UFC 28

UFC 28: High Stakes was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 17, 2000 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

UFC 28: High Stakes
The poster for UFC 28: High Stakes.
Information
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateNovember 17, 2000
VenueMark G. Etess Arena at Trump Taj Mahal
CityAtlantic City, New Jersey
Event chronology
UFC 27: Ultimate Bad Boyz UFC 28: High Stakes UFC 29: Defense of the Belts

History

UFC 28 marked the first UFC event to be sanctioned by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB). The NJSACB had begun to allow Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promoters to conduct events in the state upon review of the promoter's rules and regulations in September 2000.[1] The NJSACB's observation of these first few sanctioned events led to the establishment of their own official set of rules and regulations, the "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts", in April 2001.[1] The NJSACB's unified rules would become the de facto set of rules for professional MMA in North America as more and more U.S. states used them to sanction the sport.[1]

As the event was held in New Jersey, it was the first UFC event to be held in a northern state since UFC 7. Under the sanctioned rules, this was the first event requiring competitors to wear trunks, gloves (and no other attire).[2] The sanctioned rules also introduced new strict weight classes, resulting in the first and only UFC Super Heavyweight bout ever, between Josh Barnett and Gan McGee.[3] The first UFC Bantamweight bout took place at UFC 26 in June 2000.

The event was headlined by the return of former Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, who had relinquished his title in 1998 to return to competitive wrestling and because of contract disputes—and he regained his championship belt by defeating Kevin Randleman. UFC 28 also featured the first UFC appearances of Andrei Arlovski, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Josh Barnett, Gan McGee, and the sole appearance of Matt Hughes's twin brother, Mark Hughes.

While there were 5,000 tickets sold -- a sellout -- the event had a small pay-per-view reach.[2] UFC 28 was the sixth straight UFC event to never see home video or DVD release, as their parent company SEG was nearing bankruptcy. UFC 28 was the last UFC event held by SEG in the US, and following UFC 29 in Japan, SEG sold the UFC to Zuffa LLC.

Results
Main Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Heavyweight Randy Couture def. Kevin Randleman (c) TKO (punches) 3 4:13 [lower-alpha 1]
Heavyweight Renato Sobral def. Maurice Smith Decision (majority) 3 5:00
Super Heavyweight Josh Barnett def. Gan McGee TKO (punches) 2 4:34
Heavyweight Andrei Arlovski def. Aaron Brink Submission (armbar) 1 0:55
Lightweight Jens Pulver def. John Lewis KO (punch) 1 0:15
Preliminary Card
Middleweight Mark Hughes def. Alex Stiebling Decision (unanimous) 2 5:00 [lower-alpha 2]
Lightweight Ben Earwood def. Chris Lytle Decision (unanimous) 2 5:00 [lower-alpha 3]
  1. For the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
  2. This bout aired on the pay-per-view event following the Barnett vs McGee fight.
  3. This bout aired on UFC 29 after the Lightweight Championship bout between Pat Miletich vs. Kenichi Yamamoto.

See also

References
  1. "Mixed Martial arts Unified Rules of Conduct". New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. 2002-09-05. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  2. Langton, Jerry. Fighter: The Unauthorized Biography of Georges St-Pierre, UFC Champion, p. 19. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ISBN 9781118017395. Accessed November 16, 2015.
  3. Josh Barnett vs. Gan McGee UFC 28: November 17, 2000, Ultimate Fighting Championship. Accessed November 16, 2015. "In the UFC’s first and only super-heavyweight bout, two unbeaten behemoths battled in their Octagon debuts as Josh 'Baby-Faced Assassin' Barnett faced Gan 'The Giant' McGee."
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