The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning

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Fury
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 20, 2010 1:32:16 GMT -5

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Post by Fury on Dec 20, 2010 1:32:16 GMT -5

Backstory

Art Davie was an advertising executive from California who had been given the task to research martial arts for one of his clients in 1991. It was during this research that he met Rorion Gracie, a master of jiu-jitsu in Torrance, California. Rorion was a member of the Gracie family whom had a long and successful history in martial arts in Brazil competing and dominating vale tudo contests in Brazil for decades. Rorion was looking to attempt to bring the Gracie jiu-jitsu style to the United States. Davie trained in Rorion’s dojo and that’s where he met John Milius, a film director and screenwriter, whom was also training there.

One day in 1992 after watching some of Rorion’s “Gracies in Action” tapes which pitted the Gracie’s against other martial arts masters in vale tudo contests, Art pitched an idea to Rorion and John Milius about having a tournament featuring 8 masters of different forms of martial arts fighting each other until there was one fighter remaining at the end crowned the Ultimate Fighting Champion and find out which fighting style was the best. “War of the Worlds” he proposed the idea as. Rorion and Milius loved the idea.

The trio pitched the idea around and eventually got 28 investors for the idea and thus WOW promotions was formed. Now they just needed somewhere to air the concept. They approached a couple of PPV broadcasters but they declined to air the product, citing the concept was too risky for them to air. Then they met with Semaphore Entertainment Group CEO Bob Meyrowitz. Meyrowitz, who had been known to take a few chances loved the idea and agreed to invest in it and air this “War of the Worlds” on pay-per-view.

In May of 1993 Meyrowitz officially announced SEG’s partnership with WOW promotions and intent to air the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship sometime around the end of the year. Soon after that they contacted video and art director Jason Cusson to design the ring for the fights and the trio of Art Davie, Rorion Gracie and John Milius began their search for the 8 fighters that would compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And thus the Ultimate Fighting Championship was born.

Fury
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 20, 2010 1:41:57 GMT -5

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Post by Fury on Dec 20, 2010 1:41:57 GMT -5

The Ultimate Fighting Championship details announced.

I recently spoke to UFC founder Art Davie regarding the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. He spoke to me about the 8 fighters he had selected to compete in this tournament and gave me footage to watch of them, the Octagon (the ring in which bouts will take place) and the rules.

First off the tournament is officially scheduled to take place on November 13 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, tickets to the event are on sale now.

The group of Art Davie, Rorion Gracie & John Milius had to select 8 fighters from a group of around 100 to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The 8 fighters they chose to take place in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship include a former boxing world champion, a shoot fighter, a Gracie jiu-jitsu family member, a kick boxer, a tae-kwon-do/kickboxing champion, a Savate champion, a sumo wrestler and a kung-fu specialist. Here they are.

Rickson Gracie - Of all the Gracie family, Rickson is considered the best fighter among all of them. Titled the “King of the Gracie’s”, Gracie has two official victories to his name both over legendary Brazilian brawler Rei Zulu whom significantly outweighed him. But in addition to that boasts many victories and an undefeated record, in fact the entire Gracie family is undefeated. Rorion handpicked his brother Rickson to represent Gracie jiu-jitsu and help bring it into the mainstream of America. Rickson has to be considered the favourite for the tournament given that he has been training since he was born and he is widely considered one of the best martial artists in the world.

Ken Shamrock - Shamrock was the first guy Art Davie chose to participate in the tournament. Shamrock looks like a fighter. Built like a physical specimen with a look of intensity always on his face. Shamrock is considered the number one shoot fighter in Japan currently fighting in the Pancrase promotion. Shamrock has fought at all 3 of the Pancrase events going 3-0 in all of the fights. Shamrock is also a very charismatic individual and has all the makings to be a star in this sport if it takes off. Shamrock could very well be Rickson’s greatest test to winning this tournament.

Leon Spinks - A big name boxer was what the company wanted for the PPV and a big name boxer was what they got. Easily the most recognisable name in the field as Spinks is a former undisputed heavyweight champion defeating Muhammad Ali. Whilst Spinks career has definitely been up and down and he appears to coming to the end of it aged 40, Spinks is still probably still the best striker in the group and still packs a knockout punch. If Spinks can keep the fights standing he stands a more than good shot to knock anyone out. He’s going to be a main drawing point for the PPV and obviously a viewer favourite. It took a bit of convincing to get Spinks to appear as he is the only fighter being paid just to appear at the pay per view.

Patrick Smith - Smith is the local boy and likely to be a crowd favourite for that fact. He boasts excellent records in both kickboxing and tae-kwon-do competitions and will be representing the tae-kwon-do art in this tournament. Smith apparently holds an undefeated record of 250-0 in competitive fighting. If Smith’s record is indeed that, he could be a real threat to win this with ability in multiple disciplines and the home crowd behind him.

Teila Tuli - Teila Tuli is a well known sumo wrestler reaching the ranks of the makupoopa division. Tuli accumulated a record of 57-27-14, including a 14 fight win streak to start off his sumo career. Tuli trains in the Azumazeki stable, most notably training current Yokozuna Akebono there. Tuli obviously is the largest competitor to compete in this tournament and will look to use that to his advantage.

Gerard Gordeau - A champion in the French martial art of Savate. Gordeau is from The Netherlands and thus makes him only one of 2 foreign born participants taking part in the tournament (the other being Gracie). Savate is similar to kickboxing except the participants use shoes. Standing in at 6’5 Gordeau is the tallest competitor in the tournament and is definitely a dark horse to go deep.

Jason Delucia - Delucia will be representing the mysterious art of five animals kung-fu in the tournament. Delucia was legally adopted by his martial arts teacher at a young age, so he has been prepared for this tournament his whole life. The mysterious Delucia is also rumoured to have challenged Steven Segal to a fight, but this tournament presents a different kind of challenge for Delucia whom holds an air of mystery surrounding him and thus makes him unpredictable.

Kevin Rosier - Rosier stands in at 6’5 and 265lbs and is a premier kickboxing champion. Rosier holds over 60 wins and has achieved all of them via knockout. Rosier has held championships all over the world in the super heavyweight division and despite him being on the downslide of his career will look to use that knockout power to win.

So there are the 8 fighters competing in the tournament, in addition to that though Davie mentioned an unaired preliminary bout will be taking place before the show in order to determine the alternate in case there is an injury sustained during the tournament forcing a fighter to withdraw. And those fighters are 6’6 kenpo karate expert Zane Frazier taking on local fighter Trent Jenkins, who also specialises in karate and is the youngest and smallest competitor fighting at the event.
In addition to this the announcers for the event have also been signed and include “Thunderfoot” Bill Wallace a karate world champion. Legendary NFL running back Jim Brown and female karate expert Kathy Long on the main commentary booth with Rod Machado, Brian Kilmeade & Rich “G-Man” Goins also on the team.

On the case of rules, there are none is what Davie said except for the obvious “dirty” tactics of eye gouging, groin shots and biting and there is no time limits. The Octagon will be the place where the combatants will fight, it is an eight sided caged structure. The fights were randomly selected into brackets, here are the results and fight structure.

