UFC 9 took place in Detroit, MI, on May 17, 1996, under the nickname Motor City Madness.
In those early days, MMA was far from reaching the widespread popularity it has today.
Even being able to legally organize an event in the USA was a hard thing to do.
Senator John McCann was the leading man in the opposition to the new sport.
In this environment, the UFC landed in Detroit for its ninth edition and the main event was set to be the rematch between Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn.
In UFC 6, on July 6, 1995, Shamrock quickly reached victory with a guillotine choke.
The crowd expected another great battle, but that was when the law got in the way.
After threatening to shut down the event altogether, a local judge decided give the go ahead it but only if closed-fist punches and headbutts were not allowed.
Fighters were warned beforehand and even a threat of a $100 fine per punch thrown was mentioned.
Watch how things went down.
The post Do you remember the UFC fight where punches were not allowed? first appeared on Graciemag.