Introduction
UFC 7: The Brawl in Buffalo. September 8, 1995. Nine thousand fans packed the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York — the UFC's largest crowd to date — to watch the promotion make its New York debut. They got a historic night: a record-breaking crowd, a Superfight that went to another draw, and one of the most significant tournament performances in early UFC history.
Marco Ruas — a Brazilian Vale Tudo champion making his UFC debut — introduced the sport to something it had never properly seen: a complete fighter. A man who could wrestle, submit, and strike — and who deployed Muay Thai leg kicks with a systematic precision that demolished Paul Varelans' base and forced a TKO in the tournament final. In 13 minutes and 17 seconds, Ruas demonstrated what mixed martial arts would eventually become.
In the Superfight, Ken Shamrock and Oleg Taktarov went 33 minutes to yet another draw, the second Superfight in three events to end without a winner. And after the night was done, the state of New York decided it had seen enough: MMA was effectively banned, and the UFC would not hold another event on New York soil for 21 years. UFC 7 was the first and last UFC in New York — for a very long time.
Contents
Quick Stats
The Build-Up
Superfight: Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov
Tournament Final: Marco Ruas vs. Paul Varelans
Full Results
Standout Performances
Records & Milestones
Legacy & Impact
FAQ
Quick Stats
📅 Date: September 8, 1995
📍 Venue: Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York, USA
👥 Attendance: 9,000 (largest UFC crowd to that point)
📺 Broadcast: Pay-Per-View (SEG)
🏆 Tournament Winner: Marco Ruas (UFC debut)
🥊 Superfight Result: Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov — DRAW (33:00, Shamrock retains)
📊 PPV Buyrate: ~190,000
🏟️ Historic: First (and only) UFC event in New York State until UFC 205 in 2016
The Build-Up
By September 1995, the UFC was drawing its largest crowds. The 9,000-person Memorial Auditorium sellout in Buffalo represented the mainstream crossover the promotion had been chasing, and the city of New York — the largest media market in the United States — was finally opening its doors. For one night, at least. The Superfight brought Ken Shamrock, still the reigning champion, against Oleg Taktarov — the man who had won the UFC 6 tournament and earned the right to challenge.
The tournament introduced a fighter who would change the sport's vocabulary. Marco Ruas — a Brazilian Vale Tudo champion who had competed internationally across South America — arrived at UFC 7 with a complete skill set that the tournament format had not yet encountered. He could wrestle, apply submissions, and deploy Muay Thai strikes with a technical precision that the sport had never seen at this level. He was, in retrospect, one of the first true mixed martial artists the UFC had hosted.
Paul Varelans returned as the 6'8", 300 lb size anomaly who had reached the semi-finals at UFC 6. Dutch grappler Remco Pardoel provided another submission wrestling threat. And Harold Howard — the UFC 3 finalist whose career had produced both a front somersault kick attempt and a controversial withdrawal — came back for what would be his final UFC appearance.
Superfight: Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov
The third Superfight produced the third consecutive non-result. Shamrock, still the champion, brought the tactical approach that had served him against Severn: aggressive clinch work, wrestling control, and submission hunting from dominant positions. Taktarov, representing the Russian Sambo tradition that had already taken him to two UFC semi-finals, brought his patient submission game and remarkable physical durability.
For 33 minutes they grappled without a finish. Shamrock controlled large portions of the fight from dominant wrestling positions but could not lock in a submission that Taktarov could not escape or wait out. Taktarov's guard was too sound to be passed cleanly; Shamrock's wrestling was too good for Taktarov to reverse. At 33 minutes, the match was declared a draw. Shamrock retained the Superfight Championship by default. The Buffalo crowd, 9,000 strong, had little patience left for another indecisive night at the top of the card.
Three Superfights. Two of them, at UFC 5 and UFC 7, ended without a winner; only Shamrock's win over Severn at UFC 6 was decisive. The format was producing the sport's most technically accomplished fighters — but also its most frustrating nights. The UFC would need a structural solution before the Superfight concept could justify itself. That solution was coming, but not yet.
Tournament Final: Marco Ruas vs. Paul Varelans
Ruas had reached the final efficiently. He submitted Larry Cureton with a heel hook in 3:23 in the quarter-final, then weathered a grinding 12-minute semi-final against Dutch grappler Remco Pardoel before winning by positional submission when Pardoel tapped out of exhaustion. Two fights, two wins, both by submission. In the final, he faced Paul Varelans — 6'8", 300 lbs, the most physically imposing man in the draw.
Ruas's answer to Varelans' size was to attack his legs. He threw Muay Thai low kicks with a precision and consistency that no UFC fighter had yet demonstrated, systematically chopping at Varelans' lead leg until it buckled. Within minutes, Varelans was switching stance and limping. His movement was compromised, his takedown base was gone, and his ability to use his size advantage was neutralised. Ruas then combined the leg kicks with clinch work, more strikes, and ground control until Varelans' team stopped the fight at 13:17.
The performance was a revelation. Ruas had used every tool available to him in a coordinated game plan — striking to set up the clinch, the clinch to control position, leg kicks to remove the base, submissions to threaten the finish. It was the first time a UFC tournament winner had looked like a modern MMA fighter. Many historians point to Ruas's UFC 7 performance as the moment the sport's evolution became inevitable.
