- Saturday 02.05.2005
- U.S. Broadcast: Pay Per View
- Promotion: Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Ownership: Zuffa, LLC
- Venue: Mandalay Bay Events Center
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
- Enclosure: Octagon
- TV Announcers: Mike Goldberg, Joe Rogan
- Ring Announcer: Bruce Buffer
- Post-Fight Interviews: Kerri Kasem
- Ticket Revenue (live gate): $1,493,000
- Attendance: 11,072 (Paid: 9,268)
- PPV Buys / Buyrate: 105,000 | TV Ratings:
- MMA Bouts: 9
-
Promotion Links:
-
Event Links:
Fight Card
-
UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship
Submission, Achilles Lock
0:47 Round 1 of 57Co-Main Event
265
5 x 5 | Pro
Cancelled & Fizzled Bouts
Referees
-
John McCarthy
Ortiz vs. Belfort (9), Arlovski vs. Sylvia I (7), Diaz vs. Fickett (1) -
Mario Yamasaki
Sell vs. Baroni (8), Parisyan vs. Lytle (2) -
Herb Dean
Tanner vs. Terrell (6), Kyle vs. Irvin (4) -
Steve Mazzagatti
Buentello vs. Eilers (5), Loiseau vs. Ray (3)
Wiki
UFC 51 Wiki
Bouncing back from the dismal Pay Per View performance of UFC 50, UFC 51, which featured a light heavyweight superfight between former champion Tito Ortiz and Brazilian phenom Vitor Belfort, delivered much stronger television buys, drawing approximately 105,000 purchases.
In the main event, Ortiz defeated Belfort in a tough but unexciting fight. The undercard featured the first Middleweight Championship fight since 2002, as Evan Tanner upset vaunted newcomer David Terrell for the title. The championship had been vacant since former champion Murilo Bustamante signed with Pride FC after defending the title against Matt Lindland.