UFC 73 Review

by: DarthMolen 1 year, 4 months, 2 weeks, 10 minutes ago

Release Date:

7/7/07

Price:

39.95

Author:

UFC

Company:

Zuffa

 

Antonio Rodrigo “Minatauro” Noguiera vs. Heath “Crazy Horse” Herring
Minatauro vs. Crazy Horse was a promising fight where two ex-PRIDE athletes were pitted against each otehr. Both are upper echelon fighters and proved it in this match.

Round one was controlled by Noguiera. He managed a takedown from the very beginning that made Heath tentative the rest of the fight. Big Nog also landed a nice kick that tripped Heath Herring up but failed to capitalize on the mistake. Heath managed to get a nice head kick in right on the button that felled the PRIDE veteran Noguiera but he jumped straight into guard, giving Nog time to recover.

Round two started inexplicably. Big Nog was still visibly woozy but Heath refused to rush in and finish the bout. He stood around and waited for Nog to regain his composure. Once Nog regained his composure, Heath didn’t have a chance. Nog repeatedly took the bigger guy down, gets mount, and then back. The round finishes with Big Nog getting a body lock takedown.

Round two is much of the same. Heath is running away and Noguiera is picking apart Heath’s face. Nog gets Heath’s back and tries for a “jaw breaker” (this is where you use the forearm bone on the jaw instead of under the chin), but he is unsuccessful and Heath is able to spin into guard. The round ends with Noguiera taking whatever he wants because Heath is spent.

Noguiera wins unanimous 29-28 decision

Sean “Muscle Shark” Sherk vs. Hermes Franca
Sean came into this match off a 9 month layoff from a shoulder injury sustained when he beat Kenny Florian for the title belt. Sean is visibly leaner from his layoff, especially in the chest area, but you can tell that he worked on his core while he couldn’t do anything with his shoulder. The match was long with Sean showcasing his strength but also his lack of finishing capabilities. Some would call it boring, but the spectacle of Sean’s strength and his phenomenal wrestling made it worth watching, albeit not five rounds worth.

The whole match can be summed up very shortly. Sean shoots in, gets a single, double, body lock, and either spins Hermes down to the ground or slams him down. Sean then passes guard and either sits in side control, mount, or dominant side back position trying to punch his opponent out. Hermes turtles for much of the match in a fetal position and not much damage is done. Repeat that for five rounds, punctuated by bad sprawls from Hermes resulting in lifts and slams by Sean and you have a very workmanlike defense of a title belt.

Sean Sherk wins by unanimous decision and retains his title belt

Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans
Tito is surprisingly bigger than Rashad Evans. He is a natural 220 and Rashad is a natural 205. Tito is 6’2” and Rashad is only 5’11”.  Both absolutely hate each other and have been jawing since the match was announced.

Round one starts with an immediate bum rush by Tito that take Rashad all the way to the cage and down in Tito’s favorite position. Rashad tries to use the butterfly guard to move tito off his mid-section to no avail as Tito pins him against the chain link. The rest of the round goes the same way. Rashad is either stuck against the cage or tentative and waiting for the shoot in the middle of the octagon. Tito is visibly cheating and grabbing at Rashad’s shorts when they are struggling against the cage and Rashad is trying to circle out. By the end of the round, Rashad has got a handle on Tito’s one trick pony and is pretty much stuffing most of the takedowns.

Round two has Rashad a little more confident. He tries to shoot a couple times but gets stuffed because he isn’t setting up the change of levels with anything else. He does get Tito against the cage a couple times but Tito keeps visibly grabbing the cage to stop the takedowns. After one warning, the Big John docks Tito a point. At the end of the round, Tito gets a tight guillotine off a shoot attempt and Rashad is saved by the bell.

Round three shows Rashad with a lot more confidence. Rashad is stuffing all of Tito’s takedown attempts but he is still not confident with his stand-up game and waiting for Tito to initiate. Towards the end of the round Rashad gets a nice pick-up and slam and applies the GNP that has Tito in trouble. The bell rings and the match is over.

Match ends in a Draw. Tito won first. Rashad won third. 9-9 draw in second.

Anderson “The Spider” Silva vs. Nate Marquardt
This was predicted to be the mismatch of the night.  Nate is a very good fighter but Anderson is better at every area that Nate is good in and ended up being a bad matchup for Nate.

Round one started with Nate coming out very nervous. He was pawing Anderson’s guard constantly. Anderson initiated the action and Nate drops down into a single leg strangle. They both fall down and Anderson is very calm. He gets a lockdown in the half guard and Nat stands up and tries to stuff “The Spider” but can’t seem to do it effectively. Anderson’s long limbs are paying dividends as he uses his feet to stave off Marquardt. The referee eventually stands them back up and Anderson gets a nice straight left. Nate doesn’t want anything to do with the stand up game and goes for another single. Silva reverses and starts raining down beautiful right hands against the side of Nate’s head that puts him out for the count. You could tell the power in the hit as Anderson really stroked it with full extensions.

Anderson Silva wins by KO in the first round

The night had some highlights. It was good to see Minatauro in the Octagon and Anderson is still a force to behold. They are already talking about Evans vs. Ortiz 2 and the post-fight conference was definitely lively as their rivalry was not resolved in the ring. Maybe we can all contribute to the Sean Sherk Jiu-Jitsu fund because he already is a world class wrestler and stand-up fighter.