 UFC 61: 'Bitter Rivals' settle scores!
Sylvia outboxes Arlovski
Shamrock unlucky vs. Ortiz
Report by
Brady Crytzer
and
Chris Bronte
Photos by
Chris Cozzone
In a brutal and exciting war, UFC world heavyweight champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia silenced his critics once and for all, winning the rubber match against his former conqueror Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski via five round unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 61: Bitter Rivals live at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Saturday night.
Both men, aware of their opponent’s obvious power, showed little regard for their own safety as they exchanged readily throughout the opening round. Arlovski, opening with a swift leg kick, was quickly met with a winging Sylvia one-two combination. After answering back, “The Pitbull” connected with a stinging cross that jolted the champion. But, in typical fashion Sylvia retaliated with a big shot. Though hurt, Arlovski responded with another zinging right cross as “The Maine-iac” attempted to land a knee.
 With the crowd in a frenzy from the amazing display, the round finished out with a spinning back kick delivered slightly south of the border by the 6’8 champion.
The second stage of the heavyweight war opened with a well timed Arlovski right hand as the champion launched a knee strike. As the toe-to-toe action continued, Arlovski was hit with a clean right hand, opening a cut over the left eye. As the round came to a close, Sylvia had the last word with a powerful right-handed shot.
The pace began to slow in the third stanza. With fatigue setting in, a patient Sylvia began to pump a lazy jab that was quickly answered by a swift counter right from Arlovski. Though most of the round was tactical, a double jab-right cross combination highlighted the round for the challenger.
The fourth round saw Arlovski continuously work the body of the champion with hard, digging right hands. In the exchange, Sylvia caught his challenger yet again with a number of hard right handed shots. As the round came to a close, Arlovski returned to his corner bleeding from both eyes.
The final round was a grueling one as both men, tired and battered, fought valiantly to sustain a plan of attack, with Sylvia commanding the outside with straight punches while Arlovski worked his jabs and leg kicks to wear down the champion. As the round and, ultimately, the fight came to a close, both men were too exhausted to offer much but walk back to the corners.
With the fight going to the scorecards, Sylvia was awarded a hard fought unanimous decision victoy, with scores that read 49-46 and 48-47 twice.
 Bronte on Sylvia-Arlovski
Having split a pair of fights, heavyweights Tim“The Maniac” Sylvia and Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski duked it out for a third time before a packed house here in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay, but what was a highly anticipated rubber match, in reality, did not live up to expectations.
To be sure, the bout started promisingly with both men having their moments in opening round. Arlovski scored more frequently, but Sylvia was never troubled by the power of his bearded foe. By contrast, when Sylvia landed with a nice 1-2 combo, he had Arlovski hanging on. Although this was a close round it was Sylvia who shaved it.
In the second round, the action slowed significantly. Arlovski was the slicker of the two and continued to land some cute shots to the head, while Sylvia seemed content to want to counter, which would have been fine had he at least tried to counter. Somehow, Arlovski sustained a small cut to his left eye, which bled throughout the remainder of the fight, though it never bothered him.
By the third stanza the crowd was getting restless and the boos began due, to the lack of action. Both men were showing way too much respect for each other, but it has to be said that it was Arlovski was throwing some shots Sylvia’s way, while Sylvia was frozen like a rabbit in the headlights.
Round four was more of the same, only worse, as both men were doing next to nothing. The boos were now deafening as the crowd was craving some action.
The fifth round was no better as, again, neither man wanted to initiate the action. The decision was announced in favour of the defending champion, Sylvia, by scores of 48-47 twice and 49-46. Sylvia, in keeping his belt, improves his record to 24-2, while Arlovski tumbles to 11-5.
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Shamrock unlucky with Ortiz in rematch
In the co-feature of the evening, UFC fans were granted the chance to watch a very real grudge match as “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” Tito Ortiz, did battle with long-time arch-foe Ken Shamrock.
What resulted was an Ortiz victory that left much to be desired, at 1:18 of the opening round.
The bad blood in the Octagon boiled over as an anxious Shamrock rushed a prepared Ortiz with a barrage of punches that was answered by a knee and a slamming takedown.
From the top position, Ortiz unleashed a barrage of unanswered elbows, prompting referee Herb Dean to halt the contest.
As Ortiz celebrated by taunting his opponent, an enraged Shamrock charged his now victorious opponent—the skirmish was quickly subdued but Shamrock, and the booing crowd, was clearly unhappy with the stoppage.
 Bronte on Ortiz-Shamrock II:
Early, Hasty Victory for Ortiz
In what was billed as the ultimate grudge match, "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy," Tito Ortiz, destroyed The World’s Most Dangerous Man, Ken Shamrock at the 1:18 mark of the first round.
