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UFC 73: Stacked

By Erin | July 7, 2007

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By Erin Bucknell

Wow, Herring is working his cowboy look tonight. I think it’s partly because his Warrior Wear shirt is sporting horns, but still.

Antonio Nogueira vs. Heath Herring

I think I’m with Nogueira on the “it’s not really a rivalry” statement. He has beaten him a couple of times.

And Jesus, Herring is REALLY working the cowboy gimmick, we even have old school cowboy music. When did we get to WWE? He does, however, have the entertaining fucked up hair.

And Nogueira comes out to The Rolling Stones, which is an odd choice, but at least he has good taste.

Round 1: Nogueira gets a quick takedown into side control quickly, but Herring gets the fight back to standing after some good scrambling. Nogueira doesn’t seem too taxed by this and pretty much controls the pace of the standup. Nogueira gets a good shot in and the clinch against the fence for a second. While Herring shoots off a couple of high kicks, the standup is pretty much all Nogueira until Herring gets in a big kick that knocks Nogueira down. Herring jumps on him but when he doesn’t immediately finish Nogueira. Herring lets him back up but stays on Nogueira for the rest of the round.

Round 2: Nogueira is much less aggressive to start this round, but Herring isn’t doing much to take advantage of it. As the round goes on Nogueira gets more aggressive, finally getting a takedown into side control followed by a mount and then getting Herring’s back. Herring manages to roll around and get Nogueira on the gorund. Herring backs off and lets Nogueira back up. The rest of the round is similar to the first round with Nogueira dominating the until the end.

Round 3: More Nogueira dominated standup followed by a takedown against the fence and works his way to Herring’s back. Herring almost rolls out again but Nogueira grabs for a rear naked choke. Herring goes for the roll out again and manages to get it to work this time. Nogueira grabs for a kimura from the bottom and when Herring gets away, Nogueira gets his back again. They get back to standing and Herring tries for the high kick again with less success this time. The round ends with Nogueira controlling the action.

Winner: Antonio Nogueira via unanimous decision.

Nogueira says that was the biggest hit he’s ever taken.

Cute little pocket sized Urijah Faber is shown in the crowd.

Hermes Franca vs. Sean Sherk

Sherk: “If you want to take it, you’re gonna have to come and get it”. Well, yes that is usually how it works. I get the sentiment, but that probably could have been worded better.

Sherk gets a couple of hot police women as his escorts down to the ring. Somehow, I doubt he’s protesting this.

Round 1: Hermes goes for a knee to the head quickly. Sherk grabs the leg and gets a slam on Hermes, who grabs a guillotine on the way down. Sherk slides his head out and gets in half guard. Sherk moves to full mount and then to side control after doing a good job of smooshing Franca. Franca almost grabs a submission but Sherk gets away. Franca turtles up before Sherk gets him on his back and moves to full mount again. Franca wiggles around and slides around to grab a leg but Sherk fights it off as the round ends.

Round 2: Hermes gets a big knee and charges in. Sherk manages to recover and get Franca on his back. Sherk gets a full mount but Franca flips it over and lands in Sherk’s guard. Sherk switches them himself and gets Franca’s back. They move around a bit and Sherk gets side control. Sherk goes for a kimura but Franca grabs another guillotine which he hangs onto until the end of the round.

Round 3: Sherk gets a takedown into half guard quickly. He then moves to side control and lands numerous shots to Franca’s head. Franca rolls to his stomach and curls up for protection. Franca gets up for half a second before Sherk takes him back down again. Sherk tries for an Americana but Franca pulls out before Sherk locks it in.

Round 4: Franca gets a good knee, but Sherk gets another takedown. And while this is a good fight, I’m kinda getting bored recapping the repativeness. They go back to standing and Franca manages to fend off the takedown attempts for a few moments but as soon as they get up against the fence Sherk dumps him again. They get back up and exchange a few punches before Sherk gets another takedown.

Unless something really interesting happens, I’m just going to point you to the previous four rounds for recapping round five.

Round 5: With the exception of a nice up-kick from his back by Franca, see above for the basic idea of what happened.

Winner: Sean Sherk via unanimous decision.

Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans

Rogan: “You can’t be a fan of MMA and not have some kind of emotion every time Ortiz enters the cage”. I used to dislike Tito, now I’m just kind neutral on him. Does this make me a defective MMA fan?

The fighters appear to be having a bounce-off during the stare down. That’s not very intimidating.

Round 1: Tito gets an early takedown against the fence, which Rashad uses to stay sitting up and eventually get back to standing. They separate and start throwing punches at each other before clinching against the fence. Rashad loses his mouth piece and Big John stops the fight to get it washed out. The next minute or so is a lot of circling and a few good leg kicks from Tito. Tito shoots in again but Rashad fends it off and gets Tito against the fence. Tito switches their positions and they exchange a few knees from the clinch.

