The SmarK Rant for Ultimate Fighting Championship XIII: The Ultimate Force!

It seems like each one of these early shows features the debut of a future mega-star that no one saw coming, and this show in fact features TWO of them.

Live from Augusta, GA.

Your hosts are Bruce Beck & Jeff Blatnick.

Alternate heavyweight fight:

Jack Nilsson v. Saeed Hosseini

Hosseini quickly comes in with a guillotine to block a takedown, and they take it to the ground in sloppy fashion. Nilsson gets full mount and Hosseini gives up his back, allowing Nilsson to finish with elbows to the back of the head at 1:24. Hosseini protests like he’s cutting a heel promo, but anyone with a skullet and a gi deserves to get beaten down anyway.

Lightweight tournament semi-finals:

Christophe Leininger (Grappling) v. Guy Mezger (Submission Fighting)

Leininger was a loser all the way back at UFC 3 to Shamrock, and I don’t see him doing much better against Mezger. Thankfully by this point Mezger has ditched the ponytail-and-spandex look of his earlier appearances and now just looks like a Shamrock clone instead. Mezger grabs the gi and fires away like it’s a hockey fight, but Leininger hangs onto the tights, thus giving him a wedgie in response. Pretty harsh fight. Leininger finally pulls guard to take it to the mat, but Mezger keeps control until Leininger lets it stand up again. They trade leg kicks and tie up with the gi again, and Mezger controls on the fence, but Leininger takes him down with a sweep and then gets nothing out of it. Back to the fence, but Leininger takes him down beautifully, only to see Mezger quickly roll it over to top control. That turns into a stalemate, so Big John stands them up. Mezger throws a couple of good shots and Leininger is lost, so he pulls guard again and gives Mezger top control. That goes nowhere and it’s OT. Leininger gets double underhooks and tries some striking, but Mezger takes it back to the fence and we’re back to the guard again. Mezger dominates from the top and we go to the judges. Mezger wins a unanimous decision here.

Enson Inoue (Shooto) v. Royce Alger (Wrestling)

The hype here centers on Alger, but Inoue should take this one pretty easily. Alger shoots in and gets the takedown, winding up on top for some ground and pound, but Inoue calmly armbars him from the bottom at 1:40. Alger is so unfamiliar with submissions that Inoue nearly had to break his arm before he figured out that he should tap.

Heavyweight tournament semi-finals:

Dmitri Stepanov (Muay Thai / Sambo) v. Steven Graham (“Extension Fighting”)

Graham is like a bigger and scarier version of D-Von Dudley. Graham takes Stepanov with some impressive force, but doesn’t seem to know what to do on the ground. Graham finally maneuvers into a kimura for the quick submission at 1:33.

Tony Halme (Shootfighting) v. Randy Couture (Wrestling)

Halme is former crappy pro wrestler Ludvig Borga, and I’m pretty sure you know Randy Couture. Of course, no one knew him at this point. Couture FLIES in with a takedown and Halme doesn’t want to go to the guard for some reason, allowing Couture to finish with ease with a rear naked choke at 1:00 after getting the back. So that’s 1-0 for Couture, for those keeping track.

So to fill up time, the tradition of showing prelims begins…

Alternate lightweight fight:

Tito Ortiz v. Wes Albritton

Definitely an inauspicious debut for the 22 year old Tito. Tito comes in and takes Albritton down into the mount immediately, destroying him with ground and pound for the stoppage at 0:32. Well that’s pretty much Ortiz in a nutshell. The corner throws in the towel to stop it, in fact, although the referee (an alternate himself no less) should have stopped it WAY sooner. Albritton was showing no defense after the first two elbows by Ortiz on the ground.

So despite his interview with Joe Rogan earlier where Inoue claims to be fine, he actually pulls out, giving us…

Lightweight tournament finals:

Guy Mezger v. Tito Ortiz

Well that’s pretty awesome. Speaking of awesome, young Mr. Frank Shamrock offers advice in Mezger’s corner beforehand, setting the stage for his own debut later on. Ortiz is actually fighting as an amateur here and can’t win prize money. That so doesn’t sound like Tito. Tito is THROWING to start and pounds Mezger down to block a takedown attempt, then throws knees from the facelock position while hooking the outside leg. That’s just unfair. Mezger is GUSHING blood from the back of his head, and Big John halts things to get the cuts taken care of. So they start again and the Tito machine keeps coming, but his takedown is blocked with a guillotine choke and he taps to give Mezger the title. Tito’s really mad at himself for leaving the head exposed there, and I don’t blame him. Although those knees from Tito probably should have ended it much sooner. He’d be back, of course, and I guess this doesn’t count against his professional record, either.

Heavyweight tournament finals:

Randy Couture v. Steven Graham

Couture takes Graham down with ease and wraps him up against the fence, but Graham flips over, so Couture tries the choke. Graham desperately scrambles to his back again, so now Couture controls from the North-South position and then switches to side mount. Couture is just moving around at will out there and it’s awesome to see. He switches to the facelock and throws knees, then gets Graham’s back and headbutts him until Graham gives up the neck, at which point he pounds away from the top and finishes at 3:13. What a completely dominant performance from Couture. Graham, despite his impressive showing in the first round, would never return.

Main Event: Vitor Belfort v. Tank Abbott

Tank tries to attack and gets taken down, so he fights up for the standup battle again. I don’t think that’s much smarter. Vitor dominates standing and puts Tank on his ass, jackhammering him with punches until Big John stops it to end the beating at 0:53. And that’s pretty much it for Tank as any kind of a threat.

The Bottom Line: This is a HELL of an early show from the era when no one was watching, and well worth checking out. I remember things getting a bit dicey, quality-wise, for the next little while, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.