Long before the UFC became a powerhouse, rivalries like the one that concluded on this day in 2006 helped it gather momentum.
The fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar is often regarded as the most important bout in the history of the promotion.
While it’s back and forth wars like this and ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ that may have initially turned heads, there aren’t many things that hook sports fans quite like a rivalry.
The sport could be in a very different place if it weren’t for some of the legendary fighters who helped to generate must-watch clashes.
Tito Ortiz may have had a tense rivalry with Dana White over the years, but there was one opponent who he made history with in the culmination of their feud.
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Tito Ortiz left no room for debate in his third and final meeting with Ken Shamrock in 2006
Tito Ortiz was submitted by Frank Shamrock in their light heavyweight title fight at UFC 22, which ended up building into a much more storied and intense rivalry.
Frank’s older brother, Ken Shamrock, would first come face-to-face with ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ in 2002, where their long-awaited matchup was labelled “the biggest fight in UFC history” during the event.
After Ortiz stopped his opponent at UFC 40 to retain the light heavyweight title for a record fifth consecutive time, it would be another four years before they’d run the fight back.
UFC 61 in July of 2006 left unfinished business due to the controversial stoppage that declared Ortiz the winner in less than 90 seconds.
After the event, titled ‘Bitter Rivals’, set a new UFC record for PPV buy rates, it was inevitable that the two legends would meet for a third time.
Their trilogy fight was set for October 10 of the same year, labelled ‘The Final Chapter’, which proved to be fitting after Ortiz finished Shamrock in the first round for a second consecutive time.
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Tito Ortiz’s third win over Ken Shamrock eclipsed the UFC’s previous viewing records
Similar to their rematch at UFC 61, the trilogy fight between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock led to the promotion breaking their previous records.
UFC: Ortiz vs Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter would set a new viewership record that wouldn’t be matched until Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson faced Dan Henderson to unify their UFC and Pride belts the following year.
MMA Weekly’s Ivan Trembow wrote after ‘The Final Chapter’ that it drew an overall rating of 3.0, with the main event drawing 4.3, which eclipsed anything that the UFC had achieved before.
Trembow reported that the 5.7 million viewers who tuned in for the trilogy bout beat the previous record of 3.4 million, which came in the aforementioned clash between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.