UFC 30

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UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk

Details
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	February 23, 2001
Venue	Trump Taj Mahal
City	Atlantic City, New Jersey
Event chronology
UFC 29: Defense of the Belts	UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk	UFC 31: Locked and Loaded

UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 23, 2001. The card was headlined by two Title Bouts, a Middleweight Championship Bout between Tito Ortiz and Evan Tanner, and the first and only UFC Bantamweight Championship Bout between Jens Pulver and Caol Uno. Following UFC 31, Bantamweight was renamed "Lightweight" under the new Unified Rules Of Combat, defined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The event also featured the first UFC appearances of Phil Baroni, Sean Sherk, and Elvis Sinosic.

UFC 30 marked a major turning point for the UFC, as it was the first UFC event held by new owners Zuffa LLC. Headed by Station Casinos owners Frank and Lorenzo Ferttita, and managed by Dana White, Zuffa aquired the UFC in January 2001 from former owners SEG, who were on the brink of bankruptcy. With a new strategy focusing on effective marketing, corporate sponsorship, commission sanctioning, home video releases, and the return of cable Pay-Per-View (where the UFC had been blacklisted since 1996), "The New UFC" began a steady rise in popularity.

UFC 30 was also the first UFC event since UFC 22 to see a home video release, effectivley ending what some fans called the UFC's "Dark Ages".