History of the UFC 02.25.08: UFC XXXIII: Victory In Vegas

Posted by Matt McEwen on 02.25.2008

How does a show that features three title fights, a high energy welterweight tilt, an Iceman fight and the UFC debut in Las Vegas sound? Pretty good? I thought so to...until...

So, Zuffa has been making some serious headway with their first three UFC events, making the move to large arenas and putting on an event that still holds up as one of the best shows ever.

So, what is their next step?

In a word: Vegas.

Following the road originally paved by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission, and helped along by the fact that one of the new owners was a former member, the Nevada State Athletic Commission approved and regulated MMA under the Unified Rules. Bob Meyerwitz’s death knell as the owner of the UFC had actually been his final refusal at the hands of the NSAC, but Zuffa succeeded and thus gave MMA more legitimacy than it had ever had.

Politics aside, the Octagon debuts at the Mandalay Bay on September 28th 2001. And on paper, Joe Silva has put together potentially the best card yet. We’ll be seeing three title matches as the first middleweight champion will be crowned when Dave Menne (1-0) returns to the cage to take on the debuting Gil Castillo, who is fresh off a victory outside the Octagon over a young Nate Marqhardt. The lightweight title is on the line when Jens Pulver defends against Dennis Hallman, aka Matt Hughe’s Kryptonite. Last, but not least, the light heavyweight title is on the line in the main event when champ Tito Ortiz defends against….Vladimir Matyushenko?

At first glance, that seems just plain wrong as Matyushenko has had only one fight in the UFC at this point, and won in less than exciting fashion. However, a little digging shows that Ortiz’s original opponent was meant to be a returning Vitor Belfort, but an arm injury led to him pulling out of the fight just a week prior to the event. Matyushenko, in training for a fight with Kevin Randleman, stepped up, and that is how the main event was made.

Some upgrades for the broadcast as well, as the Megadeth opening is gone, replaced by an early version of what is now the theme of The Ultimate Fighter.

Changes in the booth too, as Mike Goldberg is joined by a new pair of colleagues in the form of Jeff Osborne and Elvis Sinosec.
So, no more Blatnick, and no more Shamrock. I’m not sure what happened with Blatnick, but he is now a high school wrestling in New York state, and works as a motivational speaker. His replacement, Osborne, is a slicker and more “TV” kind of guy, though I do not know what his combat credentials are. He’s not bad though.

Shamrock, for his part, royally pissed of Dana White and has barely been mentioned by the UFC ever since. No major loss there, as his commentary didn’t add all that much and, to be honest, he comes across like a prick. In contrast, Sinosec is very well spoken and tries pretty hard to explain the action in the cage.

In prelims not aired on the PPV, Din Thomas (0-1) defeated Fabiano Iha (3-3) by decision, Ricardo Almeida (0-1) got his first win in the Octagon when he tapped out a returning Eugene Jackson (2-2), and Tony DeSouza (2-0) suffered his first loss when Jutaro Nakao (0-0) debuted and knocked him out.

Now would be a good time to tell you that my copy of this show is messed up, most likely for reasons I’ll explain a bit later on.

The first fight of the PPV was Menne taking on Castillo for the right to be the first middleweight champion. That fight is not on my copy. I can tell you that Menne won by unanimous decision after 5 rounds. If you’ve ever seen this fight and want to let me know how it went, feel free to email or post below.

So, after missing the first 185lb champ being crowned, the first fight I get to see should be a good one.

Welterweights (156lbs-170lbs)

Matt Serra
(0-1, 5’6, 164lbs)
vs.
Yves Edwards
(0-0, 5’10, 164lbs)

I’m surprised this fight is taking place at welterweight, since both guys are natural lightweights, but it should still be a fun fight since both guys are great on the ground.

Round 1

Serra is at a big reach disadvantage, so he rushes to close the distance early and clinch. Of course, Edwards is pretty damned good in the clinch, so Serra falls back and pulls guard in order to quickly look for a leg lock. He works hard for it, but Edwards avoids by rolling to avoid the pressure and Serra jumps into Edwards ½ guard. He works hard to pass, and does as Sinosec is the first commentator to call it “side control.” Edwards tries to roll, but Edwards avoids and gets back to his feet.

Edwards striking is much better than Serra’s and lands an uppercut that staggers him for a second. As the round closes, Serra eats two big knees before pulling guard and nearly getting an arm bar.

Very hard round to score, as both guys looked good, but I’d say 10-9 for Edwards based off of the striking.

Round 2

As soon as he closes, Serra pulls guard again. Edwards liked how the fight was going on his feet though, and would rather keep it standing. Repeat that sequence again.

Edwards tries a semi-flying knee (not as nice as the one he hit Berto with last week), but misses it and Serra drives him into the cage. He grabs a single leg there, and pulls Edwards down with 1:40 left. He moves to side control, then rotates and takes his back in a beautiful move. He starts looking for a choke, but Edwards fights hard and is able to roll Serra off and get to his feet just as the round ends.

10-9 for Serra in another exciting, close round.

