UFC 33

UFC 33: Victory in Vegas was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 28, 2001. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.

UFC 33: Victory in Vegas
The poster for UFC 33: Victory in Vegas
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 28, 2001
Venue	Mandalay Bay Events Center
City	Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance	9,500
Total gate	$816,660
Buyrate	75,000
Event chronology
UFC 32: Showdown in the Meadowlands UFC 33: Victory in Vegas UFC 34: High Voltage

History

The card was headlined by three title bouts, Tito Ortiz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko for the Light Heavyweight Title (Vitor Belfort was unable to fight due to arm injury while training),^[1] Dave Menne vs Gil Castillo for the new Middleweight Title and Jens Pulver vs Dennis Hallman for the Lightweight Title.^[2]

UFC 33 was the first mixed martial arts event sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission,^[3] under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, which were first established by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board in April 2001.^[4]

UFC 33 is commonly pointed to as one of the worst in UFC history,^[5] failing to captivate the new pay-per-view audience due to the large number of decisions on the card – UFC 33 was in fact the first event where all main card fights went to a decision. The Ortiz-Matyushenko and Pulver-Hallman fights in particular have been judged the two most uneventful five-round title fights in UFC history, up to at least 2009, by some metrics.^[6] Additionally, the broadcast ran over and cut out early on many cable systems (in the middle of the Ortiz-Matyushenko fight).^[5] After this event, the UFC reduced the number of live fights to five and didn't schedule an event with 3 title fights for over 15 years.

During the post fight press conference for UFC 111, in response to questions about a perceived boring fight between Georges St-Pierre and Dan Hardy, UFC president Dana White commented that "UFC 33 is the only one I can remember where every fight sucked."^[7][8]

Years later at the UFC 149 post-fight press conference, after a similarly lackluster card, Dana White quipped, "It felt like I was at UFC 33 again".^[9][10]

In 2013, following UFC on Fox 6 post-fight press conference, Dana White once again referenced UFC 33 as "The worst show we've ever had".^[11]

In 2024, at the post-fight press conference following Power Slap 6, Dana White again remarked "I don't know if you remember UFC 33 when we came to Vegas for the first time, the worst <expletive> show in UFC history." (Later) "You couldn't <expletive> up an event more than we <expletive> up UFC 33."

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Light Heavyweight	Tito Ortiz (c)	def.	Vladimir Matyushenko	Decision (unanimous) (50–43, 50–44, 50–44)	5	5:00	[a]
Lightweight	Jens Pulver (c)	def.	Dennis Hallman	Decision (unanimous) (49–47, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00	[b]
Middleweight	Dave Menne	def.	Gil Castillo	Decision (unanimous) (49–43, 49–44, 49–45)	5	5:00	[c]
Light Heavyweight	Chuck Liddell	def.	Murilo Bustamante	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 29–27)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Matt Serra	def.	Yves Edwards	Decision (majority) (30–26, 30–27, 29–29)	3	5:00
Preliminary Card
Welterweight	Jutaro Nakao	def.	Tony DeSouza	KO (punch)	2	0:15
Middleweight	Ricardo Almeida	def.	Eugene Jackson	Submission (triangle choke)	1	4:06
Lightweight	Din Thomas	def.	Fabiano Iha	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 29–28)	3	5:00

1. For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
2. For the UFC Lightweight Championship.
3. For the inaugural UFC Middleweight Championship.

Encyclopedia awards

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia.^[12]

• Fight of the Night: Matt Serra vs. Yves Edwards
• Knockout of the Night: Jutaro Nakao
• Submission of the Night: Ricardo Almeida

See also

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
• List of UFC champions
• List of UFC events
• 2001 in UFC