Ultimate Combat 4, December 1, 2002 Chipenham, England
UFC legend Dan Severn headlined a revised card at Ultimate Combat to finish off one of the busiest weekends in UK MMA history. With three shows in two days (Cagewarriors, U.Z.I. and Ultimate Combat) UK fans were definately spoilt for choice and UC4 managed to provide quality with quantity. Severn treated the audience to a wrestling clinic as he repeatedly took down his opponent and punished him with knees, elbows and punches from the side mount. To Ward’s credit he never looked like giving up when most in his position would, until the closing moments of the fight when Severn took mount and tapped him out with a choke. Whilst it was great to see such a veteran put on a great display, several previous matches really wowed the appreciative audience. Pierre Guillet continued his winning streak in Ultimate Combat beating Andy Foreman with a keylock from the mount. Foreman, a former promoter, wanted one last fight but picked a tough opponent to have it with! After Foreman came out head hunting and landing a few good shots, Guillet took him down to the mat and worked his game. Match of the night came courtesy of Lars Besand and Sol Gilbert who put on an incredible show of all aspects of MMA. Besand dominated early with some impressive ground skills but Gilbert showed incredible resiliance and came back to impose his striking on the Dane. An unintentional low blow by Gilbert threatenned to stop the match prematurely but Besand fought on, and after two rounds and overtime the judges awarded a draw. As well as the international fighters the show also saw fine performances from the domestic athletes, and with both Lightweigh and Welterweight British titles on the line in the next show it’ll be interesting to see how it shapes up. 1. LIGHTWEIGHT PROFESSIONAL BOUT LEON HOWELL vs LUKE COLE – Howell (Judges decision) 2. WELTERWEIGHT PROFESSIONAL BOUT DAVID WEBB vs BRIAN BLEWITT – Webb (Judges decision) 3. LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT PROFESSIONAL BOUT MATT SPERRNG vs ALEX COOK – Cook (1.41 R2, KO) 4. LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT EUROPEAN BOUT ADAM WOOLMER (ENGLAND) vs PAULI NIELSEN (DENMARK) – Woolmer (0.40 R1, TKO – referee`s stoppage) 5. LIGHTWEIGHT PROFESSIONAL BOUT JOHN WAITE vs LEE SHONE – Waite (Judges decision) 6. FREEWEIGHT PROFESSIONAL BOUT PAUL SUTHERLAND vs GAVIN BRADLEY – Sutherland (Judges decision) 7. WELTERWEIGHT BRITISH TITLE SEMI-FINAL PAUL JENKINS vs PAUL WILLIAMSON – Jenkins (Judges decision) 8. LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT INTERNATIONAL SUPERFIGHT ANDY FOREMAN (ENGLAND) vs PIERRE GUILLET (USA) – Guillet (2.49 R1, Submission) 9. HEAVYWEIGHT PROFESSIONAL BOUT IAN CROSS vs COLIN LEWIS – Cross (2.02 R2, KO) 10. LIGHTWEIGHT BRITISH TITLE SEMI-FINAL MARK CHEN vs DAVE McLAUGHLIN – Chen (4.34 R1, KO) 11. LIGHTWEIGHT EUROPEAN SUPERFIGHT JOE GONZALEZ (FRANCE) vs PAT CARR (ENGLAND) – Carr (1.52 R2, Submission) 12. MIDDLEWEIGHT EUROPEAN SUPERFIGHT SOL GILBERT (ENGLAND) vs LARS BESAND (DENMARK) – DRAW (Judges decision) HEAVYWEIGHT INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL BOUT DAN "THE BEAST" SEVERN (USA) vs MIKE "BUSTER" WARD (ENGLAND) – Severn (1.42 OVERTIME, Submission)