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By James Melroy, Staff writer
From raucous cheers to thunderous boos in a matter of seconds. That best described the two main events of UFC 61 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Barely a minute into arguably the most anticipated matchup of the evening, the bout between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock was stopped by referee Herb Dean, causing the fans at the Mandalay Bay Event Center to pelt the ring with debris.
Ortiz was on top of Shamrock and implementing his trademark “groundand pound” style, landing elbows to Shamrock’s face. The blows appeared glancing, however, with the 42-year-old Shamrock partially blocking most of them. But Dean, who was in close to the action, jumped in and separated the two fighters, calling a halt to the much-anticipated bout, thus giving Ortiz the victory.
As Ortiz celebrated, Shamrock looked on in disbelief and started again started after Ortiz, who was doing his “grave digger” celebration. The Octagon filled with cornermen, as well as security, in order to keep the two fighters separated.
Fans began to shower the ring with cups, ice and other debris, voicing their displeasure with Dean’s stoppage of the fight. Shamrock (26-11-2) was escorted from the ring by his handlers, the crowd cheering him loudly, while Ortiz (15-4-0) was roundly booed during his post-fight interview.
“Herb Dean did the right thing by stopping the fight,” Ortiz said afterward. “Shamrock wasn’t defending himself intelligently.”
Ironically, Shamrock entered the arena to a chorus of boos, unlike the reception that another UFC legend — Royce Gracie — at- received in May at UFC 60 in Los Angeles.
Those boos were quickly drowned out by the sound of Eminem blaring over the Event Center’s sound system. Ortiz entered the arena carrying a flag that had the U.S. colors on one side and Mexico’s colors on the other.
The two fighters had to be separated by officials even before the ring introductions were made as Ortiz, still carrying the flag, danced around the Octagon. Shamrock attempted to block his path, seemingly seeking out an altercation, but officials were able to prevent the two fighters from making contact.
The two fighters refused to touch gloves beforehand. Shamrock went on the immediate attack. At the 4:30 mark, Ortiz took Shamrock down hard to the mat, his trademark ground-and-pound technique in full effect, where the fight would and the fight ended in controversy shortly thereafter.
Though Ortiz is 2-0 since returning to UFC in April, neither win has been without controversy. On April 15 at UFC 59 in Anaheim, Ortiz earned a split-decision victory over Forrest Griffin, a decision many fans inside The Pond questioned, despite the fact that Ortiz calls Orange County home.
In the other main event Saturday, heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia retained his title, winning a unanimous decision over former champion Andrei Arlovski.
Arlovski entered the Octagon to a chorus of cheers, while Sylvia was met with a smattering of boos, though as he approached the ring, more cheers could be heard.
No cheers would be heard by the end of the fight, however, as the fans voiced their displeasure at the slow pace of the fight. The first round looked more like a kickboxing match, with each fighter exchanging jabs and occasional right hands. With neither of their first two fights going the distance, both fighters appeared to be more cautious this time around.
In the second round, Arlovski was cut on the left side of his face, however the flow of blood was well away from his eye, so the fight didn’t appear to be in any danger of being stopped by referee John McCarthy. Both fighters were a bit more aggressive with the two exchanging blows midway through the round. Neither fighter appeared to gain an advantage. The crowd grew restless in Rounds 3 and 4 as neither fighter appeared to want to press the action. Arlovski began bleeding from under his right eye, but again, Sylvia was unable to capitalize and the bout appeared to be even heading into the final round.
