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Penn Is Super Natural, 49-Second Doctor Stoppage Delivers Belfort UFC 46 Gold By Loretta Hunt It's hard to judge UFC 46's merits on its main event, because despite an abrupt and unfortunate occurrence that saw the UFC light-heavyweight belt change hands in the final moments, the night was an extremely entertaining one for the 11,405 in attendance. The fans were game, the stars turned out, and the night seemed to buzz along with one shocking outcome after another. From brawler Lee Murray's submission to jiu-jitsu guru Frank Mir's knockout of relentless juggernaut Wes Sims, unpredictability was the way of the day. But, jumping up from the lightweight division, Penn pulled off the upset of them all with a first round choke over champion Matt Hughes. The New Champs Vitor Belfort BJ Penn Here's the rundown: Not much can be said for Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort's 49-second rematch. With a missed kick and a punch by Couture, Belfort returned fire with a lightening-fast left hook. The punch (and more substantially, Belfort's glove) grazed the eye of light-heavyweight champion Randy Couture, who quickly clinched and pushed his aggressor against the fence. But, something was very wrong as Couture squinted and tried to stabilize for a takedown that never came. The fight was halted for medical officials, but the monitors told it all. With a ripped eyelid, Couture could not continue, forfeiting the match as well as the belt to Belfort in one fell swoop. Couture had to be rushed to the hospital for stitches. Matt Hughes Tonight, BJ Penn did what Carlos Newton, Hayato Sakurai, Gil Castillo, and Frank Trigg couldn't. He choked out reigning champion Matt Hughes, putting to an end a successful run seen rarely in this unpredictable sport. Initially, both competitors were willing to tie up for some knees and punches, but when Hughes went in for his first takedown, Penn sunk in a single underhook to throw the usually unstoppable champ down and into his guard. Taking Hughes' back in the struggle and then moving back to guard and then to side control, Penn seemed too shifty to slow down. Landing a few shots before securing Hughes' back a final time, Penn sunk in the rear-naked choke in the final 30 seconds. Nestled between the two title bouts, Renato "Charuto" Verissimo secured a slot in the welterweight division with an impressive display of skill over seasoned-vet Carlos Newton. Although Newton secured the initial takedown with a swift throw into his foe's guard, Verissimo quickly turned the tables with a reversal into mount. To avoid Verissimo's onslaught, Newton gave his back, which Charuto held steadfastly to run out the first round clock. In round two, Newton miscalculated his second throw and Charuto capitalized by taking half mount. From there, Verissimo punished a trapped Newton with shots before the men were stood by referee Larry Landless. Charuto missed with a high kick but landed a knee and Newton once again went for the throw that came up short. In half guard again, Verissimo continued his positional dominance, again outscoring the round. With a knee and swing, Verissimo landed his cleanest shots in the third, virtually sealing the deal for a most dominating debut. The judges unanimously scored it 30-27 for the Andre Pederneiras black belt and BJ Penn instructor. Verissimo & Penn The heavyweight rematch between jiu-jitsu stylist Frank Mir and Wes Sims seemed almost a carbon copy of their first foray back at UFC 43. With a quick kick and a punch, Mir easily secured the double-leg in the opening seconds and moved to the mount. But from an armbar attempt back to mount, Mir could not finish the 6'10" giant with seemingly limitless strength and fortitude. Sims again gave up his back, but this time Mir opted to strike to the sides of Sims' head before he rolled back over into mount. A tight arm triangle only created the opportunity for Sims to play the audience with a thumbs-up and a point and a "fuck you" salute to Mir, much to the delight of the electric crowd. At the outset of round two, it quickly became clear that Mir had expended a lot of juice, judging from the sloppy stand-up exchange and scramble that had Sims on top for just a second before the men got to their feet. Pushing Sims against the fence, Mir had to work a lot harder for his second takedown, but he finally got it. Inaction ensued and the fighters were stood. It looked like Sims almost had Mir in this next sequence with some heavy knees from the clinch and Mir's sheer exhaustion, but Mir dug deep and got the takedown. Again, the men were stood, but this time Mir finished the job with two knees into a right and then left hook, and Sims fell to his back like a tree. Mir hit the nail on the head in the end when he proclaimed, "That's one tough motherfucker." Indeed. It was not quite the finish Lee Murray had probably imagined, but he'll