UFC 63

UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn 2 was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 23, 2006. The event took place at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California and was broadcast live on pay-per-view (PPV) in the United States and Canada.

UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn 2
The poster for UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn 2
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 23, 2006
Venue	Arrowhead Pond
City	Anaheim, California
Attendance	12,604 (9,343 paid)[1]
Total gate	$1,582,370[1]
Buyrate	400,000[2]
Total purse	$332,000 (disclosed only)[3]
Event chronology
UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn 2 Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter

Background

Matt Hughes and BJ Penn at the weigh-ins.

The event, originally subtitled "Hughes vs. St-Pierre," was scheduled to feature a UFC Welterweight Title match between champion Matt Hughes and Georges St-Pierre. Nevertheless, a groin injury—which was reported early in August, forced St-Pierre off the card. At first, St-Pierre sought a physiotherapist, hoping the injury would heal on its own during training;^[4] however, it was later announced that St-Pierre would indeed withdraw from his long-awaited title shot. Taking his place was former UFC Welterweight Champion, B.J. Penn, who defeated Hughes in a championship fight in 2004, and was beaten by St-Pierre at UFC 58. In fact, the Penn loss was Hughes' only defeat in his last twenty fights.

The Quad-City Times reported that Pat Miletich expressed outrage that the UFC had apparently scheduled this event alongside a bout he had forthcoming in the IFL, which caused him to miss cornering Hughes and Pulver, fighters whom he coaches, in their UFC matches.^[5]

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Welterweight	Matt Hughes (c)	def.	B.J. Penn	TKO (punches)	3	3:53	[a]
Middleweight	Mike Swick	def.	David Loiseau	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Melvin Guillard	def.	Gabe Ruediger	TKO (punch to the body)	2	1:01
Light Heavyweight	Rashad Evans	def.	Jason Lambert	KO (punches)	2	2:22
Lightweight	Joe Lauzon	def.	Jens Pulver	KO (punch)	1	0:48
Preliminary Card
Lightweight	Roger Huerta	def.	Jason Dent	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00	[b]
Heavyweight	Eddie Sanchez	def.	Mario Neto	KO (punches)	2	0:17
Lightweight	Jorge Gurgel	def.	Danny Abbadi	Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00	[c]
Lightweight	Tyson Griffin	def.	David Lee	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	1:50

1. For the UFC Welterweight Championship
2. Dent came as a late replacement for Jason Reinhardt, who had pulled out of the card due to lingering medical concerns with his neck. This preliminary bout was not aired on the broadcast.
3. This preliminary bout was not aired on the broadcast.

Bonus awards

• Fight of the Night: Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn and Roger Huerta vs. Jason Dent
• Knockout of the Night: Joe Lauzon
• Submission of the Night: Tyson Griffin

Penn vs Hughes aftermath

At the post-fight interview, after Penn left the cage, St-Pierre stepped into the ring to hype up his upcoming title bout against Hughes, stating that he was glad that Hughes won his fight, but that he was "not impressed by [Hughes'] performance".^[6]

According to both commentator Joe Rogan and Hughes' own autobiography, Hughes was unhappy with St-Pierre's statement. Hughes said that they "had words" off-camera shortly after, at which time St-Pierre apologized, saying he had misunderstood something Hughes had said on the microphone and did not mean to offend him.

See also

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
• List of UFC champions
• List of UFC events
• 2006 in UFC