In a light heavyweight mixed martial arts bout between Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and “Sugar” Rashad Evans last Saturday, the fight progressed and ended the way most heavyweight boxing matches do: with slow action and a hard knockout. Evans took down Liddell with a hard right 1:51 into the second round, sending the former light heavyweight champ to the canvas. The Iceman was out cold and the bout was stopped immediately.
Evans pranced around the ring and even did a Fred Sanford heart attack imitation during his celebration. Liddell, the Atlanta crowd favorite, stayed on the canvas for several minutes before finally being revived.
Evans had entered The Octagon to a chorus of boos while Liddell enjoyed a hero’s welcome. Even after the knockout, the pro-Liddell crowd still did not seem to accept Evans, booing as the victor was officially announced.
Liddell’s knockout reminded many of his loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson during UFC 71 in 2007. Liddell went in for the uppercut and was caught with a straight right in both matches by his opponent. Liddell has now lost three of his last four matches and will likely have to think about retiring. The UFC legend denied any thoughts of retiring in the days leading up to the fight, however.
“Like I keep telling everybody, I’ve got two to four years, and hopefully in two years I’m still saying two to four years,” the Iceman remarked. “I still love fighting, I still love training, and I still love what I do, so I’ll be here as long as my body lets me. I’m still here to prove that I’m the best at 205. That’s what I’m here for, so I’m going to have to do it against the young guys. It’s great that these guys are coming up, and proving that I can still beat ‘em is fun for me.”
The Evans-Liddell bout ended a night of MMA action at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta. In all there were 10 fights, each ending a different way. After five fights started the night, the pay-per-view feed kicked in and “UFC 88 – Breakthrough” was on live across the globe.
A boisterous and vocal crowd of 14,736 attended the affair. UFC President Dana White remarked to an amused post-fight press room, “Do you know who beat us here (at Philips Arena)? Barbra Streisand. And that sucks. We want a rematch with Barbra.”
OTHER RESULTS
In the fight just before the main card, Rich Franklin defeated former training partner Matt Hamill in another light-heavyweight tilt. The crowd seemed to favor Franklin in the bout, but the hearing-impaired Hamill seemed to have his supporters as well. It was a 20-pound jump for Franklin who recently left the middleweight rank after three losses to Anderson Silva, the UFC middleweight champ.
Early on, it seemed almost as if the two friends were hesitant to strike each other. During the second round, the referee stopped the fight and asked the ringside doctor to examine a cut over Franklin’s right eye. The Ohio native passed the exam and the bout was allowed to continue. That turned out to be bad news for Hamill, as two minutes later he received a hard left kick to the ribs and fell in a heap on the canvas. Franklin pounced, landing several blows before the referee stepped in and started the fight.
After the fight, Franklin explained his reluctance to enjoy his win.
“Victory, in this case, is kind of bittersweet,” he said. “It’s a difficult thing.”
An interesting twist occurred during one of the earlier fights prior to the main card. Kurt Pellegrino (18-4) appeared to have submitted opponent Thiago Tavares (17-3). Tavares looked to have tapped Pellegrino’s shoulder, but referee Yves Lavigne did not see it.
Pellegrino said while still in the Octagon, “I know [the armbar] was super duper tight.” And then, after watching the replay, “Yeah, he tapped.”
Another controversial moment occurred during the following fight, which featured Matt Brown also of Cincinnati (10-7) and South Korean Dong Hyun Kim “The Human Stun Gun” (11-0-1). The fight lasted the full three rounds and required a decision from the judges. To the dismay of the pro-Brown crowd, a split decision gave the victory to Kim. The crowd booed lustily and even UFC announcer Joe Rogan commented that he believed Brown won the fight.
UFC veteran Dan Henderson (23-7) won a unanimous decision over Brazilian Rousimar Palhares (17-2). Henderson had lost his last two fights to a couple of the best MMA fighters ever – Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva. The lack of action in the fight gave the crowd more reason to disapprove and Henderson apologized in a post-fight interview.
“It’s been a while (since he has fought). This opponent was as tough as anybody I’ve faced. I wanted to try to keep it on my feet. Normally, I’m more aggressive, so I apologize about that.”
In another middleweight bout, Nate Marquardt (29-9-2) was all over Martin Kampmann (13-2) from the get-go. Referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight with 1:22 remaining in the first round
A RETURN?
The event appeared to be a success for Atlanta. White will likely want to return to Atlanta for a second time, possibly for a card featuring local favorite Forrest Griffin, the current UFC Light Heavyweight champion. Griffin, a UGA grad, had trained out of Athens for some time prior to a recent move to Las Vegas.
The big news, however, was Evans’s upset of Liddell. The former Michigan State wrestler has earned a title shot, according to White.
“Yeah, he deserves the next shot,” White said. “How could you say he doesn’t deserve the shot after tonight?”
White would not disclose the date or site of the impending title bout, but the world of MMA eagerly awaits the occasion.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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