UFC 8: David vs. Goliath was a mixed martial arts event held by Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 16, 1996, at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The event was broadcast live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.

UFC 8 featured an eight-man tournament, and a UFC Superfight Championship fight between reigning UFC Champion Ken Shamrock and Kimo Leopoldo. The event also featured one alternate fight, which was not shown on the live pay-per-view broadcast. The tournament had no weight classes, or weight limits. A 10 minute time limit was imposed for all matches in the tournament.

The event's matchups pitted larger fighters against smaller fighters, hence the term "David vs. Goliath". Local promoter for the historical first and only professional mixed martial arts event was Richy Miranda-Cortese, whose company Sports & Entertainment Ltd had to take local Government officials to Federal Court in order to avoid cancellation of the event by the Government. Among those government officials was Governor Pedro Rosello and Sports and Recreation Director Erick Labrador. The presentation of the event developed into a new boxing commission rules and regulations and Imposition of a banning Law that was later overturned after Miranda-Cortese fought it in court.

Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. Frye rose to fame fighting in early Ultimate Fighting Championship events, winning the UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournaments. He holds notable victories over Ken Shamrock, Gary Goodridge (2x), Tank Abbott, and Gilbert Yvel.

Don Frye began wrestling at Buena High School in Sierra Vista, Arizona then in college (for Arizona State) in 1984, where he was trained by fellow future Ultimate Fighting Championship legend, then assistant wrestling coach, Dan Severn. In 1987, he won the freestyle and Greco-Roman events during an Olympic qualifier. A year later, he transferred to Oklahoma State, where he encountered another future UFC star amongst his teammates: Randy Couture.

On August 28, 1989, Frye made his professional boxing debut against Luis Mora in Phoenix, Arizona and won via first round knock out. This was to be his final pro boxing bout.

In 1995, Frye helped train his old friend Dan Severn for the Ultimate Ultimate 1995, accompanying Severn's entourage to Denver. Severn returned the favour in 1996, when he acted as Frye's manager for UFC 8. Fighting three times in one night, Frye dispatched all of his opponents in just under a minute total, winning the tournament with relative ease. At this event Frye set the record, since broken by Duane Ludwig, for fastest KO in the UFC at just 8 seconds. However, due to the controversial nature of the event, Frye was barred from both firefighting, his previous occupation in Sierra Vista, Arizona, and from training in the Buena High School gym he had used since his ASU days. Along with Marco Ruas, Frye is considered one of the original "cross trained" MMA competitors who had a background in multiple disciplines. Along with his collegiate wrestling experience, Frye holds a 2nd degree black belt in Judo and a professional boxing record.

Joseph James "Joe" Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American martial artist, stand-up comedian, actor, writer and color commentator. He is best known for playing Joe Garrelli on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio, commentating for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, hosting the NBC reality show Fear Factor and The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Rogan was born in Newark, New Jersey. His paternal grandfather was Irish and the remainder of his ancestry is Italian.

In 1981, at age fourteen, he became a practitioner of Kenpo Karate before transitioning to Taekwondo. He eventually gained a 2nd dan black belt. A four-time state champion in Massachusetts, in 1987 he was the USA Taekwondo U.S. Open Champion. In 1996, he began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jean Jacques Machado, eventually earning his brown belt. In addition, he holds a brown belt in 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu under Eddie Bravo.

He also practiced and competed in kickboxing.

In 1994, he co-starred on the Fox comedy Hardball as Frank Valente, the young, ego-centric star player on a fictional professional baseball team. From 1995 to 1999, he co-starred on the comedy NewsRadio. He portrayed Joe Garrelli, the electrician at WNYX, a news radio station in New York City. In 2002, he appeared on the episode "A Beautiful Mind" of Just Shoot Me as Chris, Maya Gallo's boyfriend. In 2011, Rogan played his first major character in a movie in the Kevin James movie Zookeeper. He is slated to play himself in an upcoming action-comedy starring Kevin James called Here Comes the Boom, set to be released in the summer of 2012.

Gary Goodridge (born January 17, 1966), nicknamed "Big Daddy", is a retired Canadian super heavyweight kickboxer and heavyweight mixed martial artist fighting out of Barrie, Ontario. Goodridge is known for his hard-hitting fighting style and showmanship. Prior to kickboxing and MMA, he was also one of the top ranked contenders in the world of professional arm wrestling.

Goodridge was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago before moving to Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Prior to his career in combat sports, he worked as a welder at the Honda factory in Alliston, Ontario.

He was a world champion in arm wrestling, and was able to defeat the likes of greats Sharon Remez and John Brzenk in 1991 and again in 1994. He was also the super heavyweight amateur boxing champion of Canada.

In 1996, he was offered status of 4th degree black belt in kuk sool won, and a free dobak, if he would represent their school at the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He took two classes in kuk sool won before making his MMA debut in the eight-man tournament at UFC 8: David vs. Goliath in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the quarter-finals, he faced wrestler Paul Herrera (whom Goodridge outweighed by nearly 80 lbs) and won in violent fashion by using a "goose neck", the only submission hold he had learned before the event. After Herrera attempted a fireman's carry, Goodridge trapped both of his arms in a crucifix hold and proceeded to deliver multiple elbow blows to the helpless Herrera's head, ending the bout in 13 seconds. The second elbow strike knocked Herrera unconscious, but the fight was not stopped until after Goodridge landed six more strikes. He then went on to faced Jerry Bohlander in the semis, and again won by knockout. In the finals, he took on future legend Don Frye who was trained in boxing, judo and wrestling. After Frye gained dominant position two minutes into the match, Goodridge submitted.

Wanderlei César da Silva ( /ˈvændərleɪ/ VAN-dər-lay; Portuguese: [vɐ̃dɛɾˈlej ˈsɛzɐr dɐ ˈsiɫvɐ];Japanese: [ba̠nda̠ɽe̞i ɕiü͍βa̠]; born July 3, 1976), nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in knockout or referee stoppage due to strikes. His style includes engaging opponents with punches and knees from the Muay Thai clinch. He holds the record for the most wins and knockouts in Pride FC history. He is currently ranked as #22 best middleweight fighter in the world by FightMatrix.com.

Silva began his training under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. Although he specializes in muay Thai, he has also trained and received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from trainer Cristiano Marcello. Silva was given the nickname "Cachorro Louco" ("Mad Dog") in Brazil because of his aggressive style and his pre-fight opponent "stare down". He is the former IVC Light heavyweight Champion, former PRIDE Middleweight Champion, and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner.