UFC 9: Don Frye vs Amaury Bitetti | May 17, 1996

Previous UFC tournament champion Don Frye met Amaury Bitetti in this UFC 9 singles match-up and fight of the night. Access classic UFC events on UFC FIGHT PASS! Sign Up Now: ufc.ac/3AofDIW
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[@Rando1975]

One of the most one-sided beatings you'll ever see from the early days. Bitetti was TOUGH.

[@mantovannni]

Yeah the balls on the kid as well for going up against Frye.

[@Rando1975]

@mantovannni Apparently it was supposed to have been UFC 7 champ Marco Ruas to face Frye, but he had to drop out. So Bitetti steps up against the defending tournament champion!

[@mantovannni]

@@Rando1975 They were just built differently back then or he had a screw loose lol.

[@BillyBob-wq9fl]

@@mantovannniThey were built differently. For sure. Not as technically skilled as today.. but far tougher. They would fight 3 times in a night.

[@marcelocolle1002]

​@@Rando1975Marco entregaria uma luta melhor

[@coyster530]

When the UFC was still the real UFC.

[@steelballs5179]

and people died from the beatings

[@carloscoll5249]

Sometimes reality kills

[@ricksundberg5659]

​@@steelballs5179 Not one person has ever died from a UFC fight. ​

[@ChristopherTeague-cs8vg]

😂 Don Fryes Mustache was tougher than some fighters today. 👊🏼

[@JamesBuddell-fn6bz]

High level college wrestler with pro boxing skills and experience. Even though he got mauled by mark collman(Olympic caliber wrestler who out weighed him by 30 pounds) Don Frye was the first modern mma fighter. He had standup and elite wrestling skills.

[@misterrr7]

Frye always called himself a judoka instead of wrestler

[@dancingtrout6719]

he newly trained for these ufc events leg arm ankle submissions and ground & pound

[@Crackerbarrelkid56]

I love Don Frye he delivers the beatings! ❤😂

[@Zippadeedoodaa-nt8om]

My favorite fighter to watch when I was a teenager. He would rent UFC VHS tapes when they first came out.

[@Zippadeedoodaa-nt8om]

We, not Don Frye.😂

[@stevenwahl3440]

Yeah, to a guy half his size 🙄

[@ordinarypete]

@@stevenwahl3440cry.

[@TheLochs]

Saw this when it aired live. Amaury was gettin throttled. This was one of the first times a BJJ guy just couldn't answer a good wrestler. He hung in there though.

[@traviscrown9189]

Joe Rogan said it best. Good basic wrestler with good basic western style boxing beats bjj every-time.

[@rafaelmartins8165]

@@traviscrown9189 don't forget back in the days they could grab the fence and it made a big difference in this fight, but in general i agree

[@eduardomori7816]

Well he got submitted by Yoshida

[@mantovannni]

Thanks to Big John for finally ending the battle.

[@marcotelli1601]

WTF took him so long?

[@Philo68]

The authentic/original BAD BOY shorts were the kiss of death for many a fighter back in the day.

[@Rando1975]

No kidding. It seemed everyone who wore the shorts back then ended up losing.

[@Philo68]

@@Rando1975 I remember back in Full Contact Fighter reading a Hunter (anybody remember them?) advert. It said ‘watch out Bad Boy you’re about to get Hunted!’. Great, formative days of an awesome sport…

[@ripperox]

those shorts was a fever here in Brasil back in that time

[@Philo68]

I have a shirt with the slogan ‘Bad Boy Club - Not For Everyone!’ from back in these days. Makes me feel young and STILL dangerous! Im very choosy where I wear it of course.

[@Bucephalus84]

​@@Rando1975that is anecdotal. Fighter like Vitor, Hendo, Pedro Rizzo, Mark Kerr and even Machida wore badboy shorts .

[@SSO1025RET]

When you look up the definition of a man, there’s a picture of Don Frye. The GOAT Edit ….. I amend my comment, both of these men would be pictured.

