| UFC 53: Heavy Hitters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 53: Heavy Hitters | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 4, 2005 | |||
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall | |||
| City | Atlantic City,New Jersey | |||
| Attendance | 12,000 | |||
| Total gate | $1,100,000 | |||
| Buyrate | 90,000 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 53: Heavy Hitters was amixed martial arts event held by theUltimate Fighting Championship on June 4, 2005, at theBoardwalk Hall inAtlantic City, New Jersey. The event was broadcast live onpay-per-view in theUnited States, and later released onDVD.
This event was originally scheduled to take place at theYokohama Arena inJapan with an InterimHeavyweight Championship bout betweenAndrei Arlovski andMirko Filipović serving as the main event. However the lack of sponsorship for the event forced the event to be moved toAtlantic City.[1]
Initially, former championRicco Rodriguez was slated to contend for theHeavyweight Championship, but withdrew from the bout, citing complications with his training camp.[2] Headlining the card opposite of InterimHeavyweight Champion Arlovski, instead, wasMiletich protégéJustin Eilers. Although there was some criticism directed at theUFC for giving Eilers a title shot after coming off a knockout loss toPaul Buentello atUFC 51, theUFC explained that Buentello was not medically cleared to fight when the main event was originally scheduled.
This wasForrest Griffin's first fight after winningThe Ultimate Fighter show.
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Andrei Arlovski (ic) | def. | Justin Eilers | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:10 | [a] |
| Welterweight | Karo Parisyan | def. | Matt Serra | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Rich Franklin | def. | Evan Tanner (c) | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 4 | 3:25 | [b] |
| Light Heavyweight | Forrest Griffin | def. | Bill Mahood | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 2:18 | |
| Heavyweight | Paul Buentello | def. | Kevin Jordan | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 4:00 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Middleweight | Nate Quarry | def. | Shonie Carter | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:37 | [c] |
| Middleweight | David Loiseau | def. | Charles McCarthy | TKO (spinning back kick) | 2 | 2:10 | [d] |
| Welterweight | Nick Diaz | def. | Koji Oishi | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:24 | [e] |
