UFC 74
''UFC 74: Respect'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 25, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout which featured champion Randy Couture defending his title against Gabriel Gonzaga, who knocked out Mirko Filipović at ''UFC 70'' to become the number one contender. Former UFC and TKO Major League MMA welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, in his first fight since losing his title to Matt Serra at '' UFC 69'', was matched up against '' The Ultimate Fighter's'' Josh Koscheck. The card also featured former heavyweight champion Frank Mir against K-1 veteran Antoni Hardonk; '' The Ultimate Fighter 3's'' winner Kendall Grove; the UFC debut of PRIDE veteran Marcus Aurélio; ''The Ultimate Fighter 2'' welterweight winner Joe Stevenson; and former light heavyweight challenger Renato Sobral. Despite winning his bout, Sobral was fined ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world as of 2011. It produces events worldwide that showcase 12 weight divisions (eight men's and four women's) and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. , it had held over 600 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise. The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie, and the first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Matt Serra
Matthew John Serra (born June 2, 1974) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the co-star of Dana White: Lookin' for a Fight and co-host of the official podcast of the UFC, UFC Unfiltered, alongside Jim Norton. Serra defeated Pete Spratt, Shonie Carter and Chris Lytle en route to becoming The Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament Winner. He captured the UFC Welterweight Championship immediately after. Serra also served as the head coach for ''The Ultimate Fighter 6'' reality show opposite Matt Hughes, and he is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame. In grappling, Serra holds a Silver Medal in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. Serra began practicing martial arts at an early age, first studying Wing Chun. In the 1990s, he began practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie and obtained black belt rank in May 2000, the first American to do so under ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Renato Sobral
Renato da Cunha Sobral (; born 7 September 1975), also known as "Babalu", is a retired Brazilian Luta Livre submission grappler, mixed martial artist, and was the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. Sobral previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he posted a 6–4 record and has also competed for Bellator, RINGS, Jungle Fight, Cage Rage, Affliction, and ONE Championship. He is the Head Instructor of Babalu's Iron Gym Cerritos and has a Luta Livre black belt under Marco Ruas and also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. Background Sobral is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and began competing in wrestling from a young age of nine. Sobral later went on to be a South American Wrestling Champion in 1998, a three-time Brazilian National Wrestling Champion in 1998, 1999, and 2000, and was a Brazilian National Muay Thai Champion in 1992. Sobral joined the Gracie Barra Combat Team and trained in Ruas Vale Tudo, a martial arts sy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joe Stevenson
Joseph Christopher Stevenson (born June 15, 1982) is a retired American mixed martial artist fighting out of Hesperia, California. Coached by (UFC Hall of Famer) Matt Hughes, Stevenson rose to prominence by becoming The Ultimate Fighter 2 Welterweight Tournament Winner. Following a drop in weight class and two-year undefeated streak, he was ranked among the top UFC Lightweight competitors, culminating into a title shot for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship against B.J. Penn at '' UFC 80: Rapid Fire'' (after the title was stripped from Sean Sherk). Stevenson fought most of his career as a Lightweight and made his Featherweight debut at '' UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry''. He is the former King of the Cage Lightweight Champion. Background Stevenson began Wrestling at the age of 11. then he started both Judo, and Jiu-Jitsu, at the age of 13. He moved to Las Vegas in 2004, and began training at Marc Laimon's Cobra Kai in Las Vegas. In March 2008, Stevenson opened his own school ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Ultimate Fighter 2
''The Ultimate Fighter 2'' was the second season of the mixed martial arts reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The season featured a heavyweight and a welterweight division, with 9 fighters initially in each division. The UFC coaches for this season were welterweight and middleweight champions Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin. Season 1 coach and former UFC champion Randy Couture hosted and designed the team challenge segments, which if won would allow the winning team to pair a fighter from their team against another in elimination matches. The finale aired on November 5, 2005, and it set a ratings record for the UFC with a 2.0 overall rating. This season featured no coaches' fight because Hughes and Franklin had refused to fight each other, owing to their friendship. Although released on DVD in 2005, it has been set for re-release on September 18, 2007. For many years, Season 2 was the only season where all fights that took place were considered as professional MM ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marcus Aurélio
