UFC 15: The Consecration of Mark Kerr and Randy Couture in a Circus Tent

Watching the sumptuous production values of the modern Ultimate Fighting Championship, a brand valued last year at more than $12 billion, it is curious to remember that in October 1997, just over 26 years ago, the UFC held one of its most important events under a circus tarp, with a capacity for fewer than 500 people.

Despite the small structure, set up outside a small casino in Biloxi, Miss., UFC 15 brought a historic card that, in addition to the heavyweight title fight between Maurice Smith and David “Tank” Abbott, featured the long-awaited super fight between Vitor Belfort and Randy Couture, winners of the UFC 12 and 13 tournaments respectively. UFC 15’s own heavyweight tournament offered the possibility of another classic style clash between wrestling and Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu if Mark Kerr and Carlos Barreto should meet in the final.

After a traumatic year in 1996 for Jiu-jitsu representatives, marked by two historic clashes between icons of the sport against wrestling (Murilo Bustamante vs. Tom Erikson and Fabio Gurgel vs. Kerr), UFC 15 was seen by Brazilian fans as the a chance for jiu-jitsu's definitive redemption. Two of Carlson Gracie's main black belts, Vitor Belfort and “Carlao” Barreto, would face two big names in wrestling, Kerr and Randy Couture, and unlike the Bustamante-Erikson and Gurgel-Kerr fights, things would be more or less even on the scale.

Expectations had increased, as seven months earlier “Carlao” had submitted Kevin Randleman at UVF 6 in Rio de Janeiro. That only increased the fight world's interest in watching a classic between Carlson Gracie's best heavyweight and Kerr, the most feared wrestler in MMA at the time. For the fight happen, however, Barreto would need to get past Canadian Dave Beneteau in the first fight and hope that middleweight Greg Stott, replacing Steve Graham, who had torn his knee ligament the week of the event, would give Kerr some work in his first fight, so that both reached the final on equal terms.

Couture Runs Over Belfort

The 20-year-old, 227-pound Belfort, who was coming off three lightning-fast victories over Tra Telligman, Scott Ferrozzo and “Tank” Abbott, was clearly underestimating the 34-year-old Couture, who had won the tournament at UFC 13 with two impressive wins of his own. “I'm going to test my wrestling with him,” Belfort told me the day before the fight, leaving even his team members worried.

Another team concern was Belfort's preparation with well-known American bodybuilder Curtis Leffler, who seemed not to understand that his sport and fighting were totally different activities. As a result, Belfort came in heavy and slow, struggling to find Couture in the Octagon.

On his side, the American used the perfect tactic, eluding Belfort’s attacks and tiring him in the clinch. At three minutes, Couture had already taken Belfort down and passed his guard. From then on, the American defined the confrontation with almost five straight minutes of ground-and-pound. In the seventh minute, the fight would return to standing, but a very tired Belfort would become easy prey for the American who, taking advantage of his opponent's fatigue, applied an indefensible sequence of 15 blows that took the Brazilian to the canvas. Couture jumped to side control and after a series of knees, he mounted and tried to choke him. Instinctively, Belfort leaned against the fence and didn't allow it, so Couture returned to mount and, after a sequence of 16 punches, forced judge “Big” John McCarthy to stop the fight. A noisy cheer of “USA! USA!” celebrated Couture’s win, the first time “Captain America” was crowned by the fans, while Belfort left the Octagon carried by teammate Wallid Ismail.

“I actually wanted to choke him, but the fence was in the way. My goal now is to fight Maurice Smith for the heavyweight belt,” Couture told me in an interview during the closed afterparty, a staple of the promotion in those days. That goal would be fulfilled. Two months after the victory over Belfort, Couture would once again use his wrestling to defeat Smith at UFC 15.5, winning the UFC heavyweight belt.

Beneteau Beats Barreto but Doesn’t Face Kerr

After the loss by Belfort, the biggest star of the Carlson Gracie team, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound “Carlao” Barreto, considered the greatest heavyweight representative of jiu-jitsu by that time, felt more responsibility than ever to make it to the final against “The Smashing Machine” Kerr, who had defeated jiu-jitsu idol Fabio Gurgel in the WVC final in Brazil. Before catching Kerr in the final, however Barreto would need to get past Canadian wrestler Dave Beneteau.

Beneteau, who had trained jiu-jitsu for almost three years with Brazilian Pedro Sauer, used a perfect tactic to neutralize the Brazilian's game. “Carlao” started off well with a clinch, taking him down and taking the Canadian's back, but the Brazilian was unable to submit. From then on, Beneteau put “Carlao” down on three occasions and imposed his ground-and-pound, winning the judges' decision and postponing the long-awaited fight between Kerr and Barreto.

In the end Barreto avoided complaining. “I have no excuses, I lost because I underestimated Beneteau. Instead of listening to Carlson and going for the submission, I decided to punish my opponent with punches. I made a mistake and paid with defeat,” the visibly dejected athlete told me after the fight. On the other side of the bracket, Kerr knocked out the chubby “Ranger” Stott in just 19 seconds.

Very tired after 15 minutes of battle with Barreto, Beneteau decided not to return for the final. “I don't consider Kerr invincible, but to beat him I have to be 100%, my chances would be minimal in the conditions I'm in.” Replacing Beneteau was alternate Dwayne Cason, who was no match for Kerr either. After taking down his opponent, Kerr landed a few punches, took his back and decided the fight with a rear naked choke. “Actually, I came prepared to face ‘Carlao,’ but unfortunately he didn't make it to the finals, I hope we can hold this fight in the future,” said the champion of the UFC 15 heavyweight tournament. After the event, Kerr told us that he didn't expect a fight with Barreto would be as difficult as the one he had with Gurgel in the WVC final. “‘Carlao’ is very good, but I think Gurgel is more technical, I can't see a more difficult fight than that. If Fabio had been my size he would have beaten me.” Kerr also spoke of a possible confrontation with his colleague Coleman, who had beaten him on three occasions in wrestling. “It won’t happen. In addition to training together, I am against confrontations between wrestlers. There are a lot of good people for us to beat.”

“Tank” Buster: Smith Wrecks Abbott With Low Kicks

After his unexpected victory over Coleman by unanimous decision at UFC 14, the new champion, Maurice Smith, returned to the octagon against “Tank” Abbott, ready to put an end to his reputation as an underdog and join the ranks of the UFC's best once and for all, even though he wasn't in its best condition. “I was actually invited to fight a week before the event because Dan Severn was injured in his fight with [Kimo Leopoldo] at Pride 1 in Japan. But even out of shape I think I can beat him,” said the champion in the press conference.

Right at the beginning of the fight, Smith was surprised by Abbott, who took him down, forcing the champion to show the guard knowledge he had been developing with Frank Shamrock. Abbott managed to pass the champion's guard, but got tired and ended up becoming easy prey for the kickboxer. Smith managed to get back to the fight on his feet and, after applying a series of low kicks to the original “Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” forced referee McCarthy to interrupt the fight at 8 minutes, 50 seconds. Two months later, Smith would return to the Octagon to defend his title against Couture in the first edition of UFC Japan, which would establish Kazushi Sakuraba as the tournament winner and Couture as the promotion's new heavyweight champion.