy Couture (Greco-Roman wrestling) vs.
Tony "The Vikiing" Halme (Pro Wrestling)
Couture says he’s not
worried about the transition from Greco-Roman wrestling to the Octagon. Of course, Halme is
from Finland and wrestled in the WWF as Ludvig Borga, feuding with Lex Luger
and Tatanka. You must now stop what you’re doing and watch his classic “America stinks” promo.
Couture takes Halme
down immediately and drills him with a right hand. He floats to the back and
puts “The Viking” away in 58 seconds with a rear naked choke, as seen in this video.
Due to an injury, Inoue
can’t compete at in the light heavyweight finals. Ortiz was inserted into the
final, but first we get to watch his alternate fight.
5. LIGHTWEIGHT ALTERNATE – Tito Ortiz (Street Fighting) vs. Wes Albritton (Kempo Karate)
Ortiz trains with Tank Abbott and is a high
school wrestling coach in Huntington Beach, Calif. Albritton is from Scottsborough,
Ala.
Ortiz takes down Albritton and batters him
with lefts and elbows until the towel comes flying in. Albritton was not happy
with his corner, but he was getting clobbered.
6. LIGHTWEIGHT FINALS:
Guy Mezger (Submission Fighting) vs. Tito Ortiz (Street Fighting)
Ortiz lands a lot of early strikes and stops Mezger’s
takedown attempt. A knee to the head busts Mezger open in two places, prompting
a visit from the doctor.
Ortiz goes for a double-leg takedown but walks right into a
guillotine choke, and Mezger wins! He has a big celebration.
7. HEAVYWEIGHT FINALS: Randy Couture (Greco-Roman Wrestling) vs.
Stephen Graham (Extension Fighting)
Couture immediately
establishes himself as a big-name player, beating Graham by TKO at 3:13.
8. MAIN EVENT Superfight: Vitor Belfort (Gracie Jiu Jitsu) vs.
Tank Abbott (Street Fighting)
Belfort is a
20-year-old phenom from Brazil, while the 32-year-old Abbott is the bad-boy
brawler from Huntington Beach.
Abbott comes into the
fight at 270 pounds, with Belfort checking in at 215. Abbott misses an overhand
right, so Belfort grabs him around the waist and dumps him to the canvas.
Both men return to their
feet, but Belfort prevails in the punching exchange. Abbott falls to the mat
and Belfort rains down punches from behind until referee John McCarthy stops
the fight at the 52-second mark.
“Overwhelming!” says Blatnick.
Check out the fight on the UFC website here.
The UFC was a long way
from returning to the national spotlight, but it had some great young stars
getting ready for that day.
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