UFC VS. WWE—Who Puts on a Better Show?
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SPORTS
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We pit the two fighting leagues' pay-per-view events head-to-head to see who delivers on your dollars.
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A recent Forbes cover story told us something we already knew: The Ultimate Fighting Championship is on the rise, even drawing comparisons to World Wrestling Entertainment's 24-year headlock on professional wrestling. But can it match the WWE for entertainment value? We lined the two leagues up side by side based on their most watched events.
UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral (August 26, 2006)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 500,000
Main Event: Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Sobral came into this match on a 10-fight winning streak, his last loss coming at the hands of Liddell. |
WrestleMania XV (March 28, 1999)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 829,000
Main Event: No Disqualification Match: WWE Champion the Rock vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. (Special guest referee: Mankind.)
The WWE's top two wrestling talents at the time went at it for the company's top gold. |
| Winner? WWE. The Lidell-Sobral match lasted only 95 seconds after Liddell used Babalu's head to play Wipeout. Meanwhile, Steve Austin picked up a thrilling victory, and WWE's so-called "Ragin' Climax" PPV lived up to its name. Well, except for that whole Boyz II Men preshow appearance. What the hell happened there? |
UFC 74: Respect (August 25, 2007)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 520,000
Main Event: Heavyweight Champion Randy "The Natural" Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
After nearly knocking Mirko Cro Cop's head off a fight earlier, Gonzaga seemingly matched up well against an opponent only a match back from retirement. |
WrestleMania 18 (March 17, 2002)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 879,000
Main Event: The Rock vs. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan
Undisputed WWE Champion Chris Jericho vs. "The Game" Triple H The biggest wrestler of his generation against the biggest wrestler of all-time... And that wasn't even the event's final match. |
| Winner? WWE. Couture proved his title victory over Tim Sylvia no fluke, pounding Gonzaga for 12 minutes. Gonzaga took all of it, but like his college hoops namesake, his offense was nonexistent. Meanwhile, the Toronto SkyDome was nearly ripped apart as the crowd shifted from cheering the Rock to getting in Hulk Hogan's corner, even booing the Rock when he won. |
UFC 68: The Uprising (March 3, 2007)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 540,000
Main Event: Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia vs. Randy "The Natural" Couture
One of the most popular names in mixed martial arts, Couture returned to the Octagon after an 11-month retirement. |
WrestleMania 22 (April 2, 2006)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 964,000
Main Event: WWE Champion John Cena vs. Triple H Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle
The WWE split its SmackDown and Raw brands, creating more opportunities for smaller luchadores like Eddie Guerrero. With his untimely death, Mysterio stepped in to ride the wave to WrestleMania. |
| Winner? WWE. Couture's 30–25 decision mercifully ended a 25-minute cuddle party. Meanwhile, eight finishing moves and a slew of close two-counts by the ref punctuated Mysterio's emotional victory—good friend Guerrero passed away five months earlier—for his first heavyweight title. |
UFC 79: Nemesis (December 29, 2007)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 600,000
Main Event: Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell vs. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva
Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes for the Interim Welterweight Championship
The UFC's acquisition of rival promotion PRIDE set up the long-anticipated battle between two of the most dangerous strikers in MMA. |
WrestleMania 20 (March 14, 2004)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 1.01 million
Main Event: WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle
Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
Benoit wins his first WWE title. Three years later, he'd go on to win the WTF title for killing his family. |
| Winner? UFC. Muay Thai pro Silva against knockout specialist Liddell featured three of the best back-and-forth rounds the league's ever seen. |
UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie (May 27, 2006)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 620,000
Main Event: Royce Gracie vs. Matt Hughes
Hall of Famer Gracie made his first appearance in 11 years with the organization he put on the map. |
WrestleMania 17 (April 1, 2001)
Pay-Per-View Buys: 1.03 million
Main Event: No Disqualification Match: WWE Champion the Rock vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
A repeat of WrestleMania XV's main event, Austin once again picked up the win over the Rock. This time with the help of his once-reviled arch-nemesis and CEO Vince McMahon. |
| Winner? UFC. The WWE's main story line became stone-cold stupid; audiences wouldn't see the Rattlesnake beat the hell out of his billionaire boss for another three months. |
Editor's Note: Pay-per-view buy rates are courtesy of WWE, Inc. and Dave Meltzer's weekly The Wrestling Observer.
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