The UFC is back in town and it's bigger and better that ever!
The line up of fighters was going to guarantee an all action night an the MEN Arena in Manchester which some big names for the big night, Mirko Cro Cop, Andrei Arlovski and our own rising MMA superstar Michael Bisping.
The show 'Ultimate Fighter' has given the fighters a profile to the general public and fight fans that was missing before. The fans know the fighters more, so the support is stronger.
Manchester had a buzz about it on fight day; even the train station had UFC banners!
On the day of the event I even met UFC Welterweight Champ Matt Serra walking down Manchester high street! He was in great sprits as always. You can look out for an interview with the Champ very soon in MAI.
All the normal UFC faces where in attendance; Joe Rogan, Dana White and so on. Which added to the feel that you were at the UFC in Vegas!
At ringside was he new Heavyweight Champ Randy Couture who was also on hand to give his fight commentary to the event. When he his name was announced the crowd went wild to acknowledging him as such a properly figure in the world of MMA.
It was a great venue for the fight with a 20,000 crowd. Martial arts actor Jean Claude Van Dame was in the house, giving his support to the event.
The main fights:
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Round one: Every one was calling for Cro Cop who came out to Duran Duran's 'Wild boys'. That brought a smile to my face as I toured the USA with Duran not long ago. Well, I think we were all set to see an infamous Cro Cop knock out. We where going to get a knock out, but not the one we where betting on.
I must say that when Cro Cop entered the Octagon he didn't look his normal 'cool as ice'. He looked slightly less focused.
Gonzaga is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert and for that reason it was generally thought that he would try to take the fight to the ground. When the fight started it was Gonzaga who looked good with his stand up game. Gonzaga was in fact the one on the offensive looking sharper. Cro Cop was giving up about 20 pounds in this fight, so maybe he was checking out the game of Gonzaga, who has in the past been said to have heavy hands. Cro Cop looked like he was trying to find his pace. Cro Cop put in a heavy body leg kick, which Gonzaga caught to take Cro Cop down. He put Cro Cop on his back, which is not where the Croatian wanted to be. Gonzaga cut the hairline of Cro Cop with a series of heavy elbows. After some time and more that a few heavy blows Herb Dean stood them up Cro Cop looked, bloodied and now more switched on, but not in time as Gonzaga nearly took Cro Cop's head off with a right high kick. Most surprising is that he beat the Croatian at his own game the head kick left him knocked out for several minutes.
After the fight Gonzaga said, "I knew that I was aiming for the knockout,"
Gonzaga's win puts him next in line for a title fight against UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture. I'm sure Mirko 'Cro Cop' will be back in the game very soon.
Most where surprised with the out come of this fight. Gonzaga's corners could hardly contain themselves. 
Winner: Gonzaga by KO (Head Kick)
Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum
Round one: The fight started with a stand up trade off, with both guys trading equally. Then Arlovski dropped Werdum with an uppercut. Werdum went down and looked to bait Arlovski to the mat. Arlovski stayed away which forced the stand-up. Arlovski was moving well and looked land some leg kicks and jabs. Werdum seemed to trying to press the fight, but Arlovski wanted to play safe.
Round two: Werdum took some more leg kicks. It was a cautious fight from both fights. Arlovski is content to wait for Werdum to shoot in and try to counter strike at times. The round was all stand-up, and the interaction was limited earning some boo's from the crowd.
Round three: Caution again was the style of the fight. Both fighters too wary of each other. Werdum mounted a few combination attacks walking forward, but really never tried to take Arlvoski down, which may have been his best chance to change the pace of the fight. Arlovski continued to sit back and counterpunch.
You just felt like if either fighter committed to going for it, they might have made a more exciting fight. Mostly it seemed that Arlovski was the cautious one who controlled the pace of the fight. In my mind he was being over careful so not to be taken down, which in turn made a boring fight. Next time he will have to push the pace to get the fans behind him again.
Winner: Arlovski by decision
Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic
This was going to always be the fight of the night. Bisping has fast become the UFC poster boy for the UK and for all the right reasons. He has all the right tools for the job. An exciting fighter in the true sense. Bisping always comes to bring the pain. The crowd was on fire for Bisping as he made his entry to the ring.
Round one:
Sinosic gets taken down early by Bisping, and was working for a submission from his back. But Bisping was having none of it and is applying his painful ground and pound. With heavy hands and elbows he cuts Sinosic. Bisping has both an aggressive style and a skilful application of his game. You could not question Sinosic's heart as he takes beating on his back from Bisping. He's a tough man. Bleeding and tired he makes it thought the first round.
