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RRC: 04/19/04 AMV: #152: Backlash 2004 - Counterpoint RCC Spotlight: Group Column: Changing Days RCC Spotlight: Rival Schools #13, WWE Backlash 2004 Wrestler Analysis and Review: AJ Styles
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MMA Review: #7: UFC 41: Onslaught
by: Scott Newman on: 4/22/2004 12:54 pm est  Bonjour. After the huge event that was UFC 40, and the legendary Ken Shamrock’s (albeit unsuccessful return), the Ultimate Fighting Championship obviously attempted to catch lightning in a bottle twice in a row with UFC 41. How? Well, the major selling point of the show was the return of David ‘Tank’ Abbott, another ‘legend’ from the earlier days of the UFC. Abbott was set to fight rising Heavyweight Frank Mir on this show, with the co-main event being the Heavyweight Title fight between Ricco Rodriguez and Tim Sylvia - two unbeaten men inside the Octagon. On the surface, UFC 41 doesn’t have the same amount of casual appeal that UFC 40 does…but does the actual show look that way? UFC 41: Onslaught 02/28/03 Atlantic City, New Jersey -Your hosts are Mike Goldberg, and for the first time in the booth, Ken Shamrock! They run down the card, before giving us a Ricco Rodriguez video package. Returning to the arena, we meet interviewer Lisa Durgan, who shows us the highlight of the weigh-ins - a tense showdown between Matt Lindland and Phil Baroni. Heavyweight Fight: Vladimir Matyushenko vs Pedro Rizzo I’m not expecting an exciting fight here, judging from what I’ve seen from both guys. We begin as Matyushenko tries a kick, then shoots in for a takedown. Rizzo sprawls to avoid, and they exchange some strikes before Vlad gets a takedown into a front facelock, and gets some punches in. Into Rizzo’s guard, and Rizzo holds Matyushenko down in order for the referee to force the standup. Instead Vlad stands out of the guard, then goes back down into side control, but this enables Rizzo to get up. Vlad shoots in, and Rizzo once again shows a good sprawl to avoid. Matyushenko grabs him with double underhooks, and gets a takedown into side control, where he hits some elbows and punches to close the round. Pretty slow pace to begin with. Round 2 opens up with some shots being exchanged, and Matyushenko gets a good left hand. He shoots in, but Rizzo avoids again only for Vlad to catch him with a nice right. Rizzo gets a takedown into Matyushenko’s guard, but quickly brings the fight back to standing. They go into the clinch, before the referee calls for a stoppage to check on a cut on Vlad’s head. He’s okay to continue, and gets a takedown shortly after the restart, into Rizzo’s guard. Rizzo uses the holding technique to force the official to stand them up. They exchange strikes, and Rizzo once again avoids a takedown, before going in for one of his own, which Matyushenko counters with what looks almost like Faarooq’s dominator! That ends the second - a cool ending to another slow round. They exchange to open Round 3, with Rizzo again sprawling out of a shoot from Vlad. Vlad gets underhooks, and goes against the fence, where they pretty much do nothing until the official breaks them. Vlad shoots, into Rizzo’s guard, but Rizzo holds him and they end up being stood again. Rizzo avoids a takedown, and gets a decent combo, before avoiding another takedown and hitting a high kick. The fight ends with them exchanging strikes. Unanimous decision goes to Matyushenko, in one of the least energetic fights I’ve seen. There were a number of periods of inactivity here, and Rizzo’s style really annoys me, as all he seems interested in doing is counterpunching. -We get a Baroni-Lindland video package. The bottom line? These guys HATE each other. Middleweight Fight: Matt Lindland vs Phil Baroni When I checked out reviews of this show most people said this fight ruled, so I’m expecting good things. The guys are basically polar opposites in terms of their personality, so it’s no surprise that there’s a bit of bad blood between them. Fight opens at a frantic pace as Lindland goes for a takedown, and Baroni hammers the body with punches as he tries it. Lindland SLAMS him down, and gets some knees to the body, before the fight goes back up, and Baroni rocks him with some HUGE shots to the head inside the clinch, buckling his knees! Lindland takes him back down, into a front facelock, and they come back up in the clinch where Lindland gives him some hard shots. Baroni comes back with some shots of his own as they exchange in the clinch. Lindland gets a great single leg, and lifts Baroni HIGH into the air before slamming him down. Lindland drops some punches and shoulder shots in the half-guard, while Baroni tries to hold him to end the round. Wild start to this one. Second opens with both guys exchanging punches, and Baroni’s clearly the more comfortable fighter on his feet, timing his punches nicely. Baroni now tries a takedown, which Lindland reverses, and gets into side control, where he uses some solid elbows, really working Baroni over. Lindland takes his back, but he can’t get his hooks in properly, and Baroni escapes to his feet, before getting a BIG slam on Lindland!