UFC Events

Introduction UFC 67: All or Nothing. February 3, 2007. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The first UFC pay-per-view broadcast in High Definition. The card was originally scheduled to feature two championship fights — Anderson Silva defending the Middleweight title against Travis Lutter, and Georges St-Pierre defending the Welterweight title against Matt Serra — but both fell through. Lutter came in 1.4 lbs over the middleweight limit; the bout proceeded as a no

Introduction UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2. December 30, 2006. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. New Year’s Eve weekend. Chuck Liddell retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship by TKO at 3:59 of round three against Tito Ortiz. Liddell finished the fight with a torn MCL. The event drew just over 1 million pay-per-view buys — the first time in UFC history that threshold had been crossed. The live gate was the highest in North American MMA history. In the co-main, Keith

Introduction UFC Fight Night 7: Sanchez vs. Riggs. December 13, 2006. MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California. Wednesday night. Free on Spike TV. The first UFC event held on a United States military base. The audience consisted almost entirely of Marines stationed at Miramar; only five pairs of seats were made available to the public via auction, with proceeds going to Marine Corps Community Services. Diego Sanchez knocked out Joe Riggs with a flying knee at 1:45 of round one i

Introduction The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale: The Comeback. November 11, 2006. The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. Matt Serra defeated Chris Lytle by split decision to win the TUF 4 Welterweight Tournament and earn an automatic title shot against Georges St-Pierre. That title shot led to one of the biggest upsets in MMA history at UFC 69 in April 2007. Travis Lutter defeated Patrick Cote by armbar in round one to win the TUF 4 Middleweight Tournament

Introduction UFC 65: Bad Intentions. November 18, 2006. ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California. The UFC's first event at this venue. Georges St-Pierre defeated Matt Hughes by TKO at 1:25 of round two to win the UFC Welterweight Championship. The fight was the payoff of one of MMA's most famous pre-fight declarations: GSP's cage-side ‘I am not impressed by your performance’ at UFC 63 six weeks earlier. In the co-main, Tim Sylvia retained the UFC Heavyweight Championship agains

Introduction UFC 64: Unstoppable. October 14, 2006. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Anderson Silva won the UFC Middleweight Championship by stopping Rich Franklin with body knees in the clinch at 2:59 of round one, beginning a title reign that lasted 2,457 days — the longest in UFC history. In the co-main event, Sean Sherk defeated Kenny Florian by unanimous decision over five rounds (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) to capture the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship — the fir

Introduction UFC Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter. October 10, 2006. Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida. Free on Spike TV. Tuesday night. The first UFC event in Florida. Tito Ortiz stopped Ken Shamrock by KO at 2:23 of round one, winning their series 3-0. The two-hour broadcast drew a 3.1 overall Spike TV rating — shattering every previous UFC cable television record. The previous record was 2.0, set by the TUF 2 and TUF 3 Finales. The Final Ch

Introduction UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn. September 23, 2006. Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California. Matt Hughes retained the UFC Welterweight Championship by stopping B.J. Penn in round three with crucifix ground and pound at 3:53. The series was levelled at 1-1: Penn had submitted Hughes at UFC 46 in 2004; Hughes won the rematch at UFC 63. The event was originally scheduled as Hughes vs. Georges St-Pierre — GSP withdrew with a severe groin injury in early August. Penn stepped

Introduction UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral. August 26, 2006. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Chuck Liddell retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with a first-round KO of Renato Sobral at 1:35 — his third consecutive title defence. Liddell knocked Sobral down twice and finished with unanswered punches. KO of the Night. In the co-main, Forrest Griffin defeated Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision — 30-27 on all three scorecards — in the TUF Season 1 rematch. T

Introduction UFC Fight Night 6: Sanchez vs. Parisyan. August 17, 2006. Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, Nevada. Free on Spike TV — broadcast as a lead-in to the TUF Season 4 premiere. Diego Sanchez defeated Karo Parisyan by unanimous decision over three rounds (29-28, 29-28, 30-26) in a fight that was later named UFC Fight of the Year for 2006. The event drew a 1.5 overall Spike TV rating with 9 fights. Chris Leben stopped Jorge Santiago by KO in round two at 0:35

