An interesting match because they were so evenly matched. They were constantly working, but the defense was strong so the success rate was low. Almeida was perpetually trying submissions from the bottom, particularly arm bars. I thought Almeida had the first round due largely to his submission attempts. However, in the last 20 seconds I noticed he was marked above and below the right eye, bleeding from the mouth, and Semenov made the final statement with his first successful, albeit not damaging, throw. Probably an even round.

Almeida is the flashier fighter of the two, while Semenov sports a very focused poker face. Just when you'd start to think Almeida was about to take over because he'd land a strike or two, Semenov would fire back and win the exchange. Semenov was too over exuberant after he put Almeida down with a right hand though. He pounced on top and clubbed down wildly, probably thinking Almeida was in bad shape and a flurry would get one of those cheap ref stops. His looping blows left his arms prone, and Almeida came his closest to barring the arm for the win. When Semenov was ready to escape the arm bar, Almeida switched to a knee bar and a heel hook. His application was somewhat sloppy, and Semenov understands the counters so these went nowhere.

The finish surprised me. Almeida seemed to still have a decent amount of energy while he was trying for the submissions, but when he stood up he seemed to be out of breath and just bouncing out of habit. Semenov went around Almeida's left straight with a right hook for the ref stop. It was a good solid blow, but I can't imagine it finishing Almeida off had it happened even a few minutes earlier. The big problem for Almeida was he fell on his knees, so Semenov, who did hit him once more, probably would have crushed him had he tried to get back to his feet.

This was the best fight on the show. It was action packed with one lead change after another. Both men landed good blows in standup. Semenov was better at getting the action to the mat, but his punches on the ground were far less powerful, and even from the bottom Almeida largely kept him on the defensive by attempting so many submissions.

2R 2:00

Chuck Liddell vs. Amar Suldev

Liddell, looking very cut in the best shape of his career, wasn't a good matchup for the Russian kickboxer. Liddell has a 5 inch height, which obviously results in a notable reach differential. Liddell won because he dictated a smart fight. This wasn't the tentative fighter we saw given a win over Bustamante; he was an aggressor fighting with determination right from the get go. More important to his success was his refusal to stay inside where Suldev was arguably the better fighter.

Liddell's best tactic was his low kicks. With his reach advantage, he could do damage by throwing one and be out of harms way before Suldev could do anything about it. One low kick might not be a big deal, but Liddell was able to bruise, swell, and stiffen Suldev's thigh up by the end of the fight, all while sustaining little to no damage.

K-1 matches, especially if Peter Aerts is involved, have far more locking up than this Ultimate Kickboxing. Suldev showed me enough to make me believe he's at least a good standup fighter. He certainly has a wide variety of strikes that he does with power and technical proficiency. He left some marks on Liddell when he did connect. Unfortunately for him, he was not able to be nearly as active as he needed to be because he was always too far away and Liddell didn't give him many opportunities to counterpunch. Suldev kept dropping his hands to bait Liddell in, but Liddell wouldn't bite.

Matchups like this tend to get duller as they progress due to the monotony factor. I don't mind all striking, of course, since I'm also a kickboxing fan, but once Liddell established his winning strategy Suldev wasn't going to be able to do much about it unless Liddell got careless. There was always the chance of a knockout from either man, but realistically there was no need for Liddell to take a chance because he could win all three rounds with unanswered low kicks. As the match progressed, it degenerated somewhat into a circlingfest. Suldev did better when Liddell was circling because it gave him the opportunity to step in and throw. However, Liddell was usually able to back out of harms way. Liddell largely coasted through round 3 en route to a 30-27 decision win. Worth watching once, only once.

15:00

Bustamante trained so hard that he actually came in lighter than Menne. Bustamante was able to take Menne down. When Menne tried to roll him over, Bustamante got behind and tried to get the hooks in, but Menne was able to roll back to his back. Although Bustamante was on top, about the only time Bustamante did anything was when Menne would initiate with a reversal or attempt to get back to his feet. Bustamante kept Menne locked up, pressing his body against him so Menne couldn't get his striking going. Bustamante didn't seem intimidated by Menne's punching prowess, but I never expected him to knock him out. He led with a left and when Menne started to avoid it he nailed him with a right. Menne went down to his knees and Bustamante took his back and threw right hands to the side of the head until the bout was stopped. An adequate bout with a startling finish.

