UFC 35: Throwdown was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on January 11, 2002. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.

UFC 35 was headlined by two Title Bouts, Jens Pulver faced BJ Penn for the Lightweight Title and Murilo Bustamante faced Dave Menne for the Middleweight Title.

According to a December 2008 Sherdog interview with Pat Miletich, the event was plagued by a flu-like illness that spread throughout the fighters, trainers, and production staff.

Despite a number of fighters suffering from such symptoms as diarrhea, dehydration, hallucinations, and vomiting, the event proceeded as planned.

Shonie Carter was originally scheduled to face Gil Castillo at this event, but was pulled due to outside contractual obligations with another promotion. Chris Brennan stepped in as his replacement.

Shortly after this event, Jens Pulver would leave UFC due to a contract dispute.

Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist. He is currently fighting for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. Henderson is known for his aggressive style and his ability to escape from deep submission attempts. As of March 2012, Henderson is ranked as the #1 lightweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.

Henderson was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to a Korean American mother and an African American father. He was raised in Federal Way, Washington. He attended Decatur High School from 1998 to 2001. Ben became a part of the high school's wrestling team. After graduating from high school, he attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska and graduated in 2006 with a double major in criminal justice and sociology. While attending Dana College, Henderson was on the wrestling team, and was twice named an NAIA All-American. Henderson is a proud Christian, and uses his fighting to share his beliefs. He is known to quote scripture after bouts, and walks into each fight to a gospel song.

Sean Keith Sherk (born August 5, 1973) is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently fighting for the UFC. He currently holds a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) record of thirty-six wins, four losses and one draw. Sherk has fought in both the UFC and Pride FC, and is a former UFC Lightweight Champion. His only four MMA losses are to former UFC champions BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Frankie Edgar and current Undisputed UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

Sherk began fighting MMA in June 1999, where he originally fought at the welterweight weight-class. During his time as a welterweight, Sherk suffered two losses; one to Matt Hughes and one to Georges St. Pierre. In 2006, Sherk decided to drop down to the lightweight class of 155 lb. In his first fight as a lightweight, Sherk defeated Kenny Florian to become the first UFC Lightweight Champion in over four years. After his first successful defense with the title, Sherk was stripped of the title after testing positive for steroids, an accusation he unsuccessfully fought against in a series of hearings. Upon his return in May 2008, Sherk failed to win back the title from then champion, B.J. Penn.

Matt Riddle (born August 28, 1966 [1]) is an American punk rock bassist. He was the original bass player for Face to Face, which was founded in Victorville, California, in the early 1990s. After the band's major-label debut "Big Choice" was released in 1995, Riddle parted ways with Face to Face due to personal conflicts with singer/guitarist Trever Keith. He then joined No Use for a Name in 1996 after the band's fourth full-length, Leche Con Carne (1995) and made his recording debut on the band's Making Friends record in 1997. He also played briefly for the punk bands Pulley and 22 Jacks. He currently resides in the Victorville area and is still touring and recording with No Use for a Name. Riddle and Keith have reportedly reconciled their differences, and Riddle provided liner notes for a Face to Face collection entitled "Shoot the Moon" in 2005. Riddle was not, however, part of the Face to Face reunion in 2008; he has spent much of the year touring with No Use for a Name, who just released a new album.