The Blog

 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. Lyoto Machida stopped both

 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 first Irish fighter to c

 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 taunted Brock Lesnar ri

 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 years old, wobbled Lesnar

 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 dos Santos stopped Fabric

 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 Taylor delivered Fight of

 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. Introduction2. Quick Stats3. The Build-Up4. Main Event

 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 (30-26 x3) in his hometow

 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 knockout punch became inc

 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 by TKO at 1:02 of round

 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 decision in what prove

 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 minute. The gate was $5.1 m