September 17, 2007 Observer Newsletter: UFC 75 recap, TNA Impact extends to two hours

UFC 75, a night where the MMA judging system came under fire, and where the Pride and UFC championship was unified in the marquee light heavyweight division, ended up as the single most widely viewed MMA television show ever in the United States.

Quinton Jackson unified the UFC and Pride heavyweight titles winning a five-round competitive decision over Pride champion Dan Henderson on 9/8 in London, England at the 02 Arena. It was the first unification match of the two biggest MMA organizations in the world, although for all real purposes, Pride no longer exists. While billed as a first, in a sense, similar matches happened twice before in UFC history, when after Extreme Fighting Championships went down. In 1997, UFC promoted the last EFC heavyweight champion, Maurice Smith, beating the then UFC heavyweight champion, Mark Coleman, in a gigantic upset at the time with Smith taking a decision.

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