''UFC: The Ultimate Ultimate 2'' (also known as ''Ultimate Ultimate 1996'' or ''UFC 11.5'') was a
mixed martial arts event held by the
Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 7, 1996. The event took place at the
Fair Park Arena in
Birmingham, Alabama, and was broadcast live on
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
in the
United States, and released on
home video.
History
The card featured an eight-man
tournament with two alternate bouts, and was the UFC's second "Ultimate Ultimate" tournament, held to find the best of the winners and runners up from past
UFC events. This event was the first to introduce the "no grabbing of the fence" rule.
Ken Shamrock appeared as a guest on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' on the mainstream network
NBC to promote the event, a groundbreaking moment for the young sport of
mixed martial arts.
UFC 10 and
UFC 11 champion
Mark Coleman was originally scheduled to compete in the tournament but was forced to withdraw from the event due to a virus.
The Ultimate Ultimate 1996 also marked the final appearance of
UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock before leaving the
UFC to go to the
World Wrestling Federation. Shamrock would not return to the
UFC until 2002 at
UFC 40.
The event would also be the last time
Don Frye fought in the
UFC, as he would also transition into pro wrestling, signing with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Mark Hall, who Frye defeated in the semifinals, would later claim that Don Frye and manager Robert DePersia came into his dressing room during the tournament and convinced him to
throw the two fighters' upcoming semi-final match. Hall says that since
Tank Abbott had already advanced to the final after two relatively easy wins, Frye – who'd logged eleven minutes of cage time already that night – wanted to save his energy for the championship match. Because he'd already suffered two defeats to Frye earlier in his career (and therefore probably wasn't going to win anyway) and DePersia implied that saying no would have a disastrous impact on his future, Hall says he reluctantly agreed to go along with the plot. Frye won by
Achilles lock submission in twenty seconds.
Top 10 MMA Conspiracy Theories
/ref> Referee John McCarthy later wrote in his autobiography ''Let's Get It On!'':
Results
''Ultimate Ultimate 96'' bracket
1 Ken Shamrock withdrew due to injury, and was replaced by alternate Steve Nelmark
Steve Nelmark is an American mixed martial artist. He competed in the Heavyweight division.
Mixed martial arts record
, -
, Loss
, align=center, 2–1
, David Abbott
, KO (punch)
, UFC: Ultimate Ultimate 1996
,
, align=center, 1
, ...
.
2Kimo Leopoldo
Kimo Leopoldo (born January 4, 1968), or simply Kimo, is an American retired mixed martial artist and actor. He made his MMA debut at ''UFC 3'' in 1994 losing to Royce Gracie by submission. A professional from 1994 until 2011, he also competed in ...
withdrew due to fatigue, and was replaced by alternate Mark Hall.
See also
* Ultimate Fighting Championship
* List of UFC champions
* List of UFC events
This is a list of events held and scheduled by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. UFC's first event, UFC 1, took place on November 12, 1993. Each UFC event contains several fight ...
* 1996 in UFC
The year 1996 is the 4th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 1996 the UFC held 5 events beginning with, ''UFC 8: David vs. Goliath''.
Title fights
...
References
External links
UU 96 results at Sherdog.comOfficial UFC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufc 011.5
Ultimate Fighting Championship flagship events
1996 in mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts in Alabama
Sports in Birmingham, Alabama
1996 in sports in Alabama