| UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 22, 2002 | |||
| Venue | Bellagio Hotel and Casino | |||
| City | Las Vegas, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 3,700 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 22, 2002.
The fight card was headlined by a bout between top contenders, returning Vitor Belfort, and Chuck Liddell. UFC 37.5 was the first UFC event to feature Joe Rogan as a color commentator but he would leave again to host Fear Factor, and return at UFC 40. Joe made several UFC appearances prior to UFC 37.5 as the behind-the-scenes interviewer starting at UFC 12.
UFC 37.5 was a last-minute event specifically held to promote the UFC on Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period , where the "best fight" of the night was to air during the BDSSP's "All Star Summer" celebration in June 2002. [1] The fight aired was Steve Berger vs Robbie Lawler, which has the distinction of being the first mixed martial arts (MMA) fight to be aired on US cable television. [1] It also aired in Free-to-Air television in Brazil for first time at SBT, Vitor Belfort had previously participated at the network's reality show Casa dos Artistas (The House of Artists).
The event featured only six fights, which is a much smaller card than others under the UFC banner at the time, and was not broadcast on Pay-per-view until August 16th. The number 37.5 was used because UFC 38 had already been announced and marketed in England, where the UFC was making their debut just three weeks later.
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Chuck Liddell | def. | Vitor Belfort | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Benji Radach | def. | Nick Serra | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Pete Spratt | def. | Zach Light | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:25 | |
| Welterweight | Robbie Lawler | def. | Steve Berger | TKO (punches) | 2 | 0:27 | |
| Middleweight | Tony Fryklund | def. | Rodrigo Ruas | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:34 | |
| Lightweight | Yves Edwards | def. | Joao Marcos Pierini | TKO (injury) | 1 | 1:19 | [lower-alpha 1] |
Vítor Vieira Belfort is a Brazilian professional boxer and retired mixed martial artist who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. He is the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, as well as a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Champion. Known for his explosive knockout power, Belfort is tied for fifth for the most finishes in UFC history with 14. Belfort also competed for MMA promotions Pride FC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and Cage Rage.
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