Alternate Bout - Trent Jenkins (0-0) vs. Zane Frazier (0-0)
Match #1 - Kevin Rosier (Kickboxing, 0-0) vs. Rickson Gracie (Gracie jiu-jitsu, 2-0)
Match #2 - Teila Tuli (Sumo, 0-0) vs. Leon Spinks (boxing, 0-0)
Match #3 - Gerard Gordeau (Savate, 0-0) vs. Patrick Smith (tae-kwon-do, 0-0)
Match #4 - Jason Delucia (five animals kung-fu, 0-0) vs. Ken Shamrock (shoot fighting, 3-0)
Semi Final #1 - Match # 1 Winner vs. Match #2 Winner
Semi Final #2 - Match #3 Winner vs. Match #4 Winner
Final - Semi Final #1 Winner vs. Semi Final #2 Winner

Last Edit: Dec 20, 2010 1:48:10 GMT -5 by Fury

legendkiller8 Guest	The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 20, 2010 2:03:50 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by legendkiller8 on Dec 20, 2010 2:03:50 GMT -5 Someone had a crack at this in the beginning of UFC and did a good job, hope you do good too.

Fury
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 20, 2010 15:25:11 GMT -5

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Post by Fury on Dec 20, 2010 15:25:11 GMT -5

Alternate Fight - Zane Frazier defeats Trent Jenkins via TKO after strikes on the ground.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship
Live November 12, 1993
McNichols Sports Arena
Denver, Colorado

To start off the show we are treated to a video package highlighting the fighters participating in the tournament. Each fighter gets about 10-15 seconds and most of the fighters use this time to talk about how tough they are and do some shadow boxing, Rickson is really being put over as a dangerous competitor. Leon Spinks and Ken Shamrock also get extended airing time to highlight their boxing and shoot fighting abilities respectively.

We are then introduced to the rules of the octagon “THERE ARE NONE”. There are no rules and no time limits until someone is knocked out or submits.

Bill Wallace then welcomes us to the show or the “Ultimate Fighting Challenge” to in his words and then mentions that the show is in the McNichols Arena whilst burping. He then runs down the brackets and fighting disciplines of the competitors and introduces us to colour commentator Jim Brown who puts over the event. We also see five time kickboxing champion Kathy Long. Rod Machado is talking from the entrance way and puts over Rickson Gracie and Gracie jiu-jitsu. Brian Kilmeade is in the octagon and walks us around the confines of the structure that the competitors will be fighting in. We now go to Rich “G-Man” Goins who will do the fighter introductions.

Match #1
Rickson Gracie (2-0, Gracie jiu-jitsu) vs. Kevin Rosier (0-0, Kickboxing)

Before the fight starts we are introduced to the fighters with a small video inset. Rosier says he’s knocked out many men in his career and will continue to tonight. Rickson says that Gracie jiu-jitsu is the best fighting style in the world and he will display it here.

Rosier is about 260 and has a significant weight advantage but most of that is fat. Rickson is wearing his gi to the ring with the Gracie train behind him. Wallace also can’t seem to get his head around the fact that it’s pronounced Hickson even when Brown corrects him.

The match starts with a couple of jabs before Rickson attempts to take down Rosier, albeit unsuccessfully to the surprise of many. Rosier and Rickson then grapple as Rosier pushes Rickson against the cage. Rosier sort of just holds Rickson against the cage for a couple of minutes. Rickson expertly then switches control so that Rosier’s back is to the cage and then tries a couple of judo style throws but is unsuccessful and gives up his back to the cage again as a Rosier is breathing heavily whilst holding him there. Rickson reverses it again and then trips Rosier to the ground and immediately grabs a hold of Rosier’s arm and proceeded to apply a choke submission and Rosier submits immediately.

The Gracie train rushes the ring to celebrate with their man. Rosier looks like he’s about to collapse from a combination of pain and exhaustion. Wallace seems to be taking great pleasure in Rosier’s pain saying Rosier doesn’t have what it takes. Rosier is interviewed and huffs and puffs into the microphone saying this was much tougher than he ever imagined.

Analysis of the fight is it was a pretty weak opening for the show. Surprised Gracie had so much trouble getting Rosier to the ground, but once he got it there it was over in a matter of seconds. Rosier had no level of cardio but used his weight to stay upright and made Gracie work harder than anyone could’ve imagined.

Gracie via arm choke Submission in 21 minutes 36 seconds

Match #2
Leon Spinks (0-0, Boxing) vs. Teila Tuli (0-0, Sumo)

Leon gets a good reaction as he makes his way to the octagon, in his inset he says he’s been a world champion in boxing and will now be the Ultimate Fighting Champion. Tuli says the strongest bone in his body is his heart and he looks like he is an unmovable object weighing every bit of 420lbs. Spinks starts dancing around and takes off his boxing gloves he wore and we get underway.

Spinks throws some jabs at Tuli using his movement to circle him whilst Tuli has the plan of throwing palm shots at Spinks to no avail. Tuli soon realises he’s losing at this at Spinks is obviously outboxing him and landing a lot of shots as he tries to avoid Tuli. Tuli moves in and attempts to grapple with Spinks but Spinks pushes him off and laughs in Tuli’s face as he continues to avoid Tuli whilst landing many quick combinations and jabs. Tuli looks exhausted whilst Spinks cardio is holding up well. Tuli grapples with Spinks again and actually gets a hold of him a bit before Spinks breaks free. Not long after that did Spinks land a huge right hand to Tuli’s jaw rendering him unconscious.

Tuli is out. Spinks starts celebrating and gets the crowd into it. Replays show that one of Tuli’s teeth were knocked out by Spinks, which Wallace takes great pleasure in. Tuli finally comes too as blood is coming from his mouth and he walks out. Spinks is interviewed by Kilmeade and says this is a lot of fun and that’s what he plans on doing to everyone.

Overall better than the opener and Spinks made the bout a lot more fun with his natural charisma. The finish was good and provided a highlight reel knockout. Plus Spinks winning will make the crowd happy as he goes on to face Gracie in the semi finals.

Leon Spinks defeats Teila Tuli via Knock-Out after 15 minutes of action.

Wallace can’t stop laughing at the fact that Tuli lost a tooth, whilst Brown puts over the Spinks/Gracie semi-final. The updated tournament brackets are then shown.

Match #3
Patrick Smith (0-0, Tae-kwon-do) vs. Gerard Gordeau (0-0, Savate)

Pat Smith is introduced as holding a 250-0 record as hard to believe as it is. He says he’s got all the tools to be the Ultimate Fighting Champion, the crowd cheer for Smith as he is the home town favourite. Gordeau comes out in what look like sweatpants and he is lanky.

After the introductions the fight is underway and almost immediately knocked Smith down with a big right hand. Smith fell to the floor and Gordeau started swinging but Smith defended himself well and got back up. Smith then proceeded to stay away from Gordeau picking opportune moments to hit jabs. Smith then proceeded to dominate Gordeau, evading EVERY shot he threw at him before Smith knocked him down and started pounding on him before he was pulled off by the vale tudo referee.

Smith runs around the octagon like a madman, celebrating his victory. Gordeau looks pissed off and declines further comment. Whilst Smith says 251-0 baby.
Another decent but dragging fight, it really looked like Gordeau was going to win early on, but Smith hung in there are fought back. The telling stat of the fight is that Gordeau’s only standing strike that landed was the first as he proceeded to go 0 for 38 for the rest of the fight.

Pat Smith defeats Gerard Gordeau via TKO after 17 minutes 43 seconds.

Wallace seems to think Gordeau quit and doesn’t deserve to be here. Jim Brown really hypes up Ken Shamrock.

Match #4
Ken Shamrock (3-0, shoot fighting) vs. Jason Delucia (0-0, five animals kung-fu)

Shamrock comes out in his small tights and says he is the most well rounded fighter in this competition. Delucia says something about tigers and dragons. Wallace talks about Shamrocks “swimming trunks” as he calls them and how good he looks in them, Delucia does the crane pose before Goins does the introductions and we start our fight.

