| UFC 43: Meltdown | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 43: Meltdown | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 6, 2003 | |||
| Venue | Thomas and Mack Center | |||
| City | Las Vegas, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 9,800 | |||
| Total gate | $645,140 | |||
| Buyrate | 49,000 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 43: Meltdown was amixed martial arts event held by theUltimate Fighting Championship on June 6, 2003, at theThomas and Mack Center inLas Vegas, Nevada. The event was broadcast live onpay-per-view in theUnited States, and later released onDVD.
Headlining the card was anInterim Light Heavyweight Championship match between futureUFC Hall of Fame inducteesRandy Couture andChuck Liddell. This was the first interim title fight in UFC history.
Ken Shamrock was originally slated to faceIan Freeman at this event, but was forced from the card with a torn ACL.Vernon White would step in as his replacement.[1]
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Randy Couture | def. | Chuck Liddell | TKO (punches) | 3 | 2:39 | [a] |
| Heavyweight | Kimo Leopoldo | def. | Tank Abbott | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 1 | 1:59 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Vitor Belfort | def. | Marvin Eastman | TKO (knees and punches) | 1 | 1:07 | |
| Heavyweight | Vernon White | vs. | Ian Freeman | Draw (split) (28–29, 30–27, 29–29) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Frank Mir | def. | Wes Sims | Disqualification (kicking a downed opponent) | 1 | 2:55 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Pedro Rizzo | def. | Tra Telligman | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 2 | 4:24 | |
| Middleweight | Falaniko Vitale | def. | Matt Lindland | KO (slam) | 1 | 1:56 | |
| Lightweight | Yves Edwards | def. | Eddie Ruiz | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