[@Unvaccinated69-m9o]

U can be more.of a man if u just try

[@TheAntManChannel]

Don Frye is an American's American

[@-Hesco]

yes. vastly different from these he-she’s wearing women’s clothes that identify as a refrigerator

[@jhkuno88]

A mens man

[@Lexthebarbarian]

Hard to find this fight. Thanks!

[@JacobJordan-n9n]

Wow Lex...brave text?

[@user-cn4ek3ee1h]

Ufc fight pass. Easy

[@dexterlecter7289]

This fight has been nearly impossible to find for the past several years. No search would bring it up.

[@brutalplanet1708]

Ive never seen someone handle such an ass kickin before. Very impressive....

[@cunecao]

Look up for Glover vs Maldonado.

[@JamesBuddell-fn6bz]

I guess you never saw Oleg taktarov fight then. Guys would literally gas out and injure their hands beating on this guy. Nobody took a beating like Oleg

[@ryanlynch290]

@@brutalplanet1708 Watch Igor vs. Enson. Enson almost died. He was in the hospital for weeks with rabdo it was so bad.

[@Zippadeedoodaa-nt8om]

Yep. Opponents would wear themselves out beating on his face, then he'd submit them.😂

[@Zippadeedoodaa-nt8om]

His face would be a bloody mess every fight.

[@kevinbuchanan67]

I wish the ufc was still this exciting

[@sergio2207]

Big John McCarthy knows how to conduct the fight and preserve the athletes without harming them. He is sorely missed. Great referee.

[@Zippadeedoodaa-nt8om]

I always wanted to see Frye demolish Royce Gracie.

[@eduardomori7816]

Frye got submitted by Yoshida via arm bar , not Royce Gracie but similar style.

[@eduardomori7816]

I’ve seen him getting arm bar by hidehiko Yoshida

[@dexterlecter7289]

Frye was dealing with a ton of injuries and I suspect he never took care of them until it was way too late. I know he’s entered a fight where he was so messed up he literally could not turn left from the hips up because of multiple spine injuries from the back to his neck.

[@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish.]

MAKE UFC MORTAL KOMBAT AGAIN!

[@rotorbob]

MUMKA

[@westcoastwoodsman2289]

Why is that kid fighting his dad?

[@lombardvolakz]

I like ufc earlier than now. It was really street fight

[@Larry_Hegs]

To hear the "USA, USA, USA" chants brings me back.

[@masonkelley8219]

Good God the old days were insane. Frye was a monster

[@ComboMuster]

Oh man that's what I'm talking about! today's UFC looks like a girls PT session compared with the old school 😁😁😁

[@fzuardi]

Um dos maiores VEXAMES daquela geração de Jiu-Jtsu. Ele só sabiam CHÃO ! Pegou um dos maiores lutadores de MMA da história ! Frye era COMPLETO, técnico e forte! Foi uma surra!

[@kingfu9647]

Nice Fight... I love the UFC in the 90s... can you upload Fights in the Pancrase Promotion in the 90s to?

[@CRCfail]

Big John was always such a prick, especially when he yanked fighters around by their arms.

[@ryanlynch290]

And screaming the entire time for no reason. He always came off as a moron cop. I bet he was a dirty cop lol

[@billycole852]

​@@ryanlynch290 no doubt

[@Zippadeedoodaa-nt8om]

I always wanted to see him in a fight against Tank Abbott.

[@Michael-t9k]

He was on Don's side . You can hear him saying good job after Don smacks him. Check it Start at 8.minutes then he said Don doing good right at 9 minutes.

[@krell2130]

Big Ego John McNarcissist

[@doutorkefflen2]

don frye no auge, campeão do ufc 8, lutassa

[@patrickcosta1900]

Categorias diferentes ! Don muito mais pesado e forte . Resultado óbvio a obrigação era toda do Don . Biteti representou o jiujitsu e não desistiu até onde lhe foi permitido .

[@ricardorick2176]

Verdade, mas eu achei a defesa do bitteti muito ruim! Levou muito golpe por baixo!

[@George18798]

By reading the comments, you can clearly see majority of the people here have never watched any old school tournaments and got no clue what they are talking about, complaining about weight difference, rules, referee stoppage and etc.