Shamrock went for a very early takedown but Delucia managed to avoid it and stay standing. Shamrock and Delucia then traded a couple of shots before Shamrock feinted a punch and then proceeded to take Delucia down. Shamrock then transitioned to the side of Delucia and proceeded to lock in a similar hold to what Gracie did and Delucia had no option but to tap.

Delucia looks devastated and says he gives his props to Shamrock.

Shamrock looked really impressive here doing whatever he wanted to with Delucia and he did it in the least amount of time which will serve him well in the later rounds of competition. Also the most exciting fight of the 4 as there was very little time to drag given how short the fight was. There’s a good chance Shamrock moved himself into favouritism here.

Ken Shamrock defeats Jason Delucia via choke Submission in 3 minutes 46 seconds.

The tournament brackets are once again updated and our semi finals are set as Rickson Gracie will take on Leon Spinks and Ken Shamrock will take on Patrick Smith for the right to go to the finals.

Semi Final #1 - Rickson Gracie (3-0) vs. Leon Spinks (1-0)

The Gracie train once again makes it’s way to the octagon with Rickson at the forefront. Leon Spinks then makes his way and shows some swelling on his right hand that knocked out Tuli and the commentators wondered how Spinks would fare.

Spinks and Gracie traded a couple of shots early but Gracie realised quickly that that wasn’t ideal as he took Spinks to the mat with ease, Gracie then grabbed Spinks injured arm and twisted it behind his back in what was called a Kimura, Spinks immediately tapped out much to the boos of the crowd.

The Gracie train once again stormed the cage and celebrated with Gracie. Spinks met with Kilmeade and put over Gracie saying this was tough but a lot of fun and Rickson Gracie is the real deal before shaking his hand and leaving to a round of applause.

Rickson got Spinks to the ground much easier than he did with Rosier and once again it was all she wrote for Spinks once it got there. A much more impressive performance from Gracie here as he once again displays his jiu-jitsu putting an end to the dangerous striker.

Rickson Gracie defeats Leon Spinks via submission in 2 minutes 47 seconds

Semi Final #2
Ken Shamrock (4-0) vs. Patrick Smith (251-0 or 1-0 to be more accurate)

Wallace is again excited to see Shamrock in his small trunks. As Shamrock has his always intimidating look on his face. Smith then enters and tells Shamrock he’s number 252.

Smith comes out swinging some shots to no avail as Shamrock almost immediately takes Smith down. Shamrock then immediately goes for Smith’s foot and begins to twist the Achilles and Smith taps out immediately.

Smith jumps to his feet and complains about the stoppage saying he’s ready to fight. The crowd boos as Shamrock celebrates his victory. Smith admits defeat though in his post fight interview with Kilmeade. The commentators immediately go into the Shamrock/Gracie hype saying Shamrock has been more impressive tonight and could very well end the Gracie family undefeated streak.

Well that was over quick, Shamrock has established himself very quickly and may even be considered the favourite going into the final.

Shamrock defeats Smith via submission (Achilles lock) in 1 minute 24 seconds.

As the fighters prepare we are treated to footage of the preliminary fight as Frazier knocks Jenkins down and then pounds on him with unanswered shots for the victory. The announcers once again hype Gracie/Shamrock and show us each of their roads to the finals.

Final
Rickson Gracie (4-0) vs. Ken Shamrock (5-0)

The fight that seemed the most likely when the brackets were announced and a very exciting match-up between the 2 most well rounded fighters participating in the tournament. The Gracie train once again makes it’s way to the octagon behind Rickson. Shamrock follows behind looking fresh, intense and confident. It’s pointed out how Rickson has fought for 6 times as long as Shamrock.

The introductions are done and the fight gets underway. Rickson attempts a takedown almost immediately, but Shamrock defends well and forces Rickson into a turtle position. Shamrock blasts a few shots but can’t control Rickson who gets back to his feet. Shamrock again looks to blast Rickson with some shots and Rickson again looks to take Shamrock to the ground but is again unsuccessful and like the previous attempt Shamrock pulls Gracie down throws some shots but Gracie gets back up. Take three of this as Rickson goes for the take down, is stopped, Shamrock lands a few good shots in and Gracie stands up.

They circle for a bit before yep you guessed it Rickson attempts to take Shamrock down, Shamrock blocks it and pounds Gracie in the turtle position before he gets back to his feet. Gracie seems intent to keep it as a boxing match for now and lands several good jabs to Shamrock as many of Shamrock’s swings are misses and many good counter punches by Gracie. They circle and throw inconsequential shots for a long time. Gracie getting the better with some nice left jabs and counters. Before Shamrock lands two big right hands and Rickson staggers back, Shamrock looks to move in for the kill but Rickson defends well and regains himself. And the boxing match continues with Rickson again landing more shots, both fighters show signs of tiredness as the action slows. The boxing continues for a while before Rickson again attempts to take Shamrock down but Shamrock avoids Gracie completely and Gracie ends up on his back. Shamrock gets on top of Gracie but Gracie manoeuvres well from the bottom and manages to get behind Shamrock pretty easily. Rickson starts pulling at Shamrocks arm and neck but both fail before he eventually gets a hold of Shamrocks arm rolls through and Shamrock has no choice but to submit even though it took a while for the refs to separate them.

The Gracie train rolls into the ring as Rickson is presented with the $50,000 winner cheque. Shamrock looks pissed at the stoppage but he and Gracie embrace in a hug as Shamrock raises Gracie’s hand in victory. Shamrock declines an interview with Brian Kilmeade, shaking his head as he walks out of the octagon. Gracie says he is very happy with the victory.

A solid, albeit boring in places tournament final. Shamrock was probably getting the better of Gracie up until the finish, made a mistake when he jumped on Gracie and Gracie as he’s done all night, once the fight goes to the ground it’s only a matter of time before he will submit you and he is a very deserving winner.

Rickson Gracie defeats Ken Shamrock via submission in 39 minutes 54 seconds.

Overall a decent show, things really started to pick up from Shamrock/Delucia on as some of the earlier fights dragged for long periods of time. Gracie is a good winner and the expected winner coming in as he has the best skill of all the fighters. The show sounds like it was a big success and should present the opportunity for future events should they come.

Quick Results
Prelim - Zane Frazier beat Trent Jenkins via TKO in 1 minute 27 seconds
Match #1 - Rickson Gracie beat Kevin Rosier via submission in 21:36
Match #2 - Leon Spinks beat Teila Tuli via KO in 15:00
Match #3 - Patrick Smith beat Gerard Gordeau via TKO in 17:43
Match #4 - Ken Shamrock beat Jason Delucia via submission in 3:46
Semi Final #1 - Rickson Gracie beat Leon Spinks via submission in 2:47
Semi Final #2 - Ken Shamrock beat Patrick Smith via submission in 1:24
Final - Rickson Gracie beat Ken Shamrock via submission in 39:54

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Mike Bockwinkel
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Joined on: Oct 16, 2008 17:58:29 GMT -5
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 21, 2010 12:19:21 GMT -5

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Post by Mike Bockwinkel on Dec 21, 2010 12:19:21 GMT -5

Dude, it sucks that this isn't getting more replies.
Lol why is that dude so excited that Shamrock is in trunks?!
Good to see Smith get defeated, and even better by the hands of Shamrock.
Pretty obvious that it'd be Shamrock/Gracie in the finals.

