UFC 84: Have Ill Will, Will Rumble

The best of the best in the best UFC tourney in recent memory.

UFC 84 is arguably the most exciting installment of the giant MMA franchise going back five tournaments. It had submissions and knockouts on chokes, armbars and strikes.

It saw, probably, Tito Ortiz's last fight in the Octagon. It had one of BJ Penn's most masterful wins in the weight division where he fits best. And best of all, on a personal level, one of my favorite fighters, the karate king, Lyoto Machida, a converted MMA warrior (a contradiction in terms right there, as real karate stylists don't just train in the empty-hand methods but are quite well-rounded, adept in ground techniques, usually from judo, stick and blade, on top of striking skills) methodically (root word, method...see?) picked Ortiz apart and nearly kayoed him before getting a unanimous decision victory.

The first televised bout, at least on what I saw on the Studio 23 replay Sunday night, was between Thiago Silva and Antonio Mendes. Silva got hit with a roundhouse kick to the right side of his head. He was able to block the strike with his right hand, but felt the impact enough to get knocked down. The Brazilian recovered, reversed the momentum, took down Mendes, mounted him, and pounded long enough to get a submission win in 2:24 of round 1.

Ivan Salaverry, 37, is a veteran. He carried a 12-5-1 win-loss-draw record into the fight with Rousimar Palhares, several years younger (Brazilians are notorious for not revealing their true age, even macho men MMA fighters) and four inches shorter at just 5-foot-8.

It was a beautiful, technical grappling fight on the ground. Palhares got Salaverry in back control and several attempted rear naked chokeholds that Salaverry wonderfully defended against. And just when Salaverry found a way to escape Palhares' hold, the Brazilian jiujitsu stylist transitioned to an armbar on Salaverry's left arm. Salaverry tapped out almost immediately, with 2:36 left in R1.

Machida-Ortiz. It could have been billed as the co-main event. No titles at stake, only Tito Ortiz's record and pride. Lyoto Machida came into this fight undefeated in MMA, seeking to keep a clean slate; the stakes for him were just as high.

Round 3 was war. It was a classic. Forget the first two rounds, which were all Machida – elusive, smart, accurate, brave. Machida was darting in and out of punching range, moving from left to right, while landing jabs and kicks on Ortiz, who tried his best to take down Machida, but the Japanese-Brazilian was just too quick and clever to be caught.

Ortiz, realizing he was trailing on all the judges' scorecards, came out very aggressive in the final round, challenging Machida to get it on. He got his licks in, catching Machida with some punches, a Thai clinch, and was ready to take him down for some of his old specialty, the ground and pound. But all of those backfired. As Ortiz was chasing Machida, he left himself open to a left knee to the kidney-abdominal area. Ortiz fell to the ground in obvious pain. Machida tried to finish Ortiz with punches, but Ortiz weathered the assault and even managed to grab Machida's neck for a triangle choke/neck crank. Machida twisted and turned on his back, pulled out his head, got to a far more comfortable position on Ortiz's guard, and went back to hitting Ortiz until the bell rang. The results on the judges scorecards painfully, figuratively and literally, obvious in Ortiz's mind. He looked at one of the cameras, ever the ham, and said something like, “I tried,” or “I did my best!”

That round 3 was like the best round Ortiz had in the last five years of his 11-year UFC career. He showed guts, strength, intelligence, resilience – too bad he lost. That means only one thing – Machida is the real thing. He is the best 205-pounder to have entered the Octagon in the last three years or so. And he only looks like a middleweight at 6-1, 205lbs. The bulky Ortiz looked like he outweighed Machida by 10 pounds.

Incidentally, “The Dragon” Machida, a Belem, Brazil native, turns 30 today, along with Rudimar Fedrigo's Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil. May you have more fire-breathing birthday celebrations and victories, Dragon, sir. And may CBA keep on rolling out more Wanderlei and Anderson Silvas, and Ninja and Shogun Ruas.

The Wilson Gouveia-Goran Reljic match had a lot of fire exchanged between the two light-heavyweights even before the fight started. It took Reljic eight minutes and 15 seconds to prove he was the better man that night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Nevada.

Forty-four seconds into R1, Reljic ate leather and decided to go for a flying guard defense. On the ground, Reljic attempted an omo plata with his left leg but couldn't quite get it.

In R2, after escaping from a near mount and being grounded and pounded by Gouveia, Reljic was backtracking when Gouveia followed him and walked right into a left roundhouse kick to just below his right ear. Down went Gouveia, Reljic put in the finishing with a lot of pounding. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight, giving the TKO win to Reljic in 3:15 of R2.

Keith Jardine versus Wanderlei Silva. This was a battle between unorthodox fighters. Jardine, his arms in odd angles while squaring off with an opponent, looks like superflyweight boxer Armenian Vic Darchinyan, who was dealt his only professional loss, so far, by WBC flyweight champ Nonito Donaire Jr. of the Philippines.

Jardine went into this fight with a 13-4-1 win-loss-draw record and arms poised like spider legs about to pounce on a fly. Too bad the fly he wanted for a meal in UFC 84 is called “The Axe Murderer.” Axe beats legs anytime.

Thirty-six seconds into R1, the curse of the counterstrike struck again: Jardine threw a right kick to Silva's left leg, Silva countered with a right hook to the left jaw, followed with a left hook to the right jaw when Jardine was falling down. Then, more fist punishment. Silva got a mount, his right leg on Jardine's tummy, his left hand on Jardine's neck.

