UFC 34: “High Voltage” Shocks the World

Part I

*originally published in the Nov ’01 issue of Full Contact Fighter*

For those disappointed in UFC 33 “Victory in Vegas”, with its lackluster fights ending in decisions, UFC 34’s “High Voltage” was a jolt of energy – a blast of high-powered excitement. Picture this: Punches of lightning speed, devastating a Japanese legend in only eleven seconds. An almost-double knockout, the first in the history of mixed martial arts. A rookie submitting a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt and Abu Dhabi grappling champ in a little over a minute. The roar of over six thousand fans, on their feet in the MGM Grand Arena. Picture this, and you’ll have a good idea of what was the Ultimate Fighting Championship 34. For those ready to write off the new sport of MMA as tedious and boring, the November 2^nd show was anything but. “High Voltage” shocked the world.

The crowd was electrified as it was treated to eight bouts featuring some of the best fighters in the world. Center stage on the card was a rematch between heavyweight champion Randy Couture and top challenger Pedro Rizzo – who’d fought their hearts out at UFC 31 six months before. With the last meeting of the world-class Greco-Roman wrestler and Brazilian kickboxer ending in a close decision, this fight was meant to leave no questions unanswered. Also on the card was welterweight champ Carlos Newton’s first title defense. He would square off against Matt Hughes, a wrestler and Pat Miletich-protégé. Would Matt avenge his friend and mentor’s loss to the craft Canadian jiu-jitsu stylist? Add to this already volatile mixture an explosive match-up between Japanese Shooto star Caol Uno and Hawaiian “Phenom” BJ Penn, plus the return of Evan Tanner, the trash-talking Phil Baroni, and three more heavyweight fights, and there seemed little room for this show could fizzle. Zuffa was taking no chances with this show. And could it?

The previous UFC, “Victory in Vegas”, was far from the victory Zuffa had hoped for. One reason for this was that every match went the distance, a disaster for the UFC’s comeback to cable. The judges were forced to decide the outcome of each of the pay-per-view match-ups, and fans were left wondering what had happened to the sport that had once been so gripping and intense.

Zuffa took this to heart, and after conferring with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, made a change in the rules. At the UFC 34 press conference two days before the event, it was announced that the referee would once again have the power to stand up combatants due to inactivity – a power used before the advent of five-minute rounds. Though this new rule played little role in “High Voltage,” the message was clear: this show was going to be different.

As another reason for UFC 33’s less-than spectacular outing, critics blamed Zuffa Vice President of Talent Relations Joe Silva. In his role as matchmaker, Silva was the one responsible for choosing the fighters. Did he match them too evenly? “With this last show, some people were saying they were too evenly matched,” said Silva, an avid MMA fan himself. “All I can say to that is it was the same exact type of matchmaking I’ve done for all the shows that we’ve had.” What was his take on UFC 33’s shortcomings? “I think it was more of a combination of, not being so evenly matched, but [that it was] the first time back on cable, first time in Las Vegas. I think there were a lot of jitters - a lot of people saying ‘man, I really just don’t want to lose’. This led to some boring fights.” Did Silva’s bosses at Zuffa blame him for the outcome of the “Victory in Vegas”? Did they put pressure on him to make “High Voltage” more exciting? “No. Fortunately, my bosses all come from boxing and they realize that... if you look at all the boxing matches per year, how many of them are truly great? Even with all the hype, all the -‘this should be the greatest fight!’- stuff. Most of them don’t live up to it. Superbowls quite often don’t live up to the hype. It’s very difficult. We’ve been fortunate and we’ve had some truly spectacular shows. But every now and then, you’re not going to. So I had no pressure from my guys at all – they realized they were all good matches to make.”

Still, the Virginia native freely admits that by the end of the last show he was “pulling his own hair out.” This one had to be better. Zuffa might bounce back from a poor event, but would MMA? It is too new of a sport not to worry about cable viewers missing the ends of matches that go the full time limit. For the sport to succeed, UFC 34 needed not just to promise excitement, but to deliver it.

And so it was that, with the prior show hanging over everyone’s heads, “High Voltage” got underway.