Wrestling at the Bocks.

Fury
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Joined on: Jan 21, 2007 21:19:09 GMT -5
Posts: 4,257

The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 23, 2010 21:20:45 GMT -5

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Post by Fury on Dec 23, 2010 21:20:45 GMT -5

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns in 1994.

After the overwhelming success of The Ultimate Fighting Championship pay per view that drew over 3,000 paying in attendance and 139,000 pay per view buys, it has been officially announced that there will be a sequel tournament and in fact a 3rd tournament has been officially announced as well. The Ultimate Fighting Championship part 2 has been announced to return to Denver on March 11 in the Mammoth Gardens whilst the 3rd tournament is currently scheduled for Summer in North Carolina. It is also rumoured that SEG wants up to 10 tournaments to take place with them, obviously enjoying the success the first event drew.

Most notably there will be a change to the no time limit rule. WOW promotions higher ups felt that with some of the fights lasting a long time such as the Shamrock/Gracie tournament final last 40 minutes that there needs to be a system to prevent fights lasting too long and running over their PPV allotment. So from now on there will be a 30 minute time limit in place for all fights which in case of the time limit expiring, there will be 3 independent judges judging the fight on who was the more impressive fighter over the course of the bout and whomever gets the majority of the votes will win the bout and advance (or win) the tournament. It should be noted that Rorion and Rickson Gracie were opposed to this as they feel it takes away from the vale tudo style, but it was felt to be necessary by SEG and Davie.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship part 2 fighters and brackets.

Eight new fighters will step into The Octagon to attempt to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion. Seven different styles will be represented in the tournament with there being 2 jiu-jitsu specialists. Here are the brief profiles of the eight fighters participating in the tournament. All 8 are MMA debutants except for Zane Frazier whom picked up the preliminary victory at the first UFC.

Royce Gracie (Jiu Jitsu)
Royce is the younger brother of UFC 1 winner Rickson and thus big expectations are expected of him. Royce is smaller and probably not as skilled as Rickson but will be expected to hold up the undefeated Gracie name. Royce has been learning from his older brothers at a very young age and has thus been toughened up for this competition. Royce is still expected to be the favourite for the tournament and uphold the Gracie legacy.

Remco Pardoel (Jiu Jitsu)
Pardoel (pronounced Pardoo) is the holder of the Dutch, Belgian, German and Danish open weight jiu jitsu championships. Pardoel presents another world class jiu jitsu fighter fighting in the tournament and since jiu jitsu was the winning style of the first tournament that’s not good news for the others. Pardoel also hold some judo experience so that will help him in getting opponents to the ground. Pardoel is also a rather large humsn being standing in at 6’4 and 260lbs making him the biggest competitor competing tonight. Pardoel has also been training with UFC competitor and fellow Dutchman Gerard Gordeau in order to prepare for this tournament, so expect him to come in prepared and a real threat to win.

Orlando “The Gladiator” Weit (Muay Thai)
Frenchman Orlando Weit is the 1993 world thai boxing champion and reactions to him being included in this event have him as one of the favourites. Anyone with the nickname The Gladiator has to be tough right. Orlando’s body is sculpted and whilst he is one of the smaller competitors in the event at 5’10, 170lbs. He can hit harder and is probably more dangerous than anyone else in this tournament. A combination of power, speed and technique, don’t be surprised to see Weit go far in the tournament. You can also bet this guy will be a crowd favourite come March.

Alberto Cerro Leon (Silat)
Leon is a champion in the Indonesian martial art style of Pencak Silat, which is not a well known martial art. However it focuses on self defense striking and the use of weapons and since Leon is a gold medal winner at the most recent Silat championships you can bet Leon is tough. Spaniard Leon stands in at a small 5’8. It will be interesting to see how Silat and Leon fairs in this type of competition.

Zane Frazier (kenpo karate)
Frazier is the “veteran” of this group with one UFC fight under his belt, a victory over Trent Jenkins in the alternate fight at the first UFC event. Frazier stands at 6’6 making him the tallest competitor in the competition and his first fight in which in knocked out Trent Jenkins in a little over a minute raised some heads. Frazier is a religious fighter and believes god will guide him to a victory.

Frank Hamaker (Sambo)
The man whom is actually known as Freek Hamaker is another Dutch fighter competing here tonight. Hamaker is skilled in the Russian martial art of Sambo and owns a porn theatre. Hamaker owns the Dutch heavyweight Sambo championship and the Belgian heavyweight Greco-Roman championship.

Minoki Ichihara (Karate)
Ichihara is a world class karate athlete holding a second degree black belt. Ichihara has also won over 60 Daido Juku fights, Daido Juku is similar to the Vale Tudo style fights and has helped made Ichihara a cult hero in Tokyo. Ichihara wanted to fight one of the Gracies so accepted the challenge to compete here. Ichihara’s experience as a second degree karate black belt and Daido Juku champion makes him a definite threat in this tournament.

Scott Morris (Ninjitsu)
Not a whole lot is known about Morris and that might be because he is a ninja. This will be Morris’ first full contact competition and it will definitely be interesting to see how ninjitsu does here. Morris will be hoping the element of surprise will help him in this tournament.

There once again will be an alternate bout taking place before the pay per view airs as 39 year old kickboxer Johnny Rhodes will take on San Soo expert Thaddeus Luster.

In addition to this there will be a qualifying bout in order to compete in the third Ultimate Fighting Championship. 18 year old Sean Daugherty will be the youngest competitor ever to compete and will represent tae-kwon-do as he takes on wing chun competitor David Levicki.

The tournament brackets have once again been randomly generated.

Preliminary Fight - Johnny Rhodes vs Thaddeus Luster
Match #1 - Frank Hamaker vs Remco Pardoel
Match #2 - Orlando Weit vs Scott Morris
Match #3 - Minoki Ichihara vs Zane Frazier
Match #4 - Royce Gracie vs Alberto Cerro Leon
Semi Final #1 - Match #1 Winner vs Match #2 Winner
Semi Final #2 - Match #3 Winner vs Match #4 Winner
UFC 3 Qualifying bout - Sean Daugherty vs David Levicki
Final - Semi #1 Winner vs Semi #2 Winner

Fury
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Joined on: Jan 21, 2007 21:19:09 GMT -5
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 30, 2010 2:26:10 GMT -5

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Post by Fury on Dec 30, 2010 2:26:10 GMT -5

Alberto Cerro Leon suffered an injury in training and has been replaced by Denver native and tournament 1 semi finalist Patrick Smith.

Preliminary - Johnny Rhodes defeated Thaddeus Luster via TKO in 4:14

The Ultimate Fighting Championship: Part 2
Live from the Mammoth Gardens in Denver, Colorado
March 11, 1994

Our broadcast crew welcome us to the show and it is a different crew with Brian Kilmeade now joining Jim Brown and Ben Perry, whom claims to be a student of the Gracie’s. They welcome us to The Ultimate Fighting Championship part 2 and recap the events of November. They mention that seven new competitors will compete to become the new Ultimate Fighting Champion and mention that there are no rules. Kilmeade says he thinks the 3 competitors to watch are obviously Royce Gracie, Orlando Weit and Minoki Ichihara.

We go to ring announcer Rich Goins who welcomes us back and says there will now be a 30 minute time limit to all bouts and thus there are 3 judges to determine who advances in the case of a time limit. We then have a look at the brackets and we go to our first fight, pre match Remco Pardoel vs. Frank Hamaker.

