UFC 39

UFC 39: The Warriors Return
UFC 39: The Warriors Return
	The poster for UFC 39: The Warriors Return
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 27, 2002
Venue	Mohegan Sun Arena
City	Uncasville, Connecticut
Attendance	7,800
Buyrate	45,000
Event chronology

Last updated September 07, 2025

UFC 39: The Warriors Return was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 27, 2002, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event was broadcast live on pay per view in the United States, and was the first UFC event to be released on DVD.

History

Headlining the event was a Heavyweight Title bout between Randy Couture and Ricco Rodriguez for the vacant title. Originally Ricco Rodriguez was scheduled to fight Josh Barnett for the UFC title but Barnett was stripped following a positive test for steroids.

The event marked the octagon debut of future UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. This fight saw Sylvia's opponent, Wesley Correira, take several straight punches, knees, and kicks to the head without ever falling before his corner eventually threw in the towel.

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Ricco Rodriguez	def.	Randy Couture	TKO (submission due to elbows)	5	3:04	^[a]
Heavyweight	Tim Sylvia	def.	Wesley Correira	TKO (corner stoppage)	2	1:43
Lightweight	B.J. Penn	def.	Matt Serra	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00	^[b]
Lightweight	Caol Uno	def.	Din Thomas	Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–27)	3	5:00	^[c]
Heavyweight	Gan McGee	def.	Pedro Rizzo	TKO (corner stoppage)	1	5:00	^[d]
Middleweight	Phil Baroni	def.	Dave Menne	KO (punches)	1	0:18
Preliminary card
Middleweight	Matt Lindland	def.	Ivan Salaverry	Decision (unanimous) (30–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Sean Sherk	def.	Benji Radach	TKO (doctor stoppage)	1	4:16

↑ For the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship.
↑ Lightweight Tournament Semifinal bout.
↑ Lightweight Tournament Semifinal bout.
↑ Rizzo took a straight right hand to the nose with twelve seconds left in the first round. After examining Rizzo's nose between rounds, his corner decided to throw in the towel.

Lightweight tournament bracket

Semifinals			Finals (UFC 41)

	B.J. Penn	UD

	Matt Serra	3
				B.J. Penn	D¹

				Caol Uno	15:00
	Caol Uno	UD

	Din Thomas	3

¹ At UFC 41, B.J. Penn vs. Caol Uno ended in a split draw. (48-46, 47-48, 48-48). The title remained vacant.

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia .^[1]

Fight of the Night: Ricco Rodriguez vs. Randy Couture
Knockout of the Night: Phil Baroni

References

↑ Gerbasi, Thomas (2011-10-17). UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. New York: DK. p. 197. ISBN 978-0756683610.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] For the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship.

[2] Lightweight Tournament Semifinal bout.

[3] Lightweight Tournament Semifinal bout.

[4] Rizzo took a straight right hand to the nose with twelve seconds left in the first round. After examining Rizzo's nose between rounds, his corner decided to throw in the towel.

[5] Gerbasi, Thomas (2011-10-17). UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. New York: DK. p. 197. ISBN 978-0756683610.

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[1]