Round two: Bisping looks like a big cat ready to kill it's pray. Sinosic then catches Bisping with a knee, which puts him on his back. Bisping didn't see the knee coming, but to his credit shows he is fighting savvy by keeping his cool under pressure. Sinosic saw a small window of opportunity and worked pass Bispings guard looking for a submission. Sinosic is a good grappler who in the passed has submitted the likes of Jeremy Horn, so the threat is on. He works for Bisping's arm and a possible kimura, but couldn't lock it in. Bisping looks to control Sinosic leg but then gives up his back. You can feel the tension in the crowd at this point, but I have seen Bisping working out from this position in his training and he doesn't look in real trouble at all. He quickly reverses the position and you can feel the crowd surge at this point. Bisping tripods up in Sinosic guard and sends down a heavy flurry of punches until the referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in to end the fight.
"I didn't want to let you guys down," Bisping said to the crowd after his win. "I love all of you. Thank you for being one of the best crowds I have ever seen."
Mike's son came into the ring to make his dad's night complete. Bisping looked truly overwhelmed winning on home ground in the UFC. He has great future ahead!
Winner: Bisping by TKO.
Terry Etim vs. Matt Grice
Round one: Etim came out ready to fight, with a jumping knee. Grice a high level wrestler took him down at once. Etim looked for submissions, but Grice was geared to ground and pound. Etim was taking some blows and was bleeding from the nose. After some time in the same position on the ground the fight was restarted standing. The crowd where happy with this as it would give Etim a second chance to get his stand up skills working. It looked like Grice was looking for another takedown, but this time Etim caught Grice in a standing guillotine. You could see the power he put into the submission. Grice was trying to pull out and looked like he may tap, he continued trying to pull his head out and by the time he did he looked exhausted and in my mind half conscious, I say this because he seemed to be looking for the single leg on auto pilot (as wrestlers do). Etim rained punches and took head control again and the ref jumped in. The crowd went mad to support Etim the fighter from Liverpool.
Maybe not as planned for Etim, but he showed his fighting heart to pull it out the bag against a tough opponent.
Winner: Etim by submission (guillotine)
Cheick Kongo vs. Assuerio Silva
Round one: Kongo does look physically impressive. He's is a good striker with a reach advantage, and but he does not seem to have the heavy hands he needs to finish the job. He did seem to rock Silva at one point about midway through the round, but it wasn't enough and Silva quickly went in for the takedown with a big slam. He took side mount but really didn't give Kongo much trouble.
Round two: Both fighters seemed to want to stand, which favoured Kongo who did find his range and unloading, until again Silva decided it best to take the fight to the mat. Silva was working for position, but it was basically a stalemate for a minute or two until the referee stood the fighters back up. Slow round in terms of action.
Round three: Silva did work the takedown quicker this time and the fighters where stood up quite soon. Kongo was definitely scoring with more strikes, while Silva just had the takedown without much ground and pound or submission attacks. Even though Silva scored the takedowns it was Kongo who pushed the striking in the fight, even bloodying his opponent in the end.
Winner: Kongo by decision.
It was a great show all in all. With top named fighters on show. You could say the couple of slow fights where down to the fact that fighters are being careful so not to eat a knock out punch and we have seen it happen on this show and in fact in the last few UFC shows. But that's what makes MMA so exciting as well.
What it did show is that British fighters like to bring on the fight, which will mean a lot more UK fighters on these big shows. Also now BJJ skills have become standard for MMA we are starting to see the Brazil fighters up their game again with solid striking skills.
A great night for British MMA!
Full results from Saturday's UFC 70 in Manchester:
Gabriel Gonzaga defeated Mirko Cro Cop via KO due to a high kick at 4:51 of Round 1.
Andrei Arlovski defeated Fabricio Werdum via unanimous decision.
Michael Bisping defeated Elvis Sinosic via TKO due to strikes at 1:20 of Round 2.
Lyoto Machida defeated David Heath via unanimous decision.
Cheick Kongo defeated Assuerio Silva via majority decision.
Terry Etim defeated Matt Grice via submission to a guillotine choke at 4:38 of Round 1.
Junior Assuncao defeated David Lee via submission to a rear naked choke at 1:55 of Round 2.
Alessio Sakara defeated Victor Valimaki via TKO due to strikes at 1:44 of Round 1.
Jess Liaudin defeated Dennis Siver via submission to an armbar at 1:21 of Round 1.
Paul Taylor defeated Edilberto Crocota via TKO due to strikes at 0:37 of Round 3.
Alan Orr is a disciple of Robert Chu Sifu and the European representative of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system.
Teacher of Tui Na Chinese Massage Therapy
He is also the UK representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial
arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling.
Web:
www.alanorr.com
www.thechinesemedicineacademy.co.uk
www.warriorfunctionaltraining.com
For further information Tel: 07958 908 196 or email:
info@alanorr.co.uk
UFC 70 Collides into the UK - by Alan Orr
First
published in UK Martial Arts Illustrated Apr 2007
Photos courtesy of UFC