UFC 85 saw a return of Ultimate Fighting Championship to London, England. The event was officially titled ‘Bedlam’, but often referred to as ‘Cursed’ due to all the injuries and mishaps that caused the lineup to change again and again. ‘Bedlam’ was originally scheduled to be headlined by Chuck Liddell taking on Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in a lightheavyweight bout, but first Rua and then Liddell were forced to withdraw from the card: Rua re-aggravated his knee injury and Liddell tore his hamstring in training. Eventually, the UFC settled on a welterweight main event of Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves.
Chris Leben was also scheduled to appear on this card, taking on Michael Bisping, but ran into some legal problems that forced him to withdraw and be replaced by the Canadian fighter Jason Day. With all the last-minute lineup changes, no title bouts or huge matchups, and only two weeks after the spectacular UFC 84, this event was pretty much an afterthought and carried fairly low expectations. Here’s how it went down:
Fabricio Werdum vs Brandon Vera (HW)
The televised broadcast began with a heavyweight bout that would have serious implications in the HW title picture. Dan Miragliotta is the referee for this bout, and you can almost hear a collective groan from thousands of MMA fans watching at home as he is introduced. Vera clinches with Werdum early, pushing him against the fence in what is reminiscent of Vera’s bout with Sylvia. Werdum takes Vera down but is not able to pass guard and the fight is stood up. Vera lands a solid combination, clinches again and bloodies Werdum with an elbow. Werdum takes the fight down with less than a minute left in the first round, quickly passes guard and starts pounding away at Vera. Brandon is covering up and not taking much damage, but is not making any attempt to escape. Brandon turns to his side and Miragliotta stops the bout. Vera protests, so does the announcer Joe Rogan, and the fans boo at the stoppage.
The aftermath: Vera is very upset, and claims he was just waiting out the round and not in any trouble. The stoppage was a bit premature but not at all unprecedented. Covering up, absorbing strikes, and waiting for time to run out does not count as intelligent defense, and Vera should have known better. Vera is a small heavyweight, and there have been calls for him to drop down to 205 ever since his UFC debut; after two consecutive losses this may not be a bad idea.
Werdum solidly establishes himself as the top contender to the heavyweight title, currently held by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. However Frank Mir is slated for the next title shot, and Werdum will likely have another eliminator bout in his future. Meanwhile, Miragliotta adds another early stoppage to his recent list of poor calls.
Fight grade: 3/5
Nathan Marquardt vs Thales Leites (185 lbs)
Both fighters start out tentatively, until Leites drops Marquardt with a right and mounts him. Marquardt is hurt but recovers quickly. Leites is not able to capitalize on his position and Marquardt escapes back to the feet. Marquardt finishes out the round strong, rocking Leites with an uppercut and following it up with a flurry, but it’s not enough to overcome the earlier deficit. Round 10-9 Leites.
In the second, Marquardt comes out aggressive and gets Leites down, then lands a knee to Thales’ head, while one of Leites knees is on the ground. Referee Herb Dean gives Leites five minutes to recover, and deducts a point from Marquardt. The action is restarted, and Marquardt overwhelms Leites, getting a takedown and bloodying Thales’ nose. Marquardt punishes Leites with strikes on the ground; Dean warns Marquardt for striking the back of the head. Leites is able to slow down the action enough to get a referee standup, and immediately gets a takedown of his own and mounts Marquardt, but the round comes to an end. Round 9-9 draw.
In the final round, Marquardt is once again aggressive and gets an early takedown. Marquardt is elbowing the head of Leites, and Herb Dean breaks up the action and deducts another point from Marquardt for striking the back of the head. On replay, the elbows seem to land just next to Thales’ ear. Nevertheless the point deduction stands, and Marquardt dominates the remainder of the round. Marquardt performs a piledriver on Leites just as the round is over; Leites blocks the fall with his arms and seems unfazed by it. Round 9-9 draw.
The judges score the bout 28-27 Leites (twice) and 28-27 Marquardt, giving Leites a split decision
The aftermath: Leites has now won four straight in the UFC, and is quickly becoming a serious contender. I would like to see him against one of the UFC’s middleweight jiu-jitsu experts: Palhares, Maia, or Almeida. Marquardt still claims he wants to rematch Anderson Silva, but a loss due to multiple fouls is not helping his case for another title shot.
Fight grade: 4/5 3/5 1 point deduction for all the fouls
Luis Arthur Cane vs Jason Lambert (205 lbs)
Cane looks to have a height and reach advantage on Lambert. Lambert is trying to get in close to negate the advantage, but gets caught with a straight right coming in. Lambert gets back up and attempts to trade, but is dropped again. He recovers and stands up once more but keeps taking punishment, and Herb Dean steps in to stop the bout when Lambert falls for the third time. Lambert is running on autopilot and attempts to take down Dean!
