UFC 71 – Results
So I called my cable company and they confirmed my suspicion that they were not televising this event in HD. This is quite ridiculous to me so I didn’t order it and I’ll be stubborn and won’t order it until they start offering it in HD.
And onto the fights…
The first televised fight was Chris Leben vs. Kalib Starnes. This overall was a pretty good fight. There were different parts where it seemed either guy could win. Both fighters looked fairly gassed though as this one went the full 3 rounds and ended in a decision for Kalib Starnes.
Next was Keith Jardine vs Houston Alexander. Jardine was irritated in a pre-fight interview indicating that he was frustrated that he was being made to fight Alexander prior to getting a title shot. At the start of the fight, it seemed like Jardine might be right as he appeared to catch Alexander with a punch that dazed him. Following that, Alexander ignited into a flurry of his own punches and eventually knocked out Jardine with an uppercut that made his knees buckle. It will be interesting to see what Jardine says after this one.
Then it was was Terry Martin (so called Mike Tyson lookalike) vs. Ivan Salaverry. Martin was very confident coming in saying it was a mistake for his Salaverry to even take the fight. Martin did end up dominating the fight winning on referee stoppage.
Josh Burkman against Karo Parisyan had a lot of pre-fight tension. The fighters refused to touch gloves in the ring and stood with their faces pressed together while the referee uttered instructions for the fight. The first couple of rounds were fairly even, but I would give the edge to Parisyan as he seemed to control the pace and his punches were landing more squarely while Burkman missed with numerous haymaker style shots. Burkman looked a lot more winded going into the third round than Parisyan. In the third round, both fighters looked a bit winded. Parisyan ended up winning a unanimous decision at the end of the fight. Parisyan then pleaded with Dana White for a title shot.
The fight between Din Thomas and Jeremy Stephens who is making his UFC debut at the age of 21 had a great opportunity. Although Stephens was dominated on the ground in the first round, Stephens did an excellent job avoiding any submissions including several attempts by Thomas to sink in a rear naked choke. Right before the end of the first round, Stephens managed to stand up and then aggressively threw a flurry of punches. In the second round, there was a controversial stoppage as it didn’t look like Stephens tapped but Thomas has the armbar locked in so hard that he would have broken Stephens’ arm if the fight hadn’t been stopped.
The Main Event was a rematch between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. Rampage is the only fighter to defeat Chuck Liddell where Liddell had not avenged the defeat. Liddell looked very loose coming into the octagon while Jackson looked extremely focused. Liddell was not overly aggressive at the start of the fight and Jackson signaled for Liddell to bring it. Once the exchanges began, Liddell went for a body shot and upon coming up, Jackson caught him with a right cross that sent Liddell to the canvas. From there, Jackson laid into Liddell until McCarthy stopped the fight. Liddell didn’t argue the decision but seemed quite dazed after the fight.
Yet another Championship fight upset took place. This has been an interesting year showing Franklin’s loss to Silva, Hughes loss to St. Pierre followed by St. Pierre’s loss to Serra and now Liddell’s loss to Jackson. There are no guarantees in MMA which is what makes it so exciting to watch.
I’ve seen Chuck in some interviews and I have a feeling that concussions have gotten the best of him. Chuck has a fighter’s spirit but maybe it’s time to consider going out a legend.
June 8th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Chuck Liddell will win anyway! I am 100% sure about it! I even put bet on Chuck Liddell, as Franklin is no match for him.