UFC 51

UFC 51: Super Saturday
The poster for UFC 51: Super Saturday
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateFebruary 5, 2005
VenueMandalay Bay Events Center
CityParadise, Nevada
Attendance11,072 (Paid: 9,268)[1]
Total gate$1,493,000
Buyrate105,000
Event chronology
UFC 50: The War of '04 UFC 51: Super Saturday The Ultimate Fighter: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell Finale

UFC 51: Super Saturday was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2005 (Super Bowl weekend) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States and Canada, and later released on DVD.

History

Loretta Hunt, news editor for Sherdog.com, reports, "I know for a fact the UFC was considering a female bout between Erica Montoya and the late Shelby Walker a few years ago."[2] About this planned but never realized fight, "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr. asked Shelby Walker, "It has been rumored that you may fight Erika Montoya at UFC 51, is there any truth to those rumors?" Walker replied, "Yeah there is truth to those rumors, it has been talked about a lot and when I asked Dana White if he was going to put us on the show he said possibly, so that is where it stands right now. I haven't heard anything more from this but my biggest dream would be to fight in the UFC."[3]

The event was also to be held in Japan, but UFC President Dana White moved it back to Las Vegas. Headlining the card were fan favorites Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort.

This was the last UFC event to feature a non-title matchup as the main event instead of an also-scheduled title fight on the same card until UFC 196.

Results

Main Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Light Heavyweight Tito Ortiz def. Vitor Belfort Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) 3 5:00
Middleweight Pete Sell def. Phil Baroni Submission (guillotine choke) 3 4:19
Heavyweight Andrei Arlovski def. Tim Sylvia Submission (achilles lock) 1 0:47 [a]
Middleweight Evan Tanner def. David Terrell TKO (punches) 1 4:35 [b]
Heavyweight Paul Buentello def. Justin Eilers KO (punch) 1 3:34
Preliminary card
Heavyweight Mike Kyle def. James Irvin KO (punch) 1 1:55 [c]
Middleweight David Loiseau def. Gideon Ray TKO (doctor stoppage) 1 5:00
Welterweight Karo Parisyan def. Chris Lytle Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Welterweight Nick Diaz def. Drew Fickett TKO (punches) 1 4:40
  1. ^ For the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. The title was an interim championship due to the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir being unable to defend his title after suffering serious injuries in a motorcycle accident.
  2. ^ For the vacant UFC Middleweight Championship.
  3. ^ Although preliminary, this bout aired on the pay-per-view broadcast.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Top MMA Gates". Archived from the original on 2006-07-17. Retrieved 2006-07-17.
  2. ^ Sherdog.com Staff, "The Doggy Bag: Readers Write, We Respond", Sherdog.com (November 30, 2008).
  3. ^ "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr, "Shelby Walker: Not just another pretty face", DogHouseBoxing.com (January 21, 2005).