The card was headlined by a Middleweight Title Bout between Murilo Bustamante and Matt Lindland, and 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.