''UFC 31: Locked and Loaded '' 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 ( ...

at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

on May 4, 2001. 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 card was headlined by a

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 ...

title bout between

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 ...

and Pedro Rizzo. A

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

title bout between Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton also occurred. The card featured the first appearance of future UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra, the professional debut of future multi-divisional UFC Champion B.J. Penn, and Kevin Randleman's first fight in

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

. UFC 31 again saw reformed weight classes, adopting the current standard under the new Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, set by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board a month earlier in April 2001.

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

was renamed

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

and raised from 150 to 155. Welterweights were now at 170, Middleweights at 185, and Light Heavyweights at 205. Dana White has said on many occasions that this was one of the best fight cards ever mainly due to the main event and the bout between Matt Serra and Shonie Carter which involved the infamous backfist finish.

Results

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled '' UFC Encyclopedia''. *Fight of the Night: Randy Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo *Knockout of the Night: Shonie Carter *Submission of the Night: Carlos Newton

References

External links

Official UFC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufc 031 Ultimate Fighting Championship flagship events 2001 in mixed martial arts May 2001 sports events in the United States Mixed martial arts events in Atlantic City, New Jersey 2001 in sports in New Jersey

History

Results

Encyclopedia awards

See also

References

External links