Hughes/Gracie

[atxrocker]

fighting tonight for any interested UFC fans. i hope Gracie wins.

[desflood]

Royce has been fighting over in Pride (in Japan) on and off through the years since he left the UFC, so it's not like he's been totally inactive. That being said... he doesn't stand a chance against Matt Hughes. It's gonna hurt to watch a legend get squished like this.

[atxrocker]

royce got dominated by the younger and stronger hughes. i think he should hang it up. brandon vera was very solid in the undercards. diego sanchez was unimpressive in his decision. im ing excited about the next UFC matchup between Shamrock/Ortiz and Arlovski/Sylvia. I hope Shamrock and my boy Arlovski win.

[atxrocker]

Hughes Wins and Leaves No Doubts with Stoppage of Gracie

LOS ANGELES, May 27 – The party line before the UFC 60 main event between Matt Hughes and Royce Gracie was that the sport of mixed martial arts had passed the Brazilian legend by and that he couldn’t compete with the new breed of mixed martial artist. Yet while Hughes was dominant in a first round stoppage victory before a packed house at STAPLES Center, there is no doubting the toughness of Gracie, who not only made his return to the Octagon for the first time in over ten years, he did it against the premier welterweight in the game.

And you’ve got to respect him for that.

But the night truly belonged to Hughes, who may not have had his UFC welterweight crown on the line, but who fought as if it was his last bout as he dominated from start to finish against the jiu-jitsu ace from Rio De Janeiro.

With father Helio, the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, directly behind him, Gracie made his way into the Octagon for the first time since 1995 to a rousing ovation from the assembled crowd. Conversely – and surprisingly – Hughes’ entrance was met with boos scattered among the cheers. But the crowd wasn’t going to decide this one – the UFC’s first superstar and a modern day one were going to, and there was a thick tension in the air before the opening bell.

Gracie opened the fight with a couple of range-finding kicks. Hughes answered with an overhand left that briefly jarred the Brazilian. Gracie quickly regained his bearings though and kept kicking at Hughes, who drove him into the fence. With 3:45 left in the round, the fight went to the mat, with the crowd erupting as Gracie looked for a submission. Hughes kept his cool though and worked his strikes from the top position, eventually locking up Gracie’s left arm. After some tense moments, Gracie escaped, but soon Hughes got his back and opened up with elbows and strikes. Seconds later, after a series of unanswered blows to the head, referee John McCarthy had no choice but to halt the bout at 4:39 of the frame.

And then the boos turned to cheers for Hughes, and rightfully so.

World-class grappler Dean Lister made his long-awaited UFC debut a successful one as he stopped the run of hard-hitting Alessio Sakara with a first round submission victory.

As expected, Lister took the bout to the ground almost immediately, nullifying Sakara’s striking. ‘The Boogeyman’ immediately grabbed an arm, but after a few dicey moments he was able to get loose. Moments later though, Lister struck again with a triangle choke, and this time there would be no escape for ‘Legionarius’, who tapped out at the 2:20 mark.

Diego Sanchez survived the toughest moments of his UFC career en route to an unpopular three round unanimous decision over Canadian vet John Alessio, who fought a disciplined fight from start to finish but wasn’t rewarded by the ringside judges, who saw it for the ‘Nightmare’ by scores of 30-27, and 29-28 twice.

It was a cat and mouse game in the first round, with neither fighter pushing the action. In the second minute Sanchez attempted some strikes and a couple of takedowns, only to be rebuffed by the veteran Alessio. The takedown defense of ‘The Natural’ continued to be strong throughout the frame, but neither fighter did enough offensively to take a big advantage, save for a solid right hand by Alessio just before the bell.

Alessio continued to turn back Sanchez’ attacks in round two, and the effects of his strikes started to show on the face of the ‘Nightmare’, who was cut over the right eye and who had to be frustrated by his inability to crack Alessio’s armor.

Perhaps sensing that his unbeaten record was about to get marred, Sanchez came out fast in the final frame, pushing the action and getting more urgent with his attacks. With a little over three minutes left, he finally got a hold of Alessio, sinking in his hooks while Alessio stood calmly holding Sanchez’ left arm. Sanchez tried to free his arm with a series of rights to the head, but Alessio kept his grip as the crowd roared. With under 20 seconds left, Sanchez finally freed his arm, but he was unable to sink in a choke, settling instead for a few haymakers until the fight ended.

Maybe Brandon Vera was telling the truth all along. In a highly anticipated heavyweight bout, Vera showed off his submission game in the UFC for the first time, forcing Brazil’s Assuerio Silva to tap out in the first round of a scheduled three.

