Arianny
© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges
Coming live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, this was another big MMA show with a number of surprise results.
As with UFC 68, this event showed a few valuable lessons: The taller fighters don’t always win, and the younger fighter isn’t always victorious. With the lifespan of athletes’ careers, at a competitive level, continuing to extend into the forties age group, it’s now possible for younger fighters to be up against opponents twice their age.
On November 12, 1993, martial arts entered a new era with the dawning of the first UFC, where the gap was closed between the different fighting styles. Now the MMA generation gap is closing. MMA has never been more exciting.
The Battles
Kendall Grove (6’6” 185.5 lb) vs. Alan Belcher (6’2” 184 lb)
– Middleweight
Referee: Big John McCarthy
Kendall Grove vs Alan Belcher
Round One
4.40: Alan landed a solid shin-kick to Kendall’s lead leg.
4.28: They clinched. Alan took Kendall down and assumed side control.
3.59: Big John told Alan to let go of Kendall’s trunks as he tried to use the grip to better his positioning. Belcher didn’t seem to take advantage of having side control.
3.50: Grove rolled Belcher, then they climbed to their feet whilst still in the clinch, and Grove used his height to catch Belcher with Thai knees.
3.41: They broke free, then clinched again. Belcher failed with a takedown.
3.21: Kendall had Alan against the fence and kept him on his toes with foot stomps. In the audience Tito Ortiz looked like ZZ Top’s sharp-dressed man, yelling instructions to Kendall.
2.48: The fighters separated again.
2.43: While standing at center ring, Alan delivered a body kick. Kendall replied with front kicks. He then scored well with Thai knees before the pair fell to the canvas, then quickly got to their feet.
0.25: Big John separated them. The towering Kendall launched a front high-kick that sailed over Alan’s head.
Round Two
Grove moved in with a leaping knee attack that Belcher avoided. Grove dispatched another knee and Belcher tried for the takedown, but Grove’s takedown defense won out.
3.57: Kendall ended up falling down on top of Alan and attacked him with left elbows – some caught Alan’s head, others were blocked by his forearms.
3.47: Kendall took side control and continued to elbow Alan’s noggin.
3.11: Belcher rolled off his back and climbed to his feet.
3.05: The fighters broke free. Alan attempted a right shin-kick and Kendall countered with a right fist, before getting Alan with a shin kick of his own. Alan replied with another shin kick, but missed with a high kick. Kendall closed in and launched a kick to the body, then clinched and poured on a series of Thai knees, followed with elbows and an uppercut.
2.26: Alan looked to Big John and told him he was okay to continue fighting.
2.22: Grove seized Belcher’s thighs, picked him up like a sack of spuds and slammed him into the floor. He proceeded to work from a loose half-guard while Belcher attempted to tie Grove up and muffle his g’n’p assault.
1.04: Kendall landed a powerful right fist before latching on a choke that included Alan’s left arm in the package.
0.25: After readjusting the choke, Alan’s left arm drooped limply and Big John intervened. Alan was unconscious.
Result: Kendall Grove by darce choke – 4.42, Round Two.
Yushin Ikami (6’1” 184 lb) vs. Mike Swick (6’2” 184 lb)
– Middleweight
Referee: Mario Yamasaki
Yushin Ikami vs Mike Swick
Round One
The bout opened with a lot of tentative jabbing that continued throughout most of the match.
4.38: With his guard down low, Mike went for a low kick to Yushin’s front right leg, then shot up a high kick.
4.13: Mike attacked Yushin’s lead leg again.
3.45: Yushin decided to start dispatching his own leg kicks.
3.40: Mike shot up another high kick.
3.06: Swick then scored with a right high kick.
3.03: Ikami tried his own high kick but the Yushin model packed less sting.
2.54: Swick rushed in for a flying knee that Ikami was able to back away from.
2.34: Southpaw Yushin touched base with a right jab.
2.28: Mike came back, unloading a high kick and flying knee that did little damage, but it enabled him to clinch. However, Yushin was able to overpower Mike and waltzed him to the fence.
