I watched this event with a group of seasoned boxing fans who’ve recently been getting into Mixed Martial Arts. Just as any veteran MMA fan was they too found the event quite disappointing.
The evening started off just fine as Edwards and Stevenson kicked things off. Beer was flowing, bets were being made and the energy in the room was terrific. The vibe eroded slightly during the embarrassing Mir-Christison fight and it was tough explaining that these were some of the best Heavies the UFC has to offer. Naturally the word “Pride” came up moments after my explanation.
By the time Ken and Tito were coming into the ring, the room was once again enthusiastic. Unfortunately the ending to this fight caused outrage followed by dis-interest. Everyone was initially upset at the stoppage but once the replays were shown half the people in the room changed their minds.
Personally I felt Dean jumped in a bit too soon. He began moving in after the first elbow and did not even give Ken a warning. Nevertheless I don’t think the outcome of the fight would have been any different. In the brief moments we saw, Tito manhandled Ken and likely would have mauled him much like he did in their first fight. As disappointing as the stoppage was, Tito’s threat of a third fight between him and Shamrock really disillusioned me.
By the time Burkman and Neer began fighting people began to leave. Some guys went on a Sub run while others stepped out to smoke. One guy passed out in a chair but that was probably from the Vicodin. Those that left or dozed did not realize their good fortune as they were spared the misery of watching Arlovsky-Sylvia III.
After the UFC we switched over and caught the last half of the Karmazin-Spinks fight on Showtime but by then only four of us were really paying any attention to it. Continuing with the theme of the evening this too was an uninspiring fight. We spent the remainder of the night talking boxing.
UFC 61 results
- Tim Sylvia defeated Andrei Arlovski by unanimous decision (5)
- Josh Burkman defeated Josh Neer by unanimous decision (3)
- Tito Ortiz defeated Ken Shamrock by TKO at 1:18 of rd 1
- Frank Mir defeated Dan Christison by unanimoud decision (3)
- Joe Stevenson defeated Yves Edwards by TKO (cut) at the end of rd 2
- Hermes Franca defeated Joe Jordan by triangle choke at :47 of rd 3
- Jeff Monson defeated Anthony Perosh by TKO at 2:22 of rd 1
- Cheick Kongo defeated Gilbert Aldana by TKO at 4:13 of rd 1
- Drew Fickett defeated Kurt Pellegrino by rear naked choke at 1:20 of rd 3
So totally disapointed in Arlovksi right now, bah. Did he completely forget that his background is sambo? And when did Mir start outweighing Syliva? Randy was fun as an announcer though.
I’ve heard that Randy will be a permanent part of the Rogan/Goldberg team
[...] Fight Report – I watched this event with a group of seasoned boxing fans who’ve recently been getting into Mixed Martial Arts. Just as any veteran MMA fan was they too found the event quite disappointing. [...]