UFC 17: Redemption was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 15th, 1998 at the Mobile Civic Center, in Mobile, Alabama. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.

The event featured a four man Middleweight Tournament, three Heavyweight Superfights, an alternate bout in case of tournament injury, and a Heavyweight "exhibition" bout. A Middleweight Championship bout between Frank Shamrock and Jeremy Horn was also taped for broadcast on a later pay per view.

UFC 17 was the last UFC event (aside from UFC 23), to feature the "tournament" style format.

UFC 17 featured the first UFC appearance of both Dan Henderson and Carlos Newton, as well as the first MMA fight for Chuck Liddell. UFC 17 marked the first card where the letters "U.F.C." replaced "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" in all the logos and when referred to by the announcers/commentators. The new logo used the similar character from the old logo (with hands on his hips instead of punching the globe) combined with the letters UFC on the bottom.

Chael Patrick Sonnen (pronounced /ˈtʃeɪl ˈsʌnən/; born April 3, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, a silver medalist at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships, as well as a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner.

As of October 2011^[update], Sonnen is ranked as the No. 2 middleweight in the world by Sherdog.

Sonnen was born Chael Patrick Sonnen on April 3, 1977 in West Linn, Oregon.

Sonnen started his MMA career at the age of 19 in 1997 by defeating Ben Hailey in Vancouver, Washington. His second fight was against future ICON Sport Middleweight Champion and Strikeforce Middleweight contender Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Sonnen went 6–0 in his first six fights, until his loss to Trevor Prangley, which he later avenged in 2006 at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4. He also fought The Ultimate Fighter winner and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin.

Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; 27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) was a Chinese AmericanHong Kong actor,martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement. He is widely considered by many commentators, critics, media and other martial artists to be the most influential martial artist and pop culture icon of the 20th Century. He is often credited with changing the way Asians were presented in American films.

Lee was born in San Francisco to parents of Hong Kong heritage but was raised in Hong Kong until his late teens. Lee returned to the United States at the age of 18 to claim his U.S. citizenship and receive his higher education. It was during this time that he began teaching martial arts, which soon led to film and television roles.

His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, and sparked a major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West in the 1970s. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in Hong Kong and the rest of the world, as well. He is noted for his roles in five feature-length films: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978), both directed by Robert Clouse.

Antônio Rogério Nogueira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtoniu ʁoˈʒɛɾiu noˈɡejɾɐ]; born June 2, 1976) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist currently signed with the UFC. He is the twin brother of Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. A proficient amateur boxer, he was the 2006 and 2007 Brazilian Super Heavyweight Champion. He also won a bronze medal in the 2007 Pan American Games. 'Minotouro' has never been submitted, and was finished by strikes only once in twenty-five professional bouts. He is currently ranked the #8 best Light Heavyweight in the world according to Sherdog.

Antônio Rogério Nogueira hails from the town of Vitória da Conquista, Brazil and trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Ricardo de la Riva. Along with his brother, Antônio trains with Black House. Rogerio claims that it is not usual for Brazilian twins to have the same first name but the twins' mother named them both after their father Antonio Amielto.

Although they are identical twins, Rogério can be distinguished from his brother by his lighter weight and shorter height, and by the presence of a scar on his brother's lower back. He is an instructor at San Diego, CA along with his brother, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, former interim UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Lyoto Carvalho Machida (Portuguese pronunciation: [liˈotu maˈʃidɐ]; born May 30, 1978) is a Japanese-Brazilian mixed martial artist from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil who fights as a light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and is currently ranked as the #6 light heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog, MMAWeekly and Yahoo! Sports.

Machida was born in the city of Salvador as the third son of the highly ranked head of the Brazilian branch of the Japan Karate Association, Shotokan karate master Yoshizo Machida. Yoshizo moved to Brazil from Japan when he was 22 years old. There he met and married Lyoto's mother, Ana Claudia. Growing up in Belém, Lyoto began training in karate at the age of three and earned his black belt at the age of thirteen. He also began training in sumo at twelve and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at fifteen. He won a number of amateur karate tournaments, including the 2001 Pan American Karate tournament.

He was the runner-up in the 2000 Brazilian Sumo Championships in the 115 kg division. As an adult, he became Brazilian Champion twice under Taylor Swanson, and placed second in the South American Championship. He defeated American black belt Jiu-Jitsu fighter Rafael Lovato Jr. at L.A. Sub X. In addition to his sumo and karate achievements, he has a college degree in Physical Education. Lyoto's brother, Chinzô, is a Shotokan vice-champion (Australia 2006), losing only to number-one ranked Shotokan master Koji Ogata. Lyoto and Chinzô fought in a Karate Final 10 years ago in which Lyoto gave Chinzô a cheek scar that still exists today. His other brothers include Kenzo Machida, a TV journalist for one of Brazil's biggest TV stations, Take Machida and adopted brother Francisco Machida.