In the lead up to UFC 43 Meltdown, the Ultimate Fighting Championships promoters promised to deliver an 8-fight, Mega-Star event for fight fans to enjoy the world over. With some of the biggest names in mixed martial arts history on the card, such as Tank Abbott, Kimo Leopoldo, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tre Telligman, Frank Mir, and Vitor Belfort, it was easy to see why the UFC is the world’s premier Mixed Martial Arts tournament. And as with all sporting events, there were upsets, and some fans would have been disappointed to see their heroes go down. But UFC 43 did live up to the hype, delivering a brilliant assortment of Mixed Martial Arts, and proving to be still the reckoning ground for the world’s best ‘as real as it gets’ fighters.
June 6, 2003 saw a crowd of nearly 10,000 Mixed Martial Arts fans pack the Colosseum (or was it the Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas?). And when renowned fight identity Bruce Buffer, sounding more like an intergalactic auctioneer than a ring announcer, declared "Ladies and gentlemen…we are Live", the Meltdown crowd erupted.
Other UFC identities such as referee Big John McCarthy, UFC president Dana White, USA Today Oddsmaker Danny Sheridan and ring announcer Mike Goldberg made this special night seem surreal. Vanilla Ice, Dean Cain, Mario van Peebles and Sacramento Kings’ Bobby Jackson were some of the celebrities in the crowd. Interviewer Lisa Dergan and the gorgeous ring card girls were happy to be noticed and very pleasing to the eye.
THE BATTLES:
Frank Mir Vs Wes Sims
Heavyweight Bout
6’10" former basketball player Wes Sims was expected to stay on his feet and use his height and striking superiority, but elected to immediately take Frank Mir to the ground with a guillotine. Sims gave up his back early in the battle and Mir (‘the heavyweight who moves like a lightweight’) applied a choke and then an arm bar, both of which Sims escaped. The fight appeared to be evenly matched, but ended when Sims was disqualified for stomping on Mir’s jaw/throat area and Mir was unable to continue. A rematch would certainly be a crowd pleaser.
Ian Freeman Vs Vernon White
Heavyweight Bout
This match was billed as Freeman and Ken Shamrock, but due to an anterior cruciate ligament tear, Shamrock was replaced by one of his protégés Vernon White. Although White was making his Octagon debut, the Lion’s Den fighter was no novice to mixed martial arts tournaments and was a fair match for his opponent. Whilst Freeman was keen to slug it out toe-to-toe, White displayed his well-rounded skills. With Shamrock in White’s corner and Jeremy Horn in Freeman’s, both Ian and Vernon being fighting veterans showed they were too cunning to be submitted by the other. And during round three, the pair even seemed to be performing synchronized heel locks. These men were too well matched and the fight ended appropriately in a draw.
Vitor Belfort Vs Marvin Eastman
Light-Heavyweight Bout
Eastman the Beastman entered the bout with a respectable reputation for his powerful striking and wrestling abilities on the B-grade MMA circuit. And Belfort, although no stranger to the MMA, was regarded as an unknown quantity, because Vitor doesn’t sit on the fence – his heart is either in the Octagon or it’s outside the Octagon. With dark curly hair and mustache, Belfort was looking more like an undercover cop from Miami Vice than the Vitor Belfort of old, but his heart was definitely in the Octagon tonight. At the opening bell, Eastman tried some shin kicks on Belfort, but Vitor returned with some Thai techniques of his own, downing Eastman with a left and right knee, followed by gattling-gun fists to Eastman from the mount position. On seeing the deep meat-clever gash above Eastman’s right eye, McCarthy immediately stopped the fight, with Vitor the victor.
Yves Edwards Vs Eddie Ruiz
Lightweight Bout
Edwards displayed outstanding well-rounded skills and was never really threatened by Ruiz. To Ruiz’s credit, the Tank Abbott protégé showed he had the heart of a lion and was not going to be stopped, as he continually attempted shoots in an effort to take Edwards down. When Edwards did adjourn to the canvas, it was at Ruiz’s expense as Yves applied triangles to Eddie’s body and nullified his mobility. However, even the tightest of holds could not stop Ruiz. At one point Edwards connected with a shin kick that hit Ruiz flush on the jaw. The smacking sound could be heard in the bleachers, but Ruiz continued as though it must have been someone else who’d been the recipient of the powerhouse kick. Inevitably Yves was awarded the win, but the bravery of both men made this battle another outstanding event.
Kimo Leopoldo Vs David Abbott
Heavyweight Bout
On paper, this bout was going to be the clash of two freight trains, but it wasn’t to be. Kimo, the man known for putting Royce Gracie out of action in UFC 3, had adopted Gracie’s approach to UFC 43. At the opening bell, Kimo fired a kick at Tank and then took Tank to the ground, mounted him and applied a front choke with Tank’s left arm in the hold. Abbott was unable to escape the choke and eventually had to tap out. The referee Larry Landless separated the pair after 1:59.
Randy Couture Vs Chuck Liddell
Light-Heavyweight Bout
This title fight was to have been between Liddell and Tito Ortiz, but Tito was not available, and some speculated that he was deliberately avoiding Chuck. In a pre-fight interview, Liddell said, "Randy has balls, unlike some people I know." Of Randy Couture, Liddell stated, "I’m a better striker than he is. And he’s going to have a real hard time, while I’m striking, taking me down." But ring commentator Joe Rogan observed that Liddell seemed focused on Tito rather than Randy. The only man to have won two heavyweight titles, Randy Couture entered the UFC light heavyweight Title match as the underdog. But as Mike Goldberg had observed, "Randy is best in fights he’s expected to lose."
On his stroll to the Octagon, dressed in sandals, red shorts, white fleecy-lined hooded jacket and blue peak cap, Couture looked like he was there to check out the surf rather than battle for a world title.
From the utterance of Big John McCarthy’s famous line, "Let’s get it on", Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture held his hands high and Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell kept his hands down. Randy used knee strikes early in the fight and, in a counter to Chuck’s left shin kick, brought Liddell to the mat with a huge body slam. Chuck delivered some knee spikes to Randy’s lead thigh, but the mood had been set. Within the opening minute Randy had assumed the caretaker position in The Iceman’s Iglootagon. Couture’s straight jabs were continuously landing on the button, and he employed some excellent American wrestling takedowns, whilst countering Chuck’s looping strikes.
Frustration drains fighters and Chuck looked disappointed after the first round, and suffered a cut above his left eye early in the second round. Randy’s straight jabs and right crosses were out-gunning Liddell’s hooks. In round three Couture body-slammed Liddell to the canvas and then continued to ground and pound Chuck until referee McCarthy intervened. Chuck Liddell had been out-struck, but refused to submit.
Randy became the first man to win titles in two weight categories. Looking into the camera, Couture announced to Tito, "If you want this belt, you’re going to have to come in here and take it."
In earlier bouts, heavyweight Pedro Rizzo was triumphant after Tra Telligman was stopped due to a cut, and middleweight Falaniko Vitale won his battle when Matt Lindland KO’d himself in a takedown attempt.
The theme music for the main event was "Too Cold" by Vanilla Ice, but after a gutsy performance by all sixteen competitors, V-Ice could have performed a rendition of "You Gotta Have Heart".
Article courtesy of www.knucklepit.com.
Check out Knucklepit.com the Book, the Ultimate Street Self-Defence Manual.
Image © Zuffa LLC / Joshua Hedges
)
)
)
)
)
