The welterweight division has long been celebrated as one of mixed martial arts' finest, and with good reason. It's a division with a rich history, great fighters and classic fights. It has been, and continues to be, ultra-deep and ultra-competitive.
However, much of the success that the 170-pound division has enjoyed in the past could perhaps be attributed to Zuffa's stranglehold on the weight category. For years now, the vast majority of the top welterweights have fought in the Octagon. Even in the heyday of the UFC vs. Pride rivalry, Japan's wholesale lack of emphasis on the division made it a no-brainer where the world's top welters aspired to be.
This Saturday, on CBS no less, Elite XC will stage a rather remarkable bout between
Jake Shields (Pictures) and
Nick Thompson (Pictures) to crown its first welterweight champion. No, not remarkable in the sense that it's one of this year's must-see fights, or for the chance that it may overtake the likes of Kawajiri-Alvarez and Torres-Maeda in fight of the year discussion. The fight is remarkable for the plain and simple fact that it pits an entrenched top-10 welterweight against a borderline top-10 welterweight outside of the UFC.
With the UFC's dominance over the 170-pound class, worthwhile welterweight fights outside the Octagon have been hard to come by. For your reminiscing or educational pleasure, here are seven of the finest, given some configuration to their relevance at the time, and/or overall in-fight awesomeness.
Many longtime MMA fans are purists. They are alienated by the imposition of the Unified Rules and fondly reminisce about the days of vale tudo. In truth, the vale tudo years were largely dominated by outdated style vs. style matchups, sweaty guys in too-small No Fear shorts, fighters breaking their hands almost instantly and "fights" featuring a half hour of head butts from the guard.
The first meeting between "Pele" and "Macaco," however, is the most brilliant exception the sport could ask for.
In the glory days of vale tudo, rivalries were drawn on stylistic battle lines, pitting Brazilian jiu-jitsu against luta livre in an enduring, bloody battle. Pele and Macaco were not enemies by association but strictly competition: When Patino was hyped as the "next Rickson," Landi-Jons took offense and was determined to affirm his status as Brazil's best when they met in the BVF's 176-pound tournament in Sao Paulo.
The bout seemed set for insanity from the get-go. Pele mocked Macaco's fighting stance, Macaco taunted Pele with back flips and the two stared at each other from eight feet away for what seemed like an hour. Macaco was the aggressor early, scoring with takedowns, threatening with submission attempts from the bottom and even intentionally pushing Pele through the ropes to send him tumbling onto the floor headfirst.
Although Macaco owned the first half of the bout, punishing Pele from the mount with an endless barrage of punches, Pele outlasted and overcame. He eventually forced a tired Patino to the butt scoot, where Pele taunted him and punished him with kicks. Pele then began operating surgically on the feet, exacerbating the fatigue of his foe and battering him with punches, kicks and knees.
Late in the round, Pele stuffed a Macaco shot and began to lasciviously gyrate his crotch against the head of his prone opponent in what has become perhaps the gold standard of MMA taunting. Not long after, Pele chased Macaco across the ring with a volley of strikes, pinning him helplessly in the corner, where he delivered the fight-ending salvo of soccer kicks. Pele got in one boot after the fact for good measure.
Although they met again four months later, with Pele splitting Macaco open for the stoppage victory, the beef between Landi-Jons and Patino has been squashed. They've since grown to be friends and have even trained together in the years since their feud. However, their brutal battle endures as the finest modern vale tudo bout and one of the first truly great fights in the sport's history.
The salad days of the WEF may seem like centuries ago, but it was only eight or nine years back that the promotion put on stacked shows that introduced many fans to the likes of
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures),
Matt Hughes (Pictures),
Rich Franklin (Pictures),
Jens Pulver (Pictures),
Din Thomas (Pictures) and Renato "Babalu" Sobral among others.
The clash between
Jose Landi-Jons (Pictures) and
Dave Menne (Pictures) in Evansville, Ind., stands up to any of the fights that the promotion put on.
Although in contemporary focus Pele and Menne have been reduced to journeymen -- recognizable names for the resumes of the sport's next generation -- eight years ago both were elite fighters in the weight range. Pele had lost only once in his last eleven fights, a decision he dropped to
Chuck Liddell (Pictures) in their 30-minute vale tudo war, and had just dominated reigning UFC champ
Pat Miletich (Pictures) to win the WEF 176-pound title four months earlier. Menne was in similar sorts, winner of 15 of his last 16 fights, with his sole loss coming in Japan to a larger
Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) in his prime.
Menne's barrage of leglock attempts and ground-and-pound gave him an early advantage. Pele put his muay Thai arsenal on display in the second frame, though, with nasty knees to the body from the clinch. With things seemingly knotted even through two, the third round provided great two-way action. Pele again showed his supremacy on the feet early, but Menne was able to put Pele on the floor again. Both men showed no pretense of defense as they flurried in almost cartoonish fashion, with Menne throwing heavy punches on top and Pele viciously elbowing Menne in the head from the guard.
