UFC 94 - Background

Background

The main event featured the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre defending his championship against UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn in a fight contested at the UFC welterweight limit of 170 pounds (77.1 kg). The fight represented the first time two current title holders faced off in the UFC. Penn also sought to become the first fighter in the UFC to concurrently hold two championships in two separate weight classes. The UFC 94 main event was met with a high level of anticipation from both the media and the fans. Sherdog called the fight between St-Pierre and Penn the most anticipated bout of 2009, and NBC Sports described it as one of the most anticipated fights in MMA history. In an article previewing the fight, Dave Meltzer discussed the over-usage of exaggerations to promote contests in combat sports, but argued that the January 31 match between St-Pierre and Penn was "one of the true epic matches in the history of the sport." The fans voiced their opinion in a poll conducted by Inside MMA, where 45 percent of the viewers voted the match up between St-Pierre and Penn as the most anticipated fight to take place between December and February. The poll also featured (in descending order according to the results) Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski, Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson, and Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson.

St-Pierre is a fighter with very strong wrestling, and trains with the Canadian Olympic team. His conditioning, strength and athleticism have also been identified as strong attributes. He became the undisputed UFC Welterweight Champion by winning the interim-championship against Matt Hughes at UFC 79, and successfully unifying the championship against Welterweight title holder Matt Serra at UFC 83 in Quebec, St-Pierre's home province. St-Pierre's fight prior to the UFC 94 event was a successful title defense against Jon Fitch at UFC 87 via unanimous decision, where he won every round on the judge's scorecards. Penn is a fighter noted for his outstanding jiu-jitsu, as he is the first non-Brazilian to win the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship at the black belt level. His other notable strengths include boxing, and wrestling/takedown defense. Penn captured the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship by defeating Joe Stevenson at UFC 80. The belt was vacant as a result of the California State Athletic Commission stripping then-champion Sean Sherk of the title for testing positive for anabolic steroid Nandrolone, or more commonly known as Decadurabolin, following a title defense. Penn entered the UFC 94 fight following a successful title defense as well, with a 3rd round TKO of former champion Sean Sherk at UFC 84. St-Pierre and Penn had fought once before in a welterweight number one contenders match at UFC 58 on March 4, 2006, where St-Pierre won in a very evenly matched contest by split decision.

Promotion for the St-Pierre and Penn contest began in November 2008, with UFC President Dana White, and the two main event fighters embarking on publicity tours in Toronto, Canada and Honolulu, Hawaii. The fighters answered various fan questions, and signed autographs. In an effort to further promote the contest, the UFC introduced UFC Primetime, a three-part series that cost $1.7 million to produce. UFC Primetime detailed the final preparations of St-Pierre and Penn's before their fight. Spike aired the half-hour episodes on the final three Wednesdays leading up to the fight, beginning on January 14, 2009 and concluding on January 28, 2009. Camera crews spent twenty five days with each fighter rather than the three days for a standard UFC Countdown preview show, and episodes aired shortly after they were filmed. The episodes were aired quickly to provide weekly updates on each fighter's current status. After the first episode aired, it was reported by MMAjunkie.com that B.J. Penn was unhappy with his portrayal in the program, and wanted to withdraw from the project. Penn made a subsequent appearance on TapouT radio to discuss this report and confirmed that he was has taken issue with his portrayal on the show. He was adamant that he would not continue to allow filming unless his portrayal changed. In the end, UFC Primetime proved to be a ratings success, as it was announced by Spike that the program was the most watched UFC preview show ever, drawing 1.4 million viewers for its first episode (880,000 viewers for first airing and 614,000 viewers for an immediate repeat). The second episode averaged 825,000 viewers, while the third episode drew 662,000 viewers.

The co-main event featured a bout between two top contenders and undefeated light heavyweights, Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva. The two were originally scheduled to meet at UFC 89, but a back injury forced Silva to withdraw from the contest. UFC President Dana White indicated in the pre-fight press conference that Machida would receive a title shot with a victory, while Silva would need to defeat Machida and win one more contest before earning the same opportunity. Machida is a fighter who prefers to counter-strike, and combines Shotokan Karate, sumo wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu to form his own style. Silva is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, but prefers to fight standing. Machida entered the UFC 94 fight following a unanimous decision victory over former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 84, where he won every round on the judge's scorecards. Thiago Silva entered the contest with 1st round TKOs over Antonio Mendes at UFC 84, and Houston Alexander at UFC 78.

The event also featured the return of two more fighters from injury, in Karo Parisyan and Stephan Bonnar. Parisyan, a judo standout, had to withdraw from a scheduled fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 88 with a back injury just one day before the fight. His opponent for UFC 94 was undefeated South Korean welterweight Dong Hyun Kim. Bonnar, a light heavyweight, was to take on Matt Hamill at UFC Fight Night 13, but a left knee injury during training forced him out of that bout. His opponent, the 21 year old Jon Jones was a national amateur wrestling champion and coming off a unanimous decision victory over Andre Gusmão at UFC 87, where he took the fight on three weeks notice. Rounding out the main card was a lightweight contest between the winner of the fifth season of the UFC's reality television series and MMA competition The Ultimate Fighter, Nate Diaz, and contender Clay Guida. The Ultimate Fighter is a single-elimination reality series featuring fledging professional MMA fighters competing for the title of The Ultimate Fighter, and a six-figure, multi-fight contract with the UFC. Diaz is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt under Cesar Gracie, and Guida is noted by MMA journalist Sam Caplan as one of the UFC's most highly regarded fighters. The two were expected to fight in December 2008, but the fight failed to materialize due to a foot injury to Guida.