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The Two Sheds Review: Shamrock vs Severn and the Fixed Fight at UFC 6

It featured the second Superfight, the debut of the pit fighter, the introduction of new rules, and a controversial semi-final. In July 1995, the Ultimate Fighting Championship presented their sixth show, promoted as the “Clash of the Titans”.The show …

The show began with the tournament quarter-finals, with pit fighter Tank Abbott taking on Hawaiian bone-breaker John Matua.

The match was a quick and wild affair. Abbott caught Matua with lunging blows early, leaving Matua staggering like a baby just learning to walk until he fell to the ground. Abbott got in another punch before referee “Big” John McCarthy stepped in to give Abbott the knockout win after just 18 seconds.

Next up was Taekwondo fighter Cal Worsham against trap fighter Paul Varelans.

The two came out swinging, with Worsham quickly staggering his bigger opponent. Varelans recovered and worked his way back, eventually landing a left elbow to the back of Worsham’s head that sent him crashing to the floor. The referee stopped the fight, awarding Varelans the win by knockout.

The next matchup pitted kenpō karate fighter Rudyard Moncayo against kickboxer and former tournament finalist Pat Smith.

Smith ran across the cage at the start, immediately knocking Moncayo down with a front-kick. Smith then showed how much he’d improved his grappling game, pulling off a standing guillotine on Moncayo before getting the take down. Smith took Moncayo’s back and got him in a rear naked choke, securing the win by submission.

The last quarterfinal match saw wrestler and UFC finalist Dave Beneteau taking on sambo expert Oleg Taktarov.

A fast-paced fight saw Beneteau score an early take-down, but the Russian quickly got back up to his feet. After Beneteau landed a few strikes, Taktarov got a take down of his own, locking Beneteau in a guillotine for an impressive submission victory.

The semi-finals began with Tank Abbott taking on Paul Varelans.

Abbott put on an impressive punching display, taking the big man down and unloading with the ground and pound.

At one point, Abbott grabbed the cage as he kneed Varelans in the face, taking a moment to smile at the crowd.

With his left knee holding down Varelans’ face, Abbott connected with a series of lefts. It wasn’t long before the referee intervened to give Abbott the TKO win.

The second semi-final was a controversial affair as Oleg Taktarov faced muay thai boxer Anthony Macias, who stepped in to replace the injured Pat Smith.

Both fighters were managed by Buddy Alvin, who was also the manager of the other alternate, Guy Mezger. When Smith pulled out, there was a slight delay as the organizers searched for a replacement. The story goes that neither Mezger or Macias wanted to fight their training partner, but Macias finally stepped up to the plate, with Alvin taking his place in Taktarov’s corner.

When the fight began, Macias ran straight into a Taktarov guillotine, tapping out within seconds. The look on the Russian’s face afterwards said everything as the crowd and the commentators voiced their displeasure. It was pretty obvious that Macias had taken a dive, and as a result the match would prove to be his final UFC appearance.

After a brief interview with UFC 7 entrant Marco Ruas, it was on to the bout for the Superfight title as Ken Shamrock faced Dan Severn.

The match turned out to be a great display of grappling. Both men jockeyed for position at the start, and a few moments later Severn escaped from Shamrock’s initial attempt to catch him in a guillotine.

Seconds later, Shamrock outwrestled Severn and went for the guillotine again. This time, Shamrock caught Severn, and it wasn’t long before the Beast tapped out, giving Shamrock the win and the Superfight Championship.

Then, it was on to the tournament final between Tank Abbott and Oleg Taktarov.

This turned out to be the longest fight of the night by far. Abbott began with his usual brawling, but soon began to visibly tire.

The fight went to the ground, with Abbott taking Taktarov’s guard, occasionally going for a few punches while the Russian looked for an arm bar.

It was a war of attrition, very much in the Royce Gracie style, with the referee eventually exercising his new authority and standing the fighters up.

Abbott managed to connect with a big left against the cage before Taktarov came back with a standing guillotine. Abbott slumped to the ground as Taktarov took his back, eventually securing a rear naked choke for the tournament-winning submission victory.

In conclusion, UFC 6 turned out to be a pretty good show. The early fights may not have been particularly impressive, and the whole Macias affair left a nasty taste in everyone’s mouth, but on the whole, the show delivered.

As for the rule changes, they turned out to be what the UFC needed. Giving the referee the power to stand fighters up due to inactivity certainly made the final a more enjoyable affair.

So in all, UFC 6 gets the thumbs up as another interesting slice of MMA history, and one you should check out if you get the opportunity.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com.

