Simply MMA: UFC 17: Redemption
Posted by Jamie Meikle on 04.17.2010
Mark Coleman gets a boot to the head, a middleweight tournament featuring Dan Henderson and Carlos Newton plus Tank Abbott returns to the Octagon.
Ugh sorry for the lack of reviews folks but University has been keeping me busy for the last few weeks and it’s only going to get busier with exams coming up. I will post reviews when I can just don’t expect me to review something like Pride Bushido vol. 9 because I ain’t got the time. So for now here’s a review I did earlier (my sample review for 411 in fact) UFC 17: Redemption featuring Mark Coleman taking on Pete Williams, a four man middleweight tournament and Tank Abbott returns to the Octagon to take on Hugo Duarte.
Future UFC Light Heavyweight Champ and Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell also made his debut on the show but sadly his preliminary fight didn’t make it on to the PPV broadcast.
It’s May 15th, 1998. We are live from the Civic Centre in Mobile Alabama. Your hosts are Mike Goldberg and Jeff Blatnick.
Fight 1 – Middleweight Tournament Semi Final
Dan Henderson vs. Allan Goes
Both come into this fight undefeated with Henderson being 2-0 and Goes at 3-0-1 with that draw coming to Frank Shamrock.
Long feeling out process to begin with Goes landing a couple of leg kicks. Right hand by Goes drops Hendo! Henderson recovers and catches Goes in a heel hook but Goes manages to spin out of it. Bit of a role reversal there. Back standing as Goes tries to get the clinch but Hendo pushes him away. Goes pushes Henderson against the cage. Front headlock by Henderson but Goes manages pull guard. Henderson lands strikes from the top up against the cage. Elbows now by Henderson as he busts up the nose of Goes. Kimura attempt by Goes but he lets go of it. Henderson decides to bring the fight back standing halfway into the round. Goes drops to his back but Henderson laughs him off as the ref brings the Brazilian back to his feet. 8:30 in and Goes drops Henderson again but lands an illegal kick to the head while Henderson was down. Ref brings a stop to the action for a short period before restarting them standing. More left hands by Goes as he gets the clinch. They break away as Henderson pushes forward with some rights as the round ends at 12:00
We move into 3 minutes of overtime. Close fight so far. They tie up in the clinch to begin with before Goes lands some more left hands to the head. Huge leg kick that buckles Henderson who laughs it off, what a badass. Hendo pushes forward again landing some good uppercuts. Goes drops again and gets booed heavily. Fight is stopped momentarily as one of his gloves come off. 50 seconds to go. Another leg kick by Goes, uppercuts by Henderson that drops Goes. Fight ends as he gets back to his feet.
Close fight but I got to go with Henderson despite being knocked silly twice and the judges seem to agree as they give the nod to’ Dangerous’ Dan. Good fight for the most part thou it did get slow in parts.
Fight 2 – Middleweight Tournament Semi Final
Carlos Newton vs. Bob Gilstrap
Never heard of Gilstrap but he trains with the Alliance( Shamrock, Smith, Kosaka) and comes in with a 7-2 record. Future Welterweight champion Newton comes in the youngest of the four middleweights at 21 and comes with a 2-1 record.
Newton quickly gets a huge double leg takedown right into side mount and immediately transitions into the full mount. Gilstrap tries to buck him off but gets caught in the armbar. Gilstrap manages to escape only to be caught in a triangle that leads to the tapout at 52 seconds.
Sweet submission by Newton in what turned out to be an easy victory. NEXT!!!!!!!!!!
Fight 3 – Heavyweight Superfight
Mike Van Arsdale vs. Joe Pardo
Again I’ve never heard of Pardo but the commentators mention he is trained by Royce Gracie so I’m guessing he knows a thing or two about the ground game. Freestyle wrestler Van Arsdale comes into the fight part of Mark Coleman’s Hammer House. Both are 3-0 at this point in their careers.
