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The UFC has been through many ups and downs throughout it's 16 year history. From the beginnings of the sport as "anything goes, which style is better" contests, to the dark ages with little pay-per-view coverage to this booming mega sport garnering millions of dollars in live gates and pay-per-view buys, it's been a long road getting to UFC 100 on July 11th. With this series we will highlight many of the key numbered events, in chronological order, that have led to this historic pay-per-view card. New events will be covered daily as we come up on the July 11th event.
We skip forward through a hectic 2007 that did anything but go according to plan and continue our countdown with the year end event on Dec. 29, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV. This card brought one of the more anticipated bouts in the company's history between two of the top stars from the UFC and PRIDE respectively in Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva.
2007 brought shakeups in almost every division, as Chuck Liddell lost his Light Heavyweight Championship to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and then dropped another bout to Keith Jardine later in the year. Georges St. Pierre had been shockingly upset by Matt Serra earlier in the year to lose his newly won Welterweight Championship, Sean Sherk defended his Lightweight Championship and was stripped after failing a drug test for steroids, a charge he vehemently denied, and Randy Couture shocked the world with a five round dominant victory over Tim Sylvia to win the Heavyweight Championship. He defended the belt once and then left the company due to a contract dispute. Suffice it to say, it was anything but a smooth year.
But with the acquisition of PRIDE by Zuffa, a bout that fans around the world had wanted to see was set for this event as Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva, two of the most dominant light heavyweights in their respective promotions around the same time. What resulted from their encounter is one of the greatest fights the UFC has ever seen.
For three rounds Liddell and Silva went to war, trading punches like wild men with both taking tons of damage and continuing to throw until the final bell. Liddell even surprised many with a few takedowns in this fight, as even though he's got a strong wrestling base, he's always been more apt to keep things on the feet. It was simply one of the most exciting back and forth fights in the history of mixed martial arts, and words can't do the fight justice as it was two of the great brawlers doing what they do best.
This card was headlined by the Interim Welterweight Championship fight between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre, in what wound up being the third match between the two. Matt Serra, fresh off the upset of St. Pierre and subsequent stint as coach on the Ultimate Fighter opposite Hughes, had injured his back and had to pull out of their planned Title bout. In stepped St. Pierre on short notice to try to get back to another shot at Serra.
St. Pierre was a new man after losing his Title to Serra, learning much from that experience, and he came into this Interim bout in what was then the most impressive performance of his career. He dominated Hughes in a way that simply had not been done before. Hughes looked out of his element in this bout, and St. Pierre picked him apart. The finish was a fitting end to their trilogy, as St. Pierre caught Hughes in an armbar and forced him to verbally submit with seconds remaining in the second round, hearkening back to their first bout in which Hughes did the same to him.
It was a great event to close out 2007 heading into what would be a monumental 2008 that has set up UFC 100 as the biggest MMA event ever.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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