UFC 82: Pride of a Champion was a mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 (MMA) event that took place on 1st March, 2008 at the Nationwide Arena

Nationwide Arena

Nationwide Arena is a multi-purpose arena, in Columbus, Ohio, USA. It opened in 2000 and is the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets, of the NHL....

 in Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

.

The main event was a UFC & Pride FC middleweight title unification match between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history...

 and PRIDE FC welterweight champion Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson

Daniel Jeffery Henderson, is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion...

.

A welterweight matchup between Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch

Jonathan Parker Fitch is an American mixed martial artist. He is currently ranked as the No. 2 welterweight in the world by Sherdog, as well as many other publications.-Background:...

 and Akihiro Gono

Akihiro Gono

is a Japanese mixed martial artist who currently fights as a welterweight. He is best known for his clever and deceptive fighting style, and for his flashy ring entrances. His fighting style is characterized by skillfully avoiding strikes, using fast counter punches and generally getting the...

 was originally scheduled, but Gono was forced to withdraw after suffering a hand injury in training. Gono was replaced by Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson (fighter)

Christopher Ross Wilson is an American mixed martial arts fighter. Wilson is a former competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championships. He lost his UFC debut to Jon Fitch at UFC 82...

. The Fitch/Gono matchup was rescheduled for UFC 94

UFC 94

UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 31, 2009. The card featured five televised MMA bouts, as well as five un-aired preliminary bouts...

, where Fitch won by unanimous decision.

At the event, former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman is an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, former NCAA collegiate wrestler and former Olympic amateur wrestler. In MMA, he was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion, and the Pride Fighting...

 was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Preliminary card

• Lightweight bout:   Jorge Gurgel
  Jorge Gurgel
  Jorge Valente Gurgel is a Brazilian-American Mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who currently competes in Strikeforce's lightweight division.- Early life :...
  
   vs.   John Halverson

Gurgel defeated Halverson via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 30–27).

• Welterweight bout:   Luke Cummo
  Luke Cummo
  Luke Joseph Cummo is an American mixed martial artist who appeared in the second season of the reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. After winning two exhibition fights, he made it to the finals where he was defeated by Joe Stevenson by decision in a close bout...
  
   vs.   Luigi Fioravanti
  Luigi Fioravanti
  Luigi Fioravanti is an American mixed martial artist who fights out of Orlando, Florida with American Top Team. He was released by the UFC shortly after his first round TKO defeat to Anthony Johnson at UFC Fight Night 17...
  
  

Fioravanti defeated Cummo via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

• Welterweight bout:   Diego Sanchez
  Diego Sánchez
  Diego J. Sanchez is an American mixed martial artist of Mexican descent, with a background in wrestling and Gaidojutsu, system of submission wrestling developed by his longtime trainer Greg Jackson...
  
   vs.   David Bielkheden
  David Bielkheden
  David Bielkheden is a Swedish mixed martial artist and has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.- Mixed martial arts career :...
  
  

Sanchez defeated Bielkheden via submission (strikes) at 4:43 of round 1.

• Welterweight bout:   Josh Koscheck
  Josh Koscheck
  Josh D. Koscheck is an American mixed martial artist from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, a former collegiate wrestling champion and is currently fighting at welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He made his debut with the organization on the first season of the reality television show,...
  
   vs.   Dustin Hazelett
  Dustin Hazelett
  Dustin Tyler Hazelett is a American mixed martial artist. He is best known for his fights as a welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.-Martial arts background:Dustin Hazelett was born in Louisa, Kentucky, USA...
  
  

Koscheck defeated Hazelett via TKO (strikes) at 1:24 of Round 2. This bout aired last on the PPV broadcast following the Silva vs. Henderson fight.

• Heavyweight bout:   Andrei Arlovski
  Andrei Arlovski
  Andrei Valeryevich Arlovski is a Belarusian kickboxer, mixed martial artist and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion.-Biography:...
  
   vs.   Jake O'Brien
  Jake O'Brien
  Jacob Allen O'Brien is an American mixed martial arts fighter from Indianapolis, Indiana. O'Brien attended Franklin Central High School where he wrestled for four years, while earning IHSAA 215 lb. State Champion honors three years in a row from 2000–2003; holding a record of 125-4 over that...
  
  

Arlovski defeated O'Brien via TKO (strikes) at 4:17 of round 2.

