This show was a huge step up in terms of production and promotion. They have been getting better at this of late, but the opening video and the fighter entrances smoked anything they'd done previously. The change in color commentator from Jeff Osbourne (he instead did interviews) to Joe Rogan helped because, even though Osbourne is more knowledgeable, Rogan is much more enthusiastic and is one of the few announcers that can get across how much he loves the sport and is excited about the matches without seeming false or being an annoying shill. The show looked and felt totally major league.

They were smart in trying to get the rub from all the celebrities on hand, though they need better coordination between the crew because sometimes the announcers didn't know who they were or they'd mention someone was there but they weren't shown. There was a hilarious spot where they claimed "Vin Deasel" was the "biggest movie star in the world." Basically the only thing they did wrong was bring back Tank Abbott, who looked like he aged 20 years since he was last seen in WCW and could barely walk to the ring. I realize they did their best business ever here by bringing back a big name from the past, but Shamrock was a great fighter and draw at one time and still looks like he could beat anyone. On the other hand, Tank never had any skill, never tried to improve, never got in shape, and most importantly never beat anyone decent in his so called prime. I guess their theory is promoting punks and hoodlums works for the NBA?

Tiki had the reach advantage, but Lawler explodes in with power punches. Tiki got off to a good start when he kept his distance and worked on chopping Lawler's right leg down with low kicks. Rather than sticking with what was working and what gave him time to avoid Lawler's heavy hands, he got aggressive and engaged Lawler on the inside. Lawler proceeded to knock him out almost immediately. He missed one left hook counter, but decked Tiki with the second one just a few seconds later. Lawler pounced on Tiki and started punching. The ref stopped it immediately, but Lawler was so jacked up the ref had to tackle him off Tiki. Tiki had a sick cut on his eye brow where an oval shaped chunk of skin was simply missing. He was also cut under that eye. During the post fight interviews, Tiki was booed heavily for not taking back his claim that Lawler was overrated and claiming he lost on a cut stoppage. I'd expect no less from an old friend of Tito Ortiz.

1R 1:29

 

Pete Spratt vs. Carlos Newton

An easy win for Newton. He took Spratt down right away into side mount. Spratt wrapped his arms around Newton's back and tried to roll him, but that just exposed his arms. Newton was looking for an arm bar, but it was easier to apply the Kimura for the win.

1R 1:44

Hughes was once again highly impressive. He caught Castillo with a right hand when Castillo thought about shooting. He slammed Castillo when he wanted to and worked ground and pound with Castillo pinned against the fence. Hughes got side mount, but gave it up to stand up and drop punches down. Castillo was cut over the left eye from an accidental headbutt that occurred when Castillo was trying to stand up but Hughes dove back in taking his legs out from under him before Castillo could get them on the ground. The doctor stoppage was highly controversial because the cut was small and Castillo was barely bleeding. Evidentially, the fight was not stopped due to the trickle, but because he couldn't see out of the eye. Anything can happen, but Castillo was able to do nothing to make anyone think he would have won had the match continued.

1R

Andrei Arlovski vs. Ian Freeman

Arlovski is bigger, stronger, quicker, and younger. Freeman is more experienced, but in an entirely standup fight it's very tough to win when you are outgunned unless you are a very wily fighter, which Freeman isn't at all. Arlovski made Freeman look bad, avoiding all his punches and landing strikes of his own. Arlovski rocked Freeman with a big right hand, leaving Freeman wobbly. He used his reach advantage for the low kick then went up top with the right hand. After a few of these powerful punches, the fight was stopped. They were hoping Freeman would follow up his win over Frank Mir so they could give him a title shot, but the difference in Arlovski and Freeman's UFC records is that Arlovski has fought much stiffer competition. Coming off losses to Rodriguez & Rizzo, this win assures Arlovski future UFC bookings.

1R 1:25

Chuck Liddell vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral

After two minutes of feeling out, Liddell landed a hard right hand. Babalu got some low kicks in throughout, but didn't have much power on them. Liddell used soft left hands to set up hard right hands. Babalu backed away from Liddell's right hand counter to a low kick. Liddell then put the left out, so Babalu figured he'd duck the right hand. Unfortunately for him, Liddell instead threw a left high kick, so Babalu ducked right into it for the KO.

2R 2:59

Back and forth wrestler vs. striker match that was easily the best of the night. These guys constantly put themselves into positions where they could potentially win the fight, but their opponent with slither out or withstand the punishment.

Weir has a long reach, but what makes him a dangerous striker is that he's quick and explosive. He will get flurries, it's just a matter of whether he can hurt his opponent enough during one of them to go off and take them out. If not, he's in trouble because he's not a striker that has the power for a one or two punch KO.

Miller controlled most of the fight with the takedown then ground and pound, where he threw nice elbows. Weir was more than competent on the mat, coming close to a few submissions, but he wasn't able to overcome Miller's grappling skill. Miller didn't have a lot of other skill, but he got away with picking Weir up and slamming him to escape triangles and withstood the punishment Weir could put on him before the takedown.

Weir's best chance came at the beginning of R2 when Miller was set on shooting in and didn't see the high kick coming. Weir mounted Miller after this knockdown, but his control was poor and his flurry wild. Miller slipped out of a rear naked choke, but took some good punches because his guard only controlled Weir's thighs, so Weir was able to kneel and throw punches from a suitable distance. Miller's guard might have made sense if he was a submission guy...