Full Results
Alternate Fights (not on PPV)
Joel Sutton def. Geza Kalman — TKO (Cut) — Round 1, 0:48
Onassis Parungao def. Francesco Maturi — TKO (Submission to Strikes) — Round 1, 5:26
Scott Bessac def. David Hood — Submission (Guillotine Choke) — Round 1, 0:31
Quarter-Finals
Marco Ruas def. Larry Cureton — Submission (Heel Hook) — Round 1, 3:23
Remco Pardoel def. Ryan Parker — Submission (Forearm Choke) — Round 1, 3:05
Paul Varelans def. Gerry Harris — TKO (Submission to Strikes) — Round 1, 1:15
Mark Hall def. Harold Howard — TKO (Submission to Strikes) — Round 1, 1:41
Semi-Finals
Marco Ruas def. Remco Pardoel — Submission (Position) — Round 1, 12:27 (Pardoel tapped from positional fatigue)
Paul Varelans def. Mark Hall — Submission (Keylock) — Round 1, 1:01
Superfight — UFC Championship
Ken Shamrock (c) vs. Oleg Taktarov — DRAW (33:00 — no judges; Shamrock retains Superfight Championship)
Tournament Final
Marco Ruas def. Paul Varelans — TKO (Referee Stoppage) — Round 1, 13:17
Standout Performances
UFC 7 pre-dates the official bonus system. The following recognitions were awarded retroactively in the 2011 UFC Encyclopedia.
🥊 Fight of the Night: Marco Ruas vs. Paul Varelans — The leg kick dismantling of a 300 lb giant over 13 minutes; one of the most technically significant performances in early UFC history.
🔒 Submission of the Night: Marco Ruas def. Remco Pardoel — A 12:27 grappling grind won through superior positional control; Pardoel tapped from exhaustion in the most patient performance of the tournament.
🌟 Tournament MVP: Marco Ruas — Three fights, three wins, all different methods (heel hook, positional submission, leg kick TKO). The most complete individual performance in UFC tournament history to that point.
Records & Milestones
🏟️ First UFC event in New York State — and the last for 21 years; MMA was effectively banned in New York following this event, not returning until UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in November 2016.
👥 Largest UFC attendance to that point — 9,000 fans in the Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo.
🥒 First systematic use of Muay Thai leg kicks in UFC tournament competition — Ruas's leg kick game against Varelans set a new template for striking in MMA.
💼 Second Superfight draw — the Shamrock vs. Taktarov result was the second Superfight (after UFC 5) to end without a winner; only UFC 6 produced a decisive result.
🌟 Marco Ruas won the tournament on his UFC debut — the first Vale Tudo champion to win a UFC tournament, and one of the last fighters to demonstrate a complete mixed martial arts game before the cross-training era accelerated in 1996.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 7 is primarily remembered for two things: Marco Ruas and New York. Ruas's tournament performance gave the sport a vocabulary it would spend the next decade developing — the idea that the best fighter is not the best wrestler, not the best grappler, not the best striker, but the fighter who can deploy all of them together in response to a single opponent's specific weaknesses. His leg kick demolition of Varelans is cited by historians as one of the first true demonstrations of mixed martial arts as a unified discipline rather than a competition between separate styles.
The New York story had a darker ending. The event's graphic content — combined with political pressure from Senator John McCain's emerging campaign against the sport — led New York State to effectively ban MMA following the show. The UFC would not return to the state for 21 years, and the absence of the New York market cost the promotion enormously during its years of growth. The legacy of that ban can be measured in the scale of UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in November 2016 — one of the most significant nights in MMA history, shaped in part by how long it had been denied.
The Superfight draw streak — now three events deep — was also forcing the UFC's hand. A championship format with no mechanism for producing a winner was not sustainable. The solution, when it came, would reshape the sport's entire competitive structure. But on this night in Buffalo, the draw meant Shamrock was still champion, Taktarov was still a contender without a title, and the 9,000 fans who'd packed the building went home without the resolution they'd come for.
FAQ
Who won UFC 7?
Marco Ruas won the UFC 7 tournament by defeating Paul Varelans via TKO at 13:17 of the final, winning on his UFC debut. The Superfight between Ken Shamrock and Oleg Taktarov ended in a draw after 33 minutes, meaning Shamrock retained the UFC Superfight Championship.
How did Marco Ruas defeat Paul Varelans?
Ruas defeated Varelans primarily through systematic leg kicks. Knowing he couldn't match Varelans' size directly, Ruas targeted the legs with Muay Thai low kicks throughout the fight, removing Varelans' base and mobility. After over 13 minutes of accumulated damage, Varelans could no longer defend effectively and the fight was stopped by the referee at 13:17.
Why was MMA banned in New York after UFC 7?
Following UFC 7, a combination of political pressure — including Senator John McCain's highly publicised campaign against the sport, which he described as 'human cockfighting' — and the general perception of MMA as unregulated violence led New York State to effectively prohibit further MMA events. The ban lasted from 1996 until the New York State Athletic Commission began sanctioning MMA in 2016, with the UFC returning to Madison Square Garden for UFC 205 in November of that year.
Who was Marco Ruas before UFC 7?
Marco Ruas was a Brazilian Vale Tudo champion who had competed extensively in South America before arriving at the UFC. Vale Tudo ('anything goes') competitions in Brazil had produced a generation of fighters who trained across multiple disciplines, and Ruas was among the most complete. His UFC 7 performance — three fights, three different finishing methods — was the product of years of cross-disciplinary training that most of his opponents had not yet undertaken.
How many times did the Superfight end in a draw?
Two of the first three Superfights ended in a draw. UFC 5 (Shamrock vs. Gracie, 36:06), UFC 6 (Shamrock vs. Severn, 2:14 — a Shamrock win finally!), and UFC 7 (Shamrock vs. Taktarov, 33:00 — another draw). Of the three Superfights across UFC 5–7, only one — Shamrock vs. Severn at UFC 6 — produced a clear winner. The format's inability to consistently generate finishes forced structural changes to the championship model.