UFC 9 Motor City Madness

UFC 9 Motor City Madness
Cobo Arena
Detroit, Michigan

• The format was changed for this event.
• There is no single elimination tournament like in previous events.
• There will be 5 main card fights plus the main event.
• There is also one unaired prelim
• This event nearly didnt happen as an American Senator took the UFC to court to try and ban it.
• Due to this there was a new rule added to this event. There was no punching to the face of an opponent. The fighters faced being arrested if they broke that rule. Though the UFC officially excepted that rule fighters were not stopped by the Referee if they did throw punches.
• Don Frye and Gary Goodridge return taking on new comers and the main event is Shamrock v Severn II.

In the unaired prelim Steve Nelmark beats Tai Bowden via TKO after seven minutes.

Main Card

Zane Frasier v Cal Worsham

This was the second fight in the UFC for both fighters. They both lost there first fight. Fraiser was part of UFC 1.

At the start of the fight both fighters circle each other and feint there punches. Worsham stays on the outside then shoots and takes Frasier down and goes straight to half guard. From half guard Worsham throws head butts, elbows and punches. Frasier taps from punishment.

Rafael Carino v Matt Anderson

This is the debut for both fighters. Carino is a Jui Jitsu fighter and we are told that Anderson is well rounded but prefers to stay on the feet.

Carino shoots straight away and takes Anderson down. He gets side control but Anderson quickly pulls guard. For the next three minutes they jockey for position as Anderson neutralises Carino and works to keep him in the guard. Eventually Carino passes to the full mount. From this position Carino opens up with punches and Big John stops the fight.

Mark Schultz v Gary Goodridge

Originally Goodridge was due to fight Dave Beneteau. Beneteau broke his hand in training and his training partner stepped up on less then a days notice. Schultz was not to be taken lightly as he had won a Gold Medal in the 1984 Olympics for Free style Wrestling.

They circle each other and Schultz shoots for the takedown. Goodridge is able to grab Schultz's head and tries to control him. Eventually he breaks his head free and passes straight to side control. From there he controls Goodrige and throws punches. After about three minutes of this the fight is re started. Schultz takes Goodridge down straight away. He lands with more shots and opens up a cut under Goodridges eye. The fight is stopped to check the cut and then restarted. Schultz finishes the end of the twelve minute regulation with yet another takedown, full mount and punches from top position. There was scheduled to be a three minute over time but the fight is stopped in the corner due to Goodridges nose being broken. Schultz pulls off the upset.

Mark Hall v Koji Kitao

Mark Hall returns and against a new fighter. Koji Kitao is a Sumo Wrestler who is 8 inches taller and 200lb heavier then Hall.

Kitao charges in to take Hall down, as they hit the floor Big John breaks them up. Kitao nose is bleeding and looks broken. It was hard to see what happened but Hall must have caught him flush on the nose as he was taken down. Hall is awarded a TKO victory.

Don Frye v Amaury Bitteti

Originally Frye was due to fight Marco Ruas. Ruas was bitter about his decision loss to Taktarov at Ultimate ultimate 95 so decided to turn the fight down. Bitteti is a late replacement. He is a Brazillian Jui Jitsu fighter who trains with Carlson Gracie.

Bitteti starts off aggressive charging Frye and landing with a front kick, they then clinch and work for position while standing with neither fighter being able to gain an advantage. They break the clinch and Frye lands with two punches that stun Betteti. Betteti then shoots but is unsuccesful as Frye defends with a sprawl. Betteti tries to pull guard but Frye stands up. Frye starts to control the standup with punches and some big knees. Frye then takes Betteti down. Betteti manages to get half guard but Frye is able to land punches from this position. The fight is stopped so that the doctor can check a cut over Betteti's eye.

He is cleared to continue fighting and Frye takes him straight back down and pounds him with punches and elbows. Once again the fight is stopped to check Betteti and he is cleared to re start. Frye takes an exhausted and battered Betteti down again, this time he gets a head lock and throws knees until Big John finally stops the fight. Betteti showed a lot of heart but Don Frye just dominated him.

Superfight

Ken Shamrock v Dan Severn

This fight was an anticipated rematch and was for the Superfight championship.

This fight lasted for thirty minutes. Most of the fight was spent with both fighters circling each other. No strikes thrown and no take down attempts.

The only things that happened were:

16 minutes. Severn takes Shamrock down with a single leg takedown but Shamrock gets straight to his feet.

19 minutes. Severn gets another single leg takedown but Shamrock reverses him and throws a few elbows from top position, but they are not damaging. After about five minutes of this Severn reverses this position and lands the best shots of the match. Elbows and hammer fists which do cut Shamrock.

We then have two three minute over time periods. Nothing happens in the first period. Three minutes of circling. At the end of the second period Severn takes Shamrock down.

This is arguably the worst fight in the history of the UFC. Severn wins by split decision and is the new Superfight champion.

This was the first UFC event that was not a tournament style. This was obviously the future of the UFC but this event was not a success. There was only two exciting fights out of the six.

Bonus Awards

KO of the night Mark Hall v Koji Kitao

Tapout of the night Cal Worsham v Zane Frasier

Fight of the night Don Frye v Amaury Betteti

Fighter of the night Mark Schultz