History of the UFC 10.29.07: UFC XX - The Battle for the Gold
Posted by Matt McEwen on 10.29.2007
The UFC turns 20 and (finally) crowns a new Heavyweight champion as they reach the midpoint of 1999. Bas Rutten and Kevin Randleman battle for the title, while Wanderlei Silva makes his second trip inside the Octagon and Pedro Rizzo lays claim to being the best heavyweight in the UFC.
A full five and a half years after making their debut, the Ultimate Fighting Championships presented their 20th PPV event, The Battle for the Gold on May 7th, 1999 live from Birmingham, Alabama. Just making past the five year mark of their existence and to 20 events overall were both pretty major milestones for both the UFC and parent company SEG. With all the controversy surrounding the event - which eventually led to its removal from most major PPV carriers - the UFC had been on the verge of going under since early 1997. Just for reference sake, while it took SEG over five years to reach 20 events, the UFC has put on 19 cards in 2007 alone, counting Fight Night events.
Of course, in the meantime, the quality of competitors had risen dramatically from those at the early shows, and the spectacle had definitely become more of a sport. High level collegiate and Olympic wrestlers had replaced street fighters, and an influx of talented fighters from Japan and Brazil schooled in both submission and striking were creating a very competitive environment inside the Octagon. Along with some rule changes to percipitate more action filled fights - as well as to appease some who saw the events as glorified bar fights - the UFC was putting some very good fights at this point.
The perception problem still existed though, and the UFC was no closer to getting back on full time PPV at this point than the were for the previous 2 years. This was leading to a lot of problems with keeping a consistent talent base, as good fighters such as Don Frye, Randy Couture, Tank Abbott (maybe not all that good, but definitely entertaining) and others left the organization to go elsewhere for more money. On top of that, by the time that UFC XX was coming about, Middleweight champion Frank Shamrock was nowhere to be seen, as he was having his own contract squabble.
Couture leaving also left the Heavyweight title vacated (hey....I guess I'm having deja vu here), and this event was the end of the very convoluted "Road to the Heavyweight Title" tournament. I think I've ranted about how much this tournament and lack of organization annoyed me, but it comes to an end tonight with Bas Rutten taking on Kevin Randleman. It says a lot about the state of the UFC that two guys in only their second fight inside the Octagon are fighting for the title.
There are five other fights on tap here, featuring heavyweight contenders Pedro Rizzo and Pete Williams, and soon to be MMA icon Wanderlei Silva.
This could be a good fight as Clarke is a pretty dynamic striker who has looked pretty good against lower level competition, while Iha has a good ground game and should be a step up in talent for the Militech trained Clarke. Iha has Marco Ruas in his corner, so it's a set of superstar cornermen here.
Iha comes out trying to use a lot of head and upper body movement to throw Clarke off target with his strikes, but Clarke slowly cuts down the distance before landing a big left/right combo that stuns Iha. Iha is able to move off the cage, but slips, then eats another big combo that drops him.
Clarke jumps on him to try and finish, but Iha rolls for a kneebar. Meanwhile, referee Mario Yamasaki (making his first UFC appearance) is trying to break them up. He has a hard time doing that but once he does, it's easy to see why - Iha has been busted open right above his right eye badly enough that the doctor stops the fight. That's too bad, as this was shaping up to be a fun fight. The stoppage might have been a bit premature as, even though the blood was flowing into his eyes, Iha was in no danger of being struck and as a matter of fact looked about to finish Clarke with the knee bar. There will be a rematch of this coming up at UFC XXVII, so we'll see then how it goes.
Middleweights (170lbs to 199lbs)
Wanderlei Silva (0-1, 6'0, 199lbs) vs Tony Petarra (0-0, 5'11, 196lbs)
Tony is going to die. Just an educated guess on that one.
Silva wants to erase the image of him being destroyed by Vitor Belfort in his UFC debut at Ultimate Brazil eight months earlier. He comes in with the intimidating stare down pat, and had won his two fights since the Belfort debacle by KO in a combined 54 seconds.
Petarra could easily be mistaken for Pat Militech if you just looked at them quickly.
As soon as the fight starts, Petarra shoots as he obviously wants nothing to do with Silva's stand up. He's able to force Silva against the cage and they tie each other up. Silva is able to push off the cage and land a couple of knees ot the body before they get back against the fence. A little repeat, as Silva pushes off, lands knees and Petarra pushes them back against the fence again. He dips his head and gets his head caught under Silva's arm and in a double underhook as Silva starts to land some knees to the body. Petarra eventually gets his head free and after a brief slow period, Silva is able to grab a full Thai clinch behind Petarra's head and proceeds to finish the fight with 3 brutal knees for the KO victory. Nice return for Silva and that gets KO of the night in my book.
Lightweights (169lbs and under)
David Roberts (0-0, 6'1, 169lbs) vs Marcello Mello (0-0, 5'4, 169lbs)
Roberts is all of 19 years old and this is his first MMA fight, though he has a good record in submission wrestling events. Melo is also making his MMA debut here, and is a jiu jitsu practioner.
A bit of a contrast in appearances as Roberts is a full 9 inches taller than Melo.
Melo shoots early, but Roberts sprawls and they're back on their feet. They size each other up for a bit until Melo is able to shoot again and this time get the takedown. He passes to mount easily and lands some elbows. Roberts' idea of defense is to roll over and give up his back while covering his head with his hands. Big John stops the fight at 1:23.
This would be both guys only trip to the Octagon, and as best as I can tell, their only MMA bout anywhere for that matter.
