UFC 2007 - UFC: Ultimate Fighting Championship - UFC 2007 - Best UFC Knockouts DVD - UFC DVD

Birthdate - 12/17/69
6'2" 199 lbs. - San Luis Obispo, CA
Team - SLO Kickboxing
Style - Kickboxing

Career Highlights
- Defeats Noe Hernandez at UFC XVII
- Gets a decision victory over Jeff Monsoon at UFC XXIX
- Defeats Kevin Randleman by knockout at UFC XXXI
- Knocks out Guy Mezger at Pride 14
- Beats Murillo Bustamante by decision at UFC XXXIII

Striking - Chuck Liddell is probably one of the best strikers in the world today. He is a kickboxer, so his punches, kicks, and knees are lethal. The Iceman is like a silent killer, whose lightning-like shots can end a match out of nowhere. Liddell's punches, namely his straight right, are his strong suit and they often get his wins.

Wrestling - Though he is primarily a striker, Liddell started as a wrestler. He is good at manuevering on the ground against decent grapplers and has a great sprawl that many talented wrestlers have struggled against.

Hooking - Like his wrestling, Liddell done some submission training and focuses on a leg lock, when he cannot knock his opponent out. Though he is able, Liddell seldom tries to submit or even shoot on anyone.

Strengthes - Liddell's obvious strength is his striking ability, but he is also a well-rounded fighter. He can do it all pretty well and the fact his wins give him little noteriety help him remain an upset master even if they're not upsets.

Weaknesses - Liddell has proven to be a stereotypical striker, he is dangerous early in fights if he can keep it standing, but long bouts and matwork hurt him. The "Iceman" has also appeared to melt quickly, then finds it difficult to put opponents away.

Outlook - Chuck Liddell has just exploded (in more ways than one) in the Middleweight scene in the past year. His big KO wins over Randleman and Mezger and decision win over Bustamante make him one of the top middle/light heavyweights in the MMA world. He has represented kickboxing well and may be able to show he is a top striker in the next few years.

Birthdate - 6/2/63
6'1" 225 lbs. - Corvallis, OR
Team - RAW Team/Team Quest
Style - Greco-Roman Wrestling

Career Highlights
- Wins the UFC XIII Heavyweight tournament defeating Tony Halme and Steven Graham
- Hands Vitor Belfort his first MMA loss at UFC XV
- Wins the Heavyweight title from Maurice Smith via decision at Ultimate Japan
- Beats Kevin Randleman to win the UFC Heavyweight title
- Successfully defends his title against Pedro Rizzo at UFC XXXI in a barnburner

Striking - Randy Couture may not be a top notch puncher, but he boxed extensively in the Army, so he can hold his own. Couture knows that striking is not what will get him victories, so he uses is sparingly. Like many wrestlers, he uses the "ground and pound" technique to perfection. He uses mainly punches, elbows, and knees to hammer on opponents he's mounted.

Wrestling - Being a Olympic level wrestler, Couture has a lot of power and is great at both takedowns and ground work. He can move most opponents around how he chooses, so he can take even the biggest men down with ease, keep them down, and have his way with them. Even when he has a momentary lapse in control, Couture can quickly and masterfully regain it.

Hooking - Couture is not going to cripple anyone, but he is a capable finisher. He will slap on a choke if he can. Being a Greco-Roman wrestler, Couture has a powerful upperbody that he will use to sink in a basic hold, but nothing to fancy. His submissions are strength over science.

Strengthes - Randy Couture has one of greatest natural qualities that helps him is his patience. He used it to gas Vitor Belfort and go the distance and defeat the likes of Maurice Smith and Pedro Rizzo. He is also great at winning little battles and thus tallies up the points to win fights.

Weaknesses - Couture is not a great striker, he uses it well when he's on the advantage, but when he is not, it can hurt him. He is in good condition, but his cardio appears to be a flaw now and again, but luckily it's one he can work around. Couture's only loss (that wasn't worked) was do to an armbar in his sophomore, but he has been able to to stengthen his game overall.

Look - Couture is one of the most unimposing looking stars, he has a nice build and dresses plainly in black tights and wrestling shoes. Though he has a light complexion and is balding, Randy Couture is no old man as his success in the Octogon has shown.

Outlook - Randy Couture came into the UFC and was really impressive, after vacating his title and leaving for a time, Couture returned just as strong. He is not the typical "ground and pound" wrestler as he is three dimensional and has fewer weaknesses than any wrestler turned mixed martial artist. "The Natural" will definately be a force for sometime and is proof that ability can overrule age.

Dan "The Beast" Severn (born June 8, 1954 in Coldwater, Michigan) is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, notable for his success in the early years of Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments. Severn has also fought for many NHB and shootwrestling organizations including International Fighting Championship, Extreme Challenge, Future Brawl, United Shoot Wrestling Federation, PRIDE, U-Japan, King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and a number of Brazilian organizations.
Wrestling
Severn has a long history in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling. He was an All-American at Arizona State, a member of the Sunkist Kids[1] elite team, and a wrestling coach at both his alma mater Arizona State and Michigan State. He has wrestled in Turkey, Japan, Cuba, Hungary, Canada and France as well as the USA. In his long career, he has held many national and international titles; he was often introduced to the UFC Octagon as holding more than 70 in total. Severn also held the US national record for victories by pin from 1976 to 1992, his 112 eventually overtaken by the 114 of Matt Padgett[2].

Mixed Martial Arts
Severn was the first true wrestler to enter the UFC, becoming indicative of the ensuing period of dominance by wrestlers continued by men like Don Frye in UFC #8 to #9 and Mark Coleman in UFC #10. Severn entered the UFC in 1995 at UFC #4: Revenge of the Warriors, where he captured the hearts of many UFC fans by executing two impressive back suplexes on Anthony Macias. In the finals of UFC #4, Severn was defeated by Royce Gracie, who used a triangle choke hold, but only after the much bigger Severn dominated in Gracie's guard for around 15 minutes, lacking the striking experience to finish his opponent. Severn rectified this loss when he captured the championship in UFC #5: Return of the Beast, defeating Oleg Taktarov. Severn went on to win Ultimate Ultimate '96, a tournament of UFC champions. He also managed his friend and fellow champion, Don Frye, during UFC #8, and would later train the successful female competitor, Becky Levi. His first and only fight in Pride was a lacklustre draw against Kimo in 1997; since then, he has continued to compete in a variety of MMA promotions, such as King of the Cage, the UFC, the British Ultimate Combat and Gladiator Challenge among others. In 1999, Severn and Levi founded a new mixed martial arts promotion intended to provide a platform for amateur fighters, called The Danger Zone, in which Severn also took part. Danger Zone #33 is scheduled for 11 March 2006.

