History of the UFC 12.17.07: UFC XXVII - Ultimate Bad Boys
Posted by Matt McEwen on 12.17.2007
"The Beast" returns to take on the "The Rock", Maurice Smith tries to get back into title contention, and Jeremy Horn moves back to middleweight. But what would a show entitled "Ultimate Bad Boys" be without the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy"?
We’re back in the south, as UFC XXVII: Ultimate Bad Boys emanates from New Orleans, Louisiana on September 22, 2000. It’s the second straight show with a really bad subtitle, this one made even worse as it doesn’t really make sense.
Tito Ortiz – who the title would suggest was part of the marketing plan of the “Bad Boy” subtitle – isn’t on the card tonight. He had a slight incident on his honeymoon involving driving on the wrong side of the road while on a scooter and a bus, so he’s out. He did sign a new, long-term contract with SEG though, so at least their marquee name is locked up for a little while.
In place of the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” we get a decidedly non-bad boy line up of fighters on the card. Maurice Smith returns to the Octagon in an attempt to get back into title contention, and UFC legend Dan Severn will try to show that he still has it at the age of 42 when he goes up against Pedro Rizzo. Rizzo, of course, suffered a lackluster loss in his title shot against Kevin Randleman, so he will be looking for redemption.
The only other notable thing going on prior to the fights themselves is that Jeff Blatnick is on assignment with NBC covering the Olympic wrestling competition, so former middleweight champion Frank Shamrock is sitting in with Mike Goldberg to provide color commentary.
In prelim bouts, the future “Snowman”, Jeff Monson (0-0) made his debut, scoring a decision victory over Tim Lajcik (0-1-1), while Brad Gumm (0-1) went to a 10 minute, 2 round draw against CJ Fernandez (0-0).
Heavyweights (200lbs and up)
Tedd Williams
(1-0, 6’1, 258lbs)
vs.
Ian Freeman
(1-1, 5’11, 221)
Freeman is a smaller heavyweight, but he is put together like a tank. That will be important here as Williams – in spite of losing 25lbs since his first Octagon appearance – will be considerably larger.
Round 1
They do a little boxing to start, and Freeman’s background in that discipline is obvious as he looks a lot better on their feet. Williams obviously anticipated that as he is just staring at Freeman’s waist and is looking for the takedown. He gets it, and we spend the rest of the round with Williams in side control.
10-9 round for Williams, but it very well could have been 10-8 had he taken advantage and thrown/landed more strikes while on top. Freeman had pretty much zero offense, but avoided too much damage.
Round 2
Williams liked how the first round went, so he takes Freeman back to the ground quickly. He ends up in North/South position, and lands a good knee, but Freeman is able to get back to his feet. In the clinch against the fence, with Williams trying hard for the takedown. He tires himself out a fair bit, and ends up taking a very sloppy shot, only getting a hold of one of Freeman’s ankles. Freeman spins to gain Williams’ back, who rolls onto his back after eating a couple of shots.
From the guard, Freeman lands several good punches, and is able to take Williams’ back again and land 3 nice knees to end out the round.
10-9 round for Freeman, who makes a good comeback over a tiring Williams.
Round 3
Williams comes out breathing hard, and Freeman looks to be trying to finish. Williams tries another desperation shoot, but ends up eating more knees. Freeman is tiring out too though, so can’t quite finish. He does land a nice punch, which follows up with yet another good knee.
Williams’s only answer is too clinch against the cage, but Freeman ends up on top in his guard and pounds away to finish the round.
10-9 for Freeman in my book, and the judges see it the same way.
Freeman wins a unanimous decision over a tiring Williams. While this was the only loss Williams ever suffered in his MMA career, this was also the last fight of said career. We’ll be seeing more of Freeman in upcoming shows though.
Before the next fight, they make a pretty major announcement. UFC XXVIII will be taking place at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ as the NJSAC has sanctioned MMA and created the “Unified Rules of MMA.” We’ll get into them next week, but the importance of this cannot be overstated. This is a huge deal for both MMA and the UFC. Another MMA event would occur in NJ before the UFC event, but clearing in NJ made MMA much more palpable to the rest of the country (with the important – and controversial – exception of Nevada).
