June 6 2003
Twelve years ago today UFC 43: Meltdown was held at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on DVD.
Preliminary card
Lightweight bout: Yves Edwards vs. Eddie Ruiz
Edwards won via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
Middleweight bout: Matt Lindland vs. Falaniko Vitale
Vitale wins by technical knockout at 1:56 of Round 1. Lindland botched a throw attempt and landed on his own head, instantly knocking himself out.
Heavyweight bout: Pedro Rizzo vs. Tra Telligman
Rizzo wins by technical knockout due to doctor’s stoppage at 4:25 of Round 2.
Main card
Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Wes Sims
Mir won via disqualification (stomping the head of a downed opponent) at 2:56 of Round 1.
Heavyweight bout: Ian Freeman vs. Vernon White
Freeman and White fought to a split draw (30–27, 28–29, 29–29)
Light Heavyweight bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Marvin Eastman
Belfort won via TKO (knees and punches) at 1:07 of Round 1.
Heavyweight bout: Kimo Leopoldo vs. Tank Abbott
Kimo won via Submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:59 of Round 1.
Interim Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture
Couture won via TKO (punches) at 2:39 of Round 3. Couture becomes the Interim Light Heavyweight Champion, and the first person to win a title in two different weight divisions (Couture was a two-time Heavyweight Champion).
Interesting Facts
Headlining the card was an Interim Light Heavyweight Championship match between future UFC Hall of Fame inductees Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell.
Ken Shamrock was originally slated to face Ian Freeman at this event, but was forced from the card with a torn ACL. Vernon White would step in as his replacement.
Mir won by disqualification at 2:55 of the first round after Sims stomped down on Mir’s face after slamming his way out of Mir’s armbar attempt. They would rematch at UFC 46: Supernatural on January 31, 2004. Frank Mir won by knockout at 4:21 of the second round.
Eastman made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 43 against another future UFC Light Heavyweight titlist Vitor Belfort, Belfort delivered a knee to Eastman’s forehead that dropped him resulting in quite possibly the largest cut in recorded mixed martial art history, thus losing via technical knockout due to strikes in just 1 minute 7 seconds of the very first round.
By 2002, Liddell was considered the #1 contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, with growing popularity and support from his fans. The UFC tried to arrange a title bout with then-champion Tito Ortiz, but Ortiz cited scheduling conflicts. To force Ortiz’s hand, they created an interim light heavyweight championship and matched Liddell with Greco-Roman wrestler and former heavyweight champion “The Natural” Randy Couture at UFC 43. Couture neutralized Liddell’s hooks with straight punches and eventually began taking “The Iceman” down at will. Couture eventually gained full mount and forced a referee stoppage due to a barrage of punches.
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