Since the creation of the UFC in 1993, there have been highly-anticipated fights and some bad blood grudge matches; but few matched the anticipation and fire behind the 2002 battle for the light heavyweight title between champion Tito Ortiz and challenger Ken Shamrock.
Waged 17 years ago today, the first Ortiz-Shamrock bout headlined a card that featured a remarkable six former, current or future UFC champions (Ortiz, Andrei Arlovski, Robbie Lawler, Carlos Newton, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell) and four UFC Hall of Famers (Ortiz, Shamrock, Hughes, Liddell), making Las Vegas the place to be that night. In an excerpt from the UFC Encyclopedia, here’s how UFC 40 looked…
The high-intensity feud – years in the making - made UFC 40 the biggest event in UFC history up until that time, and if Ortiz wasn’t a star before his bout with the MMA pioneer and former pro wrestling star, his punishing third-round stoppage victory certainly did the trick.