Event Title: UFC 60: Hughes vs Gracie
Event Date: 27 May 2006
Event Venue: Staples Center
Event Location: Las Vegas
Date submitted: 31 May 2006
Submitted by: Marc Wickert
Los Angeles, CA – The party line before the UFC 60 main event between Matt Hughes and Royce Gracie was that the sport of mixed martial arts had passed the Brazilian legend by and that he couldn’t compete with the new breed of mixed martial artist. Yet while Hughes was dominant in a first round stoppage victory before a packed house at STAPLES Center, there is no doubting the toughness of Gracie, who not only made his return to the Octagon™ for the first time in over ten years, he did it against the premier welterweight in the game.
And you’ve got to respect him for that.
But the night truly belonged to Hughes, who may not have had his UFC welterweight crown on the line, but who fought as if it was his last bout as he dominated from start to finish against the jiu-jitsu ace from Rio De Janeiro.
With father Helio, the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, directly behind him, Gracie made his way into the Octagon for the first time since 1995 to a rousing ovation from the assembled crowd. Conversely – and surprisingly – Hughes’ entrance was met with boos scattered among the cheers. But the crowd wasn’t going to decide this one – the UFC’s first superstar and a modern day one were going to, and there was a thick tension in the air before the opening bell.
Gracie opened the fight with a couple of range-finding kicks. Hughes answered with an overhand left that briefly jarred the Brazilian. Gracie quickly regained his bearings though and kept kicking at Hughes, who drove him into the fence. With 3:45 left in the round, the fight went to the mat, with the crowd erupting as Gracie looked for a submission. Hughes kept his cool though and worked his strikes from the top position, eventually locking up Gracie’s left arm. After some tense moments, Gracie escaped, but soon Hughes got his back and opened up with elbows and strikes. Seconds later, after a series of unanswered blows to the head, referee John McCarthy had no choice but to halt the bout at 4:39 of the frame.
And then boos turned to cheers for Hughes, and rightfully so.
World-class grappler Dean Lister made his long-awaited UFC debut a successful one as he stopped the run of hard-hitting Alessio Sakara with a first round submission victory.
Diego Sanchez survived the toughest moments of his UFC career en route to an unpopular three round unanimous decision over Canadian vet John Alessio, who fought a disciplined fight from start to finish but wasn’t rewarded by the ringside judges, who saw it for the ‘Nightmare’ by scores of 30-27, and 29-28 twice.
Alessio continued to turn back Sanchez’ attacks in round two, and the effects of his strikes started to show on the face of the ‘Nightmare’, who was cut over the right eye and who had to be frustrated by his inability to crack Alessio’s armor.
Maybe Brandon Vera was telling the truth all along. In a highly anticipated heavyweight bout, Vera showed off his submission game in the UFC for the first time, forcing Brazil’s Assuerio Silva to tap out in the first round of a scheduled three.
Rising middleweight contender Mike Swick once again lived up to his nickname of ‘Quick’ as he submitted perennial contender Joe Riggs in the first round, running his unbeaten streak of first round endings to four.
“I thought Joe was going to come out and bang,” admitted Swick. “I didn’t think I was going to catch him with a submission.”
Surprisingly, the first 1:30 of the bout saw little action as the two strikers looked for the opening that would end the fight. Soon, Swick saw that opening, landing a right leg kick to the head that stunned Riggs. Riggs immediately looked for and got the takedown to try and clear his head, but the alert Swick locked in a guillotine and forced Riggs to tap at the 2:19 mark.
“I don’t talk the talk but I walk the walk,” said Swick, who won his second consecutive bout by what he likes to refer to as the ‘Swickotine.’
In undercard action…
It may be safe to say that Jeremy Horn]] has [[[Chael Sonnen’s number as the veteran beat Sonnen for the third time in their middleweight bout, forcing a submission in the second round of their three rounder.
Spencer Fisher continued his march up the lightweight ranks with a second round knockout of Matt Wiman in an entertaining bout that almost saw the late replacement from Florida almost pull off the upset with a first round guillotine choke. In the end though, Fisher’s power and accuracy proved to be the difference.
Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a solid effort in stopping fellow Brazilian Fabiano Scherner in the second round.
In the opener, Melvin Guillard made a successful drop to the 155-pound lightweight class, knocking out UFC debutant Rick Davis with a single right hand at 1:37 of the opening round.
In attendance tonight, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, James Caan, Kazushi Sakuraba, Gary Goodridge, Paris Hilton, Nicholas Cage, David Spade, Everlast, Paul Walker, and Marlon Wayans.
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