UFC 37.5

Background

The fight card was headlined by a bout between top contenders, returning Vitor Belfort, and Chuck Liddell. UFC 37.5 was the first UFC event to feature Joe Rogan as a color commentator (he had previously done backstage interviews) but he would leave again to host Fear Factor, and return at UFC 40. Joe made several UFC appearances prior to UFC 37.5 as the behind-the-scenes interviewer starting at UFC 12.

UFC 37.5 was a last-minute event specifically held to promote the UFC on Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period, where the "best fight" of the night was to air during the *BDSSP'''s "All Star Summer" celebration in June 2002. The fight aired was Steve Berger vs Robbie Lawler, which has the distinction of being the first mixed martial arts (MMA) fight to be aired on US cable television. It also aired in Free-to-Air television in Brazil for first time at SBT, Vitor Belfort had previously participated at the network's reality show Casa dos Artistas (*The House of Artists'').

The event featured only six fights, which is a much smaller card than others under the UFC banner at the time, and was not broadcast on Pay-per-view until August 16th. The number 37.5 was used because UFC 38 had already been announced and marketed in England, where the UFC was making their debut just three weeks later.

Results

| Light Heavyweight | Chuck Liddell | def. | Vitor Belfort | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | | Welterweight | Benji Radach | def. | Nick Serra | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | | Welterweight | Pete Spratt | def. | Zach Light | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:25 | | Welterweight | Robbie Lawler | def. | Steve Berger | TKO (punches) | 2 | 0:27 | | Middleweight | Tony Fryklund | def. | Rodrigo Ruas | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:34 | | Lightweight | Yves Edwards | def. | Joao Marcos Pierini | TKO (injury) | 1 | 1:19 | Pierini injured his shoulder falling to the mat after a high kick from Edwards.

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia.

• Fight of the Night: Chuck Liddell vs. Vitor Belfort
• Knockout of the Night: Robbie Lawler
• Submission of the Night: Pete Spratt

References

References

1. (Aug 28, 2011). "History in the Making: Before UFC on Fox, there was UFC 37.5 and Robbie Lawler".
2. Gerbasi, Thomas. (2011-10-17). "UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship". DK.