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UFC 67 has its moments, but mainly sets stage for future MMA events

Neil Davidson, Canadian Press
Published: Sunday, February 04, 2007

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=344e3095-3270-4606-9801-d927c914b9a7&k=20922&a...

LAS VEGAS (CP) - UFC 67 had its moments, and its share of talking points, but the mixed martial arts card's main goal was to set the table for bigger, better nights.

To nobody's surprise, Croatian heavyweight Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic and light-heavyweight Quinton (Rampage) Jackson opened their UFC accounts with wins. Both will no doubt soon figure prominently in UFC championship storylines.

Filipovic, who is a member of Croatia's parliament as well as a mixed martial arts star, knocked out Eddie Sanchez while Jackson stopped veteran Marvin (Beastman) Eastman.

The show drew 10,787, some 214 short of a sellout at the Mandalay Bay Event Center. While the gate was US$2.7 million, the lack of a sellout must be considered a disappointment given the timing on the eve of the Super Bowl - when the NFL championship was expected to bring 287,000 visitors to Vegas for the weekend.

Filipovic did little to endear himself to his new bosses by failing to show up for both the pre-and post-fight news conference. And his choice of entrance music, the signature tune from his former employer Pride Fighting Championships, was puzzling.

"Whatever fires you up, man," said UFC president Dana White, who approved the music. "If it's the Pride theme, go for it."

But Cro Cop, a 10-1 favourite, showed hints of his talent against a weak opponent, delighting the crowd with some flashy high kicks in his four minutes 33 seconds in the spotlight. Sanchez, 8-0 going into the fight, showed little other than the ability to throw wild punches and back-pedal.

Once heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture face off next month at UFC 68, the Croatian will be waiting in the wings.

Jackson, meanwhile, made his mark after Saturday's fight. The 28-year-old from California is an charismatic quote machine with a personality as big as the rumble chain he wears around his neck.

UFC fans will love Jackson once they hear him talk. And the UFC loves him because his win over Chuck Liddell is the only loss that the Iceman has yet to avenge.

"I think he's going to be a huge star," White said of Jackson, "and we do this thing right, the fight between him and Chuck (Liddell) is going to be amazing,"

Jackson, a 7-1 pick, entered the ring baying like a werewolf.

Eastman, a former UNLV football player built like a fire hydrant, stood his ground until a series of hard uppercuts drove him to the ground in the second round. Jackson won by KO at 3:49 of the round, avenging an earlier loss to Eastman.

In truth, the 37-year-old Eastman was a perfect opponent for Jackson - easy to find and with limited firepower.

While the UFC hopes to visit Canada soon, sadly Canadian fans may not get to see Jackson. He acknowledged Saturday that he cannot get into Canada, the result of a run-in with the law nine years ago as a student - Jackson did not detail the offence but said he was just defending himself.

UFC 67 was supposed to offer a taste of Cro Cop and Rampage, with the main course being title defences by Canadian Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva. The two champions were slated to meet Matt Serra and Travis Lutter, winners of Season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter. But St. Pierre pulled out with a knee injury and Lutter failed to make the 185-pound middleweight limit.

Upsetting and disappointing were just two of the words White used when asked about Lutter's gaffe.

The Silva-Lutter fight went ahead as a non-title bout but any lustre it might have had went out the window after Lutter failed to make weight.

It was a lost opportunity for the UFC. The concept of having the Ultimate Fighter winner take on the champion was always a stretch, but the matchup of jiu-jitsu ace Lutter against the hard-hitting Silva had possibilities. And the fight itself lived up to that promise. Lutter took Silva down, the Brazilian survived to get back up and then gave Lutter a taste of his own medicine, locking in a triangle choke and hammering the challenger with elbows to the head until he tapped out.

In the end, no one really cared, however.

It was perhaps a lost opportunity too for Canadian Patrick Cote despite his workmanlike win over Scott (Hands of Steel) Smith.

Cote played it safe but won a unanimous decision.

The 26-year-old middleweight from Quebec City badly needed a victory. He was 0-4 in the UFC coming into the Smith fight, although had put up a good showing in three of the four losses.

"My first big win in the UFC, finally," Cote said in the ring after the fight.

The Cote fight drew boos, which White said were warranted.

"I was very disappointed in that fight," he said later. "That fight sucked."

"Neither guy pressed the action, it looked like neither guy wanted it," he added.

In a scary-short bout destined to become part of a highlight reel, middleweight Terry Martin stopped veteran Jorge Rivera in just 14 seconds. El Conquistador tried a high kick, only to have Martin catch his leg under his armpit. Martin then dropped Rivera with a right to the temple and thumped him in the face three more times for good measure before referee Herb Dean intervened.

A dazed Rivera was in dreamland, hanging onto Dean as Martin celebrated.

In another lightning-fast ugly finish, lightweight Roger Huerta appeared to use a knee to the head to subdue John Halverson and then hit the face-down fighter some 15 more times before the referee put a halt to the carnage at just 19 seconds. Huerta later said he kneed him in the shoulder rather than the head, which is illegal when an opponent is on his knees.

A Hispanic, Huerta will no doubt lead the UFC's planned charge into Mexico. The UFC hopes to pave the way with a Mexican version of The Ultimate Fighter TV show.

Another fighter to watch is Brazilian light-heavyweight Lyoto Machida, who used his UFC debut to outclass Sam (The Alaskan Assassin) Hoger en route to a unanimous decision. Machida's resume includes wins over Rich Franklin, B.J. Penn and Stephan Bonnar.

"He looked great tonight," White said of Machida.

Frank Edgar defeated Tyson Griffin by decision in all-an action matchup of unbeaten lightweights that White called the fight of the night. Edgar survived a nasty leg submission hold late in the fight to get the win.

Notes: White says the UFC is looking at doing another fight card for the military, this time on an aircraft carrier . . . The UFC has announced UFC 69: Shootout on April 7 in Houston with St. Pierre fighting Serra in the main event. That's assuming the Canadian gets a clean bill of health when he visits a specialist this week. Diego Sanchez will fight Josh Koscheck on the undercard. . . . White says the UFC will visit Japan "very soon" as part of its plan of "global domination." . . . White also says Season 5 of The Ultimate Fighter, currently in production, is shaping up nicely with a recent fight the best in the show's history.
© The Canadian Press 2007