5 classic forgotten UFC events that new fans ought to revisit

#4. UFC 51: Super Saturday

UFC 51's headline bout saw an instant classic between Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort

Back in early 2005, the UFC was on the cusp of mainstream acceptance thanks to the Ultimate Fighter reality show that was airing on Spike TV at the time.

While the promotion’s pay-per-view buyrate record would be broken that April by a show headlined by Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell, it’s actually arguable that the final show before TUF really exploded in popularity was slightly superior.

UFC 51 featured a main event between former light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort. It instantly became a classic.

The two men went toe-to-toe for three rounds, with multiple twists and turns. After a titanic struggle, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ came out on top via split decision.

However, that wasn’t the only amazing fight on this card. The show also featured two title bouts. Evan Tanner came from behind to defeat David Terrell for the middleweight crown and Andrei Arlovski stunned everyone by dropping and submitting Tim Sylvia in under a minute to claim the interim heavyweight title.

Add in another pair of hard-hitting fights between heavyweights Paul Buentello and Justin Eilers and middleweights Pete Sell and Phil Baroni, and you’ve got a genuinely brilliant show overall.

Many fans have likely not seen this one due to it coming prior to the blockbuster events that pushed the promotion into the big time. However, if that’s the case, it’s well worth checking out some 17 years later.

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#3. UFC 49: Unfinished Business

Chuck Liddell's fight with Vernon White was one highlight at UFC 49

Over the years, we’ve seen a great number of shows that didn’t look all that loaded on paper, but turned out to produce a bunch of classic wars when it came down to fight time.

August 2004’s UFC 49 is almost certainly amongst those shows. Everyone wanted to see the main event, a light heavyweight title bout that saw former champion Randy Couture beat down Vitor Belfort to reclaim the gold. However, the rest of the card didn’t look like much.

In reality, the event ended up producing knockout after knockout after knockout, with a number of them being amongst the most memorable of not just 2004, but in the promotion's history overall.

The first fight saw Yves Edwards knock out Josh Thomson with a wild flying kick that still makes the promotion’s opening highlight reel to this day. David Terrell, Chuck Liddell and Justin Eilers also picked up huge KO’s of Matt Lindland, Vernon White and Mike Kyle, respectively.

Liddell’s war with White, a crazy fight that saw multiple knockdowns and both men eating huge shots, was probably the best of the night. However, the grapple-fest between welterweight prospects Karo Parisyan and Nick Diaz wasn’t far behind either.

Overall, this show has largely been forgotten as it came prior to the promotion’s TUF boom. Nevertheless, for its sheer number of knockouts alone, it remains an absolute classic that’s well worth checking out.