On this day, March 19, one year ago, a lanky 23-year-old from Rochester, NY stepped into the Octagon to face the biggest challenge of his young MMA career. He would meet the challenge head-on and walk out of the cage 20 minutes later a champion.
The fighter was Jon Jones and the challenge was PRIDE legend and then-UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, whom he faced that night for the title. Jones demonstrated the poise and skill set of a veteran, finishing Rua in the third round after controlling the first two frames, and in doing so, he quieted the doubters, if only for a moment.
(“Where is your hero now?”)
On this day, March 19, one year ago, a lanky 23-year-old from Rochester, NY stepped into the Octagon to face the biggest challenge of his young MMA career. He would meet the challenge head-on and walk out of the cage 20 minutes later a champion.
The fighter was Jon Jones and the challenge was PRIDE legend and then-UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, whom he faced that night for the title. Jones demonstrated the poise and skill set of a veteran, finishing Rua in the third round after controlling the first two frames, and in doing so, he quieted the doubters, if only for a moment.
His next two finishes over former champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida would further legitimize “Bones” and cement the footings of the legacy of the UFC’s youngest champion ever. His impressive mark may be duplicated or surpassed some day by a lifelong MMA-trained 22-year-old, but until then Jones will continue his reign and look to continue to bulldozer through all comers at 205, starting with onetime teammate and current number one contender/nemesis Rashad Evans next month at UFC 145.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/Machinemen)
Will he retain his belt and continue his freight train reign of dominance? Who knows, but at least we do know we’re all in for a hell of a ride come April 21.
If the first MMA fight you ever watched was Stephan Bonnar versus Forrest Griffin, chances are you have no clue who “Judo” Gene LeBell is, but pull up a chair because you’re about to learn about the man in the pink gi.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/TheFightNerd)
If the first MMA fight you ever watched was Stephan Bonnar versus Forrest Griffin, chances are you have no clue who “Judo” Gene LeBell is, but pull up a chair because you’re about to learn about the man in the pink gi.
Many people give credit to the Gracies for bringing MMA to North America since they were responsible for founding the UFC and it’s Brazilian predecessor, The Gracie Challenge, but credit should actually go to Lebell, who helped introduce the sport to the masses nearly 30 years before the Octagon was invented.
Although it was seen as a spectacle or a publicity stunt at the time, decorated judo black belt Judo Gene Lebell called the bluff of a writer from a low budget magazine by the name of “The Judo Bums” that had boldly stated that any boxer regardless of ranking could beat a judo practician because judo players were all frauds.
After Lebell publicly denounced the troll story, the magazine offered to set up a bout between Gene and the writer boxer. He quickly accepted.
The modified ruled, no-holds-barred bout went down in Salt Lake City, Utah in December, 1963, but the pundit subbed in a professional boxer in his stead at the last minute by the name of Milo Savage. Both men wore gi tops and the only agreed upon rule was that they weren’t allowed to kick. Before the fight, Savage was caught trying to conceal brass knuckles under his hand wraps. In spite of the fact that Savage covered himself from head to toe with grease, Lebell still managed to hold onto the slippery boxer long enough to choke him out in the fourth round to become the first winner of a televised MMA bout in North America.
He would go on to train the likes of Bruce Lee, Gokor Chivichyan, Karo Parisyan and Manny Gamburyan while doing double-duty as a coach and movie stuntman over the course of his career.
Perhaps his crowning achievement besides the historic fight with Savage was the time he (allegedly) made Steven Seagal lose control of his bodily functions in his trailer on the set of “Out for Justice.”
As the story goes, Seagal purportedly told Lebell, who was a stunt coordinator on the film, that his Aikido trumped judo in effectiveness and that he could escape any hold Gene could apply. After the 58-year-old choked out “The Glimmer Man,” he proceeded to make him piss his pants by manipulating an acupuncture point on his neck he said was attached to the bladder.
