UFC 61: Tito Ortiz Vs Ken Shamrock

UFC 61: Bitter Rivals ended in bitter controversy as the ill feelings between Ortiz and Shamrock were far from reconciled. The bout ended after a scant 78 seconds when the ref stepped in and ended proceedings, declaring Ortiz the victor as Shamrock failed to defend himself adequately.

Shamrock was thrown to the ground early on and then suffered an array of elbows when the ref ended it. Shamrock immediately sprang to his feet and disputed the decision. Goaded by a jubilant Ortiz, Shamrock stormed out of the arena, as the crowd booed. With a rivalry dating back to 1999 and a three year build up to the bout, this was no surprise.

After the fight, Ortiz felt the referee made the correct decision and was happy to offer his rival a rematch.

In stark contrast, the other main fight of the evening saw Tim 'The Maine-iac' Sylvia retain his UFC heavyweight title with an unanimous decision over Andrei 'Pit Bull' Arlovski, which went the distance. Again the crowd was unhappy with the 25 minute bout which, after an early flurry of action, saw both fighters sit back and trade infrequent blows.

More lively was Josh 'The People's Warrior' Burkman who won a unanimous decision over Josh 'The Dentist' Neer featuring a plethora of crisp punches and precise countering. In other action, Frank Mir managed a unanimous decision over Dan 'The Sandman' Christison in an uninspiring fight which again unsettled the crowd.

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