Friday, November 19, 2010
UFC’s 10 Greatest Fights
The most legendary fights to ever take place in the Octagon. Let’s get it on!
Barely a decade ago, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was looked at as little more than a freak show — a human cockfight that drew the attention of a few bloodthirsty video store browsers and a government boycott committee spearheaded by John McCain himself. Now, this fight club is the fastest rising sport in American history, a pay-per-view juggernaut and the pinnacle of a billion dollar industry. And UFC President Dana White has these 10 fights — along with some shrewd business decisions — to thank for this monumental success.
10. Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz — UFC 47
One of UFC’s first great rivalries, the war between “The Iceman” and “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” started long before this 2004 showdown. Friends and training partners early on, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz broke into the fight game together, but when it came time for Tito to put his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on the line against his pal, he refused, claiming that the two had made a pact never to fight. Liddell said he had no idea what Tito was talking about, but the two men wouldn’t meet in the cage until after Ortiz had lost his title to Randy Couture. When they finally did throw down, it became apparent why Tito ducked Chuck as “The Iceman” obliterated the California-native with one of his devastating punches early in the second round. Living up to its ample hype, the brawl announced Liddell as a heavy-handed antihero and Ortiz as a fighter fans would pay to hate.
9. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen — UFC 117
Built up like a professional wrestling match thanks to the “Rowdy” Roddy Piper-inspired microphone theatrics of the always controversial Chael Sonnen, the August 2010 bout between UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and his trash talking adversary could have easily fallen flat after months of hype. After all, Silva had been sluggish and distracted in many of his recent fights and Sonnen’s bark could have been much worse than his bite. Instead, the fight was an overnight classic. A five-round war, the bout was dominated by Sonnen for the first four rounds as he continually scored with huge takedowns. Yet, just when it seemed like the powerhouse was going to back up his big mouth, “The Spider” latched on a triangle armbar with minutes to go in the fifth. It was a dramatic ending that proved Sonnen was a worthy challenger and Silva was a true champion.
8. B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre — UFC 58
Returning to UFC after leaving the promotion due to what he claimed was a lack of competition, B.J. Penn stood across the cage from a man who would give him more than he could handle — Georges St. Pierre. Meeting in March of 2006 to determine the No. 1 contender to Matt Hughes’ Welterweight Championship, “The Prodigy” and St. Pierre were both eager for the opportunity and this meeting proved it. Back and forth for three tense rounds, the bout could have been a showcase for the gifted Penn. Instead, it was St. Pierre who won out, winning a close split decision and announcing himself to the world as a fighter to watch.
7. Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson — UFC 86
Forrest Griffin deserved this. Long a favorite of UFC fans, the grinning big man had cultivated a reputation as an exciting brawler since his debut on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, but Griffin wouldn’t get a shot at championship glory until this bout against “Rampage” in July of 2008. Thrilling from the jump off, Forrest went down early in the first when Jackson connected with a blistering uppercut, but the warrior refused to stay down. Mounting a comeback, Griffin blasted “Rampage” with a leg kick in the second and then dominated the Light Heavyweight Champion for every round after that, eventually winning a grueling fight — and the title — by unanimous decision.
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Liddell’s Top 8 Moments in MMA
Zuffa brings its beloved big top to Atlanta on Saturday night for UFC 88. As good hosts, Dana White and Co. are putting their best foot forward in Georgia with an end-to-end burner of a fight card, suitably topped off with MMA's foremost rockstar, Chuck Liddell.
In a main event some five months in the making, Liddell, now with full hamstring capabilities, meets the undefeated Rashad Evans. For the 38-year-old Liddell, the fight is a must-win to secure a December mega-fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (Pictures) and to have one last crack at solidifying his resume as the sport's greatest light heavyweight.
On the cusp of boom-or-bust for MMA's favorite San Luis Obispan, here are eight of the finest episodes from "The Iceman." And in the interest of class, only one reference to “Good Morning Texas.”
8. Liddell vs. Vitor Belfort (Pictures) (June 22, 2002)
While he impressed in his recent 185-pound debut against Terry Martin (Pictures), the MMA world has learned to temper its enthusiasm when it comes to Belfort after approximately 42 career resuscitations.