2.00: Rather than employing a sophisticated takedown technique, Yushin used brute strength to merely pull Mike to the ground.
1.36: Ikami had Swick on his back and attacked from the half guard, scoring with elbows and fists.
0.35: Ikami snapped up Swick’s left arm and went for a kimura. Swick was able to survive until the round’s end, then walked back to his corner and said of Ikami, “He’s strong, man.”
Round Two
4.52: Mike missed with a back spinning kick.
4.42: Yushin landed a body kick. Both men were still showing respect for the other’s strikes.
4.10: Mike got in a leg kick and a high kick. He tried for a big uppercut that Yushin avoided.
3.18: They clinched.
2.47: Yushin took Mike down and fought from Mike’s guard.
1.52: Not much was achieved, so Mario stood them up.
1.28: Mike advanced with fists afire and Yushin clinched.
1.01: Ikami took Swick down and was back in his guard.
0.27: Mario ordered them up.
0.15: Swick unloaded a salvo of fists that rattled Ikami in the final seconds of the round. Mike’s Houston hometown crowd erupted.
Round Three
More toe-to-toe combat. Mike started to rekindle the spark he ignited at the end of round two; Yushin shot in and took him down at 3.23, fighting from Mike’s half-guard.
3.03: Yushin secured the mount. From here on, he sat on top of Mike and proceeded to pat him rather than unloading any serious g’n’p-ing damage. A few times Swick offered his back, but once again Ikami didn’t capitalize.
1.00: Swick rolled over and into Ikami’s guard. Ikami was able to muffle Swick’s attack up to the hooter.
Result: Yushin Ikami by unanimous decision.
Roger Huerta (5’9” 155 lb) vs Leonard Garcia (5’10” 154.5 lb)
– Lightweight
Referee: Mario Yamasaki
Roger Huerta vs Leonard Garcia
Round One
In true lightweight fashion, these two speedballs came out with fists and feet flying.
4.35: Roger took Leonard down from the clinch, but they sprang back up like Mexican jumping beans.
4.23: They clinched again after more inked arms exchanged strikes and Roger bombarded Leonard with consecutive high kicks. He then proceeded to work Leonard over whilst pinning him against the fence.
3.33: Roger took Leonard down.
3.10: Leonard managed to find an escape hatch and got to his feet.
3.02: Huerta opted for the shoot and Garcia latched on a guillotine. Huerta slammed Garcia to the floor, but Garcia maintained his hold.
2.44: Huerta had his head free and pounded from Garcia’s guard.
1.44: They were standing against the cage, still in the clinch.
1.14: Roger took Leonard down. Leonard lay there smiling to show he was okay, but smiles don’t win fights.
0.20: Leonard rolled Roger and the round ended.
Round Two
More feet and fists were exchanged.
4.30: Huerta took Garcia down. He was pounding from Garcia’s half-guard, then working from the full guard, hammering away.
3.47: Back on their feet, Garcia caught Huerta with a loaded knee.
3.34: Huerta fired off a right kick and Garcia countered with a solid jab.
3.11: They were slugging it out with bad intentions when Huerta landed his own damaging knee.
2.26: Roger took Leonard to the floor, leaving elbow and fist tracks all over Leonard’s face.
1.26: The pair was back standing and Leonard delivered a slinging uppercut. He was getting in early after each clinch broke up. The two fighters just kept pounding. It was a battlefield.
0.57: They clinched.
0.50: Roger took Leonard down and mounted him at 0.36, then moved back to the guard. The hooter sounded.
Round Three
Garcia attempted a takedown that didn’t come off and ate a high kick from Huerta.
4.38: Huerta caught a Garcia kick, before taking him down.
2.33: Leonard got Roger’s back, but Roger flipped him off and went in for the kill. With 30 seconds to go, it was apparent Leonard would go the distance. Both men had made this a great battle.
Result: Roger Huerta by unanimous decision.