Introduction UFC 61: Bitter Rivals. July 8, 2006. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Tim Sylvia retained the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Andrei Arlovski by unanimous decision over five rounds — 48-47, 49-46, 48-47 — ending their trilogy 2-1 in Sylvia's favour. In the co-main, Tito Ortiz stopped Ken Shamrock at 1:18 of round one with elbows after early head clashes dazed Shamrock. Shamrock announced his MMA retirement afterward. The event surpassed UFC 60's re

Introduction UFC Fight Night 5. June 28, 2006. The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. Free on Spike TV — lead-in for the Blade: The Series premiere. In 49 seconds, Anderson Silva knocked out Chris Leben with a knee and announced himself as the future of the middleweight division. It was his UFC debut. Leben had been unbeaten inside the Octagon and had promised before the fight to remain so. Silva threw two jabs, tossed Leben to the mat, followed him down, and

Introduction UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie. May 27, 2006. Memorial Day weekend. Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. Matt Hughes, the UFC Welterweight Champion, faced Royce Gracie in a non-title catchweight bout at 175 pounds. Hughes was 32. Gracie was 39. The fight lasted 4:39 of round one. The event drew 620,000 PPV buys — the highest in UFC history and the first to break $20 million in gross PPV sales. Hughes controlled and dominated throughout. The California State At

Introduction UFC 59: Reality Check. April 15, 2006. Arrowhead Pond (Honda Center), Anaheim, California. The first UFC event held in California following the state's legalisation of MMA. A sold-out crowd of over 17,000 — the largest US arena audience in UFC history at the time. Tim Sylvia reclaimed the UFC Heavyweight Championship from Andrei Arlovski in one of the most dramatic round-one swings in title fight history. Arlovski dropped Sylvia with an overhand right and mov

Introduction UFC 58: USA vs. Canada. March 4, 2006. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Every fight on the card featured an American vs. a Canadian. The final score: USA 5, Canada 3. Rich Franklin retained the Middleweight Championship by dominating David Loiseau over five rounds, scoring 50-42, 50-42, and 50-43 on the judges' cards. Georges St-Pierre defeated B.J. Penn by split decision in the co-main, bouncing back from his second-round TKO loss to Sean Sherk at UFC

Introduction UFC Fight Night 3. January 16, 2006. The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. Free on Spike TV. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Eight fights. One lasted six seconds. Duane Ludwig knocked out Jonathan Goulet at 0:06 of the first round — the fastest knockout in UFC history at the time. In the main event, Tim Sylvia defeated Assuerio Silva by unanimous decision over three rounds. Stephan Bonnar submitted James Irvin with a kimura at 4:30 of round

Introduction UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3. February 4, 2006. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. MMA's first major trilogy. Chuck Liddell knocked out Randy Couture at 1:28 of round two to retain the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and win the series 2-1. Couture announced his retirement after the loss. The event generated a $3.3 million gate — a UFC record — and approximately 400,000 PPV buys, also a record. In 2003, their first fight had been an interim title bout

Introduction UFC 56: Full Force. November 19, 2005. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The TUF Season 2 coaches — Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes — headlined the card defending their titles. Franklin knocked out Nate Quarry in 2:34 of round one. Hughes won a non-title catchweight bout against Joe Riggs, who had missed weight. Sean Sherk stopped Georges St-Pierre by TKO in round two — GSP's second career loss. UFC 56 was the first UFC PPV to feature a TUF alumnus (Nate Quarr

Introduction TUF 2 Finale. November 5, 2005. The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. Free on Spike TV. The second TUF season finale drew a 2.0 overall Spike TV rating — the highest UFC cable television audience at that point. Joe Stevenson won the welterweight final over Luke Cummo by unanimous decision. Rashad Evans won the heavyweight final over Brad Imes by split decision — Evans became UFC LHW Champion at UFC 87 in 2008. Diego Sanchez defeated Nick

Introduction UFC 55: Fury. October 7, 2005. Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut. Andrei Arlovski knocked out Paul Buentello in 15 seconds to make his first defence of the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship. On August 12, 2005, the UFC had upgraded Arlovski’s interim title to undisputed after Frank Mir — still recovering from his September 2004 motorcycle accident — was stripped due to inactivity. Arlovski’s defence was the fastest heavyweight title finish of the