UFC 47 - History

History

Headlining the card was the long awaited match between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.

The title "It's On!" refers to Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz' long running negotiations leading up to the fight. Fans had been awaiting the fight for more than a year, and while both fighters had their own story as to why it took so long, the fight finally took place in 2004. Ortiz claims that as friends and former training partners, he and Liddell had made a pact never to fight. Liddell claims there was no such pact, that he would fight anyone anytime, and accused Ortiz of ducking the fight.

A matchup between Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski for the then-vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship was scheduled for this event, but Sylvia was pulled due to a reoccurrence of positive drug samples just a day before the event. Arlovski was re-booked on short notice in a non-title fight against Wesley Correira, who was pulled from a scheduled main card fight with Mike Kyle to replace Sylvia. Wes Sims would step in on a day's notice to face Mike Kyle at this event as well. The Sylvia/Arlovski matchup would finally be re-booked for the Interim Heavyweight Championship at UFC 51 in February 2005, with Arlovski winning via submission in forty-seven seconds.

This was the first card to feature "On The Mat" with Marc Laimon, an brief instructional video demonstrating the triangle choke.

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