UFC 6: Clash of the Titans

Author

Camron Gieschen
October 12, 2022

Setting The Stage:

Date: Friday 07.14.1995

Location: Casper, Wyoming, United States

TV Announcers: Bruce Beck, Jim Brown

Ring Announcer: Michael Buffer

Post-Fight Interviews: Jeff Blatnick

Attendance: 2,700

PPV Buys: 240,000

MMA Bouts: 10

Preview:

UFC 6 was the first event that did not include the involvement of co-founder Riorion Gracie. This was due to the implementation of a time limit that went against the Gracie code that you fought until the finish. With Riorion out, Royce sadly went with him and will not be competing with the UFC for now…

Out with the Gracies and in with the rules, the Referees are now allowed to stand up fighters who are inactive on the ground to prevent what happened last time in UFC 5 with Gracie and Shamrock going to a draw after a 30+ minute bore. The event will follow the same format as UFC 5, with a “Super-fight” between Ken Shamrock & Dan Severn taking place separate from the tournament field.

Also, how about Michael Buffer as the ring announcer?! It sure beats local North Carolina radio guy Ron Jeremey… But, jokes aside, we are starting to see the UFC morph event by event into what it is today! That said, it's about to get more brutal, emphasizing striking and limiting grappling exchanges.

Fight #1 (Alternate):

Joel Sutton defeats Jack McGlaughlin via Submission at 2:01 of Round 1

Fight #2:

Anthony Macias defeats He-Man Gipson via Submission at 3:06 of Round 1

Fight #3:

Tank Abbott is the first fighter to enter the UFC with the style of ‘Pitfighting’ and is facing John Matua, a 400lb fighter from Hawaii. Abbott boasts an undefeated record in bare-knuckle fighting, which I usually scoff at, but for some reason, I believe him.

The bout begins, and Abbott rushes in, landing huge punches. Matua goes down and comes back up, taking more punches, until Abbott drops him with a colossal right causing him to crash to the mat, hitting the back of his head hard on the canvas. Abbott follows in with a diving punch to the head, and Matua is out cold.

In one of the most vicious KOs I’ve ever seen, it takes doctors several minutes to get Matua conscious and out of the cage. The new era of the UFC has officially begun.

David Abbott defeats John Matua via KO/TKO at 0:20 of Round 1

Fight #4:

Cal Worsham is a Tae Kwon Do practitioner from California; he is going up against Paul Varelans, an “undefeated” bare-knuckle fighter who is 6’8ft tall and weighs 300lbs.

The fight starts, and Worsham lands a sidekick before the two go complete rockem sockem robots exchanging wild punches, with Worsham landing the cleaner blows. They clinch, exchange knees, and continue to slug it out, with both men connecting clean. Worsham keeps coming, but Varelans suddenly drops a huge elbow to the back of the head that flatlines Worsham.

Another striking bout that was just an all-out brawl! Though Worsham was 70 lbs lighter than the opponent, he did well for himself, damaging the face of Varelans. You can see what the UFC is going for with this matchmaking.

Paul Varelans defeats Cal Worsham via KO/TKO at 1:02 of Round 1

Fight #5:

Rudyard Moncayo is a karate expert from Ecuador. He is facing the UFC vet Pat Smith with a record of 3-2 in the UFC. He competed in the first UFC against Ken Shamrock and reached the finals of UFC 2. However, Smith looks to showcase a more well-rounded skillset sporting a wrestling singlet this time.

The fight starts, and Smith sprints across the Octagon and drops Moncayo with a front kick to the chest! Moncayo gets back up, and Smith wraps up a headlock, looking for a guillotine. Instead, Smith takes him down into a mount, and Moncayo rolls and attempts to stand simultaneously, so Smith jumps on him and drags him down into a nasty rear-naked choke for the Win!

Smith proves he has rounded out his game to improve his grappling skills after learning some hard lessons in his first few appearances.

Patrick Smith defeats Rudyard Moncayo via Submission at 1:08 of Round 1

Fight #6:

You may remember Dave Beneteau, who fought in the UFC 5 final against Severn but competed as an alternate initially. If you recognize Beneteau, you should also be familiar with his opponent Oleg Taktarov. He lost to Severn at UFC 5 but showed promising grappling skills, and now I’m just upset I won't see him face off against Royce Gracie.

The bout begins, and Beneteau attempts a single leg; he takes some punches but takes Oleg down and into Taktarovs guard. Beneteau stacks up, but Oleg stands and gets a front face lock; Beneteau breaks out by landing some heavy punches. Oleg shoots and lands a single leg that springs a scramble before Oleg latches on a guillotine, and Beneteau taps out!

Taktarov lives up to the hype finishing the fight via guillotine choke. Beneteau held his own, but Taktarovs skills proved to be more polished in the end.

Oleg Taktarov defeats Dave Beneteau via Submission at 0:57 of Round 1

Fight #7:

David Abbott took only 20 seconds to dispatch his opponent in the Quarter-Final. He will be the fresher fighter vs. Paul Varelans, who took significantly more damage in his fight but still has a size and weight advantage over Abbott.