After waking up in a puddle of his own urine, Segal kicked all of the onlookers out of his trailer and called his lawyers, who proceeded to slap a gag order on the cast and crew, warning them that if anyone breathed a word about the event, he would sue their asses. Thankfully the story saw the light of day, or else people may actually think Seagal is a dangerous former CIA operative who could kill you with his pinky finger like he claims.
The Gracie clan tried to set up a bout between Gene and Rickson 20 years ago, but it never materialized since there was a 27-year age difference between the two. Instead, Judo Gene suggested that he fight Helio instead, which the Gracies accepted, only if he could lose 55 lbs for the bout as Helio weighed 145 at the time. What’s curious is the fact that Gracie supporters have maintained that by turning down both bouts, Lebell ducked the family, even though Helio fought men much bigger than he was for most of his career.
Happy birthday to Mr. Lebell, who was born 79 years ago today and thank you for helping make North American MMA what it is today.
Tanner, who was open about his fights with alcohol abuse and his personal demons is said to have called his manager, John Hayner to let him know that his dirt bike had run out of gas a few miles from his camp and that his trip was going well besides the mishap. When he failed to answer calls from friends the next day, police were dispatched and after a brief aerial search, located Tanner’s camp and his remains a few miles away from his abandoned motorcycle.
Hayner told us at the time that the troubled 37-year-old had turned his life around thanks to a move to Oceanside and the rebirth of his career in the UFC where he recently re-signed. Tanner was hoping that the desert trip, which he planned for months and did hours of research for, would leave him feeling rejuvenated and ready to build on the mistakes he made in his last bout — a hard-fought split-decision loss to Kendall Grove at the TUF 7 finale that June.
“He was in a real positive state of mind, he wasn’t having any drinking problems or any of those types of problems. He was really feeling good about his life,” Hayner told CagePotato.com. Here was a famous UFC fighter who didn’t have enough food to eat at times. I’d call him just to make sure he had food in his fridge, but he never let it get him down. Starting over was kind of a theme in his life. He hardly ever lived in the same place more than six months,” Hayner said. “He moved out to Vegas and then found it too shallow for him, so he moved out to Oceanside and had a great place, he was learning to surf, and he was really enjoying his day-to-day life.”
Tanner, who was open about his fights with alcohol abuse and his personal demons is said to have called his manager, John Hayner to let him know that his dirt bike had run out of gas a few miles from his camp and that his trip was going well besides the mishap. When he failed to answer calls from friends the next day, police were dispatched and after a brief aerial search, located Tanner’s camp and his remains a few miles away from his abandoned motorcycle.
Hayner told us at the time that the troubled 37-year-old had turned his life around thanks to a move to Oceanside and the rebirth of his career in the UFC where he recently re-signed. Tanner was hoping that the desert trip, which he planned for months and did hours of research for, would leave him feeling rejuvenated and ready to build on the mistakes he made in his last bout — a hard-fought split-decision loss to Kendall Grove at the TUF 7 finale that June.
“He was in a real positive state of mind, he wasn’t having any drinking problems or any of those types of problems. He was really feeling good about his life,” Hayner told CagePotato.com. Here was a famous UFC fighter who didn’t have enough food to eat at times. I’d call him just to make sure he had food in his fridge, but he never let it get him down. Starting over was kind of a theme in his life. He hardly ever lived in the same place more than six months,” Hayner said. “He moved out to Vegas and then found it too shallow for him, so he moved out to Oceanside and had a great place, he was learning to surf, and he was really enjoying his day-to-day life.”
In an eerie bit of foreshadowing, Tanner spoke about the fact that he may not return from the trip in one SPIKE TV blog post before rebuking the opinions of reporters and fans who thought his planned expedition was reckless and dangerous in another.
“I’ve been gathering my gear for this adventure for over a month, not a long time by most standards, but far too long for my impatient nature. Being a minimalist by nature, wanting to carry only the essentials, and being extremely particular, it has been a little difficult to find just the right equipment,” he wrote. “I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life. I’ve been doing a great deal of research and study. I want to know all I can about where I’m going, and I want to make sure I have the best equipment.”
