The FCfighter.com
By Steven Marrocco
(Saturday, September 22: Anaheim, CA) In another jaw-dropping surge of upsets, former light-heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell was dismantled by TUF 2 alum Keith Jardine, and #1 ranked light-heavyweight fighter Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was tooled by Forrest Griffin.
In the preview to UFC 76: Knockout, it was said that Jardine would need to play a smart outside game with Liddell and avoid standing in the pocket with him. It wasn’t wise to stand toe-to-toe with Liddell.
Turns out, he did a little of both. He played the outside, and worked on the inside. It worked like a charm.
From start to finish, Jardine’s unorthodox style took Liddell out of his element. Liddell was always a step behind in their exchanges, and at every turn he was denied the opportunity to counterpunch his way to victory.
Jardine began the fight with an inside leg kick and overhand right and never looked back. One after another, the leg kicks slammed into Liddell’s exposed thigh and left flank. More than a dozen times, Liddell came a hair away from tagging Jardine with a counter right as Jardine stepped into his kick. But every time Jardine stood in the pocket, the “Iceman” could not find his angles and missed with his famous right hand.
Liddell did manage to key off of Jardine’s forward motion sporadically in the first and second, throwing an uppercut that found its mark. The punch opened a sizable cut on Jardine’s face.
But early in the second, Jardine followed a kick with a crushing right hand that put Liddell on the mat. Liddell quickly recovered, but from there, it was downhill. By the third, Jardine was bouncing giddily on the mat, goading Liddell with his hands down. The overhand right -- Liddell’s kryptonite -- became Jardine’s go-to as he pushed forward.
Liddell landed some stiff jabs of his own, but couldn’t establish a rhythm. Landing two right hooks and a stiff left jab to close out the round, Jardine put an exclamation mark on a career-making performance.
“I think Chuck did great, but unfortunately, Jardine did a little bit better,” said John Hackelman, Liddell’s trainer, after the fight. “We were working on short, fast, hard punches, lots of combinations, defending the leg kick. [Jardine] was a lot tougher than I thought. I think he showed a lot more talent and skill than people give him credit for. We never underestimated him.”
Jardine was not in good shape after the fight. Limping into the hotel after the press conference, he complained of a shoulder injury and was unavailable for comment.
It’s official: Forrest Griffin has graduated from generation TUF. The first winner of the reality series bounced back from a rough patch in his UFC tenure to upset Pride star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Call them octagon jitters, ring rust, or the fact he had been on his honeymoon only weeks before, Rua did not fight with the reckless abandon fans have come to expect. Instead, Rua seemed obsessed with taking Griffin down. He scored an outside trip takedown late in the first, but not before Griffin got a takedown of his own.
Their work from inside each other’s guards was markedly different. Rua’s ground-and-pound focused almost exclusively on body shots and elbows. One of those elbows opened a pretty nice cut on Griffin’s face in the second. However, it was Griffin’s work on the mat that was far more effective. His long arms threw looping punches that scored far more frequently.
Griffin also out-hustled Rua, scrambling his way out of trouble, reversing the Brazilian from the bottom. Rua seemed to fade shortly after fighting off a triangle from Griffin in the second. With his hands at his side and feet as flat as two by fours, Griffin pumped a few more jabs in his face to end the second.
By the third, Rua was running on fumes. Griffin got little resistance after reversing Rua on the mat with an omaplata. Pounding away with more punches from the top, Griffin forced Rua to give his back up for the rear-naked-choke at 4:45 of the third round.
“I think he’ll be a very successful fighter in the UFC,” Griffin later told FCF. “Just not tonight.”
Jon Fitch’s bout with Diego Sanchez seemed to re-ignite the ongoing debate over scoring in MMA. Sanchez was unsuccessful at taking top position throughout the majority of the fight, but never missed an opportunity to attempt to finish the fight. He threw the kitchen sink at Fitch from the bottom position, constantly throwing his legs up for armbar and triangle attempts.
Fitch showed extreme poise and calm in fighting through the attempts, but spent more time defending than inflicting damage. Still, he controlled top position for the majority of the fight and did score with hammerfists and punches. It was an extremely close fight, but Fitch walked away with the Split Decision victory.
When you put two technicians in the cage, you get a technical fight. Or so that was the way it seemed in Lyoto Machida’s winning effort against Pride vet Kazuhiro Nakamura. Nakamura took all that Machida could dish out. He charged forward at every turn, attempting several of his judo tosses. Machida was prepared for all of them, and managed to stay on top as the two found their way to the canvas.
Surprisingly, Machida mounted Nakamura with ease, and nearly choked the judoka out in the second. He couldn’t finish the hold, but continued to inch ahead on the scorecards when the two returned to their feet. Machida got the better of most exchanges and, despite getting cracked with a right elbow, was never in danger of losing the fight. The judges agreed, giving him a Unanimous Decision.
Tyson Griffin just can’t get an easy fight. Midway through the fight, opponent Thiago Tavares piggybacked on a flying knee to put Griffin in danger of submission. Once again, Griffin’s scrambling talents were on display as he fought his way out the choke. With Tavares still attached to his back, Griffin launched his head into the canvas. Tavares would get Griffin’s back again in the third, but the American always found a way to punish him for it. Griffin’s ground-and-pound ultimately put him ahead on the scorecards, netting him a close Split Decision victory.
Keith Jardine def. Chuck Liddell by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Forrest Griffin def. Mauricio Rua by Submission (rear-naked-choke) 4:45 R3
Jon Fitch def. Diego Sanchez by Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Lyoto Machida def. Kazuhiro Nakamura by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Tyson Griffin def. Thiago Tavares by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Rich Clementi def. Anthony Johnson by Submission (rear-naked-choke) 3:05 R2
Jeremy Stephens def. Diego Saraiva by Unanimous Decision
Christian Wellisch def. Scott Junk by Submission (heel hook) 3:19 R1
Matt Wiman def. Michihiro Omigawa by Unanimous Decision
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