The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review: King of the Cage - Reality Champions Disc One
Posted by Randy Harrison on 09.25.2007
Ever wonder what Forrest Griffin was up to before upsetting Shogun in the biggest fight of his career? Or maybe you've always wanted to know who Rashad Evans fought before he tangled with Tito Ortiz in the UFC? The answers to those burning questions and more are in this week's Sprawl and Brawl as we play an MMA version of Before They Were Stars with Disc One of King of the Cage's release Reality Champions.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's another edition of The Sprawl and Brawl and we're back with another King of the Cage classic with a decidedly TUF theme. Today we're looking at Disc One of a Two-Disc compilation set produced by King of the Cage last year called Reality Champions. The first disc features fighters who have grown into stars in the UFC based on their performances on The Ultimate Fighter, fighting in KOTC before they appeared on the show. Disc Two is a compilation of older fights from fighters who were coaches on the show (Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes) or trained the coaches who appeared on the show (Pat Miletich). However, Disc Two comes next week as right now we turn our focus to some of the fighters who have benefited most from the new boom in popularity of MMA, The Ultimate Fighter All Stars!
Disc One - Reality Stars
Match One: Light Heavyweights
Rashad Evans (2-0) vs. Bryan Pardoe (8-5)
This fight is from Gladiator Challenge 26: FightFest, a two-day MMA event held in early June 2004 in California. Pardoe is introduced and he is a fairly ripped looking 205 pound fighter and has some serious experience at this point in his career. He's fought the likes of Keith Jardine and Frank Shamrock, and while he lost both fights, he has a huge advantage in experience over Evans who is in only his third professional fight since deciding to apply his collegiate wrestling background to the arena of Mixed Martial Arts. Evans is looking very lean here and fairly similar to his current body type which isn't as imposing as Pardoe's look, but in the fight game looks aren't everything. Speaking of looks, Tyson Johnson introduces both fighters in a leather vest look that would make a ton of bikers or one member of the Village People VERY happy and with that we're ready to get to some fighting.
Round One
Pardoe lands a solid leg kick as the bell sounds, and Evans responds with quick combination before they work into a clinch. Evans presses Pardoe back to to the fence and secures double underhooks, dragging Pardoe away from the fence into a takedown attempt. Pardoe manages to stuff the attempt and Evans ends up taking himself down with Pardoe pushing him up against the fence and landing a couple of good punches before Evans scrambles back to his feet and works his way back to the clinch. Evans is still working those double underhooks and trying to use good positioning for the takedown and the crowd starts getting a little restless with the lack of fisticuffs to this point of the contest. They circle in the clinch and Pardoe tries to reverse but ends up giving up his back to Evans while they're standing against the cage. A good exchange from both men after Pardoe pushes away from Evans and they're right back to the clinch against the fence with Evans holding the double underhook position. Pardoe stuffs another of Evans' takedown attempts and seems to be using his size to keep Evans from scoring the elusive takedown so far. Evans tries a different tactic and works the body with a couple of good punches that Pardoe responds to with a shot to the back of Evans' head. Referee Herb Dean is threatening to break them apart and reset the fight and someone's corner (possibly Pardoe's due to Evans being the wrestler and wanting to use the clinch for the takedown) agrees and yells at Dean to do it. As the corner yells it to the referee, Evans picks the ankle and takes Pardoe down and is standing above him, past his guard, raining down some heavy punches to Pardoe's head. Pardoe tries to spin out of it but Evans uses his superior wrestling skills to keep the bigger man grounded and and pins him to the mat, taking side control. A knee to the head and more punches from Evans as Pardoe tries to turtle to survive the onslaught but he turns his back one time too many and takes a few too many punches as Herb Dean steps in and calls the fight.
While still a raw talent at this point, you can see a lot of the things that have made Evans as successful as he has been up to this point. Controlling his opponent's body and using his top-notch wrestling to keep the fight on his terms served him well against the bigger, more experienced Pardoe and he even managed to have some very good striking which a lot of wrestlers have trouble developing. A great fight early in his career and a big win at this point for Evans.
Winner: Rashad Evans, TKO at 3:24 of Round One
Match Two: Heavyweights
Forrest Griffin (5-1) vs. Steve Sayegh (2-4)
We're in Bernalillo, New Mexico now for our next fight which features arguably the most famous fighter to come out of all of the seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, Forrest Griffin. This one takes place at King of the Cage 20: Crossroads and is from December of 2002. Griffin at this point has been fighting for a little over a year with his only loss coming in his first professional fight against former UFC great Dan Severn. Sayegh comes in also with a loss to Severn on his record but also with a less than sterling 2-4 mark so things could be a little rough for him in this one. Sayegh comes in at 230 pounds and Griffin is decidedly undersized for a heavyweight bout, fighting at a slim and trim 214 pounds, which could lead to Sayegh trying to use his size to bully the smaller Griffin.
