Light heavyweight mixed martial artists of the world, heed these words: Do not chase Chuck Liddell (Pictures); do not trade with the man.
“He was coming after me hard,” Liddell said after the fight. “He wanted to come after me. I’ll catch you sooner or later you keep coming at me like that.”
A rematch of a November 2002 bout in which “The Iceman” was just as dominant in delivering one of the sport’s iconic video clips, Saturday’s fight matched a confident “Babalu,” who came in winner of his last 10 since taking Liddell’s shin to the face, against perhaps the best American currently competing in the sport.
Rather than establishing a sane pace against a champion that allows challengers to do this, the Brazilian, who snarled as ring announcer Bruce Buffer announced his name, broke rule No. 1 by going directly after the hard-punching Californian.
Punching as he backpedaled, Liddell landed a looping right fist to Sobral’s face and followed with an angled-hook that mercifully connected with the inside of the champion’s forearm.
“Babalu” fell to his knees, his face pressed against the canvas. Yet the 30-year-old from Rio de Janeiro still had fight in him. He soon stood and took another Liddell right hand for the effort.
Now with his back to the floor, where most felt Sobral would have to be to win the rematch — though surely not like this — the challenger took vicious rights to his face that forced him to cover and roll away from the onslaught.
“Fighting motivates me,” said the UFC champion. “I love this sport. I love what we do in here.”
A bout with Tito Ortiz (Pictures) looms as Liddell’s next test in the UFC, though July’s announcement of a potential showdown against PRIDE champion Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) trumps any fight the UFC could make on its own right now.
“Either one is fine with me,” Liddell, now 19-3-0, said of Ortiz and Silva. “I think Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) would be a fun fight for me. One round guys, I’m sorry.”
Both fighters would appear to be a much stiffer test than the 27-6-0 Sobral, who for all his cardio training and submission acumen showed no semblance of a game plan tonight.
The win marks Liddell’s third UFC 205-pound title defense — Jeremy Horn (Pictures), Randy Couture (Pictures) and Sobral — and his 14th UFC victory, the most of any fighter in the organization’s 13-year history.
The War Part II
When Forrest Griffin (Pictures) and Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) treated the world to mixed martial arts’ version of Gatti-Ward, neither man had a thing to lose and, as it turned out, an incredible amount to gain.
Tonight, almost a year and a half after Griffin decisioned Bonnar to capture the first Ultimate Fighter light heavyweight crown, circumstances were much different.
Coming off defeats in their previous Octagon appearances, both light heavyweights knew the loser of their anticipated rematch had everything to squander — and is often the case, it influenced the way they fought.
Instead of the brawl most expected — or hoped for — both men offered a competent, tactical stand-up battle, which at the end of three rounds fans incomprehensibly booed.
One thing did not change, however. Though it was more clear than the first contest, Griffin took a win unanimous decision again, sweeping the judges’ cards 30-27.
Standing behind a stiff jab and accurate right hand — two things he rarely showed, if only because he did not possess them, in the first contest — Griffin peppered a lunging Bonnar in opening five-minute period.
Round two was much better for the 29-year-old from Chicago, as he opened a noticeable cut beneath Griffin’s right eye and finally began to appear comfortable in the cage with his foil. With two minutes to go in the second, the affable Bonnar, now 9-4-0, unloaded his best combination of the fight.
“I think I broke my thumb in the first round,” Bonnar said. “So as fun as it was to hit him with the right hand, it sure hurt.”
Unbeknownst to the fighters and their corners, Griffin had taken control on the cards. (Sherdog.com scored it even heading into the third.)
Griffin, 27, scored with a stiff right hand to open the final period. He reestablished his jab and used improved footwork to outwork Bonnar. By now both men were battered around the face, not to the obscene levels of their famous first encounter but enough to remind fans why they fell in love with Griffin and Bonnar in the first place.
At the closing bell, Bonnar was overheard conceding to Griffin. The judges made it official.
“It was a good fight,” said Bonnar, who took his second loss in a row. “I knew it was close. I thought I got at least one round.”
