INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA — The World Fighting Alliance made a successful comeback into the world of Mixed Martial Arts with “King of the Streets,” which saw Quinton “Rampage” Jackson take a controversial split decision victory over Matt “The Law” Lindland, as well as MMA legend Bas “El Guapo” Rutten drop Ruben “Warpath” Villareal with brutal leg kicks in the first round.

The Return of Bas Rutten

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA — The World Fighting Alliance made a successful comeback into the world of Mixed Martial Arts with “King of the Streets,” which saw Quinton “Rampage” Jackson take a controversial split decision victory over Matt “The Law” Lindland, as well as MMA legend Bas “El Guapo” Rutten drop Ruben “Warpath” Villareal with brutal leg kicks in the first round.

Former UFC ringgirl Amber Nichole

Many were skeptical that the WFA would be able to return to the business after their franchise disappeared several years ago. With the UFC and Spike TV’s Ultimate Fighter reality show tearing up the mainstream, and the Ultimate Fighting Championships slowly turning into a household name, things looked grim for those wishing to steal the UFC’s share of the market. Fortunately for WFA, and even more so for fight fans everywhere, a new star may be on the rise in the world of MMA promotion. The July 22nd, 2006 fight card rivaled that of any UFC or Pride show, and many would argue that it was leaps and bounds ahead of UFC 61’s lackluster show. While the historic Inglewood Forum was far from packed, and the crowd was one of the worst and most unforgiving of any show west of the Mississippi, “King of the Streets” was ultimately a success for the fighters, fans, and promoters.

TV’s King of Queens star Kevin James

The main event of the evening was a showdown between former Pride star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and UFC standout & Olympic Silver Medalist Matt “The Law” Lindland. The first stanza saw Lindland implement the same game plan that has lead him to success on numerous occasions. Lindland almost immediately went for the clinch, looking to wear his tough opponent down. The fighters traded short knees before ending up with “The Law’s” back to the fence. After one of these knees Rampage was able to grab the leg and hoist Lindland high into the air for one of his trademark slams. After a short scramble on the canvas, the fighters managed to get back to their feet, where Lindland proceeded to get into position to offer up a big body slam of his own. Matt then moved to Quinton’s back, and here he stayed for the majority of the round. With a minute or so left in the opening period, Matt secured a rear choke, but Rampage was swift in defending it, never allowing himself to succumb to the tapout.

Aside from a partially blocked left high kick, the second round was much more in favor of Jackson, who was able to use his trademark slam and ensuing ground and pound to win the round. The third round started off pretty even, but Lindland showed his improved standup skills by landing yet another left high kick and some good punches. Rampage never really got the opportunity to show off his superior standup, as Lindland was quick to clinch whenever the fighters closed the distance. Towards the end of the round “The Law” managed to catch Rampage in a tight guillotine choke, and pulled the Pride star into his guard. Again it looked like the end may be looming for Rampage, but the tough fighter powered his way out before standing up and delivering a grazing flying knee at the bell. Two out of three judges scored it 29-28 in favor of Jackson, granting him the split decision victory. It should be noted that although it was a close fight, Photographer Robert Gallardo and myself both had it scored 29-28 in favor Lindland.

In the co-main event, it took MMA legend Bas “El Guapo” Rutten only 3:24 seconds to score a TKO victory over late replacement Ruben “Warpath” Villareal. Rutten, who could not kick for almost six weeks due to an ACL injury, landed some hard punches to the head in the opening minutes. Warpath, known for his iron chin and tremendous heart, took every one of them without flinching. It was then that fellow legend Ken Shamrock screamed out to Bas to chop his opponent’s legs with kicks. Rutten decided to bite the bullet, and after the first right leg kick landed you could tell that Villareal was in trouble. The third kick, although partially blocked, signaled that the end was nigh. The next kick put the fight in the books, as Villareal fell to the canvas, unable to stand any longer. Ruben is an extremely tough fighter, especially for stepping up on less than two days notice, but Rutten has some of the hardest low kicks in MMA next to Mirko Filipovic. Ruben Villareal was a late replacement for Kimo Leopoldo, who failed his pre-fight urinalysis due to the presence of a banned anabolic steroid.