[@nzdefrag]

I know right. We had to sit in the back of old trucks with hoods on our heads, driving winding tracks for hours to get to our tournaments. When we arrived there were guys in black suits, tigers in cages, and bikini girls as well. Oh, hang on, maybe that was a movie?

[@George18798]

@@nzdefrag What are you talking about? Do you not know that UFC was in a tournament format from 1993 to 1998? UFC 1-11 plus two Ultimate Ultimate tournaments had 8 man format, meaning fighters had up to 3 fights in one night, and Royce Gracie had 4 fights at UFC 2. Then UFC 12-17 plus Ultimate Japan tournament had 4 man format. And there were no rules during the time UFC was on a tournament format

[@dexterlecter7289]

Exactly. I suspect there’s a lot of younger folks watching who never rented a UFC VHS…

[@earth7551]

Interesting fight and then Don Frye got the same beating against Mark Coleman

[@MorAodhan]

The skill level within the UFC has grown exponentially.

[@derekblackthorne]

Wtf is Eddie Alvarez's wife doing there, and who is she screaming for?

[@ateam137]

Underrated comment

[@forrestmalcom8351]

Marco Ruas was originally supposed to be in this fight. This was a total mismatch 😂😂😂

[@rotorairgroup8409]

Fry vs Ruas would have been a great fight

[@JeffHuntsinger]

The pride of Southeastern Arizona!

[@BigBass-xf5yi]

I miss these days

[@-Hesco]

what is the ref yelling at them? good lord the way he was hovering is so different than what it is now lol.

[@joshshipp1]

Big John Mccarthy. He's telling them to work, he doesn't let them lay around and not stay fighting.

[@Rando1975]

@-Hesco this was the infamous Detroit show where the politicians wanted them to use all sorts of ridiculous rules like headgear, no closed fists. UFC said okay, we'll fine them if they throw a closed fist. What they DIDN'T say is when they'd collect said fine. They never would collect.

[@charlienelson2105]

‘Open the hand! Open the hand!”

[@ManMountainMetals]

He's yelling 🤣 'open hand' 👐 and Don is ignoring him.

[@George18798]

​@@Rando1975Wasn't it applied only for main event? Dan Severn vs Ken Shamrock as result of those rules turned out into them walking around the octagon for majority of the fight

[@FrankCostanza-u4b]

I remember watching these old VHS tapes back in the mid to late 90s (I saw none of the fights live). There were a lot of great fights back then. And almost none of those fighters were arrogant showoffs like we see so often these days.

[@speedbagboxer7451]

The commentators used to not have a clue what was going on. 😂

[@tjbailey336]

Early UFC was wild

[@metalhardrock]

Amaury Bitetti se anunciaba con "amplia experiencia en thai boxing y brazilian jiujitsu". No esperaba encontrarse con un monstruo como Don Frye...que le dió una paliza.

[@user-fp7yi8iw1k]

50 libras mas pesado Don

[@andersonpeteticampos]

a diferença de peso e o americano segurando na grade fez a diferença,

[@metalhardrock]

@@user-fp7yi8iw1k Frye tenía otro punto a favor: mucha mas experiencia

[@billyclub9863]

Ridiculously too long to stop it!!

[@ManMountainMetals]

Referees didn't have as much power back in the day to stop fights. Gotta remember we were still figuring things out at this stage.

[@George18798]

This is the way it should be instead of the garbage that happens today

[@666sk8erguy]

@@George18798forreal. At least they brought back 12-6

[@giusepperuggiero1151]

Hold on the fence fry woulda got token down quicker but kept holding 😂😂😂

[@moto-fl3rd]

It was allowed.

[@Hbzczfpgfxdiydiridgu999]

مبارز واقعی با اون سبیل مردانه عاشق قیافه های دهه ۹۰ هستم

[@PapaDamage]

HUGE size difference...

[@tiagosilva8302]

Amauri , um dos faixas preta mais duro do grande mestre Carson Gracie !!!!! Grande guerreiro !!!!

