UFC 73: Silva, Sherk Retain Titles

UFC 73 Stacked certainly had its ups and downs. Labeled "best card in the history of combat sports," it failed to deliver what most fans anticipated so greatly and failed to fulfill the hype that was built around it.

The event took place Saturday, July 7, 2007 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California and had been regarded as UFC's most "stacked" card to date, no pun intended. The cards featured two title fights, one with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and the other with lightweight champion Sean Sherk, both crowned at UFC 64. Last night, they defended their titles against former King of Pancrase Nathan Marquardt and former WEC champion Hermes Franca, respectively. Former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, also seen by many to be the #2 HW in the world, made his UFC debut against Heath Herring, whom he had already defeated twice before in PRIDE. UFC 73 also featured a light heavyweight showdown between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and The Ultimate Fighter 2 heavyweight winner Rashad Evans.

The card was free of upsets, for the most part and had a good balance of TKO/KO's submission victories, decisions and was even complimented with a draw. Here are my quick thoughts on the bigger fights:

Kenny Florian def. Alvin Robinson via Submission (strikes) at 4:30 of Round 1
Alvin Robinson was the more physically gifted fighter in this one, but it did him no good against the ever so tough Kenny Florian. A lean Florian showed crisp striking in the beginning of the round, after landing some sharp punches and knees. About a minute in the fight, it almost began to look like a judo tournament with the two fighters flipping each other like pancakes. Florian's experience in the Octagon and top notch jiu-jitsu skills was apparent as he effectively controlled Robinson on the ground. After some good exchanges, Florian obtained full mount with relative ease. Upon mount position, it was the beginning of the end for the UFC newcomer Robinson, as Florian pounded away with vicious elbow strikes and punches giving Robinson no option but to tap.

Florian has really impressed me lately and his improvement every time he time he steps into the Octagon is awe inspiring. With his impressive win over Mishima at UFC Fight Night 9 and his incredible five round war with the current UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk, I only expect to see more great things in the future with Kenny Florian.
All in all, I give this fight 8 out of 10.

Anderson Silva (c) def. Nate Marquardt via TKO (strikes) at 4:50 of Round 1 to retain the MW title
This fight was one of the highlights of the night, next to the Sherk-Franca fight. Anderson Silva made his first official title defense against challenger and Pancrase veteran Nate Marquardt. Early in the match Silva threw what looked to be a kick straight out of a martial arts movie causing him to be taken down by the challenger. The decision wasn’t horrible as Silva was still delivered piercing elbows and punches, punishing the midsection of Marquardt. Marquardt did nothing on the ground and the fighters were brought back to their feet. Silva took advantage of every opening and landed a big straight left hand forcing Marquardt back to the ground. Silva showed a picture perfect sweep gaining him the dominant position where he reigned down crushing blow after blow. Big John McCarthy had seen enough and quickly stopped the fight, saving Marquardt's very life and skull.

This fight just continued to show the Brazilian's dominance in the UFC. Silva's striking of course was, like always, dead on and was able to display his ever-growing jiu-jitsu abilities through his sprawls and sweeps. With the win, Silva is expected to head over to Cincinnati, Ohio and where he will face Rich Franklin, who he took the belt from last October. I don't see Franklin posing a threat to Anderson Silva at all. Silva's ground game is more polished than Franklin and certainly has the edge standing. Silva is a force to be reckoned with and is going to be the middleweight champion for a long, long time.

I give this fight a 9/10!

-Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans fought to a Draw after 5 Rounds (28-28, 28-28, 28-28)
There's not much to say about this fight, it was the biggest crock of cow dung to date. This match was maxed out by the hype that was poured into it, with the so called "bad blood" between the two and the little pushing incident they had a few events back. To what was hyped up to be a great fight turned out to be quite the contrary. Ortiz quickly began the bout scoring a double-leg takedown on The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Rashad Evans. Tito did little to Evans as both lay on the canvas. Somewhere in the second round Ortiz held on to the cage preventing a takedown by Evans, costing him a point and in the end costing him the fight. After a tiresome three rounds, the fighter’s fates were left in the hands of the judges, whom unanimously deemed this fight a draw, all scoring it 28-28.

