Tale of the tape: UFC 3: The American Dream

Unlike UFC 1 and 2, this event took place in South Carolina instead of Denver. The date was September 9, 1994.

The most immediate change from the second event was the size of the tournament. Organizers opted to return to the 8-man war as opposed to 16. The styles up to be tested were sumo, judo, jui-jitsu, kickboxing, shootfighting, kung fu, karate, and tae kwon do,

And once again, there were “no rounds, no time limits, no way out.” For the first time, the referee has the power to stop the bout, whereas in UFC 1 and 2, the only ways a fight could end were by submission, knock out, or towel throw.

The term “striker” still hadn’t surfaced. The fighters were referred as punchers and grapplers . As per the introductory voice-over, "punchers refer not only to hand strikes, but kicking, knee, and elbow techniques as well." And in an accurate prediction for the future of UFC, the introduction continued, "the nature of real combat makes it impossible to call either approach a lock on victory. It's far more certain to say that the fighter trained in both strategies stands the best chance of surviving and winning."

The crowd cheered loudest for Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, and it was clear everyone wanted to see the event end in a showdown between the two favourites. Indeed, the promotion cover for the home video featured these two men squared off, “the champion” and “the challenger”, as if their paths had already been determined.

Shootfighter Ken Shamrock spent his first match in a wrestling war with judo expert Christophe Leininger. Shamrock spent the first part of the fight in Leininger's guard, but his strength and wealth of experience paid off. Leininger wasn't prepared for punches to the face, and eventually tapped out to Shamrock's ground and pound.

Canadian Harold Howard, a heavyweight title holder in jiu-jitsu and karate, first went up against kickboxer and local favorite Rolande Payne. Both men had excellent striking power, but Payne crumbled to Howard's straight right hand and 25-pound weight advantage. It was over quickly, but was one of the most exciting fights of the night.

Royce Gracie's quarter-final bout was against Kimo Leopoldo, a third-degree tae kwon do blackbelt from Hawaii. Kimo made it well known that he was a travelling minister, and he was fighting for god. He had JESUS tattooed across his stomach, and what appeared to be a half-naked woman nailed backward to a cross on his back. He made a grand entrance dragging a cruxifix all the way to the octagon.

Kimo was the most dangerous and powerful striker Gracie had fought to that point in the UFC. Sadly for Kimo, the power of his savior did not land him a victory, but he managed to badly rough Gracie up before the end. Gracie won the fight with an arm-bar at 4:40, but left the octagon limping and shaken.

Ken Shamrock's semi-final match was against an alternate, kickboxer Felix Lee Mitchell. Shamrock was scheduled to go up against Keith Hackney, but Hackney bowed out due to a broken hand from his first match against the massive sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough, the world’s largest professional athlete at 618 pounds.

It took a more than four minutes for Ken Shamrock to get Mitchell to the ground, evidence of Shamrock's fatigue from the first fight. Mitchell landed some sharp shots, but Shamrock finally brought it to the mat and won with a rear-naked choke. However, like Gracie, Shamrock limped out of the octagon.

When Royce Gracie came out for his semi-final against Harold Howard, he looked subdued. Gracie leaned heavily on his entourage. When he got into the octagon, he draped against the fence with his face down. A moment later his father threw in the towel. The champion was too fatigued to go on. No alternate was ready, so the match was given to Harold Howard.

Kimo Leopoldo and his trainer raced forward and pushed into the ring. They danced around, taking credit for Gracie's brutalized state. Kimo, in a sense, defeated the legend, even though he had lost the match.

It was certainly a night of injuries. As mentioned above, Keith Hackney won in the quarter semi-finals but had to quit due to an injured hand. Now Gracie was out. As the announcers waited to find out if there would be a replacement for Harold Howard to fight, another injury was announced: Ken Shamrock folded as well.

That brought the final showdown to Harold Howard and alternate Steve Jennum. Jennum brought a combination of third-degree blackbelt ninjitsu skills as well as years of street-fighting as a police officer from Omaha. And unlike Howard, Jennum was fresh.

Jennum and Howard exchange shots standing up. Jennum brought the fight to the ground, but nearly lost to a choke. He flipped it around and moments later Howard was caught in Jennum’s full mount. They were fairly well matched, but Howard was at a disadvantage, fatigued from his earlier fight. Jennum’s ground and pound resulted in a simultaneous call by the ref and thrown towel.

Steve Jennum, with the luck of the last-minute alternate, walked away with the giant $60,000 paycheck.

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