Pardo attempts a takedown but Van Arsdale stuffs it. Clinch attempt now Pardo but Van Arsdale avoids. Little bit of inactivity follows until Van Arsdale lands a leg kick and misses a superman punch. They exchange some punches before Van Arsdale lands a body kick that drops Pardo. Van Arsdale is know in the half guard of Pardo who lands some punches from the bottom and spins looking for the heel hook. Van Arsdale lands a barrage of punches as Pardo lets go of the hold. More strikes by Van Arsdale before Pardo manages to pull guard. Van Arsdale postures up to land some good shots, attempting to get the side mount but only gets half guard. Back to their feet know and Pardo looks tired. Leg kick by Van Arsdale who follows with a right to the head. More kicks by Van Arsdale as Pardo shoots but again stuffed by the freestyle wrestler who goes for the back but ends up in the guard. Nothing much happens so ‘Big’ John McCarthy stands them up . Fight resumes with Van Arsdale landing a leg kick. McCarthy demands action. Another shoot by Pardo but its Van Arsdale who gets the takedown and lands a couple of punches. Van Arsdale stands, Pardo is slow to get back on his feet.
Another shoot but again it’s stuffed. Elbows to the body by Van Arsdale as Pardo rolls to his back which leads to Van Arsdale getting the side mount. Pardo gives up his back and takes some heavy punches. He tries to roll to guard but is still getting battered. Half guard again and Van Arsdale quickly applies the keylock which leads to the tapout with one minute remaining in the round.
Dominating performance by Van Arsdale, completely overwhelming his opponent and never looked in any danger aside from the heel hook attempt .Despite the performance Van Arsdale wouldn’t appear in the Octagon again until 2005 where he lost to Couture and Babalu via submission.
Fight 4 – Heavyweight Superfight
Hugo Duarte vs. Tank Abbott
Tank makes his 14th appearance in the octagon and is coming off a victory against Yoji Anjo in Japan while Duarte is making is his UFC debut and has beaten the likes of the great Harold Howard. Duarte beforehand called Tank a bully with no skill and that he was going to teach the pit fighter a lesson. Damn thems fighting words.
Tank gets a huge pop from the crowd while Duarte gets booed out the building. Duarte immediately goes for the clinch, pushing Tank into the cage. The Brazilian gets the takedown and quickly gets the back and goes for a choke and an armbar attempt but Tank avoids and now he has the back. BIG punches to the head Duarte is in huge trouble. Tank continues to pummel away until McCarthy calls the fight at 44 seconds.
Another brutal beating by Tank and another clip for the highlight reel. Fun fight while it lasted.
Fight 5 – Middleweight tournament final
Dan Henderson vs. Carlos Newton
Ah the main reason I got this show. This should awesome. Current Middleweight champion Frank Shamrock joins Goldie and Blatnick on commentary. Newton obviously is the fresher of the two.
Here we go! Newton presses the action early. Leg kick followed by a HUGE right that drops Henderson. McCarthy almost stops the fight but Henderson grabs Newton and land a HUGE SPINNING TAKEDOWN!!!!!!!! Holy fuck that was awesome! Henderson, now in the guard, lands some punches to the head. Now he tries to pass while tries to sweep. More punches to the head by Henderson and lands couple to the body before McCarthy brings a halt to the action due to Newton losing his mouthpiece. Back on the feet and Newton gets the huge takedown and again right into side mount but Henderson manages to escape before any damage is done. Great fight so far. Some big rights to head by Henderson before Newton demonstrates his excellent grappling skills and brings Henderson to the ground for a brief moment. Henderson pushes Newton up against the fence. A flurry of knees to the head of Newton followed by a wild exchange of punches. Headlock by Henderson as we hit the five minute mark. Newton drops and brings Henderson to his guard. Henderson pushes Newton up against the fence and lands some rights. Henderson decides to bring it back to their feet at the eight minute mark. Big leg kick by Newton as Henderson looks a little tired. Newton connects with a right to the chin before landing a BIG KNEE TO THE HEAD OF HENDERSON!!!! Hendo is looks to be in trouble as he slips on the mat but manages to grab a leg that brings Newton to the mat. Henderson spins into Newton’s guard and looks to have recovered. WHAT A FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! Side mount now for Hendo but Newton manages to bring back into the guard. Two minutes left. Henderson manages to pick Newton up, from the guard and slams him back to the ground. Henderson lands a couple more shots as the horn sounds.
