UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998, in Kenner, Louisiana. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.[1][2]
| UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | March 13, 1998 | |||
| Venue | Pontchartrain Center | |||
| City | Kenner, Louisiana | |||
| Attendance | 4,600 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
History
editUFC 16 featured the first ever UFC Welterweight tournament in the USA (for fighters under 170 lb), as well as a Light Heavyweight Championship bout, a Heavyweight and a Light Heavyweight Superfight, and two alternate bouts in case of tournament injury.
UFC 16 marked the first appearance of the influential fighter Pat Miletich, who would go on to create Miletich Fighting Systems. Tank Abbott is a guest commentator for the Heavyweight Superfight.
The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout, was billed to be champion Frank Shamrock's biggest test, in Battlecade star, Igor Zinoviev. This would end up being the final match of Zinoviev's career, as he suffered a career-ending collarbone injury from Shamrock's victorious KO slam.
Kimo Leopoldo returned to the UFC at UFC 16 and fought top Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Kimo dominated the first portion of the fight but began to fatigue and eventually lost the fight by decision.
Results
edit| UFC Light Heavyweight Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Frank Shamrock (c) | def. | Igor Zinoviev | KO (slam) | 0:22 | [a] | |
| Heavyweight bout | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Tsuyoshi Kohsaka | def. | Kimo Leopoldo | Decision (unanimous) | 15:00 | ||
| Light Heavyweight bout | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Jerry Bohlander | def. | Kevin Jackson | Technical submission (armbar) | 10:21 | [b] | |
| Welterweight Tournament Finals | |||||||
| Welterweight | Pat Miletich | def. | Chris Brennan | Submission (shoulder choke) | 9:01 | [c] | |
| Welterweight Tournament Semifinals | |||||||
| Welterweight | Mikey Burnett | def. | Eugenio Tadeu | TKO (punches) | 9:46 | [d] | |
| Welterweight | Pat Miletich | def. | Townsend Saunders | Decision (split) | 15:00 | ||
| Welterweight Tournament Alternate bouts | |||||||
| Welterweight | LaVerne Clark | def. | Josh Stuart | TKO (punches) | 1:15 | ||
| Welterweight | Chris Brennan | def. | Courtney Turner | Submission (armbar) | 1:20 | ||
- ^ For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
- ^ Jackson refused to tap, referee John McCarthy stopped the fight.
- ^ Mikey Burnett withdrew from the tournament due to a broken finger and was replaced by Brennan.
- ^ Burnett had to withdraw from the tournament due to a broken finger suffered during this bout.[3]
UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Bracket
edit| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| Mikey Burnett | TKO | ||||||||
| Eugenio Tadeu | 9:46 | ||||||||
| Pat Miletich | SUB | ||||||||
| Chris Brennan1 | 9:02 | ||||||||
| Pat Miletich | DEC | ||||||||
| Townsend Saunders | 15:00 | ||||||||
1 Mikey Burnett withdrew from the tournament due to a broken finger and was replaced by Chris Brennan.