Tag: On this day in MMA history

On This Day in MMA History: The New Old Vitor Belfort TKO’s Rich Franklin at UFC 103

If not for the PED controversies that have plagued him since 2006, Vitor Belfort would be one of the most inspirational figures in MMA history. We’re talking about a fighter who picked himself up after each high-profile defeat and kept clawing his way forward, who started his career as a young destroyer at heavyweight, then reinvented himself as a light-heavyweight when that didn’t work out, then reinvented himself as a middleweight when that didn’t work out, then floated anywhere between 185 and 205 pounds depending on what the moment called for.

This December, after more than 18 years in the sport (!), the 37-year-old Belfort will challenge Chris Weidman in a middleweight title fight at UFC 181. The fight represents yet another career peak for Belfort, and will define his third stint in the UFC, which began five years ago today — September 19th, 2009 — when Belfort TKO’d Rich Franklin at UFC 103.

Heading into the fight, Belfort was enjoying the kind of momentum that had been rare in his career. Following his decision loss to Dan Henderson (and positive steroid test) at PRIDE 32, Belfort won a pair of fights under the Cage Rage banner — becoming the promotion’s light-heavyweight champion in the process — then dropped to middleweight and brutally KO’d Terry Martin and Matt Lindland in Affliction. Shortly after Affliction’s ugly demise, the UFC re-signed Belfort and booked him for a 195-pound catchweight fight against former middleweight champ Rich Franklin, who had gone back up to compete at light-heavyweight and 195 lbs. (aka “Franklinweight”) since his second loss to Anderson Silva. Fun fact from the UFC 103 wiki page:

It was announced on July 20, 2009 that Rich Franklin would headline UFC 103 against Dan Henderson. It was then announced on July 31, 2009 that fans were not happy with the announced headliner of Henderson-Franklin 2 so they changed the main event to feature Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort. “Fans didn’t like it, so we changed it,” White said.

I only vaguely remember this moment in UFC history where fan sentiment could actually influence which fights get made. Now, we pretty much have to eat what they give us.

If not for the PED controversies that have plagued him since 2006, Vitor Belfort would be one of the most inspirational figures in MMA history. We’re talking about a fighter who picked himself up after each high-profile defeat and kept clawing his way forward, who started his career as a young destroyer at heavyweight, then reinvented himself as a light-heavyweight when that didn’t work out, then reinvented himself as a middleweight when that didn’t work out, then floated anywhere between 185 and 205 pounds depending on what the moment called for.

This December, after more than 18 years in the sport (!), the 37-year-old Belfort will challenge Chris Weidman in a middleweight title fight at UFC 181. The fight represents yet another career peak for Belfort, and will define his third stint in the UFC, which began five years ago today — September 19th, 2009 — when Belfort TKO’d Rich Franklin at UFC 103.

Heading into the fight, Belfort was enjoying the kind of momentum that had been rare in his career. Following his decision loss to Dan Henderson (and positive steroid test) at PRIDE 32, Belfort won a pair of fights under the Cage Rage banner — becoming the promotion’s light-heavyweight champion in the process — then dropped to middleweight and brutally KO’d Terry Martin and Matt Lindland in Affliction. Shortly after Affliction’s ugly demise, the UFC re-signed Belfort and booked him for a 195-pound catchweight fight against former middleweight champ Rich Franklin, who had gone back up to compete at light-heavyweight and 195 lbs. (aka “Franklinweight”) since his second loss to Anderson Silva. Fun fact from the UFC 103 wiki page:

It was announced on July 20, 2009 that Rich Franklin would headline UFC 103 against Dan Henderson. It was then announced on July 31, 2009 that fans were not happy with the announced headliner of Henderson-Franklin 2 so they changed the main event to feature Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort. “Fans didn’t like it, so we changed it,” White said.

I only vaguely remember this moment in UFC history where fan sentiment could actually influence which fights get made. Now, we pretty much have to eat what they give us.

