UFC Complete Tournament and Title Holder History
This is an updated version that now includes all UFC events.
UFC 1- Tournament Royce Gracie 8 Man Nov 93
UFC 2- Tournament Royce Gracie 16 Man March 94
UFC 3- Tournament Steve Jennum 8 Man Sept 94. Steve Jennum was an alternate and went straight to the finals when Ken Shamrock was unable to continue due to an injury. In the semi finals between Harold Howard and Royce Gracie, Gracie entered the ring and threw in the towel before the match began. This was counted as a loss and no alternate was provided to fight Howard in the semi final.Harold Howard advanced to the finals having fought only 1 fight which he won in 46 seconds with a KO. At this time in the UFC, alternates did not have to fight for a spot as an alternate, so Jennum went in fresh and won the tournament. Many would have rather seen Kimo enter the finals rather than the fresh Jennum.
UFC 4- Tournament Royce Gracie 8 Man Dec 94
UFC 5- Tournament Dan Severn 8 Man April 95
UFC 5 Super Fight- Draw Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock
UFC 6- Tournament Oleg Taktarov 8 Man July 95
UFC 6- Superfight Winner- Ken Shamrock (Over Severn) for the Superfight Belt. The HW Belt would be brought in at UFC 12 and the Superfight and HW Titles were united. Ken Shamrock never technically held the UFC HW Title, but the Superfight Title iswidely considered the same thing.
UFC 7- Tournament Marco Ruas 8 Man Sept 95
UFC 7 Superfight Winner- Draw Oleg Taktarov and Ken Shamrock
95 Ultimate Ultimate- Tournament Dan Severn 8 Man Dec 95
UFC 8- Tournament Don Frye 8 Man Feb 96
UFC 8 Superfight Winner- Ken Shamrock over Kimo Leopoldo
UFC 9 No Tournament May 96
UFC 9 Superfight Winner- Dan Severn (Over Shamrock). This fight was 33 minutes of mostly circling each other. It is widely considered the most boring fight of all time, possibly in all of MMA. Dan Severn is reported to have said that this fight took place psychologically rather than physically (Paraphrase)
UFC 10- Tournament Mark Coleman 8 Man July 96
UFC 11- Tournament Mark Coleman 8 Man (But only fought 2 fights to win it) Sept 96
96 Ultimate Ultimate 2- Tournament Don Frye 8 Man Dec 96
UFC 12- LW(Under 200) Tournament- Jerry Bohlander 4 Man Feb 97
UFC 12- HW Tournament(over 200)- Vitor Belfort 4 Man
UFC 12- Superfight and HW Title Winner Mark Coleman over Dan Severn (HW title and Superfight title are united)
UFC 13- LW(under 200) Tournament- Guy Mezger 4 Man May 97
UFC 13- HW(over 200) Tournament- Randy Couture 4 Man
UFC 14 LW(under 200) Tournament- Kevin Jackson July 97 4 man
UFC 14 HW (over 200)Tournament- Mark Kerr 4 Man
UFC 14 Maurice Smith defeats Mark Coleman for UFC HW Title.
UFC 15 HW Tournament-Mark Kerr 4 Man Oct 97
UFC 15 Maurice Smith retains HW title over Tank Abbott
U-Japan-Randy Couture defeats Maurice Smith to obtain the UFC HW Title. Couture vacates the belt over failed contract negotiations Dec 97
U-Japan-Frank Shamrock wins newly formed MW Title over Kevin Jackson
U-Japan- Kazushi Sakuraba wins a 4 Man HW Tournament. Sakuraba had fought Marcus Silveira in the first round. The fight was ruled a no contest because of early stoppage by the ref. Tank Abbott defeated Yoji Anjo but broke his hand. It was determined that Sakuraba and Silveira would fight again and the winner would be the Tournament winner. Sakuraba won.