With just ten seconds to go and Menne seemingly owning a slight edge, Pele managed to scramble to his feet and land two atomic right hands, the last of which nearly knocked Menne out cold as the final bell tolled.
Despite the last-second theatrics, the judges returned with a razor-thin majority decision for Menne, who captured the 176-pound crown. A disgusted Pele exited the cage immediately at the decision's unveiling -- a sentiment shared by many of the Evansville faithful, who only minutes earlier had been engaged in a deafening chant of "USA! USA!"
While it wouldn't be his last major win (just ask
Matt Hughes (Pictures)), the loss did mark a turning point for Pele and perhaps an unwilling torch passing. He would never quite regain the status he enjoyed as Brazil's most dangerous export in the late 90s.
Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) is remembered as the preeminent Japanese fighter of yesteryear. However, eight years ago, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai was an undefeated pound-for-pound star and the reigning Shooto 168-pound world champ. During Mach's undefeated streak, no performance was more outstanding, and no fight more dramatic, than his knockout victory over
Frank Trigg (Pictures).
Although Sakurai galvanized the crowd at Tokyo NK Bay Hall with early striking success, Trigg was soon able to bully his way into the clinch and put punches on Mach. When Sakurai attempted to put Trigg on the mat, Trigg was able to astutely reverse, taking top position and dishing out more punishment.
The second round continued in much the same way, as Trigg continued to drop barrages of fists on Mach. However, when "Twinkle Toes" began to chase Sakurai out of the scramble, the Shooto star turned the tide with a massive left hook that put Trigg on the floor.
A disoriented Trigg leaped to his feet and attempted to close in on Sakurai, only to find himself in the Thai plum, where Sakurai put him on his face again with a massive knee. The uncharacteristically raucous Tokyo crowd swelled. As a desperate Trigg attempted to grab Sakurai to hold on and recover, Mach swam to the clinch again, dragged a prone Trigg across the ring and delivered a pair of crushing knees that put him on his face for the final time.
The win solidified Mach as the premier welterweight in the sport. He would lose his Shooto crown eight months later to an upstart
Anderson Silva (Pictures), and a severe car accident would see the former pound-for-pound stalwart flounder for four years until his revitalization in Pride Bushido. Yet his comeback KO against Trigg remains one of the greatest moments in the career of one of Japan's best prizefighters.
They had already met roughly two years earlier. Fans already knew that
Yves Edwards (Pictures) was a legitimate prospect and that
Aaron Riley (Pictures) was anything but risk-averse. But no one could have forecasted what was in store when the two met again in Evansville, Ind., with Riley looking for revenge for his prior loss and Edwards looking to snatch Riley's 168-pound HooknShoot title.
Both scored liberally with punches and kicks over the course of the bout, but Edwards dished out major punishment with vicious knees from the Thai plum, just as he had in the first meeting. Riley scored by slamming Edwards to the mat repeatedly, pounding, passing guard and taking the back. However, two insane chain-gun flurries of punches from Edwards in the second round nearly ended Riley's night, filling his mouth with a pool of blood in horror-schlock fashion and leaving him in need of a third-round finish.
Riley nearly got the submission he sought twice in the third frame, first with a textbook far-side armbar from the top and later with a rear-naked choke as he took Edwards’ back again. However, the proprietor of Thugjitsu proved too elusive for Riley. He escaped his submissions and returned to the feet, where he landed some late punches and knees.
While Riley believed in earnest he'd won the bout, his gory face told a different story. Edwards took a razor-thin unanimous decision, winning by one point on all three judges' scorecards.
Despite the loss, things were not as bad for Riley as they might have been. Although Edwards had racked up nearly 4,000 dollars of dental damage in Riley's mouth, Riley’s friend and training partner Roman Roytberg, a dentist, fixed his teeth for free. And while Edwards made his UFC debut on the back of the victory, Riley's efforts wouldn't go overlooked. The Indiana native would make his Octagon debut 10 months later against
Robbie Lawler (Pictures) in a thrilling bout that solidified Riley's blood-and-guts reputation.
Incredibly enough, just four days after Edwards and Riley had put themselves on the map with a classic, veteran
Gil Castillo (Pictures) and upstart
Nathan Marquardt (Pictures) met in a high-stakes bout that more than surpassed expectations and saved the evening for a crippled IFC card at the Table Mountain Casino.
Two top-10 fighters at the time, Castillo was undefeated and a local star in California, while the 22-year-old Marquardt had become the middleweight King of Pancrase just 10 months earlier. Their bout wasn't just a local welterweight title clash: In the crowd sat Dana White, ready to hand the winner a UFC contract and the chance to step up to 185 pounds to fight
Dave Menne (Pictures) two months later in Las Vegas for the vacant middleweight crown of the new-look, Zuffa-owned UFC.
However, even more was needed from the two fighters when the co-feature of the event, a highly anticipated clash between local prospect
David Terrell (Pictures) and veteran
Jeremy Horn (Pictures), was nixed when the ever-mercurial Terrell disappeared from the arena just before fight time.
