Template:Infobox MMA event UFC 40: Vendetta was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 22, 2002, at the MGM Grand Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on DVD.
History[]
UFC 40 contained one of the biggest, most important and most anticipated fights in UFC history, a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship fight between rivals Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. Shamrock, a popular legendary fighter and former champion from the UFC's early years, was returning to the UFC for the first time since 1996. UFC 40 also contained a Welterweight Title Bout between Matt Hughes and Gil Castillo. Tank Abbott provided an interview in the octagon after UFC president Dana White had announced Abbott would return to the octagon on a 3-fight deal.
Bruce Buffer has said many times that the fight between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz was one of the greatest fights he has ever seen, and that the energy from the 13,700 fans that night was one of the greatest feelings he has ever experienced.[1]
UFC 40 was also the first live UFC Pay Per View event to be aired on Australian cable television.
Significance[]
UFC 40 was a pivotal event for Zuffa. The anticipation for Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz resulted in a buyrate that was nearly 4 times larger than the buyrates of the previous Zuffa UFC shows. After initially losing a lot of money, UFC 40 showed Zuffa that it was possible to make money with the UFC. This was important for the sport of mixed martial arts because had UFC 40 been a failure, the possibility existed that Zuffa would have eventually sold the UFC and cut their losses; Zuffa was largely responsible for bringing mixed martial arts to the mainstream audience in the coming years, and without them, there was a good possibility the sport of mixed martial arts would have remained underground.[2][3] UFC 40 was a near sellout of 13,022 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for a gate of $1,540,000, a UFC record at that point in time.[4]
UFC 40 also gained mainstream exposure for mixed martial arts for the first time since entering the dark ages of MMA. Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz both appeared on The Best Damn Sports Show Period and engaged in trash talk on live television.[5] Shamrock and Ortiz's fight also gained mainstream media attention from massive media outlets such as ESPN and USA Today[6], something that was unfathomable for mixed martial arts at that point in time.
Results[]
Preliminary card[]
- Middleweight bout: Phillip Miller Vs. Mark Weir
- Miller Wins by 2nd round Submission via Rear Naked Choke (4.50).
- Heavyweight bout: Travis Wiuff Vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
- Matyushenko wins by 1st round Submission via strikes (4.10)
- Heavyweight bout: Ian Freeman vs Andrei Arlovski
- Arlovski wins by 1st round TKO via strikes (1.18)
Main card[]
- Welterweight bout: Robbie Lawler Vs. Tiki Ghosn
- Lawler wins by 1st round TKO via strikes (1.25)
- Welterweight bout: Carlos Newton vs Pete Spratt
- Newton wins by 1st round Submission (Kimura) (1.41)
- Welterweight championship bout: Matt Hughes (c) vs Gil Castillo
- Hughes wins via 1st round TKO after an accidental headbutt to Castillo. Doctors ruled that the cut was too severe to continue (5.00)
- Light heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Renato Sobral
- Liddell wins by a first round TKO via a Head Kick. (2.55) It was widely publicized that Liddell stepped aside to allow Shamrock a shot at the light heavyweight title. His number-one contendership for the light heavyweight title was on the line during this bout.
- Light heavyweight championship bout: Tito Ortiz (c) vs Ken Shamrock
- Ortiz wins via 3rd round corner stoppage (5.00)
External links[]
References[]
- ↑ http://sherdog.com/news/interviews/the-voice-of-the-octagon-1507
- ↑ http://www.mmamemories.com/2009/05/29/flashback-to-ufc-40-the-shape-of-things-to-come.html
- ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dd-ufcforty051209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
- ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dd-ufcforty051209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf1Kei1amU0
- ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dd-ufcforty051209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
|
ja:UFC 40 no:UFC 40