UFC 17: Redemptionwas amixed martial artsevent held by theUltimate Fighting Championshipon May 15, 1998, at theMobile Civic Center,inMobile, Alabama.The event was seen live on pay-per-view in theUnited States,and later released onhome video.
| UFC 17: Redemption | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 17: Redemption | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | May 15, 1998 | |||
| Venue | Mobile Civic Center | |||
| City | Mobile,Alabama | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
History
editThe event featured a four-manMiddleweightTournament, threeHeavyweightSuperfights, an alternate bout in case of tournament injury, and aHeavyweight"exhibition" bout. AUFC Light Heavyweight Championshipbout between current championFrank ShamrockandJeremy Hornwas also taped for broadcast on a later pay-per-view.
UFC 17 was the lastUFCevent (aside fromUFC 23), to feature the "tournament" style format.
Several hours prior to the event, Olympic Gold medalist andUFCcommentatorJeff Blatnickwas introduced as the promotion's commissioner in a meeting with the fighters to discuss the fight rules for the event. Blatnick asked at the meeting that the fighters refer to the sport, which at the time had many different names including the misnomer "No Holds Barred", asMixed Martial Arts,with the intention of improving the sport's image. He then repeated the request to the media covering the event later that night. This is generally considered the first time the termMixed Martial Artswas used to refer to the modern sport, and Blatnick is widely credited with coining the term in relation to it.[1]
UFC 17 featured the firstUFCappearance of bothDan HendersonandCarlos Newton,as well as the firstMMAfight forChuck Liddell.
The titleRedemptionrefers toMark Coleman's return after losing theUFC Heavyweight ChampionshiptoMaurice SmithatUFC 14.Coleman was originally slated to face thenUFC Heavyweight ChampionRandy Couture,who had to withdraw due to an injury.Lion's DenfighterPete Williamswould step in as a last-minute replacement to face Coleman. Similar to his fight with Maurice, Coleman looked good early on in the fight, but when the fight went into an overtime round, Coleman appeared to be drained of energy, breathing heavily and keeping his arms low—even turning his back to Williams occasionally while standing. He took several hard shots from Williams, and was eventually knocked out by a devastating head kick Williams delivered to the face. The Coleman/Couture matchup would finally take place 12 years later atUFC 109.
Results
edit| Light Heavyweight Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Frank Shamrock(c) | def. | Jeremy Horn | Submission (kneebar) | 16:28 | [a] | |
| Heavyweight bouts | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Pete Williams | def. | Mark Coleman | KO (head kick) | 12:38 | ||
| Heavyweight | Tank Abbott | def. | Hugo Duarte | TKO (punches) | 0:43 | ||
| Heavyweight | Mike van Arsdale | def. | Joe Pardo | Submission (americana) | 11:01 | ||
| Heavyweight | Andre Roberts | def. | Harry Moskowitz | KO (elbow) | 3:15 | ||
| Middleweight bout | |||||||
| Middleweight | Chuck Liddell | def. | Noe Hernandez | Decision (unanimous) | 12:00 | ||
| Middleweight Tournament Finals | |||||||
| Middleweight | Dan Henderson | def. | Carlos Newton | Decision (split) | 15:00 | ||
| Middleweight Tournament Semifinals | |||||||
| Middleweight | Dan Henderson | def. | Allan Góes | Decision (unanimous) | 15:00 | ||
| Middleweight | Carlos Newton | def. | Bob Gilstrap | Submission (triangle choke) | 0:54 | ||
UFC 17Middleweight Tournament Bracket
edit| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| Dan Henderson | DEC | ||||||||
| Allan Góes | 15:00 | ||||||||
| Dan Henderson | DEC | ||||||||
| Carlos Newton | 15:00 | ||||||||
| Carlos Newton | SUB | ||||||||
| Bob Gilstrap | 0:52 | ||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Meltzer, Dave (October 27, 2012)."Jeff Blatnick's funeral and how the term MMA came to be".MMAFighting.