Professional wrestling
Severn is an accomplished professional wrestler, having worked for UWF International in Japan, the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation. He entered the NWA in 1995, and defeated Chris Candido for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Severn would go on to win the UFC championship that year, making him the first and only man to hold the NWA and UFC championships simultaneously. During his short stint in WWE, he competed in the Brawl For All tournament, beating The Godfather in the first round. However, he withdrew prior to the quarterfinals, allowing The Godfather to advance by default. He appeared in 2000 in the short-lived WXO promotion. Severn would not again hold professional wrestling gold until 2001, when he again won the NWA championship, this time from Shinya Hashimoto. This title reign would be controversial (an American referee in a Japanese promotion issuing a fast count), and short-lived, as the title was stripped from Severn when he was unable to appear on the inaugural TNA pay-per-view to defend his title; the belt was won that evening by Severn's long-time rival, Ken Shamrock.

Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts fighting league, and for his brief professional wrestling career with the World Wrestling Federation.

Shamrock had started as a professional wrestler in small promotions in the Carolinas, being managed by Paul Jones, and from there he went to Japan, namely the Japanese UWF and its successor promotions, Fujiwara Gumi and Pancrase.

Back in the States, Shamrock appeared in the first UFC in November of 1993 where he progressed to the semi-finals, losing to eventual tournament winner Royce Gracie. Afterwards, Shamrock vowed to avenge his loss to Gracie. However, it would be nearly a year and a half later before he would get his chance. At UFC 5 in May of 1995, Shamrock and Gracie squared off in the UFC's first ever "Superfight." The Superfight was supposed to be a historic match that finally showed if Gracie's win over Shamrock at UFC 1 was a fluke, or if Gracie was as great as he appeared. Unfortunately, the match did not live up to expectations. At UFC 5, for the first time, the UFC had instituted time limits. Shamrock and Gracie fought for the entire allotted time of 30 minutes along with 5 minutes of overtime before the match was declared a draw. While purist fans of mixed martial arts consider the match to be a true classic, most thought the match was rather boring, lacking sufficient offense by either Shamrock or Gracie. While many people (including Shamrock) have wanted to see a rematch ever since, Shamrock and Gracie have never again faced each other in the octagon. Shamrock would go on to fight in further UFC Superfights against Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov and Kimo Leopoldo.

As of 2005, Ken is still making occasional appearances in the UFC, giving him the distinction of having the longest tenure of any UFC fighter to date. Shamrock also founded the Lion's Den, a group dedicated to the training of mixed martial arts fighters. Many Lion's Den fighters such as Pete Williams, Jerry Bolander, and Tra Telligman have achieved a modicum of success in mixed martial arts.

Shamrock's Lions Den also feuded with former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. Ortiz would go on a streak beating Lions Den fighters Jerry Bolander and Guy Mezger, eventually facing Shamrock in one of the highest selling mixed martial arts Pay Per View events of all time in the United States. At UFC 40, Ortiz defeated Shamrock when Shamrock's corner threw in the towel.

During his time in the WWF, he was billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man." Shamrock's finishing move was the Ankle Lock submission hold, one used very frequently by Kurt Angle. His display of technical wrestling earned him a WWF title shot which he missed out on thanks to Triple H.

Ken Shamrock entered the WWE in 1997 and was already making headlines thanks for his participation as a guest referee in the submission match at WrestleMania 13, after a string of impressive victories, he earned his first shot at Intercontinental gold at the 1998 WWE Royal Rumble, he defeated The Rock for the title, but was later reversed 75 seconds later when the referees discover he used brass knuckles to help him beat the Rock. 2 months later, Shamrock beat The Rock at WrestleMania XIV, but again his Irish mean streak got the better of him, when he refused to release the Ankle Lock causing the referee to reverse the decision to the victor, The Rock.

After defeating The Rock in the finals of the 1998 King of the Ring, his popularity grew, and he set his sights on the WWF Intercontinental Championship. After many memorable bouts with and without the belt, Shamrock, to the disbelief of the WWF fans, joined Vince McMahon's Corporation faction as a heel. His WWF character was never the same after that drastic change, so he decided to go back to his roots in the UFC.

Shamrock was a part of the first few Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Pay Per Views, and even won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He left the company after a few months of service, however he later reappeared when the company debuted their Impact TV show. Once again this was short lived and he left the company a month after re-joining.

April 9, 2005, proved to be a turning point in Shamrock's career and future in mixed martial arts. In the main event, the first ever UFC appearance on basic cable TV, on the popular reality series The Ultimate Fighter finale, Shamrock faced rising star Rich Franklin in a light heavyweight bout. Although Shamrock had more experience, he was soundly defeated by a TKO in the first round, thus instantly establishing Franklin as a legitimate threat to other UFC competitors.

In a post match interview, Shamrock indicated that he was unsure of his future in the UFC or MMA in general.

On October 24, 2005 Shamrock lost to fellow mixed martial arts legend Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba in PRIDE: Fully Loaded, by TKO. The decision to stop the fight was considered controversial by some parties, including Shamrock himself, since he was able to bounce up off the canvas right after being knocked down. However, Ken had turned his back to Sakuraba and because he wasn't intelligently defending himself, the referee stopped the fight. His own brother Frank Shamrock commented on the stoppage in an interview with the site Sherdog.com: "…if you’re sleeping with your head through the second rope, you’re in a bad way. He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules he was no longer defending himself and that’s the end of the fight. Was it early? Sure it was early. But was he getting his ass kicked? Yeah. It just depends on how you want to look at it. I tried to look at it abstractly and I saw a guy sleeping with his head through the second rope. That’s not good, because if I’m there, please somebody stop this."

On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Dana White, the UFC president, announced that Shamrock would be one of the coaches (along with Tito Ortiz) for the upcoming third season of The Ultimate Fighter.

He appeared in the films Champions, Virtuosity, and Scarecrow Gone Wild.

MMA Record
26 wins (2 KO's, 22 submissions, 2 decisions), 10 losses (4 KO's, 4 submissions, 2 decisions), 2 draw.

Royce (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie (born December 12, 1966) is a professional mixed martial arts fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practioner. He became well-known in the mid 1990s with a string of submission victories over larger opponents in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Between 1993 and 1994, he won 11 matches by submission and was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4. These results influenced traditional attitudes towards martial arts and contributed to the movement towards grappling, cross-training and MMA.

Biography
Childhood
Royce is a son of Hélio Gracie (Helio, along with his older brother Carlos Gracie, is considered one of the originators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a toddler, Royce learned Jiu-Jitsu from his father and his older brothers Rorion, Relson, and Rickson Gracie. He began competing at the age of 8 and by the time he was 16 had attained the level of blue belt. A year later he was invited by his brother Rorion to help teach Jiu-Jitsu from his garage in America. Despite not knowing English, Royce accepted the offer and moved to California. He competed in a number of Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in Brazil and the United States and compiled an amateur record of 51-3.