Heavyweights (200lbs and up)
Pete Williams (2-1, 6'3, 230lbs) vs Travis Fulton (0-0, 6', 226lbs)
Fulton might be making his UFC debut here, but let's just say the guy is experienced. He has had over 70 pro fights at this point, and he is only 21. He still fights, and actually won his last match just about two weeks ago.
Williams looks great, as he comes in 8 pounds lighter than his last trip inside the cage, and looks harder and stronger. Fulton looks a bit pudgy by comparison, which makes sense when they mention that he had been fighting in the under 200lbs weight class for a while.
They meet in the middle of the Octagon with Fulton being the fighter coming forward. They trade some front leg kicks before Fulton shoots and they end up clinched against the fence. They don't stay there too long, and Williams starts to control a bit by using the leg kick. Fulton looks a bit frustrated, and shoots weakly for the takedown, which Williams stuffs, then manages to turn first into side control and then full mount. He lands a few punches, but Fulton is able to scoot out the backdoor and regain full guard. Williams decides to try for a heel hook, which it looks like he has for a second before Fulton is able to roll, pull free and ends up on top in Williams guard. He lands a big right hand that hurts Williams at about the 5:30 mark, then starts to tee off on Williams face. He leaves an arm out there too long though, and Williams is able to grab and roll for the armbar to get the tap out at 6:20.
Nice win and presence of mind shown by Williams.
Heavyweights (200lbs and up)
Pedro Rizzo (2-0, 6'1, 233lbs) vs Tra Telligman (1-1, 6'2, 230ish)
For some reason, Telligman wouldn't give his exact weight. WTF? Is he a sensitive woman or something? That's just weird. Not only that...do they not do weigh ins for the heavyweights?
Beyond that, both these guys like to stand and bang, so this could be a pretty fun fight.
Telligman starts out with a leg kick. He catches Rizzo with a right that makes the Brazilian back up, and he smells blood so he goes for the kill. He unleashes a flurry of punches on the back pedalling Rizzo and lands several big, flush shots. He even manages to bust Rizzo's nose up pretty good. Once the flurry is done though, and Rizzo is still on his feet, it's just a matter of time. A punch weary Telligman slowly becomes an easy target for Rizzo, who starts to land some big shots before KO'ing the big man from the Lion's Den with a huge right.
Rizzo looked as tough as a.....well.....a Rock (which is his nickname) taking all those huge punches by Telligman, then coming back unphased and getting the KO for himself. He just jumped up to "Most Exciting Heavyweight" status with this win.
Heavyweight Title (200lbs and up)
Bas Rutten (1-0, 6'1, 203lbs) vs Kevin Randleman (1-0, 5'10, 218lbs)
Here's the main event of the evening - two men in only their second UFC fights take on each other to FINALLY crown a new Heavyweight champion.
To be fair, Rutten and Randleman are easily the two best heavyweights in the UFC not named Rizzo at this point, though Rutten is just barely. I don't mean by talent, I mean by size. In today's weight class, he would be a light heavyweight. Lucky for him, Randleman isn't exactly a huge heavyweight himself, though he is freakishly ripped.
Here is the first 5 minutes of this fight in a nutshell - Randleman catches a leg kick 30 seconds in, scores the takedown, and pounds the living hell out of Rutten for the next 4:30 seconds. He lands punches, elbows, passes to side control, throws some knees. Pure domination. One of the punches actually breaks Rutten's nose, and McCarthy stops the fight at the 5 minute mark for the doctor to look at it and to see if Rutten wants to keep going. To his credit he does.
The next five minutes - See above. Pretty much an exact duplicate.
At the 10 minute mark, McCarthy stands them back up for the doctor to look at Rutten's nose again. He lets it go even though Rutten's face is turning into hamburger.
Once again, this section of the fight starts with Rutten throwing a kick, Randleman catching it and scoring his third takedown and throwing a few more punches. The difference this time is that Rutten starts to throw a lot more from the bottom. With the exception of some elbows these blows aren't doing much damage, but it looks a lot better than Randleman pummelling him did. The 15 minute regulation period ends like this.
The first OT starts out, shockingly, with Rutten throwing a kick only to have Randleman grab the leg and take him down. Again though, Rutten throws a lot of rabbit punches from his back while Randleman doesn't do too much damage from the top. Rutten tries for an armbar, but Randleman is able to just pull free. The first OT ends with Randleman on top and controlling the position, but with Rutten throwing more (weak) leather.
The second and final OT starts out with Rutten throwing another kick, only to have......wait...HE LANDS ONE TO THE BODY! And then follows it up with a right to the face! He goes for another kick and.....gets taken down for the fifth time in the fight. Randleman is a little more active this time around, landing a few punches to answer Rutten's rabbit barrage. Time runs out on this OT with everything looking the same as it has the whole fight.
In 1999, fights were judged on an overall basis - not by the round. There were three criteria - Striking, Aggression and Grappling. So, and inventory of the fight looks like this - Randleman scored five takedowns, pounded Rutten into a bloody pulp for the opening ten minutes, then tired and landed very few shots in the last 1/2 of the fight while controlling from the top. Rutten meanwhile, landed exactly one kick and one punch on his feet, was taken down five times and unable to get up, no submission attempts except for the one armbar, and a barrage of rabbit punches from the bottom which did little to no damage.
So...who is the winner and new champion? In a split decision......Bas Rutten!
Really good fight, with a bad decision.
The 411: Not a bad show at all. The final two fights were really, really good - bad judging aside - and the Silva fight wasn't too bad either. It's also fun to see how far the UFC has evolved over it's first 20 shows, as we only need a few minor rule and weight class adjustments to finalize the evolution to modern MMA. It's also really nice that the Road To The Heavyweight Title is finally done, as it was one of the worst conceived tournaments in history. Now that we have a champion, there should be some stability. Of course, I said should....