UFC 16- LHW Tournament- Pat Miletich 4 Man March 98
UFC 16- Frank Shamrock retains MW Title over Igor Zinoviev
UFC 17-MW Tournament- Dan Henderson 4 Man May 98
UFC 17- MW Champ Frank Shamrock beats Jeremy Horn to retain Belt
U-Brazil No Tournament Oct 98
U-Brazil- Frank Shamrock retains his MW Title over John Lober
U-Brazil- For the new Lightweight Title- Pat Miletich over Mikey Burnett
UFC 18- No Tournament Jan 99
UFC 18- Pat Miletich retains LW title over Jorge Patrino
UFC 19- No Tournament March 99
UFC 20- No Tournament May 99
UFC 20- Bas Rutten beats Kevin Randleman for the vacant HW Title
UFC 21 – Pat Miletich over Andre Pedemeiras to retain the LW July99
UFC21-* Unified Rules of Combat adopted by the UFC
UFC 22- Frank Shamrock over Tito Ortiz to retain MW Title Sept 99
UFC 23 Ultimate Japan 2- Japan Tournament for UFC Japan Champion- Kenichi Yamamoto (4 Man) Nov 99
UFC 23- Kevin Randleman defeats Pete Williams for the vacant HW title (Vacated by Bas Rutten)
UFC 23-* First event not to be released on video. UFC 23-29 were never released on video. PRIDE and K-1 beat UFC Japan badly in ratings. UFC Japan was to be a separate company from the UFC in the United States. It failed after UFC 29. This was the last tournament format that the UFC ever had.
UFC 24- One Night Tournaments were no longer held after UFC 23. A scheduled title defense between Kevin Randleman and Pedro Rizzo was postponed when Randleman slipped on a concrete floor and was knocked unconscious with a concussion while warming up for the fight. PPV and live audience were not informed until the end of the evening that the fight would not take place. March 2000
UFC 25 U Japan 3. Tito Ortiz defeated Wanderlei Silva for the vacant MW Title left vacant when Frank Shamrock “Retired”.April 2000
UFC 26- Kevin Randleman retains the HW title after beating Pedro Rizzo.June 2000
UFC 26- Pat Miletich retains the LW Title after beating John Alessio
UFC 27- No title defenses. Sept 2000
UFC 28- Randy Couture (2) defeated Kevin Randleman for the HW Title
UFC 28 marked the first UFC event to be sanctioned by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, held under the newly formed "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts". The new rules introduced new strict weight classes, resulting in the first UFC Super Heavyweight bout, and the first UFC Bantamweight bout
UFC 29-Tito Ortiz retains MW Title by defeating Yuki Kondo
UFC 29-This was the 6th event in a row to not be released on Video. Following this event, which was the 4th UFC event held in Japan, SEG sold the UFC to Zuffa in Jan of 2001.
UFC 30-Tito Ortiz retains MW Title by defeating Evan Tanner
UFC 30- Jens Pulver beats Caol Uno for what was then called the Bantamweight Title (Later becomes LW Title)
UFC30- New owners Zuffa release UFC 30 on tape. UFC 23-29 (7 events, NOT 6 like Wikipedia says) are never released on tape and are still unavailbale through official licensing. They can be found though.
UFC 31- The weight classes are restructured to get in favor with Nevada State Athletic Commision guidelines. These weight classes are the same ones used as of today (March 07).
LW- 155
WW- 170
MW-185
LHW-205
HW-265
SHW-Over 265
Pat Miletich’s title was originally called the LW Title, but was switched to the WW Title. Tito Ortiz’ Title was originally called the Middelweight Title but was renamed the LHW Title. Randy Couture’s HW Title remains unchanged in name. The newly created Middleweight and Lightweight divisions did not have a champion until UFC 33
UFC31- Pat Miletich loses his newly named WW Title against Carlos Newton
Randy Couture retains his HW title by beating Pedro Rizzo
UFC 32-Tito Ortiz retains his newly named LHW Title by defating Elvis Sinosic
UFC33- Tito Ortiz retains his LHW title by defeating Vladimir Matyushenko Sept 01
UFC33- Dave Menne defeats Gil Castillo for the newly formed MW Title
UFC 33- Jens Pulver defeats Dennis Hallman for the newly formed LW Title.
