UFC Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights Review - Disc 3

After some time off from reviewing these discs, here's Disc 3! The reviews will be shorter than usual, as I watched these fights over several days, mostly in the passenger seat of the car, so they're not as fresh in my mind as usual.

73. UFC 52: George St. Pierre vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller: This was GSP's first fight after losing his original title shot against Matt Hughes. And like most GSP fights, it's a fun scrappy battle that's never in doubt. GSP wins and continues to impress.

72. UFC 92: Frank Mir vs. Antonio Nogueira: This is another one of those fights that's on the set not because it's an excellent fight per se, but because it's historic in the sense that it was the first time in his long career that Big Nog was finished in a fight. And it was really the culmination of Frank Mir's big comeback in MMA after his motorcycle accident, as he regained the UFC heavyweight title (albeit in interim champion format). And, of course, it set up the incredible UFC 100 match with Brock Lesnar that shattered MMA PPV records. As a fight, it was fine.

71. Ulimate Ultimate 1996: Don Frye vs. Tank Abbott: I've seen this match before but completely forgot how it went. I assumed it was going to be a one-sided beating laid on Tank by Frye, but I was wrong. Tank comes out swinging hard and rocks Frye, who is in real trouble very fast. They start trading blows and Frye again comes out on the losing end of the exchanges. It's looking bad for Frye until Tank trips over his own feet, and gets quickly choked out by Frye on the ground. A bloody and battered Frye says in his post-fight interview that his strategy was to avoid getting hit (still good strategy), and he failed miserably at it, which was good for a laugh.

70. UFC 17: Pete Williams vs. Mark Coleman: I forgot about the early era of UFC when guys could wear shoes and kick. Skip the 12 minute match and go straight to the 3-minute overtime, which features one of the best highlight reel knockouts in history: Williams kicks Coleman straight in the jaw, and Coleman topples over onto the mat, unconscious. Tremendous finish. Post-match is notable for what appears to be a 14-year-old Joe Rogan interviewing Williams.

69. UFC 34: B.J. Penn vs. Caol Uno: Don't blink or you'll miss this one. Uno comes out with a flying knee that misses, BJ catches him off balance and pummels Uno against the cage until the ref stops it. BJ then sprints to the backstage area and sprints back for the official announcement of his victory. Total match time: 11 seconds. I gotta admit, this BJ Penn guy is growing on me.

68. UFC 84: Lyoto Machida vs. Tito Ortiz: Did you know that Lyoto is "elusive"? No, it's true - and you'll hear it about a billion times during this fight. Machida wins the decision. Fight notable for Ortiz almost pulling off the upset in round 3 with a choke, and the ref falling over during the match via tripping over his own feet, drawing a big ovation from the crowd.

67. UFC 31: Shonie Carter vs. Matt Serra: This is one of those fights where if you've watched UFC at all, you've seen the famous finish, which is Carter hitting a wild spinning backfist with seconds remaining in the third round to knock out Serra and win the match. But the actual fight is pretty fun, too, and there's some amazing foreshadowing at the end of round 1 where Shonie tries a spinning back elbow that grazes Serra's head and knocks him down. Wow!

64. UFC 94: Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn: This is the infamous "Greasegate" fight that Penn still complains about. It's a four-round slaughter, as GSP schools Penn until his corner throws in the towel before round 5. Penn is awesome at 155 lbs. At 170, decidedly not.

65. Ultimate Fight Night 10: Spencer Fisher vs. Sam Stout: Another fun 155 lbs. slugfest. Fisher gets cut and looks like heck by the time the fight is over, but comfortably wins the decision and rightfully so.

64. UFC 62: Chuck Liddell vs. Renato Sobral: Sobral talks tough in the pre-fight promo and then gets knocked into next week. Chuck basically admits during the pre-fight promo that his strategy is to hit the knockout punch. Again, I ask why it took so long for people to figure this out!

63. UFC 50: Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre: This was GSP's first chance at the title, and back when Hughes was still THE MAN. A competitive first round ends at 4:59 when Hughes clamps on an arm-bar, and GSP taps with one second remaining in the round. GSP took the lessons learned from that fight and became the monster champion he is today.

62. UFC 72: Tyson Griffin vs. Clay Guida: Yet another fun 155 lbs. division scrap. Griffin wins a baffling decision that saw Guida take rounds 2 and 3. Wacky. This should have been much higher than 62. A great fight.

61. UFC 80: B.J. Penn vs. Joe Stevenson: This is for the vacant lightweight title after Sean Sherk was stripped for a positive steroid test. Penn destroys Stevenson, literally leaving him crying in the octagon. Again, Penn is tremendous at 155 lbs.

That's it for Disc 3. Disc 4 review coming probably between Christmas and New Year's.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You talked about Mark Coleman and pete williams and the early days of the UFC being able to kick with shoes on. The thing is. Taht rule was put into place in UFC 6. This was UFC 17. This was clearly a violation of the rules. If you doubt me, watch UFC 6 when John Mcarthy yells at a fighter for kicking with shoes on.
Anonymous said…
actually I stand corrected, it was Ken Shamrock, and it was either his first or 2nd fight. watch them both and you will see. john mccarthy yells at shamrock for kicking with shoes on. Either way, it was 10 or 11 UFCs before williams kicked coleman in the head to win, with shoes on. I am watching all of the UFCs starting at number 1, im on 17 now and I just say that KO. It was complete BS, it should have been legal but not ONE person questioned it.
Anonymous said…
You're thinking of Ken Shamrock at UFC 3. This was actually a new rule debuting at that event. For a while there, fighters who chose to wear shoes were not allowed to kick. This rule however, was later dropped and you'll see other fighters wearing shoes kick for a while before shoes were phased out entirely.

Popular posts from this blog

Car camping in our Toyota Rav4

Buff Pack Run Cap review (and bonus thoughts on Run Cap Pro)

Travel blog: A glorious and triumphant return to Las Vegas