UFC ULTIMATE JAPAN

-We are welcomed to the show by our announcers Mike Goldberg and Jeff Blatnick. This show took place between UFC 15 and 16. All non-title matches will have a 10 minute time limit with an additional 3 minute overtime round if necessary.

-Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Final Bout. David "Tank" Abbott is a pitfighter and a UFC veteran. From Japan, “Mr. 200%” Yoji Anjo is a submission wrestler.

1 - DAVID ABBOTT vs. YOJI ANJO

ROUND ONE: Tank Abbott looks to strike right away, but Yoji Anjo clinches. Abbott lifts Anjo up in the air and slams him to the mat. Abbott is standing in Anjo's guard, and nailing down numerous strikes. Abbott hits a hard right punch and an elbow, amongst the flurry. Abbott drops down to the ground, still in Anjo's guard. Abbott is using his forearm under Anjo's chin to jam Anjo’s head up against the fence. Abbott has slowed down his assault, but Anjo is still in a bad way. Anjo is working for an armbar and the Japanese crowd erupts. Abbott manages to avoid the submission. The ref stands the fighters up. Anjo has a bloody mouth. Both fighters appear winded. Anjo tries a kick, and Abbott lands a few punches. Abbott gets a takedown, but Anjo doesn't really give much resistance. The fighters are back on the ground, with Abbott in Anjo's guard. Abbott assaults Anjo with more strikes, as Anjo tries for another arm submission. Abbott drops down onto Anjo to avoid. Anjo takes a couple more brutal shots to the head, while Abbott presses Anjo's head into the fence. The fighters are stood up by the ref again. Anjo does not look good. Anjo comes in with several low kicks, retreating after hitting each one. Abbott catches onto the pattern and punishes Anjo with counter strikes. Abbott gets another takedown, and is once again on top of Anjo, in his guard. Abbott is pooped and not doing much here, which is good for Anjo, because he doesn't look like he can take a whole lot more. An annoying buzzer goes off to end the round.

ROUND TWO: Yoji Anjo starts the round off landing another low kick, to which Tank Abbott responds with a brutal right hand. Anjo clinches and throws up a knee. Abbott lifts Anjo and slams him to the mat for yet another takedown. Abbott is in Anjo's half guard. Abbott lands strikes on the ground to the body and head of Anjo. Thirty seconds left in the round, and Abbott has been dominant. Mike Goldberg calls the annoying buzzer a horn.

FINISH: David Abbott Wins by Unanimous Decision after 13:00.

STAR RATING: (*) Extremely dull fight. Most of the fight was Tank Abbott laying on Yoji Anjo, who was smashed up against the fence. In his post-fight interview, Abbott says he hurt his hand early in the fight. A Tank Abbott fight going the distance is a recipe for disaster in terms of entertainment. Yoji Anjo was not able to avoid being taken down, and was no match for even a one-handed Abbott on his feet. Abbott got in a few licks, but nothing explosive. As J.R. from the WWE would say, this one was bowling shoe ugly.

RAMIFICATIONS: Since this fight, Tank Abbott has went 2-6 over the years. Abbott continues to participate in MMA matches and make money from the reputation he created so many moons ago. Yoji Anjo ended his career in 2004 without a win, going 0-5-1 in MMA.

-Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Final Bout. Kazushi Sakuraba is a submission fighter who would go on to become one of the most popular Japanese fighters of all time. Marcus “Conan” Silveira is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist, and student of Carlton Gracie.

2 - KAZUSHI SAKURABA vs. MARCUS SILVEIRA

ROUND ONE: The fighters circle to strike. Kazushi Sakuraba shoots in for a takedown and Marcus Silveira grabs a guillotine. Silveira falls to his back. Sakuraba escapes the guillotine and stands up. Both fighters grab a hold of each others’ legs, going for submissions. The fighters trade punches. Silveira lands an upkick to Sakuraba’s cheek. Silveira gets to his feet, and gets a waistlock on Sakuraba from behind. Silveira lifts Sakuraba up and takes him down to the mat. Silveira still has Sakuraba’s back. Silveira wrenches Sakuraba’s arm, but Sakuraba counters well and manages to get to his feet. Sakuraba is met with a straight right punch, though, and Silveira follows up with a left. Sakuraba is rocked. He is up against the fence, and Silveira sends in a flurry of punches. Sakuraba drops down for a single leg, but Big John McCarthy thinks Sakuraba is out, and he steps in to stop Silveira. As Silveira backs up, Sakuraba still has his leg and McCarthy turns around to see a puzzled-looking Sakuraba.

