The Blog

 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 decision (30-27, 30-27, 30

 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 competed with significantly

 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 Jones replaced Rashad Evans, who had withdrawn with a knee injury.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 figure-four leg lock to r

 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 strongest single cards in UFC

 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 consecutive UFC event t

 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 knockdowns. Edgar surviv

 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 significant strikes to Koscheck

 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 event — the trilogy’s d

 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 had been banned from b

 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 systematic volume of pu

 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 one in the co-main event,

 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. Mirko Cro Cop replaced him.