''UFC: The Ultimate Ultimate 2'' (also known as ''Ultimate Ultimate 1996'', ''UFC 11.5'' or ''Ultimate Ultimate '96: The Tournament of Champions'') 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 December 7, 1996. The event took place at the

Fair Park Arena The W. F. "Bill" Harris State Fair Arena (called Bill Harris Arena or Fair Park Arena) is a 5,000-seat multipurpose indoor arena located at the Birmingham CrossPlex (formerly Alabama State Fairgrounds). The arena is used primarily for basketba ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and 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 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 featured an eight-man

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

with two alternate bouts, and was the UFC's second "Ultimate Ultimate" tournament, held to find the best of the winners and runners up from past

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

events. This event was the first to introduce the "no grabbing of the fence" rule.

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock ( né Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known ...

appeared as a guest on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'' on the mainstream network

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

to promote the event, a groundbreaking moment for the young sport of

UFC 10 ''UFC 10: The Tournament'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on July 12, 1996, at the Fair Park Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later re ...

and

UFC 11 ''UFC 11: The Proving Ground'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 20, 1996, at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Georgia. The event was broadcast live on ...

champion

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 ...

was originally scheduled to compete in the tournament but was forced to withdraw from the event due to a virus. The Ultimate Ultimate 1996 also marked the final appearance of

Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock before leaving the

to go to the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. Shamrock would not return to the

until 2002 at

UFC 40 ''UFC 40: Vendetta'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 22, 2002, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay per view in the Unit ...

. The event would also be the last time

Don Frye Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the '' UFC 8'' and '' David vs. Goliath 96'' tournament ...

fought in the

, as he would also transition into pro wrestling, signing with

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

. Mark Hall, who Frye defeated in the semifinals, would later claim that Don Frye and manager Robert DePersia came into his dressing room during the tournament and convinced him to

throw Throwing is a physical action that consists of mechanically accelerating a projectile and then releasing it into a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a distant target. ''Throwing'' typically refers to hand-throwing by a ...

the two fighters' upcoming semi-final match. Hall says that since

Tank Abbott David Lee "Tank" Abbott (born April 26, 1965) is an American retired mixed martial arts fighter, professional wrestler, and author. He currently hosts his own podcast series titled "The Proving Ground with Tank Abbott." Abbott is perhaps best kno ...

had already advanced to the final after two relatively easy wins, Frye – who'd logged eleven minutes of cage time already that night – wanted to save his energy for the championship match. Because he'd already suffered two defeats to Frye earlier in his career (and therefore probably wasn't going to win anyway) and DePersia implied that saying no would have a disastrous impact on his future, Hall says he reluctantly agreed to go along with the plot. Frye won by

Achilles lock A compression lock, muscle lock, muscle slicer or muscle crusher, is a grappling hold that causes severe pain by pressing a muscle into a bone. A compression lock can cause a joint lock in a nearby joint when it is applied by squeezing a Limb (ana ...

submission in twenty seconds. Referee

John McCarthy John McCarthy may refer to: Government * John George MacCarthy (1829–1892), Member of Parliament for Mallow constituency, 1874–1880 * John McCarthy (Irish politician) (1862–1893), Member of Parliament for the Mid Tipperary constituency, ...

later wrote in his autobiography ''Let's Get It On!'':

Results

''Ultimate Ultimate 96'' bracket

withdrew due to injury, and was replaced by alternate Steve Nelmark. ²

Kimo Leopoldo Kimo Leopoldo (born January 4, 1968), is an American retired mixed martial artist and actor. He made his MMA debut at ''UFC 3'' in 1994, losing to Royce Gracie by submission. A professional from 1994 until 2011, he also competed in the PRIDE Fig ...

withdrew due to fatigue, and was replaced by alternate Mark Hall.

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled '' UFC Encyclopedia''. *Fight of the Night: Don Frye vs. Tank Abbott *Knockout of the Night: Kimo Leopoldo *Submission of the Night: Don Frye

References

External links