- Saturday 01.31.2004
- 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: Eddie Bravo
- Ticket Revenue (live gate): $1,377,000
- Attendance: 10,700
- PPV Buys / Buyrate: 80,000 | TV Ratings:
- MMA Bouts: 8
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Promotion Links:
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Event Links:
Fight Card
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UFC Welterweight Championship
Submission, Rear Naked Choke
4:39 Round 1 of 56Co-Main Event
170
5 x 5 | Pro
Cancelled & Fizzled Bouts
Referees
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John McCarthy
Belfort vs. Couture II (8), Mir vs. Sims II (5) -
Larry Landless
Verissimo vs. Newton (7), Thomson vs. França (2) -
Mario Yamasaki
Penn vs. Hughes I (6), Murray vs. Rivera (4) -
Steve Mazzagatti
St-Pierre vs. Parisyan (3), Serra vs. Curran (1)
Wiki
UFC 46 Wiki
In another successful Pay Per View effort for the UFC, Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture lost his championship belt in freak fashion when challenger Vitor Belfort lacerated Couture’s eyelid just 49 seconds into the first round. When ringside doctors examined Couture's eye, they determined that he could not continue, awarding Belfort the TKO victory.
In what would be a sign of things to come, UFC 46 marked the promotional debut of top Canadian prospect and future Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. He dominated respected veteran Karo Parisyan on the unaired preliminary card in what was considered a modest upset at the time.