Belfort vs. Franklin served as the main event of a wild UFC 103 pay-per-view card in which all five scheduled matches ended by stoppage. Notably, Josh Koscheck punched Frank Trigg’s head off, Paul Daley scored a vicious standing TKO against Martin Kampmann, and Junior Dos Santos battered Mirko Cro Cop until the Croatian quit in the third round due to an eye injury.

The headliner was just as violent. After sparring with Franklin for the first half of the opening round, Belfort bounced an overhand left across the top of Ace’s head, dropping Franklin to the canvas. The finishing blows were ferocious and untamed — at least two of which landed squarely on the back of Franklin’s head. And sure, if we wanted to follow the Unified Rules to the letter, maybe Belfort should have lost the fight by disqualification. On the other hand…VITOR vs. ANDERSON??? As questionable as the victory was, a genuinely viable challenger to Anderson Silva was the best possible outcome.

And what a challenger Belfort was. What a story. The young man who couldn’t quite live up to his fearsome potential, traveling the globe trying to find himself, and returning to the Octagon as a 32-year-old somehow carrying the speed and power of his youth, but now with an added maturity blah blah blah or something like that.

Then, he got highlight-reel KO’d by Anderson. Then, he became the poster boy for testosterone replacement therapy. Belfort’s late-career achievements while on TRT were enough to earn him yet another title fight in the year 2014, except now he’ll have to compete without it, and he might not look like the same person. Personally, I expect to see a depleted, deflated version of Vitor Belfort enter the cage on December 6th.

But my God, what if he wins? Then, Belfort becomes mythical, the Roy Hobbs of MMA. The fighter who died and was reborn — a few times, actually — before achieving the greatest victory of his career. Like I said, an inspirational figure. Who would believe a story like that?

(BG)

On This Day in MMA History: Frank Mir Breaks Tim Sylvia’s Arm, Ken Shamrock KO’s Kimo at UFC 48: Payback

It might be hard to believe when looking at him now, but there was a time not too long ago when Tim Sylvia was paid money to compete in physical activities. I know right? I’m seriously. It was the mid-2000’s, and “The Maine-iac” weighed in at a svelte 265 pounds. He was also the UFC Heavyweight champion, but looking back, I think the former accomplishment is arguably more impressive than the latter.

Regardless, after testing positive for stanozolol in his second title defense over Gan McGee at UFC 44, Sylvia would voluntarily relinquish his belt in disgrace*…and wind up receiving an immediate fight against Frank Mir for the belt he had just vacated at UFC 48 on June 19th, 2004 — ten years ago today.

It did not end well.

It might be hard to believe when looking at him now, but there was a time not too long ago when Tim Sylvia was paid money to compete in physical activities. I know right? I’m seriously. It was the mid-2000′s, and ”The Maine-iac” weighed in at a svelte 265 pounds. He was also the UFC Heavyweight champion, but looking back, I think the former accomplishment is arguably more impressive than the latter.

Regardless, after testing positive for stanozolol in his second title defense over Gan McGee at UFC 44, Sylvia would voluntarily relinquish his belt in disgrace*…and wind up receiving an immediate fight against Frank Mir for the belt he had just vacated at UFC 48 on June 19th, 2004 — ten years ago today.

It did not end well.

Not unlike a monster mash, Sylvia’s arm-breaking loss to Mir got on in a flash (again, my sincerest apologies). After a brief exchange on the feet, Sylvia latched onto Mir and drove him to the canvas, likely thinking that a ground and pound TKO over a fighter of Mir’s caliber would make for a nice addition to his already impressive resume. Problem was, Sylvia could barely get settled before Mir locked up a tight armbar that had “The Maine-iac” suddenly trying to slam his way out of trouble.

It was too late, and Mir proceeded to fracture Sylvia’s right radius bone in half. Herb Dean would lose his goddamn mind while witnessing this and wave off the fight, emitting a chorus boos from the audience so overwhelming that Bruce Buffer even forgot to announce Mir as champion.