In a very lackluster fight Ryoto Machida eked out a unanimous decision victory over Vernon “Tiger” White. Both fighters looked very tentative throughout the three round bout, each looking to counter. The problem with pitting two counter fighters against each other is that neither wants to initiate the attack, as was the case in this bout. Machida looked extremely fast for a Light-Heavyweight, and his low karate stance facilitated some powerful leg kicks. White showcased some strong punches, but sadly could not find his range against the ever-retreating Machida, who seemed to dance away from every offensive attempt thrown at him. Hopefully Machida will look to bring the fight in his next outing, as he has a very lofty reputation to live up to as the only man to beat UFC Middleweight Champ Rich Franklin. 

Jason “Mayhem” Miller made his Myspace fans proud in his fight with Ultimate Fighter alum Lodune “The Vanilla Gorilla” Sincaid. Although his pre-fight description of “colorful” doesn’t even begin to describe him, Mayhem always comes to fight regardless of his out-of or in-ring antics. Tonight was no different, as he showcased his slick ground skills en route to a submission victory by rear naked choke. After coming out of the gate with a funky flying kick to knee to takedown combination, Mayhem delivered some harsh knees to the body of his opponent. Sincaid was a game adversary, but it looked as if a penetrating knee to the liver took the fight out of him long enough for Miller to score a takedown. Once on the ground, the fight was basically Miller’s for the taking, save for a nice reversal by Lodune. The official stoppage came via tapout at 4:29 of round 1.

The fight of the night was definitely a battle of iron wills between Ivan Salaverry and tough as nails Art “Pachuco” Santore. After being axed by the UFC after a boring fight against Nathan Marquardt, Salaverry looked to change his TV image by coming out like a man possessed. Santore, known by all as an extremely durable and tough fighter, seemed a little surprised by this, but quickly caught his rhythm after a few seconds. Salaverry showcased his improved standup, peppering the wrapped right knee of his opponent with hard kicks. Santore responded with his bull rush of punches, defense on the backburner. Santore must know that he has one of the best chins out there, because it looked as though he was not afraid to take anything that his opponent could offer up. This strategy caught up with “Pachuco” towards the end of the second round, as the accumulation of damage caused some major problems. Salaverry picked apart his opponent with brutal kicks to the head, body, and legs, peppering punches in combinations as well. In the second period Salaverry managed to sneak in a nice right high kick that wobbled his opponent, before finally dropping Santore with a combination of punches punctuated with a thunderous left hook. Salaverry finished with strikes on the mat for the KO victory at 4:18 of round 2, becoming the first man to knock out Art Santore in a professional bout. 

In another exciting fight, as well as a rematch of truly epic proportions, Ricco Rodriguez battled Ron “H2O Man” Waterman. Ricco nearly knocked Waterman out in their first match before dropping a close decision, and this time he looked to implement the same strategy. After about a minute of trying to find his range, Ricco began to connect with some hard punches, landing several huge overhand rights on the jaw, consistently damaging the tough Waterman. All Ron could muster in the way of offense were some stuffed takedown attempts, which became more and more of a long shot as the first round wore on. Once the bell sounded, it was clear that Waterman was hurt badly from the punches, and the ringside physician called a halt to the bout. Ricco Rodriguez wins by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round 1.

In yet another rematch, “Razor” Rob McCullough won a unanimous decision over Harris “The Hitman” Sarmiento. McCullough used his devastating low kicks to set up some crisp punch combinations, which Sarmiento didn’t have much of an answer for. To his credit, Sarmiento landed some punches and kicks of his own (largely demonstrated by the puffy pink left cheek of McCullough), but for the most part this bout was pretty one sided. “Razor” most likely would have scored the knockout had he been fighting any less of an opponent, but Sarmiento is a game and tough challenge for anyone in the 155lb weight-class.

Marvin “The Beastman” Eastman fought to a draw with Jorge “Van Damme” Oliveira. While most draws in the fight game are not very fun to watch, this contest was extremely entertaining and close, and the decision was definitely justified. Oliveira looked to live up to his nickname early, winging in left high kicks, following with spinning hook kicks if his attacks missed. Eastman on the other hand was comfortable throwing more orthodox jabs, crosses, hooks, and leg kicks. Both scored with several blows, one of which opened up a cut on the left cheek of Oliveira. The highlight of the bout was a large exchange in the second period, one that saw Eastman duck into a high kick before snapping back his opponent’s head with a nice right cross. The sequence repeated itself, once again ending with a punctuated right cross from “The Beastman.” Despite loud booing from the crowd, this was an extremely entertaining and technical striking bout, full of violence and excitement from bell to bell.

The opening fight of the night saw Danish striker Martin Kampmann, a late replacement for an injured Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons, KO Edwin Aguilar at 2:43 of round 1.

Wrestler Bill Goldberg at the WFA