[@innocentbystander8038]

Fry should be disqualified for Performance Enhancing Moustache

[@krell2130]

If anything, he should be rewarded

[@DouglasBuenoGomes]

Back then the Fight only stop if the team Throw a Towel or the Fighter Quit, I know in modern World standart that's very brutal but that's Classic UFC.

[@hernanedias3159]

Don were insane !!!!!! Brutal !!!!

[@PNW_Sportbike_Life]

Don Frye brought the PAIN in this fight; the dude was an absolute force!

[@ChristopherTeague-cs8vg]

They probably should have stopped this fight sooner. A lot of guys won't give up, so you have to make the decision if a fight is becoming too one sided. 👊🏼🇺🇸

[@rotorbob]

It’s crazy that elbows to the back of the head were legal especially when the dudes head is on the mat where it can’t move.

[@gomesraphael]

Jiu-jitsu só é eficaz quando era uma surpresa

[@brucepedersen4032]

Fry held the fence twice ealy. 😮

[@johnp7739]

That wasn't illegal in the earliest events. I'm not sure about this one.

[@rootsbloodroots1987]

Apanhou mais quê ladrão.

[@itz_Max_yall]

Bitetti’s corner must have hated him. Lol. Damn. Throw in the effing towel!

[@trashbasementproductions223]

Frye great champion

[@northface484]

Before you could not grab the cage...

[@dancingtrout6719]

Now its::: let go of the Fence

[@jesuscristomeusenhor413]

Excelente!

[@marcelotoledomayer]

Frye much bigger, grabbing the fence to avoid being taken down for the first 5 min , not mentioning the juice 🧃

[@METALFAN4EVS]

Damn.. Frye knocked the CTE right into Bitelli that night.. 🤕

[@waltermansur]

Amaury entrou no c@cete nesta luta, jesus !

[@Spocklee]

Gotta give it to the little guy, he put up a hell of a fight against a guy way bigger and stronger then him. It wasn't even fair.

[@morbiddave2332]

Fence grabs and a 30 lb. weight advantage too much to overcome for Bitetti

[@JohnSmith-ks5xw]

Huge size different that made all the difference in the world. I declare Bitetti the winner for lasting as long as he did. How long should a middleweight be able to last against a heavyweight?

[@DouglasBuenoGomes]

Royce Gracie vs Dan Severn.

[@franksachsen5663]

Why is one Bareknuckel and the other one not

[@Golgi-Gyges]

Mc Carthy was favoring the BJJ competitors is the rumor.

[@FrankCostanza-u4b]

Look at Bitetti after 3:08; in my opinion, MacArthey should have stopped the fight right then. Even the commentators suggest as much at 6:31.

[@mudspelledbackwards2997]

Lil' feller gave The Predator a pretty good scrap. Plum tuckered out by the time it was over.

[@theriskid]

About what you'd expect matching The Predator against prey.

[@MikeHart72]

All is guys of a certain age….remember when we were young, early 20’s, and thought we were tough as hell. Remember drinking at the bar looking for a fight for no other reason than we were young and drunk. I for one am glad on one of those nights I didn’t find someone like Don Frye because that would have sucked real bad lol

[@mrcookiemonster7805]

Thise new cage grabbing rules may have made a difference in this fight. Frye would have been on the ground real early if he wasn't allowed to grab the cage

[@derekblackthorne]

Don "ThE dRaGoN" Wilson is one of the worst commentators in UFC history. Almost as bad as Jon Anik.

[@straightchad8059]

bad movie actor too , his movies never shown in theaters --- straight to video store ,

[@dimidimiuser]

When UFC has no weight division.

[@RC-gf8cs]

They didnt have the advance skills as 2days ufc .but much much harder rules..hold fence ok etc etc .much tougher 4sure...close to gladiator bouts as allowed..

[@agvictorion1]

Tá provado que agarra agarra as vezes não funciona quando bate de frente com o tiranossauro Rex Apanhou e muito. E teve sorte, pois se a luta continua mais uns minutos sairia sem cabeça

[@paulwonderley538]

Fantastic fight but fry was much to strong I think the other dude was more skilled but just liked mass and strength to pull off anything on a tank like fry.

