The best of the best: Help us decide the best UFC event, 9-15
As we count down to UFC 100, Yahoo! Sports is taking a look back at every UFC event that got us here. Now, we want to hear from you. Take a look at all of the events we've profiled this week, share your memories in the comments, and vote in the poll. Keep checking back with Cage Writer and help us decide the best UFC event.
UFC 9 almost didn't happen at all.
The event’s existence, though, was questionable until the day of the show as political pressure was beginning to build on the organization. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had begun to criticize the UFC publicly and Michigan officials nearly forced the card at Detroit’s Cobo Arena to be canceled. The card was held after a court battle and with the UFC agreeing that there would be no closed-fisted strikes.
UFC 10 saw the birth of a style that came to dominate the game for years to come.
The night ended up going down in history as “the birth of ground and pound,” as Coleman employed his wrestling takedowns to set up a brutal ground game.
In one of the less exciting events with a tournament format, Mark Coleman won UFC 11 by default.
Promoters then selected alternate Roberto Traven, who had won earlier in the night, to meet Coleman in the finals. But Traven had broken a hand in his victory over Dave Berry and was unable to continue. That gave the pay-per-view audience the less-than-thrilling conclusion of Coleman by forfeit.
UFC 12 was an unquestionable fiasco and the start of the New York state legislature's ineptitude in regulating mixed martial arts.
The state assembly in New York, which had just voted to legalize the sport, after the articles blasting the legislature for doing so, voted 134-1 to reverse their tracks. To save the show, they had to charter a jet carrying about 200 fighters, entourages, reporters, fans, and their octagon cage, from Niagara Falls to Dothan, Ala.
Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture started their UFC careers at UFC 13.
It was the start of a historic career for Couture. He won the heavyweight tournament that night by defeating Tony Halme and Steven Graham, the first sign of greatness in a career that would include five combined world titles at heavyweight and light heavyweight ... Ortiz in that fight gave fans a hint of what was to come, as he finished Albritton with a brutal ground-and-pound attack that would become one of his staples.
Mark Coleman was supposed to dominate UFC 14, but was ineffective.
Smith destroyed Coleman in both overtimes, using leg kicks and punches, and taunting the exhausted Coleman. Smith finally went for the kill, but time expired before Coleman was finished. But Smith still became the company’s fourth champion with an easy decision.
At UFC 15, Randy Couture made his debut and wrecked the plans of the UFC to crown Vitor Belfort:
This was considered a slam-dunk for Belfort, a style mismatch of a feared young striker and a wrestler 14 years older without a proven standup game. But in the first example of what made him one of the sport’s most beloved figures, Couture thrived when the odds seemed most stacked against him. Couture stunned Belfort by taking the match to him in the standup, slowly wearing Belfort down in the clinch.
Now that you've read through them all, we want to know, out of these pivotal, early events, which one is your favorite?
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