Round One
We get a glove touch as the bell rings and Griffin rushes in with a one-two combination, pushing Sayegh against the fence and working a Thai clinch to land good knees to the head and body. Sayegh ties up Griffin's arms but Griffin uses them as underhooks and yanks Sayegh into a takedown, getting top position in Sayegh's half guard. Shoulder strikes from Griffin as he works Sayegh around on the mat and presses him up against the fence. Griffin trying for full mount here and Sayegh is bucking and turning to avoid it, but he gives up his back in the process. Forrest wastes no time sinking in the hooks and working punches as he tries to control Sayegh's arms to attempt a rear naked choke. Griffin trying to slip the forearm under Sayegh's chin and set the choke but Sayegh is defending it well and turns over to his side, allowing Forrest to gain full mount. Sayegh on the bottom and eating a ton of punishment while he's mounted as Griffin is landing a ton of lefts and rights. Griffin keeps a very high mount while Sayegh is pressed against the cage, leaving him nowhere to go and nothing to do but lay there and take more punches. Herb Dean has seen enough at this point and puts a stop to the beating, calling the fight after a couple more solid shots landed by Griffin.
Griffin immediately checks on Sayegh and helps him to his feet and gives him a big hug after checking to make sure he's alright, in a display that shows the class that made him such a popular fighter on the reality show. Replays show the Thai knees that landed early and the mounted punches that landed late and ended the fight. A good display here from Griffin as his stand-up was right on point and he was accurately landing a variety of quality shots on the bigger opponent in Sayegh.
Winner: Forrest Griffin, TKO at 1:45 of Round One
Match Three: Welterweights
Diego Sanchez (10-0) vs. Jorge Santiago (7-2)
for the King of the Cage Welterweight Championship
Our next fight takes us to San Jacinto, California in June 2004 for King of the Cage 36: Unfinished Business. This fight shows us Diego Sanchez in his last fight before joining the UFC, putting his undefeated record on the line against a dangerous BJJ fighter in Jorge Santiago. Both fighters have been making waves on the smaller shows and other KOTC fight cards at this point and they're set to tangle with the vacant KOTC championship on the line. The referee for this one is "Blind" Cecil Peoples and we're ready to get this championship bout underway.
Round One
Diego throws a right hand and rushes Santiago against the fence trying to use his superior wrestling skills to get this fight to the ground which might be good in the short term, but might be a bad course of action against the jiu-jitsu of Santiago. Knees to the body and to the thigh from the clinch by Sanchez and he works for a single-leg but can't lock it in and they scramble and break the clinch. A huge left uppercut by Sanchez whiffs but he uses it to rush Santiago again and press him against the fence before scoring the takedown. Sanchez is in Santiago's full guard and pressing his head against the cage while scoring with elbow strikes. Santiago shows off the active guard that is a trait of BJJ fighters, throwing his legs up high onto Diego's back and trying to use his hips to improve his position. Sanchez is trying to get his hands free to throw some strikes and lands an elbow but Santiago is using excellent hand control to frustrate Sanchez. Diego stands up above the prone Santiago and tries to attack from there but ends up being held off by some up kicks that land before he dives back into Santiago's guard with a right hand and throws another couple of hard elbows. Santiago throws his legs up for a triangle/armbar attempt just as Sanchez stands up and pulls out of his guard and Santiago JUST missed catching Sanchez in that one. Another good left hand lands from a diving Sanchez but Santiago gets hold of an arm off of it and tries to sink in the armbar from the bottom. Sanchez is landing elbows and moving constantly in Santiago's guard at this point, doing enough to keep Santiago from being able to mount any offense from the bottom, and also keeping busy enough to avoid having Cecil Peoples stand them up. A hard left from Sanchez lands and he is mauling Santiago on the ground at this point imposing his will and pinning Santiago to the mat. Santiago hooks one of Sanchez's legs and throws up another submission attempt and this time uses it to reverse positions and put Sanchez on the bottom. Diego sprawls out of it but eats a good knee from Santiago on the way back up to his feet and Santiago moves in to try to work the clinch. Sanchez shoots for a single-leg attempt but Santiago manages to reverse that as well and they're back to grappling, with Santiago having double underhooks on Sanchez. Both fighters landing knees to the body from inside the clinch and they break apart with a wild exchange that looks good but does no real damage to either man. A HUGE right hand to the temple of Santiago and he drops to the mat with Sanchez following into the guard but he can't capitalize on the punch that rocked Santiago and the round ends.