Round 2: Both guys decide to throw punches but Tito seems to be landing a few more than Rashad. Rashad goes for a takedown but Tito fends it off. Rashad pushes Tito to the fence and makes a couple of unsuccessful takedown attempts. They go back to the center of the ring where tries again for the takedown. Tito gets his own takedown near the fence but can’t keep Rashad down for long who then gets up and gets his own takedown. Tito grabs a guillotine on the way down right before the round ends. Also, Tito gets a point deducted for fence grabbing.

Round 3: They circle for the first minute before Tito gets a takedown against the fence followed by Tito getting a weird mount for half a second (Roommate Jen: it looks like he might have learned that from Jenna) before Rashad shimmies back up. More punching and clinching for the last few minutes until Rashad finally gets a good takedown at the end.

Winner: It is declared a 28-28 Draw.

Even with the point taken away, I’d still say that should have gone to Tito. But that’s probably why I’m not a judge. Tito asks the crowd if they were satisfied with the fight and they respond with a resounding “no”. I can’t really say I blame them, as it has been three decisions in a row.

Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquart

Round 1: Silva stays planted in the center with Marquart circling around and throwing a couple of leg kicks. Silva goes for a jumping knee, which Marquart catches and after a bit of maneuvering uses it to take Silva down. Marquart lands in half guard which Silva moves to his full guard before pushing Marquart off for a couple of seconds. Silva gets a couple of up kicks before Marquart comes back in. Big John stands them up after a few minutes of non-action. Silva gets a good hit and blocks a takedown attempt. Silva flips them around and starts dropping nasty punches to Marquart’s head. Big John steps in and calls the fight.

Winner: Anderson Silva via TKO

Thank you Silva, for actually finishing a fight tonight.

Buffer makes sure to let the crowd know that there will be one more fight coming up. So, please please please don’t leave!

And we are already in the ring for the next fight, apparently the get no ring entrance.

Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson

Round 1: The fight starts energetically with some quick punch exchanges followed by a clinch against the fence. Florian gets a hip toss and not much happens as the get stood up quickly enough. Robinson presses Florian into the fence but Florian gets a trip into a takedown. Florian drops some elbows from the guard before moving to side control. Robinson gets back to standing but Florian takes him back down again. Florian gets a full mount and punches the crap out of Robinson until he taps.

Winner: Kenny Florian via TKO (who, by references in his post fight speech, seems as frustrated by the decisions as we are).

While the fights weren’t necessarily boring the first three felt like they took forever. I know that’s not the UFC’s fault, but that doesn’t make it anymore exciting. I’m not doubting my decision to buy the PPV, but I’m glad I didn’t throw down $50.00 to see it in person.

Topics: Erin Bucknell, MMA, UFC | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

19 Responses to “UFC 73: Stacked”

  1. klown says:

    Tito Ortiz post-fight interview, on his point deduction for grabbing the cage: “If you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying”. Sad statement, and a sad performance by Tito. Although he dominated the first 2 rounds he never made any moves to finish. He could have been a lot more aggressive considering he was winning the stand-up/take-down wars and had the larger size. I think this is a win for Rashad. And I’m not looking forward to an instant rematch and a bunch of shit-talking and rehashing of the fight. I think they should only get a rematch after each of them wins another fight.

  2. Adam Morgan says:

    I have no desire to ever see Ortiz/Evans II.

  3. klown says:

    I’d like to see Nogueira vs Andrei Arlovsky to determine the heavyweight contender who takes on the winner of Couture vs Gonzaga. And the winner of CroCop vs Kongo gets the next shot.

  4. Adam Morgan says:

    Either Cro Cop or Kongo would probably have to fight another fight in between before facing the champ, but I would love that scenario.

  5. Zurich says:

    Pretty much what I figured would happen, but I thought A.Silva/Marq would have been a decision too. This is why I think Zuffa didn’t push the card much (if at all) to the mainstream press. If the casual fans thought UFC 71 was too ‘quick’, they’d fall asleep during UFC 73.

    My thoughts..

    – I thought Yves should have stopped the Nogueria fight – he was totally out (and got hit in the exact same place in almost the same way [kick vs. punch] that Soku KO’d Lil Nog with). That was either a work, or Herring has to be one of the stupidest fighters out there..

    – Somebody needs to teach Sherk a submission or two. With that dominant strength and positioning, he should be the Josh Barnett of the 155 class (meaning he FINISHES people with wrestling). That was a really boring fight though…. I feel sorry for Hermes 🙁

    – Tito is an enormous human being, wtf. His head was like twice the size of Rashad’s!! I don’t know why Rashad didn’t press the action – Tito just looked slow and sloppy in his standup… I REALLY don’t want to see Tito/Rashad 2. I would love to see Shogun/Tito 😀 Cry Tito!

    – A. Silva really impressed me. Either people were exaggerating Marq’s skills, or A. Silva _really_ is that good. Franklin must be shitting himself at the thought of having his nose crushed in, again, but in front of his home town….

