UFC 39

UFC 39: The Warriors Return was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 27, 2002, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event was broadcast live on pay per view in the United States, and was the first UFC event to be released on DVD.

UFC 39: The Warriors Return
The poster for UFC 39: The Warriors Return
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 27, 2002
Venue	Mohegan Sun Arena
City	Uncasville, Connecticut
Attendance	7,800
Buyrate	45,000
Event chronology
UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall UFC 39: The Warriors Return UFC 40: Vendetta

History

Headlining the event was a Heavyweight Title bout between Randy Couture and Ricco Rodriguez for the vacant title. Originally Ricco Rodriguez was scheduled to fight Josh Barnett for the UFC title but Barnett was stripped following a positive test for steroids.

The event marked the octagon debut of future UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. This fight saw Sylvia's opponent, Wesley Correira, take several straight punches, knees, and kicks to the head without ever falling before his corner eventually threw in the towel.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Ricco Rodriguez	def.	Randy Couture	TKO (submission due to elbows)	5	3:04	[a]
Heavyweight	Tim Sylvia	def.	Wesley Correira	TKO (corner stoppage)	2	1:43
Lightweight	B.J. Penn	def.	Matt Serra	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00	[b]
Lightweight	Caol Uno	def.	Din Thomas	Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–27)	3	5:00	[c]
Heavyweight	Gan McGee	def.	Pedro Rizzo	TKO (corner stoppage)	1	5:00	[d]
Middleweight	Phil Baroni	def.	Dave Menne	KO (punches)	1	0:18
Preliminary card
Middleweight	Matt Lindland	def.	Ivan Salaverry	Decision (unanimous) (30–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Sean Sherk	def.	Benji Radach	TKO (doctor stoppage)	1	4:16

1. For the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship.
2. Lightweight Tournament Semifinal bout.
3. Lightweight Tournament Semifinal bout.
4. Rizzo took a straight right hand to the nose with twelve seconds left in the first round. After examining Rizzo's nose between rounds, his corner decided to throw in the towel.

Lightweight tournament bracket

	Semifinals					Finals (UFC 41)
		B.J. Penn	UD
		Matt Serra	3
							B.J. Penn	D1
							Caol Uno	15:00
		Caol Uno	UD
		Din Thomas	3

¹ At UFC 41, B.J. Penn vs. Caol Uno ended in a split draw. (48-46, 47-48, 48-48). The title remained vacant.

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia.^[1]

• Fight of the Night: Ricco Rodriguez vs. Randy Couture
• Knockout of the Night: Phil Baroni

See also

• List of UFC champions
• List of UFC events
• 2002 in UFC