Date: February 28, 2003
Venue: Boardwalk Hall
City: Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Preliminary card

  • Lightweight bout:  Yves Edwards vs.  Rich Clementi
Edwards wins by submission due to a rear naked choke at 4:07 of Round 3.
  • Heavyweight bout:  Gan McGee vs.  Alexandre Dantas
McGee wins by technical knockout due to strikes at 4:49 of Round 1.
  • Lightweight bout:  Din Thomas vs.  Matt Serra
Thomas wins by split decision. Originally, Matt Serra had won by majority decision. Further inspection revealed that Judge Doc Hamilton had transposed his scoring in the final round, accidentally giving Serra’s column the winning score of ten instead of its intended slot to Thomas. Setting a precedent for the sport, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board deemed the decision be reversed, and UFC president Dana White personally reported the change to Thomas and his team.

Main card

  • Heavyweight bout:  Vladimir Matyushenko vs.  Pedro Rizzo
Matyushenko wins by unanimous decision.
  • Middleweight bout:  Matt Lindland vs.  Phil Baroni
Lindland wins by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 29–28.
  • Lightweight Championship bout:  B.J. Penn vs.  Caol Uno
Penn and Uno fought to a split draw after five rounds. Judges scored the bout 48–47 Uno, 48–46 Penn, and 48–48. This match was the final match of a 4-man tournament that took place over several cards to crown a new lightweight champion, the first round occurred on UFC 39. Without a definite outcome, the title remained vacant.
  • Heavyweight bout:  Frank Mir vs.  Tank Abbott
Mir wins by submission due to a toe hold at :46 of Round 1. This was Abbott’s first MMA bout since 1998, when he was defeated by Pedro Rizzo at Ultimate Brazil.
  • Heavyweight Championship bout:  Ricco Rodriguez (c) vs.  Tim Sylvia
Sylvia wins by knockout due to strikes at 3:06 of Round 1 to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

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