UFC 65: St-Pierre Dethrones Hughes While Sylvia Holds Firm
On November 18, 2006, Georges St-Pierre captured the UFC welterweight championship by stopping Matt Hughes at UFC 65: Bad Intentions in Sacramento, California. The ARCO Arena card also featured Tim Sylvia’s successful heavyweight title defense against Jeff Monson, giving the evening two very different championship outcomes.
St-Pierre takes the belt
St-Pierre defeated Hughes by TKO from a head kick and punches at 1:25 of the second round. The finish delivered his first UFC championship and put an emphatic ending on the main event. Hughes left without the welterweight belt, while St-Pierre’s victory became the defining result of the night.
Sylvia’s defense required all five rounds. He defeated Monson by unanimous decision, keeping the heavyweight championship after twenty-five minutes rather than joining St-Pierre among the evening’s quick finishers. One championship changed hands; the other stayed with its holder.
Vera, Stevenson and Diaz finish their opponents
Brandon Vera stopped Frank Mir with punches at 1:09 of round one. Drew McFedries defeated Alessio Sakara by first-round TKO at 4:07, and Joe Stevenson submitted Dokonjonosuke Mishima with a guillotine choke at 2:07 of the opening round.
Nick Diaz stopped Gleison Tibau with punches in round two at 2:27. Antoni Hardonk knocked out Sherman Pendergarst at 3:15 of round one, while James Irvin stopped Hector Ramirez in round two at 2:36. Jake O’Brien defeated Josh Schockman by unanimous decision.
Seven finishes and two decisions made up the nine-bout card. St-Pierre supplied the championship breakthrough, with Sylvia providing the successful defense alongside it.
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UFC 65, Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia, Jeff Monson, Sacramento
