History of the UFC 01.07.07: UFC XXIX - Defense of the Belts
Posted by Matt McEwen on 01.07.2008
It's the end of both the SEG era and the "Dark Ages" as the UFC heads to Japan for the final time. We get two title defenses, the debut of an Olympic silver medalist and a battle between and Iceman and a Snowman.
7 years.
33 events.
Royce Gracie. Ken Shamrock. Dan Severn. Don Frye. Tank Abbott. Mark Coleman. Maurice Smith. Vitor Belfort. Frank Shamrock. Pat Militech. Tito Ortiz.
SEG – and the Gracie family in the beginning – brought MMA into the collective North American conscience throughout the 1990’s and the first year of this century, but all good things must come to an end.
Of course, in this case, you could make the argument that this is not a good thing coming to an end, but rather it is a good thing that it is coming to an end. While they did introduce MMA (by way of NHB) to North America on a large scale, their marketing of the events as brutal spectacle instead of engaging sport lead to the political quagmire they ran into in 1997 and the subsequent removal from every PPV company short of DirecTV. Considering that these are companies that make most of their profits off of pornography, getting banned by them says something about your marketing ability.
In spite of their mistakes, SEG did manage to build the UFC from it’s beginnings as a curiosity in 1993 into a legitimate sporting event by the end of 2000. The quality of athlete involved jumped light years ahead, while the action in the Octagon continued to evolve through both rule changes as well organically through the skills of the fighters themselves.
Of course, SEG will always be best known for nearly running the UFC into bankruptcy before selling it off after this event. When they came up on the short end of the political battle in 1997 and lost their PPV audience, the income stream slowed to a trickle based mostly on home video revenue, which in turn dried up after UFC 22.
As the financial losses mounted, they came around to the idea that regulation and acceptance might be the best way to get things back on track monetarily. In contrast to the “Zuffa Myth,” SEG succeeded in lobbying the New Jersey State Athletic Commission for regulation, and put on probably their best show yet at UFC XXVIII. Of course, they came up short with the most important commission in the land, that being the one in Nevada.
So, staring bankruptcy in the eye, coming off the final “Nyet” from the NSAC and heading to Japan once again, SEG presented it’s final event, UFC XXIX: Battle of the Belts. In hindsight, it’s obviously an interesting card for being the final SEG event, but it’s interesting for the competitors on the card as well.
Matt Hughes tries to avenge his only career loss at this point, Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland walks into the Octagon for the first time just three months after the Olympic games, Evan Tanner returns for the first time in two years, and we get two title defenses in the Lightweight and Middleweight divisions, respectively.
So, from Japan, it’s UFC XXIX.
The show opens with the ubiquitous Goldberg and Blatnick, except that they don’t seem to be live in the arena, but rather standing in front of a blue screen. On the verge of bankruptcy, I can SEG not splurging for announcers getting international flights.
They hype up the return of Tito Ortiz for the first time in 8 months s he will make his first Middleweight title defense, and that Pat Militech will try and run his perfect Octagon record to 7-0.
Middleweights (170lbs to 199lbs)
Jeff Monson
(1-0, 5’9, 199lbs)
vs
Chuck Liddell
(2-1, 6’2, 199lbs)
Monson won his first UFC fight on the undercard of UFC XXVII in a heavyweight fight against Tim Lajcik. He drops down to middleweight here, which is an impressive feat if you think of the size of Monson currently. He is a very physically looking different fighter here, as while he is still a very muscular guy, he looks leaner and has a lot less tattoos.
As for Liddell, this is his first time in the Octagon in over a year. It will be interesting to see how his game has evolved over that time, as he reportedly went from training with Tito Ortiz and Team Punishment to heading back to John Hackleman about six months prior to this fight.
Of note, in Liddell’s corner is his new manager – a short haired fella who never gets mentioned by name but is very recognizable as Dana White. Funny.
Also of note is that this fight was supposed to take place in New Jersey at the last event, but was delayed for an unmentioned reason. If anyone out there might know what that reason is, make a mention in the comments section or drop me an email.
Round 1
Monson’s game plan is obvious from the start, as he quickly shoots in an effort to take the rangy Liddell to the ground. Liddell sprawls very nicely and is able to squirm out of several takedown attempts before Monson pulls him down with a body lock. On the ground though, Monson is just trying to wrestle instead of attempting strikes or submissions of any sort.
So, this round presents the eternal zen question of all fighting – What happens when a counter puncher meets a non-puncher? The answer, for this round at least, is not much. The round ends with Liddell stalking, but he’s not really firing much out of respect of Monson’s wrestling I assume.
Not a huge action round, but I’ll go 10-9 Liddell for aggression and Octagon control.