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MMA Live 1: Parisyan Is Ready to Start His Climb Back, and Will Start with Ford

Karo Parisyan has been to hell and back over the past few years, and will look to his fight this Thursday vs. Canadian Ryan Ford at MMA 1 Live: London to get his career back on track. He spoke about his mental state, battling his demons, his training p…

Karo Parisyan has been to hell and back over the past few years, and will look to his fight this Thursday vs. Canadian Ryan Ford at MMA 1 Live: London to get his career back on track.

He spoke about his mental state, battling his demons, his training progress, and his upcoming opponent in an exclusive interview with hyefighters.com and posted on MMACanada.net.

Here are some of the highlights of the interview, which give a good look at Karo’s frame of mind going into fight week.

How are you feeling Karo, what’s going on?

“Back to square one again,” he stated with a large sigh. “I struggled with demons for three years. A lot of bad stuff, personal stuff. Thank God I am overcoming stuff.”

So, are all the demons behind you now?

“sort of yeah, I’m looking back and they still want to wave at me so I’m flipping them off.” he laughs. “At the time being I’m training, I feel healthier, I look healthier. Today, I was not too happy with my training. I did not get pushed around or anything, I was still throwing guys in the clinch but when I walk in there, I want to be the MAN.”

“I want the other guys to think you clinch with me you are going on a roller coaster ride. I’m not feeling that exact confidence yet but I will.”

When asked if he was all done with the drug addiction that people were accusing him of in the online chat world Karo said that he was not addicted to drugs or pain killers specifically, and went on to state that those pain killers that he was taking for injury were a downward spiral that caused a lot of his anxiety leading up to his fights.

How is the anxiety?

It’s done. Gone. I’m good, I’m fine. I don’t have it.

He then continued on a bit of a rant saying that when you have a little bit of a name in life people like to take a piece of a hamburger and make it into a whole cow, no doubt referring to how people can blow things out of proportion when a little bit of the story gets out.

The focus then turned to his upcoming fight, when he was asked,

Do you know much about Ford?

“I’ve met him in Canada. Big black guy, strong, I thought he was a light-heavyweight. They offered ten to twelve guys in Canada the fight and no one would take it. He took the fight and I want say thank you to him for that.”

“I want to show people that I’m back fighting, I’m back performing. It’s not that Karo that people say, ‘look at him, he doesn’t look right, he doesn’t do this do that. I want people to say dude, he’s back, he’s fighting.'”

He also gave a pretty clear sign of what he thinks Ford’s chances are in this fight.

“God forbid I get hit by lightning and the fight doesn’t go my way, people will still say that’s the Karo we saw fighting Diaz or Serra or Lytle.”

Finally, he was asked if he had anything to prove to himself in his comeback bid?

“First and foremost I want this for myself. It got to the point with me where the smallest things turned into the biggest things and the next thing you know I’m pulling out of fights. I want to get that confidence up there, I’m 29 years old and have at least five more years in me to go out there and bang!

“I’m in a deep hole, but I am crawling out.”

Here’s hoping that crawl fight with Ford can turn into walking fights and then running fights for “The Heat” in his return.

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Why I Don’t Watch The Ultimate Fighter 13

I used to be a big fan of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) reality TV show. The first few seasons were captivating and interesting. The TUF series made stars out of fighters such as Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, Josh Koscheck and …

Unfortunately, the show has gone stale and there is no reason to watch it anymore. TUF 13, which is on SPIKE TV every Wednesday night, has had very low ratings.

Fans are tired of seeing boring fighters and fights on the show and the coaches this season (Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos) are not creating enough drama to warrant viewership.

The UFC thought that having Lesnar on TUF 13 would spike up the ratings, but this hasn’t been the case.

Maybe it is because Lesnar isn’t the heavyweight champion anymore or maybe it is because Lesnar is calmer and more mellow than before.

Casual MMA fans don’t know who Dos Santos is, even though he is one of the best heavyweights in the world. Lesnar and Dos Santos have been cordial to each other in the episodes, and there is no tension between them.

Fans used to flock to their TV sets to watch Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz go at each other verbally every week on TUF 3. Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson as coaches on TUF 10 helped ratings too, as well as having street fighter Kimbo Slice on the show.

The smart fans are sick and tired of the UFC and SPIKE TV hyping up the episodes and not delivering. Who can forget the weekly previews that implied Kimbo would fight again on TUF 10 even though he lost and was out of the competition already?

How about the time when Dana White kept on saying that one of the fighters on the show (Phillipe Nover) was going to be the next Anderson Silva? Nover isn’t even in the UFC anymore after getting cut.

I can’t even name one of the fighters on TUF 13. I do know who Lew Polley is since I saw an episode where Polley (Dos Santos’ wrestling coach) was riding the guys too hard in practice.

