A Brutal but Efficient Fight Night
By Eric Davidson
It’s always a pleasure to watch a lightweight title match. Especially when there are so many other great fights planned out over the course of the night. Everything from the rising Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver to Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva; you couldn’t help but be excited for the endeavors of the combatants. Let’s begin the review of UFC 84:
The first fight shown of the night was between Thiago Silva and Antonio Mendes. The prediction chart had the fight in Silva’s favor 98% to 2%, a huge margin not often seen between two lesser known fighters. Mendes appeared to have control of the match in the first couple seconds, landing some high kicks that took Silva off balance and to the ground. The fighters brought themselves to their feet before Mendes’ poor attempt to roll out of the clench on the fence gave Silva a position advantage. After missing a hard right Silva capitalized on his position, and after a failed choke attempt followed by some quick hands Herb Dean called the fight. At first it appeared as if it was because of the attacks by Silva, and that Mendes was unable to defend himself. Yet upon closer review it was shown that Mendes actually tapped while on the ground, giving the victory to Thiago Silva two minutes and twenty four seconds into the round. Winner: Thiago Silva by tap-out.
Fight two was between the favored Tito Ortiz and the elusive Lyoto Machida. Although the crowd favorite, your predictions had Machida at a 64% chance to win over Ortiz’s 36%. It was obvious that both fighters were weary of each other’s skill; Ortiz not heavily engaging or being his normal aggressive self against Machida’s quick snake-like fighting style of waiting for the opportune moments to strike. Let’s get a point clear that the audience didn’t seem to be aware of: evading an attack is NOT the same thing as running away. Machida’s quick evasions of Ortiz’s aggression are not near the same thing as Kalib Starnes embarrassing performance against Nate Quarry. That being said, Machida played an intelligent strategy that was clearly frustrating to the seasoned Ortiz. The two fighters seemed to collide like rams, springing in for a light combo then backing away quickly. Machida even threw Ortiz away from him at several junctures, apparently not finding it a position to his liking. Lyoto’s kick combos were a standout factor of the match, using feints carefully to keep Ortiz guessing when the strike was coming. Even the combo’s to the outside legs left notable damage. It wasn’t until the third round where Ortiz’s frustrations turned into a healthy aggression, something he probably should have been taking advantage of from the beginning, allowed him a few key positions. Ortiz snatched a leg at one point but was unable to bring the fight to the ground thanks to Machida’s balance. The following clench caused the official to break them apart and start the fight standing again. In the middle of a striking scuffle Machida landed a hard knee to Ortiz’s body, and although the announcers called it a liver strike it appeared to be on the front of Ortiz’s torso, perhaps just smashing all the wind out of his system from the shock. This, in turn, sent Ortiz to the ground. Machida flew on top of Ortiz and began attacking with fists and elbows before Ortiz took him in his full guard. It appeared as if the fight was going to end by decision after they burned the time out by remaining on the ground. However, Ortiz maneuvered a triangle choke which he then attempted to roll into an arm bar. Unfortunately for Ortiz, Machida’s arm was improperly placed to complete the move, and he was able to free himself. With the third round ended seconds after, the officials gave a unanimous 30/27 decision to Lyoto Machida.
Fight three occurred between Goran Reljic and Wilson Gouveia. Reljic looked as if he’d been training in Savate, utilizing his long legs to attack Gouveia’s face. Gouveia was able to block the majority of the blows, but if we learned anything from the Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le fight, it’s that too many kicks to the arm can have devastating results. Reljic seemed unable to keep his balance when Gouveia became aggressive, and after a strong left hook by Gouveia which almost put Reljic on the ground, Reljic changed his strategy up and performed a rarely seen “flying guard” that immediately brought the fight to the ground in Reljic’s favor. From here, Reljic attempted to perform the coveted gogoplata, but was unable to get his foot in the right position with the round ending moments later. In round two Gouveia took clean advantage of Reljic’s seemingly poor balance and became very aggressive, bringing the fight against the fence and to the ground where Reljic seemed unable to fight back. Reljic managed to keep the barrage from continuing before maneuvering the fight back to its feet. From here Reljic landed a hard left to Gouveia’s head causing him to fall to the ground. Reljic teed off on Gouveia enough for the fight to be called by Herb Dean. Winner: Goran Reljic by TKO.
