By Mark Vester
The UFC 66, live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, lived up the hype and then some.
In the main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell won the long awaited rematch with Tito Ortiz by battering him on route to a third round stoppage.
The atmopshere was electric for both fighters as supporters were loud enough to drown out the pay-per-view broadcasters.
In the first Ortiz used the strategy he promised by trying to take Liddell down to the ground, but also stood his ground and traded hard punches at close range, actually getting the better of some exchanges and landing plenty of kicks . He stood in the dangerzone for too long as Liddell's punches began to take their toll on Ortiz and cut him bad above the left eye. A combination of punches sent Ortiz down as Liddell began to unload on the ground. It appeared to be over, but the ref let it continue as Ortiz was able to survive the round and sent the arena in a frenzy.
In the second, Ortiz was once again tried to take Liddell down, and once again Liddell stopped him at in the early going and made him pay with hard punches. As Liddell began to tire, Ortiz was able to mount some offense by landing some big punches and even took Liddell down. Liddell was able to get back up, as Ortiz landed a hard knee soon after. Ortiz appeared to be working his way into the fight when the second round closed.
The third round was a complete turn around, as Liddell jsut dominated the action. He began to land hard shots as Ortiz tried to go for takedowns, and even toyed with him at times. Ortiz was a bloody mess and went for broke by exchanging punches with Liddell. Liddell began to land big right hands that sent Ortiz down and this time he did not stop the onslaught by landing bunches of hard punches while Ortiz tried everything to survive. As the punishment began to pile up and there was no chance of Ortiz getting to his feet, the referee was prompted to stop the fight.
Ortiz said after the bout that he thinks he broke his foot on a kick.
Keith Jardine knocked out Forrest Griffin in the first round, in a major upset. Jardine was able to get Griffin on the ground by rocking him with some big shots, and landed numerous punches on the ground until the fight was stopped.
Andrei Arlovsky is back in high form after stopping Marcio Cruz in the first round. Arlovsky caught Cruz on the ground while he attempted numerous leglocks, and landed several hard punches on the ground before the ref stopped the action.
Jason MacDonald chokced out Chris Leben in second round with a guillotine.
Michael Bisping stopped Ed Schafer in the first round.
