The Blog

UFC Fight Night 85: Hunt vs. Mir — March 20, 2016, Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Hunt walk-off KO of Mir R1 PoN (Mir later tested positive; NC). Magny first to finish Lombard in his 15 UFC fights PoN. Matthews/Case FotN. Attendance: 9,552. Gate: $1.325M.

UFC Fight Night 84: Silva vs. Bisping — February 27, 2016, The O2 Arena, London. Fight Pass exclusive. Record 16,734 attendance and $2M gate for UK UFC. Bisping UD Anderson Silva (48-47x3). Silva landed flying knee in R3, started celebrating — the bell rang; Bisping survived and won R4-R5. FotN. 10 decisions tied UFC record.

UFC Fight Night 83: Cerrone vs. Oliveira (Cowboy vs. Cowboy) — February 21, 2016, Pittsburgh. Cerrone subbed Oliveira R1 triangle PoN — referee Yamasaki MISSED the tap; Cerrone had to wave. Cerrone’s 11th UFC performance bonus. Brunson 4th consecutive R1 TKO. Garbrandt early career. Camozzi 26-sec TKO PoN. Attendance: 7,330.

UFC Fight Night 82: Hendricks vs. Thompson — February 6, 2016, MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Originally UFC 196 PPV; downgraded after Werdum and Velasquez both withdrew. Thompson TKO’d Hendricks in 3:31 (spinning back kick PoN). Diego Rivas flying knee PoN. Pyle/Spencer FotN. Mickey Gall win set up CM Punk fight. Attendance: 7,422.

UFC Fight Night 81: Dillashaw vs. Cruz — January 17, 2016, TD Garden, Boston. First UFC title fight on FS1 Fight Night. Cruz wins BW title back after 4+ year injury absence (SD 48-47, 49-46, 46-49). 2.29M viewers — record FS1 viewership. Alvarez SD Pettis. Attendance: 12,022. Gate: $1.3M. FotN: Cruz + Dillashaw. PoN: Herman + Sanders.

UFC Fight Night 80: Namajunas vs. VanZant — December 10, 2015, The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas. Thursday Fight Pass card. 1,643 attendance. Namajunas dominated VanZant (57-10 strikes, 8 TDs, 16:33 control) before R5 sub PoN. Chiesa FotN sub of Miller. Sage Northcutt 2nd win at 19. Tim Means 21-sec PoN KO. Sterling early career win.

UFC Fight Night 79: Henderson vs. Masvidal — November 28, 2015, Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Seoul. First UFC in South Korea. Henderson SD Masvidal. Doo Ho Choi 2nd consecutive R1 KO — 1:51 total UFC fight time. Seo Hee Ham FotN at home. Tae Hyun Bang fight-fixing scandal. Attendance: 12,156. Fight Pass exclusive.

UFC Fight Night 78: Magny vs. Gastelum — November 21, 2015, Arena Monterrey. First UFC in Monterrey; TUF Latin America 2 Finale. Magny replaced Matt Brown on 2 weeks notice and won FotN split decision over Gastelum. Magny’s 4th win of 2015 — most in UFC. Henry Cejudo SD over Formiga (future double champion). Attendance: 10,410.

UFC Fight Night 77: Belfort vs. Henderson 3 — November 7, 2015, Ibirapuera, São Paulo. Belfort head-kicked Henderson in R1 again (Henderson ducked in). Thomas Almeida’s 20th straight win all by finish PoN. Alex Oliveira PoN. Gleison Tibau’s win overturned after EPO positive. Gilbert Burns early career. Attendance: 10,628. No FotN, 4 PoN.

UFC Fight Night 76: Holohan vs. Smolka — October 24, 2015, 3Arena, Dublin. Fight Pass exclusive. Both original headline fights collapsed (Poirier/Duffy concussion; Miocic/Rothwell injury). Flyweight main event promoted. Smolka subs Holohan R2; Holohan emotional farewell speech. Till vs. Dalby FotN majority draw. Neil Seery PoN at home. Tom Breese PoN.

UFC Fight Night 75: Barnett vs. Nelson — September 27, 2015, Saitama Super Arena, Japan. Barnett UD Nelson over 25 min (Nelson’s first ever rounds 4 and 5). Uriah Hall’s stunning flying knee KO of Mousasi in 0:25 — first finish of Mousasi via strikes. Road to UFC Japan finale DREW — both Hirota and Ishihara got UFC contracts. Brandao 28-sec PoN. 4 PoN, No FotN.

UFC Fight Night 74: Holloway vs. Oliveira — August 23, 2015, SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. First UFC in Saskatchewan. Sunday card. Anti-climactic main event: Oliveira injury at 1:39 R1. Patrick Côté FotN hometown comeback. Létourneau wins. Misha Cirkunov debut. Attendance: 7,202. Gate: ~$720,000 USD.