WEEKEND MMA REPORT
Posted on | April 22, 2007 | 44 Comments
WEEKEND MMA WRAPUP
BY: RICH BERGERON
It was a wild weekend in Mixed Martial Arts with three huge events on the same Saturday giving every MMA fan a free glimpse of some of the best fighters in the world.
The action started with Cage Rage 21 and featured some awesome matches, including a spinning backfist knockout won by Abdul Mohammed against Ross Pointon. Mohammed landed the shot with his forearm connecting flush with Pointon’s face, landing square on Pointon’s nose and dropping him instantly to the canvas. It was one of the event’s most fantastic finishes.
The last two fights were probably the most anticipated of the night with both Vitor Belfort and Tank Abbott taking on relative unknowns.
Belfort was masterful throughout and made his opponent look silly trying to hang with the seasoned pro. Belfort faced Ivan Serati, who simply did not have the well-rounded skills to challenge him in any manner. Belfort grappled his way onto the back of Serati quickly after the fight went to the ground. He hooked his legs in securely and hung on tightly like a Praying Mantis latched on to a strand of field grass swaying in the wind. Although he looked as if he might get bucked off the horse a few times for riding too high in the saddle, he managed to keep his balance and stay focused. Eventually he secured the perfect position to rain enough successive punches down on Serati’s head to win by TKO at 3:47 of Round 1.
In the main event of the evening Tank Abbott faced off against Gary Turner. Tank received word about the availability of Saturday’s fight while drinking down a beer in a bar somewhere. He proclaimed his eagerness to get the job done in a pre-fight interview, but his impatience may have cost him a win. Though his lack of a phenomenal physique has never seemed to slow down the pit fighter in past bouts, Saturday he steamrolled himself into trouble early and gassed out after a raging start.
Abbott came out fighting like a madman, unleashing a tornado of heavy-handed rights and lefts and punching the face and head of Turner with blazing speed and awesome power. Even the announcers voiced their disbelief that Turner could still be standing after taking all that punishment. Though it looked like Turner was always a hair from having the fight stopped in the early stages, he managed to fend off just enough punches to make the ref realize he was still in it.
Abbott finally grew weary and went in for the takedown, falling on top of Turner and then failing to get anything done on the ground. The fight went back up to the feet eventually and Turner took complete advantage of his second wind, tapping into all the energy he still had left after spending the first half of the round on defense. He shocked the arena and everyone watching by scoring a vicious TKO, staying true to his name. Turner’s TKO came at 2:27 of Round one and was a brutal upset that had the crowd going absolutely wild.
The free Spike TV broadcast of UFC 70 provided plenty of thrills, but none was better than the upset of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who fell the floor like a sack of potatoes after Gabriel Gonzaga clocked him with a head kick in the first round. The blow clipped Cro Cop on the side of his head. The strike was like an iron bar of human bone swinging right into the temple of the favored Filipovic.
There will be a replay of the action Monday night for all who missed it. Check your local listings for more details.
HERE ARE THE RESULTS OF THIS WEEKEND’S ACTION:
UFC 70:
Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic via knockout (head kick) in round one
Andrei Arlovski defeats Fabricio Werdum via unanimous decision
Michael Bisping defeats Elvis Sinosic via technical knockout (strikes) in round two
Ryoto Machida defeats David Heath via unanimous decision
Cheick Kongo defeats Assuerio Silva via majority decision
Terry Etim defeats Matt Grice via submission (guillotine choke) in round one
Junior Assuncao defeats David Lee via submission (rear naked choke) in round two
Alessio Sakara defeats Victor Valimaki via technical knockout (strikes) in round one
Jess Liaudin defeats Dennis Siver via armbar in round one
Paul Taylor defeats Ediberto Crocota via technical knockout (strikes) in round three
CAGE RAGE 21:
James E Nicholl def. Sunit Ilyasov by Majority Decision, 3 Rounds
Xavier Foupa-Pokam def. Tom Watson by Triangle Choke at 2:27, Round 2
Alex Owen def. Brad Pickett by Unanimous Decision, 3 Rounds
Cyrille Diabate def. Ryan Robinson by Armbar at 1:16, Round 1
Abdul Mohammed def. Ross Pointon by KO (Spinning Backfist) at 3:20, Round 1
CAGE RAGE WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Paul Daley def. Paul Jenkins by KO at 0:41, Round 2
Mark Epstein def. Roman Webber by KO at 4:27, Round 2
Mark Weir def. Daijiro Matsui by Unanimous Decision, 3 Rounds
Murilo “Ninja” Rua def. Alex Reid by TKO (doctor stoppage due to cut on shin) 0:28, Round 1
K1 KICKBOXING RULES
James McSweeney def. Michael McDonald by Unanimous Decision, 3 Rounds
WORLD LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
James Zikic def. Cyborg Evangelista by Unanimous Decision, 3 Rounds
Vitor Belfort def. Ivan Serati by TKO at 3:47, Round 1
Gary Turner def. Tank Abbott by TKO at 2:27, Round 1
NO LIMITS PROVING GROUND:
1. Pete Sabala vs. Tyler Weathers Submission (Guillotine Choke) 2 1:15
2. Shane Delrosario vs. Gilbert Carreto TKO 1 1:19
3. Albert Rios Randy Bowers Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 2 2:42
4. Tim Persey vs. Brandon Quigley KO 1 0:24
5. Takumi Nakayama vs. Anthony McDavitt No Contest 1
6. Bao Quach vs. Rex Payne KO 1 1:34
7. Jorge Ortiz John Cronk TKO 1 1:43
8. Ray Lazama vs. Fabricio Nascimento KO 1 4:19