UFC 27: What happened when Dan Severn returned to UFC?
Dan Severn, the winner of UFC 5 and Ultimate Ultimate 1995, as well as the second and final Superfight Champion, was invited back to the promotion to fight Heavyweight contender, Pedro Rizzo at UFC 27.
UFC 27 took place on September 22, 2000 and saw Severn's first fight for the promotion since UFC 12, back in 1997. It wasn't to be a glorious return for the "Beast" however, as he submitted rather tamely to leg kicks from Rizzo. Severn had seen better days, but a pre-fight interview with match-maker John Peretti was strange, as Peretti slammed the man the company had hired for the headliner and denigrated his legend. Unfortunately for Severn, he was unable to prove Peretti wrong.
Rizzo was back in contention for a Heavyweight title shot, and Severn's top flight MMA career was over, despite the fact that he continued to fight for another decade, mainly on the independent circuit in Canada.
Former Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith defeated Bobby Hoffman in an excellent back and forth contest in which Hoffman was the initial aggressor, before Smith roared back in the next two rounds and smashed Hoffman with impressive uppercuts to bloody up his opponent. Smith was the winner via Split Decision. This was a brilliant bout.
The legendary Jeremy Horn battered Eugene Jackson in short order, using his considerable wrestling skill to manoeuvre Jackson into an armbar, which he used to earn victory inside the first round.
Fabiano Iha took even less time to beat LaVerne Clark, also by submission via armbar.
Yuki Kondo made his UFC debut versus Alexandre Dantas and contested an excellent, close encounter with him, before he finally managed to avoid being put away on the ground by Dantas, and instead smashed his opponent with a left knee and a flurry of punches to earn the TKO win.
Ian Freeman held his nerve to overcame Ted Williams. He was out punched by Williams early, but as soon as Williams tired, Freeman took control, picking him off at will to earn the Unanimous Decision victory.
UFC 27 hosted several excellent encounters and was a memorable show overall.
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