Rampage Unifies Titles With Win Over Henderson
Underdogs Keep Things Interesting

Report by Brady Crytzer
Photos courtesy UFC/Josh Hodges

With another unforgettable night, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made mixed martial arts history as world light heavyweight champion Quinton Rampage Jackson unified the UFC and Pride FC titles, scoring a five-round unanimous decision over “Dangerous” Dan Henderson.

Since its inception in the late 90’s, comparisons between the champions of the Pride FC and UFC have lit up message boards and chat rooms alike. Which organization was the best? Who was the best fighter? Following the acquisition of the Pride Fighting Championships by Zuffa, LLC in 2007, UFC president Dana White announced that those questions would finally be answered.

With the O2 Arena in London, England anxious for action, Jackson rushed his opponent, swinging wildly with hopes of a quick knockout. Henderson countered Jackson with a short right as Rampage drove him to the cage. As the men battled for position Henderson capitalized on an off-balanced Jackson, tripping him to the mat. In the top position, Henderson worked his man over with hard knees and secured control with a loose crucifix. Rampage scrambled to his feet where the men exchanged as round one came to a close.

Round two saw Jackson come alive early again throwing wild punches in bunches. Henderson ducked the vicious swings and countered with a hard body punch. After clinching up Henderson executed another slick takedown putting him in the top position yet again. After some elbows landed cleanly Jackson exploded back to his feet. Henderson, anxious to utilize his tremendous Greco-Roman wrestling background, failed in a third sweep attempt and found himself on his back. Rampage slammed elbows into the head of the Pride FC middleweight champion until the round came to a close.

After finding success in round two a very confident Jackson left his corner a new fighter. Following a hard body punch, swift low kick and a right hand to the head Rampage executed a brutish takedown on the former Olympian. Now ground-and-pounding, Jackson found himself in a tight predicament as Henderson applied a kimura shoulder lock from the bottom and swept the UFC champion to his back. Unable to finish the hold, Henderson stood up and traded with little landing until the round ended.

The fourth round started off with a bang as Henderson was sent to the floor after being caught off balance and eating a left hand. Solidly in top control Rampage Jackson began pounding away and was, once again, caught, this time in an armbar. Showing a new skill set and great patience Jackson broke the hold and landed shots from inside the guard of Henderson. After a stand up by referee “Big” John McCarthy Jackson blasted Henderson with a hard jab.

With his opponent well ahead on the scorecards, Henderson came out with all intentions of ending the fight. After a brief exchange, the fighters clinched against the fence very tiredly. Now separated, the men traded heavy leather highlighted by Henderson landing two hard shots and scoring a much needed takedown. Rampage rose to his feet and stuffed a final Henderson takedown, throwing the Pride champion to the ground and ending the round landing hard punches.

Judges scorecards read 48-47 and 49-46 twice. With this win Quinton Jackson becomes MMA’s first ever undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division.

Kongo Scores Biggest Win Over Dejected Cro Cop

Considered one of the best possible heavyweight shootouts in UFC heavyweight history, French kickboxer Cheick Kongo proved that he is ready for the next step by outgunning Pride standout Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic en route to a three-round unanimous decision.

Thought of as one of the top heavyweights in the world, Cro Cop’s 2007 has been a wild roller coaster ride. Coming off of a brutal KO loss in April, Cro Cop’s future as a title contender rode on his ability to perform on Saturday night.

Kongo had other ideas.

As the men squared off the much larger Frenchman refused to back down from him more notable foe by snapping out hard leg kicks to keep the Croatian off balance. As Filipovic stalked, Kongo found more success with the low kick. Cro Cop landed two fast kicks to the body and Kongo pushed him man into the cage. From the clinch Kongo continued to score with knees until a very aware Mirko Cro Cop caught an ankle and took his opponent to the mat. From the top Filipovic rained down punches and easily controlled Kongo. As time ticked away Kongo swept Filipovic and began to land elbows of his own until time ran out.

