ited {color: #666666;} a:hover {color: #D75E27;}

 

 

Sorry, the page you requested was not found on our server.

It is possible that the page has been moved, or you typed the address incorrectly.

Please click the link below to go to the home page.

Back to Home Page

es_v3wide/right_sidebar/sports.ssi" -->
Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC guide, UFC fights, UFC fighters

Arianny CelesteLooking for another reason to start watching UFC? Look no further than Arianny Celeste, the 22-year-old stunner who is currently heating up the Octagon. Head on over to Men's Fitness to see their scintillating photo gallery for UFC Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste!

Our latest sports content can be found in the Sports category in our new magazine format. Archived sports content can be found in the Sports category in our blog.


UFC Overview

In 1993, the Ultimate Fighting Championship relied on one tagline and one tagline only to give the general public an idea of how it was going to operate:

“There are no rules!”

That tagline was almost the very thing that cost the UFC a chance to be what it has become today as far as popularity.

The idea was simple: have a series of three matches to see what fighting style, and therefore what fighter, was the best in the world. Anything goes, no holds barred fighting to determine the best fighting style.

At first, Pay Per View fell in love with the idea and the UFC quickly gained popularity. Brazilian fighter Royce Gracie won the first three out of four No Limit weight classes in ’93 and ’94. The UFC had a poster child and the public was starting to become more aware of the sport.

Eventually, however, political pressures seized what was starting to be known as “human cockfighting” and Pay Per View backed down and dropped the UFC.

In order to regain and grow on the small success that they had already achieved, the UFC had to realign its goal and therefore it added weight classes and official rules for the first time in 1997.

Mark Coleman and Frank Shamrock from the United States won the first Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles, respectively, in ’97. Following their lead, Randy Couture, also from the US, claimed three titles from 2003 to 2005.

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell eventually knocked out Couture in April of 2005, but “The Natural” still holds the record for number of Light Heavyweight Championships with three. He also has won two titles in the Heavyweight class as well as one tournament (UFC 13).

According to UFC 45, David “Tank” Abbott, Coleman, Couture, Don Frye, Gracie, Pat Miletich, Marco Ruas, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock and Oleg Taktarov are the Top 10 most popular UFC fighters of all time.

New fighters such as Liddell, Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski and Tim Sylvia are gaining more and more of a fan base as the UFC grows.

Today, the UFC is as popular as ever, gaining new fans from all different walks of life every year. Fans from Japan, Brazil, Canada and the Untied States can watch the fights on Pay Per View or a more recent option, Spike TV.

UFC Profiles
Matt Hughes Tim Sylvia Randy Couture Rich Franklin

Information

UFC.com
The official website of the UFC gives fans a chance to check out scheduled Pay Per View fights, inside information on the fighters as well as a multimedia section and UFC store.

Fightnews.com
Fightnews.com offers a look at all the past UFC battles as well as news stories and links to media outlets that telecast UFC fights. The site is also great for information on all of the fighters in the UFC.

UFC Ultimate Fighting
This page explains how the UFC got started and a look into the history of the UFC.

UFC Home Page by Weberton
This site looks homemade, but it is great for pictures, videos and information about the fighters.

IGN: Ultimate Fighting Championship: Throwdown
Fans of both the UFC and video games would appreciate this web page dedicated to the UFC’s official video game: Ultimate Fighting Championship: Throwdown.

Yardbarker.com
Check out sports rumors, blogs, videos, news, discussions, scores and more at Yardbarker.com – a place for fans to share stories and make comments about what’s happening in the sports world.


UFC Event Stories

Source: UFC buys Pride for less than $70M
In a move to eliminate competition and bring a wider audience, UFC buys the rights to Pride Fighting Championships for less than $70 million. Money quote:

“This is really going to change the face of MMA. Literally creating a sport that could be as big around the world as soccer. I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and AFC came together to create the NFL.” – Lorenzo Fertitta, one of UFC’s majority owners

Tim Sylvia - The Return of the King
After two years of knocking on the door, Tim Sylvia finally was crowned the UFC Heavyweight Champion with a win over former champ Andrei Arlovski.

One-on-one with the Iceman
Learn about Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell’s road to becoming UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion.

Arlovski the ‘Could-be’ King
Before Andrei Arlovski was officially named the back-to-back Heavyweight Champion, he once had to wait in the shadows of an injured Frank Mir.

Brutally Honest
Even back in 2001, Ken Shamrock told it like it was.

The Natural knows MMA
Even though Chuck Liddell was the first to ever knock out Randy Couture, that hasn’t stopped Couture from bringing his experience and battle tested style to ever fight.

Who wants to lose to Rush
As two-time UFC Welterweight champ Matt Hughes prepares to fight Quebec native Georges St. Pierre, he has one sarcastic question to ask the general public: “Who wants to lose to a Canadian?”


