It’s not even the 100th UFC event, although everyone is treating it as such. In actuality, it will be the 133rd UFC show. It is the 102nd PPV show, although only the 98th live PPV show, since two shows from Japan didn’t air live and another two U.S. shows were actually taped delayed by several weeks. Four “numbered” events were actually Spike specials and not on PPV. And one PPV, UFC 17, actually aired as two different shows, since the company had a contracted summer date on PPV they didn’t want to lose face on, but were in such bad shape financially they didn’t want to do a summer show, so split the show up into two airings. Even though it was 1998 and the Internet did exist, the feeling was you could do a taped show. In those days, MMA was almost dead, as the company only ran a few live events that entire year.
There are five PPV events that aren’t considered in the UFC 100, the two Ultimate Ultimate tournaments, an Ultimate Japan, an Ultimate Brazil and UFC 37.5, a 2002 show added at the last minute when Fox Sports Net agreed to air one match during “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” on a three-day tape delay so it could be edited if needed, wanting it to be a battle of two strikers because they didn’t want any hitting on the ground on television. UFC put on a show, which included a Chuck Liddell vs. Vitor Belfort match that was actually one of the better matches in company history up to that point, which then aired on a seven-week delay on PPV. Perhaps that story of the first UFC match ever on U.S. television–just seven years ago–is apropos for just how many strides the company has taken in a relatively short period of time.
