UFC 53
UFC 53: Heavy Hitters was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 4, 2005, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on DVD.
History
Headlining the card were Andrei Arlovski, the Interim Heavyweight champion, and Justin Eilers. Although there was some criticism directed at the UFC for giving Eilers a title shot after coming off a knockout loss to Paul Buentello at UFC 51, the UFC explained that Buentello was not medically cleared to fight when the main event was originally scheduled.
Results
Preliminary card
* Welterweight bout: United States Nick Diaz vs. Japan Koji Oishi
Diaz wins by technical knockout (punches) at 1:24 of round one. The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
* Middleweight bout: Canada David Loiseau vs. United States Charles McCarthy
Loiseau wins by technical knockout (spinning back kick) at 2:04 of round two. The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
* Middleweight bout: United States Nathan Quarry vs. United States Shonie Carter
Quarry wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 2:37 of round one. The bout, although preliminary, was aired on the broadcast.
Main card
* Heavyweight bout: United States Paul Buentello vs. United States Kevin Jordan
Buentello wins by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:10 of round one.
* Light Heavyweight bout: United States Forrest Griffin vs. Canada Bill Mahood
Griffin wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:18 of round one.
* Middleweight Championship bout: United States Evan Tanner (c) vs. United States Rich Franklin
Franklin wins by technical knockout (doctor stoppage) at 3:25 of round four. Halfway through the fourth round, the referee stopped the action to check the cuts on Tanner's face; at this point, the ringside doctors were called in and ended to the bout. Franklin became the UFC middleweight champion. It was announced during the bout that the winner would become a coach for The Ultimate Fighter 2 and would face the other coach on the show Matt Hughes as a Middleweight at the end of the season.[1]
* Welterweight bout: Armenia Karo Parisyan vs. United States Matt Serra
Parisyan wins by unanimous decision.
* Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Belarus Andrei Arlovski (ic) vs. United States Justin Eilers
Arlovski wins by technical knockout (strikes) at 4:10 of round one. It was realized that Eilers had injured his knee in the bout, prompting the referee to stop the fight as Eilers could not defend himself.
