UFC 37

Lore & Background

The card was headlined by a Middleweight Title Bout between Murilo Bustamante and Matt Lindland. It featured the first UFC appearances of Robbie Lawler and Ivan Salaverry. The fight between Bustamante and Lindland has led to the contest being known as the infamous 'double tap' fight. Bustamante had Lindland hooked cleanly in an armbar early in the fight, then released it after what seemed to be a tap, followed by a shout to stop the action by John McCarthy. Lindland claimed it wasn't a tap, which controversially led McCarthy to restart the fight. Many thought that this was a mistake by McCarthy to stop the fight considering it was probably the only way for Lindland to escape the armbar. Bustamante was stripped of the title on October 5, 2002 after signing with PRIDE, thereby vacating the UFC Middleweight Championship belt.

In Their Own Story

The MGM Grand Garden Arena hummed with a low, electric buzz, the kind that builds in the minutes before the first bell. The octagon lights cut through the haze like search beams, and the crowd—thousands of them, packed shoulder to shoulder in the dark—settled into a collective hush. The announcer's voice boomed off the concrete walls, and the champion walked out to a roar that shook the floor plates. He moved with the easy, unhurried confidence of a man who had already won this fight a hundred times in his head. Across the cage, his challenger bounced on the balls of his feet, jaw set, eyes locked. The referee's voice was barely audible over the crowd. Then the bell rang, and the arena exploded into sound.

Reader's Guide

The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia. Fight of the Night: Robbie Lawler vs. Aaron Riley. Knockout of the Night: Ricco Rodriguez. Submission of the Night: Murilo Bustamante.

Did You Know?

• The event featured the first UFC appearances of Robbie Lawler and Ivan Salaverry.
• The fight between Bustamante and Lindland is known as the infamous 'double tap' fight.
• Bustamante was stripped of the title on October 5, 2002 after signing with PRIDE.