Remco Pardoel (jiu-jitsu, 0-0) vs. Frank Hamaker (Sambo, 0-0)

Pre-Fight - Remco Pardoel is a world class jiu-jitsu expert and holds the Dutch, Belgian, German and Danish open weight jiu-jitsu championships. Pardoel keeps it short and sweet in his introduction video and says he is here to win. Pardoel comes out wearing a full gi with original Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Gerard Gordeau in his entourage.
Frank (also known as Freek) Hamaker is a Sambo champion and in his video says Sambo is the best fighting style in the world and is going to demonstrate his superiority over everyone in tonight’s tournament. Pardoel looks like a seedy individual and comes out wearing some amateur wrestling do.

The two men circle each other for a bit, actually they circle for a while throwing some jabs, whilst Pardoel throws a couple of kicks to the leg. Hamaker attempts to take Pardoel down a couple of times but is unsuccessful. Pardoel is getting the better of the stand-up here as he is throwing and landing more shots, Pardoel attempts a takedown of his own but is unsuccessful. They begin to box again for a bit before Pardoel lands a nice shot to Hamakers head that knocks him down and then gets on top of him, Hamaker however gets a hold of Pardoels neck and delivers a guillotine choke and Pardoel taps out pretty quickly.

Frank Hamaker defeats Remco Pardoel via submission in 24:36

Post fight and analysis - Hamaker says he expected to win and expects to win this whole tournament. Remco is more gracious is defeat and says this was the hardest thing he ever had to do. Brown says he can see why Hamaker was trying to get the fight to the ground.
The match itself was poor, boring as not a whole lot happened for long periods. Hamaker was impressive from his back though submitting Pardoel with relative ease. His stand-up though was very poor as was everything else, whilst Pardoel the jiu-jitsu expert was actually somewhat impressive on his feet but poor on the ground.

We head straight to our second fight of the night Orlando Weit vs. Scott Morris.

Orlando Weit (Muay Thai, 0-0) vs. Scott Morris (Ninjitsu, 0-0)

Pre Fight - Orlando Weit is a world class Muay Thai fighter and demonstrates some of that in his introduction video. Weit is rather small but is ripped. The announcers really put over how athletic Weit is and how he is one to watch in this tournament.
Scott Morris comes out in a wife beater and some track pants. Morris says he looks to bring the element of surprise. This is Morris’ first full contact event and he is representing ninjitsu. Perry mentions that not a lot is known about Morris because he is a ninja.

Orlando Weit circles Morris in his traditional Muay Thai stance. He threw a couple of punches and kicks and Morris decided he was going to attempt to take down Weit but was unsuccessful and Weit caught him and delivered a knee to Morris knocking him down, Weit then pounced on top and started delivering some punches but Morris defended himself well and eventually manages to get back to his feet. The two fighters then throw some punches again with Weit getting the better before Morris goes for another takedown and is this time successful in getting Weit to the ground. The two then battle to attempt to get better position and Morris was successful after a bit of resistance, Morris attempts a choke but is unsuccessful before locking in an arm bar and makes Weit submit.

Scott Morris defeats Orlando Weit via submission in 9 minutes 5 seconds.

Post fight and analysis - Weit looks upset. The announcers aren’t quite sure what happened and mention that this is a huge upset. Morris says he is surprised but pleased.
The fight was decent, definitely better than the first fight and had some action all throughout. Morris winning was surprising as Weit looked like the better fighter but got taken down and submitted. So apparently we have Morris vs. Hamaker for the right to fight in the final.

And the commentators confirm that we have Morris vs. Hamaker in the semi final and that no one could’ve predicted this. Rich Goins then does the introduction for the third fight between Minoki Ichihara and Zane Frazier.

Minoki Ichihara (karate, 0-0) vs. Zane Frazier (karate, 1-0)

Pre fight - Minoki Ichihara is a small fighter, the smallest in the tournament and comes out wearing a full gi. In Ichihara’s introduction video it is mentioned that he is a legend in Tokyo, winning over 60 bare knuckle Daido Juku fights. The commentators say that he is the second best fighter behind Gracie.
Zane Frazier comes out and his introduction video says he learnt a lot from defeating Trent Jenkins and watching the first tournament and says he is looking to turn that into a victory. He also mentions that god is on his side. Frazier holds a significant size advantage over Ichihara standing in at 6’6 and weighing over 260lbs.

So a karate vs. karate bout here, although they are different disciplines of karate. Just like most fights we start out with a boxing match and not a whole lot of anything happening. Both fighters attempt to take each to the ground but are unsuccessful. Frazier then pushes Ichihara against the cage and hold him there, eventually he trips Ichihara up and gets on top of him but Ichihara reverses Frazier and then locks in a choke on Frazier and Frazier submits.

Minoki Ichihara defeats Zane Frazier via submission in 19 minutes 50 seconds

Post fight and analysis - There wasn’t much post fight as Ichihara bows and leaves the Octagon shortly followed by Frazier.
Match was poor and expected much more from Ichihara and even Frazier who had a quick exciting fight with Jenkins before the first tournament. The constant theme is put over that you need a ground game to be successful.

Royce Gracie (0-0, jiu-jitsu) vs. Patrick Smith (1-1, tae-kwon-do)

Pre fight - The Gracie train once again comes out, Rickson is in tow and Royce leads the way. The announcers put over Royce as a talented fighter and is expected to win the tournament. Royce like Rickson will be fighting in full gi.
Patrick Smith is out next and it is mentioned how he was a last minute replacement. In his into video he mentions how he has worked on his ground game and will win. He is sporting trunks and it reads payback ‘94 on them.

Smith and Royce come out trading some shots at the start of the fight. Royce attempts an early takedown but Smith defends it well. Smith seems content to keep it a boxing match and Gracie wants to take it to the ground, but is unsuccessful. Royce eventually manages to get Smith to the ground and makes short work as he moves to the side and locks in a choke trapping Smith’s arm.

Royce Gracie defeats Patrick Smith via submission in 10 minutes 15 seconds.

Post fight and analysis - The Gracie train storms the octagon as Smith looks devastated.
The fight again was pretty poor. Smith looked improved since the first tournament but Gracie should’ve been able to dispense of him quicker and Smith was actually winning the stand-up game. The Gracie ground game is once again displayed as top notch.

The brackets are updated with Hamaker facing Morris in the first semi (yep you read that right) and Gracie facing Ichihara in the most anticipated fight of the night. Ben Perry talks about how great the ground games are and how great the choke submissions are, he seems to really like choke submissions as he mentions Morris’ submission wasn’t as impressive. We are then shown some highlights of the preliminary fight as Johnny Rhodes easily defeats Thaddeus Luster.

Semi Final - Frank Hamaker (1-0) vs. Scott Morris (1-0)

Pre fight - Both men look rather exhausted and it is mentioned that Hamaker considered throwing in the towel before this bout because of exhaustion.

This fight follows pretty much the standard of the night but is a little bit more exciting. Trading punches, attempted and failed takedowns. However there were actually some decent shots that floored opponents and takedowns that were successful until the man on the bottom got out. Hamaker eventually takes Morris down and starts pounding on Morris causing a stoppage. Perry seems disappointed as he really wanted a submission specifically a choke.

Frank Hamaker defeats Scott Morris via KO in 16:24

Post fight and analysis - Hamaker looks exhausted as he is taking in the big breaths and it is wondered if he will be able to make the final. He says he’ll fight though. Morris says he thinks he did well for his first full contact event and mentions how tough these fighters are.
Decent fight, better than all the first round fights. Both men were exhausted coming into the fight but it only got worse as the fight went on. Frank Hamaker will take on the winner of Ichihara/Gracie.

