UCFC III: THE TOURNAMENT: *SUPER THREAD*

[Grant Ellis]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/grantellis/ucfclogo.jpg
http://www.mmahq.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/sakuraba-royce.jpg
ULTIMATE CAGE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS III
THE TOURNAMENT
WHO IS THE GREATEST?

Tonight the question is answered...

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: What it is, ladies and gentlemen, coming to you LIVE from the land of the internet bringing you 16 of the greatest mixed martial artists in the history of the sport to put on the biggest show, the biggest display of athleticism and heart, and to find out tonight who the top man in the sport really is... tonight a hero will be born!

Our first matchup tonight features the Russian Bear, ALEKSANDR KARELIN, fighting out of BLOODFIST1235, he will be taking on former RINGS fighter YOSHIHISA YAMAMOTO in Yamamoto's debut match here at the UCFC... JUST BRING IT!


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Highlight SPOILER:Karelin

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: The second matchup tonight is a rematch of sorts in the anticipated showdown between DON THE PREDATOR FRYE and his opponent, the Hurricane Ace HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA!


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Highlight SPOILER:Yoshida

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: We look to have a real war on our hands now... SERGEI KHARITONOV from the bad-luck ridden VICO's TEAM will be taking on Franky House standout YUKI KONDO who recently decisioned Andy Hug in a team league fight!


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Highlight SPOILER:Sergei

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: After this next fight we'll be halfway through the field of cage combatants! It is a Japanese super fight when two of the land of the rising sun's biggest stars face off in a submission showdown! KAZUSHI SAKURABA of CHISHIMA continues his quest of dominancy as he goes up against the very game and able Masakatsu Funaki!


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Highlight SPOILER:Sakuraba

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: Continuing on in the matches, we'll see the big man of the nWO BOB THE BEAST SAPP face a man who gave Karelin all he could handle, HIROMITSU KANEHARA! This one looks to be exciting folks...


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Highlight SPOILER:Bob Sapp

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: We've got a grudge match now. There's been talks for weeks and weeks, and we have one of the best grapplers taking on a top tier striker, and I really mean world class k-1 level standup! (lawl) ROYCE GRACIE... CHUCK LIDDELL... WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Highlight SPOILER:Royce

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: Unbelievable! This next fight is against the captain of LOS SUPER AMIGOS, The Natural Randy COUTURE...and a rising star who has taken some big upset victories against the biggest names out there...The Japanese Redneck, MASAKI SATAKE!


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Highlight SPOILER:Satake

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: As our first round draws to a close we're going to see a fighter who just wants respect and to face the biggest stars, HIROTAKA YOKOI and THE MOTION DOCTOR Mark Hunt...Hunt will look to land the big kabosh and Yokoi will look to do the same, but also employ an arsenal of arm locks, leg holds, and whatever Hunt gives up!


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Highlight SPOILER:Hunt

[Grant Ellis]

Right here

[Grant Ellis]

STAY TUNED FOR THE QUARTER FINALS!!!!


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[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: Our first quarter-final matchup should be very intense. Olympian vs. Olympian! Can BLOODFIST1235 retain dominancy on the mat, or will they cave in to the pressure of 100% pure judoka HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA?


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Highlight SPOILER:Karelin

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: Next up in the quarterfinals we have a huge sambo practitioner vs a Japanese pro wrestling middleweight in Kazushi Sakuraba. Does Sergei have anything left in his tank? Sakuraba made quick work of Funaki... I don't think the Russian has a prayer...


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Highlight SPOILER:Sergei

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: An old school matchup now...DOOM of ELITE vs. the negro WORLD order...Royce Gracie, a legend in mixed martial arts, must face the near invincible looking Bob Sapp! Can Royce catch him with a critical? Or will Bob unleash the Beast??? Stay Tuned!


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Highlight SPOILER:Sapp

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: As the Round of Eight comes to a close one has to wonder if this is S-1 or UCFC...we've got two super strikers..with two different styles. HUNT takes on SATAKE!


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Highlight SPOILER:Satake

[Grant Ellis]

STAY TUNED FOR THE SEMI FINALS!!!!


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[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: Showdown of the former Soviets! Who is the roughest Russian? Sambo vs. Greco-Roman! Karelin vs. Kharitonov! Sergei has been in a number of wars, but his conditioning has not failed him yet! Karelin is a monster and a born champion...Who wants it the most???


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Highlight SPOILER:Karelin

[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: Looks like we've got ourselves a REVENGE MATCH on our hands! Last time these two fought Satake scored the HUGE upset victory over Bob Sapp! nWO is looking to settle the score!


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Highlight SPOILER:Sapp

[Grant Ellis]

STAY TUNED FOR THE GRAND FINALS!!!!


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[Grant Ellis]

Joe Rogaine: This is it! The GRAND FINALS of the BEST TOURNAMENT in FirePro History! These two warriors have battled their ways over the toughest strikers, grapplers, and complete mixed martial artists in the business... now they will face each other.


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Highlight SPOILER:ME NO SPOIL!

[heckyl]

NWO BITCHES!!!!!!!!

[Grant Ellis]

They move up as the number one team and sapp becomes number one....

...it was a great tourney!

[aubtin]

NWO BITCHES!!!!!!!!

:( Poor Kanehara

Was an awesome event though. Karelin's looking tough too.

[Grant Ellis]

We may have had some different results if you sent the man known as VOLK HAN into combat...

[aubtin]

We may have had some different results if you sent the man known as VOLK HAN into combat...

I'd love to mate, but his time will come soon. Volk Han wants to make a beautiful fight in the RING.

