UFC 53: Heavy Hitters
The poster for UFC 53: Heavy Hitters
Information
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateJune 4, 2005
VenueBoardwalk Hall
CityAtlantic City, New Jersey
Attendance12,000
Total gate$1,100,000
Buyrate90,000
Event chronology
UFC 52: Couture vs Liddell 2 UFC 53: Heavy Hitters UFC Ultimate Fight Night

UFC 53: Heavy Hitters was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 4, 2005, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on DVD.

History

This event was originally scheduled to take place at the Yokohama Arena in Japan with an Interim Heavyweight Championship bout between Andrei Arlovski and Mirko Filipović serving as the main event. However the lack of sponsorship for the event forced the event to be moved to Atlantic City.[1]

Initially, former champion Ricco Rodriguez was slated to contend for the Heavyweight Championship, but withdrew from the bout, citing complications with his training camp.[2] Headlining the card opposite of Interim Heavyweight Champion Arlovski, instead, was Miletich protégé Justin Eilers. Although there was some criticism directed at the UFC for giving Eilers a title shot after coming off a knockout loss to Paul Buentello at UFC 51, the UFC explained that Buentello was not medically cleared to fight when the main event was originally scheduled.

This was Forrest Griffin's first fight after winning The Ultimate Fighter show.

Results

Main Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Heavyweight Andrei Arlovski (ic) def. Justin Eilers TKO (punches) 1 4:10 [a]
Welterweight Karo Parisyan def. Matt Serra Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) 3 5:00
Middleweight Rich Franklin def. Evan Tanner (c) TKO (doctor stoppage) 4 3:25 [b]
Light Heavyweight Forrest Griffin def. Bill Mahood Submission (rear-naked choke) 1 2:18
Heavyweight Paul Buentello def. Kevin Jordan Submission (guillotine choke) 1 4:00
Preliminary card
Middleweight Nate Quarry def. Shonie Carter TKO (punches) 1 2:37 [c]
Middleweight David Loiseau def. Charles McCarthy TKO (spinning back kick) 2 2:10 [d]
Welterweight Nick Diaz def. Koji Oishi KO (punches) 1 1:24 [e]
  1. ^ For the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. It was realized that Eilers had injured his knee in the bout, prompting the referee to stop the fight as Eilers could not defend himself.[3]
  2. ^ For the UFC Middleweight Championship.
  3. ^ The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
  4. ^ The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
  5. ^ The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.

See also

Sources

References

  1. ^ "Unauthorized Access".
  2. ^ "UFC 53: 'Pit Bull' attacks".
  3. ^ Josh Gross (June 6, 2005). "UFC 53 Injury Update: Eilers and Tanner". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
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