The Gracie Challenge
Royce received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 18 and soon began fighting in defense of the $100,000 "Gracie Challenge". This publicity stunt was an open challenge to all martial artists to see if they could defeat a Gracie in a no-rules fight. Most of these matches took place ad hoc in the Gracie gym when challengers would show up to fight. Many of these fights were videotaped and included in the Gracie In Action video series. While Gracies have lost in competition, there is no record of anyone successfully winning the Gracie Challenge. Royce had never fought professionally, but that would change on November 12, 1993.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship
Brainchild of Rorion Gracie and Art Davie, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was an eight-man single-elimination tournament with very few rules that would award $50,000 to the winner. The basic premise was to find out how different styles of martial arts would fare against each other. Art Davie placed ads in martial arts magazines and sent letters to anyone in any martial arts directory he could find to recruit competitors for the event. Among the takers were kickboxer Patrick Smith, #2 ranked shootfighter Ken Shamrock, and Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau.

While Art Davie felt that Royce's older brother Rickson Gracie, who was stronger and more skilled than Royce, was the obvious choice as the Jiu-Jitsu representative, Rorion Gracie chose Royce to represent the family style. At 175 pounds, and with a frame much smaller than his opponnents, the Gracie family felt that Royce would be the perfect fighter to demonstrate the claims that Jiu-Jitsu techniques could be employed to overcome a larger opponent.

In his first match, Royce defeated his opponent, boxer Art Jimmerson, once a top ten cruiserweight contender for the WBC. He tackled him to the ground and obtained a dominant "mounted" position on top. Jimmerson quickly conceded defeat, not attempting to escape the position as he would earn $20,000 regardless of whether he won.

In the semi-finals, Royce looked to be the underdog against 220-pound Ken Shamrock, who showed excellent grappling skills in his first-round submission win over Patrick Smith. Royce immediately rushed Shamrock, who sprawled effectively and got on top of Royce. Shamrock then grabbed Royce's ankle and sat back to attempt the same finishing hold he used to finish his first match, but Royce rolled on top of him and secured a rear choke that forced Shamrock to tap the mat in submission.

In the finals, Royce was again outweighed by 40 pounds, but defeated Savate World Champion Gerard Gordeau (who broke his hand in the first round of the tournament against Teila Tuli), taking his opponent to the ground and securing a rear choke. This victory, along with future UFC events, had a substantial impact on the public image of martial arts and fighting systems. Stand-up fighting arts lost some of their appeal to grappling arts such as wrestling, Sambo, Judo and Royce's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Over the next year, Royce Gracie continued his winning streak in the UFC, obtaining submission wins over fighters such as Patrick Smith, 250 pound (113 kg) European Judo Champion Remco Pardoel, and Kimo Leopoldo. His final UFC victory was in a match that lasted for 16 minutes (there were no rounds or time limits at the time), during which he was continuosly pinned underneath 260 pound (118 kg) wrestler Dan Severn. To end the match, Royce locked his legs in a triangle choke for a submission victory. The match extended beyond the pay-per-view time-slot and viewers, who missed the end of the fight, demanded their money back. Changes would have to be made if the sport was to be profitable.

Time limits were introduced into the sport in 1995 and Ken Shamrock would become the first fighter to survive Royce Gracie's submission attack and earn a draw. The match lasted for 30 minutes and a 5 minute overtime. Fans have been calling for a rematch ever since. While the match was a draw, the match also sparked much debate and controversy as to who would have won the fight had Judges determined the outcome. Rorion sold his share of the UFC to Art Davie.

In November of 2003, at the 10 year anniversary of the UFC, Royce Gracie was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Royce's official UFC record includes one loss. In the third round of UFC 3, Royce was to face fighter Harold Howard in the semi-finals. Although Royce came out to the ring, he was still exhausted from his prior match against Kimo Leopoldo, and had to be physically helped to the ring. Before the Howard match began, Royce's corner threw in the towel which conceeded the match Howard.

Shortly after he finished his tenure in the UFC, Royce was choked unconscious with a "clock choke" by Wallid Ismail in a no time limit jiu-jitsu tournament in Brazil.

Challenge to PRIDE Fighting Championship
With each of his first 11 victories, many in the martial arts world were impressed with Gracie and began cross-training in Jiu-Jitsu.

However one fighter in particular, Kazushi Sakuraba, a former amateur and professional wrestler with excellent submission skills derived from catch as catch can, arose from the ranks in the years following Royce's final UFC appearance to make a powerful argument for the potency of his particular approach to grappling with a series of wins over Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelts, including Marcus "Conan" Silvera, Vitor Belfort and Royce's brother, Royler Gracie. Sakuraba's victory over Royler constituted the first loss by a Gracie in professional fighting in several decades and as such, sent ripples of shock and controversy through the mixed martial arts community. Some protested that the victory was tainted due to the fact that Royler--although placed in a debilitating submission hold--never conceded defeat and was mere seconds away from the final bell when the bout was stopped. Others countered that Royler suffered a broken arm and several torn muscles stemming from the submission, thus validating the Sakuraba victory, but there is no medical evidence supporting or denying this.

The Gracie family took great umbrage over the incident, feeling that they had been cheated by Pride. Compelled to set the record straight, Royce Gracie returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered the 16-Man Pride Grand Prix with dominant heavyweights Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, and Igor Vovchanchyn. However, it could be argued that Royce's main intention in entering the tournament was not winning the Grand Prix crown but rather doing battle with the Gracie family's new nemesis, Kazushi Sakuraba. In fact, a special set of rules were requested by the Gracies in advance for the possible Sakuraba-Royce match, which included no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out.

Royce advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Sakuraba's stablemate Nobuhiko Takada (ironically enough, with a judge's decision), before finding himself matched up with Sakuraba. Gracie and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half. Early in the fight, Sakuraba nearly ended things with a knee-bar towards the end of the first round. Later on, Royce returned the favor with a guillotine choke which Sakuraba lingered in, but appeared to be in no trouble since he took the time to play to the crowd by trying to pull Royce's pants down. Indeed, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce when Sakuraba, displaying much better conditioning, kept punishing Royce instead of going for submissions, prolonging the match.

