UFC 51
| UFC 51: Super Saturday | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | February 5, 2005 | |||
| Venue | Mandalay Bay Arena | |||
| City | Paradise, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 11,072 (Paid: 9,268)[1] | |||
| Total gate | $1,493,000 | |||
| Buyrate | 105,000 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 51: Super Saturday was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2005 (Super Bowl weekend) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States and Canada, and later released on DVD.
History
Loretta Hunt, news editor for Sherdog.com, reports, "I know for a fact the UFC was considering a female bout between Erica Montoya and the late Shelby Walker a few years ago."[2] About this planned but never realized fight, "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr. asked Shelby Walker, "It has been rumored that you may fight Erika Montoya at UFC 51, is there any truth to those rumors?" Walker replied, "Yeah there is truth to those rumors, it has been talked about a lot and when I asked Dana White if he was going to put us on the show he said possibly, so that is where it stands right now. I haven’t heard anything more from this but my biggest dream would be to fight in the UFC."[3]
The event was also to be held in Japan, but UFC President Dana White moved it back to Las Vegas. Headlining the card were fan favorites Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort.
This was the last UFC event to feature a non-title matchup as the main event instead of an also-scheduled title fight on the same card. All future UFC events with title matches featured one as the main event.
The total fighter payroll for the event was $456,000.[4]
Results
Preliminary card
- Welterweight bout: Nick Diaz vs. Drew Fickett
- Diaz wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 4:37 of round one.
- Welterweight bout: Karo Parisyan vs. Chris Lytle
- Parisyan wins by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 30–27.
- Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Gideon Ray
- Loiseau wins by technical knockout (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round one.
- Heavyweight bout: Mike Kyle vs. James Irvin
- Kyle wins by knockout (punches) at 1:55 of round one. Although preliminary, this bout aired on the pay-per-view broadcast.
Main card
- Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello vs. Justin Eilers
- Buentello wins by knockout (punches) at 3:31 of round one.
- Middleweight bout: Pete Sell vs. Phil Baroni
- Sell wins by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:16 of round three.
- Middleweight Championship bout: Evan Tanner vs. David Terrell
- Tanner wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 4:35 of round one. Tanner becomes the UFC Middleweight champion filling the vacant title, and the first Middleweight champion since 2002.
- Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia
- Arlovski wins by submission (achilles lock) at :47 of round one. Arlovski becomes the Interim Heavyweight champion. The title is an interim championship due to the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir, being seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and not able to defend the title against No. 1 contender, Andrei Arlovski.
- Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Vitor Belfort
- Ortiz wins by split decision. The judges scored the bout 29–28, 29–28, and 28–29.
Fighter Payouts
Tito Ortiz def. Vitor Belfort
- Ortiz – $175,000 ($ 125,000 to fight; $50,000 to win)
- Belfort – $100,000
Pete Sell def. Phil Baroni
- Sell – $4,000 ($2,000 to fight; $2,000 to win)
- Baroni – $10,000
Andrei Arlovski def. Tim Sylvia
- Arlovski – $30,000 ($12,000 to fight; $18,000 to win)
- Sylvia – $40,000
Evan Tanner def. David Terrell
- Tanner – $38,000 ($18,000 to fight; $20,000 to win)
- Terrell – $6,000
Paul Buentello def. Justin Eilers
- Buentello – $8,000 ($4,000 to fight; $4,000 to win)
- Eilers – $5,000
Mike Kyle def. James Irvin
- Kyle – $6,000 ($3,000 to fight, $3,000 to win)
- Irvin – $3,000
David Loiseau def. Gideon Ray
- Loiseau – $4,000 ($2,000 to fight; $2,000 to win)
- Ray – $2,000
Karo Parisyan def. Chris Lytle
- Parisyan – $8,000 ($4,000 to fight; $4,000 to win)
- Lytle – $4,000
Nick Diaz def. Drew Fickett
- Diaz – $11,000 ($6,000 to fight; $5,000 to win)
- Fickett – $2,000
Total Fighter Payroll: $456,000
References
- ↑ http://boxing.nv.gov/MMAgates.htm
- ↑ Sherdog.com Staff, "-15340 The Doggy Bag: Readers Write, We Respond", Sherdog.com (November 30, 2008).
- ↑ "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr, "Shelby Walker: Not just another pretty face", DogHouseBoxing.com (January 21, 2005).
- ↑
Sources
- UFC 51: Super Saturday Results on Sherdog.com
- "Ultimate Fighting Championship Cards" on Wrestling Information Archives
- Full Breakdown of UFC 51 Fighter Salaries
