UFC 75

Infobox MMA event
name=UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion

---

promotion=Ultimate Fighting Championship
date=September 8 2007
venue=The O₂
city=London, England
attendance= 16,235cite web
url=http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-bispinghamill090907
title=Questionable verdict
last=Iole
first=Kevin
publisher=Yahoo! Sports
date=September 9, 2007
accessdate=2007-09-11]
gate=$2.7 million
buyrate=
previousevent=
followingevent=

"UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion" was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The event was held September 8, 2007 at The O₂ in London, England. [cite web
url=http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NYM11516072007-1.htm
title=UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion on Spike TV!
author=CNN staff
publisher=CNN
date=July 17, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05] The event was on Setanta Sports 1 in the United Kingdom, TV4 Sport in Sweden, [cite web
url=http://www.tv4.se/571370.html
title=Ultimate fighting är större än boxning
last=Johansson
first=Mikael
publisher=TV4
date=September 03, 2007
accessdate=2007-09-03
language=Swedish] PPV1 in Ireland, and offered on tape delay on Spike TV for North American audiences. [cite web
url=http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/2007/07/spike_tv_to_broadcast_ufc_75_l.html
title=Spike TV to broadcast UFC 75 for free
last=Sievert
first=Steve
publisher=Houston Chronicle
date=July 16, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05] The event was the fourth event held by the UFC in Europe, following "UFC 38" in London, England, "UFC 70" in Manchester, England, and "UFC 72" in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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 and beating out the previous record held by the UFC's "". [cite web
url=http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6477676.html
title=Spike, UFC Set MMA Ratings Record
last=Umstead
first=R. Thomas
publisher=Variety
date=September 11, 2007
accessdate=2007-09-11] The mark would be eclipsed later by "".

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." [cite web
url=http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sports/mixedmartialarts/article_1751066.php
title=UFC president Dana White: Meet the Press
last=Arias
first=Carlos
publisher=Orange County Register
date=July 2, 2007
accessdate=2007-07-02]

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." [cite web
url=http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=2928261
title=White not worried about the competition
last=Hockensmith
first=Ryan
publisher=ESPN
date=July 10, 2007
accessdate=2007-07-10]

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.

Results

Preliminary card

* Welterweight bout: flagicon|FRA Jess Liaudin vs. flagicon|USA Anthony Torres :Liaudin wins via TKO due to strikes at 4:10 of the first round. [cite web
url=http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4442&zoneid=13
title=New Opponent for Jess Liaudin at UFC 75
last=Whitehead
first=Lee
publisher=MMA Weekly
date=August 3, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05]

*Lightweight bout: flagicon|GER Dennis Siver vs. flagicon|JPN Naoyuki Kotani:Siver wins via knockout at 2:04 of the second round. [cite web
url=http://www.nokaut.com/?id=12&solo_news=960&lang=e&cur=eur
title=Siver, Kotani Added to UFC 75
last=Bolduc
first=Justin
date=July 24, 2007
accessdate=2007-07-14
publisher=Nokaut]

*Light heavyweight bout: flagicon|BRA Thiago Silva vs. flagicon|POL Tomasz Drwal:Silva wins via TKO due to strikes at 4:23 of the second round. [cite web
url=http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=2957459
title=Another loss in Filipović's career could be the end
last=Leidecker
first=Tim
date=August 2, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05
publisher=ESPN]

*Lightweight bout: flagicon|BRA Gleison Tibau vs. flagicon|GBR Terry Etim:Tibau wins via unanimous decision after three rounds. [cite web
url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=8479
title=Brazilian Notebook
last=Venga
first=Gleidson
publisher=Sherdog
date=August 3, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05]

Main card

*Light heavyweight bout: flagicon|USA Houston Alexander vs. flagicon|ITA Alessio Sakara:Alexander wins via TKO due to strikes at 1:01 of the first round. [cite web
url=http://www.nokaut.com/?id=12&solo_news=921&lang=e&cur=eur
title=PM Update - July 23
last=Hunt
first=Loretta
publisher=The Fight Network
date=July 23, 2003
accessdate=2007-08-05]

* Welterweight bout: flagicon|USA Marcus Davis vs. flagicon|GBR Paul Taylor :Davis wins via armbar at 4:14 of the first round. [cite web
url=http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=6918
title=Alexander-Sakara and Two Welterweight Wars inked for UFC 75
last=Gerbasi
first=Thomas
date=July 26, 2007
accessdate=2007-07-26
publisher=UFC]

* Heavyweight bout: flagicon|FRA Cheick Kongo vs. flagicon|CRO Mirko Filipović :Kongo wins via unanimous decision after three rounds. All three judges scored the bout 29-28. [cite web
url=http://www.miamiherald.com/588/story/172303.html
title=Unified title on the way
last=Emanuel, Jr.
first=Bob
date=July 16, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05
publisher=The Miami Herald]

*Light heavyweight bout: flagicon|GBR Michael Bisping vs. flagicon|USA Matt Hamill:Bisping wins via split decision after three rounds. Two judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Bisping while one judge scored it 30-27 in favor of Hamill. [cite web
url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/2007/07/30/ddn073007inside.html
title=Five fighters looking for big things with victory
last=Stupp
first=Dann
publisher=Dayton Daily News
date=July 30, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05]

*Light heavyweight unification bout: flagicon|USA Quinton Jackson vs. flagicon|USA Dan Henderson :Jackson wins a unanimous decision after five rounds to become the unified light heavyweight champion. The judges scored the bout 48-47, 49-46, 49-46. [cite web
url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-ufc21jun21,1,134424.story
title=UFC announces super bowl series bouts
last=Pugmire
first=Lance
publisher=Los Angeles Times
date=June 21, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-05]

Bonus awards

After the event's conclusion, the UFC awarded $40,000 to each of the fighters who receive one of these three awards. [http://mmajunkie.com/news/2831/marcus-davis-scores-80000-in-ufc-75-bonuses-possibly-fighting-in-january.mma]

*Fight of the Night: flagicon|USA Marcus Davis vs. flagicon|GBR Paul Taylor [http://mmajunkie.com/news/2831/marcus-davis-scores-80000-in-ufc-75-bonuses-possibly-fighting-in-january.mma]

*Submission of the Night: flagicon|USA Marcus Davis [http://mmajunkie.com/news/2831/marcus-davis-scores-80000-in-ufc-75-bonuses-possibly-fighting-in-january.mma]

*Knockout of the Night: flagicon|USA Houston Alexander [http://mmajunkie.com/news/2831/marcus-davis-scores-80000-in-ufc-75-bonuses-possibly-fighting-in-january.mma]

References