The aftermath: Cane (who was disqualified for an illegal knee in his Octagon debut against James Irvin) picks up his first UFC win and looks very dangerous in process. His striking would be a good test for another lightheavyweight up-and-comer, Goran Reljic. Lambert now has three TKO losses in his last four bouts, and needs to rack up a few wins outside of the UFC.
Fight grade: 4/5
Mike Swick vs Marcus Davis (170 lbs)
Swick has a 7″ reach advantage on Davis, but does not put it to use as he seems wary of Davis’ hands. Instead, he keeps Davis at bay with head kicks. Davis ties up and attempts to take Swick down, but ends up on the bottom. Swick controls the rest of the round, opening up a cut under Davis’ eye. The remainder of the bout looks very similar, with Swick avoiding trading hands and controlling the smaller Davis in clinch and on the ground. Davis is looking for the one-hit KO but doesn’t land anything significant; without much luck standing he brings the fight to the ground where he keeps getting the worst of Swick’s ground-and-pound. Swick is deducted a point for holding the fence in the third round. Davis’ face is badly cut up by the end of the fight, though the damage seems superficial. Swick takes a 29-27 unanimous decisions on all three scorecards, in what was a rather boring fight.
The aftermath: Swick had good strategy but it didn’t translate into an exciting fight – just like his last three bouts. Nevertheless, he snaps Davis’ long winning streak and inches closer to the top of the welterweight division. Davis will certainly be back, hopefully with a better gameplan next time around.
Fight grade: 2/5
Michael Bisping vs Jason Day (185 lbs)
Bisping gets Day to the ground early, and overwhelms him with punches. Day is able to get back to his feet but is taken down again; this time Bisping keeps pounding away until Day curls up into a fetal position and the bout is stopped.
The aftermath: An impressive performance for Bisping, who was originally slated to face Chris Leben. This bout still needs to happen, now that Leben has cleared up his legal issues and Bisping came out of his fight unscathed. The jury is still out on Day, who is now 1-1 in the UFC.
Fight grade: 3/5
Before the main event begins, we are shown the highlights of the Eddie Sanchez – Antoni Hardonk fight (Hardonk wins by knockout). Why was the entire bout not broadcast? Boo UFC, BOOOO!
Matt Hughes vs Thiago Alves (175 lbs catchweight)
The main event was scheduled to be a 170 lbs bout, but Alves weighted in at 174, making it a catchweight match. Hughes wants no part of Thiago’s striking and shoots for takedowns early and often. Alves sprawls and Hughes pulls guard. They stand back up and Hughes finally gets a takedown, but can’t do anything beyond sitting in Alves’ half guard. Alves stands up and Hughes pulls guard again; Alves lands a few punches from the top as the round ends. Round 10-9 Alves.
In the second, Hughes once again shoots early and Alves levels him with a flying knee. A single punch from Alves to his fallen opponent, and the fight is stopped.
The aftermath: Had Alves made weight, he would have been an immediate contender for the winner of the upcoming title bout between Georges St.Pierre and Jon Fitch. However with a history of weight problems (he has in the past tested positive for a banned diuretic used for weight cutting), he needs to show that he is able to come in clean and under contracted weight, before any talk of a title shot. This does not prevent Alves from begging for a shot in the post-fight interview.
Hughes’ star appears to have faded, as he was rather ineffective in his past several fights. It’s sad to see a legend like Hughes go, but his time is clearly up. Hughes still wants to face Matt Serra – this would be a great retirement bout for the greatest welterweight of all time.
Fight grade: 3/5
Thiago Tavares vs Matt Wiman (155 lbs)
The first round of this lightweight bout turns into a back-and-forth grappling battle, with both fighters showing great reversals and submission attempts but neither one gaining the upper hand. Chuck Liddell is in Wiman’s corner between rounds; he doesn’t say anything but stares at Wiman intently. Somehow the Chuck-stare seems to work: Wiman comes out with guns blazing in the second round. Thiago responds with strikes of his own and drops Wiman. Wiman pops right back up and goes after Tavares again, stunning him with a combination against the fence and finally knocking him out cold.
The aftermath: Wiman was a huge underdog in what was a must-win bout for him. He performed admirably, showing a well rounded set of skills. Tavares suffered a setback but looked good in defeat. Both fighters are certain to be back after earning the Fight of the Night honors.
Fight grade: 5/5
Martin Kampmann vs Jorge Rivera (185 lbs)
In Kampmann’s first bout in over a year, he quickly takes Rivera to the ground and secures a guillotine, forcing a tapout halfway through the first round.
The aftermath: Kampmann was close to a title shot before being sidelined by an injury in 2007. He showed no signs of ring rust, and looks ready to climb the ladder once again. Rivera will never be a top contender in the UFC, but may still return in a gatekeeper role.
Fight grade: 3/5
A mediocre event, overall.