| UFC 35: Throwdown | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 35: Throwdown | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | January 11, 2002 | |||
| Venue | Mohegan Sun Arena | |||
| City | Uncasville, Connecticut | |||
| Attendance | 9,600 | |||
| Buyrate | 35,000 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 35: Throwdown was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on January 11, 2002. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.
UFC 35 featured two title bouts, Jens Pulver faced B.J. Penn for the Lightweight Title and Murilo Bustamante faced Dave Menne for the Middleweight Title. This was the first UFC event to be headlined by a Lightweight bout.
According to a December 2008 Sherdog interview with Pat Miletich, the event was plagued by a flu-like illness that spread throughout the fighters, trainers, and production staff. [1]
Despite a number of fighters suffering from such symptoms as diarrhea, dehydration, hallucinations, and vomiting, the event proceeded as planned. Most people attributed the illness to a hotel restaurant named "The Octagon". Kevin Randleman admitted to defecating inside his fight shorts during his bout with Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Dave Menne was drinking Pepto Bismol until his walk to the cage. Eugene Jackson also fought (and won) with a fever. [2]
Shonie Carter was originally scheduled to face Gil Castillo at this event, but was pulled due to outside contractual obligations with another promotion. Chris Brennan stepped in as his replacement. [3]
Shortly after this event, Jens Pulver would leave UFC due to a contract dispute.
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Jens Pulver (c) | def. | B.J. Penn | Decision (majority) (48–45, 47–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Heavyweight | Ricco Rodriguez | def. | Jeff Monson | TKO (punches) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| Middleweight | Murilo Bustamante | def. | Dave Menne (c) | TKO (punches) | 2 | 0:44 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Light Heavyweight | Chuck Liddell | def. | Amar Suloev | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Andrei Semenov | def. | Ricardo Almeida | TKO (punches) | 2 | 2:01 | |
| Preliminary Card | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Kevin Randleman | def. | Renato Sobral | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–25) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Gil Castillo | def. | Chris Brennan | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Eugene Jackson | def. | Keith Rockel | Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 3:46 | |
Jay Dee "B.J." Penn III is an American former professional mixed martial art fighter and 5th degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner.
Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) was a mixed martial arts (MMA) training organization. It was recognized as an excellent training camp. It has been the training camp for fighters such as Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia, Jens Pulver, Robbie Lawler, and Jeremy Horn. MFS is widely regarded as one of the most successful MMA camps of all time.
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.
Kaoru "Caol" Uno is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is the Co-Champion of the UFC 41 Lightweight Tournament and a former Shooto Lightweight Champion. As one of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship's elite Lightweight competitors, Uno competed for the UFC Lightweight Championship on two occasions. Despite falling short in both championship bouts; losing a five-round decision against Jens Pulver at UFC 30, to determine the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion as well as a draw against B.J. Penn at UFC 41, Uno is acknowledged as a pioneer for his impact and influence during the early era of the UFC Lightweight Division.
Jens Johnnie Pulver is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show against long-time rival B.J. Penn. In mixed martial arts, Pulver competed at the Lightweight, Featherweight, Bantamweight and Flyweight divisions in addition to competing at the Middleweight, Light Middleweight, and Welterweight divisions as a professional boxer. While perhaps best known for competing in the UFC, Pulver has also competed in Pride Fighting Championships, for the PRIDE 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix. He is to-date the youngest UFC Lightweight Champion in the UFC history, eventually relinquishing his title, after two defenses, due to a contract dispute. Pulver officially retired from combat sports in 2014.
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