2008 in UFC
{{short description|UFC MMA events in 2008}}
{{Year in UFC
|name = 2008 in UFC
|image = Logo of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.svg
|image_size = 176px
|first_date = January 19, 2008
|last_date = December 27, 2008
|total_events = 20
|numbered_events = 13
|fight_night_events = 5
|tuf_finale_events = 2
|total_fights = 201
|title_fights = 11
|preceded_by = 2007 in UFC
|followed_by = 2009 in UFC
}}
The year 2008 was the 16th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 2008 the UFC held 20 events beginning with, UFC 80: Rapid Fire.
2008 UFC.com awards
| class="wikitable" width="100%" style="text-align:Center"
! colspan="7" style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px; background: #3B99FA;|2008 UFC.COM Awards |
| No
!Best Fighter !The Upsets !The Submissions !The Newcomers !The Knockouts !The Fights |
|---|
| 1
|style="font-size:87%"|Rashad Evans |style="font-size:87%"|Frank Mir |style="font-size:87%"|Dustin Hazelett |style="font-size:87%"|Brock Lesnar |style="font-size:87%"|Rashad Evans |style="font-size:87%"|Forrest Griffin |
| 2
|style="font-size:87%"|Thiago Alves |style="font-size:87%"|Junior dos Santos |style="font-size:87%"|Frank Mir |style="font-size:87%"|Cain Velasquez |style="font-size:87%"|Junior dos Santos |style="font-size:87%"|Kurt Pellegrino |
| 3
|style="font-size:87%"|Kenny Florian |style="font-size:87%"|Rashad Evans |style="font-size:87%"|Anderson Silva |style="font-size:87%"|Amir Sadollah |style="font-size:87%"|Anthony Johnson |style="font-size:87%"|Matt Wiman |
| 4
|style="font-size:87%"|Anderson Silva |style="font-size:87%"|Kevin Burns |style="font-size:87%"|Kenny Florian |style="font-size:87%"|Shane Carwin |style="font-size:87%"|Thiago Alves defeats |style="font-size:87%"|Sean Sherk |
| 5
|style="font-size:87%"|Frank Mir |style="font-size:87%"|Forrest Griffin |style="font-size:87%"|Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira |style="font-size:87%"|Junior dos Santos |style="font-size:87%"|Quinton Jackson |style="font-size:87%"|Demian Maia |
| 6
|style="font-size:87%"|Georges St-Pierre |style="font-size:87%"|Jorge Rivera |style="font-size:87%"|Cole Miller |style="font-size:87%"|Efraín Escudero |style="font-size:87%"|James Irvin |style="font-size:87%"|Georges St-Pierre |
| 7
|style="font-size:87%"|Brock Lesnar |style="font-size:87%|Heath Herring |style="font-size:87%"|Nate Diaz |style="font-size:87%"|The Miller Brothers |style="font-size:87%"|Wanderlei Silva |style="font-size:87%"|Nate Diaz |
| 8
|style="font-size:87%"|B.J. Penn |style="font-size:87%"|Brock Lesnar |style="font-size:87%"|Demian Maia |style="font-size:87%"|Tim Boetsch |style="font-size:87%"|Josh Koscheck |style="font-size:87%"|Nate Diaz |
| 9
|style="font-size:87%"|Nate Diaz |style="font-size:87%"|Pete Sell |style="font-size:87%"|Kevin Burns |style="font-size:87%"|Kevin Burns |style="font-size:87%"|Rory Markham |style="font-size:87%"|Goran Reljić |
| 10
|style="font-size:87%"|Michael Bisping |style="font-size:87%"|Jason Day |style="font-size:87%"|Dustin Hazelett |style="font-size:87%"|C. B. Dollaway |style="font-size:87%"|Jeremy Stephens |style="font-size:87%"|Paul Kelly |
| Ref |
Debut UFC fighters
The following fighters fought their first UFC fight in 2008:
{{div col|colwidth=36em}}
- Andre Gusmao
- Antonio Mendes
- Brad Blackburn
- Brad Morris
- Brandon Wolff
- Brock Lesnar
- Brodie Farber
- Cain Velasquez
- C. B. Dollaway
- Chris Wilson
- Corey Hill
- Dale Hartt
- Dan Evensen
- Dan Hardy
- Dan Miller
- Dante Rivera
- Dave Kaplan
- David Baron
- David Bielkheden
- Dong Hyun Kim
- Efrain Escudero
- Eliot Marshall
- George Roop
- Goran Reljić
- James Giboo
- James Lee
- Jason Brilz
- Jason Day
- Jesse Taylor
- Jim Miller
- Joe Vedepo
- Johnny Rees
- Jon Jones
- Josh Hendricks
- Jules Bruchez
- Junior dos Santos
- Justin Buchholz
- Kevin Burns
- Krzysztof Soszynski
- Kyle Kingsbury
- Matt Brown
- Matt Horwich
- Matt Riddle
- Mike Massenzio
- Michael Patt
- Mike Wessel
- Mostapha al-Turk
- Nate Loughran
- Neil Wain
- Pat Barry
- Paul Kelly
- Per Eklund
- Phillipe Nover
- Rafael dos Anjos
- Reese Andy
- Rob Kimmons
- Rob Yundt
- Rolando Delgado
- Rory Markham
- Rousimar Palhares
- Ryan Bader
- Ryan Roberts
- Ryan Thomas
- Samy Schiavo
- Shane Carwin
- Shane Nelson
- Shane Primm
- Shannon Gugerty
- Steve Bruno
- Steve Cantwell
- Tim Boetsch
- Tim Credeur
- Tom Lawlor
- Vinny Magalhães
- Yoshiyuki Yoshida
{{Div col end}}
The Ultimate Fighter
| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
!Season!!Finale!!Division!!Winner!!Runner-up |
| style="text-align:left"|TUF 7: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest
|Middleweight |
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"|TUF 8: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir
|rowspan="2"|Dec 13, 2008 |Light Heavyweight |
| Lightweight |
Title fights
{{MMAtitle}}
{{MMAtitle card|Title fights in 2008}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Lightweight
| def.