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Fight Nights (on Spike TV)	UFN 1 UFN 2 UFN 3 UFN 4 UFN 5 Sanchez vs. Parisyan Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3 Sanchez vs. Riggs Evans vs. Salmon Stevenson vs. Guillard Stout vs. Fisher Thomas vs. Florian Swick vs. Burkman Florian vs. Lauzon Silva vs. Irvin Diaz vs. Neer Fight for the Troops Lauzon vs. Stephens Condit vs. Kampmann Diaz vs. Guillard Maynard vs. Diaz Florian vs. Gomi Marquardt vs. Palhares Fight for the Troops 2 Nogueira vs. Davis Shields vs. Ellenberger
UFC on Versus/UFC Live	Vera vs. Jones Jones vs. Matyushenko Sanchez vs. Kampmann Kongo vs. Barry Hardy vs. Lytle Cruz vs. Johnson
UFC on Fox	Velasquez vs. dos Santos Evans vs. Davis Diaz vs. Miller Shogun vs. Vera Henderson vs. Diaz Johnson vs. Dodson Henderson vs. Melendez Johnson vs. Moraga Johnson vs. Benavidez 2 Henderson vs. Thomson Werdum vs. Browne Lawler vs. Brown dos Santos vs. Miocic Gustafsson vs. Johnson Machida vs. Rockhold Dillashaw vs. Barão 2 dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 Johnson vs. Bader Teixeira vs. Evans Holm vs. Shevchenko Maia vs. Condit VanZant vs. Waterson Shevchenko vs. Peña Johnson vs. Reis Weidman vs. Gastelum Lawler vs. dos Anjos Jacaré vs. Brunson 2 Emmett vs. Stephens Poirier vs. Gaethje Alvarez vs. Poirier 2 Lee vs. Iaquinta 2
UFC on FX	Guillard vs. Miller Alves vs. Kampmann Johnson vs. McCall Maynard vs. Guida Browne vs. Bigfoot Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson Belfort vs. Bisping Belfort vs. Rockhold
UFC on Fuel TV	Sanchez vs. Ellenberger Gustafsson vs. Silva The Korean Zombie vs. Poirier Muñoz vs. Weidman Struve vs. Miocic Franklin vs. Le Barão vs. McDonald Silva vs. Stann Mousasi vs. Latifi Nogueira vs. Werdum
Fight Nights (on FS1, FS2, FXX, or UFC Fight Pass)	Shogun vs. Sonnen Condit vs. Kampmann 2 Teixeira vs. Bader Maia vs. Shields Machida vs. Muñoz Fight for the Troops 3 Belfort vs. Henderson 2 Hunt vs. Bigfoot Saffiedine vs. Lim Rockhold vs. Philippou Machida vs. Mousasi Kim vs. Hathaway Gustafsson vs. Manuwa Shogun vs. Henderson 2 Nogueira vs. Nelson Bisping vs. Kennedy Brown vs. Silva Muñoz vs. Mousasi Miocic vs. Maldonado Henderson vs. Khabilov Te Huna vs. Marquardt Swanson vs. Stephens Cowboy vs. Miller McGregor vs. Brandão Bader vs. Saint Preux Bisping vs. Le Henderson vs. dos Anjos Jacaré vs. Mousasi Bigfoot vs. Arlovski Hunt vs. Nelson Nelson vs. Story MacDonald vs. Saffiedine Rockhold vs. Bisping Shogun vs. Saint Preux Edgar vs. Swanson Machida vs. Dollaway McGregor vs. Siver Henderson vs. Thatch Bigfoot vs. Mir Maia vs. LaFlare Mendes vs. Lamas Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2 Miocic vs. Hunt Edgar vs. Faber Condit vs. Alves Boetsch vs. Henderson Jędrzejczyk vs. Penne Machida vs. Romero Mir vs. Duffee Bisping vs. Leites Teixeira vs. Saint Preux Holloway vs. Oliveira Barnett vs. Nelson Holohan vs. Smolka Belfort vs. Henderson 3 Magny vs. Gastelum Henderson vs. Masvidal Namajunas vs. VanZant Dillashaw vs. Cruz Hendricks vs. Thompson Cowboy vs. Cowboy Silva vs. Bisping Hunt vs. Mir Rothwell vs. dos Santos Overeem vs. Arlovski Almeida vs. Garbrandt MacDonald vs. Thompson dos Anjos vs. Alvarez McDonald vs. Lineker Rodríguez vs. Caceres Arlovski vs. Barnett Poirier vs. Johnson Cyborg vs. Länsberg Lineker vs. Dodson Lamas vs. Penn dos Anjos vs. Ferguson Mousasi vs. Hall 2 Bader vs. Nogueira 2 Whittaker vs. Brunson Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov Rodríguez vs. Penn Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie Lewis vs. Browne Belfort vs. Gastelum Manuwa vs. Anderson Swanson vs. Lobov Gustafsson vs. Teixeira Lewis vs. Hunt Holm vs. Correia Chiesa vs. Lee Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio Pettis vs. Moreno Volkov vs. Struve Rockhold vs. Branch Saint Preux vs. Okami Cowboy vs. Till Brunson vs. Machida Poirier vs. Pettis Werdum vs. Tybura Bisping vs. Gastelum Swanson vs. Ortega Stephens vs. Choi Machida vs. Anders Cowboy vs. Medeiros Werdum vs. Volkov Barboza vs. Lee Maia vs. Usman Thompson vs. Till Rivera vs. Moraes Cowboy vs. Edwards dos Santos vs. Ivanov Shogun vs. Smith Gaethje vs. Vick Hunt vs. Oleinik Santos vs. Anders Volkan vs. Smith The Korean Zombie vs. Rodríguez Magny vs. Ponzinibbio Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 dos Santos vs. Tuivasa
