MMA FIGHT IN HISTORY - JUNE 08

This month's MMA Fight from the archives come from the Pride organisation which showcased the rematch between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva.

Entrance




Rampage howls like a wolf as he enters the arena, unfortunately The Pride coverage doesn't show Wanderlei's entrance.

Introduction



At the introduction both fighters look hyped and ready for action.

Referee's Instruction



These two fighters are known for their stare downs and as you can see from the picture above they definitely didn't disappoint

Round One




The first round starts with Wanderlei looking to stand and trade while Rampage seems to have learned from their first fight and tries to get the brazilian on the canvas to inflict his ground and pound game. Rampage is getting some success in close from a muay tai clinch but when the fighters are given a little space Wanderlei goes to work with hooks. At around 8.35 remaining, both fighters start to open up on each other and it looks as though Wanderlei has the edge on stand up, although Rampage is showing a good defense and is covering up well. Half way through the round, Rampage seems to be cut over his eye from what looks to be from a right hook. Rampage takes Silva down to the canvas at around the six minute mark and starts to go to work with his ground and pound game. With nearly two minutes remaining of the round both men are brought to their feet with little going on in the clinch. Wanderlei seizes this opportunity and starts throwing haymakers, but as he opens up he leaves himself open and with 52 seconds remaining Rampage lands a right hand flush that drops Wanderlei to the canvas. Rampage follows Wanderlei and wails down on the brazilian with head shots but doesn't have the time to finish the bout.

Great round for both men. Rampage dropped Wanderlei towards the end of the round but I think Silva had done enough throughout the round as a whole.

Round Two



Round two starts with Wanderlei again looking to set up his power shots whilst also mixing in some hurtful looking kicks. Rampage hangs on and takes Silva to the canvas but the brazilian somehow manoeuvers and wriggles out of Rampage`s guard and again somehow ends up on top. With around three minutes remaining of the round,Wanderlei gets to his feet and aggresively tries to stomp and soccer kick Rampage. Rampage covers up well and makes it to his feet. At 1.43 Wanderlei catches Rampage flush which seems to daze him. He covers up but Wanderlei looking to end the contest gets Rampage into a mauy tai clinch and rains knees into the face of Jackson causing him to nearly fall through the ropes face first. The referee calls a halt to the fight with Rampage unable to continue.

MMA FIGHT IN HISTORY

In this section of the Blog we look back at some of the great fights from the past and break down what happened throughout the fight, We kick off with the highly anticipated grudge match between The Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and The Legendary Ken Shamrock.

Entrance

Both fighters looked hyped up as they entered the Octagon, ready for business

TALE OF THE TAPE



ROUND ONE

As soon as the fight starts both men cant wait to get at each other and Ken immediately goes for the take down, he fails and in doing so falls against the octagon fence while Tito looks to tee off with both hands, both fighters do well in close but Tito gains the advantage out of a muay tai stance and uses knee strikes to Ken's head, both men go to the canvas, scrambling for position, they get to their feet and start to again trade but this time Ken catches Tito flush with the right hand that seems to shake the Huntington Bad boy, Tito composes himself well holding Ken against the fence, As both men start to trade Tito is still having some success with the knee strikes and his stand up game seems to be working well, both men looked gassed and hold for a moments breather with the hectic pace of the fight, Tito decides to take Ken down and use his ground and pound ability from the guard, Ken is cut on the forehead from one of Tito's brutal elbows the round ends with Tito definitely on top.

ROUND TWO

The second round starts with both men opting to trade for a short time until Tito takes Ken to the canvas and starts to drop the elbows onto Ken's face, Tito looks comfortable and hops to side mount, He is totally dominating Shamrock at the moment, With 37 seconds left of the round Ken somehow makes it onto his feet, both men seem to be tiring but Tito pushes on and catches Tito is still using the knee strikes in his stand up and catches Ken with a blistering right elbow Tito again on top for this round and looking comfortable.

As you can see from the Pics below, after the Second round Tito isn't marked at all, while Ken looks battered



ROUND THREE

Tito looks really confident trading with Ken and starts to find him with shot after shot, before again taking the legs from Shamrock and taking him to the canvas once again, Tito hammers down on Ken with both elbows which are kind of a signature strike for Tito throughout his UFC career, At this stage of the fight It looks as though Ken is done and cant stop Tito's ground and pound game plan, At 1:15 of the third round sensing the fight it drifting away from him Ken amazingly makes it to his feet, looking to trade, Tito is looking so confident he even throws a high kick that just misses, Ortiz looks great down the stretch and again uses his accurate high knee's that connect with Ken's head every time, As the round ends Ken looks done with the facial marking to show, When Shamrock makes it to his corner they pull him out due to his injuries.




After the fight both men embraced and drew a line under the feuds that had gone on before and Shamrock ever the legend raised Tito's hand.