UFC Japan
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| UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan 1 | ||
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| Details | ||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |
| Date | December 21st, 1997 | |
| Venue | Yokohama Arena | |
| City | Yokohama, Japan | |
| Attendance | 5,000 | |
| Event chronology | ||
| UFC 15: Collision Course | UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan 1 | UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou |
UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan 1 (also known as UFC 15.5) was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 21, 1997, in Yokohama, Japan. The event was seen on pay per view in the United States, on cable TV in Japan, and was later released on home video. The event featured a four man heavyweight tournament, the first ever UFC Middleweight Championship bout, a Heavyweight Championship bout, a Superfight, and an alternate bout. Ultimate Japan 1 was the first UFC event to take place outside of the USA, and featured the first UFC appearance of MMA legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Frank Shamrock. The event was also the first appearance of longtime UFC announcer Mike Goldberg, who replaced Bruce Beck as the play by play announcer.
The tournament portion of the event was marred by a minor controversy, with a premature stoppage by long time UFC referee 'Big' John McCarthy. During the semifinal bout between Sakuraba and Marcus Silveira, McCarthy thought Sakuraba was knocked out, although he was actually shooting for a takedown, and stopped the fight. After the initial stoppage, the bout was later ruled a no contest by UFC officials, and the two faced off later in the evening, with Sakuraba winning a decisive victory by armbar submission.
[edit] Results
[edit] Heavyweight Tournament
[edit] Alternate Bout: Tra Telligman vs. Brad Kohler
Telligman wins by submission (armbar) at 10:10 of the first round.
[edit] Heavyweight Semifinal Bout: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Marcus Silveira
Ruled a No Contest (referee stopped the bout early at 1:51)
[edit] Heavyweight Semifinal Bout: Tank Abbott vs. Yoji Anjo
Abbott wins a unanimous decision at 15:00. Abbott is unable to continue in the tournament due to fatigue.
[edit] Heavyweight Final Bout: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Marcus Silveira
Sakuraba wins the Ultimate Japan Tournament by submission (armbar) at 3:45 of round 1. Due to the NC, and Tank Abbott bowing out of the tournament, UFC officials ruled that a rematch between Sakuraba and Silviera would serve as the Heavyweight Tournament Finals.
| Semifinals | Final | |||||||
| Kazushi Sakuraba | ||||||||
| Marcus Silveira | ||||||||
| Kazushi Sakuraba | ||||||||
| Marcus Silveira | ||||||||
| Tank Abbott | ||||||||
| Yoji Anjo | ||||||||
[edit] Title Bouts
[edit] UFC Heavyweight Championship Bout: Randy Couture vs. Maurice Smith
Couture becomes the UFC Heavyweight Champion by split decision at 21:00.
[edit] UFC Middleweight Championship Bout: Frank Shamrock vs. Kevin Jackson
Shamrock becomes the first UFC Middleweight Champion by submission (armbar) at 0:16
[edit] Superfight
[edit] Vitor Belfort vs. Joe Charles
Belfort wins by submission (armbar) at 4:04 of round 1. Belfort opted not to throw any strikes in this bout, in an effort to show himself as a well rounded fighter.
