Mark Munoz and Chris Leben were on a historic stage in Birmingham, England Saturday with the potential to become the first fighters to compete in a five-round non-title UFC bout.
However, the headlining bout of UFC 138 didn’t even make it to the third.
After two rounds of exciting action between a veteran striker and a rising middleweight with eyes on a title, the duel had to be called because of a cut over Leben’s left eye he sustained from Munoz’ strikes that left Leben bloodied and unable to see.
The fight was temporarily halted midway through the second frame in order for the cageside doctor to inspect the wound. After Leben initially suggested his vision was impaired, when the referee warned him he would have to stop the fight if he said couldn’t see, Leben, whose reputation as a “warrior” is up there with the legends of the sport, insisted: “I can see.”
However, even in MMA, discretion is the better part of valour, and Leben’s corner convinced the determined middleweight and the referee that it would be unsafe for him to continue and Munoz was awarded a TKO victory.
The prudent waving off of the fight by the referee did not thrill the raucous British crowd, which had already seen one of its own jump a security block and rush the Octagon (UFC president Dana White tweeted: “That’s a first in 10 years!!!!! The Brits lol”).
But the England faithful had already been treated to a tremendous night of fights.
In fact, it was the first time since UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones in March 2010 that an entire main card had no decisions, and that particular one featured only four fights. It had actually been over two years since a numbered UFC event had five stoppages on the televised portion, when UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort in September 2009 featured four knockouts and third-round verbal submission due to an eye injury.
This time not even one of the fights went past the second frame as we saw four submissions to go with the well-earned TKO by Munoz.
The night had been going fairly well for the hungry British fans, who were packing the LG Arena right from the first fight. While hometown favourite Vaughan Lee dropped a close split decision to Chris Cariaso, who has been training with Firas Zahabi at the Montreal-based Tristar gym, the undercard saw two great “coming-out” performances by England natives Che Mills, who dismantled American Chris Cope with strikes in a mere 40 seconds, and then John Maguire by unanimous decision over Justin Edwards.
Later, the main card was kicked off by a 17-second mixed martial arts masterpiece by Terry Etim of Liverpool. The UFC veteran, who was coming off a submission loss to Rafael dos Anjos that followed a four-fight win streak in the Octagon, showed a complete game, peppering Edward Faaloloto with quick strikes to set up a guillotine he was able to latch and force a tap.
Etim, equipped with a thick British accent, then announced he wants to make some noise in the UFC’s lightweight division.
The English supporters’ hopes for a triumphant finish were dashed when former WEC contender Brad Pickett of London fell in his UFC debut to Renan Barao by rear naked choke. It was a great performance by the Brazilian and his 17th straight win, which surpasses the run by Canadian Ryan Jimmo (who fights in the Edmonton-based Maximum Fighting Championship promotion) for longest active win streak in professional MMA — at least I don’t know of anyone with a longer streak.
Finally, Munoz and Leben were putting on a great tilt, filled with solid striking, wrestling reversals and submission attempts before the damage by Munoz put an end to Leben’s night.
Munoz, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and NCAA Division I wrestler, laid his claim for a title shot in the near future.
“I’ve paid my dues in this weight class, I think I deserve one,” Munoz said. “I give (middleweight champion) Anderson Silva all the respect and honour. I consider him a friend, and would love to get a title shot.”
With former No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen likely the next in line to rematch Silva, Munoz probably needs one more impressive win. But with his fourth straight victory Saturday in England, The Filipino Wrecking Machine is well on his way.
NOTES: The UFC announced in June at UFC 131 in Vancouver that all future main events will be five rounds, regardless of whether a title was on the line. But at the time, White said it would only apply to fights not already signed for three rounds. With the next few main event fights already booked and then four in row headlined by title bouts, Munoz vs. Leben became the first to get the distinction … Saturday was the first card in Great Britain in 2011, the second year in a row that the UFC visited England just once, after twice in 2009, three times in 2008 and twice in 2007. England fans are not pleased with the recent trend and want to see more visits, but so do many countries and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to schedule with the UFC’s continued global expansion. Similarly, the UFC did not make a trip to Montreal at all in 2011 after three straight years of visiting La Belle Province. Of course, it held two shows at the Bell Centre last year (including December).
TWEET OF THE NIGHT: @Jabes75: Chael Sonnen thinks Munoz’s call for a title bout “absolutely sucks”.
