Introduction
UFC Fight Night 24: Nogueira vs. Davis took place on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington — broadcast live on Spike TV in front of 13,741 fans for a gate of $1,182,850, one of the largest gates in Fight Night series history. The main event had originally been Tito Ortiz vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira, but Ortiz suffered a severe cut in training and withdrew. Phil ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Davis stepped in on short notice, defeated Nogueira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), and moved to 9-0 unbeaten.
The most significant debut on the card belonged to Chan Sung Jung — the Korean Zombie — who defeated Leonard Garcia by split decision in a rematch of their highly controversial WEC 48 fight, where Garcia had won a disputed decision that many observers felt Jung had won. Anthony Johnson TKO’d Dan Hardy in the co-main, and a bantamweight bout between Michael McDonald and Edwin Figueroa produced Fight of the Night honours and a $55,000 bonus.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, March 26, 2011
📍 Venue: KeyArena, Seattle, Washington, USA
👥 Attendance: 13,741
💰 Gate: $1,182,850 — one of the largest gates in Fight Night history
📺 Broadcast: Spike TV
🏆 Main Event: Phil Davis vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira — Light Heavyweight (Davis replaced injured Tito Ortiz)
✅ Result: Davis def. Nogueira via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
The Build-Up
Dana White announced on February 19 via Twitter that Tito Ortiz had suffered a severe cut in training and was forced to withdraw from his fight with Nogueira. Phil Davis, then unbeaten at 8-0 in the UFC on the strength of five straight wins, was offered the replacement slot. Davis had not been scheduled to fight until later in 2011; stepping in against a veteran like Nogueira on short notice was a significant opportunity and a significant risk. He accepted and prepared on a shortened camp.
Seattle’s KeyArena — previously home of the Seattle SuperSonics — had a strong sports-fan culture and a demonstrated appetite for combat sports. The $1.18 million gate was exceptional for a Fight Night card and reflected both Seattle’s market appetite and the card’s genuine depth: Davis-Nogueira, Johnson-Hardy, Chan Sung Jung-Garcia, Johny Hendricks, and a featherweight card with genuine international significance.
Main Event: Davis vs. Nogueira
Davis, a former Penn State All-American wrestler, neutralised Nogueira’s superior striking by controlling the pace and denying him space to work. The first round was competitive; in rounds two and three, Davis’s takedowns became increasingly frequent and his top-game work increasingly dominant. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Davis. Nogueira, a Brazilian legend and twin brother of heavyweight great Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, was gracious in defeat but clearly never found the answers to Davis’s wrestling.
The win moved Davis to 9-0 and raised immediate questions about a Jon Jones title fight. The MMA media consensus at the time was that Davis’s wrestling was elite but his striking was too underdeveloped to threaten Jones. He would eventually fight Jones at UFC 135 in September 2011, losing by unanimous decision.
Chan Sung Jung’s UFC Debut
The most historically significant fight on the card was the UFC debut of Chan Sung Jung at featherweight against Leonard Garcia. Their first fight at WEC 48 in November 2010 had produced a controversial split decision for Garcia — widely considered one of the most disputed decisions in the WEC’s history. The rematch gave Jung a second chance on the bigger UFC stage. He won by split decision, delivering an emphatically more convincing performance than the WEC fight had suggested. The win launched one of the more celebrated Fight Night careers in UFC featherweight history — Jung would go on to submit Mark Hominick with the first twister submission in UFC history at UFC 140.
Full Results
Main Card (Spike TV)
Phil Davis def. Antônio Rogério Nogueira — Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) — Light Heavyweight (Davis replaced injured Tito Ortiz)
Anthony Johnson def. Dan Hardy — TKO — Welterweight
Amir Sadollah def. DaMarques Johnson — Welterweight
Chan Sung Jung def. Leonard Garcia — Split Decision — Featherweight (UFC debut; WEC 48 rematch)
Mike Russow def. Jon Madsen — Unanimous Decision — Heavyweight
Preliminary Card
Mackens Semerzier def. Alex Caceres — Featherweight
Michael McDonald def. Edwin Figueroa — Bantamweight (Fight of the Night, $55,000 each)
John Hathaway def. Kris McCray — Welterweight
Johny Hendricks def. TJ Waldburger — Welterweight
Christian Morecraft def. Sean McCorkle — Heavyweight
Aaron Simpson def. Mario Miranda — Middleweight
Nik Lentz def. Waylon Lowe — Submission (guillotine) — R3, 2:24 — Lightweight (dramatic third-round comeback)
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Michael McDonald vs. Edwin Figueroa — $55,000 each (above-standard bonus)
Records & Milestones
• Chan Sung Jung’s UFC debut — one of the most anticipated Korean MMA arrivals.
