History of the UFC: UFC XXXII - Showdown in the Meadowlands

Posted by Matt McEwen on 02.18.2008

On paper, it looks like a great card full of close fights. In the cage, it looks a lot more like EliteXC did over the weekend. What does that mean? Have a peek at UFC XXXII and find out...

Six weeks after putting on their best show to date – not to mention one that still rates among their better shows – the UFC stuck to their new home base of New Jersey on June 21st 2001, this time moving away from the friendly confines of the Trump Taj Mahal and stepping onto their biggest stage yet – the Continental Airlines Arena. For those of us who despise corporate renaming of established arenas, the CAA is better known as the Meadowlands. Either way, it’s a big step up to take the Octagon out of 4000-5000 seat arenas and into legit big time venues. Hopefully the quality of the shows continues to grow along with the arena sizes…
As the show opens up, it looks like the pyro is growing along with the stage, as there is a fair bit of fireworks to open up the show. Tacky, but still a step up production wise over what UFC fans were used to by this point. PRIDE fans of course laughed at such a puny display, but I digress.
We’ve got the now standard three man booth, as Goldberg, Blatnick and Frank Shamrock welcome us and hype up the main event of ZUFFA poster boy Tito Ortiz defending the newly renamed Light Heavyweight (formerly Middleweight) title against Elvis Sinosec. After the last show featured two high quality title defenses, this main event seems a bit of a step down, but in reality once Sinosec upset the man who was in line for this shot – Jeremy Horn – it was kind of unavoidable.
The co-main event on the other hand is making me drool ever so slightly. BJ Penn, in just his second MMA fight, makes his PPV debut against UFC first timer but MMA veteran Din Thomas. That should be fun, plain and simple. The undercard looks interesting as well with Pat Militech, trying to rebound from his title loss as the last event, taking on Shonie Carter, himself coming off a highlight KO, and a heavyweight showdown between Semmy Schilt and Josh Barnett.
Only one fight happened that was not shown on the PPV, and it was a pretty big one in hindsight. Ricco Rodriguez (0-0) – who I thought did a hell of a job Saturday night neutralizing Antonio Silva - debuted and handed Andrei Arlovski (1-0) his first loss in the Octagon with a third round TKO. Sounds like a good heavyweight showdown, but we start the night in the light heavyweight division.

Light Heavyweights (186lbs-205lbs)
Vladimir Matyushenko
(0-0, 6’, 204lbs)
Vs.
Yuki Kondo
(1-1,5’11, 201lbs)
Matyushenko is a strong wrestler who looks like a pretty tough bugger. And yes, that is a scientific term. I love his nickname of “The Janitor”. Get it? He “cleans up” the competition! I love it. IFL fans out there, and I know there has to be one or two of you, will recognize him as the first IFL LHW champion.
His opponent is Kondo, who is returning to the Octagon for the first time since having his ass handed to him by Tito Ortiz. His problem there was that he was too small to handle a strong and aggressive wrestler. So, whom do they put him in the cage with? A strong wrestler at least. We’ll judge about the aggression after the fight.
Round 1
Kondo comes out telegraphing the flying knee that he used against Ortiz, and eats a nice front kick for his troubles. Matyushenko gets the clinch and controls with double underhooks, but does nothing other than push Kondo against the fence. He eventually gets the takedown, and moves to side control, but does very, very little with it. Kondo’s guard is kind of active, but neither guy does much damage with their short, weak striking for the rest of the round. Yawn.
10-9 for Matyushenko, but that round nearly cured my insomnia.
Round 2
Kondo comes running out again, only this time he lands the flying knee, just on Matyushenko’s shoulder more than his chin. Hardly stunned, the Russian is able to easily take Kondo down. So back on the ground, and nothing doing. I’m not sure if Kondo’s defense is really good, or if Matyushenko just isn’t trying to do much. There’s a decent right hand landed by Matyushenko, and that’s about the only thing of note in the round.
10-9 for Matyushenko again, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to watch this fight to put me to sleep tonight.
Round 3
Kondo – stop me if you’ve heard this one before – comes running out looking for the flying knee again, but eats a beautiful front kick that drops him and Matyushenko jumps into side control. Kondo is able to gain full guard and that, sadly, is the most exciting part of the next 3 minutes. Kondo starts moving his hips up for an armbar, but isn’t too subtle about it and, by extension, isn’t too successful either. Matyushenko actually gets his back, but has no idea what to do with it as the round ends.
10-9 for Matyushenko again, so I give him the fight 30-27 easily.