UFC 33- The first mixed marital arts event sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, under the Unified Rules Of Mixed Martial Arts Combat, which was first established by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board in 2000. The UFC had been following these rules since UFC 28.
UFC 34- Randy Couture once again defeats Pedro Rizzo to retain the HW title
UFC 34- Matt Hughes defeats Carlos Newton for the WW Title
UFC 35-Murilo Bustamante defeats Dave Menne to obtain the MW Title
UFC 35- Jens Pulver retains his LW belt against BJ Penn.
UFC 36-Matt Hughes retains his WW Title by defeating Hayatu Sakurai
UFC 36- Josh Barnett defeats Randy Couture for the HW Title. Barnett is stripped of the title after a mandatory post fight drug test in which he tested positive for steroid use. The title was vacated
UFC 37- Murilo Bustamante retains his MW Title after defeating Matt Lindland. The following is taken from Wikipedia:Bustamante wins by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:20 of the third round. Bustamante had Lindland hooked cleanly in an armbar early in the fight, then released it after what seemed to be a tap, followed by a shout to stop the action by John McCarthy. Lindland claimed it wasn't a tap, which controversially led McCarthy to restart the fight. Shortly after, Bustamante left UFC due to contract disputes and fighting in Pride's 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. He was then stripped of the UFC Middleweight title.
UFC 37.5- No Title defenses. This UFC was put togethr as a promo for The Best Damn Sports Show. Since UFC 38 had already been announced and named, and having UFC39 prior to 38 would have confused peopel even more, it was named UFC 37.5. Liddell did defeat Belfort as the main event.
UFC 38- Matt Hughes retains the WW Title after defeating Carlos Newton
UFC 39- Ricco Rodriguez defeats Randy Couture for the vacated HW Title
UFC 39- The First round of LW tournament is held after Jens Pulver is stripped of his title after he and the UFC could not agree on contract negotiations. BJ Penn defeated Matt Serra and Caol Uno defeated Din Thomas. The final round was fought at UFC 41.
UFC 40- Tito Ortiz retains his LHW Title against Ken Shamrock
UFC 40- Matt Hughes retains his WW Title after defeating Gil Castillo
UFC 41-Tim Sylvia defeats Ricco Rodriguez for the HW Title
UFC 41- Almost a year earlier, Jens Pulver had been stripped of his LW Title after contract negotiations did not work out between him and the UFC. At UFC 41, BJ Penn and Caol Uno fought for the vacated LW Title. The fight went 5 rounds and was scored 29-28 Uno, 29-28 Penn and 28-28 making it a draw. Since there was no winner, the Title remained vacant. It was not until 3 ½ years later that the Title was won by Sean Sherk. The Title had been vacant for 5 ½ years in total.
UFC 42-Matt Hughes retains his title against Sean Sherk.
UFC 43- Randy Couture defeats the heavily favored Chuck Liddell for the INTERIM LHW Title. This was Couture’s first fight at LHW.
UFC 44-Tim Sylvia retains his HW Title by defeating Gan McGee. Sylvia is stripped of the title after failing a mandatory post fight drug test in which he tested positive for steroids.
UFC 44- Interim LHW Champ Randy Couture and LHW Champ Tito Ortiz fight to decide the undisputed UFC LHW Champion. Randy Couture wins the bout.
UFC 45- Matt Hughes retains the WW Title by defeating Frank Trigg.
UFC 46- Vitor Belfort defeats Randy Couture to obtain the LHW Title. At the 49 second mark of the 1st round, Belfort threw a punch that grazed Couture's left eyelid, cutting him badly. Many consider this to have been quite an anti-climactic fight.
UFC 46- BJ Penn defeats Matt hughes for the WW Title. He is stripped of the title the next month when he signs with K-1.
