UFC 53
| UFC 53: Heavy Hitters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 4, 2005 | |||
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall | |||
| City | Atlantic City, New Jersey | |||
| Attendance | 12,000 | |||
| Total gate | $1,100,000 | |||
| Buyrate | 90,000 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 53: Heavy Hitters was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 4, 2005, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on DVD.
History
This event was originally scheduled to take place at the Yokohama Arena in Japan with an Interim Heavyweight championship bout between Andrei Arlovski and Mirko Cro Cop serving as the main event. However the lack of sponsorship for the event forced the event to be moved to Atlantic City.[1]
Initially, former champion Ricco Rodriguez was slated to contend for the heavyweight championship, but withdrew from the bout, citing complications with his training camp.[2] Headlining the card opposite of interim heavyweight champion Arlovski, instead, was Miletich protégé Justin Eilers. Although there was some criticism directed at the UFC for giving Eilers a title shot after coming off a knockout loss to Paul Buentello at UFC 51, the UFC explained that Buentello was not medically cleared to fight when the main event was originally scheduled. This was Forrest Griffin's first fight after winning The Ultimate Fighter show.
Results
Preliminary card
- Welterweight bout: Nick Diaz vs. Koji Oishi
- Diaz wins by technical knockout (punches) at 1:24 of round one. The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
- Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Charles McCarthy
- Loiseau wins by technical knockout (spinning back kick) at 2:04 of round two. The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
- Middleweight bout: Nathan Quarry vs. Shonie Carter
- Quarry wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 2:37 of round one. The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
Main card
- Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello vs. Kevin Jordan
- Buentello wins by submission (neck crank) at 4:10 of round one.
- Welterweight bout: Karo Parisyan vs. Matt Serra
- Parisyan wins by unanimous decision.
- Light Heavyweight bout: Forrest Griffin vs. Bill Mahood
- Griffin wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:18 of round one.
- Middleweight Championship bout: Evan Tanner (c) vs. Rich Franklin
- Franklin wins via TKO (doctor stoppage) 3:25 of round 4 to become the new Middleweight Champion.
- Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Andrei Arlovski (ic) vs. Justin Eilers
- Arlovski wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 4:10 of round one. It was realized that Eilers had injured his knee in the bout, prompting the referee to stop the fight as Eilers could not defend himself.[3]
Sources
- UFC 53: Heavy Hitters Results on Sherdog.com
- "Ultimate Fighting Championship Cards" on Wrestling Information Archives
References
- ↑ http://www.headkicklegend.com/2010/11/9/1804270/ufcs-plan-to-invade-japan
- ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-ufcfiftythree052509
- ↑ Josh Gross (June 6, 2005). "UFC 53 Injury Update: Eilers and Tanner". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
