History of the UFC 04.14.08: UFC XXXVII - High Impact
Posted by Matt McEwen on 04.14.2008
This one was for the hardcores....not too many big names, but some pretty good fighting.
Sorry for the two week delay, but I have good reasons.
First, I headed off to Orlando and caught the Ring of Honor double shot – which was absolutely fantastic, by the way – and then I headed off to suburban Denver to check out my first live UFC event at Fight Night XIII. To be honest, I would have had more fun watching the event at home. We were 13th row on the floor, which meant that every time the fight went to the ground, we had to watch the big screens to see what was going on.
There were a few good fights, but overall the card fell a bit short of my admittedly high expectations. It was a fun time, just not as fun as I thought it would be. A lot of that had to do with the pacing of the show – commercial breaks suck – and our lack of good sightlines. Hopefully sitting lower bowl instead of far back on the floor when I hit Vegas for Ill Will will be a better experience.
Ok….so onto what you’re here to read….all about the good ol’ days, when Randy Couture didn’t have the words “contract dispute” following him around like an annoying ex, Fedor hadn’t stepped foot into a PRIDE ring yet and Tito Ortiz was still the baddest man on the planet.
Yes, it’s May 10th 2002, we’re in Bossier City, Louisiana and it’s time for UFC XXXVII: High Impact.
Before the show, there were a few unaired prelims featuring a few to-be-memorable names making their debuts. Robbie Lawler (0-0) beat the very tough Aaron Riley (0-0) by decision, future IFL star Benji Radach (0-0) first defeated Steve Berger (0-0) by first round TKO, but the decision was reversed to a no contest, and Ivan Salaverry (0-0) took out Andrei Semenov (1-0) by TKO in the third round.
As for the televised show, we’ve got a card that can best be described as solid, as you’ll see as we go on. No real superstar attractions, but all sorts of intriguing match ups featuring solid professional fighters. We also get an improved announce crew as Frank Mir makes his debut alongside the always present Mike Goldberg and the easy to forget Jeff Osbourne.
On to the fights….
Lightweights (I’m doing away with the weight limits here, because if you haven’t figured them out by now, you either don’t care or can’t read)
Caol Uno
(1-2, 5’7, 155lbs)
vs.
Yves Edwards
(0-1,5’10, 154lbs)
Edwards has a big reach advantage to compliment his stronger striking game, while Uno is going to want this fight on the ground if he is to have a chance to win.
Round 1
Uno starts out showing that he wants absolutely nothing to do with Edwards on their feet, as he literally runs away from him the entire opening minute. Uno finally shoots, but Edwards sprawls to avoid, and they end up clinched. Edwards lands a few blows then gets the takedown. He does nothing on top and Uno reverses. An attempted guillotine allows Edwards to gain his feet though, and he closes out the round with a little flurry.
10-9 for Edwards, but that was a close, decently fought round.
Round 2
Uno shoots quickly, but gets caught in Edwards’ sprawl, only to somehow still end up on top on the ground. He scores a tight kimura, but Edwards’ is strong enough to tuck his hand under his hip and survive long enough to reverse and take Uno’s back for an instant before the Japanese fighter reverses into top control again. They end up back on their feet for a second where Edwards lands punches before being pulled back down. A quick stand up by the ref this time and Edwards capitalizes. He lands a few shots, which force Uno to duck and leave himself open for essentially a side headlock choke. It’s in tight and would finish the fight, except that the round finishes first.
Really tough round to score, but I’d probably go 10-9 for Uno based on takedowns, but I wouldn’t kick you too hard for saying Edwards won that one.
Round 3
Edwards asserts his dominance on his feet as the round starts as he lands a few good shots then pounces on Uno’s back. He rolls for an armbar attempt, but Uno positions himself into safety and gains top control. Uno takes Edwards’ back this time, but the Bahamian slides him forward and slides out under in order to take Uno’s back! Nice work there. It keeps up, as Uno spins into Edwards’ guard, then passes to side control with 1 minute left. He goes for the kimura again, then transitions to trying to take his back, that allows Edwards back to his feet with 30 seconds left. Uno doesn’t feel like being punched again, so he takes Edwards down to win both the round and the fight in my book.
The announced scores are 29-28, 30-29 (how in the name of God is that even possible?) and 29-28 for your winner by unanimous decision, Caol Uno. Edwards is 0-2 now, but he’s like the Clay Guida of his day – he loses, but he loses better than most guys win.
Middleweights
Phil Baroni
(1-1, 5’9, 184lbs)
vs.
Amar Suloev
(0-1, 5’9, 184)
Suloev should do better at 185lbs than he did at light heavy against Chuck Liddell where he showed a good chin. Of course, Baroni can test anyone’s chin, and they hype up the bad blood between the fighters, which means the “New York BadAss” should be rip roaring ready to go.
Round 1
Baroni, of course, wants to exchange right off the bat, but Suloev is pretty patient and waits for his chance. That chance, as it turns out, is a huge flying knee that puts Baroni on his badass, and then a nice right hand on the ensuing clinch. Baroni drops down to he knees for a desperation takedown and the Russian lands a brutal knee. Totally clean landing, totally dirty strike. Since it’s illegal, Suloev is given a one-point foul and Baroni is offered – and declines – time to recover.
Suloev uses a nice judo throw to put Baroni down and immediately mounts him. He goes for an armbar, but Baroni avoids, reverses, and has side control. He starts pounding away with hammer fists, and one hits the sweet spot and puts Suloev out as McCarthy dives in to save him.
