UFC 74: Respect was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The event took place on August 25, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main event was a UFC heavyweight championship bout which featured UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture defending his title against Gabriel Gonzaga, who knocked out Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović at UFC 70 to become the number one contender.

Former UFC and TKO welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, in his first fight since losing his title to Matt Serra at UFC 69, was matched up against The Ultimate Fighter's Josh Koscheck.

The card also featured former heavyweight champion Frank Mir against K-1 veteran Antoni Hardonk; The Ultimate Fighter 3's winner Kendall Grove; the UFC debut of PRIDE veteran Marcus Aurélio; The Ultimate Fighter 2 welterweight winner Joe Stevenson; and former light heavyweight challenger Renato Sobral.

Fighters were awarded $40,000 bonuses.

Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (born December 19, 1967), better known by the stage name Criss Angel, is an American magician and illusionist. He is best known for starring in the television show, Criss Angel Mindfreak and his live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in artistic collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Angel is also the creator of the MagicPlace.com.

Angel's childhood interest in magic grew as he aged and by the time he graduated from East Meadow High School, he decided to pursue a career as a professional magician instead of attending college as his parents wanted. Angel is of Greek descent.

Criss Angel was the creator, director, and executive producer of the A&E Network show Criss Angel Mindfreak. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, with Season 3 at the Luxor Las Vegas. Premiering on July 20, 2005, the show's illusions have included walking on water, levitating, walking up the side of Luxor Hotel (in the light of 39 focused lamps that can be seen from space), floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, cutting himself in half in full view of an audience and getting run over by a steamroller while lying on a bed of broken glass. While making season 3 Angel was injured jumping out of a moving car and stopped production for 2 weeks.

Gabriel Gonzaga-Nogueira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡabɾiˈew ɡõˈzaɡɐ]; born May 18, 1979), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is a former member of Chute Boxe Academy and now fights out of Ludlow, Massachusetts as a part of Team Link. Gonzaga won by a devastating head kick knockout at UFC 70 over MMA legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović on April 21, 2007, which earned him a Heavyweight title shot with former five-time UFC Champion and UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. He won a gold medal in the Ultra Heavyweight division at the 2006 Mundials, which is considered to be the top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition in the world.

Gonzaga's Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) record is currently 13-6-0 and 8-5-0 in the UFC. He made his MMA debut on April 4, 2003 in Santos, Brazil against Cicero Costa, winning via submission due to punches in the first round.

He made his UFC debut at UFC 56, knocking out Kevin Jordan at 4:39 of the third round. However, Gonzaga had noted that his debut did not come without complications. Weeks before the fight, his pregnant wife started having complications with her pregnancy and lost one of the twins she was carrying. Gonzaga's obligations to his wife during her high risk pregnancy left him unable to train properly.

Josh D. Koscheck (born November 30, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, a former collegiate wrestling champion and is currently fighting at welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He made his debut with the organization on the first season of the reality television show, The Ultimate Fighter. Koscheck has fought for the company a record 19 times since 2005. Koscheck is often ranked among the top ten welterweights in the world by leading mixed martial arts publications. Sherdog currently ranks Koscheck at No. 7.

Josh Koscheck has a strong, well-documented base in collegiate wrestling, dating back to his years at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where he attended the university on an athletic scholarship. In 2001, during his Junior season, Koscheck won all 42 of his wrestling matches and went on to become the NCAA Division I Champion in the 174 lb weight class.

In addition to being a four-time NCAA Division I All-American (placing 4th, 2nd, 1st and 3rd respectively), Koscheck is a three-time recipient of the PSAC Wrestler of the Year award and earned the Eastern Wrestling League Achievement Award twice.

Kurt Joseph Pellegrino (born May 7, 1979) is a former American mixed martial artist. He is best known for competing in the lightweight division of the UFC. Pellegrino's first fight in the UFC came in 2006. Pellegrino runs his own MMA Academy in Belmar NJ in which he has many up and coming fighters including Jeff Lentz, Steven Deangelis, Lester Caslow and fellow former UFC fighter Greg Soto. He lives and trains in New Jersey and also trains with Kenny Florian's camp in Boston, Massachusetts. Pellegrino trained previously at the Armory in Jupiter, Florida with Justin Haskins, Eduardo Guedes, and Raphael Chaves. Prior to the Armory, he trained with Ricardo Almeida, a world famous Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor at a Renzo Gracie affiliate school. He wrestled for Point Pleasant Boro High School and placed second in the state in his junior and senior year. Pellegrino was a two-time wrestling state finalist. Opened Kurt Pellegrino's MMA School in Belmar, New Jersey in 2008. 'Batman' holds notable wins over Mac Danzig, Josh Neer and a submission win over Jiu-Jitsu ace Fabricio Camoes.