UFC Events

Introduction UFC 54: Boiling Point. August 20, 2005. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. Chuck Liddell made the first successful defence of the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship he had won at UFC 52, stopping Jeremy Horn by TKO in round four. Randy Couture made his light heavyweight debut and submitted Mike Van Arsdale with an anaconda choke in round three. Georges St-Pierre defeated Frank Trigg by rear-naked choke in round one. James Irvin ended Terry Martin with a

Introduction UFC Fight Night 1. August 6, 2005. Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas. Free on Spike TV. The first-ever UFC Fight Night — a format born from the TUF 1 Finale’s success. Eight fights, all featuring TUF Season 1 alumni. Nate Marquardt made his UFC debut in the main event. Kenny Florian opened a deep gash across Alex Karalexis’ nose with a forearm. Nate Quarry stopped Pete Sell in 42 seconds in a controversial finish. Stephan Bonnar, in his second post-TUF fight, beat Sam Ho

Introduction UFC 53: Heavy Hitters. June 4, 2005. Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Sold-out crowd. Rich Franklin defeated Evan Tanner by TKO in round four to win the UFC Middleweight Championship — his path from Cincinnati schoolteacher to champion complete. Andrei Arlovski retained the Interim Heavyweight Championship by knocking out Justin Eilers in round one. Forrest Griffin, seven weeks after the TUF 1 Finale, made his official UFC debut and submitted Bill Mah

Introduction UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2. April 16, 2005. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. One week after Griffin and Bonnar made the TUF finale the most-watched free UFC broadcast in history, the two TUF Season 1 coaches settled their rivalry in the Octagon. Chuck Liddell knocked Randy Couture out in round one at 2:06 to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. It was Couture’s first career knockout loss. The card drew 280,000 PPV buys — from 105,000 at UF

Introduction TUF 1 Finale. April 9, 2005. Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas. Free on Spike TV. The event that made MMA mainstream. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar went fifteen minutes, threw everything they had, and produced the fight Dana White later called the most important in UFC history. Both men were given contracts on the spot. The sport was never the same again. The scheduled main event was Rich Franklin stopping Ken Shamrock by TKO in round one. Diego Sanchez won the TU

Introduction UFC 51: Super Saturday. February 5, 2005. Super Bowl weekend. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Two championship fights, two upsets. Andrei Arlovski submitted Tim Sylvia with an Achilles lock in 47 seconds to win the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship — the interim designation existing because Frank Mir, who had won the belt at UFC 48, was unable to defend after a severe motorcycle accident in September 2004. Evan Tanner knocked out David Terrell

Introduction UFC 50: The War of ’04. October 22, 2004. Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Matt Hughes submitted Georges St-Pierre with an armbar at 4:59 of the first round to win the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship for a record sixth time. St-Pierre’s first career loss. The co-main event featured Tito Ortiz defeating late-replacement Patrick Côté by unanimous decision after original opponent Guy Mezger was taken to hospital with stroke-like symptoms days before th

Introduction UFC 49: Unfinished Business. August 21, 2004. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. The third fight between Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort. Their first meeting at UFC 15 in 1997 saw Couture win by TKO. Their second, at UFC 46, saw Belfort win the Light Heavyweight Championship when a cut above Couture’s eye was stopped by the doctor in 49 seconds. The trilogy decider gave Couture his answer — he ground Belfort down over three rounds, opened a cut above Be

Introduction UFC 48: Payback. June 19, 2004. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Two of the evening’s most memorable moments involved bones. Frank Mir applied an armbar to Tim Sylvia’s right arm in the first round and both bones snapped. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight when he saw the break at 0:50. Mir won the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship. And Ken Shamrock ended a rematch eight years in the making by kneeing Kimo Leopoldo in the head at 1:26 of round

Introduction UFC 47: It’s On! April 2, 2004. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight that took two years to make. Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz had been friends, former training partners, mutual clients of Dana White before Zuffa was formed. Liddell had been the number one light heavyweight contender while Ortiz was champion. Negotiations had stalled for reasons that each man described differently. By the time UFC 47 took place, neither held the Light Heavyw

