Event Title: UFC 65: Bad Intentions
Event Date: 18 November 2006
Event Venue: Arco Arena
Event Location: Sacramento
Date submitted: 20 November 2006
Submitted by: Jason Probst
Georges St Pierre delivered a rousing performance on Saturday night, seizing the UFC welterweight title with a punishing knockout of Matt Hughes.
With two title matches and nine total bouts on the card, some 16,000 fans filled Arco Arena in Sacramento as the UFC debuted in Northern California.
The main event was stopped in the second round after St.-Pierre finished Hughes with a wicked display of striking, using a left high kick that hammered the ex-champion on the temple as he dipped to check a low strike.
The new champion joyously celebrated his victory, which came after an exceptionally hard road back after losing to Hughes in October 2004 in their first match.
“I had a really hard way up here. It was just amazing. I had the best training partners,” St. Pierre told Randy Couture in his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “I just want to say to Matt to keep his head up. We’re going to fight again.”
Hughes only attempted one takedown in the bout, near the end of the first. It was a very quick shot, but St. Pierre sprawled expertly and spun out. He used movement and kept his range throughout, as Hughes seemed willing to let a stand-up battle develop.
“I wanted to impose my jab. Matt improved his standup a lot,” said the Canadian. “I’m not from the U.S.A., but I just wanted to say that I will keep this title in the North American Territory.
Hughes, who made seven title defense over two reigns, seemed surprised at how effective St.-Pierre was.
“I really don’t know what to say. I really didn’t think it would go down like that,” Hughes said.
The new champ said he looks forward to a third bout, while Hughes said he’ll take a look at his options and decide where to go from here. Either way, it was an impressive passing of the torch from the most dominant fighter in the UFC’s history to a new superstar-in-the-making.
The action was intense from the beginning, with Georges picking his spots with astute timing.
St. Pierre opened by landing a glancing jab, then missed a high left lead kick, with Hughes drilling home a low kick, a moment later. St. Pierre landed a snapping one-two that popped Hughes’ head back and got a smile from the champion, with the first sign of some redness materializing on the champ’s face. St.-Pierre landed a spinning right back kick that sent Hughes backward, though not as hard as the one he connected on in their first fight.
With 2:35 remaining Hughes ate a kick to the cup-thigh area and the action was stopped. After a break St. Pierre landed another left lead kick – ruthless and fast – and another break in the action was called.
St. Pierre landed a nice left high kick and generally had the better of the standup, as, oddly enough, Hughes opted not to try and take him down. Hughes threw a right kick and St. Pierre blasted him with a right down the pipe, and landed in Hughes’ guard, controlling and striking. But Hughes did a quick sit-out escape and got back up, in a nice display of technique.
Hughes finally shot in with about 25 second left, coming aggressively, but St. Pierre sprawled magnificently and whirled out of it.
St. Pierre then landed a gorgeous Superman punch and a knee to drop Hughes, and the crowd was going nuts as the jumped on the champ, with the round ending just in time.
In the second, Hughes ate more kicks and St. Pierre executed a gorgeous feint followed by a sweep kick to Hughes’ far leg – a very rarely seen tactic -- and dropped him. Hughes got back up quickly, though, with St. Pierre growing more confident by the minute.
St. Pierre then landed a perfectly timed left high kick as Hughes bent down to shoot in, eating the blow on the face. St. Pierre pounced on the downed champ, delving about a dozen shots, finishing the champ as referee John McCarthy intervened at 1:25 of the round.
With the win, St.-Pierre moves to 13-1, and Hughes goes to 41-5.
At the post-fight press conference, St.-Pierre showed up in a tan suit, looking the part of a new champion. Hughes appeared a mix of shellshock and disappointment. But he quashed any rumors that he'll retire, and made it clear he'll be back.
In the semi-main event, Tim Sylvia took a unanimous decision to retain his heavyweight title over Jeff Monson.
Monson shot for a low single and Sylvia sprawled nicely, then again a moment later sprawled again. But Monson kept rotating with Sylvia on top of him, trying to transition into a single leg takedown and being unable to get it. The fighters were restarted with 3:38 left in the round.
Monson tried two more takedowns and was shucked off, as Sylvia proved too rangy and big to effectively control. Sylvia worked a few jabs and Monson missed another takedown, as Sylvia backed away after shoving him to the canvas.
Monson landed a nice left hook with 25 seconds left in the round, as the pair largely did very little on the feet for long stretches, with
Sylvia mostly pawing with jabs. Monson then landed a good right hand that sealed the round in the final ten seconds.
