Nyligen blev det klart att det blir en Hall of Fame-plats för matchen mellan Pete Williams och Mark Coleman på UFC 17. Williams ser tillbaka på fighten och huvudsparksknocken som gav honom segern.
Tidigare i somras rapporterade vi om en ny induktion i UFCs Hall of Fame – matchen som bjöd på organisationens första KO via huvudspark.
MMA Junkie har nu intervjuat Pete Williams (12-6), som var den som levererade knocken. Williams kommer tydligt ihåg hur det var inför matchen mot Mark Coleman (16-10), på UFC 17 år 1998.
”I was the heavy underdog, and there were a lot of instances there that reminded me of that – just being in the hotel and having people react to you or certain situations. I remember all those situations just kind of fired me up.
Backstage, I remember we were both getting ready to come out. Mark’s on the other side of the backstage area about to walk out to his side, and I just was, like, so calm. That’s the best I can say. I was very calm for that fight and very, very focused. It was all business that night.”
Matchen gick till övertid och det var då Williams fick in knockouttekniken – den enda huvudsparken han gjorde i fighten.
”The time I had on the feet, I was using that low kick to kind of soften him up and set up the high kick. After a few hard low kicks, I noticed he was trying to protect the leg, dropping his hands. I just kind of timed it.
I threw a fake right hand and threw the kick instead, and it landed right on the money.”
Mötet mellan Williams och Coleman kommer nu alltså att bli en del av UFCs hedersmuseum för matcher, något som Williams aldrig hade kunnat tänka sig.
”It was never something that I had in my mind to accomplish or something that through getting into this sport and falling in with a great team like the Lion’s Den thought that I would be able to achieve this.
It blows my mind, actually.”
