UFC Events

Introduction UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida. November 20, 2010. The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan. The first UFC event in Metro Detroit since UFC 9 in September 1996 — a gap of 14 years. Quinton Jackson defeated Lyoto Machida by split decision — 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 — in a controversial light heavyweight main event. Jackson himself said post-fight: ‘Machida whupped my ass tonight.’ BJ Penn knocked out Matt Hughes at 21 seconds of round one in the WW co-main

Introduction UFC 122: Marquardt vs. Okami. November 13, 2010. König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany. The second UFC event in Germany and the second in continental Europe. Yushin Okami defeated Nate Marquardt by unanimous decision — 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 — in a middleweight main event that earned him the next UFC Middleweight Championship fight against Anderson Silva. The event aired tape-delayed on Spike TV in the USA. Attendance: 8,421; Gate: $600,000. The sport of MMA

Introduction UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez. October 23, 2010. Honda Center, Anaheim, California. Cain Velasquez won the UFC Heavyweight Championship by TKO at 4:12 of round one. Velasquez became the first Mexican-American — and first Latino — heavyweight champion in combat sports history. Lesnar opened aggressively with flying knees, punches, and two takedowns. Velasquez survived the initial charge, worked back to his feet, took Lesnar down in return, and began landing a

Introduction UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama. October 16, 2010. The O2 Arena, London. The ninth UFC event in the United Kingdom and the first since UFC 105 in November 2009. Michael Bisping defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama by unanimous decision — 30-27 on all three scorecards — in a three-round middleweight main event. 17,133 fans attended. Gate: $2,518,852. Spike TV peaked at 2.47 million viewers in the USA. Carlos Condit knocked out Dan Hardy with a left hook at 4:27 of round on

Introduction UFC 119: Mir vs. Cro Cop. September 25, 2010. Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana. The first UFC event in Indiana. Frank Mir stopped Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic by TKO at 4:02 of round three via a knee to the head in the clinch. It was a quiet, grindy fight — two heavyweights controlling distance and trading shots in close — until the knee finished it. The original main event had been Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but Nogueira required hip surgery. Mirk

Introduction UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2. August 28, 2010. TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts. The first UFC event in Massachusetts. Frankie Edgar retained the UFC Lightweight Championship against BJ Penn by unanimous decision — 50-45 on all three scorecards. This time, there was no controversy. Edgar dominated every round, taking Penn down multiple times and out-striking him throughout all five rounds. Randy Couture submitted boxing legend James Toney with a rear-naked choke

Introduction UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen. August 7, 2010. Oracle Arena, Oakland, California. Anderson Silva retained the UFC Middleweight Championship against Chael Sonnen won four rounds, leading the scorecards 40-34, 40-35, and 40-36 entering round five. He controlled the fight for 19 minutes and 53 seconds, landed 320 total strikes to Silva’s 64, and had a -60 significant strike differential in his favour. With 1 minute and 50 seconds remaining, This fight was inducted

Introduction UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin. July 3, 2010. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The UFC Heavyweight Championship unification. Shane Carwin opened round one with one of the most sustained and brutal attacks in heavyweight history — over 100 strikes, multiple knockdowns, Brock Lesnar in the fetal position against the cage. Carwin could not finish it. In round two, Carwin gassed. Lesnar took him down, advanced to mount, and locked in an arm-triangle choke. Carwin tap

Introduction UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin. June 12, 2010. General Motors Place (now Rogers Arena), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The fourth UFC in Canada and the first UFC event in British Columbia. Rich Franklin stopped Rich Franklin fought the entire fight with a broken arm. Mirko Cro Cop submitted Pat Barry with a rear-naked choke in round three of the co-main event, after Barry had dropped Cro Cop twice with leg kicks in earlier rounds. Carlos Condit stopped R

Introduction UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans. May 29, 2010. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Rashad Evans defeated Quinton Jackson by unanimous decision — 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 — in a light heavyweight main event charged with genuine personal animosity. Jackson dropped Evans in round two but failed to finish; Evans survived and went on to take the fight. Mike Russow stopped Todd Duffee by TKO in round three — one of the most shocking heavyweight upsets in UFC history. Duffee h