Main card

• Welterweight bout:   Chris Wilson
  Chris Wilson (fighter)
  Christopher Ross Wilson is an American mixed martial arts fighter. Wilson is a former competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championships. He lost his UFC debut to Jon Fitch at UFC 82...
  
   vs.   Jon Fitch
  Jon Fitch
  Jonathan Parker Fitch is an American mixed martial artist. He is currently ranked as the No. 2 welterweight in the world by Sherdog, as well as many other publications.-Background:...
  
  

Fitch defeated Wilson via unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 30–27).

• Middleweight bout:   Evan Tanner
  Evan Tanner
  Evan Loyd Tanner was an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He was a former UFC Middleweight and USWF Heavyweight champion with a professional record of 32 wins and 8 losses...
  
   vs.   Yushin Okami
  Yushin Okami
  is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He currently fights at middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship . Okami is currently ranked the #3 best middleweight in the world by Sherdog and the #2 best middleweight by MMAWeekly....
  
  

Okami defeated Tanner via KO (knee) at 3:00 of round 2.

• Middleweight bout:   Chris Leben
  Chris Leben
  Christian Cyrus Leben is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he fights as a middleweight....
  
   vs.   Alessio Sakara
  Alessio Sakara
  Alessio Sakara is an Italian mixed martial artist and boxer, who currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Middleweight Division. Sakara is also a Former World Junior Boxing Contender. He holds notable wins over Elvis Sinosic, Thales Leites, James Irvin.-Background:Sakara was born...
  
  

Leben defeated Sakara via KO (punches) at 3:16 of round 1.

• Heavyweight bout:   Heath Herring
  Heath Herring
  Heath Herring is an inactive American Heavyweight professional mixed martial artist who attained popularity fighting for PRIDE FC in Japan and most recently fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
  
   vs.   Cheick Kongo
  Cheick Kongo
  Cheick Guillaume Ouedraogo , more commonly known as Cheick Kongo, is a professional French heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
  
  

Herring defeated Kongo via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28).

• UFC Middleweight Championship  Anderson Silva
  Anderson Silva
  Anderson da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history...
  
   vs.   Dan Henderson
  Dan Henderson
  Daniel Jeffery Henderson, is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion...
  
  

Silva defeated Henderson via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:52 of Round 2 to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship.

Bonus awards

At the end of this event, $60,000 was awarded to each of the fighters who received one of these three awards.

• Fight of the Night:   Anderson Silva vs.   Dan Henderson
• Submission of the Night:   Anderson Silva
• Knockout of the Night:   Chris Leben

Fighter Payouts

Main Card

• Anderson Silva: $140,000 ($70,000 to fight, $70,000 to win)
• Dan Henderson: $100,000 ($100,000 to fight)
• Heath Herring: $140,000 ($70,000 to fight, $70,000 to win)
• Jon Fitch: $60,000 ($30,000 to fight, $30,000 to win)
• Chris Leben: $50,000 ($25,000 to fight, $25,000 to win)
• Cheick Kongo: $30,000 ($30,000 to fight)
• Yushin Okami: $28,000 ($14,000 to fight, $14,000 to win)
• Evan Tanner: $25,000 ($25,000 to fight)
• Alessio Sakara: $17,000 ($17,000 to fight)
• Chris Wilson: $12,000 ($12,000 to fight)

Preliminary Card

• Andrei Arlovski: $170,000 ($105,000 to fight, $65,000 to win)
• Diego Sanchez: $60,000 ($30,000 to fight, $30,000 to win)
• Josh Koscheck: $20,000 ($10,000 to fight, $10,000 to win)
• Luigi Fioravanti: $16,000 ($8,000 to fight, $8,000 to win)
• Luke Cummo: $16,000 ($16,000 to fight)
• Jorge Gurgel: $14,000 ($7,000 to fight, $7,000 to win)
• Dustin Hazelett: $12,000 ($12,000 to fight)
• Jake O’Brien: $11,000 ($11,000 to fight)
• David Bielkheden: $8,000 ($8,000 to fight)
• John Halverson: $3,000 ($3,000 to fight)

Total Fighter Payout: $932,000

Read above for bonuses.

External links

• UFC 82 Website
• UFC 82 Fight Card
• "Blood in the Cage" book excerpt – describes pre-fight scene of UFC 82.