A really good first round for Sanchez as he dominated most of the round with his wrestling and positioning and landed some hard shots on the ground along with that enormous right hand that he failed to finish at the end. An easy round to score for Diego there.
Round Two
Santiago lands a couple of leg kicks while they circle and Sanchez loads up on a HUGE right hand swing and a miss that could have easily knocked over half of the first three rows just from the wind that miss generated. Sanchez is aggressive and following up every combination with a bullrush but he's been unable to make a lot happen out of them so far. Sanchez throws some hard shots and rushes again into a bodylock against the fence, but Santiago decides he's had enough and pulls out beautiful judo throw to take Diego down. Sanchez is working the butterfly guard and lands a solid elbow from the bottom before attempting rubber guard and then pushing Santiago's head up to feed him another helping of elbow to the face. Sanchez uses the cage to try to spin out from the bottom and Santiago is having trouble holding him down and getting any strikes off as Sanchez throws up a triangle attempt that is easily shrugged away. Santiago finally lands a good left hand and it's back to Sanchez's closed guard as he keeps moving his hips and attempting submissions from the bottom, actually fighting more effectively than Santiago is from the top. More of the short elbows from the bottom from Diego and he's doing a lot of damage with those as Cecil Peoples decides he's seen enough action, or rather inaction, on the mat and stands them both up. Hey, everyone has to be right once in a while and I'm willing to admit this is Peoples' one and sadly it seems, only moment in the sun where he's not thought of as a braying jackass by most of the fans in attendance. Sanchez somewhat blocks a head kick thrown by Santiago and uses it to score another takedown, working from the top to control Santiago's head and landing several hard right hand shots that he's loading up from way downtown. Three lefts from Sanchez in quick succession to the head of Santiago and Diego closes out the round strong with some good forearms and elbows in the guard.
Another brutal round that easily goes to Sanchez. Santiago managed a great takedown but squandered it while Sanchez was hard at work on the bottom landing strikes and dishing out punishment. When the time came for Diego to be on top he again landed MANY hard shots and was throwing some serious elbows. Two rounds to none for Sanchez on my card.
Round Three
Santiago opens up with a leg kick/high kick combination that barely phases Sanchez, who bullrushes for another combination of punches and uses that combo to lift Santiago into the air and SLAM his ass to the mat hard. Sanchez again on top working elbows and strikes which seems to be a recurring theme for this bout so far as Santiago has no answer for the strength of Sanchez and his aggressive striking. Another right hand and a hard elbow before Sanchez starts landing hard body shots, taking over the fight and slowly sucking Santiago's will right out of him. Santiago tries a sweep, a shift, a kick-away, anything at this point but Sanchez is just too strong, holding him down for more vicious ground and pound. HEAVY shots to the body and the head, punches and elbows, and a guard pass attempted by Sanchez before Peoples stands them up again. A side kick lands to the body of Santiago who finally is able to mount some offense with a right hand counter. Sanchez scores with another takedown and Santiago looks horribly gassed from having to respond to Diego pushing the pace for two and a half rounds now. Sanchez standing above Santiago and landing about a dozen straight right hands in a row before Santiago decides maybe he should do something to avoid getting punched in the face and throws a couple of up kicks. Sanchez with more brutal combinations to the head and body and Cecil Peoples looks about ready to step in and save Santiago but doesn't. Sanchez passes the guard into side control and is just pummeling away at Santiago, taking things from side control to full mount. Lefts and rights landing from Sanchez as Santiago tries to escape out the back door or use the fence to slide out but it's just not happening. A VICIOUS right hand lands hard to the face of Santiago and he turns to his side trying to avoid any more serious punishment, but Diego lands a couple more shots and then explodes into an armbar set-up, forcing Santiago to roll with it and finishing the fight strong with a triangle attempt on Santiago as the bell sounds.
Just utter domination. Sanchez was too strong, too quick, too aggressive and just plain too much for Santiago and it showed as for three rounds Sanchez pushed the pace and made Santiago fight just to stay alive, to the point that Santiago couldn't even attempt much in the way of offense in the second and third rounds. An absolutely dominating performance from bell to bell that showed why Diego would become such a force on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. Post-fight however Sanchez pulls a bit of a dick move when Tyson Johnson declares him the winner but forgets to call him "Nightmare" so Diego says it repeatedly like a child until Johnson relents and re-announces him as the winner with the nickname included. UGH..it's stuff like that that makes people tend to not like him very much. That along with that whole thing about him being pretty batshit crazy too.