The first minute of the second round was uneventful, with Monson getting stuffed on another takedown attempt and Sylvia shooting more jabs but rarely landing. Monson ended up on the ground after another missed shot, and Sylvia kicked him a few times on the legs. A this point, the crowd seemed torn between submitting to a committed boo and giving the fighters a chance to turn something up, for when they did throw hard, it elicited cheers. They will turn quick either way on you, the feel is not unlike that of the Coliseum, where the turn of a thumb can make a world of difference.
Sylvia landed a couple solid jabs for the next three minutes, but Monson largely moved and seemed preoccupied with the takedown. Sylvia finally landed his money punch, the big right cross, and Monson took it flush, but didn’t buckle, before the round ended with Monson missing another takedown and Sylvia trying to work from the sprawl position.
Monson finally nailed a takedown as the third began, and the crowd went nuts, sensing that his paradigm had finally arrived.
He drilled a few rights down as Sylvia worked to control Monson’s hands on his back, but the master grappler postured up. Sylvia tried to scoot out but Monson bulldogged back into guard. Sylvia was pretty calm and composed considering that the two-time Abu Dahbi champ had him down, but Tim picked a few shots off and landed now and then, keeping Monson honest.
At two minutes left, Monson passed into side control, and the crowd went insane. Monson then attempted a guillotine choke and Sylvia rolled out. The champ stayed cool and hung in until there was a restart to check a cut on Monson's right eye, which was bleeding near the eyelid, below the orbit. Sylvia landed a nice right hand and a flying right knee that stunned the challenger and dropped him, and then the bell rang, saving Monson from a bad spot.
In the fourth, the two largely circled for a minute and twenty seconds until Monson missed a takedown and Sylvia emerged on top, in side control. Monson tried to power up and regain his feet but Sylvia shoved him down and eventually got in half-guard, pressing his 262 pounds on Monson. Monson then executed a backdoor escape and got back in Sylvia’s guard, getting more cheers from the crowd.
Sylvia then attempted a sloppy triangle choke that didn’t threaten to finish, but it was certainly enough to seal the round for him.
Coming into the fifth and final round, Monson’s face was lumped up, swelling under both eyes. But he shot for a surprisingly quick takedown, as Sylvia sprawled nicely. There wasn’t much action over the next 90 seconds, as Monson looked tired and tentative, and Sylvia not much better. Ref John McCarthy stopped the action and told the fighters to start working.
Monson missed another takedown attempt and ended up on his back eating leg kicks from Sylvia. They were restarted again as McCarthy urged more action. Monson missed another takedown attempt with fifty seconds left and was back in the standing-kicking position as Sylvia gave him more of the business to the legs. The crowd was booing and seemed to be on the verge of giving up hope, when they had a brief exchange of punches. The bell rang, with a chorus of rousing boos serving up a firm denemount.
“I rolled through and was able to get my hips up,” Sylvia said of the guillotine attempt.
The judges scored the bout 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 for Sylvia, who retained his title.
Andrew McFedries didn’t show any first-time jitters in his UFC debut, scoring an impressive knockout of Alessio Sakara at 4:07 in the first round. The light heavies landed some big shots on one another.
“This is what it’s about,” McFedries said of the action-packed bout. “I know Alessio’s a great boxer…so I said what the hell, let’s get it on.” He had caught me with some hard previous shots.
McFedries came out fast, letting his hands go and pushing the action as Sakara mostly countered and covered up in spots. Sakara then landed a nice one-two after weathering the opening storm, though, and forced McFedries to the cage, raining a couple of vicious rights to the body. McFedries seemed in bad shape but came back firing punches though they were wild and inaccurate. Sakara then landed some thumping shots up against the cage.
Later in the round, Sakara forced another standup exchange and drilled a couple nice power punches in, but McFedries stayed calm and took him down. McFedries took several shots but showed a big-time chin. Finally,
But the Iowa fighter came back game, landing a nice left hook-right uppercut combo to stun Sakara, who dropped in a delayed reaction after eating the shots. McFedries then jumped on him and finished the bout
Frank Mir and Brandon Vera traded a hard shot each, then Vera caught Mir in a Muay Thai clinch after a solid right cross. Mir ate a couple of knees on the chin, and fell to the ground, clearly stunned. Vera pounced, eventually driving home a series of elbows and shots that prompted a referee stoppage one minute and nine seconds into the bout.
Vera said in his post-fight interview in the Octagon that taking on the former champ had him motivated.
“I was scared. Frank Mir was a hero of mine. I always wanted to be like Frank,” Vera said. With the win, Vera remained unbeaten, and earned a title shot against champ Sylvia.
