This article is the third in a series of daily releases counting down the top thirty fights of 2008. We will release a new article each day starting from #30 all the way up until the end of the month.
Top 30 Fights of 2008: #28
Rameau Thierry "The African Assassin" Sokoudjou vs. Luis "Banha" Arthur Cane
UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben - 10/18/2008
There is more significance to this fight than the fact that combined, these two have the largest culmination of words between first, middle, last and nicknames. I promise. So aside from the possibility of a fight poster displaying there names together slightly resembling a novella, why did these two make it into the top thirty fights of 2008?
New blood.
Aside from maybe the welterweight division, the UFC's light heavyweight division is about as deep as deep can be. We as fight fans are constantly treated to Rampage slamming people, Machida going Mr. Miyagi on his opponents, Chuck Liddell either brutally knocking people out or being brutally knocked out himself, Keith Jardine scaring children and Forrest Griffin monkeying his way to victory, amongst many others. Since the subsequent fall of PRIDE Fighting Championships, the UFC has been pitting the best 205ers in the world against one another.
However, if it's not the usual top guys facing one another, it's them beating up on prospects. While there is a great versatility of skill and ability in the division, we seldom see new talented 205 fighters rise up because the top guys of the division are just too far ahead of the rest in skill and experience.
But at UFC 89, we got to see two relatively young fighters, who had already proven their worth, go toe-to-toe. I personally didn't see this fight as a competition of skills for the right to move up the contenders ladder; or as a way to get in line for a battle for the hotly contended light heavyweight belt. To me, this fight was two young guys with a lot of potential merely showing that they could take a contender fight; and that they could jump into the pit of wolves at the top.
Sokoudjou at the time of this fight had a gigantic question mark above his dread-locked head. Before coming to the UFC, he more or less kicked down the door of Japan and started cracking the skulls of the contenders they kept trying to feed him to. He absolutely wrecked Little Nog with a right hand from hell in just twenty three seconds, and just when we thought it was a fluke, the suits at Dream Stage Entertainment tried derailing his momentum by throwing him to Ricardo Arona. Unfortunately for the Yakuza... whoops... unfortunately for PRIDE executives, Sokoudjou smashed Arona into a steady diet of tube-fed applesauce in just under two minutes.
After losing a disappointing UFC debut against the undefeated Lyoto Machida, he finished off a game pothead in Kazuhiro Nakamura in just one round by strikes. So at the time of UFC 89, he absolutely crushed two top level opponents, soundly beat one mid level opponent and suffered an understandable loss to one of the sport's best. Needless to say, he was young, had gone three for four since his major organization debut and was bursting with potential.
Luis Cane on the other hand (who's nickname, "Banha," means "lard" by the way), was a relative unknown with a great showing in the UFC thus far. While his record may say he lost his UFC debut to James Irvin, he was actually winning until being disqualified for a knee to the head while Irvin was down. He later disposed of an always ready to fight Jason Lambert a few months later. So looking past the technicalities of his record, we saw him easily walk through two of the division's perpetual gatekeepers.
Cane was never pitted against fellow newcomers like most new UFC fighters. Right off the bat he was thrown legitimate competition, and other than his misunderstanding of the rules at UFC 79, he was looking pretty solid.
Both were young and had very good showings. So this fight, in essence, was an initiation for the both of them. They might have the skills to run with the pack, so why not make them fight for the right? Why not make them earn there way into the world's meanest frat, where brain cells are destroyed by fists and feet instead of crappy American beers, and ogling drunk college girls is only an available right if you beat your opponent and haven't destroyed yourself in the process.
And what an initiation it was. For the entire first round, we got to see some stellar striking. Complete with Sokoudjou utilizing his tree trunk legs with some sweet inside leg kicks, and Cane showing he can absorb the most powerful of shots and keep driving forward. It was a wicked (I'm from Boston, if you think you're going to escape our trademark slang in these articles, you're sorely mistaken) kick boxing match between the two, and the level of explosiveness exhibited is seldom seen.
The second round started off much like the first, with Cane smashing Sokou's privies up into his throat with a misplaced kick a few minutes after the bell. All looked just as it did in the first, when out of nowhere Cane clipped the Cameroonian native with a knee to the face, and then proceeded to rearranged his huge jaw with a killer left hook. Sokou was instantly floored, and Cane pulverized his head into the canvas with his meat mallet fists like a butcher does fresh ground beef.
The fight was called, and just like that, new blood was injected into the division. Sure, we'll still have to watch Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture 8, and Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson 15; but hey, we have hope now. Last year we got Thiago Silva added to the mix, and now we have Luis Cane. A new, interesting prospect in and even more interesting division.
Now if only Dana White didn't expel fighters as fast as he hands out interim belts and holds conferences for "special announcements," we might get to give Sokou another chance. But hey, at least we got one of the two, right?
Stay tuned for #27 of the MMATorch Top 30 Fights of 2008, which will be revealed with a full article tomorrow. Now check out yesterday's #29 fight of the year...
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