i dont know if this has been mentioned before, but for all those that saw it...whats was the deal with it ending abruptly, was there a riot or something?
yeah, riot. some guy got stabbed.
Ultimate Athlete Fighting II: The Gathering Results
Saturday, March 16, 2002
Morongo Events Center in California
The show ended early due to a huge riot. The riot occurred during the Rick Slaton/Leo Pavlushkin bout.
Cole Escovedo def. Jay Valencia via Triangle Choke - R1
Pat Minihan def. Adam Lynn via Referee Stoppage - R1
Roman Roytberg def. Andre Walker via Arm bar - R1
Richard Crunkilton def. Bao Quach via Knockout (Punch) - R2
Dennis Hallman def. Buck Greer via Split Decision
Mike Guymon def. Eric Duss via Referee Stoppage - R1
any more specifics on why there was one?
This second ultra-controversial UA Fighting installment ended in a biker-gang riot!
from here......... http://www.sherdog.bigstep.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=894902%7C1223340&PRID=1337242
UA Fighting 2 Review - Ultimate Disaster
3-17-2002 11:29 AM PST
Ultimate Athlete Fighting II - The Gathering, which took place at Morongo Casino in Cabazon California on Saturday night, turned into the ultimate disaster. The evening, which started with a string of exciting fights, ended in a riot that left one man in the hospital with stab wounds, and several others injured.
Approximately 75 members of a biker gang attended the show to cheer on Rick Slaton in his mixed martial arts debut. They became restless when the referee temporarily halted Slaton's fight to allow his opponent to recover from an unintentional knee to the groin. Soon cups and other objects could be seen flying into the ring, and the announcers began asking the crowd to stop the throwing. One man in the VIP section next to the ring did not pay attention to the request, however. He turned towards the bikers and threw a cup of ice back at them.
Several of the bikers immediately approached the VIP area to confront the man who had thrown the cup of ice. However, their progress was blocked by a 3 foot barrier. But, two bikers who were in Slaton's corner for the fight were not blocked by any barriers. They walked up to the man and started beating him. The rest of the gang rushed to the VIP area and began beating several of the other fans who were nearby.
continued.......
As the fighting took place, a distraught Slaton approached two reporters who had sought refuge in the ring, mistaking them for the promoters. "Please help do something to stop this," he pleaded, "or my brothers will kill them." Soon thereafter, he found a microphone and asked that the fighting stop, which it eventually did. Luckily, no one was killed. However, one fan was stabbed, and several others were hit by chairs, kicked, punched and just generally beaten.
Once some semblance of order was restored, the bikers exited the arena. Soon thereafter, the Riverside County Sherrifs, the Palm Springs Police and the California Highway Patrol arrived in large numbers, armed with M-16 assault rifles and shotguns. The police rightfully shut down the show and directed the crowd to exit. Although there were several rumors of gunshots fired outside the arena, the police officers and security personnel stated that they were not aware of any shots fired.
The end of the violence did not bring an end to the consequences, however. What remains to be seen is how much damage Saturday night's riots did to the sport. Promoters, fighters and fans have been struggling for years to change mixed martial arts image from that of an outlaw no-rules spectacle to a legitimate sport. The fruits of that labor were beginning to show as Nevada and New Jersey legalized mixed martial arts, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship return to cable pay per view. But, those gains may be lost if sanctioning bodies, arenas, television outlets, and cable and satellite operators no longer feel comfortable about associating with the sport, or if the casual fans decide not to return to see fights again because they fear for their own personal safety. Only time will tell how much long term damage was done.
In the fights that did take place, Cole Escavedo defeated Jay Valencia by triangle choke 45 seconds into the first round; Pat Milihan beat Adam Lynn by ref stoppage (punches from the mount) at the 4:48 mark of the first round; it took Roman Goythberg 3:30 to win by arm bar against Andre Walker; Richard Crunkilton beat Bo Quach by knock out 1:20 into the second round; Dennis Hallman won a split decision against Buck Greer; and Michael Guymon knocked out Eric Duce in 4:32.
Ultimately, however, the fights in the ring were overshadowed by what can only be described as a disaster outside the ring.
http://www.sherdog.com/viewnews.cfm?newsid=EpEyFAFFVACAzHhmYT