severn did allegedly call coleman and ask if it was ok if they did no striking in their superfight
pretty shady
skip to 21 minutes
ken was on top, mount, for 5 minutes, throwing legal strikes
sev was on top, guard, 3 minutes, throwing illegal strikes
ken has never been much threat off bottom, and im sure its harder with 260 pounder on top
he bled a little, i think thats what swayed the judges
Ken should have not gotten the super fight with Royce at ufc 5 - he should have been put in the bracket at ufc 4 and if he won that then he gets a super fight
The super fight at ufc 5 tanked views for the next ppv
UFC 6 was good .. and Ken delivered min the Super fight
Ken was still pretty loyal to Pancrase at that time, and the same night of UFC 4, Ken was in Japan in the Pancrase 16-man tournament (which was held over 2 consecutive days). He didnât beat 3 people in one night there, although he did beat 2 people on night 1, and 2 more people on night 2. And 3 of those 4 opponents were some pretty worthy opponents. So UFC brass may have been impressed by that, and the fact that Ken was now the champ of that organization.
That said, I think there were at least a couple other people in the running for the UFC 5 superfight vs Royce, before the UFC settled on Ken. I think Wing Chun stylist Emin Boztepe may have been the first one?
I think Royce vs Ken 1 was boring to a lot of people, but at the same time a much needed growth step for the sport. I love it for what it is.
No shade felt
We are mutually trying to cross a finish line that is a bit complicated
The one thing that I believe that everyone can agree on
Both Severn and Shamrock have had a lot of questionable behavior over the years abd what might not makes sense to us; does to them for some reason
^^^ I donât know man he seems like a frequent flyer
Probably has worked a number
AZ IIRC and IN
Watch very closely from 5 minutes to 22 minutes in. What a chess match!!!1
Iâd like that.
Iâm in the Phoenix AZ area.
Interesting info as I remember hearing about Boztepe back then - what exactly was the hype around him? Was he like one of those mythical karate(in this case wing chun) guys back then? I remember Royce Gracie challenging him in a black belt article .. it would have been interesting to see them being in a guy like that for a super fight being that he had no mma fight experience to my knowledge .. that said, I would have been all for it if it means Ken would have to go through the bracket at ufc 5 or 6..
That KOP tournament was arguably deeper with talent than most of those early UFC tournaments.
Iâd say the Pancrase pool was deeper overall, while the top 2-3 guys in the UFC were a little better.
Obviously, Ken proved to be at the top in both. But he was more dominant in Pancrase. Nobody from that era could beat Ken without him putting them over.
Other than the overtime period, it doesnât have a lot of rewatch value.
But at the time it happened, I was fascinated by it, and wasnât at all bored.
Within the context of the time, Royce had submitted everyone in his path including Ken.
So for Ken to negate Royceâs GJJ and end up really grinding a visibly exhausted Royce at the end, was significant.
So Ken has to go through a bracket but this other guy doesnât?
Why?
The Super fight was the precursor to the UFC Getting away from the tournament format, which makes more sense from a prize fighting standpoint.
Ken obviously proved he was straight-up better than guys who won UFC tournaments.
Also, realistically if we had to wait for Ken and Royce to meet in a tournament again, we might have never seen it.
Neither one of them stuck around for long in that era of the UFC. Not many did.
Hereâs the Emin Boztepe rabbit hole. Scroll down and youâll see what he, Rorion, Art Davie, and Eminâs lawyer were all up to:
Ken neutralized Royce and beat him up.
Shamrock V Gracie Ii is the greatest fight of all time
He agreed to the fight with no judges and didnât finish him. Itâs a draw. Royce is 2-0-1
Thx. That is old school mma - something about the early days of challenge matches and certain styles still being seen as âdeadly on the streetâ but never really proven
I read the letters between Royce and Boztepe and Emin sounds confident - I watched various clips of Emin in action and if he stepped in there against Royce, I heâs losing within 5 minutes.. donât you agree?