OH….and the main event? Heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman defends against the returning, undefeated former champion Randy Couture. NICE.
Middleweights (170lbs to 199lbs)
Yuki Kondo
(0-0, 5’11, 191lbs)
vs.
Alexandre Dantas
(0-0,6’1, 199lbs)
Dantas is a heavily decorated BJJ competitor, who is a former Mundial (World) champion at just 21 years old.
Kondo is legend in Japan, and has defeated both Petey Williams and Frank Shamrock during his Pancrase career.
Goldberg hypes up that the winner of this fight could be in line for a shot at Tito Ortiz and the middleweight title in the future.
Round 1
Kondo come out punching, but as expected, Dantas wants nothing to do with that. He clinches, and has double overhooks on Kondo against the cage. Kondo shows some good skill though by controlling the takedown, but Dantas shows his skills by quickly reversing to the top, and mounting with no problem at all. He tees off with some punches, but Kondo weathers the storm and actually reverses Dantas and gains top position again. He lands two big lefts, but doesn’t want to risk playing with Dantas on the ground, so he lets him up. Right at the end of the round, Kondo lands a sharp knee out of the clinch to Dantas face. Ouch.
10-9 Kondo for the reversal and the striking, but that was a really tight round to score.
Round 2
Kondo throws a front kick to start the round, but Dantas scores a takedown. He has Kondo up against the cage in side control. **Side note: There is a woman (I assume) in the crowd constantly doing the Xena war cry. O.B.N.O.X.I.O.U.S***
Dantas mounts again, but Kondo reverses. He defends an arm bar attempt and lands some more big left hands. After the punches, he lets Dantas up as he still doesn’t want to risk the ground game.
Dantas scores another takedown, but Kondo uses shooto chops to his neck to defend. I have never seen that before.
10-9 round for Dantas for the two takedowns and a close submission attempt.
Round 3
Kondo throws another front kick again, but Dantas clinches and starts looking for the takedown again. A big short right hand by Kondo drops Dantas and Kondo pounces to try and finish. Dantas is trying to avoid the shots in his guard, but Kondo’s left keeps landing. He lets Dantas up again, and lands another huge right that drops Dantas again. Kondo lets him up, but lands a huge knee that forces Big John McCarthy to call the fight.
Really nice KO win by Kondo over a game Dantas and good showing by both guys. Dantas won’t return to the cage for about 2 ½ years, while Kondo will get a title shot at Ortiz before the end of 2000.
Lightweights (155lbs to 169lbs)
Fabiano Iha
(0-2, 5’8, 169lbs)
vs.
Laverne Clark
(4-05’11, 169lbs)
Clarke might be undefeated in the Octagon, but his win over Iha at UFC XX was controversial. Iha had a tight knee bar locked in when the fight was stopped due to a cut on his forehead. When the stoppage happened, most people assumed that Clark had actually tapped out, but he was declared the winner by doctor’s stoppage. We’ll see who gets vindication in this one.
Round 1
They dance around each other to start out before Iha scores a takedown and scrambles into an arm bar attempt. Clark lifts Iha fully off the mat and slams him down power bomb style, but Iha just locks the submission in tighter. He gets full hip extension and referee Mario Yamasaki has to step in and stop the fight. On replays you can see Clark verbally submitted.
A great submission win by Iha as he gets some revenge for the previous fight. Despite this being his first UFC loss, it’s the end of Clark’s UFC career, while Iha has several more fights to go.
Middleweights (170lbs to 199lbs)
Jeremy Horn
(3-2,6’1, 199lbs)
vs.
Eugene Jackson
(2-1, 5’8, 197lbs)
Horn drops back down to his more natural weight after winning his last fight at heavyweight, while Jackson is looking to get back on track after being derailed in Japan by the flu.
Round 1
Horn is looking to avoid slugging with the powerful Jackson, and uses his leg kicks to keep a bit of distance until he is ready to initiate the clinch. He scores the takedown and methodically works out of the ½ guard, eventually passing to side control. Jackson tries to scramble after eating some hammer fists but rolls right into a tight arm bar and has to tap out.