Big John McCarthy leads Kazushi Sakuraba back to his corner. The crowd is booing, as Mike Goldberg says McCarthy wants to see if Sakuraba is okay!?! McCarthy is between a rock and a hard place here, though, as he seems to have realized he made a mistake, but he has already stopped the fight. McCarthy improvises by inspecting Sakuraba like he’s a doctor, then waving his hand in the air to call the fight. The crowd is pissed. McCarthy tells Sakuraba’s corner that Sakuraba was knocked out, but they could clearly see that he wasn’t. Sakuraba’s corner is pissed. Things get real shady, as McCarthy grabs Sakuraba’s hand to pull him to the center of the ring for the official announcement. Sakuraba is reluctant, but eventually does go. Sakuraba continues to pull away, though, as McCarthy holds onto his hand and Bruce Buffer announces Silveira as the winner via KO, which makes it seem ever more like a sham, as he could have said TKO or referee stoppage. Sakuraba tries to take the microphone away from Buffer, but Buffer puts the mike behind his back and shakes his head no. Sakuraba throws his mouthpiece hard to the mat in protest.

The replay shows Marcus Silveira hit a big uppercut before Kazushi Sakuraba dropped to his knees, but Sakuraba was clearly going for Silveira’s leg. In pro wrestling fashion, the announcers try to sell it as a legitimate KO, that Sakuraba fell forward, but they are just being company men here. Even as the replays show Sakuraba going for a takedown, the announcers continue to say it was a good stoppage because Big John McCarthy thought Sakuraba was out. Current UFC color commentator Joe Rogan would never have tried to cover up such a ridiculous ending.

FINISH: Marcus Silveira Wins by TKO at 1:50 of the First Round.

STAR RATING: (**-) What a bogus ending. Big John McCarthy is an honorable referee who made a mistake, but what an awful time to make such a mistake. On Japanese soil, he totally screwed over one of the two Japanese fighters on the card. Yoji Anjo was already eliminated, so Sakuraba was the last hope for the Japanese crowd. If not for the character of McCarthy, one could totally see this as an intentional screw job by the UFC. Surely, the Japanese crowd couldn’t see this any other way than the UFC jobbing out Sakuraba here. Great way to poison the crowd early the show. This has to be considered one of the biggest blunders in the history of the sport, considering this was one of the first UFC matches to take place in Japan.

RAMIFICATIONS: The announcers inform us that Tank Abbott broke his left hand in his fight, and he will not be able to continue in the tournament. In a bizarre twist, Mike Goldberg says that the UFC sanctioning body has ruled that Big John McCarthy did indeed prematurely stop this fight. They say the decision stands, but since Abbott is out of the tournament, Sakuraba and Silveira will fight again tonight in the tournament final. This was a classy move by the UFC to correct an egregious error. Later, this bout would officially be declared a No Contest by the UFC.

-UFC Middleweight Championship Bout. Our next bout will determine the first-ever UFC Middleweight Champion. Kevin Jackson is a three-time World Champion and a 1992 Olympic gold-medalist in freestyle wrestling. Frank Shamrock is the younger brother of Ken Shamrock and is an expert submission fighter. Shamrock is making his UFC debut here.

3 - KEVIN JACKSON vs. FRANK SHAMROCK

ROUND ONE: The fighters circle, before Kevin Jackson shoots in for a takedown. Jackson gets Frank Shamrock to the ground, but Shamrock quickly goes for, and gets, an armbar. Jackson taps out.

FINISH: Frank Shamrock Wins by Submission at 0:16 of the First Round.

STAR RATING: (*) Less than twenty seconds doesn’t allow for much action in an MMA match. Excellent showing by Frank Shamrock, who taught the gold-medalist wrestler a quick lesson in submission grappling.