A fired-up Shamrock came storming out as referee, Herb Dean, signaled time in. He had Ortiz on his back foot straight away as he pushed him into the cage wall.
However, Ortiz kept a cool head and quickly regained the initiative, taking Shamrock to the mat. From this point on it was all Ortiz, as he rained fists and elbows down on Shamrock, who while not punching back, was covering up and seemingly blocking the full brunt of the blows. Ortiz was relentless and sensed the early victor--and early it was as the referee jumped in to stop the action.
At this, the jubilant Ortiz leapt around the Octagon while a furious Shamrock bitterly contested the stoppage, claming he was good to go. In the replay, shown on the big screens within the arena, it did appear that the referee had been a little hasty with the stoppage, which further fueled Shamrock’s rage, and he had to be physically restrained from causing a riot in the ring.
In the post fight interview, Ortiz said he was open to the possibility of a third match with Shamrock, and why not?, for he certainly seems to have Shamrock’s number. This exhilarating win moves Ortiz’ ledger to 15-4, while the aging warrior Shamrock sees his record fall to 26-11-2. |
 Burkman decisions ‘Dentist’
In a spirited welterweight battle, Josh Burkman (18-3) of Salt Lake won a hard fought but clear cut unanimous decision over a rugged Josh Neer (17-3-1).
Physically, they were perfectly matched , but stylewise, Burkman was the better of the two.He continually beat his opponent to the punch, scoring, both, more frequently and cleanly. He, too, was able to slam Neer to the mat.
But Neer proved a tough S.O.B who, when caught flush, would shake his head and ask for more--which he usually got.
At the end of three entertaining rounds the scores were 29-28 twice and 30 - 27 for Burkman. -- Chris Bronte
 Mir returns with too-close win
In a competitive heavyweight-match up, former champ Frank Mir kept his UFC career alive by grinding out a hard-fought unanimous decision over the 6’10 New Mexican Dan “the Sandman” Christison.
Determined to prove that his career is far from over, Mir muscled his much larger opponent into the fence to do some damage with the knees. Following a brief stalemate, Mir took the initiative to take the 6’10 Christison to the mat.
Achieving mount almost immediately, a failed armbar allowed Christison to capitalize by securing guard and locking an armbar on the former UFC champion. With his arm bent back in a horrible position, Mir survived the attack and rose back to his feet. Both men looked eager to strike as Christison landed a hard right hand to finish off the round.
The second round saw Christison come alive against a fatiguing Mir, landing a combination of punches and allowing him to clinch his opponent against the fence. Though Mir scored with a labored takedown, Christison attempted the armbar again, which his opponent defended nicely. After attempting a triangle, the men were stood up where Christison landed a hard left hand followed by a flying knee.
The final period witnessed a hungry Mir landing a quick left hand and a knee to the body that stunned his opponent. Following up with a sweep, Mir pounded Christison with hard shots from the half guard position, opening a cut. After a slight lull in the action, the fighters were stood up and Mir went for one last takedown that was defended by Christison as time expired.
Official scored read 29-28 on all three judges scorecards. The crowd reacted with boos.
Mir edges victory - Bronte
Coming out for the first round, former champ Frank Mir looked to impose himself quickly, and immediately had his opponent, Dan "the Sandman" Christison, backing up. He then took it to the mat . At this point the fight seemed to lose its impetus, as both men did little. Towards the end of the round they were back on their feet and it was Christison who scored well with two nice uppercuts along with some cute, short right hands.
The second stanza had Mir looking gassed and doing very little. Christison, on the other hand, looked super-relaxed and was content to pot shot Mir from the outside. On a couple of occasions, it looked as if Mir might wilt but he hung tough and we went into the last round.
In the last stanza, it was all Mir who took it to the mat and found himself on top for practically the entire round, pummeling Christison to the head. The crowd didn’t like it, as the action wasn’t as frenetic as it could been but to be sure Mir was winning. He was vindicated by the judges too, who all scored the bout unanimously 29-28 for Mir. |
 ‘Daddy’ Stevenson beats Edwards in bloodbath
In a very exciting and bloody lightweight war, The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Joe “Daddy” Stevenson scored a third round TKO over Yves Edwards when a cut sustained in round two did not allow the veteran to answer the bell for the third and final round.
The opening round was a back-and-forth battle with Edwards opening up the show by landing crisp leg kicks, and prompting Stevenson to shoot for and claim a takedown. After getting back to his feet, Edwards incited the crowd with a flush head kick that sent his opponent reeling. With the television veteran now hurt and hanging on in the guard position, an attempted triangle by Edwards allowed for Stevenson to gain control of the contest. From the top position Stevenson landed a brutal series of elbows and, once again getting back to his feet, Edwards would not be up for long as Stevenson scored with a quick shot yet again. As time expired, Edwards nearly secured a triangle and omoplata.