We go into overtime as Newton lands a couple of kicks to leg and the body of Hendo. Henderson fakes the knee and misses a huge right while Newton misses a right of his own. Newton lands more kicks to the leg and body of Henderson. RIGHT HOOK rocks Henderson, Newton goes in for the kill but Henderson survives again and lands the takedown. He ain’t out of danger thou as Newton goes for the kimura but loses it with one minute remaining. The horn sounds as both get back on their feet. Both fighters, deservedly, get a standing ovation from the crowd.
I would hate to be a judge for this one, really close fight though I think Newton might of done enough in overtime to steal it. Well one judge agrees with me but sadly for Newton the other two don’t as ‘Decision’ Dan gets the split decision. This fight was awesome. Just a great back and forth war between two future MMA champions. Sadly though, the UFC didn’t sign these guys to a long term contract I’m guessing due to financial reasons. Oh well UFC’s loss would be Pride’s gain. Again just an awesome fight and I urge everyone to go and seek it out.
Main Event – Heavyweight Superfight
Mark Coleman vs. Pete Williams
Lion’s Den fighter Williams makes his debut here, replacing the injured Randy Couture on short notice. Williams was actually training for a fight with Dan Severn so he had no problem taking the fight on short notice. Coleman makes his return after a year off and despite his disappointing performance in his last fight and that he is coming off a career threatening injury he is still seen here as the favourite.
Coleman pushes Williams up against the fence to start us off. Coleman goes for the takedown but Williams illegally holds on to the fence. Coleman eventually gets the takedown after Williams is warned by McCarthy. Coleman know looks for some ground and pound from the guard but Williams suddenly gets the armbar but Coleman manages to escape and is know back inside the guard and has Williams up against the fence. Not much happens though as Coleman is only landing a couple of punches. Williams is doing a good job so far of controlling Coleman from the bottom. Good elbows though by Coleman. McCarthy decides to stand them at the 5:30 mark. Coleman lands a big right hand but the fresher Williams presses the action. Coleman looks tired already as Williams lands a leg kick. Coleman is now just swinging for the sake of it not even looking for the shoot as Williams lands another leg kick. He goes for another one but Coleman manages to get the takedown and manages to get the waistlock and begins to land BIG uppercuts as Williams gets back to his feet. Coleman now has Williams up against the fence. The lion’s den fighter lands some good knees to the head as Coleman goes for the double leg. Williams again holds on to fence but Coleman gets the takedown. Horn sounds with Coleman in the guard of Williams.
Once again we head into overtime. Coleman can barely walk out of his corner as Williams lands a leg kick. Williams know overwhelms Coleman with a flurry of punches as the wrestler goes for the shoot but it’s easily stuffed. HUGE KNEE to the face of Coleman who is so gassed he can’t keep his hands up and boy does he pay for it. HUGE KICK TO THE FACE OF THE HAMMER!!!! COLEMAN IS OUT COLD!!!!!!!! Pete Williams gets the upset victory at thirty-eight seconds into overtime.
WOW! To this day that is still one of the best knockouts in UFC history. Great debut by Williams who did a good job to avoid the ground and pound of Coleman. Once again the cardio of Coleman cost him dearly even though he was more patient with his strikes. Good fight with some slow parts but the KO more than made up for it.
The 411: Top to bottom, this was the best show the UFC had put on at this point. Hell the UFC had a string of really good shows after they got taken off cable PPV (some of which I'll probably review in the future). You’ve got sweet submissions, classic Tank Abbott, a forgotten classic in Newton vs Henderson and one of the best Knockouts in UFC history. The only negative is that you don’t see the UFC debut of Liddell, who won via decision. Do yourself a favor and go and find a copy of this show and while you’re at it pick some of other UFC shows at the time. Like I said before they put on some really good shows. It’s just a shame no one was watching.
