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The Axe Murderer (Patreon)
Content
By August of 2003 the 205lbs division was the talk of the MMA world. Tito Ortiz had drawn record ratings at UFC 40, but was now M.I.A. while Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture had just gone toe-to-toe for the interim UFC title. In Japan, PRIDE FC was ramping up for its biggest tournament to date, and the launch of the Bushido brand.
Wanderlei Silva was PRIDE's reigning middleweight (205lbs) champion, having bested the great Kazushi Sakuraba twice, but the brackets for this eight man middleweight grand prix read like a murderer's row. Chuck Liddell was there as the UFC's representative. Quinton Jackson looked to advance from fan favourite to legitimate superstar. Murilo Bustamante, the UFC `185lbs champion had jumped ship to PRIDE, been stripped of his belt, and now entered the grand prix in place of his friend Ricardo Arona, on five days notice. The only man who seemed out of place was Hidehiko Yoshida with his 2-0 MMA record, but even that notion was quickly turned on its head...
Please feel free to share this episode with your friends and thank you sincerely for your continued support of the Fights Gone By podcast!
Cheers,
Jack
Previous Episodes
Joe Louis - American Superman
Night of the Gracie Hunter
The Great Depression Hodgepodge
The Hunger of Jack Dempsey
Jack Johnson and the Colour Line
An UnAmerican Trilogy
The Four Pillars of Pugilism Part II: Mendoza and Jackson
The Four Pillars of Pugilism Part I: Figg and Broughton
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