Introduction UFC 46: Supernatural. January 31, 2004. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Two championship fights were scheduled. Both produced upsets. Vitor Belfort won the Light Heavyweight Championship by opening a cut above Randy Couture’s eye in 49 seconds; the doctor stopped it before a minute had elapsed. Then B.J. Penn moved up from lightweight to welterweight and submitted Matt Hughes with a rear-naked choke in the first round. Two champions lost their ti

Introduction UFC 45: Revolution. November 21, 2003. Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut. The 10th anniversary of the Ultimate Fighting Championship — a decade after eight fighters competed in a no-holds-barred tournament in Denver, Colorado, and a sport was accidentally born. To mark the occasion, the UFC established its Hall of Fame and inducted the two men most responsible for making those early events watchable: Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock. The Heavyweight Cha

Introduction UFC 44: Undisputed. September 26, 2003. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Randy Couture, 40 years old, defeated Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision over five rounds to become the undisputed UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Ortiz’s reign had lasted three and a half years — the longest in the division’s history at that point. Couture ended it with wrestling, ground-and-pound, and a confidence that bordered on theatrical. He spanked Ortiz on the behind mi

Introduction UFC 43: Meltdown. June 6, 2003. Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Tito Ortiz had been the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion for three years but was locked in a contractual dispute with Zuffa and refused to defend against Chuck Liddell. After months of failed negotiations, the UFC created an interim title — the first in the organisation’s history — and matched Liddell against Randy Couture to keep the division moving and pressure Ortiz to return. Most ex

Introduction UFC 42: Sudden Impact. April 25, 2003. American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida. The first UFC event held in Florida, and a card that was less remembered for what happened in the Octagon than for what it represented in the promotion’s ongoing geographical expansion. Matt Hughes defeated Sean Sherk by unanimous decision over five rounds to retain the Welterweight Championship. The co-main card introduced Rich Franklin to the UFC. The card also featured Joe Roga

Introduction UFC 41: Onslaught. February 28, 2003. Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tim Sylvia, in just his second UFC fight, knocked out Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez in the first round to win the title. B.J. Penn and Caol Uno fought five rounds to determine the Lightweight Champion and drew — leaving the 155-pound belt vacant for years. Frank Mir suffered a broken arm while submitting Tank Abbott with a toe hold in 46 seconds. And a judge accidentally tra

Introduction UFC 40: Vendetta. November 22, 2002. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock. The biggest fight in UFC history to that point — a legitimate rivalry, six years in the making, between the sport’s most dominant active champion and its most recognisable legend. Shamrock had been away from the UFC since December 1996. The two had nearly come to blows at UFC 19. Their beef was real, their names were known, and for the first time since t

Introduction UFC 39: The Warriors Return. September 27, 2002. Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut. Ricco Rodriguez won the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship by stopping Randy Couture in the fifth round with a series of elbow strikes that broke Couture’s orbital bone, forcing a verbal submission. It was one of only two fights in UFC history to end in the fifth round. The result ended Couture’s second heavyweight title reign and handed the belt to a 25-year-old “No M

Introduction UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall. July 13, 2002. Royal Albert Hall, London, England. The first UFC event held in the United Kingdom — and the first outside North America since UFC 29 in Tokyo in December 2000. Zuffa had spent months building the audience for this event by securing a weekly Sky Sports deal that broadcast archived UFC fights across the UK. By fight night, the fans at the Royal Albert Hall knew the fighters. The atmosphere was unlike anything the UFC had

Introduction UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets. June 22, 2002. Bellagio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. An oddly numbered event born from a logistical quirk: UFC 38 had already been announced and marketed for the Royal Albert Hall in London, so this Las Vegas card — held three weeks earlier — needed a different designation. It drew 3,700 fans, the smallest audience for any numbered UFC event, and featured only six fights. And yet it produced two milestones that changed the sport’s