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UFC 69 – Shootout event review

By Zach Arnold | April 7, 2007

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By Erin Bucknell

Man the UFC is really making the rounds. Ohio, Houston, and Manchester next time, sheesh.

Damn, they didn’t show the angle where Diego lands right on his ass after shoving Koscheck. That footage is simply too good for words.

Kendall Grove vs. Alan Belcher

There seems to be a lot of hoping for underestimation tonight.

Belcher really seems to like his fringy shorts. It automatically makes me think of tacky lampshades or the women’s dresses from “Dancing with the Stars”.

Round 1. Belcher gets the takedown into side control after a few moments of standup. Grove gets the fight back up and hits a couple of knees on the way. They end up clinched against the fence where Grove busts out with the foot stomps. Grove throws a few straight kicks before blocking a takedown attempt. They clinch against the cage until the ref returns them to the center. There’s a bit more standup until the end of the round.

Round 2. Grove goes for a flying knee as the round starts and Belcher gets stuck up against the cage. Grove blocks a takedown attempt, and Belcher will not let go of the leg. Grove ends up on top and drops some serious elbows. They get back up and both guys are working with kicks. Grove gets them back to the fence and hit some knees and punches before dumping Belcher to the mat. Grove works for a submission but is unable to sink it in. He gets it again and Belcher is out.

Winner: Kendall Grove via submission (a choke that I have no idea how to spell).

Mike Swick vs. Yushin Okami

Round 1. Not much action for the first few minutes with both guys mostly just checking each other out with a few kicks in between. Swick finally goes in for a knee and they clinch and move into the cage. Okami wrestles Swick to the ground where Swick gets half guard. Okami works to get a full mount but Swick does a good job of holding him off. Okami starts working for a kimura, but Swick fends it off until the end of the round.

Swick seems kinda worried about Okami’s strength during the break.

Round 2. They circle again for the first few minutes before Okami closes the difference and locks up Swick. He then gets the takedown and ends up in Swick’s guard. The ref stands them up after both man advances much, and Swick shows signs of life in with some quick punches. Okami gets another takedown. The ref stands them again (rather quickly I thought) and Swick makes a BIG comeback with punches up to the end of the round.

Round 3. Swick gets some good shots in before Okami gets another takedown. Okami manages to get full mount and drops a lot of punches. Swick rolls to his stomach to get out but doesn’t make much progress. Every time Swick tries it Okami hangs on. Swick finally reverses the positions and Okami gets rubber guard. Round ends.

Winner: Yushin Okami via unanimous decision

Yushin forgets to take out the mouthpiece for the interview and even his interpreter can’t understand him.

Dana announces that the UFC has signed Nogiera. This is damn cool seeing as he’s probably the second or third best heavyweight in the world. Amazing how much of change the heavyweight division has gone through in the past year.

Does everyone come from the “mean streets”? Does no one have a happy suburban childhood?

I don’t really get why people wear headphones to the fight. If your entrance music doesn’t get you ready to fight, why are you using it?

Roger Huerta vs. Leonard Garcia

Round 1. Huerta gets Garcia down but gets stuck in a guillotine on the way down. Huerta slides out and gets Garcia’s back, then switches to full mount. Garcia gets back to standing. Garcia gets another guillotine, but Huerta once again slips out. Huerta traps Garcia up against the fence. Whole lot of up and down and I’m getting tired just trying to keep up with it. Garcia is on top as the round ends, but Huerta doesn’t look any worse for wear.

Round 2. Huerta gets a takedown against the fence and drops some elbows. Back to standing and both guys are swinging hard. Huerta starts to get the better of the fight but Garcia isn’t giving up. Huerta gets a takedown into a mount. Garcia gets it back to full guard before getting back up and exchanging more punches. Huerta with another takedown and stays on top to the end of the round.

Round 3. Garcia tries for a takedown but is shrugged off. Huerta gets his takedown and starts working the elbow. Garcia swings around and gets Huerta’s back but Huerta reverses and is dropping bombs on Garcia. Garcia hangs on until the end of the round. Both fighters bond after the fight. Excellent fight.

And yes, I am five years old as I giggled at the “trying to stop Roger from mounting him” line.

Winner: Roger Huerta via unanimous decision (who unlike Florian actually has his Xyience can opened).

Pre fight commentary, Koscheck does a pretty decent Sanchez impersonation, ha.

Josh Koscheck vs. Diego Sanchez

I’m not your biggest fan Koscheck, but I’ll root for anyone who has a chance against Diego.