Semi Final - Royce Gracie (1-0) vs. Minoki Ichihara (1-0)

Pre fight - The Gracie train once again makes it’s way to the ring behind Royce and Ichihara once again comes out in full gi. The announcers mention how highly anticipated this fight is.

Royce immediately attempts a takedown on Ichihara but Ichihara defends well. Ichihara throws some punches before Gracie throws some kicks. Ichihara this time attempts the takedown but is unsuccessful as Gracie grapples with Ichihara and delivers a knee to Ichihara knocking him down, Ichihara however regathers himself and makes it to his feet. Gracie immediately goes for another takedown but once again Ichihara defends well. They trade a few more shots before Gracie goes for another takedown and this one is successful. Gracie once again demonstrates jiu-jitsu by moving to the side and submitting Ichihara via choke to the delight of Perry.

Royce Gracie defeats Minoki Ichihara via submission in 7:33

Post fight and analysis - Gracie shakes Ichihara’s hand and congratulates him as the Gracie train storms the Octagon for the fifth time. Royce says Ichihara was a tough competitor and thanks the crowd, whom don’t really seem to like the Gracie’s especially after Royce defeated the local favourite.
Fantastic fight, Ichihara fought well but Gracie’s ground game was once again put on display here. Gracie will go on to face Hamaker in a final he should win.

The brackets are updated and Gracie is the heavy favourite to win, as the announcers wonder if Hamaker will even be able to make it to the final and if he doesn’t Johnny Rhodes will step in his place.

Sean Daugherty (tae-kwon-do, 0-0) vs. David Levicki (Wing Chun, 0-0)

Pre fight - Daugherty is an 18 year old tae-kwon-do fighter and says he may lack experience but makes up for it in skill and heart .Levicki is a Wing Chun fighter who says he can’t wait to fight. The winner will receive a place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship part 3.

The 2 circle for a bit before Levicki lands a big right that knocks Daugherty down. Levicki pounces and delivers several punches to Daugherty before the fight is stopped.

Post fight and analysis - Impressive for Levicki as he quickly disposes of Daugherty and earns himself a spot in the UFC 3 event. Levicki tells everyone to watch out for him as he will win the third tournament.

Final - Royce Gracie (2-0) vs. Frank Hamaker (2-0)

Pre fight - The Gracie train once again accompanies Royce as Royce’s path is shown defeating Patrick Smith via submission in the first round and then submitting Minoki Ichihara in a great fight in the semi’s to get here.
Hamaker does indeed come out but looks exhausted having fought for over 40 minutes. Frank’s path is shown with a long battle with Remco Pardoel and another long fight with Scott Morris.
The announcers don’t even try to hide that this should be an easy victory for Gracie.

Gracie throws one punch and then feints another to set up a takedown of Hamaker. Gracie easily manoeuvres around Hamaker and twists Hamaker’s arm behind his back in what is dubbed a Kimura submission. Hamaker submits immediately making Royce the winner.

Royce Gracie defeats Frank Hamaker via submission in 1 minute 40 seconds.

Post fight and analysis - The Gracie train floods the ring and celebrates with Royce as he is given a $60,000 cheque which it is only revealed that the prize money went up just then. Hamaker stumbles out of the octagon.
Good fight that displayed Gracie jiu-jitsu as the dominant fighting technique. Hamaker was a surprise competitor in the final. The Gracie’s though once again prove they are the best. The announcers put over what a great event this was and it was better than the first (it probably was) and tells everyone to watch out for UFC 3 in the summer in North Carolina.

kurtangleisgod
Guest

The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 30, 2010 2:41:38 GMT -5

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Post by kurtangleisgod on Dec 30, 2010 2:41:38 GMT -5

Really good second show, was hoping the ninja would go far haha, too bad the main event was so short, but I hope you do the third card, I'd like ot see a mix up of the fighters from the first two shows involved

Bob Bob Bobelow
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Joined on: Jul 10, 2008 19:32:38 GMT -5
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Dec 30, 2010 7:09:39 GMT -5

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Post by Bob Bob Bobelow on Dec 30, 2010 7:09:39 GMT -5

Interesting to see a UFC diary on here, starting at the beginning. I don't know much about UFC at this point, but I am not all surprised to see Royce winning his fights. That guy was dominate.

Hopefully you keep this for awhile, good luck!

Fury
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Joined on: Jan 21, 2007 21:19:09 GMT -5
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Jan 4, 2011 5:55:50 GMT -5

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Post by Fury on Jan 4, 2011 5:55:50 GMT -5

The Ultimate Fighting Championship 3 details announced.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return again this time on July 30, this time venturing outside of Denver to the Grady Cole Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is heavily pushing the grapplers vs. strikers aspect of the martial arts competition.

UFC 3 will field probably the toughest contingent of fighters yet with 2 returning stars and a 6 other highly touted fighters making this the toughest tournament to date and a proof that the UFC is really taking off. There are no additional rule changes this time, except giving the referees more authority in stopping fights that get out of hand.

Here is a list of the 8 fighters who will compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 3.

Royce Gracie (Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, 3-0)
Everything about Royce is pretty much known already as Gracie defends his title that he won at the Ultimate Fighting Championship: Part 2 in dominating fashion defeating Patrick Smith, Minoki Ichihara and Freek Hamaker. Gracie has shown that this is about science over size and demanded tougher competition and that is what he got. He is still the heavy favourite and has a lot of people wondering if he can be beat.

Ken Shamrock (Shoot fighting, 8-2)
Perhaps the biggest non Gracie star seen in the first 2 tournaments returns as Ken Shamrock is looking to avenge his loss in 1993. Shamrock was actually wanted to return to the second tournament but had Pancrase commitments. Shamrock has went back to Pancrase and gone 3-1 since then with his only loss to Minoru Suzuki (whom was also considered for this tournament). Shamrock looks tougher and more ready for the tournament this time around.

Kimo Leopoldo (Freestyle, 0-0)
Kimo’s story is a very unique one as he grew up a tough life distanced from his parents and forced to survive on the streets selling drugs, but that also lead to him doing drugs. Kimo is an athlete though, a tough looking tattooed Hawaiian fighter whom was once a Junior College All American in football. Kimo became a religious man and got rid of drugs from his life. Fate played a part in Kimo’s journey here as he was working with Royce Gracie’s personal trainer at a club, who showed him some “Gracie’s in action” videos and Kimo was intrigued by the tournament and along with help from Joe Son is now competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 3, Son claims Kimo is a black belt in tae-kwon-do as well making a real force in this tournament.

Oleg “The Russian Bear” Taktarov (Sambo, 3-0)
The Russian Taktarov grew up in Gorky and has had an interesting path to here. Taktarov started training in judo at a very young age and soon made the transition to Sambo becoming adept in both styles. Taktarov then joined the military and won a spot in the army’s sporting division. Taktarov served his time as the army’s self defence instructor. Since his time out Taktarov has won 2 world Sambo championships as well as winning Asian and European jiu-jitsu tournaments and no holds barred contests. Taktarov made his way to the US late last year with intentions of becoming an actor but has instead found himself in this tournament as a real threat to win this tournament.

Emmanuel Yarborough (Sumo, 0-0)
Yarborough is easily the largest fighter competing in this tournament standing in at 6’8 and tipping the scales at a whopping 618lbs. Yarborough’s size will give him a distinct advantage but he also holds some other athletics achievements in judo, amateur wrestling and football. The man known as Manny will obviously use his weight to his advantage and it makes him a threat in this tournament.