Josh Koscheck (5’10” 170.5 lb) vs. Diego Sanchez (5’11” 168.5 lb)
– Welterweight
Referee: Big John McCarthy
Josh Koscheck vs Diego Sanchez
Round One
Diego was putting his impeccable 19-0 record on the line here against Josh who carried his own impressive 10-1 credentials into the Octagon. Josh came out cocky and smart, adopting a hit’n’run game plan. He moved in with super precision, unloaded big hits, then withdrew from the line of fire before Diego could respond. It was a very clinical fight from Josh. Diego was unloading, but his strikes were going where Josh had been – not where he was.
0.23: Koscheck shot in and slammed Sanchez with a double-leg takedown, chalking up extra points just as the round ended. This was a smart five minutes from Koscheck.
Round Two
The fight was turning into a Josh Koscheck MMA clinic. He was totally cool, methodical and in control. Josh was a master with his left hand and a demolition man with the right. Diego’s southpaw jabs were short and less effective. This was another Koscheck round – Diego having little to show for the last 10 minutes.
Round Three
There was less action in the final round, but Josh remained the ringmaster. He shut Diego out of this bout from the word go. Mike Goldberg said, “It won’t go down as the greatest fight in UFC history…” But it will go down as a great instructional fight.
Result: Josh Koscheck by unanimous decision.
Matt Serra (5’6” 169.5 lb) vs. Georges St. Pierre (5’10” 169.5 lb)
– Welterweight Title
Referee: Big John McCarthy
Matt Serra vs Georges St. Pierre
Round One
Matt moves in with a jab to start proceedings.
4.39: He opts for a left and right that don’t impact. Georges misses with a left high kick, then follows with a left body kick that Matt blocks, then fires off a right fist. But Georges is out of its path.
4.14: Matt takes another left kick on the gloves.
4.10: Serra goes for a leg kick and St. Pierre counters with the jab.
4.03: St. Pierre air-kicks.
3.57: In the middle of some trading, Serra appears to slip to his right knee and pops straight back up.
3.46: St. Pierre does another air-kick.
3.36: Serra kicks St. Pierre’s left leg.
3.26: After another rapid-fire exchange, Georges sends up an air-kick, which Serra is prepared for, however they help to keep him at bay.
3.22: Georges gets Matt backing up with three spitfire jabs. He then backs off from finishing a half-completed high kick, and Matt slams the leg with another shin kick. The pair continues to test each other with brief flutters until 2.51, when Matt ups the intensity, lunging in with a superman punch. The strike doesn’t have too big an impact, but it shows Matt is ready to raise the stakes.
2.34: Georges intercepts Matt’s leg kick with his own kick and follows up with a high kick that narrowly misses its target. St. Pierre then shoots out a low right kick that Serra briefly catches and counters with a right fist. The punch misses and St. Pierre misses with a slinging left hook.
2.15: Georges jabs, but Matt isn’t there. Despite appearing to be flat-footed, Matt is deceivingly hard to tag.
2.08: Georges fires a left high kick into the air.
2.05: They close in. Matt throws a left that doesn’t quite make it, follows with a looping right which Georges ducks under, then bops Georges with a left hook on the back of the temple. St. Pierre does a bit of a spread eagle and works to gather his footing. At first it looks like a slip, however his feet are still deserting him as he scrambles from center ring to the fence. In desperation, he flicks out a looping fist that lacks sting. Matt charges in and dispatches a left-right, left-right volley. It’s hard to tell what actually lands, but some are definitely finding their mark.
Georges gallantly gets back to his feet under fire of Matt’s bombs. One big right lands and Georges legs are jelly. He tries to latch onto Matt’s right leg. Matt shrugs him off. He mounts Georges and thumps down with lefts and rights, then switches to his right jackhammers until Big John rushes in waving his black gloves. Matt Hughes yells from the crowd, “I love it.” The look on Serra’s face is the same as when he entered the arena. In defeat, Georges speaks with great integrity and honor.
Result: Matt Serra by TKO – 3.25, Round One
Knucklepit’s Fighter of the Night: Matt Serra
Matt Serra
Ali
