UFC Events

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

Introduction UFC 85: Bedlam. June 7, 2008. The O2 Arena, London, England. The event earned its subtitle four times over. The original main event was Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua — replaced when Rua required knee surgery. Then Liddell vs. Rashad Evans — replaced when Liddell tore his hamstring. Then Evans vs. James Irvin — replaced when Irvin broke his foot. Matt Hughes stepped in on short notice to face Thiago Alves, who came in four pounds overweight. Matt Hughes lost

Introduction UFC 84: Ill Will. May 24, 2008. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. BJ Penn retained the UFC Lightweight Championship by TKO at the end of round three when Sean Sherk could not continue due to the damage sustained. Penn dominated all three rounds with superior grappling and striking. Wanderlei Silva stopped Keith Jardine with punches in 36 seconds in the co-main — a ferocious comeback win that brought the crowd to its feet. Lyoto Machida defeated Tito Ortiz by

Introduction UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2. April 19, 2008. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The first UFC event in Canada. Georges St-Pierre stopped Matt Serra with knees to the body at 4:45 of round two, becoming the undisputed UFC Welterweight Champion. The 21,390 fans who packed the Bell Centre broke the UFC’s all-time attendance record, which had stood at 19,049 from UFC 68. It was the fastest sellout in UFC history. Tickets to the public sold in under one minu

Introduction UFC 82: Pride of a Champion. March 1, 2008. Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio. The second UFC in Columbus. Anderson Silva retained the UFC Middleweight Championship and unified it with the PRIDE FC Welterweight Championship by submitting Dan Henderson with a rear-naked choke at 4:52 of round two. Henderson controlled round one with takedowns and ground and pound, earning a 10-9 round on most scorecards. In round two, Anderson Silva reversed momentum with strik

Introduction UFC 81: Breaking Point. February 2, 2008. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira submitted Tim Sylvia with a guillotine choke in round three to win the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. The main event was created because Frank Mir submitted Brock Lesnar with a kneebar at 1:30 of round one in Lesnar’s UFC debut. Lesnar had dominated the early exchanges with wrestling and punches — including illegal blows to the back of the head — b

Introduction UFC 80: Rapid Fire. January 19, 2008. Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England. The first UFC event in Newcastle. BJ Penn defeated Joe Stevenson by rear-naked choke at 4:02 of round two to win the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship, becoming the second fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes. BJ Penn dropped Stevenson with an uppercut in the opening seconds, opened a deep cut above his eye with an elbow in round one, and finished with the ch

Introduction UFC 79: Nemesis. December 29, 2007. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The last UFC card of 2007 delivered two of the year’s most anticipated fights. Georges St-Pierre submitted Chuck Liddell defeated Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) in the co-main — a fight nine years in the making. Both men threw bombs for three rounds. Liddell bloodied Silva and took the fight clearly. Lyoto Machida continued his unbeaten UFC run by s

Introduction UFC 78: Validation. November 17, 2007. Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. The 100th event in UFC history. The UFC’s return to New Jersey for the first time since UFC 53 in Atlantic City in June 2005. Rashad Evans defeated Michael Bisping by split decision — 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 — in the main event, continuing his TUF career trajectory in a result that was immediately disputed. Thiago Silva stopped Houston Alexander by TKO at 3:25 of round one in the co-mai

Introduction UFC 77: Hostile Territory. October 20, 2007. US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio. First UFC in Cincinnati — the hometown of Rich Franklin, defending challenger for Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship. Sold-out 16,054 fans. Venue-record gate of $2.54M. Anderson Silva retained the title by TKO at 1:07 of round two. Same body knee clinch pattern as UFC 64. Before the co-main event, the UFC announced Brock Lesnar — former WWE champion and NCAA wrestling champi

Introduction UFC 76: Knockout. September 22, 2007. Honda Center, Anaheim, California. The event was subtitled ‘Knockout’ and produced no knockouts. Keith Jardine defeated Chuck Liddell by split decision — 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 — in Liddell’s second consecutive loss. Forrest Griffin submitted Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua with a rear-naked choke in round three in one of the card’s biggest upsets. Shogun was making his UFC debut. The original main event was supposed to be Chuck Lidde

Introduction UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion. September 8, 2007. The O2 Arena, London, England. The first UFC event at The O2 and the fourth in the United Kingdom. Quinton Jackson retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Dan Henderson by unanimous decision over five rounds — 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 — in the first unification of UFC and PRIDE titles. Michael Bisping defeated Matt Hamill by controversial split decision in the co-main, fighting before a partisan Lon

Introduction UFC 74: Respect. August 25, 2007. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Randy Couture, 44 years old, retained the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO at 1:37 of round three. Gonzaga had entered the fight as the number one contender after his left high kick KO of Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70. Georges St-Pierre returned from his loss to Matt Serra at UFC 69 with a dominant unanimous decision win over Josh Koscheck — 29-28, 29-28, 30-

Introduction UFC 73: Stacked. July 7, 2007. ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California. Two title fights, a featured LHW co-main, and a PRIDE legend’s debut. Anderson Silva retained the Middleweight Championship by stopping Nate Marquardt with knees and punches at 4:50 of round one. Sean Sherk retained the Lightweight Championship over Hermes Franca by unanimous decision — but both fighters subsequently tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and Sherk was stripped of the t

Introduction UFC 72: Victory. June 16, 2007. The Odyssey, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first UFC event in Belfast. The third European UFC. Rich Franklin defeated Yushin Okami by unanimous decision (29-28 x3) to rebound from his Middleweight Championship loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 64. Forrest Griffin won the co-main against Hector Ramirez by UD (30-27 x3). Clay Guida and Tyson Griffin delivered a split decision war that won Fight of the Night — Guida received the bonu

Introduction UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson. May 26, 2007. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson knocked out UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell at 1:53 of round one to win the LHW Championship. Jackson was the only fighter to have an unavenged win over Liddell, from PRIDE Final Conflict 2003. He had made his UFC debut at UFC 67 just three months earlier. The main event had the most mainstream sports media coverage in UFC history to th

Introduction UFC 70: Nations Collide. April 21, 2007. Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England. The second UFC event held in the United Kingdom, the first in Manchester, and the seventh UFC event ever held outside the United States. The card delivered one of the sport’s most iconic moments: Gabriel Gonzaga knocked out Mirko Cro Cop with a left high kick at 4:51 of round one — the King of the Head Kick defeated by his own weapon. Andrei Arlovski defeated Fabricio

Introduction UFC 69: Shootout. April 7, 2007. Toyota Center, Houston, Texas. The first UFC event in the state of Texas. In the main event, Matt Serra stopped Georges St-Pierre by TKO at 3:25 of round one to win the UFC Welterweight Championship. St-Pierre was a 7-to-1 betting favourite. Serra knocked him down twice before the stoppage. It is considered the biggest upset in MMA history. Serra had earned the title shot by winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 4. Georges St-Pi

Introduction UFC 68: The Uprising. March 3, 2007. Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio. The first UFC event in the state of Ohio, coinciding with the 2007 Arnold Sports Festival. A sold-out crowd of 19,079 — the largest verifiable attendance in North American MMA history at the time. Randy Couture, 43 years old, coming out of 12 months of retirement as a +205 underdog, defeated UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia by unanimous decision over five rounds to become the UFC Heavywei