As the fight wore on, Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and--in some instances--even pull guard. Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as Sakuraba used it to help him control Gracie on the instances the fight did come to the ground. However, with Sakuraba's control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After the 90 minute battle of punishing leg kicks, Royce's brother threw in the towel. Gracie could no longer stand and suffered a broken foot from accumulated damage. Sakuraba would go on to defeat other members of the Gracie family including Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie earning him the nickname "Gracie Hunter."[1]

Royce returned to Pride in 2003 and showed off new-found striking skills and strong ground game against Judo gold-medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. The match went the distance and since there were no judges, it ended in a draw. However, consensus was that Royce's performance was dominant enough to avenge an earlier controversial limited-rules match against Yoshida, in which the referee stopped the match due to Yoshida and the referee's perception that Royce was choked unconscious. To this day, Royce claims that he was not unconscious and was just merely pinned underneath Yoshida.

Royce's most recent victory was against the former sumo wrestler Taro Akebono whom he defeated with a wristlock two minutes and thirteen seconds into their fight.

Return to UFC
On January 16, 2006, UFC President Dana White announced that Royce Gracie would return to the UFC to fight UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes in May. This will be a non-title bout, but under UFC rules (and so Gracie will uncharacteristically be fighting without a gi).

Mark "The Hammer" Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American mixed martial arts competitor. He is also famous for his Amateur wrestling career. He currently fights in Pride events. He is also the founder of the Hammer House team.

Mark Coleman was born in Ohio, USA in 1964. He is featured in the 2002 HBO documentary "The Smashing Machine - The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr".

Career

World wrestling championship freestyle 100kg 2nd place in 1991
Barcelona Olympic Games wrestling freestyle 100kg class 7th place in 1992
Professional
UFC 10 & 11 Tournament Champion
UFC Heavyweight Champion (first)
PRIDE GP 2000 tournament champion

Fighting Record
Win Milco Voorn Submission (Choke) Bushido Europe-Rotterdam Rumble 9 October 2005
Loss Mirko Filipovic KO (Punches) PRIDE 29-Fists Of Fire 20 February 2005
Loss Fedor Emelianenko Submission (Armbar) PRIDE-Total Elimination 2004 25 April 2004
Win Don Frye Decision (Unanimous) PRIDE 26-Bad to the Bone 8 June 2003
Loss Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Submission (Triangle/Armbar) PRIDE 16-Beasts From The East 24 September 2001
Win Allan Goes TKO (Knees) PRIDE 13-Collision Course 25 March 2001
Win Igor Vovchanchyn Submission (Strikes) PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Finals 1 May 2000
Win Kazuyuki Fujita TKO (Corner Stoppage) PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Finals 1 May 2000
Win Akira Shoji Decision PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Finals 1 May 2000
Win Masaaki Satake Submission (Neck Crank) PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Opening Round 30 January 2000

Win Ricardo Morais Decision PRIDE 8-PRIDE 8 21 November 1999
Loss Nobuhiko Takada Submission (Heel Hook) PRIDE 5-PRIDE 5 29 April 1999
Loss Pedro Rizzo Decision UFC 18-Road to the Heavyweight Title 8 January 1999
Loss Pete Williams KO (Kick to the Head) UFC 17-Redemption 15 May 1998
Loss Maurice Smith Decision UFC 14-Showdown 27 July 1997
Win Dan Severn Submission (Choke) UFC 12-Judgement Day 7 February 1997
Win Brian Johnston Submission (Strikes) UFC 11-The Proving Ground 20 September 1996
Win Julian Sanchez Submission (Choke) UFC 11-The Proving Ground 20 September 1996
Win Don Frye TKO (Strikes) UFC 10-The Tournament 12 July 1996
Win Gary Goodridge Submission (Position) UFC 10-The Tournament 12 July 1996
Win Moti Horenstein Submission (Strikes) UFC 10-The Tournament 12 July 1996

Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski (born 4 February 1979 in Minsk, Belarus) is a Belarusian mixed martial arts fighter and the current Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion.

Andrei only took up martial arts at the age of 18 having previously been interested in football. It was an interest in personal fitness and conditioning that led Arlovski to take an interest in combat sports.

Enrolling at the police academy in Minsk, Arlovski combined his interest in a career in law enforcement with his growing martial arts participation by taking up the required police defence course of Sambo. He showed himself to be a highly competent Sambo exponent. In 1999, Andrei won the European Youth Sambo Championship and the World Youth Championship. He also took a silver medal at the Sambo World Cup and another silver medal at the World Sambo Championship.

Arlovski began taking a greater interest in other martial arts, studying with kickboxing and developing striking skills to complement his Sambo-based ground abilities.

M1 Mix-Fight
With mixed martial arts competitions taking off around the world, Arlovski began his professional MMA career at the Mix Fight M-1 in St Petersburg, Russia in April 1999. It was a fairly inauspicious start, losing by KO to the un-heralded Viacheslav Datsik. Un-deterred, Arlovski returned in 2000 to M-1 at the European Championships, taking the heavyweight crown with a submission victory and a knock-out victory.

UFC
Arlovski made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 28: High Stakes, defeating Aaron Brink by submission. Arlovski was thrown in against top class opposition early on in his UFC career, taking tough losses against Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo. Despite those defeats, big wins versus Ian Freeman and Vladimir Matyushenko propelled Arlovski back into the UFC elite.

Arlovski showed that as a physically large competitor with tremendous knock-out power, he has the wrestling and submission background from Sambo that makes him dangerous on the ground as well.

The out-of-competition injury suffered by UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir led to the creation of an interim title. The match-up was between the previous heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia and Arlovski on February 5, 2005. The two competitors had become known for hard hitting, Sylvia having won the eight matches prior to facing Mir all through striking prowess. As the fight unfolded, Arlovski showed greater mobility and accuracy when striking. He connected with an overhand right and followed up with an ankle lock on the ground that forced Silva to tap out after 47 seconds of the first round.

Arlovski made a subsequent defence of the interim title in June, when his opponent Justin Eilers suffered a non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury. On August 12, 2005, the UFC announced that it now recognised Arlovski as the Heavyweight champion outright, as Mir had not fully rehabilitated from his injury. The first defense of that title took place on October 7 of that same year, with Arlovski knocking out the top contender, Paul Buentello, in 15 seconds of the opening round.

Current Training
Andrei currently lives and trains in Chicago, Illinois. His boxing coach is Mike Garcia, and he trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Dino Costeas at POW Martial Arts. Dino teaches the Rickson Gracie system of jiujitsu. He also has been training with former UFC legend Randy Couture.

Not only will former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim "Maine-iac" Sylvia, 17-2 MMA, be looking to score a victory over Tra Telligman at UFC 54: Boiling Point, August 20 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, he’ll be looking to smash Telligman into the floor.

Coming off disappointing consecutive UFC losses, Sylvia says he’s in the shape of his life and ready to use Telligman’s skull to send a message to the world that he is back to reclaim his throne.

