UFC 77: Hostile Territory was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The event took place on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. The main event featured Anderson Silva defending his middleweight championship against Rich Franklin in a rematch of their October 2006 meeting at UFC 64, which Silva won.

The co-main event was a heavyweight match-up between former two-time champion Tim Sylvia and undefeated Brandon Vera.

Before the Vera-Sylvia fight, former amateur wrestler and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar announced he had signed with the UFC.

The name "Hostile Territory" came from the defense of Anderson Silva's UFC middleweight title against Cincinnati native Rich Franklin.

At the end of this event, $40,000 was awarded to each of the fighters who received one of these three awards.

The disclosed fighter payroll for UFC 77 was $652,000.

The individual payouts are listed below. Purse amounts includes the payment amounts for show and win, but do not include sponsor payments, fees, taxes, or special award bonuses.

Rich Jay Franklin II (born October 5, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion.

Franklin was born to Richard Sr. and Vaila Franklin. The couple divorced when Rich was five years old. He has one biological brother, Greg, and five step-siblings.

Prior to becoming a full time MMA fighter, Franklin graduated from William Henry Harrison High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and later earned a master's degree in education at the University of Cincinnati, and taught mathematics at the Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Franklin and American Fighter President Jeff Adler created The Keep It In The Ring Foundation to advocate non-violence and build character in youth. This is done through after school sports, martial arts and life skills programs. His nickname "Ace" comes from his resemblance to Jim Carrey, who played the character Ace Ventura. Joe Rogan once called him "An angry Jim Carrey". Franklin made his acting debut in a film called Cyborg Soldier where he plays an escaped super soldier and partners with Tiffani Thiessen.

Anderson da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins and 9 title defenses, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history.

Silva is ranked as the number one Middleweight in the world by multiple publications, and is the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports, MMAFighting.com and other publications. UFC president Dana White has proclaimed Silva as "the greatest mixed martial artist ever."^{[undue weight? – discuss]} Silva is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and a former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock.

Although known primarily for his mastery of Muay Thai striking, Silva is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, a rank he earned in 2006 from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, like Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He began martial arts training at the age of 14, training Tae kwon do and earning a black belt by the age of 18. He is also a black belt in Judo and a yellow rope in Capoeira.

John Alan Belcher (born April 24, 1984), is an American mixed martial artist who fights in the middleweight division of the UFC. He fights out of Alan Belcher MMA Club in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he is also the owner and head instructor.

Belcher made his professional debut in July 2004 against Tim Ellis in Freestyle Fighting Championship and won by TKO. His MMA career then picked up significantly in early 2006, the year in which Belcher amassed 9 fights, going 8–1. Alan has won 6 of his last 7 fights in the UFC with his only loss being a controversial split decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama.

In 2006 he lost a unanimous decision at the hands of Yushin Okami at UFC 62 in his UFC debut.

Belcher made his second UFC appearance against Jorge Santiago three months later, winning by stunning head kick KO in the third round of a close fight.

At UFC 69, Belcher lost to The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner Kendall Grove. Belcher then defeated Sean Salmon one month later at UFC 71 with a guillotine choke 53 seconds into the first round. Belcher took the fight on ten-days notice after Eric Schafer pulled out due to sustaining a broken rib during training. This fight was at 205 pounds.

Kalib Axel Starnes (born January 6, 1975) is a retired Canadian mixed martial artist of Metis descent. He was featured in the third season of the reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter. Kalib is a native of Surrey, British Columbia and trains at Richmond Sports Club in Richmond BC with Aegis Athletics.

Starnes has been involved in the martial arts since he was a child and began teaching when he was a teenager. His primary styles are Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Greco-Roman Wrestling and boxing. He has studied under prominent trainers such as UFC champion Royce Gracie, Olympic boxing gold medalist Howard Davis, Jr., and Olympic wrestler Colin Daynes. He received his BJJ black belt in 2010 from Bob Mc Roberts.

Starnes fought early in the series, defeating Mike Stine by referee stoppage in the first round. However, in the semifinals he lost to Kendall Grove in the third round via verbal submission due to a rib injury. Neither of these fights count towards his professional record, as they were considered exhibition matches by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. At the Finale of TUF 3 he submitted Danny Abbadi via rear naked choke. After the fight with Abbadi, he lost via TKO by strikes (ground and pound) to Yushin Okami.