Round 3

Serra clinches to start again, and drives Edwards to the fence before scoring another takedown. He takes his back again, but this time with both hooks in. Edwards actually stands up with Serra latched on his back. He puts Serra against the fence and sits down, forcing Serra up higher on his back and pulling his hips clearing and escaping. Very nice work there. He doesn’t get it back to their feet immediately though, as Serra tries to pull guard. Edwards wants no more of the ground game and gets back up. He lands a big punch, but Serra keeps coming through and scores another takedown. Edwards is able to avoid damage and get up again, where they clinch against the fence before Serra gets his third takedown of the round with 30 seconds left. Edwards shoots up a triangle near the end of the round, but can’t finish it off.

10-9 round for Serra in a good, exciting fight.

Serra wins a unanimous decision and gets his first win inside the Octagon.

Light Heavyweights (186lbs to 205lbs)

Murillo Bustamante
(1-0, 6’1, 199lbs)
vs.
Chuck Liddell
(4-1, 6’2, 203lbs)

Classic “Submission Fighter vs. Striker” match up here. They are starting to really put the hype machine behind Liddell as he has started to really find his winning formula inside the cage. He comes into this fight off of his PRIDE debut, where he KO’d Guy Mezger.

Round 1

Bustamante wants a quick start, but Liddell avoids any damage. He tries a single leg but eats a right hand. Bustamante wants nothing to do with Liddell’s standup, and seems desperate to get the fight to the ground, only he’s telegraphing that and not setting up his shots at all. Liddell drops him with a big right but doesn’t follow up too quickly, most likely out of respect for his ground game. When Bustamante gets back up, Liddell misses a looping right, giving the Brazilian the opportunity for the takedown he’s been looking for. But, Liddell is starting to become the Liddell of his prime, so you know he bounces back to his feet in record time. Bustamante scores a second takedown near the end of the round and tries to land some shots, but Liddell scoots back up and actually drops Bustamante with another big right hand as the round ends.

10-9 round for Liddell, whose takedown defense and uncanny “get back up” ability is really starting to come together for him.

Round 2

They start slow, as neither guy wants to play into the other’s strength. Bustamante shoots, Liddell sprawls, and they brawl a bit. Repeat that. It makes for a pretty fun exchange actually. Bustamante lands a big right/left combo that stuns Liddell for about ½ a second, but he recovers quickly. All this happens in the middle section of the round, and after that, there’s nothing of note. In the lull, Goldberg talks about this as a probably #1 contender fight, which means the winner might be in line for a title shot at Tito Ortiz sooner rather than later.

10-9 for Liddell, but in a much less exciting round than the first.

Annoying edit #2 means there is no third round, and we cut to the decision as Liddell wins a unanimous decision amid a fairly unhappy crowd.

Lightweight Championship (146lbs-155lbs)

Jens Pulver
(3-0, 5’7,152lbs)
vs.
Dennis Hallman
(1-0, 5’9, 155lbs)

Hallman has two wins over Matt Hughes, each in under 21 seconds, so it will be interesting to see how he does against another Militech product. There’s some (possibly manufactured) drama to be had here too, as both guys went to high school in the same area. Hallman claims to know and dislike Pulver, while Pulver says he’s heard of the guy but doesn’t know him personally. Wow, you could make a hell of a movie out of that story.
And of course, this being a title fight, you get my music reviews. Hallman comes out to “Lunatic Fringe” by Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, so he gets the classic Canuck rock vote. Pulver comes out to some half decent hip hop tune that seems to pump him up pretty good.

Round 1
Hallman comes out throwing a front kick (very popular opening in 2001 for some reason) and shoots in behind. He scores the takedown but almost gets caught in a guillotine. He is able to pull guard and escape, though he does suffer a small cut on his head. Hallman’s defense is good, but he tries an arm bar and ends up eating a big right hand that stuns him. They get back up and Hallman wants no part Pulver on his feet after tasting his power. He eventually gets a takedown but Pulver closes his guard up and takes no damage to finish out the round.

10-9 round for Pulver, but it’s a fairly close fight.

Round 2
Hallman pulls guard early. He tries to look for a kimura after not much action on the ground before giving up on it. The entire round is spent on the ground and that kimura thing is really the only action worth discussing. Seriously.

10-9 for Pulver for trying to do something and landing a few rabbit punches. Boring round.

Round 3

Hallman tries a flying but doesn’t connect. Pulver, on the other hand, lands a big left that reminds Hallman he wants the fight on the ground. We spend two full minutes before Pulver finally lands a few shots. Round ends. Crowd boos. I snore.

10-9 for Pulver again, which means Hallman will have to do something to finish the fight to win.

Round 4

Hallman tries to come out striking, but that’s not working so good for him. He – * gasp* - pulls guard, but ends up with Pulver in his ½ guard. He grabs an ankle lock, but Pulver pops up. That turns out to be a bad idea as Hallman takes his back while they are standing. Pulver’s defense is to bend over and life Hallman’s feet off the ground. As they go to the ground, Pulver is able to turn and end up on top. We spend the next 3 minutes here to close out another round.

