UFC 47: It's On! | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy

Roe Jogan
6 days ago
4 min read

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 Heavyweight Championship — Vitor Belfort was champion after UFC 46. But the fight still had to happen.

Liddell knocked Ortiz out in 38 seconds of the second round. It was the first time Ortiz had been knocked out in his career. The card drew 106,000 PPV buys, the first event to crack that mark since UFC 40, and was the second-highest gate in UFC history at $1.44 million. Nick Diaz stood toe-to-toe with Robbie Lawler and knocked him out with a right hand. Tim Sylvia was pulled for steroids yet again.

Quick Stats

📅 Date: April 2, 2004

📍 Venue: Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

🥊 Main Event: Chuck Liddell def. Tito Ortiz — KO (Punches) — R2, 0:38 (Ortiz’s first career KO loss)

💥 Co-Main: Nick Diaz def. Robbie Lawler — KO (Punch) — R2, 1:29 (Diaz stood with a knockout specialist and won)

📜 Historic: 106k PPV buys; second-highest gate in UFC history at the time ($1.44M); Sylvia pulled for steroids again; first Ortiz KO loss

The Fight That Finally Happened

Liddell and Ortiz had first nearly clashed at UFC 19 in 1999 when Ortiz wore a t-shirt mocking Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den team. The animosity grew. Their management and friendship prevented a formal fight while Ortiz was champion. After Ortiz lost the title to Couture at UFC 44, the negotiating excuse disappeared. Dana White and Zuffa arranged UFC 47 specifically for this fight.

In round two, Liddell found Ortiz with a right hand as Ortiz was coming forward, followed with more punches, and Ortiz went down and could not answer. McCarthy stopped it at 0:38. Ortiz claimed afterward that an eye poke had compromised his vision, which Liddell rejected. The result was not overturned. It was the first of what would become a trilogy.

Nick Diaz Knocks Out Robbie Lawler

Diaz was a submission fighter from Stockton. Lawler was one of the most powerful punchers at welterweight. In what appeared to be a tactical mismatch, Diaz opted to trade with Lawler for two rounds. In the second, he landed a right hand to the chin that put Lawler face-first on the canvas. The knockout established Diaz as a legitimate offensive threat — not just a submission artist — and was named Knockout of the Night.

Full Results

Preliminary Card

Jonathan Wiezorek def. Wade Shipp — TKO — R1, 4:39

Genki Sudo def. Mike Brown — Submission (Triangle Armbar) — R1, 3:31

Main Card

Mike Kyle def. Wes Sims — KO — R1, 4:59

Chris Lytle def. Tiki Ghosn — Submission (Bulldog Choke) — R2, 1:55

Yves Edwards def. Hermes França — Decision (Split) — R3, 5:00

Andrei Arlovski def. Wesley Correira — TKO — R2, 1:15 (Sylvia was originally scheduled for vacant HW title; pulled for steroids)

Nick Diaz def. Robbie Lawler — KO (Punch) — R2, 1:29 (Knockout of the Night)

Main Event — Light Heavyweight

Chuck Liddell def. Tito Ortiz — KO (Punches) — R2, 0:38 (first KO loss of Ortiz’s career; Fight of the Night)

Records & Milestones

💥 Tito Ortiz’s first career KO loss — Liddell put him down with a right hand and follow-up punches at 0:38 of round two.

📺 106,000 PPV buys — first event to crack 100,000 since UFC 40; second-highest gate in UFC history at the time ($1,444,020).

🧪 Tim Sylvia pulled for steroids again — Sylvia vs. Arlovski was scheduled for the vacant HW title; Sylvia’s suspension removed him; the bout became a non-title fight.

💥 Nick Diaz KOs Robbie Lawler — Diaz stood with one of the division’s most dangerous punchers and knocked him out with a right hand.

Legacy & Impact

UFC 47 is the starting gun for the most commercially significant rivalry in the sport’s pre-TUF history. Liddell and Ortiz had three fights. Their first produced the larger cultural moment — the finally-happened fight, the first KO, the confirmation of two years of buildup. The rematch in December 2006 did over a million PPV buys. Their trilogy bout did comparable numbers. The sport’s explosive growth in 2006 and 2007 traces directly to the audience built by these two fighters and this rivalry.

FAQ

Why did Liddell vs. Ortiz take two years to happen?

Ortiz claimed that as friends and former training partners, he and Liddell had made a pact never to fight. Liddell denied the pact existed and accused Ortiz of avoiding the fight. While Ortiz was champion, contract negotiations and Ortiz’s other commitments prevented the bout. After Ortiz lost the title to Couture at UFC 44, the last commercial excuse disappeared and UFC 47 was made.

Was Tito Ortiz’s eye poke claim legitimate at UFC 47?

Ortiz claimed after the fight that a Liddell eye poke had affected his vision and compromised his performance in round two. The claim was disputed. The result was not overturned. Whether the eye poke occurred and how much it affected the outcome remains debated.

Why wasn’t there a Heavyweight Championship fight at UFC 47?

Tim Sylvia was originally scheduled to fight Andrei Arlovski for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 47. Sylvia was removed from the card after being suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission following a third positive drug test. Arlovski defeated Wesley Correira in a non-title bout instead. The HW title remained vacant until UFC 48.