Winner: Diego "NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!!" Sanchez, Unanimous Decision
Match Four: Lightweights
Joe Stevenson (20-6) vs. Thomas Schulte (7-1)
for the King of the Cage Lightweight Championship
The Pala Casino and Spa in California is the venue and it's November of 2003 as Joe Stevenson looks to add the King of the Cage Lightweight title to his already impressive resume which includes him winning his last five fights as well as 10 out of his last 11. Schulte comes in with an impressive record of his own as he's only been defeated once at this point. Stevenson was already making a name for himself at this point even before the fame of reality TV came calling and he's trying to solidify his spot near the upper echelon of fighters with a title win in this one.
Round One
Circling to start and Stevenson is just pacing down Schulte who throws a side kick and a front kick to the body of Stevenson to try to fend him off. Stevenson continues to try to close the distance to strike but Schulte keeps throwing the kicks to keep him to the outside. Schulte rushes for a takedown but Stevenson defends it into a front facelock and starts landing knees to Schulte's face. Another side kick lands for Schulte and he tries to throw a spinning back fist but catches nothing but air on it. Stevenson working a good triple jab and Schulte tries for a lazy takedown attempt that he pays for by catching a knee to the face while he tries to scramble back up to his feet. High kick attempt by Schulte that Stevenson just catches and he throws Schulte to the ground. Schulte is really trying to keep his distance with front kicks and Stevenson is content to just wait on the outside for his chance to strike. A good high kick followed by a front kick lands for Schulte and Stevenson fires back with a combination of his own before Schulte tries a takedown. Stevenson sprawls out of it though, showing excellent takedown defense and he lands a hard left uppercut out of the sprawl. Schulte tries for a single-leg and drives through it finally taking Stevenson down but it ends up reversed almost immediately and Schulte ends up eating a good knee for his efforts. Stevenson with a jab and a right uppercut that hurts Schulte again before landing a WICKED knee from the clinch that puts Schulte on his back. Stevenson backs off to allow Schulte back to his feet and Schulte tries another front kick and attempts a takedown off of it but Stevenson is just too strong, reversing it into side control before letting Schulte back up again. Stevenson almost looks like he's toying with him at this point and he throws a hard overhand right that just misses Schulte and when Schulte tries for a takedown Stevenson shows off that great sprawl again. This time however before Schulte can get all the way back to his feet Stevenson lands an absolutely MONSTER knee right up the middle that knocks Schulte out and finishes the fight.
Again as it seems to be throughout the entire DVD, the potential in the future Ultimate Fighters is enormous and Stevenson is no exception. He totally dominated the fight and had his way with Schulte who wasn't exactly a slouch. Great striking, great takedown defense and superior strength paved the way to championship gold for Stevenson here and like with the other fights you can tell big things are in store for his future.
Winner: Joe Stevenson, KO at 3:29 of Round One
Match Five: Light Heavyweights
Rashad Evans (3-0) vs. Hector Ramirez (2-0)
From the same Gladiator Challenge show as Evans' previous fight on this DVD, this one is from day two of the FightFest as he's facing another fighter currently in the UFC in Hector Ramirez. Both are relatively green in their careers at this point but it's a classic striker vs. wrestler matchup with the added intrigue of Evans' rapidly improving stand-up game thrown into the mix.
Round One
Glove touch and Ramirez lands a couple of good combinations early before Evans has had enough of that and works him into a clinch. Ramirez is working some knees on the inside and pressing Evans up against the cage until Evans reverses him and hits a couple of foot stomps. Evans fires of a great combination of punches out of the clinch and lands a few of them and Ramirez throws another one-two to respond. Ramirez misses an uppercut and Evans catches him with a nice overhand right before they're back into the clinch. Evans scores with another combination pushing Ramirez away from the clinch and finding his range to land punches as Ramirez snaps off a good kick to the body. Ramirez throws another WILD uppercut that misses and they circle before Evans shoots in for a nice double-leg and takes Ramirez down to the mat. Ramirez tries to stand up, Evans tries to hold him down, and neither man is completely successful as they scramble back to their feet. Ramirez lands a glancing right hand and follows it up with a leg kick that is given right back by Evans along with a nice little one-two combination that peppers Ramirez. A clinch in the center and both guys are landing knees to the body and Evans throws a punch to the midsection for good measure. Ramirez lands a hard right hand that Evans immediately shakes off so you know that it had to hurt him a little bit. Ramirez is really trying to time that huge uppercut but misses it again and Evans slips under it to shoot for a double-leg that Ramirez is able to sprawl out of before he lands a good body shot. Ramirez with another hard body shot and a good stiff jab that forces Evans to re-evaluate things as he switches from an orthodox stance to southpaw perhaps in an attempt to change the momentum in the stand-up. Evans shows that his TUF antics during fights aren't a new act as he flaps his arms like he's trying to take flight and the round ends with both fighters exchanging lefts and rights. Ramirez lands one that Evans thinks might have been a little late and they both stand and shit talk a little while Rashad does a little dance, makes a little love, and gets down in the cage. I assume that was to show he's not tired and not hurt as it's pretty hard to make a dance done in a pair of spandex bike shorts with no shirt on look intimidating.
