Article: UFC 60 results article

[Dewey's Diva]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/OtherSports/2006/05/28/1601581-cp.html

Hughes defeats veteran Gracie


LOS ANGELES (CP) - Welterweight champion Matt Hughes dominated UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie to win a non-title mixed martial arts fight in short order Saturday night.

The bout was halted at 4:39 of the first round with Hughes on the back of a prone, face-down Gracie dealing more than 15 unanswered blows to the head of Gracie.

Hughes had earlier almost submitted Gracie, twisting the Brazilian's arm into a painful armbar hold. Gracie offered little offence during the bout and was on the defensive throughout.

"Of course I'm disappointed but he is the welterweight champion," Gracie said.

"I've got a couple more in me," he said when asked if he would keep fighting. "Let me go home and heal this up. I'll be back. I'll be back."

The main event of UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie at the Staples Center pitted one of mixed martial arts' legends against one of its most dominant champions.

Royce Gracie is a 39-year-old submission artist who won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event in 1993 and last fought in the Octagon ring in 1995. Gracie, who retired from active competition from 1995 to 2000, exited the 175-pound bout with a 13-3-3 record.

In recent years, Gracie has averaged one fight a year, mostly on the K-1 circuit in Japan. The Brazilian, who now calls California home, was out of active competition from 1995 to 2000 and since then has fought six times to 30 for Hughes.

Hughes, a former all-American wrestler at Eastern Illinois University, has a mixed martial arts record of 41-4-0 and has lost just one of his last 19 bouts (by submission to B.J. Penn at UFC 46: Supernatural in January 2004).

Next up for the 32-year-old Hughes is a title defence rematch at 170 pounds with Canadian Georges St. Pierre, who is coming off a win over Penn. Hughes forced the Montreal fighter to tap out via an armbar with one second remaining of the first round in UFC 50: The War of 04 in November 2004.

Vancouver welterweight John (The Natural) Alessio lost a decision to Diego (Nightmare) Sanchez on the undercard. Sanchez, a winner on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter reality TV show, improved his record to 17-0-0 while Alessio slipped to 22-9-0.

Alessio fought off all of Sanchez's takedown attempts and opened a nasty cut over his right eye in the second round. The Canadian fought the final minutes of the final round standing up with Sanchez perched on his back furiously trying to work a submission hold. That finale probably won Sanchez the fight.

Alessio clearly thought he had won the bout and the crowd agreed, booing Sanchez in his post-fight interview.

In other undercard action, middleweight Mike Swick defeated Joe Riggs by submission (guillotine choke) 2:19 at of the first round. Unbeaten heavyweight Brandon Vera improved to 7-0-0 by choking out Brazilian Assuerio Silva at 2:39 of the first round.

Light-heavyweight Dean (The Boogeyman) Lister submitted former Italian boxer Alessio Sakara at 2:20 of the first round via triangle choke.

Celebrities on hand included James Caan, Nicolas Cage, Cindy Crawford, Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, David Spade, Paul Walker, Marlon Wayans and Paris Hilton.

[Dewey's Diva]

I put all the results articles with spoiler titles in one thread... there are, apparently, many different ways to say Royce lost. :(

http://www.pe.com/sports/boxing/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_ufc_28.8ffa5e7.html

Hughes plays role of spoiler in victory

UFC: The welterweight champ defeats the legend Gracie with a relentless attack in the first round.

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, May 27, 2006

By MARK THOMA
The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - Welterweight title holder Matt Hughes spoiled mixed martial arts legend Royce Gracie's first American fight in more than 11 years at Ultimate Fighting Championship 60 Saturday at Staples Center.

In the night's featured bout, Hughes got UFC Hall of Famer Gracie on the ground early and never relented, nearly securing an armbar choke halfway through the first round. Late in the round, Hughes, 32, wrestled Gracie onto his stomach and began to ground-pound Gracie, who refused to tap out even as Hughes landed vicious rights and lefts.

After three quick blows to the back of his skull, though, Gracie's head dropped to the mat and referee John McCarthy stopped the fight, awarding Hughes (41-4) the victory 4 minutes, 35 seconds into the first round of the 175-pound catchweight exhibition bout.

"I never thought it would be like that," Hughes said. "I kept my hips on him so he couldn't get out of it and I forced (the referee) to call the fight."

Gracie, 39, a crowd favorite, made his name by dominating the early days of UFC, which had a tournament format and no weight classes. Gracie won UFC 1, 3 and 4 and was 11-0-1 in UFC fights with one no-contest prior to Saturday's loss.

"I've got a couple more in me," Gracie said. "I'll be back."

Journeyman welterweight John Alessio displayed uncanny defensive skills in his first UFC fight since 2000. Prohibitive favorite Diego Sanchez, a noted takedown artist, could not force Alessio to the mat a single time.

