UFC 7: Luck of the draw
The familiar eight-man tournament was back, but for the third time in a row, the UFC put on a Superfight that was not part of the tournament.
Ken Shamrock and Oleg Taktarov, who are close friends, compete in the Superfight, but wind up in a draw in an intense grappling match after 33 minutes. There are no judges and the only way to win is by submission, knockout or throwing in the towel, so Shamrock retained his Superfight title.
Ken Shamrock retained his Superfight title after taking Oleg Taktarov to a draw.
(UFC.com)
Massive Paul Varelans, who is 6 feet, 8 inches and around 300 pounds, returns to the tournament competition after having been knocked out by Tank Abbott at UFC 6.
Varelans, whose nickname is "The Polar Bear," earned two quick submission victories to earn his way to the tournament final, where he would meet a highly regarded Brazilian.
This time, though, it was not Royce Gracie in the finals but rather Marco Ruas, who made his UFC debut.
Ruas, who would go on to become one of the top mixed martial arts fighters in history, also made it to the finals after a pair of submissions. He defeated Larry Cureton and Remco Pardoel to make his way to the finals, where he'd meet Varelans.
Ruas used a series of leg kicks to chop the much bigger man down. After a number of hard kicks, Varelans has difficulty standing and ultimately collapses to the canvas.
Ruas hops on him and finishes it off fairly quickly with a ground-and-pound attack, winning the tournament title.
NOTEWORTHY
The UFC is currently spending millions in an effort to get mixed martial arts legalized in the state of New York. But UFC 7 drew an estimated crowd of 9,000 to the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in its first and, to this point, only UFC card in the state.
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills attends the show and is seen on the pay-per-view telecast several times.
The overtime period in the super fight between Shamrock and Taktarov is only three minutes instead of five, as the rules stated it would be.
RESULTS
Alternates
Joel Sutton def. Geza Kalman, TKO, 0:48
Onassis Parungao def. Francesco Maturi, submission (strikes), 5:26
Scott Bessac def. David Hood, submission (guillotine), 0:31
Quarterfinals
Paul Varelans def. Gerry Harris, submission (strikes) 1:15
Mark Hall def. Harold Howard, submission (strikes), 1:41
Remco Padoel def. Ryan Parker, submission (lapel choke), 3:04
Marco Ruas def. Larry Cureton, submission (heel hooke), 3:23
Semifinals
Varelans def. Hall, submission (keylock), 1:04
Ruas def. Pardoel, submission (armbar), 12:37
Finals
Ruas def. Varelans, TKO, 13:17
Superfight championship
Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov, draw, 33:00. Shamrock retains title.