Vera started fast behind a series of kicks that drew a smile from Silva, who responded in kind with a high leg kick of his own. At the 3:30 mark, Silva complained of a thumb in the eye, bringing the doctor in to check out the Brazilian. Once action resumed, a kick to the midsection by Silva put Vera down to the mat and the unbeaten phenom looked to be facing serious adversity for the first time in his young career. ‘The Truth’ responded in style though, surviving a slam by Silva while locking in a tight guillotine choke that produced a tap out at 2:39 of the opening frame.

Rising middleweight contender Mike Swick once again lived up to his nickname of ‘Quick’ as he submitted perennial contender Joe Riggs in the first round, running his unbeaten streak of first round endings to four.

“I thought Joe was going to come out and bang,” admitted Swick. “I didn’t think I was going to catch him with a submission.”

Surprisingly, the first 1:30 of the bout saw little action as the two strikers looked for the opening that would end the fight. Soon, Swick saw that opening, landing a right leg kick to the head that stunned Riggs. Riggs immediately looked for and got the takedown to try and clear his head, but the alert Swick locked in a guillotine and forced Riggs to tap at the 2:19 mark.

“I don’t talk the talk but I walk the walk,” said Swick, who won his second consecutive bout by what he likes to refer to as the ‘Swickotine.’

In undercard action…

It may be safe to say that Jeremy Horn has Chael Sonnen’s number as the veteran beat Sonnen for the third time in their middleweight bout, forcing a submission in the second round of their three rounder.

Sonnen got a takedown almost immediately, but Horn stayed close enough to keep the Team Quest standout from mounting any serious attack early. Sonnen stayed focused though and was finally able to break through on some strikes. But just when Sonnen appeared to be making some headway, the crafty Horn locked in a guillotine choke that the patient Sonnen eventually broke free from. Still looking for submission attempts, Horn was nonetheless losing points as Sonnen continued to pound away. With less than 30 seconds left in the round, the fighters were stood up, only to have Sonnen take Horn down again and keep him there until round’s end.

The second round began like the first, with a Sonnen takedown. This time though, Horn was able to grab Sonnen’s arm and try for the submission. Sonnen got out of trouble, but Horn quickly transitioned back into the arm bar, and this time Sonnen wasn’t able to escape and he tapped out at 1:17 of the stanza.

Spencer ‘The King’ Fisher continued his march up the lightweight ranks with a second round knockout of Matt Wiman in an entertaining bout that almost saw the late replacement from Florida almost pull off the upset with a first round guillotine choke. In the end though, Fisher’s power and accuracy proved to be the difference.

Fisher got to work immediately with a series of knees on the inside as Wiman worked for a takedown that finally came 1:15 into the bout. Wiman worked effectively on the ground, sinking in a guillotine choke that drained Fisher, who barely escaped. After escaping, Wiman got Fisher’s back, sunk his hooks in and worked for a rear naked choke, but ‘The King’ was able to break loose and get back to his feet. After a jumping knee while in the clinch brought a roar from the crowd, Fisher got Wiman on the mat and looked to pound him out but the bell intervened – not before Wiman went back to his corner with a gash on his forehead from a Fisher elbow.

The fast pace continued in round two, but after the two traded strikes, it was Fisher starting to open up on the ground with both hands. After the two stood, Fisher’s knees and punches started to land with more accuracy, and after stunning Wiman with a right hand, a flying left knee ended matters at 1:43 of the round.

“He started to do the chicken dance and I knew he was hurt,” said Fisher, who rebounded from a close loss to Sam Stout at UFC 58 in March.

Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a solid effort in stopping fellow Brazilian Fabiano Scherner in the second round.

After some standup by both men, Gonzaga succeeded in taking Scherner to the mat twice. On the second time around, Scherner was able to get the upper hand briefly, only to stand up on the wrong end of a bloody nose. The action fluctuated between the ground and feet for the rest of the round, with Gonzaga the busier of the two in both areas.

The between rounds period was extended as the ringside physician took a close look at Scherner, and within seconds of the beginning of the second round the arena found out why after a left and right by Gonzaga staggered Scherner and he toppled to the floor. After a brief follow up, referee Steve Mazzagatti halted the bout at 24 seconds of the second frame.

In the opener, Melvin ‘The Young Assassin’ Guillard made a successful drop to the 155-pound lightweight class, knocking out UFC debutant Rick Davis with a single right hand at 1:37 of the opening round.

Guillard shot out of his corner on a mission, throwing punches, leg kicks and knees with bad intentions. With 3:40 left in the round, Guillard dropped Davis with a left hand, and though the Californian rose, seconds later he ate a flush right hand to the jaw that sent Davis down to the canvas face-first, prompting an immediate stoppage from referee Mario Yamasaki.

In attendance tonight, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, James Caan, Kazushi Sakuraba, Gary Goodridge, Paris Hilton, Nicholas Cage, David Spade, Everlast, Paul Walker, and Marlon Wayans