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#4. Vitor Belfort vs. Mark Coleman – UFC heavyweight championship
It’s surprising that Vitor Belfort never got an immediate title shot against UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman in 1997. ‘The Phenom’ had become the youngest fighter to win a tournament in the promotion.
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What makes this even more surprising is that Coleman won the heavyweight championship on the same night as Belfort’s tournament win. ‘The Hammer’ defeated superfight champion Dan Severn to become the inaugural heavyweight champion and unify the titles. The promotion booking a bout between the new champion and heavyweight tournament winner would've seemed like the logical thing to do.
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Instead, Belfort fought Tank Abbott in the following event and Coleman defended his title against Maurice Smith in July 1997. Based on the events that followed, the heavyweight title bout wasn’t meant to be. ‘The Phenom’ lost a title eliminator to Randy Couture, while ‘The Hammer’ lost his heavyweight championship to Smith.
#3. UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz vs. UFC Hall of Famer Dan Henderson
A fight between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and Dan Henderson would’ve been fun to watch. In 1997, Ortiz was the runner-up of the lightweight tournament as an alternate at The Ultimate Force. Meanwhile, Henderson defeated Carlos Newton by split decision to win the middleweight tournament at Redemption in 1998.
‘Hendo’ and ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ would have matched up well. They both had great wrestling backgrounds and were well rounded fighters. Henderson would’ve had the edge in the striking as he had the powerful overhand-right later referred to as the ‘H-Bomb.’
The fight didn’t end up happening, though. ‘Hendo’ left the promotion after winning the tournament and would make a name for himself in PRIDE FC. If he stayed, he likely would have fought Ortiz and could have even challenged reigning light heavyweight champion Frank Shamrock.
