The Ultimate eXperience 07.14.08: Must Watch Fights

Posted by Ryan Seymour on 07.14.2008

This week 411's Ryan Seymour tells you about some fights that you just have to watch. Involving fighters such as Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Nick Diaz, Mirko Cro Cop and more.



Must Watch Fights

Karo Parisyan vs. Diego Sanchez – UFC Fight Night 6

This fight was Diego Sanchez's biggest fight after winning the ultimate fighter show. Parisyan had only lost to two fighters at this point in his career, Sean Sherk and George St. Pierre. This fight had all the ingredients to be an exciting fight – and it lived up to the expectations. This fight had everything. Great stand up wars - good and active movement on the ground – Parisyan judo throwing Diego - And then my favorite which was Diego knocking out Karo's tooth. Diego did enough to come home with the win but it wasn't easy stuff for Sanchez (who at the time was undefeated). Looking to the present time, Karo and Diego haven't been the same. Karo Parisyan just suffered a set back loss at the hands of a rising star in the UFC welterweight division, Thiago Alves. Diego Sanchez has been able to get a few wins after having back to back losses to the likes of Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch.

Frank Trigg vs. Matt Hughes – UFC 52

I think it is fair to say that this fight is the most action packed fight to be finished in the first round. This fight was a rematch from UFC 45 when Matt Hughes famously made Frank Trigg submit to the rear naked choke while standing. Frank Trigg looked very close to defeating Matt Hughes for the welterweight title in this bout. Hughes looked at the ref when he was hit by a kick to the groin but the ref never stopped the fight. Trigg jumped on the opportunity by throwing some haymakers at Hughes and knocking him to the ground. Trigg nearly got retribution for the last fight as Trigg had sunken in a rear naked choke on Hughes. Hughes's face was going red but he somehow was able to spin out of the choke and land on top of Trigg. Then Hughes did one of his now famous move of grabbing Trigg and running to his corner, then slamming him. After slamming Trigg, Hughes was able to sink in the same move that defeated him the first time – the rear naked choke. Again looking back on these two fighters, they have not been the same since. Frank Trigg has gone 5-3 since his bout with Matt Hughes, and it looks like Trigg is devoting more of his time to professional wrestling then his MMA career. Hughes has suffered back to back losses in his last two fights. He was beaten by rising star Thiago Alves and also the current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.


BJ Penn vs. Matt Hughes – UFC 63

Here is another great fight which involves Matt Hughes. There was some bad blood going into this fight as BJ Penn defeated Matt Hughes for the title at UFC 46. After he won the title BJ decided to sign with K-1. So the title was vacated and Hughes was able to win the title once again. This fight is exceptional fight to watch and BJ Penn could have easily won this fight if his cardio was better. In the opening two round BJ was frustrating Hughes by stuffing his take downs and BJ was clearly winning. In the third round it was a totally different story. Hughes was able to push the pace on BJ Penn and was able to get him in a great crucifix position to win the bout. The crucifix position made it impossible for BJ to intelligently defend himself as Hughes has hold of his arms. Since this fight BJ Penn has dropped to lightweight and has been on a tear. He has won three consecutive fights at lightweight and is the UFC lightweight champion. He defeated Jen Pulver in a bad blood match-up, Joe Stevenson for the title in a bloody fight and finally out boxed Sean Sherk.

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – PRIDE Final Conflict 2003

This fight isn't in many people's favorite MMA matches but I really enjoyed this fight. Mirko Cro Cop was going great in the opening round by stuffing Nogueira's take downs and just picking apart Nogueira in the stand up. Everybody thought Mirko Cro Cop was going to easily win this fight after seeing the first round. But that was not to be, as Nogueira took Cro Cop down early and then submitted him in the first two minutes. When Nogueira takes someone down it usually revolves in the opposite fighter being tapped out. Nogueira is currently the UFC heavyweight champion while Mirko is fighting in the DREAM organization after suffering some really bad losses inside the UFC octagon.

Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar – The Ultimate Finale 1

Every MMA fan would now full well about this fight. This was the fight that made the UFC the great promotion it is today. This fight made a lot of people tune into the UFC and showed the casual fans what mixed martial arts is all about. This fight was just a stand up war which went for three rounds. Neither fighter really looked hurt in the bout, but with that said, both fighters took a fair amount of punches. This fight would probably rank as my favorite MMA fight, just because it not only was a great fight but it changed the world of mixed martial arts. Since the very first ultimate fighter finale, Griffin has gone 6-2 in the UFC while Bonnar has gone 5-2. Griffin has defeated some much better competition in Shogun and most recently he became the UFC light heavyweight champion after defeating Quinton ‘Rampage' Jackson.

Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi - PRIDE 33

This fight had everything. A stand up war, good ground game and even a submission you will only see half a dozen times in MMA fights. Gomi was a big favorite to win this fight but he was unable to get the win. For the first PRIDE event in Las Vegas, Nevada – Gomi and Diaz put on a great show for the fans. Diaz was able to win this fight with a gogoplata submission and Diaz would have been on top of the world. It was later found out that Nick Diaz had Marijuana in his system so the win for Nick Diaz was changed into a no contest as Marijuana can be used to help stop the pain. Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz II should defiantly happen in the future after this somewhat empty feeling. Since this fight Diaz has gone to EliteXC and has gone 3-1 with his only loss at the hands to KJ Noons. Takanori Gomi has only fought once since this fight and he was able to win in World Victory Road: Sengoku.

If there is any other fights that you think really deserve a mention, feel free to leave a comment and tell me.