UFC 3 began with the lingering promise of a superfight finale: Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie. There was little doubt in anyone's mind that Gracie wouldn't make it to the finals, and it was just a question of how hard Shamrock would have to work to get there to meet him. It was to be the UFC's first superfight, but in the end, the tournament style would rop the audience and viewers at home of what they came to see.
We start off with the same announce team as UFC 2, as well as ring announcer Rich "G-Man" Goins, all of whom seem just as, if not slightly more, comfortable in their roles. The tournament would only include 8 fighters, compared to the absurd 16 of the last event. Other changes include the disclosure of purses, depending on the round, losers in the preliminaries earned $1,000, losers in the semi-finals earned $5,000, while the winner took home $60,000, as well as the rule variation that the referee (John McCarthy) would be able to stop the fight at his discretion. Big John would go on to take his role incredibly seriously, yelling at competitors, shoving cornermen away from the cage, and keeping track of the action in a way that seemed to defy possibility, considering the juvenile nature of the sport.
Onto the fights:
1) Emmanuel Yarborough (Sumo) vs. Keith Hackney (Kempo Karate)
This fight stands out due to its absurd size difference. Hackney's 5'11", 200 lb. frame was dwarfed by Yarborough's enormous 6'8", 600+ lbs. of man-flesh. The first major strike was landed by Hackney, a punch to the head which knocked the big man down. After struggling back to his feet, Yarborough rushed Hackney, pushing him into the cage, which, for the first time, opened on impact. Once the fight was restarted, Hackney looked desperate to avoid being manhandled like that again, and again, took Yarborough down, unloading a barrage of punches to the back and side of the Sumo's head, resulting in a tap-out. More than the action, the image of Hackney standing next to Yarborough, staring him in the eyes, despite the Sumo being on his knees, is what stands out in this fight.
Rating: 3.25 stars
2) Ken Shamrock (Shootfighting) vs. Cristophe Leininger (Judo)
This fight began with a lot of circling and pacing, with the opponents measuring each other up, seemingly trying to figure out the best way to take the other down. At one point, Leininger has Shamrock in his guard and starts dishing out a beating from the bottom. Shamrock then takes quick advantage of a slip, getting Leininger's back, before assaulting him with punches, earning a submission.
Rating: 3.5 stars
3) Roland Payne (Muay Thai) vs. Harold Howard (Karate)
Payne, the hometown favourite, has a video promo shown before his fight, where Payne makes a lame pun about how his name reflects what he is going to inflict on Howard. Howard, on the other hand, looks kind of like a combination of all three members of the Hart Foundation, and talks like a pro wrestler to boot. This was probably my favourite fight of the night (probably the least popular thing I've ever said), because despite its short length (0:46), every part of it looked impressive. At first, the fight goes to the ground where every attack is reversed. At one point, Howard goes for what looks like is going to be a devastating kick to the head, which Payne grabs hold of and brings Howard to the ground. To top it all off, the fight ends in a knockout, followed by a clubbing forearm to the fallen foe. It's not entirely unlike the Dan Henderson knock-out of Michael Bisping, although it seems to be more about finishing the fight than sending a message.
Rating: 3.75 stars
4) Royce Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) vs. Kimo (Tae Kwon Do)
This fight was the battle of an unbeatable force against a cartoon character. Royce Gracie was the expected favourite to win the whole competition, as he had already won the tournament in his last two outings. Kimo (who announcer Brian Kilmeade makes a big deal out of not having a last name) introduces himself as Kimo Leopoldo, and says that he is fighting in this tournament to help spread the Word of God. We get an even better image of exactly how seriously he takes his faith when he comes out to the octagon, preceded by a banner quoting scripture, followed by Kimo himself, with an enormous cross on his back. After taking off his shroud/robe thing, we see that he has "JESUS" tattooed on his stomach, a crucifix on his back, and, just to keep the theme going, what appears to be Wolverine on his right thigh.
The fight itself is the talk of legend, but I don't really see it. To me, a "good" fight is one that is not simply dependent on context, but is enjoyable to watch. What made the Kimo/Gracie fight stand out is that it was the first time that we ever saw Gracie tested. For minutes, Kimo resisted Gracie's takedown, and when the fight finally went to the ground, the best offence Gracie could come up with involved punching his opponent in the head while holding onto his ponytail. I realize that hairpulling was legal in these earlier fights, but it's not something that I want to see happen. Eventually, Kimo was opened up by the punches, but Gracie couldn't finish it. It wasn't until later that the opportunity for an armlock presented itself that Gracie was able to take control and Kimo was (barely) able to tap out.
Immediately, the announcers were calling it the best fight that we have ever seen, but it wasn't so much the fight, as the unbelievable sight of Royce Gracie limping away from the octagon, barely under his own power, that makes this fight memorable.
Rating: 3.25 stars
5) Felix Lee Mitchell (Gung Fu) vs. Ken Shamrock (Shootfighting)
Keith Hackney apparently broke his hand against Emmanuel Yarborough's head, and was unable to advance. Felix Lee Mitchell, an alternate, then advanced into the second round, to become Shamrock's next stepping stone. The fight ended up being a demonstrations on all of the things that are no longer allowed in the octagon. At first, Mitchell holds into the cage to avoid being taken down. Then, the two are seen grabbing each others tights. Headbutts are exchanges, and eventually Shamrock gets Mitchell down, and sinks the choke, getting the win.
Rating: 3.25 stars
6) Harold Howard (Karate) vs. Royce Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu)
Gracie staggers into the octagon, clearly still feeling the effects of his last fight and, once Howard enters, Gracie turns to his corner and tells them to get him the hell out of there. They throw in the towel before the fight even begins.
Rating: 0.00 stars
This is when everything goes down the crapper. Because of this, there is a ton of confusion as to what will happen next. There is another alternate, Steve Jennum, who would likely have been called upon to stand in for Gracie and take on Howard to decide who would face Shamrock in the finals. Unfortunately (and this is something that was announced/speculated later), as soon as Shamrock found out that Gracie wouldn't be advancing, he too dropped out of the competition. Shamrock had been looking forward to the same thing we were (Shamrock vs. Gracie II), and didn't want to settle for anything less (like $60,000). So, Howard got a bye, making what should have been a semi-final match the finale:
7) Steve Jennum (Ninjitsu) vs. Harold Howard (Karate)
Despite the tournament-style, where each competitor is supposed to fight three times to earn the top prize, fresh Steve Jennum faces Harold Howard, who had had 46 seconds of competition that evening. Jennus takes bit of punishment from Howard, including getting out of a tight guillotine. Realizing the power of Howard's hands, Jennum throws his opponent to the ground, climbs into full mount and starts unloading onto Howard's face. McCarthy calls the end of the fight and the tournement is over, with Steve Jennum's 1:31 being enough time to net him the grand prize.
Rating: 3.5 stars
While being host to a couple of the most talked about fights in early MMA, UFC 3 is better remembered for the controversy and disappointment. Despite heavily promoting and setting up the possibility for Gracie vs. Shamrock (they say that the brackets were set up blind, I call bullshit), neither competitor fought in the finale. It also brought into question the whole idea of having a tournament. With this style, you can't guarantee that you're going to end up with the match-ups you want, whether it's due to injury, or loss. UFC 3 is also the first crack we've seen in Royce Gracie (see Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). Until now, Gracie and his style were considered untouchable, but now, with people recognizing this, and learning the Gracie techniques, the whole game is developping and growing. Watching Kimo up with Gracie was the first sign that MMA was becoming its own sport, rather than a clusterfuck of different disciplines.
Overall Rating: 2.93 stars
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