Lightweight (formerly Bantamweight)

145 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)

.# .Name .Nationality .Reigned period .Defenses
1 Jens Pulver (title vacated) USA February 23, 2001 - unknown
2
2 Sean Sherk USA October 14, 2006 (UFC 64)
0


Welterweight (formerly Lightweight)

156 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg)

.# .Name .Nationality .Reigned period .Defenses
1 Pat Miletich USA October 16, 1998 - May 4, 2001
4
2 Carlos Newton British Virgin Islands May 4, 2001 - November 2, 2001
1
3 Matt Hughes USA October 22, 2004 – November 18, 2006
5
4 BJ Penn USA January 31, 2004 - unknown (stripped)
0
5 Matt Hughes USA October 22, 2004 - present
2
6 Georges St. Pierre Canada November 18, 2006 (UFC 65)
0
7 Matt Sera USA April 7, 2007 – Present
0


Middleweight

171 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg)

.# .Name .Nationality .Reigned period .Defenses
1 Dave Menne USA September 28, 2001 - January 11, 2002
0
2 Murilo Bustamante (title vacated) Brazil January 11, 2002 - unknown
1
3 Evan Tanner USA February 5, 2005 - June 4, 2005
0
4 Rich Franklin USA June 4, 2005 – October 14, 2006
2
5 Anderson Silva Brazil October 14, 2006 – Present
0


Light Heavyweight (formerly Middleweight)

186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg)

.# .Name .Nationality .Reigned period .Defenses
1 Frank Shamrock (title vacated) USA December 21, 1997 - unknown
4
2 Tito Ortiz USA April 14, 2000 - September 26, 2003
5
3
(interim)
Randy Couture USA June 6, 2003 - September 26, 2003
0
4 Randy Couture USA September 26, 2003 - January 31, 2004
0
5 Vitor Belfort Brazil January 31, 2004 - August 21, 2004
0
6 Randy Couture USA August 21, 2004 - April 16, 2005
0
7 Chuck Liddell USA April 16, 2005 - present
4


Heavyweight

206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)

.# .Name .Nationality .Reigned period .Defenses
1 Mark Coleman USA February 7, 1997 - July 27, 1997
0
2 Maurice Smith USA July 27, 1997 - December 21, 1997
1
3 Randy Couture (title vacated) USA December 21, 1997 - unknown
0
4 Bas Rutten Netherlands May 7, 1999 - unknown
0
5 Kevin Randleman USA November 14, 1999 - November 17, 2000
1
6 Randy Couture USA November 17, 2000 - March 11, 2002
2
7 Josh Barnett (title vacated) USA March 11, 2002- unknown
0
8 Ricco Rodriguez USA September 27, 2002 - February 28, 2003
0
9 Tim Sylvia USA April 15, 2006 – March 3, 2007
2
10 Frank Mir USA April 4, 2005 - August 6, 2005
0
11
(Interim)
Andrei Arlovski Belarus August 14, 2005 - April 15, 2006
1
12 Andrei Arlovski Belarus August 14, 2005 - April 15, 2006
1
13 Tim Sylvia USA April 15, 2006 - present
0
14 Randy Couture USA March 3, 2007 – Present
0


Superfight

 

.# .Name .Date .Location .Defenses
1 Ken Shamrock July 14, 1995 Casper, NY
2
2 Dan Severn May 17, 1996 Detroit, MI
0


Tournaments

145 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)

.Event .Name .Nationality .Weight
.class*
.Date
UFC 1 Royce Gracie Brazil No limit November 12, 1993
UFC 2 Royce Gracie Brazil No limit March 11, 1994
UFC 3 Steve Jennum USA No limit September 9, 1994
UFC 4 Royce Gracie Brazil No limit December 16, 1994
UFC 5 Dan Severn USA No limit February 16, 1995
UFC 6 Oleg Taktarov Russia No limit July 14, 1995
UFC 7 Marco Ruas Brazil No limit September 8, 1995
UFC 8 Don Frye USA No limit February 16, 1996
UFC 10 Mark Coleman USA No limit July 12, 1996
UFC 11 Mark Coleman USA No limit September 20, 1996
UFC 12 Vitor Belfort Brazil Heavyweightt February 7, 1997
UFC 12 Jerry Bohlander USA Lightweight February 7, 1997
UFC 13 Randy Couture USA Heavyweight May 30, 1997
UFC 13 Guy Mezger USA Lightweight May 30, 1997
UFC 14 Mark Kerr USA Heavyweight March 13, 1997
UFC 14 Kevin Jackson USA Middleweight March 13, 1997
UFC 15 Mark Kerr USA Heavyweight October 17, 1997
UFC Japan Kazushi Sakuraba Japan Heavyweight December 21, 1997
UFC 16 Pat Miletich USA Lightweight March 13, 1998
UFC 17 Dan Henderson USA Middleweight May 15, 1998
UFC 23 Kenichi Yamamoto Japan Middleweight November 14, 1999
- December 21, 2001
RINGS World
Title Series
Genki Sudo* Japan Middleweight December 21, 2001
- present

 

  404 Not Found

 

 

Sorry, the page you requested was not found on our server.

It is possible that the page has been moved, or you typed the address incorrectly.

Please click the link below to go to the home page.

Back to Home Page