UFC 47

Lore & Background

UFC 47 arrived during a period when the heavyweight division was arguably the most stacked it had ever been. Ken Shamrock, the charismatic and technically gifted former champion, faced the towering Dutchman Bas Rutten in the main event. Both men carried the weight of former title reigns and a long list of memorable finishes, making the bout a genuine heavyweight classic in the making. The crowd in Auburn Hills, Michigan, packed into The Palace of Auburn Hills for what promised to be a night of big-man violence.

The co-main event pitted two more heavyweights of a different vintage: Matt Hughes, the dominant former champion known for his grappling and composure, against Dan Severn, the veteran submission specialist whose career spanned the early UFC era. Their meeting was a clash of styles—Hughes's patient, controlled wrestling against Severn's relentless pressure and submission hunting. The result delivered a quick, brutal finish that underscored how dangerous Severn remained even in his later years.

The card as a whole leaned heavily into the heavyweight division, a deliberate programming choice that gave fans a concentrated dose of the division's stars in a single evening. It stands as a snapshot of a transitional moment in UFC history, just before the division's landscape would shift dramatically in the following years.

Reader's Guide

UFC 47 | November 19, 2004 | The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan Headline: Ken Shamrock def. Bas Rutten by TKO (Heavyweight)

A heavyweight-heavy card: both the main and co-main events featured heavyweight bouts, giving fans a concentrated night of big-man warfare. • Ken Shamrock vs. Bas Rutten brought together two former heavyweight champions in a high-stakes clash of striking styles. • Matt Hughes vs. Dan Severn pitted the dominant former champion against a UFC-era veteran, ending in a quick TKO that reminded everyone how dangerous Severn still was. • The event captured the heavyweight division at a peak moment, just before the landscape of the division would change in subsequent years.

Did You Know?

• The event was held at The Palace of Auburn Hills, a venue in Michigan that hosted several UFC cards during the mid-2000s era.
• The card's programming leaned almost entirely into the heavyweight division, a deliberate choice that made UFC 47 a concentrated showcase of the division's stars.