Round 2
Liddell seems to have gained some confidence from the first round as he comes out stalking, and begins using a mean outside leg kick as his most effective weapon. By the end of the round, and ugly welt will have formed on Monson’s thigh. For the most part, Monson’s offense has been reduced to lazy, long distance shots with no set up at all that are very ineffective. You could say this fight is the debut of the “slippery Chuck” that would give so many fighters fits with his takedown defense and uncanny ability to get up from takedowns so quickly. The round ends with Liddell actually on top of Monson in ½ guard.
Easy 10-9 round for Liddell, who looks to be very in control of this fight.
Round 3
Every leg kick by Liddell is making Monson wince now, and Liddell is peppering in high kicks trying for the KO. He almost gets it at one point, but lands more on the neck than jaw. Monson shoots with about 45 seconds left in the round, but Liddell sprawls and finishes out the round with shots to Monson’s head.
Unanimous decision win by Liddell, and rightfully so, but he was trying hard for the KO here. Two interesting notes on his post fight interview – first, he’s wearing and “Iceman Team Punishment” t-shirt, and he thanks his new sponsors at Stations Casinos. If you don’t know, Stations Casinos happens to be owned by the Fertitta brothers, who would go from sponsors to owners in the next few months. Liddell keeps good company...
Lightweights (156lbs to 169lbs)
Matt Hughes
(2-0, 5’9, 169lbs)
vs
Dennis Hallman
(0-0,5’9, 169lbs)
At this point in their careers, Hallman is the only man to have defeated Hughes in MMA competition. We actually get to see that fight, as Hallman made Hughes tap out to a guillotine in about 20 seconds in Hughes’ MMA debut at an Extreme Challenge event.
Hallman has Matt Hume in his corner, while Hughes, of course, as Team Militech in his.
Round 1
Hughes shoots, lifts and brutally slams Hallman to the ground in the opening 5 seconds of the fight and lands in side control. Hallman grabs an armbar though, which he holds onto through what looks like power bomb, locks it in, and gains the tap out in about 15 seconds.
Damn. Amazing debut tapout victory for Hallman, and a humiliating defeat for Hughes. Before GSP came along 6 years later, Hallman was the only guy who had Hughes’ number in the cage.
Both guys are small for the division, and will benefit from the upcoming weight division reorganization.
Gibson looked like an exciting fighter in his UFC debut, but he’s making a bit step up in competition here against Tanner, who has looked dominant in his two previous fights. Of course he’s been gone for nearly 2 years, so we’ll see if he is as good as he was. As for his hair, it’s as normal as I’ve ever seen it, as it is your basic no muss short hair.
Round 1
They clinch very quickly, and both guys do some scoring in there. Tanner scores a takedown with a nice sweep and starts to work out of guard. Both guy stay active with lots of short punches and elbows. Tanner manages to pass to side control and lands brutal elbows that bust up Gibson’s nose. He pounds his way into full mount and referee Mario Yamasaki has to stop the fight.
Tanner looks great pounding out a stoppage.
Lightweights (155lbs to 169lbs)
Fabiano Iha
(1-2, 5’8, 168lbs)
vs
Daiju Takase
(0-2,6’, 163lbs)
3 fights into the show, and Takase is our first Japanese fighter. That’s surprising. Both these guys have show speed in the Octagon, so this could be fun.
Round 1
Takase come out teasing kick, but uses that just to get in Iha’s head. It doesn’t reall work as Iha scores the single leg takedown and quickly pushes Takase against the cage, where he promptly lands some punches. He ends up standing up, with Takase locking his legs around his waist to stay in guard. Odd looking position. It doesn’t work for Takase, as he tries to pull Iha’s right ankle, but leaves his face open and gets blasted with a big right. A flurry ensues, and Takase’s only defense to roll over and cover up, resulting in other stoppage.
Big stoppage by Iha, who seems to be coming into his own after an 0-2 start in the UFC.
Quick backstage interview with Tito, who says nothing all that interesting, but it is funny to see Dana White hanging out in the background.
Middleweights (170lbs to 199lbs)
Yoji Anjoh
(0-2, 5’11, 189lbs)
vs
Matt Lindland
(0-0, 6’, 192lbs)
This shouldn’t be too much of a contest as Anjoh hasn’t shown much other than a hard head in his two previous UFC outings, but it will be fun to see the current #2 or #3 middleweight in the world make his Octagon debut. This is just three after the Sydney games, so the interest lays with how good Lindland’s striking will be.