The fight starts and Abbott lands a big right hand to open; he then pushes Varelans into the fence and gets a takedown to half-guard with ease. Varelans lands some elbows from the bottom, but Abbott starts dropping punches. He then pushes his knee down on Varelans head, smashing it against the fence. Abbott lands more big shots while pressing his knee into Varelans head, and McCarthy decides to stop the fight.

Abbott showed no mercy in this bout. Feeling the size advantage, he was wise to take it to the floor and the knee pressing down on the head was brutal! Good call by John to stop the fight.

David Abbott defeats Paul Varelans via KO/TKO at 1:53 of Round 1

Fight #8:

It was announced that Pat Smith could not continue due to stomach cramps, so he was replaced by Anthony Macias, who defeated He-Man Gipson via Submission at 3:06 of Round 1. Oleg Taktarov is training partners with Macias and Guy Metzgar, but that's how the cookie sometimes crumbles.

The fight starts, and Macias Sprints across the Octagon and attempts a takedown; Taktarov looks for the guillotine and locks it in for the tap! The quickest fight and submission in the UFC thus far!

A conspiracy theorist may say he gave him the neck on purpose with how fast that happened, but who knows...Taktarov will be fresh for the final against David Abbott.

Oleg Taktarov defeats Anthony Macias via Submission at 0:09 of Round 1

Fight #9:

Two MMA legends meet here to try and determine the first Super-Fight champion. Dan Severn is coming off winning his first tournament at UFC 5 and also reached the final of UFC 4. Ken Shamrock fought to a draw with Royce Gracie at UFC 5 in the first-ever Super-Fight in which Shamrock would’ve won had it gone to a decision.

The bout begins, Ken shoots in to start, and Severn stuffs; they go into an upper-body clinch and push each other around the cage. They look evenly matched in strength before Ken breaks with a knee. They lock up again, and this time Severn tries a takedown; Ken muscles him off and outpowers him! Severn ducks his head for a takedown, and Ken grabs a guillotine, Severn pops out, and they scramble back into the clinch. Severn pushes him into the fence and attempts another takedown, and Shamrock gets another guillotine; this time, it’s tight, forcing Severn down, and Severn’s forced to tap out!

Shamrock showed his grappling ability by stuffing several of Severn’s takedown attempts. Severn got desperate in looking for the takedown and left his neck exposed to the guillotine choke. Ken Shamrock is the first UFC Super-Fight Champion.

Ken Shamrock defeats Dan Severn via Submission at 2:14 of Round 1

Fight #10:

The final matchup of the tournament is here, and it’s the pit-fighting striker in David Abbott vs. the submission artist Oleg Taktarov. Both fighters spent a short time in the octagon, so this should be a fascinating matchup.

The fight starts and Oleg tries a takedown, but Abbott stuffs, and they go down into Taktarovs guard. Abbott stands, and they come back up into the clinch where Taktarov attempts a guillotine; Abbott muscles out easily. Abbott throws some big punches that stun Taktarov, but he covers up before grabbing a clinch to slow things down. They exchange some shots, and Taktarov’s lip gets busted open. Taktarov attempts another single-leg, Abbott stuffs, and they clinch again, pushing each other around while Taktarov lands some clean uppercuts. Taktarov attempts a guillotine again, and it looks tight this time; he pulls guard for leverage, but Abbott escapes! Both men are looking exhausted at this point. Oleg lands some soft punches from his back, and Abbott responds with some potshots. Taktarov attempts a triangle choke, but Abbott escapes and then avoids an attempted sweep to follow. Abbott tries to stand, so Taktarov attempts an omoplata, but Abbott sits on his chest and gets out, avoiding an attempted leglock. They stand and exchange, and Abbott rocks him with more heavy bombs, then grabs a headlock as they re-enter the clinch. Abbott muscles him to the fence, and they go down into Taktarov’s half-guard before he gets full guard back. They lay there for a while, both understandably exhausted, before Taktarov tries a triangle, punching away at the head. Abbott works and escapes into side mount before they go back to guard. We get another recovery period before Abbott gets a second wind and starts to swing away again, but then they slow down again. This time McCarthy decides to restart them (new rule!), and Abbott swings his way into a clinch and pressures Taktarov into the fence. Abbott throws a big left, but Taktarov avoids and catches him in the guillotine again, and suddenly Abbott looks defeated as Taktarov forces him down to the mat. Oleg takes his back, gets the hooks in, locks on the rear-naked choke, and Abbott taps! Oleg Taktarov is the winner!

A long gritty battle for the final, with Taktarov showing great heart to overcome the big brawler David Abbott. Taktarov struggled in parts taking shots and being taken down but stayed in the fight and fought through fatigue to finish Abbott. Oleg Taktarov is the new UFC tournament Champion.

Oleg Taktarov defeats David Abbott via Submission at 17:45 of Round 1