UFC 23: The final tournament
UFC 23, held on Nov. 23, 1999 in Tokyo will be remembered as the last UFC card to include a one-night tournament format. The intent was to create a Japanese champion, because promoters at the time wanted to run UFC Japan as a separate company.
Kevin Randleman left Tokyo the new UFC heavyweight champ.
(AP)
As a result, UFC 23 featured a four-man tournament to determine the Japanese champion. Katsuhisa Fujii defeated Masutatsu Yano and Kenichi Yamamoto outlasted Daiju Takase to earn a spot in the finals.
Yamamoto won the tournament by securing a knee bar on Fujii in the second round. The card also featured a bout for the vacant heavyweight title between Kevin Randleman and Pete Williams. Bas Rutten won the belt at UFC 20, but says on the broadcast that he gave it up because he wanted to drop to middleweight (now light heavyweight) to face Frank Shamrock.
That fight never occured for various reasons and Rutten fought only once more in his career, in 2006 on a World Fighting Alliance card.
Randleman scores a decision in a lackluster fight over Williams to win the heavyweight belt. He'll face Pedro Rizzo in his first defense. Rizzo knocked out Tsuyoshi Kosaka in the third round of their bout.
NOTEWORTHY
Semaphore Entertainment Group, the company that owns the UFC, struggles badly at this point and opts not to release the event on VHS or DVD. It is widely seen as a sign that the company is on the verge of going under.
The rules weren't always consistently enforced and Takase was allowed to fight in his T-shirt.
Jason Delucia suffered a serious knee injury in the first round of his fight with Joe Slick. His leg bent back underneath his as Slick went for a takedown and Delucia was forced to verbally submit.
RESULTS
Katsuhisa Fujii def. Masutatsu Yano, TKO, 3:12 R2
Kenichi Yamamoto def. Daiju Takase, unanimous decision
Eugene Jackson def. Keichiro Yamamiya, KO, 3:12 R3
Joe Slick def. Jason Delucia, verbal submission (injury), 1:17 R3
Yamamoto def. Fujii, submission (Kneebar), 4:15 R1
Pedro Rizzo def. Tsuyoshi Kosaka, TKOm 1:17 R3
UFC heavyweight champion: Kevin Randleman def. Pete Williams, unanimous decision (Randleman wins vacant title).
