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UFC 44: Undisupted - Ringside Report
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 09.30.2003 12:48 PM
By Jack Welsh/BoxingInsider.com
(Note: Jack Welsh has been covering boxing live in Las Vegas for over 40 years, this is was his second UFC show)
Jack Welsh periscopes UFC:
COUTURE, 40, TAKES ORITZ’S CROWN IN VEGAS
There are moments when the leaf is from boxing, and an instant later it’s wrestling in vogue, but in the end, it’s the fury of Mixed Martial Arts that dominates the scenario like Sept. 26 when Randy Couture surprised incumbent Tito Oritz to win the Ultimate Fighting undisputed light-heavyweight crown at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
It was a sellout crowd of 12,500 which never stopped screaming over the pay-per-view action from the first of nine bouts until the final bell as 40-year - old Couture, 205, Everett, Wash., was simply too strong for Ortiz,205, Huntington Beach, Ca., who is 12 years the newest champion’s junior.
Couture ended Ortiz’s three and a half-year reign with comparative ease in this matchup of five three-minute rounds where the winner dominated in every round. Judges Nelson Hamilton, Jeff Mullen, and Marcos Rosales were unanimous in their 50-44 voting.
Couture ignored the pro-Ortiz assembly’s cheers in the opening round and let the house know what kind of pressure he would apply when he body slammed the popular champion to the mat early in the first round.
Early in the second round, Couture stunned Ortiz with a left and three rights to the head and for the rest of the session, the latter was trying to crab-kick himself erect.
Later in the third round it was clear Ortiz would need a knockout to retain his championship. There was one juncture in the fourth round when Ortiz was rolling from side to side trying to avoid Couture’s punches coming down. Referee John McCarthy was watching closely to note that Ortiz did block some of a six-punch salvo while the later was still kicking on his back.
Couture did let up in the fifth round, even when Ortiz violently rolled sideways trying to rise but was kept on his back for the final three minutes.
Couture was delighted to improve his UFC record to 9-2 and overall to 16-6.
“There was a tremendous amount of publicity for this fight and Tito brought out the best in me tonight. Tito has been a great champion, but this night was mine. I’ll have to see what the UFC schedule is in the immediate future but I hope we can do it again. What has to please everybody is the way the fans have supported us,” said the personal two-time former heavyweight champion.
Ortiz, now 9-3 in the UFC and 20-5 overall, admitted Couture was much stronger than he expected. “I was having trouble with some of my takedowns. Randy is the champ right now but you fans better expect that Tito Ortiz is coming back to win that title. I have never been taken down in an UFC match, but I’ll be back with a vengeance,” Ortiz predicted.
In the semi-windup, Tim Sylvia, 265, Ellsworth, Ma., hardly broke a sweat when he defended the UFC heavyweight title by knocking out Dan McGee, 265, Bismarck, N.D., at 1:54 of the first round in a bout scheduled for five rounds.
Sylvia, improving to 3-0 in the UFC and 20-0 overall, stretched McGee with a right to the jaw and then jumped on him with five more punches, prompting McCarthy, again the referee, to halt the mismatch. McGee dipped to 2-2 in the UFC and 14-2 overall.
In a three-round bout of heavyweight contenders, Abdrei Arlovski, 240, Minsk, Belarus, eliminated Vladimir Matyushenko, 220, Los Angeles, Ca., with three right hands for a knockout at 2:14 of the first round in a slated three-rounder. Arlovski moved to 3-2 in the UFC and 9-5 overall.
Jorge Rivera, 185, Framingham, MA., posted a three- round unanimous decision over David Loiseau,184, Montreal, Quebec., on scores of 29-27 and 29-28 twice. Rivera is now 1-0 in the UFC and 7-1 overall.
Hermes Franca, 155, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., erased Caol Uno, 154, Kanagawa, Japan., on a TKO victory at 2:05 of the second round. Franca moves to 8-0 overall while Uno drops to 3-3-1 in the UFC and 16-5-2 overall.
Nick Diaz, 170, Stockton, Ca., chilled Jeremy Jackson, 170, Brawley, Ca., on a TKO at 2:04 of the third round. Diaz is now 1-0 in the UFC and 8-2 overall. Jackson falls to 0-1 in the UFC and 9-4 overall.
Josh Thomson, 155, San Jose, CA., eliminated Gerald Strebendt ,155, Los Angeles, Ca., on a TKO at 25 seconds into the first round. Thomson is now 1-0 in the UFC and 23-1 overall.
Rich Franklin, 205, Cincinnati, Oh., registered a TKO win at 3:35 of the first round over Edwin Dewees, 205, Phoenix, Az. Franklin is 2-0 in the UFC and 16-0 overall. while Dewees is 0-1 in the UFC and 27-7 overall.
Karo Parisyan,170, No. Hollywood, CA., stopped Dave Strasser,179, Kenosha, Wis., on a TKO at 1:45 of the first round. Parisyan goes 1-0 in the UFC and 18-2 overall, while Strasser is 1-1 in the UFC and 23-4-4 overall.
(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquarted in Las Vegas and a regular contributor to Boxing Insider.com).
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