The damndest thing is, Sylvia didn’t seem to care or even realize what kind of damage had been done to his arm — Herb Dean had to convince *him* that his arm had been broken. And even after seeing the footage of his arm doing just that, Sylvia would still not accept the stoppage.

“We’ll fight again,” said Mir in his post-fight interview. “We’ll fight right now,” Sylvia angrily replied.

I don’t know what was more impressive in that exchange, Sylvia’s toughness or his stupidity. Let’s go with toughness.

Unfortunately, Mir and Sylvia never would meet again. Mir would be forced to vacate his title after breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident and would not compete again for nearly two years. Sylvia, however, would eventually go on to reclaim his heavyweight championship and defend it two more times before running into some guy named Randy Couture at UFC 68. He would get axed from the UFC a couple fights later, get wrecked by Fedor in under a minute at Affliction: Banned, and then put on approximately 415 pounds while eating (heh) even quicker losses to Abe Wagner and Ray Mercer. Sylvia has since been rallying for another fight in the UFC ever since, but are you fucking kidding me? 

Just moments prior to Sylvia’s bone-shattering loss, Ken Shamrock picked up his last UFC win (and last notable win) over Kimo Leopoldo via KO (knee). It was quite an impressive accomplishment for the 40 year-old to say the least. The years that followed, however, would be filled with heartache. Heartache and defeat and lawsuits and more defeat. Also, heartache. But hey, Shamrock seems to be enjoying life as a bodyguard to the stars these days, and has even repaired his relationship with the UFC. So hooray for happyish endings.

We’ve thrown a video of Shamrock vs. Kimo below for your enjoyment. Drink in the nostalgia, you buncha bitches.

*Say what you want about Timmeh, you gotta give the man credit for owning up to his mistake and accepting his punishment like a man (looking at you, Vitor).

–J. Jones

On This Day in MMA History: Vitor Belfort, Marvin Eastman, & The UFC 43 “Goat Vagina” Incident


(Oh, so *that’s* how The Rock does it.)

It might surprise you to learn that years before Vitor Belfort was just a TRT-fueled killing machine, well, he was slightly younger, 4-Hydroxytestosterone-fueled killing machine (progress!). In fact, during his second UFC run in the early aughts, Belfort had already been in the game long enough to draw comparisons to his “old” self despite being just 26 years old at the time. And no one was more privy to the *first* career rebirth of “The Phenom” than Marvin Eastman, who became Belfort’s most infamous victim to date at UFC 43 on June 6th, 2003 — 11 years ago today.

Following a 5-1 run in PRIDE between 1999-2001, Belfort returned to the UFC in June of 2002, dropping a hard-fought unanimous decision to Chuck Liddell at UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets (eesh) upon arriving. Belfort was then matched up against the 5-2 “Beastman” for the latter’s promotional debut. The size and reach difference between the mountainous Belfort and the compact Eastman was immediately noticeable and immediately exploited by Belfort, who proceeded to tie up Eastman in a muay Thai clinch and knee his stout opponent’s face off of his face in just over a minute’s time.

Described by Joe Rogan as “a goat’s vagina” and “the worst cut he’d ever seen” in the moments after it occurred, the axe-wound Belfort opened up on Eastman’s forehead remains the Citizen Kane of MMA cuts to this day. To check out a full, bloody replay of Belfort vs. Eastman, join us after the jump.


(Oh, so *that’s* how The Rock does it.)

It might surprise you to learn that years before Vitor Belfort was just a TRT-fueled killing machine, well, he was slightly younger, 4-Hydroxytestosterone-fueled killing machine (progress!). In fact, during his second UFC run in the early aughts, Belfort had already been in the game long enough to draw comparisons to his “old” self despite being just 26 years old at the time. And no one was more privy to the *first* career rebirth of “The Phenom” than Marvin Eastman, who became Belfort’s most infamous victim to date at UFC 43 on June 6th, 2003 — 11 years ago today.

