UFC 75
| UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | September 8, 2007 | |||
| Venue | The O2 Arena | |||
| City | London, United Kingdom | |||
| Attendance | 16,235[1] | |||
| Total gate | $2.7 million[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The event was held September 8, 2007 at The O2 in London, United Kingdom.[2] The event was on Setanta Sports 1 in the United Kingdom, TV4 Sport in Sweden,[3] PPV1 in Ireland, and offered on tape delay on Spike TV for North American audiences.[4] The event was the fourth event held by the UFC in United Kingdom, following UFC 38 in London, UFC 70 in Manchester, and UFC 72 in Belfast.
Background
The main event was a title unification match between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson and PRIDE Fighting Championships' 83 kg and 93 kg champion, Dan Henderson. There were some discussion on whether the title fight would be for both the UFC and PRIDE titles or just the UFC title. UFC president Dana White had remarked on July 2, 2007,"No. What we’re doing with that thing is we’re respecting both (the UFC and PRIDE) titles. The UFC title is the UFC champion and we’re respecting Dan as the PRIDE champion. Quinton will walk out with his belt if Dan wins and vice versa."[5]He had since changed that stance, and on July 10, 2007 stated:
"It will absolutely be a unification bout. We have to respect Henderson's titles. He knocked out Wanderlei Silva and had the 185-pound championship. When he fights "Rampage", they both have belts. Why should Dan Henderson get the UFC title if "Rampage" can't get the PRIDE titles? It makes one of them the undisputed guy."[6]
By October 2007, Pride Worldwide LLC, sister company to UFC promoters Zuffa, would abandon plans to continue PRIDE as an active promotion.
British Light Heavyweight Michael Bisping, who won The Ultimate Fighter 3 contest in 2006, fought Team Punishment's Matt Hamill, who rivaled Bisping during the taping of The Ultimate Fighter 3. Also scheduled was a heavyweight bout between PRIDE and K-1 veteran Mirko Filipović and French Muay Thai kickboxer Cheick Kongo. Anthony Johnson was scheduled to face Jess Liaudin, but was forced to pull out due to a hand injury.
At the time, UFC 75 had achieved the highest recorded ratings for any mixed martial arts broadcast in North America, drawing a total of 4.7 million viewers (5.93 million at its peak) and beating out the previous record held by the UFC's Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter.[7] The mark would be eclipsed later by CBS's EliteXC: Primetime.
Results
Preliminary card
- Welterweight bout: Jess Liaudin vs. Anthony Torres
- Liaudin defeated Torres via TKO (punches) at 4:10 of round 1. This bout also aired on the live pay-per-view broadcast.
- Lightweight bout: Dennis Siver vs. Naoyuki Kotani
- Siver defeated Kotani via KO (punch) at 2:04 round 2.
- Light heavyweight bout: Thiago Silva vs. Tomasz Drwal
- Silva defeated Drwal via TKO (punches) at 4:23 of round 2.
- Lightweight bout: Gleison Tibau vs. Terry Etim
- Tibau defeated Etim via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).
Main card
- Light heavyweight bout: Alessio Sakara vs. Houston Alexander
- Alexander defeated Sakara via TKO (knee and punches) at 1:01 of round 1.
- Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs. Marcus Davis
- Davis defeated Taylor via submission (armbar) at 4:14 of round 1.
- Heavyweight bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Cheick Kongo
- Kongo defeated Filipović via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).
- Light Heavyweight bout: Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill
- Bisping defeated Hamill via split decision (29–28, 27–30, 29–28).
- UFC Light Heavyweight & Pride Middleweight Championship unification bout: Quinton Jackson (UFC Champion) vs. Dan Henderson (Pride Champion)
- Jackson defeated Henderson via unanimous decision (48–47, 49–46, 49–46) to become the unified Light Heavyweight Champion.
Bonus awards
After the event's conclusion, the UFC awarded $40,000 to each of the fighters who receive one of these three awards.[8]
- Fight of the Night: Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor[8]
- Knockout of the Night: Houston Alexander[8]
- Submission of the Night: Marcus Davis[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Iole, Kevin (September 9, 2007). "Questionable verdict". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
- ↑ CNN staff (July 17, 2007). "UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion on Spike TV!". CNN. Archived from the original on 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
- ↑ Johansson, Mikael (September 3, 2007). "Ultimate fighting är större än boxning". TV4 (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2007-09-05. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
- ↑ Sievert, Steve (July 16, 2007). "Spike TV to broadcast UFC 75 for free". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
- ↑ Arias, Carlos (July 2, 2007). "UFC president Dana White: Meet the Press". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
- ↑ Hockensmith, Ryan (July 10, 2007). "White not worried about the competition". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- ↑ Umstead, R. Thomas (September 11, 2007). "Spike, UFC Set MMA Ratings Record". Variety. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Stupp, Dann (2007-09-11). "Marcus Davis Scores $80,000 in UFC 75 Bonuses, Possibly Fighting in January". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