Introduction UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2. May 8, 2010. Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The third UFC in Montreal. Mauricio Rua stopped Lyoto Machida by TKO at 3:35 of round one — a brutal first-round finish that ended the Machida era. Machida was out cold and remained motionless 45 seconds after the stoppage. Paul Daley punched Josh Koscheck after the bell in the co-main event. Dana White fired Daley from the UFC immediately, saying he would never fight for the o

Introduction UFC 112: Invincible. April 10, 2010. Concert Arena at Ferrari World, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE. The first UFC event in the Middle East and the first outdoor UFC. Live on US PPV at 1 PM ET due to the time zone difference. Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn by unanimous decision — 50-45, 48-47, 49-46 — to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion in one of the sport’s biggest upsets. Penn’s knee was injured going into the fight. Anderson Silva retained the Middlew

Introduction UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy. March 27, 2010. Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. Georges St-Pierre retained the Welterweight Championship with a dominant five-round decision over Dan Hardy — 50-43, 50-44, 50-45. Hardy became the first British fighter in UFC history to challenge for a title. Frank Mir was knocked out in round one by Shane Carwin at 3:48, who won the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Hardy refused to tap to a kimura and armbar in round two;

Introduction UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez. February 21, 2010. Acer Arena, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first UFC event in Australia. 17,831 fans packed the arena and its overflow ballroom; it was the second fastest sellout in UFC history. Merchandise sales of $540,000 broke the UFC’s own record and surpassed the Acer Arena’s previous mark, which had been set by Iron Maiden. Cain Velasquez stopped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by TKO at 2:20 of round one to earn a

Introduction UFC 109: Relentless. February 6, 2010. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Randy Couture submitted Mark Coleman in the light heavyweight main event. The fight had originally been booked for UFC 17 in May 1998 and was cancelled due to a Couture injury. Nearly 12 years later, it was finally delivered. It was the first time in UFC history that two UFC Hall of Fame inductees competed against each other. Chael Sonnen defeated Nate Marquardt by unanimous decisio

Introduction UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva. January 2, 2010. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The card was heavily disrupted by injuries. Three separate main events were cancelled before Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva was confirmed: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort (Silva’s elbow surgery), Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin (Lesnar’s diverticulitis), and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez (Nogueira withdrawal). Rashad Evans defeated Thiago Silva by unanimous decision — 29

Introduction UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez. December 12, 2009. FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee. The first UFC event in Tennessee. BJ Penn retained the UFC Lightweight Championship with a dominant five-round performance over BJ Penn stuffed all 27 of Sanchez’s takedown attempts. He dropped Sanchez multiple times across five rounds, controlled every exchange, and extended his record to three consecutive lightweight title defences — a new UFC LW record. Joe Rogan called it: ‘That

Introduction UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2. November 21, 2009. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Forrest Griffin defeated Josh Koscheck submitted Anthony Johnson with a rear-naked choke in round two. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira stopped Luiz Cané by TKO in round one. Ben Saunders knocked out Marcus Davis with knees in round one. Caol Uno and Fabricio Camoes fought to a majority draw. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Quick Stats 3. The Build-Up 4. Main Event 5. Co-Main Even

Introduction UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera. November 14, 2009. Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England. The second UFC event in Manchester. Randy Couture defeated Brandon Vera by unanimous decision — 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 — in a light heavyweight main event. It was Couture’s last win in the UFC. Dan Hardy defeated Mike Swick by unanimous decision — 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 — in the co-main, earning a UFC Welterweight Championship fight against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 111

Introduction UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun. October 24, 2009. Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. Lyoto Machida retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua — 48-47, 48-47, 48-47. The decision was immediately and widely regarded as one of the most controversial in UFC history. Rua landed significantly more strikes: 80 significant strikes at 55% accuracy against Machida’s 35 at 32%. Dana White told the post-fight p