Following a 5-1 run in PRIDE between 1999-2001, Belfort returned to the UFC in June of 2002, dropping a hard-fought unanimous decision to Chuck Liddell at UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets (eesh) upon arriving. Belfort was then matched up against the 5-2 “Beastman” for the latter’s promotional debut. The size and reach difference between the mountainous Belfort and the compact Eastman was immediately noticeable and immediately exploited by Belfort, who proceeded to tie up Eastman in a muay Thai clinch and knee his stout opponent’s face off of his face in just over a minute’s time.

Described by Joe Rogan as “a goat’s vagina” and “the worst cut he’d ever seen” in the moments after it occurred, the axe-wound Belfort opened up on Eastman’s forehead remains the Citizen Kane of MMA cuts to this day. Check out a full, bloody replay of Belfort vs. Eastman below.

Following this slaughter, Belfort would go on to win the UFC Light Heavyweight championship on a technicality, then lose successive bouts to Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, and Alistair Overeem (in PRIDE). He would spend four long years destroying has-beens like Matt Lindland and never-weres like Kazuo Takahashi before returning to the UFC and annihilating Rich Franklin at UFC 103. Then blah blah blah Anderson Silva foot sammich, blah blah nearly submitted Jon Jones blah TRT-shaming the rest is history.

Eastman, on the other hand, would become something of infamous KO victim over the years, suffer highlight reel defeats at the hands of Rampage Jackson, Drew McFedries, and Travis Lutter (LOL!). He would also have a son who followed in his footsteps as an MMA fighter but refused to share his name. You tell me whose career has been more fulfilling.

Not Roy Nelson. Not Martin Kampmann. Not Abe Wagner or Cub Swanson or Ross Pearson’s cuts will ever compare to Eastman’s goat vagina, a battle scar so horrific that it caused the Just Bleed guy to have an existential crisis. And for that, we pay tribute.

–J. Jones

On This Day in MMA History: Tito Ortiz Knees Guy Mezger into Submission and Somehow Still Loses at UFC 13

Believe it or not, there was a time long, long ago when Tito Ortiz was something other than a dopey, stuttering mass of injury excuses and self-congratulatory speeches — “The pre-Jenna Era,” as it’s sometimes called. Yes, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” preferred to let his fists, knees, and elbows do the talking for him back in the late nineties/early aughts, and we respected him so, so much more for it. Of course, he got off to a rough start in his first night as a professional fighter, when he kneed Guy Mezger into submission and *still* lost at UFC 13 on May 30th, 1997 — 17 years ago today.

To be fair, Ortiz’s actual MMA/UFC debut came just hours earlier, and ended in a 31-second TKO of Wes Albritton. But it was his main event showdown with Mezger, a Pancrase veteran and member of the Lion’s Den camp, that would go down as the first of many controversial moments in the future Hall of Famer’s career.

After besting Mezger on the feet in the early-going and brushing off his takedown attempts, Ortiz unleashed a vicious barrage of knees to Mezger’s noggin’, eliciting what many believed (ringside announcers Bruce Beck and Jeff Blatnick included) to be a tap from Mezger. Big John McCarthy would eventually intervene to check the cuts on Mezger’s head, where he would clarify his belief that Mezger was not tapping, but rather attempting to block Ortiz’s knees (a fact that remains disputed to this day). In any case, Big John would restart things on the feet and Mezger would secure a fight-ending guillotine shortly thereafter, sparking a decade-long rivalry between Ortiz and the Shamrock brothers.

After the jump: A collection of full fight videos from UFC 13, including the UFC/MMA debut of fellow HOFer Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort vs. Tank Abbott, and Enson Inoue vs. Royce Alger.

