Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Belfast’s UFC Return After Nine Years
3. Quick Stats
4. Main Event: Mousasi’s Revenge TKO of Hall
5. Alhassan’s Debut, Lee, Volkov & The Card
6. Full Results
7. Bonuses & Awards
8. Records & Milestones
9. Legacy & Impact
10. FAQ
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 99: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 took place on Saturday, November 19, 2016 at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland — broadcast exclusively on UFC Fight Pass (Saturday morning for US viewers). The card drew 7,222 fans for a gate of $850,000. It was the second UFC event held in Northern Ireland, with the first being UFC 72 in June 2007 — a nine-year gap. The main event was a middleweight rematch between Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall.
Mousasi stopped Hall by TKO at 4:37 of round one, avenging the flying knee TKO Hall had delivered at UFC Fight Night 75 in September 2015. No Fight of the Night was awarded. Abdul Razak Alhassan’s debut finish, Kevin Lee’s emphatic win over Magomed Mustafaev, Jack Marshman’s debut finish, and Justin Ledet’s heavyweight finish each earned Performance of the Night. Ian McCall was removed from the card during weigh-ins after becoming ill due to his weight cut’s effects.
Belfast’s UFC Return After Nine Years
UFC 72: Victory in June 2007 had been the first — and until Fight Night 99, only — UFC event in Northern Ireland. That event at The Odyssey Arena featured Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, and Forrest Griffin, and drew approximately 9,000 fans. The nine-year absence reflected the practical reality that Northern Ireland’s event market — while passionate — was smaller than major UK markets like London and Manchester, both of which hosted UFC events more regularly. The 2016 return to Belfast was also the first UFC event at the SSE Arena (formerly The Odyssey), which had been rebranded.
Ian McCall’s illness during the weigh-in process reflected the chronic health risks of extreme weight cutting. He had been scheduled to fight Neil Seery in a flyweight bout. The effects of his weight cut became apparent on the weigh-in scales — the morning of the fight day under the UFC’s early weigh-in format — and the bout was scrapped. The Belfast card therefore ran with one fewer fight than scheduled. His withdrawal was one of several 2016 weight-cut incidents that accelerated UFC discussions about divisional reform and weigh-in policy.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, November 19, 2016 (UK afternoon; morning card for US viewers)
📍 Venue: The SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland (2nd UFC event in Northern Ireland; 9 years after UFC 72)
👥 Attendance: 7,222
💰 Gate: $850,000
📺 Broadcast: UFC Fight Pass EXCLUSIVE
🏆 Main Event: Gegard Mousasi vs. Uriah Hall — Middleweight REMATCH (Hall had TKO’d Mousasi via flying knee at FN 75 in September 2015; Mousasi entered on 3-fight win streak; Hall had gone 1-2 since)
✅ Result: Mousasi def. Hall via TKO (punches) — R1, 4:37 (Mousasi’s revenge; dominant in R1 before stoppage; No FotN awarded)
Main Event: Mousasi’s Revenge TKO of Hall
Hall’s flying knee TKO of Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 75 in Belfast’s twin city of Dublin was one of 2015’s most spectacular finishes. Hall had timed a leaping knee to Mousasi’s chin at 4:02 of round two and followed with ground strikes. The loss had been Mousasi’s most discussed individual defeat — a clean technique against a fighter known for elite-level striking defence. In the 14 months between the two fights, Mousasi had won three consecutive UFC bouts, including a second-round TKO of former champion Vitor Belfort at UFC 204 in Manchester in October 2016.
The Belfast rematch was a contrasting first-round performance. Mousasi landed head kicks and combinations that accumulated significant damage on Hall through 4:37 of round one. Hall’s defence and movement — the tools that had produced the flying knee opportunity in round two of the first fight — were unable to prevent Mousasi’s surgical striking. The TKO stoppage at 4:37 was the clean individual statement of a fighter who had learned from a first-fight loss and applied the lessons immediately.
Alhassan’s Debut, Lee, Volkov & The Card
Abdul Razak Alhassan’s debut Performance of the Night was arguably the card’s most memorable individual result outside the main event. The Ghanaian-American middleweight — who had been training at Roufusport in Milwaukee — had no recognisable name coming into the event but left it with a UFC reputation. His debut finish of Charlie Ward in the preliminary card produced the PoN that signalled the UFC’s awareness of Alhassan as a serious finisher. His subsequent UFC career would produce the most emphatic early-fight KOs of any UFC MW of the era.
Kevin Lee’s win over Magomed Mustafaev earned Performance of the Night for the American lightweight who was building his UFC contendership case. Lee had developed into one of the UFC’s most technically complete lightweights and his Belfast PoN was a step in a career that produced a UFC LW interim title fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216 in 2017. Alexander Volkov’s split decision over Tim Johnson in the heavyweight division was an early step in a UFC HW career that eventually produced top-five ranking. Artem Lobov’s UD over Teruto Ishihara was the Irish/Russian FW’s most recent competitive performance.
