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UK SCENE: Top five UFC fights in England; UFC on Sky Sports and ESPN; other UK MMA news in brief
Oct 5, 2010 - 8:35:20 PM UK SCENE: Top five UFC fights in England; UFC on Sky Sports and ESPN; other UK MMA news in brief

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By: Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist

As the UFC prepare to make their long awaited UK return, many have heaped criticism on the fight card for this October 16 event in London. What has been referred to as an event with a lack of “international superstars” is distracting from the solid set of matchups that will very likely see UFC 120 become one of the best fight cards of 2010.

As the excitement builds to what could be a non-stop-action-night-of-fights, it seems appropriate to look back at some of the most memorable fights that the UFC have brought to these shores in recent years.

Paul Taylor vs. Paul Kelly: UFC 80, Newcastle Upon Tyne

At UFC 80, Paul “Tellies” Kelly made his UFC debut when he took on fellow Brit “Relentless” Paul Taylor at the Newcastle Arena. Both men hit the ground running, standing toe-to-toe and violently swinging at one another in one of, if not the most intense opening minute to a fight in UFC history.

The striking was ferocious, and to this day is the measuring stick for the heart UK fighters are expected to display. These shots were landing and they were landing hard, yet both men stayed in the pocket and continued to take all that the other man could throw. The second and third rounds took place on the ground for the majority of the time, with Kelly delivering some serious ground and pound leaving his opponent a bleeding mess en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The fight was slotted into the live PPV broadcast and there was no surprise when these two British warriors were rightfully awarded “Fight Of The Night” honours. On top of that this Battle Of Britain saw these men honoured by being ranked in the UFC’s 100 Greatest Fights.


Michael Bisping vs. Dennis Kang: UFC 105, Manchester

At UFC 100 Michael Bisping suffered one of the worst knockout defeats in recent memory when Dan Henderson dropped two devastating blows onto the jaw of “The Count.” Four months later - and in his hometown of Manchester - Bisping looked to come back from his first stoppage loss when he took on highly regarded PRIDE veteran Denis Kang.

Bisping suffered a nail-biting knockdown early in the fight, which saw him survive and spend the remainder of the round defending off of his back. Bisping walked back to his corner shaking his fist to the home crowd as if to say “now let’s start this fight,” and came back to deliver one of the most dominating performances of his career.

Continuous takedowns and a relentless cardio saw the Brit overwhelm and then eventually “break” his opponent with the defenceless Kang finally being stopped in the closing stages of the second round.

Bisping was victorious; his comeback had been a successful one and this saw the bout named the “Fight Of The Night.” This showing at UFC 105 has to go down as the single best performance of Michael Bisping’s career. He showed such heart coming back from the early knockdown, and to then go on and dominate in such dramatic fashion was extremely impressive. A clearly emotional Bisping had captivated the home crowd with his efforts, stealing the show from both the main and the co-main events of the evening and showing the MMA world just what he is really made of.


Mirko Crop Cop vs. Gabriel Gonzaga: UFC 70, Manchester

Following a five year absence from the UK, the UFC returned with a card stacked with international names. Topping the bill was the Heavyweight No. 1 contender fight between rising Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga and former PRIDE superstar Mirko Cro Cop.

New champion Randy Couture awaited the winner of this one with fans eager to see a bout with The Natural and the Croatian kick-boxer. Mirko Cro Cop made a name for himself with MMA fans worldwide by delivering his lethal trademark kicks that have seen some of the best names in the business crumble at his feet.

As Cro Cop looked for a home for that kick, Gonzaga threw a perfect right head-kick of his own, landing right on the button, knocking the Croatian out cold on the canvass with his leg twisting dangerously under his body.

The Manchester crowd erupted as they witnessed the most shocking and ironic head-kick knockout in UFC history. That night the hunter became the hunted, and with that kick Gonzaga was awarded “Knockout Of The Night” as well as being handed a shot at the undisputed Heavyweight title.


B.J Penn vs. Joe Stevenson: UFC 80, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Just a few weeks after Tyneside saw in the New Year, Geordie fans were treated to their first ever live UFC event, with B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson set to do battle for the vacant Lightweight Championship.

After Sean Sherk was stripped of the title, the consequences of a positive steroid test, former Welterweight Champion Penn and TUF 2 winner Stevenson made the trip across the pond to decide which man would rule at 155 lbs.

Penn set the tone early by dropping Stevenson - within five seconds of the fight beginning - and put on an example of pure dominance as he controlled his opponent on the ground for the entire round. A late elbow opened a nasty gash which saw Stevenson stagger back to his corner, blood pumping heavily from his head.

In round two Penn picked his man apart on the feet, before Stevenson was sent to the canvass again. A vicious bout of ground and pound left Stevenson a bleeding mess and saw Penn eventually work his way into position to sink in the fight-winning rear-naked choke.

The choke was named “Submission of the Night,” but more importantly saw Penn finally named the UFC Lightweight Champion, setting up a showdown with the returning Sean Sherk.