“I’m feeling awesome,” said the 6’ 8” Miletich Fighting Systems powerhouse. “I’ve been working with the rest of the guys and we’ve been having rough, rough practices. We’ve been training up at high altitude and we’re all coming in phenomenal shape. We’re expecting to go 3-0 at this UFC.”

Training with the likes of all-time great Matt Hughes, “Archie Moore of MMA” Jeremy Horn and up-and-coming Rich Franklin (to name a few) is never a bad thing when preparing for a signature victory, but throw in an all-new dedication to full-body fitness and Sylvia say he’s better than he’s ever been.

“I’m still the same Tim Sylvia; I’m just in remarkable shape. I was always in good shape, but I‘m down to 12 percent body fat from working with Billy Rush, an amazing strength and conditioning coach. Billy had been Rich Franklin’s strength and conditioning coach for the last few years and since we’ve all got the same manager, we’ve all been able to snatch him up and take advantage of it.”

It’s nothing personal with Telligman, Sylvia says he considers him a solid veteran and a good fighter, but after getting his arm broken by Frank Mir and then, in his words, coming back too soon after that and getting knocked down and submitted by current champion Andrei Arlovski, Sylvia is in the mood for mayhem.

“Tell the fans to watch my big knockout this Saturday. I’m going out there to knock him out and get back into title contention. Whatever the UFC says I have to do, I’ll do it to get a rematch with the current heavyweight champ and get my belt back.”

Notable UFC fighters
David "Tank" Abbott (UFC 6 & UU '96 Tournament finalist, UFC 17 Heavyweight Superfight Champion)
Andrei Arlovski (Current UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Josh Barnett (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Vitor Belfort (UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, UFC Ultimate Brazil Middleweight Superfight Champion, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
Murilo Bustamante (Former UFC Middleweight Champion)
Mark Coleman (UFC 10 & 11 Tournament Champion, First UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Randy Couture (UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, UFC 15 Heavyweight Superfight Champion, 2x Former UFC Heavyweight Champion, 2x, Former Interim Light Heavyweight Champion, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
Rich Franklin (Current UFC Middleweight Champion)
Don Frye (UFC 10 Tournament finalist, UFC 8 & UU '96 Champion)
Matt Hughes (2x (Current) UFC Welterweight Champion)
Royce Gracie (UFC 1, 2 & 4 Tournament Champion)
Mark Kerr (UFC 14 & 15 Heavyweight Tournament Champion)
Chuck Liddell (Current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
Pat Miletich (UFC 16 Lightweight Tournament Champion, Former UFC Lightweight/Welterweight Champion)
Frank Mir (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Carlos Newton (Former UFC Welterweight Champion)
Tito Ortiz (UFC 13 Lightweight Tournament finalist, Former UFC Middleweight/Light Heavyweight Champion)
BJ Penn (Former UFC Welterweight Champion)
Jens Pulver (Former UFC Bantamweight/Lightweight Champion)
Kevin Randleman (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Pedro Rizzo (UFC Ultimate Brazil Heavyweight Superfight Champion)
Ricco Rodriguez (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Marco Ruas (UFC 7 Tournament Champion)
Bas Rutten (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Kazushi Sakuraba (UFC Japan Heavyweight tournament champion)
Dan Severn (UFC 4 Tournament finalist, UFC 5 & UU '95 Tournament Champion, UFC 9 Superfight Champion)
Frank Shamrock (Former UFC Middleweight/Light Heavyweight Champion)
Ken Shamrock (UFC 6 & 8 Superfight Champion)
Maurice Smith (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Tim Sylvia (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion)
Oleg Taktarov (UU '95 Tournament finalist, UFC 6 Tournament Champion)
Evan Tanner (Former UFC Middleweight Champion)

UFC Hall of Fame inductees
Royce Gracie (Inducted UFC 45)
Ken Shamrock (Inducted UFC 45)
Dan Severn (Inducted UFC 52)

UFC Viewer's Choice Awards
(From UFC 45; Top 10 most popular UFC fighters of all time)

David "Tank" Abbott
Mark Coleman
Randy Couture
Don Frye
Royce Gracie
Pat Miletich
Marco Ruas
Dan Severn
Ken Shamrock
Oleg Taktarov

Matthew Allen Hughes (born October 13, 1973) is a professional mixed martial arts fighter, and is the current Welterweight (170 lbs. / 77 kg) champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. With only one loss since his first title victory in 2001, Hughes is one of the UFC's most dominant champions in his weight class. He trains as part of the Miletich Fighting Systems team. His professional MMA record is 38 wins and 4 losses.

Hughes is known for his grappling skills, ground-and-pound, and his practice of picking up opponents, carrying them across the ring, and slamming them to the mat with their head strategically placed against the fence.

Hughes won his first UFC Welterweight title at UFC 34: High Voltage on November 2, 2001 when he knocked out Carlos Newton with a powerbomb-like slam. He successfully defended the championship belt several times afterward, defeating Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Newton (in a rematch), Gil Castillo, Sean Sherk, and Frank Trigg. He held onto that title until UFC 46, when he submitted to a rear naked choke by Hawaiian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist, B.J. Penn. Soon after his victory, Penn left the UFC and the title was stripped from him. Hughes regained the title by submitting Canadian contender Georges St. Pierre via armbar in the final seconds of a close first round at UFC 50 in a match to determine the new champion.

Since winning the title for a second time, he has defended it in a rematch with Frank Trigg, winning again by submission. His most recent bout in the UFC occurred at UFC 56, where Hughes defeated Joe Riggs in the first round by submission via a kimura armlock. The match was originally scheduled to be a title bout, but Riggs could not meet the 170 pound Welterweight weight limit. Riggs was a last-minute substitution for Karo Parisyan, who was intially slated to fight Hughes; Parisyan sustained a leg injury while training for the fight, and was replaced by Riggs.

In 2005, Hughes participated as a coach opposite Rich Franklin in the second season of the Spike TV reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter. Hughes' aggressive and confrontational personality was on display throughout the season; he notably objected to what he called "showboating" from eventual Heavyweight Ultimate Figher winner Rashad Evans.

On January 16, 2006, UFC President Dana White announced that Hughes would fight UFC legend Royce Gracie in May of 2006.

He has a twin brother named Mark Hughes who also trains with the Miletich Fighting Systems team.

David L. "Tank" Abbott (born 1965 in Huntington Beach, California) is a heavyweight Mixed martial arts fighter whose fighting style is self-described as "Pit fighting". He was a professional wrestler for a short time.