RAMIFICATIONS: Frank Shamrock became the first-ever UFC Middleweight Champion. Shamrock would defend the title four times over two years, defeating both Jeremy Horn and Tito Ortiz, before citing a lack of competition and forfeiting the title. Tito Ortiz would then defeat Wanderlei Silva for the vacant title and hold onto it for three years. Since 1999, Frank Shamrock has only fought three times. Shamrock will make his return to MMA this coming December, in a match against Phil Baroni. Kevin Jackson would fight twice more, before retiring from the sport in 1998 with a 4-2 record.

-Featured Superfight Bout. Vitor Belfort is a Brazilian Vale Tudo fighter with a jiu-jitsu background. Joe “the Ghetto Man” Charles is a judo fighter and a UFC veteran.

4 - VITOR BELFORT vs. JOE CHARLES

ROUND ONE: The fighters wiggle around, looking to strike. Vitor Belfort moves in and clinches Joe Charles. Belfort has Charles up against the fence. Belfort gets Charles to the ground and has side control. Belfort mounts Charles. Belfort moves to a north-south position, looking for an keylock. Charles is on his knees, and displays a wonderful roll, getting Belfort to his back. Belfort counters with some fine grappling of his own, getting Charles back to his back. Belfort again has side control. Belfort has his knee on Charles’s stomach. Belfort gets Charles’s back. Belfort has his hooks set in. Charles rolls to his back. Charles is in trouble, but avoiding well. Belfort is slowly cinching the choke tighter and tighter. Jeff Blatnick points out that Charles is familiar with choke defense from his judo background. Belfort is not striking, as Blatnick says Belfort is making a statement towards his grappling ability. The fighters each exhibit some fluid grappling, sliding around on the ground countering each other, until Belfort finds Charles’s arm. Belfort locks in an armbar and falls to his back. Charles quickly taps out.

FINISH: Vitor Belfort Wins by Submission at 4:03 of the First Round.

STAR RATING: (**-) Great, but short, grappling match. Vitor Belfort and Joe Charles rolled around on the ground, displaying some nice grappling before Belfort secured the submission victory. Charles put forth a valiant effort, but Belfort was just too much for him. Interesting approach by Belfort, who was intent on winning by submission, as he didn’t throw a strike the whole match.

RAMIFICATIONS: Vitor Belfort has had a storied 14-8 MMA career. Belfort recently lost a decision to Dan Henderson at PRIDE 32 in Las Vegas. Afterwards, Belfort tested positive for steroid use, and will be facing a suspension from the sport in a hearing before the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Joe Charles wrapped up his meager 6-13 career in 2000.

-Heavyweight Tournament Final Bout. Mike Goldberg calls our next match a “rematch of sorts.” Jeff Blatnick says Kazushi Sakuraba did not make a traditional forward step motion when he went to the ground for his takedown attempt, so Big John McCarthy interpreted this as Sakuraba being knocked out. In all fairness, McCarthy believed he was acting to protect Sakuraba. Although he made a bad call, McCarthy only had good intentions.

5 - KAZUSHI SAKURABA vs. MARCUS SILVEIRA

FINISH: Kazushi Sakuraba Wins by Submission at 3:44 of the First Round.

STAR RATING: (**) This fight featured a lot of unorthodox ground grappling. There is seemingly no position in which a fighter holds a truly dominant position over Kazushi Sakuraba. Sakuraba is a true scientist in the ring, as he will give up his back, or lay on his side, all the while maneuvering in all sorts of odd ways. Sakuraba has a very convoluted approach to MMA, where he takes a lot of risks, but in calculated ways that often result in big rewards. Here, he gave up position several times to Marcus Silveira, but Sakuraba was the one to get the finish.

RAMIFICATIONS: By ending their earlier fight too early, Big John McCarthy also screwed Marcus Silveira, as he was dominating Sakuraba in that first fight, but came back to lose here. Kazushi Sakuraba actually benefited from the near-screw job. Marcus Silveira fought for the last time in 2002, after a 5-4 career. Kazushi Sakuraba continues to fight. With a 20-9-1 record, Sakuraba is set for a match on the K-1 Dynamite!! 2006 New Year’s Eve show.

-UFC Heavyweight Championship Bout. Kickboxer Maurice Smith is the current and defending UFC Heavyweight Champion. Randy Couture is an amateur and Greco-Roman wrestler, who defeated Vitor Belfort to earn this title shot. The American National Anthem plays before the match.  This match will have a 15 minute time limit with two additional 3 minute overtime rounds if necessary.

