Cut and pasted from Spike.com's blog:
The Countdown Has Begun
Posted July 06, 2009
The UFC Ultimate 100 kicked off last night with the first 25 fights as voted on by you, the fans. Starting the countdown with Paul Kelly vs. Paul Taylor, I was a bit surprised that this one didn't end up higher on the list, but as we pushed forward and relived fights like Hughes-Gracie, Penn-Uno and Liddell-White, it started to put things in perspective. Since 1993, there have been a lot of epic battles and if this countdown -as we approach UFC 100- doesn't get you amped up, then you might want to check your pulse and coordination skills because you could be a zombie regenerated from a human corpse on a mission to take over the planet.
Standing out among the first 25 for me has to be Serra vs. GSP I. Like every red-blooded American, I love the underdog/upset combo and so close to July 4, this one might have had a little extra spicy mustard.
"When I had George in trouble, I stayed calm and I picked my shots and I chose where to hit him and it worked out great," Serra recalled. It sure did work out great, for Serra and for all of us who got to witness one of the greatest upsets in mixed martial arts history.
GSP's response, however, is almost as inspiring, "I just tried to survive and get out. I tried to still exchange with him even though I couldn't stand on my feet. I was very dizzy," he told the camera, looking back. "And I learned from my mistake," he said with a crooked grin across his face. It's this attitude and insight that makes him so great and in turn what made Serra's victory so great.
Of course, GSP eventually avenged his loss to Serra and has yet to drop another bout since, some of which will appear later in this countdown among other classics like Gracie vs. Gordeau Evans vs. Liddell, Mir vs. Nogueira and the monumental Lesnar vs. Couture -all to be seen in the very next installment Monday night at 9.
Recapping the first 25:
100. Kelly vs. Talyor
99. Newton vs. Miletich
98. Florian vs Lauzon
97. Evans vs. Salmon
96. Hughes vs. Gracie
95. Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin
94. Penn vs. Thomas
93. Alves vs. Lytle
92. Penn vs. Serra
91. Franklin vs. Shamrock
90. Penn vs. Uno II
89. Jardine vs. Forrest Griffin
88. Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin
87. Liddell vs. Horn
86. Tanner vs. Baroni
85. Parisyan vs. Nick Diaz
84. Rizzo vs. Barnett
83. Liddell vs. White
82. St-Pierre vs. Trigg
81. Koppenhaver vs. Rollins
80. Franklin vs. Tanner I
79. Serra vs. St-Pierre I
78. Jardine vs. Liddell
77. Silva vs. Irvin
76. Hughes vs. Sherk
The following posts are the rest of The Ultimate 100 UFC Fights:
Please check out, in case you missed it:
- UFC.com's Top 20 greatest submissions in UFC history!
- UFC.com's Top 20 greatest knockouts in UFC history!
- Sports Illustrated's Top 10 UFC fights
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