Sylvia, however, offered up a challenge in the ring after he beat Monson.
“Brandon, I hope you bring it. I’m going to knock your ass out,” he said.
Joe "Daddy" Stevenson came into his bout with Dokonjyonosuke Mishima needing a win to raise his stock in the 155-lb. division. The winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 3, Stevenson fought a very experienced, wily veteran of the Japan fight circuit in Mishima.
Stevenson sunk in a wicked guillotine and Mishima was caught tightly in the submission. He tried to slam his way out of it, and Stevenson just kept cranking. He escaped a moment later, though and kept pressuring from top position. However, Stevenson stayed cool as Mishima kept pushing, though, eventually securing another guillotine that forced Mishima to tap at 2:07 of the opening round.
Stevenson is now 30-7, while Mishima drops to 17-4-2.
“I wanted him to stand up, and he took me down. That guy is awesome.” Stevenson told Couture, adding that the first guillotine attempt was “kind of iffy” but the subsequent finisher was better applied.
Stevenson’s size at lightweight could make him a compelling challenger to champion Sean Sherk, and the victory here was a good boost for his campaign for a title shot.
Stockton welterweight Nick Diaz delivered a hard-nosed thumping to Graison Tibau, stopping the American Top Team fighter in the second after a lengthy ground and pound attack.
The pair took it to the mat early, with Tibau scoring a takedown then working into position to attempt and arm lock, but Diaz squired out after a lengthy battle. Diaz then attempted an arm bar about a minute later but Tibau managed to flop out of what looked to be a threatening situation.
Diaz then got top position and landed a few strikes, including some good repetitive ground and pound that got some cheers. Diaz wasn’t throwing monster shots, just steady ones, and Tibau, pinned against the cage, was taking some rough stuff.
Diaz used his knee expertly to pin Tibau against the cage and deny him an escape. The bell rang, saving Tibau from further punishment.
Diaz then put his foe on the cage in the second round and landed perhaps 25 shots in a long display of punishment. , Diaz was connecting with elbows, hammer fists, arm punches, and they were just about to bring in the kitchen sink when he stood up and paused for a couple seconds. Finally, he started punching again and the bout was stopped by referee Steve Mazzagatti at 2:27 of the second round.
“I came off to a slow start…I didn’t know much about my opponent. Training didn’t go as good as it usually does,” Diaz said. “”I just went in and took my time. He did crank on my arm a little bit.”
Diaz goes to 14-6, while Tibau drops to 11-4. With his second victory in a row following his impressive submission of Josh Neer, Diaz has had a pretty good 2006 and with another win – particularly against one of the top fighters in the division – he could be right back into the mix.
James Irvin scored a TKO at 2:36 of the second round over a tough Hector Ramirez, in a very exciting light heavyweight bout.
Ramirez, 203, showed good wrestling and intensity in his UFC debut, but Irvin’s potent power settled the affair after it looked like he might be on a brink of losing for the third time in The Octagon.
Irvin, 205.5, came out with a hard right kick that grazed Ramirez, then landed another. Ramirez then took Irvin down after a lengthy struggle and took Irvin’s back, securing the hooks. Ramirez landed a few shots but there wasn’t a lot of action. After being in a bad spot for perhaps 90 seconds, Irvin then executed a back door escape and hurt Ramirez with a hard kick, and landed a wild left kick and ate a right from Ramirez, falling down. With the crowd going berserk, Irvin held Ramirez in guard and Ramirez passed to half guard.
Irvin then stood up – like a rising, wounded animal, getting pelted, smacked, and roughed up with his back to Ramirez. He then unleashed a spinning back fist as he turned to unload the haymaker, but it just missed, with the crowd going nuts.
Irvin then landed a big right while eating a huge series of shots, but swung a mean low right kick to back Ramirez off. Ramirez landed a glancing hook, and both men seemed to be regrouping from the taxing opening round. Irvin then landed a Superman punch, and the crowd cheered.
Finally, the bomb Irvin had been waiting for detonated. Switching to lefty as his foe moved in, he drilled a perfect power right jab down the pipe, dropping Ramirez. Irvin walked away, thinking referee Mario Yamasaki would stop the fight, then stepped in and delivered a hard right kick to the downed Ramirez’ body. The bout was stopped, and the hometown crowd went wild.
With the win, Irvin goes to 12-3, while Ramirez is now 6-2-1.
“People who don’t know Hector, he’s actually a good friend of mine. He’s actually almost a national champion wrestler. He’s a tough guy,” Irvin said afterward. The two fighters were formerly training partners, but fought like enemies.
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