2005 in UFC

The year 2005 was the 13th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 2005 the UFC held 10 events beginning with, UFC 51: Super Saturday. The reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter and the first UFC Ultimate Fight Night both premiered on Spike TV. The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale was the first live UFC broadcast on non-pay-per-view television.

2005 in UFC
Information
First date	Feb 5, 2005
Last date	Nov 19, 2005
Events
Total events	10
UFC	6
UFC Fight Night	2
TUF Finale events	2
Fights
Total fights	80
Title fights	9
Chronology
2004 in UFC 2005 in UFC 2006 in UFC

2005 UFC.com awards

This was the first year that UFC senior editor Thomas Gerbasi published the year-end awards on UFC.com.^[1]

2005 UFC.COM Awards
No	The Submissions	The Knockouts	The Fights
1	Matt Hughes defeats Frank Trigg 2 UFC 52	Chuck Liddell defeats Randy Couture 2 UFC 52	Forrest Griffin defeats Stephan Bonnar The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale
2	Georges St-Pierre defeats Frank Trigg UFC 54	Tim Sylvia defeats Tra Telligman UFC 54	Matt Hughes defeats Frank Trigg 2 UFC 52
3	Pete Sell defeats Phil Baroni UFC 51	Andrei Arlovski defeats Paul Buentello UFC 55	Tito Ortiz defeats Vitor Belfort UFC 51
4	Andrei Arlovski defeats Tim Sylvia UFC 51	James Irvin defeats Terry Martin UFC 54	Rashad Evans defeats Brad Imes The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale
5	Kenny Florian defeats Kit Cope The Ultimate Fighter 2	Chuck Liddell defeats Randy Couture 3 UFC 57	Diego Sanchez defeats Nick Diaz The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale
6	Drew Fickett defeats Josh Koscheck UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2	Luke Cummo defeats Sammy Morgan The Ultimate Fighter 2: Episode 10	Luke Cummo defeats Sammy Morgan The Ultimate Fighter 2: Episode 10
7	Ivan Salaverry defeats Joe Riggs UFC 52	Josh Burkman defeats Sammy Morgan The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale	Rich Franklin defeats Evan Tanner UFC 53
8	Matt Lindland defeats Travis Lutter UFC 52	Mike Kyle defeats James Irvin UFC 51	David Loiseau defeats Charles McCarthy UFC 53
9	Joe Doerksen defeats Patrick Côté UFC 52	Mike Swick defeats Gideon Ray UFC Ultimate Fight Night	Joe Stevenson defeats Luke Cummo The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale
10	Paul Buentello defeats Kevin Jordan UFC 53	David Loiseau defeats Charles McCarthy UFC 53	Georges St-Pierre defeats Frank Trigg UFC 54
Ref	[1]	[2]	[3]

Title fights

Title fights in 2005
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Event	Notes
Heavyweight	Andrei Arlovski	def.	Tim Sylvia	Submission (achilles lock)	1	0:47	UFC 51: Super Saturday	[a]
Middleweight	Evan Tanner	def.	David Terrell	TKO (punches)	1	4:35	UFC 51: Super Saturday	[b]
Light Heavyweight	Chuck Liddell	def.	Randy Couture (c)	KO (Punches)	1	2:06	UFC 52: Couture vs Liddell	[c]
Welterweight	Matt Hughes (c)	def.	Frank Trigg	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	4:05	UFC 52: Couture vs Liddell	[d]
Middleweight	Rich Franklin	def.	Evan Tanner (c)	TKO (doctor stoppage)	4	3:25	UFC 53: Heavy Hitters	[e]
Heavyweight	Andrei Arlovski (ic)	def.	Justin Eilers	TKO (punches)	1	4:10	UFC 53: Heavy Hitters	[f]
Light Heavyweight	Chuck Liddell (c)	def.	Jeremy Horn	TKO (punches)	4	2:46	UFC 54: Boiling Point	[g]
Heavyweight	Andrei Arlovski (c)	def.	Paul Buentello	KO (punch)	1	0:15	UFC 55: Fury	[h]
Middleweight	Rich Franklin (c)	def.	Nate Quarry	KO (punch)	1	2:34	UFC 56: Full Force	[i]

1. For the UFC Heavyweight Championship. 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.
2. For the UFC Middleweight Championship. Tanner becomes the UFC Middleweight champion filling the vacant title, and the first Middleweight champion since 2002.
3. For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
4. For the UFC Welterweight Championship.
5. For the UFC Middleweight Championship.
6. For the UFC Heavyweight Championship. 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.^[4]
7. For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. At that time, Horn informed the referee that he could no longer see properly, and the official called the bout.
8. For the UFC Heavyweight Championship. The UFC decided this match would be for the undisputed UFC Heavyweight title, as former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who had been badly injured in a motorcycle accident, was still unable to compete.
9. For the UFC Middleweight Championship.

