UFC 65: Report
Subtitled ‘Bad Intentions’, it’s no surprise that Sunday’s UFC 65 at the Arco Arena, Sacramento, was a night of grit, guts and glory, with both Welterweight and Heavyweight Championships decided in a pair of high profile fights.
Pitting defending champion Matt Hughes of Illinois against Canadian fighter Georges St. Pierre, the Welterweight match was a much-awaited rematch for these two opponents. Last time they met, St. Pierre couldn’t even look into Hughes’ eyes he was so intimidated, and Hughes won with a submission victory.
This time things went differently. St. Pierre applied the pressure from the get go with leg kicks and the occasional punch, and after just one minute Hughes was forced to take a short break to recover from a pair of kicks. At the restart St. Pierre picked up where he left off, brushing off Hughes’ unconvincing first takedown attempt, and, taking the fight to the canvas, landed some strikes before standing and scoring with a knee. Just before the first round ended Hughes attempted a takedown to get himself back in the game, but St. Pierre was untroubled and dropped the champion with a right hand punch just as the bell rang.
Despite flashing a smirk at the beginning of the second round, the champion didn’t do any better to fend off St. Pierre’s rapid offence. Showing the necessary stamina to both accumulate points and fend off any advancing attacks, with 3:45 remaining on the clock the Canadian challenger landed a high left kick that sent Hughes to the mat once more. The referee ended play with 1:25 left in the round, and St. Pierre claimed his rightful victory by technical knockout.
In the heavyweight title feature, champion Tim Sylvia of Iowa was pitted against Washington’s Jeff Monson, who had retained an unbeaten track record in recent years. The bout was grittier and more arduous than the decisive Welterweight event, playing out over five rounds.
The match began much as predicted, with Sylvia keeping the fight at long range while Monson attempting to take the fight to the canvas. Surprisingly, Monson did well to land more strikes than his opponent, although he damaged Sylvia little. The defending champion picked up the pace in the second round, negating Monson’s takedown attempts and striking with increasing frequency. ‘The Snowman’ finally managed to bring his opponent to the mat in the third round, but, despite working ferociously, struggled to seize the moment as Sylvia slipped out of chokes and counterattacked. Monson was dropped by two big knees as the round came to a close.
His right eye cut and almost completely shut, Monson soldiered on in the forth round, but was dropped to the mat by Sylvia almost got full mount and nearly pressured a submission out of the challenger. Monson survived a near triangle choke just as the bell rang. The fifth round went slower, with the referee ordering the fighters to pick up the pace midway through. ‘The Maine-iac’ spurned Monson’s takedown attempts and landed several leg kicks, scoring vital points as the final seconds of the match ticked away. Although the match was close, there was no questioning the judges decision that reigning champion Sylvia was the victor, his takedown defence and submission attempts flummoxing Monson’s strategy.
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