UFC 45: Revolution | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy

Tito Wordsmith
6 days ago
5 min read

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 Championship fight was pulled two weeks before the event when Tim Sylvia tested positive for steroids for the second time — a cascade of replacement opponents for Frank Mir also withdrew, leaving the welterweight main event — Matt Hughes defending against Frank Trigg — to carry the show. Hughes finished in the first round with a body slam and standing rear-naked choke. Evan Tanner TKO’d Phil Baroni in the first round. Pedro Rizzo defeated Ricco Rodriguez. It was not the biggest card the UFC had produced, but as a historical occasion it was irreplaceable.

Quick Stats

📅 Date: November 21, 2003

📍 Venue: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA

🏆 Welterweight Championship: Matt Hughes (c) def. Frank Trigg — Submission (Rear Naked Choke) — R1, 3:54 (Hughes’ fifth successful WW title defence)

🏆 HW Championship: Tim Sylvia tested positive for steroids; bout cancelled; title vacated

🇣🇡 Historic: 10th UFC anniversary; inaugural Hall of Fame (Royce Gracie + Ken Shamrock); Sylvia’s second PED failure; viewer’s choice awards given to 10 pioneers

The Inaugural UFC Hall of Fame

Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock were the first two inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame. The selection was not difficult to argue with: Gracie had won the tournaments at UFC 1, 2, and 4, introducing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to a global audience and demonstrating that ground fighting could defeat striking. Shamrock had won the inaugural Superfight Championship, had been the sport’s most recognisable name for years, and had credited internet fans specifically with keeping the sport alive during its most commercially difficult years.

Both men gave speeches. Shamrock’s thank-you to the online fan community was widely noted as genuine and specific — an acknowledgement that the forums, websites, and message boards of the late 1990s and early 2000s had sustained the sport’s audience when cable television had banned it and mainstream media had dismissed it.

Tim Sylvia’s Second Steroid Failure

Tim Sylvia had won the Heavyweight Championship at UFC 41 in February 2003. He retained it at UFC 44 in September. Before UFC 45, a NSAC test returned a positive result for prohibited substances. The UFC pulled the Heavyweight Championship bout, vacated the title for the second time in Zuffa history (the first being Barnett’s failed test at UFC 36), and began the process of finding a new champion. Frank Mir cycled through three potential opponents before also being removed from the card.

Matt Hughes Finishes Trigg with a Slam and Choke

Frank Trigg had been a top welterweight contender for two years before earning his first title shot at UFC 45. He took Hughes down early and controlled him briefly before Hughes asserted his superior wrestling. Hughes lifted Trigg off the mat, carried him across the Octagon, and slammed him. From there he took Trigg’s back, sank a rear-naked choke while Trigg was still upright, and held it as Trigg fell. The tap came at 3:54 of the first round. Hughes’ fifth successful title defence.

Full Results

Preliminary Card

Yves Edwards def. Nick Agallar — TKO — R2, 2:14

Keith Rockel def. Chris Liguori — Submission (Guillotine Choke) — R1, 3:29

Main Card

Pedro Rizzo def. Ricco Rodriguez — Decision (Unanimous) — R3, 5:00

Robbie Lawler def. Chris Lytle — Decision (Unanimous) — R3, 5:00

Evan Tanner def. Phil Baroni — TKO — R1, 4:42 (Tanner’s first Middleweight bout)

Wesley Correira def. Tank Abbott — TKO (Doctor Stoppage) — R1, 2:14 (knee opened cut; doctor stopped the fight)

Matt Lindland def. Falaniko Vitale — Submission (Strikes) — R3, 4:23 (Lindland avenges his UFC 43 self-KO loss)

UFC Welterweight Championship

Matt Hughes (c) def. Frank Trigg — Submission (Rear Naked Choke) — R1, 3:54 (slam into standing choke; Hughes’ fifth successful WW title defence)

Records & Milestones

🏆 Inaugural UFC Hall of Fame induction — Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock became the sport’s first Hall of Famers on the 10th anniversary of UFC 1.

🧪 Tim Sylvia stripped for steroids again — his second positive test cost him the UFC Heavyweight Championship for the second time; HW title vacated again.

🏆 Matt Hughes’ fifth successful WW title defence — via slam and standing rear-naked choke in the first round.

📅 10th anniversary — the UFC began at UFC 1 on November 12, 1993 in Denver, Colorado; a Viewer’s Choice Award was given to 10 pioneer fighters including Gracie, Shamrock, Couture, Coleman, Abbott, Miletich, Ruas, Severn, Frye, and Taktarov.

Legacy & Impact

UFC 45 is a commemoration event as much as a fight card. The Hall of Fame induction gave the sport its first formal act of historical recognition. Gracie and Shamrock’s speeches, and their presence in the arena surrounded by the generation of fighters they had inspired, represented a kind of institutional adulthood the sport had not previously had. The UFC at ten years old was not what it had been at one, or five. It was regulated, sanctioned, commercially viable, and growing.

The Sylvia situation was an embarrassment. Two positive drug tests in one year, both removing him from headline bouts, suggested the Heavyweight Championship would need a more reliable custodian. Frank Mir, who might have fought for the belt at UFC 45, was still waiting for his title shot.

FAQ

Who were the first UFC Hall of Fame inductees?

Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock were inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at UFC 45 on November 21, 2003, the UFC’s 10th anniversary event. Gracie had won the first, second, and fourth UFC tournaments and introduced Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to international audiences. Shamrock had won the inaugural Superfight Championship and was the sport’s most recognisable early star.

Why was Tim Sylvia not at UFC 45?

Tim Sylvia tested positive for a prohibited substance before UFC 45. The NSAC flagged the result, forcing the UFC to pull the Heavyweight Championship bout from the card and vacate the title. It was Sylvia’s second positive test in Zuffa’s era — the first having prevented him from fighting at an earlier show.

How did Matt Hughes defeat Frank Trigg at UFC 45?

Hughes lifted Trigg, carried him across the Octagon, and body-slammed him. He then took Trigg’s back as they returned to a standing position, applied a rear-naked choke, and held it as Trigg fell to the mat. Trigg tapped at 3:54 of the first round. It was Hughes’ fifth successful WW title defence.