Marcus Aurélio Martins (; born 18 August 1973) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He formerly fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships and for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He currently does stunt and mo-cap work, after an MMA career with fights as a lightweight, and primarily employs Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He is known for having never been finished in MMA competition and use of Capoeira. Mixed martial arts career Early career Aurélio began his career in promotions such as ZST and HOOKnSHOOT, earning notable submission victories against Remigijus Morkevicius and Rich Clementi. Aurelio then came to PRIDE Bushido, where he defeated PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi with an arm triangle in a non title fight. A rematch for the title was scheduled six months later, which Gomi won by a controversial split decision. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pride Fighting Championships
PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide.What is Pride? , Official Pride site. Last retrieved December 5, 2006 PRIDE was owned by the (DSE). For the ten years of its existence, PRIDE was one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world. Pride broadcast its event ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kendall Grove
Kendall Grove (born November 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also competed for the Bellator MMA, UFC, KSW, ProElite, King of the Cage, and was the winner of ''The Ultimate Fighter 3'' on Spike TV. Early life Grove was born in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii and is a graduate of Baldwin High School in Wailuku, Hawaii, where he was a high school wrestler and played football. Grove has a mixed ethnic heritage of Native Hawaiians, Native Hawaiian, Samoans, Samoan, Spaniards, Spanish, and Native Americans in the United States, Native American bloodlines. Kendall trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu in his freshman year in the high school and moved to Las Vegas in 2002 to focus in the sport. However, he got intrigued in mixed martial arts and begun training all aspects of it. Mixed martial arts career The Ultimate Fighter While on The Ultimate Fighter 3, Grove trained under Tito Orti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Ultimate Fighter 3
''The Ultimate Fighter 3'' was the third season of the mixed martial arts reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. It premiered on April 6, 2006, immediately after the conclusion of '' Ultimate Fight Night 4''. The season featured sixteen fighters (eight light heavyweights and eight middleweights) with still-feuding former champion Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock as coaches. The finale aired on June 24, 2006 and tied the UFC's all-time record with a 2.0 overall rating. There were several rule changes from the previous ''Ultimate Fighter'' seasons. There were to be no team challenges. All fighters would have to win a preliminary match before advancing to the semi-finals—which in practice started the single-elimination tournament at the beginning of the series instead of near the end. The first preliminary match was set by the team who won a coin toss. All subsequent first-round match-ups were set by the team that won the previous match. Each fight was set for two rounds in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Antoni Hardonk
Antoni Hardonk (born February 5, 1976) is a Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed in K-1 and the UFC. Kickboxing career Antoni made his K-1 debut at the ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary Scandinavia'' on June 9, 2001 where he was participating in an eight-man elimination tournament. He faced Swede Fredic Rosenberg in the quarter finals and quickly defeated him via technical knockout in the first round. In the semi finals he faced another Swede, Wisam Feyli, who he defeated by a third round unanimous decision, thus booking his place in the tournament final. In the final match Antoni faced yet another Swede, Larry Lindwall, but was unable to win the tournament, losing instead by second-round technical knockout. On September 29, 2002 Antoni would face fellow Dutch kickboxer and future K-1 Grand Prix Champion Remy Bonjasky at the It's Showtime – As Usual / Battle Time event in the Netherlands. Antoni held his own during the fight but eventually lost via a f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frank Mir
Francisco Santos Mir III (; born May 24, 1979), is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator MMA in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years. A former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, he holds the record for the most finishes and the most submission victories in UFC Heavyweight history. Mir possessed the longest uninterrupted tenure of any fighter in UFC history, competing for the company from 2001 to 2016. He was the first man to knock out and the first to submit Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Background Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mir began training and competing in American Kenpo at a school owned by his parents, earning his black belt as a teenager. Mir's father played a major role in convincing him to begin wrestling on the basis that it could help him avoid submissions. Mir joined the wrestling team at Bonanza High School during his junior year and lost his first ni ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |