UFC 3
UFC 3: The American Dream was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on September 9, 1994, at Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event was seen live on pay-per-view in the United States, and was later released on home video.
History
UFC 3 used an eight-man tournament format, with the winner receiving $60,000. The tournament had no weight classes or weight limits. Each match had no time limit or rounds; therefore no judges were used for the night. Competitors could only win a match by submission, throwing in the towel, knockout, or referee stoppage. The referee for the night was "Big" John McCarthy.
Replacement fighter Steve Jennum won the tournament by defeating Harold Howard via submission due to strikes, despite only fighting in the finals. Jennum was a replacement for Ken Shamrock, who made it to the finals but withdrew due to a knee injury. This was the first UFC tournament that was not won by Royce Gracie (who could not continue due to fatigue). After Jennum won the UFC 3 tournament as an alternate, the UFC instituted alternate qualifying bouts to balance out fatigue, and lessen the advantage that alternates previously had entering the tournament without fighting quarterfinal bouts.
Results
Quarterfinals
* United States Keith Hackney vs United States Emmanuel Yarborough
Hackney wins via submission due to strikes at 1:59.
* United States Ken Shamrock vs United States Christophe Leninger
Shamrock wins via submission due to strikes at 4:49.
* Canada Harold Howard vs United States Roland Payne
Howard wins via knockout at 0:46.
* Brazil Royce Gracie vs United States Kimo Leopoldo
Gracie wins via submission due to an armbar at 4:40. Due to fatigue and dehydration sustained during the fight, Gracie was unable to continue in the tournament.
Semifinals
* United States Ken Shamrock vs United States Felix Lee Mitchell
Shamrock wins via submission due to a rear naked choke at 4:36. Mitchell was a replacement for Hackney, who could not continue due to injury.
* Canada Harold Howard vs Brazil Royce Gracie
Howard wins by forfeit due to Gracie withdrawing from the tournament. With no additional alternate fighters remaining, Howard automatically advanced to the final round of the tournament.
Finals
* Finals Bout: United States Steve Jennum vs Canada Harold Howard
Jennum defeated Howard via submission due to strikes at 1:31. Jennum was a replacement for Ken Shamrock. Shamrock made it to the finals, but withdrew due to injury.
UFC 3 bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||
| Keith Hackney | W | ||||||||||||
| Emmanuel Yarborough | |||||||||||||
| Felix Lee Mitchell1 | |||||||||||||
| Ken Shamrock | W | ||||||||||||
| Ken Shamrock | W | ||||||||||||
| Christopher Leninger | |||||||||||||
| Steve Jennum3 | C | ||||||||||||
| Harold Howard | |||||||||||||
| Harold Howard | W | ||||||||||||
| Roland Payne | |||||||||||||
| Harold Howard | W | ||||||||||||
| Royce Gracie2 | |||||||||||||
| Royce Gracie | W | ||||||||||||
| Kimo Leopoldo | |||||||||||||
1Keith Hackney was forced to withdraw due to injury. He was replaced by Felix Lee Mitchell.
2Royce Gracie was forced to withdraw due to fatigue. His corner threw in the towel just as the fight was about to start. Because he didn't withdraw, but conceded after entering the ring, no alternate was used.
3Ken Shamrock was forced to withdraw due to injury and was replaced by Steve Jennum.
