Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Saitama & The Road to UFC Japan
3. Quick Stats
4. Main Event: Barnett Outworks Nelson Over 25 Minutes
5. Uriah Hall’s Stunning Flying Knee KO
6. Full Results
7. Bonuses & Awards
8. Records & Milestones
9. Legacy & Impact
10. FAQ
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 75: Barnett vs. Nelson took place on Saturday, September 26–27, 2015 (Saturday night US time, Sunday morning Japan local time) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan — broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 to 841,000 average viewers (1.1M peak). It was the fourth UFC event held at the Saitama Super Arena, following UFC 144 (February 2012), UFC on Fuel TV: Silva vs. Stann (March 2013), and UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson (September 2014). The main event was a heavyweight clash between former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett and fan favourite Roy Nelson.
Barnett won by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 50-45) over 25 gruelling minutes. The card produced four Performance of the Night bonuses and no Fight of the Night award — a reflection of the finish-heavy performance quality across the card. Uriah Hall’s spinning back kick and flying knee combination of Gegard Mousasi in 25 seconds of round two was instantly labelled the upset of the year. The Road to UFC Japan featherweight finale ended in a split draw — producing an unprecedented outcome for the reality series — with both Mizuto Hirota and Teruto Ishihara receiving UFC contracts. Diego Brandao earned PoN with a 28-second TKO. Keita Nakamura submitted Li Jingliang in round three for the fourth PoN.
Saitama & The Road to UFC Japan
Saitama Super Arena is Japan’s premier indoor venue — a 22,000-seat facility hosting major concerts, sports, and international competitions. The UFC’s fourth return to the venue reflected the organisation’s sustained commitment to the Japanese market following the decline of Pride FC, which the UFC purchased in 2007. Japanese MMA had an intensely passionate but commercially fragmented market: local promotions (Rizin, Dream, Pancrase) competed with the UFC’s Fight Pass model for domestic audience attention.
Road to UFC: Japan was a new UFC reality series produced specifically for the Japanese market. It followed six featherweight fighters competing in a tournament format, with the finale bout featured on the Fight Night 75 card. The finale between Mizuto Hirota and Teruto Ishihara ended in a split draw — the first reality show finale in the series’ history to produce a non-decisive result. The UFC resolved the situation by awarding both fighters UFC contracts. Hirota and Ishihara reportedly went to the hospital together after the fight, having both given their full efforts. The UFC’s decision to contract both reflected both commercial pragmatism and acknowledgement of the genuinely competitive finale.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, September 26–27, 2015 (Sunday morning local Japan time)
📍 Venue: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan (4th UFC event at this venue)
📺 Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 — 841,000 avg. viewers (1.1M peak, 270k FS2 prelims)
🏆 Main Event: Josh Barnett vs. Roy Nelson — Heavyweight (5 rounds; both coached Road to UFC Japan; Barnett’s first UFC fight in 21 months)
✅ Result: Barnett def. Nelson via Unanimous Decision (48-47, 48-47, 50-45) (Nelson’s first time going past round 3 in 32 professional fights)
Main Event: Barnett Outworks Nelson Over 25 Minutes
Josh Barnett had not competed in the UFC since December 2013 — a 21-month absence during which he pursued acting, recorded a podcast, and appeared at Metamoris. His return was against Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson, a fighter he had coached opposite on Road to UFC: Japan. Nelson was 37 years old with a career built on exceptional chin durability and right-hand power, but entering the fight on a three-fight losing streak. The fight was billed as a battle between two ageing heavyweights who still had enough brand recognition and fan appeal to headline a Japanese Fight Night.
One statistical curiosity defined the fight’s narrative: Nelson, across 32 professional MMA fights, had never gone beyond round three. The Saitama main event was a scheduled five-round bout. By round four, Nelson was visibly tired but continued to engage, throwing haymakers and absorbing Barnett’s clinch-and-punch sequences. Barnett’s dirty boxing and wrestling-based pressure accumulated advantage across all five rounds. The 50-45 scorecard from one judge reflected dominant round scoring; the 48-47 cards reflected the competitive exchanges Nelson generated. Barnett re-established himself as a relevant heavyweight contender. Nelson, despite the loss, received credit for completing five rounds against a quality opponent for the first time in his career.
