| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
|---|---|
| Date | September 23, 2006 |
| Venue | Arrowhead Pond |
| City | Anaheim, California |
| Attendance | 12,604 (9,343 paid)[1] |
| Gate | $1,582,370[1] |
| Buyrate | 400,000[2] |
| Purse | $332,000 (disclosed only)[3] |
| Previousevent | UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral 2 |
| Followingevent | Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter |
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.
Background
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]
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
References
- ^ Trembow, Ivan (2006-10-24). "UFC 63". Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ "MMAPayout.com Blue Book". mmapayout.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-27. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ Trembow, Ivan (2006-10-17). "UFC 63 and UFC 64 Fighter Salary Breakdown". Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ Gross, Josh (2006-08-19). ""Rush" to Recovery: St- Pierre to Test Injured Groin". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
- ^ Moeller, Sean (2006-08-04). "Miletich upset over UFC president's scheduling". Quad City Times. Retrieved 2006-09-25.
- ^ "Georges St-Pierre "I'm not impressed by your performance" video" (video). MMAmania.com. 2008-11-08. Retrieved 2009-02-04.