David Levicki (Wing Chun, 1-0)
Levicki is another big man competing in this competition standing in at 6’5 and weighing nearly 300lbs. Levicki picked up a victory on the second show for the right defeating Sean Daugherty in a little over 1 minute. Levicki is representing Wing Chun kung fu and was a navy seal so you know he is tough. Levicki is one of the stronger competitors and poses a threat to the other fighters.

Harold Howard (Goju-ryu Karate, 0-0)
Harold Howard is perhaps the most unique looking man in this competition, sporting a mullet and having a general look that he just came out of woods of Ontario. Howard is a skilled martial artist, being a 3 time Canadian Karate champion and one time Canadian jiu-jitsu heavyweight champion. Howard is a 3rd degree black belt in Goju-ryu and jiu-jitsu (developing his own style of jiu-jitsu) as well as expertise in Iki Shin Do and Judo. So this man with the mullet ought not to be overlooked as he is a well rounded fighter.

Christophe Leininger (Judo, 0-0)
Leininger is one of the best judo fighters in America and is a ten time Arizona state champion in addition to being a ten year national judo team member. Leininger is a skilled fighter and will pose an intriguing threat to the fighters.

In addition to these fighters there will once again be 2 alternate fights as kenpo karate fighter Keith Hackney will take on Shaolin kung-fu prison guard Felix Lee Mitchell and Nebraska police officer and ninjitsu fighter Steve Jennum will take on karate fighter Marcus “The Grasshopper” Bossett.

The tournament brackets were once again drawn at random (seriously) and present some intriguing match-ups all the way up until the final. Here they are.

Prelim Fight - Steve Jennum vs. Marcus Bossett
Prelim Fight - Keith Hackney vs. Felix Lee Mitchell
Match #1 - Oleg Taktarov vs. David Levicki
Match #2 - Royce Gracie vs. Kimo Leopoldo
Match #3 - Emmanuel Yarborough vs. Harold Howard
Match #4 - Ken Shamrock vs. Christophe Leininger
Semi Final #1 - Match #1 Winner vs. Match #2 Winner
Semi Final #2 - Match #3 Winner vs. Match #4 Winner
Final - Semi Final #1 Winenr vs Semi Final #2 Winner

Last Edit: Jan 4, 2011 5:57:32 GMT -5 by Fury

kurtangleisgod Guest	The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Jan 5, 2011 1:25:53 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by kurtangleisgod on Jan 5, 2011 1:25:53 GMT -5 Should be a sick show, happy to see Shamrock again

Fury
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship: The Beginning Jan 14, 2011 18:10:27 GMT -5

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Post by Fury on Jan 14, 2011 18:10:27 GMT -5

Steve Jennum beat Marcus Bossett via Unanimous Decision after 30 minutes of fighting
Keith Hackney beat Felix Mitchell via TKO in 11 minutes 24 seconds

The Ultimate Fighting Championship 3
Live from North Carolina
July 30, 1994

The Ultimate Fighting Championship 3 broadcast opens up with a poorly produced video highlighting the events of the first 2 tournaments and asking the question “can anyone defeat the Gracie’s” and quickly running through the 7 challengers to Royce Gracie.

The announce team is the same as the second broadcast with Kilmeade, Brown and Perry. They run down the bracket and wonder if anyone can defeat Royce Gracie. Brown says Ken Shamrock has come back better and thinks he could be the one. Whilst Kilmeade says talking to some people he heard Taktarov is the real deal. We are then treated to the rules of the octagon as Rich “G-Man” Goins welcomes the crowd to the show. And we get under way with our first match up of the night.

First Round Match #1
Oleg Taktarov vs. David Levicki
Oleg Taktarov comes out in a Gracie style full gi, but blue. He is announced as a judo jiu jitsu and sambo champion. And he says he will win. The commentators really put Taktarov over as a threat saying he hasn’t lost a fight in 10 years. David Levicki comes out and is mentioned as a Wing Chun kung fu master and a quick highlight of his victory over Sean Daugherty to qualify is shown. Levicki’s size is put over as is the fact he was a navy seal. Levicki monsters Taktarov at 6’5 and close to 300lbs.

The fight begins with the two men trading a couple of shots before Taktarov counters an errant swing by Levicki which rattles him big time sending him to the floor. Taktarov pounces and locks in an armbar forcing Levicki to submit right away.

Quick and impressive victory for Taktarov who puts away the larger Levicki with ease and will advance to face the winner of Royce/Kimo in the semi finals.

Oleg Taktarov beat David Levicki via submission in 1 minute 42 seconds

First Round Match #2
Royce Gracie vs. Kimo
The defending Ultimate Fighting Champion makes his way to the octagon with the now familiar Gracie train. The announcers really put over Gracie as the best fighter in the world and Perry tells us he’s gotten even better. Brown reminds us so has the competition. Gracie tells us that he is back and ready for some competition. Kimo then makes his way to the octagon carrying a giant cross on his back for dramatic effect and has a long ponytail. Kimo’s introduction video says he’s a third degree black belt in jiu jitsu as well as a travelling minister (both likely false) and says that he’s fighting for the lord and to bring the word of Jesus to the world. It also mentions that he is looking to inflict some Kimo therapy on his competitors (seriously).

The fight begins and we see some boxing as Kimo is keeping his distance. No one is really getting the better, there are some nice counters. Kimo is surprisingly the one who closes the distance and grapples with Gracie and pushes him against the cage. Kimo holds him there for a bit before swinging a punch which allows Gracie to switch position. Gracie attempts a takedown which is defended well by Kimo. Gracie immediately attempts another takedown which is defended as well. Kimo tries to grapple with Gracie and they do tangle up landing some shots. Gracie then finally manages to take Kimo down. He easily gets to the side and attempts an armbar which Kimo fights successfully against. Gracie then decides to manouver around at will and locks in a rear naked choke on Kimo and Kimo fights it for a bit before submitting.

Both men look tired and Kimo looks pissed off. He knew he gave Gracie a fight. The announcers try to play it up as Gracie was always in control and was waiting for his moment, but it was a much tougher fight than anticipated. Gracie says it was a tough fight and he’s glad the competition has stepped up. Kimo declines comment.

Royce Gracie beat Kimo via submission in 10:38

First Round Match #3
Emmanuel Yarborough vs. Harold Howard
Yarborough is huge, easily the largest man seen so far weighing in at 600lbs and standing 6’8. Yarborough says that the path to becoming the Ultimate Fighting Championship will go through him and it mentions that he is a champion in judo as well as sumo. Harold Howard’s introduction video is hilarious as it shows him punching a bag of cement and then rambling about fighting for Canada and how Canadians have a saying “if you’re coming on, COME ON” whilst taking off his sunglasses. Howard comes out wearing the strange not often seen combination of a wife beater and some gi pants to go along with his mullet.

Harold Howard seems content to keep the fight at a distance as he is trying to box with Yarborough. Yarborough however manages to get a hold of Howard and holds him against the cage for a long time, throwing some punches whilst holding him against the cage. This goes on for a long time, Yarborough eventually lets go of Howard and looks exhausted as does Howard. The two men circle for a bit before Yarborough lazily takes Howard to the ground and just lies on top of him for a bit smothering him. Manny is kind of just lying there and Howard locks in a guillotine choke that wasn’t really locked in that tight but Manny just taps likely from exhaustion and Howard pulls out a surprise win.

