UFC Events

Introduction UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera. November 14, 2009. Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England. The second UFC event in Manchester. Randy Couture defeated Brandon Vera by unanimous decision — 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 — in a light heavyweight main event. It was Couture’s last win in the UFC. Dan Hardy defeated Mike Swick by unanimous decision — 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 — in the co-main, earning a UFC Welterweight Championship fight against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 111

Introduction UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun. October 24, 2009. Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. Lyoto Machida retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua — 48-47, 48-47, 48-47. The decision was immediately and widely regarded as one of the most controversial in UFC history. Rua landed significantly more strikes: 80 significant strikes at 55% accuracy against Machida’s 35 at 32%. Dana White told the post-fight p

Introduction UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort. September 19, 2009. American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas. The first UFC event in Texas. Vitor Belfort stopped Rich Franklin by TKO with punches at 3:02 of round one in a catchweight 195 lb main event — Belfort’s UFC return after four years away. Junior dos Santos stopped Mirko Cro Cop in round three (eye injury). Paul Daley made his UFC debut replacing the injured Mike Swick and stopped Martin Kampmann by TKO in round one. Th

Introduction UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira. August 29, 2009. Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon. The first UFC event in Oregon. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeated Randy Couture by unanimous decision — 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 — scoring two knockdowns across three rounds. Todd Duffee knocked out Tim Hague in 21 seconds — one of the fastest heavyweight KOs in UFC history. Nate Marquardt stopped Demian Maia. Jake Rosholt submitted Chris Leben with an arm triangle in round three. Thiago

Introduction UFC 101: Declaration. August 8, 2009. Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first UFC event in Philadelphia. Anderson Silva, the UFC Middleweight Champion, moved up to Light Heavyweight for a non-title bout and knocked out BJ Penn retained the Lightweight Championship against Kenny Florian with a rear-naked choke at 3:54 of round four in the main event. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Quick Stats 3. The Build-Up 4. Main Event 5. Co-Main Event 6. Fu

Introduction UFC 100. July 11, 2009. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. The UFC’s milestone 100th numbered event. 1,600,000 PPV buys — the all-time record. Gate: $5,128,490. Brock Lesnar unified the Heavyweight Championship by stopping Frank Mir by TKO at 1:48 of round two. After the fight, Lesnar gave the crowd the middle finger, insulted a sponsor, and made crude statements about his wife, generating a post-fight controversy that matched the in-cage performance in sca

Introduction UFC 99: The Comeback. June 13, 2009. Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany. The first UFC event held in Germany and the first in mainland Europe. Rich Franklin defeated Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision over three rounds in a catchweight 195 lb main event — a fight that earned Fight of the Night honours and gave the German crowd exactly what it paid for. Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipović made his UFC comeback, stopping Mostapha Al-Turk by TKO in round one — his first U

Introduction UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida. May 23, 2009. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans at 3:57 of round two to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion — the first title of his career. Both fighters were undefeated: Rashad Evans at 14-0-1, Machida at 16-0. Machida’s karate-based counterstrike system had made him the most frustrating opponent in LHW history — nobody had found an answer. Evans was dropped in round one, recovered

Introduction UFC 97: Redemption. April 18, 2009. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The second UFC in Montreal broke the attendance record set 364 days earlier at UFC 83 — by 61 people, reaching 21,451 fans. Anderson Silva retained the Middleweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Thales Leites — 49-46, 48-47, 50-46 — but was booed relentlessly for five rounds. The Montreal crowd chanted “G-S-P.” Dana White called the performance “embarrassing.” Rashad Evan

Introduction UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine. March 7, 2009. Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio. The third UFC event in Columbus. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson defeated Keith Jardine by unanimous decision — 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 — over three rounds in the light heavyweight main event. Shane Carwin defeated Gabriel Gonzaga to continue his rapid rise in the heavyweight division. After the main event, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans entered the cage and publicly challenged J

