The History of the UFC 04.21.08: UFC XXXVII.V - As Real As It Gets
Posted by Matt McEwen on 04.21.2008
Joe Rogan shows up again and the UFC gets on cable....
Thanks to Sergio Hernandez of Beyond the Fight here at 411, we get at UFC 37.5 review. It's a half number because they were already hyping UFC 38 in England, and this opprotunity to show up on Fox Sports Net showed up. To this day, it hasn't been released on DVD, yet Sergio has a copy and lets us in on the details......
Lightweight - Yves Edwards vs. Joao Pierini
Pierini, a BJJ specialist comes out rocking the gi and black belt. Announced at 6'1", he is a taaaaaall lightweight. Edwards is 5'10" however, so the reach advantage is slim. Edwards has then Light Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and soon-to-be Heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez in his corner.
Round 1: They start off circling around with Edwards taking the center of the Octagon. Edwards lands a stiff jab followed by a leg kick. HUGE HEAD KICK drops Pierini but doesn't knock him out. Wow, that guy has concrete in his head to not be asleep right now. Edwards goes from some ground and pound but plays it smart and doesn't stay too long in the 2nd degree black belt's guard and stands back up. Pierini stands and immediately says something to referee Cecil Peoples. Peoples calls a timeout and the ringside doctor confirms Pierini's shoulder is dislocated. A couple of replays show just how brutal that kick was. Wow. Quick, exciting win for the Master of Thug-jitsu. Edwards is currently on a rise in his roller coast career while Pierini hung up the gloves after this fight.
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Mike Goldberg and Jeff Osborne hype up "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort who is one-half of the upcoming main event. At this point, Belfort hadn't been fully exposed the poorly conditioned mental midget he is but there is ALREADY talk of "old Vitor." Ugh... gimmie a break.
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Middleweight - Rodrigo Ruas vs. Tony Fryklund
MMA legend Marco Ruas' nephew takes on the Miletich product who is best known for this picture. Gross.
Round 1: Fryklund tries to close the distance but the Brazilian lands great leg kicks and gets him in a Thai clinch a couple of times. A stiff jab from Ruas seems to wake Fryklund up who lands a nice overhand right followed by a second that drops Ruas. Fryklund in butterfly guard and begins to drive his forearm in Rua' face while dropping some short punches and elbows. Both fighters are really busy on the ground. Ruas tries to slap on a heel hook but The Freak defends well. Fryklund is showing excellent ground and pound in this round. Ruas, on his end, is keeping Fryklund in his butterfly guard and not allowing the American to pass. A little over one minute left and Fryklund momentarily gets into side mount and continues to decimate the Ruas Vale Tudo fighter with ground and pound. That round EASILY goes to Fryklund, 10-9.
In his corner, Ruas looks to be punch drunk.
Round 2: Fryklund immediately closes the distance but Ruas shows some perseverance and lands a couple of shots before Fryklund gets the takedown and unleashes more ground and pound. Seriously, this is a massacre. Fryklund seems to be landing shots at will and Ruas is too tired or too rocked to defend. Fryklund attempts a guillotine but lets go and continues the ground and pound onslaught. Ruas tries a last ditch effort heel hook but just leaves himself open to eat more punches. Fryklund has the full mount and thankfully the referee stops the fight with about a minute and a half left.
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Welterweight - Robbie Lawler vs. Steve Berger
Round 1: Only highlights of this bout are shown as the entire fight was shown on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. FUN FACT: Lawler/Berger holds the honor of being the first MMA fight shown on basic cable, a good two and a half years before TUF-Mania began to run wild. Highlights include Berger taking Lawler down but Ruthless easily getting back to his fit. They clinch on the fence and the two exchange brutal body punches. Lawler lands a grazing knee before ending round one with some ground and pound.
Round 2: They start circling around and Lawler drops Berger with a HUGE overhand right about 15 seconds in. Lawler immediately launches into some ground and pound and Berger is too dazed to defend himself, forcing the ref to jump in and call the bout.
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Welterweight - Zach Light vs. Pete Spratt
Spratt raps in his free time, according to Goldberg. Light walks to the ring looking like he just smelled something terrible. The referee, Kipp Kollar, looks like an alien. A loooot of weirdness in the cage right now.
Round 1: Light cracks Spratt and Spratt responds with a high kick that's mostly blocked. Spratt tries again but Light catches the leg and forces Spratt up against the cage. Light gets the takedown and ends up in Spratt's guard. Spratt is using his legs to keep himself off the cage while Light tries to pass. About one minutes passes with no action until Spratt pushes Light up, swings his right leg over Light's head and slaps on an armbar. Veeeeeery slick submission from The Secret Weapon.
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Welterweight - Benji Radach vs. Nick Serra
Nick is, of course, Matt "The Fluke" Serra's little brother. Radach is fighting for the IFL now.
Round 1: Serra goes for a takedown and eats a right for his troubles. He shoots in again and grabs the single leg. Radach defends well. Serra eventually pulls guard. Radach is jamming Serra up against the cage but beyond that, there is little action. Serra is working for a triangle but doesn't have it locked in. He eventually gives it up and Radach has got some nasty ground and pound for the Renzo Gracie black belt. Radach takes it, 10-9.
