UFC 3

UFC mixed martial arts event in 1994
the video game

The Ultimate Fighting Championship III (later renamed UFC 3: The American Dream) was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on September 9, 1994, at Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and was later released on home video.

UFC 3 used an eight man tournament format, with the winner receiving $60,000. The tournament had no weight classes or weight limits. Each match had no time limit or rounds; therefore no judges were used for the night. Competitors could only win a match by submission, throwing in the towel, knockout, or referee stoppage. This event marked the first time the referee was given the authority to stop the contest. The referee for the night was once again "Big" John McCarthy. Replacement fighter Steve Jennum won the tournament by defeating Harold Howard via submission due to strikes, despite only fighting in the finals. Jennum was a replacement for Ken Shamrock, who made it to the finals but withdrew due to injury. This was the first UFC tournament that was not won by Royce Gracie, who won his quarterfinal fight but withdrew as the semifinal fight was about to start, likely due to fatigue from the previous round. After Jennum won UFC 3 as an alternate, UFC instituted alternate qualifying bouts to balance out fatigue, and to lessen the advantage that alternates previously had entering the tournament without fighting quarterfinal bouts.

1Keith Hackney was forced to withdraw due to injury. He was replaced by Felix Mitchell. 2Royce Gracie's corner threw in the towel before the fight, so Harold Howard was given a bye into the final. 3It was announced that Ken Shamrock was injured at the event and could not continue. Steve Jennum replaced him.