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Saturday's Ultimate Fighting Championship fight at the Mandalay Bay Event Center, (UFC 57) between former four-time world champion, Randy Couture (15-8) fighting out of Las Vegas, and Chuck Liddell (18-3-0) UFC light heavyweight champion, fighting out of San Luis Obispo, California, was a sad night for mixed martial-arts fans who chanted Couture's name. It was a very careful fight in the beginning where Couture (the wrestler) tried to box Liddell (the striker), but Liddell the harder hitter, kept executing his left jab, preventing Couture from getting a take down. Couture, on the other hand did manage to get a take down on Liddell but wasn't able to put him into submission. At that point the bell rang and in round two the same thing happened as in the last fight. He got hit by a left that sent him to the mat. That's when Liddell won by KO in 1:28 of the second round.  An emotional Couture, at 42 years of age announced his retirement but said he was planning on retiring anyway. Chuck Liddell in his statement said that Randy Couture was a great champion and the toughest fighter out there. When asked if it was a good idea for Couture to retire, Liddell stated that that was his choice. "He's the toughest guy out there, but I won't have to worry about him anymore." A crowd of 14,500 was graced by several celebrities which included Cindy Crawford, Paris Hilton and Charles Barclay. In the swing-fight category heavyweight Brandon Vera (6-0) fighting out of San Diego, California, caught Justin Eilers (10-5-1) fighting out of Davenport, Iowa, with a left kick to the head followed up by a right knee, knocking out Eilers in 1:25 of round one.
In the heavyweight bout, Frank Mir (9-2-0) the former UFC heavyweight champ, fighting out of Las Vegas, lost to Marcio Cruz (2-0) fighting out of Rio DeJanerio, Brazil. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight in 4:10 of round one. It was a tough fight for Mir getting hit in the eye while he was pinned on the mat by Cruz. Mir said that he had taken too much time off on this fight and that he would have to pick up the pieces and be honest with himself.
In the light-heavyweight bout, Renato Sobral (27-5-0) won by a tap out in 2:21 of round one against Mike VanArsdle (11-3-0) fighting out of San Jose, California. Sobral is an excellent submissions expert and got VanArsdle in a rear naked choke. The first fight on the main card was a welterweight bout between Joe Riggs (27-7) fighting out of Phoenix, Arizona and Nick Diaz (12-5-0) fighting out of Stockton, California. Riggs, a former heavyweight, is known for his hard punches and Diaz is known for his versatility. Riggs won by a unanimous decision.
The preliminary fights included a light heavy bout between Mike Whitehead (10-6) fighting out of Salt Lake City Utah, taking on Keith Jardine (11-2-1) fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jardine won by a unanimous decision. A heavyweight bout between Jeff Monson (22-5) fighting out of Olympia, Washington and Brandon Hinkie (15-7) fighting out of Weirton, Wyoming finished in 4:35 of round one when Monson put an arm choke on Hinkie. Monson is known as the top Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling expert in the world. Another heavyweight bout between Gilbert Aldana (6-0-5) fighting out of Chandler, Arizona and Paul Buentelo (20-9-0) fighting out of San Jose, California, showed no remorse. Aldana, who made his debut, was no match for Buentello. Buentello won by TKO in 2:27 of round two.
The last of the preliminaries included a light heavyweight bout between Elvis Sinosic (7-9-2) fighting out of Sydney, Australia, taking on Alessio Sakara (14-3-0-1) (no contest) fighting out of Brazil. Sakara won by a unanimous decision. He also proved that he had the upper hand in a number of take downs on Sinosic. Sakara is also an excellent boxer with his Jujitsu skills.
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