Believe it or not, there was a time long, long ago when Tito Ortiz was something other than a dopey, stuttering mass of injury excuses and self-congratulatory speeches — “The pre-Jenna Era,” as it’s sometimes called. Yes, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” preferred to let his fists, knees, and elbows do the talking for him back in the late nineties/early aughts, and we respected him so, so much more for it. Of course, he got off to a rough start in his first night as a professional fighter, when he kneed Guy Mezger into submission and *still* lost at UFC 13 on May 30th, 1997 — 17 years ago today.

To be fair, Ortiz’s actual MMA/UFC debut came just hours earlier, and ended in a 31-second TKO of Wes Albritton. But it was his main event showdown with Mezger, a Pancrase veteran and member of the Lion’s Den camp, that would go down as the first of many controversial moments in the future Hall of Famer’s career.

After besting Mezger on the feet in the early-going and brushing off his takedown attempts, Ortiz unleashed a vicious barrage of knees to Mezger’s noggin’, eliciting what many believed (ringside announcers Bruce Beck and Jeff Blatnick included) to be a tap from Mezger. Big John McCarthy would eventually intervene to check the cuts on Mezger’s head, where he would clarify his belief that Mezger was not tapping, but rather attempting to block Ortiz’s knees (a fact that remains disputed to this day). In any case, Big John would restart things on the feet and Mezger would secure a fight-ending guillotine shortly thereafter, sparking a decade-long rivalry between Ortiz and the Shamrock brothers.

Ortiz wasn’t the only future Hall of Famer making both his promotional and professional debut that night. Up in the heavyweight division, Randy Couture would breeze past Tony Halme and Steve Graham to win the evening’s heavyweight tournament, finishing both men in less than 5 minutes total fight time. As luck would have it, Ortiz and Couture would meet in the octagon some six years later at UFC 44, with the light heavyweight title on the line. It would not end well for Ortiz.

But that was then, this is now, and tomorrow is yesterday (or something like that), so check out videos of Couture’s tournament-winning fights, as well as Ortiz’s quick win over Albritton and a few other select fights from UFC 13 below, courtesy of Vimeo user Diesel Strongboy.

Couture vs. Halme

Couture vs. Graham

Ortiz vs. Albritton

Vitor Belfort vs. Tank Abbott

Enson Inoue vs. Royce Alger

–J. Jones

On This Day in MMA History: Paul Daley Sucker Punches Josh Koscheck, Earns Lifetime Ban From the UFC

By Ben Goldstein

Banning a cage-fighter for punching his opponent in the face is kind of like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. Of course, context is everything in MMA. Between the first horn and the final horn, you’re allowed to inflict massive head trauma and wrench limbs until they break apart, as long as you avoid the relatively small list of no-nos set forth in the Unified Rules. But if you hit a guy directly after the fight is over? You’re garbage, and nobody wants you.

I’m not trying to call that hypocritical in any way. In fact, it’s these small distinctions — these subtle nods to context and polite behavior — that prevent mixed martial arts from devolving into pure barbarism. Otherwise, MMA would eventually become Thunderdome, and nobody wants that. Well, I’m sure some people want that. But we’re not sociopaths, are we? We’re sports fans. At the end of the day, having fights end with mentally handicapped man-children literally dying in the cage does us no good as a society.

(By the way, how many times have I referenced Master Blaster while running this site? Dozens of times? Thousands? Indeed, it has been a long journey.)

Four years ago today — May 8th, 2010 — at UFC 113 in Montreal, Paul Daley spent three rounds being smothered by the superior wrestling of Josh Koscheck. The fight was as dull as it was predictable. Clearly, Koscheck wasn’t interested in a standup battle against Paul Daley, one of the most dangerous welterweight strikers in MMA history. So, Kos scored a few takedowns and hung out in top position for fifteen minutes. And when it was all over, Paul Daley got to his feet and popped him one.

By Ben Goldstein

Banning a cage-fighter for punching his opponent in the face is kind of like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. Of course, context is everything in MMA. Between the first horn and the final horn, you’re allowed to inflict massive head trauma and wrench limbs until they break apart, as long as you avoid the relatively small list of no-nos set forth in the Unified Rules. But if you hit a guy directly after the fight is over? You’re garbage, and nobody wants you.