    – Zuffa REALLY needs to “2.0” their production.. the crass lights, walkouts, music, and Rogan/Goldie bits are looking (and feeling) very old.

  6. Jonathan says:

    For more information on what I thought of the fight, take a look at what I posted on the results thread. Something to add here however is this: I know why Herring stood up. He knew that he could not GnP Nog out of it in the remaining seconds of the round. However, he knew that he was able to drop Nog hard again like he done the first time, that the ref or doctor would end up stopping the fight. That he why he stood up and went in to engage.

    Oh and Zurich, you left out the “Gladiator Ripoff” at the beginning of ALL of their PPVs

  7. Matt says:

    I completely echo Mr. Morgan. Ortiz/Evans II puts money into the growing Tito/Jenna empire and leaves the fans feeling empty. After giving Tito top billing for this event, Ortiz rewards him with a wrestling match, then says ‘if you aint cheatin you aint trying” shut the hell up Tito. Good for Rashad for not letting Tito bully him. It’s too bad he didnt start throwing till 4:50 of round 3.

    Just a general question regarding Herring/Nog… why are so many fans across the various message boards giving Herring so much respect?!? He hit Nog with a lucky kick that Nog ducked into (and it was NOT a high kick, it was waist level). Herring shows me NOTHING. He shows no killer instinct. There’s posts saying the ref should have stopped the fight… here’s how to stop the fight, jump on top of the guy and pound away and make the ref jump in there. Don’t stand back and ask the ref to make a judgement call. Awful. Herring is sloppy and has shown nothing since coming over to UFC. He should spend less time on his hair coloring and more time sharpening his jab.

    Matt – ufctakedown.com

  8. klown says:

    I think Tito and Rashad should be tested by tough opponents for their next fights. How about Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans, and Mauricio Rua vs Tito Ortiz? We’ll see if they belong in the light heavyweight elite.

  9. Chuck says:

    Were those real cops or models dressed up in uniforms? Either way they were escorts, hehe.

  10. Zurich says:

    Actually, Tito vs Machida would be great to watch 😀 Tito ain’t getting inside Machida’s head…

  11. Jonathan says:

    One thing that I have no said about the card is how good the reffing was. Of the four fights that I saw, the refs did a great job on a) not stopping the fights too early and b) having the balls to take a point away. Outstanding job all around.

  12. nicklovesmma says:

    “Thank you Silva, for actually finishing a fight tonight.”

    Maybe my memory is misinforming me but I can’t remember the last time a Silva fight hasn’t ended in stoppage. I don’t really get what you’re saying here.

  13. Erin says:

    Silva was the first guy, of the PPV matches, to finish a fight. The previous three fights had all ended in decision. I meant it as commentary about the fights that night, not about Silva’s fights.

  14. Columbia Lou says:

    Heath Herring spent 5 years in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the home to the best hw thai boxers and gyms in the world. Heath should be a beast at kicking and punching. But he is not. What a waste.

  15. MoreThanUFC says:

    Man, I thought the reffing was the almost the worst I have ever seen. Amazing how two ppl can watch the same thing and have totally opposite impressions. My POV:
    Sherk lays and prays for 25 mins, but Nate gets stood up after 21 secs and Florian just as he was about to sweep to side mount? I know Sherk kept passing, but did he ever rock Hermes or not lay until he could attain an optimum postion? No. There were multiple times he was inactive for longer than 21 seconds. Alvin the Kid took more punishment before his bout was stopped than Marquardt did, a fighter with over 30 pro fights, a seven time champion and multiple multi-fight tourney winner. Does that make any sense? All the while after Big Nog is essentially unconscious on the canvas, but the bout isnt stopped. Where are the warnings for stalling and inactivity that Pride used to call and that the Unified rules allow for during the Tito/Rah bout? A yellow card system is must. There should be fewer than 20% decisions, but right now the UFC is running at about 40%. Pride ran at about 15% by my measure for an article I did.

    Anyway, for the potential that card had, it was a real letdown. I think after 2 UDs and a draw, they wanted any KO or sub they could get. I was waiting for another of Big John’s phatom tap calls but instead he just ended the fight after the first 4-5 punches landed once one fighter was on the ground.
    That’s the last UFC I ever buy. I’m going to the bar to watch from now on. I drink on hospitality and am drunk after six pints, so $12 instead of $40 is good by me! 😀

  16. doem says:

    it did seem like there were a couple early stand-ups. reminds me of the gonzaga V. crocop. hope this doesnt become the norm

  17. doem says:

    and also, its harder to go decision with a 10 minute first round. though hell will freeze over before the UFC adopts anything but the 3×5.

  18. Liger05 says:

    I thought Nog was going to get stopped. he really was on dream street. Herring must be kicking himself, he had a great chance to win that fight.

  19. Jason Gatties says:

    “and also, its harder to go decision with a 10 minute first round. though hell will freeze over before the UFC adopts anything but the 3×5.”

    Again..not a UFC decision, the various athletic commissions make the call.

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