UFC on ESPN (or ESPN2)	Ngannou vs. Velasquez Barboza vs. Gaethje Ngannou vs. dos Santos dos Anjos vs. Edwards Covington vs. Lawler Reyes vs. Weidman Overeem vs. Rozenstruik Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik Overeem vs. Harris Woodley vs. Burns Eye vs. Calvillo Blaydes vs. Volkov Poirier vs. Hooker Kattar vs. Ige Whittaker vs. Till Munhoz vs. Edgar Holm vs. Aldana Santos vs. Teixeira Smith vs. Clark Hermansson vs. Vettori Chiesa vs. Magny Brunson vs. Holland Whittaker vs. Gastelum Reyes vs. Procházka Rodriguez vs. Waterson The Korean Zombie vs. Ige Makhachev vs. Moisés Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw Hall vs. Strickland Cannonier vs. Gastelum Barboza vs. Chikadze Font vs. Aldo Kattar vs. Chikadze Blaydes vs. Daukaus Luque vs. Muhammad 2 Font vs. Vera Błachowicz vs. Rakić Kattar vs. Emmett Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot dos Anjos vs. Fiziev Santos vs. Hill Vera vs. Cruz Thompson vs. Holland Vera vs. Sandhagen Holloway vs. Allen Song vs. Simón Kara-France vs. Albazi Vettori vs. Cannonier Strickland vs. Magomedov Holm vs. Bueno Silva Sandhagen vs. Font Luque vs. dos Anjos Dariush vs. Tsarukyan Ribas vs. Namajunas Blanchfield vs. Fiorot Nicolau vs. Perez Lewis vs. Nascimento Cannonier vs. Imavov Perez vs. Taira Namajunas vs. Cortez Lemos vs. Jandiroba Tybura vs. Spivac 2 Cannonier vs. Borralho Covington vs. Buckley Moreno vs. Erceg Emmett vs. Murphy Machado Garry vs. Prates Sandhagen vs. Figueiredo Gamrot vs. Klein Usman vs. Buckley Lewis vs. Teixeira Taira vs. Park Dolidze vs. Hernandez
Fight Nights (on ESPN+)	Cejudo vs. Dillashaw Assunção vs. Moraes 2 Błachowicz vs. Santos Lewis vs. dos Santos Till vs. Masvidal Thompson vs. Pettis Overeem vs. Oleinik Jacaré vs. Hermansson Iaquinta vs. Cowboy dos Anjos vs. Lee Gustafsson vs. Smith Moicano vs. The Korean Zombie de Randamie vs. Ladd Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2 Andrade vs. Zhang Cowboy vs. Gaethje Rodríguez vs. Stephens Hermansson vs. Cannonier Joanna vs. Waterson Maia vs. Askren Magomedsharipov vs. Kattar Błachowicz vs. Jacaré Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie Blaydes vs. dos Santos Anderson vs. Błachowicz 2 Felder vs. Hooker Benavidez vs. Figueiredo Lee vs. Oliveira Woodley vs. Edwards Overeem vs. Harris Smith vs. Teixeira Hermansson vs. Weidman Smith vs. Teixeira Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 Brunson vs. Shahbazyan Lewis vs. Oleinik Smith vs. Rakić Overeem vs. Sakai Waterson vs. Hill Covington vs. Woodley Moraes vs. Sandhagen Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie Hall vs. Silva Felder vs. dos Anjos Thompson vs. Neal Overeem vs. Volkov Blaydes vs. Lewis Rozenstruik vs. Gane Edwards vs. Muhammad Font vs. Garbrandt Rozenstruik vs. Sakai Gane vs. Volkov Brunson vs. Till Smith vs. Spann Santos vs. Walker Dern vs. Rodriguez Ladd vs. Dumont Costa vs. Vettori Holloway vs. Rodríguez Vieira vs. Tate Lewis vs. Daukaus Hermansson vs. Strickland Walker vs. Hill Makhachev vs. Green Santos vs. Ankalaev Volkov vs. Aspinall Lemos vs. Andrade Holm vs. Vieira Volkov vs. Rozenstruik Blaydes vs. Aspinall Gane vs. Tuivasa Sandhagen vs. Song Dern vs. Yan Grasso vs. Araújo Kattar vs. Allen Rodriguez vs. Lemos Nzechukwu vs. Cuțelaba Cannonier vs. Strickland Strickland vs. Imavov Lewis vs. Spivak Andrade vs. Blanchfield Muniz vs. Allen Yan vs. Dvalishvili Holloway vs. Allen Pavlovich vs. Blaydes Dern vs. Hill Aspinall vs. Tybura Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie Gane vs. Spivak Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 Fiziev vs. Gamrot Dawson vs. Green Yusuff vs. Barboza Almeida vs. Lewis Allen vs. Craig Song vs. Gutiérrez Ankalaev vs. Walker 2 Dolidze vs. Imavov Hermansson vs. Pyfer Moreno vs. Royval 2 Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev Tuivasa vs. Tybura Allen vs. Curtis 2 Barboza vs. Murphy Burns vs. Brady Moicano vs. Saint Denis Royval vs. Taira Hernandez vs. Pereira Moreno vs. Albazi Magny vs. Prates Yan vs. Figueiredo Dern vs. Ribas 2 Adesanya vs. Imavov Cannonier vs. Rodrigues Cejudo vs. Song Kape vs. Almabayev Vettori vs. Dolidze 2 Edwards vs. Brady Burns vs. Morales Walker vs. Zhang Imavov vs. Borralho Lopes vs. Silva Ulberg vs. Reyes Oliveira vs. Fiziev de Ridder vs. Hernandez 263 264 265 266
UFC on ABC	Holloway vs. Kattar Vettori vs. Holland Ortega vs. Rodríguez Rozenstruik vs. Almeida Emmett vs. Topuria Whittaker vs. Aliskerov Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov Hill vs. Rountree Jr. Whittaker vs. de Ridder
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