Round 2: Radach takes the center of the Octagon and easily sprawls out of a weak Serra shoot. Serra finally gets a decent shoot but Radach once again displays great takedown defense and ends up in Serra's guard. Serra has an extremely active guard, which keeps Radach from landing more punches and elbows by keeping his mind on any number of submissions Serra could pull out. Big John stands them up with about 90 seconds left and Serra immediately goes for the takedown again and easily transitions into butterfly guard. The round ends with little action. Radach makes round three do or die for Serra, 10-9 (20-18).
Round 3: It's pretty obvious that out of the two Serra brothers, Matt was the one that was able to use his BJJ to complement a well-rounded MMA game. Nick, on the other hand, looks to be like the second coming off Royce Gracie, going for weak takedowns and only using BJJ. Nick's problem is that by this point, just about everyone has some kind of submission defense.
Two minutes in, Radach drops Serra but opts to stay on his feet. Serra finally gets up, they clinch, and Serra pulls guard while the crowd showers him with boos. Not much action, and Big John stands up them with a minute left. And Serra lets his hands fly and knocks Radach out!
Yeah, right. Weak takedown, no action in the guard, rinse, repeat. Another 10-9 round for Radach (30-27).
Radach takes this one by unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. Eddie Millis, for some reason, gave a round to Serra. Whatever.
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Rogan is super pumped for the main event. "Fear Factor sucks compared to this!" ROFLCOPTER! Rogan, Goldberg, and Osborne provide analysis for Liddell/Belfort, a HUGE main event for a card that was thrown together at the proverbial last minute.
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Light Heavyweight - Chuck Liddell vs. Vitor Belfort
Round 1: A shot of Tito Ortiz watching intently before the fight begins. Liddell with a high kick, something you just don't see The Iceman do anymore. Belfort catches a leg kick and takes Liddell down. Liddell earns his reputation at being one of the hardest 205ers to take down and gets back up. Belfort powers into another takedown and I can only wonder how many energy he's sapping for these takedowns that aren't yielding any profits. Liddell continues to struggle to stand up, forcing Belfort to hold him down thus isn't able to land any ground and pound. Halfway through, Liddell gets back on his feet and they clinch against the cage. A great elbow by Liddell is followed by some liver punches. They circle away from the cage and Belfort lands a beautiful inside leg kick. The round ends with them circling. Tough round to call but I'll give it to Belfort due to the takedowns, 10-9.
Round 2: Liddell continues to press the action and is setting the pace for this fight. Belfort eats a couple of leg kicks, one of which drops him to a knee. Seriously, Chuck, these leg kicks are brutal... USE THEM AGAIN! Liddell lands a nice right and they clinch up against the cage. The Iceman lands some knees to the legs of Belfort before Big John separates them. Liddell lands a BEAUTIFUL spinning back kick to Belfort's ribs that lights up the crowd and probably takes the wind out of Belfort's sails. Belfort responds with a huge left that cracks Liddell straight on the jaw. Liddell feigns a kick and goes in for a Superman punch but Belfort narrowly dodges. Liddell tries the spinning back kick again but this time Belfort is ready and catches it. Belfort ends the round with a high kick/left cross combination but it's too little, too late. Liddell takes this round, 10-9 (19-19).
Round 3: Belfort catches a kick and counters with two quick punches. The Phenom seems to have lost a lot of steam heading into the third and final round. Liddell attempts a spinning backfist, proving once again his striking was much more well rounded before being lulled into a false sense of security by being fed wrestler and wrestler. The two exchange punches; Liddell seems to absorb them and eats a high kick. Belfort is seemingly getting his second wind here. Three minutes left in the fight and Belfort goes for another high kick. Ninety seconds left and Belfort is starting to unload. Belfort is throwing combinations but Liddell lands a wild right haymaker and drops Belfort to the mat. The crowd explodes and Liddell feeds Belfort leg kicks before dropping into his guard. Belfort is busted open and is getting pressed against the fence. The round ends with Liddell in the visually dominating position of being on top of Belfort. That last image, combined with the knockdown, I think, snatched this round from Belfort. 10-9 for Liddell (29-28).
The official scorecard is a majority decision for Liddell, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. I think Belfort at least won the first round and had it not been for that knockdown late in the third, I absolutely believe he would have taken this fight.
Ortiz comes in, talks smack about Ken Shamrock to hype up their UFC 40 bout, and says that Liddell is next in line.
Huh. Whatever happened to that? Apparently, "next in line" means two years for Mr. Jenna Jameson
Again...Thanks to Sergio for helping me out this week and giving his thoughts on the show, which sounds like one I should try harder to find.
The 411: Final Thoughts: For a card that was thrown together at the last minute (UFC 38 was already announced for England), this card delivered. The worst fight of the card, Serra/Radach, was definitely outweigh by Edwards' impressive TKO victory, Spratt's amazing display of BJJ, and the main event. Like I said before, the Liddell/Belfort main event was huge but because it went the full fifteen and there were some moments of stalled ground action, the Lawler/Berger slugfest made it onto free TV instead. Tito mugging for the camera and basically promising Liddell a title shot irks me but then again, anything that bigheaded goon does irks me. This event has never been released commercially so it'll be tough to find... but I'm sure it can SOMEHOW be done
