UFC Events

Introduction UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida. December 10, 2011. Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Jon Jones retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Lyoto Machida with a standing guillotine choke in round two. Machida refused to tap out and was rendered unconscious while Jones held the submission. Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight at 4:26. It was the first time Machida had been submitted in his professional career. Jones finished 2011 with a 4-

Introduction UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson. November 19, 2011. HP Pavilion, San Jose, California. The first UFC event in San Jose — the longtime home base of Strikeforce. Dan Henderson defeated Mauricio Rua in a five-round war that was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame Fight Wing in 2018 as its first-ever inductee. Henderson won by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in a fight widely considered one of the greatest in MMA history. Both fighters absorbed massive puni

Introduction UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz. November 5, 2011. LG Arena, Birmingham, United Kingdom. The UFC’s second event in Birmingham, following UFC 89 in 2008 which also featured Chris Leben. The main event between Mark Muñoz and Leben was the first non-title five-round fight in UFC history. Muñoz defeated Leben by TKO via elbow at the end of round two. Renan Barão defeated Brad Pickett in a bantamweight Fight of the Night in front of the home crowd. Chris Leben was later

Introduction UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz. October 29, 2011. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. The event was originally titled GSP vs. Diaz after Nick Diaz was booked against Georges St-Pierre for a WW title defence. St-Pierre withdrew with a knee injury, and Nick Diaz returned to the UFC after more than five years in Strikeforce and dominated Penn across three rounds by unanimous decision (28-29, 27-29, 28-29). Penn’s left eye swelled shut during the fight. Post-fight, Pe

Introduction UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III. October 8, 2011. Toyota Center, Houston, Texas. Frankie Edgar defeated Gray Maynard by TKO at 3:54 of round four, closing one of the UFC lightweight division’s defining trilogies with a final score of 1-1-1. The event held the UFC record for most total fighting time at 158 minutes and 32 seconds. Maynard rocked Edgar in round one of the third fight, as he had in the second. He did not try to finish; he conserved energy. Edgar r

Introduction UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage. September 24, 2011. Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado. The first UFC pay-per-view event in Denver since The Ultimate Ultimate in 1995 — a gap of 16 years. Jon Jones made his first LHW title defence, submitting Quinton Jackson with a rear-naked choke at 1:14 of round four. Jones opened the fight by crawling toward Rampage on all fours. He used his 11.5-inch reach advantage throughout and built sustained pressure across three-and-a-half

Introduction UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami. Also known as UFC Rio. August 27, 2011. HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The UFC’s return to Brazil after 13 years, its first event in Rio de Janeiro, and its first pay-per-view in Brazil. Anderson Silva defended the Middleweight Championship against Yushin Okami by TKO in round two, his first UFC victory on Brazilian soil. Sherdog awarded the event 2011 Event of the Year. 14,000 fans attended; tickets sold out in 74 minutes. Braz

Introduction UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz 2. August 6, 2011. Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event was expected to feature Jon Jones’ first LHW title defence against Rashad Evans, but Jones suffered a hand injury that kept him out until September. Evans accepted a rescheduled main event against Tito Ortiz instead. Rashad Evans stopped Vitor Belfort knocked out Yoshihiro Akiyama in round one. Brian Ebersole beat Dennis Hallman. Alexander Gustafsson stoppe

Introduction UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber. July 2, 2011. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Dominick Cruz retained the UFC Bantamweight Championship in the first bantamweight title fight in UFC history, defeating Urijah Faber by unanimous decision across five rounds — 50-45, 49-46, 48-47. The bout was awarded Fight of the Night. Tito Ortiz submitted Ryan Bader with a guillotine choke in round one, pulling off the Upset of the Year. Dana White had publicly stated that Ortiz nee

Introduction UFC 131: dos Santos vs. Carwin. June 11, 2011. Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The second UFC event in Vancouver, following UFC 115 in June 2010. Junior dos Santos defeated Shane Carwin by unanimous decision — 27-30, 27-30, 26-30 — in a three-round heavyweight main event to earn a title shot against Cain Velasquez. The original main event had been Brock Lesnar vs. dos Santos, arranged after their coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter 13. L

