''UFC 39: The Warriors Return'' 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 September 27, 2002, at the

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in the Uncasville, Connecticut, Uncasville area of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurab ...

Uncasville Uncasville is a village in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is located in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the e ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. The event was broadcast live on

pay per view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

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 was the first UFC event to be released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

History

Headlining the event was a Heavyweight 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

Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight (MMA), heavyweight division. A professional competitor from 1999 to 2019, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, ...

for the vacant title. Originally Ricco Rodriguez was scheduled to fight

Josh Barnett Joshua Lawrence Barnett (born November 10, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist, submission wrestler, professional wrestler, and color commentator. Barnett previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the y ...

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 Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight. While he is best kn ...

. This fight saw Sylvia's opponent,

Wesley Correira Wesley John Correira Jr. (born November 11, 1978), nicknamed Cabbage, is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions. An iron chinned brawler, Correira began his career in 2000 and came to pro ...

, take several straight punches, knees, and kicks to the head without ever falling before his corner eventually threw in the towel.

Results

Lightweight tournament bracket

¹ At

UFC 41 ''UFC 41: Onslaught'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 28, 2003, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later ...

, B.J. Penn vs.

Caol Uno (born May 8, 1975) is a Japanese mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is the List of UFC champions#Tournament winners, Co-Champion of the List of UFC champions#Tournament winners, UFC 41 Lightweight Tournam ...

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

References

External links