[@DanielRodrigues-wq1rl]

O que faltou para o Don Frye foi ele ter sido da mesma geração do Anderson Silva, ia apanhar feio

[@marcotelli1601]

This was like a 12th grader fighting a 5th grader. Or Tyson against Mayweather

[@paulevans8348]

Stupid match. Frye's like 50 lbs heavier.

[@kentcarmack5879]

What are you talking about? The early ufc's didn't have weight classes. The previous event was david vs Goliath, and Frye was nowhere near 50 pounds heavier. Frye was maybe 200 pounds at this time probably in the 190's

[@dancingtrout6719]

@@kentcarmack5879 you tell him ..lolz

[@seanl904]

Frye looked a good 20lbs heavier

[@Ryenobal]

25 lbs

[@danroux4010]

Pick on somebody your own size.

[@DickGozinya-zl2bd]

There were no weight classes back then.

[@danroux4010]

@@DickGozinya-zl2bd You are a master of stating the obvious.

[@DickGozinya-zl2bd]

@@danroux4010 Sorry, based on your original statement, I logically assumed you didn't have a clue what you were talking about.

[@thobur2661]

This fight proves how bad McCarthy was of a ref.

[@roncarey8810]

Obnoxious announcer knowing just what Don should do. What a joke.

[@dancingtrout6719]

that was wilson and im sure you heard the other announcer jeff Blatnic passed away

[@williamk2257]

Before weight divisions huh?

[@turntablesrockmyworld9315]

Actually this was the one fight that made me realize the true power of BJJ, in that it gives the ability to survive. There is no way Amaury could have survived that onslaught for so long without BJJ.

[@joshuabaggio1982]

Was Don elbowing his spine? If so, it's not cool.

[@MikeHart72]

There were very few rules in the beginning of UFC

[@johnnycake020]

Where’s the rest of him? Don looks like he’s come out of the dryer

[@Zippadeedoodaa-nt8om]

Frye lumped him up😂

[@mindfulmusic5153]

Don just too big and strong. Bitetti tough as hell though

[@stampiboy1]

Add him to ufc 5 !!!!

[@user-cn4ek3ee1h]

Fry was so BAAD ASS but he's wearing trainers

[@BasicBeachCommunity1]

Lol he outweighed him by 70 pounds probably...So dumb

[@ralfhoward7980]

I like Don frye but The guy was half his size.

[@natew5544]

hes stunned? looks to me like hes just gassed.

[@dominiquetatum7034]

Rick rude

[@BrianEllinger-hh4rm]

I hope it's some point the criminal liars when wondering who they robbed all this from look at the dude in the street and say...........oh

[@sylvaindescoteaux4208]

[@traviscrown9189]

Bitetti’s shooting and grappling was so lazy and predictable.

[@dangerzonetonnyseferian7329]

Naquela época todos treinavam errado,nessa luta o (Rapaz)perdeu a força logo nos primeiros minutos devido o americano ter se agarrado nas grades não deixando ser derrubado,mesma coisa que Fábio G vs Bollander...

[@noidreculse8906]

Old rules were ridiculous 🤡

[@MarcAnthony501]

But at the same time brutally entertaining

[@dancingtrout6719]

45 Gas Operated Automatic

[@АлександрЭтосовершенноневажно]

Кретины...локти и колени разрешали...

[@donbaldwin1777]

Who fights in their swim suit?

[@matheuslcintra]

Greater mobility

[@xmoomy]

Total size mismatch. This fight should not have happened.

[@Rando1975]

@@xmoomy there were no weight classes at this time. And no athletic commission.

[@BillyBob-wq9fl]

brazilians think they are dominant with their bjj.. they all think they are royce or vitor..

[@SonnyWalker-nf6jw]

Don Frye was 210 lbs, and his opponent was 185 lbs.

[@xmoomy]

@@Rando1975 Duh

[@ThePinkMan]

Bitetti was a late replacement for Marco Ruas. Either way, there was a fight on the same card with a 200 lbs weight difference, so the difference here wasn't even worth talking about at the time.