So do the judges, as Matyushenko scores the unanimous decision but if he wants to be a factor in the division he’s got a lot of things he needs to improve. This was Kondo’s swan song in the UFC, but he moved onto to PRIDE where he was competitive and is still active today, with a record of 48-20-6. Overall, a REALLY bad fight to start a card with.
Dave Menne – who is expected to be a factor in the new 185lb division – and Dennis Hallman – who is moving down to 155lbs to challenge Jens Pulver – are shown in the crowd.
OH GOD…They also show Fred Durst in the crowd. My insomnia will be back now for sure.

Lightweights (145lbs-155lbs)
Caol Uno
(0-1, 5’7, 154lbs)
Vs.
Fabiano Iha
(3-2, 5’8, 154lbs)
Well, this should be pretty fun. Both guys are pretty high-speed fighters, so I’d put my money on a good action fight here.
Uno lost his UFC debut against Pulver for the LW title, so he needs a win to stick around the Octagon, while Iha lost his first two UFC fights but is on a three fight win streak and looking for a title shot. He’s been training with Team Punishment – and is even wearing the Tito trademarked flame shorts – and his jiu jitsu game is great, but Uno comes in with a solid wrestling background and good submissions. So, the difference is likely to come on their feet, where I’d give Uno an edge.
Round 1
They both come out swinging and scrambling to start before Uno – who is surprisingly getting the worse of it on their feet – shoots for the takedown. He starts working from the top, but Iha rolls for an armbar. Uno pulls free, but allows Iha back up in the process. Uno eats two nice right hands and shoots for the takedown again. He starts to tee off from inside Iha’s guard and is able to knock him cold.
Big KO victory for Uno that puts him back on the lightweight radar.

Welterweights (156lbs-170lbs)
Shonie Carter
(3-0, 5’9, 169lbs)
Vs.
Pat Miletich
(7-1, 5’10, 169lbs)
I’m intrigued with this one. Two good, well rounded fighters, though I’d bet my house (if I owned one) that Miletich will pull out the win in this one.
This is the first time in almost 3 years – since Ultimate Brazil in October 1998 – that Miletich isn’t defending the title.
Round 1
They start by feeling each other out on their feet. They trade some kicks before clinching. Miletich scores the takedown and moves to ½ guard. He fights hard for side control, but ends up one better as he mounts Carter. He’s very patient on top, but Carter does a very good job holding on and not allowing Miletich to get any shots off. I’m a little surprised that something as simple as a body lock around the shoulders is enough to stymie someone with Miletich’s skill set.
10-9 for Miletich, but I’m actually surprised it wasn’t 10-8 or even finished after that mount. Between rounds, we get a quick word with WW champ Carlos Newton, who is pretty certain he would beat either guy easily. I know he’s a fellow Canuck, but he’s kind of an ass when they put a mic in his face.
Round 2
Carter comes out throwing kicks high and low, which prompts Miletich to clinch. He lands a nice high knee from that position, and then a good punch combination off the ensuing break. They continue on their feet, and Miletich is really starting to get the better of it now, mostly with his punching, but then he lands a huge head kick and BOOM…it’s over. Damn.
Huge KO win by Miletich as he sets his sights on getting his title back.
Before the next fight, they announce that they will return to full fledged PPV in the US with their next event in September. That should be a hell of a card then…

Heavyweights (206lbs-265lbs)
Semmy Schilt
(1-0, 6’11, 261lbs)
Vs.
Josh Barnett
(1-1,6’3, 255lbs)
Now THIS fight is going to be damned good. Schilt looked nearly unstoppable on his feet against Pete Williams, while Barnett stood toe to toe with Pedro Rizzo in a classic strike fest his last time out. Having lost that one by KO though, I’d bet he’ll be looking to take this one to the ground.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Barnett is in much better shape this time around, having lost his belly jiggles and gaining some muscle tone. I’d congratulate him more if I didn’t have reason to believe that he Roger Clemensed his way to that svelte new body.
Round 1
Barnett scores the quick takedown off an attempted knee by Schilt. That’s what video study will do for you right there. Quickly passing to side control, Barnett lands some elbows and starts maneuvering for full mount, but instead goes for an armbar. Schilt is able to avoid, but gets mounted and is now bleeding from his forehead. A punch from the bottom by Schilt opens up a cut on Barnett’s forehead, and both guys are quickly getting messy looking. In spite of the blood, Barnett goes for another armbar, but it’s really hard to get full extension on a guy who is 6’11. He tries it with his weight on the back of Schilt’s arm – Barnett’s forehead is on the mat, with Schilt’s arm under him, but Schilt is standing and able to avoid the pressure. Barnett rolls it though, and puts the big man on his back and, but instead of hyper-extending the elbow as most armbars do, he twists the elbow over to gain the submission.
Very nice submission victory by Barnett as he makes his case for being considered among the top in the division, while Schilt is just a ground game away from being there himself.

