It’s an era that isn’t often remembered, the so-called dark ages of the UFC. The forgotten epoch between the early no holds barred tournaments and the Zuffa purchase of UFC 30. This period in history was truly a transitional time for the UFC as they began to define and set weight classes, rounds, time limits and rules in an attempt to legitimize the sport.
The dark ages, while typically shunned from MMA history, did lay a foundation for the Zuffa purchase and success and did begin to build stars such as Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Pedro Rizzo, Matt Hughes and countless others. And while it may not be a place we as fans visit too often, it did produce some memorable and exciting fights. Here are the best fights from the dark ages of the UFC.
Best Fights from the Dark Ages of the UFC
Honorable Mentions:
Jerry Bohlander vs. Kevin Jackson
Frank Shamrock vs. Jeremy Horn
Dan Henderson vs. Carlos Newton
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Bas Rutten
Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort I UFC 15
The first fight between Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort was an early look at the future of the UFC. Both would go on to great careers and this was the first of a trilogy of fights between the two. Going into the fight, Vitor was a huge favorite. He was undefeated, had won the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament, was fresh off knocking out the feared Tank Abbott and had won every fight by KO/TKO. Couture was not an unknown though, having won the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament just four months earlier.
The fight began with Vitor refusing to come out, and instead waiting in his trailer. The announcers speculated that Vitor was icing Couture in an attempt to disrupt him mentally. Vitor would later claim that he was sick, while Couture later mused that he thought Vitor was afraid of him.
Whatever the case may be, when the fight eventually got underway Vitor looked good early, landing lefts and even attempting to take Couture down. But the fight shifted in Couture’s favor after he scored a double leg take down and followed it up with ground and pound. When the fight returned to the feet, Couture proceeded to fight in vintage Couture fashion, landing big shot from the clinch and using his superior dirty boxing techniques to stop Vitor and earn himself a Heavyweight title shot against Maurice Smith.
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Marcus Silveira I & II UFC Japan
A solid fight in its own regard, this one (2) stands out because of the bizarre series of events that unfolded that night in the UFC’s first journey to Japan. So the story goes like this; Sakuraba and Silveira are matched up in the first round of the Japan Heavyweight Tournament. The fight starts and the two have an exciting back and forth grappling affair. The fight moves from the ground to the feet and Silveira starts landing big shots as referee John McCarthy looks on. Silveira lands a big uppercut and Sakuraba shoots in on him. With the timing of Silveira’s uppercut and Sakuraba’s shot, McCarthy believes that Sakuraba has been knocked out and stops the fight. Sakuraba, confused and angered, pleads his case to McCarthy; but the fight had already been stopped, and Silveira officially gets the win by knockout, and advances to the tournaments finals.
The other first round Heavyweight fight sees Tank Abbott beat Yoji Anjo by decision, but breaks his hand in doing so, and cannot continue on to fight Silveira in the tournament finals. Rather than use the tournament alternate, Tra Telligman, for the finals, the UFC brass instead decided to overrule the decision between Sakuraba and Silveira and rule it a no-decision, and put Sakuraba in the finals to rematch Silveira, marking the only time two fighters have fought one another twice in one night in UFC history.
This time, Sakuraba leaves no doubt and submits Silveira via armbar, winning the UFC Heavyweight Tournament.
Pete Williams vs. Mark Coleman UFC 17
When Mark Coleman took on Pete Williams at UFC 17, he was in search of redemption after losing the heavyweight championship to Maurice Smith in the previous UFC. Coleman was already well on his way to creating a legacy for himself, and had already defeated former champions Don Frye and Dan Severn, and it’s very likely that he took Williams, a last minute replacement for Randy Couture, lightly. Williams, a member of Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den, was making his UFC debut, but had been cutting his teeth in Japan fighting for Pancrase.
Coleman dominated the fight in the regulation period, landing hard punches on the feet, scoring big takedowns and unleashing his signature ground and pound. But as the fight moved into the overtime period, Coleman was exhausted and had nothing left in the tank. Just seconds into the overtime period Williams nailed Coleman with a hard knee that had Coleman visibly shook, and couldn’t get his hands up to block the power right leg that was heading for his face. One roundhouse kick to the head later, Williams had earned his first UFC win, knocking out the former UFC heavyweight champion in a highlight reel finish that the UFC would be replaying for years.
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Kimo Leopoldo UFC 16
It had been three and a half years since Kimo had debuted in the octagon, when he gave Royce Gracie the fight of his life. Entering the ring with a wooden crucifix Kimo immediately gathered the attention of the audience with his very pro-wrestling-esc entrance. But once the fight got under way Kimo proved he was all business. So UFC fans were naturally excited to see Kimo return to the octagon after a year layoff to fight top Japanese jiu-jitsu ace, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, in Kohsaka’s UFC debut.
Kimo came out fast, and controlled the fight early, landing punches and trading leg locks with Kohsaka. After nearly 8 minutes of landing shot from atop of Kohsaka the fight returned to feet, and Kimo was obviously gassed. It was now Koshaka’s turn in the driver’s seat. Kohsaka began to pick apart Kimo with big punches and hard leg kicks as the 12 minute regulation period drew to a close. When the three minute over-time began, Kohsaka clearly had the momentum on his side. But Kimo wasn’t finished yet, and was eventually able to take Kohsaka down again, and then mount him. Kimo tried to finish the fight having went for an armbar, but lost his position doing so. Now that Kohsaka was now on top he began to rain down heavy blows on Kimo that was enough to earn him a unanimous decision win.