certainly take it. Surrounded by the speculation of what happened with Tito Ortiz in a dark alley one London night back in July 2002, Murray made his way to America and the UFC to bust some heads. His "Silence of the Lambs" entrance was a fitting one (nice touch with the black belt on the bright orange prison get-up, the belt was a friend's) and with no known ground game to speak of, you can't blame Massachusetts' Team Elite member Jorge Rivera for taking this one-punch powerhouse down. But, Rivera couldn't imagine just how fast Murray was able to slap on the armbar before quickly maneuvering to the triangle choke and then the armbar once more. Rivera tapped out a mere 1:54 into the round. Afterwards, Murray played his part in keeping the crowd enticed by his rivalry with bystander Ortiz by getting him to his feet. Zuffa has another interesting storyline on its hands. Let's see what they do with it. Serra, St. Pierre & Murray Disappointment is the first word that comes to mind for the third bout of the evening. Judo-infused welterweight Karo Parisyan had made quite a splash at UFC 44, which put a great amount of pressure on him tonight to deliver once again. Unfortunately, he came up short against Canadian newcomer Georges St. Pierre. Parisyan started off nicely when he quickly secured an arm and performed a succession of rolls to try and lay out a textbook armbar. Pierre kept his cool and powered out, maneuvering into Parisyan's guard. From here, Parisyan stayed in control by wrapping up St. Pierre's arms enough to stay out of any eminent danger, but the inaction greatly slowed the pace of the fight. For rounds two and three, St. Pierre seemed too strong for a waning Parisyan, getting the takedown and landing some crucial elbows that opened a cut from the corner of the Armenian's eye. Parisyan did manage to secure an appendage one more time in the third, but again Pierre was there to answer the throw into the Kimura attempt. St. Pierre moves on in the welterweight division with a solid victory. Josh Thomson God bless the lightweights, for they continue to deliver the type of performances any other UFC division would envy. Even if some fans doubted that Hermes Franca and Josh Thomson would ever get it going after a slow first round, those "in the know" knew that both fighters had the tools to explode at any time, and that they did in rounds two and three. In round two, Franca's first shoot was not nearly fast enough for Thomson, but a second attempt got the AKA fighter down to the mat. Some mutually impressive scrambles followed as these two got cooking, but Thomson did just enough to eke out the round in his favor. Just when you thought Franca couldn't do it, the feisty Brazilian landed the blow he needed to daze Thomson and get him down. Franca poured on the shots in a tense few seconds that teetered on a comeback win, but Thomson got it together enough for the referee to back off and ride out the round. Although all three judges gave Franca this final round, what cost the American Top Team fighter the win in the end was round one, as Thomson measured kick after kick while Franca did little to answer. Regardless, this writer expects to see the victor, as well as tonight's loser, back in the Octagon in no time. As anticipated, weight seemed to be a factor early out for last-minute entry Jeff Curran (usually a 145-pounder) in a decently-paced opening bout to the evening. Lightweight opponent Mat Serra came out strong with strikes before he tied Curran up along the fence on route to a double-leg takedown into his opponent's guard. It was the first of many takedowns that would keep Curran on the defensive for the majority of the fifteen minutes. Although both men are black belts under their respective Brazilian masters Renzo Gracie and Pedro Sauer, jiu-jitsu wasn't the deciding factor tonight. It was Serra's relentless attack on the ground, as he scored with punch after punch to Curran's head and body. Curran had his moments with an inspiring reversal in round two and a muster of strength to push Serra off of him with a succinct thrust of both his legs in round three. With much-improved striking, wrestling and all-around hustle, Serra kept coming and captured the unanimous decision in the end. UFC 46 Super Natural Results: Matt Serra def. Jeff Curran - Unanimous decision (30-27 all) Josh Thomson def. Hermes Franca - Unanimous decision (29-28 all) Georges St. Pierre def. Karo Parisyan - Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Lee Murray def. Jorge Rivera - Tap out to armbar 1:54 R1 Frank Mir def. Wes Sims - TKO via Referee stoppage 4:21 R2 Renato "Charuto" Verissimo def. Carlos Newton - Unanimous decision (30-27 all) Welterweight Championship Title Bout BJ Penn def. Matt Hughes - Tap out to rear-naked Choke 4:39 R1 Light-Heavyweight Championship Title Bout Vitor Belfort def. Randy Couture - Doctor stoppage 0:49 R1

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