10-9 Pulver.

Round 5

Hallman keeps trying for a rolling knee bar, but can’t even come close for it. Both guys have lost a bit off their punches, and end up spending the entire round on their feet. Now, that often sounds exciting, but not it this case. Not at all.

10-9 for Pulver just to give him the sweep.

Pulver retains with a unanimous decision in an awful fight. Hallman has said since that after he ate the punch trying for the arm bar in the first round that he just tried to survive. I know I barely survived watching the fight myself.

Main event time….

Light Heavyweight Title (186lbs to 205lbs)

Tito Ortiz
(7-2, 6’2, 204lbs)
vs.
Vladimir Matyushenko
(1-0, 6’, 200lbs)

Ok…so it’s not as interesting as Ortiz/Belfort might have been, but this might answer a question or two about Tito. This will be the first time that he goes head to head with someone who should be a better wrestler than him, so we’ll see if he actually is good, or if he’s just looked good against lesser wrestlers. There is one strike against Matyushenko being the guy to expose Ortiz, though, and that is the fact that he’s coming into the fight at just 200lbs, while Ortiz will likely enter the cage at least 10lbs over his weigh in weight.

Now, the big strike against the fight as a hole is that – despite all promotion of Tito as the “premier mixed martial artist” in the world – is that we have two guys who had no time to prepare for each other who are basically just wrestlers with very limited skills otherwise. I know they keep hyping Tito as having done so well at the Abu Dhabi championships and what not, but inside the cage he grounds his opponents and pounds the ones without good defense. Most of his opponents have been undersized or under skilled at the times of their meetings, so he’s gotten the benefit of that as well.

So, in a word – OVERRATED.

Music review time – Matyushenko comes out to something that sounds like Linkin Park. Were they around in 2001?

Ortiz has the same entrance as his last appearance, which is the stupid “Tito is in the house” intro and then a Limp Bizkit song. I don’t know which one, because they all sound the same.

Round 1

Matyushenko pushes the issue first, but gets tied up against the cage. They both throw some light knees, but no real offense for two full minutes. Eventually, Matyushenko is able to control a takedown as he pulls guard, but gets pushed up against the cage. His guard is actually pretty good and he bodylocks Ortiz to avoid most damage. He does end up with a cut on his nose, but nothing major.

10-9 round for Ortiz. Not exactly exciting, but not atrocious either.

Round 2

An exciting start as Matyushenko shoots and gets stuffed but stands up and throws a flurry of punches. He doesn’t hurt the larger Ortiz though, and gets tied up against the cage again, which is where we spend the next three minutes. I really can’t wait for the refs to get more aggressive with the restarts. Ortiz if finally able to lift Matyushenko off his feet for a slam, but the Russian grabs the top of the cage to avoid it. McCarthy steps in and gives him a foul and takes a point away. On the restart, we end up back against the cage. Ortiz scores a takedown with a double leg at the end of the round.

10-8 round thanks to the foul.

Round 3

We open up the third stanza with some bad boxing before Ortiz scores the takedown and starts working out of Matyushenko’s ½ guard. He eventually frees up an arm and lands some decent elbows and punches before Matyushenko pulls full guard. The round kind of dies off here, and the announcers discuss how Liddell is next in line for a shot against Ortiz, since it seems pretty clear that he’s going to win this one. That potential fight intrigues them as they mention that the two are friends, but have stopped training together in anticipation of the fight. Ortiz finishes out the round with a couple of elbows.

10-9 Ortiz as he dominates pretty well.

Round 4

Ortiz scores the quickie takedown this time after Matyushenko tries to get aggressive. He moves into full mount this time with over four minutes left. So, you’d expect that a guy who’s being pushed as the top mixed martial artist in the world would be able to finish a fight once he’s mounted an overpowered opponent.

Nope.

Ortiz actually spends over four minutes fully mounted on Matyushenko and does next to nothing.

10-8 round since he had him mounted for over 4 minutes, but I can’t believe he didn’t finish him.

Round 5

The best thing about this round is that I know it’s the last one. They box a bit to start out before Matyushenko tries to shoot. Ortiz sprawls and ends up working into his own takedown. The fight ends there without much going on.

10-9 for Ortiz to round out the sweep.

Ortiz retains with the unanimous decision, but if you ordered this show live in 2001, you probably didn’t find that out too quickly. You see, with all the fights on the PPV card going to decision – including all three title fights – they ran over their time and the audience missed out on the last two or three rounds of the main event. Not that they missed much, but still.

So, I assume that is the reason why my edited version has a chunk of stuff cut out, but what can you do?

The 411: I'm assuming the middleweight title fight was worse than the other two title fights, and that's why it's the one that was cut off. In that case, I'm not upset I missed it as both the Pulver/Hallman and the Ortiz/Matyushenko fights were pretty bad. Add that to the fact the show ran over and the only good thing is the Serra/Edwards fight. After a good streak of shows, Zuffa makes their first misstep.

Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]