Boring fight really. Howard is ecstatic at the win giving off some victory salutes and starts beating his chest. He gives some rambling promo about the victory. Yarborough is barely able to stand and is breathing heavily. Howard picks up a huge victory and some fandom in taking down the 600lb’er but I can’t see him lasting more than 5 minutes against whomever faces him in the semi finals.

Harold Howard beat Emmanuel Yarborough via submission in 18:39

First Round Match #4
Christophe Leininger vs. Ken Shamrock
Christophe Leininger comes out wearing a blue gi and is introduced as a 10 time Arizona judo champion as well as being on the national team for those same 10 years and is considered one of the best judo practitioners in the U.S. Shamrock makes his way to the octagon and his introduction video says he’s trained harder than ever to gain redemption on the Gracie’s for UFC 1. Shamrock looks bigger and badder than last time he was here and a lot more focused as well. He comes out in his wrestling trunks as well but no one comments on them this time.

The fight gets underway and both men seem to be feeling each other out throwing some jabs. Shamrock shoots in for a takedown but Leininger defends it well. They continue to engage before Shamrock goes for another takedown and this one is successful. There begins a tough ground struggle where Leininger is working to get up and Shamrock is working to get a submission but neither is successful. Shamrock then started to move around Leininger but was facing some resistance as Leininger was constantly trying to prevent him and stand but Shamrock did manage to get behind Leininger and locked in a choke for the victory.

Shamrock looks a bit disappointed in his performance but says he’s here to win it and put an end to the whole Gracie myth. Leininger says this was tough but he doesn’t regret anything and thinks Shamrock is a good fighter. It was a bit surprising that Shamrock had this much trouble but Leininger is a solid fighter.

Ken Shamrock beat Christophe Leininger via submission in 7:55

The announcers update the brackets with Royce Gracie taking on Oleg Taktarov in the first semi and Harold Howard taking on Ken Shamrock in the other. Jim Brown says that he was surprised that some of the fights lasted as long as they did and that Taktarov was the most impressive of the first round competitors, Ben Perry thinks Brown is insane and that Gracie was clearly the most impressive just biding his time. It is also announced that the Ultimate Fighting Championship will return in November for a 4th event and will take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Semi Final #1
Oleg Taktarov vs. Royce Gracie
Some more introduction videos to hype up the semi finals. Taktarov says he has been looking forward to facing Royce and thinks he has the ability to beat him. Kilmeade says Taktarov is the fresher man and could well prove a threat, Perry disagrees. Royce actually looks quite tired, not showing the usual enthusiasm in the Gracie Train.

The fight begins on the feet and some basic boxing, both getting a few shots in the stand up game. Taktarov seemed to be getting the better of the fight standing up so Gracie attempted to take Taktarov down but had no success. Gracie looks tired and the two men grapple and Gracie does manage to land a good shot on Taktarov staggering him for a bit. Gracie attempts to take Taktarov down again but fails again. Taktarov is really getting the better of the striking here, countering well, landing more and better shots. Gracie continues to try to take Taktarov down but is constantly unsuccessful. Finally with just under 3 minutes remaining in the 30 minute fight Gracie finally manages to take down Taktarov on the 6th attempt. Gracie tries to lock in a submission but is unsuccessful and then grabs a hold of Taktarov’s ankle and Taktarov screams in pain and taps out with a little over a minute remaining.

Wow. The Gracie train floods the octagon to support their man who can barely stand from exhaustion. Taktarov was winning the boxing battle and it would’ve been interesting to see how the judges would’ve ruled this fight had it gone the distance. Taktarov looked really good here but he walks out disappointed. Perry is again making excuses for Gracie and says he was sick coming into this tournament. Gracie has to lean on his fellow Gracie’s to make it to the back, he is exhausted. Fight itself was pretty dull and poor.
Royce Gracie beat Oleg Taktarov via submission in 28 minutes 38 seconds

Semi Final #2
Ken Shamrock vs. Harold Howard
The announcers mention that Howard is in big trouble as he makes his way to the octagon to face a pissed of Shamrock. Howard says that both he and Shamrock are grapplers and that Shamrock’s weakness is jiu jitsu and Howard has developed his own brand of jiu jitsu to defeat Shamrock, or something like that since no one understands Howard. Shamrock makes his way to the octagon with his brother Frank and doesn’t really look tired compared to Howard.

The fight is pretty quick as Shamrock takes Howard down with ease then manoeuvres around him with ease and locks in an armbar forcing Howard to submit in short fashion.

Shamrock doesn’t celebrate and is all business, he says that he’s coming for Royce Gracie in the finals. Howard mutters something about you know what he can do and if it doesn’t work he didn’t, who really knows. Shamrock looked impressive here in quickly dismantling Howard and we get the dream Gracie v Shamrock final.
Ken Shamrock beat Harold Howard via submission in 2:34

Ultimate Fighting Championship Final
Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock
The final is set as Ken Shamrock will look for redemption for his UFC 1 final loss to Rickson Gracie the commentators are really playing up the history leading up to this. Kilmeade wonders how much the exhaustion will affect Royce and Perry counters saying that Royce is a warrior. The winner will get $60,000 for their efforts. Royce looks exhausted as he makes his way to the octagon actually leaning on the other members of the Gracie Train. Shamrock however looks relatively fresh however. They show both men’s path to the finals and again hype up the apparent Shamrock/Gracie rivalry. The crowd is electric as this is the final they wanted to see and these are the 2 fan favorites who’ve quickly gained notoriety in the UFC universe.

The fight begins with some boxing but Gracie quickly turns this into a grappling match. Gracie goes for a takedown but Shamrock attempts to lock in a guillotine choke in the process. The choke is unsuccessful and Gracie ends up on top of Shamrock. There is a struggle going on on the floor with both men trying to improve their position. Shamrock actually reverses Gracie in something we’ve never seen before and ends up on top. Gracie however locks in a guillotine choke and after a bit of fight Shamrock submits and Royce Gracie is the Ultimate Fighting Champion again.

Ken Shamrock looks disappointed as he once again falls at the twelfth hour to a Gracie as he watches the Gracie train storm the octagon and celebrate with their man who can barely stand straight. Shamrock is caught up with as he is exiting he says he feels like poop and he let his guard down once he got on top and paid for it and Royce is a great fighter. Royce Gracie also gets interviewed and he said the competition has definitely stepped up and looks forward to returning to defend his crown.

Royce Gracie beat Ken Shamrock via submission in 4 minutes 8 seconds

So that’s the end of another show with a Gracie winning it all again. The announcers make note of the December event in Tulsa and say that tonight was proof that the sport is rapidly growing and the competition is getting stronger at each event. See you next time.

Quick Results
Prelim - Steve Jennum(1-0) beat Marcus Bossett (0-1) via Unanimous Decision after 30:00
Prelim - Keith Hackney(1-0) beat Felix Lee Mitchell(0-1) via TKO in 11:24
Oleg Taktarov(4-0) beat David Levicki(1-1) via submission in 1:42
Royce Gracie(4-0) beat Kimo(0-1) via submission in 10:38
Harold Howard(1-0) beat Emmanuel Yarborough via submission in 18:39
Ken Shamrock(9-2) beat Christophe Leininger(0-1) via submission in 7:55
Royce Gracie(5-0) beat Oleg Taktarov(4-1) via submission in 28:38
Ken Shamrock(10-2) beat Harold Howard via submission in 2:34
Royce Gracie(6-0) beat Ken Shamrock(10-3) via submission in 4:08 to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion

Last Edit: Jan 14, 2011 18:11:59 GMT -5 by Fury

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