The second round saw Edwards display his boxing skills, landing sharp punches. Stevenson, clearly on a mission to take the fight to the ground, scored with a big takedown. With his man pressed into the fence “Daddy” punished Edwards with hard, thunderous elbows. After being cut, Edwards was allowed to continue but did little more than wait out the round on the bottom position. As Edwards rested in his corner awaiting the final round, the fight was halted, much to his dismay, due to the severity of the gash.
Stevenson, who was the first winner of the reality series to lose in his Octagon debut, rebounded to continue his UFC career with this victory.
 Bronte: Buckets of Blood in Stevenson-Edwards
Kicking off the televised portion of the fights, lightweight Joe Stevenson won in a bloodbath against hard-as-nails Yves Edwards.
In the opening stanza it was Edwards who struck first scoring well with a terrific left right combo which clearly shook his foe. However, Stevenson showed a steely resolve and recovered well, taking the fight to the mat where he was obviously the more experienced of the two. It was here that the punishment began as he repeatedly bludgeoned Edwards from on top. Edwards was game though and fought back and was always in the fight.
The complexion of the fight changed quite literally in the second round to that of crimson red,as Edwards sustained a horrible gash on the top of his head which flowed freely. Such was the flow of blood that the mat was practically awash with gore. All the while Edwards was continuing to receive a beating. Not only was Edwards covered in blood but his opponent was too, and he was obviously finding it difficult to grip Edwards due to his being drenched in gore. Edwards managed to survive to see the end of round two but upon the advice of the doctor the referee called a halt to the carnage in between rounds. With this exciting win Stevenson improves to 30 - 7 while Edwards falls 29-11-1. |
 Franca submits Jordan
Lightweight Hermes Franca produced a dominate submission victory over late sub Joe Jordan at :47 seconds of the final round.
The opening stanza proved to be a slow one, as neither man appeared willing to press the action, until Franca dropped to his guard with only 20 seconds remaining. With little time of the clock, Jordan finished the round in strong fashion, landing short punches but doing little damage.
The second round was all Franca, who dominated with a myriad of punches, low kicks and flying knees, badly cutting his opponent.
The third round delivered the end of the fight, with Franca quickly scoring a takedown and securing a fight ending triangle choke from the top position at :47 seconds.
 ‘Snowman’ stakes his claim
Staking his claim as the next challenger for the UFC world heavyweight championship, Jeff “The Snowman” Monson made quick work of opponent Anthony Perosh, ko’ing the newcomer at 2:22 seconds of the opening round.
Following a quick and powerful takedown, Monson muscled Perosh in a Muay Thai clinch, landing hard knees and quick, damaging uppercuts that stunned his opponent badly.
At 2:22, a Monson right cross floored Perosh, giving “The Snowman” his third victory in a very impressive 2006.
 Kongo debuts with win
Warming up the audience for the main event of the evening, heavyweight Cheick Kongo made his UFC debut an impressive one by opening a cut on second-timer Gilbert Aldana, forcing the ringside physician to halt the contest at 4:13 of the opening round.
Kongo, who is known as an accomplished striker, was quickly taken to the ground by a determined Aldana as round one began. After remaining largely inactive for nearly three minutes, the men were stood up, much to the crowd’s good favor. Once again sensing urgency, Aldana put his opponent on the mat immediately. As the men scrambled, Kongo gained superior position, keeping Aldana on his back. After getting back to his feet, Aldana was quickly introduced to his opponent’s world class striking skills as he was assaulted with a relentless combination of knees to the body and well placed head shots. Cut badly in the exchange, ringside doctors concluded that Aldana was in no condition to continue at 4:13 of the opening round.
 Fickettt takes Pellegrino
In a welterweight contest, a returning Drew “The Master” Fickett won an exciting contest, finishing a debuting Kurt Pellegrino at 1:20 of the third round.
The contest, though slow at first, soon turned into an action fight as the debuting Pellegrino scored a takedown putting “The Master” on his back. Fickett, anxious to escape, landed a few short elbows from the bottom position, allowing him to regain his footing. Following a glancing Fickett knee-punch combination, Pellegrino closed out the opening round scoring with a big slamming takedown that placed him in his opponent’s guard.
The second stanza, once again, broke open with a Pellegrino takedown. Staying active in Fickett’s battle-tested guard, Pellegrino held his position for nearly two and a half minutes until ordered back to his feet by the referee. After nearly securing a front choke, Fickett answered back with a takedown of his own to finish out the round.
The third and final round ended before the allotted five minute period when Pellegrino, after scoring yet another takedown, gave up his back allowing Fickett to secure a fight ending choke at 1:20.
Bonus shots!
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