UFC 43 – Meltdown
UFC 43
part 1
part 2
HISTORY
UFC 43: Meltdown was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 6, 2003, 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.
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.[1]
RESULTS SPOILER
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Randy Couture | def. | Chuck Liddell | TKO (punches) | 3 | 2:39 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Kimo Leopoldo | def. | David Abbott | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 1 | 1:59 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Vitor Belfort | def. | Marvin Eastman | TKO (knees and punches) | 1 | 1:07 | |
| Heavyweight | Vernon White | vs. | Ian Freeman | Draw (split) (28–29, 30–27, 29–29) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Frank Mir | def. | Wes Sims | Disqualification (kicking a downed opponent) | 1 | 2:55 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Pedro Rizzo | def. | Tra Telligman | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 2 | 4:24 | |
| Middleweight | Falaniko Vitale | def. | Matt Lindland | TKO (slam) | 1 | 1:56 | |
| Lightweight | Yves Edwards | def. | Eddie Ruiz | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
- For the Interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. 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).