Third man in the Octagon, Steve Mazzagati, might have stopped the fight too late. Jardine had suffered serious punishment. He lay motionless on the floor, eyes dead, and looked critically injured, reminiscent of John Matua's stiffened arms and legs after David “Tank” Abbot laid him down with heavy punches in UFC 6 in just 20 seconds. It took Silva 16 seconds longer than Abbot to win over Jardine, but it was just as devastating.

BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the 155lb lightweight championship. Hype preceded this match. Call it hype, call it ill temper. We call it the thunder before the storm...and tsunami.

We will score this one.

R1
Penn had the edge on punching. He defended well against early takedown attempts by Sherk. It was basically a standup fight after Sherk's takedown try.
Penn 10, Sherk 9

R2
Sherk's cuts on the face started to get worse. Penn was still jabbing, throwing body punches, shrugging off the TD tries of Sherk. Sherk swinging wildly, missing. Penn ended the round with a strong right hook to the jaw.
Penn 10, Sherk 9

R3
Penn unsuccessfully tried a TD himself near the middle part of the round. He went back to jabbing, stepping back, very elusive; almost at will hit Sherk with jabs and hooks to the head and body. Sherk still on a Rocky strategy -- letting Penn hit him repeatedly on the face with punches and on the legs with isolated kicks. In the closing seconds, Penn's left hook was blocked by Sherk's right hand, right uppercut got Sherk on the chin. Sherk backtracked, got his back on the fence. Penn chased him and threw a flying knee which hit Sherk both on the chin and on the chest. Sherk fell to the ground. Penn continued his attack with right hooks and hammer fists on a defenseless Sherk, who was semi-conscious.

The bell rang. Referee Mario Yamazaki seemed unsure on what to do. It was declared a TKO win for Penn after some indecisive moments. Even before that, Penn gestured that the fight was over, mockingly licked his gloves and ran back to Sherk seated on the ground. Penn touched Sherk's face and licked his own fingers as if tasting blood in an arrogant display of victory.

Then, Penn's split personality took over. He made like a gentleman, asking Sherk if he was okay, embraced him, telling him, assumably, were soothing words. Honey on wound after vinegar.

“Drop by anytime!” Penn told a still dazed Sherk, offering his beaten foe to train with him in his Hilo, Hawaii gym. Well, if Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, after being pummeled senseless by Wanderlei Silva in Pride, not once but twice, could train with Silva in the latter's Chute Boxe gym in Curitiba, Brazil, why not Sherk at Penn's Hilo MMA hideaway?

If Silva gets to fight Jackson again, this time in the UFC, and exacts revenge on the Axe Murderer, Sherk could try to duplicate the fantasy feat, make history repeat itself for himself, against Penn. Muscle Shark over The Prodigy in Penn-Sherk 2? Stranger things have happened in MMA.

The other preliminary bouts, not carrying the same cachet, were just as exciting in their own way.

Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs Jon Koppenhaver (170lbs)
R1, the Japanese UFC debutante, lean and mean at 5-11 170lbs, from the clinch on their feet, Yoshida judo threw Koppenhaver to the ground and caught the American's neck and left arm tight in a left-armed choke. Koppenhaver tried to escape, but Yoshida gator rolled and anaconda choked Koppenhaver into dreamland. The American managed a weak right hook to the ribs, but in seconds, he stopped moving. Herb Dean looked in, pulled Koppenhaver's right arm up to see if he was still conscious. Koppenhaver lay still. Dean stopped the fight in 56 secs of R1.

Rich Clementi vs. Terry Etim (155lbs)
Clementi by unanimous decision after three rounds. The Studio 23 replay didn't have this one.

Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Rameau Sokoudjou (205lbs)
Like in the Ortiz-Machida bout, Sokoudjou looked several pounds heavier than Nakamura. R1 was action packed. Nakamura with elbows and flying knees, Soukodjou with kicks and a Superman punch. Nakamura was knocked down with just seconds left in the round. “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou kicked Nakamura's ribcage. The Japanese tried to catch Sokoudjou's leg, but the African followed up with a strong right cross to the chin, Nakamura fell on his butt, sitting on his right foot, probably hyper-extending his ankle.

The Japanese wobbled to his corner, crumbled to the ground again, and couldn't continue. Rack that one up as a TKO win for Sokoudjou. In the post-fight interview, he said that he knew Nakamura would try to catch his leg when he kicked, so he followed up with a punch. Before letting go of the microphone, the muscle-bound Sokoudjou called out Shogun Rua.

Shane Carwin vs. Christian Wellisch (206lbs-up)
Just as massively built, 60lbs heavier than Sokodjou, but of lighter tone, Shane Carwin upped his MMA record to 9-0-0 with a 44-second R1 one-punch destruction of Christian Wellisch. Carwin hit Wellisch with a right cross to the jaw, his mouthpiece dislodged from the strength of impact. KO. None of Carwin's fights have gone beyond one round.

What a night. It could have been, What a day! if Solar Sports were still broadcasting the UFC, but SkyCable's Balls (really) has bought the rights to the Philippine broadcast, and non-subscribers like Free-For-All have to content themselves with half-a-day-later replays at Balls' sister station, Studio 23. Kindred channels from the same ABS-CBN seed, it seems.

Nothing beats “Live,” or at least, “Via Satellite” an hour or two-hour delays on free pay-per-views. Well, you know how it is with beggars.

We still roll, though.