None of the fighters stand out, and I don’t think there is a future UFC champion on TUF 13.

WWE’s Tough Enough reality show is way more interesting than TUF 13 thanks to the charismatic Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin has more charisma than all the TUF 13 coaches and fighters combined.

It doesn’t really matter who the coaches will be on TUF 14 because the show is getting old and boring. The best option might be to have Evans and Jon Jones as coaches and bring in better fighters and personalities to compete.

If Evans and Jones are not available, I think I would rather see Miesha Tate and Gina Carano as coaches than any of the male fighters on the Zuffa roster.

SPIKE TV and the UFC need to revamp the show quickly and change it up if they want more viewers.

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Brock Lesnar: Can He Overcome a Second Bout with Diverticulitis?

May 12, 2011 was a tough day for MMA fans everywhere, as it was announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar would be backing out of his UFC 131 fight against Junior dos Santos. I sat on the UFC conference call with a frown on my face, …

May 12, 2011 was a tough day for MMA fans everywhere, as it was announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar would be backing out of his UFC 131 fight against Junior dos Santos.

I sat on the UFC conference call with a frown on my face, truly feeling the frustration coming from the mouth of Lesnar as he explained that his diverticulitis had flared up again and that he was physically unable to train, and thus to fight.

The news spread like wildfire over the Internet as fans and experts alike speculated on whether or not the mammoth heavyweight would ever step back in a UFC cage. But without a true understanding of both the disease and its potential complications, most of these people are simply guessing.

Let’s take a closer look at the entire situation so we can get a better idea on whether Lesnar can overcome his second bout with diverticulitis.

Credit to WebMD.com and Lesnar’s words himself for all relevant medical information.

Begin Slideshow

Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones and Company, Is Losing Main Events Part of the Game?

Within the last month the UFC has lost three main events and four of the fighters in those events due to injury or illness. Furthermore, if one looks back to this past February the main event between Rashad Evans and Mauri…

Within the last month the UFC has lost three main events and four of the fighters in those events due to injury or illness.

Furthermore, if one looks back to this past February the main event between Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua was lost when Evans injured his knee.

Fortunately for the UFC, Jon Jones was able to step in on short notice and a new star was born when Jones took the light heavyweight title from Rua in dominating fashion.

Unfortunately situations like the one with Jones stepping in on short notice to face Rua aren’t the status quo when fighters have to pull out of a fight.

Often times the injured fighter is replaced by a fighter who maybe wasn’t the best fit, but was in the right place at the right time or the fight is cancelled all together.

The heavily anticipated rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was put on hold when both fighters had to pull out citing injury and the UFC 130 main event will now be Quinton Jackson vs Matt Hamill.

An interesting fight no doubt, but there is no title on the line and Jackson vs Hamill is certainly not on the level of Edgar vs Maynard three.

The aforementioned Jones has been replaced by Phil Davis to fight Rashad Evans in the main event for UFC 133 and once again, fans will be deprived of a title fight, although there is still time to find a title fight between now and August 6.

The interesting story behind the Jones situation is that Evans and Jones used to be teammates who vowed never to fight one another until Jones changed his mind and then the bad blood started to boil over.

Now Davis vs. Evans is a great fight, but that hype train simply doesn’t have the steam of Jones vs. Evans.

Finally just last week it was announced in an emergency media conference call by UFC president Dana White and former UFC heavyweight champion and Ultimate Fighter 13 coach Brock Lesnar that Lesnar would have to pull out of his fight with Junior Dos Santos due to the recurrence of his diverticulitis.

Of course the UFC was quick to find a replacement for Dos Santos as former contender Shane Carwin was already training to welcome UFC newcomer John-Olav Einemo to the Octagon at UFC 131 in Vancouver.

Carwin is definitely worthy of the fight and with the knock out power between himself and Dos Santos, it should be an exciting fight to boot—perhaps more exiting than Lesnar vs. Dos Santos.

The only problem is that Carwin doesn’t have the drawing power of Lesnar and it simply renders the finale to season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter anti-climatic to say the least.

Obviously any time a fighter has to pull out of a fight it is a raw deal for everyone—the fans because they don’t get to see the fights they want, the promoter because they have to scramble to find a new fight and risk losing PPV buys, and finally, but most importantly the fighters.

Not only do the injured fighters lose out on a chance to make money come fight night, but many times they have to foot the medical bills to get back on their feet.

Luckily for the fighters, the UFC has just recently set up an insurance policy to take effect in June that will insure fighters for up to $50,000 for injuries outside of the Octagon.