Full Results
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Gegard Mousasi def. Uriah Hall — TKO (punches) — R1, 4:37 — Middleweight (Mousasi’s REVENGE; Hall had beaten him via flying knee at FN 75 in 2015; dominant R1)
Stevie Ray def. Ross Pearson — Split Decision (30-27, 27-30, 30-27) — Lightweight (Ray wins 2-1; Scottish LW beating English veteran Pearson)
Alexander Volkov def. Tim Johnson — Split Decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28) — Heavyweight (Volkov early career; future top-5 UFC HW)
Artem Lobov def. Teruto Ishihara — Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) — Featherweight (Lobov: SBG Ireland; McGregor teammate)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Jack Marshman def. Magnus Cedenblad — Middleweight (PoN $50k; Marshman’s debut finish; Welsh MW)
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Ali Bagautinov — Flyweight (Horiguchi’s FLW career dominant; future RIZIN FW champion)
Kevin Lee def. Magomed Mustafaev — Lightweight (PoN $50k; Lee building LW contendership)
Zak Cummings def. A. Yakovlev — Welterweight
Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Charlie Ward — Middleweight (PoN $50k; DEBUT FINISH; Ghanaian-American MW; devastating debut KO power)
Justin Ledet def. [opponent] — Heavyweight (PoN $50k)
[NOTE: Ian McCall vs. Neil Seery SCRATCHED at weigh-ins; McCall ill from weight cut effects]
Bonuses & Awards
🚨 NO Fight of the Night awarded — second consecutive UFC Fight Night without FotN (after Portland FN 96)
🥇 Performance of the Night: Jack Marshman + Kevin Lee + Abdul Razak Alhassan + Justin Ledet — $50,000 each (4 PoN, no FotN)
Records & Milestones
• Second UFC event in Northern Ireland — nine years after UFC 72 in June 2007.
• No Fight of the Night — second consecutive UFC Fight Night without FotN (FN 96 Portland was first).
• Ian McCall scratched from card during weigh-ins due to weight cut illness — one of 2016’s most prominent weight cut health incidents.
Legacy & Impact
Mousasi’s Belfast revenge TKO was a statement win that positioned him for UFC MW top-five contendership. He won four consecutive UFC MW fights before his UFC contract expired and he signed with Bellator MMA in June 2018, winning the Bellator MW title in his second Bellator fight. His UFC Belfast performance remains notable as the personal competitive completion of the Hall rematch narrative. Alexander Volkov’s split decision over Tim Johnson was step seven of a UFC HW career that produced wins over Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Derrick Lewis, and Curtis Blaydes, making him a consistent top-five HW by 2020.
Abdul Razak Alhassan’s debut PoN was the first moment of a UFC MW career notable for its extreme finishing power: his first six UFC wins were all by KO or TKO, typically in round one. Kevin Lee’s Belfast PoN preceded an interim LW title fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216 in October 2017, which Lee lost by third-round submission — a fight that demonstrated his ceiling at that career stage while confirming his status as a genuine title-level competitor. Kyoji Horiguchi’s Belfast win was his last UFC fight before leaving for RIZIN Fighting Federation in Japan, where he built a dominant flyweight and bantamweight championship career.
FAQ
How did Mousasi prepare differently for the Hall rematch?
The flying knee that Hall landed in the first fight required Mousasi to adjust his defensive movement patterns — specifically his management of range and his response to opponents who feint or load for explosive forward attacks. His three-fight UFC win streak between the first and second Hall fight demonstrated improved defensive patience while maintaining his offensive output. In Belfast, his willingness to establish head kicks and combination striking in round one — rather than waiting for the conventional exchanges of their first fight — prevented Hall from setting up the range and timing the flying knee requires.
Why was there no Fight of the Night for the second consecutive card?
The no-FotN pattern at Fight Night 99 was attributed to the card’s competitive structure rather than a deliberate policy change. The FotN bonus requires the UFC’s post-fight bonus committee to identify a fight whose quality and entertainment value justifies the additional $50,000 per fighter. Belfast’s card produced four strong individual finishing performances but no clear bilateral Fight of the Night candidate — the main event was one-sided, the co-main was a close decision, and the most competitive exchanges were not concentrated in a single fight. The Portland no-FotN had been policy-based (Lineker ineligibility); Belfast’s was competitive assessment-based.
Who was Abdul Razak Alhassan before his UFC debut?
Alhassan was born in Ghana and moved to the United States, training at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — the gym that had produced Anthony Pettis, Ben Askren, and other elite fighters. His amateur and regional professional record had established him as a devastating knockout puncher without widespread media recognition. His debut PoN finish of Charlie Ward in Belfast introduced him to the UFC audience as someone with genuinely exceptional one-punch KO power. His subsequent UFC career produced four first-round KOs in his first four UFC fights before he began facing consequences of personal legal issues.
What happened with Ian McCall’s weight cut?
McCall had been scheduled to fight Neil Seery in a flyweight (125 lb) bout. At the weigh-ins, his condition — likely the cumulative effect of an extreme weight cut combined with dehydration — made continued competition at that stage medically unsafe. The UFC and the relevant athletic oversight body removed him from the card. His withdrawal continued a 2016 pattern of weight-cut health incidents that included multiple fighters missing weight and an increased frequency of fighter hospitalisations associated with extreme cuts. His removal meant the Belfast card was reduced by one fight.
What was Kyoji Horiguchi’s trajectory after Belfast?
Horiguchi had been one of the UFC’s most dominant flyweights during his UFC tenure — his only UFC losses came in UFC FLW title fights against Demetrious Johnson. After his Belfast win over Bagautinov, he signed with RIZIN Fighting Federation in Japan and dominated their flyweight and bantamweight divisions for five years, winning championships in both. He became one of the most celebrated Japanese MMA fighters of his generation. His Belfast win was his final UFC appearance; the UFC’s FLW division subsequently lost one of its most technically accomplished competitors.
What was Alexander Volkov’s background before Belfast?
Volkov was a 27-year-old Russian heavyweight who had competed in WSOF and other promotions before UFC signing. Standing 2.03 metres (6’7”) with a significant reach advantage, he combined striking from a long-distance framework with the wrestling credentials of a Russian combat sports base. His Belfast split decision over Tim Johnson was among his earliest UFC appearances. His subsequent UFC career produced impressive wins over Stefan Struve, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and Derrick Lewis, establishing him as a reliable top-five heavyweight and multiple-time title contender.