UFC 5
| UFC 5: The Return of the Beast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A poster or logo for UFC 5: The Return of the Beast. | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | April 7, 1995 | |||
| Venue | Independence Arena | |||
| City | Charlotte, North Carolina | |||
| Attendance | 6,000 | |||
| Buyrate | 260,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
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UFC 5: The Return of the Beast was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 7, 1995, at the Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.
History
UFC 5 used an eight-man tournament format, with the winner receiving $50,000.[citation needed] The event also featured the first ever UFC Superfight, as well as two alternate fights, which were not shown on the live pay-per-view broadcast.[citation needed] The tournament had no weight classes, or weight limits.[citation needed] The fights had to end by knockout or submission; therefore no judges were used.[citation needed]
The Superfight match was the main attraction, and the winner of this fight would become the reigning UFC Champion. It consisted of rivals Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock facing off in the most anticipated match in UFC history to that date.[2] Up to this point, Ken Shamrock's only defeat in the UFC was to Royce Gracie in UFC 1.
UFC 5 was the first UFC event to feature any kind of time limits since UFC 1. A 20 minute time limit was imposed for the quarterfinal and semi-final round matches in the tournament.[citation needed] The finals of the tournament and the Superfight had a 30 minute time limit.[citation needed] The Superfight overran to 31 minutes before incorporating an on-the-spot decision to extend the fight by a further five minutes.[citation needed] As there was still no winner, the match was declared a draw.[citation needed] The referee for the night was 'Big' John McCarthy.[citation needed] Dan Severn won the tournament by defeating Dave Beneteau with a keylock.[citation needed]
This UFC event was the last with the involvement of Rorion Gracie, ostensibly because the introduction of new rules had diluted Gracie's (and his family's) vision for the UFC and vale tudo fighting.[citation needed] MMA Columnist Steve Cofield also noted that the Gracies left the UFC just as the talent level was beginning to increase.[citation needed] This is debatable, however, considering that many of the Gracies, including Royce, continued to fight in Japan against similar competition.[citation needed] Gracie and his partner Art Davie later sold WOW Promotions, co-promoters of the event, to WOW's partner, Semaphore Entertainment Group.[citation needed] Royce Gracie also ended his involvement following Rorion's departure, however Royce returned for UFC 60.[citation needed]
UFC 5 was generally well-praised.[citation needed] This event saw the implementation of a fight time limit in order to present the entire show in the allotted satellite time.[citation needed] The show ran 2 hours and 40 minutes, which was 40 minutes "over" the scheduled time, but UFC purchased 3 hours of satellite pay-per-view time in preparation.[citation needed] This was unlike UFC 4, where many PPV providers cut the show off after the first 2 hours.[citation needed]
With this event, many of the fighters received nicknames, including:
- Dan Severn - The Beast
- Oleg Taktarov - The Russian Bear
- Todd Medina - El Tiburon
- Joe Charles - The Ghetto Man
- Jon Hess - The Giant With an Attitude
Results
| Superfight Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| N/A | Ken Shamrock | vs. | Royce Gracie | Draw | 36:06 | [lower-alpha 1] | |
| Final | |||||||
| N/A | Dan Severn | def. | Dave Beneteau | Submission (keylock) | 3:01 | ||
| Semifinals | |||||||
| N/A | Dave Beneteau | def. | Todd Medina | Submission (Strikes) | 2:12 | [lower-alpha 2] | |
| N/A | Dan Severn | def. | Oleg Taktarov | TKO (cut) | 4:21 | ||
| Quarterfinals | |||||||
| N/A | Jon Hess | def. | Andy Anderson | TKO (punches) | 1:23 | ||
| N/A | Todd Medina | def. | Larry Cureton | Submission (forearm choke)[3] | 2:55 | ||
| N/A | Oleg Taktarov | def. | Ernie Verdicia | Submission (choke) | 2:23 | ||
| N/A | Dan Severn | def. | Joe Charles | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1:38 | ||
| Alternate bouts | |||||||
| N/A | Dave Beneteau | def. | Asbel Cancio | TKO (punches) | 0:21 | ||
| N/A | Guy Mezger | def. | John Dowdy | TKO (punches) | 2:02 | ||
- ↑ Superfight Championship bout: Gracie and Shamrock fought to a draw after 36:00 because there were no judges. This was a new record length for a UFC fight.
- ↑ Beneteau replaced Jon Hess, who had broken his hand during his first match.
UFC 5 bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| Jon Hess | TKO | |||||||||||||
| Andy Anderson | 1:23 | |||||||||||||
| Dave Beneteau1 | TKO | |||||||||||||
| Todd Medina | 2:12 | |||||||||||||
| Todd Medina | TKO | |||||||||||||
| Larry Cureton | 2:55 | |||||||||||||
| Dave Beneteau | 3:01 | |||||||||||||
| Dan Severn | SUB | |||||||||||||
| Oleg Taktarov | SUB | |||||||||||||
| Ernie Verdicia | 2:23 | |||||||||||||
| Oleg Taktarov | 4:21 | |||||||||||||
| Dan Severn | TKO | |||||||||||||
| Dan Severn | SUB | |||||||||||||
| Joe Charles | 1:38 | |||||||||||||
1Jon Hess was fined $2,000 for fouls committed in his fight. He withdrew with a hand injury, and was replaced by Dave Beneteau.
See also
Sources
- UFC PPV Buys Explode in 2006 (includes information on UFC 5 pay-per-view buys)
