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 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 — before Mir locked in th

 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 strikes and clinch work, loc

 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 choke in round two. Anton

 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 submitting Rameau Thier

 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-main, delivering the night

MMA has evolved from a controversial combat style to a regulated sport, attracting millions globally.

 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 champion — had signed with th

 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 Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva

 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 London crowd in their rema

 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, 30-27. Joe Rogan described

 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 title. Rashad Evans an

 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 bonus despite losing. The e