UFC 79: St-Pierre Submits Hughes as Liddell Beats Wanderlei
On December 29, 2007, UFC 79: Nemesis paired an interim championship fight with a marquee light heavyweight meeting at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Georges St-Pierre submitted Matt Hughes for interim welterweight gold, while Chuck Liddell defeated Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision.
St-Pierre finishes; Liddell wins on the cards
St-Pierre secured an armbar at 4:54 of round two, ending his meeting with Hughes just before the round expired. The victory delivered the interim belt. Liddell and Silva, meanwhile, fought all three scheduled rounds before the judges awarded Liddell a unanimous decision.
Those two contests offered the card’s most prominent names different assignments: a championship finish for St-Pierre and a fifteen-minute decision victory for Liddell. Lyoto Machida added another notable light heavyweight result, submitting Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou with an arm-triangle choke at 4:20 of round two.
Submissions, a late TKO and a disqualification
Eddie Sanchez stopped Soa Palelei with punches at 3:24 of round three. Rich Clementi submitted Melvin Guillard with a rear-naked choke at 4:40 of the opening round.
James Irvin defeated Luiz Cane by disqualification following an illegal knee at 1:51 of round one. Manny Gamburyan submitted Nate Mohr with an Achilles lock at 1:31 of the first. Dean Lister defeated Jordan Radev by unanimous decision.
Roan Carneiro stopped Tony DeSouza with punches at 3:33 of round two, and Mark Bocek defeated Douglas Evans unanimously. The ten-bout card closed with an interim champion crowned and Liddell victorious in the evening’s other major attraction.
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UFC 79, Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, MMA history