Mixed Martial Arts career
Abbott is a frequent participant in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of 2005 he had a record of 9-11 in that promotion. Abbott made his Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) debut in 1995 at UFC 6 Clash of the Titans in Casper, Wyoming. In his opening fight, he knocked out John Matua, who weighed 400 lbs, in 20 seconds. Later that night he fought Oleg Taktarov for over 17 minutes before succumbing to a rear naked choke. [1]

Despite never winning a UFC title, Abbott achieved some popularity due in part to his displays of power and aggression. He also gained a degree of notoriety for his unorthodox look and fighting style, more reminiscent of a street fighter than a martial artist. Abbott is known for having a direct and blunt attitude in and out of the octagon, having been quoted as saying "I don't respect anybody, not even you" (to a UFC reporter who queried about whether he respects his opponents).

After the demise of WCW, Abbott returned to MMA at UFC 41, where he lost by submission to Frank Mir .

On August 28, 2005, Abbott was defeated in his Pride debut by Japan's Hidehiko Yoshida during the Final Conflict event.

Professional wrestling career
Abbott worked as a professional wrestler with World Championship Wrestling (WCW); initially he was brought in as an opponent for Goldberg, on the understanding he was a "legitimate" fighter, and could boost Goldberg's reputation. This feud never developed, and Abbott remained mostly a comedic wrestler, frequently being featured in segments with the boy band parody stable, 3 Count. The most success he had in his wrestling career was when he teamed with Rick Steiner to feud with Scott Steiner. He also nicknamed the head of WCW security, Doug Dillinger, "Duck," and would make quacking noises at him.

Physical abilities

Abbott's 600 pound benchpress
Abbott sitting upIn 2003, Abbott performed a 600 pound bench press which was recorded on video. Technically, the press was improperly done because the barbell bounced off Abbott's chest, alleviating part of the force needed to lift the weight up. However, Abbott responded to this claim during an interview, highlighting the ridiculousness of someone "bouncing" 600 pounds of weight off their chest without sustaining massive injury.

UFC rules
(As found on ufc.tv)

UFC rules, as approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission - July 23, 2001

Weight classes:

Lightweight: 145 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg)
Welterweight: 155 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg)
Middleweight: 170 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg)
Light heavyweight: 185 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg)
Heavyweight: 205 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg)

Bout duration:

All non-championship bouts shall be three rounds.
All championship bouts shall be five rounds.
Rounds will be five minutes in duration.
A one-minute rest period will occur between each round.

Fouls:

Butting with the head.
Eye gouging of any kind.
Biting.
Hair pulling.
Fish hooking.
Groin attacks of any kind.
Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
Small joint manipulation.
Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
Grabbing the clavicle.
Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
Stomping a grounded opponent.
Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
Spitting at an opponent.
Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
Holding the ropes or the fence.
Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
Interference by the corner.

Ways To Win:

Submission by:
Physical tap out.
Verbal tap out.
Technical knockout by the referee stopping the contest.
Decision via the scorecards, including:
Unanimous decision.
Split decision.
Majority decision.
Draw, including:
Unanimous draw.
Majority draw.
Split draw.
Technical decision.
Technical draw.
Disqualification.
Forfeit.
No contest.

Referee may stand fighters up: If the fighters reach a stalemate and do not work to improve position or finish.

Ultimate Fighting Championship is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts organization. Fighters in the sport use combinations of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, and many other martial arts. The UFC is currently owned and operated by Zuffa Entertainment, LLC.

History
Early UFC events were eight- or sixteen-man tournaments conducted by the organisation Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) in association with WOW Promotions (headed by Art Davie and Rorion Gracie), wherein participants were required to beat three opponents in a single evening to be crowned Ultimate Fighting Champion. Reportedly no other event matched fighters of different style to prove which was the best (though events like the Vale Tudo No Maracanãzinho, held in Brazil on November 30, 1984, would appear to contradict this claim[1]). Fighters were typically skilled in one discipline only (for example boxing, Judo, Jiu Jitsu) and had little experience in battling against opponents with different skills of their own. In addition, some competitors were given falsified ranks in traditional martial arts in order to legitimise their presence (for example, Kimo Leopoldo was erroneously touted in UFC III as a 'third degree black belt' in taekwondo[2]). The first ever UFC premiered in 1993.

With no weight classes, fighters could find themselves facing opponents who were significantly larger and taller than themselves. These factors combined led to a trend of short, violent fights, although there were notable exceptions (for example, the 'superfight' between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie in UFC V lasted 36 minutes). This was very much in line with the way the UFC was being marketed at the time. "There are no rules!" said the famous tagline. Although not strictly true, the UFC did operate with a limited set of rules; techniques such as hair pulling, headbutts and groin strikes were frowned upon, but allowed. How the rules were enforced: should a competition rule be violated, the competitor who broke the rule was fined $1000.

The brutal nature of the burgeoning sport quickly drew the attention of the authorities and UFC events were banned in almost all American states. To survive, the UFC redesigned its rules to remove the less palatable elements of fights, while still retaining the core elements of striking and grappling. Five minute rounds, Referee stoppages, weight classes and limitations on permissible striking areas gradually found the UFC being rebranded as a sport rather than a violent circus attraction.

Through this event the term MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) was coined.

Popularity
Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship events have become popular in places like Japan, Brazil, Canada, and the United States, where live fights are often seen on television's Pay Per View system as well as occasionally on Spike TV. Spike TV also airs UFC Unleashed, which replays recorded matches from past cards. In the United States, championship fights are usually held in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, much like in boxing. The ring announcer for UFC championship fights is Bruce Buffer, brother of the famous boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer.

In 2005, the UFC launched its own reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV, in which MMA practitioners who had not yet appeared in the UFC would reside and train together in two teams, and fight one another in matches where the loser would be eliminated and eventually one fighter from each of two weight classes would be awarded a contract. A second series launched in August of the same year, and a third series has been announced and is currently in production. The UFC nearly doubled its fanbase because of this free TV exposure.

Jacob "Tito" Ortiz (born January 23, 1975) is a Mexican American participant of the sport of mixed martial arts, or 'MMA'. Ortiz's career has been mostly within the UFC organization.

Former Light-Heavyweight UFC champion, Ortiz has become one of the sport's most shining stars, headlining several Pay Per View championship undercards, and appearing on the covers of various magazines, such as Black Belt Magazine. He is a native of Huntington Beach, California. Tito Ortiz is recognized as a charismatic, if controversial and highly-criticized fighter. Whatever the opinions of Ortiz, he undeniably is both a showman and a talented fighter.