Lightweights (145lbs-155lbs)
Din Thomas
(0-0, 5’9, 154lbs)
Vs.
BJ Penn
(1-0, 5’9, 154lbs)
I know I sound like a broken record, but this should be pretty damned fun too. Kudos for setting up a hell of a card here.
Pulver joins the booth in place of Shamrock here as both Penn and Thomas are being touted as likely challengers after Hallman gets the next shot. Good forward thinking here, as they are not only hyping up the next title fight, but also pushing the two guys in the cage as threats as well, even showing Thomas submitting Pulver in a smaller event. Blatnick even goes so far as to label the lightweight division as the “premiere” division in the sport.
Round 1
Penn shoots under a right and they clinch up against the cage. Penn doesn’t want to waste time there, so he trips Thomas down and pulls guard. He feels safe on his back and rightfully so – his defense is nearly impregnable. He utilizes the rubber guard, and pulls his leg up over Thomas’ shoulder, and attempts one of the stranger armbars I have ever seen. Thomas is able to pull free and land a couple of left hands before they get back to their feet. Penn lands a big knee and Thomas drops. Penn shows a killer instinct and pounces in to finish him off.
Another KO victory for Penn on a night of big KO’s. If they didn’t know it at the time, Penn is the real deal. He’s almost as good here as he’s looked in his last two fights against Pulver and Stevenson.

Light Heavyweight Title (186lbs-205lbs)
Tito Ortiz
(6-2, 6’2, 204lbs)
Vs.
Elvis Sinosec
(1-0, 6’3, 200lbs)
Pre-fight video hype for Ortiz, who they try to pump up as being the most dominant, well rounded Mixed Martial Artist in the sport. I’ll appreciate the marketing attempt, if not actually believe it.
Frank Shamrock actually shows a bit of gumption, and picks Sinosec to win the fight because MMA is a “thinking man’s game”. Interesting.
Since it’s a title fight, we get entrance music. Sinosec comes out to a really bad remix of Run DMC’s “King of Rock.” And the streak of bad music continues… only to get worse with Ortiz. He still has that obnoxious “Tito is in the house” intro, but this time follows it up with an even more annoying Limp Bizkit song. Have I mentioned that people who like Limp Bizkit are tools?
Back to fight analysis, the tale of the tape shows that Sinosec comes in five pounds under the limit, which could spell problems against an Ortiz who likely cut ten pounds to make 205.
Round 1
Sinosec misses a leg kick to start and eats a few shots as Ortiz bull rushes, but he’s able to survive. He eats another big right hand and decides to pull guard as Ortiz rushes in behind it. He pushes Sinosec up against the cage and starts to batter him with punches and elbows. By this point, Ortiz has mastered striking from the guard, and opens up a nasty cut on Sinosec’s head. A few more big elbows and Big John has no choice but to stop the fight.
Total domination by Ortiz on the way to a TKO win.
We get one of the seven signs of the apocalypse as Ortiz is joined in the cage by Fred Durst and Dennis Rodman. That is a whole lot of obnoxious in one spot at one time.
Now, since the show has been first round finish after first round finish, we have a few minutes to check out a prelim fight from earlier.

Welterweight (156lbs-170lbs)
Tony DeSouza
(1-0,6’, 169lbs)
Vs.
Paul Rodriguez
(0-0, 5’8, 169lbs)
In the prefight videos, Rodriguez says he’s never heard of DeSouza and doesn’t care. Good attitude to have. I’ll say that after this fight, he’ll have a hard time forgetting DeSouza.
Round 1
A little stand up to start, but then DeSouza uses his reach advantage to grab him and pull him into a sprawl position. He tries to lock in a guillotine from there, but can’t until Rodriguez lifts him off his feet and in the process gives up his neck. Bad idea that leads to him tapping.

Good submission win for DeSouza, who thanks his training partner BJ Penn and American Kickboxing Academy, which is starting to make it’s presence known on the scene more and more.

The 411: With the exception of the Matyushenko/Kondo debacle, this is a pretty good show. If you're a fan of decisive KO finishes - and really, who isn't? - then this is really the show for you. ZUFFA continue a hot streak and really have the company moving in the right direction. Next time out - two full months in real time after this event - they are getting ready to return to full scale PPV. Should be fun next week.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]