Introduction UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill. May 28, 2011. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The event was scheduled to be headlined by the third meeting between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard for the UFC Lightweight Championship. On May 9, both fighters withdrew with injuries — Edgar with broken ribs, Maynard with a knee injury. It became the first UFC numbered event without a title fight since UFC 110 in February 2010. Quinton Jackson defeated Matt Hamill by unanimous dec

Introduction UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields. April 30, 2011. Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The first UFC event in Ontario. The first UFC stadium event. 55,724 fans attended, the largest crowd in UFC North American history. The live gate exceeded $12 million, a new UFC record. Georges St-Pierre retained the Welterweight Championship against Jake Shields by unanimous decision across five rounds. Georges St-Pierre suffered an eye injury early in the fight and comp

Introduction UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones. March 19, 2011. Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. Jon Jones won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship by TKO at 2:37 of round three, becoming the youngest UFC champion in history at 23 years and 8 months. Jones had accepted the fight four weeks earlier on short notice, replacing Rashad Evans who had suffered a knee injury. He opened round one with a flying knee, dominated three rounds with his reach advantage and unorthodox st

Introduction UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch. February 27, 2011. Acer Arena, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The second UFC event in Sydney — and the fastest-selling event in UFC history at the time. 18,186 fans attended. Gate: $3.5 million. BJ Penn and Jon Fitch fought to a majority draw — 29-28 for Fitch, 28-28, 28-28 — the second draw in UFC history following the Edgar-Maynard draw at UFC 125 in January 2011. Michael Bisping defeated Jorge Rivera by TKO in round two, but l

Introduction UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort. February 5, 2011. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Anderson Silva retained the UFC Middleweight Championship with the first front-kick knockout in UFC history. He faked a body strike, landed a front kick to Vitor Belfort’s chin at 3:25 of round one, and followed with two punches. The knockout was named KO of the Year 2011. Anderson Silva extended his UFC winning streak to 13 consecutive victories, a new record in the promotio

Introduction UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones. March 19, 2011. Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. Jon Jones became the youngest UFC champion in the history of the sport, defeating Mauricio Rua by TKO at 2:37 of round three. Jones was 23 years and 243 days old — a Guinness World Record. Jones replaced Rashad Evans, who had withdrawn with a knee injury. Hours before the fight, Jones and his coaches foiled an attempted robbery in a park in Paterson, New Jersey — Jones used a fi

Introduction UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch. February 27, 2011. Acer Arena, Sydney, Australia. The second UFC event in Sydney, following UFC 110 in 2010. UFC 127 sold out moments after going on public sale on December 16, 2010, making it the fastest-selling event in UFC history (tied with UFC 115). 18,186 fans attended; gate: $3.5 million. BJ Penn and Jon Fitch fought to a majority draw in the main event — 29-28 for Fitch on one scorecard, 28-28 on two others. It was the second

Introduction UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort. February 5, 2011. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Anderson Silva retained the UFC Middleweight Championship with the most spectacular finish of his career: a front kick to the face of Vitor Belfort at 3:25 of round one. It was the first front-kick knockout in UFC history. Belfort had been unbeaten in five consecutive fights and had never been finished so quickly in his 14-year career. UFC 126 is considered one of the stronge

Introduction UFC 125: Resolution. January 1, 2011. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The UFC’s New Year’s Day pay-per-view. The main event was the first draw in UFC title fight history. Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard fought five rounds for the UFC Lightweight Championship; the judges scored 46-48, 48-46, and 47-47 — a split draw. Edgar retained the title. The fight was awarded Sherdog’s 2011 Fight of the Year. Maynard nearly stopped Edgar in round one, landing multiple k

Introduction UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2. December 11, 2010. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Georges St-Pierre retained the UFC Welterweight Championship with a dominant five-round decision over Josh Koscheck — 50-45, 50-45, 50-45. GSP broke Koscheck’s right orbital bone with his jab in round one; Koscheck fought with one eye for four of the five rounds. 23,152 fans attended, the largest crowd in UFC history at that time. Georges St-Pierre landed 110 signific