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UFC 50

“The War of ‘04”

October 22, 2004

Boardwalk Hall

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Bouts I Reffed:

Evan Tanner vs. Robbie Lawler

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre

Tito Ortiz vs. Patrick Cote

I noticed that the younger, less experienced St. Pierre wouldn’t look at Hughes in their stare down, which told me he was intimidated. St. Pierre performed well until he made a beginner’s mistake trying to hold on to a Kimura from the bottom without having control of his opponent’s legs or body. Hughes capitalized by spinning around for the armbar, nailing the tapout with a second left on the clock.

A rubber match between Ortiz and Mezger fell apart when something happened to Mezger in training. Cote, a young and fairly green fighter, stepped in against Ortiz in the main event on short notice. Personally, I would have loved to see Ortiz and Mezger go at it one more time to close the book on that rivalry.

After UFC 51, my next assignment came from the other side of the world.

Scott Coker, then working with the Japanese kickboxing promotion K-1, called to ask if I’d like to referee a special MMA fight between sumo legend Akebono, whose real name is Chad Rowan, and Royce Gracie at “Dynamite,” K-1’s annual New Year’s Eve show.

Out of loyalty and respect, I went to Dana and asked for his blessing. At the time, the Japanese MMA scene was still killing the UFC in attendance. I told Dana I’d get paid $5,000 to referee the fight, which was actually appealing to him.

“For $5,000? Yeah, you can go do it,” he said. “Take them for all the fucking money you can.”

I also thought this would be the last time I’d get to referee a Royce Gracie fight, and I wanted to be there. I thought it was a silly matchup, though, and felt sorry for Akebono. In 1993, he’d been the first foreign-born wrestler to become yokozuna, the highest rank one could achieve in the sumo system. He was a major reason the sport flourished on TV in Japan in the 1990s, and he’d been in over 1,000 matches, becoming a grand champion many times over. Now the Japanese were making a freak show out of him. I didn’t worry so much about his safety; I just felt that his honor and pride would get damaged in the fight.

The 500-pound Akebono was athletic for his size, but he wasn’t a real fighter. He could hardly move his body weight once he hit the ground. On top of that, he wasn’t especially strong.

The match reminded me of the fight I’d refereed at UFC 3 some ten years before between the 600-plus-pound Emanuel Yarbrough and Keith Hackney. The difference here was that Royce wouldn’t be able to hurt Akebono by punching him; he’d submit him.

Elaine and I flew to Osaka, Japan, and Royce approached me right away in the hotel. I hadn’t talked to him in many years, since he and Rorion had broken away from SEG back before UFC 6. Royce said, “I told them I wouldn’t do this fight unless you refereed it.”

I hadn’t known Royce had specifically requested me, and it felt good to hear. By this time, Royce had branched out on his own from Rorion as well, so there were no ill feelings on either side.

The fight itself lasted a little more than two minutes. Akebono rushed Royce at the bell and literally fell on him, but Royce, wearing only his gi pants, escaped and got back to his feet. Royce then pulled Akebono into his guard and trapped him in an omoplata shoulder lock. The trapped sumo wrestler couldn’t free himself, but the pressure on his shoulder wasn’t enough to make Akebono tap out, so Royce submitted him with a wristlock on top of that. The usually silent Japanese crowd, 50,000 strong, exploded into cheers.

UFC 51

“Super Saturday”

February 5, 2005

Mandalay Bay Events Center

Las Vegas, Nevada

Bouts I Reffed:

Nick Diaz vs. Drew Fickett

Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia

Tito Ortiz vs. Vitor Belfort

Diaz, whose style I’d admired from afar, liked to call his opponents “bitch” during fights. Every time he connected, he started saying things like, “Oh, that hurts. Come on, bitch, fight.” I’d had other fighters curse in the cage,