6 - MAURICE SMITH vs. RANDY COUTURE

ROUND ONE: The fighters dance around. Maurice Smith lands a couple of hard low kicks. Randy Couture shoots in and gets a double leg takedown. Couture has side control, but Smith has a guillotine on Couture. Couture sends in a knee, and Smith releases the headlock. Couture rides Smith, until he is able to distract Smith with a keylock. Couture uses the submission attempt to pass guard into the mount. Couture has Smith mounted, with his legs gravevined behind Smith’s rear end. Smith is effectively avoiding punishment in this vulnerable position. Smith gets Couture back into his half guard. Not much action at all so far on the ground. Smith gets Couture into his full guard. The announcers point out that Smith is very good on the ground with fighters in his guard. Couture stands to strike, but is met with an upkick by Smith. Couture falls back down into Smith’s guard. Eight minutes into the fight, and the action has been pretty lackluster. Couture lands a punch. Smith uses an elevator to beautifully flip Couture up off him, but Couture goes right back down to the ground, into Smith’s half guard. Couture lands a sequence of punches and elbows to the head of Smith to pop the crowd a bit. Smith flails around to escape, so Couture falls back down on top of him. Couture is using his superior grappling ability to hold Smith on the ground. Smith flips Couture over for an escape attempt, but Couture is ever persistent and follows Smith to keep him on the ground. Couture is on top of Smith, with side control. Couture lands another flurry of punches. Smith tries to roll away, but Couture continues to smother him. The buzzer sounds to end the round. Very tedious round. Jeff Blatnick calls the fight even, but Couture really seems to have had the advantage for most of the fight, albeit he didn’t do a whole lot, as Smith showed excellent defense on the ground.

ROUND TWO: Maurice Smith lands a nasty low kick, so Randy Couture takes him down again. Couture is on top, with side control. The fighters exchange knees to each other’s sides on the ground. They both land elbows, but Couture is in a much better spot to be elbowing. Smith isn’t able to get a whole lot behind his elbow. Couture lands a few strikes to end the round. Jeff Blatnick still does not believe there has been a favorite in this match. Blatnick says it is too close to call.

ROUND THREE: Mike Goldberg says Maurice Smith would love to stay standing up this round. Smith lands some good shots on Randy Couture, including a left-right punch combination that lands square. Couture gets a takedown. Couture is on top of Smith, and pivots around to north-south position. Couture lands three big knees to the top of Smith’s head. Couture rides Smith for the remainder of the round. Blatnick thinks Couture might have squeaked out a victory, based on grappling.

FINISH: Randy Couture Wins by Split Decision (Draw / Couture / Couture) after 21:00.

STAR RATING: (**) Plodding match. A calculating fight can easily translate into boredom for the audience, and this match was all about calculated moves by each fighter. This match is extremely significant in the MMA world, as Randy Couture captured his first world title here. Important match, but mostly consisted of Couture holding Maurice Smith on the ground. This effectively neutralized Smith’s offense. A smart gameplan by Couture got him the victory, but didn’t provide a very entertaining match. Couture’s job is to win, though, and he did a good job in this match.

RAMIFICATIONS: Randy Couture became the new UFC Heavyweight Champion. Before Couture could ever defended his title, though, he was stripped of his championship status due to a contract dispute with the UFC. Three years later, Couture would return to the UFC in a Heavyweight Championship match against Kevin Randleman, at UFC 23 in Japan. In the country where he won the title for the first time, Couture took back the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Couture defended the title twice against Pedro Rizzo, before he lost the title to Josh Barnett at UFC 36. Couture would next set his sights on the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Couture also became a two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, before recently announcing his retirement from the sport, finishing with a 14-8 record. After a 9-9 career, Maurice Smith participated in his last MMA match in 2000.