(Video courtesy of YouTube/onceiwasachampion)
“It seems some MMA websites have reported on the story, posting up that I might die out in the desert, or that it might be my greatest opponent yet, etc. Come on, guys. It’s really common down in Southern California to go out to the off-road recreation areas in the desert about an hour away from LA and San Diego,” Tanner later explained. “So my plan is to go out to the desert, do some camping, ride the motorcycle, and shoot some guns. Sounds like a lot of fun to me. A lot of people do it. This isn’t a version of ‘Into the Wild.’”
Unfortunately it turned out to be exactly that.
RIP Evan Tanner. Believe in the power of one.
If you get the chance to see the Tanner documentary Once I was a Champion, do yourself a favor and check it out.
UFC featherweight champion José Aldo made his MMA debut seven years ago at EcoFight 1 in Amapá, Brazil.
Why it matters:
It’s not the fact that Aldo defeated Mario Bigola in just 18 seconds by soccer-kick KO at the event, it’s that he did it at the age of 17, setting the tone for what would become a dominant career. Bigola retired following the bout and Aldo racked up an impressive 19-1 record, including an undefeated eight-fight tear through the WEC and successful defenses of his WEC and UFC belts.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/CP)
UFC featherweight champion José Aldo made his MMA debut seven years ago at EcoFight 1 in Amapá, Brazil.
Why it matters:
It’s not the fact that Aldo defeated Mario Bigola in just 18 seconds by soccer-kick KO at the event, it’s that he did it at the age of 17, setting the tone for what would become a dominant career. Bigola retired following the bout and Aldo racked up an impressive 19-1 record, including an undefeated eight-fight tear through the WEC and successful defenses of his WEC and UFC belts.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/ThiagoSilva187)
Aldo has been mentioned in the same breath as MMA greats like Anderson Silva, George St-Pierre and Fedor Emelianenko when discussing the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. Having run through the best fighters the WEC had to offer and getting close to doing the same in the UFC, a jump up to 155 may be in “Scarface’s” near future.
Kevin “The Monster Randleman was born 40 years ago in Sandusky, Ohio.
Why he matters:
(Video courtesy of YouTube/hayes9000)
A two time Division I NCAA Champion for Ohio State, in his prime, Randleman was one of the most dangerous fighters in MMA. He holds wins over Murilo “Ninja” Rua, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Maurice Smith and Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, but is perhaps best known for the back-and-forth wars he came up short in. His gruelling 21-minute split decision loss to Bas Rutten at UFC 20, last minute TKO loss to Randy Couture at UFC 28 and Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinal loss to Fedor Emelianenko did little to tarnish Randleman’s impressive career as he seemed close to finishing each opponent at various times in those bouts. Unfortunately his highlight-reel suplex slam of Emelianenko that nearly knocked out the Russian ended with him tapping out to a kimura moments later.
UFC 87: Seek and Destroy went down three years ago at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Why it Matters:
(Video courtesy of YouTube/SemtexRumble617)
• Jon Jones made his UFC debut on the card, defeating fellow undefeated fighter Andre Gusmao by unanimous decision. Jones would go on to win five of his next six fights in dominating fashion against some of the promotion’s best fighters including Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 to win the UFC light heavyweight strap in a little more than two-and-a-half years since he first competed in the Octagon. Analysts predict that he will go down as one of the sport’s best fighters. Time will tell.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/IronChefKenichiSakai)
UFC 87: Seek and Destroy went down three years ago at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Why it Matters:
(Video courtesy of YouTube/SemtexRumble617)
• Jon Jones made his UFC debut on the card, defeating fellow undefeated fighter Andre Gusmao by unanimous decision. Jones would go on to win five of his next six fights in dominating fashion against some of the promotion’s best fighters including Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 to win the UFC light heavyweight strap in a little more than two-and-a-half years since he first competed in the Octagon. Analysts predict that he will go down as one of the sport’s best fighters. Time will tell.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/SAWrestlingEire)
• Brock Lesnar got his first UFC win by decisively beating PRIDE veteran Heath Herring via unanimous decision (30-26 all) after getting submitted in his first bout by Frank Mir. In his next bout, which was only his fourth in MMA, he defeated Randy Couture to win the UFC heavyweight championship.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/zeno35)
• Jon Fitch faced Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight strap and was dominated by the French Canadian champion for five rounds. In spite of a seven-fight undefeated streak since the bout, including a draw in a so-called title eliminator with BJ Penn at UFC 127 in February, Fitch has been passed over more than once for another shot at St-Pierre.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/Sherdog)
• Kenny Florian defeated Roger Huerta, effectively knocking “El Matador” off of his trajectory towards an inevitable title shot. Florian would defeat Joe Stevenson in his next bout at UFC 91 to earn a second shot at the lightweight strap against BJ Penn at UFC 101.
Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson went down 3 years ago.
Why it matters:
• Bobby Southworth retained his Strikeforce light heavyweight strap by defeating Anthony Ruiz via unanimous decision. Ruiz beat B-South in their previous bout the previous november, but it wasn’t a title fight. Neither was Southworth’s fight that September against Bill Mahood at the Playboy mansion. It didn’t matter though since he won that fight by verbal submission when Mahood (who later tested positive for steroids) injured his ribs. Southworth, who held the strap longer than any other fighter would lose the belt in his next fight with Renato Sobral. Since then, it has changed hands four times.
• Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (who won the title by defeating then-champion Clay Guida) lost his title to Strikeforce U.S. lightweight champion Josh Thompson in his second title defense via unanimous decision. After defending the newly-unified title once, Thomson would lose the belt in the rematch the following April. Melendez hasn’t lost since.
• Strikeforce women’s welterweight tournament winner Miesha Tate made her promotional debut.
Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson went down 3 years ago.
Why it matters:
• Bobby Southworth retained his Strikeforce light heavyweight strap by defeating Anthony Ruiz via unanimous decision. Ruiz beat B-South in their previous bout the previous november, but it wasn’t a title fight. Neither was Southworth’s fight that September against Bill Mahood at the Playboy mansion. It didn’t matter though since he won that fight by verbal submission when Mahood (who later tested positive for steroids) injured his ribs. Southworth, who held the strap longer than any other fighter would lose the belt in his next fight with Renato Sobral. Since then, it has changed hands four times.
• Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (who won the title by defeating then-champion Clay Guida) lost his title to Strikeforce U.S. lightweight champion Josh Thompson in his second title defense via unanimous decision. After defending the newly-unified title once, Thomson would lose the belt in the rematch the following April. Melendez hasn’t lost since.
• Strikeforce women’s welterweight tournament winner Miesha Tate made her promotional debut.
Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
June 27, 2008
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
Preliminary Card
Alexander Trivino defeated Eric Jacob via Submission (Armbar) at 0:37 of round 1.
Jorge Interiano defeated Travis Johnson via TKO (Doctor stoppage) at 3:00 of round 2.
Cyrillo Padilha def. Jesse Jones via Unanimous Decision.
Bryan Caraway def. Alvin Cacdac via Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 1:39 of round 1.
Bobby Stack defeated Jose Palacios via Unanimous Decision.
Chris Cariaso def. Anthony Figueroa via Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 4:34 of round 2.
Jeremiah Metcalf defeated Raymond Daniels via Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 0:59 of round 2.
Main Card
Miesha Tate def. Elaina Maxwell via Unanimous Decision.
Bobby Southworth defeated Anthony Ruiz via Unanimous Decision to retain the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship
Billy Evangelista def. Nam Phan via Split Decision.
Josh Thomson defeated Gilbert Melendez via Unanimous Decision to win the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship
Eric Lawson defeated Jesse Gillespie via Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 1:03 of round 1. This fight was delayed until after the main event.
EliteXC put its first foot in the grave 3 years ago.
Why it matters:
An EliteXC planned ShoXC event scheduled for this day in 2008 was inexplicably postponed, signalling that the promotion was possibly in trouble. Although they didn’t give a reaon for the cancellation of the show less than three weeks out, it was reported that they had problems securing the Sycuan Casino and Resort in San Diego, California.
