UFC 76: "Knockout" Results
by Robert Sargent
Tonight was yet another night of shocking upsets in the world of mixed martial arts, and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell were the latest victims, as both suffered crushing losses.
Liddell lost a decision to Keith Jardine after Jardine surprisingly dominated most of the striking exchanges, while Shogun came into his fight with Forrest Griffin out of shape and out of character, eventually succumbing to a rear naked choke in round three.
Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell vs "The Dean Of Mean" Keith Jardine
This fight went largely as I expected, minus a definitive KO victory for one fighter or the other. The entire fight was fought on the feet, with Jardine landing leg kick after leg kick, with some solid punches and body kicks mixed in. For his part, Liddell landed some hard punches in the first round, cutting Jardine open beside the right eye, on the left ear and on the crown of his head.Jardine was bleeding profusely down the sides of his face in the second round, but managed to continue mounting offence, with Liddell unable to do much of anything. After a close first round that could have gone either way, the second round was all Jardine, including a knockdown on Liddell with a punch midway through the round.
The third round was more of the same, with Jardine teeing off with leg kicks, rendering Liddell unable to do much of anything. Jardine also landed a series of punches and more body kicks, while Liddell threw essentially nothing aside from desperation spinning back fists and kicks, none of which landed. I had this 30-27 for Jardine, though the first round was close. Official judges scored it 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29 for Jardine, who wins by Split Decision. Earlier in the night, it was announced that Chuck would be fighting Wanderlei Silva in December - after six years of waiting for the fight to materialise - and Jardine's victory seemingly ruins that. Unfortunate, to say the least, but an impressive performace from Jardine nonetheless.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs Forrest Griffin
This fight made me die a little inside, not because Forrest won this, but because of how bad Shogun looked after the first few minutes. Shogun came out strong and pushed the pace, landing shots on the feet and then trading takedowns with Griffin. Griffin was unable to keep Shogun down for long, and Shogun spent most of the time on top when the fight was on the ground. It was a fairly close round, but I would give this one to Shogun because he landed more and was more aggressive.The second round is where everything started going wrong for Shogun. Notorious for his excellent cardio, Shogun was strangely very visibly gassed by the second minute of the second round. Forrest used this to his advantage, landing more strikes when the fight was standing and also having his way on the ground, with Shogun too tired to do much to defend. Shogun did largely hold his own on the ground, but Forrest had top position far more often in this round. This round had to go to Griffin.
The third round was similar to the second, except it was almost entirely on the ground, with Shogun covering up or rolling out of Forrest's control, then pulling guard. Forrest had top position, or Shogun's back, for almost the entire round. Then, with 15 seconds left, the unthinkable happened and, after getting Shogun's back and sinking in both hooks, Griffin flattened Shogun out, sunk in a rear naked choke and Shogun tapped out. Griffin wins. This ruins the second future fight, which would have been Shogun vs Rampage II. Neither fighter looked overly impressive in this fight, but this is still a huge win for Forrest.
Jon Fitch vs Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez
It's difficult to separate this by round because all three rounds were basically the same, consisting of wrestling and jiu-jitsu clinics. Most of the fight took place on the ground, with Fitch mostly holding top position and Diego going for a lot of submission attempts. The entire fight was great, but highlights included Fitch's over-the-head and upside-down slam on Diego, Fitch's escape from Diego's tight guillotine choke and Fitch's escape from Diego's deep triangle choke with 45 seconds left in the third round. Fitch showed that he is excellent on the ground, escaping submissions that many people would tap out to and controlling Diego for most of the fight. This was a very good performance for Fitch. Judges scored it 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29 for Fitch, who won by Split Decision.Kazuhiro Nakamura vs Ryoto "Lyoto" Machida
This fight didn't provide the excitement that it had the potential to, but it was better than I thought it would be because Machida was much more offensive than he usually is and Nakamura hit Machida with more punches than I believe anyone has ever successfully hit Machida with ever before. Much of this fight took place on the ground, with Machida mostly having top position. In some cases, he rained down some fairly effective ground and pound, but there were some lulls in the action as well. Nakamura did seem to have a bit of an advantage when the fight was standing, at least in the first two rounds, but he was sufficiently dominated in the clinch and on the ground and the judges all scored it 30-27 for Machida, who moves to 11-0.Thiago Tavares vs Tyson Griffin
This fight definitely lived up to the hype, and was a solid candidate for Fight of the Night. After some brief boos from the crowd in the initial stages of the fight, it was non-stop cheering for the rest of the way, and not just for the standup wars, either. There were numerous exchanges on the ground in this fight, including a very nice escape by Griffin from a tight omoplata shoulder lock from Tavares. This was yet another action-packed Lightweight fight, reinforcing the fact that bringing the division back to the UFC was an excellent decision. The fans loved it. I had the fight 29-28 for Griffin, but it was extremely close to call. The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, all for Griffin. Tavares suffers his first loss.Undercard Fights:
After a close first round that likely went to Johnson, Rich Clementi submitted Anthony "Rumble" Johnson by rear naked choke at 3:05 of the second round. This fight was a Catchweight fight at 177 pounds, reflecting the last-minute addition of the fight and Johnson's inability to make 170 in time. Clementi, who had just fought three weeks earlier, gets his second victory in a row.In a Lightweight bout, Jeremy Stephens won a unanimous decision victory over Diego Saraiva, who falls to 0-3 in the UFC (9-6-1 overall) and likely won't be around much longer. Stephens improves to 10-2 overall with the victory.
The Heavyweight battle of the night saw an interesting finish when Christian Wellisch submitted Scott Junk by the under-utilised heel hook at 3:19 of the first round. Wellisch improves to 8-3, while Junk suffers the second loss of his career.
Matt Wiman won the opening Lightweight bout of the evening, scoring a unanimous decision over Yoshida Dojo judo fighter, Michihiro Omigawa. Judges scored the fight 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 for Wiman.
After a night of shocking upsets, UFC 76 is sure to have fans talking for quite some time.