Ortiz began his martial arts career as a wrestler in his sophomore year of high school. Under coach Paul Herrera, Ortiz would place 4th in the state high school championships as a senior. Following high school, Ortiz continued his wrestling career winning a California state junior college title for Golden West College. Following his stint at Golden West, Ortiz wrestled at Cal State Bakersfield. While never a full time starter, Ortiz did gain signifigant experience training with future NCAA and world champion Stephen Neal. Ortiz was never a conference champion or All American though. His Mixed martial arts debut was at UFC 13. He beat Wes Albittron on the tournament's first round by referee stoppage due to a barrage of punches, but lost a bout that he was dominating early on to Guy Mezger in the next round. The Mezger match was interesting as it showed the potential Tito had for dominating his opponents with control and hard, sharp elbows (Ground n' Pound). It also demonstrated the very real lack of experience Tito had. The fighters were stood up over a disputed end to the fight (Tito claimed Guy tapped). It was ruled the fight should restart (as custom at that time: standing) and Tito, as reasonably instructed by his corner, shot in to quickly finish the fight. A slight miscalculation in distance and technical inexperience in MMA found Ortiz caught in a guillotine choke. Worse, Ortiz had no idea how to escape. Tito dominated the rematch without question. The game, but much smaller Guy Mezger was no match for Ortiz. The rivalry with Lion's Den began.

Tito eventually found himself contending for the UFC Middleweight title; then the belt for fighters under 200 pounds. Tito battled it out in a historic fight with the prodigy Frank Shamrock. Catch-wrestler skill and conditioning won the match for Shamrock, but the lesson Tito learned that night shaped the future of the division for the next several years to come. Following the victory, Shamrock retired. The belt was up for grabs and Tito the contender. Tito's opponent for the belt was one Wanderlei Silva. In a exciting and game match, Ortiz edged out Silva and took the belt. He'd make several defenses over the next four years before it seemed he was avoiding Chuck Liddell. Ortiz had previously publicly challenged Liddell but now remarked that he and Liddell were friends and claimed a pact was made stating that they would never fight one another. It also seemed Ortiz was unsatisfied with his contract. Whatever the reason, Ortiz wasn't giving the fans the fight they most desired. Ortiz finally lost his Light Heavyweight belt to Interim Light heavyweight Champion Randy Couture at UFC 44. Couture ended the reign of one of the most dominant champions MMA has ever seen, from any venue and any weight class.

Ortiz has been involved with several high profile rivalries with other fighters, including Ken Shamrock (Win TKO) and Chuck Liddell, to whom he lost in UFC 47 by second round knockout. Ortiz's future in the UFC came under question following the loss. With his career possibly in jeopardy, Ortiz was set to face the also inconsistent Vitor Belfort. Belfort made a strong showing early on, before exhausting himself. Ortiz gave a strong performance and prevailed, winning a split decision. Contract issues left Ortiz on bad terms with the UFC and its president Dana White since then, and seemed unlikely to ever compete there again.

At UFC 56, Dana White announced that Ortiz, along with Ken Shamrock, would be a coach for The Ultimate Fighter reality TV series. Ortiz has signed a 3 fight deal with his 1st fight at UFC 59 on April 15, 2006 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim California against Forrest Griffin, the winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. The 2nd fight will be against Ken Shamrock on the finale of the Ultimate Fighter 3 in September 2006. If Ortiz wins both fights, he will likely get a shot at the UFC Light Heavweight Title, currently held by Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell.

Ortiz often wears T-shirts which insult opponents he has recently defeated.

Despite his recent fall-off Tito still seems a viable threat within his talent-laden division.

In May 2005, Ortiz followed in the footsteps of his rival Ken Shamrock when he agreed to appear with the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

On May 15, 2005 at TNA Hard Justice 2005 Ortiz served as special guest referee in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title match between Jeff Jarrett and A.J. Styles at the behest of Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes. Ortiz played a large role in the buildup to the match as well as the outcome, in which he knocked out Jeff Jarrett with a right hook because Jarrett shoved him. This allowed Styles to hit his Spiral Tap for the pinfall victory and claim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jarrett.

Ortiz returned to wrestling in October 2005, this time once again as a referee in another NWA World Heavyweight Championship match. His appearance was at TNA Bound For Glory 2005 at the behest of Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko for the match intended to be between Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash. Ortiz played an even bigger role in the buildup of the match this time, attacking both men on an episode of TNA iMPACT! when they brawled prior to their scheduled match.

Nash had to withdraw from the match after suffering chest pains the previous night, so TNA management inserted Rhino into the fold after he won a ten man gauntlet match. Ortiz maintained order with some success, preventing interference from multiple sources but failing to prevent Jarrett from cheating. Rhino won the match (his third of the night) and the title, but Ortiz left the ring immediately after the match as a brawl ensued involving Jarrett, Rhino, Team Canada, Team 3D, The 3Live Kru, and America's Most Wanted.

Vitor Belfort (born April 1, 1978 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has fought both in Japan and the United States. The majority of his bouts have taken place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) within the Light Heavyweight division.

Belfort studied in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu with the Gracie family, namely by Carlson Gracie. He received a black belt under Carlson.

At the age of 19 years old, Vitor came to the US to compete. In his first sanctioned Mixed Martial Arts match in an event called Superbrawl in Hawaii, his opponent was John Hess, whom the young Brazilian defeated in 20 seconds by KO.

Soon after, he moved on to compete in the UFC. Around this time he was given the nickname The Phenom. He beat two fighters in his debut event in the UFC. Later he TKO-ed Tank Abbott in a non-tournament fight, knocking Tank down and using ground and pound tactics.

In 1997 Belfort fought against American Greco-Roman Wrestler Randy Couture in a title match. Belfort was beaten by TKO 8:16 into the match, his boxing skills negated by Couture's clinch and pound tactics.

After his defeat, he fought twice more in the UFC. His first fight was against a training partner of his: Joe Charles whom he defeated quickly via Armbar, without throwing a single punch. Due to the lack of punches and the fact that Charles was a training partner of Belfort, speculation arose that the matched was either a 'work', (the outcome having been arranged beforehand), or that both fighters had made a gentlemen's agreement to not strike and only participate in what was effectively a BJJ sparring match..

A year later, Belfort faced rising Brazilian star Wanderlei Silva in the UFC. Catching Silva early with a jab, he chased him across the ring with punches and pinned Silva against the fence, TKO-ing the Brazilian in 44 seconds.

Vitor then moved on to fight in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships. His first opponent was Kazushi Sakuraba in 1999. Vitor controlled the first minutes of the fight before suffering a hand injury. His striking skills now limited, Belfort resorted to falling to the ground repeatedly and attempted to get Sakuraba to get into his guard. Sakuraba however, stomped and kicked Belfort in his legs whilst he lay on his back. Belfort said after the fight "I didn't fight; I survived". Following the fight he stopped training with Carlson Gracie and started to train with Brazilian Top Team.