A fairly even round but a slight edge goes to Evans with a little bit cleaner striking and some effective takedowns. Ramirez landed heavy shots but they were one punch at a time while Evans put together numerous combinations throughout the round. Round one goes to Evans.
Round Two
Second and final round of this two round fight gets underway and Evans is back to his southpaw stance again as Ramirez lands a couple of one-two combinations before rushing into Evans for a bodylock which is an exceedingly bad idea. Evans uses his wrestling background to shift through the clinch and put Ramirez to the ground in the turtle position while raining heavy punches down on him. Evans with standing back control trying to ride Ramirez back to the ground like he was calf roping at a rodeo before kneeing the backs of Ramirez's legs and adding a hard knee to the ASS for good measure. Ramirez misses with another two punch combination and he's swinging for the fences at this point trying to land something to stop the fight right now. Evans throws a nice three punch combination and follows with a jab that stuns Ramirez a little. Another snapping leg kick from Ramirez, but as has been said on numerous occasions, the one you hear generally tend to hurt less than the ones you don't. Evans throws a couple of punches to set up a single-leg which Ramirez manages to avoid but he can't avoid the huge right the follows it or the combination that comes after that and Ramirez is in some jeopardy here. Referee Cecil Peoples stops the action for a moment to replace the mouthpiece that Rashad lost during that last takedown attempt and he doesn't even give Rashad's corner a chance to clean it out first. Yuck, yuck, double yuck...enjoy that staph infection on your tongue Mr. Evans, I'm sure it will be quite a treat for you. Ramirez doubles up on the leg kicks and throws another two punch combo, landing the jab but missing the overhand right. Evans shoots again for a takedown but Ramirez manages to stuff this one and Evans does a little showboating and dancing again. I guess it proves that the TUF fights weren't an anomaly and that he was acting like that much of an ass LONG before he got involved with the UFC. Ramirez doesn't like getting shown up and throws another hard combination to try to put Disco Stu Evans to sleep. Evans throws a combination and Ramirez tries for a body kick but pulls it back when Rashad moves out of the way. Referee Peoples starts clapping his hands and I can't tell if it's because he wants more action or because he wants Rashad to keep showing the world how the black man gets down and funky. Ramirez lands another overhand right and tries for a takedown which he eventually gets once Evans loses his balance. Once on the mat Evans pulls a quick transition and ends up taking Ramirez's back, letting him know just who is in charge when the fight is on the ground. They both stand and Evans gives us another glimpse into his Dancing With The Stars audition tape before landing a couple of jabs to end the round and the fight. Some replays of the combinations that Evans was landing in the first round and him shooting and changing levels to score the takedown. Evans' big flurry of punches from the second round is also shown and we're off to the judge's scorecards.
Another round with Rashad dominating the action and keeping Ramirez off-balance and unable to land any solid power punches. This one is all Rashad much like the first and this is another easy fight to call as Evans should get the duke, although it's by no means a total cakewalk.
Ramirez leaves the cage pretty disgusted at the decision though I can't see why as he didn't land enough strikes or do anything to avoid the takedowns to warrant getting the win. Tyson Johnson gives Evans a polite little golf clap before moving to the side to let Rashad enjoy his moment of victory and that's all she wrote for Disc One!
NEXT WEEK!!! Disc Two featuring Rich Franklin, Matt Hughes and Pat Miletich among others as we shift from the stars of The Ultimate Fighter to the coaches and other men involved in the show. Don't even think of missing the next edition of The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review!!
The 411: Well this one is interesting in that you get to see a lot of today's current stars in their grassroots beginnings. That being said there isn't much in the way of competition as none of the Ultimate Fighters face even a smidge of adversity on their way to victory. Lots of one-sided matchups make Randy a sad, sad puppy and the only thing saving this from a worse rating is the potential shown in every single bout.