It’s too bad that the show didn’t happen. If it had, we may at least one decent match-up with a fighter that could eventually bolster Strikeforce’s roster.
Hector Lombard was supposed to be on the card, but when the show was scrapped, the up-and-coming Cuban Judoka chose not to fight for the struggling promotion and instead went back to Australia to defend his Cage Fighting Championship middleweight strap in May and September of that year.
A few weeks after the event was put on ice, EliteXC announced during a conference call for its July 26 CBS show that it had downgraded president Gary Shaw’s role to basically that of a consultant with the company.
ProElite Executive Chairman Doug DeLuca put his PR skills to good use when describing the demotion.
“Gary is still very involved with ProElite. Gary and our team from Day One at ProElite basically took MMA at our company from ground zero to a huge network success. So, Gary’s got a lot to be proud of in the MMA world. In the process of doing it, as you can imagine, Gary being from the East Coast and we being a West Coast company, took a lot of time from Gary. He was traveling nonstop. It took a toll on his boxing business, which is very successful, and it took a toll on his family. To some degree, it took a toll on his health.We collectively made the decision that Gary was going to back off a little bit, kind of take a little bit of a relaxed role as far as being involved front and center, which is a good thing for all those three things, for his health, for his boxing business, and for his family,” Deluca explained…sort of. “But Gary is still very much involved, and I still talk to him almost every day. He’s still there. Gary’s interest still lies in EliteXC and ProElite, making it a top organization in the world. That’s the status with Gary.I would say he’s more or less consulting in terms of all his promoter abilities, all his contacts and everything Gary does. So Gary is kind of behind the scenes with us, kind of shaping the direction of the company, the way it’s going, pulling the strings in terms of how we’re going to promote, what we’re going to do. Again, his involvement is very much similar to what it’s always been. The difference is, he’s not going to be front and center, doing all the time consuming stuff that he’s done in the past.”
What a shame…
Ultimate Chaos: Lashley vs. Sapp went down two years ago.
Why it matters:
The event, that was promoted by Prize Fight MMA and Fight Force International, took place in Biloxi, Mississippi at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and featured a number of notables including Bobby Lashley, Bob Sapp, Chris Horodecki, William Sriyapai, Gilbert Yvel, Pedro Rizzo and Affliction Clothing CEO, Tom Atencio.
• Sriyapai has not fought since being defeated byfirst-round rear naked choke to Horodecki.
• Rizzo hasn’t lost since being knocked out in the opening frame by Yvel. He is riding a three-fight win streak with “Ws” over Jeff Monson, Gary Goodridge and Ken Shamrock.
• Yvel hasn’t won since beating Rizzo and will now fight under PRIDE rules at Colosseo Fighting Championships July 23 event against Tony Lopez.
Ultimate Chaos: Lashley vs. Sapp June 27, 2009 Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum Biloxi, Mississippi
Main Card
Bobby Lashley def. Bob Sapp via TKO (punches) at 3:17 of round 1.
Gilbert Yvel def. Pedro Rizzo via KO (punches) at 2:10 of round 1.
Javier Vasquez def. Mark Kergosien via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:59 of round 1.
Chris Horodecki def. William Sriyapai via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:02 of round 1.
Wachiim Spiritwolf def. Brett Cooper via KO at 3:41 of round 1.
Tom Atencio def. Randy Hederick via TKO (stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2.
Brandon Harder defeated John Harris via submission (arm triangle) at 4:31 of round 2.
James Orso defeated Danny Abbadi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Preliminary Card
Eric Bradley def. Kelly Leo by TKO (punches) at 0:11 of round 2
Colin O’ Hanlon def. Lance Thompson by Submission (Strikes) at 4:16 of Round 1.
Drew Wallace def. Eric Graham by TKO (Strikes) at 4:02 of Round 2.
Rocky Overstreet def. Greg Maher by Submission (Kimura) at 2:08 of Round 1.
Jonathan Mackles def. Shiloh Pisarich by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 2:29 of Round 2.