2R 0:42

Ricco Rodriguez vs. Jeff Monson

At risk of sounding goofy, it would be hard for me to root for anyone named Rico Suave unless they were fighting Ice Ice Baby or Blame It On The Rain. That kind of nickname just automatically gives me a bad feeling about a person, causes great pain because that rot starts running through my head, and makes me think of all those losers MTV made then a few years later tried to earn kudos by reviving them for a day of bad Janeane Garofalo "jokes" and video tape bashing. Anyway, it certainly didn't help my enjoyment that this was another boring mismatch. I give Monson credit for stepping up and taking the tough fight, but his wrestling was not going to be enough to beat Rodriguez. Monson either expended tons of energy trying to take Rodriguez down with a bodylock or got kneed in the chin going for the legs. Rodriguez was the one that controlled position and did some damage on the ground with short punches, forearms, and elbows to the head. Rodriguez showed his varying skill - landing knee lifts and a high kick, maneuvering well on the mat, passing the guard with a cartwheel, failing to win with an arm bar only due to lack of room for proper extension, and so on. Monson landed one powerful right hand, but that was about it. The finish came when Rodriguez once again stopped Monson's shoot with a knee then threw some weak punches to a tired, broken, and deflated Monson for the ref stop.

3R 3:00

UFC Lightweight Championship Match: Jens Pulver vs. BJ Penn

Pulver was somehow a 3-1 underdog in spite of being the champion and having barely ever lost while regularly facing top opponents. Penn has been devastating though, running though his few opponents - which include guys Caol Uno who gave Pulver a run for his money and Din Thomas who beat him - in less than a round. Intense even match. Successful technique was hard to come by and every round was close. Like Pulver's latest match with Dennis Hallman though, this was more for the hardcores It had more standup and more action, but was not particularly exciting as a whole. Since these fighters are so good you have to respect their ability to end the fight at any time, but this would not be an overly exciting match to watch if you already know the outcome.

The highlight of round 1 was Penn applying a standing guillotine, but Pulver lifting him up and slamming him (nearly into the fence) once he got his head out. Otherwise it was even round with Penn usually controlling where the action took place but not being able to do anything in the last minute after he took Pulver down into his guard.

Round 2 is the only one I'd definitely give to Penn. Pulver landed a decent high kick and a good forearm to Penn's head while being pushed up against the fence. Penn mounted Pulver at 1:40 and tried to set up the arm bar with punches to the head. This allowed Pulver to escape the mount, but Penn took it right back. Pulver kept putting his arms out to keep Penn from punching, and just before the round ended Penn took the left one and applied the arm bar. Pulver tapped, but the bell rang less than a second earlier.

Jeremy Horn, who was in Pulver's corner along with Pat Miletich, kept asserting between every round that Pulver needed to throw his punches. Pulver kept trying to set them up, but usually was taken down before he found the opening. Pulver was a much better striker on the mat than Penn, who was tiring after the 2nd round. Aside from the one slip up, Pulver neutralized Penn's jui jitsu and was regularly able to take the top position and score with punches.

Penn's corner wanted him to take the takedown if it was easy, but not waste his energy working for it. He nearly had Pulver down with a single leg 25 seconds in, but Pulver did a great weight shift reversal to land on top. Penn seemed content to be on his back, which made little sense considering he was far more effective during the standup punching segments. Pulver is an excellent ground puncher, but Penn threw few impressive punches when he was on top, much less when he was on the bottom which was the majority of the time. The last segment of the round was standup, and Penn definitely won this portion. He probably didn't win it convincingly enough to take the round, but if you are giving him more than one round then this has to be it.

You'd think Penn would come out fast in the final round because at best it was an even fight, but he didn't seem to have the energy. Pulver was the aggressor, but Penn held his own in more of a defensive roll. He was usually backing up, but he'd come in when he had the opening. Pulver had the crisper blows and the closest this match had to combinations. It may have took 22 minutes, but he seemed to finally figure Penn out. Penn, I believe, gave Pulver two accidental low blows during this round. They didn't slow Pulver down though. The talent of the fighters is close, but Pulver definitely had more stamina and certainly appeared more driven to win. The final 3 minutes were Pulver's most dominant, ensuring the belt stayed around his waste. The scoring was all across the board, with Pulver winning a majority decision 48-45, 48-47, 47-47. This wasn't the classic I had hoped for, but I was glued to my seat for it.

25:00

Eugene Jackson vs. Keith Rockel

Jackson seemed well on his way to another disappointing loss. Rockel drove Jackson into the fence with a rush then took him down right away with a bodylock. It looked like Jackson would be stuck there. Rockel took the full mount, but Jackson still minimized his offense by tying his arms up or keeping him close. When Rockel broke free and started to flurry, Jackson inexplicably rolled to his knees, which not surprisingly resulted in Rockel getting the hooks in and nearly choking him out. Jackson did a good job of keeping his chin down, so it was more of a facelock. Jackson made it back to the guard, so in the end it worked out, but Rockel still dominated the round from start to finish.

Jackson almost nailed Rockel with a punch and almost muscled him down, but quickly wound up on the bottom again. Rockel drove Jackson into the fence, but in doing so Jackson overhooked his head for a guillotine choke. Shockingly Rockel, who simple went against the force in trying to pull his head out, was unable to escape. Jackson is very powerful and all, but this is pretty much an inexcusable way to lose, especially in a match he was running away with. This win doesn't raise Jackson's stock much in my opinion.

2R 1:11