| UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | March 13, 1998 | |||
| Venue | Pontchartrain Center | |||
| City | Kenner, Louisiana | |||
| Attendance | 4,600 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998, in Kenner, Louisiana. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video. [1] [2]
UFC 16 featured the first ever UFC Welterweight tournament in the USA (for fighters under 170 lb), as well as a Light Heavyweight Championship bout, a Heavyweight and a Light Heavyweight Superfight, and two alternate bouts in case of tournament injury.
UFC 16 marked the first appearance of the influential fighter Pat Miletich, who would go on to create Miletich Fighting Systems. Tank Abbott is a guest commentator for the Heavyweight Superfight.
The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout, was billed to be champion Frank Shamrock's biggest test, in Battlecade star, Igor Zinoviev. This would end up being the final match of Zinoviev's career, as he suffered a career-ending collarbone injury from Shamrock's victorious KO slam.
Kimo Leopoldo returned to the UFC at UFC 16 and fought top Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Kimo dominated the first portion of the fight but began to fatigue and eventually lost the fight by decision.
| UFC Light Heavyweight Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Frank Shamrock (c) | def. | Igor Zinoviev | KO (slam) | 0:22 | [lower-alpha 1] | |
| Heavyweight bout | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Tsuyoshi Kohsaka | def. | Kimo Leopoldo | Decision (unanimous) | 15:00 | ||
| Light Heavyweight bout | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Jerry Bohlander | def. | Kevin Jackson | Technical submission (armbar) | 10:21 | [lower-alpha 2] | |
| Welterweight Tournament Finals | |||||||
| Welterweight | Pat Miletich | def. | Chris Brennan | Submission (shoulder choke) | 9:01 | [lower-alpha 3] | |
| Welterweight Tournament Semifinals | |||||||
| Welterweight | Mikey Burnett | def. | Eugenio Tadeu | TKO (punches) | 9:46 | [lower-alpha 4] | |
| Welterweight | Pat Miletich | def. | Townsend Saunders | Decision (split) | 15:00 | ||
| Welterweight Tournament Alternate bouts | |||||||
| Welterweight | LaVerne Clark | def. | Josh Stuart | TKO (punches) | 1:15 | ||
| Welterweight | Chris Brennan | def. | Courtney Turner | Submission (armbar) | 1:20 | ||
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| Mikey Burnett | TKO | ||||||||
| Eugenio Tadeu | 9:46 | ||||||||
| Pat Miletich | SUB | ||||||||
| Chris Brennan 1 | 9:02 | ||||||||
| Pat Miletich | DEC | ||||||||
| Townsend Saunders | 15:00 | ||||||||
1 Mikey Burnett withdrew from the tournament due to a broken finger and was replaced by Chris Brennan.
Ken Shamrock is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), WWE and other combat sports. An inaugural inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, Shamrock is widely regarded as an icon and pioneer of the sport. He has headlined over 15 main events and co-main events in the UFC and Pride FC and set numerous MMA pay-per-view records. In the early part of his UFC career, Shamrock was named "The World's Most Dangerous Man" by ABC News in a special called "The World's Most Dangerous Things". The moniker has stuck as his nickname.
Frank Shamrock is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship and retired as an undefeated champion. Shamrock was the No. 1 ranked pound for pound UFC fighter in the world during his reign as the UFC Middleweight Champion. Shamrock has won numerous titles in other martial arts organizations, including the interim King of Pancrase title, the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Shamrock is regarded as one of the first complete mixed martial artists, having adapted his game from a ground-focused style of fighting to a more well-rounded and versatile style. He is a seventh degree black belt in submission fighting.
Patrick Jay Miletich is a retired American mixed martial artist and former sports commentator. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner. Miletich is also known as a highly successful trainer and coach, having founded Miletich Fighting Systems. This camp is considered one of the most successful in MMA history and has produced several world champions. On July 6, 2014, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
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UFC 15: Collision Course was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 17, 1997, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The event was seen live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on home video.
UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 21, 1997, in Yokohama, Japan. The event was seen on pay per view in the United States, on cable TV in Japan, and was later released on home video.
UFC 17: Redemption was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 15, 1998, at the Mobile Civic Center, in Mobile, Alabama. The event was seen live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on home video.
Michael Wayne Burnett is a former American mixed martial artist who was a member of the fight team the Lion's Den. Burnett lost a controversial decision to Pat Miletich in a UFC title fight for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC Ultimate Brazil crowning Miletich the first-ever holder of the UFC Welterweight belt.
Battlecade: Extreme Fighting, sometimes referred to simply as Extreme Fighting, was a mixed martial arts promotion which hosted four events in the United States and Canada between 1995 and 1997. Although few events were held, a number of well known fighters competed for the promotion. Battlecade CEO Rick Blume is credited with coining the phrase mixed martial arts and the promotion was the first to implement weight classes in MMA.
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The year 1998 was the 6th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 1998 the UFC held 3 events beginning with, UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou.