Submission victory for Horn, and he has to be getting close to a title shot now.
John Perretti joins Goldberg for the next fight as Shamrock will be working Maurice Smith’s corner. He takes a shot at Frank saying he is having a hard time getting the headset on since Frank’s head is so big. He’s excited about the NJ event for both MMA and the UFC.
Heavyweights (200lbs and up)
Maurice Smith
(3-2, 6’2, 226lbs)
vs.
Bobby Hoffman
(0-0, 6’2, 260lbs)
Hoffman is a big guy at 260lbs, and has really bad hair. It’s like a white guy version of a flat top, only bleached and more afro like. He does train with Pat Militech though, so you know he has some skills.
Round 1
Hoffman rushes straight across the Octagon to engage Smith and scores a takedown. At cage side, Shamrock says Smith has to survive the first 4 minutes and his cardio should take over after that. It’ll be a rough opening four minutes though, as Hoffman first gets side control, then mounts and lands a few good hammer fists before Smith somehow uses the cage to gain his feet and clinch. The round ends with the hugging.
Easily 10-9 Hoffman. We’ll see if Smith’s plan of tiring the big man out goes according to plan.
Round 2
Hoffman comes running out again, and scores the takedown again as well. Unfortunately, his shoe comes untied and we get a break in the action while they tape his shoe. Since he’s huffing and puffing pretty hard, I’m not so sure that wasn’t planned. Since he barely has his mouthpiece in his mouth when he comes back out, and actually loses it twice in the round, I think it might have been.
They clinch against the cage on the restart. They separate for a second and Smith lands a brutal looking body kick. He follows that up with a few left hands and a big right.
After a break to put Hoffman’s mouthpiece back in, he charges forward and eats a big uppercut and some short knees in the clinch that follows. Right at the end of the round Hoffman rushes forward with a flurry and scores a takedown and mounts, but time runs out before he does anything.
10-9 for Smith, based on the very effective striking, and in spite of the two takedowns and mount by Hoffman. VERY close round though.
Round 3
Smith clinches this time, and pushes Hoffman against the cage and lands a series of short knees. He lands a few good uppercuts and knees throughout the round as they stay clinched the entire time.
10-9 round for Smith as he just peppered away at a very tired Hoffman.
Smith wins a split decision as he starts to move back into title contention, while Hoffman made a pretty good debut here as well.
Before the main event, Goldberg asks Perretti if he thinks Dan Severn has a lot left to show us in the main event. In one of those odd moments of honesty, Perretti says he doesn’t think Severn has ever showed much of anything in a fight and doesn’t think he’ll start now. While I agree, and appreciate the honesty, why would he say that? Now, if he beats Rizzo, Pedro looks like crap. If he wins, he just beat an old chump. That doesn’t do anyone any favors.
Heavyweights (200lbs and up)
Pedro Rizzo
(4-1, 6’1, 237lbs)
vs.
Dan Severn
(9-3, 6’2, 259lbs)
Rizzo is looking to answer a lot of questions after his lackluster fight against Randleman in his title shot. They after a head butt that broke his nose, Rizzo has no memory of the fight either. I wish I could say the same.
Severn gets a nice ovation coming out, but I have to believe he’s pretty far over his head in this one.
Round 1
Severn shoots immediately, but Rizzo simply tosses him aside, then follows in with some punches. Rizzo lets him up and starts stalking “The Beast.” He tries a high kick that just misses, and then an inside leg kick that is just plain nasty and actually knocks Severn down for a minute. One more of those and Severn drops and gives up the fight.
Rizzo wins by verbal submission to leg kicks and it looks like Severn is hurt. However since he would fight just a month later, it couldn’t have been that serious. Nice win by Rizzo, but he needs to get back in the cage with people who can go with him.
The 411: Not a bad show, not a great one. No really horrible fights, but outside of two nice quick submission victories, nothing great either. This is the epitome of "middle of the road." Next time out though....."The Natural" returns for his title.....if only history would repeat itself.