[Grant Ellis]

UCFC III Payout
---------------------------------
Bob Sapp 220 points (10 point revenge bonus against Satake)
Aleksander Karelin 160 points
Sergei Kharitonov 90 points
Masaki Satake 90 points
Kazushi Sakuraba 40 points
Royce Gracie 40 points
Hidehiko Yoshida 40 points
Mark Hunt 40 Points
Hirotaka Yokoi 10 points
Don Frye 10 points
Chuck Liddell 10 points
Masakatsu Funaki 10 points
Hiromitsu Kanehara 10 points
Yoshihisa Yamamoto 10 points
Yuki Kondo 10 points
Randy Couture 10 points

Fighters getting "Heat" from the event
----------------------------------------
Bob Sapp
Sergei Kharitonov
Masaki Satake

[Grant Ellis]

Top 4 Teams
-------------------
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Nwo_Logo.JPG
1) negro WORLD order
2) BLOODFIST1235
3) DOOM OF ELITE
4) Team K1POWER

[Kenshin]

Great Event

[K1power]

Great event! Satake did great and came far!

EDIT: When will the power ranks be updated? :D

[K1power]

Satake goes to war at UCFC III: The Tournament

http://www.mma-news.ch/masaaki_satake.jpg

Masaaki Satake impressed the masses when he made it all the way up to the semifinals last night at UCFC III: The Tournament, going to war with three opponents in one night and upsetting two of them by brutal knockouts in the process.

Satake's first opponent last night, a legend in MMA and thus the favorite to win the bout, was none other than Randy Couture. From the bell it was clear that Couture didn't wan't to stand with his opponent, going for the shoot repeatedly. Meanwhile Satake's takedown defense was tight and he got in some good knees early on in the fight. Couture figured he to take some risks and try to wear his opponent out to effectively take him down. Satake more than welcomed this and got in some good combinations which seemingly hurt Couture. Couture showed heart though when he went wild despite being damaged, even putting Satake in some serious trouble with strikes and managing some effective takedowns. Unfortunately for Couture though, he was too worn out himself to make use of his superior grappling skills.

When the fight resumed standing Satake saw a chance to land big and connected with some vicious punches before ending with a combination of hard knees which put Couture down for good. The first big upset was a fact!

The quarterfinals pitted Satake against Super Samoan Mark Hunt. Since both Satake and Hunt are originally K-1 fighters this one promised to be mainly executed standing up, and so it was; a standup war! This fight was - again - a total war with both fighters having their moments with hard combinations that connected spot on and at one point it seemed Hunt was going to finish a very tired Satake off, when all of a sudden the Japanese warrior shrugged everything off and went for an all out offensive: with great effect, as it were again the knees which made the difference here, putting Hunt down hard! As a former K-1 WGP Champion, Hunt was the favorite in Satake's second tournament fight as well, so another upset had happened.

The semifinal was a revenge fight as Satake was fighting Bob Sapp whom Satake defeated at the first UCFC event. Since Satake defeated once Sapp before he had the psychological advantage, but there was a big factor to consider; stamina. Satake's first two fights were big wars and took a huge toll on him while Sapp was able to finish his opponents off fairly quick. Despite Sapp being known as the fighter with not always the best stamina, he definitely was a lot fresher and lesser damaged than Satake. Nevertheless from the bell this fight was - once again - a war as long as it lasted. Satake got some good shots in, but it was clear that Sapp had the advantage here, peppering Satake with hard shots to put him down hard.

Satake was out of the tournament, but did a lot better than many would have expected him to. Except off course his team who always believed in Satake and his capabilities. After medical treatment we got some short comments from Satake who, despite just being knocked out, seemed very happy: "For me, this was a great tournament. To be honest, even I didn't expect to get this far (laughs). When I fought Randy (Couture) I could see he wanted to get the fight to the ground. Since I am mainly a striker though I prepared a lot for his shoots while training with my team, perfecting my takedown defense and as it showed, to great effect! I wore him down effectively, but I was surprised by his big heart when he came in for the kill despite being seriously hurt! Luckily I could prevent being injured too much and I finished him off. I got nothing but respect for Randy and his performance though and I'm sure he'll be back.

Then I was to fight Hunt. I guess I don't get too lucky with my opponents (laughs), but since my teammate Alexey (Ignashov) fought him before he had some very usefull tips for me going into the fight. I was able to knock Hunt out eventually, but let me say this: This guys' power and endurance are out of this world! If he was anything like a normal human he would have gone down after my first few connecting combinations, since I put all my strength into them and they connected perfectly. He didn't even flinch though and in the end I tired myself out trying to knock him out. Then he came for me, laying the smack down on me for a while (laughs). I weathered the storm though and put him down with my combinations and knees. I think him going down was more due to fatigue than damage, because I was surprised myself that I knocked him out. Mark is a great, tough fighter and defeating him - just like all the other fighters I have defeated up until now - is something I am very proud of!

The semifinal was a revenge match between me and Bob Sapp and between me being totally busted up and tired from my first two fights I wanted to give it a go. Unfortunately for me, Bob dominated since he felt so much fitter than me and the first time we fought! I have no regrets though. I ended among the top 4 out of the 16 great fighters we have seen in this tournament. I am very proud of my accomplishments and in the end, the only fighter I've lost to was the one that won the tournament and someone I've beaten before! But I'm off now, I hope to talk to you at the next event my team and I will be in! Take care!"

Team K1power and it's fighters continue to impress us and we hope to be hearing a lot more from them in the future.

[Freezing_Moon]

Doesn't Yoshida get a critical bonus? That was match of the night.

[( o Y o )]

there is no god! :-(

[krikit]

The final was brutal for Karelin :(