Diego brings out the Mariachi’s again. Unless one of them is Antonio Banderas, I really don’t care. All of his aggression is either going to work really well for him or really badly. This really doesn’t go with the whole Zen Master gig.

Round 1. Koscheck tries a few head kicks to feel out Sanchez. Both are a bit hesitant and not really doing much. Koscheck finally goes in for a takedown and gets them up against the fence. Sanchez reverses it as the round ends. Boring first round, but understandable seeing as neither guy wants to make a mistake.

Round 2. Stand up again with Koscheck seeming to get a bit better of it. That’s pretty much all that happens. No one really does a whole lot, though Koscheck is doing better in stand up than I would have thought.

Round 3. And more uneventful stand up. The crowd is Not Pleased. Not that it’s a horribly boring fight, but it’s not hugely exciting either. Koscheck busts out with some high kicks as the round ends.

Winner: Josh Koscheck via unanimous decision.

Thank you Koscheck. I normally wouldn’t support the post-fight “woo-ha” but it’s against Diego, who does it a lot himself.

Serra comes out to a very entertaining Rocky Theme/Rap mash-up, it almost qualifies for my call of sillier entrance theme songs, but I doubt that was the intent. I miss GSP’s butt wiggling music.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra

Round 1. Both guys feeling each other out GSP feeling more with the kicks until Serra gets inside and starts pummeling GSP. Georges manages to almost get back up several times but Serra is relentless and finishes the fight with ground ‘n pound.

Winner: Matt Serra via TKO.

Well holy shit that was seriously out of right field. I still love you George. Hugs, many hugs for GSP.

Josh Haynes vs. Luke Cummo

Round 1. Cummo gets a takedown after a clinch against the cage but it doesn’t last long and they are back against the cage shortly. Back to the center of the cage until the round ends.

Round 2. All stand up in this round with Cummo getting a big kick to Haynes’ head and the ref calls it.

Winner: Luke Cummo via knockout

Topics: All Topics, Erin Bucknell, Media, MMA, UFC | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

14 Responses to “UFC 69 – Shootout event review”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    I don’t know what is a bigger news story….

    Matt Serra with the upset of the year…. Or Matt Hughes being the biggest D*CK of the year by laughing at a guy getting KO’d.

    Swick really lost any value as a legit contender in my book. He just isn’t there with his abilities. I gave him he benefit of the doubt before this fight, but he looked horrible.

  2. E says:

    Yeah, I had picked against both Swick and Diego prior to this event and had been burned multiple times (by both) but they both came up short this time around. At least Swick’s fight wasn’t the god-awful bore the Sanchez-Koscheck stare-off was. Dear god, do both of those douche-bags need a severe beating.

    The Huerta/Garcia fight was AMAZING. Those guys went balls to the wall for the entire fight and left everything in the cage, that fight was head and shoulders above every other fight shown tonight. Though I will say that Grove really impressed me with his domination of Belcher and that Serra pulled off the upset of the year (probably more like the decade).

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    Of the 6 fights shown, I picked every one right except Serra winning.

    The UFC could really go a few different routes right now. If I was them, I would put on a double feature Welterweight Main Event. I would have Matt Serra vs. Josh Koscheck for the Welterweight Title. And the Co-Main Event being GSP vs. Hughes 3 for the #1 Contender.

    They don’t want to put on Hughes/Serra, because then you get into the cyclical title change scenario like just happened with the ICON Middleweight Title. Where Miller beat Lawler…. Trigg beat Miller…. Lawler beat Trigg…. And now you have a contender who has already beaten the champion.

    Huerta is a scary guy. Some fighters fear getting hit. He has absolutely no fear. You can tell he is a natural fighter.

  4. Ultimo Santa says:

    Excellent PPV.

    Grove is looking sharp, and his speed and reach make him a very dangerous force at 185. Possibly the best bet to dethrone Anderson Silva?

    Joe Rogan seemed to remind us several times that “Mike Swick COULD fight at 155!!!” almost as if he was setting up a pre-emptive excuse if he lost. Pretty good fight and much to Dana White’s dismay, Swick went down in flames.

    Roger Huerta vs. Leonard Garcia was one of the best UFC fights I’ve ever seen. Just incredible.

    Sanchez goes down by decision, and I was shocked that he landed maybe 3 solid punches the whole fight and zero takedowns. Not exactly a barn-burner, but following the Huerta vs. Garcia fight would be nearly impossible to top in terms of action. Josh looked good and should be in line for a title fight.

    Serra beating GSP was probably the biggest upset in UFC history – I can’t think of another title change that blew my mind like this. I think in 9 out of 10 fights GSP wins, but this was Serra’s night.