~! Fuck yes, this fight owns. Baroni is now in side control, but Lindland reverses into the half-guard of Baroni before any damage is done. Lindland drops some really hard shots to end the round, as Baroni looks GASSED, sucking in wind pretty badly. They circle to open the third, exchanging punches, before Baroni gets a BIG right which triggers Lindland to go for the takedown again. He shoots in and goes into Baroni’s guard, where he lands some shots. The official stand them up and Baroni hits another nasty right, before Lindland gets a single leg, into the clinch where both guys exchange shots. Baroni’s really works the body shots now. Lindland goes for a single leg, then a double leg, but ends up kneeling in front of Baroni while Phil absolutely PLASTERS his kidneys with some of the sickest shots I’ve ever seen in MMA. The round ends there, and for Lindland’s sake, that was good. He’s got to have been pissing blood for WEEKS after taking those shots. Dan Henderson and Randy Couture (both sporting huge beards, hah) join Lindland in the Octagon, as he’s announced as the winner by unanimous decision. Wow. This was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen in the UFC, with both guys having their good moments, and both taking some serious punishment too. Lindland was dominant on the ground for the most part of the fight, which is why he took the decision, but I’ll be damned if he wasn’t seriously feeling the pain after the shots that Baroni gave him. Just a crazy, wild fight. -We get a video package to hype the fight between BJ Penn and Caol Uno for the vacant Lightweight Title. UFC Lightweight Title: BJ Penn vs Caol Uno This is both guys second shot at the title, as they both lost to former champ Jens Pulver before he left the UFC. They fought in a tournament to get to this fight, with Penn beating Matt Serra, and Uno beating Din Thomas. Penn’s the clear favourite going in, given that he KOd Uno within 20 seconds last time they fought. Uno prevents this in this fight by forcing Penn to touch gloves to begin, stopping him from sprinting across the ring! Ha, pretty logical I guess. Into the clinch to begin, and Uno gets a good sweeping takedown, before they come back up into the clinch. Penn gets a takedown into Uno’s half-guard, before quickly passing guard into full mount! Penn gets his back, and works for a choke, but can’t get it in properly. Back up, and Penn hits a good combo, before getting a single leg down into side control. He drops some elbows, and takes Uno’s back again, but can’t get the choke locked in, before the round ends. Pretty nice start for BJ. Penn gets a SWEET right to open the 2nd, and pins Uno against the fence while he tries a takedown. Uno reverses and gets double underhooks, then gets a legsweep into a front facelock. Back up, and they exchange kicks before Penn gets a good combo in. Uno grabs him in double underhooks, and gets a great spinning takedown into the half-guard, where he gets some good ground shots in. Back up, and Penn works the clinch, before Uno gets another good takedown, this time into the full guard. Back up again, and Uno gets some knees in the clinch, before Penn closes the round with a decent combo. Competitive round here. Round 3, and Uno gets some kicks in to begin, then gets double underhooks against the fence. He gets a takedown into the half-guard, before they get back up where Penn nails him with a combo. Penn works for a single leg, and gets the takedown. Uno tries a choke, but this enables Penn to pass the guard into side control, and then take Uno’s back! Uno desperately tries to turn back into the guard. Penn goes for a submission, but Uno manages to get into the guard, and drops some nice punches to end the round. They’re into Round 4, as Uno opens with some kicks again, before Penn gets a takedown into the half-guard. Penn gets some good punches, and takes Uno’s back, where he hits him with some decent rabbit punches lying on the ground. Uno tries to roll out, but takes some shots while doing it, before getting into the full guard. Penn tries to stand up, and does, getting a combo of punches and following with a sweeping takedown. He gets some solid forearms on the ground, and works to try to take his back again. Back up, and Uno’s face is bloody now, as Penn gets another takedown to end the round. Looks like we’re going the distance, then, for the third fight in a row. BJ opens the final round with some nice punches, which Uno counters by grabbing a single leg. Penn escapes, and they go back to the exchange, with Uno trying to get the clinch. Penn hits him with some good counterpunches, doing to Uno what Jens Pulver did to him, before trying a takedown. Back to the exchange of the strikes, and Uno keeps trying for the clinch. Penn gets a takedown, and gets Uno’s back, but again can’t get a choke synched in. Back up, and they go into the clinch, where Penn finishes the fight with some good shots. We’re going to the judges, and I fully expect Penn to get the decision. Sadly though…the fight is deemed a draw, meaning we STILL don’t have a Lightweight Champion! Honestly, that’s bullshit. I thought Penn had this fight won, as did the announcers and the people voting on the website. It’s fair enough if the judges think Uno won, but to give us a draw, in a fight for a vacant title? I really fail to see the logic in that one. Even if they’d normally go with a draw, I would’ve expected them to pick a winner in a fight like this. As for the fight itself, it did last the 25 minutes, but was really good to watch for the most part. -We see a Tank Abbott video package, which basically tries to hype him as the baddest man on the planet. Heavyweight Fight: Frank Mir vs Tank Abbott Mir was coming off the brutal beating he took from Ian Freeman here, and Abbott was receiving the ungodly hype from everyone, so I’m guessing the UFC wanted Abbott to wipe the floor with Mir. Abbott