The second round witnessed the slow decline of Cro Cop as the winner of the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix appeared tentative absorbing two hard body kicks. Now brimming with confidence Kongo took Cro Cop to the mat where he landed hard shots from the top. Rising to his feet Kongo landed an arching axe kick to the still prone Cro Cop that added some flare to his attack. After standing back up Filipovic was quickly tied up and hit with several hard knees to the midsection.

Round three began with a bang as Cheick Kongo landed two illegal knees to the groin the fell the Croatian in his tracks. Referee “Big” John McCarthy separated the men giving Cro Cop his allotted time to recover. As the men squared off the remainder of the round was all Kongo. Body kicks, knees and a hard cross that staggered Mirko all signaled the victory for Cheick Kongo. Scorecards all read 29-28 for Kongo.

Bisping Scores Biggest Win Over Hamill

In a bout that some were calling the true finals to The Ultimate Fighter 3 Manchester’s Michael “The Count” Bisping defeated Matt “The Hammer” Hamill by split decision.

The first round witnessed the wrestler Hamill surprise everyone when he landed many hard punches that staggered the knockout minded Bisping. As Hamill closed the distance between himself and the quick-footed Bisping, he took his opponent to the ground with ease. Bisping, after creating some space, rose back to his feet. Moving well around the Octagon, Bisping was hit with a hard right hand as the first round ended.

Looking unsure of himself, Bisping bounced around the cage shooting off quick left jabs and short right hands. His success was short-lived, however, as the brutally strong Hamill tossed him to the ground and began working from his guard. After some punches landed from the top position, Hamill stood up and waved his opponent to do the same. Bisping landed his first meaningful punch of the fight when a hard cross rocked the jaw of Hamill. The round ended with Bisping throwing a wild combination of punches.

The final round witnessed Bisping come alive, landing hard combinations to a very tired Hamill. The hometown crowd became excited as Bisping began to sit on his punches and stagger his opponent. Sensing the fight slipping away, Hamill scored a very sluggish takedown and began to work from the top. Too tired to hold his man down anymore, Hamill began to follow Bisping around the Octagon, eating punches. After scoring another takedown Bisping rose to his feet and landed another hard combination as the round ended.

Scores read 30-27 for Hamill and 29-28 twice for Michael Bisping.

Houston Alexander No Joke, Stops Sakara

Following up his unexpected knockout victory over “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine in May, light heavyweight Houston Alexander showed that he is here to stay by knocking out Italian boxing standout Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara in the opening round of a scheduled three-round contest.

Starting off strong both fighters excited the O2 Arena by exchanging immediately. Though Sakara seemed to have the faster hands Alexander’s flurry of knees and punches kept his opponent on cautious side. Timing a takedown Sakara grabbed a knee by Alexander and took him to the mat. After getting back to his feet Alexander closed the show with one knee as he dropped the Italian in his tracks. Following up with punches, referee Mario Yamasaki waved off the contest at 1:01 of the first round.

New and Improved Marcus Davis Continues to Roll

In a wild welterweight bout, Boston’s Marcus Davis submitted Britain’s own Paul Taylor via armbar, in the opening round.

With both fighters having fantastic striking pedigree’s it was no surprise to see the boxer Davis and the kickboxer Taylor slugging it out in the opening moments of the fight.

The first meaningful shot of the fight appeared in the form of a slick head kick from Taylor that dropped and nearly finished Davis. Sensing the end Taylor dove onto his hurt opponent and began landing punches. Showing fantastic recovery Davis achieved guard and rolled his aggressive opponent to his back. Now in the top position Davis began hammering punches into the face of Taylor. In a sudden turn of events, the nearly KO’ed Davis secured an arm and forced the younger Taylor to submit in front of his countrymen with a tight armbar at 4:14.

Undercard Results

In lightweight action Brazil’s Gleison Tibau scored a unanimous decision over Britain’s Terry Etim.

Middleweight Thiago Silva scored his second victory in the UFC Octagon knocking out Tomasz Drwal with a devastating right uppercut at 4:23 the second round.

Lightweight Dennis Siver knocked out the very experienced Naoyuki Kotani at 2:04 of the second round with a well-placed left hook.

Welterweight Jess Liaudin made quick work of Anthony Torres, scoring a TKO from strikes in the closing moments of round one.