The Blog

UFC Fight Night 125: Machida vs. Anders — February 3, 2018, Belém Brazil. 1st UFC in Pará/North Brazil. Machida SD over Anders (leg kick masterclass; snapped 3-fight losing streak; Anders’ first career loss). Shevchenko dominant PoN sub of Cachoeira (10-7 R1!). Santos TKO of Smith FotN. Alcântara PoN. Prazeres 7+ lbs over. Figueiredo 2nd UFC win. 839k viewers.

UFC Fight Night 124: Stephens vs. Choi — January 14, 2018, St. Louis. 1st UFC in St. Louis. 1.28M viewers! Stephens TKO Choi R2 FotN. Elkins comeback RNC of Johnson PoN. Reyes R1 KO PoN. VanZant broke her arm vs. Clark (2 surgeries!). Hall seizure/heart attack — cancelled Belfort retirement fight. Cummings bathtub slip — cancelled fight. Usman 8-0 UFC (future WW champion). 10,052 attendance.

UFC Fight Night 123: Swanson vs. Ortega — December 9, 2017, Fresno CA. 1st UFC in Fresno. Ortega guillotine choke of Swanson R2 — DOUBLE BONUS (FotN + PoN; earned FW title shot). Moraes knee KO of Sterling R1 PoN (67 seconds). Knight BIT Benitez fingers (point deduction). Benito Lopez fined for weigh-in shove. De Tomas USADA fail. Dvalishvili early career loss (future BW champion!). 1.03M peak viewers.

UFC Fight Night 122: Bisping vs. Gastelum — November 25, 2017, Shanghai China. UFC’s FIRST MAINLAND CHINA EVENT — sold-out 15,128! Gastelum PoN KO of Bisping R1 (Bisping on 21-day short notice post-GSP). Li Jingliang PoN TKO home crowd. Zabit 2nd consecutive PoN. Yadong Song UFC debut PoN. Silva def. Brunson UD later NC (USADA positive). No FotN — 4 PoN.

UFC Fight Night 123: Swanson vs. Ortega — December 9, 2017, Fresno CA. 1.03M peak viewers. Ortega GUILLOTINE CHOKE of Swanson R2 (FotN + PoN DOUBLE BONUS; Swanson landed 60 strikes to 24 before getting caught!). Moraes KNEE KO of #1 BW Aljamain Sterling in 67 seconds PoN. Knight DEDUCTED POINT for biting Benitez’s fingers! Lopez fined for shoving. de Tomas USADA fail. Attendance: 7,605.

UFC Fight Night 122: Bisping vs. Gastelum — November 25, 2017, Shanghai. FIRST UFC ON MAINLAND CHINA! 15,128 attendance. Bisping accepted 11 days’ notice (3 weeks after losing MW title to GSP). Gastelum R1 KO PoN. Li Jingliang R1 TKO PoN (Chinese crowd). Zabit anaconda choke PoN. Song Yadong debut PoN + Song Kenan PoN. 5 total PoN bonuses. No FotN. Originally Anderson Silva (who later failed drug test).

UFC Fight Night 121: Werdum vs. Tybura — November 19, 2017, Sydney. Werdum def. Tybura HW (Hunt pulled with medical/CTE concerns). WERDUM HIT COVINGTON WITH A BOOMERANG outside hotel (charged, fined $600!). Tuivasa UFC DEBUT (Aboriginal Australian, home city, future shoey star). Volkanovski 2nd UFC win (future FW champion). Belal Muhammad early career. Clark/Rawlings Australian co-main.

UFC Fight Night 120: Poirier vs. Pettis — November 11, 2017, Norfolk VA (Veterans Day; 1st UFC in Hampton Roads). Poirier R3 sub of Pettis FotN. Brown devastating elbow KO of Sanchez PoN. Assunção PoN. Arlovski ended 5-fight losing streak. Guida KO’d Lauzon. Sean Strickland early career. 837k viewers. Attendance: 8,442.

UFC Fight Night 119: Brunson vs. Machida — October 28, 2017, São Paulo Brazil. Brunson R1 KO of returning Machida (2-year USADA suspension return) PoN. Covington MAJOR upset UD over Maia then ‘filthy animals’ comments caused security evacuation. Zaleski/Griffin FotN. Munhoz guillotine PoN. Figueiredo UFC DEBUT (future FW champion!). Santos TKO Hermansson. 588k viewers.

UFC Fight Night 118: Cowboy vs. Till — October 21, 2017, Gdańsk Poland. Fight Pass exclusive. Till R1 TKO of Cerrone PoN (24 years old; biggest win). Conor McGregor caused incident coaching Lobov. Blachowicz standing RNC PoN (extremely rare). Kelleher/Stasiak FotN. Kowalkiewicz dominates. Football ultras cancelled Wieczorek fight. Attendance: 11,138. Gate: $677,000.

UFC Fight Night 117: Saint Preux vs. Okami — September 23, 2017, Saitama Japan. Lowest Saitama UFC attendance ever (8,571). OSP’s RECORD 3rd UFC Von Flue choke of short-notice Okami PoN. Andrade dominant UD over Gadelha FotN. Gokhan Saki UFC debut KO PoN (kickboxing legend). Gomi KO win in Japan. 502k viewers.

UFC Fight Night 116: Rockhold vs. Branch — September 16, 2017, Pittsburgh. Rockhold TKO’d Branch R2 (bounce-back; Branch won R1). Usman R1 KO Moraes (7-0 UFC; future WW champion). Anthony Smith TKO Lombard. Gillespie/Gonzalez FotN. Perry PoN. Hall PoN. Burns early career. Attendance: 7,005. Gate: $396,190.75. 872k viewers.