Igor Zinoviev

UFC 16: Battle In The Bayou

Frank Shamrock, Igor Zinoviev

UFC 16 was an MMA event held by the UFC on March 13, 1998 in New Orleans, Louisiana, live on pay per view in the USA and later released on home video. It featured the first UFC Lightweight tournament in the USA for fighters under 170lbs, a Middleweight Championship bout, a Heavyweight and a Middleweight Superfight. A UFC lightweight championship bout was contested on the undercard, with the winner to fight UFC 16 lightweight tournament winner Pat Miletich to unify the title. Conor “The Mighty” Quinn successfully defended the under 185lbs Lightweight Championship he won at UFC 15.5, defeating Alfonso Alcarez via knockout in the first round. However, this linear inaugural Lightweight Championship and division for under 185lbs was disestablished on 25 March 1998, replaced with a division for under 170 pounds, and the unification bout never took place. The records for this inaugural Lightweight Championship and division have since been expunged from UFC archives, or were never included.