UFC 47- No title matches. Ironically, although no belts were on the line, UFC 47 is widely considered one of the best UFC events due to 5 KO’s, 2 Submissions and only 1 decision. Also, the long awaited Liddell/Ortiz fight was the main fight on the card
UFC 48- Frank Mir defeats Tim Sylvia to obtain the vacant UFC HW Title (it had been stripped from Sylvia when he tested positive for steroids after UFC 44).
UFC 49-Randy Couture defeats Vitor Belfort to obtain the LHW Title
UFC 50-The WW Title was vacant after the UFC stripped BJ Penn of it over his signing with K-1. Matt Hughes defeated Georges St.Pierre (GSP) for the WW Title.
UFC 51- Evan Tanner defeats David Terrell for the vacant MW Title. Bustamante was stripped of it after UFC 37 when he signed with PRIDE
UFC 51- Andrei Arlovski defeats Tim Sylvia for Interim UFC HW Title. Because Frank Mir was unable to defend his belt due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident, the winner of this bout was to be Interim Champion and was to face Mir for the undisputed Title. Arlovski was promoted to Undisputed Champion after beating Buentello at UFC 55. Frank Mir was stripped of the title when he was unable to defend it at UFC 55. He held it for 14 months after his accident.
UFC 52- Chuck Liddell defeats Randy Couture for the LHW Title. Controversy still surrounds this fight as to whether or not Chuck Liddell intentionally “thumbed” Couture in the eye. Liddell had been accused of doing the same thing to Tito Ortiz . Some thought that Couture would have won the fight if it had not been for the eye poke. At UFC 57, Couture once again fought Liddell but was Knocked Out without controversy early in the fight.
UFC 53-Ric Franklin beats Evan Tanner for the MW Title
UFC 53- Interim HW Title Holder Andrei Arlovski beats Justin Eilers to retain his Interim Champion Status. At this point, it was still expected that Arlovski would fight Mir for the undisputed title at UFC 55.
UFC 54-Chuck Liddell retains his LHW Title over Jeremy Horn. At this point his his career, Liddell hd lost 3 fight- one to Jeremy Horn, one to randy Couture and one to Quiton Rampage Jackson (PRIDE). After winning this fight, it was widely anticipated that Liddell would at some future time face Quinton Jackson to complete the avenging of all 3 of his losses, Jackson being a free agent. Jackson told reporters that UFC stood for Un-Fair-Compensation, referring to fighter salaries. Jackson instead signed with the WFA, which the UFC later bought. The UFC took control of all WFA fighter contracts and thus had a fight contract with Quinton Jackson. At the present time (March 07) Jackson has said that he is not ready for Liddell and a rumored UFC 71 rematch is not official.
UFC 55-Andrei Arlovski defeats Paul Buentello for undisputed HW Title. Arlovski had been interim champion since UFC 51. Since Mir was unable to defend his title due to his motorcycle accident, this fight was scheduled for the undisputed HW title.
UFC 56-Matt Hughes had been scheduled to fight Karo Parisyan for the WW Title. Parisyan was unable to fight due to injury suffered during training. Joe Riggs was brought in to fight Hughes for the title. Riggs did not make weight and the fight was deemed a Non-Title defense, Hughes won the match.
UFC 56- Rich Franklin retains his MW Title over Nate Quarry. This match up is commonly believed to have been set up for the newer UFC fans, Quarry having been a fan favorite on the UFC’s and SPIKE TV’s show The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). Longtime fans were upset that Quarry was given an “undeserved” title shot over Matt Lindland.
UFC 57-Chuck Liddell retains his LHW Title over Randy Couture. Frank Mir, in his return to the UFC, is upset by Marcio Cruz
UFC 58- Rich Franklin retains his MW Title over David Loiseau. This event was dubbed “USA vs. Canada” with America born fighters fighting Canadian born fighters. USA won 5 of the 8 bouts.
UFC 59- Tim Sylvia defeats Andrei Arlovski for the HW Title.
