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The UFC's first 132 events have given us over 15 years worth of legendary battles, shocking finishes, and historic debuts. With UFC 100 coming up on July 11th, we decided to do some digging and pick out the 10 most monumental events of all time. So join us as we step into the way-back machine...

(Check out part one here.)

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#5: UFC 1: The Ultimate Fighting Championship
11/12/93; Denver, Colorado

Notable Fights: Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock, Gerard Gordeau vs. Teila Tuli, Royce Gracie vs. Gerard Gordeau
Lowdown: Nearly 3,000 people packed into the McNichols Sports Arena on one fateful night in November to witness the beginning of cultural movement, which is cool even if most of them only showed up because they were already drunk and had reason to believe that they might see a man killed.  It was billed as an eight-man tournament with no rules, and although that wasn’t entirely true (biting and eye-gouging were both outlawed) it might as well have been.  Referee guidelines consisted mostly of instructions not to stop the fight no matter what, there were no judges, not even the suggestion of weight classes, and the approved attire had no limits whatsoever, as evidence by Royce Gracie’s gi and Art Jimmerson’s one lonely glove.

(Un-freaking-canny, isn't it?)

It’s been too long since we’ve answered all your stupid questions.  For that, we apologize.  For the smart-assness of the answers we offer here, we shall never apologize.  If you don't like it, go ask your own incredibly important question right now in this forum thread.  Otherwise, read on and be amused.

If you were to break it down per minute, who is the highest paid fighter? I'm not talking about all the training and everything that goes with fighting, just the fights themselves. – Shagen

Why settle for breaking it down per minute, Shagen?  Why not per second?  The three top contenders for this title would appear to be Andrei Arlovski (who made $1.5 million to get knocked out by Fedor in 3:14), Tim Sylvia (who made $800,000 to get submitted by Fedor in 0:36), and Kimbo Slice (who made $500,000 to get knocked out by Seth Petruzelli in 0:14).

The UFC's first 132 events have given us over 15 years worth of legendary battles, shocking finishes, and historic debuts. With UFC 100 coming up on July 11th, we decided to do some digging and pick out the 10 most monumental events of all time. So join us as we step into the way-back machine...

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#10: UFC 13: Ultimate Force
5/30/97; Augusta, Georgia

Notable fights: Tito Ortiz vs. Wes Albritton, Randy Couture vs. Tony Halme, Randy Couture vs. Steven Graham, Vitor Belfort vs. Tank Abbott 
Lowdown: It may have seemed like just another night of cage-fighting at the time, but we now look back on "Ultimate Force" as the event that gave us the debuts of three enduring legends: Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, and Joe Rogan. In addition to the main-event slugfest between Vitor Belfort and Tank Abbott (which the Phenom won by TKO in 53 seconds), Lucky #13 featured a four-man "lightweight" tournament for fighters below 200 pounds, and a heavyweight bracket for 200+ pounders

Just 22 years old at the time, Tito Ortiz made it to the lightweight finals after crushing Wes Albritton with ground-and-pound in a show-opening alternate bout; unfortunately, he later succumbed to a guillotine choke by tournament winner Guy Mezger. Randy Couture was more successful. The former collegiate wrestling standout and U.S. Olympic team alternate swept the heavyweight tourney by choking out Tony Halme and stopping Steven Graham via strikes. And yes, the dude from NewsRadio was handling backstage interview duty — who knew he'd turn out to be the most insightful and entertaining commentator in the sport?

(Guida turns taking a shot into an art form. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

After another fun, free MMA weekend we turn once again to the Potato Index to tell us where everyone stands.  Those of you who are confused by what the numbers mean, just think of every fighter starting at his own particular zero coming into the event.  Then we make up a number to reflect how far he’s climbed or fallen after his latest fight.  Kind of like the stock market, but way more fun and only slightly more bullshit.

Diego Sanchez +104
Whatever you think the final scores should have been, Sanchez won that fight.  He was a whirlwind on the feet and even managed to be the aggressor from the bottom when it hit the mat.  But does a decision victory here equal a title shot?  We wouldn’t mind seeing Sanchez vs. Gray Maynard to establish a clear contender.

(Hey buddy, if it gets tough in there just remind that limey about how we saved their asses in WW II.  Works every time.)

After one of us floundered and one of us totally fucking ruled with our UFC 99 picks, we’re giving it another shot for tomorrow night’s “Ultimate Fighter” 9 Finale, just to make sure last week wasn’t some fluke.  Obviously, we’re ineligible to win Lyoto Machida’s “Karate for MMA” DVD set, which explains why our footsweeps haven’t been coming along like we’d hoped, but you can still get your picks in to our forums for round two of the first phase of this contest.  

In the meantime, take a glance at how we see it going down.  And while we’re on the subject of fight predictions, one of us is now all alone in first place atop at the CBS Sports Head-to-Head panel of MMA writers.  So take that, high school guidance counselor who advised me to “marry well.”