Date 23 February 2001 | Venue Trump Taj Mahal | |
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UFC 30 Battle on the Boardwalk UFC 31 Locked and Loaded Location Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship | ||
UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 23, 2001. UFC 30 was the first UFC event under the new ownership of Zuffa, LLC, and also the first UFC event since UFC 22 to see a home video release.
History
The card was headlined by two Title Bouts, a Light Heavyweight Championship Bout between Tito Ortiz and Evan Tanner, and the first UFC Bantamweight Championship Bout between Jens Pulver and Caol Uno. Following UFC 31, Bantamweight was renamed "Lightweight" under the new Unified Rules of Combat, defined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Bantamweight fighters would not again appear in the UFC until after the UFC-WEC merger in 2011. The event featured the first UFC appearances of Phil Baroni, Sean Sherk and Elvis Sinosic.
UFC 30 marked a major turning point for the UFC, as it was the first UFC event held by new owners Zuffa, LLC. Headed by Station Casinos owners Frank and Lorenzo Ferttita, and managed by Dana White, Zuffa acquired the UFC in January 2001 from former owners Semaphore Entertainment Group, who were on the brink of bankruptcy.
One notable change instituted by Zuffa was allowing the championship bout fighters to choose their own entry music in lieu of the standard fare UFC theme song, but that change was not implemented at UFC 30.