In the third round, Sanchez locked his legs around Alessio's midsection and rode him for over three minutes, but Alessio (22-9) endured a number of blows and stayed on his feet.

Despite sustaining a bad cut over his eye during a difficult second round, Sanchez (17-0) won by unanimous decision, drawing heavy boos from the crowd of over 14,000 fans.

In a heavyweight bout, Assuerio Silva (30-4) picked up San Diego's Brandon Vera (7-0), but before Vera even hit the ground, he locked Silva's head in a guillotine choke. Vera didn't lose the hold when Silva drove him into the mat and won by tapout at 2:39 of the first round.

"They've been telling me I'm too small for the big dogs, that I can't fight the heavyweights," Vera said. "But I'm here."

Lightweight -- Spencer Fisher (19-2) d. Matt Wiman (6-3) by knockout 1:43 2nd; Melvin Guillard (38-6-3) d. Rick Davis (3-1-1) by knockout 1:37 1st.

Welterweight -- Diego Sanchez (17-0) d. John Alessio (22-9) by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

Middleweight -- Mike Swick (9-1) d. Joe Riggs (26-9-1) by tapout (guillotine choke) 2:19 1st; Jeremy Horn (87-14-5) d. Chael Sonnen (16-8-1) by tapout (armbar triangle) 1:17 2nd.

Light heavyweight -- Dean Lister (8-4) d. Alessio Sakara (14-4, 1 no-contest) by tapout (triangle choke) 2:20 1st.

Heavyweight -- Brandon Vera (7-0) d. Assuerio Silva (30-4) by tapout (guillotine choke) 2:39 1st; Gabriel Gonzaga (6-1) d. Fabiano Scherner (5-3) by technical knockout 0:24 2nd.

Catchweight (175 lb.) -- Matt Hughes (41-4) d. Royce Gracie (13-2-3, 1 no-contest) by knockout 4:35 1st.

[Dewey's Diva]

http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_3873782

Article Launched: 05/28/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT

UFC: Hughes takes care of Gracie
By James Melroy, Staff writer

When the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) began nearly 15 years ago, Royce Gracie was most dangerous when he was on his back.

So, Matt Hughes did the smart thing he turned Gracie onto his stomach.

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UFC | UFC, cont'd
Hughes, the UFC welterweight champion, took the fight to the mat and eventually had Gracie face down and began raining punches down on the back of the MMA legend's head before referee John McCarthy jumped in to stop the main event of UFC 60 at Staples Center on Saturday night.

Gracie, who earned his reputation by forcing bigger men to submit while on his back in the early days of UFC, said after the fight that he plans on going home to heal up, but plans to return to the Octagon. He also walked away impressed with Hughes' skills.

"I'm glad to see he's been learning jiu-jitsu," Gracie quipped during the post-fight press conference.

The atmosphere was intense even before the fight began, with the Staples Center crowd solidly behind Gracie. Meanwhile, Hughes (41-4-0) was met with a round of boos, which sound less like disdain for him as it was more out of respect for Gracie (13-2-2).

Many experts thought Hughes, a natural wrestler, would be best served to stand up and box Gracie, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert that made his legend fighting on the mat.

But Hughes, after boxing for just a minute, locked up with Gracie, forcing him into the fence before the fighters went to the mat.

"He wasn't going to play the middle distance, so I had to switch it up, close the distance, and see what I could do on the inside" Hughes said. "I didn't want to (take it to the mat). I wanted to stay up tight against the fence. But the fight hit the ground and that's when things surprised me."

Hughes quickly gained side control, and went for an armbar submission, but Gracie was able to get his arm free. Hughes, however, maintained top position and began dropping occasional punches and elbows onto the face of Gracie.

Those eventually wore on Gracie, who tried rolling out of the bottom position, but gave his back to Hughes, who quickly took advantage. Seeing that he was unable to go for a rear-naked chokehold, Hughes instead began to throw punches and elbows onto Gracie at a furious pace and McCarthy stopped the fight with just under a minute left in the first round.

Earlier in the evening, Diego Sanchez of The Ultimate Fighter: Season 1 fame, won a unanimous, yet controversial, decision over John Alessio.

After two slow rounds, the action picked up as Sanchez was finally able to take Alessio (22-9) down for a few seconds, at least. But it was long enough for Sanchez to perch upon Alessio's back and attempt a rear-naked choke. Alessio was able to avoid the choke attempt, and actually grabbed Sanchez's arm and proceeded to bend it across his body in an attempt to get Sanchez to submit.

Sanchez (17-0-0), however, was able to escape and landed several blows to the back of Alessio's head as the round ended. The judges scored the fight 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, a decision that the crowd voiced its disapproval of.