Introduction
UFC Fight Night 47: Bader vs. St. Preux took place on Saturday, August 16, 2014 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine — broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 to 735,000 average viewers (116k FS2 prelims), attended by 5,329 fans for a gate of $321,470. It was the first UFC event ever held in Maine. Dana White, who attended Hermon High School just 11 minutes from the venue and owns a home in the state, chose Bangor personally as a destination he had long wanted to bring a UFC card to.
The card was bolstered by several bouts rescheduled from the cancelled UFC 176, including Jussier Formiga vs. Zach Makovsky and the originally scheduled Gray Maynard bout. Maine middleweight Tim Boetsch fought as a hometown hero and earned Performance of the Night. Alan Jouban made his UFC debut and earned Fight of the Night alongside Seth Baczynski. Ryan Bader used his wrestling to dominate Ovince Saint Preux over five rounds in the main event.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, August 16, 2014
📍 Venue: Cross Insurance Center, Bangor, Maine, USA (FIRST UFC event in Maine; Dana White's home state)
👥 Attendance: 5,329
💰 Gate: $321,470
📺 Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 — 735,000 avg. viewers (116k FS2 prelims)
🏆 Main Event: Ryan Bader vs. Ovince Saint Preux — Light Heavyweight (5 rounds)
✅ Result: Bader def. Saint Preux via UD (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) — wrestling-dominant performance
Dana White's Maine: A Personal Choice
White was unusually candid about his reasons for choosing Bangor. He attended Hermon High School, 11 minutes west of the Cross Insurance Center. He owns a home in Maine. When the arena was built, he identified it as his target venue. 'Bangor is close to my home and when the Cross Center was being built, that was the spot to go for,' White told the Portland Press Herald. 'If Bangor does well hopefully we can look to put one in Portland.' The event drew 5,329 fans for a gate of $321,470 — modest by UFC standards but meaningful for the market. It remains one of the most personally motivated venue selections in UFC history.
Full Results
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Ryan Bader def. Ovince Saint Preux — Unanimous Decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) — Light Heavyweight (wrestling-dominant 5-round performance)
Ross Pearson def. Gray Maynard — KO — R2 — Lightweight (Maynard's 4th KO loss in last 5 fights; Pearson bouncing back from controversial Sanchez decision)
Tim Boetsch def. Brad Tavares — Middleweight (PoN $50k; Maine native fighting at home)
Alan Jouban def. Seth Baczynski — Welterweight (FotN $50k each; Jouban's UFC debut)
Shawn Jordan def. Jack May — Heavyweight
Thiago Tavares def. Robbie Peralta — Featherweight (PoN $50k)
Preliminary Card
Jussier Formiga def. Zach Makovsky — Unanimous Decision — Flyweight (rescheduled from cancelled UFC 176)
Sara McMann def. Lauren Murphy — Women's Bantamweight
Tom Watson def. Sam Alvey — Light Heavyweight
Frankie Saenz def. Nolan Ticman — Bantamweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Alan Jouban + Seth Baczynski — $50,000 each
🥇 Performance of the Night: Tim Boetsch + Thiago Tavares — $50,000 each (Boetsch fighting as Maine hometown hero)
Records & Milestones
• First UFC event ever in Maine — brought by Dana White due to his personal connection to the state.
• Several bouts rescheduled from the cancelled UFC 176, most notably Formiga vs. Makovsky.
• Alan Jouban earned Fight of the Night on his UFC debut — one of only a handful of fighters in UFC history to earn a post-fight bonus in their first appearance.
Legacy & Impact
Bader's win over Saint Preux re-established him as a top-five light heavyweight contender after his loss to Glover Teixeira. He went on to win the UFC LHW title in January 2019 by defeating Volkan Oezdemir — a long journey that continued from this Bangor showing. Saint Preux remained a durable top-ten LHW for years. Ross Pearson's KO of Gray Maynard provided emotional redemption after his controversial robbery loss to Diego Sanchez in Albuquerque six weeks earlier. The Bangor event demonstrated the UFC's willingness to go wherever its leadership had personal investment, producing a solid regional card that connected with a Maine audience who had never seen the UFC live.