That was one hell of a comeback by Baroni as he scores the KO victory within two minutes of taking an illegal knee to the head. Nice. Of course, never one to go out on a good note, Baroni flings sweat at a still unconscious Suloev. Classy as ever!
Lightweight
BJ Penn
(3-1, 5’9, 154lbs)
vs.
Paul Creighton
(0-0, 5’6, 154lbs)
Creighton is a Renzo Gracie BJJ student, who has a background in wrestling as he was a junior national champion. That’s a pretty good pedigree, but I don’t see it adding up to much as he has to go up against Penn, who is coming off his first ever loss. Not a good recipe.
Round 1
Here is the story of the round. Creighton wants a takedown, but Penn is so freakishly flexible that it’s next to impossible. Creighton looks to be the stronger of the two, but Penn uses leverage and positioning to avoid taking any damage. Creighton does score one takedown, but Penn bounces right up and most of the round is spent in the clinch.
10-9 for Penn. He did get taken down once, and did little damage, but he controlled the pacing and placing for the most part.
Round 2
Clinch to start off by Creighton, and the patient Penn just waits for him to make a mistake. He lands enough punches to rough Creighton up a bit in the clinch before he just sits down into the mount. If that sounds like it came easily for Penn, that’s because he did. “Sitting down” is really the only way I can think of describe how he did that. To a guy with Renzo Gracie in his corner. Once he’s on top, Penn just unloads until the fight is stopped.
The least exciting I’ve ever seen him, but another TKO win for BJ Penn. He calls out Jens Pulver for a rematch post-fight, but he’d have to wait about 5 years for that one.
TK returns to the UFC after a 3-year absence spent in RINGS – where he became the only blemish on Fedor’s record – to try and re-establish himself in the heavyweight division. He’ll have his hands full with a hot Ricco Rodriguez though, as all his strengths are equaled by Rodriguez, except with an added 30lbs.
Round 1
Kosaka scores the quick takedown to start, but he can’t hold Rodriguez down, so they’re right back up to their feet. From there, Rodriguez uses a huge throw to slam Kosaka to the mat and moves to side control, and then the mount. Kosaka shrugs him off and tries for a leg lock, but Rodriguez jumps back to side control. He rolls for an armbar but Kosaka just barely manages to roll free. Rodriguez mounts again and lands some shots before Kosaka is able to spin out, scramble up and land a nice combination as the round ends.
10-9 for Rodriguez in one of the more action packed, non-strike based heavyweight rounds you’re likely to see. That was fun.
Round 2
This time, it’s Rodriguez with the takedown, only to have Kosaka scramble quickly back up. He looks sharp on his feet, but Rodriguez takes it back to the ground and starts landing elbows…sorry, forearms, to Kosaka’s face. A few of those, mixed with some punches, force the ref to stop it.
Nice stoppage for Rodriguez as he moves to 4-0 and pretty much guarantees himself a title shot.
Middleweight Title
Murillo Bustamante
(2-1, 6’1, 183lbs)
vs.
Matt Lindland
(4-0, 6’, 185lbs)
We get a quick look at the top 5 in the division, as the champ Bustamante is followed up by tonight’s challenger, former champ Dave Menne, Paulo Filho and Shooto champ Ikuhisa Minowa.
As for this fight, kind of the classic wrestler vs. jiu jitsu match up, except that both of these guys have shown they have some skills outside of their original base, especially with their fists.
Round 1
Lindland clinches quickly, and that should be his strongest position against a fighter like Bustamante. Of course, Bustamante knows this, so he trips the wrestler down and has top control, which should be his best position. He maneuvers first to side control, then mounts and spins for an armbar.
Here’s where the fight gets interesting.
Bustamante extends Lindland’s left arm out fully. Lindland’s right hand is on Bustamante’s top leg and either taps, or tries to push it off his face to relieve the pressure. I honestly can’t tell which. Bustamante feels it as a tap, and John McCarthy starts to jump in and call the fight, only to have Lindland look at him and say he never tapped. McCarthy makes a judgment call, apologizes to Bustamante and restarts the fight on their feet.
That’s a mess, but the fight goes on. On commentary, Mir says that, as a jiu jitsu man, if you deny the tap when an armbar is locked in, he would leave no room for question the next time. The round finishes out with them clinched against the fence.
10-9 for Bustamante, but you could give it to him 10-8 since he essentially won the fight that round. Weird.
Round 2
Lindland clinches, but Bustamante slams him down. That’s twice he’s taken down the former Olympic silver medalist. That’s a bit crazy. Lindland is able to gain top control, and then stands up. Bustamante pulls guard quickly as he must have sensed some weakness in Lindland’s ground game. They go back up, and this time Bustamante is getting the better of the exchanges as he busts Lindland’s nose up.
10-9 for Bustamante.
Round 3
Bustamante drops him early with a nice combination and then goes for the kill. Lindland’s nose is bleeding a geyser, and Bustamante locks in a guillotine that forces the American to tap out.
Good fight, with one hell of an exciting finish. Bustamante with the big submission victory as he defends his title for the first – and only – time.
The 411: I've got no complaints esthetically. This show delivered in the cage, and in my book, that's what really matters. Now, there are a few problems here. This is the third straight show where the champion, after winning in the main event, is done with the UFC. That is not good. Bustamante leaves and vacates the title to move on to PRIDE after this, joining Heavyweight champ Josh Barnett and Lightweight champ Jens Pulver in hightailing it to Japan and hurting a division. So, out of 5 divisions, we've got 3 vacant belts. That is not good.
Now, if anyone out there has a copy of UFC 37.5, PLEASE let me know. If not - and I think this is more likely - we'll be moving on to UFC XXXVIII next week.