Dan Hardy vs. Mike Swick: UFC 105, Manchester

Dan Hardy was bumped up to co-main event status after Mike Swick was drafted in for this card, as the UFC returned to the Manchester Evening News Arena. The promise of a title shot awaited the winner, with reigning Champion Georges St. Pierre waiting Octagon-side.

The enactment was a three round back and forth war which saw both men land significant shots. The main difference was the key shots that Hardy landed - mainly left hooks - that saw him instantly push forward again while he had Swick clearly rocked in all three rounds.

Parts of round three were an all out slugfest as both men stood and traded much to the delight of the capacity crowd in Manchester. Hardy displayed lightning quick striking and during one brief spell on the ground a cut opened on the head of Swick courtesy of a series of vicious Hardy elbows.

As they entered the final seconds Hardy cupped his ear signaling to the animated home crowd who responded with deafening chants of ‘Hardy...Hardy... Hardy!”

This was by far the best Dan Hardy that UFC fans have seen so far and the decision was unanimous in his favour. Dan Hardy made history that night in Manchester as he became the first British fighter in history to be awarded a shot at the UFC title.

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OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF:

-UFC UK President, Marshall Zelaznik, has poured cold water over recent rumours that the UFC will be switching to PPV in the UK.

Speaking exclusively to Ben Blackmore at ESPN.co.uk, Zelaznik stressed that the recent move to take The Ultimate Fighter to Sky Sports is purely to showcase the UFC to as wide an audience as possible.

“Our deal with ESPN is for two more years currently, and ESPN retains the crown jewels of the UFC right now.

“The Ultimate Fighter is an important driver for us, it drives the sport and it drives the brand, so having TUF on a sport-centric network that’s outside of ESPN only helps to grow the sport.

“We’re all about trying to get as many different eyeballs on the sport as we can. We’re lucky because we have Sky, ESPN, Five; I don't know how many other sports in the UK have so many platforms.

“There’s no master plan to leave ESPN, we’re super excited about how things are going. There’s no secret agenda here, it’s about making sure the sport grows, and the deal with Sky is part of building awareness so that we can do these extra events in the UK.

Speaking of these "Extra Events," Zelaznik was happy to discuss his idea of bringing the UFC back to the UK in 2011 for a series of 4-6 UK Fight Nights.

“We’ll definitely have at least one event in England next year – that’s a given.” Zelaznik said. “But I’m very, very optimistic, and Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta] are very focused on trying to make [a series of UK Fight Nights] a reality. With our relationship with TV partners around the world, we’re optimistic, but you just have to get things in place before you move forward with it.

“I’m very optimistic, everybody at the company is optimistic.”

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-Tom Blackledge has withdrawn from his all-English battle with James McSweeny through injury, and will now be replaced by Fabio Maldonado who will face McSweeny at UFC 120.

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-Dan Hardy has welcomed a future bout with fellow welterweight contender Chris Lytle after “Lights Out” made comments that he is looking for the winner of the Hardy vs. Condit clash in London next week. “I’ve read on the forums that Chris Lytle has mentioned he would like fight the winner of my next fight, which I'm assuming will be me,” Hardy told ESPN.co.uk.

“That’d be a great fight! Chris Lytle always brings it, always trades punches. That’d be a good scrap.”

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-Ross Pearson will undergo surgery on his knee after he revealed he suffered an injury during his recent loss to Cole Miller.

“I think I tore [my knee] when he pulled guard on me.” Pearson told Fighters Only. “After that I was really heavy-footed and I lost my movement. I am not using that as an excuse though, Cole Miller beat me fair and square. I didn’t want to mention it at all but now I am having an operation I suppose it would come out sooner or later.”

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-UCMMA is just a matter of weeks away as "Unbelievable" hits Troxy. Topping the bill is former TUF contestant and Team Rough House welterweight Dean “The Renegade” Amasinger who looks to get back to winning ways against Jermain Facey.

As majority of his teammates prepare for upcoming matchups, the whole team are training together and Amasinger was in confident mood telling MMATorch, “Training has been going really well and with Nick [Osipczak], Andre [Winner], Dan [Hardy] and Jimmy [Wallhead] all in camp there has been a great atmosphere in the gym. Rough House is coming back to winning ways!”

Unbelievable is live from Troxy Saturday October 23 and will air on Sky Sports the following Wednesday. For more information and ticket options visit; www.ucmma.com and don’t forget to tune into ‘Cage Fighter’ every Wednesday at 10pm on Sky Sports 4.

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-Andre Winner has had his next fight confirmed for the UFC’s trip to Germany next month. After being clung to for the full frustrating 15 minutes of his Boston clash with Nik Lentz; Winner will now take part in a fight that has all the markings of a classic.

Striking favourite Winner, will go toe-to-toe with German Kick-Boxer Dennis Siver in from of a capacity German crowd at UFC 122.

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Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Specialist and guest columnist at ESPN.co.uk. Please email any comments or questions to Chris at; mmatorchuk@gmail.com or look us up at http://www.facebook.com/mmatorchuk2 our new MMATorch Facebook home for UK Fans!