Round 1
Anjoh is the first to shoot. That’s probably a bad idea. Lindland easily sprawls, grabs a front headlock and uses text book knees to the head (which were still legal at the time). He pushes Anjoh against the cage, mounts and starts to pound away. He lands some big elbows and looks great. Ref Big John McCarthy steps in and stops the fight after another barrage of punches.
Great debut victory by Lindland. Dominant is probably the best word for it.
Lightweight Championship
Pat Militech
(6-0, 5’10, 169lbs)
vs
Kenichi Yamamoto
(2-0, 6’, 169lbs)
Yamamoto was the winner of the middleweight tournament at Ultimate Japan 2 13 months prior to this, and now drops down to lightweight for a title shot. In order to be successful, he’ll have to put an end to the perfect record of Militech, who has dominated the division pretty much since it’s inception.
Round 1
Yamamoto shoots quickly to start the fight, but Militech sprawls and starts landing some rough looking knees before letting the Japanese fighter back up. Militech takes him down on the restart, but lets him back up once again. It looks like Militech has no desire to play with Yamamoto on the ground, and would rather box out a victory. Militech is definitely the better striker, and Yamamoto ends up jumping onto him and pulling guard. Militech ends up on top in ½ guard, where he lands some good punches and big transition knee to finish the round in control.
Easy 10-9 round for Militech.
Round 2
We go straight to the ground to start with Militech on top, but he lets Yamamoto up once again. He lands a big straight left that snaps Yamamoto’s head back. Yamamoto’s response is to shoot again, but Militech sprawls and even gains his back before letting him go once more. Militech is showing complete dominance in the cage here, and lands a big combination. Yamamoto desperately tries one more shoot, but Militech mercifully finishes him off with the guillotine.
Pure dominance by Militech on his way to the submission victory.
Since most of the fights have finished sooner than expected tonight, we have time for a bonus fight from UFC XXVIII.
Lightweights
Chris Lytle
(0-0, 5’8, 169lbs)
vs
Ben Earwood
(0-0, 5’11, 167lbs)
Earwood is an MFS fighter, while a lot of people will recognize Lytle from his Ultimate Fighter stint.
Round 1
Lytle comes out trying to kick, but Earwood shoots and takes him down. Lytle astutely grabs a guillotine, but is only in ½ guard. Earwood is able to pull free for a second, but ends up in full guard before he can pull his head free. Lytle looks for submissions from the bottom, but no go.
Earwood takes control from the top, and pushes Lytle against the fence. Not a lot of action going on, but a lot of struggling for control. Earwood moves to side control, but since this is New Jersey, no knees. The round ends there.
10-9 for Earwood, but Lytle by no means looks out of it.
Round 2
Lytle tries to come in with a kick again, but he just barely misses getting clocked with a big right hand before Earwood takes him down again. The rest of the round is Earwood controlling Lytle from the top with minimal scoring.
The round and the fight go to Earwood by unanimous decision. Not a great fight for either guy, but they didn’t look very bad either. I guess you grab whatever you can when you have nearly an hour to fill on the card.
This will be Ortiz’s first defense of the title that he won by beating Wanderlei Silva eight months prior to this. He suffered some injuries on his honeymoon when he looked the wrong way and got hit by a bus (seriously), and finally returns here.
Kondo looked good in his UFC debut against Alexandre Dantas, so he could be a good test for Ortiz.
In the pre-fight hype, they talk about Ortiz as being the “evolution” of MMA, as he’s grown from being a one dimensional wrestler to a multi-faceted competitor. Personally, I’d say he hasn’t shown anything other than being a wrestler who punches effectively on the ground, but that’s just me.
As the tale of the tape pops up, my main concern is that Kondo will be too small to deal with the strength of Ortiz.
Round 1
Kondo comes out swinging, as he throws a high kick which is barely blocked, but then follows up with a flying knee that drops Ortiz. The champ pops up quickly and slams Kondo to the ground with a double leg takedown. He pounds away, and is mauling the smaller man. Kondo rolls to his back, but Ortiz keeps pounding away on him. I’m surprised the McCarthy didn’t stop it there, but it proves a good decision as Kondo is able to get to his feet for a second before Ortiz takes him down one more time. He locks in a high half nelson, which he uses to choke Kondo out for the tap.
It didn’t take long to get to Ortiz winning by tap out, but it sure was exciting to get there. Post fight, the first man to congratulate Tito is Chuck Liddell, and they seem quite friendly. Stay tuned for developments on that front.
The 411: If you like long, epic wars, this is not the show for you. If you like quick, decisive finishes, then you'll love this show. With the exception of the filler from the previous show, only one fight goes to a decision, and even that fight was pretty fun to watch. SEG went out in style with this show, and next time out we enter the "modern" era of ZUFFA ownership. We'll see what obvious changes are immediately noticeable.
