There was plenty of intrigue when the UFC set up shop in Los Angeles for the first time.
After California passed MMA legislation, the UFC went to Anaheim in April 2006 for its first event in the state, UFC 59. And just six weeks later, the promotion was back – but in L.A. proper for UFC 60 at Staples Center.
Not only was the event historic for being the first UFC show in Los Angeles, but it featured legendary OG Royce Gracie, the winner of the open-weight tournament at UFC 1 in 1993, as well as the tournaments at UFC 2 and UFC 4. The Brazilian, arguably the most famous member of the Gracie founding family of MMA, took on Matt Hughes – the UFC’s welterweight champion at the time, who was in his prime.
Because the event was so monumental, and on a long holiday weekend in “Tinseltown,” celebrities were out in ways like they perhaps never had been before for a UFC show. That just made it even more of a spectacle.
The fact that Hughes took out Gracie like a hot knife through butter was in some ways expected and ushered in a proverbial changing of the guard – or at least helped craft the conversation about it.
Check out the Hughes-Gracie historic fight above.