Uriah Hall’s Stunning Flying Knee KO
Uriah Hall’s TKO of Gegard Mousasi in 25 seconds of round two was one of 2015’s most spectacular individual moments. Hall, a TUF 17 runner-up who had struggled with consistency, had been dominated on the mat in round one. Mousasi — who had finishes of Dan Henderson and Costas Philippou on his recent UFC record — was considered a significant favourite. Hall recovered from the ground work and delivered a devastating combination: a spinning back kick to the face that planted Mousasi, followed immediately by a flying knee as Mousasi attempted to recover. The finish came at 0:25 of round two. Mousasi was the first fighter to be finished by strikes in his UFC career — in 11 UFC bouts, he had never been stopped.
Diego Brandao’s 28-second TKO of Katsunori Kikuno was the card’s other spectacular early finish. Keita Nakamura’s rear-naked choke of Li Jingliang in round three was a Japanese fighter winning by submission in front of his home crowd. Both earned PoN. The cumulative finishing quality across the card was high enough that the UFC opted for four PoN bonuses rather than a Fight of the Night award.
Full Results
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Josh Barnett def. Roy Nelson — Unanimous Decision (48-47, 48-47, 50-45) — Heavyweight (PoN $50k; Nelson’s first time past R3 in 32 fights; Barnett’s clinch/dirty boxing)
Uriah Hall def. Gegard Mousasi — TKO (spinning back kick + flying knee + punches) — R2, 0:25 — Middleweight (PoN $50k; FIRST man to finish Mousasi via strikes; upset of the year)
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Chico Camus — Unanimous Decision (30-27x3) — Flyweight
Takeya Mizugaki def. George Roop — Unanimous Decision (29-28x3) — Bantamweight
Diego Brandao def. Katsunori Kikuno — TKO (punches) — R1, 0:28 — Featherweight (PoN $50k; 28-second finish)
Mizuto Hirota vs. Teruto Ishihara — SPLIT DRAW (29-28, 28-29, 29-29) — Featherweight (Road to UFC Japan finale; FIRST draw in reality show finale history; BOTH fighters received UFC contracts)
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 2)
Keita Nakamura def. Li Jingliang — Submission (RNC) — R3, 2:17 — Welterweight (PoN $50k; Japanese fighter subs Li at home)
Nick Hein def. Yusuke Kasuya — Unanimous Decision — Lightweight
Kajan Johnson def. Naoyuki Kotani — Unanimous Decision — Lightweight
Shinsho Anzai def. Roger Zapata — TKO (hand injury) — R3, 0:47 — Welterweight
Norifumi Yamamoto def. Matt Hobar — Bantamweight (Yamamoto returning home)
Bonuses & Awards
🚨 Note: No Fight of the Night was awarded — all four bonuses were Performance of the Night.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Josh Barnett, Uriah Hall, Diego Brandao, Keita Nakamura — $50,000 each
Records & Milestones
• Roy Nelson competed in rounds four and five for the first time in his professional career — spanning 32 fights across 10+ years.
• Uriah Hall became the first fighter to finish Gegard Mousasi via strikes in the UFC — in 11 UFC fights, Mousasi had never been stopped.
• Road to UFC Japan finale ended in the series’ first-ever draw — the UFC awarded both Hirota and Ishihara UFC contracts.
• 4 PoN bonuses, No Fight of the Night — a rare bonus distribution that reflected the exceptional individual finishing quality on the card.
Legacy & Impact
Uriah Hall’s Saitama flying knee KO of Mousasi was the high point of his UFC career to that date and positioned him as a legitimate middleweight contender. He went on to produce wins over Gegard Mousasi in a rematch was never made; instead his subsequent career produced victories over Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva, and Chris Weidman. His TUF 17 runner-up promise was finally realised in Saitama. The Road to UFC Japan draw was historically significant as a reality show anomaly — the precedent of contracting both fighters set a framework for future unresolved finale outcomes.