Miller's nose was cut from elbows, while Weir's left eye was damaged from the same. At the end of round 2, a tired Miller took a good front kick to the chin, but he came right back with a slam. Miller mounted and Weir gave up his back to avoid the punches, probably figuring Miller was just a wrestler. I probably would have felt the same way given what Miller had shown, but it was a dumb move because the round was so close to ending. In any case, Miller proceeded to choke Weir out. Excellent fight.

2R 4:50

"When the fight is over and you win, then you show respect. If you don't like him, fine, don't shake his hand, but don't do something like that and then flip off the side," - Ken Shamrock on Ortiz's post match taunting and bird flipping after the Guy Mezger rematch

This fight was about class, respect, sportsmanship, and other such dying terms. The things that martial arts used to stand for before UFC brought punk ass barroom brawlers like Tank Abbott in, and promoted them to no end even though they never beat anyone of any ability, because they were supposedly "colorful". It's not just UFC, in fact UFC is great in comparison to almost any other sport, but the trend is to glorify the guys with the me first attitude that act out and piss their opponents off in the process. It's cool to celebrate your own "accomplishments" even if they are as minor as making a hard hit to knock a guy down after he returned a punt 45 yards against your team, that happens to be down by 40 points. Shamrock is right in saying, "Tito Ortiz is a punk." How else could one describe a guy that puts on "Gay Mezger is my bitch" shirt after he beats him, and has the nerve to claim it's no disrespect to Ken (who happens to be his trainer, cornerman, and good friend)? Nonetheless, it was clear that the majority of the audience was rooting for "cool" doublebird Tito.

Where Shamrock is wrong is in thinking Ortiz hasn't fought anyone and isn't dedicated. The Lion's Den guys would only train with each other because they were supposedly the best in the world, so if Shamrock admits his fighters that Ortiz beat were nothing, which at this point is not far from the truth though Mezger is still a mid level guy, then why is he using them to prepare him for his fight? Ortiz learned from his mistake in the Frank Shamrock loss, conditioning, and has addressed his weaknesses and added so many new weapons. He knows how to train now, and he's regularly tested himself outside (and sometimes inside) the ring with the best fighters. He's followed the Miletich theory of training with a small group of high level fighters (though in his case not always the same) and bringing in some of the best from each discipline to develop, improve, and hone specific skills.

Shamrock's problem is not only did he leave before almost everyone was well rounded, he apparently hasn't seen that going in that direction is the only way to succeed at a high level in this day and age. Shamrock has improved his punching, but that's still his only offense in standup. On the mat, he still uses a guard that's almost entirely defensive, giving the judges the idea that he's just holding on because he's not trying anything offensively. Shamrock did have a few new wrinkles. He knew when Ortiz was on top he'd move him into the fence, so he did a hip swivel where he put his feet up on the fence and turned his body in the opposite direction. He also spun free and got from the bottom to his feet. These were just minor additions to a game that's no longer viable though.

The match was even more one-sided than expected. Shamrock came in leaner than he's been in a decade, looking totally sculpted, but he still seemed tired after just a few minutes. One could give him the benefit of the doubt and attribute the damage Ortiz did to him in those few minutes, but in any case it's the same problem he's been having since he stopped doing the unentertaining non-sport.

Shamrock basically lost on the first lockup when Ortiz reversed his body lock and landed punches and knees upon releasing. Ortiz was just too strong and too good defensively for Shamrock to do anything to him. Shamrock did land one good left hand during the early portion, but this momentary slowing down of Ortiz just allowed him to stay in the fight. He was still always on the defensive.

Ortiz seemed to play with Shamrock. It seemed like he put himself into positions where he could safely beat on him rather than in positions where he could end the fight. He was calm, cautious, and effective, taking the time to land solid strikes without getting hit. The fight, while good, didn't live up to the hype because it was a massacre. What made the fight is that Shamrock refused to quit. No one can question Shamrock's heart and determination after this match. His face was practically beat to a pulp. From the heart aspect, the match was memorable because it lasted at least 5 minutes longer than it had the right to and Shamrock would occasionally make an impressive escape to his feet to give his fans hope.

Ortiz won every round convincingly. In standup, it was like a Muay Thai kickboxer against a boxer. Ortiz had an impressive sequence in round 3 where he went from a low kick to punches to get inside and throw knees then went back to punching and took Shamrock down. Even when Ortiz simply boxed Shamrock, he still looked better because he was able to hit Shamrock with left hands. Ortiz took Shamrock down easily when he felt like it. On the mat, Ortiz had a great ground and pound mixing body punches, head punches, and elbows to the face. Though visually Shamrock looked awful, these did much more than cosmetic damage. After Shamrock used his trick to turn himself away from the fence twice, Ortiz was wise to it and used it as an opportunity to pass guard. It seemed like every time Shamrock tried something, Ortiz made him pay.

The fight was stopped after the 3rd round, which was a good stoppage because Shamrock didn't seem to have his senses at the beginning of R3 much less the end. Shamrock was going to give Ortiz respect after the match, but Ortiz walked away. He came back and hugged Shamrock though, and walked around the ring holding Shamrock's arm in the air. Shamrock had class, admitting he got stomped and saying Ortiz was a true champion.

3R