A Newcomer's Guide to UFC 75

Being a huge fan of the staged fights and casual boxing observer, my interest has been recently piqued by the phenomenon known as the UFC (mixed martial arts for those unfamiliar with it). After enjoying two hours of an old UFC show last night on Spike, I decided to plunk my fat ass in front of the TV for tonight's free card featuring UFC light heavyweight champion Quentin "Rampage" Jackson against Pride (Another major MMA company who UFC recently bought out) light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson, plus a collection of undercard bouts. Here would be my undistinguished take on tonight's happenings.

Opening match, Welterweight Division: Marcus Davis withstood an awesome kick the kid from opponent Paul Taylor early on, getting control of the fight on the ground and locking in the winning arm submission.

Light Heavyweight Division: In a quick fight, Houston Alexander hit a strong knee to Alessio Sakara's head and scored the knockout and rapidly firing punches from the mount position. Alexander looks like a fighter to be reckoned with and should be in line for a top line challenger soon.

Heavweight Fight: Renonwed fighter Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic lost to the unheralded Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision. Cro Cop, who failed to come close to landing his trademark head kick, struggled after a solid opening round. A low blow by Kongo early in the third round knocked the gas out of Cro Cop, but it was a close fight even before the controversial shot. While I may be a novice about MMA, Cro Cop's performance in the UFC has been roundly disappointing according to everything I have read.

Light Heavywight Fight: In a terrible travesty IMO, hometown fighter Michael Bisping defeated his fellow Ultimate Fighter 3 competitor Matt Hamill (UFC's reality show competition similar to The Contender) by split decision. Hamill decisively won round one, and appeared to control round two with his strong wrestling skills and solid strikes. Bisping came back with a strong round three, but failed to make the outstanding comeback needed to win the fight. However, the English competitor and clear "star of the future" received a friendly judgment and remains undefeated.

Main Event: In the best fight of the night, UFC Light Heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson defeated Pride Light Heavyweight Champion by unanimous decision. Henderson, a two time American Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling, had a solid round one with wrestling skills and strong punching ability. However, Jackson took control of the fight afterwards, using his superior speed and mobility to hit his strikes and avoid Henderson's big right hand. To his credit, Henderson sustained a lot of tough blows and stayed in the fight through all five 5-minute rounds. Henderson, who won Pride titles in multiple weight classes ala Roy Jones Jr., will likely drop back to the 185 pound weight class after this fight.

On the whole, I can really dig the UFC and MMA fighting. Most of the fights were action packed and the threat of the instant knock-out/submission always has viewers getting into each fight. If my poor ass ever gets some money rolling in, I'll definitely find a way to catch a lot of the PPV's at sports bars like I do my beloved wrestling.

For more info on tonight's fights, check out the MMA junkie's site.