“I wanted to win this so bad so there would be a rubber match,” he continued. “Why don’t we do it best-of-five?”
“I think we have to,” agreed the victor. “I owe it to Stephan. That was about as close as the first one.”
Under Card
Never underestimate Nick Diaz (Pictures).
Stepping in the cage after having lost his last three UFC bouts — Diego Sanchez (Pictures), Joe Riggs (Pictures) and Sean Sherk (Pictures) — Diaz (13-6-0) jumped at a short-notice opportunity to fight the tough Josh Neer (Pictures).
From the outset the 23-year-old Diaz used his length and unorthodox punching style to swarm Neer, whose only response was to wing wild power shots. Diaz continued landing chopping punches, which from the outside looked weak but judging by Neer’s reaction were anything but.
Heading into the third, Neer, also 23, was behind and his corner let him know. The Miletich-trained welterweight attempted to come forward and assert himself, but Diaz, veteran of eight UFC bouts before tonight, put Neer on his back.
From side-control Diaz secured a Kimura and soon he moved to the left, creating pressure so painful that Neer (17-5-1) had no other option but tapout.
Cheick Kongo (Pictures) upped his UFC record to 2-0, surviving an early submission before plastering Christian Wellisch (Pictures)’s face with a knee at 2:51 of round one.
An excellent trip takedown with both under hooks put Wellisch in side-control. He quickly moved to mount and during a scramble grabbed one of Kongo’s powerful arms. The Frenchman, now 9-2-1, did well to survive and immediately capitalized once the fight was back on the feet.
Wellisch, who falls to 6-3-0, made a tactical error by deciding to stand after taking several hard shots, including a knee that appeared to damage his jaw. Instead of working from his knees, where he was relatively safe while Kongo landed inconsequential hammer fists, the American Kickboxing Academy veteran rose and instantly paid the price.
Kongo slammed a perfect knee to his jaw and Wellisch crumbled on the spot, having only referee Mario Yamasaki between himself and a terrible pummeling.
Hermes Franca (Pictures) celebrated his 32nd birthday with his sixth win in 2006, a tougher-than-expected third-round submission over UFC newcomer Jamie Varner (Pictures).
A competitive and fairly plodding opening period saw both men have their moments. Franca went after the wrestler’s lead leg, pounding it several times with Thai kicks. However Varner did well on the mat, putting Franca down several times and offering limited ground-and-pound.
Varner took control of the second and for a time it looked as if he would upset Franca. Towards the end of the period Franca smartly allowed Varner to mount from side-control, and he countered immediately by reversing the Arizonan to his back.
Heading into the third, Varner, despite showing signs of fatigue, was in control. However the veteran Franca, who for 10 minutes appeared to be biding his time until Varner erred, charged out to start the round. He finally connected, scoring with a quality knee to the face, the kind of blow that had alluded him in the first two rounds.
A stunned Varner turned and ran, causing referee John McCarthy to halt the action and deduct a point from the 22-year-old. In serious trouble, Varner surely did not mind exchanging the point deduction for what was close to a minute’s respite.
Franca did not let the break deter him and he scored again with two more knees after action resumed. On the floor after Varner’s final takedown, Franca went for and scored an armbar counter off an initial omoplata attempt, finishing the submission by forcing Varner’s right elbow into the side of his left thigh. The tapout came at 3:31 of the third.
Dark Bouts
UFC newcomer Eric Schafer (Pictures) (4-1-2) made quick work of Rob MacDonald (Pictures) (4-2-0), choking the Canadian heavyweight unconscious at 2:26 of round one via arm-triangle choke.
Wilson Gouveia (Pictures) (7-4-0) tapped Wes Combs (Pictures) (12-2-0) with a rear-naked choke at 3:23 of the first.
Light heavyweight David Heath (Pictures) upped his record to a perfect 6-0-0, stopping Cory Walmsley (Pictures) (7-2-0) with a rear-naked choke 2:32 in round one.
Making their first appearances in the Octagon, Japan’s Yushin Okami (Pictures) (17-3-0) dominated American Alan Belcher (Pictures) (8-2-0) over three rounds to take a unanimous decision victory.