The fourth fight shown of the night between Shane Carwin and Christian Wellisch probably had the hardest hit of the night. The two heavyweights started the match out strong, both going for the early knockout by striking. It wasn’t until forty four seconds into the match that Carwin landed a HUGE right that not only sent Wellisch’s head spinning, but knocked his mouth piece to the mats (a great slow motion replay). Carwin barely had time to get on top of Wellisch after the hit before Yves Martin called the fight. Winner by TKO: Shane Carwin.
One of the more anticipated fights of the night was between Wanderlei Silva and Keith Jardine. The fans were clearly excited to watch these two strikers go head to head for the first time. Wanderlei wasn’t just the crowd favorite, but picked 77% to win by the predictors. Unfortunately, this was one of the many quick fights of the night. Silva and Jardine (with one of the best pre-fight stare downs I’ve seen) came out of the gates ready for action; however it was Silva who sacrificed a leg kick from Jardine to land a heavy combo. This brought Jardine to the ground where Silva brutally held him down by the neck and began slamming his face with strong rights. The fight was called when it was clear Jardine wasn’t able to defend himself, and even after Silva was pulled off of him Jardine just lay there starring wide-eyed at the ceiling. Winner by TKO at thirty six seconds into the round: Wanderlei Silva.
Fight six was Rousimar Palhares versus Ivan Salaverry. Salaverry started the match with a strong high kick that was quickly passed by Palhares. After a takedown by Palhares, he performed what was possibly one of the quickest mounts in UFC history. Salaverry’s attempted to get out of the mount allowed Palhares to take his back where a battle for hand control waged for the next couple seconds. Salaverry appeared to slip out of the hooks of Palhares, but once again, Palhares’ lightning Jiu Jitsu skills enabled him to snatch the arm bar that caused Salaverry to tap. Winner by submission two minutes and thirty six seconds into the first round: Rousimar Palhares.
One of the more anticipated under cards was between Jon Koppenhaver and Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Yet again, this fight was over fairly quickly, with Koppenhaver unfortunately deciding to engage in the clench with the Judo savvy Yoshida. Yoshida slammed Koppenhaver into the ground where he ended the fight in an “anaconda roll.” Koppenhaver seemed to be toughing through it, throwing a punch before being choked unconscious. His arm didn’t move from its lock position though, and Herb Dean had to shake his arm to see if he was incapacitated or not. Clearly not, Herb Dean called the fight. Winner by submission at fifty six seconds into the first round: Yoshiyuki Yoshida.
And finally, the match that everyone paid to see, the fight between B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk. A pretty straight forward fight, but entertaining none-the-less, each fighter’s styles were illuminated by the other’s; Sherk fighting as if he were seeing red, and Penn fighting his usual stoic game. The first two rounds were essentially the same thing over and over; Sherk swinging trying to land any hard combo he could, with Penn firing back with fewer fists, but more landings. Penn cut Sherk above the eye in the first round that proceeded to get worse and worse as the fight went on. It appeared as if the match would continue to go into the fourth round until Penn, after landing a strong uppercut ending a combo that sent Sherk back and off the fence, slammed his knee into Sherk’s head, putting him on the ground where he seemed to lose consciousness for a second, but the bell rang before Penn could land anymore than a few hammer fists. Penn, however, stood up yelling that the fight was over, that Sherk was out. When the referee declared that Sherk was unable to continue the fight, Penn licked the back of his gloves before going over and wiping Sherk. He then licked his fingers clean (in a disputable display of bad sportsmanship) before regaining his composure and hugging Sherk. As they walked to their separate corners Penn offered for Sherk to train with him at anytime. Winner by TKO: B.J. Penn. After the fight Penn asked a question to his fans that I’m sure plenty were wondering about: “Do you want B.J. Penn to fight G.S.P!?” I’m sure the paperwork is already being typed up.
