(Photo by Gary M. Prior/Getty Images).
Here it is, the final Timeline article. So far, we have relived the UFC's story from it's very beginning in 1993 before it was bought by ZUFFA to the highest live gate revenue that was UFC 66. We continue on and begin the countdown to UFC 100 with UFC 67.
February 3, 2007- UFC 67 takes place and Travis Lutter fights Anderson Silva. The fight was supposed to be for the Middleweight title but Lutter failed to make weight. It didn't make much of a difference in the end, since he was submitted in the second round. Lyoto Machida, Mirko Cro Cop and Quinton Jackson all had a successful UFC debut on the same night.
March 3, 2007- Randy Couture makes his big return to the UFC at UFC 68 with a domination over UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia to become the new champion. This also marks Couture's first Heavyweight fight since UFC 39.
April 5, 2007- The debut of The Ultimate Fighter 5 with BJ Penn and Jens Pulver as the coaches.
April 7, 2007- This date will be remembered for ever as the day that Matt Serra shocked the whole world and TKO'ed Georges St-Pierre in the first round to become the new UFC Welterweight champion at UFC 69. It was also officially announced that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira had signed a contract with the UFC.
April 21, 2007- Less then two weeks after the shocking win of Matt Serra, another upset takes place at UFC 70. This time, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Gabriel Gonzaga KO'ed Mirko Cro Cop in the first round with a head kick. The event was also supposed to feature a fight between Forrest Griffin and Lyoto Machida, but it ended up being scrapped.
May 26, 2007- UFC 71 features a rematch between Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson this time for the UFC Light-Heavyweight championship. It's announced that the winner would have to defend the title against Dan Henderson in the near future. Rampage wins against Chuck by first round TKO and captures the gold.
June 16, 2007- Yushin Okami and Rich Franklin headline UFC 72. At first, the fight was Rich Franklin vs Martin Kampmann, but Kampmann was unable to fight and was replaced by Okami.
June 23, 2007- Nate Diaz becomes the winner of the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
July 7, 2007- UFC 73 was named Stacked and for good reasons. "Minautoro" Nogueira made his UFC debut with a win over PRIDE rival Heath Herring. Sean Sherk retained his Lightweight title against Hermes Franca and Tito Ortiz fought Rashad Evans to a draw. In the main event, Anderson Silva made an example out of Nate Marquardt and retained his Middleweight title.
August 25, 2007- Randy Couture retains his Heavyweight title after beating top contender Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74. Renato "Babalu" Sobral makes his last appearance inside the octagon after keeping a submission hold for too long on poor David Heath.
September 8, 2007- The UFC travels overseas for UFC 75. England's own Michael Bisping wins a very controversial decision against Matt Hamill, one that is still questioned to this day. Rampage Jackson and Dan Henderson unify the UFC and PRIDE Light-Heavyweight titles and Quinton wins a decision in the end.
September 19, 2007 - It's the debut of the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
September 22, 2007- Keith Jardine gets a shot at glory when he fights Chuck Liddell at UFC 76. Jardine edges out Liddell by a little, winning a Split Decision. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua makes his UFC debut, but his welcoming party gets crushed by Forrest Griffin who chokes him out in the third round.
October 11, 2007- Randy "The Natural" Couture severes all ties with the UFC leading to a contract dispute that will last for one year.
October 20, 2007- After a win over Yushin Okami, Rich Franklin gets his rematch against Anderson Silva for the Middleweight title at UFC 77. Anderson Silva is dominant yet again and retains his title. It's also announced that former WWE champion Brock Lesnar has signed with the UFC.
November 17, 2007- Two winners of The Ultimate Fighter collide as Rashad Evans wins a Split Decision against Michael Bisping at UFC 78 and sends Bisping in the Middleweight division.
December 8, 2007- Mac Danzig becomes the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 6.
December 29, 2007
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