The Ashcan

UFC 116: Notes on a drama filled fight night

Posted on 05. Jul, 2010 by Jef in Sports

It was that kind of a night

A great UFC fight card went down on Saturday. Three matches were particularly amazing, for the fights themselves but also for the stories they told.

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar

The last time Krzysztof Soszynski and Stephan Bonnar clashed, they clashed head on, with an accidental butt in the final round that opened Bonnar’s brow and unleashed a nauseating stream of blood. The red got everywhere, notably all over Bonnar’s face, but also dramatically all over Soszynski’s snow-white shorts. The octagon looked more like a slaughterhouse than it usually does. Soszynski was awarded a controversial TKO victory — controversial because who comes out a winner by illegal means? What is this? America? (It was Australia.) — and even though Bonnar was headed to the sad side of the scorecards, it was nonetheless an injustice.

And so here we were again at UFC 116, Soszynski’s balded-up dome and tatt-covered frame again pitted across Bonnar’s battered journeyman body and tradesman face. It was an important fight for Bonnar, who had lost three in a row and was losing the goodwill from fans he gained five years ago in a classic, front to back barn brawl with Forrest Griffin.

Bonnar has never looked like a fighter, neither in physique, face or technique, but he fought like one, all heart and ugly smiles and a chin that can weather wrecking balls. Whatever doubts grew about his long-term prospects, that was the Bonnar who showed up this night. That Bonnar avenged his losses, ran all over the cage like a tweaked hamster, dropped Soszynski twice in the second round with knees and fists and elbows to the body, and then had his arm raised by ref Mario Yamasaki in the end. There he was, smiling and flexing, bloody and proud.

I don’t know about his place in the light heavyweight division, where he stands or in what direction he goes, but there should be no doubt now about his place in our hearts. He’s bled for us so many times.

Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Yoshihiro Akiyama had insulted Chris Leben. It wasn’t the typical kind of insult that fighters lob to promote events; it was the type of insult that most avoid because it’s too disrespectful and also bad for business. Akiyama, calmly and soberly, insulted Leben by saying he didn’t want to fight him. He didn’t say Leben sucked and therefore he would destroy him. No, he said Leben sucked and therefore he preferred not to fight at all. He said, gallingly, Leben wasn’t worth the effort.

At least, that’s how Leben and many fans saw it. To be fair, they were right; Akiyama was being disrespectful, but to be even fairer, not enough weight was put on the fact that Akiyama was supposed to fight Wanderlei Silva that night. Silva pulled out last-minute due to injury and Leben, who had just fought (to victory) only two weeks earlier, took his place on the card. This proved a tactical inconvenience for Akiyama — Leben is a southpaw and Akiyama had prepared for Silva’s orthodox stlye — but even more than that, I believe, Leben was a prick that deflated Akiyama’s prideful motivations.

Akiyama is a Korean fighter who built his career in Japan, a country that Wanderlei Silva lorded over for years as one of the country’s most beloved fighters, definitely its most dominant. This was to be a benchmark in Akiyama’s career, and given that his last fight with a Japan legend, Kazushi Sakuraba, ended in grease covered allegations of cheating and a falling out with the public, you can see why this fight would mean so much to him. To go from a match-up that carries that much personal meaning to a last-minute trudge with a dude most people know as just a red-dyed, heavy-handed shit-talker, must have been hard on the heart.

But Akiyama is a professional fighter; he should have just fought the fight. Eventually he did, and what a fight it was. The judo master dominated Leben in the first round, throwing him to the mat, dropping hammer fists and escaping submission attempts with ease. In the second, the footing was more even, Akiyama and Leben standing and trading, Akiyama getting rocked but shaking it off, Leben getting taken down but standing back up, each man swinging as the bell rang. In the third, however, Akiyama got caught in a triangle choke and, with a scant 20 seconds left in the fight, the grappler who trained for the Fight of His Life tapped out to an 11th hour replacement. To a striker, no less.

When Akiyama looks back at the tape with his head on straight, hopefully he will see that he was dwarfed. He should probably in the future drop a weight class, to where he’ll cut a more imposing shadow. And if he is still considered about earning respect and crafting a legacy, he should know now that this is how its done — by fighting your face off. All things considered, it a was greater bout than it had any right to be, and both men look the better for it. They both needed it.

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin

There’s that old phrase, “a puncher’s chance.” And then there was this match, between two unfathomable beheamoths, that took that phrase and made it sound urgent and amazing again. As a so-called puncher, Shane Carwin’s accomplishments are almost unbelieavable. Twelve fights, twelve victories, seven of them knockouts, none of them lasting longer than the first round. And then there was Brock Lesnar, heavyweight champion with just five bouts notched on his record. Two guys who get things done by force. By willpower, yes, but also by just power, disgusting amounts of it. Upstarts, both of them, already this early in their ring lives fighting to see who (after the fall of Fedor just a week earlier) was the best in the world, bar none.

There was talk of possible ring rust for Lesnar, who had been sidelined for a year by a possibly career-ending intestinal illness. But did the concept of ring rust even apply to a phenom who rose to champion status so quickly? There was also talk questioning Carwin’s gas tank, but such talk would not matter if one of those fists landed where he wanted them to. A puncher’s chance, yes, but also a puncher’s plan. It was a task that Carwin obviously knew how to accomplish.

Carwin unloaded quickly as he always does, rocking Lesnar who turtled and backed away. What a sight, to see a dinosaur ball up and hang on for dear life! Lesnar covered and composed himself, stalled for time, lasted the round despite the onslaught of heavy leather. The effort seemed to have gassed Carwin, who stared glass-eyed into the ether between rounds as his trainers tried to coach him. As they stood to enter the second round, it was clear. Carwin’s legs were lazy, he was sucking air to replenish his thick arms, he was lifeless. Lesnar was red in the face but fresh. Lesnar took him down, and in a shocking display of measured martial arts technique, hopped off the mount to secure an arm triangle. Carwin floundered a bit and tried to create space, but Lesnar sunk it deeper and it was over. Carwin tapped, and Lesnar ascended. Only his sixth fight. Scary to think that this is him still just learning.

(photos via)

Tags: Brock Lesnar, Chris Leben, fight recaps, fights!, Krzysztof Soszynski, Shane Carwin, Stephan Bonnar, UFC 116, Yoshihiro Akiyama