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Introduction UFC 180: Werdum vs. Hunt. November 15, 2014. Arena Ciudad de México, Mexico City, Mexico. The first UFC event in Mexico. Fabricio Werdum won the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship with a second-round TKO of Mark Hunt at 2:27, via a flying knee and ground-and-pound strikes. The event was supposed to be headlined by Cain Velasquez defending the HW title against Werdum. Velasquez withdrew on October 21 with a torn MCL and meniscus in his right knee. Hunt stepped in on roughly two we

Introduction UFC 179: Aldo vs. Mendes 2. October 25, 2014. Ginásio do Maracanãzinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fifth UFC event in Rio de Janeiro. Jose Aldo defended the UFC Featherweight Championship against Chad Mendes by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) in five rounds, his seventh title defence. The fight was named Fight of the Year by multiple MMA outlets. The main event was rescheduled from the cancelled UFC 176, where Aldo’s neck injury in early July had forced the entire event o

Introduction UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso. September 27, 2014. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The event was originally planned to be headlined by Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch of UFC 165. Gustafsson withdrew with a torn meniscus. Daniel Cormier replaced him. Jones and Cormier brawled at a media day on August 4 in a confrontation that generated the sport’s most widely discussed pre-fight incident of 2014. Jones then pulled out with a leg injury on August 12. The fight was r

 Introduction UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto. August 30, 2014. Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, California. T.J. Dillashaw retained the UFC Bantamweight Championship with a fifth-round knockout of Joe Soto at 2:20 of round five. Dillashaw was scheduled to fight Renan Barão in a rematch. Barão collapsed during his weight cut the day before the event, fainted in a bathtub and hit his head; he was hospitalised and pulled from the fight. Joe Soto, who was scheduled to fight Anthony Birchak on the prelimi

 Introduction UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida. July 5, 2014. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Fourth of July weekend. Chris Weidman defended the UFC Middleweight Championship against Lyoto Machida by unanimous decision (49-45, 48-47, 49-46) in five rounds, his second title defence. Ronda Rousey knocked out Alexis Davis in 16 seconds in the co-main event — the fastest UFC title fight finish in promotion history at the time. Stefan Struve's scheduled fight with Matt Mitrione was cancelled when

 Introduction UFC 174: Johnson vs. Bagautinov. June 14, 2014. Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The first-ever UFC Flyweight Championship PPV main event. Demetrious Johnson defended the UFC Flyweight Championship against Ali Bagautinov by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) in five rounds — his fourth consecutive FW title defence. Johnson dominated with clinch knees and precise striking throughout. Bagautinov took him down twice across five rounds but could not hold positio

 Introduction UFC 173: Barão vs. Dillashaw. May 24, 2014. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. T.J. Dillashaw defeated Renan Barão by TKO (head kick and punches) at 2:25 of round five to win the UFC Bantamweight Championship. Dillashaw entered as a +765 betting underdog; Barão was a -1000 favourite widely considered the world’s No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter. The result was one of the biggest upsets in UFC title fight history. Dillashaw dominated all five rounds, knocking Barão down in round

 Introduction UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira. April 26, 2014. Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland. The first UFC event in Baltimore. Jon Jones defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Glover Teixeira by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) in five rounds, his seventh consecutive LHW title defence — a new record. The previous record of six was his own, set at UFC 165. Jones was dominant throughout, opening a horrific diagonal gash above Teixeira’s right eye with a standing elbow

 Introduction UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler. March 15, 2014. American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas. Johny Hendricks won the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Robbie Lawler (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in five rounds. It was the first undisputed WW title fight without Georges St-Pierre since 2008. Hendricks had been denied the belt at UFC 167 by a controversial split decision and now received it via the vacant title route. The fight drew 19,324 fans and was widely con

 Introduction UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann. February 22, 2014. Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Ronda Rousey retained the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship against Sara McMann via TKO (knee to liver) at 1:06 of round one. It was the first time in Rousey’s professional career that she had finished a fight with something other than an armbar. Rousey had promised her coach before the fight that she would drop McMann with a body shot. After stating this publicly post-fight, she attracted a m

 Introduction UFC 169: Barão vs. Faber 2. February 1, 2014. Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. The UFC Bantamweight Championship was on the line for the first time as an undisputed title since Dominick Cruz vacated it on January 6, 2014, due to a torn groin. Renan Barão became the undisputed champion by default and made his first defence against Urijah Faber, whom he had defeated for the interim title at UFC 149 in July 2012. Barão stopped Faber by TKO at 3:42 of round one in a controversial

 Introduction UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2. December 28, 2013. MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The UFC’s final event of 2013 and one of its most anticipated rematches. Chris Weidman defended the UFC Middleweight Championship against Anderson Silva in a rematch of UFC 162, where Weidman had ended Silva’s 2,457-day title reign. The result of the rematch was one of the most disturbing moments in UFC history. In round two, Anderson Silva threw a leg kick. Weidman checked it. Silva's leg snapped o