''UFC 17: Redemption'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event held by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

on May 15, 1998, at the Mobile Civic Center, in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. The event was seen live on pay-per-view in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and later released on

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

History

The event featured a four-man

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

Tournament, three

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

Superfights, an alternate bout in case of tournament injury, and a

"exhibition" bout. A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion Frank Shamrock and Jeremy Horn was also taped for broadcast on a later pay-per-view. UFC 17 was the last UFC event (aside from UFC 23), to feature the "tournament" style format. Several hours prior to the event, Olympic Gold medalist and UFC commentator Jeff Blatnick was introduced as the promotion's commissioner in a meeting with the fighters to discuss the fight rules for the event. Blatnick asked at the meeting that the fighters refer to the sport, which at the time had many different names including the misnomer "No Holds Barred", as ''

Mixed Martial Arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

'', with the intention of improving the sport's image. He then repeated the request to the media covering the event later that night. This is generally considered the first time the term

was used to refer to the modern sport, and Blatnick is widely credited with coining the term in relation to it. UFC 17 featured the first UFC appearance of both

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American former mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a Middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

and Carlos Newton, as well as the first

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

fight for

Chuck Liddell Charles David Liddell (born December 17, 1969) is an American former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2018, Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (from 2005 to 2007) and i ...

. The title ''Redemption'' refers to

Mark Coleman Mark Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first List of UFC champions#Tournament ...

's return after losing the UFC Heavyweight Championship to Maurice Smith at UFC 14. Coleman was originally slated to face then UFC Heavyweight Champion

Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American mixed martial arts commentator, actor, former United States Army sergeant, former professional mixed martial artist, and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestlin ...

, who had to withdraw due to an injury. Lion's Den fighter Pete Williams would step in as a last-minute replacement to face Coleman. Similar to his fight with Maurice, Coleman looked good early on in the fight, but when the fight went into an overtime round, Coleman appeared to be drained of energy, breathing heavily and keeping his arms low—even turning his back to Williams occasionally while standing. He took several hard shots from Williams, and was eventually knocked out by a devastating head kick Williams delivered to the face. The Coleman/Couture matchup would finally take place 12 years later at

UFC 109 ''UFC 109: Relentless'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 6, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background A previously rumoured bout between Renzo Gracie and M ...

Results

''UFC 17'' Middleweight Tournament Bracket

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled '' UFC Encyclopedia''. *Fight of the Night: Dan Henderson vs. Carlos Newton *Knockout of the Night: Pete Williams *Submission of the Night: Carlos Newton

References

External links