    How fucked up was Drago’s face when he was celebrating with Serra? He looked like the Elephant Man.

    For the bonus fight, Josh Haynes vs. Luke Cummo was entertaining. I don’t know what was better: Haynes trying to take down the referee with an ankle pick, or Nate Quarry’s profanity-laced motivational speech between rounds.

  5. Royal B. says:

    Who reffed Okami/Swick?

  6. clint notestine says:

    what you said about headphones during a fight is so true, I’ve been wondering about that myself. Some of the stuff people do on their way to the cage just is kind of weird. some touch peoples hands some are obviously angry the fans are even there.

  7. Jordan Breen says:

    Just in case this became the place for new UFC 69 discussion…

    1) Kendall Grove is possibly the most improved fighter in the history of time itself. The fact that this is the same guy who got choked out by Savant Young and KO’d by Sick Dog Ramirez astounds me. Frigging astounds me.

    2) Okami needs to look at the tape of the Japnese fighters in the last CAGE FORCE card and see what a mounted elbow can do.

    3) It’s awesome that Nogueira’s last operation/surgery/laser whatever came out successful, because the idea of Nogueira in a 25 minute title fight is something I can rally behind.

    4) MMA needs more Mexicans, ASAP.

    5) MMAtt Serra is president.

  8. MMA Game says:

    Kendal Grove was immense. Absolutely relentless and those knees were quality.

    Huerta vs. Garcia – uh…. one of the greatest UFC fights ever???? I thought it was garbage. I actually burst out laughing at one point cos it just looked like two drunks in a parking lot. I guess MMA hasn’t quite progressed past the wanting a brawl phase and I don’t know if it ever will.

    Sanchez vs Kos – I’m not surprised by the hate for this fight but I don’t agree with it at all. Diego should get some shit but I thought Kos was incredibly impressive. If it was GSP that put in that performance everyone would be calling it “dominating” and “techinically brilliant” but people just let their Kos hate cloud their judgement. He controlled the fight perfectly, put together some nice combos and never let Diego even have a chance of hitting him. His striking on it’s own I think would match absolutely anyone in the division and for someone who was just a wrestler a couple of years ago – well, that’s beyond impressive.

    GSP vs Serra – I’m sure GSP trained hard but he wasnt fighting at anywhere near the same tempo as he did in his previous fights. I love GSP but I don’t feel bad for him at all… this is something to learn from and if you come in and fight at 70% pace, you deserve to lose.

  9. Rollo the Cat says:

    “Huerta vs. Garcia – uh…. one of the greatest UFC fights ever???? I thought it was garbage”

    I am not a huge fan of the brawling fights. I don’t think they are garbage, since they have entertainment value, but I agree, I would never call that type of fight “great”.

  10. Kev says:

    I think dismissing Huerta vs. Garcia as a street brawl is just snobbery. I certainly didn’t see a lack from technical skills from Huerta, Garcia has a goofy gameplan but it was rather compelling to watch the match as an endurance test for both fighters. The idea that technique is the only thing worth seeing a fight for is to me elitist.

  11. legalis says:

    MMA GAME….what drugs are you smoking. Huerta vs Garcia may not have been a technical as your high standards expected (obviously your a much better MMA fighter then those two….) but is was an awesome display of heart from both fighters.

  12. Armen says:

    They showed lots of heart and it was a very entertaining fight. But you cannot tell me that Garcia fought using any style but a brawl-type mentality. He hardly had his hands up the whole match, and he was swinging wildly for the fences (the air) over and over.

    Huerta was obviously the more skilled of the two fighters and my beef (if you could even call it that) is only with Garcia. That’s not to say that I don’t want to see him back. If you can get a guy who is *not* very technical to put on a show like that, imagine what he will do when his skills have improved a bit.

  13. Nick says:

    Huerta vs Garcia exemplified alot of what is bad about mma, despite both guys giving their all. It was two relatively talentless strikers throwing horrible looping arm punches and then nearly falling over. Even when they landed it was obvious they had no power. Imagine the ineptitude of swinging that much into a punch, landing clean, and STILL not shaking the other guy. There was also no defensive artistry, clever footwork, countering or ANYTHING resembling skilled striking.

    On the ground it was a different story, but on the feet it was a joke fight like two drunken sailors brawling on a ship in the middle of a storm. No wonder boxing fans criticise the sport for being a technique-barren brawl.

    In contract, Koscheck and Okami showed some really nice boxing, if a little too sedate.

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