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| 2
| 4:02
| UFC 80: Rapid Fire
| For the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship. Penn become the second fighter in UFC history to win belt with two weight classes.
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Heavyweight
| def.
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| 3
| 1:28
| UFC 81: Breaking Point
| For the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship.
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Middleweight
| Anderson Silva
(UFC Champion)
| def.
| Dan Henderson
(Pride Champion)
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| 2
| 4:52
| UFC 82: Pride of a Champion
| Unification of the UFC Middleweight & Pride Welterweight Championship belts{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/pramit_mohapatra/03/03/ufc.82.recap/index.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723113102/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/pramit_mohapatra/03/03/ufc.82.recap/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |title=After winning at UFC 82, Silva joins an elite class |accessdate=2008-06-22 |last=Mohapatra |first=Pramit |date=2008-03-03 |work=SI.com }}
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Welterweight
| Georges St-Pierre (ic)
| def.
| Matt Serra (c)
| TKO (knees)
| 2
| 4:45
| UFC 83: Serra vs St-Pierre 2
| Unification of the UFC Welterweight & UFC Interim Welterweight championships.
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Lightweight
| B.J. Penn (c)
| def.
| TKO (flying knee and punches)
| 3
| 5:00
| UFC 84: Ill Will
| For the UFC Lightweight Championship.
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Light Heavyweight
| def.
| Quinton Jackson (c)
| Decision (unanimous) (48–46, 48–46, 49–46)
| 5
| 5:00
| UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin
| For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Welterweight
| Georges St-Pierre (c)
| def.
| Decision (unanimous) (50–44, 50–43, 50–44)
| 5
| 5:00
| UFC 87: Seek and Destroy
| For the UFC Welterweight Championship
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Middleweight
| Anderson Silva (c)
| def.
| TKO (knee injury)
| 3
| 0:39
| UFC 90: Silva vs. Côté
| For the UFC Middleweight Championship.
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Heavyweight
| def.
| Randy Couture (c)
| TKO (punches)
| 2
| 3:07
| UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar
| For the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Heavyweight
| def.
| Antônio Nogueira (ic)
| TKO (punches)
| 2
| 1:54
| UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008
| For the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship.
}}
{{MMAtitle bout
| Light Heavyweight
| def.
| Forrest Griffin (c)
| KO (punches)
| 3
| 2:46
| UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008
| For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Both winners of The Ultimate Fighter competed in a title fight against each other.
}}
{{MMAtitle end|notes = yes}}
Events list
{{Main|List of UFC events}}
| class="sortable wikitable succession-box" style="font-size:90%;"
! scope="col" | # ! scope="col" | Event ! scope="col" | Date ! scope="col" | Venue ! scope="col" | Location ! scope="col" | Attendance |
| 122
|{{sort|UFC 092|UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008}} |{{dts|2008|Dec|27}} |
| 121
|{{sort|Ultimate Fighter 08|The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir Finale}} |{{dts|2008|Dec|13}} |
| 120
|{{sort|UFC Fight Night 16|UFC: Fight for the Troops}} |{{dts|2008|Dec|10}} |Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. |
| 119
|{{sort|UFC 091|UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar}} |{{dts|2008|Nov|15}} |
| 118
|{{sort|UFC 090|UFC 90: Silva vs. Côté}} |{{dts|2008|Oct|25}} |Rosemont, Illinois, U.S. |
| 117
|{{sort|UFC 089|UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben}} |{{dts|2008|Oct|18}} |Birmingham, England, U.K. |
| 116
|{{sort|UFC Fight Night 15|UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Neer}} |{{dts|2008|Sep|17}} |Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| 115
|{{sort|UFC 088|UFC 88: Breakthrough}} |{{dts|2008|Sep|6}} |
| 114
|{{sort|UFC 087|UFC 87: Seek and Destroy}} |{{dts|2008|Aug|9}} |Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| 113
|{{sort|UFC Fight Night 14|UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin}} |{{dts|2008|Jul|19}} |
| 112
|{{sort|UFC 086|UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin}} |{{dts|2008|Jul|5}} |
| 111
|{{sort|Ultimate Fighter 07|The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest Finale}} |{{dts|2008|Jun|21}} |
| 110
|{{sort|UFC 085|UFC 85: Bedlam}} |{{dts|2008|Jun|7}} |
| 109
|{{sort|UFC 084|UFC 84: Ill Will}} |{{dts|2008|May|24}} |
| 108
|{{sort|UFC 083|UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2}} |{{dts|2008|Apr|19}} |{{nts|21390}} |
| 107
|{{sort|UFC Fight Night 13|UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon}} |{{dts|2008|Apr|2}} |Broomfield, Colorado, U.S. |
| 106
|{{sort|UFC 082|UFC 82: Pride of a Champion}} |{{dts|2008|Mar|1}} |Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| 105
|{{sort|UFC 081|UFC 81: Breaking Point}} |{{dts|2008|Feb|2}} |
| 104
|{{sort|UFC Fight Night 12|UFC Fight Night: Swick vs. Burkman}} |{{dts|2008|Jan|23}} |
| 103
|{{sort|UFC 080|UFC 80: Rapid Fire}} |{{dts|2008|Jan|19}} |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Ultimate Fighting Championship}}
{{UFC Events}}