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UFC 13 is a historic show due to the debuts of UFC Hall of Famers, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz
Couture competed in the four-man Heavyweight tournament. He faced Tony Halme in the first round.
For those that don't know, Halme competed as Ludwig Borga in WWE between 1993 and 1994. Halme charged Couture but the future Hall of Famer countered into a takedown and locked in a rear naked choke for the win.
In the other Semi-Final, Stephen Graham beat Dmitri Stepanov in less than 90 seconds, taking him down and locking in a keylock for the submission.
The final between Couture and Graham was another one-sided affair. Couture demonstrated his considerable wrestling skills, immediately taking the larger Graham down and kneeing him in the head before locking in a back mount and raining elbows for the finish.
With that, Couture was the UFC 13 Heavyweight tournament winner and the legend's journey in UFC had begun.
Vitor Belfort took on Tank Abbott in a mouth-watering Heavyweight clash between the two big hitters.
This was probably the first real dream bout in UFC history but it was not much of a contest and was over in the blink of an eye.
Tank got taken down early but got back to his feet and invited Belfort onto him. Big mistake. Belfort opened up with machine gun like lightning quick punches rocking Abbott.
The big man was down on the canvas but Belfort continued the assault, pummelling Abbott until referee, "Big" John McCarthy ended the contest. What a talent Belfort was at his peak.
In the Light-Heavyweight tournament, Guy Mezger met Christophe Leininger. Mezger quickly applied pressure to Leininger and lands a good low kick before landing blows from the clinch. There was plenty more back and forth between the two fighters before Leininger began to tire.
The crowd got restless with the tepid action that even in overtime saw both men still locked in the clinch.
Mezger secured a greater position with a headlock and landed some solid knees. The bout went to the judges and Mezger won via Decision.
Enson Inoue fought Royce Alger in a much shorter bout to determine who would face Mezger in the Final.
Alger attacked right away but Enson sprawled and locked in arm scissors. Big punches by Enson softened Alger up for an armbar, securing the tap out win.
Unfortunately for Enson, he was ruled out of the final encounter due to issues with his vision and an alternate by the name of Tito Ortiz was inserted in his place.
Ortiz came out swinging, looking to make a name for himself forcing Mezger to retreat and attempt a takedown.
Ortiz avoided it, however, and secured a front face lock and smashed Mezger with knees. He appeared to earn the win but the referee paused the bout to assess a cut on Mezger's head.
The crowd didn't like that and loudly cheered Ortiz once the bout re-started but Ortiz left his head too low as he attempted a takedown and found himself on the receiving end of a choke. Mezger, your winner via Submission.
Far from the greatest MMA card in history but a historically significant one.