Barnett’s Saitama win did not result in a title shot: he fought Ben Rothwell at UFC on FOX 18 in January 2016, losing by unanimous decision, which effectively ended his title contendership. Nelson’s Saitama loss continued a downward competitive trajectory. Both fighters’ careers were in the late stages by September 2015, and the Saitama main event — competitive for 25 minutes with two ageing former contenders — was both the celebration of what they had been and evidence of what they were becoming.
FAQ
Was Hall’s finish of Mousasi genuinely the upset of the year?
The consensus among 2015 MMA observers was that it ranked among the most surprising finishes of that year. Mousasi had been on an excellent run with finishes of Dan Henderson and Costas Philippou, was ranked in the top-ten middleweights, and had never been stopped by strikes in 11 UFC fights. Hall had shown flashes of brilliance on TUF 17 and in individual performances but had been inconsistent under pressure. The spinning back kick and flying knee sequence in 25 seconds of round two was both technically extraordinary and contextually unexpected. Whether it was the upset of the year depended on the individual observer’s expectation and definition, but it was widely cited in year-end recaps.
Why was Nelson going past round 3 significant?
Nelson’s professional MMA career had produced 32 fights before Saitama, and every one of them had concluded before or during the third round. His style — a combination of exceptional chin durability and right-hand power — generated fights that either ended quickly (when his opponents landed) or went to decision (when he landed). The three-round limit of his fights reflected a career built on power-and-survival rather than conditioning. Competing in a scheduled five-round fight for the first time — at age 37 and on a three-fight losing streak — and completing all 25 minutes was noted as a minor statistical landmark even inside a losing performance.
How did the Road to UFC Japan draw get resolved?
When the Hirota/Ishihara finale ended in a split draw, the UFC faced a straightforward decision: hold an additional round to produce a winner, or accept the draw and determine contractual outcomes. The additional fight option was not pursued — both fighters had competed for 15 minutes in what appeared to be a competitive and physically draining encounter. The UFC announced during the event that both fighters would receive six-figure UFC contracts. The decision was broadly praised as equitable: a draw in a genuinely competitive fight should not penalise either fighter. It set the precedent that UFC reality show finale draws do not produce a single contracted winner.
What was Barnett’s acting career reference about?
During his 21-month UFC absence, Barnett had appeared in the film ‘Eliminators’ (2016 action film with Scott Adkins) and pursued media projects including his podcast ‘The Josh Barnett Files.’ He also competed at Metamoris — the submission grappling promotion — during his UFC hiatus. The cultural breadth of his non-fighting activities was unusual for a heavyweight contender and reflected his interests outside the sport. Post-Saitama, his UFC career lasted only two more fights before contract expiry.
Where was Kyoji Horiguchi in his career at this point?
Horiguchi was a 24-year-old Japanese flyweight who had challenged Demetrious Johnson for the UFC FLW title at UFC 186 in April 2015, losing by UD but performing competitively. His Saitama win over Camus was a post-title-fight rebuild. He subsequently won two more UFC flyweight fights before leaving for Rizin in 2016, where he won the Rizin bantamweight championship and the Bellator bantamweight championship. His Saitama performance was a footnote before one of the most commercially successful Japanese MMA careers of his era.
How did Diego Brandao’s 28-second KO of Kikuno fit his career?
Brandao had been KO’d by Conor McGregor in Dublin in 2014 — a fight that generated significant pre-fight trash talk and post-fight criticism of Brandao’s performance. He had recovered with a win over Jimy Hettes in April 2015. The 28-second KO of Kikuno in Saitama was his most emphatic individual performance since the McGregor loss and earned Performance of the Night. Kikuno had previously been KO’d brutally in his previous UFC fight, making the result less commercially surprising than Hall’s finish of Mousasi, but the 28-second time established it as one of the card’s fastest finishes.