[End Show]

FINAL THOUGHTS: A couple of monumental matches early in the career of two MMA legends, saw Kazushi Sakuraba capture the Heavyweight Tournament crown, after almost being screwed by Big John McCarthy, and Randy Couture capture the UFC Heavyweight Championship. This show was great for its historical importance, but not so much for its entertainment value. The main event was really kind of boring. The two Kazushi Sakuraba matches with Marcus Silveira were short, but really good while they lasted. The first one, of course, featured one of the most horrible ref stoppages ever. Luckily for the UFC, Tank Abbott broke his hand, so they were left with a perfect out to right their wrong. I rated the Tank Abbott and Frank Shamrock matches equally, even though Abbott’s match was over fifteen minutes longer. This speaks to just how tedious the Abbott match was. Abbott did break his hand early in the match, which accounts for the lack of action, but nevertheless, there was still a severe lack of action with or without reason. Not a show you need to go out of your way to see, but it was the only UFC appearance for Kazushi Sakuraba, which might be quite appealing to a lot of MMA fans. For my money, Sakuraba truly is one of the best to have ever stepped into a ring or an octagon.

BEST FIGHT: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Marcus Silveira II 

WORST FIGHT: Tank Abbott vs. Yoji Anjo

Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!

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MMA TORCH STAR RATING SYSTEM (By Wade Keller)

We have created a star rating system for use at MMATorch.com as a courtesy for readers looking for a quick reference to decide which DVDs to rent or purchase, and as a subject for discussion among MMA followers.

Our star rating system is not judging the performance of fighters, whose job it is to win their match, not entertain. If a fighter can win in a few seconds, he's doing his job as he should, yet the match would not receive a high star rating because it wasn't substantial enough to be considered a "must see" or "go out of your way to see" match.

We have a basic five-star rating system, with no quarter or half stars, but instead a plus (+) or minus (-) to indicate whether it was a strong or weak version of two-star or four-star match, etc.

The criteria is based primarily on "drama" or "entertainment value" - the primary reason anybody watches any sport, but with a healthy dose of consideration (20 percent) on strong technique being shown by fighters and a final dose of consideration (10-20 percent) on whether the fight is "significant" in the sense of history (a dream match between known fighters, an upset by a newcomer over an established fighter), or changing the title picture. In other words, a **+ match might become a ***- because it has major ramifications or a surprising finish. A * match might move to **- because the technique of the submission or knockout was noteworthy.

ONE STAR: Every fight gets one star for merely taking place, so a *- would indicate the least entertaining fight possible (Severn-Shamrock draw debacle or a sloppy one minute submission). A *+ rating would go to a match that was forgettable and perhaps mostly boring, but with a redeeming quality, such as a few good punches, reversals, or a submission of note.

TWO STARS: This is your typical average MMA fight that you might forget about within minutes, if not for one or two decent rounds or a memorable knockout or submission or historical significance. (Sylvia vs. Arlovski III as an example might be considered **- because the title being at stake added drama, but otherwise it was a *+ propped up only by a solid first round; Liddell vs. Sobral would be probably ranked only two-stars because it was so short, but I'd add a plus because it was a Liddell title match and Sobral had a strong winning streak and a title was at stake, adding elements of drama to it going in and ramifications afterward.)

THREE STARS: This is good fight, where if there were three of them on an event, it'd make it an event worth seeing with some good technique, although not superior. (Hughes vs. Gracie might arguably reach three-stars because of the stature of the fight, the drama of the armbar, and historical significance, although I'd be tempted to have it **+ because it was so short.)

FOUR STARS: This is an elite fight, where it can carry a show on its own or come close to it, or a good match between two name fighters. If it's one dimensional with no ground fighting, or all ground fighting with no stand-up, that can work against it, unless the stand-up or ground fighting is compelling throughout.

FIVE STARS: This happens maybe twice a year, and would be up for MMA Fight of the Year. It could be an awesome undercard match between two up-and-comers, but more often will be a match with something at stake, high interest going into the fight to add drama, and a match that exceeds expectations and goes at least two rounds. (Griffin-Bonner I would be five-stars as it fits much of the criteria perfectly, only falling short in not being a showcase for any ground fighting - but that's a small factor. Another potential five-star level match this year was Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan from the Aug. 17 Ultimate Fight Night Live.)

We will track on MMATorch.com a list of four-star and five-star matches during the year, as graded by our official contributors reviewing live events, TV shows, and DVDs. We will also compile over time a list of top rated match from past years, as they are reviewed for MMATorch.com by our contributors, and a note of their availability on DVD.