Castillo and Marquardt delivered the goods with 25 minutes of well-rounded action, highlighted by some sensational technical grappling. Marquardt's striking and strength allowed him to put the first two rounds in the bag, much to the joy of the Pancrase representatives who had flown in from Japan to support their champion in hostile territory.
Castillo showed his MMA maturity in the third stanza, though. Marquardt took him to the mat with a crisp trip takedown, but Castillo got to his feet and put Marquardt on the floor with a flawless fireman's carry. The moment marked a turning point in the fight. Marquardt, who sustained a back injury in the bout, couldn't find the submission finish he sought from the bottom. Castillo stayed one step ahead over the final 15 minutes to take a well-earned decision in a fantastically competitive bout.
While Marquardt would move up to 185 pounds for good, becoming a perennial top middleweight, the win stands as perhaps the best moment in Castillo's career. The
Cesar Gracie (Pictures) product would go on to lose his title bid against Menne in a lackluster fight on the dismal and disastrous UFC 33 card in Vegas. Castillo was halted on a cut in his last major fight, a November 2002 challenge against
Matt Hughes (Pictures) for the UFC welterweight title in another uninspired, forgettable fight.
It seemed like yet another mocked Midwestern MMA card. A Victory Fighting Championships show at a small casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa. A card in which every fight, save for a testicularly painful no contest between
John Halverson (Pictures) and
John Strawn (Pictures), ended with an elementary first-round submission. As though self-parody couldn't be any more forthcoming,
Travis Fulton (Pictures) had barely hit his opponent before his foe wanted out in a 20 mere seconds.
Josh Neer (Pictures) and
Spencer Fisher (Pictures), however, seemed wholly unsatisfied with such a laughable, stereotypical script.
Both Fisher and Neer were undefeated as pros and tabbed as the next big thing out of the Midwest. Fisher had the Miletich pedigree but also uncommonly natural, powerful striking and a slick submission game. Neer had won over hearts and minds in the area with his rugged and innumerable beatdowns of local competition as an amateur at the Toad Holler, a small nightclub in Des Moines.
While Fisher entered the bout as champion, it was hard to discern a favorite. It seemed the two had each led their own enormous, partisan armies into the arena, polarizing the Harrah's Casino.
The 25 minutes of raw and relentless action that transpired defies textual description. While both men showed skills on the floor, the action on the feet is what crystallized the bout as a classic. At the end of the first round, Neer followed Fisher back to his corner as a reminder that he would go nowhere over the next 20 minutes, and "The Dentist" was true to his word.
Furious toe-to-toe action over the next four rounds produced an in-cage climate of unhinged emotion and braggadocio, as Neer and Fisher talked trash to each other while they set about tearing each other apart. Fisher even harkened back to the first encounter between Pele and Macaco, humping Neer's head as he sought a takedown.
After five thrilling rounds and a strong case for more five-rounders in MMA, a highly contentious and debatable split decision went to Fisher. While the two produced a bout that behooves all MMA fans to track down, there is a measure of misfortune herein. Both have since cut to 155 pounds and are lightweight contenders inside the UFC, but they've become best friends and training partners under the Miletich banner. That means we'll likely never get to see them craft another classic in the cage.
Akira Kikuchi (Pictures) and
Jake Shields (Pictures) first met on another major Shooto card, Aug. 10, 2003 in Yokohama, on the night that
Joachim Hansen (Pictures) upset
Takanori Gomi (Pictures) to become Shooto world 154-pound champion. Their first go-around was certainly nothing to remember. It was the most forgettable fight on an otherwise sterling card, as Shields laid on top of Kikuchi for 15 dry minutes to hand him his first loss.
Eleven months later, Shields had avenged an early career loss to
Ray Cooper (Pictures) in Hawaii to win the vacant Shooto world 168-pound title and thereby raise the stakes for his second clash with Kikuchi at the outstanding 2004 Shooto year-end finale at Yoyogi National Stadium's second gymnasium in Tokyo.
After 10 minutes of competitive back-and-forth grappling, Shields needed the third round in order to salvage a draw on the scorecards and retain his title. After shaking Kikuchi off of his back early, Shields seemed to have enough time left to pound his way even on two of the judges' scorecards.
However, after a late stand-up by referee Toshiharu Suzuki, Kikuchi came out firing. He pushed Shields to his heels with punches and forced him into an ill-advised double-leg attempt. Kikuchi capitalized by dropping hammerfists on Shields before taking the mount and pounding away as the bout drew to a close. The last-minute salvo was enough to earn Kikuchi a unanimous decision, the Shooto world championship and the biggest win of his career.
Nearly four years later, the welterweight climate is much different.
Akira Kikuchi (Pictures) retired this past January after setbacks against
Shinya Aoki (Pictures) (fights that could arguably deserve a place on this list as well) and
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Pictures) in an attempt to earn a UFC contract. Shields hasn't lost since falling to Kikuchi. He’s riding a nine-fight win streak, having finished his last five opponents. More importantly, Shields has entrenched himself as the top welterweight outside of the Octagon -- a title he'll look to affirm Saturday night against
Nick Thompson (Pictures).
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