The Ultimate Fighter

Season	Finale	Division	Winner	Runner-up
TUF 1: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell	Apr 9, 2005	Light Heavyweight	Forrest Griffin	Stephan Bonnar
		Middleweight	Diego Sanchez	Kenny Florian
TUF 2: Team Hughes vs. Team Franklin	Nov 5, 2005	Heavyweight	Rashad Evans	Brad Imes
		Welterweight	Joe Stevenson	Luke Cummo

Debut UFC fighters

The following fighters fought their first UFC fight in 2005:

Alessio Sakara Alex Karalexis Alex Schoenauer Ansar Chalangov Bill Mahood Bobby Southworth Brad Imes Branden Lee Hinkle Brandon Vera Brian Gassaway Brock Larson Chael Sonnen Charles McCarthy Chris Leben Chris Sanford Diego Sanchez Drew Fickett Fabiano Scherner Forrest Griffin Gabriel Gonzaga

Gideon Ray James Irvin Jason Miller Jason Thacker Jeff Newton Joe Stevenson John Marsh Jon Fitch Jonathan Goulet Josh Burkman Josh Koscheck Josh Neer Josh Rafferty Keigo Kunihara Keith Jardine Keith Wisniewski Kenny Florian Kerry Schall Kevin Jordan Kit Cope

Lodune Sincaid Luke Cummo Marcio Cruz Marcus Davis Melvin Guillard Mike Swick Nate Marquardt Nate Quarry Nick Thompson Paul Buentello Pete Sell Rashad Evans Ron Faircloth Sam Hoger Sam Morgan Sean Gannon Spencer Fisher Stephan Bonnar Terry Martin Thiago Alves

Events list

Main article: List of UFC events

#	Event	Date	Venue	Location	Attendance
065	UFC 56: Full Force	Nov 19, 2005	MGM Grand Garden Arena	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	12,000
064	The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Franklin Finale	Nov 5, 2005	Hard Rock Hotel and Casino	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	—
063	UFC 55: Fury	Oct 7, 2005	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut, U.S.	8,000[5]
062	UFC Fight Night 2	Oct 3, 2005	Hard Rock Hotel and Casino	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	—
061	UFC 54: Boiling Point	Aug 20, 2005	MGM Grand Garden Arena	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	13,520
060	UFC Ultimate Fight Night	Aug 6, 2005	Cox Pavilion	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	—
059	UFC 53: Heavy Hitters	Jun 4, 2005	Boardwalk Hall	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	12,000[6]
058	UFC 52: Couture vs Liddell	Apr 16, 2005	MGM Grand Garden Arena	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	14,562
057	The Ultimate Fighter: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell Finale	Apr 9, 2005	Cox Pavilion	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	—
056	UFC 51: Super Saturday	Feb 5, 2005	Mandalay Bay Events Center	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	11,072[7]

UFC Ultimate Fight Night

UFC Ultimate Fight Night
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	August 6, 2005
Venue	Cox Pavilion
City	Las Vegas, Nevada
Event chronology
UFC 53: Heavy Hitters UFC Ultimate Fight Night UFC 54: Boiling Point

UFC Ultimate Fight Night (also known as UFC Fight Night 1)^[8] was an event held on August 6, 2005 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event, aired on Spike, was the first UFC Fight Night event.

Results

Main card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Nate Marquardt	def	Ivan Salaverry	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Chris Leben	def	Patrick Côté	Decision (split) (29–28, 30–27, 27–29)	3	5:00
Light Heavyweight	Stephan Bonnar	def	Sam Hoger	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Nate Quarry	def	Pete Sell	TKO (punches)	1	0:42
Preliminary card
Welterweight	Josh Koscheck	def	Pete Spratt	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	1:53
Middleweight	Mike Swick	def	Gideon Ray	TKO (punches)	1	0:22
Welterweight	Kenny Florian	def	Alex Karalexis	TKO (cut)	2	3:52
Welterweight	Drew Fickett	def	Josh Neer	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	1:35

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia.^[9]

• Fight of the Night: Chris Leben vs. Patrick Côté
• Knockout of the Night: Mike Swick
• Submission of the Night: Josh Koscheck

See also

• List of UFC champions
• List of UFC events