Introduction UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson. February 21, 2009. The O2 Arena, London, England. The third UFC event at The O2. Diego Sanchez defeated Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision — 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 — in a three-round lightweight main event between two Ultimate Fighter winners. Paulo Thiago knocked out Josh Koscheck in round one in one of the event’s biggest upsets — Thiago’s first UFC fight on a one-event contract. Dan Hardy stopped Rory Markham in 1:09 of round o

Introduction UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2. January 31, 2009. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Super Bowl weekend. Georges St-Pierre retained the UFC Welterweight Championship with a dominant four-round performance over BJ Penn's team immediately filed a formal complaint alleging that GSP’s corner had applied Vaseline to his body during corner breaks — ‘Greasegate.’ Surveillance footage confirmed the application. The UFC changed its Vaseline rules. The result stood. Ly

Introduction UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson. January 17, 2009. The O2 Arena, Dublin, Ireland. The first UFC event in Ireland. Dan Henderson defeated Rich Franklin by split decision — 29-28, 29-28, 27-30 — in a three-round light heavyweight contest. The winner would coach TUF 9 opposite Michael Bisping. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua stopped Mark Coleman by TKO in round three in the co-main — a redemption win after Rua’s submission loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76. Tom Egan, the f

Introduction UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008. December 27, 2008. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Three headlining fights. Three stoppages. Two titles changed. Rashad Evans defeated Frank Mir stopped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by TKO at 1:54 of round two to win the Interim Heavyweight Championship — the first stoppage loss of Nogueira’s career. Quinton Jackson knocked out Wanderlei Silva in round one, winning their first UFC meeting after going 0-2 against Silva in PRIDE. Mir t

Introduction UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar. November 15, 2008. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Brock Lesnar defeated Randy Couture by TKO at 3:07 of round two to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar was 2-1 as a professional fighter entering the fight. The decision to grant him a title shot was controversial. Over 1,000,000 PPV buys — second largest in UFC history at the time, driven by Lesnar’s crossover appeal from professional wrestling. Randy Couture, 45 ye

Introduction UFC 90: Silva vs. Côté. October 25, 2008. Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois. The first UFC event in Illinois. Anderson Silva retained the Middleweight Championship via TKO at 0:39 of round three when Patrick Côté’s knee gave out as he attempted a kick. Côté had been the first of Silva’s UFC opponents to survive into the third round. Thiago Alves defeated Josh Koscheck by unanimous decision in the co-main, handing Koscheck his first loss since 2005. Junior do

Introduction UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben. October 18, 2008. National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England. The first UFC event in Birmingham — the fifth UK UFC overall. Michael Bisping defeated Chris Leben by unanimous decision — 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 — in front of a passionate hometown crowd. Keith Jardine defeated Brandon Vera by controversial split decision in the co-main. Luiz Cane stopped Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou by TKO to earn Knockout of the Night. Chris Lytle and Paul Ta

Introduction UFC 88: Breakthrough. September 6, 2008. Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia. The first UFC event in Atlanta since UFC 13 in 1997 — an eleven-year gap. Rashad Evans knocked out Rich Franklin stopped Matt Hamill with a body kick and punches at 0:39 of round three in the co-main. Dan Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares by unanimous decision. Nate Marquardt TKO’d Martin Kampmann in round one. 14,736 attended. $2.6M gate. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Quick Stats

Introduction UFC 87: Seek and Destroy. August 9, 2008. Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The first UFC event in Minnesota. Georges St-Pierre retained the Welterweight Championship with a dominant unanimous decision over Jon Fitch — 50-44, 50-43, 50-44 — the most lopsided scorecards a five-round championship fight had produced. Fitch had been unbeaten in the UFC at 8-0 and had not been finished in six years. Brock Lesnar defeated Heath Herring by unanimous decision (3

Introduction UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin. July 5, 2008. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Forrest Griffin, a heavy underdog and The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner, defeated Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson by unanimous decision — 48-46, 48-46, 49-46 — over five rounds to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Griffin was dropped by Jackson’s uppercut in round one. He rallied with leg kicks, body work, and persistent forward pressure. Jackson’s hunt for the kn