UFC 5: The Return of the Beast was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 7, 1995, at the Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.
| UFC 5: Gracie vs. Shamrock 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 5: Gracie vs. Shamrock 2 | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | April 7, 1995 | |||
| Venue | Independence Arena | |||
| City | Charlotte, North Carolina | |||
| Attendance | 6,000 | |||
| Buyrate | 260,000[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
History
UFC 5 used an eight-man tournament format, with the winner receiving $50,000.[2] The event also featured the first ever UFC Superfight, as well as two alternate fights, which were not shown on the live pay-per-view broadcast.[3] The tournament had no weight classes or weight limits, and the fights had to end by submission, throwing in the towel, knockout, or referee stoppage, and thus, no judges were used. Fight judges and weight classes would finally become part of the UFC framework in UFC 8 and UFC 12 respectively.[4][5]
The Superfight match was the main attraction, and the winner of this fight would become the reigning UFC Champion. It consisted of rivals Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock facing off in the most anticipated match in UFC history to that date, which lead to the highest pay-per-view buyrate the UFC had achieved.[6] Up to this point, Ken Shamrock's only defeat in the UFC was to Royce Gracie in UFC 1.
UFC 5 was the first UFC event to feature any kind of time limits since UFC 1.[4] A 20-minute time limit was imposed for the quarterfinal and semi-final round matches in the tournament. The finals of the tournament and the Superfight had a 30-minute time limit. The Superfight overran to 31 minutes before incorporating an on-the-spot decision to extend the fight by a further five minutes.[7] As there was still no winner, the match was declared a draw.
In the tournament side of the event, Dan Severn won in the finals by defeating Dave Beneteau via a keylock submission. The referee for the night was 'Big' John McCarthy.
This UFC event was the last with the involvement of UFC co-creator Rorion Gracie, ostensibly because of the introduction of time-limits, which ran counter to his family's ethos of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in which fights should go to a finish.[3] Gracie and his partner Art Davie later sold WOW Promotions, co-promoters of the event, to WOW's partner, Semaphore Entertainment Group.[2] Royce Gracie also ended his involvement following Rorion's departure until he returned for UFC 60.
This event saw the implementation of a fight time limit in order to present the entire show in the allotted satellite time.[citation needed] The show ran 2 hours and 40 minutes, which was 40 minutes "over" the scheduled time, but UFC purchased 3 hours of satellite pay-per-view time in preparation.[citation needed] This was unlike UFC 4, where many PPV providers cut the show off after the first 2 hours.[citation needed]
With this event, many of the fighters received nicknames, including:
- Dan Severn – The Beast
- Oleg Taktarov – The Russian Bear
- Todd Medina – El Tiburon
- Joe Charles – The Ghetto Man
- Jon Hess – The Giant With an Attitude
Results
| Superfight Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| N/A | Ken Shamrock | vs. | Royce Gracie | Draw | 36:06 | [a] | |
| Final | |||||||
| N/A | Dan Severn | def. | Dave Beneteau | Submission (keylock) | 3:01 | ||
| Semifinals | |||||||
| N/A | Dave Beneteau | def. | Todd Medina | Submission (Strikes) | 2:12 | [b] | |
| N/A | Dan Severn | def. | Oleg Taktarov | TKO (cut) | 4:21 | ||
| Quarterfinals | |||||||
| N/A | Jon Hess | def. | Andy Anderson | TKO (punches) | 1:23 | ||
| N/A | Todd Medina | def. | Larry Cureton | Submission (forearm choke) | 2:55 | ||
| N/A | Oleg Taktarov | def. | Ernie Verdicia | Submission (choke) | 2:23 | ||
| N/A | Dan Severn | def. | Joe Charles | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1:38 | ||
| Alternate bouts | |||||||
| N/A | Dave Beneteau | def. | Asbel Cancio | TKO (punches) | 0:21 | ||
| N/A | Guy Mezger | def. | John Dowdy | TKO (punches) | 2:02 | ||
- ^ Superfight Championship bout: Gracie and Shamrock fought to a draw after 36:00 because there were no judges. This was a new record length for a UFC fight.
- ^ Beneteau replaced Jon Hess, who had broken his hand during his first match.
UFC 5 bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
 Jon Hess (San Soo)
| TKO | |||||||||||||
| Andy Anderson (Taekwondo)
| 1:23 | |||||||||||||
 Dave Beneteau (Wrestling) 1
| TKO | |||||||||||||
| Todd Medina
| 2:12 | |||||||||||||
| Todd Medina (Jeet Kune Do)
| TKO | |||||||||||||
| Larry Cureton (Kickboxing)
| 2:55 | |||||||||||||
| Dave Beneteau
| 3:01 | |||||||||||||
| Dan Severn
| SUB | |||||||||||||
 Oleg Taktarov (Sambo)
| SUB | |||||||||||||
| Ernie Verdicia (American Kenpo)
| 2:23 | |||||||||||||
| Oleg Taktarov
| 4:21 | |||||||||||||
| Dan Severn
| TKO | |||||||||||||
| Dan Severn (Wrestling)
| SUB | |||||||||||||
| Joe Charles (Judo)
| 1:38 | |||||||||||||
1Jon Hess was fined $2,000 for fouls committed in his fight. He withdrew with a hand injury, and was replaced by Dave Beneteau.
See also
External links
References
- ^ http://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-pay-per-view-buys-explode-in-2006
- ^ a b Abraham, Joel (December 6, 2010). "UFC 5 Review Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie: 36 Minutes I'll Never Get Back". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ a b Doyle, Dave (April 6, 2009). "UFC 5: The first Superfight". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ a b Morris, Jessy (April 21, 2009). "UFC Timeline: Before There Was ZUFFA". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ Payne, Marissa (November 10, 2016). "UFC's climb, 23 years to the day, from 'freak show' to one of sport's most sacred stages". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ Staff (July 13, 2006). "UFC Pay-Per-View Buys Explode in 2006". mmaweekly.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ Brookhouse, Brent (April 8, 2012). "Retro Recap - UFC 5: The Return Of The Beast". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.