He fought four more times in Pride against Gilbert Yvel, Daijiro Matsui, Bobby Southworth and Heath Herring. For these matches Belfort utilised his stand up striking skills less and instead controlled the fights and won by ground and pound tactics. With the exception of his fight with Bobby Southworth: where he won via Rear Naked Choke in the first round, all his wins were by decision in Pride.

Returning to the UFC, Belfort fought Chuck Liddell, (Loss via decision), then Marvin Eastman, (Win via TKO), opening a severe cut on Eastman's eyebrow with a knee strike.

His next major fight was on February 2nd 2004 against Randy Couture (a rematch, after Vitor lost the first). Vitor won the fight in 49 seconds when a seam from his glove cut Couture's eyelid, prompting a referee stoppage. Another rematch took place on August 21st 2004. Couture won via doctor stoppage after the third round, due to accumulated punishment.

His next fight was in UFC against Tito Ortiz on February 5th 2005, Belfort losing by split decision.

Belfort entered PRIDE's Middleweight Grand Prix on April 23 2005. He lost in the opening round to Dutch Golden Glory fighter Alistair Overeem via guillotine choke.

Belfort fought Antony Rea on December 3rd and defeated him via KO at Cage Rage 14 in 2nd round.

Before entering the UFC, Randy Couture was a three-time Olympic team alternate (1988, 1992 and 1996); a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials; a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association D-I All-American; and a two-time NCAA finalist.[1]

Randy Couture debuted in the UFC on May 30th, 1997 as part of UFC 13: The Ultimate Force. At the time, the event consisted of two four-man tournaments: one in the lightweight (under 200lbs) division and one in the heavyweight (200lbs and over) division. Couture fought in the heavyweight tournament, defeating Tony Halme and Steven Graham to win it. His next match was an elimination bout for the heavyweight title against the young Brazilian "Phenom", Vitor Belfort. Couture defeated Belfort by TKO.

Couture won his first Heavyweight title via decision in a 1997 match against kickboxer Maurice Smith. Couture was afterwards stripped of the title when he could not come to contractual terms with the UFC and its parent company at the time, Semaphore Entertainment Group. He returned to the UFC in 2000, where he recaptured the Heavyweight title from Kevin Randleman on November 17 of that year.

After two consecutive losses in the heavyweight division to larger opponents, including a title loss to Josh Barnett, Couture moved down a weight class to fight at 205 lbs in the UFC's light-heavyweight division where he stayed for the remainder of his fighting career. In his light-heavyweight debut, Couture took on long-time number one contender Chuck Liddell for the UFC's Interim Light-Heavyweight Title. Couture won by TKO in the third round. His next bout was against the five-time defending champion Tito Ortiz for the Undisputed Light-Heavyweight title. Couture controlled the younger Ortiz throughout the five rounds of the fight, scoring a unanimous decision and becoming UFC's Undisputed Light-Heavyweight Champion at age 40.

On April 16, 2005, Couture lost his title and suffered the first knockout-loss of his career in a rematch with Chuck Liddell. Couture came back in August with a win over Mike van Arsdale to reestablish himself as a top contender. Couture faced Liddell again for the third and final time in a title match on February 4, 2006 at UFC 57; he did not succeed, however, and once again suffered a knockout-loss in the second round. Immediately after the match, he announced his retirement from the sport.

Randy Duane Couture (born June 22, 1963, Lynnwood, Washington, U.S.) is a now-retired Greco-Roman wrestler and mixed martial arts competitor. He is the only athlete to have held championship titles in both the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, earning him the nicknames "The Natural" and, later, "Captain America". Couture once also headed Team Quest, a stable of fighters based out of Portland, Oregon. In 2005, Couture moved to Las Vegas, where he still resides.

Couture's preferred method of offense in mixed martial arts competition was what is commonly referred to as 'Ground and Pound', in which a fighter utilizes his wrestling ability by taking his opponent down to the mat, establishing top position, and launching down a series of blows upon his opponent. However, in addition to his wrestling background, Couture has displayed a variety of skills in both boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has submitted two opponents using different chokeholds.

Liddell's mixed martial arts journey began in 1998, when he earned a decision victory over a boxer named Noe Hernandez at UFC 17. From there, he went on to vanquish such opponents as Jose Landi-Jons, Guy Mezger and Kevin Randleman. Liddell was also matched against the skilled Middleweight champion, Murilo Bustamante; although Liddell received the judges' decision, many dispute the victory. Despite his winning streak and strong performances, it wasn't until he beat "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort on the main event of UFC 37.5, that he was considered to be among the top echelon within the light heavyweight division Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Immediately following a loss to Randy Couture at UFC 43, Liddell prepared himself for a match against his controversial rival, Tito Ortiz. Both men had trained at the Pitfight Club and experienced a fall-out that would escalate as Ortiz taunted Liddell. On April 2nd, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Liddell defeated Ortiz at UFC 47. Since then, the tension between both fighters has been documented throughout the MMA world.

Recently, Liddell was seen on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV's breakthrough reality show featuring fighters new to the UFC competing for a UFC contract. Liddell served as coach of Team Liddell, while fellow fighter and concurrent UFC Light Heavyweight champ Randy Couture coached Team Couture. The series was a success for both Spike TV and the UFC. Both of the winners of TUF, Diego Sanchez and Forrest Griffin, were members of Team Liddell.

Liddell's highly anticipated rematch with Couture on April 16, 2005 at UFC 52 - a championship bout - ended in victory for Liddell via first-round knockout. The fight was almost stopped at one point after Liddell's finger had made contact with Couture's eye, but the doctors permitted the fight to continue. This victory set the tone for a future rematch between Couture and Liddell.

Before that rematch would occur, however, Chuck was scheduled to defend his new title belt against a fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Horn, at UFC 54. All throughout the bout, Liddell dominated Horn with aggressive punches, causing knockdowns in multiple rounds. Liddell's defensive wrestling ability stifled the bulk of Horn's offense, which was centered around grappling and submission wrestling. Liddell eventually won the fight via TKO in 2:46 minutes of the fourth round, avenging a previous career loss and defending the championship.

On February 4th, 2006 at UFC 57, Liddell won, for a second time, a fight against Randy Couture via knockout in Las Vegas, Nevada to retain the Light Heavyweight championship belt. After the fight, Couture announced his retirement from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Charles David Liddell (born December 17, 1969 in Santa Barbara, California), popularly referred to as Chuck Liddell, and also known as "The Iceman," is a mixed martial artist with a background in kickboxing. He currently fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Primarily a striker, Liddell prides himself on his wrestling skills which he learned during his years at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he also earned a degree in business and accounting. He is a fearsome opponent both as a ground and fist fighter, and has endeared himself as a fan favorite. Liddell is associated with the Pitfight team.