This is a major week for the Zuffa-owned Ultimate Fighting Championship. The UFC not only officially turned 15 but will be presenting one of the biggest fights in its history this week at UFC 91 when Randy Couture defends his heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar.
The prospect of Couture vs. Lesnar is so big that it has prompted the UFC to bill it as "the biggest fight in UFC history." It has yet to take place, so we don't know how it will rate from a quality perspective, but UFC president Dana White clarified in a broadcast interview that it's the company's position that Couture vs. Lesnar will be the most watched pay-per-view fight in UFC history.
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| Few in UFC's history have drummed up more interest in their fights than Tito Ortiz. (UFC) |
As you peruse this list, it's important to take into account that we're not talking about the best or most pivotal fights but simply the biggest in terms of interest level among fans and the media.
April 7, 1995, Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock II at UFC 5: The two had met once before, in the second round of UFC 1. While they were virtual unknowns at the time of their first encounter, both had emerged as the faces of what was then known as "No Holds Barred" fighting. At the time, Gracie vs. Shamrock was the equivalent to Batman vs. Superman in the comics or Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair in pro wrestling.
Sept. 8, 1995, Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov at UFC 7: Before there was Fedor Emelianenko, there was Oleg Taktarov. Taktarov was a Russian bruiser who was marketed as a pseudo-Ivan Drago and coming off a tournament win at UFC 6. Shamrock was playing the role that Chuck Liddell essentially played before losing three out of his last four fights. So just imagine if Chuck Liddell fought Fedor Emelianenko and that kind of gives you an idea of the stature of this matchup.
May 17, 1996, Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn II at UFC 9: This fight of future UFC Hall of Famers had a strong buildup. Severn had lost to Shamrock the year before at UFC 6 in a match that decided the promotion's first-ever Superfight champion. Severn, a four-time All-American at Arizona State, was 8-2 heading into his second fight vs. Shamrock and earned a rematch after three consecutive wins over the likes of Tank Abbott, Paul Varelans (yes, the same guy who once was choked out by Tazz on ECW television) and Taktarov. Following the UFC departure of Gracie, Shamrock was the promotion's marquee fighter but was having a hard time holding off Severn, who was able to take the Superfight title along with some of Shamrock's spotlight with a 30-minute decision victory.
Nov. 22, 2002, Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock at UFC 40: To have a true appreciation of just how big the first fight between Ortiz and Shamrock was, you have to pretend the second and third fights never happened. Ortiz vs. Shamrock II and III drew great interest, but the fights didn't carry the same anticipation that the first matchup had. Ortiz was considered the face of North American mixed martial arts, but Shamrock still represented the old guard of the sport, which in many ways resented Ortiz and his tendency to disrespect those that had come before him. After a full-time stint in pro wrestling, Shamrock had fought infrequently and had yet to really show his age. At the time, this fight was as big of as you could make in the sport, and that was reflected when it set a buy-rate record that would stand for several years.
Jan. 11, 2002, Jens Pulver vs. B.J. Penn at UFC 35: Nobody blinks twice these days if a lightweight fighter headlines a pay-per-view. But back in 2002, less than a year after the UFC had returned to PPV, it was quite a feat. MMA was much more popular by the time the two had their rematch, but Pulver had so much more momentum behind his career six years ago. Heading into their grudge rematch at the live season finale of TUF 5, there was little doubt about who would win. But when Pulver and Penn fought at UFC 35, a lot of people considered Pulver the favorite. The second match was fun but nowhere near as intense as the first meeting, as evidenced by the fact that the rematch couldn't headline a PPV even in spite of the fact that the UFC runs more shows now.
June 6, 2003, Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture at UFC 43: If there was a poll conducted to determine the two most recognizable fighters in UFC history, odds are strong that Liddell and Couture would win. The thing that I remember about this match is that even back then, Couture was still at a crossroads. After competing almost exclusively as a heavyweight up until the "Meltdown" event, Couture acknowledged that he just wasn't a match for bigger fighters such as Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett. The 205 division was Couture's new home, but standing in his way was the seemingly invincible Liddell, who had lost just once prior in his UFC career, in what was just his third pro fight. In typical Couture fashion, he defied the odds and out-punched the puncher.
Sept. 26, 2003, Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz at UFC 44: Ortiz, a student of pro wrestling, had begun to disassociate himself from the babyface (good guy) image he had worked so hard to procure and began to embrace a heel (bad guy) persona. It complemented Couture's status as one of the most beloved fighters in the promotion because there were a lot of fans who wanted to see Ortiz lose just as bad as they wanted to see Couture win. Couture's decision to spank Ortiz on the butt during the fight was an example of the cocky Ortiz getting a taste of his own medicine. The fan favorite vs. villain dynamic helped make this one of the UFC's biggest main events before the TUF era.
April 2, 2004, Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell at UFC 47: Liddell was winning big fights long before he received a title shot vs. Ortiz, leading some to speculate that the UFC was protecting their poster boy, Ortiz. At the time, the UFC was struggling to survive and badly needed the PPV revenue that Ortiz's headlining fights generated. But after Ortiz began to complain about his contract and was up for re-negotiation, the UFC finally made a match between its top two light heavyweights. Ortiz helped sell pay-per-views by playing up a former friendship between the two, and when Liddell said that it was an exaggeration, it gave you just one more reason to want to pay money to see Ortiz get beaten up.
May 27, 2006, Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie at UFC 60: The best part of this fight was that Hughes was considered a favorite of epic proportions, yet no one seemed to care. Seeing Gracie return to the UFC during the Zuffa era was surreal and seeing the old generation vs. the new generation made for great theater. Whether you were watching in person at the Staples Center or at home on pay-per-view, you were left with the feeling that you were about to watch something historic.
