UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[3]

UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort
The poster for UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort
Information
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateFebruary 5, 2011
VenueMandalay Bay Events Center
CityLas Vegas, Nevada
Attendance10,893 [1]
Total gate$3,600,000[1]
Buyrate725,000[2]
Event chronology
UFC: Fight for the Troops 2 UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch

Background edit

Former Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort was scheduled to fight Yushin Okami at UFC 122.[4] However, UFC President Dana White said that Belfort would instead challenge Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva for the belt.[5] Belfort was originally scheduled to compete against Silva on January 2, 2010, at UFC 108, but due to an injury sustained by Silva, the fight had to be postponed until February 6, 2010, at UFC 109 and April 10, 2010, at UFC 112, respectively. However, both fights were cancelled.[6][7]

A bout between Kenny Florian and Evan Dunham was expected for this event. The fight was moved to UFC: Fight For The Troops 2.[8]

A bout between Jon Fitch and Jake Ellenberger was expected for this event. However Fitch was pulled from the bout and instead fought former two-division champion B.J. Penn at UFC 127.[9] Ellenberger remained on the card and instead fought Carlos Eduardo Rocha.

Sam Stout was originally scheduled to face Paul Kelly at this event, but dropped off of the card due to injury. Donald Cerrone stepped in to replace him, in what would become the first UFC lightweight fight featuring a fighter imported from the World Extreme Cagefighting following their merger in December 2010.[10]

UFC 126 featured two preliminary fights live on Spike TV,[11] and one preliminary fight on their Facebook stream.[12]

Results edit

Main card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Middleweight Anderson Silva (c) def. Vitor Belfort KO (front kick and punches) 1 3:25 [a]
Light Heavyweight Forrest Griffin def. Rich Franklin Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Light Heavyweight Jon Jones def. Ryan Bader Submission (guillotine choke) 2 4:20
Welterweight Jake Ellenberger def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha Decision (split) (27–30, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Bantamweight Miguel Torres def. Antonio Banuelos Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Preliminary card (Spike)
Lightweight Donald Cerrone def. Paul Kelly Submission (rear-naked choke) 2 3:48
Featherweight Chad Mendes def. Michihiro Omigawa Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Preliminary card (Facebook)
Bantamweight Demetrious Johnson def. Norifumi Yamamoto Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Preliminary card
Lightweight Paul Taylor def. Gabe Ruediger KO (head kick and punches) 2 1:42
Light Heavyweight Kyle Kingsbury def. Ricardo Romero TKO (punches) 1 0:21
Welterweight Mike Pierce def. Kenny Robertson KO (punches) 2 0:29

Bonus awards edit

Fighters were awarded $75,000 bonuses.[13]

  • Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone vs. Paul Kelly
  • Knockout of the Night: Anderson Silva
  • Submission of the Night: Jon Jones

Reported payout edit

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.[14] The numbers only include figures that UFC disclosed to the athletic commission; fight bonuses, sponsorship fees, and other unofficial bonuses were not disclosed.

  • Anderson Silva: $200,000 (includes no win bonus) def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000
  • Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($150,000 win bonus) def. Rich Franklin: $75,000
  • Jon Jones: $140,000 ($70,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Bader: $20,000
  • Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16,000 win bonus) def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha: $8,000
  • Miguel Torres: $56,000 ($28,000 win bonus) def. Antonio Banuelos: $9,000
  • Donald Cerrone: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus) def. Paul Kelly: $19,000
  • Chad Mendes: $19,000 ($9,500 win bonus) def. Michihiro Omigawa: $8,000
  • Demetrious Johnson: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) def. Norifumi Yamamoto: $15,000
  • Paul Taylor: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus) def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000
  • Kyle Kingsbury: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Ricardo Romero: $10,000
  • Mike Pierce: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus) def. Kenny Robertson: $6,000

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Morgan, John (2011-02-06). "UFC 126 draws a reported 10,893 attendees for $3.6 million live gate". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  2. ^ "UFC 127, 128 PPV Buyrate Updates". MMAPayout.com. 2011-03-25. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  3. ^ "UFC® 126 Silva vs. Belfort". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  4. ^ Staff (2010-08-29). "Vitor Belfort vs. Yushin Okami to headline Spike TV's UFC 122 event in Germany". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  5. ^ Cassidy, Daniel (2010-09-22). "Belfort vs Silva official; Okami to face Marquardt at UFC 122 (UPDATED)". LowKick.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-03. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  6. ^ Morgan, John (2009-11-28). "Anderson Silva's recovery slow, not fighting Vitor Belfort at UFC 109". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  7. ^ Marrocco, Steven (2010-02-11). "Shoulder injury forces Vitor Belfort out of UFC 112 title fight with Anderson Silva". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  8. ^ "Florian-Dunham Tops "Fight for the Troops"". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 2010-11-11. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  9. ^ Morgan, John; Stupp, Dann (2010-11-21). "UFC boss says Fitch vs. Penn, Siver vs. Sotiropoulos booked for UFC 127". Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  10. ^ Whitehead, Lee (2011-01-03). "Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone Steps In To Face Paul Kelly At UFC 126". MMAWeekly.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  11. ^ "Spike to Air UFC 126 Prelims". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  12. ^ Staff (2011-02-02). "Facebook to stream one preliminary match". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  13. ^ Morgan, John; Stupp, Dann (2011-02-06). "UFC 126 bonuses: Silva, Jones, Cerrone and Kelly each earn $75K awards". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  14. ^ Staff (2011-02-07). "UFC 126 salaries: Belfort ($275K), Griffin ($275K), Silva ($200K) are top earners". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.

External links edit