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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Card In Years!, August 18, 2000
John Peretti was brought into the UFC for one reason and one reason only; to provide the fans with competetive bouts. UFC XVII. was his second as the matchmaker, to me his best. The night started with a 4-man middleweight tournament. It consisted of 4 very qualified fighters, who were eager to show they were worthy of a future fight against Frank Shamrock. Names like Dan Henderson, Alan Goes, Bob Gilstrap, and Carlos Newton were as good as they came. Each fight, (except for one) was close and could have gone to any of the participants. The best middleweight tournament. The rest of the card consisted of 3 heavyweight showdowns. Each fight was an interesting matchup. The first fight between Mike Van Arsdale and Joe Pardo was explosive. Van Arsdale's wrestling skills were pitted against Pardo's Jiu-Jitsu. Fight number 2 had Brazilian fighting legend Hugo Duarte pitted against "Tank" Abbott. Duarte's reputation was on the line, and Tank was expected to be another fallen foe. It was an intriguing fight because of Duarte's questionable background(beating Harold Howard, whoa!), and Tank's not-so good record. The bout lasted only about a minute or so, and we found who was the real joke. The final fight was originally supposed to pit Heavyweight champion Randy Couture against former champ Mark Coleman. Randy Couture for some reason could not defend his title, so a replacement, Pete Williams was inserted as the challenger. This looked like the biggest Superfight mismatch ever, and it was up until they begen the fight. William's was a Lion's Den fighter, but with no real experience. His chances of even surviving were slim. The result was the best KO in UFC history, a great fight that will wear out your slow-motion on your VCR.
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