An excellent fight paired with the “expert” commentary from Tank Abbott made this one an instant classic.
Pedro Rizzo vs. Tank Abbott UFC Brazil
Tank Abbott was an absolute wrecking machine when he first entered the octagon back at UFC 6 in 1995. He instantly brought back the danger mystique to the UFC with his vicious knockout of John Matua that caused him to go into a seizure. By the time UFC Brazil rolled around in 1998, Tank was still a very feared striker, but had been unveiled as an unpolished MMA fighter with little cardio. Still, Tank entered the fight with Pedro Rizzo riding a 2-fight win streak with a highlight reel full of knockouts.
Rizzo on the other hand was virtually unknown outside of Brazil and was making his UFC debut. A student of former UFC 7 tournament champion, Marco Ruas, he entered the octagon that night with a perfect 5-0 record.
Tank came out ferocious as always, landing early shots on Rizzo. If ever there was a personification of the Jim Croce lyric, “badder than old King Kong, and meaner than a junkyard dog”, it was undoubtedly Tank Abbott. But Rizzo survived the storm, and dropped Tank with a right hand early in the fight. But what fight fans will always remember about this one is the brutal onslaught of leg kicks that Rizzo unleashed upon Tank. In an incredibly similar way that his hero and teacher, Ruas, had years earlier finished Paul Varlens, Rizzo chopped Tank down with leg kicks and followed up with a walk off right hand that knocked Tank out, and sent Rizzo on the way to super-stardom in the UFC.
Jens Pulver vs. David Velasquez UFC 24
This relatively unknown gem of a fight came from what has often been regarded as one of the worst UFCs, UFC 24. UFC 24 was supposed to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Kevin Randleman and challenger Pedro Rizzo. But as Randleman was warming up backstage, he reported slipped and hit his head on the concrete, knocking himself out. Randleman was rushed to the hospital, obviously cancelling the fight, and leaving the card without a main event.
Despite the card’s lack of star power, Jens Pulver and David Velasquez engaged in a throwdown far more exciting than the event’s original main event. (The fight between Randleman and Rizzo eventually happened and was a complete dud that culminated with the audience throwing trash into the octagon.) Pulver vs. Velasquez was also a match-up of training camps, with Pulver being trained by then UFC lightweight champion Pat Miletich and Velasquez being a student of former UFC middleweight champion Frank Shamrock.
Both Pulver and Velasquez came ready to fight that night, as the two quickly met in the center of the octagon. Pulver begun to unleash hard left hooks and knees and completely swarmed Velasquez, but Velasquez soon responded and this fight turned into a barnburner and fast. Pulver proved to be the better fighter though, beating Velasquez by TKO in the second round.
Randy Couture vs. Kevin Randleman UFC 28
A true superfight in every sense of the word; this one was epic. Though Kevin Randleman was the current champion, Randy Couture had won the belt years before, and had also won the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament. Following a three year sabbatical, Couture was returning to the UFC as the former heavyweight champion after being stripped of the title due to a contract dispute. In his absence, Kevin Randleman had begun to dominate the heavyweight division. After losing a close split decision to Bas Rutten for the championship, Randleman returned strong, defeating Pete Williams for the vacant title. Randleman followed up with a dominate performance over the undefeated Pedro Rizzo, before facing the returning Couture for the belt. This fight would determine who was truly the greatest heavyweight of that era.
Randleman dominated the early rounds, and appeared to be too big and too powerful for Couture. Randleman took Couture down at will and punished him on the ground. But at the start of the third round, Couture began to play his game, smothering Randleman and forcing him against the fence. Couture was able to take Randleman to the ground and mount him, then proceeded to throw heavy shots at him forcing referee John McCarthy to stop the fight and proclaim Couture as the new UFC heavyweight champion.
Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz UFC 22
The undeniable magnum opus of the dark ages of the UFC, Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz. Long before Ortiz had his famous feud and trilogy of fights with Ken Shamrock, he and Ken’s younger brother Frank Shamrock engaged in the undoubtedly best fight from the UFC’s forgotten period.
Shamrock entered the title fight as the champion, and was completely dominate in his UFC run. He had won his first two title fights in 38 seconds, a record that he held until Rhonda Rousey won back to back title fights in 30 seconds. Shamrock was attempting to defend the title for the fourth time against Ortiz and was certainty facing his greatest challenge of his career. Ortiz was 3-1 in the octagon and was about to go on one of the most dominate runs in UFC history.
Ortiz dominated Shamrock from the start, taking him down seemingly at will. Every time Frank would kick, Ortiz would swarm and put him on the canvas. Through the first three rounds the story of the fight was the same, Ortiz would take down Shamrock, and there was nothing Frank could do to stop him. Ortiz was much too big, and much too strong a wrestler for Shamrock to be able to stop him. But as every moment of the fight passed, Ortiz grew more exhausted and the momentum slowly shifted towards the champion. As the fourth round drew to a close Shamrock unloaded a heavy barrage of elbows and hammer fists to the back of the head of Ortiz, forcing Tito to submit. Shamrock had defended his title in the greatest fight of the era, in what ended up being his swan song with the UFC, while Ortiz would return stronger than ever, and would dominate the division for years to come in Shamrock’s absence.
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