UFC 60- No Title defences. Matt Hughes won the Main Event Bout against Royce Gracie. The fight took place at 175 LBS.
UFC 61-Tim Sylvia retinas the HW Title over Andrei Arlovski. Tito Ortiz also defeated Ken Shamrock in a co-main event. Herb Dean was booed by the live audience when he stopped the fight prematurely. While it was evident that Ortiz was dominating Shamrock, the stoppage seemed early. UFC President Dana White later announced that Shamrock/Ortiz III would be broadcast for free at a later date on SPIKE TV. Ortiz won that fight as well.
UFC 62-Chuck Liddell retains the LHW Title over Renato “Babalu” Sobral. This event also featured a rematch between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. Griffin won the fight.
UFC 63-Hughes retains his WW title over BJ Penn. Georges St. Pierra was originally supposed to fight Hughes for the title, but was not able to compete due to injury. Although BJ Penn had lost a very close fight with St Pierre at UFC 58, Penn was brought in and given the title shot. Penn had defeated Hughes for the title back at UFC 46, but was stripped of the title after signing with K-1 the next month.
UFC 64- Sean Sherk defeated Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian for the vacant UFC LW Title. This title had actually only been held by one other fighter, Jens Pulver, who claimed the title at UFC 30 against Caol Uno. After defending the title successfully against Dennis Hallman and BJ Penn, Pulver was stripped of the title over contract disputations in March of 2002.The UFC continued to hold LW bouts until UFC 50. From UFC 50-57, there were no LW bouts in the UFC. The LW division was used again at UFC 58, but the vacant title was not fought for until UFC 64. Many consider Yves Edwards to have been the #1 fighter, or the uncrowned champion of the LW division after Pulver was stripped of the title. See UFC 41 for more info about the LW division.
UFC 64- Anderson Silva defeats Rich Franklin for the MW Title. Many thought that Silva was given the title shot too early in his UFC career, having only fought one UFC fight (defeated Chris Leben). Silva beat Franklin with relative ease, while many UFC fans were left to wonder about Rich Franklin’s Muay Thai defense.
UFC 65-Tim Sylvia retains his HW title over Jeff Monson
UFC 65- Georges St. Pierre (GSP) defeats Matt Hughes for the WW Title.
UFC 66-Chuck Liddell retains his LHW Title over Tito Ortiz
UFC 67-Anderson Silva defeats Travis Lutter. Lutter was given the title shot for winning The Ultimate Fighter 4 (TUF 4). Because Lutter did not make weight, the match was changed to non-title. UFC 67 marked the first bout of newly signed Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, a PRIDE and K-1 fighter. Filipovic had won the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix (OWGP) in 2006 and had been scheduled for a rematch against PRIDE HW Champion Fedor Emelianenko (CroCop had lost in the previous title shot). Because of an injury, CroCop was unwilling to fight Fedor for the title at PRIDE’s Shockwave event (NYE every year), citing that although he could fight, he wanted to be 100% when he fought Fedor. CroCop had been fighting in PRIDE on a fight to fight contract basis, and signed with the UFC shortly after the Shockwave event (CroCop had threatened to leave PRIDE midway through the OWPG because he was not satisfied with the contract PRIDE presented him for fighting in the Semi Finals and Finals) . The current rumor mill has CroCop still wanting to fight Fedor for the HW Title at Shockwave 2007. The only sure thing is that CroCop signed a 5 fight contract with the UFC and will have fought two of those fights by UFC 70 in April. It is rumored that the winner of CroCop’s UFC 70 bout will fight Randy Couture for the UFC HW Title later in 2007
UFC 68-Randy Couture comes out of retirement to his original Weight Class of HW to defeat Tim Sylvia for the UFC HW Title.
Current Champions:
LW- Sean Sherk
WW- Matt Serra
MW- Anderson Silva
LHW- Rampage Jackson
HW- Randy Couture
a little long
[ Edited by jimrat201 on Jun 20, 2007 at 12:27 PM ]