UFC 23

UFC 23: Ultimate Japan 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 1999 at Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

History

UFC 23 was the second UFC event to take place in Japan, where the newly formed PRIDE Fighting Championships were enjoying massive success. UFC 23 was headlined by a Heavyweight Championship Title bout between Kevin Randleman and Pete Williams, held to determine the champion after Bas Rutten's retirement.

The event also featured a four man "Japanese" tournament, held to crown the first ever UFC Japan Champion. The tournament was the first in the UFC since UFC 17, and the last ever tournament held by the UFC. SEG originally intended UFC Japan to be a separate company, run by local promoters, but due to mounting financial problems, and the rise of the popular PRIDE and K-1 organizations, the idea was scrapped following UFC 25: Ultimate Japan 3.

UFC 23 was the first UFC event to not see a home video release, as SEG was nearing bankruptcy and struggling to keep the UFC alive through extremely limited pay per view in the US, as well as minor coverage in Brazil and Japan. UFC 23 has now been released as part of a DVD collection (UFC 21–30).

Main card

Middleweight bout: United States Eugene Jackson vs. Japan Keiichiro Yamamiya

Jackson wins by KO at 3:12 of the third round.

Middleweight bout: United States Joe Slick vs. United States Jason Delucia

Slick wins by TKO (verbal submission due to knee injury) at 1:28 of the first round.

Heavyweight bout: Brazil Pedro Rizzo vs. Japan Tsuyoshi Kosaka

Rizzo wins by TKO (referee stoppage due to strikes) at 1:17 of the third round.

Heavyweight Championship Title bout: United States Kevin Randleman vs. United States Pete Williams

Randleman wins by unanimous decision at 5:00 of the fifth round to claim the vacant UFC Heavyweight title.

UFC Japan Tournament

  Semi-finals Finals
             
 Japan Katsuhisa Fujii  
 Japan Masutatsu Yano  
     Japan Kenichi Yamamoto
   Japan Katsuhisa Fujii
 Japan Kenichi Yamamoto
 Japan Daiju Takase  

 

Semifinals

* Japan Katsuhisa Fujii vs. Japan Masutatsu Yano

Fuji wins by TKO (referee stoppage due to strikes) at 3:14 of the second round.

* Japan Kenichi Yamamoto vs. Japan Daiju Takase

Yamamoto wins by unanimous decision at 15:00.

Finals

* UFC Japan Tournament Final bout: Japan Kenichi Yamamoto vs. Japan Katsuhisa Fujii

Yamamoto wins the UFC Japan Tournament by submission (kneebar) at 4:15 of the second round.

EVENTS