UFC 1 Review

UFC 1 Review

I always really liked the early UFC's along with PRIDE. I know there's alot of people who don't like MMA and I understand that, but I wanted to do this one. My apologies if you cannot stand MMA.

Gerard Gordeau vs Teila Tuli

"The strongest part of my body is my heart, and I know I can win this fight." - Teila Tuli

"I hope that I win the tournament and don't make mistakes." - Gerard Gordeau

My man, Rich Goins.

"I believe the big one's missing teeth there." - Kathy Long

Gerard Gordeau beat Teila Tui with a right kick to the face and a right hook in 26 seconds for the TKO win. Teila lost teeth on the kick and apparently one of them ended up under the announcer's table and another got stuck in Gordeau's foot. Quick match but pretty interesting.

Kevin Rosier vs Zane Frazier

"I'm gonna win this tournament. My best technique is an overhand right and it's bare knuckle, no rules and I'm here to win." - Kevin Rosier

"The reason I think I'm going to win is because God's going to give me all the strength and all the courage at the right time and that's gonna be my advantage." - Zan Frazier

The announcer then called Rich Goins - Ron Goins.

"That was a clear groin shot, and the referee doesn't seem to notice." - Kathy Long

"That's a strategy: pulling hair." - Bill Wallace
"That wasn't talked about in the rules meeting." - Kathy Long

The finish

Kevin Rosier beat Zane Frazier by TKO when Zane's corner threw the towel in. This was just all bar room brawling here. Both men were nuked about 2 minutes in and had nothing left with Frazier just giving up at the end. Pretty bad performance by both guys.

Kevin Rosier then did a really terrible promo after consisting of one word answers and I don't know's.

Royce Gracie vs Art Jimmerson

The Gracie train with Rickson Gracie and Royce Gracie

"I think I'm gonna take this tournament beacause my technique has been developed by my family for the last 65 years." - Royce Gracie

"Being a fighter, I punch hard, I punch fast and I punch quick. You can't hit what you can't see." - Art Jimmerson

Art Jimmerson goes with a one boxing glove, one taped hand combo here.

Art Jimmerson taps out to the dreaded MOUNT POSITION

Royce Gracie beat Art Jimmerson at 2:18. Technically Royce won with a smother choke, but it was just the mount position. Art Jimmerson looked like a giant goober here. I kind of feel bad in a way because he was set up. The Gracies ran this tournament and knew he probably had the worst chance of anyone in it.

Ken Shamrock vs Patrick Smith

"My name is Ken Shamrock. I fight for the Pancrase organization in Japan."
"I think I can with this tournament because I have many tools I can use. I can fight on the ground or fight standing up." - Ken Shamrock

"The reason I think I'm going to win this competittion is because I'm the craziest and strongest out of all these groups."
"And my resistance to pain is going to make me become the ultimate champion." - Patrick Smith

The finish

Ken Shamrock beat Patrick Smith with a heel hook in 1:49. This was a decent bout and not that far off from current MMA. We got some grappling until Ken Shamrock put him away. Ken was seriously ripped here. The two guys teased going after each other after and they had to keep them both away.

"How does this compare to your fights in Japan?"
"Easier." - Ken Shamrock
"Why?"
"Cuz he doesn't know how to do any submissions." - Ken Shamrock

"Bull$h!t, Bull$h!t!" - The crowd

The interviews on this show are all hilarious. None of the guys want to say anything more than one word answers and the announcers just keep pestering them for more. The fighters get more upset and it leads to greatness. Someone needs to make a compilation video of all of the stupid interviews here.

Gerard Gordeau vs Kevin Rosier

"The right hand is broken." - Bill Wallace on Gerard Gordeau

Gerard Gordeau beat Kevin Rosier via TKO after multiple punches and kicks. Gerard low kicked Kevin into the corner then just went to town on him, giving him chances to get up so he could put him down again. A quick whooping with Gordeau going easy on him.

"It was the altitude man. I trained three weeks for this tournament. I don't know if you watched the first fight I was a little tired there." - Kevin Rosier, who then went on to claim that he lost 45 pounds in three weeks.

Royce Gracie vs Ken Shamrock
Even though this was the semi-final, it was obviously the main event and the final, because the winner here wouldn't be losing.

Ken Shamrock's eye was messed up from a kick from Smith I believe.

The finish

Royce Gracie beat Ken Shamrock with a rear-naked choke. Royce went for the double leg early and Ken actually reversed it and put Royce down. Royce slipped out and looked for a position and got behind him keth the choke for win. Pretty good match here. I don't know if there was anyway Ken could have won it, but he surely had the best shot.

Rorion Gracie gave a plaque to Helio Gracie for all of his work in fighting.

UFC 1 Final - Royce Gracie vs Gerard Gordeau

The finish

Royce Gracie beat Gerard Gordeau with a rear-naked choke in 1:44. Easy night here for Royce. Gerard tried to stay up as long as he could before Royce put him to the ground and finished him.

"My strategy is not to give them a chance to hit me. I don't want to get hit, that's the main thing. I wanna win without getting hit."
"For Gerard Gordeau, he gave me the chance to take him out. For these guys, when they get to the ground, they don't know what to do. It's Gracie Jiu-Jitsu all the way. There's no chance." - Royce Gracie
"I'm not here for the money. I'm here for the honor of the family." - Royce Gracie

Overall thoughts: Obviously, Royce was set to win this up and no one had any idea as to what was going on, but the show had its moments. Not great by any means but it's neat to go in and answer the question about which style is the strongest. I've always enjoyed the really early UFC's and even if you don't like MMA, I think you might too.