I'm not a big Tito fan, but I really wanted Tito to win this one. For one, Evans' little seizures standing up didn't help his cause. I am of course referring to the annoying hand waving, I guess distraction, Evans kept doing while they were standing. God that pissed me off. As a whole, the fight was frustrating to watch, neither did much to finish the fight and if Tito hadn't gotten that point deducted he would have had this one in his pocket. Oh well, can't win 'em all I suppose, literally. Tito in the post fight talk with Rogan said, "You know, they always say if you ain't cheating, you're not trying." That’s classic.
This fight makes it painfully obvious that Ortiz would have zero chance against current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson, who Ortiz is rumored to later face off with. Either way, Tito never fails to make me laugh with his pre and post fight antics and the corny little shirts he wears to the fights.

I give this fight a 4/10!

-Sean Sherk (c) def. Hermes Franca via Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
Sherk and Franca certainly took the UFC 73 spotlight hands down. It was like watching a bully rob a helpless poor child for his lunch money.
Sean Sherk took no part in Franca's "unorthodox" striking in which he promptly overshadowed and neutralized with his lightning quick hands and unstoppable takedowns. Like many fights, cardio was the golden ticket in this fight.

The round began with an eager Sherk going for the takedown and nearly getting caught in a guillotine choke. Sherk muscled his way out of the choke and the punishment began as the now visibly angered Sherk had his way with the Brazilian challenger. Sherk dictated round after round as he took down and mounted Franca at will. The only silver lining Franca had were the four flush knees Sherk kept eating over and over, one of which nearly knocked out the champ. However, after the first two knees Sherk seemed almost immune to the knee strikes and continued his domination over Franca. The fight became like a broken record, as every round mimicked the previous one. The general breakdown of all five rounds were: Sherk eats a knee from Franca, Franca attempts a guillotine choke, Sherk muscles out, takes him down and proceeds to ground and pound a powerless Franca. It was unfortunate that Sherk wasn't able to finish Franca but, it was undoubtedly a lopsided fight in favor of Sherk and it came as no surprise as Bruce Buffer announced the judges' unanimous decision for UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk.

Sean Sherk's UFC All Access gave fans a glimpse of Sherk's dedication and hard work. Throughout the fight I was just in complete awe at the power and explosiveness of Sherk. I’m convinced that there is no possible way of putting another pound of muscle on a 155-pounder. Sherk’s overwhelming power was evident as he threw Franca around like a rag doll, at one point leg pressing Franca about three feet into the air, and able to impose any position he pleased. The golden ticket in this fight was not only the power difference but as I mentioned earlier, the cardio factor. Franca, though looked in top condition, couldn’t handle Sherk’s constant pressure and gassed quickly through the first two rounds while Sherk looked like he just stepped in the ring at the start of every round.

Sean Sherk seems to be one of the most dominant lightweights to ever hit the scene and aside from B.J. Penn I don't see a single lightweight in the UFC that poses any threat to him. It would definitely be interesting to see “The Prodigy” duke it out with the “Muscle Shark,” but that's for another time and another article! I give the Sherk-Franca fight an 8.5/10!

-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Heath Herring via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
One word summary, WOW. Nogueira, made his UFC debut facing Heath Herring, whom he already holds 2 wins over in PRIDE. A polished striker and top submission artist, Nogueira was dominant through the opening of the fight as he jabbed through Herring's defense and scored multiple takedowns. All was well until Herring decided to pull a Gonzaga and threw a head kick that sent Nogueira to the mat. At this point, I went into cardiac arrest, I thought it was over. As a matter of fact, if it was any other fight it would have been over but, referee Yves Lavine did us all a favor and allowed the fight to continue. Herring however did not take advantage of the situation and backed off allowing Nogueira to fully recover. After Nogueira finally realized he was at a UFC fight and not a Brazilian rave (as Bravo so elegantly put it), he persisted with his jabs at a visibly exhausted Herring. Outside of the heart rattling kick, the fight was one sided for Nogueira as he fought his way to a unanimous decision victory.

My God, I'm pretty sure my heart skipped two beats when Nogueira was knocked down. In Herring's defense, it was a bit unfair that the referee did not call the fight after the kick. If it were any other fight, I'm almost certain it would have been ruled a knockout. Yet, Herring is the only one to blame for not taking advantage of the situation and making the best of it. Herring lacks the killer instinct, the smell of blood that Wanderlei Silva and Fedor Emelianenko display in their fights. Nogueira must have had his bowl of Lucky Charms that morning and truly once again showed his undying heart. I'm eager to see more of Nogueira in the Octagon soon.

I give this fight a 7/10, deducting points because of the heart attack and emotional distress it brought me.

So, UFC 73 can't be called the best UFC card ever, but it was surely above average. As far as my predictions go, they weren't too off with the exception of the Sherk-Franca fight, God was I wrong about that one. Sorry?

That's all folks...L-Train OUT.

The Lianger