UFC 43: Meltdown

From CageWiki

1 Background
2 Fight Card
3 Pre-Event Notes
4 Results
5 UFC Event Chronology
6 External Links

Background

UFC 43: Meltdown was a 8-bout fight card that was held on June 6, 2003 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The card aired live on pay-per-view and was headlined by an Interim light heavyweight championship bout between former two-time heavyweight champion, Randy Couture and No.1 contender, Chuck Liddell.

A heavyweight bout between UFC legends, Tank Abbott and Kimo Leopoldo served as a co-main event.

Fight Card

Preliminary Card

Heavyweight Bout: Pedro Rizzo vs. Tra Telligman
Middleweight Bout: Matt Lindland vs. Falaniko Vitale
Lightweight Bout: Yves Edwards vs. Eddie Ruiz

Main Card

Heavyweight Bout: Frank Mir vs. Wes Sims
Heavyweight Bout: Ian Freeman vs. Vernon White
Light Heavyweight Bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Marvin Eastman
Heavyweight Bout: Tank Abbott vs. Kimo Leopoldo
Interim Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell

Pre-Event Notes

Couture and Liddell fight for the first ever interim title created by the UFC after Tito Ortiz's refusal to face No.1 contender Liddell and his ongoing injury and contract issues.

The bout will mark Couture's first fight at 205 lbs. after having moved down from the heavyweight division following his two championship losses to Josh Barnett at UFC 36 and Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 41.

Ken Shamrock was originally scheduled to meet Ian Freeman at this event but had to pull out due to injury. He was replaced by Lion's Den teammate, Vernon White.

Pedro Rizzo and Tra Telligman will face each other in a rematch from their UFC 20 bout in 1999 that Rizzo won by KO.

Results

Preliminary Card

Heavyweight Bout: Pedro Rizzo defs. Tra Telligman via TKO (cuts) at 4:24 of round 2.
Middleweight Bout: Falaniko Vitale defs. Matt Lindland via KO (slam) at 1:56 of round 1.

Lindland attempted to slam Vitale to the mat but landed on his own head, knocking himself out and thus giving Vitale the win.

Lightweight Bout: Yves Edwards defs. Eddie Ruiz via unanimous decision (30-27 x3).

Main Card

Heavyweight Bout: Frank Mir defs. Wes Sims via DQ (Stomps to face) at 2:55 of round 1.
Heavyweight Bout: Ian Freeman and Vernon White fight to a split draw (30-27, 28-29, 29-29).
Light Heavyweight Bout: Vitor Belfort defs. Marvin Eastman via TKO (strikes) at 1:07 of round 1.
Heavyweight Bout: Kimo Leopoldo defs. Tank Abbott via submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:59 of round 1.
Interim Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Randy Couture defs. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes from mount) at 2:39 of round 3 to become the Interim Light Heavyweight champion.

Couture wasn't given much hope coming into the bout after having suffered back to back losses at heavyweight. He surprised everyone though as he stood with the fearsome Liddell and outstruck him while mixing it up with heavy slam takedowns. In the third round, Couture got a tired Liddell to the ground again and moved to mount where he continously pounded down until the referee was forced to halt the bout.