It had everything.
It had Lawler with Just Bleed guy, it had an Asian (Pride never Die).
Danzig blood bath.
John Jones before he was full heel.
An old guy beating up a young guy in the Coleman/Bonnar fight.
Shiiiiiet that was just the preliminary card.
Heavyweight
Brock Lesnar (c)
def.
Frank Mir (ic)
TKO (punches)
2
1:48
[a]
Welterweight
Georges St-Pierre (c)
def.
Thiago Alves
Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–44, 50–45)
5
5:00
[b]
Middleweight
Dan Henderson
def.
Michael Bisping
KO (punch)
2
3:20
[c]
Welterweight
Jon Fitch
def.
Paulo Thiago
Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)
3
5:00
[d]
Middleweight
Yoshihiro Akiyama
def.
Alan Belcher
Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 29–28)
3
5:00
These were huge matches! Memes were born.
Nobody had even pooped on a ring card girl yet!
Pride being absorbed through to the early 10s was the peak of the UFC for sure. It was popular but not fully corporate and generic yet and still had a sense of danger and youthfulness, also it had just the right amount of cards and divisions, good star power, good overall skill level etc.