gets a HUGE pop from the crowd upon his entrance. We’re underway, and Tank comes out swinging, and sprawls to avoid a takedown from Mir. Mir pulls Tank into his guard, and works for an armbar, which Abbott tries to avoid. As Abbott’s trying to fight the armbar, Mir manages to get his leg, and lock in an ankle lock submission, and Tank quickly taps out. *Great* submission win for Mir, as Abbott’s big comeback lasts all of 45 seconds. See…I don’t get the appeal with Abbott at all, to be honest. I mean, he’s a tough, fat guy who likes to brawl and fight, but personally? I see MMA as a sport, not a spectacle. I’d rather see athletic guys who merge styles together than some big guy who swings wildly. I mean, the amount of hype he received here was incredible…and I’ve heard the payoff for his fights is big, too. I don’t see how UFC can honestly justify that, and in my opinion, they would’ve been better off getting the marketing machine behind someone newer and more skilled. -We see an interview with Chuck Liddell, and he claims that Tito Ortiz is ducking him. I believe they were trying to sort the fight for UFC 43 at this point, but of course, they ended up waiting until UFC 47, over a year later. -Video package for the main event. Sylvia is undefeated in MMA, with most of his wins coming by knockout, but judging on the package, Rodriguez is really confident, as he’s also unbeaten (in UFC, that is), and is of course the Heavyweight Champion of the World. UFC Heavyweight Title: Ricco Rodriguez vs Tim Sylvia Sylvia brings a ton of his fellow Miletich fighters down to the Octagon with him, including Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, and Robbie Lawler. Ricco gets a really cool entrance, complete with pyro display and flag waving, ala Tito Ortiz. Speaking of Ortiz, he’s accompanying Ricco, wearing his Light Heavyweight Title backwards around his waist. Both guys look in pretty decent shape, although neither’s really cut up. BIG pop for Sylvia at the introductions. Ricco shoots in to open, and Sylvia simply shoves him to the ground. The fact that his first takedown attempt failed so miserably must’ve shook Ricco’s confidence. They exchange jabs, and Ricco shoots in again. Tim avoids, and goes into Ricco’s guard, before they come back up. Ricco gets a leaping knee to the head, and shoots in as Sylvia seems content to enter the champ’s guard. Ricco works for the submission this time, and goes for an armbar, but Sylvia whacks him to avoid. Ricco finally gets the armbar....but Sylvia picks him up and DROPS HIM DOWN ON HIS HEAD!~! Holy strength, batman. Ricco’s obviously worried by this point. Back up, and Sylvia’s looking for the straight right, while Ricco tries some low kicks from distance, his hands looking dangerously low. Ricco lunges in with a kick, and Sylvia counters with a HUGE STRAIGHT RIGHT, which sends Ricco stumbling back and down onto the mat! Sylvia pounces, landing two or three shots on the ground before the official stops it, and we have a NEW Heavyweight Champion of the World! And it’s official, I’m a Tim Sylvia mark. Post-fight Sylvia and the rest of the Miletich guys are going wild (most notably Jens Pulver, who seems really pleased for Tim) before Tim says he couldn’t have done it without his teammates. They ask him what he was trying to do during the fight, and he says that he could see Ricco’s hands were low, and he knew that he just needed to get a good shot in. Sylvia, in his thick Maine accent, then says “I knew that when I hit him, I hit him haaaad”. Great showing for Sylvia, obviously, but less so for Ricco, who seemed to be on a roll going into this fight. Every time I’d seen Rodriguez previously he’d looked awesome, but here he seemed sluggish and almost tired. Maybe getting the belt made him a bit too laid back? I don’t know. Anyway, sweet way to end a really good show. The Extras As with UFC 40, UFC 41 is a double-disc DVD with the preliminary bouts on the second disc. They are: Yves Edwards vs Rich Clementi is a fight dominated by Edwards, but still going into the third round before Edwards is able to finish with a rear naked choke. Gan McGee vs Alexandre Dantas is a heavyweight fight with McGee dropping Dantas out of a submission attempt, and hitting some shots on the ground to finish. Matt Serra vs Din Thomas is the battle of the losers in the Lightweight Tournament, and is a pretty interesting fight. Serra works for the takedown throughout, but can’t get it, while Thomas simply counterpunches. Serra earns the decision based on his pressing of the fight, which was pretty even for the most part. Final Thoughts This was a really awesome show overall. The first three fights went to decision, but even though Rizzo/Matyushenko was a little slow, Lindland/Baroni - a really great fight - and Uno/Penn made up for it. I think the decision in the Uno/Penn fight was terrible, but it was a good fight nonetheless. Abbott’s return was obviously a bit of a letdown, but I guess UFC should’ve kinda expected that by putting him against a submission oriented guy like Mir. I’d say they should’ve had him against a fellow brawler like Cabbage to begin with. The main event was short, but the knockout’s one of my personal favourites (it’s in my banner!), and it was a great moment for Sylvia. Overall, it’s one of the best UFC shows I’ve seen, and I’d recommend the DVD to anyone who’s into or getting into MMA. Great stuff. See you soon for UFC 42. Peace, Scott Newman: OratoryNewman@gmail.com |
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