2006 in Sports - Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed Martial Arts

The following is a list of major noteworthy MMA events during 2006 in chronological order.

Date Event Alternate Name/s Location Attendance PPV Buyrate Notes
January 16 UFC Ultimate Fight Night 3 Ultimate Fight Night 3 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 1,008
February 4 UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 11,000 400,000
February 4 Cage Rage 15: Adrenalin Rush London, England
February 26 Pride 31: Unbreakable Pride 31: Dreamers Saitama, Japan
March 4 UFC 58: USA vs Canada Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 9,569 300,000 This was the first UFC event to hold a lightweight fight since UFC 49.
March 10 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie San Jose, California, USA 18,265 Strikeforce's first MMA event, after 20 years of kickboxing promotion.

The event featured Frank Shamrock in his first fight since March 2003.
March 15 K-1 Hero's 4 Tokyo, Japan
April 2 Pride Bushido 10 Tokyo, Japan
April 6 UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4 Ultimate Fight Night 4 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 843
April 15 UFC 59: Reality Check Anaheim, California, USA 13,814 425,000
April 22 Cage Rage 16: Critical Condition London, England
April 29 IFL: Legends Championship 2006 Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA IFL's first event; Start of 2006 IFL Season 1.
May 3 K-1 Hero's 5 Tokyo, Japan
May 5 Pride Total Elimination Absolute Osaka, Japan Opening round to Pride GP 2006 openweight tournament.
May 27 UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie Los Angeles, California, USA 14,765 620,000 The event featured Royce Gracie's return to the UFC since April 1995.
June 3 IFL: Championship 2006 Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA End of 2006 IFL Season 1.
June 4 Pride Bushido Survival 2006 Pride Bushido 11
Pride Bushido Survival		 Saitama, Japan Opening round to Pride GP 2006 welterweight tournament.
June 9 Strikeforce: Revenge San Jose, California, USA 10,374 This event featured Alistair Overeem's American debut.

Prior to this Overeem fought exclusively in Europe and Japan since 1999.
June 24 The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Randy "The Natural" Couture was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at this event.
June 28 UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5 Ultimate Fight Night 5 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 606
July 1 Pride Critical Countdown Absolute Saitama, Japan Quarterfinals to Pride GP 2006 openweight tournament.
July 1 Cage Rage 17: Ultimate Challenge London, England
July 8 UFC 61: Bitter Rivals Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 11,167 775,000
July 22 WFA: King of the Streets Los Angeles, California, USA WFA's last event.

The event featured Bas Rutten's only fight after retiring in 1999.
August 5 K-1 Hero's 6 Tokyo, Japan
August 17 UFC Fight Night 6 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
August 26 UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 9,859 500,000
August 26 Pride Bushido 12 Pride Bushido Survival 2nd Round Nagoya, Japan Quarterfinals to Pride GP 2006 welterweight tournament.
September 9 IFL: Portland Portland, Oregon, USA Start of 2006 IFL Season 2.
September 10 Pride Final Conflict Absolute Saitama, Japan Semifinals and final to Pride GP 2006 openweight tournament.

Mirko Filipović becomes the Pride 2006 openweight Grand Prix champion.
September 23 IFL: Gracie vs. Miletich Moline, Illinois, USA
September 23 UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn Anaheim, California, USA 12,604 400,000
September 30 Cage Rage 18: Battleground London, England
October 7 Strikeforce: Tank vs. Buentello Fresno, California, USA 4,437
October 9 K-1 Hero's 7 Yokohama, Japan
October 10 Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter UFC Fight Night 6.5 Hollywood, Florida, USA 3,510 This event featured a third fight between, Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock.

The show was aired on Spike TV and received 5.7 million viewers.
October 14 UFC 64: Unstoppable Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 10,173 300,000
October 21 Pride 32: The Real Deal Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 11,727 40,000 This was the first Pride FC event held in the USA.
November 2 IFL: World Championship Semifinals Portland, Oregon, USA
November 5 Pride Bushido 13 Pride Bushido Survival Finals Yokohama, Japan Semifinals and final to Pride GP 2006 welterweight tournament.

Kazuo Misaki becomes the Pride 2006 welterweight Grand Prix champion.
November 11 The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
November 11 K-1 Hero's Lithuania 2006 Lithuania
November 18 UFC 65: Bad Intentions Sacramento, California, USA 14,666 500,000
December 8 Strikeforce: Triple Threat San Jose, California, USA 8,701 This event featured one of the first major women's MMA bouts.

Between Gina Carano and Elaina Maxwell.
December 13 UFC Fight Night: Sanchez vs Riggs UFC Fight Night 7 San Diego, California, USA
December 29 IFL: Championship Final Uncasville, Connecticut, USA End of 2006 IFL Season 2.
December 30 UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2 Paradise, Nevada, USA 13,761 1,050,000 This is the first MMA event to receive over a million PPV buys.
December 31 Pride Shockwave 2006 Saitama, Japan 48,709
December 31 K-1 PREMIUM 2006 Dynamite!! Osaka, Japan 51,930 Event featured ten K-1 Hero's MMA bouts and four K-1 kickboxing bouts.

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