UFC 51
UFC 51: Super Saturday was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2005 (Super Bowl weekend) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States and Canada, and later released on DVD.
History
The event was to be held in Japan, but UFC President Dana White moved it back to Las Vegas. Headlining the card were fan favorites Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort.
The total fighter payroll for the event was $456,000.[1]
Results
Preliminary card
* Welterweight bout: United States Nick Diaz vs. United States Drew Fickett
Diaz wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 4:37 of round one.
* Welterweight bout: Armenia Karo Parisyan vs. United States Chris Lytle
Parisyan wins by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 30–27.
* Middleweight bout: Canada David Loiseau vs. United States Gideon Ray
Loiseau wins by technical knockout (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round one.
* Heavyweight bout: United States Mike Kyle vs. United States James Irvin
Kyle wins by knockout (punches) at 1:55 of round one.
Main card
* Heavyweight bout: United States Paul Buentello vs. United States Justin Eilers
Buentello wins by knockout (punches) at 3:31 of round one.
* Middleweight Championship bout: United States David Terrell vs. United States Evan Tanner
Tanner wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 4:35 of round one. Tanner becomes the UFC Middleweight champion filling the vacant title, and the first Middleweight champion since 2002. (See: UFC Middleweight Championship.)
* Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: United States Tim Sylvia vs. Belarus Andrei Arlovski
Arlovski wins by submission (achilles lock) at :47 of round one. Arlovski becomes the Interim Heavyweight champion. The title is an interim championship due to the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir, being seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and not able to defend the title against No. 1 contender, Andrei Arlovski.
* Middleweight bout: United States Phil Baroni vs. United States Pete Sell
Sell wins by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:16 of round three.
* Light Heavyweight bout: United States Tito Ortiz vs. Brazil Vitor Belfort
Ortiz wins by split decision. The judges scored the bout 29–28, 29–28, and 28–29.