I’m not trying to call that hypocritical in any way. In fact, it’s these small distinctions — these subtle nods to context and polite behavior — that prevent mixed martial arts from devolving into pure barbarism. Otherwise, MMA would eventually become Thunderdome, and nobody wants that. Well, I’m sure some people want that. But we’re not sociopaths, are we? We’re sports fans. At the end of the day, having fights end with mentally handicapped man-children literally dying in the cage does us no good as a society.

(By the way, how many times have I referenced Master Blaster while running this site? Dozens of times? Thousands? Indeed, it has been a long journey.)

Four years ago today — May 8th, 2010 — at UFC 113 in Montreal, Paul Daley spent three rounds being smothered by the superior wrestling of Josh Koscheck. The fight was as dull as it was predictable. Clearly, Koscheck wasn’t interested in a standup battle against Paul Daley, one of the most dangerous welterweight strikers in MMA history. So, Kos scored a few takedowns and hung out in top position for fifteen minutes. And when it was all over, Paul Daley got to his feet and popped him one.

It was a desperate move born out of frustration and a total lack of impulse control.  Apparently, Koscheck was talking shit to Daley during the entire fight, which doesn’t excuse Daley’s actions, but helps to illustrate what an unpleasant experience that fight must have been for the British slugger. As soon as the sucker-punch landed, referee Dan Miragliotta jumped in to restrain Daley, barking “ARE YOU KIDDIN’ ME?” in his burly East Coast accent, reflecting the utter disbelief of everybody who was watching this unfold live. The infamous Strikeforce Nashville brawl had happened less than a month earlier, and now the sport had another public embarrassment to deal with. Suddenly, Paul Daley was the biggest heel in MMA. Then, Josh Koscheck grabbed the mic and immediately reclaimed that title…

Whatever sympathy Koscheck briefly gained from being cheap-shotted was immediately snuffed out when he started insulting Montreal’s sports heroes, unprovoked, in a classic example of his cartoonish assholism. Seven months later, Koscheck returned to Montreal to get torn apart by Georges St-Pierre, in a beatdown so satisfying that we named a Potato Award after it.

But back to the night in question: Immediately after the sucker-punch incident, UFC president Dana White buried Paul Daley in the post-fight press conference, promising that “Semtex” would never fight in the UFC again:

“He’s done. I don’t give a shit if he’s the best 170-pounder in the world. He’ll never come back here again…I’m probably the most lenient guy in sports. And this is probably one of the most lenient organizations. We’re all human, we all make mistakes, things happen. [But] there’s no excuse for that. These guys are professional athletes. You don’t ever hit a guy blatantly after the bell like that whether you’re frustrated or not. It was probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen…I don’t care if he fights in every show all over the world and becomes the best and everybody thinks he’s the pound-for-pound best in the world. He will never fight in the UFC ever again.”

So far, White has stuck to his word, and Daley has spent the past four years roaming the Earth. He missed weight for a September 2010 Shark Fights appearance against Jorge Masvidal (which Daley won), and missed weight for two separate BAMMA fights in 2011 (which he also won). He went 1-3 in Strikeforce. He showed up in Bellator in 2012 to knock out Rudy Bears, before being released from the promotion due to visa issues stemming from a bar fight arrest. He’s done some kickboxing, and scored violent KO’s in minor promotions east of the Atlantic. He has pleaded for another chance.

And if he hadn’t punched Josh Koscheck after the bell, that one fateful night in Montreal, then what? Maybe he’d stick around for a few more years, collecting UFC knockout bonuses against mid-level veterans, winning a couple and losing one, winning a couple and losing one, until finally the UFC realized he was making too much money for a guy who would never work his way up to a title shot. And in that alternate universe, Paul Daley would be signed to World Series of Fighting right now. I’m not sure which scenario is worse.

