UFC 34: High Voltage was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the MGM Grand Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on November 2, 2001. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.

The card was headlined by two Championship Bouts, Randy Couture faced Pedro Rizzo for the Heavyweight Title, and Matt Hughes faced Carlos Newton for the Welterweight Title. UFC 34 marked the first appearance of future Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. It should also be noted, this may have been one of the worst technical broadcasts for the UFC as the commentators could barely be heard, consistently being drowned out by the crowd and ring noise.

Tarec Saffiedine (born September 6, 1986) is a Belgian mixed martial artist of Lebanese descent, who competes in the welterweight division. He has fought in a number of promotions around the world including DREAM in Japan and Strikeforce in the United States.

Saffiedine was born to a Lebanese father, who emigrated to Belgium to study as an ophthalmologist, and Belgian mother. His father was also a Taekwondo practitioner. He grew up in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in Brussels and played basketball in his youth. Inspired by Japanese comic books, he took up Karate at age 16, and is now a black belt in Shihaishinkai, a style of Karate that includes striking, Judo throws and ground fighting. He also has an amateur kickboxing record of 12-1-1 and later began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, and then wrestling when he emigrated to the United States. Early in his career he worked a number of jobs including in a restaurant, a cinema and as a gardener and security guard. He received his nickname, "Sponge", from one of his coaches because he learns quickly.

Pedro Augusto Rizzo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpedɾu ˈʁizu]; born May 3, 1974) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Muay Thai fighter who has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, and Affliction. He holds notable wins over Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson, Gary Goodridge and Ken Shamrock.

Trained by Marco Ruas, Rizzo has adopted Ruas' brutal leg kicks and has developed strong stand up fighting and used this to great effect in the cage. Rizzo is a talented and feared striker in MMA.

Rizzo is a former WVC heavyweight champion and former contender for the UFC heavyweight belt. A stint in PRIDE FC did not go too well for the former UFC Heavyweight title contender, and Rizzo suffered quick losses at the hands of Sergei Kharitonov and Roman Zentsov.

Rizzo returned to his winning ways on the March 9, 2007, when he beat UFC veteran Justin Eilers by unanimous decision at the début show of Art of War Undisputed Arena Fighting Championships, which was held in Dallas, Texas.

Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.

Born in Manchester, Connecticut on July 28, 1969, White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ware, Massachusetts and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.

White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns about 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC.

Francisco Santos Miranda, III (born May 24, 1979), better known as Frank Mir, is an American mixed martial artist, as well as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kenpō Karate.

Mir, one of the most accomplished heavyweights in MMA history, is a two time UFC Heavyweight Champion . He currently holds the record for most victories in the heavyweight division of the UFC with 14 and most wins by submission in UFC Heavyweight division history with 8. He is also the only man in UFC history to win a bout by toe hold. As of January 2012 he is ranked the #4 In the ESPN MMA Power Rankings.He holds the distinction of being the first and only man to both knock out and submit MMA legend Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Mir is the only person to submit former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NCAA Division I wrestler Brock Lesnar and highly regarded striker Cheick Kongo. Frank Mir has had more fights in the UFC than anyone else currently competing in the heavyweight division.

His father convinced him to begin wrestling, on the basis that it could help him avoid submissions. Mir then began wrestling at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, Nevada where during his junior year he lost his first nine matches. During his senior year (1998) he went 44–1 and won the state championship. He was also on the school's football team that reached the Southern Zone semifinals in 1997 and where he played as fullback and defensive end. He also took up track and field in 1998 where his discus throw of 177 feet, 10 inches is still a Sunset Regional record.