Kevin Randleman battles Bas Rutten (Photo: fcfighter.com)
UFC 20: Battle for
the Gold: Boutwell Auditorium - Birmingham, Ala. – May 7, 1999
Bas Rutten won the vacant UFC heavyweight title at UFC 20
over Kevin Randleman on May 7, 1999.
After a long and successful run in Japan’s Pancrase
promotion, Rutten beat Tsuyoshi Kosaka at UFC 18 to earn a spot in the title
fight.
Randleman earned his spot in the UFC 20 main event with a unanimous
decision win over former champion Maurice Smith at UFC 19.
Randleman broke Rutten’s nose in the first round, and the
fight was stopped twice to check the injury. Rutten battled through the pain.
While Randleman used his wrestling skill to score several
takedowns, the judges narrowly declared Rutten to be the new UFC heavyweight
champion.
In the co-main event, Pedro Rizzo knocked out Tra Telligman with
a right to the jaw at 4:30. Rizzo continued his hot streak, as he was coming
off wins over Mark Coleman and Tank Abbott.
Pete Williams, coming into UFC with a 1-1 record, tapped out
Travis Fulton at 6:28 with an armlock.
Although Fulton lost this bout, the “Iron Man’ came into the
night with more than 50 victories and racked up an astounding 253 wins before
he turned 40.
“The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva score his first UFC win a
knee-strike knockout win over Tony Petarra at 2:53. Silva had lost his first
UFC fight to Vitor Belfort at Ultimate Brazil in 44 seconds.
In the first two PPV bouts, LaVerne Clark beat Fabiano Iha
by TKO at 1:31, and Marcelo Mello defeated David Roberts by TKO at 1:23.
Before the show went on the air, Ron “H2O” Waterman won his
UFC debut with a 28-second TKO win over Chris Condo. Waterman also appeared in
Pride, New Japan Pro Wrestling and the WWF.
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