All this to say, is it a surprise that the UFC has been losing a few main and co-main events here and there? Absolutely not, the UFC is putting on more shows than ever since the passing of UFC 100 and the more events being put on, the more chances that injuries and illness put them in Jeopardy.

This isn’t the first bad streak the UFC has had to go through in terms of losing fights due to fighters being forced to pull out.

Similar to how a lot of main events are falling by the way side after the UFC’s biggest event ever, UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields, the same thing happened after what was probably the company’s second biggest event in history—UFC 100.

In the nine events following UFC 100, only one had a title fight headlining the card and four of the five UFC champions at the time were out nursing injuries.

Things eventually got back on track and in the spring and summer of 2010 the UFC was able to put on a string of stacked cards that had fans everywhere watering at the mouth.

The thing is when a lot of guys get injured and have to come back, it creates a log jam and often times what ends up happening is a slew of great fights once those guys start getting back into the fold.

In any case, mixed martial arts is a combat sport and it is often said that training is just as hard if not harder than the actual fight. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that guys get injured and are forced to sit out. The problem is, if fights start getting called off too often it begs the question: is the UFC overextending their roster?

A case could have been made that the UFC was overextending it’s roster post UFC 100, but that probably isn’t the case anymore as the UFC has taken measure to bulk up their roster over the last year and a half.

When the UFC absorbed the WEC in late 2010 it resulted in the additions of the the featherweight and bantamweight divisions to the promotion and with that two more titles to help sell their cards.

When Jon Fitch and BJ Penn were forced to pull out of UFC 132 with injury, we saw the pay-off of having the new divisions as Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber for the bantamweight title should have no problem carrying the card.

Not a company to sit back on its laurels, Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the UFC, went out and purchased Strikeforce, one of the few remaining competitors to the MMA giant earlier this year.

With the purchase of Strikeforce Zuffa now owns the rights to a host of new fighters across the lightweight to heavyweight divisions.

Dana White has gone on the record stating that it remains “business as usual” over at Strikeforce and contracts will be honored. That being said, as soon as the UFC can start pulling from Strikeforce’s roster they will be able to further ensure that cards affected by injury or illness will be much easier to repair.

Of course, sometimes, it is just a case of bad timing and not much can be done to salvage the card. Injuries far out from fight night are easier to salvage then last minute pull outs, which most definitely was the case for UFC 130 as both Edgar and Maynard were forced to pull out just three weeks before the fight.

Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates:

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Combat Sports: Fan Interactive Piece for the Sports That We Love

Almost every MMA article that is published is about current events in the sport or about a fighter in general. In this article it is all about the people who make this sport possible, the fans.Everyone has their favorite fighters, but when do you truly…

Almost every MMA article that is published is about current events in the sport or about a fighter in general. In this article it is all about the people who make this sport possible, the fans.

Everyone has their favorite fighters, but when do you truly get to talk about it? Well now is the time.

Let’s talk about combat sports. Who is your favorite MMA Fighter? Kick Boxer? Boxer? Tell the world we all want to know. This article will explain who mine are and why. Everyone will have different opinions, and that is why this article is being made.

MMA

Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva is my favorite mixed martial artist. He gives it all he has in every fight and is all about the fans. The generation I grew up in was the mean Wanderlei that was alway ready to hurt someone.

Nowadays he is a changed man. He is still a vicious fighter, but is also more for the fans and is an all around good person. At UFC 132 he will fight Chris Leben in what could be the fight of the decade. So tell me, who is your favorite MMA fighter?

Kick Boxing

Badr “The Golden Boy” Hari is my favorite kick boxer. His style is just so pure. You never know what angle he will attack you from.

At 26 years old, he has more fights than most people who are 35-40. He truly has a who’s who list of victories under his belt in his young career. His most recent fight was against Gregory Tony at “It’s Showtime, Lyon” which took place just a couple of days ago. In that bout it was his first in almost a year and he came out and won. The funny part is that he literally did nothing to obtain the victory and this was arguably his easiest bout to date.

If you do not watch Kick Boxing I highly recommend that you check out Badr Hari. So, who is your favorite Kick Boxer?

Boxing

Juan Manuel Marquez has always been my favorite boxer to watch. He has fought Pacquiao twice, one time being a draw and the other a split decision. He is now slated to face Pacquiao in November. Many people like Pacquiao, which is understandable because I like him as well. Marquez to me has always been a fun guy to watch.

As of late his only losses have been to elite guys, which is why at 37 he is still one of the best pound for pound guys in the world.

Those are just my personal favorite combat sports fighters in the world. Please leave input. I want to know who are your favorites in each category. We all have different views, but we have love for the same sport, so let’s use this to show everyone who we represent.

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