From the vault: Michael Bisping vs Anderson Silva, Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock II, Megumi Fujii vs Cindy Hales and more
Tim Sylvia, Joseph Benavidez, and Igor Vovchanchyn are also featured
From the Vault is a feature on Forever a Contender where I hand pick some of the more notable fights in the history of combat sports for your viewing pleasure, whether they might be favorites of mine, relevant to an upcoming fight, or just something that you might want to know about.
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Michael Bisping vs Anderson Silva
UFC Fight Night 84
February 27, 2016 | London, England
Throughout his arduous journey to an eventual UFC title, Michael Bisping had called many times for a fight against longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He eventually got wish and on home soil nonetheless as the duo headlined a UFC Fight Night event in London, England.
And what a fight it was.
The back-and-forth affair, which is still debated to this day, is most known for Bisping motioning to referee Herb Dean to pick up his fallen mouthpiece in the closing moments of the third round, only for Dean to instruct him to keep fighting. Silva took advantage of a distracted Bisping and blasted him with a flying knee at the horn. It initially appeared that Silva had finished the fight, but the Spider’s celebration was cut short and the bout ultimately continued on.
In a way, if you think about it, the moment changed the course of middleweight history, sending Bisping on to a shocking title win less than four month later.
Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock II
UFC 61
July 8, 2006 | Las Vegas, Nevada
After the initial meeting between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock at UFC 40 in November 2002 did then-record breaking business in what was a pivotal event for Zuffa, it wasn’t a matter of if the two were going to fight again, but when.
They eventually rematched at UFC 61 nearly four years later after facing off as rival coaches on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter and while the result wasn’t what people were hoping for, the show was a smashing success.
It set a new record for UFC pay-per-view buys at the time and reportedly made Zuffa over $30 million in revenue. The third fight later on in 2006 was another chartbuster, garnering nearly 5.7 million viewers for their special event on Spike TV.
The rivalry between Shamrock and Ortiz changed the sport by bringing it ever closer to mainstream acceptance.
Patricio Pitbull vs Georgi Karakhanyan
Bellator 37
March 19, 2011 | Concho, Oklahoma
Before Patricio Pitbull became a multi-time, multi-division Bellator world champion, he was a young prospect that rose up the Brazilian regional scene before entering one of Bjorn Rebney’s earliest tournaments and joining the Bellator ranks, where he has remained ever since.
Pitbull came up short in the bracket, losing to eventual winner Joe Warren in the finals before signing up for redemption in the season four featherweight tourney, where he was placed opposite one-time World Series of Fighting featherweight title holder Georgi Karakhanyan in an opening round matchup.
Karakhanyan, who at the time was best known as a veteran of King of the Cage and Gladiator Challenge, met Pitbull as a fellow Bellator season two featherweight semifinalist in what was a battle of two of the sport’s brightest 145 lb. prospects.
Igor Vovchanchyn vs Paul Varelans
IFC 1: Kombat in Kyiv
March 30, 1996 | Kyiv, Ukraine
Prior to cementing his place in MMA as a legendary heavyweight with Pride Fighting Championships, Igor Vovchanchyn started off his career as a participant in a countless number of no-holds barred tournaments, stringing together dozens of wins against notable names such as Rings veteran Mikhail Ilyukhin and All-American wrestler Nick Nutter before even reaching a major organization.
One of those tourneys was International Fighting Championship’s debut show in March 1996, titled Kombat in Kyiv, where Vovchanchyn collided with UFC veteran Paul Varelans in a tournament semifinal bout. It would be the promotion’s only international foray before settling down in North America for the remainder of its existence.
IFC 1 was Varelans’ first MMA appearance outside of the UFC, where he had put together a 4-3 record during the previous year as a participant in the UFC 6, UFC 7, Ultimate Ultimate 1995, and UFC 8 brackets. He entered the field coming off of a win over Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Joe Moreira.
Megumi Fujii vs Cindy Hales
Smackgirl: World Remix 2008 Opening Round
February 14, 2008 | Tokyo, Japan
When discussions regarding the greatest female mixed martial artist of all-time come about these days, the names most often heard from fans are that of UFC greats Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey, and Valentina Shevchenko, as well as current Bellator champion Cris Cyborg.
Before all of them came Megumi Fujii.
A protege of Shooto veteran Hiroyuki Abe and former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett, Fujii ripped off 22 straight wins to start her professional career before finally tasting defeat, submitting nearly every opponent she faced. One of those foes was Cindy Hales, best known as part of BJJ’s female dirty dozen as one of the first non-Brazilian born women to earn a jiu-jitsu black belt.
The pair faced off in the quarterfinals of the Smackgirl World Remix 2008 Grand Prix in Tokyo, Japan, hosted by what was at the time the first and only major all-female promotion in mixed martial arts.
Tim Sylvia vs Mike Whitehead II
Superbrawl 24
April 27, 2002 | Honolulu, Hawaii
Future two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia rocketed off to a hot start to his MMA career, winning his first 13 fights and picking up wins over such names as Ben Rothwell and Jason Lambert. However it was Sylvia’s performance in the Superbrawl 24 Return of the Heavyweights tournament in April 2002 that put him on the map and would ultimately send him to the UFC.
Sylvia bested a 16-man field that included Icon Sport heavyweight champion Cabbage Correira, MMA ironman Travis Wiuff, and Freestyle Combat Challenge product Ron Faircloth. The Maine-iac defeated Ultimate Fighter 2 cast member Mike Whitehead twice in consecutive days to take the tournament crown.
Joseph Benavidez vs Junya Kodo
DREAM 5
July 21, 2008 | Osaka, Japan
After joining up with Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male in 2007, future WEC and UFC mainstay Joseph Benavidez found quick success as a bantamweight, scoring seven consecutive finishes heading into his first high profile opportunity against one of MMA’s pound-for-pound all-time greats at DREAM’s fifth show in July 2008.
While still chasing a fight against all-time great Kid Yamamoto himself, then-WEC featherweight king Faber brought his protege to the Land of the Rising Sun for a shot against his rival, only for Yamamoto to withdraw just three days before the event after sustaining a knee injury.
Yamamoto ended up being replaced by last-minute substitution and Shooto amateur champion Junya Kodo, who agreed to face Benavidez in a 139 lb. catchweight bout on short notice.