Also at UFC 113…

– Mauricio “Shogun” Rua became the UFC light-heavyweight champion by knocking out Lyoto Machida in their rematch.

– Kimbo Slice was TKO’d by Matt Mitrione in his second official Octagon appearance, then released by the UFC.

– Jason MacDonald’s leg snapped and his opponent John Salter was super psyched about it.

On This Day in MMA History: Toby Imada Inverted Triangle Chokes His Way Into MMA’s Eternal Highlight Reel

Showcasing the semifinals of their very first lightweight tournament as well as the promotional debuts of future UFC fighters Joey Beltran, Waylon Lowe, Dave Herman, and inaugural Invicta FC flyweight champion Jessica Penne, Bellator’s fifth event was truly stacked for it’s time and featured just one decision on its 9-fight card. But none of the finishes held a candle to the moment when Toby Imada choked out Jorge Masvidal with an inverted triangle choke in the evening’s headlining fight on May 1st, 2009 — five years ago today.

A little background: After securing tournament quarterfinal victories over Alonzo Martinez and Nick Agallar, respectively, at Bellator 1, veteran journeyman Toby Imada was set to face off against rising up-and-comer Jorge Masvidal, who in addition to being a rather prolific street fighter had already scored stoppage victories over Joe Lauzon and Yves Edwards in his young MMA career. After two rounds of fighting, Masvidal looked every bit the dynamic striker (and gambling favorite) he had been billed as, having punished Imada with hard shots and vicious ground-n-pound for the majority of the contest.

But for every ten Jones vs. Teixeiras, there is one Russow vs. Duffy, so to speak.

Showcasing the semifinals of their very first lightweight tournament as well as the promotional debuts of future UFC fighters Joey Beltran, Waylon Lowe, Dave Herman, and inaugural Invicta FC flyweight champion Jessica Penne, Bellator’s fifth event was truly stacked for it’s time and featured just one decision on its 9-fight card. But none of the finishes held a candle to the moment when Toby Imada choked out Jorge Masvidal with an inverted triangle choke in the evening’s headlining fight on May 1st, 2009 — five years ago today.

A little background: After securing tournament quarterfinal victories over Alonzo Martinez and Nick Agallar, respectively, at Bellator 1, veteran journeyman Toby Imada was set to face off against rising up-and-comer Jorge Masvidal, who in addition to being a rather prolific street fighter had already scored stoppage victories over Joe Lauzon and Yves Edwards in his young MMA career. After two rounds of fighting, Masvidal looked every bit the dynamic striker (and gambling favorite) he had been billed as, having punished Imada with hard shots and vicious ground-n-pound for the majority of the contest.

But for every ten Jones vs. Teixeiras, there is one Russow vs. Duffy, so to speak. As such, when Masvidal dove on a single leg midway through the third round, Imada found the only window of opportunity he would need to pull a rabbit out of his ass in the form of a mid-air inverted triangle choke. Before Masvidal knew what was happening, he was flopping lifelessly to the canvas with Imada’s legs around his throat. It was as incredible a victory as it was disturbing, hence referee Greg Franklin’s Herb Dean-esque exclamation of “Oh shit!” upon seeing Masvidal’s sheet-white face.

The submission earned Imada “Submission of the Year” honors at the 2009 World MMA Awards (Journalist of the Year that year: Somehow not Ariel Helwani!) and a fight with Eddie Alvarez for the promotion’s inaugural lightweight title at Bellator 12. Although Imada would lose that fight via second round submission and would more or less spend the rest of his career toiling in mediocrity/ending up on Patricky Freire’s highlight reel, there’s no discrediting the thing of beauty that was his come-from-behind submission that night.

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Imada’s inverted triangle, along with Yahir Reyes’ spinning backfist that took place the following week at Bellator 6, pretty much put Bellator on the map. And for setting into motion a series of events that would eventually culminate in Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko, we thank you, Mr. Imada.

–J. Jones