UFC Brazil

History

Ultimate Brazil was the first appearance of the UFC in Brazil, and the second UFC event to take place outside the US. The event was arranged through the initiative of Sérgio Batarelli, former Kickboxing and Vale Tudo fighter, promoter of the International Vale Tudo Championship, WVC (World Vale Tudo Championship) and manager of multiple Brazilian MMA fighters. Ultimate Brazil marked the first UFC event (other than UFC 9) to not utilize the tournament format which, aside from UFC 23, was abandoned completely in following events. The event featured the first ever UFC Lightweight Championship fight, as well as a Middleweight Championship fight.

Ultimate Brazil was part one of what the UFC called "The Road To The Heavyweight Title" (not to be confused with the event of the same name), a tournament of sorts, spanning four events, to crown the new UFC Heavyweight Champion following Randy Couture's relinquishing of the belt.

UFC Brazil marked the first appearance of Pedro Rizzo, who would go on to become a top UFC heavyweight contender. The event also featured the first UFC appearance of future PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva in a fight against former UFC 12 heavyweight tournament champion and future UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort. Belfort became the first person to knock Silva out, with an impressive 44 second knockout after a barrage of punches.

Results

| Middleweight | Frank Shamrock (c) | def. | John Lober | TKO (submission to punches) | | 7:40 | For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. |Welterweight | Pat Miletich | def. | Mikey Burnett | Decision (split) | | 21:00 | For the inaugural UFC Welterweight Championship. | Middleweight | Vitor Belfort | def. | Wanderlei Silva | TKO (punches) | | 0:44 | | Heavyweight | Pedro Rizzo | def. | Tank Abbott | KO (punch) | | 8:07 | | Heavyweight | Tsuyoshi Kosaka | def. | Pete Williams | Decision | | 15:00 | | Middleweight | Ebenezer Fontes Braga | def. | Jeremy Horn | Submission (guillotine choke) | | 3:27 | | Lightweight | Cesar Marscucci | def. | Paulo Santos | TKO | | 10:27 | | Middleweight | Tulio Palhares | def. | Adriano Santos | TKO | | 9:00 |

Encyclopedia awards

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

• Fight of the Night: Frank Shamrock vs. John Lober
• Knockout of the Night: Vitor Belfort
• Submission of the Night: Ebenezer Fontes Braga

References

References

1. Alex, Por. "Sergio Batarelli: 'O MMA de hoje é brincadeira perto do que era o IVC'".
2. Gerbasi, Thomas. (2011-10-17). "UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship". DK.