Six years ago, we were in the middle of the first Belfort rehabilitation tour. After embarrassing and deflating losses to Randy Couture and Kazushi Sakuraba , Belfort had seemingly matured in the fight game and was still only 25 years old. It was supposed to be his time (for real, this time), and he was thus slated to meet light heavyweight kingpin Tito Ortiz at both UFC 33 and 36 before injuries nixed the respective bouts. In the meantime, Liddell had quietly piled up victories of his own, and as Ortiz began to embrace his poster-boy persona and shirk in-cage duties, it left a Liddell-Belfort title eliminator as the obvious solution.
Aided by Fox Sports Net and “The Best Damn Sports Show Period,” which aired the fight three days later, the bout was the most cautious of the ad-hoc promotional vehicle known as UFC 37.5, which largely featured Octagon neophytes. However, the fight did showcase the technical and tactical side of Liddell, who put his now famous cage-crawl takedown defense on display vividly in the first round.
Even if the most memorable moment of the affair was the wild, winging right hook that sent Belfort to the canvas with 90 seconds to go, Liddell's ability to take over the fight was dictated by an acute sense of distance created with low kicks and straight punches. Not epic fight material to be sure, but a major win in Liddell's career that highlighted the finer technical points of his game rather than the sizzling KO power he's become acclaimed for.
7. Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn II (Aug. 20, 2005)
You would be hard-pressed to find a seasoned MMA fan who would admit to having taken Horn against Liddell. Amidst Horn's current spell of disinterested doldrums and with hindsight being so crystal clear, such a prefight prognostication would seem farfetched. However, a considerable contingent in MMA, even if they will lie about it now, thought that Horn could pose serious problems for the newly minted champ.
Much of the live-underdog hype was arguably generated by kneejerk anti-Zuffaism that had propelled Horn to indie-hero status after being cut from the UFC following his Elvis Sinosic (Pictures) debacle -- the same sentiment that saw Sean Sherk (Pictures), Ivan Salaverry and Matt Lindland (Pictures) all gain acclaim and adoration only after being booted from the promotion.
In spite of Liddell’s title triumph over Randy Couture only four months earlier, some fans and pundits had begun to pigeonhole "The Iceman" as a willfully one-dimensional fighter. Many figured that the submission-slick Horn, who had never been knocked out, had the skills to outlast and outwit Liddell on the mat as he had in their first encounter six years earlier.
Instead, Horn was bruised and abused over a woefully lopsided opening 10 minutes that featured two nasty near-finishes. Liddell's major weapons early in the fight were actually straight (at least by his standards) punches from inside the pocket rather than long-range, looping artillery. More impressive still, in the wake of Dana White's infamous "following the game plan" rant that has become a full-scale MMA meme, Liddell showed sober strategy in fighting a conservative third round, only to come out firing in the fourth and halt Horn, who told referee "Big" John McCarthy he could no longer see.
Liddell's one-sided avenging of his first loss was an early indicator of his title reign ahead, even if those who had backed Horn will never admit it.
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Beauty for America - Full Text
The Conference Chairman, LAURANCE S. ROCKEFELLER. In calling us together, President Johnson set the tone for our endeavor. He said: I want new ideas. He said: I want to alert the American people to action. He cited concrete, specific problems for us to consider not abstractions or theories.
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418 - Remarks at a Meeting of the Water Emergency Conference
August 11, 1965
Second, apropos of the very excellent suggestion made by Governor Rockefeller, who has talked to me about this a number of times, I followed his atomic plant with great interest. He's discussed that with me, and I hope our people can be helpful in connection with the matching that he's been discussing.
Laurance S. Rockefeller, Chairman of the White House Conference on Natural Beauty held in Washington May 24-25 1965. The book is entitled "Beauty for America--Proceedings of the White House Conference on Natural Beauty.
Lyndon B. Johnson
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Early Scenic Roads
The idea of beautiful highways would be part of the legacy of the Administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969). On February 8, 1965, he issued a call for a White House Conference on Natural Beauty (May 24-25, 1965) to be chaired by Laurance Rockefeller, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist who took a special interest in matters involving environmental conservation and outdoor recreation. Highways would be one of the topics to be discussed. The President, in his call for the conference, said:
I hope that, at all levels of government, our planners and builders will remember that highway beautification is more than a matter of planting trees and setting aside scenic areas. The roads themselves must reflect, in location and design, increased respect for the natural and social integrity and unity of the landscape and communities through which they pass.Full article
White House Conference on Natural Beauty
The President called for a White House Conference on Natural Beauty. This conference was held May 24 and 25, 1965, with some 800 delegates and additional observers. Among its important panel discussions was one on scenic roads. The conference proceedings, Beauty for America [published by the Library of Congress, 1965], are well worth reviewing.
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