• $1,182,850 gate — among the largest in Fight Night history.
• Phil Davis moved to 9-0 — cementing his LHW title contender status.
Legacy & Impact
UFC Fight Night 24 is remembered primarily as the launch of Chan Sung Jung’s UFC career — his debut, his revenge over Garcia, and the opening chapter of a Fight Night legacy that would include the first twister submission in UFC history. The card’s $1.18 million gate validated Seattle as a premium Fight Night market. Phil Davis’s methodical win over Nogueira, though not aesthetically exciting, demonstrated that his wrestling-first style could dominate veterans on short notice — a quality that continued to develop through his career.
FAQ
What was the controversy behind the Jung vs. Garcia WEC 48 fight?
At WEC 48 in November 2010, Jung and Garcia fought in a back-and-forth featherweight bout that most observers scored for Jung. The judges returned a 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 split decision for Garcia. The outcry was significant — the WEC fight was widely cited as one of the most incorrectly scored fights in WEC history, and Garcia’s win was considered dubious by the overwhelming majority of analysts, media members, and fans who scored it live. The UFC rematch at Fight Night 24 gave Jung the win most people believed he should have received the first time.
Why did Phil Davis replace Tito Ortiz at such short notice?
Ortiz suffered what Dana White described as a severe training cut on his forehead, serious enough to require medical withdrawal about five weeks before fight night. The UFC needed a credible light heavyweight who could step in against Nogueira. Davis was the right profile: unbeaten, wrestling-dominant, and young enough that a quick turnaround was not a significant physical risk. He had not been scheduled to fight until later in 2011, so the short-notice acceptance represented a genuine opportunity to accelerate his timeline toward a title shot.
How significant was the $1.18 million gate for a Fight Night card?
The $1,182,850 gate was exceptional for a free-television Fight Night card. For context, most Fight Night events through 2009–2011 generated gates between $400,000 and $750,000. The Fight Night 20 near-record in Fairfax had been $753,962. Fight Night 24’s gate was significantly higher — reflecting Seattle’s market strength and the calibre of the card. The city’s sports culture, combined with the multiple headline-worthy fights on offer, drove the premium ticket revenue that pushed it past the seven-figure mark.
What happened when Phil Davis fought Jon Jones after this?
Davis fought Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight championship at UFC 135 in September 2011. Jones dominated via unanimous decision, which confirmed the assessment many had made at Fight Night 24: Davis’s wrestling was elite but his striking was not at the level required to compete with Jones’s combination of length, creativity, and power. The loss was instructive — Davis rebuilt his career across subsequent years, earned multiple top-ten wins, and remained a significant figure in the LHW division through the mid-2010s.
What was Anthony Johnson’s situation at this point in his career?
Johnson was rebuilding his welterweight career at Fight Night 24 following a difficult 2010. He had missed weight for multiple bouts and had a loss to Josh Koscheck. The win over Dan Hardy by TKO was his most significant welterweight result in the UFC to that point, demonstrating his devastating power against an established European fighter. However, Johnson’s weight issues would continue and ultimately led to his departure from the UFC in 2012. He would eventually return as a light heavyweight, reaching his full potential at 205 pounds and becoming a legitimate title contender.
How did Chan Sung Jung go on to build his UFC legacy after this win?
The Garcia win was the opening chapter. Chan Sung Jung next fought Mark Hominick at UFC 140 in December 2011, submitting him with a twister — a submission so rarely executed in professional MMA that it had never previously appeared in UFC history. The twister submission over Hominick became one of the most celebrated technique demonstrations in UFC featherweight history. Jung’s combination of technical diversity, relentlessness, and willingness to engage in memorable fights earned him the Korean Zombie nickname and the respect of the global MMA audience.